How to Ace the Interview Process

Do your research.

Look up the company. Look up their competitors. Read their last annual report. Know that company backwards and forwards. Know their past, current role in the market, and their goals for the future. How can you help them achieve those goals? It doesn't matter if the company has 10 employees or 10,000. Every company knows where they are now, and where they want to be. Figure out how you can be the bridge that gets them there.

If you know who will be interviewing you, look online to see if they have written any articles for professional magazines and journals - then read them. You don't have to be all, "Hey, I read your article on amazing cat toys!", but it does help to know their background and opinion on issues. It also helps if you find out that your interviewer is from the same town as your best friend's dad. Networking - it helps. A lot.

Role-play your interview.

 

Practice, practice, practice Have a friend (preferably one with a good interview track record) play the interviewer and run through an interview from start to finish.    Then have your friend critique your performance. Then switch roles, with you as the interviewer and your friend as the interviewee. Take note of how your friend answers interview questions.    Now practice again. And again. (see my blog on how to Ace the interview questions)

 

Practice your handshake.

Your handshake says a lot. A nice, firm handshake says you are professional. A floppy handshake gives the impression that you are passive and lacking in social skills. Too firm of a handshake gives the impression of aggressiveness. Not fair, you say? Sure, you could argue that - and not get a second interview. Practice your handshake with a friend.

Learn a company's culture, but be genuine.

A business has its own culture, or set of social norms (behaviors). If you learn that the business expects you to wear a business suit, dress accordingly. If you are being interviewed in a culture that is different than your own, educate yourself. You aren't expected to follow the exact social norms when you go to a first interview, but you should at least be aware of them.

Look smooth when you arrive for the interview.

When you step out of your car, or walk from the bus to the building, the interviewees may be watching you from the window. (Yes, How you carry yourself is important. This means that you wear an outfit that needs minimal to no adjusting, tugging, or any other distracting "fixes". Your outfit fits you well, and you feel comfortable in it. Women, if you are wearing heels, practice walking in them before your interview. Also, make sure the portfolio you have with you is neat and organized.  And since you know exactly where you are going and left enough time to get to the interview, you will excude ease and confidence. Walk with purpose and direction. And don't talk on your cell phone as you walk to the building. Just don't.

Be punctual, but not too early.

Arriving 15 to 20 minutes before your scheduled interview is acceptable. Any more than that, and you may be sending the wrong message. Plus if you arrive too early, the staff may feel like they need to entertain you or continue offering you coffee, etc. They're trying to make a good impression too.

Granted, if they ask you to get there15 minutes prior to your interview to fill out paperwork, get there 25 minutes early. So what should you do if you arrive early? Take some deep breaths, repeat an affirmative saying to yourself, like "I am competent and intelligent" or "this interview is going to go really well". Sounds goofy? It works.

Know how to answer the infamous "What are your weaknesses?" question.

If you answer with, "I don't really have any weaknesses", it doesn't make you look confident - instead, you look arrogant and lacking in the ability to self-reflect. Answer the question with something that is relevant to the job, and a way that you are working on improving this issue. However, you have to be careful with the answer - if you are applying for a job at a zoo, you don't want to respond with, "I'm working on my hatred of animals." Instead, you may say, "I'd like to learn more about marine conservation efforts. I'm going to be attending the Marine Conservation Conference in July so I can learn more." Phrase it as a positive. Say, "This is what I'd like to improve upon, and this is how I'm going to do that" rather than, "I'm not good at blah."

Know what to ask your interviewers.

Remember, you are also interviewing the company. You want to make sure that it is a good fit for you. Never respond to "Do you have any questions for us?" with "I'm good, no questions." Bzzzzz! WRONG! I'll tell you what you DON'T want to ask - "What's the salary for this position?" or "How much vacation time do we get?" You don't have the job - yet. DO consider asking about the day-to-day responsibilities of the position, the company's management style, or opportunities for growth within the company. You may also want to consider asking the interviewees what they enjoy about working for the company. Practice this part of the interview in the role play mentioned in secret #2 (above).

Send a Thank You note.

Following an interview, promptly (within 2 business days) write the ... that you have good manners and know to write a thank-you letter.

Follow up.

If you haven't heard back in a reasonable amount of time ("reasonable" differs on how long the interviewer told you it would take before they made a decision), give the interviewer a call. If you didn't get the job, It's appropriate to ask what you could improve upon in the future. Never underestimate this important step. I know quite a few people that got jobs at the company of their dreams because the first candidate withdrew - and the interviewer remembered which candidates followed up after the interview process was over.

Good luck, and go get 'em!

 

Do you have the traits that employers are looking for?

I know you: You’ve made looking for your next job, well… your job. You’ve scoured your resume of clichéd buzzwords, brushed up on body language and even watched a "How to interview video".

 

But all that might be for naught if you just don’t have the personality your dream employer is looking for.  The vast majority of employers (88%) are looking for a “cultural fit” over skills in their next hire as more and more companies focus on attrition rates. Lucky for you, I've hired for some of the world leading employers and I will share my data with you. (think General Electric, Nike, American Express)

 

The top personality traits employers are looking for in job candidates in 2013. 

Professionalism (86%), high-energy (78%) and confidence (61%) are the top three traits employers say they are looking for in new hires.  These first-impression traits are the most critical for employers to prepare for as they all can be evaluated by a recruiter or hiring manager within the first 30 seconds of meeting a candidate.

“As a hiring manager I can read you the moment you walk in the door,” from the clothes you wear to the way you stand to the grip of your first hand-shake, presenting yourself as a confident, energetic professional is about as basic as career advice gets. But don’t be off-put by this commonplace advice.  Confidence ranks highest on the list of skills companies think employees are missing most.

“The most successful applicant is the one who walks into every interview with her hand outstretched for a handshake, has done her homework on the interviewer and company and is dressed to fit effortlessly into the culture of the workplace.

The remaining personality traits that are critical in the hiring process aren’t ones that can be read on-sight but instead call for both resume and interview preparation. To present yourself as a self-monitoring (58%) personality type,  remember to adjust your resume language to call attention to work experience where you’ve worked independently or excelled without the guidance of direct leadership. “In interviews, chose anecdotes that show how you’ve saved, made or achieved in previous positions… and how self-motivation was critical to that success.”

Intellectual curiosity (57%) is, fittingly, a curious and I generally advise you to tightly edit the “hobbies and interests” sections of your resumes.   Employers are looking for two things,  “The ability to problem solve and the ongoing dedication to learning new technologies or solutions that will continue to advance in the changing workplace.” Employers are asking themselves whether new hires will be with the company for the long term.   An employee who will grudgingly adopt a new database is not as attractive as one who is truly passionate about learning new things.

 

How to write the best resume to get you the interview! “Results Driven Resume”

Results- Driven resume will give potential employers the impression you can bring the same or similar results to their organization.  You know who you are and what skills you bring, now I will help you develop the best resume to effectively tell potential employers that you are the solution to their problems”

Your resume is usually how employers "meet" you. And their decision to interview you -- or not -- is often made after a quick glance at this all-important document.

Here's the challenge: Most resumes look the same, read the same and, quite frankly, they're boring. Most are cookie-cutter exercises in mediocrity, even though each candidate claims to be "driven", "dynamic," "creative", etc. But empty assertions like these won't land you an interview. You must prove the claims in your resume to get an employer's attention.

Your resume is a marketing tool, plain and simple. Is yours so powerful that it grabs the attention of hurried employers, forces them to slow down, read on, pick up the phone and call you? It must! Because your resume has to get read to get you hired.

Warning! Just because you spent four hours writing your resume doesn't mean it will be read with care. As a hiring professional who's been at this for more than 20 years, I can tell you that your resume has less than 10 seconds to impress a reader enough to compel them to read it entirely. Ten seconds. Or less.

Results are things you did that had a lasting impact for your company or client. Typically they are things that you created, built, designed, sold or initiated. And they are absolute gold for resumes. Keep your duty summaries concise, and focus instead on unique accomplishments and you'll be miles ahead of your peers. 

Here's a two-step process you can go through to identify and write out achievements for your resume:

Step 1: Make a quick list of your accomplishments. To spark ideas, think about times when you have:

• Re-organized something to make it work better?
• Identified a problem and solved it?
• Come up with a new idea that improved things?
• Developed or implemented new procedures or systems?
• Worked on special projects?
• Received awards?
• Been complimented by your supervisor or co-workers?
• Increased revenue or sales for the company?
• Saved money for the company?
• Saved time for the company?
• Contributed to good customer service?

Step 2: Use the STAR process to expand each of your accomplishments.

• Situation or Task – What was the problem or situation or challenge?
• Action – What did you do to solve the problem or make the situation better?
• Result – What was the outcome? Where possible, include percentages, dollar figures, and other metrics.

Here’s an example:

• Situation or Task: Disorganized, inefficient warehouse
• Action: Redesigned the layout
• Result: Saved the company $250,000 in recovered stock

Take your time and do these steps thoroughly, creating as many S-T-A-R statements as possible.

Once you've completed your S-T-A-Rs, turn those 3-part statements into single bullet points.  There is no one best way to do this - it will vary from results to results - but one effective approach is to phrase the bullet as "action" + "result", with some slight integration of the "problem" and rephrasing of verb tenses where necessary. Using the example above, here's how this might look: "Redesigned the warehouse and improved disorganization, inefficiency and saved $250,000 in recovered stock”.

Do this for all of your S-T-A-R statements, and you'll have the essential ingredients for a Results-Driven resume that stands out!