Category: career

Easy Interview Tips: A Baker’s Dozen

I recently presented a class to a group of students to help them prepare for job and college interviews. Students are not the only candidates who can benefit from this pointers.

Understand the Company/Organization. Before you go for your interview, do your research. If applying to a college, read about the school and understand its mission and culture. If you are applying for a specific program, understand all you can about it so you can bring prepared, focused questions. If you are applying for a job, research the company online or talk with current employees. Start online with the company’s website.

Prepare the Night Before. Get everything ready so you will not have to be stressed in the morning. Have your clothes, directions, questions, pen and paper, résumé/application and everything else you need ready for the day.

Plan to Arrive Early. Give yourself time to get there, accounting for potential transportation problems. If you have a cell phone, have the contact’s number programmed in the event of a delay. Traffic happens, and a quick phone call will show professionalism and consideration. Of course, it’s a lot better if you just arrive early.

But Not Too Early. Recruiters and admissions officers have busy schedules. Present yourself five to 10 minutes before your appointment. If you are there earlier than that, find a quiet place (lobby, lounge, etc.) to review your notes. Too early could lead to an annoyed interviewer, or thoughts that you got the appointment time wrong.

You Turned off Your Cell Phone, Right? Vibrate is not good enough. Off! Ringtones and interviews don’t mix.

Be Ready to Say, “Hi!” When you present yourself to whomever you were told to meet, be confident and direct. Stand up straight, make eye contact, speak clearly and say, “Hello, my name is Sue Jones and I have a 9AM appointment with Ms. Weaver.” Every impression with every person is important. They will talk about you.

The Handshake Moment. Pretend you have announced yourself to an office receptionist. You may be told to take a seat while you wait a few moments for Ms. Weaver (remember, you arrived five to 10 minutes early). When Ms. Weaver comes out to see you, introduce yourself again (“Good morning, Ms. Weaver. I am Sue Jones.”) and offer a handshake as appropriate.

Starting the Interview. As you are getting settled, offer a clean hardcopy of your résumé/application. Take out your pen and paper to take notes and to have your prepared questions ready.

“Tell me About Yourself.” You will likely hear this from Ms. Weaver. It’s almost guaranteed. Be ready to talk for 30 to 60 seconds about yourself. Key points: your name, your purpose, one to three impressive facts about yourself, and why you are in Ms. Weaver’s office (why you want the job, why you want to be a student). Be concise.

Have Stories Ready. Think about your accomplishments and contributions. Maybe you have been in clubs, study groups, volunteered in the community or have had another job. Think about how you made a difference and tell your stories. It’s OK to brag about yourself. Nobody else is going to tell Ms. Weaver about you.

Have a Few Questions Ready. Most interviews will end with an invitation to ask questions. Have two or three good ones ready that show how you want to contribute. Great job interview question: “What advice would you give me to be successful here?” Take notes as Ms. Weaver gives you the answer.

Get Business Cards/Contact Info. That way you can follow up with a sincere “Thank you!”

Closing. Ask about next steps and what you should expect from Ms. Weaver. “When will I hear from you?” “What are our next steps in the process?” Make eye contact, offer a handshake one more time, thank Ms. Weaver for her time and say good bye.

Question 3: Tell Me About Your Greatest Accomplishment

If your interviewer asks you this one, you should be happy. This is your opportunity to talk about your accomplishments, but like every other interview question it could hurt you. If your story is not relevant or does not seem valuable to your interviewer and the company that is considering you, you lose. If the story is too low in scope or complexity, you lose. If your answer doesn’t strike the right chord concerning teamwork, tenacity or other attribute valued by this potential employer…yes, you lose. Here is how to handle it so you win.

You have to know that researching an organization is an essential part of your job search. The more you learn about a company and its culture – its work style, rewards system, and other quirks – the better you will be able to make a decision about its fit for your style. By doing this research, you can understand more about the tone you should use in delivering your answers.

Here is an example from my own experience. I worked as a financial advisor for a large firm for a period of time. Their model is one built on the single broker office, and to be successful you must follow their system to the letter. Freestyle is not encouraged. One quote that I remember from training is telling: “If you have a recipe to follow with Betty Crocker, why would you want to try to make a cake from scratch?” Translation: We need hard working people who will follow our system. Answers for this company should focus on following a system and digging deep on the tough days to make a difference.

Other companies will have a strong team focus. Some live and die by the customer. What is important to your next employer? If you don’t know, you had better find out. Once you know, work on your answers so that you can tell stories from your past employment that are of sufficient scope and that generated significant results using tactics that will be valued at your next employer.

By the way, don’t forget to tell CAR stories – condition, action, result. This is what was happening, this is what I did, and this was the outcome. Stories structured like this and that incorporate the proper scope and cultural elements as discussed above will come across as professional and well-considered.

This blog post is one in an ongoing series discussing employment interview questions. Do you have a question that has stumped you? Comment and ask about it and we can discuss it in a future post.

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Question 1: Tell Me About Yourself

Question 2: Why Do You Want to Work Here?

Question 4: When Have You Failed?

What If There’s Just One Question?

Question 2: Why Do You Want To Work Here?

Every recruiter will want to know why you have gone to the effort of applying for a position with the organization. It is a natural question and one for which you need solid answers. If you sound uncertain and unconvincing, that could be the end of the road for this job prospect. Be ready with a great answer and you could engage your interviewer in a great discussion and a chance for the prize. The following are some tips to consider as you plan your answer.

  1. Include something about the employer. This is a terrific chance to demonstrate that you have done your research about the company. If you know your stuff, you can help the recruiter appreciate that you want to be there badly enough to have done your homework.
  2. Discuss how your skills will make a difference. This is the next logical step in your answer. After you have talked about the company, talk about how your skills are well suited to the organization and its mission.
  3. If you know somebody on the inside, talk about it. This can also help in that the recruiter will know that you have a better understanding of the company than someone without that relationship. Here are two words of caution about this point, though. Be sure that your insider knows that you will mention her name. Second, think about your insider’s reputation within the company. If you are endorsed by and have a relationship with someone who is not well respected, your candidacy could take a hit.

Here is a simple example of how you could handle this. Watch for points one and two.

“While researching career opportunities, it was important for me to find a position with a company that feels as strongly about great customer service as I do. I reviewed national service rankings and narrowed my target list down to just a few companies, including this one. I want my next position to be with a company that will best benefit from my superior customer service skills and where I can have the opportunity to demonstrate that skill every day.”

With an answer like this, you have shown an awareness of the company, your critical thinking skills about your job search process, and an understanding about how your skills match the organization’s priorities and culture. You could do a lot worse than this in answering this interview question in just a few sentences.

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Question 1: Tell Me About Yourself

Question 3: Tell Me About Your Greatest Accomplishment

Question 4: When Have You Failed?

What If There’s Just One Question?

Question 1: Tell Me About Yourself

Welcome to the first in a new series addressing common interview questions and how you can prepare. If you have ever been stumped by a question, please share it in the comments and we can discuss it.

“Tell me about yourself.” This is the most common way that many interviewers begin, allowing the two of you to get comfortable with each other and to see what you have to say about yourself in an unstructured format. There may be variations, with the interviewer asking for something specific in the introduction, but you should never be challenged by this one.

Your answer should be one-half elevator speech and one-half “why I will be a great employee.” It is your opportunity to say what you want about yourself while also helping the interviewer know from the beginning why you are sitting in her chair and taking her time. If you combine those two elements, you will be off to a good start.

Here is an answer that uses the 50/50 formula: “My name is Jane Smith, and I am a career banker with a history of delivering top customer service scores and strong business results since I started in my career at Bank of America after completing my MBA at the University of Rhode Island. I hope that we can talk about how I can become a leader and important part of the team at Wells Fargo as you consider me for this new role.”

An answer like this is concise, clear and delivers on both parts of the formula. It tells why you are great and why you are interested in this job.

You will get this question, or one like it, so be ready. If you are interviewing over the phone, write it down and read it if you have to. If it is a live interview, practice giving your answer, asking a friend to critique your performance. Your first answer and first impressions will set the tone for the whole interview session, so don’t blow it – especially when you know it’s coming.

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Question 2: Why Do You Want to Work Here?

Question 3: Tell Me About Your Greatest Accomplishment

Question 4: When Have You Failed?

What If There’s Just One Question?

Book Review: Linchpin

I picked up the latest Seth Godin paperback release at the airport bookstore last week and devoured it. After being inspired by The Dip and The Big Moo, I was excited to have the opportunity to grab five hours of flight time for a Seth pep talk. It was worth the 16 bucks.

As an entrepreneur and someone who is constantly working to do remarkable work for my clients, Godin’s focus on artistry resonated and validated what I and many of my clients do every day: Engage in “artistry” (Godin’s term), rising above the pack to add that which cannot be described in a policy manual or procedure, adding that special something – creativity, emotional energy, caring – that sets my work above the rest. You probably do that too, and are at your best and most energized when you are in that zone. Godin profiles people including coffee shop employees, CEOs and sales executives, creating opportunities to identify commonality between the reader and Godin’s subjects.

One of the reasons that I still prefer paper books over the Kindle for non-fiction with lasting value is that I like to scribble in the margins. Stars, checks, lines, comments and other visual reminders of, “Hey, this seemed important at 30,000 feet,” make up my system. This book is now filled with them.

Are you working for someone else? Become a linchpin. Be indispensable be doing more than is expected, by adding the qualities that are unique to you.

Are you an entrepreneur? Work hard, work fast and give you best as a gift to your clients and employees. You too will become indispensable.

Godin’s point is simple, but profound in its ramifications. If your job can be described in a training guide or a policy manual, if it can be automated or given to someone else willing to do it at a lower price, you are cooked. He challenges us to think and act, working to be remarkable, indispensable artists of our trades.

I Can’t Take Your Money

A Note about Work: I am taking the Work blog in a different direction as it becomes more obvious every day that our economy and our work experiences are also shifting. In our parents’ and grandparents’ generations, working was about finding a good company, staying there for decades, and getting out with whatever the retirement package the organization offered. While this is still true for some (e.g. public school teachers and police officers), more of us are spending at least some portion of our work lives without the comfort of a paycheck. Instead, we have to spend some time, either by choice or by necessity, figuring it out for ourselves and earning some of our money in other ways. Our employment relationships are more contractual and much shorter-term.

It is with that understanding and the experience from my own entrepreneurial efforts that I am adding this dimension to the blog. While there will still be a lot of useful information (at least I hope that you think so) about job hunting and career management, this extra element will make the blog more reflective of the experiences that my clients, my colleagues and I share. My hope is that you can learn from them and me, both copying the wins and avoiding the mistakes. Please share your reactions and ideas.

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Sometimes, you just have to walk away from the money. You get excited about the opportunity to close more business, send out another invoice and watch the money flow. It happens a lot if you are running a successful business – however you define success – but there are times when you just have to say, “No, I can’t take your money.”

I recently worked with someone who wanted me to review some of her work and possibly make some improvements and changes. She mentioned several times that she was willing to pay me for my time. Upon reviewing her material, I realized that it was already very good and that there was very little that I could do to make it much better. Maybe a tweak here and a little polish there, but that was about it. I told her what I thought, gave some advice for free and moved on, thanking her for the opportunity to help.

I am not sharing this to make you think that I am a saint, ready to work for free and give away my services. Instead, I share this because there is more to the story. Because of my decision, this potential client went public with the story and gave me a solid recommendation on a huge social media site. I also know – at least with some certainty – that if she ever has the opportunity to refer someone to me, she will.

Consider the value of the good will that you can earn by doing something for nothing. Whether it is in your own gig or while working for others, sometimes some free advice, a little extra effort with expectation of reward, and a “thanks for thinking of me” can pay bigger dividends than a few dollars in the bank.

The Terrible T’s, Shortstops and Quarterbacks

Consider this a counterpoint to the Three R’s (relevant, recent, results). The Terrible T’s are something that should be very limited in your résumé, only appearing if needed to tell your story.

The Terrible T’s are tasks, those phrases and sentences that fill some résumés with what one is required to do on the job, rather than the results achieved. Here are two examples from sports to make the point.

A shortstop takes his position between second and third base, fielding balls that come his way. The shortstop is often the key to successful double play tries, covering second when a ball is it on the right side of the infield. He also bats, taking his turn at the plate.

A quarterback is the leader of a football team’s offensive unit, calling plays, keeping the team together and driving the ball down the field. He uses a combination of running and throwing plays to get the job done, making snap decisions on what to do with the ball all while being pursued by defensive players who want to tackle him and strip him of the ball.

These are boring explanations of the jobs of shortstop and quarterback. Every person who has played either position recognizes it, from kids in their earliest games to pros making millions to do it and do it well. The previous paragraphs are unnecessary in most cases. Here is what is necessary.

Tom Brady had a record setting performance on Sunday, January 15th when he led the New England Patriots with five touchdown passes in the first half of the game. This has never been done in NFL playoff football and sent the Denver Broncos into the off season with a resounding defeat.

Derek Jeter entered the record books in 2011 by surpassing the 3,000 career hits mark. This was just one more milestone in a career with the New York Yankees, one that has included multiple Golden Gloves awards, All Star Game appearances and World Series titles.

Do you see the difference? Is your résumé describing you as a Brady or a Jeter, or just another journeyman player with no accomplishments to share?

TIP: Get a red pen and a copy of your résumé. Underline every statement that describes a task. Then get a blue pen and underline everything that describes a result or accomplishment. If you are seeing more red than blue, you have some work to do. Write your history in blue and leave the red to the employee handbook and job description documents in the HR department.

The Three R’s Your Résumé Must Include

Font choice? Debatable.

One page, two pages or more? Debatable.

The Three R’s? No discussion. They have to be there.

Relevant: How is the information in your résumé relevant to your reader? Part of the effort of a successful career search is ensuring that the information you present is important and compelling to your market. Your market is defined as the people who are reading your documents and are in a position to offer you a job. Before sending your résumé to your dream employer, review it carefully and challenge everything in it with the question, “Will they care?”

Recent: Are your stories of recent vintage, or are they showing the wear of time. If you are in IT, your expertise with HTML5 and projects in 2011 are recent and valuable. Your expertise with WordPerfect 5 that wowed your fellow cube dwellers in the 90’s: not as much. Give the majority of your space to stories from the last five years and dial down the older material.

Results: Employers will hire you if they are convinced that you will bring more benefit than you cost. If you can help them achieve their goals by getting results, you’re hired. Unlike a mutual fund, your past performance does indicate potential future success. Tell stories of results you achieved and how you got them.

Next up: The Terrible T’s that will kill your best efforts.

Trust Your Résumé

If you have done the hard work of creating a well written résumé, one that is current and packed with achievements, trust it. I share this simple thought as I have spoken with two clients in the last week who have had concerns planted in their minds by comments they have gotten about their career marketing documents.

One person said, “It’s a little wordy.” What does that mean? What words would we eliminate that will not degrade the quality of the stories that we tell? As it turned out, this comment came from a person with the notion that there is some rule that a résumé must fit on a single page. It sometimes works that way, but when the job seeker has a longer career filled with experiences that add value to the résumé, it is not always possible.

The second comment came from a recruiter. The client has a highly technical résumé, one packed with certifications, projects, multiple degrees and high-level experiences. This client has a strong interest in IT security and the experience and credentials that make him an expert. The feedback he got: “It’s a little heavy on IT security and not enough hands-on.” Yes, yes it is. That’s what this client does and wants to continue doing. That’s why it is written that way. By the way, this client is contacted by potential employers and recruiters every week, validating the effectiveness of the résumé.

My response is this: Consider the advice you get, take it seriously, but also consider from where it comes. Is the person giving you the advice qualified to do so? The average time in role in the recruiting industry is less than three years. If your résumé is written by a CPRW (Certified Professional Résumé Writer – like me) or a pro writer with another industry-recognized credential, you can be confident that it is a quality document.

The job seeker must be confident in the résumé, fully versed on everything in it. She must know what it says and why it says it. He must know the details of the stories described, ensuring that he is ready to explain in detail in an interview setting. Like a golfer who must trust his swing or a singer who has confidence in her training and ability to hit the high notes, the job seeker must know that the résumé is solid and must have the stories ready to support it.

Feedback is valuable, but don’t twist yourself in knots over every comment. Good hunting!

Turn On Your Time Machine

I had an interesting conversation with a client this morning about a job she had seen which at first seemed promising. Without getting too far into the details, the position was in high-end personal services, something for which my client has been a customer and was now considering as a potential job.

As we discussed the idea, she told me that the more she thought about this position and the company, the less she liked it. Selling and providing these services seemed much less exciting than consuming them. What can we learn from this?

One point is that things that we do for fun and for their own intrinsic rewards become much less rewarding when we are getting paid for them. Once money and job performance evaluations get into the mix, all of the fun can get sucked out of any formerly favored activity. I think my client was anticipating this sinking feeling.

Second, it makes sense to turn on your own personal time machine and project into the future. Can you see yourself doing this work full time for months or years? If not, stay away, even if you really need the job. The pleasure of the paycheck will fade while the agony of work you hate comes into its full rotten bloom, something that will manifest itself in your performance. None of us have time to waste doing something we loathe.

Flip on the power, watch the lights flash and gyros spin on your time machine. Jump into the future and think before you take that job that will feel like you are wearing someone else’s shoes.