Phone screen interview questions

Looking at the job description, which of the three duties do you feel most confident about your abilities in, and which would be the most challenging?

- I feel confident in my ability to evaluate a company's exposure to ESG risks and opportunities just because of what I have learned from completing the FSA credential and researching the correlation between financial drivers and ESG topics - Synthesizing information into a cohesive narrative outline. Synthesizing and putting complex information into more simple terms is something I have had to do in all of my internship experiences so I would do well with that. - Then definitely with following esg policy development and assisting in developing strategies around that I am already decently knowledgable around different standards and frameworks and regulations so I would feel confident in that. - I think one responsibility that might be challenging or a new experience for me would be reviewing contracts and litigation, just because I haven't had much exposure to that. With my work at the hydrogen alliance I spent a lot of time becoming familiar with the different verbiage of different state legislatures and how they create bills, so I would expect maybe a similiar learning curve here of adjusting to the vernacular that is used in contracts and litigation, so that would be something that would require a bit more time and effort potentially.

What questions do you have for us?

Do you guys offer any resources for completing ESG-related certificates or credentials? The credential I have is more so on the reporting and accounting side, but I know there are various other ESG credentials related to investing. What does the onboarding and training process look like for new employees, I know you often hire people that don't necessarily have a lot of experience with esg or consulting so what is the process of training them in? How would you describe the balance of team-work and independent work of this role?

How are you suited for it for this role? What is an example of an experience that makes you suited?

I believe I am suited for this role because I do already have a good understanding of what are financially material esg topics in different industries and I have a genuine interest and passion to learn more and be apart of this industry. I think an example that really proves this is that after I started my internship with London ESG analytics and I realized that I was really interested in continuing to work in ESG I took it upon myself to study the curriculum for the fundamentals of sustainability Accounting and took the test and passed it and got my level one credential. The whole curriculum was really about understanding the link between sustainability and financial performance and the implications for companies and investors. So I think that the skills that I acquired through that would be very applicable for this role.

What is something weird about you?

Hmm, I think something weird or I guess maybe surprising about me that people don't always pick up on right away is that I am a very competitive person. My friends always point out how it kind of contradicts with the rest of my personality In a way. I think its because on one hand I get along with everyone, I can be kind of a people pleaser at times, pretty go with flow with plans and stuff like that, but as soon as we start playing a card game or pick up volleyball or it can be really any game, I am locked in, I want to win, and also I just love competition setting it definitely stimulates something for me.

Tell me about yourself?

I am a recent graduate from New York University where I studied Public Policy and Environmental Studies. Since graduating in May I have been working with a company called London ESG Analytics where I worked with a team of applied analytics masters students at Columbia to do some research on ESG performance and its correlation to financial performance. So, While the rest of the team focused primarily on doing the actual data analysis. My role was to kind of guide and help their research by doing literature reviews and providing insights on how ESG regulations and standards are written and identifying the financial drivers behind disclosure topics. I also have been working with the United States Hydrogen Alliance. Worked on various projects here, but I primarily did policy analysis to create a database of hydrogen policies across the United States for policymakers to use as model legislation. I have had great experiences with both of these and now as summer is starting to wrap up i'm looking for a full-time opportunity and I really want it to be in the ESG space. I truly believe in the power of ESG investing and I am really excited by the idea of working in a space that is so current and evolving everyday. I know Malk Partners has played a huge role in paving the way for ESG consulting and identifying best practices and I believe with my previous experiences and also just my genuine passion about being involved in this space I think I could be a good addition to your team.

What kind of issues would you take to your manager v solve yourself?

I am definitely someone who really tries to handle my workload as independently and efficiently as possible, but I would bring an issue to my manager if I have decided that then potential impact of the issue would be likely to have implications that a manager would want to be aware of. I also think its Important that if I am going to bring an issue to a manager that I have already brainstormed some possible solutions or be able to explain what I have tried so far and what is working and what is not. I definitely value the time of my superiors and if I need to bring an issue to them I make sure that I have taken the necessary steps so their time isn't wasted.

With imminent deadlines, do you prioritize quantity or quality in deliverables?

I definitely think that this is a challenge where I really try to identify the nature of the project or deliverable. I think a good example of how I deal with this would be during my time at the Hydrogen Alliance, with completing the policy analysis for my assigned states that was a project was a very large work load, but it was definitely more important for me to ensure that I was going to get all the policies done on time rather than reading every single word of all the policies. OPP: hydrogen policy guidebook.

Strengths

I think my biggest strength would be my communication skills, especially my written communications skills are something that I have utilized in every work experience I have had. I definitely value my ability to break down intricate or technical information into clear, understandable plain language that is more accessible for a broader audience. Specifically during my fellowship at the hydrogen alliance we did a lot of work on making the policy guidebook among other educational materials digestible to all policymakers regardless of their preexisting knowledge of hydrogen energy and fuel cells. Also, with verbal communication I always make It a point to use good active listening to thoroughly understand the needs and objectives of whoever I am working with and I definitely build strong positive relationships with the people I work with through good communication and active listening.

Weaknesses

I think one of my biggest weaknesses has been not knowing when to ask for help, I think this has been apparent in my life in general and also work and school settings, I was not someone who would go to office hours or stay after class to ask questions because I always felt like I could figure it out on my own or by using resources I found on my own, but sometimes I think about the opporuntites for learning that I missed by not reaching out to the TA and professors that are meant to be there to help. I think in work and team settings too I'm not really quick to ask for help, but I have realized especially when working on teams there are a lot of benefits from asking for advice from others and getting second opinions, so it is definitely something I am trying to actively work on. and balancing my independence which I think is a good thing as long as it doesn't become like stubborn independence.

How do you keep up with the news?

I usually listen to podcasts like 'the daily' form the New York Times or 'up first' from NPR neither of those are very long and from there if a story strikes my interest I look it up and read on it a bit. I like the daily because the storytelling and journalism is just so good and every episode goes deep into one story or topic, and then on the other hand UP first picks a few stories and is a bit more brief and gives more of a quick overview. I like the balance I've struck between the two.

Why Malk?

I want to work for Malk because Malk has clearly established itself as a leader and an innovator in the ESG consulting space and they have continued to prove that there is a positive financial impact that can come from considering ESG factors for investors and companies. I am really impressed by the way that Malk has been able to change the way companies and investors think about things like decarbonization and net zero initiatives and prove that they aren't just ethical considerations but they can lead to actual value creation and financial gain. Yeah the idea of working for a company that is really paving the way in the industry and is making such a positive impact in pushing ESG is just really exciting to me and just seems like such an amazing career and learning opportunity.

How do you show up on teams?

I would describe myself as a very engaged and dependable team member. I really enjoy the collaborative process of being on a team and always want to be there to provide thoughtful input for other people and appreciate any feedback that is given to me. I think my coworkers that I have been on a team with would definitely say that I am easy to get a hold of and definitely contribute to a positive environment.

What is an example of a time you dealt with a low structure environment?

I would say the most low-structure work environment was when I was a research intern at Upland Road. I was reporting directly to the senior-level executives and was given projects that didn't have a lot of specific requirements. My main role was researching funding opportunities for their recycling technology. They left it pretty open ended and didn't give me a lot of guidance as far as how they wanted me to compile this information, but I developed my own framework on how to organize the project and ensure that my research would be easy to read and navigate for these executives. I valued any time that I was able to meet with and make sure that the work I was doing was matching their needs and vision. The experience definitely taught me a lot about the importance of setting personal goals and developing a plan and staying organized to ensure my work meets expectations even if the envrionment is a bit unstructured.

What mixture of quantitative and qualitative is your work approach?

I would so far in my work experiences the work I contribute is definitely more so qualitative, but I have definitely relied on a lot quantitative work as well. Also, something about me I did take 3-4 data sciences courses during my undergrad before I declared my majors. So, for example, when working with London esg analytics and working with a team of data scientists I really appreciated that I had at least a decent surface level understanding of the work they were doing whether it was regression or cluster analysis or different types of modeling, I could make sense of the work they were doing and when it came to me giving my input from a policy and regulation perspective I felt like I was better equipped to do that. So yeah I would say my approach is definitely a mix, but in the past I would say it's been relying on both quantitative and qualitative work to produce mainly qualitative work and analysis.

Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult coworker?

In a lot of my internships I have either had really great coworkers or also a lot of my work was pretty independent. But I worked at restaurants in New York all throughout college to make ends meet. I learned a lot from serving in New York City and worked with a really wide range of people and personalities. But I was what they called a team captain at one of the restaurants I worked at, which meant I was in charge of checking all the side-work at the end of the night and making sure it was complete. I noticed a pattern that one of my coworkers was not completing their sidework which meant that at the end of night the whole team had to help them finish it before we could leave. I didn't want to have to bring it up with a manager if I didn't need to. So I just started to check in with this coworker during the shifts and just remind them that they should check the sidework sheet and make sure that they get their tasks done so we can all leave on time at the end of the night. I also said to them if they get really busy and they need help they can let me know, but yeah they definitely understood and the problem went away which was great. I was really glad that it didn't get to a point where a manager had to be involved and I never wanted to have to call them out in front of the rest of the team. And yeah even though I was 'team captain' we were still both servers so I wanted it to come across in a way that would be receptive well and it was successful so that worked out well in the end.

Discuss a time you had to incorporate feedback.

Recently, I worked on writing a paper about the use of AI for ESG reporting and I had written a rough first draft and then my boss added another intern to the paper and he read through it and provided a some feedback to me and had some thoughts on how we could switch up the format of the paper. So, I asked if we could schedule a meeting to talk about what he was thinking, cause I was a bit unsure about it at first. Basically, I had originally organized the paper by esg sector, like AI applications for environmental and then social then governance, but he suggested that we change the format to AI application organized by value chain so going from product development, operations, performance review, and reporting. It ended up being a really good decision I think because it eliminated some reduncaies that were present in my original draft. I was really glad that I scheduled a meeting with him to talk about because over email I didn't completely understand his vision, but after speaking over zoom I really valued his feedback and it definitely improved the project which was great.

We Network

The goal was to help start-up companies that had strong ESG values find investors and build a network of experts in the ESG space. - So a lot of what we did was make these interactive roadmaps for the startups to demonstrate to advisors and investors how they have adopted ESG policies so far and what goals they have. - also reached out to people in the ESG space to see if they would be interested in joining the community of ESG-focused start-ups to facilitative collaboration and give suggestions for new milestone for their roadmap Advisor: Greentech, a company that manufactures home appliances that recycle energy Howly: which was a rental marketplace for sporting and camping goods.

Why ESG?

Yeah good question, I mean for a long time I thought I was going to work in environmental policy because I thought that was where I could make change and I still totally recognize the important role it plays in addressing climate change and sustainability, but in recent years and after speaking to a lot of people who work in government and specifically in climate politics, getting things done and getting legislation passed is becoming so difficult and it is becoming so subject to the administration that we are under and I just realized. You know I am very passionate about making a positive impact and I am also a realist and I am fully understanding of how capitalism works and I feel strongly that ESG and ESG investing and reporting is another avenue to making an impact and pushing decarbonization and pushing ethical practices. I feel like I can leverage my skills in research and analysis and strong communication and what I already know about ESG to being a really good advisor. And also after back in March when the SEC announced the climate-disclosures that would be required of public companies I was like wow this could really change things and I really would like to be a apart of it.

Tell us about a time you had a to juggle multiple tasks?

Yeah with the fellowship at the hydrogen alliance there were multiple key projects we were working on at once. Building up the database of hydrogen policies, working on the policy guidebook, and then also creating the interactive maps of the policies. I organized each task as far as how long they would take to complete and which were more urgent than others. I recognized right away that doing the analysis for the database would be not only time consuming, but also it was important to get that done early so it could be used for the interactive maps. So I gave myself personal deadlines for each of my 8 states on when I would get them done by and then allocated time everyday for working on the policy guidebook as well. It was important that I worked on both everyday because with the policy analysis it was just such a high volume of work that needed to be done, but then with the policy guidebook I knew that the quality of that work needed to be very high because it was something that is going to be handed to elected officials whose time and attention is super valuable to the alliance so I needed to ensure that the appropriate time was given to that project. I think with multiple tasks it's just important to take the necessary steps to organize the workload and think about the length and the nature of the projects im balancing to ensure everything is completed on time and meeting or exceeding expectations.

Why are you interested in the position?

Yes I am an environmentalist, but I am also a realist and I really believe in the power of ESG investing and I am really excited about the potential it has to really transform the way people think about environmentalism. I think the ability to communicate how ESG-related principles are actually positively affecting financial performance within companies and for investors can be so impactful on the way we tackle climate and sustainability-related issues and I am really interested in being involved in.

Tell us about a project you have worked on from start to finish

a project that I worked on from start to finish and also one that I really enjoyed and am very proud of is one I did with London ESG analytics. I worked with a team of applied analytics students from Columbia to research the correlation between ESG performance and financial performance. So while, the rest of team was mainly data scientists I was brought on board to provide insights from a regulatory and policy perspective. we started with doing a literature review of 14 papers around the relationship between ESG and financial performance and found that lot of the prior research primarily focused on proving the existence of the relationship, but what we really wanted to do is understand the magnitude of this relationship and also understand which financial metrics it was more closely correlated with. So, we tried a lot of different analyses and models. found the strongest correlation with esg scores and ROE, ROA, and Earnings per share. Additionally I provided insights into policy and regulations that could be impacting the esg scores of the countries in the study. For example, I looked into which frameworks and standards each country in the study has adopted and which countries adopted standards such as the SASB standards which are more investor focused versus the GRI framework which is more for all stakeholders not just investors. It was a cool learning experience and I loved working with people with a different skillset than me and collaborating with them on a project like this. At the end we presented the research to the board which has some key actors in the ESG space and that was definitely a part where I think I excelled, a lot of the team, even though they were smart and great on doing the data analytics were not confident in their presentation skills, so that was a moment where I was happy to step up and take

FSA

enable you to identify, quantify, communicate and analyse the sustainability-related risks and opportunities that affect a company's financial position, performance and prospects. understanding the link between material sustainability information and a company's financial performance. Importantly, it relies not on the Sustainability Accounting Standards board, which compared to other ESG frameworks and standards is industry-specific and investor-focused so I learned a lot about why investors are demanding sustainability related information and also how financial drivers are correlated with disclosure topics. Financial drivers: demand for products and services, long-term growth, operational efficiency/cost structure, valuation of core assets, governance structure Financial Impacts: revenue, cost, assets & liabilities, cost of capital