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面試技巧與創業經驗談
----------Bryan Biniak
# In an interview process:
1.Don’t be shy
2.Show your strong interest in the job
3.Show you are self-motivated and confident
4.Bring some references
#Creating your own business:
1.Do some thorough research on the industry
2.Get some feedbacks from extensive sources
3.Build solid business plans- both long term and short term
4.Have a clear path to profitability-
calculate your break-even point, return on investment, etc
5.Have sound marketing plans
6.Go ahead and just do it
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Lisa：歡迎大家收看挑戰英文Action English麗莎會客室的時間，今天的特別來賓，請你先看一下他的個人小檔案。
Lisa：歡迎回到現場。我們的特別來賓就是從美國來的朋友 Bryan，Bryan呢，大家可能在之前的節目已經看過他，Bryan, say hello to our audience.
Bryan： Hello everyone.
Lisa： Bryan很好玩，他其實來台灣不算很久的時間
，所以其實我們在一些聊天當中，你會發現他跟來到台灣很久的一些外國朋友，可能有一些想法、看法/還有一些說法都不太一樣。我們請Bryan來到這邊跟大家聊天的原因，是就尤其對於年輕朋友嚮往新經濟，所謂的New Economy，嚮往這些高科技行業、網路事業的這些年輕朋友們，Bryan真的是可以提供相當好的一些建議，因為他自己就是一個網路軟體公司的老闆。
Bryan, we were just talking that you know, you recently recruited, tried to recruit some young people from Taiwan. And can you share with us your experience?
Bryan： So far it's been very good. We actually recruited a lot of people from local Taiwan universities. Some are of part-time basis. Some individuals for internships and actually a few recently for full-time jobs. And it's been very
interesting. It's very different in Taiwan. So for example in the United States, what do you when you have a resume, you also provide references. So the employer will call up your references. And find out about your personal and professional background before they decide to hire you. And here that doesn't happen.
Lisa： So don't you require them to bring along some references?
Bryan： At this stage we haven't, because it's a little bit different. If the local culture did not do that then you don't necessary want it. We opposed that. So you just use different style of interviewing so that you can understand a little bit more about them. Kinds of thing you may otherwise find out in the interview.
Lisa： If they bring the references on their own, would that help your process?
Bryan： Absolutely it would be... that would give the employer an understanding that you know about something, like it's common practice. And for that man in their country.
Lisa： Okay, if they're freshman college, what should they bring? Obviously they don't have any working experience before.
Bryan： Well ideally you want to have some for people that actually haven't graduated yet. What the ideal situation as you do internships in the school years. You work on the weekend so you take part-time jobs because this will give you an A when you go into interview. Otherwise in your resume, you need to have something. So get involved in social activities. Talk about those and talk about your achievements. Talk about what you've been able to do, what at your university that makes you different, that applies specifically that kind of role you gonna have within this company.
Lisa： This is obviously very different culturally. What other cultural specific points you found in this recruiting process?
Bryan： I think that it's sometimes that the people are a bit passive, and that we have an opportunity to interview. So what we're trying to do is we were trying to when you go in there, the ideal situation is that the person I'm interviewing will talk to me about themselves. I'll ask them questions and then they'll expose whatever the subject is. But the bad thing to do is for me to sit there, and have to try to...
Lisa： Extract.
Bryan： Extract, right. And that's not looked upon positively because what I want to see is that you actually have these experiences, that you have passion about it. You have knowledge. You will be able to come into our company and offer us some immediate results.
Lisa： In other words, don't be shy, going into an interview with the future boss.
Bryan： No! Never do that, because that will help you get a job. If you go with confidence, respectful confidence and conviction and that you can show them that
"Yes, I can do this job." even if you haven't done it before.
Lisa： What about the level of sincerity? I think most young people applying for a job have the kind of passion enthusiasm obviously for the job, but sometimes people add up, overact. Or do you find the level of sincerity to be important or how do you detect any force from this in that?
Bryan： Well, I haven't actually found someone who's sold me or try to sell me on hiring them even they didn't really mean it. I think that you'll find that more often. If people who want to take a job, and it's really a norm, you know, until they can actually do. You know go to a graduate school, or they don't really to know what they want to do. So it's a kind of up place and between, place holder and professional career. What we look for when we were hiring is people who are very interested in technology, very interested in the internet, and obviously very interested in music.
Lisa： What about the future of Taiwanese people who major in all kind of science or technology subjects, and who want to go work for an international company? Do you think they got the good chance there?
Bryan： They have a tremendous amount of potential. Ideally what you would like to do is also match that up with some business experience because you have a solid engineer background. But you also have an understanding in
marketing, then you have a lot more values to be your employers. Because instead of executing task, you also think strategically about what are you doing, why you are doing them and then maybe come up with new innovation for your company.
Lisa： So is creativity important in your hiring process?
Bryan： Very, very important because we need to find people… When you're young company, when you are startup, people have a tendency to do a lot more than what they are hired to do it. Maybe doing a little bit of everything. So you have to feel confident. You should look at it as an adventure, not as a job.
Lisa： And you certainly can see if a person is very involved in what he says, and he's interested in. Right?
Bryan： Yes. The bad situation is you find someone who come and take on a task. They have never had any experience with, and not get very excited about it, not ask a lot of questions. But not only will they do what we ask them to do but really you can tell by the quality of the work. They can tell that they go one step further instead of I ask them to do ten things, then they may do eleven things. And the eleven things maybe... Wow, this person really thought about it. They really did things terrific here. And then they want you give them more projects in the future like that
Lisa： They are more self-motivated in everything. Bryan 剛才跟我們介紹都是現在的年輕人，尤其是對於所謂的高科技網路事業，或者這些新潮時髦的這些玩意非常有興趣的年輕人，真的需要做好心理準備，還有實際準備的一些項目。我們先休息一下，待會回來我們繼續跟 Bryan談一下，年輕人在求職的時候，在使用英文上，有沒有一些要注意的事情。 |
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Lisa：歡迎回到現場，我們跟我們的美國朋友Bryan在聊天。Next Bryan we would really like to know how you started the whole thing? You know, because I heard that wasn't easy at all for you but you know, you stucked with it and then insisted, persisted and got the success you're having now. So tell us about it.
Bryan： So I've worked in music technology for about seven years now, two different startups before this. So overtime I started to learn more and more about the market place and started coming up with my own ideas, and working with some very smart and creative people. And as the market mature and the technology started to advance, it allowed me to create what is becoming MusicZone. So while I was in Tokyo, I was spending a lot of time in Taiwan and coming down here. And decided that now was right time to do this. The market was right, technology was right and people were very open to the kinds of thing. We were going to be do it. We're still a bit ahead of our time, but it was the right time. So I quit my job and worked for six months without a paycheck, and invested all my own money and actually worked with a partner locally who's become a very good friend of mine. So the two of us started up a company . We both worked with no money and no paycheck. And ultimately we were able to take a business plan, and raise quite a bit of money. Now we went from a company of two people to a company of nearly twenty now. And thing's going very well.
Lisa： So how did you make up your mind? You know, it must be tough because of thinking about the future without paycheck for so long, that will certainly dissuade a lot of people.
Bryan： I think it's for me the best thing I ever did, because you risk everything. But then you realize you don't have that much to risk because you can always get a job somewhere else. You realize that you have friends, families and a lot of people you never… maybe expected well, along the right turn, to give you encouragement that you need to do what you want to achieve.
Lisa： Would you say that this is something new in the so-called new economy as opposed to the old economy? To me, young man like you, your age, probably working for old economy company would not be so bored in the deciding their future or taking risk just like that?
Bryan： I think for me it's actually been something like I've done all of my life. I have always worked in situations, wasn't about going to work everyday, completing a list of things someone asks me to do. So I've always been trying to come up with new things to do. So I think I'm kind of… Because for me it's very exciting, then a lot of people all over the world, particularly Silicon Valley, being going on for twenty thirty years. Of the people innovating, you know, taking risk, following their dreams. For me, one of the reasons that I did this is about eight years ago, I had been spending a lot of time in Latin America, and had come up with an idea for actually business to business network, for business is trying to do conduct business in Latin American. And I was nervous, I didn't… My Spanish and Portuguese are not very strong. And I just didn't have the confidence to go do that. And then of course, the economy got very strong, and the Internet started booming. That's my opportunity.
Lisa： Somebody else went out and do it.
Bryan： And the thing was I was actually three years ahead of, you know, what anybody else was doing. So in this case I just couldn't let the opportunity pass, and I have to do it. Cause I don't want live my life thinking about what could it've been?
Lisa：我想大家聽到剛才Bryan講這一段真的很好玩，因為我想電視機前面的觀眾朋友有好多都有非常好的一些點子，就像Bryan一樣有任何的點子，如果你沒有當下就決定去追逐你的夢想的話，可能馬上就被人家學走了，或者別人也想到同樣的點子，他們去做，然後就成功了。By the way, Bryan, you want to talk to us about the latest bubble burst thing with the IPO's or the public listing of these dot-com companies?
Bryan： I think it's what is it… It is a lot of companies, really a lot individuals decided that when they saw other people creating business, business plans and taking a company public , and making quick fast money. They said everybody want to do this as well. But what happen is that they said they realize when they got in there. They didn't have a really solid business plan. They didn't have a clear path of profitability if they didn't have the resolve to stack with their business. Then they failed. So it's just a lot of people rushing in to try to make a quick buck, and I think now it's good. A lot of those companies is going away. A lot of those people who realize,
"Hey, this is a lot of hard work. I'm working harder than I ever worked in my life, seven days a week, and I have no life
anymore." Those people are leaving. And I think that the people really believe in the business, really have something special to offer to the world, and staying with it. And so I think it's fine.
Lisa： So for the people who have dreams, who have ideas, do you say that they should insist on your dreams, and talk to more people about their dreams to see if people can come up with the fonding for their ideas?
Bryan： Sure, I think really there's a lot of money in the world. There's always been money out there. For good ideas the money will come. The key is take your time to really do your homework to get as much information from other people as you can. Talk to your friends. Talk to your friends' friends. Get their feedback on your business plan, and your ideas, people you trust. And then works through your business plan and it will happen.
Lisa： Wow, that's wonderful. Bryan 剛告訴我們是他個人的一段經歷、一個故事，你不要看他年紀輕輕，其實他也已經在他的事業生涯裡面做了相當多的決策，而且相當頑強地在抵抗其他的一切的不如意、堅持到底。這點希望所有喜歡學語言的朋友，就是說，除了語言之外，也能夠從 Bryan 那邊了解到，怎麼樣運用你的意志力，在你的事業前途上再盡一份心力。So do you think that the Taiwanese young people proactive enough in their pursuit of dreams or ideas?
Bryan： I think so. I'm working and start up right now, so I don't have an opportunity to do too much outside my own company. But I do see a lot more and more hearing about the newspaper and television or just in general media of
companies been started
by very young people. And I think a lot of people coming into interview with my company, they are all energetic. Maybe they aren't quite ready to start their own companies now, but I know and I believe that someday that they will.
Lisa： Bryan 對台灣年輕人倒是非常的讚美。我們還要休息一下子，回來之後繼續跟Bryan聊一下，待會見。 |
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Lisa：歡迎回到現場。跟我們聊天的是美國友人Bryan，
他呢並不是大家熟知的那種刻板印象的典型
，他是真正的一個所謂年輕的企業家，剛好因緣際會，讓他來到台灣創設他的音樂事業、網路事業的公司，所以我相信 Bryan 的到場、跟我們的分享，一定是會對就是前面的觀眾們你們的一些，就是對於未來的一些憧憬、可以給一些方向。 In our last segment, anything that you want to say to the audience that you think really would help us, you know, in their confidence level of speaking the language English? They're always concerned about their broken English.
Bryan： I think for me the best example when I'm here and I start to speak some Chinese, people are very excited and they are impressed that I made that effort. And I think that they should think about the same way. If you have learned another language and you do make the effort, it's very impressive to other people and they will respect you more. So the harder you try, the more effort that you make, the better off being your English. But also the better relationship you have with that person you speaking with.
Lisa： You want to share with us some of your Chinese? Try.
Bryan： My Chinese is basically getting up in the morning, and going to the office every morning so I have a short cut that I go to the office. So it's about telling the cab driver. In the morning I get out my house, and I say, you know, 松隆路信義路口, and then 前面直走、右轉、左轉, and Okay 謝謝.
Lisa： There you go. 其實 Bryan 非常的努力，他的中文雖然不那麼靈光、不是那麼輪轉，可是還是在他短短一年在台的時間，他也是非常努力學，就是如他所說的：「你愈努力，其實大家都能夠了解到你的用心，所以說會更尊敬你，也不會為難你。」所以大家一定要放著膽子，然後盡量去說。And Bryan, one thing about language is that sometimes, for instance, people working for you who you recruited from Taiwan, and have opposite ideas, so they don't agree with you. But they are afraid that you being the boss, they cannot confront you. And what should they do then?
Bryan： I think that doesn't just matter. It's not just here in Taiwan. I think it's everywhere. I think what you have to do… It's like a professor. You can take a test and give all the right answers, and only get a B. But if you understand the professor, and you understand how he wants you to answer the questions. And give the professor what he wants, you'll get an A. So I think the part of that is really understanding your boss, and sometimes a boss I can say of myself to be very open. So I encourage people to confront me, to challenge me, to come up with better ideas. But not
everybody is that way. So what you have to do... you have to understand how your boss thinks, what they want. But it's a better way of doing it. For the most part, they'll be happy to hear it. It's a matter how you present it. So sometimes maybe a little quieter, maybe not so aggressive, maybe you put it in writing. You take an idea instead of saying,
"This is a bad idea." What you do is you put your ideas in a piece of paper, and you build out a plan or your concept. And say,
"I've been thinking about this.", "It's something that you think would be a good
idea", instead of saying, "This is a bad idea." Maybe this will be helpful for the company.
Lisa： What about… In the office environment you tend to work with a group of people. So what kind of relationship should you have with these people you work with? To get really close? To involve them socially or otherwise?
Bryan： For me my life is my company and I spend all of my time with people that I work with. So not only they are my colleagues but some of them become my best friends in Taiwan. So it's different. I think that the challenge's when you're working, to make sure that you do the best job possible. And if your social relationships are preventing you from getting that done, maybe you have to be little shier about involving your social business with professional basement. I think it's okay. You want to build company, should have team environment. For people are working with each other, they're learning with each other and they're developing together.
Lisa： And so what do you think of the future of the some new tech, new technology and new economy? And would you think that more young people would be working for that part of the economy?
Bryan： Yes. I think that they'll always be. I walk down the street sometimes early in the morning . And I'll see an older woman, riding her bicycle with her boxes in the back, and thinking this person is probably never going to listen to an MP3 song. But though continue to do their own life, but other way they do it now. They won't be influenced so much by technology. But the vast majority of the population is will be life forever, changed by technology. A lot of things we do right now will be displaced. You know, that it won't be five ten years now. Maybe a year form now. Things we do now. We won't do it anymore.
Lisa： And all these years you spent in Asia, you lived in Asia, would you find different mode of high tech industry, different mode of Internet business for the Asian Pacific Region? Or for, you know countries with larger populations such as China or India as opposed to what we see in Silicon Valley or the States?
Bryan： It depends on who you're developing your products for. Maybe you're developing for businesses, I think that it's the same anywhere in the world. If you're developing for consumers, yes, it's always very different. Consumers for the most part, they don't want to see the technology. They want to have an experience. The best technology is the technology you'll never see. And each culture, each community of consumer demographic you're developing for is different. So you know, what we may develop for consumers in Taiwan may not be something that people in Hong Kong and Mainland China may be interested in that. Also there's pricing. You know, people only make so much money. It doesn't matter how great your product is. They never gonna buy it.
Lisa： Okay. But you certainly are going to spend some more time in Taiwan, and developing product or services for this market.
Bryan： Yes. Taiwan is my home. This is where I live and this is what I focus on doing it .
Lisa： Okay. Good news to hear. Bryan今天跟我們分享了很多他個人，或者是在事業上面的一些他的準則，我相信不僅是對他所僱用的台灣的年輕人，我相信對於我們的觀眾群裡面大部分的人，也都會有一些提醒的效果。今天非常謝謝 Bryan跟我們聊了那麼多，也謝謝大家的收看，希望大家下次還能繼續收看我們的Action English挑戰英文麗莎會客室。Bye！
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