Skip to contentSkip to footer
  • Community
  • Jobs
  • Companies
  • Salaries
  • For employers
      Notifications

      Loading...

      Elevate your career

      Discover your earning potential, land dream jobs, and share work-life insights anonymously.

      employer cover photo
      employer logo
      employer logo

      SPI Lasers

      Part of TRUMPF

      Is this your company?

      About
      Reviews
      Pay and benefits
      Jobs
      Interviews
      Interviews
      Related searches: SPI Lasers reviews | SPI Lasers jobs | SPI Lasers salaries | SPI Lasers benefits
      SPI Lasers interviewsSPI Lasers Head of IT interviewsSPI Lasers interview


      Glassdoor

      • About / Press
      • Awards
      • Blog
      • Research
      • Contact Us
      • Guides

      Employers

      • Free Employer Account
      • Employer Centre
      • Employers Blog

      Information

      • Help
      • Guidelines
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy and Ad Choices
      • Do Not Sell Or Share My Information
      • Cookie Consent Tool
      • Security

      Work With Us

      • Advertisers
      • Careers
      Download the App

      • Browse by:
      • Companies
      • Jobs
      • Locations
      • Communities
      • Recent posts

      Copyright © 2008-2026. Glassdoor LLC. "Glassdoor," "Worklife Pro," "Bowls" and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor LLC.

      Followed companies

      Stay ahead in opportunities and insider tips by following your dream companies.

      Job searches

      Get personalised job recommendations and updates by starting your searches.

      Head of IT Interview

      24 Aug 2017
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Southampton, England
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at SPI Lasers (Southampton, England) in Aug 2017

      Interview

      Primarily telephone screening by the recruiting company, followed by referral and CV submission to the employer. 1st round interviews: - Interview duration 2 x 45 minute sessions - Interview 1 with the CFO, Interview 2 with an HR rep. One-to-ones in each case. 2nd round would have been psychometric testing, with the 3rd round being back to the CFO and meeting other senior managers in the organisation - it wasn't made clear whether this would be by a series of 1-2-1's or a panel interview, nor whether a presentation would be required. Interview style was conversational - CFO focused his time in explaining the company, detailing the specifics of manufacturing different types of lasers - all the stuff you already knew from the research you had carried out. It did not appear that this phase of the interview had any particular structure, as conversation wandered from subject to subject. CFO avoided questions on the foreign operations, despite repeated and varied ways of asking questions - maybe because one location is China and another is Korea - would not answer whether that is N or S !! This was unfortunate, as a reasonable slice of my offering would have encompassed remote (international) system operations along with business continuity planning and disaster recovery. HR interview followed in a similar vein; but a little more questioning about the people skills - they clearly have a disaffected employee who needs handling, as was alluded to at interview, but scant regard paid to my efforts to demonstrate how I have handled this before. I faced no questions or focus on strategy, technical competence, project management skills, budget dimensions etc from previous jobs. Very strange! Feedback from the interview process was amazing - I totally failed to recognise myself ! - apparently I lack vision and dynamism...even though I have been a successful Head of IT or IT Director for nearly 25 years! I was also surprised to hear that there is a strong internal candidate who is also under consideration - not least of all, because it had been made clear that this new position had arisen purely because of the lack of a suitable internal candidate. Personally, I do seriously believe that my lack of progress here was due to ageism....lets just say I'm over 45, and have a CV which demonstrates that I could do this job standing on my head. ...Oh, by the way - don't write a letter of thanks to your interviewer - The recruiter advised that They don't like this "old fashioned stuff" - I'd call it a common courtesy and good manners myself, something that I demand from staff who report to me, and expect from my employers. So on that basis, looks like I dodged a bullet there!

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      What can I bring to the company
      Answer question

      Bowls

      Get actionable career advice tailored to you by joining more bowls.

      Company Bowl sample

      Want the inside scoop on your own company?

      Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.