Interviewing

How to Find & Use Keywords for Your Job Search

by • , , , , ,

Keywords in your resume, LinkedIn profile, emails and 'pitch' help to communicate your value. To job prospects, your use of the right keywords tells them you are an "insider" (everyone wants to hire insiders) and that you understand the problems they face. Organizations use keyword filters for candidate searches, so your use of strategically placed keywords will improve your likelihood of being spotted.

When someone is searching on LinkedIn for a candidate with your skills (increasingly LinkedIn is the first stop for candidate searches), keywords in certain parts of your profile  matter more than others.

This page or post can be viewed by HCC members only. Consider becoming one. or Log in.

If you're trying to view a blog post, you've exceeded the number of posts that can be viewed for free. Become a member for unlimited viewing, log in, or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.

Acing the Interview: What’s Your Greatest Weakness?

by • ,

weakness canstockphoto10210474Every so often you will get an interview question like this from HR or a hiring leader. "Greatest weakness" types of interview questions also include "give me an example of a time you failed, " “tell me about a criticism your boss once gave you,” or "give me an example of an area of development or a situation where you didn't get the outcome you wanted." They use these questions, especially for executive hires, to a) find people who have a maturity and ability to self-reflect that allows for improvement and learning from mistakes, and b) screen out people who say something problematic. When forming your answer, keep these three guidelines in mind:

This page or post can be viewed by HCC members only. Consider becoming one. or Log in.

If you're trying to view a blog post, you've exceeded the number of posts that can be viewed for free. Become a member for unlimited viewing, log in, or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.

The Single Best Presentation Tip: Tell a Great Story

by • , , , , ,

Whether your goal is to sell, inform, or land a job offer, telling engaging, relevant stories can turn even a so-so presentation into a great one. Illustrating your points with the right stories will have a far stronger impact than many other things you can do, including slide design, body language, eye contact, and so forth.

This page or post can be viewed by HCC members only. Consider becoming one. or Log in.

If you're trying to view a blog post, you've exceeded the number of posts that can be viewed for free. Become a member for unlimited viewing, log in, or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.

10 Ways to Take Control of Your Job Search

by • , , , , ,

businesswoman flying take control shutterstock_195916973It can be tempting to attribute a long job search to factors beyond your control. The factors that I hear jobseekers mention include age, experience (i.e. over- or under-qualified), resume gaps, weight, ethnic background, gender, or some other physical feature. While, at times, these factors and biases do cause problems for job-seekers, nine times out of ten I see that the problem is actually in their job-search strategy or execution.

So, here's a checklist of 10 questions to ask yourself first, before attributing a long search to factors beyond your control. Your answers will help to put you back in the driver’s seat and on the road to the job you want.

This page or post can be viewed by HCC members only. Consider becoming one. or Log in.

If you're trying to view a blog post, you've exceeded the number of posts that can be viewed for free. Become a member for unlimited viewing, log in, or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.

Sending an email vs an old-fashioned letter

by • ,

Job-search clients often ask me whether they should mail or email their cover or followup letter.  I tell them to default to email unless there is a compelling special case for sending a traditional letter.  The reasons I recommend email:

This page or post can be viewed by HCC members only. Consider becoming one. or Log in.

If you're trying to view a blog post, you've exceeded the number of posts that can be viewed for free. Become a member for unlimited viewing, log in, or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.

Using LinkedIn for Job-target Research

by • , , , ,

Many (or most) of you are probably on LinkedIn to some extent (if you're not you should be-- www.linkedin.com).  LinkedIn is an awesome tool for getting results in your job search.  But are you really getting the value out of it that you could be?  Use LinkedIn to advance your search in three ways:

This page or post can be viewed by HCC members only. Consider becoming one. or Log in.

If you're trying to view a blog post, you've exceeded the number of posts that can be viewed for free. Become a member for unlimited viewing, log in, or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.

Six Elements of a Successful Compensation Negotiation

by • ,

While there are many nuances to a successful compensation negotiation, keeping these five principles in mind will increase the odds of your making tens of thousands of dollars in minutes.

This page or post can be viewed by HCC members only. Consider becoming one. or Log in.

If you're trying to view a blog post, you've exceeded the number of posts that can be viewed for free. Become a member for unlimited viewing, log in, or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.

Difficult interview questions

by • Tags: •

Difficult interview questions fall into a few different categories, including stress questions ("I don't think you're good enough..."), seemingly off-the wall questions ("how do you find a needle in a haystack"), behavioral questions, including those that assume a negative (give me an example of a time when you had a difficult employee...") and "greatest weaknesses" types of questions.  In answering these questions, the key thing to remember is, as we say at the Five O’Clock Club, to play the interview "game".

This page or post can be viewed by HCC members only. Consider becoming one. or Log in.

If you're trying to view a blog post, you've exceeded the number of posts that can be viewed for free. Become a member for unlimited viewing, log in, or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.

4 Keys to Acing the Job Interview

by • Tags: •

Below are four of the areas that I focus on with clients when helping them to prepare for a job interview.

1) Be a consultant (take a strategic approach to the interview)
This is a whole mindset that can change the dynamic of the interview. You do this by figuratively sitting on the same side of the table as the interviewer, helping the interviewer solve her or his business problems. It's NOT about just memorizing the answers to their questions and then asking three of your own (this is the way many job-seekers approach the interview. . .

This page or post can be viewed by HCC members only. Consider becoming one. or Log in.

If you're trying to view a blog post, you've exceeded the number of posts that can be viewed for free. Become a member for unlimited viewing, log in, or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.

1 2 3