GD Frameworks

Thematize the debate

What? When? How?

Cost benefit analysis

Even if

3Rs- Retribution, Reformity, Redeem

ARE- Assertion, Reason, Example

SPERM- Social, political, environmental, religion, military

PESTLE- Political, economical, social, technological, legal, and environmental

Key word analysis- Defining every word

SOAR (for behavorial answers)- Situation, Obstacle, Action, Result- They usually take the form of "Tell
me about a time when...you dealt with a difficult client/you led a team/you persuaded someone/you
were a good teammate/you failed/you faced a challenging situation." Here the trick is to answer the
right question. So many people get dinged because they try to fit a leadership story to the team
question or a weakness story to the failure one. Ideally, you can come up with 6-8 stories that cover
the 30-40 basic questions, with only slight modifications. Don't wing it. For every potential question,
map out the story using the SOAR framework. Describe the Situation (10-15 seconds), Obstacle (10-
15s), Action (60-75s), and Result (15-30s). Stories for these questions should be 1.5-2 minutes long
and focus only on what's important.

Be specific - Even if the interviewer asks you to describe your leadership style or for you top 2
strengths, you should hear "Tell about a time when..." and answer with a real example. "I lead by
doing and exhibited this when I [faced this situation][that was challenging because stuff][so I did
some other stuff][and it worked out like this... and I learned this for next time].

"tell me what you're working on now." If it's interesting, you can easily fill 5-10 minutes just talking
about their current or favorite project. It's also a good place to show off your knowledge that the
pharma industry is consolidating due to firms having to make larger bets on R&D (I made that up) or
whatever you read in the latest WSJ or Economist.

Dial-in a cohesive 90 second resume walkthrough that focuses on the positive motivating factors
behind every transition (school to job, job to better job, most recent job to grad school). E.g. "I went
to school to design cars, but after one internship I realized I liked interacting with clients directly and
pursued full-time roles with a sales bent. In that role, I develop solid sales skills as well as gaining
exposure to a, b, and c. I wanted to continue honing those and branch out to focus on x, y, and z. I
sought a new role/promotion which provided that opportunity..." Be deliberate. Every move you
made should have a reason (preferably that you initiated). Don't be negative. Never say you left
because you were bored or "wanted to try something new."