Daniel Frei for ETH Entrepreneur Club Mai 6, 2015

Breakfast meeting on job interviews

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Have you ever walked away from a job interview wondering what you could or should have done

differently?

Are you at a crossroads in your academic or professional career and seeking advice on how to figure out what to do better for your interview?

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„Eighty percent of success is showing up.“

Woody Allen

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„The person who gets the gig is the person who knows how to

hang. Nobody hires you because you’re the best musician.“

Larry Legend

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Secret for Success-> be 2 out of 3 

U stay in bizz if u are:- easy to get along with- deliver good woork

- deliver on time

Njoy the ride! Don't worry, let go.

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There are two rules for success…

1. Never reveal everything you know.

Programm

Me Expectations

You Inspiration

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Expectations

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You

You• Whats the problem? • What are you scared of? • What can happen, what has happened, what have your

heard of?

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First, understand that all interviewers are attempting to evaluate the following:

• How skilled you are and how you applied these skills on the job

• If what you've accomplished is comparable to what needs to be accomplished

• How you’d fit with the team, work well with the hiring manager, and fit with the company “culture”

• Your level of drive, initiative, and motivation • Your upside potential

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Process• Before

– Research – Questions – Clothing & Grooming – Timing – CV

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Process• While

– Be early not on time – Body Language – Complement – Say yes to a Coffee but dont ask for IT – Attitude: Be confident, not overconfident, stay cool and friendly – Questions goes both ways – Ask for how to proceed

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Process• After • Keep promises • Wait

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SAFW – just Say A Few Words• To format your basic answers

– start by making a general opening Statement, – Amplify or clarify this opening with a few sentences, – then provide a Few examples to prove your opening point. – End your answer with a summary Wrap-up and some hooks to

get the interviewer to ask a logical follow-up question.

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Give SMARTT Examples• For the example chosen,

• describe the Specific task; • throw in some Metrics to add color, scope, and scale; • add Action verbs describing what you Actually did; • define the Result as a deliverable; • put a Timeframe around the task, describing when it took place and

how long it took; • describe the Team involved; and then describe the environment

including the pace, the resources available, the challenges involved, and role your boss played.

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Use STAR• This is an alternative approach for interviewers asking

behavioral questions. • When they ask you to give an example of when you used

some behavior, skill, or competency, they’ll follow up by asking about the Situation, Task, Action taken, and the Result achieved.

• You can beat them to the punch by framing your responses the STAR way.

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End with a Hook • Don’t spill everything out at once. You only have 2-3

minutes, so leave a few key details unanswered. • This will prompt the interviewer to follow up with some

logical questions. A forced hook is something like, “Is this type of project relevant to what you need done?”

• Remember the Big E for Example. If you forget all of this, don’t forget to give lots of examples of actual accomplishments to prove every strength and neutralize every weakness.

• SOURCE: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-ace-the-job-interview-2014-2?IR=T

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NASTY QUESTIONS• "I'm not sure you're a fit for the role..." -Mitchell Harper, Co-CEO,

Bigcommerce

• "What was your biggest failure and who was responsible for it?" -Shashi Upadhyay, CEO, Lattice Engines

• "Who's your favorite author? Why? What's the last book you read? What's the next book you want to read? Do you travel? What's your favorite city? Why? What's your favorite country? Why? -Rapid fire questioning" -Jeremy Lopez, Marketing Director, ZeroTurnaround

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NASTY QUESTIONS• "If you were building a website, how would you design a

forgotten password authentication process?" -Dave Messinger, CTO, CloudSpokes

• "You've seen the office. What would you change?" -Nancy Devine, Vice President of HR, Axceler

• "What traffic sign would you be and why?" Or "What would you do if you woke up and found an elephant in your backyard?"-Melissa Gordon, Project Manager, Engauge

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NASTY QUESTIONS• "Tell me a joke" -Kelly Madden, Vice President of Human Resources,

Mimecast

• "Can you make a function that determines whether a string is a palindrome or not?" -Ian Eyberg, Sr. Member of Technical Staff, Appthority

• "Can you put this deck of cards in order?" -Christopher Penn, Vice President Marketing Technology, SHIFT Communications

• "Why do you want to work here?" -Jacob Jaber, CEO, Philz Coffee

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Inspiration• Lionel Tiger, The Decline of Males

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Daniel Frei daniel frei. kommunikation pflanzschulstrasse 89, 8004 zürich danielfrei.ch | d@nielfrei.ch