PROUDLY PRESENTS

Malcolm Ranney
Resident of The United States and 3-DNET® VIP member
Email contact : malcolm@exec.org

      

VIDEO INTRODUCTION®

  

 

INTERVIEW WITH 3-DNET®

Listen to sample sound "bites" from the interview:  

Question 1 : Tell me about yourself

I grew up in a warm family that supported me in whatever I chose to undertake. I have always had the privilege of working in a field that I really enjoy. I can be considered as valuable in my field because I’ve wrapped my graduate degree around many years of practical experience. I know the importance of lifelong learning, and I take advantage of both formal education opportunities and on-the-job experiences.

Question:  "Tell me about yourself....?"  

Question 2 : What can you offer to your next employer ?

I work to achieve and maintain the precise balance of influence and latitude that gives me the operational control I need, empowers and motivates my workers, and serves my customers well. I always strive to be as creative as I can and I get a real charge out of bringing about positive improvements within the organization.

Question:  "What can you offer....?"  

Question 3 : What are your strengths ?

I offer leadership experience acquired over 22 years of progressive and varied responsibilities, a very strong work ethic, unquestionable integrity and a selfless focus on the mission.

Question:  "What are your strengths?"  

Question 4 : What are your accomplishments ?

Here are two recent ones I can point to with some satisfaction. When I took charge of Publicity and Marketing, the department was staffed with smart young people, but they had been through a series of rather indifferent temporary managers. This had weakened their motivation, so their performance was inconsistent. I determined that Publicity and Marketing was largely under the control of another department that really had little vested interest in it. By pushing for autonomy and a new vision for the department, I led Publicity and Marketing from a bored group of paper-shufflers into the self sufficient, cutting-edge electronic multimedia, real-time-responsive nerve center it is today. After I was promoted and reassigned, top management appointed 3 other people to assume the responsibilities I had carried by myself.
The situation I found when I took over Music Resources was a bit different. This is the resource hub for the organization – the “raw material” source for all musical products. Due to indifferent past management, records were unreliable and stock was incomplete. Inventory was slowly seeping out the door from lack of accountability. I immediately initiated enforceable zero-error accountability standards across the board, and created a comprehensive training and operations manual, all from scratch. I pushed for storage improvements, got approval, designed and oversaw the installation of a custom storage system that became the standard for the entire career field, and came away with an award in the process.

Question:  "What are your accomplishments?"  

Question 5 : What are your limitations ?

I tend to beat up on myself a bit sometimes when results are not exactly what I had planned for. But I realize that every moment spent on this type of activity only diverts energy from creative, focused planning and execution.

Question:  "What are your limitations ?"  

Question 6 : How much are you worth ?

I prefer to let my record of leadership, initiatives, and my selfless and team-focused military work ethic speak for themselves. I trust your company is prepared to offer a suitable compensation package that would leave me content to focus 100% on producing top results.

Question:  "How much are you worth ?"  

Question 7 : What are your ambitions for the future ?

I want to continue to learn, build experience, and to work at a high decision-making level in a creative and dynamic field, for a long time to come.

Question:  "What are your ambitions for the future ?"  

Question 8 : How long would it take you start contributing to the firm? 

Military decision-makers at all levels need to be able to confidently give and get information sometimes just days after assuming new responsibilities. I could not have had a successful career in the military without developing a very short learning curve. After doing my homework about the company’s mission and vision, and my role in it, I certainly expect to be 100% up and running in days, not weeks.

Question:  "How long would it take ... ?"  

Question 9: What is your management style?

I favor a team-oriented approach that capitalizes on peoples’ strengths and encourages open communication and participation. I don’t necessarily think of the mission as separate from the people. If people are not properly empowered, trained, equipped and led, there is no mission accomplishment. I dislike authoritarian and soft “hands off” management styles equally. I try to lead foremost by example.

Question:  "What is your management style .... ?"  

Question 10: Why do you think you have a good potential to be a manager?

I’ve already been doing this kind of work. For well over 15 years I have worked at sharpening my management/leadership skills and executive bearing on the job. And I'd be happy to supply any potential employer with a list of references to back up my claim.

Question:  "Why do you think you..... ?"  

Question 11: What would you look for in hiring people?

People who are interested in, and eager to, devoting themselves to helping to realize my company’s dreams and goals.

Question:  "What would you look for hiring .... ?"  

Question 12: As a manager, have you ever had to fire someone?

No, my employer does not address this issue in this manner. However, people that have been determined as unfit for further service are punitively separated, administratively separated or denied retention. This starts with a (negative) recommendation from the line supervisor or manager. I have recommended denial of retention for 2 individuals who have not responded to repeated appeals to improve their work habits and general workplace conduct.

Question:  "As a manager, have you ever..... ?"  

Question 13: What do you see as the most difficult task of being a manager?

Keeping everyone on the same page, thoroughly focused and dedicated, every day. People naturally have their own work and life issues; you must enable people to work around or through them so they can stay productive. This takes a lot of leadership experience, intuition and empathy.

Question:  "What do you see as...... ?"  

Question 14: Describe what you feel is the best work environment?

A positive work environment, where the mission and people are taken care of on equal terms. An environment remains positive as long as managers keep listening. And the bottom line shouldn’t start to become more important than training, benefits, or job security.

Question:  "Describe what you feel..... ?"  

Question 15: Looking back how do you describe your past employer?

I am currently employed by my sole employer. However, over the years there we’ve been through “right-sizing”, changes of mission focus, restructuring and other shakeups, just like any international corporation. I have managed to certainly survive, and most recently, to thrive through it all.

Question:  "Looking back how do you ..... ?"  

Question 16: What have you done to increase productivity, performance, efficiency, etc..?

As I’ve mentioned concerning Publicity/Marketing and Music Resources, I make it a practice to search out inefficient work processes and change or eliminate them. I also motivate my people across the board by instilling them with pride in the job, who we are as a team, and how much the rest of the unit and the career field depend on what we do.

Question:  "What have you done to .... ?"  

Question 17: Whether you are a "computer wizard", how do you respond to the financial side of your responsibilities?

I take it all very seriously. I demand integrity and total accountability from everyone on the staff.

Question:  "Whether you are a "computer wizard".... ?"  

Question 18: How many people have you supervised in your recent job?

I formally oversee the career paths of 2 people, but I also administer and oversee many projects per year where I lead and manage up to 40 individuals.

Question:  "How many people have you .... ?"  

Question 19: What do you like more, working with figures or words?

I appreciate both in their own right, but as someone who has been repeatedly commended and praised for my communication skills, I’d have to say that words would be my favorite.

Question:  "What do you like more ..... ?"  

Question 20: How do you think that your subordinates receive you?

I would venture to say that I am respected, trusted, and approachable.

Question:  "How do you think .... ?"  

Question 21: What do you think of your previous boss?

I had a great deal of respect for him because he always held himself to very high standards, and expected us to do the same. While he was generally not very personable, he did leave an example of uncompromising self-discipline and mission focus which has influenced me to this day.

Question:  "What do you think .... ?"  

Question 22: Describe a situation in which your work was criticized?

Several years ago my boss told me to get something prepared for him, a routine task that I delegated to a subordinate. The subordinate immediately started chatting with me about how the purpose of the task was inappropriate and wasteful to the unit. I became convinced and fully agreed with him. He then promised to take charge of the situation for me and discuss the task with my boss, and that I shouldn’t concern myself with it anymore. Instead, he forgot to talk to the boss, ignored the task, and left my boss hanging in a rather embarrassing but (thankfully) minor situation. Since I was still directly accountable to the boss, who knew nothing of my delegating, he shared a few choice words with me the next day. Instead of taking it all out on the subordinate, I calmly explained everything from the beginning to both him and the boss, apologized, and resolved to never delegate again without checking in and following through. The matter was dropped.

Question:  "Describe a situation .... ?"  

Question 23: If I spoke with your boss what he would say about your greatest strength and weaknesses?

My strengths would be integrity, reliability, focus and trustworthiness. My weakness would be that I could be a bit bolder about communicating my ideas sometimes.

Question:  "If I spoke with your boss.... ?"  

Question 24: How can you handle life under pressure and with tough deadlines?

While I was working overseas, the work tempo was nearly triple that of my previous assignment. I responded by simplifying my life routines as much as I could. I focused on making sure I had as much adequate rest, a healthful diet and exercise as possible, and lodged my family in a comfortable dwelling convenient to services. Then I was free to just jump in with both feet every day. The successful unit relocation that I managed there, over 4 days with absolutely no downtime for the mission, set a benchmark for the entire career field and is a permanent example of how I can handle pressure with tough deadlines.

Question:  "How can you handle .... ?"  

Question 25: What do you think you do better: staff work or line work?

I appreciate the importance of both, but line work can often make me miss the interaction and synergies that staff work provides.

Question:  "What do you think.... ?"  

Question 26: In your current position, what problem have you identified that was previously overlooked?

Nearly the entire organization was serving an increasingly older customer demographic. This issue had been a growing problem for years, but there was no plan in place for reaching younger, newer customers. My position as Education Outreach Director allowed me to be the first to address this, by designing groundbreaking programs where our members work directly with middle and high school students. Besides positively influencing members from that generation, I expected that the children would also go home and spread goodwill about us to their parents, reaching that generation as well.

Question:  "In your current position .... ?"  

Question 27: If you had a choice of job and a company what would you choose?

I can’t consider this choice very seriously, especially in these times. I would concentrate on doing my job to the utmost of my abilities no matter where I was. If for some reason I didn’t like the company culture, I would try and improve whatever aspects I could from my position.

Question:  "If you had a choice of job.... ?"  

Question 28:Do you have any objection to take a psychological test?

No.

Question:  "Do you have any objection.... ?"

Question 29: Do you consider yourself as a creative person?

Yes. I have years of formal training in music, and have performed it professionally for many years, including some writing and arranging. The creativity that this activity demands certainly can and does cross over into other areas of my life and work.

Question:  "Do you consider yourself.... ?"

Question 30: How do you describe your personality?

Positive, analytical, and alert to the possibility in everything I see.

Question:  "How do you describe.... ?"  

Question 31: What is your outside reading you do?

I’m a subscriber to Fortune magazine, and I read 1 or 2 books a year on leadership and management. I check news online every day. I’m also interested in such topics as architecture, music, and American history. Also, being a religious person, I read the Bible and 1 or 2 spiritually instructive books a year.

Question:  "What is your outside.... ?"  

Question 32: What are some of your outside activities?

I’m an Adult Leader for the local Cub and Boy Scout troop, where I help with fundraisers and other activities.

Question:  "What are some of.... ?"  

Question 33: Are you continuing your education?

I attend at least 1 professional seminar a year in areas related to my career and my future goals.

Question:  "Are you continuing your.... ?"

CURRICULUM VITAE

3-DNET® is a secure and effective way to make new contacts
-- both business and social!

Networking is a requirement for Business and Individual alike.
The ONLY security these days is how wide your network is and how shrewdly you market yourself.
3-DNET® can assist you!

Copyright 1996 The 3-D Network Company, Ottawa, ON, CANADA
3-DNET® is a registered trademark of The 3-D Network Company International Inc.