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July 11th, 2007
Although we stress the importance of keeping everything positive when you are searching for a new opportunity, the negatives should be addressed as well.
We should explore some of the negative issues when interviewing.
There are 10 main reasons that people “bomb” their interviews. A very large Recruiting Firm actually conducted a study that supports the following information. They kept feedback for 200 job seekers and here are the BIG BAD 10:
1. Poor appearance, dress, and/or grooming
2. Inability to express views clearly
3. Failure to project self objectivity
4. Incompetence in projecting self-confidence
5. Lack of enthusiasm about the opening
6. Over criticism of former employers
7. Questioning their honesty
8. Lack of knowledge about their company
9. Lack of stability, too many jobs
10. Didn’t ask for the job
These are just 10 of the many reasons why job seekers have missed excellent opportunities. Make sure you avoid the above 10 reasons and be prepared for your interviews. You only have one chance to make your first impression and, you only have one chance to impress the interviewer. There are obviously many more than 10 ways to loose a job opportunity. Use common sense and avoid the BIG BAD 10!
Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
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July 6th, 2007
There are so many factors that play into creating your first impression when you are interviewing. One of those factors that is not addressed enough is your voice! Conclusions can be drawn simply by the way you speak. Whether those assumptions are correct or not does not matter when you are being considered for a job. You need to actually listen to your voice and analyze how you sound. If you have trouble being honest with yourself, ask someone you can trust to provide you with honest feedback.
The rate or speed of your words is very important. If you talk too fast you may be perceived as nervous, impulsive, disorganized, immature, or even “flighty.” On the other hand, if you talk too slow you may be perceived as lacking intelligence, unable to keep up with a fast paced environment, older or lacking overall confidence.
The best place to be is in the middle of too fast and too slow. You need to speak clearly, distinctly, slowly and thoughtfully. Try to pronounce each syllable, the syllables that are meant to be stated. If you are unsure of a word you need to look it up in the English Dictionary, never assume anything. If you keep your speaking at a medium pace, you are able to get your thoughts across more clearly and more easily. If you want to check your speech you can tape yourself speaking or you can speak in front of a mirror. Both techniques are helpful and will provide results!
Your pitch is also extremely important. If your pitch is normal, this won’t apply to you. However, if you have a very high pitch it can be more annoying than anything else. A high pitch is associated with women but definitely occurs with men as well. Part of lowering your pitch to a professional level is relaxing your speech. It is a difficult thing to accomplish. First you must learn to control any nervousness, which is difficult to do in an interviewing situation. If you speak too low you may be hard to understand. It may also be perceived as not being honest. It is also important in business to have a voice that projects professionalism.
The too soft voice is often perceived as a lack of self confidence, fearful and self conscious. The too loud voice is again annoying and can sometimes be an indication of feeling of superiority. There needs to be a happy medium when you are in any professional situation.
Verbal crutches are habitual phrases you use, they are extra words you throw in to give yourself time to think. The two most often abused crutches are “uhhh” and “ahhh”. Often people are not at all aware they use these words. Once you record yourself talking
you may find numerous “crutches”.
Another crucial part of listening to your speech is looking for any type of Slang words. These are very common with teen-agers. However, it is also common with adults who are not aware of the terms they use. Some of these Slang terms are “You know?, Like, No way, Cuz, Yeah, Aint, For Real?, For sure! These sound funny in this text however, these simple words can assist in a company taking a pass on you for their opportunity!
Be aware of your voice and realize the necessity to listen to your voice and analyze it. Practice and speak confidently – it will open more career opportunities for you!
Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
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June 26th, 2007
QUESTIONS YOU “CAN” ASK ON YOUR INTERVIEWS
Although the majority of your time in a formal interview will deal with you answering questions, you should also be prepared to ask some of your own in order to clarify issues or previous statements, and will also demonstrate your interest in the position and the organization.
In most cases, you should plan to ask your questions toward the conclusion of your interview. However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking appropriate questions during the course of your interviewing. Ideally, you want to strive for a friendly, ongoing exchange of dialog throughout the entire interview and therefore, an occasional question may facilitate this objective.
Always ask your questions at what appears to be an appropriate time and always in an objective manner. Each question you pose should signal to the interviewer that you are simply looking for additional information because of your interest in the position and organization.
The following are questions you can ask during your interviews:
1. When do you think you will be making a decision on this assignment?
2. What is the next step in your interviewing process?
3. Will you be considering either additional internal candidates or external candidates?
4. Can you tell me anything about the department supervisor’s management style?
5. What would be the typical career path for this position?
6. What was the reason the last employee left the position/company?
7. Do you think, based upon this interview, that I would still be a good candidate for the job?
8. Would this be an appropriate time to schedule our next meeting, since we both have our calendars?
9. Do you have any additional questions about my resume or qualifications?
10. May I please have one of your business cards?
11. How should we proceed at this point? Will you contact me or should I contact you?
12. Is there anything else that I can clarify for you?
13. What were the primary reasons the previous employee was not successful?
14. When do you need to have this position filled?
15. How long has this position been open?
DO NOT ask ME questions – especially on a 1st interview! Stay away from questions regarding:
1. Salary
2. Benefits
3. Vacation Time
4. Sick time
5. Insurance
Your job is to SELL YOURSELF in your interviews! The “ME” questions will be answered once you have had more than one interview with any Corporation.
Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
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June 21st, 2007
1. Why are you interested in working for our organization?
2. Why do you feel your background would qualify you for this position?
3. Describe your professional strengths.
4. Describe your personal strengths.
5. Please describe your primary accomplishments on your last job.
6. Do you prefer working in a group or independently?
7. What do you know about our company?
8. What do you know about our top competitors?
9. What do you like best about your current job?
10. What do you like least about your current job?
11. Do you have supervisory experience? Please explain in detail.
12. Who are your role models and why?
13. What is your educational background?
14. What are your career goals for the next 3 to 5 years?
15. How much do you believe you are worth to a prospective employer in terms of salary and how did you arrive at this amount?
16. Why do you think you would like this position?
17. Explain the organizational structure in your last company and where did you fit in.
18. Describe your management style (if applicable).
19. What type of honors or recognition did you receive while in school (high school or college)?
20. How would you go about establishing yourself with your employees and coworkers if we hire you?
21. Describe a typical work day on your present job.
22. What was the best job you ever had? Why?
23. What are you looking for in your next job?
24. How much pressure was there in your last job? How did you handle it?
25. Why do you want to change careers?
26. Why should we hire you?
27. Have you ever been terminated? Why?
28. How well do you get along with your current boss?
29. Describe a person who has helped you with your career.
30. What type of environment do you find most appealing?
31. Are you a good communicator? Please give an example.
32. Describe your last job to me.
33. What would your present boss say about you if I asked him or her?
34. Describe your ideal job.
35. Do you have any plans to advance your education?
36. What are your impressions of our facilities since you arrived?
37. Why do you want this job?
38. What are 3 or 4 of the most important requirements of your next job?
39. What were the most challenging aspects of your last job?
40. How did you get your last job?
41. How have you benefited from your past disappointments?
42. What kinds of things motivate you?
These are just some examples of questions you may be asked during your interviews. Each interviewer has their own personal interviewing style and will ask questions that they are comfortable asking. You must be prepared with positive answers to ALL questions. Therefore, it is good to take a list like the one above and practice your answers. Another great way to ensure that your answers are good is to have someone you know and trust ask you interviewing questions out loud. You will then be able to “hear” your answers and make any needed adjustments. Stay positive! Think before you speak! Be honest! Be yourself! Happy Interviewing!
Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
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June 15th, 2007
Image and first impressions are critical during your interviews! You need to think about what image you want to create and how you will successfully accomplish that task.
There are some character traits that are common and should be used in order to create that positive image! The following are character traits that you should be incorporating into your first interviews.
1. Authority – Your ability to lead others attracts people to you. When you project authority, you are on the right track toward impressing people.
2. Certainty – Honest belief in a fact, an idea, or a concept can inspire others to feel the same way. Steadfastness is definitely a builder of understanding and empathy between two people.
3. Consideration – No man or woman can be an island unto himself (herself). It is this facet that brings you closer to all other individuals.
4. Credibility – No matter who you are or what you are involved in, you must be able to project a feeling of belief in other people. If you cannot, you will not arouse belief in yourself or in your hopes.
5. Empathy – It is more than compassion. It is the capacity to put yourself inside another person’s exact situation and experience feelings and emotions directly.
6. Inspiration – Your own passion projects excitement into other people. This is one of the most important facets of a person’s general profile. It is the ability to arouse others to a purpose or project.
7. Integrity – Without integrity, you cannot convince anyone that you are going to do what you say you are going to do.
8. Intimacy – This is the vital link between two people that makes them much more than two separate individuals. This is the final involvement of two people, usually in an ongoing business relationship.
9. Luster – It is a force of energy that can bring people together to work in concert for whatever the individual wants.
10. Presence – It is the force of personality that makes everyone in a room look at you when you enter.
11. Self-Assurance – The person who projects a feeling of self-assurance will attract support and assistance from others on the job as well as supervisors.
12. Understanding – To lead others you must be able to intuit their feelings and emotions and be able to sympathize with their hurt. This is an understanding that builds teamwork in the workplace.
13. Vigor – This is a person’s inner self which is able to release energy and the force of personality to others around them. It fuels all action, all positive thought, all progress, and all important activities.
14. Vivacity – If you have the ability to express through vivacity your own excitement and enthusiasm, you can get others excited about what you are doing, about yourself in general, and about the work you want done!
All of these character traits are important when you are making your first impression during your interviews and meetings. Keep in mind that a first impression cannot be recaptured. Therefore, make your first impression a great one!
Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
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June 6th, 2007
1. Local Public Libraries: Offer a variety of publications and related information for you, the job seeker.
2. College and University Libraries: Much like public libraries, the larger the university or college, the better publications and resources available.
3. College and University Placement Offices: Smaller institutions generally have one centralized placement office to serve its students and alumni. Larger universities may have separate placement offices for each department. These offices maintain listings of available job opportunities. Often, you don’t need to be associated with the school to receive the information. If you return to the college or university from which you graduated, you may be eligible for career counseling, testing and interviewing with companies who come on campus to select candidates.
4. Chamber of Commerce: Local Chambers of Commerce are an excellent resource to provide information about current and future openings within the community.
5. Area Economic Development Organizations: Sometimes combined with Chamber of Commerce and sometimes it is separate. These organizations are totally involved in projects to retain or expand jobs with current employers and develop new jobs with prospective employers.
6. State Job Service Offices: Each state, through its Department of Labor, maintains a listing of open jobs available locally, regionally, and nationally which have been registered with its local employment security office or job services.
7. Federal Job Information Centers: These centers are operated by the Office of Personnel Management and can be found in most major cities in the United States.
8. Trade and Industry Associations: These associations usually provide some type of job service to publicize jobs to their members. Often a list of open jobs will be included in their publications.
9. Local Job Information Service: Most communities provide a list of opportunities through various sources, such as a Human Resource Department.
Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
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June 1st, 2007
I’m sure you keep hearing and reading this statement and you must be wondering why you don’t have a job - if it’s so GREAT! Take a moment to review your job search activities. Finding a job is a full-time job - if you are not employed. Are you dedicating 40 hours a week to your search? If not, that could be the one main factor that is holding you back from a great job.
Looking for a job is a SALES PROCESS. If you are not in the Sales Profession this can be very uncomfortable, but you need to force yourself to get out there. Each day you should send out 10 resumes to targeted companies while you are calling on the 10 resumes you sent out on the same day of the week - last week. You need to sound confident to get past the gatekeeper while showing respect to this person. Also send your resumes directly to the person who you have identified as the person who would be your next employer. They don’t get bombarded by resumes like the Human Resource Department. Handwrite your envelope, write PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL in the bottom left hand corner and you will start to get results.
You also need to attend any and all networking events as well as social events. You NEVER know where you could meet someone who has a connection that could help you in your job search. Have business cards printed up with your name and contact information and under your name put “Free Agent in the Open Job Market” as your title. Sound excited about the job search process, not desparate. People gravitate to individuals who are positive and this is extremely true when you are searching for a new opportunity.
Send a letter to everyone you know to see if they could provide you with a referral. Often, the person who you would never expect to help you knows a decision maker in one of your targeted companies. Which brings me to another topic - do you have a list of targeted companies? You can’t just answer ads and put your resume on the Internet. You need to target companies and get your resume in the hands of decision makers.
If you follow these instructions you will put new energy into your search and you will start to see results!
Barb Bruno, CPC, CTS
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May 22nd, 2007
1. Spend 15 minutes every night to visualize the coming day in order to anticipate, organize and prioritize events.
2. Try to utilize good work habits. Start your activities each day on time and work on your job search all day.
3. Use a daily planning system and enter everything you do into this one source in order to stay organized and consistent.
4. Take time to focus between events in order to separate your activities.
5. Always keep a short list which can be immediately employed if your other priorities run into unexpected problems.
6. Keep very accurate files and information.
7. At the end of every day, take a few minutes to throw useless paper away. This will help keep you organized.
8. Stay loyal to your weekly goals and review them at the end of each week in order to remain on course with your job search.
9. Help your family realize that you need their support in this job search process. You need to ask them to respect the time you need
devote to finding your new opportunity. Make sure they understand that your job search is currently your “job.”
10. Be cognizant that you have to control each day as much as possible in order to achieve your goal of obtaining the right opportunity as
quickly as possible.
11. When you must engage in other tasks over which you have control, try to do them outside of the time that you have committed to your
search activities.
12. Realize that from time to time events over which you have no control will occur, you need to develop ways to negate their impact on
your productive work time.
*Remember, if you control your time, you control your outcome and will ultimately reach your goals quicker and easier! Time Management is crucial to a successful job search!
Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
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May 16th, 2007
One of the most frequent and first concerns upon termination is how to explain you are no longer working at your previous employer. Many people believe a stigma is attached to being terminated. In the “real world” there are hiring authorities that will discriminate against an individual who has been fired. On the other hand, other hiring authorities are more than willing to hear your story and then make a determination whether or not the termination will ultimately effect their decision. With the number of mergers and downsizing that have occurred, being terminated does not carry as much negative connotation as it once did. It is extremely important how you handle your situation. The way you explain what happened will make the difference.
You must develop a statement that can be said clearly, without breaks in the statement, and is believable and true. It must be short, positive, not critical of the company, and concise! It must be practiced so it is said smoothly.
Answer the 3 following questions as an exercise to assist you with your answer when you discuss your termination:
1. What did your company tell you when you were terminated?
2. What do you believe was the reason for your termination?
3. Write a 30 second statement about your termination based on the information above.
Try the statement out by reading it to yourself in front of a mirror or tape it and then listen to it. Is it smooth? Is it honest? Does it have any negative or critical comments about your past company? If so, revise it! Next, read it to your spouse and or professionals in your field and ask them for their honest opinion!
Once your statement has been completed, make sure you know it, feel comfortable with it and can state it smoothly. Usually, once this is completed you will experience some relief and begin to be comfortable with moving on in your job search. One of the most difficult tasks has now been accomplished! Being terminated is not the end of your job search. The approach you take will determine whether or not your termination will affect you or not!
Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
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May 2nd, 2007
As you conduct your job search you must have GOALS! Without Goals you lack direction. Without direction you lack action. You must take aggressive action in order to move your search through the necessary steps of ultimately receiving and accepting a Job Offer!
The following are some Basic Guidelines for Goal Setting:
1. GOALS SHOULD ALWAYS BE FORMALLY WRITTEN: The reason you need to write your Goals is because it moves them from a passive wish into an active target. Put your Goals where they are visible to you at all times. (Bathroom mirror, closet door, car visor, telephones at home and at work, computer screen, laptop, etc.) You need to place them where you can see and read them every single day! This will be a constant reminder of where you are going and where you want to be!
2. GOALS SHOULD BE SPECIFIC: When you have a specific Goal you need a clear picture and must stay focused on a specific idea. This way the idea takes on more significance. Goals should be so specific that there can be no room for error. The more specific your Goal, the more likely you will achieve it!
3. GOALS SHOULD BE MEASURABLE: You need to keep track of your progress. Make sure you can measure exactly where you are in the process. This typically means that there are specific numbers involved. Always know your numbers and where those numbers fit in, in order to attain your set Goals.
4. GOALS SHOULD BE ATTAINABLE: It can be counter-productive to set Goals that you are unable to attain. You will only feel frustrated in the attempt to reach unrealistic Goals. Your Goals should be challenging but definitely attainable as well! To ensure your success, it’s important that your Goals are within your reach.
5. GOALS SHOULD HAVE A DEADLINE: Set the actual date that your Goal is to be reached. By doing this, you are forcing yourself to take action. Keep in mind that there may be times when you might need to reevaluate the progress you are making and adjust a date. This is acceptable IF you are making progress and not just procrastinating.
6. GOALS SHOULD BE STATED POSITIVELY: You can form a clear picture of yourself doing something but you can’t visualize “not” doing something. You must be able to see yourself taking action on the goal. Your Goal will work better when stated positively and concretely.
These are some helpful hints to assist you with your Goals! Make sure you have both Personal and Professional Goals. As you attain one, cross it off and set another one. This process will keep you moving forward and keep you challenged!
Nancy J. Phillips, CPC
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