Sunita Rao, BEA Systems Date:   Monday , July 03, 2006 Sunita Rao HR Manager, BEA Systems, Enterprise Infrastructure Software maker Headcount: 180 What I like: I would rate stability of the candidate as the first priority. By stability I mean his tenure in companies where he has previously worked. This shows his commitment. In any interview we ask the techie indirectly whether or not he will stay with this company for long. We can gauge his willingness to stay in this company for a long time by his replies. The second important factor I look for in a candidate is his attitude. He may be technically brilliant person but if he has a poor attitude, he’s a misfit and cannot motivate or work with the team. The third is the person’s team playing skills. He should be good in software skills and should be a good team performer too. He should believe in “my success is also team’s success.” What I don’t like: Arrogance, negative and pessimistic attitude. I also do not like techies shifting jobs very often. No matter how good he is in his skills, unless he sticks to one job for a fairly long time, we cannot trust him. That only shows he’s either confused or jumps companies for hikes. I also dislike people who don’t have attributes of team—leaders. In an interview, a person should answer to the point and not haphazard way. We ask structured questions and expect structured answers. Besides, they should not lie during an interview. Like when we ask hobbies, they tell they like reading but when we ask more about recent books or the authors they have read, they just feign ignorance.