Is this strange?

[Maundie]

So I have accepted a new position with a company and have a start date of Monday, late last night the guy from the new company emailed me and said that a client the support would like a Technical Inteview with me today.

Has anyone else had a technical interview with a client, all previous roles I've had they have just sent me to site I think they assume the company I work for has done all the relevant skill checks.

 

[dowie]

Nope I can't say I've heard of that happening. Though sometimes people who are going to be working for clients will have their general profile etc.. communicated to the client (in the case of consultancy not everyone has the same billable rate) and the client can of course reject consultants before or indeed during the work/project. This isn't necessarily down to incompetence either. They sometimes might request specific people they've had on projects previously.

I guess if it for a support role then perhaps they've had people in the past who didn't have the skillset they wanted. I guess another example of this sort of thing might be a project where the client is some part of the government and require you to undergo clearance etc..

 

[Maundie]

Just had a chat with the guy from the company I am going to be working for and he said it's nothing really to worry about and it's the client making sure everything I've got on my CV I can back up.

I did say I was worried as I start my new job on Monday and how would he feel if one of the clients I would be working with decided they didn't want me on their account and he said I'll be fine as if I do what I did on my interview with him and the MD I'll walk it.

 

[FishThrower]

Bizarre request and puts you in a awkward position ... are you getting paid for it? Have you signed and sent the employment contract ?

 

[Maundie]

Ok update time, sorry I didn't come back this afternoon but been busy, anyhow it was just a few simple questions about how do you resolve a BSOD and also am I able to install Office 365 Apps, weird one was "How do you calm down an irate customer?"

Still felt a bit awkward trying to answer hypothetical questions without knowing my new companies procedures or the service level agreements.

 

[Screeeech]

I have actually seen this with some of the consulting firms in London, you get employed by the company as a perm, then they farm you out to a client for fixed time work or whatever, sometimes the client would have the option to interview that person to make sure they're right for the job. It is a bit weird but it's really just the client doing their due diligence, I guess..

 

[HangTime]

Nothing unusual to worry about here, I've done this from the other side of the fence (me as a client employee interviewing people the consultancy wants to place with us); the thing you need to understand is you will be getting billed out at a high rate probably in excess of £1000/day and the client wants to ensure they are getting people up the task rather than just some random lackey.

 

[Hades]

I've been the customer a few times and insisted on interviewing the personnel that the consultancy wants to place with me. It's not that unusual.