The Hiring Process

Technology Author: Yang Shang Jun 16, 2019 03:35 PM (GMT+8)

There's everything you should know before applying for a position at EqualOcean.

Whale breaching the sea. Photo by Ilse Orsel on Unsplash.

The whole recruitment process is divided into three steps:

1. Candidates should submit their resume and task 1 via email to join@EqualOcean.com. We will contact the qualified applicants within 48 hours upon receiving an email and schedule the first interview. The first interview is experience-based.

2. After the first interview, we will contact qualified candidates within 48 hours to announce the results of the previous round, and assign task 2. Qualified candidates will be invited to the second interview, which mostly focuses on personal skills.

3. After the second interview, we will contact qualified candidates within 48 hours and assign task 3. They will be invited to the third interview, which is concentrated on the applicant’s future vision and career plan.

Final results will be released within 72 hours after the third interview. Normally, it takes 7-15 business days for the whole interview process.

Tasks for different positions:

Analyst:

[Task 1]: Please write an analytical article (above 600 words) about a global unicorn startup company. Explain why you are positive about its future and identify the possible challenges ahead.

[Task 2]: Please analyze PE/VC investment market in India and elicit its key trends based on the data given. 

Describe the market's current state (and other findings that you consider as important) with respect to those trends (underlying drivers analysis is a plus) with over 500 words. 

Your text should include at least three graphs depicting various facets such as 1) market and key sectors' performance; 2) geographic distribution; 3) chronological trends. 

When making a conclusion, please don't forget to express your view regarding the Indian VC/PE market development prospects and possible future scenarios.

*We suggest using specialized tools and software libraries (e.g. Python-pandas, Matlab, Stata, SPSS, Excel).

[Task 3]: Describe your career plan for the next 1 to 3 years. Please prepare several questions for the founder/co-founder of EqualOcean.

HR:

[Task 1]: Analyze your favorite top-tier third-party company worldwide. The analysis should cover its culture, value, and unique human resource management methods.

[Task 2]: Based on your understanding of “tech media & investment research institute”, describe your ideal human resource allocation for a group of 30 or 80.

[Task 3]: Describe your career plan for the next 1 to 3 years. Please prepare several questions for the founder/co-founder of EqualOcean.

Business Development Manager:

[Task1]: Please use “Bridgewater Associates LP” as a case study, describe and elaborate on its business model.

[Task2]: EqualOcean’s BD Manager will take responsibility for the company’s revenue generation. Please provide us with a sketch on EqualOcean’s existing business model and design a new plan on how you would help the company to achieve better or new revenue streams within a one-year period.

[Task 3]: Describe your career plan for the next 1 to 3 years. Please prepare several questions for the founder/co-founder of EqualOcean.

Marketing Manager:

[Task1]: EqualOcean is in the process of aggressive global expansion. As a marketing manager, please give us a sketch on the online activities and digital marketing strategies you would consider for EqualOcean within one year.

Please assess the short-term outcomes and estimate the marketing budget and timeline.

[Task2]: EqualOcean is keen to organize offline activities that will presumably attract industry and opinion leaders. The company wants to attract as many attendees as possible.

Let’s assume that EqualOcean is holding an "AI Industry in China" conference in New York. Please describe your market strategy aimed at attracting a broader international audience to the event.

[Task 3]: Describe your career plan for the next 1 to 3 years. Please prepare several questions for the founder/co-founder of EqualOcean.

Before issuing the final offer, we will discuss salary, earliest availability and other details with candidates. The finalists should reply within 48 hours via email. Once they accept the offer, candidates should arrive within 15 days. In some special cases, the period could be extended to up to 30 days. We suggest candidates who are not available within 30 days reschedule their applications.   

After offering

There is a four-month probation period and then an oral defense. Once the oral defense is passed, a probationary staff member becomes a regular employee with a unique employee number, business card, and badge. Normally, regular employees will get a pay raise at the close of the probation period. For outstanding team members, the probation period can be shortened to 3 months.

EqualOcean candidates are required to have a deep understanding of technology across various industries, possess good analytical skills, strong investment mindset, as well as high English proficiency. Due to the limited talent pool in this industry, we are pleased to offer opportunities to those talented but less experienced. We value fast learning capability, diligence and perseverance. 

Six workdays per week are required at the early stage of a startup and we expect all candidates to regard themselves as entrepreneurs. We regard the first 30 employees as the founding members and anticipate higher efforts from them. Accordingly, future rewards and dividends are expected.

The founding members of EqualOcean issued the “Internal Mechanism & Principles”. Every member must follow the terms specified herein. We believe that it is important that we share the same goals and values as a startup team. The “Internal Mechanism & Principles” is essential, please read through it carefully before you apply.

For international candidates, EqualOcean is capable of helping deal with the visa issues. Currently, we have direct channels to communicate with the government in Beijing and Shanghai. For candidates with a master’s degree and a high GPA in college, we promise to help with the visa application. For candidates with a bachelor’s degree, it is relatively more difficult to get work visas, but we will try our best to help.

We expect to have at least one-fourth of international members in our team and, hopefully, more than one-third in the long run. But we are an equal-opportunity company where matters like nomination and promotion are based on capability rather than nationality. So far, all international employees are well-performing and will be considered alongside their Chinese peers for the positions of directors in the near future.

To build an efficient and effective founding team of 30 is our top priority in 2019. We prioritize people, rather than specific tasks. We believe that by the end of 2019 we will start gaining core competency in analyzing technology and industry innovation in China. In 2020, we will be more influential and begin to make a profit.

More information on EqualOcean can be found on the “About Us” page of our website. We also recommend you learn more about the firm from other open sources. With the principle of mutual responsibility, we’re trying to be as transparent as possible.