Great Interview Question

What is something you have learnt from a timely loss? 

27 Unspoken Suit Rules Every Man Should Know

A very interesting article on BuzzFeed. I wish I knew some of these before. Nevertheless, this will be a good one. Some of the good ones are listed below

• If you sweat a lot, wear an undershirt
• Your tie should JUST reach the waistband of your trousers, or be slightly shorter.
• The suit jacket should be just long enough to cover your pants zipper and butt
• Your tie should always be darker than your dress shirt.
• Make sure that your socks are long enough that there’s no exposed leg when sitting down
• Sleeve cuffs should be exposed about half an inch.
• A pocket square adds an extra level of polish, but make sure it doesn’t match your tie in either pattern or fabric choice.
• Opt for a charcoal or gray suit over black, unless you’re attending a funeral.
• Your belt should be fairly thin and the same color as your shoes.
• You should match your shoes to the color of your suit 
• Always go with the classic windsor knot for your tie, but use the size of your head to determine whether you should go half or full windsor.

Thought for you

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.-Confucius

Yes, a bad idea if you don't think through

There is no such thing as a bad idea. Yes, there is! 

If you propose an idea (even in a team meeting) , do some thinking around it. Think through some of the questions that people are going to ask and try to answer them. Else you will look like a kid speaking without any logic, you will be a topic of joke during the lighter moment. 

Not keeping up to date

Perhaps, one of the worst mistake you can do is not to stay up to date on what is happening in the client's world or at the competitions. 

Sometimes, you don't read about it but when you are at the client site, you will get a feel of it. There are clues and tip offs that are from the point of view from the client that will be visible from the moment you step into the client's office. 

Listen and take notes

When you interview a client, make sure to take notes. Keep all your distractions away (resist the urge to check that email) and make your client feel as important as a movie star giving an interview, or a political candidate holding a press conference. Listen to them. Let them speak their mind and then ask some insightful questions. Sometimes their biases or a strong opinion comes out. Do not react but listen through this, take notes.

Of course it would be a sin if you are taking notes on a sheet of papers of the back of an envelope.  Also, avoid using flashy folders. My wife once gave me one and the Partner commented on it and it distracted me from the entire interview session. 

PowerPoint Quiz

1. Can you present without PowerPoint ?

2. Do you know how to blank the screen with a single key?

Just press the b key on your keyboard and the screen goes black.To get your slides back, just press the b key again. Blacking out the screen is the best idea, especially when the room is dark, but you can also white out the screen. Use the w key instead. 

3. Can you go to any slide directly (without scrolling)?

Just type the slide number and press Enter.Need to return to the first slide immediately?Hold down both mouse buttons for 2 seconds, then release.

4.Can you present without looking at the screen behind you?

Pic: Making Business Presentations - How to deliver a winning message

Fake it till you become it.

Social psychologist Amy Cuddy has an advice for you-  Try a power pose and fake it till you become it. Here is the TED Talk regarding that

Lessons from Year 1 of Management Consulting

This is a reflection that I wrote for myself in 2008. I had  done a year of Management Consulting in India and the USA. It was a very different experience and here are my thoughts. On the 1st January, 2014, I post the reflections here

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It has been more than a year since I have graduated from Business School and it has been an interesting journey since then. To sum it all, life after Business School has been all about hard work, managing expectations and handling pressure.  I have enjoyed my stint at Management Consulting. I got to write a thought article (that was published in a magazine), work on projects in different sectors (Automobile, Telecom, Staffing Solutions,Aerospace) and got a chance to work or be at India, UAE, US, Canada and Thailand - all in the last one year.

Any reflections? Yes, of course. I was thinking about the past year during one of my flights to home, and here are some of my observations or the statements that I have constantly heard.

1. Consulting is all about being proactive, not reactive
2. MS Excel and MS Powerpoint are two powerful tools 
3. Consultants work very hard, clients pay a lot of money and expect them to deliver value
4. There is a lot of brain power in a consulting firm
5. Honesty with clients is of paramount importance, Trust once lost is difficult to regain
6. Impressions matter! Watch out for how you dress, carry yourself and communicate 
7. There would be several stressful moments and if you can get through them, you'll develop into a better consultant.
8. There are no slackers in the consulting business. There is no choice -you have to work hard
9. Fitness (mental and physical) is important.
10. Project Director determines the work culture of a team working on a particular project 
11. Work life balance is tough! If you are perhaps aiming for that, consulting is not a wise career choice.
12. Fresh out of business school, you can have some really good perspective 
13. And lastly, a busy consultant is a happy consultant