Monthly Archives: January 2012

The Six Biggest Blunders of Job Applicants

Posted on by Bill Ryan

With an uptick in hiring expected this year the combination of those trying to get back into the workforce and those currently hired but wanting new positions will mean that hiring competitiveness is likely to remain high. 

Yet not every job seeker apparently knows how to compete. Common complaints can be heard from company interview teams, HR personnel, and recruiters about what kinds of job applicant behaviors lead to rejection. If your goal is to make a potential employer say, “You’re hired!”, then be aware of what turns them off and resolve to bring your A-game to the interview. 

Following are six frequent blunders I read about from those looking to align talent with employment: 

Blunder #1: Being Sloppy with the Basics: Examples are having a poorly thrown together resume, showing up late for and/or carrying a cup of coffee to an interview, and not being truthful about claims of past work that will easily be found out during a background check. Also, do not talk trash about your former employer. Nothing says “troublemaker” like an interviewee going on about what a jerk their last boss was. 

Blunder #2: Not Doing Your Homework: It is hard to believe, but there are people applying for jobs with companies they know nothing about. Compare that to the applicant who can cite statistics, market advantage, and the mission of the company. Having a sense of the culture matters, too. Walking into a casual creative work environment wearing a Brooks Brothers could be a “Whoops!” moment. 

Blunder #3: What Can You Do for Me?: I hope you still are not applying for jobs thinking that a company’s first concern is the health of your career track. You are going there to serve them and meet their needs. Addressing the gaps, shortages, threats, and obstacles that impede productivity are what matter most to hiring managers. Go prepared to present yourself as the value they crave to help them be successful. 

Blunder #4: Not Preparing for the Interview: Do not try to wing it. Interviews may be stressful, but they are not rocket science. Describe your well-rehearsed value proposition; be able to give examples of how you were a star performer; be ready to cite a couple of past weaknesses you are improving; and be quick on your feet to tell how you would handle a hypothetical challenge thrown at you. 

Blunder#5: Doing All Job Hunting Online: I still hear this a lot. People’s idea of a complete job hunt is going to online job boards and posting their resume, then waiting for the interview requests to roll in. This should be a small part of the search. The bigger effort should be to shoe-leather your network. Get and stay in touch with the rich set of contacts you should have built up to see what opportunities they may have. Do not forget to reach out to them with offers of help as well. 

Blunder #6: Not Presenting Yourself as a Professional: Demeanor, comportment, body language, being well spoken, and projecting confidence all play an important part in how you are perceived. When your game is off in any of these areas it shows and works against you. The belief is that the more competent someone is it will show in how they hold themselves. Haven’t you noticed how true this is? 

Increased hiring, if in fact that is what we are starting to experience, should not translate into not having to work exceptionally hard for those new jobs. On the contrary, it means you just need to be sharper than ever before. 

How To Deal with Three Sticky Interview Questions

Posted on by Bill Ryan

The good news is that you have been called in for an interview! But wait just a minute! The bad news is that you have been called in for an interview! 

The long-awaited interview can be your ticket to a new and better job, but it can also be an anxiety producer that keeps you up nights worrying. You are going to be called on to perform at a high level by people who may determine the course of your career and therefore your future. There is no easy way to say it — this is a critical chance to show them what you are made of. 

Getting into the proper mindset is important. First, know that you need to prepare for the event. Second, realize you cannot memorize and rehearse every move you are going to make. (Translation: over-preparation can hurt you.) Third, you are going to have to rely on some confidence, instinct, and self-knowledge. 

Preparation for an interview involves a few basic things. Among them is researching the potential employer, which will make you better able to align your skill set with their needs. Also, anticipate that you will need to communicate with a positive attitude, subject matter expertise, interpersonal skills, and problem-solving ability as well. 

But knowing the type of questions you may be asked is one of the best ways to prepare. The purpose here is to see if you are a good fit for the open position. This is accomplished by directing questioning to see if you have the required skills, knowledge, and abilities to perform optimally. To determine this, interviewers usually select questions that are behavioral and situational. 

Behavioral questions are designed to analyze actual instances that you have faced in the past to see how you performed. A school principal may be asked how they handled an irate parent of a student, for example. Situational questions are similar except that the context is hypothetical. So, a structural engineer may be asked what immediate steps she would follow if metal fatigue was identified in bridge supports. 

But an interview team is probably going to want to get a general sense of your overall character beyond just your specific qualifications. There are three questions that often come up to elicit this: 

#1: What is an example of a time you made a real difference for your employer? Even if you felt that you were just a cog in a machine, being prepared to explain why you were a good cog will help your cause. Telling how you increased production, saved costs, and handled unique challenges are ways of answering this question. Have a pertinent story or two prepared to tell. And I do mean story, not just a short one or two sentence response. 

#2: How do you deal with conflict on the job? No matter the industry, one of the most common complaints of management involves employees, including managers, who cannot get along with colleagues or customers. Poor communication and mismatched personality types lead to lost productivity and poor morale. Having examples of how you did not contribute to and even improved a negative social climate at work will show you to be the team player every employer wants. 

#3: Why did you leave your last job? Be honest. If the reason is because you truly see the next opportunity as an advancement for the new employer and your career, then the question is a softball. But if you were terminated, then answering honestly becomes more challenging. Still, do not come across victimized. Focus on what you learned and how it has made you grow and explain how you are now even better prepared for adding value to their operation. 

Here is your chance to shine, not shake. Do your part to turn the interview into a golden moment. 

Enhancing Your LinkedIn Profile

Posted on by Bill Ryan

Establishing a solid LinkedIn (LI) profile is the first step to managing your overall professional online profile. If you are in the market for a new job, it is helpful to know that recruiters are all over LinkedIn looking for talent. Not being present at all on LinkedIn is a big mistake in today’s technical and connected world. But almost as bad as not showing up is having a mediocre or shoddy profile. It screams of a lack of professional effort. So, to make the most of your LI profile building time here are some tips that will leave you looking sharp. 

Before starting enhancements, you should know about a couple of privacy controls. If you are like most busy people, you may be thinking that you will chip away at your profile improvements piecemeal when time allows. But as any LinkedIn user knows, you get periodic updates that show the activity levels of your connections. Now there may be occasions when you do not want your LI world to know that you are upgrading your profile too frequently. It can give the impression that you are looking for other work, which may be off-putting to your current colleagues. If this issue is one of yours, then look for the “Turn on/off your activity broadcasts” link in the Privacy Controls sections of Settings. 

You also have the option of selecting who can see your activity feed in the same Privacy Controls area. You can choose from everyone, your connections, your network (connections plus group members), or “Only you”. The latter essentially eliminates anyone from seeing your editing activity. 

With activity viewing determined, you are ready to start tinkering with your Introduction field: 

  • Headline: This is important. It should begin with a short description of your professional expertise rather than just listing your current job title and employer’s name. Make this headline searchable by selecting key words that home in on your specialty. 
  • Picture: Do not just crop a decent looking detail from a larger JPG. Get a headshot taken by a professional photographer. 
  • Connections: Sure, the more you have the more connected you look. But do not just invite anyone to be a connection. Choose from people who you respect and vice versa. Quality professionals provide more opportunity than a stuffed ballot box. And I must admit that I have a gripe when one’s contact list is closed. Shouldn’t a viewer be able to see who your connections are? After all, networking is what LI is all about. 
  • Recommendations: Try to get at least three. These do not have to be essays either. Well written and complimentary short paragraphs can be just fine. 
  • Website links: You can include up to three. Your employer, a professional organization that you belong to, or better yet, your own website can all be included. 
  • Public Profile link: Go into settings and customize this to show your name without any of the trailing digits. Consider placing this link in the contact data section of your resume. 
  • Twitter feed: Short timely tweets interfaced with your LI account keep the Profile fresh. 

Once your Intro field has been polished it is time to tackle the meat of the profile: 

  • It is good to have a look that more closely resembles a well written resume, i.e., including quantifiable accomplishments. Collecting and communicating quantifiable achievements should come through strongly in your Summary and Experience sections. Always be careful to avoid just very basic responsibilities and tasks, but rather include accomplishments and results as much as possible. 
  • There are some great additional sections that can be included such as Skills, Honors and Awards, and Volunteer Activities, among many others. Try to at least add a Skills Section. 
  • Blogging or micro blogging with Twitter can keep the Profile even more dynamic and show your connections that it is being frequently updated. It also adds to the impression that you are a subject matter expert. It is not that hard to have your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages all updated simultaneously. 
  • Do you like to make PowerPoint presentations? You can design one about yourself and post it for viewers to play. 
  • Groups are one of this tool’s most powerful networking features. Joining and participating in groups allows you to learn from and influence others. It is a great way to get known by others. 
  • The Education section is straight forward enough, but if you are 45 years old or older be careful of the rampant age bias going on in today’s world of work. You do have the option of not including your graduation date. 

With a good LinkedIn profile in place, you will find that it is easier to promote yourself in a competitive employment climate.