When you are without a job it is so easy for a job seekers to press and spend time on activities that don’t yield effective returns and many even give a negative impression.
Don't talk about how you lost your job; focus on your accomplishments and the unique value you bring to your next company. It is so easy to start a pity party and commiserating with others in a job search or making a point about the injustices of the economy. move on and maximize the time you have with someone to focus on positives.
Looking for a new job — the right new job — is hard work. Simply broadcasting your resume is not. Take some time to figure out what you want to do; research to find the places where you can do it; develop the right connections to get you in the door; explain how you solve a problem.
Be more specific in who you are sending your resumeto. Don’t just broadcast it. This includes sending it to countless online job postings; every recruiter you can find; mass emailing your business contacts, family, friends, former classmates, and anyone you've ever known. Be targeted and focused; you have to know what you want so you can get what you need.
Don't keep your job search a secret from your social friends and friends/acquaintances from civic clubs and churches. More job opportunities come about through informal networking. These are the people that know you personally and hopefully have a good impression of you. They can put in a good word for you as you try to get your foot in the door or your resume to get some personal attention.
I recently read a blog by Priscilla Claman who runs a career coaching firm in Boston. In the article, she described her conversations with some recently laid off engineers who voiced their frustration about the job market and hearing the frequent comment from companies “Overqualified.” She made some excellent points. If you are over 50 and looking for a job or a promotion consider these Are you energized and excited about what you are doing? It is easy to lose your excitement about your work when the company is constantly downsizing , when you have been recently downsized, or when you haven't had a raise in a while, or when you feel overworked. Not only is it easy to lose your excitement but it's easy to get negative. A negative attitude at work causes people to avoid you that often puts a target on your back during layoffs. People prefer to work with positive, upbeat colleagues. During the interview process people are looking for energy and enthusiasm in your voice and in your step. In the interview process the last thing they want to hear is dull recitation about your past and complaints about your last boss. Are you wearing to work what you wore fifteen years ago? Upgrade your clothing and appearance to perk up your presentation and your self-confidence. You may not have to wear your son or daughters cloths but you might want to get some advice from them. And The search process is completely different than 15 years ago. Get familiar with some new places such as Linked In.com or networking. Are you fooling yourself about your skills and experience? Take a peak at what skills and experiences they are looking for in the positions that interest you and take an honest assessment of where you are. Now might be a great time to pick up some skills and training you have avoided and polish up those skills that have gotten rusty. Just how good are those computer skills? Even senior managers need to maintain some technical expertise to be viable professionally. You will find that there are plenty of online courses, seminars, and professional organizations who are willing to help keep you up to date. I have a number of friends working on their six sigma black belt while searching for a job. How is age an advantage in your industry? Expert are needed in every industry and often those experts have been around the block a few times. But, every position you are applying for does not need “an expert” they need someone with a certain level of experience. I think one of the greatest resources you have is your wealth of contacts both social and professional. Get busy contacting them.
Priscilla Claman is President of Career Strategies, Inc., a Boston-based firm offering career coaching to individuals and career management services to organizations. Priscilla is a former corporate Human Resources executive and author of the book, ASK: How to Get What You Want and Need at Work
I you work in a business you are sure to receive “advice” from all quarters. This “advice” or criticism is tough to take when you are expecting it, but, it is especially hard on us when it is unexpected. This unforeseen negative feedback can be unsettling and difficult to swallow, but can also be incredibly valuable. Here is a little pointer I read a few weeks ago, the next time you are blindsided by what someone has to say about your behavior, take a deep breath and try doing these three things: 1. Move beyond your feelings. You're likely to feel hurt and angry. Recognize those feelings and then put them aside so they don't negatively influence your reaction to this “advice”. 2. Look beyond the specific comments. Few people are good at giving negative feedback , it is really hard. In fact, I suspect that some people you know can hurt your feelings when they give a compliment. But, don't dismiss the feedback just because it wasn't delivered well. 3. Collect information. Don't respond right away. If you do, you'll likely regret how defensive and angry you sound. Instead, listen. Take in the criticism. Once you've had time and space, you can decide how to react and whether to change.
I believe the star interview process you are talking about an interviewing style called a behavioral interview. In these interviews the interviewer asks questions relating to 4 STAR Areas
Situation – TASK You are asked to describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed toaccomplish. You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalizeddescription of what you have done in the past. Be sure to give enough detailfor the interviewer to understand. This situation can be from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, or any relevant event.
A – Action you took - in this step you describe the action you took and be sure to keep the focus on you. Even if you are discussing a group project or effort, describe what you did -- not the efforts of the team. Don't tell what you might do, tell what you did.
R – Results you achieved What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What
did you learn?
How to be successful in this type of interview. To prepare for the interview.
Think of a number of situations from your past work experience that show you accomplishing something positive. (For example, how you negotiated with a supplier for a lower price, or how you mentored a co-worker on a difficult subject, how you handled a difficult employee performance issue). The stories should cover a broad range of your abilities.
In preparation for your interview write the down these situations in the STAR format (which stands for Situation/Task, Action, Result). example Situation/Task: An employee I supervised performance was not up to par and below the performance of the group. Action: I had a meeting with the employees to discuss his performance and how it was effecting the group and asked if there was some issues that were causing these performance issues. We discussed a couple of problem areas and the correct methods to handle the job. (you might even be more specific about the steps) We set a follow up interview in a week and two weeks Result: The performance improved 20% over the past 3 months and we discussed a couple of improvement area to try during the following week. In our second interview performance improved again.
Review the situations and list the effects (positive or negative) each one had on the following: -Yourself or Your co-workers or Your boss or maybe Your customers and of course your company and department
When you are on a behavioral interview you will be asked to give specific examples of how you demonstrated certain traits. For example, a question might be "tell me about a time when you worked under pressure to meet a deadline" or "tell me about a time when you had to communicate something difficult to a co-worker".
Each of your 10 situations can potentially be the answer to many behavioral questions. Based on the information you prepared in steps 1, 2 and 3 you need to be able to think on your feet and use any of your stories to answer a behavioral question.
Getting a face to face interview these days is hugs. There are so many candidates for so few jobs so if you get your foot in the door you better make effective us of it. I would like to offer a couple of pointers that might make a difference.
Find out about the company
It is crucial that you learn s much as you can about the company and the people you will be interviewing with to help you determine what has been the track record of the company and what is the future, who are thier competitors, who are the key players in organization, how will t he position you are interviewing fdor fit with these individuals.
Find out who you are replacing
If the job opening is because the previous person was terminated, you can bet that there were probably some major performance or personality issues the resulted in the termination. And you can be that the people who will be interviewing you will focus their questions to you based on the previous employee's shortcomings in the job. If the last person had deadline issues, you are going to hear all kinds of questions about deadlines.
Using a Google search or Linked In you might find someone you know who works for the company interviewing you or know the previous position holder. Talk to people who wok for your potential employer. The more you can find out about those who were in the job before, the more insight you'll have into what's important to the interviewer.
Refine your story
If you had a bad situation in a previous job that resulted in your termination, find a good way to explain it honestly. IF you make something up, a good interviewer will figure it out right away. Likewise don't take credit for something if it was team effort, give credit to the team and stress you role on the team. We have a natural tendency to want to embellish our achievements to help us get a job, but there of many examples of people who stretched the truth a bit and were caught and lost the opportunity.
Honestly has become very important so the interviewer will weigh negatively any suggestion that you're covering up something or stretching the truth.
Be Prepared
It is important to have a short list of strengths that you want the interviewer to know about you. Many interviewers often end by saying, "do you have anything else to tell me, or is there anything we didn't cover?" this is a great place to use your prepared few sentences highlighting your strengths and covering why you believe you would be a great fit for t he job and the new organization. Don't miss this opportunity.
Explaining why someone should hire you, or introduce you to a friend who is hiring, is not easy and can be uncomfortable. We have learn over the years that bragging is bad. This is different, you are looking for a job and want people know your abilities.
Yes it is uncomfortable to talk about your strengths.
But, You need to sell yourself and you must do it without sounding like a salesperson. Here are a few pointers:
Instead of detailing what's so great about you, tell a story that covers the following:
Situations. Explain the problem or situation that you, your unit or your company faced.
Tasks. Outline what your responsibility was in solving the problem
Achievements. Make clear what you did to meet your responsibility
Results. What happened as a result of your achievement? Did revenues increase? Did customer satisfaction improve? Did costs decrease? Use examples that will generate interest with the people you are interviewing with.
I recent had a discussion with some recruiting partners about problems on phone interviews. One candidate I sent into to a company had leading qualifications but the company felt after the phone interview that he had “low energy” How can we help people in phone interview project more energy and enthusiasm.
Communicate energy and enthusiasm * When searching for the perfect candidate organizations often make an initial decision from the way in which candidates answer the phone.
* If you answer yours in a casual and disinterested manner, you will make a poor impression.
* Energy and enthusiasm in your greeting and in your responses to questions demonstrates your interest in the conversation and in the job.
* Companies want motivated employees.
* Consider your own reaction when you call someone who is pleased to hear from you and contrast this with the feeling you get when you call someone who is not pleased to hear from you or who is just plain distracted or disinterested. Which conversation leaves you with a positive impression of the person you are speaking to?
Energy equates to confidence in and passion for what you do.
* Some of the things you mentioned deal with enthusiasm and interest (asking questions, deportment etc.) But energy comes from having the level of confidence in the job you are interviewing for - not because you can do it - but because you have done it and are eager to talk about your accomplishments (passion).
How to show energy
* Sit forward in your seat as the interview begins.
* Sit up straight.
* Explain how you’re capable of handling multiple tasks; show commitment to job
* I’ve worked 14 hour days and work all night when required
* Show your excitement about the opportunity for which you're interviewing.
* Stand up, look in their eyes and smile when shaking their hand
* The questions you ask show how much effort you’ve put in to the job search, and are an indicator of the kind of energy you might bring to the job.”
* Don’t over talk thinking this will show high energy.
Phone interview
* Stand up and smile
Don't
* Speak in a monotone or use too many filler words such as "er," "and," "then," pet phrases you use repeatedly.
Do's
* Keep your answers brief but give enough of an answer so they know you know what you're talking about.
* Take a hint if you're being asked to repeat your answers speak slower and speak up and it will be easier to understand you.
* Ask at the end of the conversation ask if the interviewer needs any additional information or has any other questions
Do you have any concerns about my abilities?
How do my skills compare to others you've interviewed?
Will you recommend I received a 2nd interview?
Keep a pen and pad by the phone and jot notes during the interview regarding any concerns or uncomfortable questions so you can offer additional information in a thank you letter afterward,
* If possible, ask a question in the letter so that the interviewer will need to respond back to you.
* Always send me the thank you letters in advance to double check for typos. I always seem to find something that needs to be re-worded.
* Always copy me when emailing them
You need to be prepared to discuss accomplishments and explain in detail how they will maximize the company's return on their staffing investment.
Companies are using phone interviews more frequently as a time and cost efficient method of identifying the most promising candidates . The telephone interview may be a quick chat to find out a bit more about you, or it may be an in-depth, behaviorally based formal interview. Whichever one it is, it is one where your verbal skills are tested. They are not only assessing if your past work history is a fit for the position but they are assessing your communication skills as well as your job related abilities during the conversation. Phone interviews can be tough. With the lack of visual communication, you must be able to rely on auditory feedback and be disciplined enough to keep focus.
Your phone voice mail message;
Make sure the message on your home and cell phones reflect a professional image? Cute messages might be OK sometimes; but your want anyone calling you understand your ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner verbally not cute? Or is your message casual, off-beat that is possibly discouraging potential employers from pursuing further contact with you? Depending on the type of employment you are seeking, a message that is too casual can ruin the impression you are looking to make on prospective employers.
Communicate energy and enthusiasm
When searching for the perfect candidate organizations often make an initial decision from the way in which candidates answer the phone. If you answer yours in a casual and disinterested manner, you will make a poor impression. Energy and enthusiasm in your greeting and in your responses to questions demonstrates your interest in the conversation and in the job. Companies want motivated employees. Consider your own reaction when you call someone who is pleased to hear from you and contrast this with the feeling you get when you call someone who is not pleased to hear from you or who is just plain distracted or disinterested. Which conversation leaves you with a positive impression of the person you are speaking to?
Develop rapport
Building a relationship with the interviewer on the phone is a great way to not only demonstrate your interpersonal skills but is also likely to increase the amount of information that is exchanged. You should communicate in a positive and pleasant manner throughout the conversation and remain professional in your language and approach.
Prepare for a phone interview just as you would for a regular interview. Compile a list of your strengths and weaknesses, as well as a list of answers to typical phone interview questions. In addition steps;
Keep your resume in clear view, on the top of your desk, or tape it to the wall near the phone, so it's at your fingertips when you need to answer questions.
Have a short list of your accomplishments available to review.
Have a pen and paper handy for note taking.
Turn call-waiting off so your call isn't interrupted.
Clear the room - evict the kids and the pets. Turn off the stereo and the TV. Close the door.
I recommend using a land line rather than your cell phone to avoid a dropped call or static on the line, it possible
Practice Interviewing
I've always found it's helpful to practice. Consider having a friend conduct a mock interview and record it. You'll be able to hear your "ums" and "uhs" and "okays" and you can practice reducing them from your conversational speech. Also rehearse answers to those typical questions.
During the Phone Interview
Don't smoke, chew gum, eat, or drink.
Do keep a glass of water handy, in case you need to wet your mouth.
Smile. Smiling will project a positive image to the listener and will change the tone of your voice.
Speak slowly and enunciate clearly.
Don't interrupt the interviewer.
Take your time - it's perfectly acceptable to take a moment or two to collect your thoughts.
Give short answers.
Remember your goal is to set-up a face-to-face interview. After you thank the interviewer ask if it would be possible to meet in person
Listen Some times during the interview nerves take over and we make the mistake of saying too much. Make sure. When you have answered the question, allow for that possibly uncomfortable moment of silence. This will let the interviewer know that you are through, and then they will proceed. Listen and wait for them to finish with their next question, and then proceed.
The economic downturn has not only eliminate thousand of positions but has slowed down advancement opportunities for those remaining.. Most career development efforts are focused on achieving success by completing a series of assignments with an increasing level of responsibility. The downturn has slowed down or even shut down these opportunities that are critical in making your talents visible to organization and in preparing for you for future advancement. There are ways that you can continue to build your career options: Focus on your strengths. Do more of what you do best. Early in a career, it makes sense to try a bit of everything and push to improve in areas of weakness, but at a certain point, it is better to focus on your strengths. Reinforce these strengths. If the opportunities to show your strengths are not available on the job. Choose activities outside work at church or school or within community that develop the image you want to convey. For example, volunteer for the church or school building committee if you're good at managing projects. These outside activities can help broaden your experiences and help you become conversant in ways to reinforce your capabilities at work. Network. Surround yourself with people with talents and skills that can complement your skills, not just with those with experiences exactly like yours. People have to recognize common values and goals before they're likely to share what they know, so cultivate these relationships.
In today’s job market, are cover letters still necessary? We say yes.
Cover letters are where you do your own personal marketing. It is through the cover letter that you can show the hiring manager your strengths, your attention to detail and ability to follow instructions, your interest in the opportunity (versus desperation for any job), and your enthusiasm and communication skills. As yet another tool to differentiate yourself from the competition, why wouldn’t you take advantage? Just make sure you are effective in doing so…here are a few tips on how: • Avoid using form letters. Cover letters that appear generic do little to separate you from the crowd and make you appear lazy and uninterested. Make sure to customize each letter, and if you’re using a template from another letter, triple check that the “variables” like salutation and company name match up. • State the position to which you are applying and make sure to adjust this for each posting. • Match your skills and experience to those noted in the job posting. Use specific examples from your background to provide evidence. Don’t make the hiring manager “work” to figure out your qualifications. • Be brief yet specific. With hiring managers spending less than 20 seconds on each letter, you want to supply the necessary information in as little space as possible. Three to four paragraphs is sufficient. • Refrain from asking for a specific salary or making other work-related demands. The purpose of your letter is to explain what you can do for the company, not vice versa. • Check for errors. As the first document seen by a prospective employer, it must be very well written and free of spelling, grammatical, or typographical errors. Always ask a trusted friend or colleague to review the document before sending it out. The number one factor to keep in mind when deciding on whether or not to include a cover letter is to follow instructions. Though most industries and most companies seem to prefer a cover letter, there are some situations where it is not required. At the very least, include a short paragraph of three to five sentences describing how you learned of the position and why your qualifications are a perfect fit.
Less than 5% of executive applications for posted positions get consideration from employers and recruiters. This is not because candidates lack required credentials, but due to the fact that the vast majority of executive resumes look and sound alike.
Most applications are either rejected or ignored because they never answer this key question – WHY YOU? Without a prior history with employers, you are asking them for a lot - to grant you interviews, hire you, and pay you a high salary. Therefore, your message needs to be exceptional and impactful, without sounding like a recycled commercial.
In this job market, employers are more cautious about recruitment. They also have a larger pool of applicants to choose from. The main way, at least initially, for employers to determine the best fit is from executive resumes. Therefore, having a powerful, action-focused message is no longer an option for a serious job seeker. You can either present yourself as an average, mass-market applicant or convey that you are a stronger candidate who is offering superior value. By effectively communicating your real and unique strengths, you can significantly boost employer response.
HERE’S HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR MESSAGE:
Aim to position yourself as a specialized generalist, i.e. someone with a well-rounded general background but also with one or two specific areas of expertise that distinctly make you more attractive than others in your peer group. Promote yourself a value-added candidate.
Instead of merely describing your previous duties and responsibilities, give special attention in your resume to factors that will give your candidacy a notably higher appeal. For instance, if you are a CIO, explain how you can bridge business and technology within an organization.
Translate your executive experience into potential financial benefits employers can expect to receive. Clearly convey – on paper and in interviews - how you can help new employers make and save money. Give illustrations of prior successes but most importantly, expand on the likely gains these can bring to companies.
By enhancing the quality of your executive message, you improve your first impression. This is essential for staying ahead and getting the opportunities you deserve.
