The Pontiflex Blog

Horses for the Carousel

If you have a carousel, you need horses.

That’s why volunteers in DUMBO helped carry horses from the lobby of 55 Washington Street to the glass enclosure on the water’s edge at Brooklyn Bridge Park.  Geoff Grauer, our CIO and Co-founder was part of the parade.

Have a great long weekend. Carouse well.

September 2, 2011 at 3:18 pm 1 comment

Tips to Interviewing at A Startup

Upon graduation, you have several important decisions to make when it comes to using that very expensive degree you just earned. One of the decisions will certainly be whether to work for a startup or a well-established company (IBM, Amazon, Google). This decision is usually not easy. Regardless of your choice, you will want to be prepared when it comes time for interviewing.

* There are three important things we look for during interviews:

1.    Awesome ability: We want to be the best digital advertising company. So we want to hire the best.
2.    Culture fit: Culture is very important at Startups. We spend nearly (if not more than) half of our waking hours in the office. So it’s important that the workplace is full of people who know how to work as part of a team, and fit in well with the culture of the company.
3.    Passion – You need to both love what you do AND be passionate about the company and it’s products.  Pele was good at scoring goals. But he honed his skills with a single-minded focus and famously said that everything in his life was practice for the game. We want to work with people who bring that drive and passion to their jobs.

Here are some interview tips:

1.    Be yourself: There’s no need to wear a suit. Or a tux. A pair of jeans and your best dress t-shirt will do. Unless of course a suit (or a tux) is you. Then, by all means, wear it. When interviewing at Morgan Stanley you will probably want to wear a suit.

2.    Be patient. Interviewing at a startup can be a long and tiring process. You will have to interview with a lot of people over multiple days. This is not because we are disorganized (we are not) or do not value your time (we do).

At a larger company, you are one among thousands of employees. But at a startup you are Neo – the one. A non-Neo personality, a bad hire can destroy a team’s dynamic, erode company culture, consume valuable resources. A bad hire costs a company a lot of money both directly (salary, recruiters) and indirectly (lost opportunity, their bad decisions, their bad hiring).

So we make sure you speak to all the key decision makers, just so that we can get everybody’s opinion, and be absolutely sure.

3.    Customize your resume. Make it relevant to the position. Only include things you actually know and can speak about in an intelligent way. (On a side note, make sure everything is spelled correctly). If you cannot answers questions about skills listed on your resume, the interview will end very quickly.

4.    You must show that you understand what it takes to work for a startup. You must be able to wear many hats. You should be able to demonstrate the ability to think creatively in a multi-faceted way, and then execute on your vision. We don’t want bone-headed stubbornness. We want people who have the ability to adapt and thrive.

5.    Research the company – You need to be able to ask well-thought, intelligent questions about the business, the product and the team. If you don’t ask questions, it probably means that you don’t really care where you work. Remember that the interview process should work both way.

Save questions about vacation, time off, benefits, etc. for when you are actually given an offer. Instead, focus on the Company and the work you will be doing. During the interview process illustrate how your skills will help the Company succeed. If you do not think you are the perfect person for the job, neither will we.

At Pontiflex, your contributions and skills will count and make a difference. We want to hear about you and what makes you special. Tell us by emailing careers at pontiflex dot com.

March 28, 2011 at 10:06 am Leave a comment