Behavioral Interview

Please describe a situation when you faced conflict with another individual and how you resolved it.

BAP Newsletter Design. I made a major overhaul and some people disagreed. We got the opinions of the eBoard

Tell me about a time when you failed and what you learned from it.

Coffee Applications, Inc. - Strategic Marketing Consultant It was freshman year, and I had just won my first mini-case competition with a team of 4. We designed from scratch a market entry strategy that would help Coffee Applications, Inc, a startup phone application company, grow its consumer base. The C.E.O. selected us as the winner of the competition, and subsequently hired us as informal interns to execute the strategy we designed.. We were so confident in our market strategy - we reached out to other campus career centers, we held in-person product demonstrations, we promoted on social media and got our friends into it, but... Ultimately, we failed. Our efforts were not achieving enough results. When we did gain a download through word of mouth, or a promotion, there was no customer retention. It was hard for us because we ultimately had to present the results to the founders of the company - these passionate entrepreneurs who are so invested in the product they created and developed by themselves! When we presented our findings, we wanted to make sure that we solidly backed

What three words would you use to describe yourself? Why?

Collaborative: I actively enjoy getting to know a variety of people, learning about what each person can uniquely offer, and coming together to develop something that we can all be proud of. Group work is definitely my preferred setting.

Give an example of how you work on a team

Planner; organizing roles, setting tasks, project milestones, and project goals, setting up meetings

Walk me through your resume.

So, I'm a Finance and Information Systems major at NYU Stern, minoring in Music and the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology. Despite being a "Sternie", I considered myself quite a right-brained individual growing up, invested in the arts and music (and still continue to be today!). When I came to business school, I was more interested in the creative side of business - marketing and advertising. I joined Marketing Society early on and had the opportunity to participate in a case competition from a startup company called Coffee Applications. As a team of 4, we designed from scratch a market strategy, competed, and ultimately won. After we won, the C.E.O. brought us onboard as informal interns to execute the strategy. Our work was centered around analyzing their current strategies, and applying our business plan to improve their customer base and retention. I especially became very invested in the project, and really just found myself driven by the challenge to help this struggling phone application succeed. It served as my first taste into the world of consulting, and definitely influenced me to pursue it. I chose my professional and extracurricular opportunities according to my decided interest in consulting. I joined Beta Alpha Psi, which has a sizeable consulting population, as well as the Management Consulting Group. I also wanted to get my feet wet in different areas of business from technology to human resources - I think it becomes of great value when you can be exposed to different departments and see how their operations come together to form a cohesive product/service. This past summer, I had the opportunity to become a Corporate Solutions Analyst Intern at JLL, working on the Bank of America account. With this opportunity, I delved into the operations of how JLL is managing Bank of America's real estate investment portfolio. I ultimately created a 3-pronged business strategy detailing a method that would effectively recoup inefficiencies in the way they were currently managing the investment. I really found this opportunity valuable because I got to hear insights from senior management as well as people in my department about a strategy that I made myself, and found myself extremely interested in the solution generation process for different business cases. Now, during this school year, I am participating in Google's Community Leader's Program on the Small-to-Medium Business Development Consulting team, working to help growing businesses develop their digital strategy and data analytics. I'm looking forward to engaging with more of these local businesses, as well as pursuing the wonderful consulting opportunity here.

Can you tell me about a complex problem you solved? Describe the process that you utilized.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to work at Jones Lang LaSalle as a Corporate Solutions Analyst Intern on the Bank of America account. Jones Lang LaSalle is a real estate investment management firm, and as a part of the internship program we were required to assemble a business plan that would create value for the account. The Corporate Solutions department was a very big umbrella department that encompassed many divisions, but the sector I chose to focus my business plan on was occupancy planning and space management. My challenge, as part of my business plan presentation, was to create

Why are you interested in your major?

I was actually originally a Marketing major, but ultimately decided to pursue majors in Finance and Information Systems. I definitely made this decision because I wanted more concrete, hard skills, as I think this is what definitely gives a professional an advantage over others. So, I chose Finance. Partially because it's a fantastic major in our school, but also because it is a concrete skill that I think will prove especially useful in consulting. A lot of the work in consulting is related to valuing the company's operations, valuing a project, etc. and every business decision generally ties down to profitability. I chose Information Systems for similar reasons. With an Information Systems major, I think I gain hard skills like coding and programming. I also have a genuine passion for learning about the digital economy - I think its so interesting to watch the world technologically progress. This major is definitely a smart move because the importance of big data is growing exponentially, and this major really capitalizes on this trend.

Tell me about yourself.

I'm a Finance and Information Systems major at NYU Stern, minoring in Music and the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology. I'm originally from rural, suburban Charlotte, North Carolina. Despite being a "Sternie," I was actually very much a right-brained person growing up - I was always heavily involved in the arts and music (and still am in my free time today). In high school, I had the opportunity to join my best friend's dad's company, Leigh Labs, as a marketing and graphic design intern - of course, being attracted moreso to the creative side of business. The company was incredibly small - just three people - and he had built the entire facility himself! Because of the size, I quickly found my responsibilities transgressing the scope of just advertising - I started handling some of the clerical work and administration, and from time to time even got the chance to get to know the operational structure.

Tell me about your experience at Google.

I'm currently participating in Google's Community Leaders program as part of the Small-to-Medium Business Development Consulting team. We are a team of 6, and are working to devise management strategies surrounding digital transformation and data analytics to improve the growth of our clients. Right now, we've been in contact with several businesses in the New York area seeking our services. We're analyzing the current state of their businesses and how they are performing in the market at the moment. We're focusing in on what they're lacking in terms of digital presence and data analytics, and the strategies that they can employ to resolve these gaps - for example, one of our clients currently have an outdated traffic monitoring software, so we've began devising strategies to implement Google AdWords and Analytics to help them more effectively track their visitors and advertise. Not sure how much can be said about results of this opportunity, as it just happened to start last month. However, the idea generation process and the interaction with these business owners has definitely been a learning experience in regards to how consulting services work toward a resolution, and I've definitely gained a better sense of the entrepreneurial spirit.

What are your long term goals?

I've always thought that the best way to gain value as a professional is to become one of the best in a specific area. It doesn't have to be the most popular industry or line of business, but I think the best route is to find your niche and become really good at it. I think that my long term goals revolve around that philosophy. I hope that in the long term, I will have found my professional niche and used that to create value in the world.

Give an example of how you set goals and achieve them.

goals: Good career with a company dedicated to sustainability, to participate in community service events abroad, and to always push myself to be the best version of myself

Qualities of a good leader?

good communication, confidence, goals, creativity

Tell me about a situation in which you had to learn something new in a short time. How did you proceed?

This past summer, I had the opportunity to work at Jones Lang LaSalle as a Corporate Solutions Analyst Intern on the Bank of America account. Jones Lang LaSalle is a real estate investment management firm, and as a part of the internship program we were required to assemble a business plan that would create value for the account.

Describe the most collaborative project you have worked on. What was your role?

The BAP Herald - Magazine Director It was my first semester being on the leadership team for BAP, my honor society, and I was designated the magazine director already.

Describe a circumstance in which you had several things to do in a limited amount of time. What led up to the situation? What was the outcome?

The BAP Herald - Magazine Director It was my first semester being on the leadership team for BAP, my honor society, and I was designated the magazine director already. All of the content published in the magazine was submitted by BAP members. In the assembly of the magazine, the editors and I, of course, had to begin sourcing the written material. We actually began asking for contributions very early on in the semester. We had plenty of sign-ups initially. However, probably especially with written essays, it is so hard to coordinate effectively and get the content in on time - people love to put it off. Additionally, we only have one deadline near the end of the semester, so by nature most people put off their submissions until then! And it was FINALS WEEK! It was hard enough for the 3 editors to plow through 30 pages of articles to edit. For me, I was the only person with a working knowledge of Photoshop, so I was the only one tasked with assembly, graphic design, layout, gathering pictures, etc. It ultimately turned out alright - I have a copy with me if you want to take a look. I think what got most people to rush-submit their articles was communicating exactly HOW MUCH work the editing team and I had to do - when they realized, they gained a sense of urgency. Moving forward, this year, we're actually trying to implement periodic deadlines so that not all the material will be submitted at one time. Also, trying to recruit more graphic designers. Learning from our mistakes!

Tell me about a situation when something you said or wrote was misunderstood.

Way back in high school when I was still working as an Academic Tutor at Kumon Learning Center, I recall this one instance in which one of my students wasn't performing well on his test. When his mother came in to pick up up from the center, I was given the responsibility to speak with her about his underperformance. When I spoke about his performance on the test, I think I spoke in a way that unintentionally placed more blame on the student himself. Now, as an academic tutor, I completely recognize my own responsibility in helping him learn and perform well. However, when I started jumping to conclusions like "maybe HE wasn't focusing" or "HE may not have been trying hard enough," I can definitely see why his mother would have interpreted this as placing undue blame on her son. After that, of course, I apologized completely and clarified that I never meant to suggest anything of the nature. I reinforced that it was absolutely my responsibility to help him succeed. I think that experience definitely made me become more aware of how differently the things I say may be misconstrued - it certainly was a learning experience in regards to customer or client related services. I definitely now am much more conscious of this, definitely continuing to make a conscious effort to recognize my place and my responsibilities, and I'm glad to say the situation hasn't repeated itself.