From the category archives:

Undergraduates

How to Ask Good Questions? It’s Not About You, It’s About Them

February 28, 2010

Ideal interviews are ones where you and the interviewer(s) are carrying a normal conversation. Both parties take turns asking and answering questions within the flow of the conversation, and you don’t feel like you’re part of an interrogation. While you may not have the opportunity to ask questions in the middle of the interview, you will always be given at least a few minutes at the end.


Most people now know that asking good questions is a key part of the interview. Asking the right type of questions can definitely leave the interviewer with a great impression about you. But what are good questions to ask? Here are 3 rules to keep in mind…

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How to Introduce Yourself in an Interview

November 7, 2009

Interviews are won or lost in the first 5 minutes. Experienced interviewers can tell in your initial interactions with them if there’s potential here, or if you’re just not going to fit in. Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve worked with over 75 undergraduates conducting 1-on-1 mock interviews with them, and I can definitely tell you, after just the first few questions, which were the handful that stood out from the crowd.


So what does this mean? You need to start your interview strong! Prepare for the typical introductory questions (e.g. can you start by telling me a little bit more about yourself? Why are you interested in working for us? Why this role?), and be ready to really impress the interviewer with your answer.


Today I want to focus specifically on the introduction – what should you say and how much should you say if the interviewer asks you to tell them more about yourself?

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The Power of Student Blogs

October 3, 2009

If you’re reading this article via a RSS reader or by subscribing to my feed or through email, I don’t think I need to tell you too much about how powerful and informative blogs can be. Blogs have quickly moved from a niche personal outlet to the mainstream. CEOs from large MNCs to celebrities and politicians are all jumping on the blog (and for that matter Twitter) band-wagon.


The education industry is no different. As students begin to move away from their home town to their new university environments and experiences, they have been quick to use the blog, and other social media channels, as a way to let their friends back home know what they are up to.


Admission departments are now beginning to embrace this new marketing channel as well. While MBA programs have been soliciting student volunteers to be part of their official blogs for sometime now, undergraduate programs are joining in on this growing trend.

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The Best Places to Launch a Career in 2009

September 17, 2009

This week’s (Sept 14) cover story of BusinessWeek magazine highlights their results of the 2009 edition of “the Best Places to Launch a Career”…and $10 says you won’t be able to guess who it is. I’ll give you a hint. I know this company better than ANY other one in the world.


First, a caveat. This article is heavily biased towards the U.S. job market, and while most of the companies on the list are MNCs (multi-national corporations), some of the specifics that are mentioned in the article apply only to certain U.S. office locations, and not necessary to what is happening in all countries of the same company.


And the winner for 2009…

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Advice for Graduates (from Ken Morse – MIT)

September 3, 2009

Blogging has definitely become very mainstream today, not only in our social lives but in the corporate world as well. CEOs maintain blogs, companies may have a recruiting blog, even Business Schools have admissions-based blogs. Last week, I happened to find the blog of Steven Sinofsky, who used to be the SVP at Microsoft in charge of Microsoft Office, but several years ago was promoted to President of the entire Windows Division.


To try and stop some of the exodus of Microsoft employees to other up-and-coming technology firms (aka Google), Steven was asked to start a blog to reach out to potential Microsoft candidates and offer insights into what it’s like to work at Microsoft, the different roles, and generally the valuable contribution new graduates can make at the company on Day 1.


As I was scrolling through, a short post from 2005 caught my attention that offered some advice I want to share with you today…

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Upcoming University Fairs

August 4, 2009

As a follow-up to our last post, here is a short list of some of the upcoming university fairs, for prospective undergraduates and MBAs. In addition, many of the top schools host private information sessions. Visit their website to see if and when they will be coming to your city.


Singapore

Thursday, September 17, 2009
The MBA Tour – Featuring top MBA schools such as: CEIBS, Haas, IESE, INSEAD, Sloan (MIT), Stern (NYU), Wharton
Marina Mandarin
S$5 / S$10 Registration Fee
www.thembatour.com

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3 Tips as University Application Season Begins

July 27, 2009

With many students already back to school here in Singapore, and back-to-school season hovering right around the corner in North America, university career fairs have begun, marking the beginning of the university application season.   In the past 2 weeks, I’ve already attended 2 such fairs here in Singapore, focused on studying abroad, at the top schools in Australia, [...]

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