7 x 7 x 7 ..My first Grameen Foundation interview
The thing about first impressions is they are almost always wrong. They usually say more about the person making the observation than the object being observed. So when I walked into the AppLab offices in MTN Towers for my first interview, my preconceived notions of what an international NGO were in place and ready to be confirmed.
They weren't.
I think I can best describe it as a college library set up. the open plan office space means everyone can see everyone else save for the private office for the country director. Sitting there as I waited for my interview, I saw people walk in carrying rack sacks and laptop bags like they were heading in for class. Jeans and casual shirts to match. "They must be the Tech guys" I thought. Then up to me strolled a well dressed white lady wearing a big smile. "Hi, I'm Laura. Could you give me a couple of minutes and we can do the interview in that room over there?"
She was British. She seemed nice. And also she was the commercial manager for App Lab money.She was my prospective boss.
After she told me about what App lab money was about, which is the part of Grameen foundation that is tasked with both innovating digital financial services for the poor but also on making these ideas commercially viable, she got down to the job of interviewing me.
"Okay Joel..What's 7 times 7 times 7?And just walk me through how you come to the answer."
"Why oh why are you doing this to me?"
Time stood still..
The fact that I knew 7 x 7 is 49 seemed to be all my brain could throw out there. Like that's all I was going to get from that waste of space in between my ears. I dug my heels in took a deep breath and begun to say out loud.."7 x 7 is 49...then 9 x 7 is..um , it's"..I begin singing the multiplication tables in my head..After a few machinations, I blurt out my answer
323
Without laughing, she asks how I came to that answer and I say." I simply(yes, I said simply) multiplied 49 by 7". Bad start to the interview.
We talked though a few other problems and I felt like I did much better. A few word problems , an inquiry into why I wanted to work with Grameen. The usual. Except I seemed to sense a passion in her voice for her work and that she enjoyed that the things she was working on were going to help people she may never meet, never see but their lives would be better off. It's easy to be cynical about NGOs and charity and whether it's more of a curse than a cure for what ails a huge part of humanity, but it's always refreshing to meet someone who is making an effort who is thinking soberly about a problem when they could just as easily think of themselves only. If everyone else in the organization was like this, then maybe this was the place for me.
The interview came to an end but I still couldn't help but feel like the slight brain damage I had experienced at the start(This is how I explain failing such an easy question). She could have asked me anything. what the merits of string theory are and it's implications on quantum theory as we know it. Or how a bicycle works. Or even what the meaning of life is. All would have been preferable to 7 x 7 x 7...*
As I left I passed by HR to say thanks for treating me nicely. I looked across the office once more and thought to myself..I think I could fit in here. I pressed the button for the lobby on the elevator doors and then it hit me
50 x 7 is 350. minus 7..is 343
"Laura Laura ...it's 343 ...7x 7 x 7 is 343"...(This may or may not have happened as I stood in an elevator with a bunch of strangers
Next time-My first month working at Grameen, Learning what verticals are, and becoming best friends with excel
* The answers to these questions are
1. String theory implies everything from the possibility of there being parallel universes, that the universe is a hologram and worm holes allowing instantaneous travel from one point to another which would finally put an end to African time.
2. No one knows how they work. Go ahead. Try and explain how they work
3. The meaning of Life...42 of course.
They weren't.
I think I can best describe it as a college library set up. the open plan office space means everyone can see everyone else save for the private office for the country director. Sitting there as I waited for my interview, I saw people walk in carrying rack sacks and laptop bags like they were heading in for class. Jeans and casual shirts to match. "They must be the Tech guys" I thought. Then up to me strolled a well dressed white lady wearing a big smile. "Hi, I'm Laura. Could you give me a couple of minutes and we can do the interview in that room over there?"
She was British. She seemed nice. And also she was the commercial manager for App Lab money.She was my prospective boss.
After she told me about what App lab money was about, which is the part of Grameen foundation that is tasked with both innovating digital financial services for the poor but also on making these ideas commercially viable, she got down to the job of interviewing me.
"Okay Joel..What's 7 times 7 times 7?And just walk me through how you come to the answer."
"Why oh why are you doing this to me?"
Time stood still..
The fact that I knew 7 x 7 is 49 seemed to be all my brain could throw out there. Like that's all I was going to get from that waste of space in between my ears. I dug my heels in took a deep breath and begun to say out loud.."7 x 7 is 49...then 9 x 7 is..um , it's"..I begin singing the multiplication tables in my head..After a few machinations, I blurt out my answer
Without laughing, she asks how I came to that answer and I say." I simply(yes, I said simply) multiplied 49 by 7". Bad start to the interview.
We talked though a few other problems and I felt like I did much better. A few word problems , an inquiry into why I wanted to work with Grameen. The usual. Except I seemed to sense a passion in her voice for her work and that she enjoyed that the things she was working on were going to help people she may never meet, never see but their lives would be better off. It's easy to be cynical about NGOs and charity and whether it's more of a curse than a cure for what ails a huge part of humanity, but it's always refreshing to meet someone who is making an effort who is thinking soberly about a problem when they could just as easily think of themselves only. If everyone else in the organization was like this, then maybe this was the place for me.
The interview came to an end but I still couldn't help but feel like the slight brain damage I had experienced at the start(This is how I explain failing such an easy question). She could have asked me anything. what the merits of string theory are and it's implications on quantum theory as we know it. Or how a bicycle works. Or even what the meaning of life is. All would have been preferable to 7 x 7 x 7...*
As I left I passed by HR to say thanks for treating me nicely. I looked across the office once more and thought to myself..I think I could fit in here. I pressed the button for the lobby on the elevator doors and then it hit me
50 x 7 is 350. minus 7..is 343
"Laura Laura ...it's 343 ...7x 7 x 7 is 343"...(This may or may not have happened as I stood in an elevator with a bunch of strangers
Next time-My first month working at Grameen, Learning what verticals are, and becoming best friends with excel
* The answers to these questions are
1. String theory implies everything from the possibility of there being parallel universes, that the universe is a hologram and worm holes allowing instantaneous travel from one point to another which would finally put an end to African time.
2. No one knows how they work. Go ahead. Try and explain how they work
3. The meaning of Life...42 of course.
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