Hi Nie!
Today we're going to wrap up our series on how to use positioning to excel in your interviews and get more job offers. This is the fourth part of the series and you can get the previous three parts here if you missed them: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
This time, we're going to do something a little different. I think the best way to give you a sense of how to turn the research you've done into a strong positioning statement is to show you how to do that.
Case Study - Michael
Michael volunteered to be a case study for this process as he considered a Backend Engineer position at a company called SimplyCredit. I sent the basic research outline to him and asked that he do the research and send back what he found. Then Eric Normand and I talked about the position and how Michael could use his research to stand out in his upcoming interviews.
Click here to watch the case study
One thing to note is that this is a case study from a few years ago. In fact, Simply Credit seems to be gone now—but that doesn't matter! The process is what's important here. This is still a very useful case study on how to prepare for your interviews so you stand out.
Here's Michael's research for a company called SimplyCredit:
Company name: SimplyCredit
Mission statement:
Our mission is to redefine consumer lending to be fair and transparent. We believe in doing right by the consumer, and by everyone who works with us. We're looking for exceptional individuals who take pride in their work and thrive in collaborative environments. Join our dedicated, experienced and ambitious team as we tackle this mission in a meaningful and lasting way.
Goals and pain points
- Architect the backend to allow for sophisticated deployment of machine learning algorithms and data science
- Design and build the data warehousing infrastructure
- Define key workflow infrastructure including automated testing, continuous integration, and continuous deployments
Early stage company in need of engineers to build out their platform. Handling customer personal financial information, so security is important. By their words, their engineering culture and direction is not fully defined.
Who are their customers?
Consumers looking to consolidate credit into a single solution while maintaining their existing credit cards.
How big are they? 1–10 people
Where are they located? San Francisco (Open to Remote)
Other job openings: None
Blog posts and news articles: SimplyCredit Raises $1.5M and Launches Platform for Paying Off Cardholder Balances
Recent financials (if public): Recently raised $1.5 million.
Ways I can help the company right now...
- Experience integrating data science into existing applications.
- Familiarity with different automated testing and continuous integration approaches, including building out automation at two different companies.
- Familiarity with security concerns of software (worked on software for scanning vulnerabilities and checking PCI compliance).
- Experience across the stack, so able to work in the frontend when needed.
- Experience building and refactoring REST APIs.
Without doing this research, it would be difficult for Michael to stand out in his interviews as anything other than an experienced software developer. But look at the answer I suggested for "Why should we hire you?" using Michael's research:
"I've got 15 years of technical experience. I can see that your company is laser-focused on the product right now. You're looking at all technical things. You're only hiring for this engineering position. I can see you just raised a round. It feels like you're trying to build a superior product to help consumers and protect consumers. I'm interested in helping you with that mission and I want to help you build a really solid product."
That's a lot more compelling than "I'm a software developer and you need one of those!"
Use this process for every new opportunity
Let's go back to our Positioning definition from the beginning of this series:
Positioning is how you describe yourself as the hero this company needs, turning your skillset and experience into superpowers by matching them with the outcomes the business wants.
For each opportunity you pursue, do the research described above, and consider the company's goals and challenges. Then think about how you can use your skillset and experience to help the company address those goals and challenges.
Do this for every opportunity and you'll stand out from other candidates and get more high-quality job offers.
Make sure to watch this short case study (it's about 15 minutes) to see how to turn this research into excellent answers to common interview questions:
Click here to watch the case study
All the best
Josh
PS What did you think of this series? Was it useful? Hit reply and let me know!
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