dmitry | March 11, 2021, 2:06 p.m.
One of the things that help me reflect and learn/memorize material is to write it down on (digital) paper, so an upcoming interview seems like a good chance to consider what some good interview answers would be. I'm not going to reveal what the position is, so this can also be considered as personal brainstorming session, that could hopefully spark some excellent ideas in others for their own prep.
The troubleshooting aspect of this position and opportunity to have a role as a technical expert had the strongest appeal to me. I'm continually learning and the prospect to do a deep dive in an area of business significance, where others would rely on my expertise is a professional ambition of mine. In addition, over the past 6 months there have been several projects I have worked on that required me to troubleshoot independently to fix software errors. I find it particularly satisfying when I get a piece of software to work the way I need it to.
I know that the IT Division gets to solve unique challenges for the holding company's many different subsidiaries that span different industries, meaning that the IT Division is also a place where a lot of unique expertise and knowledge not just for the company but for the wider region is also housed. I imagine that the need to support digital transformation projects across such a wide range of industries means that you must also have a lot of collaboration, both with the other companies to better understand their unique needs but also within the IT Division to leverage existing experience that could be transferable to new projects.
P.S There was not that much OSINT available that was specific to this division from a brief general search, but I did find a fairly old promotional video which featured one of the interviewers discussing their position and their passion outside of work. I'm going to try bringing this up in the interview and hopefully get a positive response.
During one of my first projects after graduation, I led the data collection, processing and analytics components of a project that aimed to analyze chemicals trade data and identify regular trade flows that met specific criteria. The overall project was done on behalf of a major logistics provider so that they could identify future clients that they could target for marketing initiatives. Halfway through the project, I had extracted filtered data from a proprietary online database and then stored a local copy on my computer. I then spent a full week exploring this data further, grouping certain flows by common features and deleting any data segments that I found did not match the initial criteria after further investigating the data (secondary filtering). During a team meeting (consisting of 4 total members, including myself), my filtered data was being reviewed together in a brainstorming session to determine how we would proceed to further analyze the data and create potential customer profiles for the client. It was during that meeting that it was realized that I had inadvertently deleted viable portions of the data and had then saved the file in such a way that my changes could not be reverted. While I did feel terrible about this mistake, since at that point, my filtered data was going to act as a bottleneck to further progress, I took the initiative to retrace my steps (i.e. apply both filtering stages) in my own time so that no delays were incurred to what were firm deadlines. I then proceeded to devise my own very basic system to keep separate copies of the filtered data as changes were made, while keeping meticulous notes what changes were being made and why for my own personal reference.
I do pride myself as being a self-starter and I've always looked for opportunities to help my current employer find new opportunities, whether that's new projects, clients or other business development opportunities. One way I do this is by staying current with new regulations, government and industry initiatives. This allowed me to identify an opportunity for the owner to apply for a residence spot at a dedicated startup accelerator space. This was definitely beneficial because not only did we receive some grant money, but also dedicated access to expensive testing and electronics equipment. We were actually allowed to borrow that equipment and keep using it till the present day after the space had been closed due to COVID restrictions put in place in March 2020. I also took the initiative to sign up to various procurement websites (provincial, federal and industry organizations) and then analyze new opportunities for our ability to complete them. When I suggested applying for one opportunity, the Managing Director allowed me to take the lead on coming up with an approach for solving the problem and drafting the proposal to be submitted. I have also identified several new business development directions by doing independent research on all possible industry organizations that might be interested in our projects and helping the Managing Director reach out to these organizations with specific proposals in mind.
I'm also currently pursuing an idea for a new source market for the product that is being commercialized by my current employer without being directed to do so.
Within the past 12 months, I have integrated into my current employer's software development workflow, i.e set up a local copy of a Git version controlled project, with the main codebase set up to use the Microsoft Visual Studio IDE and effectively collaborating through a Git repository that is accessed through a GUI tool. I have also used various terminal programs, set up Linux for Windows and other programs based on what the CTO finds to be most effective to achieve a certain goal, used scripts to perform firmware updates on micro-controllers, performed software configuration and troubleshooting on product batches (following a standardized process) and single units (in more detail to verify why certain a device seemed like it was not working). I set up the company's chosen industrial printing workflow, i.e setup an industrial printer and loaded it with rolls of thermal transfer ribbons and industrial labels, installed and activated label making software, implemented a label template that could then be used in batch label prints whenever new products had to be sent out to potential customers and then experimented with different software settings and label designs to make sure the print job was just right (printed out clearly with a high resolution, perfectly in the middle of the label etc.).
To help me develop new standalone firmware modules that could then be integrated into the product that is being commercialized by my current employer, I also set up my own Visual Studio Code coding environment with a debugger so that I could verify that my code worked in isolation from any other software.
In addition in my personal team, I set up my own personal website (as you know because you're reading this). This involved buying my own domain, buying a subscription for a virtual server through Linode, hardening that server (so things like limiting root login, setting up a SSH public/private key pair, set up automatic updates, minimizing open ports etc. and then developing a basic blog application in Django on a VM with some basic features such as a basic editor, PostgreSQL database, creating an admin site, linking all these files (Python and html) to my Github account, downloading the code onto my server and then deploying the Django app online following a guide for a modern production stack (Gunicorn + Nginx servers that can respond to client requests for dynamic and static files respectively). At every step while following a guide to do all this, I would run into issues that I had to troubleshoot with Google searches. The entire process was a grind but you learn to embrace the grind because you're learning and making progress.
During one of my first projects after graduation, I led the data
collection, processing and analytics components of a project that aimed
to analyze chemicals trade data and identify regular trade flows that
met specific criteria. The overall project was done on behalf of a major
logistics provider so that they could identify future clients that they
could target for marketing initiatives. At first I evaluated the data requirements for the project, investigated free and open source sources of information, experimented with the use of Alteryx to combine these datasets and then evaluated proprietary vendors of customs data to pick the optimal choice based on what data features they made available, extraction methods and subscription cost. I then used the proprietary database to do a primary filtering step on the available data and augmented the data by adding extra features that I gathered from other sources. To communicate the preliminary insights, I then fed this data into a trial version of Tableau that I installed with my own initiative, since I believed that the Tableau dashboards would provide additional visualization options over the standard charts that were available through Excel.
I have used Python quite extensively within the past 6 months primarily as a tool to test and validate the functionality of certain ideas, so for example I created a script that could live stream leak data coming in from a gas leak detector that has a serial connection with a computer so that we could quickly check what the impact of certain environmental changes were (rather than capturing data and then plugging into Excel to analyze it). I also created a script that could guide the user through an automated filter design selection process, by asking for the design parameters, displaying the filter performance from different design algorithms and then converting the filter taps into hex values that can be used within the leak detector's firmware. I have done some tutorials on Powershell (although I have not used in a professional environment) and I have run some batch scripts as part of our software development workflow (without having written them).
I very much enjoy learning, whether by reading CBC News or The Economist, listening to tech and security podcasts when I'm not otherwise intellectually occupied, doing math and computer science university courses, pursuing tech industry certificates (I was planning on doing some AWS next quarter), online training courses, subscribing to mailing lists for tech news updates and insights etc.
I was also given the opportunity to become my company's primary technical expert in the use of consequence modeling software. I completed dedicated hands-on training for this software, then worked with the Managing Director to create the appropriate risk models and generate the most effective visual representations of the results. After some time and once I became proficient in the use of the software, I was then sent to advanced training for the same software, where I was able to get advanced tips and tricks and ask very specific questions. Since then I have also followed the software's new releases to identify useful new features, bugs and workarounds that I should be aware of. I also benefited from having access to the underlying software documentation that explained the theoretical models that had been implemented and what impact different model inputs when considering the design of novel risk model scenarios.
Within my current role, I closely worked with the CTO on several occasions when there was a need to meet certain performance milestones (e.g. before a product demonstration to potential investors and clients). During those occasions, the gas leak detector was not performing as expected so I supported the CTO in brainstorming possible causes, making selected firmware changes and then repeating the testing. To do this, I not only used a good understanding of the different firmware components, but also acoustics fundamental properties and impacts of environmental influences.
I have also collaborated in earlier roles with clients to deliver analytical projects, the Managing Director to assist in business development and material procurement and various business functions to answer technical questions.
My first project after I graduated was a business intelligence project that was being completed on behalf of a logistics provider. The client wanted to identify possible clients based on specific transcontinental product flows. By the time I had joined the company, the Managing Director already had an established scope of work that had been signed off on by the client. When I joined, I was asked to get up to speed on the project by reviewing the signed-off scope of work and start investigating what data was available that would allow us to perform the analysis.
As I began to understand the marine shipping industry better, I understood that certain technical terms could have different meanings (depending on context). The initial direction given to me for our focus area used one interpretation of a key technical term, but I became convinced that the client had intended to use a different interpretation. I could see how this type of incorrect assumption could be made given the fact that my employer had only had some tangential experience with the marine shipping industry (which was of course much more experience than I had before I started working on this project). I quickly understood that if there was indeed an incorrect assumption being made on our side, very early on we would be looking for and analyzing a wrong set of data (thus our project could be derailed right from the start). The closest analogy I can think of is if someone wanted to travel to Sydney, NSW, Australia but their travel agent misunderstood them and booked them a flight to Sydney, NS, Canada. Depending on your departure point, the process of getting to the either destination could be very similar, but the outcome will be completely different!
I took the information I had uncovered and assembled it into arguments as to why our basic project assumption was incorrect and presented it to the Managing Director. We had several rounds of vigorous discussion during which I collected more information that resolved his points against my argument. We concluded the discussion by agreeing to discreetly raise it when having our kickoff meeting with client as we ran through our working assumptions.
My first job after graduation was to support the Managing Director of a small consulting company. One of his strengths were his professional connections and ability to network with potential new contacts. To boost our abilities to get new clients and projects, I researched and signed up for several publicly available procurement websites. One of those channels presented a project opportunity that I believed we were perfect for and the Managing Director asked me to create a proposal that we could use to bid for this opportunity. I took the initiative to understand the problem the client was trying to face, researched possible solutions and drafted a proposal that outlined how we could solve the particular problem in a format that was specified by the original request for proposals.
Training and Development structure, amount of collaboration, what branches/divisions/projects are coming up in the short term and the final clincher listed here:
https://canadianjobsearchguide.com/blog/one-game-changing-question-you-must-ask-at-the-end-of-your-interview/
I find answers for questions nobody else has time to answer and to help me remember, I write them dowm here!