The Jungle Panel
(Excerpts from CAREER related postings by David Blend) 


DIANNE DESEVO is the recruiting manager for Warner Music Group, which hires for Elektra and Atlantic, among others. Previously, she was a recruiter for HBO.

TODD HUTCHINGS is the partner in charge of strategy recruiting for Internet consultant MarchFirst. During peak recruiting season, he typically interviews 300 candidates.

REBECCA BUTLER the MBA recruiter for UBS Warburg investment banking, has screened hundreds of candidates over the last three years.

JEANNIE YANG a staffing consultant for Inktomi, screens every candidate for the marketing side of this Internet-infrastructure-software company.


You've prepared for the questions, of course. Done the mock interviews. Practiced your rap in the mirror. But then all of a sudden it's show time: Your audience is a recruiter, and every answer is your final answer. So what's a recruiter looking for in a response? We popped eight typical interview questions to a dozen MBA candidates, and then let our expert panel dissect the answers.


Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?

A: "I hope to be a key member of your management team. Having worked five hard years making great contributions to this company, I will have become one of its leaders. I'd be thinking of ways to grow the company, and finding good people to bring in."
-- Second-year student, management consulting

• Dianne DeSevo: I hate it when someone says, "I want to be in an executive position," because it doesn't talk about how you plan to get there. You need to discuss learning specific skills, and networking. That's what shows me you have a real plan.

• Todd Hutchings: This is a canned line if I've ever heard one. It's more appropriate to talk about what you hope to become -- you know, "I hope to develop customer-relationship management expertise." Personal accomplishments are what attract me to a candidate.

• Rebecca Butler: I want to hear about where you want to be in terms of yourself rather than your position in my company. Talk to me about things you want to conquer, personality traits you want to improve.


Q: Describe a bad decision you made.

A: "Okay, here's one: When I was 16 years old, I worked at a little neighborhood store. My friend was working there with me, and after a few weeks she got fired. The next day, out of loyalty to her, I quit. Poor decision. But I learned from that: Now I separate business from pleasure. When I'm at work, it's a professional environment and I don't take things personally."
-- Second-year student, media and entertainment

• Hutchings: How about something from the relevant past? We all make mistakes, and she should be big enough to discuss an error that she made recently.

• Butler: She should have started her response with the lesson learned: that she knows how to separate business from pleasure. A recruiter's attention span can be short, and it's important that you capture my interest immediately.

• DeSevo: This shows loyalty to a friend, which is a plus. I like that she looks over the whole of her life and learns from it. That said, I would have prefaced the answer with "I can give you a more current answer, but here's one that really stuck with me."
Q: What's your greatest weakness?
A: "I could give you the canned answer, but you probably don't want to hear that. I guess the thing I need to work on is prioritizing. I like doing many projects at once, and I sometimes focus on the things I enjoy doing rather than on the things that I should be doing."
-- Recent graduate, business development

• Butler: I'd be curious to know what you think it is I don't want to hear. Don't tempt me.

• DeSevo: I don't love the "canned answer" part because it's almost mocking the question. And when you answer with "I'm a perfectionist" or "I take on too much," you're telling me that you're more interested in putting a positive spin on the question than you are with being honest. Just tell me a real weakness. That insight is worth something to me. This morning someone said, "I'm very sensitive; I have a hard time taking negative feedback." That's a good, honest answer.

• Yang: I think this is a valid response. I'm looking for someone who knows herself, someone who knows her limitations, and plans to better herself.

• Hutchings: I like it. Because one thing it takes to succeed is the ability to decide between what's urgent and what's important.


Q: Tell me about a challenge you faced and how you overcame it.

A: "When I first started working, I wasn't technically savvy. I always figured computers would get easier to use. Eventually I realized that if I didn't figure this stuff out, I'd sink. I made a concerted effort to learn different software apps -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others. I read up on operating systems and processing speeds. It was a fair amount of effort, but I've gone from being a guy who knew nothing to the one people turn to for help."
-- Second-year student, financial analysis

• Hutchings: Good answer. It shows, in detail, how he took initiative and masterfully addressed a skill gap. That said, I'd ask a follow-up question: "Hey, I'm having a problem with my computer, can you show me how to fix it?" That will quickly show me if he's for real.

• Butler: Addressing technology is a good way to answer this kind of question, because technology will continue to pose a challenge for everyone. Ideally, I'd like to hear how he applies that lesson elsewhere and prevents the same sort of thing from happening in the future.

• DeSevo: Perfect. It highlights a hard-core skill he brings to the table, as well as the willingness and ability to learn. He could talk a bit more about the way he learned -- classes, networking, whatever -- because that shows how he solved the problem. I love to hear about networking and building relationships. I always look for that.


Q: What would you do if you didn't get this position?

A: "First of all, I really want this position. I think I can be a tremendous value to this firm. I don't know if I should say this or not, but I have interviews with other companies, and I'm confident that I'm going to get a good offer from someone."
-- Second-year student, equity analysis

• Yang: This feels like a threat. It's good to be confident, but I don't like a candidate bringing up other companies if I don't specifically ask. You're here to talk about us, not about them.

• DeSevo: I agree, but these days, it's a candidate's marketplace. So I buy that line.


Q: How many gas stations are there in the continental United States?

A: "Gas stations? In the U.S.? There's never one when you need one, I know that. May I use a pen and paper? Well, I'd figure out how many people drive cars. How many go to a gas station in a day? How many are there? I'd say 150,000."
-- First-year student, investment banking

• Butler: This type of question shows me how you'd handle yourself in front of a client, so the humor may not be appropriate. I'm looking at your body language -- do you run your hand through your hair, roll up your sleeves? -- and I'm listening for the first thing that comes out of your mouth, because I want to see how you deal with being put on the spot.

• Hutchings: With a case interview question, you're looking for the candidate to demonstrate comfort with numbers and analytic reasoning. This answer is not detailed enough. There are a few ways to skin a cat, and you should mention all of them, then dig deeper into one and show me that you can handle it. Here, the process is more important than the actual number.

• DeSevo: In my field, I look for creativity more than analytic skills. So I'll ask a question like "How do you find a needle in a haystack?" The best answer I've heard was "I'd burn the haystack."


Q: Tell me about a situation in which you disagreed with a superior and how you handled it.

A: "Well, I try not to disagree with my superiors, but it happens in the course of a dynamic working relationship. Once, we had to do a presentation for some regular clients. My boss wanted to go the formal route with slides. I wanted to talk to them, not speak at them. He won, he got his way."
-- Second-year student, brand management

• Hutchings: He didn't really answer the question. So I'd ask it again. A good answer would be something like "I did my homework and brought the relevant facts -- such as x, y, z -- to the table and convinced my boss beyond a reasonable doubt."

• Yang: Too vague. And he didn't really handle it, did he?

• DeSevo: To say "he got his way" sounds catty and immature.


Q: What would you rather be doing right now?

A: "Interesting question. With all due respect, I would like to be out in front of this building, as if it were an hour from now. That way this interview would be over, and hopefully I would have impressed you enough that I'd have this job."
-- First-year student, marketing

• Yang: I could have conjured up this answer, which doesn't impress me.

• DeSevo: First, recruiters don't want your feedback about what you thought of their question. This particular question is one recruiters use to get you to let down your guard. People tend to say something like "lying on a beach," but that's got nothing to do with why I would hire you. The trick is to stay focused. For me, a good answer would be something job related -- like reading Billboard magazine, or thinking up ways to put Napster out of business.