Bryan Thorby
Publisher
Date: November 22, 2006
In This Issue:
Ebooks and Services
Thoughts of the Day
Article 1: Protect Yourself Against Bad Interviewers
Article 2: Creating an Excellent Resume: Ten Tips You Must Know
Article 3: Your Career in 2007 - Get a Fresh Start
Disclaimer & Privacy Statement
I trust all is well with you.
Don't you just love job interviews!!
Here are a few tips:
Just as you will be answering questions from your interviewer,
it is best to ask a few of your own. It shows that you are
genuinely interested in working there, and that you have some
concerns of your own. It also shows that you feel relatively
certain that this is the place for you.
Asking the right questions to your prospective employer will show
that you are serious in you efforts to work for their company,
and that you are an organized individual. You should steer clear
of asking any personal questions or any questions that are not
directly job related.
If you wish, you may jot down some of the answers that you are
given for reference later on. Keep your questions simple and
polite. Make sure that you are asking direct questions about
the job and/or work environment.
Here are some questions that you could ask your prospective
employer:
* How did this position become available?
* How many applicants were initially short-listed for interview?
* What should the new person do that is different from the last
person that had this position?
* What would you most like to see done in the next 6 months?
* What are the most difficult problems that this jobs entails?
* How much freedom do I have in the decision making process?
* What are my options for advancement?
* How has this company succeeded in the past?
* What changes do you envision in near future for this company?
* Are there formal training opportunities provided with this
position?
* What do you think constitutes success in this job?
Hope that helps.
To your Career Success,
Bryan
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"When you become detached mentally from yourself and
concentrate on helping other people with their
difficulties, you will be able to cope with your own more
effectively. Somehow, the act of self-giving is a personal
power-releasing factor."
-- Norman Vincent Peale
"No lions are ever caught in mousetraps. To catch lions you
must think in terms of lions, not in terms of mice.
Your mind is always creating traps of one kind or another, and
what you catch depends on the thinking you do.
It is your thinking that attracts to you what you receive."
-- Gil Bailie
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Protect Yourself Against Bad Interviewers
By Judi Perkins
The only thing that might be more difficult to deal with than
an interviewer who asks tough, probing questions is an
interviewer who hasn’t a clue how to interview. You leave
the interview feeling as if you ignited no interest, bombed
the interview, and surely won’t be asked back. Where was the
scintillating conversation? The professional give and take
about the industry and your skills?
But if you’ve just met the person, how are you to know if
they’re a lousy interviewer - or you’re a lousy interview?
If you prepared for the interview, then you’ve an indication
where the problem lies, because your preparation enables you
to jump in and take control of those awkward moments.
I speak often about the importance of an interview being a
two-way street. This not only means that you need to be
interviewing the company as they are you, but that the company
needs to sell themselves to you, as you are selling yourself
to them. If the interviewer doesn’t have those sales skills,
you need elicit the information.
More than that, if the interviewer doesn’t know how to ask
questions to dig deeper into your capabilities and interest,
you’ll need to tell him, lest the entire interview go by and
you haven’t uttered a word. If that happens, the only thing
still able to speak for you is your resume, leaving you no
closer to being hired than you were when you walked through
the door.
Interviewers who ramble on and on ad nauseum about the company
need to be re-directed before you begin snoring. Interviewers
who don’t have the ability to speak about the company or the
position should be prompted with your questions. Interviewers
who are unprepared, or perhaps even forgot about their
appointment with you, must be briefed - by you -- on your
background, because they probably don’t remember your resume.
Lots of holes and awkward pauses in the conversation?
If the interviewer doesn’t have the sense (or ability) to ask
you what your skills are or why you’d be a great choice for
the company, speak up and tell him. Toot your own horn.
"I’d like to tell you about the time I put a winning proposal
together under a stiff deadline, since the job we’re speaking of
is also very deadline oriented." That doesn’t mean talk
non-stop, but it does mean don’t sit there and be uncomfortably
silent for long periods of time.
Jump right in with the questions you came prepared to ask.
What are the priorities that need to be addressed immediately?
What’s a typical day like? How long has the interviewer been
with the company? Why does he stay?
Don’t spend time thinking about how you wish he’d ask you a
question. Don’t daydream or think about your grocery list.
Listen closely to what the interviewer is saying. When he
pauses for a breath or there’s a gap in the conversation,
insert one of your finest sales points that relates to what
he’s been saying. If he’s a non-stop talker, you’ll need
to be alert for the spots in which you can take control.
There may be only a few of them.
Other interviewers may ask questions, but stupid and
unimaginative ones. "I see you worked at The Snappy Scissors
Company. How did you like working there?"
("Um, I hated it. That’s why I left. Duh.") Answer with
what you learned while you were there, and remember not to
disparage any previous employers. Resist rolling your eyes
if they go through your entire resume this way or if you’re
asked a Barbara Walters question: "If you were a tree, what
type of tree would you be?"
Sometimes getting a bit of movement in helps. Ask for a tour
of the building or offices. A tour provides focal points for
questions and an opportunity for words related to why you’re
there. Ask about the decision making time frame and if there
are any other steps involved.
If you’re left without a clue as to how it went, or you rarely
had an opportunity to open your mouth, ask if you can set up an
interview with any others in the department or your
interviewer’s boss or other decision makers in the company.
Perhaps they’ll be a better interviewer!
Be patient with these inept people. Smile, and maintain
enthusiasm. Whatever their interviewing skills - or lack
thereof -- it’s possible they’ve had very limited interviewing
experience. Speaking up and taking control of the interview
may be the only thing that not only gives you the information
you need, but saves the interview from being a total bomb.
They may be a bad interviewer, but they’re the ones that make
the hiring decision. You can’t make a choice to accept an
offer if you haven’t been given that choice.
_____________________________
Judi Perkins has been a search consultant for 25 years in both
the contingency and retained market, with a short stint in the
temporary and local permanent placement markets. She has owned
her own firm and successfully assisted numerous repeat clients
in hiring all levels of management. She is a Career Expert and
Forum Moderator with www.CareerCube.net. To sign up
for her newsletter and learn thousands of powerful concepts to
find your perfect job go to www.findtheperfectjob.com.
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Creating an Excellent Resume: Ten Tips You Must Know
By Carla Vaughan
You have to create an excellent resume if you want to get a
great job. There are so many job candidates vying for the same
position that you want. You have to ensure your credentials
are presented to employers in a way that reveals your ability to
at least meet their expectations - and hopefully even exceed
them.
Review these awesome resume tips and make sure your resume is
the hiring manager's dream resume.
Resume Tips:
Do not think simply in terms of duties and responsibilities.
You must also demonstrate accomplishments from your job history.
Choose items from your work experience that show the employer
that you can do the job you are applying for. If your work
experience is limited, include volunteer work, school jobs,
offices you have held and extracurricular activities where
you were especially successful.
Be consistent in your use of tense-specific statements
(i.e. prepared, designed, and created).
You want a resume that is bold and stands out, but not so much
that it makes the hiring manager wary. You want to use active
language to show the employer that you are achievement-oriented.
Avoid being wordy.
The length of your resume is important. Resumes should be no
more than 2 pages long. Hiring managers do not have the time
to spend reading anything longer than that.
The overall appearance of your resume is also important. Keep
everything aligned neatly and allow some room for white space.
A hiring manager has to read a lot of resumes and their eyes
get tired, too.
Do not use wild colors, cute graphics, or odd colored paper.
Nothing will rule you out faster than not adhering to the
norms of resume writing.
Use high-quality paper. Make sure the paper you use for your
cover letter is the same paper you use for your resume.
Proofread everything, even your contact information.
If you want a hiring manager to take more than 30 seconds
to review your resume, you have to be willing to put in enough
time creating it to make it a worthwhile read. When you follow
the resume tips listed above, you will stand a much better
chance of creating a resume that gets read from top to bottom.
More importantly, you are more likely to get a call for an
interview.
Carla Vaughan, Owner/Webmaster Professional-Resume-Example.com
Carla is the owner of Professional-Resume-Example.com, a web
site devoted to assisting candidates in the job-search process.
She holds a B.S. in Business from Southern Illinois University
and has authored several books.
For more information about writing Professional Resumes, follow
this link to: www.professional-resume-example.com
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Your Career in 2007 - Get a Fresh Start
By Cecile Peterkin
As the New Year approaches, have you thought about your career
goals? What worked to years ago in planning and managing your
career will not work for your career development in the 21st
Century. Managing your career in the 21st Century requires
preparation, career goal planning and career guidance and
ensuring that your time is directed meaningfully.
Here is how to find enjoyment and continue to progress in your
career.
1. Determine if your present job is in line with who you are,
what you value, and what you are good at. Are you really doing
what you want to do? Being self-aware means you become clear
about what you stand for and what you have to offer. When you
know what you have to offer, you become more powerful and
intentional in your work. Doing a good job is no longer good
enough to guarantee your career will go well. You are your most
important asset. Self-branding provides direction and clarity
of purpose for how you work, not just what you do for a living.
2. Identify your job satisfiers and dissatisfiers. Find a way to
do more of the tasks/projects that you enjoy.
3. Identify your accomplishments.
4. Take the time to build and maintain relationship with
individuals who might impact your work. You will benefit
personally and professionally from the time you invest in such
relationships.
5. Determine and write down your vision for your professional
life. What actions do you need to take that will get you there?
Celebrate the steps you take daily to achieve your vision. You
can create the life you want! Here are some ways you can do
that:
* Keep work in perspective - remember how you left work on time
in the summer?
* Manage your stress - identify what causes you stress and how
it affects you.
* Take time out - close your door (if you have one), call
forward your phone, turn off your e-mail, take a walk. Use this
time "during your work day" to prepare for a big meeting, a
presentation or work on a project.
* Delegate - are you spending too much time on the
administrative process of your job and not utilizing your skills
to benefit your long-term goals and your company's goals?
* Work/Play Balance - what did you enjoy doing during the summer
that you want to continue (going to the movies, playing tennis,
volunteering, spending time with your kids, seeing friends,
etc.)? Put it on your schedule.
6. Be Bold! Don’t be afraid to take on some responsibilities in
positions above you. Aim to always exceed expectations.
7. Manage your own time. Set boundaries. Learn to say "no" to
non-essential use of your time.
8. Look for way to do things better, and more efficiently.
Change a routine task - develop a new process. Instead of
handling your e-mails as you get them, set aside specific times
during the day to respond.
9. Be great at what you do. The knowledge and skill that
create success in your current job will position you for your
next move.
10. Be aware of roadblocks that can limit your potential to
move upward.
11. Take on projects that will most likely benefit you.
12. Have passion for what you are doing and working toward.
You will automatically put more effort into it. If you are not
feeling passionate about your work ask yourself: is what you
'should’ be doing interfering with what you want to be doing?
Remember! Your career must contribute to your life, not the
other way around!
Copyright 2006, Cecile Peterkin. All rights reserved.
Cecile Peterkin is a Certified Career, Life Coach and Speaker.
She is also author of The Career Athlete - The Elite guide for
career success. Feeling stuck in middle management or in mid
career? Kick your career into high gear! Sign up for the
Career Guidance Bootcamp or the FR-EE Introduction teleclass
now at www.CosmicCoachingCentre.com/introteleclass
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DISCLAIMER & PRIVACY STATEMENT |
I accept no responsibility whatsoever for the content,
profitability or legality of any published articles or
advertisements contained within the
Career Related Tips ezine.
And, although all of the articles have been selected for
their content, the publishing of such articles within
this newsletter does NOT constitute a recommendation of
the products or services mentioned or advertised within
those articles.
Be responsible! Always do your own Due Diligence before
responding to any offer.
I respect the privacy of my readers.
I will NEVER supply or sell your personal
information to any Third Party!
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