A lot of MBAs graduate and get into management consulting--basically they get paid to make bullshit Powerpoint decks and provide expert guidance in torpedoing their clients. In the consulting world, everyone agrees senior-level consultants (with an MBA) who are hired for C-level positions will run the company into the ground.
The word on the streets (of Seoul), Samsung dropped the lawsuit as soon as the auction for Nortel Network's wireless patents ended. Soon after Samsung realized it was on (more) shaky grounds. Apple took part in the winning consortium.
And, where Samsung pleads its case of copying=competing, they have no shame. I hope this will justify 'innocent copying' from their competitors locally and abroad, namely emerging Chinese brands. Knowing how Samsung behaves/operates, they would seek the death penalty for those who challenge them with true innovation. As in, behind the scene guerilla tactics by 1) using closely-affiliated media powerhouses to spread official misinformation 2) or, influencing articles by buying advertising from trade news magazines, 3) cut the head off all revenue streams of the challenger by threatening its customers/backers. Samsung tried all of the above in late 2009, when Apple launched the iPhone 3G/3GS in Korea. 1) & 2) Spread misinformation using mainstream TV and newspaper media 3) Threatened the then-sole-iPhone carrier, KT by awarding its rival (SKT) with exclusivity to Galaxy-line products. Should note, SKT began offering the iPhone in March '11 which proved moot to Samsung playing favorites.
Depends on what you want: 1-2 colors, full (4) colors, are you paying someone to design, or will you upload the design yourself, etc. If you are sensitive/picky about color quality (e.g., you are doing heavily designed or photo card), you will want the color of your finished goods to closely match what you saw on screen, then go with someone who offers digital printing. The color mgmt of offset printers varies by shop and the equipment. IMHO, HP Indigo digital presses appear to have the best color mgmt thus far.
Just signed up. Looks like an interesting concept. Just a thought, but why not hide the overlaps I've already added? Or as an option. Would definitely help out; less scrolling down the better. Also, newly added overlaps with a "new" icon?
Hmm an option to hide does make sense. Still need to have an easy way to navigate to your overlaps (there's a "My Overlaps" link, but it's not very prominent).
With more data it'll be also be possible to suggest overlaps to you based on what you've already joined.
I had an interview where they invited me to the next round as long as I prepared a presentation on the competitive landscape and state of the industry which only revealed my Powerpoint deck skills. I got the job. But then again, it wasn't in New York
No, I didn't use recruiters based on the fact a lot of them are unscrupulous. I applied to Web product mgmt/project mgmt positions listed in the job boards.
I know the difference between case questions and brainteasers. However, its an entirely different story when a candidate can sense he's getting strung along. (And, no I am not an overly sensitive/emotional person.) The type of questions are not open-ended and nor aligned to measuring my skillset, but the queries are very pinpoint/detailed to deny these are hypothetical. Further, a simple/vague answer will bring "can you elaborate further?" Or, better yet, regarding a possible solution to an ecommerce issue, the head of operations pushes an Apple MBA in front of me and says, "you can type in the URL." Having researched these companies prior to the interview, and now in hindsight it is very obvious they were not only after a different vantage point, but to obtain "needle in the haystack" piece of compelling information.
Clever answers/solutions have rewarded job offers in the past. But I am a bit pessimistic having witnessed some rather interesting job interviews in Manhattan.
I think its unfair to criticize NYC just because of a few poor interview experiences.
But back on point: can you give a specific question that you felt crossed the line? I'm curious because I've never felt that I've been asked such a probing question before.
(and yes, I'm not going to deny that a lot of companies string candidates along, especially if they believe they have strong offers)
Like any interview, I am told about their problem and how they have proceeded into uncharted territory. And I am asked, "What would you do to improve our issue/problem?" As it appears, I have worked on a similar issue. Apart from wanting to know the specifics of how I did it, they want to know about the anticipated risks and how to mediate them, the barriers I ran into, how to resolve those, which tools I used, etc.
Put in other terms: they threw you a situation that you would probably have to handle if you were working there, and then asked what you would do in their situation.
I do this a lot when I come across problems because it lets me see how others think (I of course ask the questions after having solved the problem myself). And each of the answers to the questions have useful implications:
- Anticipated risks: have you thoroughly analyzed the possibilities, and do you understand the implications of your decision?
- Barriers: did you actually try this? [If you've tried to put a solution together yourself, you will come across most of the barriers anyway]
- Tools: did you use a tool with the constraints in mind? (one time, a person suggested that I take a million-line CSV file, put it into excel, and use the interface to find the sum of a column of numbers.)
It's easy to assume that, with a specific situation, the company may not have found a solution to the problem. However, more likely than not the developer you are interviewing with actually was the one who had to hobble together a solution, and he wants to see if you could do something similar if it happened to you.
The reason why I asked about which companies you interviewed with: many types of jobs in NYC are either client-facing or front-desk-support, both of which require mission-critical temperament and mental agility. You can't blame EC2 for failures ...
For this line of questioning, why not just throw me into an interview presentation? Your rationale sounds plausible--thanks for taking the time to making it salient. Time will tell what is true. I am looking forward to spotting whether any of my pointers were used in the site re-launch.
