Career Related Tips newsletter

CAREER RELATED TIPS

Bryan Thorby Publisher webmaster@career-related.com http://career-related.com

Date: May 11, 2005

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In This Issue:

Thoughts of the Day

Article : Economists and Weathermen and Bear Markets! Oh My! by Kevin Donlin

Article : How to Evaluate Job Offers and Zoom In On the Right Opportunity for You by Ann Wilson

Article : Job Search Tips - How to Increase Your Success by Steve Kaye

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I hope all is well with you.

In job interviews we need to deal with tough questions and objections that we may not necessarily feel very comfortable about answering. Here are three common ones that can be a bit nerve racking.

You’ve been fired from your last job. Tell me what happened?

Your response is to state the facts in a concise, drama-free manner. Tactfully discuss what happened and acknowledge your role in it. You could mention a difference of opinion or personal style as a root cause. Often, candidates who take this approach find that the whole thing was no big deal to the new employer.

You left your job to start a business -- and your venture failed. What happened?

Most times, this is a bigger issue in the candidate’s mind than in the interviewer’s. You might assume that the interviewer is casting aspersions on your managerial skills or business abilities.

Actually, his concern may be very different. He might be worried that you’ll get bored or restless in a corporate job and decide to strike out on your own again. Therefore, it’s best to ask questions to find out what the specific concern is. That way, you’ll be addressing the right concern.

When replying, focus on how you exercised initiative and demonstrated drive as well as tolerance for risk and ambiguity. Talk about whatever success you had and what you learned from the experience. Make it abundantly clear that you have satisfied your entrepreneurial urges and are more than willing to settle into a corporate job.

You seem overqualified for the job!

There are two possible objections here. Firstly, they might be assuming that you may want more money than they are prepared to pay. Second, they might be implying you will get bored and leave for greener pastures soon.

If money is the issue, explain why you don’t mind taking a pay-cut. Talk about how you’re making a career transition and are perfectly willing to accept lower pay. You might even back this up explaining how you have worked out a new personal budget that’ll allow you to be comfortable at the lower pay. Also talk about non-monetary factors that give you job satisfaction.

For the second objection, the best way out is to detail how you have done lots of research on your new career choice before committing to it. If some of the tasks in your previous jobs that were similar to what you’ll be doing in your new position, explain how you did those tasks without complaints. That should alleviate concerns the employer might have about your getting bored in the new job.

Remember, anticipate objections and prepare short, to-the-point responses in advance. At the job interview, answer objections in a confident, calm manner, taking care to uncover the real objection first. Those are the keys to dealing with some interview questions and objections.

Happy interviews,

Bryan

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Thoughts of the Day

"Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles." -- Helen Keller

"Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing." -- Albert Einstein

Article

"Economists and Weathermen and Bear Markets! Oh My!" copyright © by Kevin Donlin

Feeling down in the dumps about your job search?

You might be, if you believe most of the "bad" economic news you read about or see on TV. And I think that mainstream economists are largely to blame.

You see, I have this theory: economists are like weathermen.

Nobody pays attention to the weatherman (or lady) when skies are sunny and the forecast is fair. We're more interested in the sports scores or who's suing Michael Jackson this week.

But when tornadoes, hurricanes (and recessions, inflation and layoffs) appear on the radar, THEN people pay attention to weathermen (and economists). They lead the newscast. All eyes are on them and their dire predictions of doom, gloom and disaster.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing personal against weathermen, economists or the mainstream media.

BUT ...

... it's important to remember that bad news is more interesting than good news. (Here's proof: if there's a spectacular fire in your city tonight, it will likely be the lead story on your TV news. It's not relevant to 99.99% of viewers. But flames and fire trucks are interesting to 100% of viewers.)

So ... what the heck does this have to do with your job search?

Economic storms get more media coverage than economic bright spots, because they're reflexively considered more interesting, like burning houses. But the gloom is not relevant to you, 99% of the time. It's only going to dampen your spirits as you look for work.

Here are three examples from recent headlines to illustrate ...

Did you know that jobless claims plummeted in the first week of April 2005? That wasn't the lead story on any TV newscast, was it? That's because it's good economic news.

The full story, from Money Magazine/CNN.com, is totally buried, 3 clicks into the site, here - http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/21/news/economy/jobless_claims/index.htm

Did you know that the job market has brightened for managers and executives?

According to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, hiring for unemployed managers and executives in the first quarter of 2005 was its best in four years.

Job-seeking managers and executives got hired faster. The time it took to win new positions dropped 5 percent, to 3.16 months -- the lowest level since 2001.

The report also showed that the percentage of managers and executives getting paid equivalent or higher salaries rose 5.8 points, from 85.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004, to 91.6 percent in the first quarter of 2005 -- the highest percentage since 2000.

Here's the full story - http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/18/news/economy/challenger_executives/index.htm

Sounds like good news to me. Which is why you probably didn't hear about it.

Finally, did you know that US economic growth was solid, at a 3%-3.5% annual pace, in the first half of 2005? You didn't? That's because this story, from Money Magazine/CNN.com, is buried, 3 clicks into the site here - http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/25/news/economy/nabe.reut/index.htm

Now. Know this.

I am not an economic conspiracy theorist. I don't believe the media are trying to brainwash us. And my political leanings -- left or right -- are irrelevant.

What is relevant is that I DO believe bad economic news is more interesting than good economic news. So you'll always hear and see more of it. But you must not let it drag you down as you search for your employment.

How? Here's an idea.

Take action. Get out of the house and do other things. Like meeting an old co-worker for lunch to discuss the employment needs of companies in your industry, for example.

You can't control the news. But you can control your attitude. And your attitude is everything in your job search. So keep yours excellent -- sunny, even -- no matter what the economic "weathermen" may say.

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes. Since 1996, he and his team have provided resumes, cover letters and online job-search assistance to clients in all 50 states and 23 countries. Kevin has been interviewed by USA Today, CBS MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal's National Business Employment Weekly, CBS Radio, and many others.

For more information, click HERE http://career-related.com/apm/gresumes.htm

Article

How to Evaluate Job Offers and Zoom In On the Right Opportunity for You

by Ann Wilson

You’ve been successful in your job hunt and have received a job offer. Maybe you received more than one offer. That’s great. The next question is, how do you evaluate an offer to see if it is the right one for you? Let’s look at some real answers.

The first step is to identify your priorities. Many people make the mistake of evaluating just the offer. They look at salary, work content, benefits, etc but not what they themselves value in a job. Unfortunately, if you don’t know what satisfies you, you’re evaluating in a vacuum.

So how do you identify your priorities? First, make a long list of all possible factors you can think of. Here’s a sample list: match between job responsibilities and your interests, work environment & culture, skill utilization / development, supervisor, coworkers, stability of the organization, potential for growth, salary, benefits, perks, hours you are expected to work, length of commute, location, options for formal training, opportunities to learn new skills, personality fit with the type of work, outstation travel requirements. Add more factors that interest you.

Next, rate each criterion on a scale of 1--10, where 10 indicates that a factor is extremely important to you. Ideally, you should have just a few criteria with ratings of 8, 9 and 10. Those are the critical things you should look for in a job. If you rate most criteria at 8--10, do a rethink and come up with a shorter list of factors that are really key for you. And never mind what your coworkers or friends think are important. Focus solely on what YOU think is important.

You are now ready to scrutinize the job offer(s). Your objective -- to make sure you have enough quality information on hand. Refer to the pre-interview research you would have done on the company. Your personal network can be a very valuable source of inputs -- so ask several people what they think of the organization.

Do a search on the ‘net and see what you can turn up on the company, senior management personnel and even your supervisor. Call up the company and ask questions. If they truly want you, then they’ll be willing to share information.

Talk to the person who last held the position. If he or she has moved on to another organization, call them up and have a short, informal chat.

Once you’re reasonably convinced you have adequate information that’s reliable, it’s time to match the job offer to your priorities. Pull out the sheet on which you’ve written down your criteria.

For each criterion, review the information you gathered and see how well the job stacks up against that criterion. As you do this exercise, you may find that you either increase or decrease the importance for some criteria. That’s fine.

If the offer matches well with the factors that are most important to you and many others, then you can seriously consider accepting the offer. Else, try negotiating to get more of what you want. If that’s not possible, keep looking till you get a job offer that’s a reasonably close fit with your interests.

Follow these simple steps and you’ll find yourself making better job and career choices.

About the author: Ann Wilson is a successful business author who writes extensively on jobs and careers. Her articles include best tips for job interviews, the right questions to ask at an interview and many others offering cutting-edge advice on interviewing. http://www.interview-secrets.net

Article

Job Search Tips - How to Increase Your Success

by Steve Kaye

Finding a job can be a painful and difficult experience. Here are three things that you can do to minimize the pain and increase your chances of success.

1) Approach finding a job as if it were a full-time job, because it is. Consider this: if you had a job, you would report to work at the same time each day (like 8 am), take an hour (or less) for lunch, and quit at the same time each day (like 5 pm). You would work five days every week. And you would work hard to accomplish as much as you could because your career depended upon it.

When you are searching for a job, you should follow the same type of schedule because your future depends upon it.

Treating your job search like a part-time hobby guarantees that it will take longer. It even sets you up for failure.

In addition, the lack of focused activity will create a sense of helplessness. That sends you into a downward emotional spiral that makes it increasingly difficult to find a job.

So, begin tomorrow by reporting to work and spending the day on tasks that lead to a job.

2) Approach finding a job as if it were a project. That means you should set goals for yourself, make plans, and monitor your progress. You should apply all of the tools and skills that you used in your last job to the project of finding your next job.

As you must expect, this is an important project. The sooner you complete it, the sooner you gain a promotion into a job.

3) Be your own boss. You must set expectations for what you need to accomplish. You must provide direction. And you must monitor your work.

Meet with yourself once each week to evaluate your performance. I recommend doing this by writing two reports. The first is a candid evaluation of what you accomplished during the previous week. The second is a description of your plans for the coming week. Your plans should include your goals, actions, and priorities.

The first time that you write these reports, write an evaluation of what you have done so far. Describe the results that this effort has produced. And compare these results with what you wanted to have.

Next, map out a realistic plan for the next week based on achievable goals. For example, you could set goals for the number of people you will call, the number of networking meetings you will attend, and the research you will conduct.

In the coming weeks, compare the results that you obtained during the previous week with the goals that you set. For example, if you planned to attend twelve networking meetings and you attended only two, you should a) explain why this happened and b) plan actions that will correct such a difference. You should also analyze why you missed your goal because this provides insights on what you need to do differently. For example, your goal may have been set too high. Or maybe you could car pool with a friend who is also looking for a job.

Finding a job is a full time job. Work through it with a plan and the support of a good boss (yourself).

About the author: Business expert and author Steve Kaye works with leaders who want to become more successful. His book, Create Success, shows people how to take control of their future and manage their career. Visit http://www.ablecareer.com to learn more about this book.

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