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How to rock your interview

Lauren Harris our consultant managing the role
Author: Lauren Harris
Posting date: 6/28/2018 1:41 PM

From Faneuil Hall to Fenway Park, along the Freedom Trail, and in the halls of Harvard and MIT, Beantown boasts a cultural cornucopia of American history. Since Paul Revere’s Ride and the Boston Tea Party upset, Boston has been a leader in innovation seamlessly weaving its history into its future. 

With its historical beginnings steeped in dreams, desires, and innovative prowess, Boston has transcended the status quo of the quaint New England town. From music to sports to science, it has listened to its people, its visitors, and kept a pulse on technological advancements to improve lives. Knowing what people want can help you give them what they need.

“People think of innovation and heritage as opposed ideas but I disagree. If we are heritage brands, we stood the test of time because we have [a] tradition of successfully innovating. Innovative companies should aspire to become heritage brands.” – Alex Boren, CEO of Oscar de la Renta

Transcend the Status Quo Using Digital Analytics

Over the last few months, we’ve talked about how to put your best foot forward by boosting your resume with video, the importance of enhancing the basics with technology, and broadening your skillset as data recruitment ramps up its efforts to find top talent. This not only offers great insight to a recruiter, it can also help you gauge how you can grow into your next position. You are your own brand. Every day you innovate – whether you realize it or not – video, apps, search, and more. And you thought those apps were just for games!

Just by reading our blog, you’re learning, growing, as are we as we discover your passions, your interests, and your drives by transcending the status quo. We are, after all, a data and analytics recruitment firm, and therefore derive our own insights using digital analytics. But, just as it applies to retail, finance, media, and other industries, it applies also to you, the candidate.

The Interview

You’ve written your cover letter and tailored your resume. You went the extra mile and added video or showed off your design skills in the layout. You’ve been ramping up your skillsets to give yourself that extra oompf, and now, you’ve gotten the call – the interview. Whether your interview is on the phone or in person, there are few things you can do to rock your interview:

  • Dress professionally – even if it’s a phone interview. It’ll help get you in the right mindset.
  • Smile. 
  • Have an extra copy of your resume and cover letter to help keep you on track during the interview.
  • Be prepared and know the company and job. Have a few well thought out questions ready for the recruiter too.
  • Be specific. Think about how the answer to your question would help you make decisions now and in the role.
  • Ask for clarification. Make sure you understand the role and that you and the recruiter on the same page as to what it entails.
  • If you’ve thought of something you think will add value that’s not on your resume, in your cover letter, or you haven’t yet mentioned, circle back around to it and take this opportunity to speak about it. Think about articles you’ve read, classes you’ve taken, or field experience you’ve learned from for inspiration.

If you want to weave innovation and exceptional customer experience into the heritage brand of a household name in media entertainment, we may have a role for you. Harnham is looking for a Lead Marketing Scientist in the Greater Boston area. In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to take a deeper dive into customer analytics both on and offline to help the business gain understanding into their customer’s behaviors. You can also check out our current vacancies or contact us to learn more.

For the East Coast team please call 212-796-6070, or email newyorkinfo@harnham.com.

Related blog & news

With over 10 years experience working solely in the Data & Analytics sector our consultants are able to offer detailed insights into the industry.

Visit our Blogs & News portal or check out our recent posts below.

Machine Learning and Customer Experience for Business Scalability

Over the last four decades, we’ve feared change. Technophobia. Cyberspace. Smart devices. AI, Robotics and Automation. Each of these transformative shifts have changed our lives in one way or another. But there is a new, unexpected and desperately needed change already in play; putting the human back in our lives.  Human Resources. Human-centric customer service. Humans in cooperation and collaboration with smart technology. Both in B2B and B2C businesses, putting the human back in focus is imperative to success.  Consider Netflix. How it began, how it’s evolved, and how its efforts are seemingly leading the way for next gen personalization. Think: If you like this, then you may like (insert service or product here). Amazon does much the same. Putting the Human Element Back in CX When you call customer service with a concern or problem. What happens? Either there’s no phone number at all and you’re forced to send an email which you hope gets read by a person. Or if you do call, you push buttons trying to figure out which branch of the tree will get you to the correct person.  Chatbots have been one answer but they really only alleviate acknowledgement. We’ve all called a customer service number and spoken to two or more people about our issue. Bill Paterson, EVP of Salesforce, suggests a four-point, human-centric customer service engagement strategy, to help solve the problem.  In addition, his article takes a deeper dive into putting the human back in customer service. At the heart of the matter is putting Emotional Intelligence, care, and empathy back into the equation. Technology may be how people reach out, but it’s a human they want to speak to and connect with. When the two are paired, there’s a much better chance of success. And repeat customers. Pairing Machine Learning with a Human-Centric Touch While strategies and metrics still have a big role to play, there are other ways to measure customer success. Data gathered from your customers will only get you so far, but the human element, the human connection, supported by technology, is the next shift in Digital Transformation.  Machine Learning models can help predict what customers will want or need, but meaningful customer relationships are just as vital. It’s this pairing which can generate great service and scalability of today’s modern business. Though there is a strong underpinning of engineering components in building models, only a portion involves code. Much of the effort goes into the pipeline and workflow systems and infrastructure. It’s at this systems level, Data Scientists can focus on design and implementation of production. This strategy ensures that before building good models, a good foundation must be laid. One portion of this workflow has been called the ‘art of Machine Learning’. The ‘Art’ of Machine Learning  Data Scientists and Machine Learning Engineers have any number of ways to solve a problem. Dealing with such vast amounts of Data within a model is not unlike determining how to scale for a website which needs to handle large fluctuations in web traffic. The nuances of technology within the realm of human experience is an artform. Though in the future, most engineering challenges will be automated and open-source will be a go-to framework. As tools improve and ETL processes improve, ML Engineers and Data Scientists will get the opportunity to focus more on models and less on systems. But beyond the artform of experimentation and intuition is the growing trend for soft skills in tandem with technical skills. Those who can lead a technical team, who can communicate to non-technical professionals, and still have the Emotional Intelligence to navigate the human psyche. It’s these individuals who will be ready for the next step in leading businesses into the next generation of customer service.  Ready to take the next step in your career? Take a look at our current vacancies or contact one of our expert consultants to learn more.   For our West Coast team, contact us at (415) 614 - 4999 or send an email to sanfraninfo@harnham.com.  For our Mid-West and East Coast teams contact us at (212) 796-6070 or send an email to newyorkinfo@harnham.com.  

Leah Topham

20. February 2020

Reflections On The Watermark Conference For Women

This week I was fortunate enough to head down to the Watermark Conference for Women alongside our SVP, Stephanie Brooks. As we enter 2020 and women continue to shatter glass ceilings, Harnham firmly believe in a proactive approach towards placing more women in Data & Tech roles.  Diversity and inclusion are integral to our story and core beliefs and we strive to continually re-evaluate how we create measurable change in the marketplace and redefine the metrics of successful and excellent recruitment. For us, attending the conference was a chance to meet and learn from some of those women who are leading the way. Every talk inspired me in some way but there were a couple I really connected with, and I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on how they impact the work we do at Harnham. WHAT IS WATER? One talk that struck a chord with me was Seth Godin’s breakfast keynote, inspired by a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace in which he famously tells a story of two fish out at sea. The story goes: “There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the hell is water?’”. Godin’s speech was meditated on how attitudes and beliefs are the indicators of future success. In his speech, Godin echoed Wallace’s sentiment that “freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in a myriad of ways every day.” Recruitment is an industry where it is easy to swim along without questioning what water or recruitment really is. To question what is water - what is recruitment - requires thoughtful analysis, careful consideration, and of course, “attention, awareness, and discipline”. As the global leaders of Data & Analytics recruitment, we remind ourselves daily that we are responsible for making meaningful change. Water is, to us, what we make of it.  For Seth, his water is marketing. For Harnham, our water is recruitment and we stand by Wallace’s challenge to stay conscious and alive in our jobs. Day in and day out Harnham will continue to make the case for agency recruitment to be diverse and inclusive, as this is in the best economic interest of our clients.   THE ECONOMY OF DIVERSITY One of the most insightful and compelling moments of the day was a conversation between Pat Mitcheel and Indra Nooyi, the former chair and CEO of PepsiCo. Having directed the company’s global strategy for more than a decade, Nooyi is uniquely poised to discuss the importance and power of having women in every capacity within an organization.  During the conversation, she highlighted the statistics that measure the success companies achieve when women have equal representation at all levels. Currently, gender parity exists in entry-level positions but is absent in the 2nd and 3rd tiers of the workforce. While Nooyi highlighted that having a diverse and inclusive workplace should be an integral part of every company’s corporate social responsibility, she argued that this also leads to unprecedented economic growth. This aligns closely with our view of Diversity at Harnham, something which we examined in more detail in our Diversity Report.  For Nooyi, in making the case for the economics of diversity, she used the work of care economists to show how implementing policies that affected the unique interests of women are proven to not only keep women in the workforce and draw them back to work after children but are also shown to increase the economic output of countries. Institutional change at the corporate level and policies focused on those who have care-giving responsibilities have been shown to positively influence economic growth and increase the happiness and productivity of workers.  BREAKING OUT  As a woman working in a fast-paced and competitive environment, I also took a number of insights from the various break-out sessions held throughout the day. Here are a few highlights:  Women Breaking Barriers: Michelle P. King, Andrea McBride John, Pat Mitchell, Samantha Rapoport Find a mentor, be a mentor. Find a sponsor, be a sponsor. Find a sister, be a sister.Take up space and own it Share your successes with the women and men around you Building a Network of Relationships, Not Just Contacts: Laura Okmin Focus on asking people who they are, not what they do Reach out when you don’t need anything, maintain relationships  The Myth of the Nice Girl Nice people build  trust, trust is the foundation of all business relationships You don’t have to choose between kindness and strength If you want to break glass ceilings, we may have an opportunity for you. Take a look at our latest roles or get in touch with one of our expert consultants to find out more.  For our West Coast Team, call (415) 614 - 4999 or send an email to sanfraninfo@harnham.com. For our Mid-West and East Coast Team, call (212) 796 - 6070 or send an email to newyorkinfo@harnham.com. 

Tegan Stanbach

14. February 2020
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