Tag Archives: interview preparation

Inefficiency Hinders Your Job Search

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Getty photo 23Most if not all job seekers reach at some point a heightened level of frustration with their job search process. It’s easy to understand, and it might be justifiable to blame the complex and convoluted job search process. It’s difficult to improve efficient and speed up the process. Loosely explained, efficiency is output over input and is expressed in percentages. The question before job seekers is whether they’re getting the expected results based on the amount of time and effort they’re putting into their job searches. In most cases, the answer is disappointing. So, what to do to increase efficiency?

In the world of investments, the most important factor for success is to know the right asset class allocation. Translated into the domain of job search, it means knowing how to determine the amounts of time and energy to devote to various job search activities.

Networking

Networking with people is by far the most effective job search activity. Sixty to 80 percent of people land their jobs through networking, and therefore, that’s what job seekers should spend their time on. For many, Networking is difficult and uncomfortable. And for those who don’t know how to be effective at it, networking represents a frustrating task with little results. For others, networking is second nature, and getting leads and referrals is merely a continuation of what they’ve been practicing their entire life—and not only when they need a job.

Applying for Jobs Online

Online job application is also an important aspect of the job search. Certainly, one cannot expect to win the lottery without buying a ticket. In the same way, one needs to apply for a job in order to be considered for it. On one hand, online job boards such as Monster and CareerBuilder sound appealing. On the other hand, sending off endless numbers of résumés into the black hole of applications can be a great way to boost your frustration level and waste your time. A better way is to search within SimplyHired or Indeed by using specific keywords you’re interested in and job locations you’re open to. The best tool is LinkedIn, where you can see exactly who posted a job and whom you might know at that company. Thus you can be much more strategic about your application.

Additional Advice for Increasing Your Efficiency and Your Success Rate

  • Be specific in your résumé. Applicant tracking software is looking for specific keywords.
  • Customize your résumé to the specific job you’re applying for. Recast your résumé to specifically show how your subject matter expertise solves the hiring manager’s problems.
  • Use as much as possible the target company’s own language. In other words, your actual words must match a lot of the words in the employer’s job description. Cut and paste the employer’s language from the job description to use in your résumé.
  • Make your résumé faultless. Reviewers have no patience for less-than-perfect résumés because there are thousands of other applicants they can look at who submit perfect résumés. Grammar and spelling count. Fonts, formatting, and lined-up tabs and columns count. Regarding that formatting issue, better practice is to unformat the résumé, reset everything flush left, and use no special symbols or software-specific indentions (such as in the bulleted items you’re reading here!)—instead opting for simple hyphens and word spaces to set off your displayed lists of accomplishments in your job history.

The Interview: Why Wasn’t I Chosen

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What is your gut tellling you?From the interviewer’s vantage point, the selection process is about availability and choices. That principle applies to many things the rest of us do, too, throughout the day. For instance, isn’t it interesting that when a group of people dine together in a restaurant, some of them make their menu decisions within a few seconds, yet for others it takes an embarrassingly long time—and they’re still not perfectly happy with their decisions. The same principle applies to interviewers: I remember being interviewed years ago for 20 minutes and receiving the job offer on the spot; that was unusual at the corporate director level. At the other extreme, I heard of a person who was interviewed for a secretarial position by seven people over two months’ time—after the candidate had already worked in that department for three months as a temporary employee.

To sum up, it is impossible to predict the outcome of a job interview because we simply don’t know what the interviewer’s decision-making process is. How often has a job candidate walked away glowing from an interview, with that feeling of having aced it, and yet the job offer never came.

At times candidates speculate about the best time of day to schedule a job interview—if given a choice. Early morning—before the pressure of the day builds up—might be good, but the interviewer might not be fully awake yet. Maybe just before lunch. But then, maybe after lunch would be better. How ’bout near the end of the day? There are no clear-cut answers because each case is individual and unique.

A recent National Public Radio program interviewed Wharton and Harvard business school professors who discussed the results of a large, 9,000-subject, 10-year study of interviewing. The investigators concluded that what matters is the candidate’s performance relative to those interviewed earlier. In their analysis, they also talked about a phenomenon called the gambler’s fallacy—a theory that says there is a mistaken notion that assumes that the odds of something with a fixed probability increase or decrease depending on recent occurrences. In other words, if you interview after two or three inferior candidates, your chances are better. This also works in reverse.

From my vantage point as an interview coach, I know that the only way to beat the odds is to prepare well and practice mock interviewing. Practice makes perfect.

The Psychology of the Job Interview

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A face-to-face interviewVery few people say they genuinely enjoy job interviews. That makes sense because in the same way that most people dislike taking tests, a job interview is a test. Even those who feel confident about their professional past, are up-to-date with job requirement skills, and do not possess many potential liabilities still fear facing the unknown. Not many people are good on their feet, and they know it; and therefore, each past failure adds another scar to the wound that never had a chance to heal in the first place. While trying to demonstrate the opposite, the job candidate is shrouded in negative emotions and fears.

On the other side of the desk sits the interviewer, who in most cases is aware of not being very good at interviewing because of lack of interviewing experience—unless the person is, say, a recruiter or some part of the staffing function in the human resources department and who interviews routinely. Very few interviewers have taken formal courses about how to become better at interviewing. Typically, an interviewer is less prepared for, less interested in, and less eager about the interview that is about to take place than is the candidate sitting opposite. So, that’s the background to the candidate selection process, which is critical to each side: for the candidate, the issue is a career changer; for the employer, a crucial and important business decision.

Categorically, you can improve interview performance by solid preparation for it and by gaining an understanding of the interviewer’s needs. Both sides assess each other within minutes, if not seconds; and everything thereafter serves only as validation of the initial impression.

When the interviewer says, “Tell me about yourself,” you should not respond with, “Where would you like me to start?” That would be considered a weak answer. Rather, you should take control and summarize in two or three sentences your professional experience in your field, give a brief example of a success story, and end by engaging the interviewer in the form of a question about the interviewer’s priorities. That question should be framed to come across as a friendly yet professional dialogue and certainly shouldn’t put the interviewer on the spot. Keep the dialogue going. Try understanding what’s behind the question and project the positive and unique qualities about yourself that you can share through your success stories.

Once the interview’s over, leave the interviewer with a memorable ending. Shake his hand and say, “Mr. Smith, thanks for your time. May I leave you with a final thought: I’m very enthusiastic about this opportunity and am very interested in this position.” Do you think he’ll remember?

Communication While in Transition

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free_2789878Disclaimer: My professional background is not in the field of communication, but I still have some opinions.

Certainly, the cliché “It’s not what you know but whom you know” is often true. However, when people are in transition, I would add “but while in transition, who knows you is more important” because you are the one who needs a job, and if people cannot find you, your job search will be unnecessarily prolonged.

I categorize communication in general to occur on three levels: The lowest level is daily chitchat. We chitchat with people we know: family members, friends, and perhaps others we communicate with occasionally such as other job seekers. Communication with job seekers is superficial, though, because its only objective is to get connected.

The second level of communication involves passing or receiving relevant—or sometimes less relevant—information. For example, the news on television. This type of information is intended to inform and is often given a spin to dramatize it and keep viewers glued to the TV, but when the excitement is at its peak, we hear, ”And now this commercial.” Of course, that’s how television stations—which, after all, are businesses—generate revenues. In most cases, though, we commit this type of information only to short-term memory. Nobody remembers news from two weeks ago.

The third level of communication has to do with ideas. This is what attracts me. I’m interested in other prominent people’s or experts’ ideas. It’s where we can learn about and understand the Big Picture.

So, how is all of this relevant to people in transition? Well, you want to be viewed as an expert, and you want people to be attracted to you. When they check you out, you want potential employers to consider you an expert in your own professional field. The way to project that image is to communicate—sporadically—with those connected to you. Be aware, though, that every time you do communicate, your writing had better be of value to them. Given a little time, your connections will learn that when you send them a piece of communication, it is indeed worth their while to spend the time to read it.

A good communicator while in transition knows to use social media to advantage. On one hand, certainly you should connect with many people; on the other hand, you must connect with prospects who could help you into your next job. Remember: What’s important when you connect with others is that they be willing to share their networks with you. The power of networking is not vested in the person you communicate with so much as it is in the person’s connections. You never know whom they know!

Women versus Men in Job Interviews and Salary Negotiations

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For both genders, anxiety before the interview may be present, but studies show that women handle it better. Women adapt more proactively than men do. Women seek social support from colleagues and friends more than men do. And women are more prone to do mock interviews with those colleagues and friends more than men are. Men are more prone to ignore such communication by instead watching TV or doing things to relieve stress, but those things hinder their interview performance later.

There’s also a difference between men and women in general communication style, which needs to be understood as a part of the job interview. On one hand, men start with the headlines and then elaborate on them and provide specifics. They like to deal with the big picture. On the other hand, women’s ideas are almost the opposite of that. Women feel context is essential for understanding. Many women, before telling you the headlines, will want to preface the situation by setting up the context.

In terms of interviewing, remember that when women communicate, they’re concerned with building connections. When men communicate, they’re concerned with establishing status and presenting accomplishments up front to establish their credentials. Women think a bit differently. Boasting and bragging are not their preferred styles, although the interview is indeed about selling yourself. Women communicate in order to build connections. In the middle of a conversation, one woman might say to another, “I love your shawl.” The other woman might respond with, “Oh, my sister-in-law bought it for me in London for my birthday.” This is an example of establishing connections. Men don’t typically feel comfortable giving such compliments to each other, because such an exchange would consist of personal information.

Salary negotiation

Men and women do use the same mechanics, but they differ in their strategy. Their personality, style, and culture are all contributing factors that influence the outcome of the conversation. Women appreciate relationships over outcomes and therefore are willing to compromise. They do not like confrontation, and many women associate salary negotiation with conflict. Men ask for a particular salary with less compromise and are concerned with outcomes. They worry less about how their negotiations affect the relationship.

Women may make salary decisions on what they feel they need rather than on what the job should pay. Therefore, they’re at risk of receiving less-competitive packages than their male counterparts do. Men are more direct when negotiating salary. Historically, it’s been acceptable for men to be assertive in the business world, while women who are assertive tend to be viewed as aggressive or difficult to work with. Before any salary negotiations take place, job seekers are advised to find out their market value. There are Web sites that can assist in finding such information. Some of them are www.salary.com, www.payscale.com, and www.glassdoor.com.