Excellent Interview Preparation Advice

This is the best preparatory listing I have ever seen. It is, as usual, common sense. You will not learn anything, just be reminded of the mindset you should have going into an interview.

Pre-Interview Advice

New York Daily News - Home - What a tangled Web we weave: "But it's not your Googling another person that starts the trouble: the danger occurs when a potential boss Googles you.
An increasing number of employers are investigating potential hires online to find out more about an applicant than what's on their resume.
You may be the perfect candidate for the job, but if your name pulls up something incriminating in a Google search, you could lose your shot. 'People do need to keep in mind that the information they post online - whether in a resume profile or otherwise - should be considered public information,' warns Danielle C. Perry, director of public relations at Monster.com. Sure, you may not have intentionally posted something controversial about yourself online, but from blogs to dating profiles, the Web has become a place where people air dirty laundry without a thought, making it a dangerous place to mix business with pleasure."

Please do not ignore this. Make sure you know what is out there, and be aware of what may be considered off-color or controversial. When possible, delete it or try to have your name deleted from the site.

Interview Advice

iLifeCoach - Blogs for life success and career success: "Preparation is key to your interview success. By getting ready ahead of time with research and practice you can develop your message and deliver it in a smooth style. Most interviewers will ask questions that will allow you to present yourself. They want to hear how well you can communicate. Don�t let yourself down in an important meeting by not being at your best. Make certain you have a good answer for questions such as: Tell me about your strengths or weakness�? What was the reason you left your last position? Tell me what about our company and this positions appeals to you? What questions do you have about us? How would you describe your work ethic and style? Role-play the tough questions with a friend or a business associate who can evaluate you ahead of time to help get you ready for action. "

Craig Silverman, who wrote this message, is well-known in the recruiting industry. This passage exemplifies why he is held in such high esteem. This is exactly what a person who is serious about landing their dream job should be doing to prepare. This is why Grahamology has recently launched The Review. Having someone who understands how to construct marketable answers to some of the most difficult interview questions is priceless.

Interview Advice

As the market changes in the way described below, it eases an attitude among candidates that their value is so high that they are interviewing the company as much as the reverse is true. While I appreciate wanting to make wise career decisions and knowing that the candidate’s specific skills are in high demand, it is still unwise to allow yourself that attitude among either your intellectual equals or superiors. With both sides approaching interviews as an opportunity to see if there are common values and work ethic (among many other factors), there should be no ego or playing hard-to-get on either side of the interview table. Both sides should be seeking answers to questions that allow for wise decision-making.

The Interview Process

Anyone who reads a newspaper knows now that we are embarking on a period of smaller and smaller labor force due to the Boomer’s impending retirement. As we approach that period, we are also experiencing a lack of superior talent in certain industries and certain geographies which represent a real struggle for employers and recruiters. While there are copious contributors to the quandary, there are also several things that can be done by employers and recruiters to ease acquisition of superior talent during tight labor markets. A recruiter’s process should almost never have a minimum time frame of over 48 hours from first contact to submittal to client. A recruiter should not be an impediment to their clients meeting the candidates. Similarly, a client should have a compact process as well. This process should incorporate two important themes: deep skills assessment and urgency. While to some this seems in conflict, it shouldn’t. A company should be able to perform a phone screen and a multi-hour in-person interview within one to two weeks of having a viable candidate submitted. While in certain markets for certain positions, this type of time frame is unnecessary, others must begin to weigh these guidelines as the labor market tightens. Many candidates have multiple interviews and/or offers at the same time. The company seeking the talent must be able to consider their competition for that talent as well as recognize how to use the momentum that is gained in shortened processes. The shortened process makes the company appear nimble, eager and more interested than those that have longer, more complex processes. This interest does not affect the negotiation dynamics for either side. The mere showing of interest for a candidate does not result in a higher wage. It merely suggests a company that has the hiring of top talent as a priority, which is a competitive issue, especially in market verticals that hold small amounts of talent. As the labor tightening becomes more dramatic, these issues will be at top of mind, and companies would be wise to address them sooner than later.

Resume Advice-Cover Letters

There are many schools of thought on cover letters, but this one should be shared. Unless what is being said in a one page prose document is so compelling as to your benefit to a company that it has to be submitted, the one page is a distraction from the actual experience, which is what the reader is most interested in seeing. In fact, if the one page document is that compelling, then you have to wonder what you missed in the resume. Most senior level executives have neither the time nor patience in the initial review of a resume to get much past the first page. Everything beyond that is skimming. Since we know this to be true, it seems smarter to have them concentrating on the information that may actually be of interest to them. In all of the cover letters I have read, I have never had to refer to one in preparation for an interview. Never.

Resume Advice

In constructing an effective resume, there are several oft-used sections that are less effective than usually thought. The reader would be wise to only use an objective line if it actually says something of value. If, for example, the resume is going to a specific person for a specific job through a recruiter, the objective line is then redundant. Suggesting that you are “looking for a senior development position in a fact-paced environment” is both boring and understood. Personal sections that include hobbies, number of children or other such information is ill-advised. The only time that is wise is when the hirer would clearly better relate given any of the components of the section. If you are unaware of that kind of connection, however, that section is best deleted. For those that have professions that require skill set listings, it is wise to include those skill sets in the job description of the positions where the skill sets were employed. In fact, it is much better to describe in the bullet points following the company header how the technology, language, or hardware was used to solve a problem. Lastly, there is one section of a resume that is not used often enough, and that is an achievements section. This should include items that are specific. Use amount or percentage of money saved or made based on your own work. Use awards, commendations and other such notable achievements. Make sure the reader understands where this occurred.

Advice on Interviews-Not News, but a Good Reminder

Interview 101: You will need the course: "Martin Yate, the Savannah, Ga.-based author of New York Times best-seller 'Knock 'em Dead: The Ultimate Jobseeker's Guide' (Adams Media Corp.; 2006) says first-time job applicants should NOT:
Ask about money, vacations or benefits. 'You have nothing to decide until they decide if they want you.'
Think the job is anything but a bottom-of-the-totem-pole position. 'All first jobs are water-carrying jobs.
'Don't say anything that implies you're not prepared to start at the bottom.'
Criticize anybody or anything or suggest, when asked to name a flaw, that binge drinking or having a hot temper is a character trait you could live without. 'A company is looking for reasons to rule you out,' he said.
Louise Kursmark, president of Best Impression Career Services Inc. in Blue Ash and author of 'How to Choose the Right Person for the Right Job Everytime' (McGraw-Hill; 2005) suggests that interviewees SHOULD:
Research the company before the interview. 'Understand problems a company might be facing and how your knowledge, experience and skills are a match. That's a big leg up.'
Learn to tell stories. 'Instead of just saying I'm good at this or I learned such and such, frame those skills,' she said.
'An anecdote is much more memorable, and that's what will be talked about when people confer about you.'
Tune in to radio station WIFM. (As in 'What's In-it For Me').
'Always position yourself as someone who can solve problems for the employer or hiring manager as opposed to someone who is simply talking about what you're interested in,' she said.
'Everybody wants to hire somebody who knows and cares about the organization.'"

Recruiters for Katrina Relief

Information to follow.

Resume Advice

With the exception of engineers and other creatives, resumes should not be any larger than two pages. The rule of thumb should roughly be approximately ten years per page. Given the amount of moving around over the past few years, that rule may be difficult to adhere to, but it must be the goal.
Also, a way to limit the size is the deletion of redundant data. For example, skills sections are very important for technical candidates, but less so with sales people. Also, unless there is something original to say, consider deleting the objective line. Lastly, unless there is something particularly applicable to the target line of work, lists of hobbies or whether you are married with children can be left out. Whether married, age, gender, culture and the like are highly volatile buzz issues you would be wise to steer away from on the resume.
The other rule of thumb to remember is to craft the resume for the person reading it. The recruiter presenting you should have some insight as to the hiring manager's resume tastes.

Interview Advice

One of the most difficult interview questions to answer well is to list weaknesses. I find so often that in people's fear of answering wrong, they answer by blowing smoke. First, you must be honest with yourself and ask those close to you what weaknesses you have. Secondly, you need to sift through what is offered as possibilities to find those weaknesses that are most obvious to the person interviewing you, thus first impression weaknesses. You needn't give the interviewer fodder for passing on your candidacy, but you also don't want it to seem that you are dodging the question. For example, it is never appropriate to try to spin your strengths into weaknesses. To hear someone list being a work-aholic as a strength, and then turn it around into a weakness shows a lack of honesty with the interviewer and, quite possibly, a lack of honesty with yourself. If an interviewer feels like you are dishonest in the first meeting, they tend to think, and maybe rightly, that you wouldn't be straight with them when you get on board.