If you are seing this…you just won one extra point since you probably googled my name while applying for a job posted by me. Resourceful, smart, I like that.
80% of all the points required to get a job at Influads are somewhat granted because you’ll find everything that you need to know about what I am looking for when meet you. This also means that we’ll need to play at a different level when meeting for the first time, since I assume you’ll memorize this blog post 
There’s still 20% remaining.
DISCLAIMER: This post was made while meeting some people but it was not inspired by any particular meeting. Ie, don’t take it as personal if we met before. Actually do take it personal and see if some of these apply to you. Feel free to take them in consideration… and by the way, if you want concrete feedback ask for it.
What do we do?
Don’t say “ads”. That’s a too short of one answer.
I wouldn’t want to talk to you in the first place if i knew that you took some of my time to make a job interview when you didn’t even knew the basics of what we do at InfluAds. You’ll be hired by the value that you add: If you don’t know our business what are you adding up to, anyway??
Ignorance is ok, and we don’t expect people to know everything. Being wrong about some things is often OK. Don’t be afraid, just research a bit before applying for a job (pleeeeease).
We are a startup, ya’ know?
If you want to work with us, you are willing to work at a startup and you know what it takes. You are likely to be as committed as it takes.
Put your money where your mouth his: don’t say that you like to work in startups if you are not willing to work under it requisites.
Do you live by your 9 to 5 work-life balance? Startups do not tend to separate work and life very well, you know? We all like balance but we all work under pressure and uncertainty.. That’s the definition startup, unless a startup is funded by a rich uncle.
You have kids, you have your life: no worries, we may have as well actually. Prove us that you’re better than the next guy that I’m meeting with though. Working more hours is very different from achieving more: we know that.
I have ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder)
Well, not the medical condition but something close to it.
I’m handling 50 things at the same time and looking at many other profiles that are competing against you. Assume that I know nothing about you and talk to me as concisely as possible. If you have a point and are trying to saying it in a big sentence, state that point first and then develop the argumentation quickly and efficiently.
You are an honest bitch** and I like it
** Ok, that sounds veeery weird…
I actually ment: Be bitchy while being positive and honest…
Don’t ask permission to be honest. I expect that and only that. I’ll be almost offended if you are not
”Don’t ask for permission, ask forgiveness” (if you really need to).
I’m often wrong and I do wrong or half-baked things all the time. I even know it many times since my job is based on doing many different things with little resources and managing it risk. I need you to pinpoint examples of things that I/we did wrong. I don’t take it personal and smart comments are valued since they give me direct feedback that I related to while making you look smart.
I want to know that you noticed what’s wrong since you’ll be more likely to help me solving them if you are hired.
You are resourceful
If you are here since you googled my name, you’re in the right path already. Showcase some resourcefulness when we meet. Talk about previous jobs where that was made and show me why you’ll be doing that in my company.
You’ll need to be scrappy. How will you help me achieving a lot with little resources? Do you need a huge marketing budget to make things wrong? We are not the right company, I am afraid… A governmental job may be…
Think ROI. Always!
Be driven by results. Always know what you are trying to do and which results you are likely to get from it. Always prioritize: Contact the most likely prospects first, look for quick wins. Thing pro-actively. Don’t do things with low return. Value your time and everybody else’s time!
Are you salesy?
Well, may you don’t like sales. Maybe you are not applying to a sales job…
I don’t expect you to be the salesman stereotype but I expect you to believe in a vision and be good at selling. Always… You’ll be talking to a lot of different stakeholders regardless of your role and selling our vision and passion is everybody’s job around here.
If you are not, what can you do to improve that.
You like communication
..because you’ll talk to people. You are likely to have a better job interview with me if you understand what’s involved in communication.
Free tip. Communication is all about:
- The message: what is in it, and how effective is it
- The sender of the message: a corrupt polititian telling you to pay more taxes doesn’t seem right, does it?
- The receiver of the message: in this case, me. What’s the difference when talking about racism to an african guy vs to the KKK?
- The context/enviroment: your message must be louder in noisy environments (literal noise or not). Your message has a different meaning depending on it timing
How would you communicate under different scenarios? How efficient would you be able to be because you understand these elements? That’s what I’m looking for. Show it.
You are self-aware
The first step for recovery is realizing that you have a problem.
If you are not aware of your strong points and weaknesses, you are less likely to leverage or improve them. I wan’t to know what your strong points are since I’ll hire you because of them. I will need to know where you have room for improvement since I’ll help you doing that.
You are likely to be awesome to work with
And we wanna work with that kind of people. Our team is part of the selection process and they’ll want to work with you if you are going to work with us.
Be ready for Questions, loads of them
I ask why often. Heck, I’m asking all the other W’s often..
Sometimes you don’t know the answer (and you are not expected to know it always) but I’m mostly trying to understand how you rationalize/answer under that context. Again be honest. I don’t know if better than fluffy answers that try to reply vaguely… If you answer vagely I’ll probably ask you to do it concretely so you better do it at first
Do you speak Danish/can I apply in Danish (/Portuguese)?
No. Our official language is English. We are an international-minded company. Our office is in Denmark but we have an international team (working here and elsewhere). While I’m good with trying my danish skills, I am likely to be too busy to do it. I may even want to share your profile with other team members if you are the right candidate and may or may not know danish.
I also want to read some English from you to understand how proficient you are, so that’s a good excuse. We like multi-cultural environments so you wouldn’t be working in a Danish environment anyway.
Be social
Friday beers and barbecues apart, we are a web-based company and we are not stuck in the version 1.0 of the Web. Companies are social nowadays so why aren’t you? Do you use Twitter? Facebook? Google+? What was the latest online tool that you subscribed to?Why? Or why not?
THAT’S A LOT OF STUFF! Anything else?
Yes. I’ll probably wonder about:
- Your personal interests
- What do you have on your browser’s bookmark
- Your favorites sites
- Books that you are reading or read recently
- Your thoughts about building awesome startups
- Your Myers-Briggs (out of silly curiosity)
After reading dozens of CVs, your CV is just a bunch of rumbling. Assume that, trying to be effective by sharing early how you are different. Heck, we don’t need your CV. A few links may as well be more relevant.
So, Are you the right one? Apply!!! We are looking for Account Managers, Community Management Interns and (perhaps) another perfect Marketing Manager.
