Interview FAQS

How would your friends and previous bosses describe you?

My friends and employers know of my integrity, and that even when a lie would be more convenient or seem immediately beneficial to me, I tell the truth. The first law of being a Boy Scout is to be trustworthy- and I take that responsibility very seriously. I also do not make promises that I do not know for certain that I can fulfill.

My closest friends would say that I am a deep thinker, as with the conversations I have with them. My employers would say that I have an innate writing ability, as I have demonstrated at Turnaround Investment Partners.

How do you deal with conflict?

Many conflicts between people are  based on mis-communication or misunderstanding. The first step, then, is to clarify the situation. Then I get a sense of each person’s values to see what the bottom line is for each party in the scenario.

From there  I can get a sense of what compromises can be reached or if the situation can transcended by bringing a third element into the picture while still accomplishing the goals of each party. This latter scenario is how you solve “Catch-22’s”.

What motivates you to do a good job?

As part of my higher standard for myself, I get satisfaction from a job well done. Also, I understand how even the smallest duties of one department have an impact on all other department’s processes throughout a corporation.

What are your sources of news?

I get most of my business news from Bloomberg and The Financial Times, both online. I have also started checking out the new International Business Times.

What are your biggest strengths?

My biggest strengths are my mental vision and my ability to glean the big picture from the details, and vice versa. I can be a big picture person and detail oriented at the same time by decreasing the scope of that big picture.

For example, the big picture of the trees is the forest; the big picture of the tree parts and the habitats inside are the tree itself. The big picture of the community of cells, plant organs, and critter communities are the major tree parts. While a pure detail person would be focused only on these small parts of the forest at large and a pure big picture person would only see the forest, I often shift between the two.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I see myself having just earned an MBA from a great graduate program and using that knowledge in a decision-making role with a company that is also respected.

What do you think is your greatest achievement to date?

Believe it or not, my greatest achievement is getting accepted to NYU Stern in 2007. The reason is because admissions picked few students out of the most competitive applicant pool in NYU’s history at the time, and the selection was based on the culmination of all my past achievements put together.

My 4.0 GPA in High School, Eagle Scout ranking in Boy Scouts, the impressions I made on teachers and  executive employers, my 10 year career in youth football, and any adversity I have been through had made me into someone that NYU Stern felt could represent them for decades to come.

What is an example of a suggestion you made that was put into action?

The most recent was at Turnaround Investment Partners, in which I suggested bringing on a strictly marketing intern in order to foster the development of the Mid-Sized Company CEO side of our market strategy. I also helped in the interview process for that intern, who  ended up staying with the company for an extended time.