Interview Prep: Social Impact

Wharton MBA Career Management

Wharton Social Impact Club

December 2017

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Agenda

• A word about Job Board Applications

• Social Impact Interviews

• Interview Resources

• 2nd Year Panel Q&A

• Appendix*

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A Word About Job Board Applications

• For regular (non-OCI) job postings

• Track postings by posting date (not application due date)

• Assume they will move quickly / review on a rolling basis (you want to be in the 1st wave)

• Apply within 10 business days of job posting date

• Conduct “pre-application” networking for your top priority jobs

• Find an contact who works there (alumni, etc.) and have a call

• Learn more about the role, the organization, etc. to add to cover letter

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Social Impact Interviews

• This is a vast, diverse sector, so interviews…

• Can vary widely from sub-sector to sub-sector

• There is little “standardization” to interview styles & types

• Your preparation will be key

• Know your skills and how they translate to the role

• Do your homework

• Know the sector

• Know the organization

• Know the issues at hand

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Resources

• Classmates

• Use offer directory to find 2nd years who did social impact internships

• CareerPath resume books to find 1st year classmates who came from this sector!

• Give something in return for classmates’ time (buy their lattes, etc.)

• Sign-up to utilize the Mock Interviews

• Social Impact Career Fellow(s) will offer Mocks from January through March

• Sign-ups begin January 12 with appointments starting on January 16

• Practice whenever you want to with InterviewStream

• Net Impact – www.netimpact.org

• Go to Job Search Tools and Tips Impact Career Profiles

• CommonGood Careers (Jobseeker Advice) – http://www.cgcareers.org

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2nd Year Panel

• Alice Tang (Education)

• Enriques Rodriguez Fernandez-hidalgo (Impact Investing / Multilateral)

• Julia Enyart (Impact Investing)

• Nipun Jasuji (Social Impact Consulting)

APPENDIX

- 2 Sector Highlights

- Sample Questions

- Sample Cases

- Telephone Interview Tips

SUB-SECTOR FOCUS:

Social Finance

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Sub-Sector Focus – Social Finance / Impact Investing

For social finance interviews, you should have knowledge of:

The spectrum of social finance (investors, social VC/PE, foundations, SRI, etc.)

The broad categories of social impact (Environmental, social, corporate governance, etc.)

Your interests within those categories

Your story:

Why are you interested in impact investing as opposed to more traditional finance roles?

Articulate a desire to take a somewhat entrepreneurial approach to investing.

This is a FINANCE Interview:

Be prepared to answer typical finance questions as well:

How do you measure quality of earnings? How would you thinking about valuing XYZ player?

What if they have no earnings? What's the most critical element in evaluating a business plan,

if I gave you $10mm to invest what would you do with it?.

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Sub-Sector Focus – Social Finance / Impact Investing, continued….

For social finance interviews, you will likely face a case :

Cases often based on an investment the fund has done in the past

Do your homework: Know the fund’s profile / approach

Cases will often test your ability to evaluate a business and its potential for growth. (A major

challenge of many social enterprises is how to scale, so this will likely be a topic addressed.)

Additionally, you are likely to have to discuss how to maximize social returns with that

business, and how to measure the social impact

SUB-SECTOR FOCUS:

International Development Consulting

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Sub-Sector Focus – Int’l Development Consulting

International Development Consulting interviews, you should have knowledge of:

The spectrum of international development organizations (multilateral development banks, NGOs,

foundations, impact investors, private sector companies, etc.) who could be potential clients

The broad categories of social impact (health, education, job creation, etc), and your interests

within those categories.

Your story:

Must be clear about why you are interested in international development consulting as opposed to

more traditional consulting roles

And why work in international development as a consultant

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Sub-Sector Focus – Int’l Development Consulting, continued….

For international development consulting interviews, you will likely face a case:

Cases often based on projects the interviewer has done in the past

Read their reports / content knowledge (many social impact / development consultancies

produce reports on aspects of their work)

Do your homework: know the company’s profile:

Know their clients, sectors, geographies / regions of focus

Testing your ability to apply your experience in structuring and solving complex and ambiguous

problems

Very often, you’ll have to think about applying market-based solutions to solve social problems

Sample interview questions

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Appendix: Some typical interview questions

General Social Impact Sample Questions

Why are you interested in this position / internship?

How can nonprofit organizations reach scale and be sustainable?

Share an example of something you have started; whose idea was it? Does it still exist?

Describe one major problem that your country faces and propose a way in which you would

address it.

What are some key challenges and opportunities that nonprofit organizations face?

Why do you want to work for our organization?

Can you give me an example of your experience working with limited resources?

Tell me about your experience building group consensus.

If you had only one type of financial statement, which one would you choose to value a

company?

How would you value a private company?

How do you plan to structure your 10 weeks with us if you get this internship?

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Appendix: Some typical interview questions

General Social Impact Sample Questions – Continued

Personal Background & Experience

Tell me about yourself

Why non-profits, why this organization?

Your past experience, successes, failures, strengths and weaknesses

They may test your commitments and passions as well as transferable skills

They will test the depth of your understanding of the organization

Interviewers might test how realistic you are about what the organization is capable of doing

(what your role would be, what your compensation will be, etc.)

Current Issues / Affairs Relating to the Organization

What are your opinions on US’s current military presence in Afghanistan? (e.g. UN)

Tell me your understanding on poverty in developing countries (e.g. World Bank)

Interviewers may test your attention to the current issues and your analytical skills

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Appendix: Some typical interview questions

Social Impact Sample Questions – A FEW SAMPLE CASES:

• If you were the leader of a project for building new schools in a rural area in a developing country but

found out that the government officials involved are corrupt, what would you do?

• How would you reengineer our organization’s fundraising process?

• You are the project leader at International Finance Corporation and currently leading an investment in

an infrastructure project in a developing country in Asia. 90% of the funds have been used and the

project is still half done due to government inefficiencies. Your local partner asked for more funding

from you. What would you do?

• As Haiti is known for corruption in government, how would you ensure that funds allocated for housing

efforts are used for that purpose and not for something else

• Where would you recommend our client to invest their grant money to improve financial inclusion in

Africa?

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Appendix: Telephone Interviews

If you have a telephone interview, a few tips for success:

Find a quiet place to talk without interruption.

If you need a space, visit our website or call our office 215-898-4383 to reserve a private space

(Space is limited, so ample advance notice is often necessary.)

Take the interview seriously: Dress up, sit upright in a chair (slouching affects your attitude and voice)

Smile. Smiling will project a positive image to the listener and will change the tone of your voice

Be concise in your responses. Speak slowly and enunciate clearly

Give the interviewer verbal cues of your interest and engagement in the conversation (since they

cannot see non-verbal responses over the telephone)

Listen carefully so you answer the question that has been asked

Put your resume on the table in front of you – as well as:

Your notes on the company / their projects / their competitors / their portfolio

List of questions you plan to ask at the end

A short list of your accomplishments

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Resources - Salary Support for Internships

Wharton Social Impact Initiative - Summer Fellowships

There is limited funding available through the (WSII) with online application process (March / April)

Support, while limited, is made possible through generous alumni and designed to support students

taking low-paying/unpaid summer Social Impact internships

Awards are based on: Value added to summer employer, long-term career goals, funding from

summer employer, total number of eligible MBA applicants

Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative (PWPPI) Internship funding

PWPPI sponsors a number of public policy related internships each summer

It also has a limited pool of funding that may be awarded to students to offset low-paying/unpaid public

policy internships secured by the students

Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship - Startup Internship Award

Awarded to select students who will spend the summer interning at a startup and who demonstrate

both a commitment to entrepreneurship at Penn and to pursuing an entrepreneurial career. The

objective of this award is to provide financial support for students who would be making a financial

sacrifice by taking unpaid or underpaid summer internships at startup companies.