interview Flashcards
- Tell me about yourself.
(As you already know, my full name is Tianjing Du, but please feel free to call me Jing.)
Right now, I am a graduate student in Business Analytics at the University of Rochester. I got my bachelor’s in math and business administration at Northeastern University.
I also have three years of full-time work experience as an analyst in food manufacturing and legal service sectors. I gained extensive experience in financial modeling, product management, data analysis, and market research. And all the tasks I had required my strong analytical thinking, attention to detail, and clear communication skills.
I see myself as a proactive and detail-oriented person in my studies and professional work.
So today, I would love to discuss with you how I can leverage my experience into this internship opportunity at Climate.
- Why this company？What do you know about Climate? Why do you want to join us?
I did a lot of company research during my job-seeking process, and I have been following Climate all along. I also had a friend join Climate last year. She told me about the company’s working environment, and its core values, which makes me feel like this is where I want to work. She said that the team has a strong collaborative spirit which stimulates her work, and she has the chance to work with several experts in different fields, which makes her job more fulfilling and challenging in the way she likes. I could see how proud she was to be part of the team.
For me, I think what Climate does is fascinating. We help growers to increase productivity with digital tools. We make sure people on the planet have enough food and support farmers to continue farming with profit. I think agriculture is an important sector in the future with the most development opportunities. Our company brings out the evolution of agriculture, and this is in line with my goals because I hope to work for a position with more innovation and also with a purpose. That’s why I really want to become a member of the team.
- What do you think about the agriculture industry? (Opportunities, challenges).
As I said, agriculture is a very important sector, we are still facing a lot of challenges. Because given the growing population, we must grow more food with less land and resources, this is undoubtedly a very big challenge for agriculture.
We must advance agriculture to keep pace with technological change. What our company is doing right now is critical, we need to be able to predict how fields of different types and sizes with different seeds can harvest the maximum amount in each season, and we need to visualize the field data to help growers make decisions to increase their productivity.
- Do you have any agriculture background?
Although I do not have an academic background in agriculture, I have relevant work experience. In my previous job as a financial analyst, I worked in a food manufacturing firm supervised by the Department of Agriculture. I assisted the product team in analyzing sales and market trends, I also worked with the Department of Agriculture to ensure food safety and learned about regulations. I developed an interest in the agricultural industry since then.
- Why this position? Why PM?
I applied for this intern position because my future career goal is to become a product manager. Throughout my education, I build a solid foundation in mathematical finance, economics, stats, and data analytics. Besides, I have continually developed my analytical and quantitative skills and gained a huge interest in product management.
During my work, I have great attention to details. I am also a strong communicator and can perform at my best when working in cross-functional team settings. And I could be relied upon to deliver product-related tasks on time with requirements. But, more importantly, I think my career aspiration as a product manager is aligned with our company’s mission, which is to use data-driven approaches to help people reach their business goals.
So I believe the skills, qualities, and experience I have made me the perfect candidate for this intern position.
- What do you know about our team, and why our team?
What I know about our team is that we are the backbone for our product development. I know our products are algorithm based. And we need to understand and turn the model made by the data science team into a marketable product. As a PM, we also need to translate user feedback to data scientists on how to improve our products.
I think what our team does is really in line with my goals. I hope to join your team and work with you to understand the industry, support the development of our product capabilities, and contribute to both the discovery and delivery facets of product management.
- Why do you think you are a good fit for the position
First of all, through my education, I build a solid foundation in mathematical finance, economics, stats, market research and data analytics. I am familiar with the scientific method and financial modeling and can conduct quantitative analysis using various programming languages.
Secondly, I have sharpened my communication skills through my work experiences and developed an ability to perform at my best when working in cross-functional team settings. So I believe that I can thrive in a highly collaborative environment, just like Climate.
Moreover, I care deeply about business development, and I think my career aspiration is aligned with our company’s mission, which is to use data-driven approaches to help people reach their business goals.
I am confident that my techniques, teamwork and soft skills will help me become a valuable add-on to the team.
- What is your short-term and long-term career goal?
(By short-term, my assumption is under one year, is that in line with what you are thinking?)
My short-term goal is to break into the agriculture technology industry and gain as much knowledge as possible about the day-to-day responsibilities. I hope to work with the product manager to gain a deeper understanding of the industry, support the development of product capabilities, and contribute to both the discovery and delivery facets of product management.
(My long-term goal is 5 years or longer, is that consistent with your definition?)
In the long-term, I hope to become a product manager who can contribute to the growth of the agriculture technology industry as well as the company. So I really hope to work for this intern position to build my foundation in this industry.
- How would you describe yourself in terms of personality?
I would describe myself as highly motivated, detail-oriented, and innovative. When I am working on projects, I always take the initiative to start the background research and make sure I understand the goals and expectations. I manage my time very well, and I’m used to proofreading my reports or double-checking the data before submission. And I would love to bring new ideas and brainstorm with the team to find more effective solutions.
- How do you handle with the conflicts in a team?
When I deal with people, I would describe myself as empathetic and communicative. I have worked in four distinct businesses, and in every role, I need to work people from different teams or departments, and I got to know that conflict management is very crucial for team collaborations. So when conflict happens, I will first identify triggers to conflict and show empathy to both sides. I will also communicate with both sides and give them constructive feedback on improving the current situation or how to get things done without further argument. I love to encourage and empower others so that everyone can work together in one direction and solve problems more efficiently.
Leadership experience
During my previous job at Ri Wang Food Group, I worked with several people from different divisions to deliver an update of our online order website. Unfortunately, a few days before the due date, there was a major blow-up on the technical side, which caused the website did not work on mobile devices. Since we knew that most of our customers used to place orders through their mobile devices, several team members had some sharp criticisms for the team member from the technology division.
I knew that internal conflict at this time would not help us solve the problem, so I decided to step up and tackle this issue head-on.
I first reminded my teammates that our goal is to meet our deadline, so pointing fingers at each other won’t help. Then, with my suggestion, our team set a rule to be “tough on the issue, but gentle on the people”, engaged in conversation rather than criticism.
By providing constructive and speedy feedback to the technology team, we were able to help them debug and launch our website successfully before the deadline.
- What role do you play in a team and do you have an example of working with teams from different functionalities
I worked on many team projects in school as well as in my previous work. I am a supportive team member, but I’m comfortable stepping up to lead. I would characterize myself as the responsible one on the team. When it comes to taking care of work, meeting deadlines, and even staying late to finish work, my team members can count on me.
When we come up with an idea or complete a proposal, I always encourage feedback and even criticism from our team members. In my opinion, feedback should flow freely in all directions in a successful team. Each team member should not hesitate to share their opinion, and also take on a leadership role when that’s the best thing for the team. In some cases, I might lead the entire team, and in other instances, I may follow the direction of someone else, who has more experience or simply the better idea on this project.
- What was your biggest achievement in the past work experience? (STAR)
- Do you have any quantitative and modeling experience? Do research, Analysis, make suggestion process？
During my previous job at Ri Wang Food Group, I worked as a financial analyst and focused on analyzing the market trend and conducting product pricing models.
The company used to have only one wholesale pricing model for each product line, but there are two problems: 1. Demands of products are very seasonal, for example, some products sell a lot in fall & winter, but sales drop sharply during spring & summer. 2. Prices shouldn’t be the same for small retailers or restaurants.
So, I first did research about our competitors’ pricing scheme, and did customer surveys to find our customer preferences and their willing-to-pay price. Then I performed a market segmentation analysis to define the best product lines for each segment. After that, I came up with dynamic pricing model for each product line and partnered with the marketing team to utilize strategies including promotions and coupons to improve sales. As a result, I helped the company increased its quarterly revenue by an average of 15%.
This experience shows my ability to analyze and innovate. I hope to work with the Climate team to support the development of product capabilities and provide decision support to clients.
- Do you have experience in market research/ customer research? Give an example of what you have done (STAR).
Let me talk about a project last semester. Our team analyzed a conjoint experiment conducted for a toy horse company and determined new product designs with maximum profitability and market share.
The challenges we have included channel limitation, competition, and understanding our customer preferences.
We had the conjoint study data from 400 individuals based on four main attributes of toy horses, like price, height, motion, and style. To assess our consumer preferences, we first determined the utilities of attributes. We then conducted benefit segmentation using cluster analysis in R to identify the ideal product for each category. After that, we determined the five most desirable profiles. Then did simulations in Python on different scenarios to determine the best product line strategy. Finally, we also simulated competitive response scenarios. We finalized our results and presented recommendations to the company in the end.
This experience shows my knowledge of improving products based on consumer preferences analysis. I hope to work with the Climate team to help the development of product capabilities and provide decision support to clients.
