Fino Unveils Four (Unusual) Interview Tactics To Land Your Dream Technology Job

NEW YORK, June 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Trying to secure a job can be difficult a process, especially in the technology sector. Yes, education and work experience are important factors, but what happens when you are interviewing against people with the same backgrounds and skills? Fino, a leading provider of application design, development and consulting services to Fortune 1000 organizations, shares its take on what makes applicants stand out during the interview process. When interviewing individuals for full-time positions, as well as its 2014 summer internship program, four unusual tactics helped some candidates stand apart from the rest.

• The "reverse interview" – According to QA Lead Gustad Mody, "I looked for candidates that interviewed me back rather than the ones just asking scripted questions. Those who truly interviewed me and the company were at the top of my list." Mody says insightful questions are also a way to stand out. "One candidate showed a real curiosity about Fino's culture, asking, 'What makes you excited to work at Fino?' Others showed genuine interest behind their questions by probing deeper beyond my own initial responses."
• Collaborative spirit – Group interviews are not only a chance to show off your individual skills, but also how well you can work on a team. According to Andrea Berlin, Director of Product and Innovation, "We looked for collaborators and people who were more willing to work as a unit rather than trying to boast about their own accomplishments on the tasks we gave them."
• Curiosity and Desire to Learn – "Some of the attributes we look for in candidates are curiosity, a desire to learn, and the ability to quickly pick up new tools, languages, and approaches. When we tell candidates that we require our development interns to work in a language they don't already know, they either love it or hate it. The ones that are excited by the challenge and opportunity are the right fit for our team," says Christian Jungers, Fino's Chief Technology Officer.
• Non-verbal cues – "Smiling. Smiling shows amicability to me, and I think that's a huge necessity in the workplace," says Jimmy Marsanico, Data Scientist at Fino.

Using these guidelines as well as others, Fino recently welcomed seven applicants to its summer internship program, running from June 2^nd through August 8^th. The seven candidates came from such prestigious schools as Carnegie Mellon University, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, Columbia University and Durham University. Together, the intern class will make up a cross-functional team including one product manager, one UX designer, one data scientist and four software engineers.

"We don't just look for someone who checks the boxes during an interview. We want someone who is a little quirky and brings something unique to our team," said Brian Fino, Founder and CEO of Fino. "The interns we selected showed they had that 'X' factor, just like all our full-time employees. This internship provides a real-world work experience within a rich collaborative culture proven to drive innovation and learning. We bring our interns into our organization making them part of our team and look to them to guide us as much as we plan to guide them."

The 2014 summer intern team will be presented with a set of real market problems, and will work together to determine which one to solve. Working within an Agile framework, the team will develop a real product to meet market needs. Fino employees will provide guidance throughout the summer and will help the intern class to iterate its solutions. The project will then be deployed for real world testing, and users will provide feedback throughout the summer. At the end of the internship, the team will present and demonstrate its completed product, and provide a roadmap for a second version. While 80 percent of the team's time will be spent on this new product, the remainder of the internship will be focused on learning how the Fino team operates and how it delivers business technology solutions for its customers.

To learn more about Fino or track the intern class' progress, please visit http://blog.finoconsulting.com.

About Fino
Founded in 2006, Fino provides application design, development and consulting services to Fortune 1000 organizations. Fino services a wide-range of industries including energy, media, education technology, retail, financial services and professional services organizations. Fino is committed to increasing the profitability and organizational efficiencies of its clients by helping them determine and implement the best technology strategies to meet their business goals. The company is headquartered in New York City. For more information, visit www.finoconsulting.com.

Contact: Steven Melfi, 347-491-5948, [email protected] 

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