Test your knowledge!
For the next 45 minutes, you will test and revise your knowledge from this course. The test contains 45 questions. There is only one correct (or “best”) answer per question.
Please don’t cheat! =) After you get the result, go through all your wrong answers, and think about the reasons why your answer was not indicated as the best answer. If you have doubts or cannot assess the answers, please ask the coach.
If you are done with the test before the time runs out, come back to the class and take part in the final Q&A session!
Good luck.
1. What is the primary reason why most of the PhD graduates go to industry after their PhD?
a) Jobs in industry are much better paid than jobs in academia,
b) The number of PhD graduates grows faster than the number of faculty positions,
c) Most PhD graduates feel burned out after their PhD, and need change,
d) Most PhDs were planning a career in industry from the beginning, and they are pursuing their plan.
2. In the famous Dunedin study, the best predictor of the overall life success (health-, wealth-, and relationships-wise), turned out to be:
a) IQ,
b) Emotional intelligence,
c) Social status of the parents,
d) Self-control in childhood.
3. In which of the following areas, the chances for professional success are NOT low in general?
a) Authoring books,
b) Trading stocks, politics,
c) Data science,
d) Arts, sports.
4. Which of the following is NOT a reason why knowing your personal relationship with your job is necessary to find the right career path?
a) You will be happy at the workplace only if you find a tribe in which people represent the same attitude as you do,
b) In certain professions, you need a particular relationship with your job to thrive. For instance, in academia you need to have a close relationship with your job to get far,
c) Your job is a large part of your life. Thus, knowing how important your job is to you, especially compared to other areas of life, will help you in managing and planning your life in general,
d) This is not a type of knowledge essential to you but the recruiter might ask you about this in the interview.
5. People who develop unique career paths, often know early on:
a) What their talents are,
b) What lifestyle they would prefer to have,
c) What the market demands,
d) What role towards other people they prefer to play.
6. Which of the following are NOT the types of roles you might play towards other people at work?
a) A leader, an executor, a star,
b) A mediator, a catalyst, a glue,
c) An oracle, a teacher, a shepherd,
d) A hipster, a hacker, a hustler.
7. In the open job market, you will need to be your own advocate. What is the best strategy to make sure that you don’t cross your boundaries at work?
a) Be in contact with a professional coach for your whole career and embark onto a therapy is you feel overwhelmed,
b) Sign a contract with yourself: write down the rules of your professional ethic including the list of your deal-breakers,
c) Observe your friends and make the same decisions like them,
d) Lower your expectations towards jobs.
8. Which of the following is NOT a common quality that researchers with a PhD represent in the open job market?
a) The ability to understand probability and statistics,
b) The ability to self-manage,
c) The ability to approach problems in an iterative way and break up big projects into pieces,
d) Being receptive to constructive criticism.
9. Which of the following is NOT a common stereotype that industry recruiters have about academics?
a) Academics have no management skills,
b) Academics cannot work under pressure,
c) Academics have high financial expectations,
d) Academics cannot successfully finish projects.
10. Which of the following is NOT a common mistake academics do while applying for jobs?
a) “I have a good education so I will always find a good job! I will start looking for something only after my contract expires.”
b) “I have the best education, so I am the best candidate here!”
c) “I will not get the job just because of my academic titles, but because of the competencies that go with it.”
d) “I want to do anything but an academic job!”
11. Which of the following is usually a WRONG reason to change career track to industry?
a) Intuition tells you that something out there, there must be a better job than what you currently do,
b) An investor is willing to invest in a startup coming out of your research ideas,
c) You are tired of politics in academia,
d) You feel isolated, and you are willing to find an environment where you will experience real teamwork.
12. Which of the following is usually a RIGHT reason to change career track from academia to industry?
a) You have a personal conflict with your advisor, and you feel drained by this situation,
b) All your peers are moving to industry,
c) You want to find a position with a better salary,
d) Your love for what you do is gone.
13. What is the main difference between the right and the wrong reasons to leave academia?
a) The right reasons are proactive and internally motivated while the wrong reasons are reactive and externally motivated,
b) The right reasons are those in which you care about using your knowledge and experience for the sake of the society, and not only about your career,
c) The right reasons are the reasons that are the result of months of deliberation, and the wrong reasons are those that suddenly come to your mind,
d) The right reasons are those that relate to fact facts and statistics in the job market, while the wrong reasons relate to your subjective feelings.
14. Which of the following factors correlates with personal freedom at work to the highest extent?
a) Stability/safety at work,
b) Salary,
c) Satisfaction from work,
d) Opportunities for promotion.
15. Which of the following are not the working environments (a.k.a. tribes) where you might meet plenty of PhDs?
a) Governmental institutions/non-profits & academic environment beyond the research career track,
b) Army & clergy,
c) Corporations, startups & consultancy companies,
d) Freelancing community & business.
16. What is the most common reason why recruiters often reject the candidates coming from another working environment — even if they have the best CV among all candidates?
a) The person with the best CV would be too expensive to hire,
b) Intuition and/or experience tells them that this person might have a personality and habits that might cause issues with adapting to their company culture,
c) They don’t want to invest in re-qualify the employee coming from outside as it can be very costly time- and money-wise,
d) They don’t understand the details of what this person was doing in their professional life and what they excel at.
17. The most effective way of getting a lot of industry experience in a short time after leaving academia is getting a job:
a) In a non-profit organization,
b) In a consultancy company,
c) In an academic job without an academic career track,
d) In a corporation.
18. If you enjoy a flat structure at work, and you would like to have a befriended boss whom you can have a beer with, you might choose:
a) A startup,
b) A corporation,
c) Freelancing,
d) A consultancy company.
19. If you are interested in travel opportunities at work and you would like to further master soft skills at professional courses, you might be willing to choose a:
a) Getting hired in a startup,
b) Getting hired in a corporation or a consultancy company,
c) Freelancing or running your own business,
d) All the career tracks give the same traveling opportunities.
20. If you are a night owl and you need to take your time in the morning to get awake and start working, it might be especially difficult for you to work:
a) In a startup,
b) In academia,
c) In a corporation,
d) As a freelancer.
21. Where are the salesmanship skills typically NOT mandatory?
a) In a corporation,
b) In a consultancy company,
c) In freelancing,
d) In entrepreneurship.
22. When corrected for the probability of success, which career track is the riskiest?
a) Freelancing,
b) Entrepreneurship,
c) Academic career,
d) Consultancy.
23. When corrected for the probability of success, which career track is the least risky?
a) Working in large governmental institutions,
b) Corporate career,
c) Working in startups,
d) Working in academia, but beyond the academic career track.
24. In which of the following areas you cannot develop a professional career?
a) Freelancing services,
b) Consultancy,
c) Professional grant writing,
d) You can develop a career on every possible track.
25. What is the main issue with working in research institutes but beyond the academic career track?
a) Depression and frustration all around,
b) Short contracts and long working hours,
c) It’s hard for PhDs to land these positions,
d) It’s a job, not a career.
26. What is the common feature of jobs in all large institutions and companies?
a) Travel opportunities,
b) Lots of (not necessarily productive) meetings,
c) Very well structured, multi-layered management,
d) Clear division of responsibilities among the employees.
27. The structure of management is typically the most complex:
a) In a corporation,
b) In a non-profit organization,
c) In a startup,
d) In academia.
28. If you have a strong sense of ownership of your projects, you should consider a career:
a) In a non-profit organization,
b) In a startup or a consultancy company,
c) In academia or as an entrepreneur,
d) In a corporation.
29. What is NOT a type of strategy that corporations typically use to make you obsessed with work?
a) Rewarding employees for engagement such as contributing to the social activities within the company, writing company blog, etc.
b) Rewarding employees for taking professional courses,
c) Rewarding employees for reporting each other’s mistakes to the management,
d) Offering extra benefits such as free dinners at the company headquarters after working hours.
30. What is, universally, the most efficient strategy for landing jobs?
a) Networking,
b) Applying for every available open position,
c) Making a good-looking personal website and attracting recruiters to yourself through LinkedIn,
d) Getting enrolled for one of the agencies hiring professionals for industry jobs.
31. How do transferable skills and core competencies relate to each other?
a) Every core competency is a transferable skill, but not every transferable skill is a core competency,
b) These two sets of competencies overlap with each other,
c) These two sets of competencies don’t overlap,
d) This depends on the job market sector.
32. What is NOT the property of a core competency?
a) It is also a transferable skill,
b) It produces value for the employer, i.e. contributes to the output from scientific projects and/or the consumer’s benefits. It is difficult to imitate, and it allows you to stand out among other candidates,
c) If you don’t have it, you can take a course and learn it,
d) It is something that is enjoyable for you to do, and that you personally feel strong at.
33. What is the main reason why it is difficult to assess your core competencies?
a) It is hard to assess yourself objectively,
b) Core competencies are not tangible enough to be put into words,
c) What is or isn’t a core competence, depends on the situation,
d) Not everyone has core competencies.
34. Which strategy for networking is best?
a) Contacting company recruiters and private recruiters through LinkedIn,
b) Attending business meetups in the industry that is of interest to you,
c) Contacting your peers from high school, undergraduate studies, graduate school, and private life,
d) Diversifying your networking channels.
35. What is the worst thing you can do during your job interview for an industry position?
a) Come over late,
b) Tell the recruiter that you apply to jobs in industry because your thesis advisor was a psychopath,
c) Learn nothing about the company beforehand (other than the company name & the market sector),
d) Start negotiating the salary before you formally pass the initial interview, and get a proposal from the employer.
36. Why do industry recruiters care that you learn something about the company for the interview?
a) They look for loyal employees who will stay in a company for a long time,
b) Preparation is a sign of good self-management,
c) If you do not prepare, it is a sign of disrespect,
d) Some level of knowledge about the company is a formal requirement to be recruited.
37. Which of the following should be skipped in a resume send in a typical industry job application?
a) Your contact information,
b) The full list of your patents,
c) The full list of your publications,
d) The full list of your core competencies.
38. Negotiating the salary is something that you:
a) Should only do when you feel that the offered salary is unfair,
b) Should bring up early in the interview process,
c) Should treat as a natural part of the whole process. It is always worth to try as long as your queries are reasonable and asked at the right moment,
d) Is a sign of disrespect for the employer, and should be avoided.
39. When should you touch the subject of the salary during the interview process?
a) It’s good to include your salary expectation in the motivational letter.
b) During the phone call interview,
c) At the end of the first interview at the company headquarters,
d) At the moment when the recruiter asks you.
40. How does money influence people?
a) Making them better people,
b) Making them worse people,
c) Making them lazy,
d) Amplifying what they already are.
41. What is the best single rule that makes you financially safe in the long run?
a) Buy into assets and not liabilities,
b) Make friends with wealthy people,
c) Regularly invest your savings on the stock exchange,
d) Always go for jobs that pay best.
42. Which of the following is, usually, not an asset?
a) Dividend-paying stocks,
b) Bonds,
c) Rental property,
d) A car.
43. Which of the following statements is NOT true about making investments?
a) Your strong analytic mind will not guarantee that you will make the right investment decisions,
b) There is no such thing as an optimal investment — it all depends on the investor’s traits and situation: the amount of capital, amount of time, life priorities, affinity to risk, and personality.
c) With the right investment plan and the right people around you, you can work out an investment plan that will guarantee profits,
d) Investments require diligence and vigilance.
44. Which of the following statements is NOT true about entrepreneurship?
a) Entrepreneurs typically have a sense of humor. Having a vibrant personality helps in this job,
b) Failures and reboots in the past are seen as a positive sign in business
c) To be successful, you need to produce tangible value for other people rather than promises,
d) If your product is good enough, it will speak for itself and bring you profits.
45. Which of the following statements is NOT true about the sole proprietorship (i.e., freelancing)?
a) The company has one owner and no shareholders,
b) You need a substantial amount of your own capital to start,
c) It usually grows slower than startups,
d) If it becomes successful, it can make you a very wealthy person.
46. Which of the following statements is NOT true about startups?
a) Founders of a startup are not personally liable for the losses of the company,
b) Startups require more specialized accountancy than sole proprietorships,
c) In a startup, you have multiple stakeholders whom you need to make happy at a time,
d) You can get a starter financial supply to launch your startup from the government.
47. What is NOT an advantage of setting a startup over a sole proprietorship?
a) You can get leverage for your business by giving away the company shares,
b) You are not legally liable for the company losses,
c) You can rely on your cofounders to help you with developing the company in the right direction,
d) You can acquire external capital for your project by bringing investors on board.
48. Where can you best learn about business development?
a) From books written by successful entrepreneurs,
b) From university courses organized at your research facility,
c) From entrepreneurs whom you personally know,
d) By developing your own company.
49. Which statement is NOT true?
a) In industry, the working pace is usually higher than in academia,
b) Every company has its own local structure and a set of written and unwritten rules,
c) Bosses in industry expect roughly the same competencies as bosses in academia,
d) In industry, you can expect an even higher number of meetings per day than in academia.
50. Which of the following is a behavior desired in a large corporation?
a) Showing your engagement by working overnights and coming to the office tired,
b) Prioritizing your projects over meetings and courses,
c) Organizing and actively participating in social activities within the company,
d) Solving conflicts among your team members as a specialist.
51. If you have a major disagreement with your industry boss upon how to pursue the project, and you feel you cannot work with such an incompetent person, you should NOT:
a) Do the project your way and demonstrate to them that you were right from the beginning,
b) Do what they say and wait for the next boss to replace your current boss,
c) Report the problem to your other boss behind their back, and ask for reassignment to another team,
d) Ask Human Resources to shift you to another department for the sake of your “professional development.”
52. The essence of the Yerkes-Dodson Law is that:
a) Self-motivation is difficult,
b) Putting too much pressure on yourself can lower your performance,
c) You should always aim high,
d) People can have contradictory goals.
53. Which of the following is NOT one of the characteristics of correctly stated personal goals according to S.M.A.R.T. goal setting strategy?
a) Measurable,
b) Relevant to you,
c) Useful to others,
d) Time-bound.
54. Which statement about human motivation is FALSE:
a) It is a well-studied subject,
b) It is a mystery, and it is hard to say what drives successful people,
c) Tracking your results usually helps in improving,
d) Just pushing yourself to do something often works better than finding logic reasons for doing it.
55. When someone you are appointed with, shifts the meeting back and forth many times during the day, it’s a sign that they might be using the following time management strategy:
a) Pomodoro,
b) Time-boxing,
c) Eisenhower’s chart,
d) It is actually a sign that they have no time management skills at all.
56. Which of the following is NOT true about sleep:
a) Sleep affects metabolism and influences your digestion and effectiveness of your workout,
b) People have natural, individual circadian rhythms in which they are the most efficient,
c) It is more important to keep a regular sleeping pattern than the amount of sleep that you get,
d) The majority of the population are night owls.
57. A well-known strategy for avoiding procrastination is to:
a) Schedule the hardest tasks as the first tasks during the working day,
b) Avoid stressful tasks as procrastination is a by-product of stress,
c) Delegate hard tasks to other people,
d) Reward yourself for every completed task.
58. Which of the following is NOT an example of a factor stressful for some people but joyful to others?
a) Deadlines,
b) Being personally liable for the company’s losses,
c) Public presentations,
d) Taking responsibility for other people.
59. If you wish to get promoted in a large company, it is NOT a good idea to:
a) Actively apply to open positions within the company,
b) Ask your direct boss for a promotion,
c) Work as hard as you can so that your boss sees your value and promotes you,
d) Be kind to everyone and be vigilant to rumors about other people planning to change positions.
60. The fastest way to get fired from a large company, is to:
a) Offend your boss at a meeting,
b) Violate the company procedures,
c) Come to work late every day,
d) Buy products from competitive companies in private life.
THE ANSWERS:
1. B
2. D
3. C
4. D
5. D
6. D
7. B
8. A
9. D
10. C
11. C
12. D
13. A
14. A
15. B
16. B
17. B
18. A
19. B
20. C
21. A
22. B
23. A
24. D
25. A
26. B
27. A
28. C
29. C
30. A
31. A
32. C
33. A
34. D
35. B
36. A
37. C
38. C
39. D
40. D
41. A
42. D
43. C
44. D
45. B
46. D
47. C
48. D
49. C
50. C
51. A
52. B
53. C
54. A
55. B
56. D
57. A
58. B
59. C
60. B