ips: tech · backwards, i decided to get my mba at wharton because of the program’s emphasis on...

KNOWLEDGE FOR ACTION

IPS: TECH Samuel Jones

MBA Career Management

December 2015


Agenda • Inspiration

─ Senior executives modeling great answers

• Research

─ Analyze Job Description and match to your resume experience ─ Wharton insights: Summer Surveys, CareerPath Notes, Student Memos,

Alumni Perspectives & Past interview Questions ─ Industry Trends – deep dive on the industry ─ Company SWOT Interview Preparation – deep dive on the company

• Skills

─ 5 Most Asked Questions ─ STAR – Behavioral Interviews ─ Case Framework ─ Follow up

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Senior Executives Modeling Great Answers

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SN, SS, JW Question

Satya Nadella, Microsoft

How to talk about a company’s aspirations? • What is the high-level description? • How is it elaborated?

Sheryl Sandberg, facebook

How to make the product better? • What is the problem? • How did fb address the problem?

Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn

How to communicate high-level aspirations? • What is the vision? • How does he believe the vision will be

achieved?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0nhqOnsRcg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b72A4rdsuV8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQdJ39Kyq7A

Senior Executives Modeling Great Answers

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SN, SS, JW Question

Satya Nadella, Microsoft

How to talk about a company’s aspirations? • “Empowering every person and organization

on the planet to achieve more.” • A learning, living culture; a culture informed

by the research of a “Growth Mindset”

Sheryl Sandberg, facebook

How to make the product better? • Need to get trust right • Past: Too many options around privacy • Solution: Simplify the options, have them

visible when writing a post

Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn

How to communicate high-level aspirations? • Economic opportunity for every member of

the global workforce • Develop the world’s first economic graph

connecting people, companies, jobs and universities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0nhqOnsRcg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b72A4rdsuV8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQdJ39Kyq7A


RESEARCH


Tech Team Curated Resources

Road to the Internship

ONLINE -Tech Page

-Monthly Coaching Letter -Student Memos

-Interview Questions -MBACM Company Insights

-Alumni Insights

WORKSHOPS -Industry chat

-Big 6 -Next 15

-Navigating the Enterprise Job Search -Interview Prep Workshop

-Fireside Chats

BIG EVENTS -NYC Treks

-West Coast Treks -Wharton Tech Conference

-Semester in SF

ONE-ON-ONE -Office Hours

-Scheduled Appointments -Career Fellow Mock

Interviews

MBACM GENERAL RESOURCES Online

-CareerPath Profile -Job Search Agents -Industry Communications -Resume Book

-Job Board -Offer Directory -Spike -LinkedIn

Workshops -Tune up Your Pitch

-Resume Book Training

Employer Events -Employer Information Sessions (EIS)

-Coffee Chats -Interviews

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Analyze Job Description

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Review Summer Surveys Find Summer Surveys in

the Offer Directory on the MBACM website

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https://mbacareers.wharton.upenn.edu/student/index.cfm


Company Notes, Student Memos, Alumni Perspectives, & Interview Questions

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Employer Directory Company name Notes on CareerPath

https://wharton-csm.symplicity.com/students/


TECH INDUSTRY PAGE

MBACM Site Research Tools Research by Industry Technology Industries

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https://students.mbacareers.wharton.upenn.edu/job-search-resources/research/research-industry/technology-industries/








Company SWOT: Interview Preparation

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Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

PROCESS: 1. Build a SWOT Preparation for each A-List company 2. Find 10 sources

• >5 Analyst reports • ~1 Sr. Executive Video (>15 min.) • ~2 Articles • ~2 current/former employees • 10-k

3. Topics: products, customers/users/markets, operation, revenue, competitors 4. Fill-in the chart 5. Ask yourself how the chart relates to the role you applied to?


Sample LinkedIn SWOT (from 2013)

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Strengths

• Leading professional social network • Hiring solutions disruptive to online job

market • Barrier to entry = network effect • Value to recruiters depends on data, not

on user engagement

Weaknesses

• LinkedIn members less engaged than other social networks

• Hiring solutions susceptible to economic conditions

• Concentrated usage by a minority of users

Opportunities

• $50bn gap between online internet usage

and ad spend • Expansion into B2C online advertising • Under-monetized internationally • Well positioned for shift to mobile • Still room to grow user base (LinkedIn

membership is 27% of professional workforce)

• Students and recent college graduates = fastest growing member segment

Threats

• Competition • Heavy investments in technology to

upgrade product • Increase in international sales force size -

longer productivity ramp up in less mature markets

• Balance user needs with recruiter and marketer needs. User wins out.


SKILLS


5 Most Asked Questions (1000 Questions) 1. Walk me through your resume. (Drill down questions into a few bullets)

2. What is a tech product that you love? How would you improve it?

3. Why do you want to work in technology?

• E.g., Passion and interest • E.g., Data-driven

4. Why our company?

• Aspirational element of their vision • Product • Customer • Culture

5. Why this function?

• Career enhancing • Career switching

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WALK ME THROUGH YOUR RESUME – SAMPLE #1

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• Option #1: Start with the role you want and work backwards – I am very interested in becoming a PM at a company like Amazon. As I walk

you through my resume, I’ll make some connections back to this goal. Working

backwards, I decided to get my MBA at Wharton because of the program’s

emphasis on analytics and specifically customer analytics. Prior to Wharton, I

was a Producer at Riot Games where I worked closely with our engineering

team and our Community Managers to help connect user insights with new

game features such as virtual goods. While it was interesting to sell virtual

goods, I came to realize that I wanted to move in the direction of eCommerce

and sell actual goods.

State role & and roadmap that you will connect resume to that role Work backwards Virtual goods to traditional eCommerce

TIPS

Pros Cons

• Starting point: What is on the mind of the interviewer (why you want the job and why you are qualified) and connect the dots for him/her

• Demonstrate that you researched the role and company

• You may not be able to lead with a “hook” or strongest attribute



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• Option #2: Start by stating 3 themes relevant to the company – As I go through my resume, I want to highlight three themes that have driven

decisions I have made about my career: user-insights, cross-functional teams

and new technologies. Prior to coming to Wharton, I was a Producer at Riot

Games, in this role I worked very closely with our Community Managers to gain

user-insights which is very similar to Amazon’s customer-centricity. At Riot, we

always considered the user first when creating new game features […]

State three themes Work backward or forward User-insights and customer-centricity

TIPS

Pros Cons

• Highlight the three most important things about your candidacy

• Easy for the interviewer to follow

• Does not allow for sequential story telling as other options



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• Option #3: Start from undergrad or before – I grew up in California outside of Los Angeles. After graduating from high

school, I went to UCLA where I majored in Marketing at the Anderson School.

While I was at UCLA, I did two internships at Clorox and Riot Games. After

graduating from college I joined Riot Games as a Producer where I worked

closely with our engineering team and our Community Managers to help

connect user insights with new game features such as virtual goods. While it

was interesting to sell virtual goods, I came to realize that I wanted to move in

the direction of eCommerce and sell actual goods. This lead me to my decision

to come Wharton for my MBA. At Wharton, I am an organizer for an analytics

panel at the Tech Conference and I am a Student Life fellow. My goal after

Wharton is to join Amazon in the RLD or PM program.

Start with undergrad or prior Work forwards with your first job Virtual goods to traditional eCommerce Wharton Goal of joining

Amazon

TIPS

Pros Cons

• Provide a lot of detail • Sequential story is easy to tell and

prepare

• Risk losing the attention of the interviewer who is waiting for you to get to the point

• A lot of potentially irrelevant information


STAR Framework for Behavioral Questions

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STAR Framework Assumption: past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior

“Tell me about a time that you…”

Situation • Describe the context of a specific event or situation from your past • Establish big picture and background information • Provide enough detail for the interviewer to understand • E.g., from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, Wharton

experience, or any relevant event

Task • Summarize your specific role, contribution or obstacle to overcome

Action • Describe the action you took • Use more “I” than “we” language, even if discussing a group

project or effort • Don't tell what you might do, tell what you did • Highlight your skills and expertise most relevant to the interviewer

Result • What happened? • How did the event end? • What did you accomplish? • What did you learn?


Sample Behavioral Questions

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Category Questions

Influence Tell me about a time when you had to convince others.

Ambiguity Tell me about a time when you made a decision with limited data.

Conflict Tell me about a time you had conflict on a team.

Problem Solving/ Analytics

Tell me about a time when you had to solve a complicated problem.

Leadership Tell me about a leadership experience.

Accomplishment Tell me about an accomplishment.

Failure Tell me about a time when you failed / made a mistake.

Bonus Tip: plan to tell an interesting & unique story to be memorable & differentiate yourself. For example, MBACM once interviewed a candidate who had been mistakenly kidnapped for ransom while he was an expat on assignment in LatAm.


Mini-Cases: What Do They Assess?

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• Problem solving – Structured thinking – Creativity

• Communication – Collaborative – Clear, concise

• Knowledge – Industry knowledge that you can bring

to the discussion – Technical/function knowledge and skills


Formal vs. Mini-Case

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FORMAL CASE

Goal: understand and frame the problem

Focus: process

1. Take notes

2. Make no assumptions

3. Ask questions

4. Listen to the answers you get

5. Maintain eye contact

6. Take your time (30 minutes)

7. Lay out a road map for your interviewer

8. Think out loud

9. Present your thinking in a clear, logical manner. Where useful, use frameworks and business concepts to organize your answer.

10. Quickly summarize your conclusions

MINI - CASE

Goal: present a plausible solution

Focus: smart content (demonstrate knowledge of their business, tech trends, tech products) creatively (combine outside knowledge with the problem) communicated (clear, concise, passion)

1. Take notes

2. Make assumptions – it is not about asking the right questions

3. Ask questions

4. Listen to the answers you get

5. Maintain eye contact

6. Take your time (2-5 min.)

7. Quickly frame your response (1 sentence)

8. Think out loud

9. Present your thinking in a clear, logical manner. Where useful, use frameworks and business concepts to organize your answer. (Use a framework, but don’t sound like a textbook, flow naturally)

10. Quickly summarize your conclusions (one or two sentences) Sources: Formal Case = Vault; Mini-Case = MBACM


Tech Mini - Case Sample Questions

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Function Sample Questions Product First day on the job and I want you to develop a new search engine, what

factors would you consider?

MKTG How would you market the Surface tablet to an 80 year old senior citizen?

OPS Why would we ship iMacs via sea, but iPhones via airplane? (What's the motivation behind that?)

Finance Pretend I'm the product manager for Bing Maps, and you are a finance person who is thinking about shutting down Maps if its projected profitability is too low. I have all the data you need. What would you ask me?

Biz Dev. Who should Facebook think about partnering with?

Corp. Dev. What factors would you think about when evaluating a private company? Public? What are some of the areas Cisco should think about expanding into for growth?

Corp. Strategy Talk me through a go-to-market strategy for new software product.


SAMPLE MINI-CASE


SAMPLE MINI-CASE

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• Questions: How would you market the Surface tablet to an 80-year old senior citizen?

1. Let’s think about the end user and make some assumptions about who is our customer within this demographic

• Mid to high socio-economic bracket (=access to broadband, cost of device) • Retired (likely not using the Surface for work purposes) • Open to new experiences (willing to learn how to use the device) • Aspiration of live full and textured lives in senior years

2. Most probable uses • Communication (keeping up with family members)

- Skype - Email - Social Networks

• Entertainment - Film & TV - Games

• News & Information

Answer provided by an alumnus who interviews using tech mini-cases


SAMPLE MINI-CASE (CONT.)

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• Questions: How would you market the Surface tablet to an 80 year old senior citizen?

3. Advertising campaign • TV commercial of a grandfather communicating through Skype using a Surface

tablet with his grandson in a college dorm room using Skype on his Xbox. • Magazine print of same narrative of grandfather connecting with grandson • Newspaper print ad of female senior citizen sitting at her outside patio with flower

bed in the background using Bing on her Surface to look up some gardening tips.

4. To give a quick summary. I would target mid-high socio-economic seniors with TV and print campaigns showing active senior citizens using the Surface to connect with family, and enjoy learning and leisure activities.

Answer provided by an alumnus who interviews using tech mini-cases


SAMPLE FORMAL CASE


SAMPLE FORMAL CASE

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• Question: If LinkedIn wanted to develop an offering for college admissions officers to help facilitate undergraduate admissions, what product features would you include?

• Tip: In general I like to structure my thoughts in terms of the following frameworks: 1. Industry (5 forces) 2. 5 C’s of Marketing / running a business in general (Customer, Competitor, Company, Collaborator, Context) 4 P’s of Implementation (Product, Price, Promotion, Place)

1. Understand College Admissions Officers – Always start by understanding the customer

– Size the total addressable market of college admissions budgets in different regions / countries. Estimate revenue to LinkedIn.

– Research into admission officers pain points (Focus group to understand what’s broken about undergrad admission process and why, surveys to get broader feedback, perhaps an ethnographic study to dig into day-in-the-life)

– Understand the industry: What other players are there, what is the industry size, 5 forces of colleges recruitment industry

Answer provided by an alumnus who interviews using formal tech cases


SAMPLE FORMAL CASE (CONT.)

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2. Competitive Analysis – Identify competitors, what they do, how much they charge, compare products &

services to LinkedIn’s – Identify potential collaborators and partners in adjacent services (i.e. admissions

consultants, college applicant tracking systems), how they would interact with LinkedIn



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3. Product

– Do we have existing products at LinkedIn that can be repurposed for admissions officers?

– What do we need to create from scratch, what companies are doing this that we could

acquire?

– We could think about college recruitment as a 3 stage cycle. Possible ideas to address each

stage:

• Attract the right candidates: Targeted advertisements to high school students on LinkedIn

homepage and profile pages, LinkedIn Career Pages can be used to dynamically target

the right high school candidates, Use LinkedIn Recruiter product to identify ideal

candidates and invite them to events, Admissions officers can use LinkedIn’s Mobile

CheckIn tool to record all candidates they meet

• Select the right candidates: LinkedIn doesn’t have many offerings in the interview /

applicant tracking space. Do we need to explore whether to create something, acquire a

product, etc?

• Retain the right candidates: LinkedIn Groups – how do college admissions officers want

to use these to market to those who have been admitted?



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4. Price: – Figure out customers’ willingness to pay in different customer segments /

countries (focus groups, experiments) – Benchmark against competitor pricing – Calculate marginal cost to LinkedIn of up-keeping this product, as the floor



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5. Packaging: – Instead of offering a bunch of separate products, how can we package them

altogether as one product + service offering targeted toward college admissions officers?

– Will packages be segmented by spend level, customer needs, or some other criteria? Can we create dynamic packages that change depending on your segment?

– What country / regional variation do we need to consider for packages?

6. Place / Distribution: What % do college admissions officers travel? Would a mobile version of these products / services help?


Tie it all together – Sample interview research prep.

https://mbacareers.wharton.upenn.edu/student/files/LinkedIn_Research_-_Sample_Research.pdf

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Thank You and Follow-up • Finish the interview by reiterating that you are very interested in the job

• Thank the interviewer

• Follow up with a brief email:

− Play back a key point you learned from the interviewer about the company or role Share something that resonated with you. (e.g., “When you talked

about the goals of the Economic Graph it really resonated with me because …)

Do not evaluate the interview or interviewer (e.g., “You asked excellent questions.”)

− Restate your interest in the job

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Q&A

5 Most Asked Questions

Company SWOT

STAR

Cases

Wharton Resources: Summer Surveys, Company Notes, Interview Questions

Job Descriptions

Industry Trends

Thank You

ips: tech · backwards, i decided to get my mba at wharton because of the program’s emphasis on...

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