In a recent article in Inc. Magazine, Peter Guber discusses the art of storytelling. Storytelling is an essential tool in thinking about the interview preparation process.
Gruber defines purposeful storytelling as “a story you tell with a specific purpose in mind. So when you tell a joke, you want make someone laugh, or if you tell a story about someone who had a hear attack it may be because you want the listener to exercise.”
The job interview is no different. Your intention is to convince the interviewer that you are an excellent fit for the position and someone others will enjoy working with. Begin with this goal in mind and this will shape the strategy of every story you provide for your interview responses. Above all else remember “the goal of your story must be to show what is in it for the listeners” (or in this case the company rep).
I was recently helping a client with a cover letter and he kept coming back to me with more things to include; everything from foreign language skills and a computer programming course he had taken, to a leadership position his freshman year in college. I find that clients are constantly wanting to put MORE into the cover letter, while my role is to remove as much useless information as I can.
When you approach a resume or a cover letter from a personal standpoint the tendency is to include way too many skill sets. A successful cover letter, however, includes targeted skills sets (for the job at hand) and includes specific demonstrated results for each skill listed (stories).
Concise. Specific. Tailored. These are three ingredients to a successful cover letter.
An update on college hiring for 2011 from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Job Function
Average Salary Offer
Accounting (private)
$50,708
Consulting
$59,933
Accounting (public)
$45,395
Financial/treasury analysis
$52,689
Sales
$42,162
Investment banking (sales and trading)
$65,291
Management trainee (entry-level mgmt.)
$43,297
*Where more than 20 offers were reported
Source: NACE Winter 2011 Salary Survey. Data represent job functions for which the most data were reported; all data are for bachelor’s degree candidates.
If you are preparing for a career in finance or just want to learn more about the stock market you may have noticed the enormous amount of material on the internet and at bookstores. Most of this information is not worth the paper it’s printed on.
Save yourself some time and focus on the best books. The following are ten excellent books on finance, economics, and investing. The list contains a mixture of textbooks, humorous accounts of the industry, as well as guides from the top investment professionals. And now, in no particular order…
Monkey Business (Rolfe and Troob) – A classic book recounting investment banking war stories. Provides an insider’s perspective of what goes on behind closed doors on Wall Street.
Liar’s Poker (Lewis) – A humorous account of the Sales and Trading floor at Salomon Brothers. A must read for any future banker.
When Genius Failed (Lowenstein) – Analysis of how Long-Term Capital Management- the highly acclaimed hedge fun- failed (the fund lost $4.6B in the span of 4 months in 1994).
Financial Analysis for Managers (Higgins) – Popular Finance Textbook.
Principles of Corporate Finance (Brealey and Meyers) – Popular Finance Textbook.
The Intelligent Investor (Graham) – Originally published in 1949, this is the classic guide to “value investing”. As Warren Buffet says, “by far the best book on investing ever written.”
Irrational Exuberance (Shiller) – An excellent introduction to behavioral economics and the irrationality with which investors approach the markets. Originally written in 2000 as a warning about the rising stock market which eventually crashed.
Stocks for the Long Run (Siegel) – One of the best known books on stock market investing. Evaluates the history of the stock market and makes a case for investing in stocks.
A Random Walk Down Wall Street (Malkiel) -Burton Malkiel argues that the stock market is essentially efficient and that investing in individual stocks is a silly proposition.
This Time is Different (Reinhart, Rogoff) – This recent book explores the history of financial downturns. It argues that there are clear patterns and understanding them can help us avoid future recessions.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hearing Wendy Kopp, founder and CEO of Teach for America, speak about her new book: A Change to Make History. Most people know the amazing story of Teach for America and the impact the organization has had on low-income communities.
However, what really resonated for me in her speech was the idea of Transformational Leadership. In a nutshell, Wendy explained that she was not that impressed with “good schools”, whose students were already on the trajectory of going to college. That isn’t transformational. What is highly impressive is schools in low-income communities or teachers in low-performing schools changing the trajectory of their students – putting them on the path to college despite the circumstances around them making that path very unlikely.
These same lessons of transformational leadership and changing the trajectory can be applied to our own work as well, or to a job search, or even personal relationships. Are we simply executing that which already is headed in a certain direction or are we truly adding value and transforming something in a positive way?
It’s not enough to simply have a LinkedIn account. Are you getting the most out of it? Are you using it proactively for your jobs search? At a minimum you should have a complete profile and constantly be adding contacts as you meet new people that could be helpful in your job search. Here is a quick glance at some helpful LinkedIn features:
1) LinkedIn Groups- LinkedIn has thousands of networking groups. Start by adding industry specific groups and alumni organizations. The benefit of joining a group is that you can follow discussions from that group as well as message people within the group (even if they are not a contact).
2) LinkedIn Company Research- LinkedIn allows you to search by company. This will list all of your contacts that currently work at that company, have previously worked at that company and friends of friends connected to companies. One interesting feature is the ability to see where most people work that have worked at that particular company. This will allow you to expand your job search as you find related companies in the industry.
3) LinkedIn Answers- This question-answer section is a great place to meet people and build your expertise. Start by answering questions about topics you know a lot about or posting a question to start a discussion. Follow topics of interest.
4) LinkedIn Recommendations- Recommendations show up on your profile and are linked directly to the person providing the recommendation. As you receive recommendations you can choose whether or not to make them visible on your profile. The best way to get recommendations from people is by giving recommendations to others. Make a plan to give several recommendations each week.
You signed up for the career fair at 11:48PM, 12 minutes before the deadline.
You show up 30 minutes late, under-dressed, shirt hanging out of your pants, and one copy of a resume folded into 4 pieces.
You walk around with no direction looking for popular booths and names that you recognize “Goldman”, “BCG”, “CIA”.
You wait in line for 30 minutes to ask a stupid question, “Are you hiring for the summer? What type of background are you looking for?”
You leave the career fair with five new pens, a t-shirt you will never wear, and absolutely no new prospects.
Want to stand out? It is actually incredibly simple. Research employers beforehand, ask smart questions, bring multiple copies of your resume. Practice a pitch about yourself that includes something interesting. Ask for business cards and follow up with employers after the fair.
The last five minutes of the interview is your chance to ask questions. There is nothing more embarrassing than being caught off guard with nothing intelligent to say. It’s one thing to struggle with interview questions that you are not expecting, but in this part of the interview you should have excellent questions prepared.
Here are a few tips for asking excellent questions at the end of an interview:
1) Do not ask about how you did in the interview.
2) Do not ask about work/life balance.
3) Do not ask anything about personal life.
4) Do not ask generic questions that make it seem that you know little about the role/company.
5) Research the company and the industry thoroughly to ask targeted questions.
6) Try to include articles/books you have read if they relate to to the organization to show your passion for the industry.
Interviewers are people. They are excited by interesting people and they are bored by boring people. The top candidate is almost never the person who has the best “technical skills”. It is the person who has intellect, passion, and exciting experiences. I want to hire someone that I would enjoy having dinner with or drinking a beer with.
In my interviews, I always mention my backpacking adventures in Southeast Asia, India, and South America. I always mention my high school debate experience and love of chess, backgammon, and Risk. Interviewers can relate to these experiences, they want to ask more questions about them and hear my stories. These connections and experiences are what ultimately lead to job offers.
The job search is similar to the Super Bowl in several ways.
1) You don’t just wake up and find yourself playing in the national championship game. The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers worked hard all season and defeated tough opponents to make it to the Super Bowl. Similarly, you don’t just wake up and find yourself interviewing for the job of your dreams. It takes careful planning, preparation, and hard work to make it to the big day.
2) Making it to the Super Bowl is not enough- the teams are there to win the game. They carefully prepare before the game by analyzing the opponents strategy, picking apart the offense and defense, and finding vulnerabilities that can be attacked. Interview day also takes careful preparation. Candidates should research the organization thoroughly and figure out how they can add value in the position.
3) Winners Win. In sports and in the job search process winners win. Those individuals that are well prepared for interviews are more successful in the interview process, which continues to build confidence and translates into interview success.
