On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:38:57 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:

> First, I don't have any references - and they want two of 'em. I *would*
> have put my boss, but he recently left the company. I would have put our
> site manager, but he recently left too. The new management team can't
> even remember my name. No point having them for references! I might also
> have said my uni lecturers - you know, if the uni hadn't shut down as
> soon as I graduated...

So why not use the old boss and site manager?  They're not going to be 
losing you now that they're gone.  If you can get in touch with them, do 
so and ask if you can use them as references?

As they have recently left, they are probably in a better position to 
help you than anyone you currently work with.

> 1. Describe a time when you worked with others to solve a complex
> problem.
> 
> Um... OK. What do you say to this one? I mean, if you happen to work for
> a company that designs complex products and you're on the design team,
> this should be a cakewalk. But otherwise? I mean, when was the last time
> YOU solved a complex problem? (Never mind with other people.)
> 
> Suffice it to say, I can't think of a single example for this. I've
> never *met* anybody (apart from me) who knows the difference between a
> Fourier transform and a Laplace transform. Any remotely complex problems
> I might have solved have been solved by me and me alone.

They're asking about solving business problems (that's what they'll be 
most interested in).  Use the firewall example, include as much detail as 
is reasonable, but if you don't feel that that's enough, you can also 
take the opportunity to say that one of the reasons you're applying is 
because you want to stretch a bit more to reach your potential, and you 
feel your current job is keeping you from doing just that.

> 2. Please describe an example of when you delivered a high quality piece
> of work that you were proud of.
> 
> Hmm, this is hard. Usually when I deliver something, all I can think
> about is how badly it sucks and how I should have done much better...
> but maybe I can find something for this one.

Give yourself some credit for what you've done.  We've talked about this 
before.

> 3. Give an example of when you tacked an unfamiliar problem or task, and
> how you learned something new.
> 
> Do I tell them about the time I spent 2 days writing out the binomial
> expansions of powers up to 9 by longhand algebra and thereby derived a
> special case of the binomial theorum from first principles? Or should I
> write something about the time when I tried to build a parser for my
> computer-aided algebra system, and ended up inventing Dijkstra's
> shunting algorithm? Either way, I highly doubt anybody will be
> impressed. After all, reinventing obscure mathematics hardly counts as
> "solving" a "problem"...

Well, write it up and see what it looks like.  But also, as with the 
first question, they're probably more interested in business problems.  
Maybe talk about how you learned about the regulations having to do with 
audits - you probably didn't come out of Uni having any experience with 
formal government audits, but now you know the stuff pretty well.  So the 
unfamiliar task would be learning about what the audit consisted of and 
what had to be done, and then describe how you learned about what the 
requirements are.

> 4. Please describe a time when you took on a task that illustrates your
> active interest in this area of work and allowed you to develop new
> skills.
> 
> Uuuhhhh... Well I can tell you all mannar of things I've learned out of
> pure curiosity. But things I learned because of attempting to perform a
> specific "task"?
> 
> ...nope, I'm comming up blank here...

What is the area of work in question?

Jim

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