Tonite 7pm: “How to Ace Your #phone #jo

Tonite 7pm: “How to Ace Your #phone #job #interview” – I’m presenting at Temple Emanuel Netown, MA. Free & open to all! #employment

A new way to find me… and lots of other services and goods. Check out www.thumbtack.com.

Career Coach & Job Search Coach

#Job #Interview Questions You Should Ask

#Job #Interview Questions You Should Ask #jobhunter #jobsearcher #jobinterview http://ow.ly/aRZpk Thanks to all for great reviews!

“Job Interview Questions You Should Ask

“Job Interview Questions You Should Ask” – 397 hits in last 2 days. Please pass it on and check it out! #jobs #work http://ow.ly/aQxfT

“Job Interview Questions You Should Ask

“Job Interview Questions You Should Ask” – 397 hits in last 2 days. Please pass it on and check it out! #jobs #work http://ow.ly/aQxfT

Tweet Your Way into the Job Interview Process

My article and related video that I produced are now featured on www.careerealism.com.

Learn key searches, hashtags, and concepts to make Twitter an effective element of your job hunt.  Please check it out and “like”… and comment!  Here’s the link:

http://www.careerealism.com/tweet-job-interview-process/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+careerealism+%28CAREEREALISM%29

Happy hunting!

Arnie

Tags: Arnie, Employment, employment networking, Facebook, job, Job hunting, Job interview, job search, LinkedIn, Networking, Online Communities, Social network, Trending and Popularity, Twitter, Unemployment

New 2 minute video: Tweet Your Way to Your Next Job

I’ve just posted a 2 minute video on the topic: How To Tweet Your Way
To Your Next Job.  Here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvuTpkeqXFQ

I’d love it if you would check it out and leave a comment or two.This will be the first in a series of video shorts for job hunters
that I’ll be posting.  Do subscribe to the YouTube Jobhuntercoach channel to get them all as they are produced… and while you are at
it, subscribe to this website to gain access to all my articles as soon as they appear.

Happy hunting!

Arnie Fertig
fer…@jobhuntercoach.com

Tags: Employment, job hunt, Job hunting, Job search strategy, Social network, Tweet, Twitter, Video, YouTube

Top 10 Ways To Slow Down Your Job Hunt

1. Play The “Happy Game”. Don’t deal with depression, frustration or other emotions.  Don’t cultivate a support network to which you actually can go to for support.  And if you already happen to have a support network, don’t let them know how they can help you… make ‘em guess.
2. Channel the St. Louis Rams with their .125 Win percentage this past season. Have as few goals as possible.
3. Believe Your Resume Is “Where It’s At”. Embrace Resume Paralysis.  Don’t bother to tailor it to every job you apply for.
4. Become One With Your Laptop. Spend the majority of your time at home, behind the screen.
5. Nurture Your Inner Child. Be helpless. Focus on yourself and your own needs – don’t worry about what any perspective employer would want from you.Do the bare minimum to get by.
6. Become An “Island”.  Avoid meeting people.  Don’t even think about going to a networking meeting where you don’t already know someone.
7. Discount Your Contacts – Even Better, Annoy Them!  Don’t bother to follow-up every lead that someone gives you.  Don’t bother to write thank you notes to people who help you.  After all, you are entitled to all the help someone can give to you, right?!
8. Avoid Non-Traditional Paths. Pass up contract and temp work, and don’t even think about just taking on a project to keep you skills up to date.
9. Talk Until They Drop. Don’t bother to listen to what people are asking you – just hammer away at your own canned message.  Be as vague and ambiguous as possible – that way no one can pin you down to anything specific.
10. Believe In Your Heart That Your Next Job Is Forever. Stop networking as soon as you land.

I’ve seen various forms of this list floating around on the internet, but I don’t know the original authorship.  I have added some of my own comments throughout.

If any of these suggestions are ways that you are actually conducting your jobhunt, you need a jobhunter coach!  If you mention this article when you sign up for three hours of my coaching service between today and March 31, 2012 I’ll throw in a 4th hour absolutely free!  This offer is valid for new clients only.

Happy Hunting!

Arnie

 

MAKING FRIENDS WITH HR

Not long ago, I was at Disneyland on vacation.   While waiting to get into the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor in the Magic Kingdom, I spotted a sign on a door that read:  “Inhuman Resources”.  Good humor, of course, is best based in reality, and the reality here is simple: most Job Hunters think of HR as inhuman.  Like the late great Rodney Dangerfield, HR staffing specialists often get “no respect”.

Take a minute, however, to look at the hiring process from the other side of the desk.  A typical HR staffing person might be assigned to deal with 20 to 40 job requisitions at a time.  Each one of them will likely attract 100 – 500 candidates in today’s job market.  Assuming each applicant has a 2 page resume, that amounts to 200 – 1,000 pages of repetitive, boring, and all too often, irrelevant resumes to be considered for EACH job requisition.  Overburdened staffing specialists can’t possibly afford the spare seconds to ask: “The candidate said XXX.  I wonder if that means he/she has done/can do YYY.”  They simply don’t have the time to contemplate what the resume writer is “really getting at”.

The reality is that the HR person’s role is screen OUT more than screen IN, to look for any excuse to reject rather than to accept a candidate.  The human impulse to help people is replaced by the unfortunately necessary “inhuman”, unforgiving response to any typographical error or small doubt about any given candidate.  It isn’t about whether any given candidate might be able do the job if given a chance.  Rather, it is about winnowing the field to find 5 or 10 exceptional candidates out of hundreds to pass on to the hiring manager.

I know this to be true, because I used to be one of those people, sorting through the resumes, dealing with Applicant Tracking Systems, deciding who merits an initial interview, and conducting those phone screening interviews.  The wise job hunter will look at the phone screening interview as a prized opportunity to gain an initial advocate.  Here are tips how to do so:

1.  SPOON FEED INFORMATION IN A WAY THAT THE INTERVIEWER WANTS IT.  The screening interview is about doing Due Diligence on the part of the company, dealing with “red” and “yellow” flags on otherwise stellar resumes, discerning a candidate’s true interest level in the job, knowledge about the company, and general fit for the position.  It is ALL about the EMPLOYER’S NEEDS, and NOT AT ALL about the candidate’s concerns.  If you are asked about a potential “red flag”, be grateful for the opportunity to deal with it and put it out of the way—and be ready to do so.  By the way you deal with these and other issues you can build rapport and give the ammunition needed to help the HR staffer make your case, or you can shoot yourself in the foot.
2. BE COOPERATIVE, AND UNDERSTAND THAT EACH QUESTION HAS A PURPOSE THAT ISN’T ALWAYS OBVIOUS.  Often hiring managers provide HR with questions that every candidate must answer, even if the answer is as plain as day on their resume.  Responding by saying, “If you read my resume you would see what you are talking about,” will be regarded as hostile.  The process, especially at this stage, is all determined by the employer.  You may not like it, but you have to conform to its contours.  From your answers your interviewer will derive insights about your intelligence, ability to communicate effectively, emotional disposition, eagerness to learn from failure or mistakes, and more.
3. DON’T BE DEFENSIVE OR COY.  For example, if you respond to the question, “What will be your salary requirement?” with an answer like, “I’m negotiable”, or “Make me an offer and I’ll consider it”, you are more likely to generate antagonism than a next interview.  It’s much more reasonable to say something like:  “In my last/current position, I was/am earning XXX, but I can’t at this stage know how that would equate to this position in your company.”
4. DON’T WASTE TIME WITH PROCESS QUESTIONS such as:  “When will I hear back from you?”, “Where are you in the hiring process?”, “How did I do?”, or “When do you want the person you hire to start work?”  It’s obvious that every job seeker wants the answers to these questions, but this isn’t the proper time for them.

Toward the end of the interview, you will likely be asked if you have any questions.  This is an opportunity to show, by the questions you ask (and the way you ask them) your understanding of the role, the company, your skills and your enthusiasm.  Don’t forget to close by expressing your appreciation for being considered, and offer to give any follow-up material that would be helpful.

The really good screeners know how to interpret tone of voice, attitude, levels of competence and self-confidence.  Speak clearly, articulate your words, make sure you respond fully and forthrightly to the question that is asked rather than spewing out some canned message that you want to get across.

It all comes down to this:  be the professional that you are to earn the respect you deserve, and the chance to proceed in the hiring process.

Happy Hunting!

Arnie

2 Key Ways To Focus Your Message

After years of very high unemployment, things appear to be turning around.  The N.Y. Times reported (1/6/2012) that the U.S. added 200,000 jobs in December, 2011.  This was the sixth straight month that the economy has added more than 100,000 jobs. 

Are you telling your story in a compelling way to make you 1 of the next 100,000 people to be hired?

Are you effectively providing your message to snag one of these new jobs? 

Your job as a jobhunter is to make it easy for people to understand how you can add value to the company that hires you.  Everything about your resume, networking, and interviewing should be designed to strategically further this fundamental message. 

Here are two of the most common examples of off-track messaging and how to fix them:

SITUATION #1:  You are between 45-65 years old, and your cover letter begins like this:  “… I’ve got 25 years of experience doing XXX in YYY industry.”  You get rejected, and fear that it is due to age discrimination.  In reality, that might be the case, but by the way you project your own case you give the underlying message that you are an older worker. Remember that you aren’t selling decades of experience.  Rather, you are selling the knowledge, skills, and abilities which you happened to attain during your years of experience.

• THE FIX: Lead with something like, “In my most recent position as XXX, I provided value for my company by…”  Then give a brief story that conveys a situation, how you took control of it/dealt with it, and the glowing results that you accomplished.  Sell the story of your experience – not the length of it.

SITUATION #2:  Point after point in your resume begins with the words, “Responsible for…” or something else that describes your prior job description.  Such language fails to give any positive message.  It doesn’t say anything about what you actually did, how you think, how you interact with others, or the results you produced.  Worse, you simply position yourself as one of countless others who have had similar roles and responsibilities.

• THE FIX: Make each point in your resume is about something that you actually did, and briefly tell the story providing three basic elements:  a) The situation or problem; b) your actions; and c) the success/results you achieved.  Wherever possible quantify your results in terms of increased sales, decreased costs, reduced liability, potential savings, or increased productivity. 

Example:

Sales people have the greatest quantifiable results.  The numbers speak for themselves, but they speak even louder when you tell a story about how you achieved your numbers like this:

• Uncovered and exploited opportunities to increase revenue from new and existing accounts, and rekindled dormant relationships, resulting in year-to-year sales increases of 16-18%.

 Of course, not everyone has a job whose results are measured in dollars.  Still, you can tell a story and give a “soft” result like this:

• Achieved customer satisfaction for engineers involved with new product development by organizing seminars on emerging technologies.

Remember this:  you can fashion the impression people will have of you.  The words you chose can tell important stories, and convey purposeful messages.  One of my greatest joys as a coach is working with my clients to frame the messaging that builds the case for them to be hired. 

What’s your story?  What’s your message?

Happy hunting!

Arnie