It was a series of interviews.

The first, an HR interview, covered intent to join, intent to leave my current employer, salary expectations, and similar topics. This went fine.

The second interview focused on consulting experience, primarily using situational responses. Questions included:

• What would you do when faced with a specific challenge?
• Did you manage a team? How large was it?
• What types of people did you interact with?
• What would you do if you needed to jump into assignment components of which you had little knowledge?
• How would you go about getting help? This interview also went fine.

The third interview was technical in nature. I did okay on this. Questions covered different aspects of architecture, including security, single sign-on, integration patterns, and normalization.

The final step was a presentation. I had to choose a prior project and walk through the problem, the solution, and the benefits. I selected a year-long MRM implementation I led and covered these aspects. I had about five days to prepare, which was more than adequate. The audience was expected to be executive-level, and I would be evaluated on my presentation skills and ability to handle questions from the panel. I felt very well prepared, having done similar presentations to such panels numerous times.

Of the three panelists, only one was present. The session was recorded for later review by the others. Typically, I would receive a call from the recruiter the same day regarding the outcome. I had a similar expectation for this presentation.

As it was on a Friday, I waited to hear something on Monday, but to no avail. Tuesday passed, and I began to think I would soon receive the familiar 'thank you for your interest...' letter. I didn't want to be pushy by contacting them for a response. However, I had to as I would soon be assigned to new projects in my current job that I didn't want to commit to if I were to leave the company.

So, I wrote a quick email asking for some direction. I received a call back stating I would get an update by EOD, and that gathering inputs was a bit tough due to the holidays. The EOD call promised an update no matter what by the end of the next day.

Thursday morning, to my surprise, I received a call (ahead of schedule) informing me that I had been selected. I was, of course, thrilled to hear the news.

What has been your interaction with C-level people?

What were your specific contributions to the integration project that I showcased in the final presentation?