Nielsen Final Interview
What is regression?
-predictive modeling - understanding how the independent variable(s) or known as "X" is related to the dependent variable also know as "Y" relationship and the strength of impact - Finding casual effect
Why you? Why should we hire you? Why are you the best candidate for this position?
1) Strong knowledge base that i bring with me - Correlation with my work experience to the job responsibilities 2) Credentials - MSF--> I received a higher level of learning in technical, communication, and analytical skills 3) Passionate - Passion for helping others/team player-> motivates me and gets me excited for work I'm the best candidate for this position because I have a unique awareness and understanding of the problem this position solves
Why Nielsen? Why do you want this position?
1. Comparing work experience/education to position - we share the same values 2. This is a company that allows me to maximize my potential and expand my capabilities into new areas (Not work but a career)
Tell me about yourself
1. Snapshot of education/work history - Graduate student/Investment Analyst Intern -----> SFA: data gathering to create proposals to clients, use financial analysis to compare investments 2. Mini stories "achievement oriented" - Assisted SFA beat the S&P by 13% this past year 3. About Data/Market Analyst - strong problem solving skills, experience with data sets/excel, and project management skills 4. Why im the right fit - Education/experience has put me in position and prepared to take the next step - Eager to implement what i have learned in a practical and impactful matter
What is your process when you start a new project?
1st step: - Take time to look over project to understand the objective or problem (if im having a hard time trying to figure this part out, I reach out to the client for clarification) 2nd step: - I analyze/feel out the data to see whats there, how reliable it is, and where it comes from 3rd step: - I think about the best way to model it and whether the project deadline seems to work
What is an instance in which you had bad communication?
- FIN685 project with international students - had to learn to overcome language barrier in order to be successful with the project
What do you know about the position?
- Figuring out with media is the most successful at driving sales for products in stores - Use of statistical models to help clients optimize where they should spend their money -market effectiveness (3 R's -- reach, repetition, relevance) - involves problem solving, critical thinking and urgency
Tell me about a time you didn't meet a clients expectations and how was the relationship with them afterwards? Have you ever made a mistake? How did you handle it?
- Forgot to send Charles Schwab paperwork to a client - Gave them full attention
How should a relationship with a manager be? How have you managed this relationship in the past?
- I want to work for a manager who allows me the independence to perform my job to the best of my abilities - I want to receive constructive criticism and feedback to give me the opportunity to improve myself and at my job - Be coachable
What are your weaknesses? Where do you think you need to improve?
- Impatient with with team members who are making mistakes or delivering substandard work, this has made me appear to be impatient in front of others As a result, I've learned over the past: - approach with professionalism and constructive criticism rather than jump to conclusion or blame -better to focus on task at hand and where to go from here
How would you explain the concept of correlation to a client who might not be aware of much technical concepts?
- Its a statical tool that that measures how things are related and how a change in one might affect the outcome of another Example - Hot chocolate and cold weather = strong correlation
Who are Nielsens competitors?
- Kantar - GFK
Name a time where you took a risk to achieve a goal
- UK student football job
What kind of functions do you know in excel? What are some of the skills you use in excel?
- Vlookup and index match - used to look up values from an external table - Pivot tables- used to summarized data - Run regressions - Taking data and creating charts of all sorts - sum and average -proficient and very capable of learning more
What do you know about Nielsen?
- global provider of market research and analysis - based on consumer and market measurements and analytics - in terms of what consumers watch and buy - takes data and analytics and applies it to the big picture for clients success - looks at consumer behavior from a variety of perspectives - For: media companies, agencies, FMCG, manufacturers, and retailers
How do you prioritize your time?
- to-do-lists/agenda - separate important from urgent (most things are important but some are time sensitive) - estimate time, effort and resources needed for each task before starting
Describe a project or situation that best demonstrates your analytical abilities/skills
A study on college students voting for Trump - Conducted a regression analysis through excel - Compared p-value to level of significance and led us to whether or not to reject the null hypothesis
Buy vs. Watch
Buy: offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry's only global view of retail performance measurement Watch: provides media and advertising clients with total audience measurement services for all devices on which content is consumed
Coke is thinking about releasing a craft beer in the market. What kind of data/statistics/research should they do before releasing it.
Elements of strategy Arenas: where? Products, Markets, geographies Vehicles: How? Internal development, jt ventures, Franchises Differentiators: How will we win; source of advantage Staging: Speed and Sequencing Economic Logic: How will the firm generate excess returns? Low cost through scale and scope? Or higher quality? Why will customers buy this product? Common attributes: Timeliness Quality Cost Variety Style
Your client wants to launch this new product (given an example about a product to read). What type of information would you want to know to tell them if this was a good or bad idea?
Porters Five Forces *Determinants of industry profitability 1) Rivalry Among Existing Competitors - Avoid price competition through product differentiation 2) Threats of New Entrants - Are there barriers for new entrants? - Do we have access to vital resources such as raw materials, suppliers 3) Threat of Substitutes - substitutes erode profitability by restricting prices 4) Bargaining power of buyers - Who are my buyers? 5) Bargaining power of suppliers - Who are my suppliers? - How important is my business to them?
How would your colleagues and/or supervisor describe you?Use 4 adjectives to describe yourself in a work environment (3 positive and 1 negative)
Positive: - collaborative - driven/hardworking - reliable Negative: - impatient with others
How proficient are with Excel and PowerPoint?
Relate this to classes you have taken in MSF program & SFA ECO491 - (regressions, time-series, data analysis) FIN630 - (financial modeling/analysis)
Tell me about a time you were criticized for your performance. How did you handle it?
Situation - Asked to print off an excel chart for prospecting purposes for our boss that was a colleagues work not mine own work Task - Later in the day he approached me with the printed off sheet by stating "Never hand your boss something like this" - told me this was not up to my standards and stated exactly how he wanted it and to make the corrections immediately Action - Once I was asked to revise the excel sheet, I spent a lot of time correcting it, and after listening carefully to how he wanted it Result - I saw how i could make changes that would strengthen the finished product - Im always eager to learn from others with the different views and experiences, especially when the commentary can help me grow and evolve my career
Whats an example of a time you worked on a dysfunctional team? How did you deal with it? Tell me about a time there was a conflict with your team Tell me about a time when you were participating in a team project and somebody was not pulling his/her weight. What did you do to help the team finish the project?
Situation - Class project, girl in group wasn't showing up when we had group meetings Task - Allocated each persons part of the project to complete--> 25% of the group wasn't present (BIG PROBLEM) - Approach the girl with professionalism by pulling her aside after class --> didn't jump to conclusion Situation - She had personal things going on at home - Sent the girl instructions to her part of assignment, and to finish what she could and I would finish what she had left - told her to contact me if she had any questions - Helped her on a few sticking points she had Result - Turned in project and still received high grade, learned that no matter age or stage you are at in your career you'll always run into these kinds of obstacles that prevent you from your objective - Put your team in the next man up mentality and ready for these kind of position and always moving forward
Tell me about how you worked effectively under pressure
Situation - Manager deligated a task that needed to be done before the bowl game in a new stadium - Had my own team to allocate
Tell me about a time you went above and beyond
Situation - Manager was looking for an employee to work extra hours on weekends for an extended period of time since it was the busiest time of the year Task - His request was geared more towards an experience worker since it was a higher level of investment research Action -Volunteered since i knew it was important to assist the business in achieving the companies goals, worked with the manager one on one to get him prepared for weeks ahead - While assisting with the research he assigned me to print off various statements and reports for companies he requested - While in this process I found news articles that i thought were valuable to his research for a few of the companies he requested --> he really appreciated this Result - Learned to put my team before myself - Led to a raise and respect from manager
When is a time you had to explain something simple in a complex way?
Situation - Show a former client that left the firm a comparison of what his total return would have been if he didn't leave SFA vs. his current firm Task/Action - Used complex data sets from excel and MorningStar comparing the two firms current holdings - Took this data and created a colored double lined chart to simplify this gathered data to make it transparent and simple to visualize for the former client so he could understand - I had to be a translator in a language he understood - Some people are visual learners, he saw something that he didn't see before Result - Couple weeks later, former client rejoined firm and sent me a thank you email
Tell me about a time you handled a challenge and how did you worked through it How do you handle a challenge? Give an example.
Situation - Took NM internship as Financial Representative for the summer Task - Open your own book, reach out to potiential clients in efforts to over look their financials & understand their financial goals and visions and implement strategies of how to reach these Action Didn't do as well as i expected in the sense that: - inexperienced - didn't sound like myself - sounded scripted - Didn't believe in what i was selling because i didnt really understand the benefit or value of the products - So I talked to colleagues/mentors to learn what these values were and then had the true understanding how to make that connection with potential clients by showing how this benefited them Result - Started to sound like myself - Truly believed in what i was selling - Learned to be comfortable with being uncomfortable
Tell me about a time you failed
Situation - Took a summer internship with Northwestern Mutual as a financial representative intern Task - Opened my own book, call potential clients to look over their financials Action - didn't do as well as i expected - inexperienced - scared of burning bridges with people i knew - sounded scripted - uncomfortable/lost self confidence Result - not scared of rejection - started to sound like myself - believed in what i was selling
Tell me about an ethical dilemma you have faced
Situation - Manager for football job didn't pick me to be one of the three to be on the flight with the team (this was a privilege not just a right) Task - Talked to him about the situation - Why not me? - Opened myself up to be coachable Action - I approached my boss and sat down with him one on one - wanted to learn why they were the ones chosen and what i needed to do to improve Result - I learned that maybe we had a different perception about what the job entitled and that you need to be on the same page with your superior about what he is looking for out of his employee - Worked on those key areas that he suggested - Wasn't on that flight but was on the flights for every away game for the season post conversation
Walk me through your resume
Student Manager oLearned to utilize my time management skills by balancing my school and work life o Earned a full scholarship o Worked with successful coaches one on one, used them as mentors Northwestern Mutual o Opened my own book, reached out to potential clients in efforts to look over their financials and implement strategies to help them reach their financial goals and vision SFA/MSF Student o Gather data from Morningstar and use excel daily to create and explain reports/proposals to clients o Answer any question or request that clients have
What are your strengths?
Time management - Organization allows me to complete my work on time, stay engaged in important meetings/projects, and gives me space to be proactive in my tasks Problem-solving/Analytical - Love numbers - Being able to take complex information and coaching to others in simpler context for them to understand is a satisfying feeling
What one experience has impacted your life the most?
UK Football Job - Finally got the bigger picture - Payed for my school - Valuable life lessons
What is your greatest accomplishment?
UK Football Student Manager - Paid for my own school - Worked 40+ hours a week while maintaining school work -Valuable life lessons
