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COMPETENCIES 1. DRIVE, COMMITMENT, AND PROACTIVITY Extra-curricular activities.

BA Economics Football Team while at the University of Manchester Required a routine in order to balance out my football commitments and university degree (and being a PASS leader). Important for routine to be flexible and adaptable to incorporate new events/tasks. PASS Leader (Teaching Assistant) for Econometrics Voluntary. During degree (had to balance degree with this activity). Improved my presentation and communication skills. Went beyond the minimum expected of me (facilitating discussions) by producing PowerPoint slides and example questions. o This could be interpreted as a risk. 2. TEAMWORK International Marble Run Challenge, run by a company called Eventus (arranged by the LSE careers department). o Team building challenge. o Challenge: to transport marbles by pipeline from the city of Alpha to the city of Bravo Access to construction material. Time limit. Paying attention to structural integrity (attention to detail) Collaboration and constant communication between the team building in Alpha and Bravo respectively. LEADERSHIP During the International Marble Run Challenge, I nominated myself as Leader because I have had experience in taking part in these sorts of activities through my experience in Scouts when I was younger. o Produced a plan of how the team (as a whole) should go about building the pipeline. o Due to my past experience, I was always prepared to give advice and help out. (E.g. bamboo sticks were given I suggested the idea of constructing a tripod like structure to hold up the structure). o As the leader of my region (Alpha), I saw it as my responsibility to keep in regular communication with the leader of the other region (Bravo). ATTENTION TO DETAIL Research on industry and company. BUSINESS AWARENESS AND FOCUS Understand the division that I am applying to. Market factors that may influence its performance . o Technological advancements improve processes. o Regulation places greater responsibility on Operations with respect to the profitability of the firm by ensuring that processes are being conducted in the most efficient way (to save costs). o Market factors such as changes in interest rates, exchange rates, and government policies.

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Examples of Competency Questions http://www.callcentrehelper.com/the-top-50-interview-questions-and-how-to-handle-them8000.htm How would your team/manager describe you? Describe your strengths + provide examples. Good communicator PASS Leader Organised Keep to a routine Flexible Able to switch between things i.e. at one moment I could be reading a chapter for a module, the next, I could be teaching Econometrics. Determined Desire to meet objectives. Good communicator -> Organised -> Flexible -> Determined. What have you done to promote great customer service? Define what you think great customer service is: Having thorough knowledge and experience. Being able to help customers make the best choices for them. o This could involve you going the extra mile (go beyond the minimum expected of you) how did you do this? Treating customers with a friendly, helpful attitude. PASS leader: The minimum expected of me was to simply facilitate discussions but, instead, I chose to produce PowerPoint slides and exercises to aid the understanding of the students that attended. Created a friendly and no fear environment in order to encourage students to feel comfortable about expressing their difficulties. o A Facebook group was created in order to aid this. What are the key factors that contribute to success? Clear communication - PASS leader, Football team Consistency Organisation time as a prefect at Whitgift and PASS leader Performance Exam results, all students who attended my PASS session passed. Leadership Pass leader (via gaining the trust of the students that attended). Innovative and Dynamic Teamwork Marble Run team challenge.

We look for highly motivated individuals that value client service, risk management, integrity and excellence. We are interested in diverse, driven and innovative team players who have an interest in management, financial markets and business-process design. How do you manage change? Depends on the nature of the change: (1) a change in the task (something which I have control over) or (2) a change in an external event such as changes in market variables when I do not have full control over such changes but have to adapt to manage those changes.

Give me an example of how you have dealt with an under-performing team member in the past. Future performance can be predicted by past behaviour Use STAR approach

Situation One member of the group (a Politics student) was unfamiliar with the mathematical concepts that were required to do the project. Task To find the minimum variance portfolio this required us to find what the should be the optimal weights that we should attach to the assets that form our portfolio that minimises the standard deviation (risk). Action Dont blame him took time to properly assess the difficulties that he was having. I feel that it is important to show maturity in such a situation to prevent a bad reaction on his part. Offer him support offered him help with the task by suggesting that we should perhaps work on the project together. He could provide the analysis side of things while I could tackle the mathematical issues. It actually turned out that I was learning things from him at the same time as he was learning things from me. Of course, I continued to do this until the project was eventually handed in. Talk to him to understand what he wants from me and why he is not performing to the best of his abilities. (Lack of motivation because not given enough work to do? We will never know unless we ask!). Be honest by not being honest, you are not helping anyone in the long-run (neither your group or the individual who is underperforming). Outlined the areas where he was making mistakes and offered him advice on how he should address them. Results Projects was handed in time, and we achieved a good grade from our project.

Tell me about you? Base your answer to this question on personal achievements, educational background, and ongoing studies. Good idea to think of occasions where you have initiated projects or ideas, which have gone on to achieve results. o PASS Leader all students went on to pass the Econometrics exam.

My strong points are that I am focused, enthusiastic and dedicated (Use experience as a PASS as an example), I like to ensure that I maintain a healthy balance between my personal and my academia life. This helps me to maintain a high level of performance at work. I recently embarked on a Masters degree, which I am nearly halfway through. I enjoy new challenges and like to take care of my own self-development. Overall I would say that I am a reliable, self-conscious and hard-working person who always looks for ways to improve." Would you say that you are a flexible person? Yes I am very flexible and I fully understand that the role will require me to be available when required. During my time as a PASS leader, I was aware that I needed to be available to students at times outside of the sessions. On one particular occasion, I suggested to a student that we should meet at the library to discuss in greater detail the difficulty she was having with a particular topic. On the day that we scheduled to meet, she contacted me stating that she would be approximately an hour late. Even though it wasnt the ideal scenario, I realised how important it was for me to fulfil my responsibility as a PASS leader with respect to giving the student the guidance required to help her with her issue. I thus waited for her, took care of her difficulty and went back home once I felt confident that her issue was resolved. What are your strengths? One of my strengths is that I have the ability to implement change in difficult circumstances. For example while working on my assigned task for the foundation of finance project which I participated in, I realised that I made a few mistakes in my calculations which had an effect on the overall conclusion (in the form of a recommendation) on the project. Once I notified my team about this, they were initially not happy with having to implement changes to the conclusion due to the work involved in doing so, but I managed to motivate them by first of all correcting the mistake efficiently and quickly and also persuading them by expressing how the correction changes the conclusion quite significantly. I thus feel that I have the ability to understand that attention to detail is of high importance as well as effective communication My strengths include an ability to persuade a team as well as make a decision without hesitation.

What are your weaknesses? Yes I do have one weakness. If somebody is late for a meeting or an appointment I usually have to say something to them when they do eventually arrive. This can sometimes be taken the wrong way. I personally don't like lateness, but I am trying to understand that some people are just late as a rule and I have to be accepting of others. Strength shown: punctuality Do you enjoy working in a team environment? I really enjoyed the atmosphere within that team and managed to learn so much from other members We all came together as a team and discussed the different options available to us. Yes I do enjoy working in a team environment but conversely my adaptability allows me to work in any environment. I would say that I can work either as one of a team or an individual depending on the requirements of the role. If I am required to work as part of a team then I will always listen carefully to the provided brief, keep in communication with the other team members, support those people who need supporting in the team, and also learn from any mistakes that the team makes so that we can improve next time.

Are you a risk taker? If the situation requires risk to be taken, then I am not averse to taking risks. However, the risks that I do take are always carefully thought through and focused on achieving the goal (intelligent risk). I would always look, wherever possible, to consult my manager before taking the risk. At the same time, if my manager was not present and a decision had to be made, I would ensure that the risks were always carefully calculated and veered on the side of caution. With the regulation, which currently shapes the investment banking landscape, I would never take any risks that breach regulations and confidentiality.

What are you like at time management? I am very effective at time management. I am the type of person who is extremely organised and knows what they want to achieve during each day. I like to keep lists, which act as a reminder of what I want to achieve and in what timeframe. For example, if I have a busy schedule planned for the forthcoming week, I will always write down what I want to do during that week, the week before. o This allows me to plan ahead and also makes sure that I have everything in place so that I can achieve each objective. I fully understand that the role I am applying for will require me to be competent at time management, and I am fully prepared for this."

What are you like at taking criticism from senior managers? Whilst working as a PASS leader, a situation arose where I was criticised for a mistake. At the time of the criticism I felt disappointed in my own performance, but knew it was important to learn from my mistake and improve for next time.

I understand that not everybody is perfect and when we make mistakes it is the ability to move on and improve for next time that is important. I spoke with student and the class after the mistake was made, apologised and made certain I improved my performance in that particular area.

Key words: reflect and evaluate. Can you give me an example of a particularly difficult customer you had to deal with and how you used your skills to successfully overcome the problem they had? Additional source: http://www.wikihow.com/Defuse-a-Situation-With-a-Difficult-Customer Pre-prepared answer should include the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. I listened carefully to what the customer had to say. I apologised and empathised with their situation. I confirmed my understanding of their concern. I took responsibility to resolve the issue. I offered a solution (plus alternatives if possible). I confirmed the customer was happy with this. I thanked the customer for raising the issue with me. I took immediate action following the call to resolve the situation. I remained calm throughout the whole process.

10. (If appropriate) the customer wrote in to my supervisor congratulating me on my efficiency. Example: When I started my 3 year at the University of Manchester, I sold an Economics textbook (which I no longer required) to a 2 year student. A couple of weeks later, she came to me wanting a refund. Issues: I clearly stated at the time of the sale that I would not accept a refund. Book was damaged when she returned even though I sold it to her in perfect condition.
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Reaction: 1. Look at my options: Stand firm

I tried to put myself in her shoes I understand how youre feeling, as a student, we want to save money where we can but at the same time The fact that I sold it to her in perfect condition made it quite difficult for me to refund the book. Offer an exchange (but not for something or equal value because I felt that she would simply do the same thing again in the near future). I was under the impression that maybe she just photocopied the relevant pages and now no longer needed the book. Suggest that, in the future, borrowing a book from the library may be a better option.

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Get away Give her the refund but warn her that in the future, I will not refund the book and it is unlikely that anyone else would either.

Tell me about a difficult obstacle you had to overcome recently at work? How did you overcome this? Problem: When I was given the role of being captain for the BA Econ Football team. During the first half, I consistently felt that I was struggling to motivate my team as the team captain usually would.

Action: I sought the advice of the team captain (who was watching from the side-lines) to find out the techniques he uses to motivate the team (including myself) throughout the match.

Solution: Acting on the advice of the team captain, I implemented a combination of being very vocal with respect to motivating the team to push on (when attacking) as well as ensuring that the team kept their overall shape (when defending) throughout the match. How do you plan daily and weekly activities? I initially plan and allocate tasks (which I am aware of) on a Sunday ready for the new week. During the week, however, I am fully aware that new tasks or events (such as the interview) may arise so I make sure that my plan is flexible at the same time in the sense that I can choose to do a task which I initially planned to do on Monday for another day while at the same time making sure that the deadline (the end of week) that I have set for that specific task is met. o The interview meant that I had to reading for Behavioural Finance on Thursday morning rather than Friday morning, in preparation for my lecture on Financial Risk Analysis that I have later. So I keep that in mind by allocating myself free time on certain days in order to accommodate new events. Why Operations/Why Goldman Sachs? Show that you have research the company. Try and align experiences and/or knowledge gained from current situation to some of the challenges and responsibilities of the present within the role you are applying to. Transferable skills. Explain what you can bring to the role and demonstrate how some of the skills you have (making reference to an example) would make you a good fit to the role.

What is your greatest success and achievement to date? Employers want to see how you have developed and maintained a strong professional network, or how you pride yourself on your reputation for being reliable and hard working.

Example: Being first member of my family to go to university and graduate. o Give a timeline started at Downsview where I didnt really gain much from an education point of view. My parent put me an independent (private) school (Cumnor House) to see if it could improve my fortunes. o Lot of money I realised that and that is what drove me to changing my attitude towards education because I knew my family was making a significant sacrifice to me I enjoyed two successful years at Cumnor House. o That philosophy is still with me now hard working and reliable and it is for those reasons why my family have been wiling to invest in me until now! Keep the answer to this question short; you do not want to come across as being cocky! How would you manage your time and objectives in your role? In my current role, I break down my objectives into daily targets and outline periods of the day when I am going to focus on achieving them. I find this system works well for me and I expect to carry it into my next job. Show employer that you are capable of working in line with your objectives and getting the job done. How do you keep yourself motivated? (What keeps you focused?) Breaking your workload up into daily targets to ensure that the next small success (completion of an objective) is never too far away. Living a healthy and balanced lifestyle I believe that looking after yourself will have a big impact on an individuals concentration levels, which will translate into being productive. Promoting others and working in a positive atmosphere.

What key factors drive you? Another way of asking: What attracts you to operations? What inspires you through the touch times?

How often do you challenge the way your current company does things or challenge something that you feel needs to change? Throughout my term of employment, I keep a constant note of any areas that I feel can be improved. But I only present these concerns to my boss when I have developed in-depth and realistic solutions

How creative are you in comparison to your colleagues, i.e. in managing, developing, encouraging and motivating your team? During the exam period, where I held revision sessions as a PASS leader, I would separate the students into groups and ask the groups to work together in order to answer the questions presented on the PowerPoint (which I created). o I created short, multiple choice, questions that I felt were exam relevant.

The winning team would win a box of Celebrations chocolate. While my overall aim as a PASS leader was to help students with their difficulties in Econometrics, for that particular session, I also wanted to ensure that they would approach the Econometrics exam with a positive outlook.

Give an example of when you have been really stretched for a deadline, and how you made sure you completed your work on time. Your potential employer is looking to see that you are prepared to go above and beyond the call of duty when the company needs you Whilst revising over the Christmas period, there was dramatic increase in events such as family coming over, Christmas day, and New Years which would distract me from my revision. To ensure that I continued to complete my daily tasks over this time period, I frequently started work at 5am rather than 7am. How do you deal with work issues? Would anyone know you were having a bad day or would you keep it to yourself? Morale is infectious whether positive or negative and, when working in a team-orientated environment, its important that there is always an air of positivity around. Its therefore vitally important to ensure that if youre having a bad day, you contain this and dont let it influence the morale levels of the team, and i n turn the productivity and efficiency of the overall operation.

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