I’ve been interviewing quite a bit of late and it really is quite funny because I don’t know how skilled these candidates are when it comes to engineering. I am not an engineer and as far as my previous profession went, engineers to me were methodical problem solvers. The only thing I can say is that if you managed to be an engineer, there must be some level of physics and maths going on in there. I got an A for both but I am by far an engineer. Nuh-uh.

What I do assess though when I’m interviewing is whether the prospect has the right attitude for the company, the right human and emotional skills to contribute to a fast growing environment, and common sense. I will also hold my interviews in unconventional venues, such as the Mamak Stalls, cafes, even Kizsport! for senior level positions. It is my call after all and besides, if a candidate can’t see beyond an interview venue being only at the office, he is not the right fit for the company. Just as an example, a certain public listed company Group CEO wanted to meet with Tok-Tok at his hotel one morning and I gate crashed their meeting dressed in DVF and high heels. What did Tok-Tok wear? He had just come immediately from his morning walk and attended this meeting in his shorts, T-Shirt and jogging shoes! It was 8am and the coolest thing to see everyone else so dressed up and Tok-Tok sauntering in half dressed.

My top interview questions are always open ended such as:

Tell me about yourself.

What do you know about my organisation.

Why would you want to work for us.

Why should I hire you?

What are your career goals?

What are your life goals?

Once I’m convinced with the general scope of the person, I move on to the tougher questions and give them scenarios to work out such as:

A detailed scenario where he has a problem with a subordinate and another scene where he has a problem boss. How does he handle the situation? What does he do?

Another scenario involves two co-workers disagreeing and getting at each others necks. Does he get involved or not? What does he do or not do?

I give him customer problems and what he would do to address them.

I tell him to fire someone who’s had a string of bad luck and really has done nothing wrong. How would he do it.

These show me how well the candidate is able to think on his feet and their confidence levels in handling management issues. I ask them about their previous jobs, how their bosses were like, what they liked and dislike about their jobs; I ask them about their thoughts on the industry trends and where they see the future, I ask them about a LOT of things!!!

And finally, I will ask them why they aren’t earning more at their stage in life. Yes, I am that mean. And I will negotiate their salaries and perks. I never give in early always agreeing upon success rates first.

My favourite all time question to ask prospects is a randomname me 30 things you can do with a paper clip, a door, a piece of carpet, whatever…..just to weed out the exceptional candidates from the excellent. Or ask crazy questions with no real answers to them to see how the candidate tackles the question.

Last but not least, I will conduct a pre-employment screening and make a few calls to ensure we won’t be hiring a psychopath! Once this process is through, I will hand the guy over to our Engineering Director to assess his technical skills. One may ask, isn’t it more important to do the engineering bit first and not waste my time? I don’t think so. If the guy passed my test, we’d still hire him if he failed the engineering test as we value good attitude far more than hard skills. Hard skills can be trained and learnt and practised. Soft skills can’t. That is the secret to a successful organisation.

No point having a very clever engineer who is all attitude and big talk. Better to have a positive, humble engineer who is willing to work hard to learn and practise till he becomes  the best.

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Who is Mamapumpkin?
Mamapumpkin is a former Design Architect turned Multi-Million Dollar Digital Entrepreneur. She sets out to prove to all that you can have anything and everything that you want; if you have that fire of desire burning within and the drive to work hard. Even better with much love.

Mamapumpkin has not only grown corporate businesses successfully in the past and doubled her salary 5 times over 5 organisations but has grown THREE BUSINESSES to 7 FIGURES within an 8 year period. She now shows others EXACTLY HOW after retiring her own husband from employment. He is now the official dog walker, family driver, chef and THE BEST FATHER to their two girls and THE BEST HUSBAND to the woman who CHOSE HIM!

Mamapumpkin is the girl who has nothing but fights for everything including YOU. She is idealistic in her desire to put unbelievable amounts of money and extrardinary happiness into the lives of good people so we can change the world together believing in happiness for ALL. She strives to impact lives authentically wanting to reduce poverty cycles and enable quality education for all and always supports the voiceless. She believes we can all have a life of our own desires to enable real contribution into the world. But first, one needs to understand what this all means.

A beautiful life without limits.

If you wish to learn how to propel your life forward guaranteed, be brave to take action. Mamapumpkin's purpose is to build people. Her gift is to help them UNCOVER their HIDDEN GIFTS. She operates fairly and always leaves an impression. You either love her or not and she is alright either way.

She is a living testimony that women really can have a lot. Being financially and time free has enabled her to travel the world anytime, anywhere, doing anything with anyone, as she spends most of her days with her children, having fun, supporting others wherever she can. Also having fun.