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.

Posted via email from The Landing Expert

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.

Posted via email from The Landing Expert

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!

Posted via email from The Landing Expert