My Life in Oracle, an Interview with Paul Norris...by Kurt Howard

In the first of a series of Q&A sessions offering an insight into the working life of an Oracle EMEA employee, we talk to Paul Norris, Director IDM - EMEA Middleware Solutions Specialist Team. He is based in the UK.


1 How long have you worked at Oracle, in what capacity did you join and what is your current role?

5 years in March 2009. I joined Oracle as a Senior Sales Manager. My current role is Director IDM - EMEA Middleware Solutions Specialist Team.

2 How did you find yourself working at Oracle?

From the Oblix acquisition, our entry point into the Identity and Access Management (IAM) space.

3 What is it about Oracle that keeps you working here? What is it you enjoy about Oracle?

The variety, challenges and the success. For example, I lead the Oblix acquisition integration and all subsequent acquisitions in the IAM space.

4 What qualities and characteristics would you say Oracle look for in its potential employees?

Team player, committed, confident, flexible, able to take initiative, sense of fun and humour

5 How would you describe the Oracle culture?

Mature start-up! Whilst there is structure, systems and processes in place we are able to develop the business in a highly flexible environment of collaboration and co-operation. "Blue Sky" is over used but we do Blue Sky and some of the ideas actually work.

6 How would you say Oracle motivates its employees to be even more successful than they already are?

From my perspective, a very open relationship with my line management. Ability to work in a collaborative way across lines of business at all levels. Seniority/rank not being barriers to getting things done.

7 What opportunities can Oracle provide for its staff?

The size of Oracle and the way in which it is organised presents many opportunities for personal and career development.

8 How does Oracle support its staff?

Flexible working, such as being home based. This helps with work/life balance. This is a win-win as watching the clock is not something that enters my mind...if I need to be on call or travelling out of hours its not a problem. Likewise if I need to do personal errands during "working hours", these are accommodated.

9 What advice would you give to someone embarking on a career with Oracle?

Be open-minded, get used to "self service" systems, speak up, engage, contribute (even if the idea might seem crazy!), stay focused (can be difficult when spinning lots of plates) and enjoy yourself!

10 How would you summarise your experience at Oracle?

Challenging, exciting, demanding, rewarding and fun.

Thanks Paul, for giving us this opportunity to talk to you about your life in Oracle.

The author of this article has been with the Oracle EMEA Recruitment Team for the past two plus years and can be contacted at kurt.howard@oracle.com

Interviewing in 2009: Let’s get Ready….By Lucy Zhuang

You may have interviewed numerous times and gained solid interview skills in the past, in this article I want to share some of my experiences from a Recruiter’s point of view and share some ideas on interviewing successfully with Oracle.

1. Be prepared – I am not focusing on interview skills like eye contact, dressing accordingly, being confident, etc… Other than those, please really be ready for any single interview mentally. Don’t let good opportunities pass you by because you already have a wonderful job. I have some candidates who are not quite motivated to change their jobs currently, so they just go to interviews very casually without any preparation. If you are not motivated to move, tell the Recruiter politely that you would like to try some other opportunities later on. Don’t go to an interview knowing you are not ready to move from your current role. You may end up damaging your personal brand with that company and potentially lose the opportunity to explore future opportunities as you may be perceived (correctly or incorrectly) as “the sheep that cried wolf”.

2. Tell a story and paint a picture - Understand what behavioral based interviews measure. Behavioral based questions are designed to assess individual competencies by measuring your past successes. Using S.T.A.R. a well known and also my favorite method to give an example you can recount your experiences and provide examples of how you overcame challenges at work? I found many candidates with great experience failed to give good examples to demonstrate their experience. S.T.A.R method, that is Situation – Target - Action - and Result, can help you. Use one or two sentence each to describe the Situation and Target, put most emphasis on Action part, and one or two sentence to give the Result. This can make your example expressed in a clear and logical way.

3. Have an open communication with your Recruiter. The Recruiter should know the job requirements. Open and honest communication with Recruiters can definitely help you to win an opportunity. Many of my candidates try to collect information from their friends who used to work with Oracle or guess by themselves what we are looking for. Sometimes, the information is correct and helpful but sometimes not. Talk to the Recruiters directly if you have any questions or concerns regarding the position, and I am sure they are willing to help. The best thing to do is to have open and honest communication so we can ensure you have the information you need to be successful.

4. Write a “Thank you” letter promptly after the interview. In China, it is not very popular to write a Thank You letter however, a Thank You letter is not meant just to say Thank You but you can also highlight or re-emphasize some of your skills/experience required that you noticed the hiring managers focus on during the interview. It is a professional and polite way to engage with the Company and genuinely thank someone for their time.

The author of this article has been with the Oracle China Recruitment Team for the past two years and can be contacted on lucy.zhuang@oracle.com