Career Tip

Always bring a fresh copy of your resume and cover letter to an interview, and be sure it is the version you sent to that particular company.  In fact, I always recommend that candidates find out how many people will be interviewing them and bring at least that many copies, if not a couple of extra in case additional interviewers are invited.  Providing a nice clean copy of your resume and cover letter to the interviewers not only ensures they have the "pretty" version instead of one from the Applicant Tracking System, but shows your level of preparation.  To your job search and interview success!

If You Are Early You Are On Time

The title of my article is an old military adage and very concisely communicates that to merely be on time means you will get started on your task late.  This applies to both a person’s job search and their career.  When you get that coveted interview you want to put your best foot forward, and arriving right at the start of, or late to your interview certainly won’t make a good impression.  Starting out to your interview early with a plan to arrive 20 minutes ahead of schedule can ensure extra time if you get caught in traffic, enable you to check over your outfit and pre-interview notes one more time, and to feel less rushed and less nervous. 

In your job/career, getting to work a little early can help you as well.  How about not having to drive over the speed limit, risking a speeding ticket, just to make it to work on time?  How about not having your boss or coworkers mad at you again for being late?  Imagine the feeling of getting ahead of your work for the day and maybe even being able to leave a little early on occasion without feeling guilty?  Perhaps you will miss some of the rush hour traffic or get a better parking space.  Regardless of the benefit, you will definitely avoid the hurried and stressed out approach that everyone else takes who doesn’t make a little extra time for their commute.  Start your day out a little earlier and reap the benefits of more peace and calm in your life!  To your job search and career success! 

Career Management Quotes of the Week!

"The pen that writes your life story must be held in your own hand."

-- Irene C. Kasseria


"Be so good they can’t ignore you."
  
-- Steve Martin 

Interview Tip: Dealing with Illegal Interview Questions

Interviewers are often inexperienced and will ask illegal questions out of ignorance, not due to an underhanded motive.  Questions that seek information about your age, national origin, religion, marital status, race, gender, sexual orientation, or disabilities are TYPICALLY illegal and can be giant red flags within an interview situation.  Most of the time illegal questions are more about having a conversation versus trying to discriminate against you, and your task unfortunately, is to determine whether they are being discriminatory or are merely uninformed.  So, if you decide the person interviewing you “doesn't know any better” what should you do?  1)  Answer the question just like any other interview question.  2)  Tell them it is illegal for them to ask such a question.  While certainly we don’t want to be put in this situation, it may be best if you really feel they are just ignorant of what is permissible, to answer the question.  The moment you point out the inquiry is illegal you will scare the interviewer(s) and most likely lose the job.

If you are unsure as to their reasoning for the question, ask them “why do you ask?”  This could bring up a red flag on their end, but their answer should offer you more insight as whether the question could be discriminatory in nature.  Here are a few things that can help you pinpoint the potential for bias in interview questions:

--Multiple illegal questions are asked.

--They aggressively ask illegal questions.

--Explanation they offer about “why” makes you uncomfortable.

--They act insulted that you inquired as to why the question was asked.

Since most of these queries are innocent enough, answering them like any other question will pay dividends in the end, especially when you may not mind providing the information anyway.  If you suspect you are the victim of discrimination in an employment interview, contact an attorney that specializes in employment law or your local Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) office.  As always, to your job search success! 

Keeping Track of Your Job Search

Have you ever experienced that awkward moment of getting a call from a potential employer, and you didn't remember applying to the company?  This is actually a very commonplace issue.  Up to 60% of companies either start interviewing or finally fill their job requisition three months of more after first posting it online.  Why you say?  It's a simple matter of money and/or time.  First, if a company waits longer to fill a position, they save thousands of dollars for those months the requisition remains open.  Second, if they are inundated with work already, it often takes that long to do resume review, phone interviews, in person interviews, second interviews, make a decision, send the offer letter, and get the new employee on board.

As a jobseeker, you need a simple way of tracking your applications, and I recommend keeping a Job Search Notebook.  Any three ring binder you have around your house with sufficient room for lots of papers will do!  With this handy little tool you can keep track of the following:

--Each company/organization you applied to and a copy of their job advertisement.

--The tailored/personalized resume and cover letter you used to apply - please take this version to the interview, not a generic version (or worse yet, one with another company's information). 

--Date of application OR date of handoff/email of resume to a networking contact or recruiter for forwarding to HR or another company contact.

--Date of application confirmation.

--Company research (never apply to a company you haven't researched, this way you can give a complete answer to the question:  "tell us what you know about our organization?")

--Communications from the company (still in consideration, rejection email/letter, additional questions).

--Date of phone interview.

--Notes from the phone interview.

--Date of in-person interview.

--Notes from the in-person interview.

--Thank you note written to the interviewers.

--Follow up information.

--Contact information, including names, email addresses, and phone numbers.

Now, when you get that call two, three, or even four months after applying, there is ample documentation for you to refer to, and refresh your memory for, a good phone or in-person interview.   Try the Job Search Notebook idea, as it will keep you organized, and avoid the embarrassment that comes with not remembering where you applied.  To your job search success!

Practicing Your Behavioral Interviewing Skills

Reading books and looking at website's are a great way to learn more about behavioral interviewing, but how about creating answers ahead of time?  This is something interviewees often don't think about, and then suffer the inevitable inability to answer several simple behavioral questions in an interview.  You know these questions well - they start with the following:

"Tell me about a time when..."

"Give me an example of..."

"Describe a time when..."

Try developing some scenarios of how you have handled issues or created successes in the past within the workplace.  From increasing profit and revenue, developing new business, and cutting expenses to supervising staff, managing inventory, and participating in project teams, you have many examples to offer that typically haven't been considered.  Start by looking at your resume and determining if you can supply more detail within the interview about specifics cited in each position’s bullet points.  Utilizing existing lists of behavioral questions available online and in books and those you have already been asked in interviews can help you create an entire collection of answers.  Here are 12 typical questions to get your started:

--Describe a time when you worked under a great deal of pressure or tight deadline?

--Tell me about a time when you were a member of a great team. What role did you play in making the team great?

--Tell me about a time you had to multitask?

--Tell me about a time when you were creative in solving a problem?

--Give me an example of a time when you had a disagreement with a coworker and how you resolved it?

--Tell me about a time when you suggested a better way to do something at work?

--Describe how you handle crises? Describe a particular crisis that you handled well?

--What would your last boss/manager say about you?

--Give me an example of when you were given a task to accomplish without any real direction from your manager?

--Describe what motivates you?

--Tell me what you know about our company?

--Why should we hire you?

Why come up with these examples in the middle of an interview.  Preparing 20 or more answers ahead of an interview will allow you to concentrate on questions that you truly cannot anticipate.  To your interview success!