Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

A Comedy of Errors and the Job Hunt

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photo by GotMeAMuse

Sometimes, even the best laid plans don’t go as planned…

Case in point, a new client of mine whose job search is in full swing. His resume is top-notch, cover letters targeted and linkedin profile updated. He has started being invited for a lot of interviews, which is very exciting (for him and for me!)

Having worked in one place for his entire (lengthy) career, the interview is a stress point, and we have discussed and prepared to face this very important bridge between the opportunity for a job and actually getting a job!

He knows what to do to prepare. Sometimes it just doesn’t go as planned. For example, a recent interview:

  • The shirt he was planning to wear didn’t fit. Luckily, he had an extra one handy.
  • His well-thought out portfolio was waiting on the kitchen table. Unfortunately, he forgot it there and only realized it when he reached his interview destination.
  • His GPS didn’t have the company’s address in its system, so locating the interview spot was a bit tricky.
  • Sitting down for the interview, his phone rang. Forgetting the cardinal rule about not answering your phone during an interview, he answered it. Who was calling? A very high-profile recruiting firm asking him to schedule an interview!

There are several lessons to be learned from this story, but the most important lesson is the one I haven’t shared with you – this client’s reaction to the whole mess:

I was not angry with myself…Have a giggle with me not at me, all I can see is the funny side of what happened today.

You can’t buy a great attitude like that! Next time, he’ll triple-check that he has his portfolio and he’ll NEVER answer his phone in an interview. All of these are lessons that are easily learned. The ability to see the humor in a comedy of errors isn’t something you can teach. It’s a “soft” skill that will serve him well in his job hunt and as an employee for the lucky employer who hires him!

Further proving this client is a true math guy – he estimates the statistical probablility of all of these things happening at once: 10 trillion to one. So, don’t worry too much that your interview experience will be similar!

Keppie Careers can help you navigate all the ups and downs of your job search: www.keppiecareers.com.

Smooth Sailing for Your Job Hunt: Heat Up Your Interview Skills

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Sailing on the Sun

Photo by Auer1816

Seeking smooth sailing for your interviews?

Logically, once you have a hot resume and network for success, it’s key to focus on interviewing skills to win the job. A summary for those hoping to heat up their job search for the summer season:

Prepare for your interview. Decide how to connect your skills to the employer’s needs.

Avoid typical interviewing blunders and turn your interviewer into a fan!

Know how to answer the most important underlying interview questions.

Have structured replies to behavioral interview questions.

Don’t forget to follow up your interviews with a timely thank you note.

Know what to wear. Know what NOT to wear…

Don’t miss interview red flags. Don’t get involved in a bad situation if you can help it!

Keppie Careers will conduct mock interviews and help you prepare to blow your interviewer away with clear, concise and correct answers to important interview questions! www.keppiecareers.com

The Most Important Interview Questions

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Photo by Alexander Drachman

What’s the question that every interview includes? It may be phrased in a number of ways, but it is the underlying question in every single interview query:

“Why should we hire you?”

After all, interviewers want you to sell yourself. It’s not up to them to figure out if you are a good match; it is up to you to draw the lines, connect the dots between your skills and their needs. If you don’t know why they should hire you, you certainly won’t be able to convince anyone else!

What’s the other most important interview question?

“Tell me about yourself.”

Even if you are an “experienced” or “seasoned” professional – do NOT consider this question an opportunity to launch into your life story. If you can’t zero in on a few brief autobiographical details and connect them to the position, you will be wasting your time and the interviewer’s patience.

So, how should you prepare
to address these questions?

Refer to your elevator pitch. Your pitch, which should contain information about you and your skills (customizible to individual targets) will focus on what problem you can help solve, include specifics about your abilities and accomplishments and demonstrate your expertise, interest and enthusiasm for their organization. Of course, all of these will be focused on the organization’s needs.

Your answers should NOT focus on what they can do for you – make sure you demonstrate how you can impact them in a positive way.

I invite you to refer to some of my earlier blogs for more advice about how to respond to interview questions to GET the job:

5 Tips to Turn Your Interviewer Into A Fan
Behavioral Interview: Have STAR Stories to Share

Keppie Careers will help you figure out why the interviewer should hire you – and give you the tools and information to make sure that you can do it! Do you need a resume? A mock interview? Keppie Careers can help: www.keppiecareers.com.

5 Tips To Turn Your Interviewer Into a Fan

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Have you been thinking of interviews as an opportunity to be grilled with questions like “What’s your weakness?” and NOT focusing on them as chances to make a fan of your interviewer?  Today’s blog aims to change your interview mindset.  Research shows that a positive mindset is important in job hunting, so starting with what you can control is a good first step.

5 Tips to Turn Your
Interviewer into a Fan

1. Convince yourself that the interviewer really WANTS to hire you.
The fact is, it is tough to hire a quality employee. I can say from experience that your interviewer hopes that you WOW him or her with your answers and give fabulous reasons to hire you.  In essence, the interviewer is rooting for you!

2. Know what to say.
Prepare in advance.  A lot.  No, you don’t have to memorize answers to 100 interview questions, but be sure that you spend time thinking and practicing what you will say in response to topics that will come up:

  • Think of your key points (as they relate to how you fit into the job).  These points are your message.  They answer the question:  Why should we hire you?
  • Create several stories that illustrate your points and describe how you are able to fill the organization’s needs.  Stories should demonstrate successes, a time you overcame obstacles and examples of how you interact with colleagues and employers. Use the STAR technique to describe these situations.
  • Incorporate the fact that you’ve conducted research on the organization, their goals, values, accomplishments and needs in your answers.  Your interviewer will be happy to know that you spent some time on the organization’s website or reading up on them.  It’s flattering to know that you’re interested enough in the job to prepare.  Interviewers love prepared candidates.

3. Listen carefully and answer the question.
You won’t believe how many candidates reply to a direct question without actually answering it.  It can be a little painful for the interviewer.  Ask for clarification if necessary, even think for a few seconds before replying.  (Not too many seconds, though.)  If you don’t answer the question, you’ll lose your fan.

4. Don’t keep talking and talking (and talking)…
There is no quicker way to lose your audience than by droning on and on before you get to the point.  If it doesn’t seem that you’re getting to the point, you will lose your audience quickly.  Even if you do (eventually) answer the question, your interviewer will be busy making mental notes about what to pick up for dinner by the time you get to the point.  Be succinct.  Your interviewer will love it!

5. Follow Up
Send a thank you note.  It matters.

If you follow these tips, you’ll increase the likelihood of keeping a fan on the other side of the interview table.  That fan is much more likely to become a colleague if they like you as much when you leave the room as they did when they invited you to interview!  It’s in your hands – interview to seal the deal and GET THE JOB!

Interviewing: What’s Your Weakness?

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Photo by Eszter

What’s Your Weakness?

The dreaded interview question. What should you say? Do you tell them that you’re a perfectionist? What if they ask “Why is that a weakness?” Then, if you’re nervous, you may be compelled to go on and on about the time you were in charge of a project, but couldn’t let it go because you were so involved in the details…It went way over budget and was late because you couldn’t put it to bed. A good weakness to describe for an interview? Not so much.

There are several keys to this question.

  1. You should be prepared to answer it. If you’re caught off-guard, you just look ill-prepared.
  2. You need to come up with a weakness that has NOTHING to do with the job.
  3. You must demonstrate how you are striving to improve your skill in the “weak” area.

For example, a computer programmer whose job it is to sit at a computer and work magic might say:

“I have to admit that I am a bit nervous speaking in front of very large crowds. However, I’m considering joining Toastmaster’s and I’ve been doing some reading about how to be better at public speaking, as it is a skill I’d like to practice and improve.”

Why is this a great answer in this case?

  • Public speaking in front of very large crowds is not part of this applicant’s potential work duties.
  • Most people are nervous speaking in front of very large crowds, so even if speaking may ever unexpectedly come up in this job, it wouldn’t be unusual to have this weakness.

If the job involved frequent presentations, this would not be a good choice for a weakness.

So, the trick to this question:

  • Be prepared to answer it.
  • Describe that you are trying to improve in the “weak” area.
  • Whatever you do, don’t expand on the weakness or give more information than necessary. Be brief and to the point.

Or, you can give an answer my former boss mentioned to me…(Use only with careful discretion):

What’s your greatest weakness?

Look them straight in the eye, smile and say, “Chocolate.”

Photo by Eszter