So, finally, you receive a call to schedule an interview.
All your efforts have paid off. A person calls you to schedule another interview. This is a huge compliment! You were selected from dozens or, at times, hundreds of people who applied for the very same position. You typically feel elated on one hand and apprehensive on the other. The reason is clear. You know that the real test lies in the interview process.
Even if you think you interview well (because you’ve gotten jobs in the past!), the interview represents a big challenge. Over the past several years, the business climate has changed dramatically, and at the same time, the market has gotten flooded with highly qualified candidates. Interviewing is a skill that can be improved through hard work and preparation. There are so many applicants for only one opening that the process has become extremely competitive. You need to outshine your competition. Unless you kept your job search skills honed in on job market developments, you’ll most likely need to improve in this area.
So, what to do? You can do your own research and preparation via the Internet. Millions do so, but that process can take weeks or even months. Instead, you could hire a career coach! The career coach’s job is to prepare you for the upcoming competition. Such coaching will shorten your search as well as teach you how to do things right and how to avoid making costly or even, at times, fatal mistakes. The coach might also assist you in negotiating a better compensation package, which will more than make up for what you paid for coaching services.
Think of it in terms of sports: All professional athletes have coaches even though professional athletes are highly skilled. Why is this? Since the coach has no bias, he will point out to you not only your strong points but also your areas needing improvement. He will guide you to attainment of your goal.
What’s important to the hiring manager?
A hiring manager considers several factors. For example, he will review your professional background and your career progression. He’s also going to question your accomplishments as described on your resume. Be prepared to elaborate on those accomplishments once prompted in your interview. In addition, of course, your education and credentials will likely weigh heavily.
It is a huge plus for you if you were referred by a trusted source. Why is that? It’s because the roles in the interview process are well defined: This is a transaction between you and the hiring manager. You are tantamount to a salesperson with the intent to sell yourself. The hiring manager is the buyer. His job is to select among several salesperson candidates. He is not inclined to buy everything the salesperson wants to sell. However, if a trusted person recommended you, then the hiring manager’s scrutiny is significantly minimized, thus dramatically increasing your chances of being hired.
What happens at an interview?
In preparing for a big interview, it might be helpful to take on the mind-set of someone who has just finished one. After an interview is over, you will have many questions in your mind: How did you do? Were you able to provide the right answers? Defend your liabilities? And convince the hiring manager that in your past positions you not only did what he needs done but, more important, also did it successfully? Was that job performance successful because you said so? Or because it was recognized by others? Recognition by others is what convinces a hiring manager that you performed with distinction.
Once the interview is over, you must follow up. Your thank-you letter should address any questions the interviewer may have about your candidacy. It’s up to you to find out what they are. When you’re asked, “So, do you have any questions for me?” ask the interviewer about your candidacy for the position. After all of this, the only big issue remaining to be addressed is whether you’d fit harmoniously into the organization. This fit issue has a lot to do with the chemistry between a candidate and a hiring manager.
So, why is the hiring process illogical?
As you can see, today’s hiring process is lengthy. A candidate uses logic throughout the application process, but the involvement of many people over such a long time can sometimes lead to an illogical result. Furthermore, in most of the cases of rejection, the truth is not revealed to the candidate because of the potential trigger of a lawsuit. Therefore, the only logical conclusion from the candidate’s point of view is that the process is illogical. However, an understanding of the entire process can equip you and help you through.
The emotional stress associated with unemployment is understood only by those who are unemployed. Often, even people closely associated with the unemployed such as spouses or other family members don’t fathom the emotional pressure and pain that settles in on those without sources of income and places to go to called work.
Unfortunately, some jobless people stay in transition for a long time. Today the main reason is usually the current economic condition, but it isn’t the reason all the time. In fact, some people get quickly transplanted into new jobs, but others get held back due to their lack of a solid plan and inability to make decisions. Have you noticed that some people procrastinate decision making and agonize even over the simplest kinds of decisions? For example, some people take forever to make a menu choice in a restaurant, while others wait impatiently for the last person to decide. Or, maybe you had a boss who couldn’t make even ordinary decisions and who constantly maneuvered just to avoid the need to make the decision? There are reasons that such phenomena exist and I’m certainly not competent to attempt to provide those reasons, but through my work as a career coach I see such indecision at times with my clients.
So, how can a career coach help with such issues? Well, it’s not the job of the career coach to conduct a session like a psychologist would. And sometimes even psychologists don’t know how to or neither prepared nor qualified to. A career coach, though, can at least help narrow down the choices and assist in the decision-making process by, say, guiding clients to the right personality assessment tests, or by listening carefully to clients’ affinities or certain successes from the past, or, if appropriate, by guiding clients to other recommended professionals with advanced degrees like Ph.D.’s who are expert in counseling regarding career, job search, and workplace issues.
Honestly, most people don’t know what they want in terms of a job unless they see it in context. People can’t predict the advantages and disadvantages of a profession or a job unless they can somehow identify with it. Perhaps a friend or someone else can tell them the good, the bad, and the ugly about it. And even in that case, the future is highly unpredictable. I’m sure that at one time or another, you asked someone for an opinion of the company the person worked at. And I’m equally sure you received an answer. But was that answer a valid one? Or was it only that person’s opinion about the boss? Certainly, if the boss treats us nicely, we’ll say the entire company is great! And if the opposite is true, the entire company stinks! Everything’s always relative, isn’t it.
Have you been asked any odd questions during a recent interview? How about this one “If you were a color what color would you be?” How about “If you were a superhero which one would you most resemble?”
I know you’re thinking, what the hell does this have to do with the job I am interviewing for? Am I going to clash with the color on the walls of my office? Are you thinking perhaps my body is not worthy of the tights that I have to wear?
Questions like this are being asked more and more. My best guess is that some HR Brainiac came up with the theory that these types of questions give better insight on a job candidate’s ability to perform. Perhaps it was just a good idea to sell a book.
Instead of these types of questions perhaps you might want to substitute them for some of these:
1) How often do you have to pee during normal work hours?
2) Are you married and if so are you open to an affair?
3) After you close a deal are you open to yell out “touch down for Jesus?”
Whatever questions that you might be asked whether dumb or valid, just don’t act shocked or surprised. Answer them the best you can with the upmost professionalism and with a smile of course!
If you are one of the fortunate ones that still is working today where and when will it end? That’s the million dollar question everyone needs to ask. The way I see it is that you are on borrowed time when it comes to a job. I know it only happens to the other guy but I have met a lot of other guys!
What we are seeing is that companies are investing in college work study programs. Instead of getting cheap help they are actually training them and finding something exciting for them to do so when they graduate they will go back and work for them. Another thing that they are trying to do is to keep the talent from leaving every few years by offering them new opportunities in house. Studies have shown that a new graduate will keep their first job for 2-3 years before moving on for a better opportunity. For a company to invest in a new grad just to prepare them for their competition has not been a good thing.
We all keep reading about layoff’s and the one’s that are being let go tend to be the “seasoned” employee. What I see as a recruiter is that employers hire the “newer to work force” talent and not the “seasoned” talent. The cutoff is around 12-15 years of experience. After that good luck! Now I’m not saying you can’t get a job but what I am saying is that your career is now going downhill. I see job candidates who were making $120k apply for jobs offering $65k and not getting an offer. Will companies stop laying off workers that have been through their programs that are now “seasoned”? Will the job candidate still be left in the same position as today’s “seasoned” worker?
The generation before me was all about loyalty and most people worked for the same company for most of their career. Retirement package was a big part of that but today they do not exist! 401K RIGHT! You will be lucky if you have any money left in it by the time you retire.
Do most people really have an idea where they are heading? Are the problems we all face solvable? America has always bounced back right? Is bouncing back even possible?
MELT UP This video is very educational.
A job interview is the final step before getting the job. It’s the most critical step because if the candidate does not convince the decision maker of being the ideal candidate, the job goes to someone else. Preparing for the interview is not to be taken lightly. To win this tough competition, one needs to invest time and effort, must feel commitment, and must persevere. Following are a few practical steps.
1. The single most important thing to do during interview preparation is to hold live mock interviews with someone experienced and competent in this area.
Practice the 20 most common interview questions again and again until you feel confident.
Focus on learning about the prospective employer’s problems and immediate needs.
Prepare for reciting fact-based success stories from your past that are relevant to what you’ve learned about the hirer’s needs.
Practice, practice, and practice some more. You’ll be happy you did!
2. Learn as much as you can about the company.
Begin with the company’s Web site, and look at every page. Drill down into details to mine specifics you could talk about with the interviewer.
Find out who are the people you’ll interview with, and evaluate their LinkedIn profiles.
Check out who they’re connected with on LinkedIn.
Attempt sleuthing into the company via these connections to find out about the company’s culture and, possibly, specifics about the position.
Find out what your interviewers are tweeting about. This might be challenging because people sometimes use pseudonyms. Use topsy.com for your research.
Do searches on YouTube and Vimeo. Don’t underestimate what you can find out in these hidden places.
Look for and review blogs posted by your contacts at the company.
Use free tools to gain additional knowledge—for example, klout.com and blog.linkedin.com.
Do Google searches on both the interviewers and the firm. Go through several pages of the results.
3. Answer the following questions.
Do you fit into the organization?
Do you have the skills, education, and experience required?
Do you possess experiences and skills to offer in support of the company’s mission statement?
Can you recite via a vignette or two some past experiences that would serve as a natural evolution into company growth?
4. Engage with the interviewer via questions that prove your value.
Ask questions you already know the answers to.
Show the interviewer that you’re very familiar with the industry and the company’s competition.
Preparing for a winning interview is hard work and takes many hours, if not days. By doing such preparation, one gains not only specific knowledge but also a lot of confidence.
