keane

Keane, Inc.

Chuck Davis

"Communication Skills are important because when we hire people, they're actually representing our company. Those individuals are ambassadors of Keane. As a consulting company, its important that we communicate effectively with our clients."

"A good reputation with our clients is important. It is our employees who deliver this representation. For the company to stand tall, the employees need to stand tall."

"For us, the interview is probably the most powerful way of determining whether or not students have good communication skills. We assess whether or not they ask good questions and if they use appropriate body language when necessary. We also look at whether or not they are able to articulate their backgrounds quickly and if they are able to summarize their involvement in key projects. Can they summarize their statements in an understandable manner or do they ramble on aimlessly? The interview process is very effective in answering these questions."

"One of my favorite interview questions is 'What would your manager say about you?' I like this question because what I really want to ask them is 'What are your strengths?' I don't like to ask this second question so candidly, however, because if they have done their homework, they will have already answered that question before they arrive at the interview. Most students have been coached to answer that question before the first interview. However, it has been my experience that when you ask for their manager's opinion, they immediately think about and paint a mental picture of that individual. They then think 'Gee, what would that person say about me?' I have found that I often get a more accurate, more honest answer using that particular question."

"In addition to hearing about their perceived strengths, I can also gain insight into some of their softer skills, some of the things you don't normally hear - things like 'they would say I finish things early,' or 'they would say I don't gossip in the office.' With this type of information, I can better predict their future performance on the job."

"I like to know how people learn new things on their own. Therefore, I like to ask questions related to this during the interview process. Specifically, I like to see how they will take initiative on the job and in the training. Often-times, there will be people who want training, want to learn, want to grow and do well with the company, but they won't take it on themselves to go out and learn as aggressively as we would like. Instead, they will wait for a manager to tell them its time to learn or point them in the right direction."

"I would rather know ahead of time whether someone has done it already and has taken the initiative to go out on their own and learn something new. In the answers, I'd like to know how quickly they can answer the question. What I find is those people who quickly reply by saying 'well, I bought a computer a year ago and now I'm learning HTML at home' or 'I recently bought a book on how to build a sailboat' or whatever it might be generally possess some degree of self-initiative. This will help them grow in our company and it will allow us to hire someone who wants to learn rather than someone who waits to be told to learn."

"One of the fundamental concepts students often overlook in the interview process is the value of researching the company. Most people do a good job of researching, but those that don't really, really miss the boat. Also, it's very obvious during the interview when someone doesn't know what kind of position they are interviewing for or what kind of company we are. This is unfortunate, because those individuals do not end up interviewing well. They don't shine like they could. Solid preparation can be a great confidence builder."

"With the accessibility of the Web, its much easier to review a company now than it used to be. When I was interviewing, we had to go to the library or the career services office and look at books and annual reports. With these sources, you were mostly looking at numbers, stability, and a little bit about what the company does. But when you see a web-site, you learn a lot about the people and the culture of the company. Then, you can quickly digest that information and use it in the interview to ask them more about some of the things that you learned from the web-site ~ for example, questions related to training, the people, or the company culture, etc."

"Students need to understand the importance of closing the interview. I think its really important for them to leave a good impression by looking the interviewer straight in the eye, shaking their hand firmly, and letting them know they are looking forward to the next step. They should tell the interviewer that they enjoyed the conversation and (assuming they are interested) let him or her know that they are interested. That leaves the employer with a good feeling, and hopefully, that will leave a good impression when they leave. If they don't do that, it won't necessarily prevent them from getting to the next step, but it will make them that much more attractive of a candidate if they do."

"There are a number of ways students can prove to us that they possess strong analytical skills. First, they could give us some examples of how they think they are analytical and what their impression of their analytical skills is. For some, these examples might include course work - a class or classes in which they excelled. Statistics would be a good example of this kind of course material. We would also be interested in hearing about any problem that they have solved, regardless of whether it was work or school related."

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