Job Interviews: Avoid Costly Talking-too-Much Mistakes
I attended a wonderful job search support group meeting last week in Acton, MA (the Acton Networkers). As with many of these groups, new members are invited to stand up and introduce themselves, telling everyone who they are and what position they are seeking. It’s a great way to practice an “elevator speech” because it is a friendly, supportive group, like most job search support groups. It is also a great way to find others who can help with a job search because they are in the same industry or profession and know about employers who are hiring, other professional/industry networking groups, and relevant events.
One new member, as part of his introduction, shared some details about a serious medical issue that was resolved through surgery and has not been part of his life for over 10 years. It was clearly significant to him, so he shared it openly as part of his elevator speech. Members of the group counselled him, very appropriately, not to share that information with employers because it is not relevant. While it is an important victory in his life, it is not an accomplishment germane to the jobs he is seeking.
Stay on-topic in your interview.
Best thing to do to stay on topic in interviews is to be prepared. Practice responses to the standard questions. Check out the right column of this blog post to see what they are and get good advice on handling them.
Think about your answers to those questions. Have stories ready to tell. Write them down. Read them out loud a few times until you can say them relatively easily without reading (don’t try to memorize the words, just some key phrases, and, maybe, the end). Do it by yourself or practice with a friend or family member who can ask follow up questions. Get familiar with the process and become as comfortable as you can. [Read More...]
How Personal Branding Can Rev Up Your Job Search
Confused about what “personal branding” is and how it can help you in your job search?
You’re not alone, and it’s no wonder. So much has been written about personal branding, and much of it misses the point or is downright wrong.
Here’s my brief description of personal branding:
Defining, differentiating, and communicating the unique ROI (return on investment) value you offer your target employers over others competing for the same jobs.
Sounds deceptively simple, but so much goes into branding. How do you define what makes you valuable to employers? This is NOT something you can throw together in a day or two.
It all starts with identifying who those employers are. That is, the specific companies or organizations, or the kinds of companies, that are a good mutual fit for the expertise you offer and the kind of work you want to do.
Once you know who you’re targeting, research their current needs and challenges – by searching online and speaking with current employees at that company – and determine how you are uniquely qualified to help them. [Read More...]
How To Leave Your Job in Good Hands (& Why You Should)
You may find it hard not to smile when you resign from your job, but leaving your employer smiling may be more important in the long run.
Here’s why:
- How you leave a job is the last impression you make on your past employer — one who may be called on in the future to provide a reference for you.
- The cost of replacing employees has a high cost for organizations. The cost of replacing a nurse averages three times his or her annual salary. The cost of replacing truck drivers every year costs $5 billion.
Did you have a Eureka moment after six months on the job and think “If I had only known this my first week, I could have done this weekly report in 30 minutes instead of four hours?”
Share those thoughts. Write them up for your successors. Leave a record of the tips and tricks you learned that helped you do your job better, as well as the things your colleagues taught you. Be friendly and positive.
You’ll save your soon-to-be former company time and money. You’ll leave your former colleagues with a model of what professionalism looks like. And you’ll leave your soon-to-be former boss smiling. Even if the job wasn’t perfect, why shouldn’t your exit be as ideal as it could be?
For a little more along these lines:
How to Leave Your Job on Good Terms (Job-Hunt Blog)
Very, VERY Nervous About an Interview? How to Overcome Those Nerves
A job seeker recently left a comment here on WorkCoachCafe.com that he was so nervous about being interviewed that he wouldn’t show up for scheduled interviews. It can be that scary, but hopefully it won’t be if you are well prepared.
Everyone is nervous in an interview, and employers know that and take it into consideration. Know that you will screw up. Everyone screws up. It is NOT fatal!
When you have an interview coming up, congratulate yourself – an interview puts you one important step closer to landing that new job! YEA!
So, take advantage of this opportunity, and do these three things:
1. Look at each interview as a two-way street.
You want to know more about them as much as they want to know more about you. It’s a learning opportunity for everyone. Would this be a good match for both “sides” of the table? That’s really the core issue in a job interview, but many job seekers lose track of it in their concern to give a “great performance.” [Read More...]
The WorkCoachCafe.com Team Grows
Since Ronnie Ann, author of most WorkCoachCafe.com posts and comment answers for the last 5 years, moved on in her career, Meg Guiseppi and I (Susan P. Joyce) have tried to fill her shoes. Not an easy thing to do, even if they were only size 5 or 6.
Next week, a new team member is joining the WorkCoachCafe.com team periodically, E. Chandlee Bryan, another friend and colleague of mine. And, like Meg, Chandlee is also a Job-Hunt Expert. Chandlee helps Job-Hunt.org visitors with their job search (new grads in particular). Meg Guiseppi is Job-Hunt’s Personal Branding Expert. [Read More...]
Why You Were Not Hired: 10 Reasons You Can Control
Last week we looked at 10 reasons you might not have been hired that were completely outside of your control as a job seeker. This week, we are going to look at 10 aspects that are within the control of the job seeker.
Within Your Control
As employers are imperfect, so are job seekers. However, since the job seeker is in “selling” mode, it is up to the job seeker to pay close attention to what the employer (the “buyer”) wants. These factors in a job search are controlled by the job seeker:
1. Paying attention to your online reputation -
I call this the invisible problem because most job seekers won’t know it happened to them. With 80% or more of employers doing an online search about an applicant before contacting the individual for an interview, job seekers who don’t know what Google or Bing will show employers are taking a big chance, particularly if they don’t have a LinkedIn Profile to back up what is on their resume. While no one can completely control this aspect of a job search, you must be aware of it to manage it.
Recovery: The best defense is a good offense – know what is associated with your name and address any of the issues up front, if possible. A good LinkedIn Profile is a great offensive move in this particular game. See: Defensive Googling: How to Find (and Fix) What Could Be Sabotaging Your Job Search and Unlocking a Successful Job Search: Online Reputation Management for more details. [Read More...]
Why You Were Not Hired: 10 Reasons Outside of Your Control
I see so many comments here from job seekers wondering what they “did wrong” to derail the job offer they knew was coming from that very encouraging hiring manager who ended the 2nd round of interviews saying, “See you soon.”
But then, the employer never called back. What happened?
Many, many factors go into making a hire, and half of them have nothing to do with the job seeker! Read next week’s post to see the 10 factors that job seekers do control.
Reasons You Weren’t Hired that You Couldn’t Control
In our list of 20 reasons you were not hired, the first 10, below, are outside of your control as a job seeker. (The 10 things you CAN control in in the next post.) You could be the perfect match to the job requirements, have a resume that knocked their socks off, have a LinkedIn Profile that shows you could be President, and made life-long friends during the interview process. But, you still might not get the job because of issues that have absolutely nothing to do with you, your qualifications, or your performance in the process. [Read More...]
Why You Got Laid Off – Not for the Reasons You Think
Why ME?
You were laid off, and what keeps running through your mind is “Why me?”
Wrong – but very common – assumptions about being laid off:
- Don’t assume that YOU did anything “wrong.” Chances are very slim that your layoff really had anything to do with you, personally – with your skills, your work ethic, or how well you were liked in the organization. Just not very likely.
- Don’t assume that the reason you were chosen was rational, at least not the way you think it was. It is very rare for management to go through the list of employees,choosing to retain the best contributors and select the poorest performers to lay off. It’s logical for them to do that, but it seldom happens. (If they were that smart, would there be a need for layoffs?)
Who leaves and who stays is often irrational. I’ve been through several rounds of layoffs at a high tech company, and I’ve seen first hand how it works (and doesn’t work). Excellent people, known internally to be the “go-to experts” on important things, are laid off while “deadwood” is retained. For an organization that is trying to survive, it’s crazy. But common. [Read More...]
Not Hired for a Job You Really Wanted? How to Recover
The job seemed perfect. The interviews went well. The people were nice. Even the commute was OK. But, they hired someone else. AARGH! For most job seekers, rejection happens far too often. Since we aren’t accustomed to frequent rejections, it can be very discouraging.
In a recent exchange of comments on 15 Things I Look for When I Interview People for a Job, one job seeker made this comment:
I have gotten compliments on my CV, provided a portfolio of my work, smiled, and was naturally myself. The interviewer responses were always quick when emailed questions. I thought I did well but I was shot down. It is funny that you think you do most of the right things, but they may be all wrong.
Certainly, we can all probably find ways to improve, but don’t assume – because you didn’t land a job you really wanted – that you are also a failure and will never find a new job.
PLEASE do NOT see rejections as proof that you are “all wrong”
Don’t let any job rejection destroy your confidence. You may not be perfect – but who is?
In fact, this job seeker may have done very well, but was aced out because someone else had a friend inside the company who referred them (the candidate almost always preferred by an employer) or someone else had a fabulous reference or excellent “chemistry” with the boss. Or any of thousands of other things – ALL having NOTHING to do with him! [Read More...]
How to Work with External Recruiters
Since many people don’t understand that there are different kinds of recruiters who have different motivation and interests in working with job seekers, this is the second of two posts explaining the two basic categories of recruiters and how to work with them. In the first post, we covered how to work with internal recruiters who are employees of the organization with the job openings. In this post, we will examine external recruiters who work for – and are paid by – an organization which is external to the one with the job openings.
There are three important things for job seekers to understand about recruiters to work well with them and avoid making assumptions that could hurt their job search:
First, understand that recruiters are paid by employers to find the best candidates for the jobs the employers have open. Consequently, pleasing employers is their primary goal. Many will help job seekers if they can, but helping job seekers is not what they get paid to do.
Second, recruiters are seldom the decision-maker determining whether or not you get a job offer. They often have input into the decision, depending on the organization, and they are often the person who delivers the news to the job seeker. But, someone else, often a committee in very large organizations, makes the actual hiring decision.
Third, understand that recruiters are different, depending on who they work for and how they are paid. To work most effectively with a recruiter, the job seeker should know which kind of recruiter they are working with to approach them appropriately.
External recruiters, also known as “independent” recruiters, earn their fees in one of two ways:
- “Contingency” recruiters are paid a commission IF someone they have referred is hired. If they don’t refer someone who is hired, they don’t get paid, no matter how much work they may have done.
- “Retained” recruiters are paid a flat fee to find good people, usually in senior levels, regardless of whether or not someone they refer is hired. [Read More...]
