Is Fear a Part of Your Professional Life?

During my work with job seekers or those contemplating a job/career change, I evaluate the amount of fear that drives—or paralyzes—my clients. To some extent, all of them exhibit fear originated by some threat—or so they perceive. For a person out of a job, that feeling is not only a perception but also, unfortunately, a reality. The normal human body has a built-in mechanism to protect itself from such an emotion by either confronting it or running away from it. It’s also known as the fight-or-flight response. In more-extreme situations, such fear leads to anxiety, but I’ll let a mental-health professional explain that one.

Conversely, a few clients indeed become energized by fear resulting from lack of employment. Their adrenaline levels rise sharply, and they’re ready to attack. They see opportunities coming out of this employment change, and nothing stops them from getting to their next assignment. They exhibit a go-getter mentality and thrive on even small incremental successes. However, the majority of those I see react to their unknown futures by clamming up and thus thinking they’re protecting themselves during this vulnerable stage of their life. I vividly remember my own situation during a transition. My entire attitude could have been described as, “The answer is no, so what’s your question?” It’s a shame that our emotions and our logic are not always congruent.

In working with people who at times seem paralyzed due to their new, jobless reality, I try to clearly understand what’s behind the obvious fact that they don’t have jobs. That understanding is typically complex and intertwined with other, tangled elements. For example, embarrassment vis-à-vis family and friends, or self-humiliation as a parent unable to financially support a child who wants and deserves a college education, or, perhaps, aggravation of an already bad spousal relationship due to the inability to contribute to basic family finances for an extended period. And the list can go on and on.

In such a situation, my solution is to attempt to provide clients with (1) job search tools, (2) exposure to and familiarity with the job search process, (3) ample amounts of mock interviewing that increase clients’ knowledge and experience, and above all, (4) listening as they talk about their pain, and (5) an understanding of all they’re going through. Another tactic that’s proved successful is helping clients learn to divert their attention to something positive. For example, clients can learn to network effectively in order to establish new relationships with people who may be able to help them and whom in turn they can help. Clients can also learn to discuss volunteering opportunities that not only could lead to a job but in the interim could help job seekers mingle with other people. And, more often than not, volunteers could hear again the words “Thanks for a job well done”—a sentiment that for a while has probably been absent from their lives.

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So Tell Me, What Are Your Weaknesses?

This is one of the most dreaded interview questions, but if you understand the reason interviewers ask it and what they’re looking to uncover, you’ll see that you can certainly prepare for it.

The question about your weaknesses comes fairly soon after the interview begins and typically after such a question as, What are your accomplishments? or What are your strengths? Those two questions—if delivered correctly—let you sell yourself. They’re positive questions. Then—to contrast them—comes the awkward question about weaknesses. This question is not easy for the interviewer to ask, and it’s even more difficult for most people to answer.

So, what is the interviewer after? He wants to test several things: at face value, he hopes you won’t be so very honest as to provide a blatantly and hugely negative weakness that cancels your candidacy. An example would be an accountant who admits not liking working with numbers. The interviewer’s also going to weigh whether your answer could have a potential consequence in the future. You’ll also be watched carefully to determine whether the words you say and the communication your body language conveys are aligned or are contradictory.

Above all, the interviewer wants to see whether you present as an honest individual with a capability for healthy reasoning. This is probably the most important aspect of all. The reason is that a dishonest person or a person who does not exercise good judgment puts the hiring manager in danger. And that could have significant consequences not only for the candidate but also for the hiring manager, the hiring manager’s boss, and probably several others in the chain of command—all the way to the CEO, depending on the severity of the issue.

Two concrete examples come to mind. The first incident happened in 2008, when a French trader at major bank Société Général caused a loss of some $7 billion through an allegedly unauthorized trade. The trader was tried in court, but beyond that, several of his supervisors got dragged into the mess as well. The other example—which has just started unfolding through the media—is the alleged sexual misconduct of a coach at Penn State University. The issue caused the firing of a very well-respected and long-tenured university president; the school’s head coach, Joe Paterno, who had been revered for decades; and several other senior executives at the school.

So, the question remains: What is a good answer? Simply put, any answer that conveys honesty and healthy reasoning is a good answer. But to make your response even better, I suggest that between hearing the question and giving your answer, you pause for three to five seconds, take your eye away from the interviewer in order to pretend that you’re thinking of a reply, and then look the interviewer in the eyes because that kind of body language projects honesty. Then you should recount an incident that happened sometime in the past and that you’ve had a chance to correct since. Then add that moreover, you’re now so good at whatever the surmounted weakness was, that others in your organization seek out your advice on this subject. Turn lemon into lemonade.

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How to Choose a Career Coach

I am a practicing career coach, and at every year-end, I summarize my annual accomplishments as measured by how many people I helped and what percentage of them landed. In practicing Six Sigma principles in my career coaching, one of the ones I especially take to heart is CIP, which stands for Continuous Improvement Process. That means, I keep asking myself what I could do better for my clients in the future.

Another of the principles is measurement of performance, and in this case, my own personal performance. While doing that I’m checking out my competition to see whether my fees are aligned with those of others in the same field. This is always an amazing exercise that constantly keeps me wondering. Basically, I, too, do what many people do when searching for help with their careers: seek assistance from a coach (1) to improve a résumé, (2) to acquire the skills needed for interview preparation, or (3) to get general career guidance. I simply Google some terms such as career coaching and add a state or city. Such searches typically result in several similar service providers.

And now the real fun—and frustration—start. If I were a job seeker who landed on a career coach’s Web site, naturally I would like to get some basic impressions and information. After all, how else could I make a judgment? The problem is that most Web sites are inferior and lacking. Many of them use stock photos of, say, a handshake or some attractive young people. I would rather see a picture of the person I may want to hire and work with.

Another major problem I see is that many if not most of the Web sites are overwhelming: the landing page is confusing and uninviting because it has way too much information and offers way too many options. Job seekers want simplicity, order, and guidance, yet typically, they encounter inordinate amounts of information. I think this is a classic case where simplicity is attractive and where less is more. Career coaches help job seekers communicate eloquently and concisely, But the evidence via most of such Web sites proves the contrary. I speak with many of my counterparts and business friends. Most of them admit that their Web sites are not producing as they expected.

So what should a job seeker look for when searching for a career coach? Above all, nothing beats personal recommendations. So, testimonials and LinkedIn recommendations are essential. But of course, career coaches would not post less-than-spectacular testimonials. Next, the Web site should be clear, not confusing, and easy to get answers from regarding the services provided, the ways the services would benefit a job seeker, how to contact the service provider directly by phone, where the service provider is operating from, and the fees for each type of service. Are there any contracts to be signed? any up-front fees to be paid? any short- or long-term commitments to be signed. These are some of the basic and elementary pieces of information a job seeker needs before making a decision.

For those of you who are job seekers or are contemplating making a job change, I suggest you gather as much competitive information as you can, definitely talk with your potential career coach before making your first appointment in order to make sure there’s good chemistry between the two of you. Make sure you’ll be getting what you need and that the fees are competitive. Don’t go by price alone, because then you may end up with the proverbial “You get what you pay for.” Don’t be too impressed with academic degrees, courses, and certificates. I myself once used a coach who had two master’s degrees, had taken many relevant courses, and displayed wallpaper-like posts of certificates. Regrettably, the individual’s services turned out to be worthless yet very costly! Do your homework. Make your decision. And make sure you feel good about it.

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Are you just looking for a job, or do you have a campaign going?

No one needs to reiterate that today’s is a difficult job market that is unprecedented in recent times or that regrettably, many people are looking for jobs for extended amounts of time—sometimes for years! As a career coach, I often work with such people, and I notice that they have things in common: None of them have a well-thought-out career management plan. None of them have a thorough and well-integrated career search campaign. Most are just looking for a job. When I try to diagnose where the problem is, I find universally that (1) they continue practicing what worked for them in the past; (2) they follow what other job seekers have suggested to them; (3) most of them are simply lost because of not knowing what to do next and are borderline depressed due to their repeated failures to generate positive activity; and (4) they do not have a plan containing a series of certain specific activities that are necessary for them to accomplish in order to reach the goal.

If interested, you can find such a road map of activities on my Web site, www.landingexpert.com. Look first under Resources and then look for the chart in Landing Expert Tools.

This article cannot cover all of the information I recently presented to a group of job seekers for over an hour, but here is the essence of it. The four elements of a successful job search process are:

• The creation of a marketing plan
• The preparation of job search tools
• The physical marketing of oneself
• A continuous plan for improving the process

While creating the marketing plan, you should first learn about yourself. Second, you should assess your marketable skills. Next, you should learn the ways of finding a job in today’s marketplace. And last, you should map out what you want to do. This is the stage in which to engage a career coach. Hiring a career coach will speed up the process, and you’ll learn from a pro, get unbiased feedback, will be kept on track, and acquire the skills for negotiating an equitable compensation plan.

The next major campaign objective is to have an excellent résumé. Good and very good résumés get failing grades in today’s economy because plenty of excellent résumés are available. I strongly suggest using a recommended professional résumé writer. While such professionals are not cheap, an excellent one is worth every penny. Professional résumé writers provide your key for unlocking the door to an interview. Otherwise, you’ll just be praying to be called in, and that can take a long time. Once your résumé is completed, you need to develop your little vignettes and success stories. At this point, you’ll need to learn how to work with a select group of recruiters, how to use job boards, and how to establish a system for keeping track of all of your activities via a searchable form; Excel works well for this.

The difficult part starts now. You need to market yourself by associating with job search networking groups. Those who live within a distance of, say, a hundred miles from New York, can profit from the comprehensive list of job search networking groups found on the landing page at www.landingexpert.com. Self-marketing includes good collaterals such as strong cover letters, a persuasive elevator speech, a detailed LinkedIn profile, and effective use of LinkedIn. Joining Yahoo! groups and LinkedIn groups could prove helpful as well. And last, you need to identify your target companies and go after them ferociously.

Now comes the last step, which is to continue improving the process. This includes embellishing your list of success stories and frequently practicing mock interviewing.

As you can see, this is a rigorous and demanding career campaign plan. To be good at it, you have to devote at the very least 40 hours a week; and that doesn’t include time spent commuting to meetings. By following this plan, you’ll get not only the satisfaction of accomplishment but also the distinct possibility of favorable results. Good luck to you!

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Thinking of Getting a Job?

The title of this article applies both to those who already have jobs and to others who vie for jobs. So, let’s think first about what it takes to hold on to a job versus getting a new one. At least three conditions must be met for holding on to a job: (1) You must have the skills. (2) You must get along with the boss. (3) You must get positive peer and customer reviews. For getting a new job: (1) Your résumé must intrigue the reader for further exploration. (2) Your résumé must make a strong first impression. (3) Your résumé must exude confidence. (4) You must possess excellent interviewing skills. Which is harder nowadays: holding on to a job or getting a new job? The answer is, both are equally hard.

Why is it so important to interview well? The answer is that interviewing is a competitive art. Indeed, it has an acting component that requires your beating the competition by convincing the interviewer you’re the ideal candidate. It’s a fact that interviewers are biased, subjective, and influenced by preconceived ideas. It’s also known that nice guys finish last. One person is getting the job, and all the rest are losers.

Many job candidates feel nervous during interviews. Nervousness is caused by focusing on self. Once the candidate focuses on the other party, nervousness disappears! Practice mock interviewing till you’re confident about both content and delivery. It would be very helpful to know in advance what’s important to the interviewer. Surveys show that for hiring managers, the most important thing is to ensure that a candidate would fit well into the corporate culture. Next, the interviewer wants to see a candidate’s passion and excitement for the opportunity. It’s important to have superior oral communication skills and other communication skills such as body language, steady eye contact, and assertiveness. A candidate should be well groomed and in proper attire. During the interview, a candidate should be able to convey being a good match for the job description, to express having the required technical skills, and to show thorough knowledge of employer.

To be successful at an interview, try thinking like the interviewer. The interviewer knows you’re there to sell yourself, but he’s not ready to buy everything you want to sell. He’s open to buying only when you relay facts or when someone else provides information about you.

There’s one question you can count on being asked: Do you have any questions for me? When prompted by this critical question, you must ask some good ones. Good questions propel you to the next stage; bad ones fail you. For instance, don’t ask questions that involve your own personal agenda. Being prompted for questions is a sign that the interviewer now has all the information wanted and needed about you. At that point, he is eager to move on. Good questions cover the favorability of your candidacy, the traits that are important for the job, and what the interviewer perceives might be difficult for a new employee in the initial period. Don’t ask questions you were supposed to previously find the answers to on your own. After the interview—based on the information you gained through answers to your own questions—you’ll be very able to present a compelling case via the composition of your thank-you letter.

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If There's No Work, What to Do Next?

Today’s weak economy has changed the psychology of hiring. During past weak economic times, companies might hire temps, and once the economy gained strength permanent hiring ensued. We have not yet seen that pattern, and there are no signs that it’s on its way. The situation has caused various and serious difficulties for most of the unemployed people—in particular, for some who usually have difficulty in making decisions of any sort. Such people have an extra burden this time around because they are sitting ducks waiting for miracles to happen. They are occupationally paralyzed.

So, as the title of this article asks, if there’s no work, what to do next? Well, there are a number of solutions. The first is to engage a professional career coach who could help sort things out by establishing a plan of action and holding the person in transition accountable, by assisting in refinement of the person’s résumé, by teaching networking and social media skills, and even by providing collaterals such as cover letters. However, not in all cases is a career coach the complete answer. Perhaps a coach’s intervention might be appropriate later on, but first, in some situations the person’s condition requires a different approach.

Certain experienced professionals with advanced academic degrees specialize in helping people better understand themselves, as well as help people find options and develop career plans. Their overarching goals are to give their clients a better sense of career options to research and consider and then to offer instruction on how to begin that research process. Then they teach clients to evaluate their options in light of their constraints. Together the two can also work on goal setting and planning when the client is struggling with those aspects of the career development process.

The assessment portion is fundamental to the process, and its value lies in (1) providing additional pieces for the career-decision-making puzzle and (2) guiding a client’s selection of optimal strategies for completing that puzzle. Sometimes the assessment process (which includes the initial interview) suggests there are important pieces to the puzzle that are not specific to an exploration of career options and that must be added to the mix before goal setting and planning can be done effectively. In those cases, the professional can suggest other options or resources before continuing.

The way I see it, the biggest problems are a false sense of hope and not realizing that one is stuck in indecision over the next step. Sometimes it takes weeks or even months before the pain becomes unbearable. By then, the person’s financial reserves may have dwindled, and spousal support may have weakened—even morphing into antagonism. Such waiting and waiting exacerbates the core issue, and solutions become more difficult to reverse and overcome.

Employers that sift through their many viable applicants prefer to go with those who are employed or have been in transition for only a relatively short time. Their thinking is that if a person’s been out of work for an extended period, there must be some problem with that person—a problem they have no time to explore. And they thus move on to the next candidate. Once the head count and budgets have been approved, good companies make decisions fast. And so should you.

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Confronting Aging and Work-Related Issues

Asked to leave or fired: it really doesn’t matter what you call it. Come Monday morning, and there’s no place to go to work. Many people face that predicament, and the first thing that comes to their mind—for some at least—is that the culprit is their age. A new and younger generation is pushing them out the door.

True or false, whichever the case may be, there are indeed a few facts behind the notion: Some longer-tenured folks exhibit less energy, lose the ability to learn, and lack the agility to deal with new technology. They resist change, relying more and more on others rather than being hands-on. Their relationship with the current, younger boss might not be what it was in past with the previous boss. And less and less are they being asked to participate and contribute in teams. In many cases, their physical appearance, clothing, and eyeglasses might be pointing to their age as continuous reminders. You as a reader know precisely whom I’m describing. And if you happen to be inching toward becoming this type of hypothetical individual, I suggest you take action now! So, what to do?

First, never give up. Keep your eyes open for other opportunities. In days gone by, working for the same company for a long time was viewed favorably. Nowadays, employers are looking for people experienced in a number of industries and who have wide varieties of experience. Keep in shape physically and mentally. Replace your wardrobe if that’s what it might take. Include physical fitness in your daily routine. And read a lot on a variety of subjects; you want people to admire you for your knowledge and expertise. Plus, nowadays there are opportunities everywhere to take a variety of free classes for enriching your knowledge of new technologies, software, and the like.

While in transition, you should volunteer not only to get out of the house but also to mingle with people, demonstrate your flexibility, and show you’re still capable of making quick decisions. Never talk about retirement. Don’t give people the idea that retirement is something you’re thinking about. Whenever you can, demonstrate your problem-solving ability; employers are always looking for problem solvers. If you have noncorporate experience in leadership, you should surface that in your communications and interactions with others.

People more advanced in age have at least two advantages over younger people: their very age and their professional experience. Make those into differentiators and turn them into assets.

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Does anybody know her?

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What the Interviewer Wants to Know about You

Interviewers have a specific function to perform. They need to go through a selection process that identifies which one of the candidates called in for interviewing is the best one. But what does best mean in this context? What are the criteria involved in making this complex evaluation? After all, people are complex too, and decoding and interpreting all the input and evaluating it through interviewers’ own prejudices and biases make this task even more compound. So, here are several general needs the interviewer is trying to satisfy via the job interview process.

·         Basics: By means of basic types of questions an interviewer wants to ensure that you have the minimum standard for using sound judgment and that you have key skills being looked for. A typical question might be, What can you tell me about yourself?

·         Broad-brush issues: Here you’re being tested for self-awareness, character, integrity, honesty, and values. In other words, you’re being tested for your fit into what the interviewer deems normal, such as via your appearance, attire, demeanor, rapport building, attitude, and behavior? A sample question might be, What are your strengths or weaknesses?

·         The next area the interviewer will want to explore is whether you have talent. That means innate ability, aptitude, flair, and capacity for achievement. A question for testing this particular trait might be, Do you see yourself as a winner? Do others?

·         The interviewer may want to test your competence by evaluating how you think and perform, the quality of your answers versus those of other applicants, and whether you exhibit growth potential. A typical question might be, What was the best decision you’ve made?

·         The interviewer might ask about your accomplishments. This isn’t a question about what you did but what you achieved. And it’s asked in order to determine whether you have a desire to plan, execute, and win; whether you have potential for significant results; and whether you have the ability to overcome challenges. Such a question might be, What would you do in the first 90 days after hire?

·         It is known that for the hiring manager, one of the most important factors is the determination of whether you’d fit into that manager’s department and the organization. That means would you adapt to the company culture, would you integrate and assimilate into a certain management style, would you be a good team member, and what your personal work style is. The hiring manager might ask a question such as, What is your management style? Or what do you know about our company?

·         And last, the interviewer wants to evaluate whether you’re an enthusiastic person? That means can you show authentic excitement about the opportunity? Do you have a fire in your belly? Do you have the passion of a winner and the ability to energize the team? A typical question might be, Why are you interested in this job?

As you can see, a job interview is identical to any competition. In this case, the person who’s best prepared to answer such questions is going to end up being the best candidate and the one who crosses the finish line first. Congratulations!

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No MBA? No Problem

Once upon a time, a high school diploma was enough to get a good executive job. Today, the quality of the MBA degree itself has become determinative. Current expectation is that a high-level manager demonstrate strong technical skills, mastery of soft skills, and extensive abilities to manage, influence, interface with, and negotiate with a wide variety of people both within and outside the company as well as—at the same time—manage a personal career. Today’s MBA programs teach things that cannot commonly be mastered on the job, such as statistics, finance, marketing, and managerial economics.

One way of differentiating between the various types of MBAs is by the kinds of programs they offer. There’s the executive MBA, or EMBA, program, which accepts experienced and accomplished managers as students. There are the top-tier MBA programs, such as those offered by Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Stanford, and the Wharton School. And there are the rest, which is not to say that some of them are not offering excellent programs, but they’re simply not considered among the well-recognized top-tier ones.

So, from the employer’s point of view, how important is an MBA? The answer is, it depends. A client of mine in the late 20s and a recent Wharton MBA graduate in marketing was offered a starting annual salary of $145,000. In that case, the hiring company considered this individual a high-potential candidate—if for nothing else but just judging by that starting salary. Other clients of mine—also top-tier MBAs with several years of experience—are struggling to find jobs. The MBA degree is more important (1) soon after graduation and (2) when the individual is seeking promotion or different employment with a current employer. Later on, what becomes important is the significance of the person’s accomplishments.

Certainly, an MBA is a positive discriminator, but those considering enrolling in an MBA program should clearly understand what it takes. Consideration should be given to reputations of school and professors, school location and size, school mission, program length, class sizes, student-faculty ratio, and, ultimately, the school’s graduates’ levels of success in terms of getting jobs both upon graduation and afterward.

Note that an MBA can also be considered a liability: First of all, by having an MBA, one automatically belongs to a different class of employees. Next, fewer jobs are available when an MBA is a prerequisite. And the impression in the eyes of employers is that job applicants with MBAs require higher pay. Despite all of those potential negatives, though, I recommend getting an advanced degree if at all possible. More often than not, it will ultimately pay handsome dividends.

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You Would Expect Executives to Know

In America, people are generally very busy—especially higher-ups—and many of them are good at what they’re doing. You might expect they’d continue being good at it even after losing their jobs—that is, in terms of finding the next assignment. But as a career coach who deals with them daily, I find that my expectations are by far not met. Many of the job seekers I coach remind me of the overused expression “deer in the headlights.” They seem to be caught off guard and can’t or don’t know how to take the next step. This despite the fact that while working, they were making ongoing major decisions all the time. It is just amazing!

Many of them react (mistakenly) to their intuition. They’re not taking into consideration, though, that the business world has changed significantly and that the competition for openings is unprecedented. Many start out with old-style résumés, and it takes them weeks if not months to realize that such résumés no longer work to get them hired the way they did in the past. Today, only outstanding résumés are generating employers’ reactions. The business connections today’s job seekers used to feel good about have fizzled out because those job seekers are no longer decision makers, and the authority and power they once wielded have disappeared with the loss of their jobs.

The American job market is changing. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that in America, 120 million employees work for 8 million employers. Lots of jobs, right? Well, 60% of all of those employers have fewer than 10 employees each. But new jobs are being created all the time: 32% are new ones, and 68% are replacement jobs for employees who died, moved, got promoted, or retired. Approximately 40% of job openings are filled by selecting from internal candidates. On top of all that, some jobs just plain fade away, while others are being newly created. Technological innovations change job demands; and skills that were very useful in the past have migrated to different sets of skills, yet people are not prepared for the situation.

For example, in the future there will be great demand for management analysts and medical secretaries, while file clerk and payroll clerk jobs will diminish in demand. In the fields of science and engineering, we will see decreased demand for mechanical and electrical engineers, while the need for network system administrators and network system analysts will grow rapidly. All of those changes will require retooling not only of employees’ and job seekers’ skills but also in the education and selection of job candidates.

Most people I talk to indicate they’re looking for jobs at large companies. The companies with 500 or more employees employ only 19% of the workforce. Better job-landing chances lie with the 26% of companies that employ 100 to 499 employees. And the best chances are at the 55% with fewer than 100 employees.

It’s clear that in today’s job market, finding a suitable job is extremely challenging. The guidance I provide for my clients is based on several principles.

• Create an outstanding résumé.
• Develop a doable and achievable job search plan.
• Network ad infinitum, since 60 to 80% of job placements result from connections.
• Practice answering interview questions with someone—preferably a professional career coach.
• Learn the tools of social media, and use them to your advantage.
• Be dedicated and relentless about the job search. There are very few miracles happening nowadays in this regard.

When all is said and done, most people will find jobs. When, where, and in what capacities still remain, unfortunately, unanswered.

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How an Informational Interview Can Lead to a Job

The real danger hovering over the heads of some people in transition is the fact that they’re headed toward a cul-de-sac and don’t even know it. More and more articles point out that the business world is changing rapidly; new jobs are being created; and some old jobs are fading away. Regrettably, the jobs being eliminated do not appear on major publications’ front pages to announce that fact. The elimination of jobs does not happen universally everywhere at the same time. The symptoms that such a thing is happening get validated via an endless job search. And that’s where the danger comes in.

For people who experience long job searches, it’s good practice to (1) keep their eyes open for opportunities for related careers that would use their transferable skills or (2) look in a new direction all together. To facilitate that, they can consider searching for new venues via informational interviews. They shouldn’t make the mistake of asking for an informational interview only as an excuse to get in while in reality looking for a position that may be open. While the objective of a candidate in a job interview is to sell himself, the primary objective of an informational interview is to explore opportunities for a change in career. Via an informational interview, one can learn about the pros and the cons of that job, find out what skills are mandatory in order to be successful, what kind of training is required, what is the typical career path and what kind of compensation ranges are customary for a debutant.

If you’re interested in having an informational interview, you should try to schedule it during the day at a mutually convenient time. Most often, you’ll be invited to the organization’s office. Make sure you’re attired properly for the occasion. And remember that this is not a job interview. Forget the suit with the white shirt and tie. Make sure from the get-go that you’re not sending the wrong message. It would look very professional if you come prepared with questions and, possibly, an agenda that you prepared ahead of time. Feel free to take notes to the extent that that’s helpful to you. It is expected that you’ll of course be courteous toward your host, so to begin with, turn off your mobile phone!

You should set a time frame for this informational interview, and when the time is up, you should prepare to leave. An informational interview should be a dialogue wherein you’re mainly listening and the other party is talking. After all, that’s the whole purpose. And of course, a nice thank-you letter following the meeting is more than appropriate: it’s a must.

An informational interview can provide a wealth of knowledge for someone who wants to migrate to a different field. And oftentimes, a host can become so impressed with the candidate that eventually such a meeting could evolve into a full-time position. Go for it. Don’t expect that someone will drop a wonderful position in your lap.

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The Anatomy of the Job Interview

There are a few basics that every person who’s preparing for or facing a job interview should know. A job interview is not an interrogation or an investigation. You are not guilty and you are not on trial. In fact, you have a great opportunity to get an exciting job. But before that, let’s understand the job of the interviewer. The interviewer’s objective is to make a selection. You’ve already been screened and preselected from many candidates because your résumé appears to document the skills necessary for success if you were hired. That’s the reason you were called in for a face-to-face interview. At this point, the interviewer determines whether you’d fit into the culture of his organization. To do that, he’s going to ask a variety of questions and will then make a decision based on a number of things. Some are objective; others are subjective. So, what are the types of questions the interviewer might ask? Here are a few examples.

• The common interview questions. There are probably 20 or 30 common questions typically asked in interviews. They’re easily found because most books or articles about job interviewing list many of them.
• The behavioral or situational questions. These questions start with “Tell me about a time when . . . ” or “What’s been your experience with such and such a situation?” Most of these questions pigeonhole you into a situation from your past, and the interviewer wants to hear how you handled it. The intent is to predict your future based on past behavior.
• The creativity questions. Yes, some interviewers get pleasure from asking such questions. For example, “What would you do if one morning you woke up and found out you’re a frog?” Here they’re checking on your creativity, on the ways you deal with ambiguity, how well you communicate ideas, and so on.
• The high-tech questions. These types of questions are industry specific. For example, “How many jelly beans can fit into a one-gallon jar?” These types of questions are checking on your logic, your ability to estimate, your intuition, your mathematical ability, and your ability to make assumptions. These questions are common at Microsoft, Apple, Google, and the like.

From the outset, the interviewer is approaching the interview with an open mind. He wants to find out your particular strengths that the company can use as well as your weaknesses. If he finds the weaknesses critical, you’ll lose the competition.

The best way to prepare for an interview is to make a list of, say, 20 potential questions and then answer them in a simple format by starting with a brief description of the background and situation, followed by what your contribution was and ending with the results and benefit to the company. The caveat here is to make the telling succinct and eloquent. Most people ramble on and on instead of giving a brief and pertinent answer. And that’s a sign that you’re not fully prepared. To be able to recite your answers in the best form possible, it’s wise to sound them out with a professional career coach or someone else who’s well experienced in this area. Good luck! You’ll need it!

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Ways to Get Help While in Transition

The first question is, Why do you need help to start with? After all, in the past, you were always able to find jobs. Well, today things are different. There aren’t many open jobs to begin with, and the competition for those few is fierce. So, let’s think about good reasons to get assistance.

• Your efforts for the past several months have not produced job offers.
• You’re confused as to what step-by-step approach you should take.
• You’re ready to create a specific plan that incorporates your skills and interests.
• You want to maintain a reasonable level of self-accountability.
• You may want to speed up the process by consulting some experts.
• You could learn how to negotiate a job offer, which in most cases would cover your expenses severalfold.

The foregoing might be good reasons, but they don’t represent all of the reasons. Yet each job seeker is unique and has unique needs and circumstances. Some people are by nature do-it-yourselfers who believe they can get the results they want; others believe in getting expertise from professionals. No one approach is right or wrong.

In principle, job seekers can get assistance in four different ways.

1.    Group help via a state unemployment office or volunteer-based job-search networking groups

2.    Books, e-books, seminars, Webinars, Webcasts, video courses

3.    Career coaching one-on-one

4.    Career marketing firms

The first option is free most of the time. The second—if there are fees at all—is most often inexpensive. The third one could be a bit pricey, especially if the job seeker has no money coming in. And the last one typically costs many thousands of dollars. So, which one is for you? In general, select the plan that is the most personalized for your own circumstance and is the least costly. That doesn’t mean you should refrain from the other opportunities.

Another dimension clearly evident but rarely written about is the time element. Every week without income is a lost week, and only under miraculous circumstances could income be recovered—even partially. To recover one week’s lost income, the following week needs to generate double, which is a 100% increase. Sorry, not in this job market!

Access to information about how to find a job is available and ample. In fact, there’s so much of it and it’s so easily accessible that it’s simply overwhelming job seekers. This is where a (hopefully, recommended) career coach can be very valuable. The reason is that such a coach can guide you to the essential information, since the coach has already sifted through it and eliminated the fluff. If you decide to get assistance from a career coach or career marketing firm, here are a few caveats.

• Do your due diligence to check up on the prospect. LinkedIn is a good source. Also look at the content and not the looks of the coach’s or firm’s Web site.
• Be clear on what you’ll get for your money. Stay away from high-pressure sales gimmicks.
• Work only with people or firms that have been highly recommended by a number of sources—not just one.
• Beware of signing contracts and especially of paying fees up front. Does your doctor, lawyer, or plumber charge you for future services?
• Be wary about testimonials that sound too good to be real. They may not be genuine.
• Your gut should be the final judge. Once you’ve done an examination and you’ve learned the implications of your decision and you feel good about it, go for it.

Wishing you all the best luck with your job search.

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It's Counterintuitive for Job Seekers

It would be interesting to review a few perceptions that job seekers have on issues stemming from feelings rather than from thinking. Such perceptions are based more on gut feelings rather than logic. Examples follow.

The interview is about me.

People feel good when asked to come in and interview, because they think the interview is about them. In fact, it is not. The interview is about the interviewer’s needs and the interviewer’s competitive evaluation process that considers the candidate’s ability to provide what the interviewer needs.

Accept LinkedIn invitations only from people you know.

When in transition, it’s not about whom you know so much as it is who knows you. After all, it’s you who is looking for a job. And the more connections you have, the more opportunities you’ll have. If you’re hiding in a box, no one will find you.

Create your own résumé.

People in transition need to preserve their savings, and so many compose their own résumés, which eventually get changed or edited or rewritten by others equally unqualified yet willing to help. The typical outcome is a less than competitive résumé that generates very few or no bites. The best advice, therefore, is to hire a trusted and recommended professional, certified, and experienced résumé writer. A less expensive solution—provided you’re absolutely certain your résumé is a good one—is to have it edited by a professional editor. Such an editor or resume writer knows what sells and would put that knowledge and expertise to work for you. And yes, the good ones are not inexpensive.

No need to tell family about being in transition.

Many people feel uneasy or embarrassed about revealing too many details of their transition. That’s a big mistake, because family and friends really are the people who will go out of their way to be of help.

No need to pay for career coaching.

Again, like with the résumé, people want to preserve their savings and do not want to spend on professional help such as experienced career coaches. This too is a huge mistake. A career coach will not only shorten the in-transition period but also teach you pertinent interviewing skills as well as how to negotiate a job offer. In most cases, fees spent on career coaching are dwarfed by the benefits gained from knowing how to negotiate a better compensation package.

Focus only on your past career path and ignore other possibilities.

In today’s fast-changing business environment, new jobs are being invented every day, and many of the past’s traditional jobs are morphing into new ones or becoming totally eliminated. Job seekers who do not consider job opportunities in fields unrelated to their past ones make a mistake. Some reach a point—possibly because of age discrimination or the elimination of their traditional jobs—at which a change in career might be a wonderful solution. It worked for me extremely well.

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Professionally Edited Résumé Adds Huge Value

There are two steps to take before you’ll get that job offer. The first is to create a résumé. An attractive and intriguing résumé will generate an invitation for an interview. The second step is to convince the interviewer you’re the ideal candidate. Unfortunately, though, most people fail in the first step. The reason is that in today’s supercompetitive job market, only candidates whose résumés are truly outstanding will generate further interest.

Most—if not all—of those who prepare their own résumé find it deficient based on the fact that they get no calls. Therefore, ultimately, many turn to a professional résumé writer. But there’s a viable alternative that may be the better choice—and significantly less costly. And that is a professional résumé editor. To make my point, I asked Paula of EditAmerica.com to provide me with brief before-and-after portions of a résumé she recently edited. The readability, editorial integrity, and clarity of thought and expression are markedly improved in the edited version. I recommend such an editorial service for job seekers who cannot afford a professional résumé writer. Take a look at the example.

RÉSUMÉ’S ORIGINAL SUMMARY PARAGRAPH

Idea generator, communicator and problem solver. A business analyst experienced in bringing together the user community and the Information Technology teams to focus on establishing or identifying common goals and implementing satisfactory solutions. Have achievements in circulation, advertising, transportation, dealer contracts and cost containment arenas. Ability to translate user needs into requirements, and requirements into actionable projects.

RÉSUMÉ’S REVISED, EDITED SUMMARY PARAGRAPH

Seasoned idea generator, communicator, and problem solver. A business analyst offering expertise in skillfully uniting user communities with information technology teams so the two can focus on the determination and establishment of common goals and then on implementation of satisfactory solutions. Verifiable achievements in circulation, advertising, transportation, dealer contracts, and cost containment arenas. Additional proficiency in translating user needs into requirements, and requirements into actionable projects.

Remember that a person whose job is to read résumés—and make decisions about candidacy and whether or not to call in applicants for interviews—has only limited time. In 10 to 30 seconds, the screener decides. And if your résumé is not appealing, clear, and communicative regarding how your skills, accomplishments, and strengths can help the prospective employer’s organization, then the next candidate’s perhaps is.

DIY, or do-it-yourself, projects sometimes make sense and save money. But this one, involving résumé refinement, requires both in-depth editorial expertise and years of editorial experience. Why are famous artists’ works so much more attractive than those of most others in the same field? You know the answer!

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How to Prepare for a Job Interview

A job interview is the final step before getting the job. It’s the most critical step because if the candidate does not convince the decision maker of being the ideal candidate, the job goes to someone else. Preparing for the interview is not to be taken lightly. To win this tough competition, one needs to invest time and effort, must feel commitment, and must persevere. Following are a few practical steps.

1. The single most important thing to do during interview preparation is to hold live mock interviews with someone experienced and competent in this area.

°         Practice the 20 most common interview questions again and again until you feel confident.

°         Focus on learning about the prospective employer’s problems and immediate needs.

°         Prepare for reciting fact-based success stories from your past that are relevant to what you’ve learned about the hirer’s needs.

°         Practice, practice, and practice some more. You’ll be happy you did!

1. Learn as much as you can about the company.

°         Begin with the company’s Web site, and look at every page. Drill down into details to mine specifics you could talk about with the interviewer.

°         Find out who are the people you’ll interview with, and evaluate their LinkedIn profiles.

°         Check out who they’re connected with on LinkedIn.

°         Attempt sleuthing into the company via these connections to find out about the company’s culture and, possibly, specifics about the position.

°         Find out what your interviewers are tweeting about. This might be challenging because people sometimes use pseudonyms. Use topsy.com for your research.

°         Do searches on YouTube and Vimeo. Don’t underestimate what you can find out in these hidden places.

°         Look for and review blogs posted by your contacts at the company.

°         Use free tools to gain additional knowledge—for example, klout.com and blog.linkedin.com.

°         Do Google searches on both the interviewers and the firm. Go through several pages of the results.

1. Answer the following questions.

°         Do you fit into the organization?

°         Do you have the skills, education, and experience required?

°         Do you possess experiences and skills to offer in support of the company’s mission statement?

°         Can you recite via a vignette or two some past experiences that would serve as a natural evolution into company growth?

1. Engage with the interviewer via questions that prove your value.

°         Ask questions you already know the answers to.

°         Show the interviewer that you’re very familiar with the industry and the company’s competition.

Preparing for a winning interview is hard work and takes many hours, if not days. By doing such preparation, one gains not only specific knowledge but also a lot of confidence.

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Why Are Interviewers So Selective?

Unlike past scenarios, job interviews have become harder and harder. Employers have an abundance of very qualified applicants, many of them working with interview coaches to elevate their interviewing skills. The outcome is that it raises the bar for everyone. There are many books available to job seekers to read and brush up on interviewing skills, but the problem associated with that is that many of those books are old and reflect the thinking of the era in which they were written.

Employers have become sophisticated in the area of interviewing candidates. In the past, after snail mailing a cover letter and résumé to a target company, a job applicant would receive a phone call invitation for an interview with the hiring manager. Nowadays there’s very little personal interaction at the front end of the process. The résumé submittal is electronic and goes directly into a database. The résumé gets buried there until its resurrection via the appropriate keywords a recruiter is interested in. Then comes the initial screening-out phone interview, and only if that goes well is a candidate invited to a series of interviews with often large numbers of people. There are a number of reasons for these changes.

Today’s employers react to the current economic condition by focusing on higher productivity through the application of various technologies, new and better software, and outsourcing in order to reduce staff and associated staff costs such as office space, pensions, and health care.

The hiring process today is also significantly more selective than in the past. Companies need people who can quickly learn constantly new technologies, can adapt to continuous changes, can reinvent their own jobs, and can function while changes occur at faster and faster rates.

When employers select new employees, they’re looking for those types who can provide solutions resulting in increased efficiency and, at the same time, reduced costs. Otherwise, jobs will move offshore.

Nobody’s job is safe anymore. The past paradigm of building a solid career is no longer valid. People out of work need information and intelligence about growth opportunities and must adapt their skills to meet employers’ requirements. This is a challenging proposition for job seekers—and especially for those who are more advanced in age than other job seekers. Waiting for things to happen is often futile and certainly demoralizing. Career counselors can be of great assistance, but the majority of the burden is on the job seeker.

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Résumé Keywords Are the Keys to Be Found

Most of the résumés employers receive either as hard copies or that are uploaded electronically reside in databases. If those databases were in graphic form, each résumé would resemble a lonely tombstone in a cemetery. In the majority of cases, submitting résumés is futile because they get resurrected only if they include keywords—specifically, those keywords used via computer queries made by employers, recruiters, or hiring managers.

Typically, keywords are phrases and nouns that have to do with technical and professional areas of expertise; projects; industry-related jargons; tasks; achievements; job titles; and so on. That contradicts what we suggested years ago by saying that it’s verbs that make a résumé desirable. We now find that an effective combination of nouns, phrases, and verbs is necessary because the human eye is attracted to verbs, whereas applicant tracking systems—the kinds of software used by employers and recruiters—are searching for keywords.

Applicant tracking systems are searching for keywords that appear primarily near the top of the résumé. Therefore, it is advisable to include keywords in the résumé’s first paragraph—immediately after the contact information. Additional keywords should appear in lists as bulleted items in the section that follows and that could be titled Skills.

Appropriate keywords should be harvested from job descriptions or ads for job openings. Commonly, a job description is rich in listing a job’s requirements in terms of skills and accomplishments. For instance, if the position is technical, the ad often lists computer languages, proprietary software, and the like.

Pam Dixon lists such examples in her book Job Searching Online for Dummies, as follows.

Keyword summary, example 1	PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY: Award-winning corporate controller with more than 10 years’ experience in two $500-million corporations. Impressive record in implementing financial record database architecture that saved over $2 million annually. Proficient in Oracle, Prism, Red Brick, and SAP systems, as well as MS Project, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and FrontPage.
Keyword summary, example 2	SKILLS Languages: C, SQL, C++, Assembler, Pascal Software: Oracle Developer 2000, Informix NewEra, FoxPro OS: UNIX, Windows NT/95/3.11, MS-DOS RDBMS: Oracle7, Informix 7

The inclusion of keywords in a résumé requires a combination of art, science, and, often unfortunately, learning via trial and error. The ideal résumé contains 12 to 15 keywords. On one hand, if it does not have enough keywords, chances of its being found are diminished. On the other hand, too many keywords could put the résumé somewhat out of context.

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The Interview Process Needs to Be Understood

Many interviewers don’t know how to interview, and the majority of candidates are not sufficiently prepared for the test. Because that situation is a given, a candidate can improve the chances for hire by better understanding the interview process itself and the emotional aspects of the interview.

Conversely from what our instinct might tell us, the interview focus is not on the candidate but on the interviewer’s needs and on satisfying them. And by the way, this is done on a competitive basis, because the candidate who appears to be the best fit into the interviewer’s company’s culture and who shows passion and excitement will be offered the job.

This may sound obvious, but beyond the exchange of information and the validation of career facts are a lot of emotions that intrude themselves into the interview process. For example, a candidate’s natural tendency is to walk into the interview and start selling because the clock is ticking. My suggestion, however, is to hold off the selling and instead, start easy talk. Establish a relationship with the other party, and work on strengthening that relationship until the interviewer stops it when it’s time to move on with the interview.

At that point, the interviewer will ask a guided, open-ended question such as, “Tell me about yourself” or “Why are you interested in this job?” because he wants to obtain a point of reference for how the candidate is positioning himself. A candidate who understands the interview process will give a very brief answer to the question and then turn the conversation so that the interviewer starts talking about his problems. After all, this is what the interview is really all about.

The candidate should indeed bring up and interject facts from past professional experience to prove a history of dealing with similar issues and being able to resolve them to the satisfaction of customers, bosses, and others. Make sure you provide such facts, because otherwise, whatever you say is no more than anecdotal hearsay or your opinion. This phase is most likely the crux of the interview, since now, the interviewer is analyzing your candidacy for fit, skills, and character. This is when you have to project lots of confidence. This is what you’re selling, and this is what the interviewer wants to buy.

If you can follow the foregoing guidelines, you’ll improve your chances to win the competition. The last step before you formally accept an offer involves learning the tactics of negotiating a compensation package.

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Getting Coached Is Catching On

One of the most basic rules in economics deals with supply and demand. Today’s job market certainly has a significant supply: 13.9 million people looking for jobs. But demand has been meager for the past several years; it probably will continue to be for the near future; and—at least at this point—it does not show any robustness. The immediate impact of this discord manifests itself by only a few people getting jobs.

In theory, the process of getting a job is simple: human resources department employees, outside recruiters, and hiring managers review multitudes of applicant résumés and eliminate all except outstanding ones. There are many of the latter, and less-than-outstanding résumés get filed in the black hole. A further elimination process is in place via phone or video screenings, with the target objective to request applicants appear for in-person interviews—but typically, no more than three to five of the seemingly best prospects. Ultimately, of course, only one is going to get the congratulatory letter.

In practice, since more and more job seekers know the rules of the game, they’re trying to maximize their chances by getting outside help. There’s been a significant uptick in the trend of job seekers’ hiring professional résumé writers, followed by the trend of working with career coaches to specifically improve interview skills. Both professional résumé writers and people who offer career coaching services appear to be costly. Plus the expense comes at a person’s time of trauma, anguish, and high frustration level, but what is the cost of those things combined with lack of a steady paycheck?

Most people realize that job seeking has become very competitive in every occupational field. Even most colleges, as part of their applicant-screening process, interview potential incoming students before making final determinations. As a career coach specializing in the interview process, I see more and more such college student applicants who engage my services. Furthermore, many military veterans returning from years of service find themselves unprepared for the next phase in their lives, and they reach out for assistance with job search counseling and interview skills enhancement.

It’s not enough to be able to say you did great things in past; you now need to sell that to someone who’s willing to pay you. Do you know how to do that?

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How to Turn Networking into Interviews

People in transition know that 60 to 80 percent of job seekers get their next positions through networking. Consequently and whenever possible, they focus their daily activities on such networking. But despite their—sometimes admittedly awkward—efforts, nothing comes of it. The reason is that they don’t have an understanding of the actual purpose of networking and how to turn it into interviews.

The purpose of networking is to cultivate relationships for advice, information, leads, and, hopefully, referrals. While it’s important to know others for this purpose, it’s equally important that those others know you. Most people are willing to network, but they have the right to expect you to (1) focus on specific companies and (2) demonstrate to them that networking is a give-and-take transaction, whereby they, too, may get from you in turn some industry intelligence.  For those who don’t know how to go about approaching a person for the purpose of networking, here’s a simple script that can be used either over the phone or via e-mail.

My name is Jane Jones. Our mutual acquaintance Stan Smith suggested I give you a call [send you an e-mail] because he feels
you’re an expert in the pharmaceutical industry. Stan suggested you might be of assistance to me. I’m in transition and looking
for a role as a marketing director. I don’t expect you to know of an opening in this area, but perhaps you can share with me
your thoughts about ways I can find out who’s hiring.

The mechanics of a networking dialogue should have the following components. An initial rapport building to establish the relationship. An agenda for the purpose—and that consider how you, too, can add value. Try finding out whom the other person knows or what good contacts the person has. Another element is likability. You must develop your relationship on trust, integrity, and shows of enthusiasm, motivation, and drive. Nobody enjoys a conversation with someone who’s depressed—with the possible exception of a psychologist! And last, get engaged in the exchange, and try to feel comfortable asking for referrals. When you get them, make sure you keep your host in the loop.

If you follow these guidelines, it’s very likely that you’ll generate more interviews. In that event, make sure you’re well prepared. You don’t want to drop the ball once you’re so close to scoring.

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It is the resume that is holding you back

Could this be?  After all it worked in past and others who helped you with it made significant improvements.  Despite that, vis a vis other outstanding resumes it pales and is ineffective.  In order for your resume to propel you to the point that somebody considers you as a potential candidate is has to have at least the following elements.  Above all the gist of the resume has to be written in a way that conveys the reader that you have what it takes to solve his problems and chances are that you will excel.

• A strong career summary following the contact information. This is the first thing read. It sets the tone for the entire résumé. And it should be designed to attract, intrigue as well as compel the reader to keep reading more.
• An attractive visual presentation. This means the résumé has to look good on paper. The ideal résumé design has lots of white space, looks clean, and invites the reader to want to learn more about the candidate. A résumé is merely a marketing tool—the first impression a potential employer has of you.
• Passing the 10-second test. Résumés are being reviewed by recruiters and others who read many résumés and have to weed out worthwhile ones from those that are wastes of time. A professional reviewer does this for each résumé in 10 to 30 seconds. If it’s not attractive, your résumé will be discarded.
• Evidence that you will be able to deliver. This is the reason you have to list your accomplishments. Don’t confuse accomplishments with tasks that someone in your position typically performs; the interviewer already knows the tasks just from your title. From the way many résumés are worded, they come across as doers, not strongly as achievers. The distinction between the two is decisive. This is a common mistake made by nonprofessional résumé writers. To be effective and create excitement, a great résumé helps the decision maker envision your delivering similar achievements at the decision maker’s company.
• The right keywords. In addition to the human eye’s scan, most résumés nowadays get scanned into an applicant-tracking system and retrieved exclusively if they contain the right keywords based on a computer query. Keywords are critical because even the best applicant will miss the opportunity to compete if the résumé lacks the right keywords.

So, now the question becomes, What should be your next step? In principle, you have several options.

• Based on the issues covered here, you can continue having people help you with your résumé or you can buy books, read articles, and work toward making your résumé more desirable.
• You can engage a professional editor once you’ve finished your work on the résumé. That will assure you that it is perfect in terms of format, grammar, usage, spacing, punctuation, and more.
• You can engage a professional résumé writer. Most of the professional résumé writers are accredited, certified, and experienced. Some are pretty good; others are outstanding. You’ll want to interview them first for your résumé and cover letter.

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