I'm going to a company visit in a couple of days.

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm from Ohio. Avnet is in Phoenix. I already did a phone interview with the hiring lady. It just so happens that the road trip I'm currently on intersects Phoenix, and I've set up an appointment to personally meet with the hiring lady on the 7th at 4PM.

This is going to be my first for... probably everything. Never had an internship before. Don't know what to expect at all. I'm thinking she may show me around the corporate headquarters and talk with me in her office. But about what? We already did a phone interview (I stuttered a lot but she said my resume looked really organized...) How long do you think it would take? I'm thinking around 2 hours because 6PM is dinnertime.

I have my dress shirt, dress pants, shiny shoes, and tie in the car. I plan to iron them in the hotel the day of. I didn't bring my suit jacket because it's just too much for a camping road trip.

During the interview she said that she gets about 300 applicants for the resume (99% from the immediate area universities) and only pick about 15.

Halp.

 

[PowerEngineer]

If you haven't already, find out everything you can about Avnet. Be prepared to ask some intelligent questions about the company and its products. Let them know that you're interested in doing this kind of work after you graduate. Good luck!

 

[sjwaste]

What's the position for? It never hurts to not look awkward in your professional clothes while interviewing, which I've found is common for IT types when we bring them in. You'll set yourself apart if you can get used to the interview suit and be confident in it. But I'm making assumptions based on what you're saying that you may feel a bit awkward and maybe have never been on an interview before.

Give us some more info, but PE's is right, learn what you can about the company, and fill in the gaps between how the role you're interviewing for helps meet that company's objectives. Especially if its technical, it'll be impressive to know how you fit into the business.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm pretty comfortable in my interview dress, and this isn't for an IT position. My major is business (Supply Chain Management, but I come mostly from your Engineering and Science backgrounds) and Avnet is a huge supply chain management / distribution company for tech companies. ex. They take Intel and AMD stuff and distribute it to companies like Cisco and Flextronics. Supply chain is what they do, which is why I think this internship would be so valuable. There are other companies in the supply chain field, but they're probably a little too heavy on the logistics side (think 'trucking').

It's ridiculous the amount of activities that Avnet does. IT management. Logistics. Marketing for electronics. And all of the tens of value-added stuff that could be possibly done for their clients like everything involved with taking new products to market to maintaining products on the market to the back end performance assessment and support. Ugg. What do you do could probably be answered with "everything." Unfortunately, my major can theoretically encompass all of these things, as the supply chain can basically be managing everything from the raw materials to the end product and to even after the end product is put out onto the market.

 

[sjwaste]

In the absence of knowing the role you're looking to intern for, then, knowledge of their industry, core business areas, and business model (as you've started at) is something you'll definitely want to bring into the interview.

Sorry for assuming its a tech job, most people on here seem to be in that field. I was a business major too, and I'll tell you when you're interviewing, you will be treated like you're a dime a dozen, because realistically, you are. Tons of people become business majors because they want marketable skills without much effort, so be sure to tie what they do with what you think you can do for them, and also what you can learn from them, since its for an internship. Definitely dont come off cocky, don't spout buzzwords unless thats what they really want to talk about, and in general, just exert all the common sense you can pull together.

Do you have any skills that really stand out, things that most business majors from your school don't have? For instance, I came out of school very strong in econometrics and SAS, and definitely tried to bring some confidence that I could make sense of data, and it helped me find my first job. I never interned while in school, but I imagine the process is similar.

As an aside, funny thing is that I went into marketing, essentially doing data mining and developing predictive models, and it absolutely sucked, but it was at least close to what I wanted to really do (econometrics and business consulting). I ended up disliking my work to the point where I took another job doing more data warehousing type stuff, which took me further away from my goal, and now I'm trying to get back to the quantitative side (and doing a law degree at the same time, I want to work in securities). Moral is, if you know what you want, try to not settle for things outside or only tangential to that field. That's probably better than any interview advice I'm going to give you.

 

[BoomerD]

Since it sounds like you already know about the company in general, try to find out as much about the intern position as you can. What department, what kinds of duties might be expected in that position, software used by the company, anything that might help you to ask intelligent questions and answer questions asked of you intelligently.
As the interviewer has told you, they get tons of qualified applicants from the local area, you have to convince them that YOU are the right person for the job.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[Old Hippie]

Good Luck! :thumbsup:

 

[sjwaste]

Bump. Let us know how it went. Boomer's advice on coming up with some intelligent questions is important. No interviewer wants you to not ask questions, it demonstrates a lack of interest in what you're hearing.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

OMG I'm leaving in 1 hour

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!

*passes out*

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

How about these questions? I'm finding it difficult to generate questions because of my lack of real-world experience. Take me to a photography company and I can ask a bajillion questions off of the top of my head, but this is because I really know photography.

**What are Avnet's strengths and weaknesses compared to Arrow Electronics (their main competitor)? What are aspects of the business that the company wants to work on and improve?

**What is the organization's plan for the next five years? Any juicy strategies on the horizon?

**What's Avnet's management style and what's your corporate culture like?

**Are there any things that you want me to start preparing for? Like learning how to use a specific software or things to review?

**AMD isn?t doing so hot. How is this affecting Avnet? Good supply chain companies are closely knit with the companies they do business with. If AMD is hurting then I'm assuming Avnet is hurting as well. Any efforts to keep AMD afloat in this trying time?

 

[BoomerD]

I'm not sure I'd even mention the competition's name...might make them think you're...involved in some way...

 

[hanoverphist]

i wouldnt ask any questions like those, sounds like youre interviewing them instead of the other way around. id focus on questions about the internship, the process for whatever the field is and what the company is looking for.

but, since your interview is in 38 minutes or so, im guessing youre already on your way there. watch out for traffic, its a bear right now...

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Well, it went ok. I guess.

Arrived 15 minutes early. Had the list of questions on my PDA phone. I was really nervous.

She came down to the lobby to get me, we said hi, we made small talk as we walked through a little bit of the inside of the company and into a conference room. She went over briefly what Avnet did in more detail than any research I could have done, and asked if I had any questions.

Yup, the questions were odd. I had expected to meet with not only her but perhaps someone else. I felt silly asking a HR person these questions because they're more along the lines of something an executive would know. She didn't have the answer to any but the "what is your corporate culture like" question (I forgot to ask the "what things should I prepare for" question). She said she was impressed with my questions, and would make a note of them, but that she really wasn't the person to ask. I did my best to ask questions based on what she was telling me, but in the end the visit only lasted 30 minutes. When we walked out of the conference room I thought she was going to show me around the company some more but instead we went to the lobby and she wished me a safe journey.

So that was it. I walked out of the place feeling like I had somehow screwed up. During a moment of gridlock traffic I sent her an email saying thank you but also that I was sorry if I came off as if I were interrogating the company, and she replied by saying that she was impressed by my questions and that she would try to be better prepared next time

She did say though that I had something of an advantage because I'm one of only a very few people who has actually been to their headquarters and met with her, although I'm not sure how much of an advantage a 30 minute meeting really could be.