Lean Specialist Job Interview - Revision & Question

[8balluk]

hi all,

ive just been told that i am going to be asked for an interview for my dream job. Lean Specialist with a view of going into Senior Management within 3 / 4 Years. I really want to be has prepared as possible. I ve applied the vast majority of lean tools within my career so i believe i can cover any question they may throw at me from that point of view.

Im a bit concerned about the high level view of lean as i have always been the 'Hands on' engineer. Things like CI Strategy, strategic alignment, etc is going to be my downfall has i have not had that exposure. Anybody know any good websites, potential questions that may arise, what approach should i take within the interview etc.

Thanks in advance
C

 

[Wes Bucey]

hi all,

ive just been told that i am going to be asked for an interview for my dream job. Lean Specialist with a view of going into Senior Management within 3 / 4 Years. I really want to be has prepared as possible. I ve applied the vast majority of lean tools within my career so i believe i can cover any question they may throw at me from that point of view.

Im a bit concerned about the high level view of lean as i have always been the 'Hands on' engineer. Things like CI Strategy, strategic alignment, etc is going to be my downfall has i have not had that exposure. Anybody know any good websites, potential questions that may arise, what approach should i take within the interview etc.

Thanks in advance
C

One guy I respect on the topic of Lean is George Alukal from ASQ, one of the founders of the Lean Division (asq.org/le) of ASQ.

He wrote an article 9 years ago as an overview of Lean which is available with free registration from Quality Progress, the ASQ official magazine at
http://asq.org/pub/qualityprogress/past/0403/qp0403alukal.html

You don't really say whether this interview is for the company you currently work for (transfer or promotion) or for a different employer. In either case, when George and I talked in the past, we agreed that Deming's System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK), correctly deployed, was a valuable adjunct to implementing Lean in any organization. Succinctly, this means "know as much as possible about the organization, its products, its customers, its competitors, and its position in regard to regulatory bodies to help determine whether Lean techniques may offer improvement in any segment of the organization."

The situation with ANY job interview requires the candidate sell his value to the organization. It's a thin line between selling value and bragging. You might want to practice with some friends who will give you an honest review whether you come across as knowledgeable and valuable or as bloated braggart.

On the other side of the coin, if the candidate is too shy or reticent, he won't be viewed as leader material.