1）美國通常的職業面試到底是個什麼東東？
美國面試的問題基本上都是behavioral questions（簡單的說就是讓你舉例子），尤其是在第一輪面試，根本不涉及任何技術性問題，不管你應聘什麼樣的職位。這也許和那些對技術性及專門知識要求比較強的工作面試有所不同。通過behavioral questions,面試者主要想要瞭解的是應試者的軟性技巧 (soft skills), such as communication skills, personal skills, self-promoting skills and personalities etc. 根據這些瞭解，面試者給出幾個判斷：應試者的工作經驗和skill set是不是fit這個職位，這個人的溝通技巧是不是足夠好，這個人的性格是不是fit公司的文化，是不是一個和同事能team work的人等等。
面試，尤其是第一輪面試，通常是半個小時到一個小時。在這麼短的時間裏，面試者的考察當然不可能全面，有時甚至是很主觀。所以在面試的短暫的時間裏，最重要的是展現出自己最適合這個工作的特質，無論是hard skills（經驗）還是 soft skills. 有時候，真實的你，真實的話，不一定討喜，人家不一定願意聽。Fortunately, 越是大公司，越是正規的公司，面試的形式越程序化，越rigid, 所以只要好好準備，摸清了美國公司面試的套路，面試本身就不再是一個可怕的東西。
tips：
1。回答不要囉哩囉嗦，沒有structure, 沒有重點，give too much details。如果一個問題你的回答超過3 - 5 分鐘，你就已經死翹翹了。
2。認真聽考官的問題。當答完一個問題時，不管答得如何，趕快move on。If you are not sure about the question, ask the interviewer to clarify it.
3。借一本專門指導如何面試的書。 圖書館裡有很多種這樣的書。先找一本薄一點的，簡單一點的，你可以在短時間裏讀完的。目的是讀過以後，你會有一個general idea關於職業面試的概念。然後分析你的具體情況，如果有必要再去找針對性強一些的書或內容。 推薦 "55 Interview Traps"。這本書只有60多頁，言簡意賅，有很多例子，可讀性強。"55 Interview Traps"的下載網址是：http://www.onlinetestprep.com/interview.html。上面一些techniques 在拿到offer的面試中特別有用。一本general interview book 加上 Interview Traps應該可以對面試有一定academic的認識了。剩下的主要任務是do your homework about company research, work on your stories and sharpen your story-telling skills.
2）如何回答behavioral questions？
前面說過behavioral questions是在美國的職業面試當中最常見的形式。通常是面試者拋出一個問題，讓你從你的經驗當中舉出例子。而從你給出的例子當中，面試者得以對你的skills和personalities加以瞭解和判斷。有工作經驗的人，尤其是工作時間比較長的人，當然最好舉你工作當中的例子。對於那些沒有工作經驗的人，可以舉在學校和同學做project的例子，參加學校社團活動的例子，在community做 volunteer 的例子。
面試中，最常遇見的問題有：
Tell me about your self.
Leadership example
Teamwork example
Project management example
Problem-solving example
Taking initiative example
What's the most difficult decision you've made recently?
Why are you interested in this position/this company?
What do you see yourself five years later in this organization?
關於leadership，我們國人的概念是leader就是領導，就是有一定權力的人，有下屬匯報的人。但要知道，有的人在領導的位置上，不一定就有leadership，而有的人不在領導的位置上，但他或她可能在工作當中表現出很好的leadership的素質和能力。英文這個所謂的leadership很抽象，很難具體化。但是，leadership can be demonstrated in different ways.
For example, sometimes, a leader needs to be a change agent. When you initiate something new to change the common practice or the status quo, you have to rationalize your ideas, convince others, motivate them to change, and overcome various obstacles etc. In this case, you are in a leadership role.
Another example. Sometimes, it'd be more difficult to lead people and have them work in concert when they are not reporting you. In my case, as an Export Sales Manager in charge of export sales to China, Japan and Korea, I need internal production, processing and logistic teams to work with me and to insure the production is in place on time, the product quality meets my customer's requirement and the shipments to my customers are on time. It takes leadership and teamwork skills to get the job done.
Leadership can also be demonstrated in crisis management, for example, when there is a quality problem with your company's products that may potentially cause a huge loss or negative publicity to your company or your customer. It takes leadership to act fast and decisively, so that the situation would be remedied and the potential damage would be minimized.
Leadership can be also demonstrated when you successfully carry out a project under the challenging timeline or with limited resource, or when you take initiative, identify a potential business opportunity and bring a new revenue stream to the company.
最主要的是不要把leadership理解的很教條和僵化。美國人可以把小小的或看似簡單的事情給安上一個漂亮的名字。就像project這個詞。只要是有這麼一件事情，有一定的objective, 需要人力物力在一定的時間裏完成，都可以稱之為project. 你完成個作業都可以是個project. 所以你沒當過領導不要緊。大家把自己的工作經歷和人生經歷好好想一想，找出關於leadership的例子應該是不難的。
關於teamwork的問題，有很多varieties. 面試者可能有不同的方式發問。比如：
Give me an example how you work with a team to solve a problem/carry out a project
Give me an example that how you encourage your team members to do their jobs.
Give me an example that how you deal with resistance in a team.
想提醒大家的是，這些例子之間不是mutually exclusive。你可能有一個例子，which may fit different settings, such as leadership, teamwork, project management, problem-solving or initiative-taking. 你也有好幾個不同的例子可以展示同一個quality。一般來說，你需要準備至少8 - 10 個例子來回答我列出的這幾個topics.
除了Tell me about yourself 這個問題，the most commonly used structure/format to answer behavioral questions is STAR - Situation, Task, Action and Result.
一般來說，對每個問題的回答得控制在2-3分鐘以內。在這很短的敘述例子的過程中，你的重點應該是強調Action 和Result，這是面試者最關心的部分。所以在時間分配上，對於Situation和Task你要非常簡潔地一筆帶過，交代清楚大概的背景就可以了。關於Result, 盡量用數字或百分比來表示。
如果原來工作的行業比較特殊，在面試當中常犯的一個嚴重錯誤就是在舉例子時，沒有把那些行業專業詞換成人家能懂的，通用的詞。因為人家聽不懂，就試圖想和人家解釋，結果陷入給太多details的泥潭，糾纏在描述Situation 和Task上出不來。一個例子別說2-3分鐘，就是5-6分鐘也嘮叨不清。
所以當你面試的工作是跨行業的，你一定要遏制住慾望，使用那些你耳熟能詳的原行業的詞或term。人家聽不懂至少有兩樣壞處：聽不懂，就沒興趣聽了。而且還留下一個印象：你的經驗離面試這個行業太遠，你不fit。 不管是那種，你的面試已經完了。最好把你所有的例子寫下來，嚴格按照STAR的形式寫，然後反覆斟酌記憶。有可能的話，找老美改下，要那些寫作好的老美改。老美當中也不是每個人都擅長business writing的。面試的時候，千萬不要讓人感覺你在面無表情的背書。模仿老美講話，抑揚鈍挫，眉飛色舞。
很重要的一點是，你的例子不能用大白話寫和說，要用professional business language來寫和說。整個面試考察很重要的內容就是你的communication skills. 因為就算你成績好，技術好，水平高，但你不擅長用business language 來溝通和交流，你的communication skills不好，sooner or later, 你的事業發展會受阻，尤其是在美國，這個非母語的國家。
記得有這樣一句話，寫得很好。"In business, communications are not only the way that we express ourselves, but also, more importantly, the way that we work with people."
但如何提高自己的business communication skills 呢？
比如，隨身帶一個小本子。在日常學習中，讀到任何一篇business的東東（可以是課本，case，報紙，公司的宣傳材料等等），聽到學校講座裡請來的那些公司頭頭任何一句講話，只要覺得在我面試當中可以利用上，就把它記下來。現在在面試當中說得很多話，都可以學人家的，靠平時這樣積累下來。 俗話說，好記性不如爛筆頭。只有記下來，有空就看看，不知不覺你就記住了，那些professional business language就變成了你自己的了，到用的時候就可以隨手拈來，運用自如。你如果注意觀察一下那些成為公司????utive的人，沒有一個講話沒有水平的。如果有機會聽他們講話，可以觀察他們的譴詞造句，他們講話的structure, the logic behind their speeches，還有他們的body language。還可以在各種場合觀察美國人怎麼interact, 怎麼chitchat。這些技巧不管是在面試當中，還是將來工作當中，都是非常重要的interpersonal skills.
總結下，準備應對面試的那些behavioral questions，是臨上轎才扎耳朵眼兒的事情。而提高business communication skills，對於在美國打拼的中國人來說，是需要constant, persistent and life-long efforts，需要learn smart and work smart，才能在美國的職場立於不敗之地。
Tell me about yourself
這個問題大概不管你面試什麼工作，都是鐵定要問到的問題。這個看似簡單的問題，實際上是個難對付的問題。通常我們會想，不就是介紹介紹我過去的經驗嗎，那很容易呀。別人不瞭解我，難道我還不瞭解我自己？
但是你有沒有想過，既然你簡歷上已經把你的經驗也得很清楚了，why bother面試者要你再複述一遍？所以說，面試者肯定希望聽到more than what your resume tells。 他們通過你的敘述，除了工作和生活經驗之外，最想知道的是在你made every each transition along the way，是什麼原因使你做這個決定的。比如，你換了個工作或行業，why; 你選擇來美國讀書，why; 你選擇讀MBA，why？有些公司不錯，在問這個問題之前會告訴你，他們對你做的每個決定後面的原因感興趣。有的公司根本就不告訴你，但他們會expect你在你的回答中告訴他們。
在回答這些原因的時候，you need to be very careful, you need to selectively choose a reason that would make sense from the interviewer's perspective, not necessarily from your perspective.
在短短几十分鐘的面試裡，很重要的一項考察內容是soft skills。所以，如果可能的話，在陳述你做過的每一個工作時，簡單的summarize what soft kills were developed。如果你有一個很好的progressive track record，隨著你的職位升高，你的responsibilities變化，你可以向面試者展示在每個不同階段你培養的不同的soft skills.
要強調的是，除了談到你的responsibilities, 千萬別忘了講到results，tangible results。Again,
最好把結果量化，用數字或百分比。用百分比有個好處，有時你的成績，如銷售或節約的成本，合成具體金額可能不那麼impressive, 但換算成總銷售或總成本的百分比可能就聽起來比較厲害。
還有，回答Tell me about yourself，時間最好控制在5-6分鐘，不管你有再長的工作經驗。就算你有10年的工作經驗，你也得在5分鐘裡面把它講完。這就需要你用的語言非常concise，需要很好的structure, 需要很流利地把它講出來。試想，你如果吭吭巴巴，5分鐘哪裡講得完。如果你做了若干個工作，但其中一，兩個對你的事業發展起到重要的作用，或那些工作經驗最接近你現在面試的這個，你需要highlight them，對於其他不重要的可以簡單的說一下。
最好就是把你的回答寫下來，反覆研究修改，使的你的回答達到最簡潔有力的程度，需要你大聲的讀出來，背下來。建議錄音，自己聽聽，有發音問題的讓別人糾正下，計算時間，別超時了。有條件的話穿的整整齊齊錄像，最能看出自己的各種毛病了。可以和朋友，有經驗的人，邊看邊討論。俗話說，當局者迷，旁觀者清。要不恥下問，不要怕丟醜，旁觀者往往能看出你看不出的毛病。這個練習方法也適用於其他behavioral questions。
現在，這裡為大家提供一個模版：
I would like to thank everyone for being here and interviewing me. I am going to give you a presentation about my resume.
My name is ~ ~. I got my bachelor degree at XXX University, a top-10 university in China. My major was Japanese. It's funny that I ended up in the US, instead of Japan.
I got my first job at N Company, which was a top-10 Japanese international trading company. I was working as a sales representative dealing with import/export business between China and Japan. This job brought me a great learning opportunity. I learned how to work with different people, such as importers, exporters, suppliers and customers in both counties. I learned how to negotiate with them, and how to close a deal. My communication and interpersonal skills were developed greatly. During 3.5 years, the business I was in charge of grew from 1.5M to 5M. Then, it reached a point, where I felt that import/export business was too broad and general. I wanted to go to an industry and gain specific industrial knowledge and expertise.
D Corporation presented me with a wonderful opportunity, where I could not only utilize my import/export experience, but also have greater responsibilities, such as strategic implementation and market development. I was reporting directly to the Asia Pacific VP. Since he was based in the U.S. and only visiting China 5-6 times a year, most of time, I was working on my own. It takes initiative, self-management and self-motivation to get the job done. From 1995 to 1999, I successfully implemented strategic plans, commercialized five products in highly regulated markets, recruited five exclusive distributors, and developed a strong distribution network. Sales grew from half million US dollars to 3.4M.
Due to my significant contribution to the company's bottom-line, I was promoted again from China Office Manager to Export Sales Manager in charge of export sales to China, Japan and Korea. I was transferred from Beijing Office to the company's headquarters in IL. In the meantime, D Corporation was acquired by M Company. We all became M's employees.
As an Export Sales Manager, my responsibilities included pricing, budgeting, production planning, inventory management, and coordinating internal production, processing and logistics teams to fulfill customer's demand. My focus was gradually transferred from developing the top-line to watching out the bottom-line. Profit of China sales continually doubled in 2000. Sales to Japan increased by 30% due to successful delivery of commitments to customers. Sales to Korea were maintained same during an economic recession.
However, during my work, I realized that I needed to expand my knowledge and understanding in accounting and finance areas. This was one of the major reasons that I decided to leave M Company and pursue an MBA degree. The second reason was that I believe an advanced US MBA education degree would bring me more career advancement opportunities in the near future. Thirdly, B-school is a perfect place to meet people, make friend, and build my own professional network in this country.
At XXX School, I took 22 credits in accounting and 11 credits in finance. Plus Business Law I took before, I am now eligible for sitting on CPA exam.
In 2003, I got my internship at H Company in the marketing department, which deals with climate control products for residential consumers. I worked on a distribution project to review the current distribution strategies, analyze distribution network coverage and ????uate the distributors' performance. I was able to finish the project under a limited timeline, and provide the management team with meaningful recommendations.
Today, I am ready for a new set of challenges and an opportunity to bring all I have learned to a more challenging and rewarding position at your Company。
Now, I am open for questions. Feel free to ask any questions. Thanks.
