Work: Getting it & Keeping It

Most (Unsuccessful) Candidates Don’t Use These 7 Interview Tips

Published May 17, 2013 interviewing , job search Leave a Comment

Here they are, with no fluff. I coach and speak with job seekers daily. The winners do these things, the frustrated don’t.

Confirm the day before. You want to use every opportunity to make a good impression. This can start before you get there. Call, confirm, and say thanks. Your brand just got better as you demonstrated your thoroughness and professionalism.
Arrive just a few minutes early and introduce yourself clearly and confidently. “Hello, I am Bill Florin and I am here for a 10 o’clock appointment with Sue Smith.” Smile when you say that. Thank the receptionist. S/he talks. You want to impress everyone.
Bring and offer hard copies of your résumé. Say, “I brought extra copies of my résumé. Would you like one?” Simple.
Be ready to respond to, “So, please tell me about yourself.” I spoke with a client this week who interviewed with three separate people on the same day in the same firm. They all started that way. She was ready! (Extra-credit tip: See “Question 1” for more help on responding to this.)
Have some company and job-specific questions written down and ready to go. You will be asked, “What questions do you have for me?”
Take notes about your discussion so that you can…
Send a thank you letter or note. Recap a point or two from your interview and how you will be a great addition to the team vis-à-vis that point. (Have your seen “Thank You Letter of Doom“?)
Have your references ready to go at the interview. Offer them at the close of your meeting.

Will these eight pointers get you the job? No, but they will help (and they might!), and most people will not do all of them. Go get that job!

Bill Florin is President of Resu-mazing Services Company in Monroe, Connecticut, USA.

What to Include in Your Thank You Letter

Published March 19, 2013 cover letters , interviewing , job search 1 Comment
Tags: business letter

The “Thank You Letter of Doom” piece has turned out to be one of the most popular ever on the Work blog. It made very clear what shouldn’t be in a follow up letter – spelling and grammar mistakes are just the start – but didn’t talk about what should be included (at least one reader asked). Here is the structure to follow.

Professional Greeting. This is a business letter, so use a formal greeting followed by a colon, not a comma. “Dear Ms. Jones:” or “Dear Mr. Smith:”

Lead with Thanks. Thank the interviewer for the time and consideration. Explain that you learned a lot and that you are excited about the prospect of working there.

Follow-Up Thoughts. You took notes during the interview, right? Explain how you have been thinking about one or two of the points during your discussion and how you can help the company with those issues. You want to reinforce that you were paying attention and that you can see yourself there making a difference. As importantly, you want Ms. Jones to see it, too.

Example: “As I thought more about our discussion about the Alpha initiative, I realized how my past work on the Phase III project at ABC Company was so closely related. Your company will benefit from the experience and knowledge that I have from that effort.”

Close. Explain that you want the job and will look forward to the next steps. Thank again. Sign off with a professional closing (“Sincerely” works).

Print it. Read it again. Be 100% sure that it is error free. Send it. Wait for your job offer.

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Bill Florin is President of Resu-mazing Services Company in Monroe, Connecticut.

The Thank You Letter of Doom

Published March 13, 2013 communication , cover letters , job search 7 Comments
Tags: Yogi Berra

In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” This was learned the hard way by a job seeker I recently heard about. It illustrates the need to address every detail and to take nothing for granted.

When talking with a recruiter today, he told me about a candidate whom he presented to his client, the hiring company. The candidate had a solid résumé, interviewed well, and followed up with a letter after the meeting. That is where it all went wrong.

The thank you letter was poor. It was filled with awkward language, grammatical errors and other defects. The contrast between the well written résumé and the substandard thank you letter was stark. It was so bad, the client lost interest and declined to go further with the candidate. The letter cost him the job.

I will state the obvious: The thank you letter is important, but it has to be great. If you don’t write well, get someone else to help. Tend to the details and know that the job isn’t yours until you report for the first day.

Here is a related story to tell you what you must include.

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Here is another piece on the importance of thank you notes.

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Bill Florin is the President of Resu-mazing Services Company. He can help you with a great cover letter.

Four Job Search Truths: Take Nothing for Granted

Published March 4, 2013 cover letters , job search , LinkedIn , networking , resume Leave a Comment
Tags: applicant tracking system, ATS

“Should I customize my resume for each job?”

“Do I really need a cover letter?”

These are two questions that I heard recently from people concerning their job searches. Let me answer your question with a question. “Do you want the job?”

If the answer is yes, then the answers are yes to both questions. And that’s just the beginning. Here are some harsh realities of the 2013 job search.

Networking is essential. If you see a job that you really want, work to identify someone in your network who can get you in invitation to interview. This might be a second or third level LinkedIn connection. It may be someone you know in the “real” world. It will be worth your time to find the connection, because your competition is working to get the advantage of a warm introduction.

It’s You Versus the Machine. I’m referring to the ATS (applicant tracking system) machine. Employers are flooded with résumés from people with little or no qualifications, so they set their force fields on “high”. You must (must, must, MUST) customize your résumé and cover letter to match the qualifications and requirements of the position. Don’t do it and your résumé will never be seen by a human. You will be filtered out and auto-rejected by ATS.

Sell Yourself with the Cover Letter. The letter explains why you are the best candidate for the job, what special skills you have that make you a cultural fit, and addresses any easily identified obstacles or objections. For example, if you are applying for a position in a different city, explain your relocation plans and that you will NOT be looking for relo assistance. Answer the obvious questions. Each letter should be different.

It’s Hard Work. There it is! Finding work is work. You must take the time and invest the energy into making yourself appear to be the ideal candidate for every position that you want. If you don’t, someone else will. Quality of your marketing documents beats quantity, but you need quantity, too. You are facing intense competition for every position.

If you aren’t making a full-time effort at finding your next full-time gig, you are not working hard enough. Make a plan to conduct meaningful job search activities every day. Then do them. Take nothing for granted and assume that the competition will be willing to do the things that you don’t feel like doing. Work hard. It will be worth it.

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Here are some earlier stories to help you jump-start your search and find your next job faster:

8 Résumé Must-Haves – Start Your Résumé Strong! – Get Busy! – Do What You Can

Bill Florin, CPRW & CEIP, is the President of Resu-mazing Services Company in Monroe, CT

Will You Keep Working?

Published February 13, 2013 career , motivation , purpose , volunteering 2 Comments
Tags: John David, Morning Edition, NPR, retirement

When are you going to retire? When can you retire? NPR is running a series called Working Late on its Morning Edition program, and today’s profile of 73-year old personal trainer John David offers valuable ideas based on this motivated man’s experience. If you haven’t listened to it, click on this story link and then come back.

The story series is profiling Americans who are working past traditional retirement age. Whether they are doing it because they have to, want to or just because they can, many are working into their 70’s and beyond. Even for those not close to retirement, three points stand out.

First, find work that you really enjoy. David was working in television production when, in his 50’s, he became a personal trainer. As he states in the story, it turned out to be his true calling, something that he will be doing as long as he can and as long as anyone is willing to be trained by him.

Second, he had to take a long, financially challenging route into this later-life career. He couldn’t get a paid position as a trainer in LA, so he started volunteering. That volunteer work gave him the material that he needed to build a résumé that enabled his search after his move to New York. Career changes can often mean one, two, or more steps back to enter that new vocation. He did it. Anyone can.

Finally, we all need a purpose. There is important work to be done that will allow you and me and all of us to do our best. John David found it as a personal trainer. I believe that I have found it in helping clients market themselves for meaningful careers. Have you found yours?

When the time comes to make the retirement decision, will you be able to? If not, will it be because you want to keep working, or because you must just to survive? Start planning and working towards a future that will give you two great choices, not an unpleasant one based on dire circumstances.

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Read more about motivation and purpose here: Would You Sleep with the Elephants? – Quit It! – Do What You Can

For some ideas on volunteering to build your résumé: Catchafire – Unplug.Live. – Volunteer Matching

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Follow “Work” to stay up to date with the latest in career development and management.

Bill Florin is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer and Certified Employment Interview Professional and is President of Resu-mazing Services Company in Monroe, Connecticut, USA.

Question 6: Where Will You be in Five Years?

Published February 11, 2013 career , career marketing , interview questions , interviewing , job search , work Leave a Comment

Five Years From Now?

Who doesn’t love to hate this question? I have heard from two clients recently that they have been asked this question very recently. Both are in different parts of the country and in different industries. If you haven’t prepared for it, you should. Here are some ideas to help.

This question is not about you predicting the future. It is about you doing some research about the company and understanding enough about your career and the industry to give a reasonable answer that makes sense in the environment you are trying to enter.

The Goal: Make a reasonable case for your career path with your new company.

Here are three things that you must know.

First, what does advancement look like for people in your profession? If you are an entry-level staff accountant, where have other people been after five years? If you are a new registered nurse with a bachelor’s degree, where have other people with the same education and experience been in that time?

Second, what is the structure and what are the titles within the targeted company? Many organizations have particular job titles. It will benefit you if you can weave these titles into your answer. It will have you speaking the company language and seeming like you belong.

Finally, discover what the company is working on and write yourself into the story. If the company has been in the news because it is launching a new long-term initiative, describe how you can contribute to the success of that program over the coming years. Paint a picture that links your success to that of the company in a tangible way.

Nobody expects you to nail your forecast. They do expect you to have clear thoughts about what you want to accomplish in the context of your (hopefully) new employer’s world.

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Be sure to check out the “Questions” series:

Question 5, Question 4, Question 3, Question 2, Question 1, What Are You Good At?

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Follow “Work” to stay up to date with the latest in career development and management.

Bill Florin is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer and Certified Employment Interview Professional and is President of Resu-mazing Services Company in Monroe, Connecticut, USA.

Know Yourself & Sell Yourself

Published February 7, 2013 interviewing , job search , sales Leave a Comment
Tags: Ability Example Benefit, Feature Function Benefit, Nemo

Can you sell something that you neither know nor understand? Visit some retail stores and you will see people trying, but it doesn’t work. The best sales people know their product, can explain the advantages of its features and connect them as benefits to the customers. In sales-speak, it’s knowing features, functions and benefits. Used effectively, FFB helps make the sale.

As we are facing the historic, crippling, scary, panic-inducing prospect of winter storm Nemo (hype fully intentional) in the Northeast, the example of the common snow shovel seems appropriate. I know, snow shovels don’t need a lot of selling. The Weather Channel incites enough fear to guarantee a sell-out from New York to Bangor, but stick with me.

Our Snow Blaster 9000 has a key feature: an extra wide scoop. The function is that it can move a lot of snow in a single effort. The benefit is that the user can finish faster and get to his Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate with Mini Marshmallows faster. Simple!

Snow Blaster 9000

How does this translate to your job search? That’s simple, too.

You are selling yourself, and as every skilled salesperson knows, you’ve got to know your product. When interviewing, you are selling your skills and abilities. You do that by giving examples of how you have demonstrated those abilities before. You wrap it up and make the sale by convincing the hiring manager that you will benefit the company in whatever way makes sense for the job.

Let’s consider a marketing specialist. She has expertise in social media. In fact, she launched a page on Facebook and generated 100,000 likes in 30 days. She discusses with the hiring manager her ideas on how she can help the prospective employer grow its business by bringing these proven skills with her. She has explained her ability, given an example, and presented a compelling case that she will be able to benefit the new employer.