postgrad Archives | Career Advice & Interview Tips

How to Answer: Tell Me About a Challenge You Had to Overcome in the Workplace

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This is a tough question because you’re forced to talk about a difficult time with a complete stranger. Fortunately, it’s also a great opportunity to turn a big challenge into a great accomplishment. In fact, we like to think of it as a related question to “Tell me about an accomplishment you’re proud of.” Why do employers ask this question? It’s because they want to know that they’re hiring someone who has the ability to think on their feet and who is resilient when facing challenges.

When answering this question, start by giving context for the situation and then showing how you worked out a solution to the problem. Try to keep your answer short and focused. After all, the interviewer is really looking for what you took away from the situation and doesn’t need to know the full backstory of what happened. If you need help structuring your answer, remember this acronym: S.T.A.R. It stands for situation, task, action, and result.

Here’s what they each mean and how you can use them effectively.

Situation

First, articulate to your interviewer the situation you were in so that they have context. What was the problem and how did it come up? In one or two sentences, create a clear picture so that hiring manager is able to visualize the challenge. If possible, keep things professional by focusing only on problems that have come up in class or at a previous job.

Say something like: “During my summer internship at a public relations firm, a client suddenly wanted to change an entire campaign strategy two days before launch. The client was unhappy with my team’s first draft, so we were tasked with redoing the entire plan.”

Task

Talk about the task at hand and tell your interviewer what each person was responsible for doing, so that they get a sense of how you fit into the team. You don’t have to go into a lot of detail but do set the scene with one or two sentences about the roles everyone played in the project.

Say something like: “We organized a late-night brainstorm that evening. After hours of work, I asked to take the lead on putting together a new deck. This was challenging because it was my first time putting a deck together and also our one chance to make the client happy again.”

Action

Once you’re done setting the scene, explain the actions involved in overcoming the challenge. Talk about your thought process and the steps you took to solve the problem. Again, one or two sentences is all you need to convey this.

Say something like: “I overcame this challenge by looking at previously successful presentations for the client, analyzing the feedback they gave on our initial presentation and incorporating all of the team’s ideas into the new deck.”

Result

While you should be honest and speak about a true challenge you’ve faced, be sure to end on a positive note so that your interviewer sees you as a proactive problem solver and a team player. Quantify your results if possible. It’s a great way to demonstrate the impact you’ve had on a project or company, and it lets the interviewer know that you’re focused on results.

Say something like: “The client was ultimately thrilled with the fresh plan, and all of the new ideas we included!”

Here’s how to tie this all together:

“During my summer internship at a public relations firm, a client suddenly wanted to change an entire campaign strategy two days before launch. The client was unhappy with my team’s first draft, so we were tasked with redoing the entire plan. We organized a late-night brainstorm that evening. After hours of work, I asked to take the lead on putting together a new deck. This was challenging because it was my first time putting a deck together and also our one chance to make the client happy again. I overcame this challenge by looking at previously successful presentations for the client, analyzing the feedback they gave on our initial presentation and incorporating all of the team’s ideas into the new deck. The client was ultimately thrilled with the fresh plan, and all of the new ideas we included!”

Answering “Tell me about a challenge you’ve overcome” is a great way to show potential employers that you’re able to think on your feet and to solve a problem effectively. This is a skill that interviewers are looking for in all of the candidates they hire and answering this common interview question effectively will serve you well at interviews for both internships and entry-level jobs.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as How to Find an Internship as an Underclassman and find answers to common interview questions such as How Would Your Friends Describe You?.

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5 Tips for Getting an Entry-Level Job Unrelated to Your Major

It’s increasingly common for college seniors to realize that the major they selected years ago and have been working hard towards completing has no direct path into the workforce. For example, if you majored in History, Philosophy, Anthropology, or Art History, you probably don’t have many obvious career paths. Fortunately, there are plenty of recent grads who have gone on to become wildly successful in roles outside of anything their college major focused on.

Here are 5 actionable tips to help you break in to a role unrelated to your major:

1. Choose the Right Positions

There are quite a few positions out there for recent grads that don’t require specific college degrees. Choosing which ones are the right ones for you can be more of a burden than actually breaking into that field. If you’re not sure how to go about choosing the best positions for you, we have a guide to help you start your search.
Otherwise, figuring out what types of roles you’d excel at or want to excel at can make a world of a difference.

2. Get an Internship

This is the most surefire way to transition into an entry-level role. Internships, by definition, are supposed to provide you with real-world experience in a role. They shouldn’t ever require that you have any existing experience.

Sites like WayUp aren’t only there to help current students find internships. Even if you’ve already graduated, internships can be great opportunities for you. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because you’ve already graduated that an internship will be easy to get. They’re becoming more competitive all of the time and you’ll want to look at doing some of the other tactics mentioned in these tips if you want to ensure you lock down that internship.

3. Start a Related Side Project

Side projects aren’t just for engineers and designers. If you’re looking to get into marketing, start a blog or some social media accounts that aren’t personal to practice representing a brand.

Another way to get some side project experience is to offer your skills for free. Find a small, local company near you and offer to help them run their social media campaigns for free. Want to learn more about sales? Find a local business with a sales team and ask if you can listen in on some of their calls.

4. Learn to Sell Yourself

Don’t focus solely on your skills. If employers are going to take a chance on a recent grad, they want to know that you’ll be passionate, driven, trustworthy, and respectful. Look back into your life experiences and figure out ways in which you can relate them to the position you’re applying for.

Don’t assume that your coursework is completely irrelevant. You may not immediately see how taking that ‘5th Century Greek Theater’ course could possibly help you excel at a ‘Volunteer Coordinator’, but it just might be your ticket. It’s possible that the morals of the plays were important life lessons to you and show that you can take away nuggets of helpful information from every context. Seek to make every experience an asset.

5. Discover a Mentor

The internet can be a great resource when researching career options or starting a side project. However, there’s another fantastic resource at your immediate disposal: people who are already in the career you’re looking at.

Search on Meetup for individuals or groups related to your career interests and get involved. Meeting people is a great way to learn more about a particular role and gain exposure to what the people in that role (the ones that will be hiring you) are looking for in candidates. If you can, try and get one of them to mentor you. The more you can use their connections to meet other individuals in the field, the better.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as What is an Entry-Level Job? and find answers to common interview questions such as Tell me about yourself.

5 Technology Trends You Need to Know to Work in Any Industry

If you’ve been following the news on exciting tech trends like artificial intelligence, then you’re probably aware that emerging technologies are changing the way we work and interact with others. In fact, with things like machine learning and touch commerce becoming increasingly popular across every industry from banking to healthcare, technology is revolutionizing the way we do business and making high-tech approaches an integral part of our lives.

Here are the top five technology trends you need to know to work in any industry.

1. Internet of Things (IOT)

One of the biggest tech trends to emerge in recent years is the Internet of Things. Simply put, the Internet of Things (abbreviated IOT) is the idea that all technological devices can be connected to the internet and to each other in an attempt to create the perfect marriage between the physical and digital worlds. How will this impact you? It depends on your industry. For example, for those who work in marketing, advertising, media or business management, IOT could provide a wealth of information on how consumers engage with products by tracking their interactions with digital devices. In turn, this data could be used to optimize marketing campaigns and user experiences.

How it’s affecting industries: The really cool thing about IOT is that it’s not only changing the way we do business but also the business models we use to do it. For example, pay-per-use models are becoming increasingly popular across all industries as new customer data becomes available.

2. Machine learning

Another exciting emerging technology is machine learning, which is essentially a computer’s ability to learn on its own by analyzing data and tracking repeating patterns. For example, social media platforms use machine learning to get a better understanding of how you’re connected with those in your social network. They do this by analyzing your likes, shares and comments and then prioritizing content from your closest connections, serving you that content first.

How it’s affecting industries: In addition to shaping your day-to-day interactions with friends on social media, machine learning is also changing the way companies do business with customers. Companies like Google are using machine learning on mobile devices which can continue learning even when offline. The result? Machine learning is reshaping the way businesses interact with their customers in a big way by helping them anticipate and meet customer needs more easily.

3. Virtual reality (VR)

Remember watching movies about virtual reality and thinking how cool it would be if it was actually like that in real life? Well, it’s about to be. Although VR has been around since the 1950s, until recently the technology wasn’t able to deliver the fully immersive digital experience users have been craving. That’s about to change with recent improvements to both hardware and programming, and the effects are going to be felt across almost every industry from retail to education.

How it’s affecting industries: Virtual reality has been a popular component of video games for several years and this trend is continuing to expand. In addition to video games, VR is likely to affect companies across the board as they adopt the technology to help them engage customers more effectively and optimize their sales and marketing efforts. It’s also a potentially useful tool for learning and is increasingly being adopted by educational organizations.

4. Touch commerce

Being able to buy anything you want with the touch of a finger may have seemed like a fantasy a few years ago, but it’s now a reality. Merging touchscreen technology with one-click shopping, touch commerce allows consumers to buy products easily from their phones. After linking their payment information to a general account and enabling the feature, customers are able to buy everything from clothes to furniture with just a fingerprint.

How it’s affecting industries: This is one of the biggest things to hit eCommerce in recent years with purchases of this type expected to increase by 150% this year alone and retailers in almost every industry anticipating an increase in sales directly related to this new technology.

5. Cognitive Technology

Cognitive technology is in the same vein as machine learning and virtual reality except that it’s a broader concept. For example, the cognitive technology umbrella includes things like natural language processing (NLP) and speech recognition. Combined, these different technologies are able to automate and optimize a lot of tasks that were previously done by people, including certain aspects of accounting and analytics.

How it’s affecting industries: Although cognitive technologies have a broad range of applications, one of the industry sectors most affected by this trend initially will be the software sector. Automated analysis of user data and experiences will be particularly useful for software companies hoping to scale.

With emerging technologies changing professional industries including banking, eCommerce, healthcare and education, staying up to date on the latest trends will give you a better understanding of your chosen industry and make you a more competitive candidate. Best of all, this knowledge might open up new doors within your field and others.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as Top 10 Things You Should Look For in a Company and find answers to common interview questions such as How to Answer: What Are Your Strengths?

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Here’s What You Need To Know About Working In Business Technology And IT (Hint: A Tech Degree Isn’t Always Required)

Every successful company specializes in something—but being an expert in one area doesn’t make them an expert in all areas. This is especially true when it comes to technology. Executives across all industries need help deciding which tools work best for their companies, and that’s where business technology and information technology (IT) professionals come in.

What does Business Technology and IT mean?

This industry spans everything from your in-house IT support team to the Chief Information Officer (CIO)—and there’s plenty in between. Network Architects, Systems Engineers, Business Tech Analysts, and Project Managers all play a role in a company’s IT strategy.

Working internally in one of these positions, you’ll be making decisions about what kinds of technology your company purchases, which software packages best suit the needs and values of your firm, and the installation and maintenance of this infrastructure.

One of the reasons this is such an important element of business—aside from the obvious necessity of having at least some technology—is the efficiency that can be achieved by having the right technology. This is huge. Efficiency is time, and time is money. This is why firms often turn to Business Technology and IT Consultants to make sure they get it right.

The Advantages Of Working As A Business Technology IT Consultant

Consultancies with a focus on business technology are becoming increasingly important as technology evolves and grows. That’s why traditional management consultancies like Accenture have formed such tech-dedicated offshoots like Avanade—the leading digital innovator, focused on driving results for their clients through the power of people and the Microsoft ecosystem.

One of the benefits of working as a consultant in this field is the superior professional challenge, and rich employee experience. Because these consultancies are solely focused on crafting the best business technology solutions, their employees have the opportunity to innovate for a variety of companies across a multitude of industries.

If you’re someone who loves the hustle and bustle of activity, another benefit of being a Business Tech Consultant is the opportunity to travel for work. At a company like Avanade, which works in more than 20 countries around the globe, your services can be called upon nearly anywhere. You’ll fly out to meet the client on-site and start working out of their office while you and your team craft the solution that’s right for their business needs. This can make consulting in this field an excellent choice for recent grads looking to expand their horizons.

How To Start A Career In Business Tech And IT

While it’s obvious how having a degree in computer science or engineering could provide useful knowledge for one of these roles, those aren’t the only ways in. Firms look for any number of qualifications, many of which revolve around business sense, intelligence, and problem-solving ability.

“We’re not focused on the degree. It’s more about the skills and technical mindset,” says Avanade hiring expert and head of North America Campus Recruiting, Lisa Kochert. “It’s about critical thinking and problem-solving.”

So, you might be a physics major, but your exposure to data science and programming in labs could make you a great fit for the role. Or perhaps you’re a political science major who has exposure to statistics and digital problem-solving—there are plenty of tracks that prepare you to perform in a technical role without having a specific IT or computer science degree.

At companies like Avanade, you’ll also receive a ton of training and professional development—more than 80 hours a year. As long you can show that you’re a proactive problem-solver with a passion for technology, you can possibly start a career in the field right out of school (or do an internship while you’re still an undergrad).

If you’ve got the technical mindset and a voracious appetite for creating and delivering solutions, then check out opportunities at Avanade. They’re hiring on WayUp!

How To Answer: Why Do You Want This Job?

One of the most important questions you’ll ever be asked in an interview is, ‘Who would win in a fight, Batman or Superman?’ Just kidding! (The answer is Batman BTW.)

The most important question actually is: Why do you want this job?

Deceptively simple, this question has the potential to make or break your chances of landing your dream job. But don’t fret, because we’re going to walk you through crafting the perfect response. Plus, we’ll go over a few common mistakes that people make, too, just for good measure.

Batman approves.

Answering The Most Important Question

There are two parts to a great answer for “Why do you want this job?”

The first part of your answer should focus on the position you’re applying to. You want to start by describing why you’re interested in that specific job.

Say, for example, you’re in an interview for the position of—oh I don’t know—Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your answer should therefore highlight your passion for plants and animals. Think about specific things you’ve done that would show this. For instance, maybe you were president of Hufflepuff’s Herbology club or grew up on a Mandrake farm. The key is to take something from your past experiences that shows an interviewer you’ll work hard and care about succeeding if you’re hired.

What most people think after answering that question.

The second part of your answer should focus on why you want to work at THIS company.

The key here is research, research, and more research. You want to find something unique and interesting about the company that shows you didn’t just skim the “About Us” section on its website. Make sure you find something specific and relevant to the position you want. There are plenty of resources where you can easily access this kind of information, like WayUp company profiles, podcasts, company blogs, etc.

Read ALL the articles!

Some Common Interview Mistakes To Avoid

Even if you have the makings of a great answer, there are a couple common mistakes we’ve come across that will drive any interviewer insane.

The first is answering the phone with just a simple, “Hello.” or the painfully casual, “Hey.” This leaves interviewers responsible for following up with something like, “Is this Patrick?” and gives them unnecessary work.

A simple solution is to always answer the phone by saying, “Hello, this is Patrick.” If you’re answering a call for an interview, you want to sound as professional as possible. (Of course, don’t say “Patrick” unless that’s your name.)

The next problem is a bit harder to tackle: filler words. For those unfamiliar with filler words, I present exhibit A:

Don’t think Patrick gets too many second interviews.

We can promise that if you pepper your interview responses with “ummms,” “likes,” and “uhhhs,” then your chances of getting hired plummet. It makes you sound like you didn’t prepare ahead of time and don’t really care about the job.

The best way to avoid filler words is practice. Once you have your perfect response crafted, say it out loud over and over again until you’re reciting it in your sleep.

Do, however, leave some room for improvisation and try to sound natural. Some “likes” and “umms” are inevitable, but don’t make it seem like it’s a habit.

Think Before You Speak

If you’re applying for a job, make sure you know why you want it. Any interviewer worth her salt will want to know, so think about why the position and company are right for you. Answering this well will distinguish you as someone who’s not only qualified for a job but also ready to thrive and succeed in the long-run.

P.S. If you’re interested in seeing these techniques put into practice, check out my other article about how I landed a job by wearing mismatched socks!

How to Answer: What Are Your Salary Expectations?

Being fully prepared for the interview process means knowing what questions to anticipate. One of those questions is, “What are your salary expectations?” You won’t encounter this question during an internship interview, but it’s likely to come up if you’re interviewing for an entry-level job. Why do employers ask this? If you’re a recent college grad, it’s because they want to make sure that you have a sense of the industry you’re trying to enter and are coming into the job with realistic expectations.

Entry-level salaries vary by job type and industry, so knowing as much as possible about your field is extremely important when preparing to answer this question. Another thing to note is that entry-level salaries are most often not open to negotiation.

Here are some things to keep in mind when preparing to answer.

When it’s not appropriate to negotiate.

“If you’re recruited into a formal entry-level program (a program where a class of people starts together and trains together) the answer is likely going to be no to a salary negotiation,” explains Liane Hajduch, a former campus recruiter for RBC Capital Markets.

This includes fields like investment banking, consulting and engineering, all of which have structured salaries for entry-level jobs. If you’re entering one of those industries, it’s best not to negotiate! However, you should still come into the interview knowing the salary range for the position and having a clear sense of what to expect if you’re offered the job.

Say something like: “I expect to be paid a salary that is commensurate with the industry standard for an entry-level candidate joining this position.”

Pro tip: Sites like Payscale and Glassdoor offer a lot of information about salary ranges and can give you additional insights about a company including the average salary by job type.

When it is appropriate to negotiate.

If you’re entering a more creative field (think media or marketing) and have previous relevant experience, then negotiation might be possible. “I recommend doing your research on the industry and what similar entry-level hires are being paid,” explains Hajduch. “If you know your worth, and you have data to prove it, you’ll have a much stronger case than if you make it subjective or emotional.”

Once you’ve done the research and know the range for the position, be ready to show the interviewer that you have the skills and commitment to deserve the highest salary within that range.

Say something like: “I know the average salary for this type of entry-level position is in the $35,000-$40,000 range. I think that I would be a great fit for the role due to my past internship experience and I am expecting a salary within that range.”

Answering “What are your salary expectations?” effectively is easy if you come into the conversation prepared and with some solid research under your belt. Be confident and straightforward, but also remember that flexibility will go a long way toward making a good impression on the interviewer and the company.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as When to Start Applying for a Summer Internship and find answers to common interview questions such as Why Do You Want to Work Here?

4 Signs That Show An Employer Is Serious About Its Company Culture

“Company culture” can seem like a pretty intangible thing, especially when you’re thinking about your first job. You might not have the experience to know what actually makes it more than just an HR slogan.

Company culture is made up of the tangible experiences you have working there—and it couldn’t be more important.

Using Dell—an industry leader in company culture—as an example, here are four signs that show a company is serious about its culture.

#1: A Meaningful Work/Life Balance

Maintaining the balance between your work and your personal life is extremely important for your health, job performance, and overall satisfaction. Plenty of companies understand that happy employees are good employees, and few things make people happier than being able to have a rich life in and outside of the office.

But it has to be more than just expressing a commitment.

At Dell, if you work at any of the tech giant’s offices around the world, there are a ton of options with regards to scheduling your work. Some employees work from home for all or part of the week to cut down on commuting and inefficiency. Other employees work the same amount of hours in four days each week (instead of five).

Dell aims to have 50 percent of their workforce on flexible schedules by 2020. That’s the kind of proof you should be looking for when it comes to understanding work/life balance at a company.

#2: Genuine Commitment To Diversity

A company or team without diversity not only deprives you of the personal growth that comes from understanding people unlike yourself, but also makes concretely worse decisions. Companies AND people succeed when there’s diversity—so, yes, it should be an important factor.

It can be hard to tell whether a company employs a diverse group of people, particularly because diversity can mean a lot more than what is visibly apparent. Beyond that, corporate websites and verbal commitments can often oversell certain aspects of the company culture. One way to cut through the noise is by looking at what objective third parties and former employees have said. Check out the company’s diversity and inclusion ratings and see how credible organizations have rated them.

Dell was placed on DiversityInc’s Top 50 and was recognized by The Economist for their excellence in diversity and inclusion. Dell also does more than just hire people—they support them. Whether that means advocacy groups, accommodations for holidays and disabilities, or flexible work hours to fit people’s myriad obligations, the company is constantly thinking about its employees’ happiness.

#3: Openness To Innovation

Most companies rely on innovation to drive their business forward. But some companies truly expect it from every corner of their team. How do you figure out which is which? Here are a couple ways you can find out more about what exactly innovation means at a certain company.

For starters, ask about “intrepreneurship.” How has a select group of major tech players managed to stay at the top of an industry that revolves around advances? Simple: They’ve encouraged all of their employees to use the company as a venue for innovation. (Dell has an annual “Game Changers” competition where employees from around the globe pitch to executives who can opt to fund their ideas.)

If an employer can’t provide you with specifics about new products or businesses started by employees, then that may be a sign that the “culture of innovation” is just a phrase.

#4: Ethics And Impact

It’s important to know what kind of company you work for. Do they take responsibility for their actions? Do they contribute to the communities they’re a part of? Essentially, you need to know whether a prospective company makes the world a better or worse place.

This is where hard facts matter the most. Awards and accolades given from third parties are usually for a reason. So, when Dell has taken home trophies for their efforts to cut down on their carbon footprint or for being the largest global recycler of electronics, you know that it’s because they did and they are.

There are things like community engagement, manufacturing practices, and much, much more that you should look out for. There are many ways to make an impact—positive or negative. Companies who take ethics seriously usually have employees who do, too, and it can be great to be around people who care.

And Beyond…

Little things like dress code, snacks, and social events can make a huge difference in helping you adjust to a new city or new stage of life. So, don’t forget about these aspects of company culture, either.

Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Being An ‘Intrapreneur’

When we hear “innovation,” it’s hard not to think about the classic success stories and the images of people tinkering with old-timey motherboards in the pursuit of scientific progress. That’s where so many key tech companies like Dell started, after all. But it’s important to remember that it’s not the only way it happens.

There’s a reason major players in tech can manage to stay in the game for so long: Creative and technical geniuses innovate within the structure of their large corporations. The business world has taken to calling this practice “intrapreneurship,” and it could be the way that you manage to thrive as an innovator.

What is intrapreneurship?

Intrapreneurship—in contrast with entrepreneurship—is the practice of creating, pitching, and getting funding for your own business idea or product while working as an employee within a larger corporate structure.

“It’s a new kind of product or a new kind of business,” says veteran intrapreneur and Dell Product Manager Juan Vega. “It’s about identifying new opportunities and leading from the front.”

LEARN MORE ABOUT DELL AND APPLY FOR OPEN JOBS HERE

In the same way that you would start your business on the outside, you have to build a team, invest your own time, and aggressively seek sponsorship from execs in the right department. “You can’t lead from behind,” Juan stresses. “You have to take a risk and say, ‘I really think it’s worth doing something.’ And then you have to go and create the story and the arguments and the support and everything else you need, just as if you were out solo in the business world.”

How Juan tapped into a multi-billion-dollar business.

Juan knows a thing or two about intrapreneurship. Having spent more than 20 years at Dell, Juan has worked on (and started!) countless new businesses and products for the company.

For example, in 2008 he was running the successful Optiplex team, but he wasn’t feeling inspired by his role. “They figured out the formula and it was on track. It was doing great and winning everything. It wasn’t taking a lot to improve it; it just needed someone to keep it going,” he says.

As an innovator, Juan was ready for his next challenge. “I was bored, basically. I ended up looking at the market and thinking, ‘Where are we underserved?’ I started looking for that opportunity,” he says.

He settled on the small business market. The business packages and hardware were just too expensive at that scale. However, it didn’t have to be this way, and Juan knew that. “We had a ton of pricing conflicts. We had a cost problem that wasn’t being resolved in that space,” he says. “So, I found a backfill and got out of the job I was in, once I had sponsorship to drive this new business space.”

The result? “We built a new desktop and notebook business that was specifically focused on driving down costs and meeting the needs of the small business owner. And that’s a billion-something dollar business today.”

**How can you do it? It’s all about the company culture.**

An intrapreneurial culture is not the only thing that makes a company successful—there are plenty of established businesses that got to where they are by moving methodically and sticking to their guns. There are also flagging industries in which companies will be much more risk-averse because they just aren’t thriving. And it’s those types of companies—whether they’re cautious or just plain old conservative—that you have to avoid if you’re trying to find a place that will let you innovate.

If you’re someone who likes the idea of contributing to a larger team, having steady pay and benefits, and getting exposure to the workings of a major corporation, but you still want to make something new, then you have to make sure you find a company with a culture of intrapreneurship.

LEARN MORE ABOUT DELL AND APPLY FOR OPEN JOBS HERE

“It’s never about asking permission,” Juan explains. “You get permission along the way. You get investment dollars. You get head count. You get project teams. [At Dell], you get whatever it is you need to create that new business.”

How does this happen at Dell? According to Juan, it’s the people. “It’s because of the kind of people who are happy at Dell. We’re a pretty type A company. It all started with Michael in his dorm room. It’s people who are in a lot of ways self-motivated—entrepreneurial-type people— who just happen to be working in a giant corporation,” he says.

“And when you mix the two together, what you get is people who tend to ask a little more forgiveness than permission, and tend to bring opportunities to light as a part of their normal roles and responsibilities.”

How to Set Great Internship or Job Goals

Goals are critical to succeeding at your internship or entry-level job for several reasons.

They help you focus on what matters and avoid spending time on fruitless endeavors.
They enable you to track your progress and ensure you’re having the impact you want to have.
They help you align expectations with your manager and stay on the same page.
They allow you to document and demonstrate your effort and impact at the company, which can help you get a raise, promotion, or recommendation.

What Makes a Good Internship or Entry-Level Goal?

First, all goals should be several things:

In your direct control.
There’s no point in holding yourself accountable for things you can’t control. For example, if you’re in a social media marketing role, you should create a goal around growing the number of engaged followers by 50% instead of a goal to increase the revenue you get from each social media follower.
Measurable.
Avoid vague goals like “Grow our brand awareness.”. You’ll never know when you achieve vague goals. The easiest way to make goals measurable is to ensure there are numbers attached to them.
Ambitious.
Your goals should push you. They shouldn’t be easily accomplished. Goals don’t exist to make you feel accomplished. They exist to help you accomplish great things.

In addition, internship goals should have a specific focus on learning. That learning focus can be on you learning whether you want to pursue a career similar to the internship, learning a specific skill, or learning to succeed in a particular professional environment.

Good entry-level job goals aren’t so different in that there should be an emphasis on learning. However, learning cannot be the only goal as your impact is critical to your ability to maintain your career.

How to Choose Your Goals

Setting the best, achievable goals for your internship or entry-level job largely depends on knowing what you want, what you’re capable of, what your role will enable you to reasonably do, and what the company is trying to do. When setting your goals, it’s important to ask yourself a few key questions.

First, ask yourself why you accepted this internship or job. This should help you figure out what you should try and learn from it. Understanding your own personal motivation for taking the job should help you set a good personal learning goal.

Second, consider what the company is trying to do. Your goals should benefit you and the company. If your goals don’t align with the company’s goals, then your efforts likely won’t have any impact on the company’s success and you won’t be able to demonstrate your value to the company.

Third, ask yourself what type of impact you’d like to have on the company. What would you be most proud of achieving?

Fourth, examine the responsibilities of the role you have at the company and determine what your role will enable you to achieve. If you’re a sales intern, you probably won’t be super successful at helping the company achieve their engineering-related goals.

Setting the Scope of Your Goals

If you’re a summer intern, you probably shouldn’t have a yearly goal. Instead, you should set a goal for your summer internship.

Entry-level employees should start by trying to set 5 year goals. If you have absolutely no idea where you’d like to be in 5 years and what you’d like to be doing, that’s totally fine; start with 1 year goals instead. From those 1 year goals work backwards into quarterly and monthly goals. Some companies set quarterly goals and some set monthly goals. The scope of your goals should match with your company’s scope.

Internship Goal Examples

Grow Twitter followers by 25% by the end of summer.

Social Media Marketing Intern
Demo 5 new accounts each week.

Sales Intern
Write 10 new articles each month.

Content Marketing Intern
Learn Ruby on Rails and deploy 1 new feature by the end of summer.

Software Engineering Intern
Have coffee with 1 full-time employee each week.

Anyone

Entry-Level Job Goal Examples

Create 2 new icons and add them to the icon font each month.

Visual Designer
Reduce expenses each quarter by 5%.

Financial Analyst
Retain 80% of part-time volunteers each quarter.

Non-Profit Volunteer Coordinator
Shadow a different person in their role at the company each month.

Anyone

Tracking Your Progress

Once you have your goals set, you’ll need to be diligent about tracking your progress. A good rule of thumb is to check in on your status one time dimension below the scope of your goals. For example, you should check on your progress towards any yearly goals every quarter. You should check on any quarterly goals every month. You should check on any monthly goals every week.

Keep track of your progress somewhere digital (a spreadsheet or Google doc are good options). It’s not only important to know whether or not you’re making good progress, but at what rate you’re making progress. This can help you tie the progress to specific actions you took.

Assessing Your Impact

The final, and perhaps the most critical part, of effectively using goals in your internship or entry-level job is to ensure that you take time to reflect on the goals you set. You may have achieved them, or you may not have. Regardless, you should take time to think about:

Did this goal actually measure the impact that you had? Was it a good goal?
Why did you or did you not meet your goal?
Was this goal effective in motivating you?
Should you use this goal again?

Now that you know why goals are a critical part of any internship or entry-level job and how to set good ones, go use your new knowledge! Your manager will be impressed. We promise.

Next, get more career tips for internships and entry-level jobs such as What is an Internship? and find answers to common interview questions such as What’s Your Dream Job?

Here’s How You Should Answer Common Recruiter Interview Questions

The core skills you need to succeed in recruiting—leadership, self-management, resiliency, and being detail-oriented and quick-thinking, among others—have remained consistent over the past few decades. But how you use them has changed markedly thanks to technology.

So, where does that leave you when you’re interviewing for a Staffing Recruiter firm as a job?

It depends on a number of different factors, including your work experience and familiarity with the industry. That said, most early-career candidates will not have recruiting experience going into the interview.

And that’s fine!

Just remember that the questions will be broad enough to allow you to demonstrate these fundamental skills in a way that wows your interviewer and leaves a lasting impression.

Recruiting expert Casey Weickgenannt from Apex—one of the premier staffing and recruiting agencies in the country—opened up about her experience hiring for these roles. What are the most common interview questions she asks? How should you answer them? How do you follow up appropriately?

Check out her answers to these and other pressing questions below.

What are your strengths?

This question, while standard to most every interview, actually has a few specific right answers when it comes to recruiting.

According to Weickgenannt, there are many questions hiring managers are looking to answer. “Are you money-motivated? Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment? Can you multitask?” This question gives you an opportunity to show that you are all of those things—and more, she says.

Emphasize your ability to multitask even in a hectic setting. Talk about how you build relationships and are a quick learner. And don’t just say what you are, show them. Speak eloquently and confidently to prove to the recruiter that these are among your many, many strengths.

Do you have leadership skills/experience?

This is one of the more concrete questions in a recruiting interview, which means answering it should be a little more straightforward. This is the time to talk about any clubs or teams you’ve started or belonged to. Specific experience works, too.

Talk about a time when you took the reins on a group project or organized others to accomplish something. Leadership means different things in different settings, so think about your own experiences and how it applies.

Do you like working with people?

This question is key when it comes to recruiting. “Our product is people, and people are very unpredictable,” Weickgenannt says.

That means you need to understand how to work with all kinds of people. So, to ace this question, communicate that you not only enjoy being a service-oriented team player, but also are skilled at handling the twists and turns of working with a range of personalities.

At the end of the day, Weickgenannt stresses, the most important qualification for a Staffing Recruiter boils down to essentially one quality. “We’re looking for somebody who has very strong interpersonal skills,” she says. “That’s definitely the most important qualification for us. Someone who’s able to connect with others and have strong communication.”

What would you do if…?

These types of behavioral questions—during which your interviewer will present a scenario and ask how you’d handle it—are very common for Staffing Recruiter interviews.

First, don’t panic.

The important thing to remember is that you will receive a lot of training once the job begins, so it’s more important to show that you’re resourceful, clever, and smart. Don’t perseverate on the fact that you’re unfamiliar with the specifics or tactics you’re presented with.

Weickgenannt also recommends researching common behavioral questions. “There are plenty available online,” she says. Yet no matter what, always make sure you:

Practice beforehand.

Polished answers will demonstrate your public speaking skills and sales skills.

Engage with the interviewer.

Make sure you’re actually engaging with what the interviewer is asking. This way you can learn about the position and better prepare for later in the interview process.

Ask thoughtful questions.

Do your research beforehand so that you can ask an informed question when the interviewer turns the tables. Additionally, you should think of a question based on something the interviewer either said or asked. And avoid topics like benefits, vacation time, or salary. Those can be ironed out later.

Follow up!

“A candidate who can stand out in the application process is someone who’s being responsive,” Weickgenannt says. “Following up, keeping open the line of communications—that’s really memorable.”

These interviewers are handling a ton of applications for a variety of jobs. Following up by thanking them for their time and reminding them of your strengths is a great way to ensure you’re going to be top of mind when decision time comes around.

Interested in a career in recruiting? Apex is hiring on WayUp now, so check out their open roles and apply!