When you’re in the midst of a job hunt, you never really know what will make the difference between being hired and coming in second place. When there are many qualified candidates, employers often rely on subtle, nuanced reasons to choose one candidate over another. Maybe one applicant seemed to have strong observational skills or one candidate seemed a better fit for the team than another. [Read more…] about How remembering names can help your job hunting prospects
Why you’re not getting the job
Why aren’t you getting the job?
It’s one of the most difficult and frustrating questions to face. Job seekers usually don’t receive feedback from hiring managers or interviewers, let alone hear why their resume may not have been selected for an interview. Instead, they are left to wonder if there is something wrong with them.
I don’t advise job seekers rely too much on the old stand-by reasons why they didn’t get the job: ageism (they want a 25-year old, and I’m 45), the economy is so bad/no one is getting hired (even if they are). There are no jobs in your town, and it would be impossible to sell the house right now. Your situation is unique — you took time off to care for an elderly parent, you want to return to paid work after retiring…The list goes on and on. There are plenty of “reasons” you can identify to explain away why you aren’t getting the job.
No matter what, though, in my experience, it usually comes back to several factors, and these factors are always in the job seeker’s control (unlike the items in the paragraph above, which are more difficult (although not impossible) for the job seeker to address).
– Your search itself — are you looking for a job or a company?
Even if you are getting interviews, it is possible you’re not connecting with the types of opportunities looking for someone like you. If you switch the way you are conducting your search, and instead of focusing on looking for job announcements, you look for companies with problems you know you can solve, you may have much more success.
Searching for a company instead of a job puts much more control in the job seeker’s hands. It can be very empowering to realize you can learn about an organization (via traditional and online research as well as networking) and, instead of trying to apply for a narrowly defined job, you can work on meeting people in the company and getting to know more about the organization. The goal? To be the “go to” person for the job before they even have posted a job. (Maybe before they even know they need to hire someone.)
– Your networking — and social networking
If your network isn’t working, think about making a change. Are you running around, telling everyone you know you need a job, and asking for their help? They probably have no idea how to help you. Instead, focus on letting everyone know about your expertise, take the focus off of the job. Explain what companies, industries or fields you are researching and ask if your contacts know anyone in those companies. However, try to remember not to make your job hunt the key factor when you meet with people. Think about projecting your expertise and leaving people with the impression that you are an expert in your field.
While social media won’t get you an interview, having a complete profile on LinkedIn and engaging on platforms such as Twitter can help you expand your network, which helps you improve your chances to land interviews.
– How you are applying
When you do apply for jobs, make sure your materials make it obvious that you’re well qualified and can do the job. If you are applying for a marketing job, make sure the entire resume isn’t about your sales accomplishments. You don’t want to confuse the reader — your materials should address their needs. Target your resume, online profiles, cover letter and all of your materials to their needs.
– Preparation for the interview
Prepare for an interview, even before you have one scheduled. How often will an employer expect you to be available “tomorrow” or the next day to discuss the job? Make sure you’re prepared to explain why you are qualified and why they should hire you. You’ll also need to know as much as possible about the company (which won’t be a problem if you’ve been looking for a company instead of a job!) Have stories to describe working with teams, leading, having problems with other people, overcoming difficult situations and a time when you came up against an obstacle. Be able to describe your successes and accomplishments and identify some weaknesses.
Have questions for the employer. These should be questions you cannot find answered elsewhere. It makes all the difference in an interview to sound well-prepared and interested in the job. Less prepared candidates will not make the cut in this competitive market.
– How you follow up
If you interview with six people, do you go the extra mile and send different, targeted thank you notes to each person? Or, are you emailing out the same messages, copied and pasted from one to the next? (Are you even sure you changed out the names correctly?) Making the extra effort to address each interviewer and mention what you discussed or clarify something you may have forgotten to mention can make a big difference when employers are trying to find evidence that you really are the type of candidate who will go above and beyond the call of duty.
Think about your follow up materials. How could you improve them to try to solidify your chance at the job?
Take a look at some of my other ideas on my U.S. News & World Report blog about this topic.
photo by Ciccio Pizzettaro
How to use the holidays to network for your job hunt
Another holiday weekend, another opportunity to meet someone you never thought could help you with your job hunt! Be sure to take advantage of unexpected opportunities via in-person networking when you are eating hot dogs and watching fireworks. You never know what you could learn by chatting with a friend of a friend of a friend. 
Don’t put on your “I’m a job seeker” hat, but do think about ways to introduce yourself that make it clear what you offer and how you can solve problems for your targeted employer. Think about how you can pitch what you offer, not just what you WANT. Think about your value proposition — what you offer. Think about telling your story. Some preparation in advance is helpful — so prepare!
I wrote an ebook to help job seekers approach holiday opportunities. It’s free! Click here to subscribe and receive a free ebook.
Learn how I can help you navigate your job hunt.
photo by Rampant.Gaffer
How to interview and illustrate skills that are a reach
What are the skills you need to demonstrate when you apply for jobs? It’s usually not very difficult to identify what employers are looking for; their 3000-word, in-depth job descriptions don’t leave much to the imagination. Many firms also post videos, have Facebook sites and Twitter feeds touting their organizations and why you might want to work there.
Skip these resources at your own peril — they are telling you exactly what you need to know to be a strong candidate.
But, what if most everything on the job description is a great match for your skills, but they want one or two skills or accomplishments you don’t really have a lot to say about? A good example? Leadership skills.
So many jobs are looking for people with leadership skills. You know you need to address how you are a great leader in the interview, but, truth be told — you haven’t had a lot of opportunities to lead. Maybe you’re an entry-level candidate or you’re trying to move into a leadership position. However, as far as specific stories about how you led a team to greatness, you don’t really have it.
Some things to consider:
It’s acceptable (and expected) to share non-work related leadership stories if your job isn’t very leadership focused. Volunteer work is very useful for this. Maybe you led a team and raised a lot of money for a cause. Or, you galvanized a lot of other volunteers and accomplished a big goal. Your leadership stories do not need to focus entirely on your paid work experiences.
That said, it does help to be able to work in information about how you demonstrated leadership at work. Focus on what skills are useful to have as a leader…Break down the topic of “leadership” and see if you can identify some matches between what you’ve exhibited on the job and your career goals. (Note: remember, you can break down the topic for any skill you want to illustrate.)
For example a leader:
- Shows (and takes) initiative — enthusiastically
- Takes responsibility for his or her actions
- Has strong communication skills
- Can think on his or her feet and make decisions
- Is able to convince others of a viewpoint or plan — and inspires them to cooperate
- Demonstrates dedication and confidence
- Is comfortable with a certain amount of ambiguity
- Is focused on the best possible ways to get the job done
- Thinks analytically and focuses on the task at hand
- Sees the bigger picture and makes suggestions to avoid obstacles
- Hones strong relationships
- Shows good judgement
- Is imaginative and innovative
Consider addressing a question about leadership like this:
When I think of the best leaders, they demonstrate dedication and confidence, can think ahead and make good decisions and have strong relationships with their teammates. (Then, tell a story illustrating a time when you used those three skills.)
Framing the definition of “leadership” and providing a story showing how and when you used those characteristics will help you answer a question that might otherwise have stymied you — if you were thinking of a very traditional example of you “leading” a group or a team, but you have not done that on the job.
What suggestions do you have to answer interview questions that might otherwise really stump you?
Resources for this list:
An article by Barbara White, who has over twenty years experience in leadership. She is President of Beyond Better Development, which specializes in motivation and training in interpersonal skills.
photo by Leo Reynolds
How to be “Great on the Job,” a review
Communication — and communicating well, in business and in all circumstances — is key for career success. It’s not always easy to know what to say, and it certainly isn’t always obvious how to say it. Jodi Glickman’s new book, Great On the Job, comes to the rescue. Known as a strong, strategic communicator with many successful examples to back up her words, Jodi, who’s landed jobs due to her interviewing skills, even though she’s been told she was the “least qualified” of all the candidates, outlines how to communicate well for professional success.
Jodi teaches readers how to re-think the basics. (When’s the last time you re-evaluated how you introduce yourself on a phone call? Do you ask the person if it is a good time to talk?) to more advanced communication skills, including how to manage in a crisis, communicate about a missed deadline or how to recover when you aren’t prepared for a presentation).
She focuses on four concepts:
Generosity – thinking about the other person before you consider your own needs and focusing on how to make that person’s life better.
Initiative – being proactive without creating work for others, thus moving your career forward by “engaging in meaningful and productive work that contributes to the greater good” (p. xxiii).
Forward Momentum – creating, nurturing and sustaining personal relationships, even when you have no specific “reason” in mind, other than to just keep in touch.
Transparency – being honest when you mess something up and admitting when you don’t know something.
In easy-to-follow case studies, she describes scenarios and outlines exactly how to respond in each situation.
As a bonus, the book includes details about how to sell yourself. I loved the section, “Different Person, Different Pitch,” where Jodi outlines how important it is to identify which of your stories will resonate with your audience members. She explains, “Just as you probably have multiple online profiles — Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter — you should also understand that different situations warrant different pitches of stories.” She walks you through how to focus on determining what elements of your story to develop and use later.
To top it off, there’s a “cheat sheet” section at the end, outlining advice from each of the sections and reminding the reader of the salient points in each chapter. What a great resource for anyone reading the book and a way to be sure it’s easy to implement Jodi’s advice!
I highly recommend picking up a copy of Great on the Job to learn “what to say, how to say it — the secrets of getting ahead.”
Visit Jodi’s site to learn how to purchase a copy from your favorite bookseller.