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Author: Katie Sellers

Top Oddest Interview Questions of 2010

December 31, 2010 by Katie Sellers Leave a Comment

Going in for an interview can definitely be nerve-wracking at times. You have to worry about wearing the right outfit, making a good first impression, answering all of the questions correctly and more. Normally, you can prepare yourself somewhat for the questions that the interviewer will most likely ask you, but what do you say if you are blindsided by questions that have nothing to do with the position you are applying for?

Glassdoor.com just released the top 25 oddest interview questions of 2010, and there are definitely some crazy ones. Where do these companies come up with these questions, and what on earth do they have to do with anything? Glassdoor.com sorted through more than 80,000 ridiculous questions that were shared by candidates on their Web site to compile their list. Here are some of the questions that were allegedly asked during interviews with tech companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, and more.

“How many basketball[s] can you fit in this room?” – asked at Google for a People Analyst position

“If you could be any superhero, who would it be?” – asked at AT&T for a Customer Sales Representative position

“If you had 5,623 participants in a tournament, how many games would need to be played to determine the winner?” – asked at Amazon for a Manager position

“There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?” – asked at Apple for a Software QA Engineer position

”How do you weigh an elephant without using a weigh machine?” – asked at IBM for a Software Engineer position

“You have 8 pennies, 7 weigh the same, one weighs less. You also have a judge’s scale. Find the one that weighs less in less than 3 steps.” – asked at Intel for a Systems Validation Engineer position

”A train leaves San Antonio for Houston at 60mph. Another train leaves Houston for San Antonio at 80mph. Houston and San Antonio are 300 miles apart. If a bird leaves San Antonio at 100mph, and turns around and flies back once it reaches the Houston train, and continues to fly between the two, how far will it have flown when they collide.” – asked at USAA for a Software Engineer position

Are you saying what I was saying after reading these? What does this have to do with anything? It really just doesn’t make any sense to me, but these weren’t all of the odd interview questions. These were just the tech companies. Here are a few of my other favorite questions that also made the list.

“If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?” – Asked at Goldman Sachs

“What is the philosophy of Martial Arts?” – Asked at Aflac

“Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 how weird you are.” – Asked at Capital One

“Given the numbers 1 to 1000, what is the minimum number of guesses needed to find a specific number if you are given the hint “higher” or “lower” for each guess you make?” – Asked at Facebook

“You are in a dark room with no light. You need matching socks for your interview and you have 19 gray socks and 25 black socks. What are the chances you will get a matching pair?” – Asked at Eze Castle

“How many bottles of beer are drank in the city over the week?” – Asked at The Nielsen Company

“How are M&M’s made?” – Asked at US BankThese questions are out there.

Although all of these questions are not necessarily 100 percent accurate, I’m sure that many of them are. I guess the real lesson to be learned from these insane interview questions is that you will never be fully prepared for an interview. You are never completely sure what your interviewer will be asking, so you should try to prepare yourself for any possible surprises. Hopefully you won’t be asked any questions about M&Ms, Martial Arts or blenders, unless you are going into those specific fields, but there’s no harm in being prepared. Moral of the story: be prepared for anything because you have absolutely no idea what crazy thing you might be asked in an interview.

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Posted in: SMB, SMB Advice Tagged: glassdoor, glassdoor.dom, interview, interview questions, interviews, odd interview questions, SMB

Cybercrime Doesn’t Really Seem to Worry Small Businesses

December 6, 2010 by Katie Sellers Leave a Comment
cybercrime among small businessesIt seems as though small businesses do not seem to be very concerned about cybercrime. A recent survey of 1,000 different small business owners conducted by Visa Inc. and National Cyber Security Alliance showed that there was a surprising lack of concern about cybercrime among small businesses.

Most of the small business owners that were surveyed said that they felt that their businesses were “under the radar” and that there was no need to be worried about any computer-based crime. There was definitely a consensus between the survey respondents about the belief that there was not enough cybercrime potential for them to want to invest in the high costs that it would take to properly secure their company’s electronic assets.

An entire 85 percent of those surveyed believed that their business was much less of a target than a larger corporation. Fifty-four percent of the respondents also felt that they were more prepared than larger enterprises to protect their company and customer data. And 84 percent said that they do have certain procedures in place to protect data and keep computers secure.

These were not the only results that the survey found though. Only 25 percent of those surveyed said that they had given their employees three hours or more of security training, and 47 percent said that they hadn’t given their employees any security training at all. More than 50 percent said that they simply did not feel that the high cost of full electronic security is worth it.

The sponsors of the survey say that the results of the survey really don’t seem to match up. They say that there is “growing concern from security experts and law enforcement that hackers and cyber criminals are honing [sic] in on small businesses as their new targets.” They note specifically the report of an extremely elaborate scheme in the Ukraine where more than $70 million was stolen from small and medium business bank accounts in the U.S.

The head of public affairs for Visa, Rosetta Jones, said, “Cybersecurity investments are critical to protecting a company’s brand and reputation.” Visa offers information and resources to business owners on how to protect their important data and digital assets at their website VisaSecuritySense.com. “We are focused on partnering with small businesses to ensure that they fully understand the business benefits of running a cyber-secure operation,” says Jones. There is also more information about how to keep your small or medium business secure at the NCSA’s web site StaySafeOnline.org.

So what does this survey show? Well, it shows that small and medium businesses need to step up and take some precautions when it comes to electronic security for their companies. Yes, it can be costly, but there are also some inexpensive precautions that companies can take. It is something that is definitely important and that needs to be taken into consideration. If your small or medium business is not secured, check out the websites mentioned above and make sure that you keep your company safe and secure.

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Tagged: business fraud, Business Security, cybercrime, fraud, small business, small business cybercrime, small business fraud, small business security

Should Small Businesses Utilize Online Advertising?

November 27, 2010 by Katie Sellers Leave a Comment

small business online advertising

Sometimes small businesses may not be sure of the best way to advertise and get the word out there about its products or services. Because advertising and marketing strategies are changing constantly to fit society and its needs, it can be difficult to decide which strategies will be most effective for your company.

Web analysts have been saying almost since the creation of the Internet that online advertising was going to take over the advertising world by storm. Online advertising has definitely made a huge impact, but it hasn’t quite taken the world by storm yet. According to years of research on the steady increase of online advertisement, the predicted “boom” in online advertising could definitely be right around the corner.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC are releasing some numbers that illustrate that a “boom” could be in store for advertising in the very near future. U.S. online ad revenues have increased 17 percent in the third quarter of 2010, compared to the same period of time in 2009. In just that quarter, ad revenues reached $6.4 billion, which is the highest recorded quarterly mark in history.

According to IAB, online video ads and traditional banners and pop-up ads are still creating an increase in revenues, but text ads that come along with search results represent the largest amount of revenue for online advertising. Their numbers for the first half of 2010 showed that search ads account for 47 percent of all online ad revenues. This is the exact same percentage that search ads had for the first half of 2009 as well.

Until recently, there were two different reasons for small businesses to be reluctant about utilizing online advertising. The first reason that companies were skeptical about adopting it as an advertising strategy was because of the perceived low rate of return for the ads. The second was the expected time commitment that was required to be able to manage an online ad campaign. This skepticism is starting to be relieved as new online ad services are beginning to target small businesses.

Pete Barlas of Investor’s Business Daily said that Google and various other search providers are trying to help small businesses overcome their hesitance about buying Web ads. He said that they are currently making it easier to select keywords and pick up other search engine optimization (SEO) tricks. Another important development is the increase in location-based services that offer customers discounts and rewards when they check in as they visit an establishment.

Recently Google released a new component for its Google Places services. This service was created in an attempt to make it as easy as possible for small businesses to profit from advertising online, and the newest developments really do help out.

Google’s Google Boost service is only available right now in select U.S. markets. It is a service that promises to feature three-line text ads in the Sponsored Links section of Google’s search page when individuals search for terms that have been specified by and for your business. This service is available for a mere $50.

Online advertising is definitely seeing a steady increase in use and profitability. Many small businesses still have concerns with the tactic, but I really feel that it is the direction that advertising is heading in. Everything is going mobile and paperless, and advertising is no exception. Online advertising is a great addition to small businesses’ already established advertising and marketing strategies. With the right attitude, dedication, and commitment, online advertising that could really increase profitability for your small business.

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Tagged: advertising, marketing, marketing tips, online advertising, online marketing, small business, small business advertising, small business marketing, small business tips

Have the Big Banks Followed Through with Their Promises?

November 10, 2010 by Katie Sellers Leave a Comment
small business lendingMany big banks claimed that they would increase credit to small businesses in 2010, but have they really done this so far? Are they really lending more money to small businesses or have they fallen through? Well, it’s a little difficult to tell due to the fact that “small business lending” for most banks usually covers a variety of different things ranging from real estate to credit cards, and there are very few lenders that separate their numbers for small businesses. Big banks were under pressure from the White House last year to increase credit. Some of the nation’s largest lenders, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase, made some very big promises about increasing their lending to small business lenders in 2010. Four of the companies that set some concrete goals were asked how they were doing so far with their lending, and here is what they said.

Wells Fargo
According to Wells Fargo spokeswoman Sarah Toffoli, the company gave more than $2.9 billion in new loans to small business owners in the first quarter. The bank said that their goal for 2010 was to lend $16 billion, which is about $3 billion more than they lent in 2009, to companies with less than $20 million in revenue. “Based on the seasonality of business lending and the anticipation of an improved economy, we hope to meet our commitment by the end of 2010,” said Toffoli. John Stumpf, the chairman of Wells Fargo, says that the company plans to increase the new small business lending of $16 billion in the company’s annual report.

JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase reported in their first quarter earnings release that so far this year they have lent small businesses over $2.1 billion in new loans. They had said that their goal was to give out $10 billion in new credit to companies with revenues under $20 million. Their goal, which was announced November 9th, 2009, is an increase of $4 billion over last year. Spokesman Tom Kelly said that the bank’s first quarter lending to small businesses has increased 31% over the lending from the first quarter of the previous year.

Kelly also said that since November 9th, JPMorgan Chase has hired 235 new small business bankers, and they plan to hire 325 new employees by the end of 2010. Another interesting fact to note is that Chase has lent more than $110 million in “second-look loans” this quarter. Second-look loans are small business loans that are given to borrowers who were initially rejected but asked for Chase to review their loan application again.

Bank of America
In their first quarter Bank of America has loaned $19.4 billion to small and mid-size businesses, those who have less than $50 million in revenue. When taking out the loans to mid-size businesses, the bank has loaned $3.4 billion to small companies, those with less than $20 million in revenue, during their first quarter.

At a meeting with President Obama on December 14th, 2009, the then CEO of Bank of America Kenneth Lewis stated that the bank planned to increase their lending to small and mid-size businesses in 2010 by $5 billion. As of right now the bank has not released how much money they lent to small and mid-size businesses in 2009, so there is really no way to set a number on how much they will be lending in 2010 or on how much progress they have made this quarter towards meeting their goal for 2010. Spokesman Jefferson George said that the bank is currently running those numbers, and they hope that they will be able to make those numbers available soon.

Huntington National Bank
Huntington National Bank is a regional bank for the Midwest that is currently based out of Columbus, Ohio. In February they set a goal to increase their lending to small businesses, businesses with less than $15 million in revenue, by $400 million. Right now the bank says that numbers documenting progress towards their goal of lending $1.2 billion in 2010 are not available. Their spokeswoman LuJean Smith did say though that Huntington has currently hired more than fifty percent of the 150 new employees that they plan on hiring.

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Tagged: business loans, Save Your Small Business, small business, Small Business lending, small business loans, SMB

The Five W’s of Marketing

October 21, 2010 by Katie Sellers Leave a Comment

the five w's of marketing

Most people have heard of the Five W’s. They are who, what, when, where and why, and they are utilized by anyone from journalists to detectives to customer service representatives. Now when developing a marketing strategy, it is not only important to use these Five W’s but also to use them in a very particular order. Usually keeping the W’s in a certain order is not necessary, but with marketing it is definitely important.

To effectively formulate a marketing strategy, the best way to utilize the Five W’s is in the order of why, who, what, where and when. By following this pattern, much confusion and loss of precious time can be avoided. Many marketers think of utilizing what or where first, but doing this can definitely cause some issues.

By focusing on “why” first, many issues can be avoided. Companies should begin asking themselves why they are expending their limited resources on marketing. They should decide why they are spending this money on marketing instead of investing it in another area of the company. By asking these questions, it allows company executives to undoubtedly define their business and marketing plans. It also lets people deal with any sometimes unrecognized assumptions that they might have before getting too deeply into the strategy.

Some companies may have unrealistic marketing plans that need to face reality, while others might go in the advertising direction to solve a non-advertising problem. The “why” question can help a person to confront these problems head on before delving deeper into their strategy. It can be challenging at times to start with this question, but it is necessary to fully accomplish your goals successfully.

The second question for marketers to focus on is “who”. Who will help us accomplish our goals? Who will be receiving the message that we will be putting out? Who do we need to convince and win over in order to be successful? By asking this question, a company should then be able to clearly define its target audience. The better that the audience is defined, the more effectively the company will be able in addressing the three remaining W’s and formulating their marketing strategy.

“What” is the next question a company should ask. This question allows the team to figure out what they need to do for their target audience in order to accomplish their goals. This stage will include a variety of different important business decisions. A company will have to decide on things such as products, pricing, packaging, and policy. This stage is also where branding issues and personality dimensions for the brand and the task will be addressed.

“When” and “where” are the final W’s that should be utilized to formulate your strategy. These questions will allow you to figure out where and when is the best possible place to communicate your “what” and your “why” to your “who.” It will be necessary to make many tactical decisions during these stages, but if you have effectively utilized the first three W’s, then this should be much simpler.

Marketing principles can be simple at times and very complex at other times. If you follow the five W’s, I am certain that coming up with your marketing strategy will be much easier than you thought it would be. Who, what, when, where, and why are the perfect way to get things done. You just need to be careful what order you follow. By using them in the correct order, you are guaranteed to discover a much more successful marketing plan. So get started on your plan today and make sure to use the five W’s.

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Tagged: five w's, five w's of marketing, marketing tips, small business marketing, small business tips, SMB, smb blog

Tips to Securing Your Business Network

September 27, 2010 by Katie Sellers Leave a Comment
securing your business networkThere are a countless number of threats out there that are ready to compromise your company’s network, but thankfully, there are plenty of precautionary steps that can be taken to keep this from happening.

SMBs are particularly prone to the plague of cybercrime. Sometimes SMB networks simply do not have the necessary network security. This is normally due to the fact that most SMBs do not have the resources or expertise to ensure their network’s security. In many small office settings, an office administrator with only basic IT skills is in charge of network security. This can leave your company’s network open to numerous threats. Paulette Altmaier, VP of Dell Solutions, has said that 92 percent of businesses suffer some sort of computer attack in any given year.

All of these SMB network threats cause some serious concerns. In response to some of these SMB needs Dell has just recently announced their partnerships with Trend Micro and Juniper. They hope to collaborate in an attempt to present some SMB security solutions. Altmaier stated that Dell has decided to focus on SMB security because they “have the same complexity of security problems as bigger companies but lack the resources.”

One of the huge problems with security threats is realizing how they evolve to attack your network. Threats aren’t just delivered by spam anymore. They are everywhere. There are limitless ways that your network could be compromised. If you’re a small business owner and you don’t have the protection that your network truly needs, here are some tips to keep your business safe and secure.

1.Layered Security
This is absolutely necessary. You must have an anti-virus program running on every desktop in the office, but you must also make sure that every aspect of your network is protected. You must have something that manages and protects data at rest and in transit. Security methods like encryption can help you deal with things like this. You must also make sure to control mobile devices that utilize your network at all. The security simply must be layered.

2.Security Policy
The size of the company doesn’t matter; it is a good idea to have a security plan. Any business with a network could benefit from a security policy. If you educate your employees on your plan and update your plan for the newest technology, many security issues can be avoided.

3.Unified Threat Management (UTM)
These devices can really help with your security layering. A UTM will contain a firewall, content filtering, VPN, and intrusion detection technologies. Many of the UTMs now available are designed for easy use and do not need IT support.

4.Secure Endpoints
This is essential. An endpoint is anything that can attach to your network like a server or a USB drive. Threats can sneak right into your network through these means. There are plenty of different products available that can help secure your endpoints.

5.User Security
Companies must make sure to restrict the content that their users can see and not see. This really cuts down on the possibility of security threats. Don’t allow a free-for-all network at your workplace. If you monitor and control what is being viewed through your network, you can eliminate many security issues.

6.Mobile Device Security
Although security threats are not as serious on smartphones and mobile devices like the iPad, there is no reason that you should leave these devices unsecured. You should treat them like any other endpoint and make sure that they follow any of your company’s security policies.

7.Software Updates
You should always make sure that all of your programs and software are up-to-date at all times. This helps to make sure that you have the best possible protection.

Keeping your company’s network secure should be your top priority. No one wants to deal with the hassle and costs of cybercrime. With these tips you can easily boost your network’s security and keep your computers, information, and network safe.

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Tagged: network protection, network safety, small business, small business tips, Small businesses, SMB network

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