My Welcome To San Francisco Hug

I moved to San Francisco to take a job with Salesforce right out of my undergrad without having ever visited San Francisco in my life. I was excited for the adventure, but generally speaking I was freaked out, intimidated and paranoid about some aspects of big city living.

My first day of work I needed to catch a shuttle from the financial district to take me to new hire training in the San Mateo office. I was crashing at a friends house in the West Portal neighborhood at the time. I was a really worried about getting lost, missing the shuttle etc., so I left a few hours early. I got there really fast (the MUNI is not crowded at 6am). I got to the shuttle stop outside of Salesforce HQ and was just standing there for over an hour trying not to look like a country bumpkin. I did not know what the dress should be so to play it safe, I wore my best suit with a french cut shirt.

As the sun was coming up, some guy that was probably a little drunk came up to me and said. "DANG, YOU LOOK LIKE CLARK KENT!" He then proceeded to give me a bear hug. After he let me go, he looked me in the eye and said "wait, you also look like that kid from Jerry Mcguire." He then turned around and walked away. Welcome to San Francisco.

Clark Kent

Kid from the movie

Me

Tips To Prepare For A Job Interview At LinkedIn

I've had a lot of friends, or friends of friends get interviews at LinkedIn lately. I've been asked several times if I have any tips for the interview process. I thought I'd compile a few tips of my own here and link to some great advice too. As usual on my blog, this post is my personal opinion and not representing LinkedIn the company. Here are my tips to prepare for a job interview at LinkedIn.

1. Spruce up your profile. It should already be awesome, but if not, it's better late than never. It will go a long way to show that you actually believe in and understand the company. Great picture, work history....the whole nine yards.

2. Check Glassdoor.com for interview questions by role. You can find the list here.

3. Read this article on Mashable. If you scroll down to the end they get into some great interviewing tips.

4. Understand the culture. Read this interview of Jeff Weiner in the NY Times and check out the Slideshare below on our culture.

LinkedIn’s Culture of Transformation from Pat Wadors

5. Think about the product. Don't be surprised if you get a question like, "what is your favorite feature?" or "what feature would you add?"

6. Be authentic.

7. Show your passion. If you really are passionate about the mission of the company or the products, make sure it come through in your interview.

8. Get the names of your interviewers and do your homework. Check out the LinkedIn profile of those that are interviewing you beforehand, use that information to your advantage. See if you have mutual contacts.

Good luck with your job interview at LinkedIn. I hope these tips help you prepare. If you have any other tips that you think would help you prepare for a job interview at LinkedIn, please put them in the comments. Also, if you're looking for general job interviewing tips, please check out How to Prepare for a Job Interview