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Archive for February, 2010

6 Lies We Tell Ourselves About Job Interviews

February 23rd, 2010

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The author of this post is Michael Neece, CEO of InterviewMastery.com

I present frequently to groups large (200+) and small on job interview skills, and I am constantly amazed at the harmful lies people tell themselves about job interviews.

Few will argue about the importance of having a great resume; after all, it is the resume that generates job interviews. But nearly all job seekers minimize the importance of their own job interview skills. Minimizing the importance of interview skills reduces the probability of getting the job offer because it is only through an exceptional job interview performance that you’ll get hired.

During a recession, the average applicant will interview for 17 different opportunities before he/she gets one job offer. When job openings are plentiful and candidates are in high demand, the ratio drops to 6-to-1, meaning it takes only 6 interviews to get an offer during the good times. The lesson here is that without interview skills, you could waste several job opportunities before you get good enough at interviews to get an offer.

Below are six lies (assumptions) we tell ourselves about job interviews:

“I’ll do great on my job interviews because…”

1. I’m Great at My Job.

The skills required to get the job are fundamentally different from the skills required to do a job. If you have ever looked for a job you know this all too well.

2. I’m a Good Communicator

Being a good communicator is a good start, but most of our business communicating is one-on-one or in a setting where you are talking about work. During the job interview, you are often speaking with multiple interviewers and responding to thought-provoking questions about you and your talents. Convincing an interviewer of your abilities is a unique situation in the world of business communications.

3. I’ve Interviewed Hundreds of People

Being an interviewer is different from being interviewed. Just ask anyone who has been interviewed recently. I consult internationally to organizations on interviewer skills. I also present to thousands each year on job interviewing for the job seeker. While the interviewer and the interviewee are in the same room, each is playing a different role that requires different skills to be successful. It’s a bit like dancing. One person leads while the other follows. The skills to lead are very different from the talents needed to follow. When each partner does his/her part, they dance beautifully. When the job applicant has the skills, he/she facilitates a conversation and usually gets the offer.

4. I’ve Had Many Practice Interviews

Learning by trial and error can teach you a few things about effective interviewing, but it wastes a lot of great job opportunities. Besides, practicing the same unproductive job interview ritual will only make you comfortable with ineffective habits that can really hurt your career.

5. Interviewers Have Interviewing Skills

Having traveled internationally to train interviewers, I can state with certainty that over 95% of interviewers are unskilled and have had no training on effective interviewing. That is exactly why interviewers still ask totally irrelevant and bogus questions like, “Tell me about yourself,” and “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” When an interviewers asks you one of these questions, you know they are completely unskilled at interviewing.

6. The Most Qualified, Get Hired Most of the Time

Eleven years as a recruiter taught me one truth about the job market: the most qualified person rarely gets hired. The reason is that who is the most qualified is a matter of interviewer opinions, assumptions, and personal bias. Additionally, a job description is actually a collection of guesses as to what the prerequisites are for a specific job. A job description is a way for the hiring manager to say, “I want to hire someone who has already done, many times, what I want him or her to do for me.”

To secure a great job, either continue lying to yourself and go through 17 interviews to get an offer, or invest the time to learn successful job interviewing and significantly increase your odds of getting a great job sooner.

Common advice is everywhere on the Internet, but this common wisdom will only get common results. If you don’t want to invest any money in yourself, at least make a list of the interview questions you expect and those that you fear. Then ask a former colleague to mock interview you using the questions you listed. Record the mock interview using audio or video. You may be surprised at how you actually sound.Remember, the job interview is the most important moment in your job search and in your career.

While your resume may get you to the interview, it is your job interview skills that will secure the job offer. Preparation and practice make all the difference in your performance because the most qualified person rarely gets the job. The person who has the best interview wins the job offer.

Good luck on your next interview. You’re going to be awesome!

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This post was written by Michael Neece, CEO, InterviewMastery.com.

Click here for more info on Interview Mastery.

Note: The founders of MyJobReferrals have used this product in the past and it does help get you through the interview process. No one at MyJobReferrals was compensated for this endorsement.

Candidates

How To Get Hired At Any Age

February 18th, 2010

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If you’re over 30, no one should be able to guess how old you are by taking a look at your resume. It’s bad for you when a hiring manager mentally thinks of you as old. It doesn’t help you one bit. If you take pride in your wealth of experience, don’t. The hiring manager’s goal is to run a business that makes money. OLD = EXPENSIVE. Why hire an old fart when you can hire someone cheaper and younger? You’re in luck, because there’s is a formula that completely neuters being old. Here’s the secret formula for getting hired at any age…

LIKABLE + HUMBLE + MATURE = HIRE-ABLE. Look below to get in the door and blow them away with your awesomeness..

  • Step 1. You’ve heard this before; don’t put more than 5-10 years of experience on your resume. If you’re stuck on listing everything you’ve done for the last 30 years, get over it. You can compromise if you really, really have to by going up to 15 years back, but that’s really pushing it.
  • Step 2. Take the dates off your education. Also, if your school has changed it’s name, use the new name instead of the old one. I graduated from DeVry Institute of Technology, and the school changed its name to DeVry University, and I list DeVry University on my resume.
  • Step 3. Once you’ve got the interview, be likable, humble, and mature. Smile, give short and concise answers to stupid interview questions, and don’t be ornery. Carry yourself with professionalism, poise, and maturity. Don’t brag about exploits, but rather reference relevant experiences. Your maturity is your best weapon, because most companies rarely find well adjusted applicants at any age. If you execute well, your hiring manager will go from thinking “too expensive or grumpy” to “worth every frikkin’ penny”.
  • Step 4. Stay in the game. Young people struggle to find work to, and you’ll likely need to interview many times before you find a job that’s a good fit. Don’t take rejection personally, because it’s going to happen more often than not

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This post was written by guest blogger Michael Pope, a recruiter from the San Francisco Bay Area. To read more of his insights visit him at the Captain Recruiter Blog.

Candidates

Why Job Boards No Longer Work

February 9th, 2010

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Using job boards can be frustrating. There’s no way to tell whether the results are legitimate (i.e. actually looking to hire) or if your application will ever be viewed by anyone after it is submitted.

The biggest problem with Job Boards is the integrity of the data shown on the job board. (Or more accurately, the lack thereof). Positions are often posted and left up on the boards indefinitely regardless of whether the position is filled or not. This causes a lot of ‘Red Herring” posts where it appears a company is looking for applicants, but there are no openings actually available or looking to hire.

Another major reason for never hearing back is that position is not really open and the recruiting department is simply collecting resumes to find out who is out there. This is similar to the prior issue but is slightly more devious as these postings are put up without any intent of ever hiring someone. The objective is to merely collect resumes and store them for later when they might be needed. This practice is borderline unethical and does nothing to build the brand or create goodwill among potential applicants.

Lastly, applications come to a dead end because the job poster is inefficient and lacks good processes and discipline in dealing with candidate flow. Many online applications are routed to an email account or inbox where they are never reviewed. Job posters may have every intention of reviewing incoming applications, but do not.

All this leads to loss of faith in the system and eventually people stop using it.

What is needed? – An environment where the noise is cut down and all parties understand the message and abide by those rules.

MyJobReferrals works to eliminate the games by focusing on a few simple things:

  1. The job poster views your application – It’s ironic that this should need to be listed, but it’s assumed by many to occur when it doesn’t always happen. (And assuming only makes an *ss out of you and me). On this site we track each application and note if the job poster doesn’t review the application. If too many applications are not reviewed, the job posting account is closed, its existing job posts are removed, and they are not allowed to post again. We think of it as enforcing common courtesy.
  2. The job poster is looking to hire NOW. Again, it somewhat sad that this needs to be listed, but we give the job poster a week to review each applicant to determine whether they are going to pursue the candidate or not. This is designed to keep the process moving along to the point where the hiring source contacts the applicant. Since the job poster can only contact the applicant if they pay to do so, harvesting or collecting of resumes is not a realistic option.
  3. Applicants will hear back from the job poster. Job posters on this site agree to review applications within a week of submission and let the applicants know (Either way: Yes or No) whether they’re going to be considered for the position. The answer might not always be what is hoped for but at least someone took the time to view the application and took the time to let you know you’re in or to provide closure.

Simply put, job boards are past their prime. The job board was designed to simply regurgitate whatever job listings it has that match the user’s search parameters. Technology and user acceptance/expectations have evolved to the point where better options have become available. MyJobReferrals.com is the future of hiring.

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MyJobReferrals.com is an online referral system enabling individuals to refer qualified candidates for open positions and receive a finder fee if their candidate is either viewed or hired. © My Job Referrals, LLC

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