Hi I'm Jenny Rae, the Managing Director of Management Consulted, and I'm here
today with Adam Marks. Adam is a former consultant who has a lot of really rich
experience, but as an experienced hire, he's got a lot to talk about in his "walk
me through your resume" and the stories. So we're gonna start with walk me
through your resume. We're gonna break it down for Adam, gonna answer some questions
that he has. I'm gonna have him walk me through his actual resume, and then
ultimately, we'll get to the place where I give him the feedback and he can
actually incorporate it into the process. So Adam thanks for being my willing
victim today on the interview bootcamp. My pleasure. We're excited to walk through this. So I think that earlier
when we were talking, before we began to roll the cameras, you had a few questions.
So go ahead and ask me those questions first before we dive in. Yeah, it kind of
starts with, well what you said, I have a lot of things here and I'm not sure what
to talk about and how deep to talk about it in the two minutes. Yes.
So it starts with just the bachelors that I got, and it goes through the advanced
degrees on the experience. What do I talk about and what do I leave out?
Absolutely. So it'll be easier for me to tell you that and I'll keep that in mind
as I'm going through the feedback part when they are actually doing the walk me
through your resume, but early on in the process you need to highlight all of
your degrees. Okay. You don't have to go into tremendous detail as to exactly
what you did and why you did each one for 20 to 30 seconds each. Instead you
want to spend about 30 seconds on that total story - so still give me a little
bit of a personal background, then tell me why you got your bachelor's but also
tell me what advanced study you wanted to do and why. Okay then when you're
talking about your work experience, that's gonna be the place where you
could really go crazy or you to talk to me for 17 hours or whether you could
talk to me for a longer period of time. So you have to make some choices between
brand name experience, which you have some great brand name experience on your
resume, and ultimately the type of experience that you want to highlight
that's the most recent as well some other experience. You're going to need to
mention but gloss over a little bit more. So before when I was saying 20 to 30
seconds ideally for each experience - if you have like, on your resume,
five key experiences, you're not going to be able to fit all of that in, right? So
you're gonna have to pick two to talk about for 20 to 30 seconds and the other
ones you're gonna just have to kind of give me a quick like, here's what I did
and then I moved on to the next. Okay does that make sense? Yeah that answer
your question that you had? Yes, yeah, and so for internships they
would be something I would want to mention but very quickly. Exactly because
you didn't have the same depth of responsibility or the same insights.
Later on when we're talking about your ultimate stories, and you're sharing
things about teamwork and leadership, you're more likely to pull them from
your full-time work experiences than your internships. Oh I see okay that
makes sense. Okay you ready? Okay great. So I've got a
copy of your resume here, I'm gonna ask you to walk through yours, and this will
be like we're actually in an interview - so I'll be paying attention to
everything. Everything that you say as well as your body language, your vocal
confidence, and just overall the connection that you make with the
interviewer. So sounds good, you ready? Yeah. Okay great let's get started. So why
don't you walk through your resume and just give me the background and how
you got to where you are today. Sure, well I started my study at Syracuse
University and I ended up getting a bachelor's there, and that's and
information systems and technology. I went from there to IBM global
business systems services. I'm sorry, I was more nervous than I thought.
I worked there as the IT consultant and was rapidly promoted as a
systems consultant after a year, and that was due to several key projects that we
did well on. After that I went back to school to get a Masters of Science in
telecommunications and network management. From there, I worked at
Cigna for a short time in their leadership development program, and was
offered a full-time position but decided that I really wanted to expand both
globally and kind of into the business realm. And so from Syracuse getting a
Masters, I went to Taiwan in Asia and got an MBA and I learned Chinese - so I
can speak Mandarin Chinese. Wow! Yeah and I got an MBA in international relations.
So that was very good, a very good experience for me. From there, I ended up
going to Beijing where I worked for a company called ICD
Security Solutions. I worked as their IT manager creating the IT department there.
So the reason they needed that department and the reason why they added
me on was because they needed leadership in that area of their business. They
never thought of it as anything more than a cost center that needed very
little time, so the HR department was working on it. So I came in - I brought
standards that were necessary as they were expanding both throughout Asia and
into the West, and I brought in systems that really helped them save money,
increase efficiency, and more than that, they were at the stage where IT systems
with standards actually created a competitive advantage. Great. It wasn't a
kind of a thing that everyone had and therefore you should have it.
It was if people don't have it now, we have it, we're actually ahead of them.
Great. Yes it was exciting. I was able to build a team. I was distributed
throughout the world, and through that team we created, enforced standards, and
really made new systems that kind of helped information flows safely and
securely throughout the company. Great.
So I really loved that I ended up getting promoted to the CIO position, and
I prepared the company through Sox compliance to be sold to Brinks, which is
a company here in the US. Okay yeah, now moving out from there I started my own
company, which was also an IT consulting company. So it was kind of putting my
ICD security solutions experience with my IBM GBS experience into practice in
China to make an IT consulting company. Okay and so what I did there was I built
all the structures to build all the systems. I hired the staff and basically
started the company. Selling complex systems in China, when I don't know
Chinese that well, was a challenge. It's not like a pen where you can say, "here's
the product, do you want it?" It's an abstract ERP system actually, and so we
found ways to gain trust and therefore get into the company, develop a
relationship. So all that to say is when I started this Trigger Networks, the
name of the company, this IT consulting company, I started everything from the
ground up - the internal structures, internal the part,
it's staff, the products, the partner relationships, the client, the client
relationships, everything. It was quite a journey. The company is
successful - it's still running today, and I was the general manager first, and now
I'm on the board of directors. So I don't need to kind of be there every day. Yeah
Which is awesome. Yeah. Okay fantastic, and then finally, what are you looking for next?
So what I'm looking for next is the same
general experience that I had with IBM and Trigger but on a new level. So when I
started at IBM I was fresh out of college, when I was at Trigger I was in a
more senior role but at a small company. So what I really like is the large
company and a more advanced role - the responsibility, the challenges, and the
amazing opportunities to develop at a higher level, both through the programs
that these larger companies have and the people I get to work with are just
absolutely gifted. And also finally, I would say the challenges that
these projects give -the chance to overcome and learn from them - are very good.
Great I'll stop abusing you. You can rest for a second. Great job!
Did I make you nervous? Totally nervous! It always seems so easy! I know!
I was taking a lot of notes when you were going through the whole process.
Okay so here, you know, let me just kind of walk through what you've got here on
your paper. Yeah. First of all let's do this - why don't you give me your
own feedbacks, okay, what you thought of it. Well first things first, it was brilliant
in my mind but I probably should have practiced it more speaking it out.
That's a great insight. Because what a weak start. So that's my first thing, okay.
The second thing is, and it's because of that, I completely glossed over my first
internship at Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company, which you know was a long time ago and
was small, but Kodak is a brand I probably could have mentioned, so that
was a loss. I think one other possible thing is, I think the order of company
name, title, probably should have had more closely adhered to on my side. Yeah I think so too.
So that's that's great feedback. My final question,
what about the timing? How did it feel to you in terms of time? Hmm I
feel like it was around 2 minutes but I have to say towards the end I was
getting nervous it was going to three or four. Yeah it was - I wasn't timing it
but my internal consultant clock went off, and when we're looking at the video,
we can actually see exactly how long it was. So let me kind of give you the
background - I really am going into the nitty-gritty here, so feel free to take
whatever notes you want, because I'm gonna give you the opportunity to do it
one more time. All right. Basically at the beginning, start with a little bit of
your personal background. It sounded like you just woke up in college one day.
So like, I grew up in the US or I grew up in Syracuse, New York, or was it
Syracuse? Is that right? You know, or wherever. Country side. Yeah.
So where you grew up, that would be helpful,
and then why - you said "I ended up" and you said this multiple times throughout
your background - I ended up at Syracuse, which again made it sounds like somebody
drove you there and dropped you off. Yeah. You said it later when you talked about
I ended up in Beijing. Yeah. So it's a it's a very passive way to talk about a
very intentional choice that you made. You're right. So what I'm more interested in
is why you made the choice. So make sure that you include that in there.
For IBM GBS, my favorite thing that you said there and that was a really strong
section actually in the beginning it was that you talked about the work that you
did you talked about it really positively with enthusiasm and you used
the word "rapidly promoted." Yeah. So that was great - make sure you include that in
the future. Okay, you said after that, I went to my Masters in Science, my MS
program, and I really liked the transition that you made between the two
of those, so that was also very good. Okay. When you talked about going to Cigna, you
talked about being interested in the IT side but also you said I was 'kind of'
into the business, so again just take off that weak language. It's gonna help you
communicate a lot more directly and confidently.
You're a good at building connection - you don't have to soften what you're
saying there. Okay. Okay then when you're talking about the MBA in international
relations, loved that section. Okay. The fact that you learned Mandarin obviously
makes you it's super stud in the business world, and so that's really great when,
you know, when it kind of just came to the way that you talked about that.
Same as with IBM, those two were probably my favorite sections.
And when you're building and practicing this overtime you're gonna want to kind
of get to those sound bites, the enthusiasm, the clarity, and also the
brevity of what you talked about there. Then it kind of started to
fall apart later when you were opening it up because this
is where it got long. At that point you were totally on track to finish with
great pacing, it was super excellent, but then you talked about being in Beijing,
you were talking about your two different companies, both of which
weren't brand names. Yeah. I would have rather heard you talk a little bit
about the company that was sold to Brinks, the ICD Security Solutions. Okay.
I would have rather had you focus a little less on that and just talked
about the fact that you built a competitive advantage that helped the
company get acquired and then that build enabled you to get the
platform to start your own company. Okay that makes sense? Because I felt like
that part just really was laboring on for a long time. Then when it was with
your own company, again, I think here it would be helpful to have some metrics
just because I have no idea how big it is - so, it's been running for X years,
grown to a certain size, there are this many employees, or this many client
accounts, whatever you think the appropriate metrics are. There you are
very conceptual when you talked about that - you talked about gaining trust and
the services that you provided and what you did and didn't do, but it wasn't like
the actual metrics of building the business. I see. And then I did like how
you ended it with talking about how I became the GM, I'm now on the board of
directors, but I don't have an active management role. And then I prompted
you for it but make sure you conclude with the here's what I'm looking for next.
I really liked what you said there, just, you know, focus on the the large
companies, the work that you did at IBM GBS, then more senior role,
more recently combining the two together, that really resonates. So maybe it
doesn't sound too ambitious, it sounds like an appropriate next step for you.
Any questions? I know I gave you a lot of feedback because I think you're very
self-aware, so really a lot of this will come down to building it out and
practicing it. We're gonna do one practice now, so you'll have the
chance to to kind of jump in there and and get your feet wet. Okay does that sound good? Yeah.
Let's do it. Okay excellent. So go ahead and get started,
walk me through your resume. Okay great, I'm happy to. So I decided to go to
Syracuse University, and I wanted to go to study information
systems and technology, so I got my Bachelors of Science there. And from
there, I went down to New York City where I was working at IBM GBS, so that was a
great experience for me because it really gave me a chance to test what I
know, and to really learn it and succeed. So I was pretty
rapidly promoted up to the first year from an IT consultant to a systems
consultant. Great. Yeah and so it was a great experience. From there I went to get a
Masters at Syracuse again, and the reason I did that is because I really
wanted to up my game, especially in technology but also in management.
So I did two years there to get a master's in telecommunications and
network management. Okay. While I was there I had a co-op in the Cigna
leadership development program and was offered a job there, I decided against it
because I wanted to go get an MBA, and I decided to get one in Taiwan, Asia. Yeah
the reason is because, first of all, I wanted to learn Chinese and I did - I
learned Chinese while I was there. And I wanted to get an MBA that was a
little different from a lot of my peers, and so going to Asia was kind of like a
nice twist. And so I got an MBA in international relations in Taiwan.
So from there I decided to go to Beijing. And I went to Beijing to work for a
small company that was on the verge of basically selling to Brinks, so my role
there was to create an IT department and through that created a competitive
advantage against basically everyone in their market. Through that, it
made them a much more attractive target for Brinks and we ended up complying
with Sox and really get a good great price for the stakeholders.
Fantastic. Finally from Brinks, I ended up going, I'm sorry from ICD/Brinks,
I ended up going to a new adventure, which was my own company,
I started an IT consulting company in Beijing. As a general manager
I built the systems, hired the staff, and really had a chance to explore what it
is to be an IT consultant and an owner. So we started small, it was just me
and another girl who couldn't speak English, and over three or four years we
went from basically 1 employee to 12 employees,
we were profitable after the second year, and well I think I think we had
employees all throughout Asia not just Beijing so that was a good sign. So now
where I want to go I really am looking for something that combines my IBM
experience with my Trigger experience and Trigger was great because I was at a
high level at a smaller company and IBM was great because I was at a massive
company but I was a little lower level and so when I combine the two if I could
really have the challenges and opportunities that a higher level
manager could have at a massive company, I think that would really develop me in
terms of skills, experience, and it would provide opportunities for growth that
are just unmatchable. Yeah and through working with peers and through
overcoming different challenges I think I'd really have a chance to help the
clients and help myself. Great. How did that feel? A little long still.
Yeah I think so too, but how much did it feel better? It felt much better.
Yeah and I felt like the story was more balanced, you were sharing appropriate lengths
in different parts of your experience. I still think that you have some work to
do and kind of tying everything together. Yeah and at the end you landed it twice,
did you feel yourself doing that? You kind of concluded it and then you kind
of re-concluded it again at the end after you said all the things that you'd
really like about it you know re-emphasize that. So rough it up a bit.
But I think what you have here Adam is a really great story,
something that is going to pull together into a very attractive combination of
skill sets both technical and managerial that will really enable you to be an
asset to a company. Now it's all about just pulling it into a story and being ready to present it.
Speaking it out many times. Great thanks so much. Yeah it was great, thank you!