Handling Yourself in an Interview

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Let’s face it: the interview process is a stressful one—even if you’ve been on countless interviews.  Quite apart from demonstrating that you have the skills an employer wants, there is a whole complement of other requirements an applicant must meet before being considered for the position. 

One of the best ways a manager has to evaluate you as a potential fit for the job he is offering is through your replies to questions he asks you.  You will be judged on the basis of the content of your answers but the way in which you respond.  Are you, for example, hesitant or unsure of yourself? Or are you brash and bold in your replies.  (Neither one of these is very productive: you’ll need to come across as someone who is self-assured, but not conceited or arrogant.)

Typical questions you’re likely to encounter run the gamut from the usual ‘tell me about your professional accomplishments’ to ‘describe for me a situation in which you were required to work with a colleague you disliked and how you handled it?’ 

 Although you can’t predict what questions a given employer is likely to ask, you can prepare answers to some of the more traditional ones, as follows:

1)      What are you leaving your job?  (Focus on what you were hoping to achieve by finding a new job instead of making negative comments or criticizing your company.) 

2)      What are your strengths and weaknesses?  (Be sure to provide a balanced perspective by acknowledging that there are areas you seek to improve, just as there are ones in which you excel.)

3)      What motivates you?  (Whatever you do, DON’T say that it is money or a long vacation!  Restrict your comments instead to satisfaction you derive from doing your job.) 

 4)   How do you handle stress?  ( Providing an example of a situation that was a stressful one and how you coped with it will help the interviewer assess your relative degree of stability.)

 5)      And finally, why should we hire you? (Highlight those areas in which you have excelled and added value to your current company.)

Why Should an Employer Hire You?

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You have all heard the old expression, “Looking for a job in itself.” (So true, so true!)

Before applying for another position, you must be sure you actually possess the requisite skills. These go far beyond just being able to know how to do the job. Employers look for people who have a diversity of talents and abilities.  Perhaps they volunteer at their children’s schools, or belong to the PTA or the Chamber of Commerce. Some activity or pursuit of happiness beyond the parameters of the job itself is usually welcomed.  

Critical employment skills for range from time management to verbal and written communication skills. Effective communication means being able to understand and respond to co-workers, clients and colleagues in an appropriate manner. This means knowing how to write literate sentences AND give thoughtful responses to questions. One vastly overlooked skill is the ability to enunciate such that you can actually be understood by others. 

All too frequently, young people come out of High School or college speaking the jargon to which they’ve become accustomed during their school years.  Nothing can be less helpful to your career.  The success of any emmployee is predicated on the ability to communicate in the business world, and THAT means pronouncing your words correctly and eliminating those slang expressions in your vocabulary.

Other skills for employment that most employers look for are critical thinking, problem-solving and a well-developed work ethic that goes beyond just clocking in and out on time. Employers want to hire those who go above and beyond the call of duty to finish projects by coming in early and staying late.  “Team Players” are valuable to employers because they’ve learned how to be a part of a unit and are accustomed to rowing the boat in the same direction. This type of an employee is an asset to any company.

So, before you set out for that next important interview with one of the top companies in your town, take a few minutes to draft your answer to the question “WHY SHOULD WE HIRE YOU?”  If your response is a memorable one, you’ll probably end up with a job!

 

The Importance of Time Management

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Time Management–or the skills and techniques required to successfully accomplish numerous activities, tasks and goals–is an easy concept to understand but one that is far more difficult to implement.

Well, you say to yourself: “It’s not such a big deal if I don’t manage my time as effectively as I could. There’s no harm done!”  Ah, but there is! Ineffective time management can actually cost you money in the form of cold, hard cash.

Take the example of a small company that makes tents for instance.  Let’s say that the purchasing manager’s assistant–who is working on 4 other tasks simultaneously—is pressed for time and is trying to cut corners. The VP has asked her to identify a new canvas supplier to replace their old one who has just gone out of business.

Within the first half hour, she stumbles across a supplier offering pricing that’s too good to turn down. Figuring that it’s a waste of time to research any more firms, she places an order with this firm, and production of both large and small tents begins.

Since the cost of raw materials is significantly less, the price of each tent can be significantly reduced so as to encourage more orders. Orders now pile in, fast and furiously. Management is understandably thrilled and delighted to be making so much profit so fast. 

But in a few weeks time, customers begin e-mailing and calling to say that their brand new tent leaks and they either want a replacement or a refund. Upon closer inspection, the purchasing manager discovers much to his dismay that the canvas they have just ordered is actually 1/8” thinner than the material the company had used in the past, and hence far more susceptible to puncture.

Result: a hastily-made decision has now cost the company an inestimable amount of money to fix!  Had the assistant been better able to cope with the demands of her schedule, she would have been more attentive to the nature of the task at hand and would have researched the new material more carefully…. all of which just proves the old adage: “Haste Makes Waste!”

 

After Accepting That New Job….

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Even though exciting, changing jobs is often very stressful and its emotional intensity is sometimes compared to a divorce or death of a family member. However, a few simple tactics should alleviate your understandable anxiety or discomfort and put you well on your way to making friends in your new environment. 

One of the first things you’ll want to tackle is learning your way around: knowing where the kitchen, mail room, conference room, rest room are can help you feel more in control.  

Next, instead of hanging back and waiting for your co-workers to approach you, a better way of handling this would be for you to initiate conversation by deliberately seeking out others in your department with a friendly tone and a firm handshake.  

You might say:  ‘Good morning!  My name is Kim Jones, and I was just been hired as Special Assistant to the Marketing Director.  If you can spare a few minutes at break, I’d love to find out what YOU do for the company.”  (People love to talk about themselves and you should have no trouble finding willing partners for this type of conversation. If this encounter is successful, you will have made your first inroads into your new company, and perhaps even have found a new friend in the process! 

Be careful to avoid the all too common mistake of failing to provide your old firm with sufficient notice of your departure. Although it may not seem like a big deal to you at the time, it will become very important when a future company asks you for references. If what sticks in your boss’ mind is the fact that you came in on a Friday and left the following Tuesday, you aren’t likely to receive a very positive review.  

But, you don’t get ‘stuck’ in a position. By changing jobs regularly—even within the same company—you stand to benefit from an increase in salary, to say nothing of responsibility.  Watch for such opportunities, and grab them when they come along!

 

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Is Entrepreneurship for You??

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As Victor Kiam, the founder of Remington Electric said, “Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.” 

Are you one of these people?  By answering the following questions, you’ll have a good idea of whether you are well-suited for entrepreneurship.  First, do you have an idea about which you are passionate?  Unless you’re motivated to bolt out of bed to attack the day’s tasks, you may want to re-think owning a business.  Most successful entrepreneurs are exuberant, enthusiastic and excited about what they’re doing, and without that spirit, it’ll be a rough ride.

Second: how persuasive are you?  Running a business will take lots of convincing: i.e. convincing prospective clients to part with their hard earned money, convincing suppliers to send materials on a tight deadline, convincing your employees to do a good job, and on and on. 

Third: are you prepared to make major decisions on the spur of the moment? That’s what you’ll have to do as an owner, so if this gives your heartache just thinking about it, you may want to reevaluate your plans.

Fourth: are you willing and able to learn?  Just because you’re in business for yourself doesn’t mean you have all the answers.  Flexibility goes hand in hand with entrepreneurship. 

Last, is your family on board with the idea of business ownership?  If not, the long hours you’ll be working initially will be a hardship on everyone. 

It may be preferable for you to operate your business on a part time basis at the outset, while remaining in your full time position. That way, you’d at least have a pay check coming in that you otherwise wouldn’t have if you launched your company all at once.

 

How to Cope With Being Fired

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If you’ve ever been fired, you know how it feels and what the consequences can be. You also know that short of engaging in a long, drawn-out and expensive legal battle with an employer who is far better equipped for the fight than are you–there’s not a single thing you can do about the decision to let you go.

Once the decision has been made to cut the work force—and you in it– arguing, cajoling, and pleading with your boss to re-instate you will fall on deaf ears.  Why? Because in all probability a team of higher-ups has studied the options extensively and have opted to get rid of those employees with the least mission-critical role.

Don’t be surprised if during the final days of your employment your former friends and co-workers start to turn away from you.  This is not because they no longer like you, but rather, it is due to the fact that association with someone who has now become an outcast is not likely to further THEIR professional careers. 

For whatever reason: be it the fact that your company has lost major contracts over the past few years and hasn’t been able to replace them, or that it has just simply been bought out by another firm, the sad reality remains that you are now without a job!  Instead of focusing your energies on regrets and ‘should have’s/could have’s and would have’s’ the time has come for you to pick yourself up and get on with your life, which means finding a job just as soon as you are able.

Nor should you just roll over and play dead! Try to elicit from employer what the grounds for firing were. If it turns out that it’s because of something you have done–or not done—you will eventually be glad to know what it was, and will therefore not repeat the error.  In all likelihood, however, your supervisor is not bound to tell you the exact reasons. First, because as odd as it may seem, he or she may not know them himself. Secondly, as a soon-to-be former employee, you make him extremely nervous because you now no longer fit into his neat little paradigm of how the world works.

Of course, when your company fired you, it also made life unduly difficult for your loved ones, who have been depending upon the revenue you have been bringing in.  It’s always a tough thing to have to share the unwelcome news with your wife or your girlfriend.  Having to make this kind of announcement can lead to your feeling inferior or non-essential.  Be careful not to let things get you down.

Find something worthwhile to do immediately after you are let go.  Visit your daughter’s 2nd grade class room and volunteer to help with a reading group. Sign up for fundraising duties at your local animal shelter.  Help with the logistics for the upcoming Spring play at your son’s high school.  Take an exercise class of some kind.  Register for tennis lessons.

Whatever you do, make it a meaningful experience all the way around by not dwelling on past events.  Try to determine what new connections you can make and how to maximize their value.  Initiate a new friendship by inviting someone to join you for coffee at your expense. Attend a community theater production with a new-found friend or two. Gradually, you can build these first tentative efforts into a full-fledged marketing effort.

In time, you will realize that losing your job was not the end of the world, but instead, just the beginning of a new chapter in your life!

If Your Company is Changing, Maybe YOU Should Too!

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You’ve been in the same job for more than a decade.  The boss comes in one day and tells your office staff that there are gong to be B-I-G changes…For one thing, the company is going to be taken over by a competing out of state firm . 

You go home that night rather perturbed about the situation and start mulling things over.  First you’re worried—about the fact that you might just lose your job and then, you start thinking about it. It suddenly hits you.  Would it really be that bad if you did?  Haven’t you always wondered what it would be like to work in a different sector or a different industry?  Well: now’s your chance.

 Oops… but there’s one big ol’ problem right up front, and that is, how on earth are you ever going to get Carl’s Computer Company to take you seriously when you’ve only ever worked for Paul’s Pizza Palace and Fred’s Funky Frankfurter ?

Don’t despair!  Instead, take out a blank sheet of paper and write the following categories down: CAREER SUMMARY. In this section, you will discuss the responsibilities you’ve had at Paul’s, highlighting the skills you have acquired. Be sure to pick out the ones that are fully transferable as well as the personal qualities you possess that make you valuable.  

Next, turn your attention to KEY WORDS. Pick out words that are likely to be used in recruiting for the position you desire. This will make it easier for a prospective employer to find you in the stack of resumes he is reviewing.  Be sure to research the job for which you’re applying so that you know what skills are actually needed. 

In your third section, PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE, group your previous responsibilities under the headings of General Management, Sale Activities, Employee Supervision and Training, Financial Planning, and Human Resources. (This, of course, assumes that you have something to put down in each of the above fields.  If not, eliminate that category and replace it with something else.) 

Try to write at least 3 or 4 bullet points under each category, thinking back to a time in your previous positions when you were responsible for the activity in question. This type of resume is called a FUNCTIONAL resume, because, not surprisingly, it consists of what FUNCTIONS you have performed in the past, rather than what POSITIONS you’ve held. 

Under each section, put the companies, job titles and dates you were employed. That way, a prospective employer can see the skills you actually have—even though you may not have done these consecutively. The bottom line is that it will give him (or her) a glimpse into your overall capacities.

While this is not a common style of resume to use, it will nonetheless assist an employer in identifying where you gained the experience you did.  If, after reading through the entries in your general categories, they are interested in what you can do, you will undoubtedly get called in for an interview.

Take that occasion to explain your background in greater depth, discussing what you have done, where, and for whom. Likely as not, your interview will then be more of a two-way dialogue, which is what it’s supposed to be anyway!

A Different Approach to Networking

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If you’d rather have your arm amputated than attend networking meetings, you’re right up there with the majority of Americans. Why is this, you ask? If you are a more reserved and private person the act of networking (aka ‘schmoozing’) with others feels unnatural and artificial.

The commonly accepted concept of networking is that you must dress to impress, grab a pile of your business cards and set off to meet as many people as you possibly can in a two hour time frame. But, there IS an easier way.  Namely, that in your daily life you focus on creating meaningful relationships with colleagues, customers, clients and business associates on a regular basis.

If you think about it, you can accomplish wonders with just a smile and a friendly word. After all, there’s a good chance that the person you meet will be equally timid and looking for someone to guide him.  Once you do meet someone, the next step is easy. And that is to have a set of questions to ask him that will help you get to know what he’s all about.

An excellent first question is “How did you get where you are today?” A good second question is “What do you like/dislike most about your current career?” If he is self-employed, you might ask “If you had to create your business all over again, what would you do differently?’ And, by the way, this latter question gives you an opportunity to learn something!

Face it: people LOVE to talk about themselves, so by demonstrating interest in their favorite topic, you predispose them to like you. And that’s the very first step in cultivating a solid rapport. 

When you meet someone new, instead of worrying about handing him one of your business cards be sure to get his. That way, YOU are driving this boat and can call him up or e mail him when appropriate to do so. If you have a poor memory, it will be important for you to develop a way of remembering who the person is.

You might carry a small notebook in which you can jot a few details about the person such as ‘wearing a red tie, purple shirt and funky blue shoes’; or ‘worked selling popcorn at the zoo during college.’  Jot down any detail that will help you put his face with his name so that when he receives the note you send him the next day making reference to your conversation, he’ll conclude that you’re someone who is really on the ball.

Finally, remember that as you build your network of contacts you need to stay in touch with them consistently so that when you need something—like a job—they will be more inclined to help you if they can.

 

Dealing With Anger

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Have you ever noticed that during an unpleasant confrontation between two or more individuals, one or another of them is bound to say:   “You *make* me SO-O-O angry because….” 

In actuality, however, nothing could be further from the truth. Anger is an internal emotion or feeling that comes from within us. It is a reaction to stimuli that occur in life. Nobody can “MAKE” you angry!   You choose to become angry. Ultimately, each of us has the option of dealing with our feelings without hurting ourselves or others.

There are, of course, many degrees of anger, ranging from being mildly annoyed to downright destructive of self and others. In fact, many techniques exist that will enable you to control your reactions. 

Keeping a journal of events that trigger angry reactions in yourself can be helpful. Notice what the situation was when you exploded.  What were you feeling/doing/saying at the time?  See if there are common themes throughout and discuss these with a trusted friend or family member.  In extreme cases, you may wish to take advantage of “Anger Management” classes that are offered in most communities.

Looking for a job–especially if your search has been a long one can bring with it an unusually  high degree of frustration. You reactions to situations are likely to be more intense and it is not uncommon to find that you have a ‘shorter fuse.’

Take time to cool off by striding briskly about the neighborhood or use a pillow as a punching bag to divest yourself of your angry thoughts.  

A therapist can help you get to the root of your problem. In addition to inviting a myriad health issues for yourself  such as higher blood pressure and even heart disease, excessive anger can be detrimental to friends, family and loved ones, as they’re not likely to understand the causes or reasons for your wrath. Worse yet, they may perceive you as being both unbalanced and unpredictable. 

If you engage in such destructive physical behaviors as hitting, kicking or throwing objects, it’s time to seek help. However, note that anger which manifests itself by yelling, screaming or insulting others is equally problematic. 

Bottom line: Assertiveness is one thing….but aggressiveness is quite another.

 

Facts and Fantasies About Success

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So often we hear the saying that knowledge is power.  What does that really mean? At first glance, you might be tempted to think that it means that you need to be highly educated and intelligent. But in actuality, it just refers to the fact that knowing what is EXPECTED of you will make you a better, stronger person. 

So how to you figure out just what that may be?  Well, some things will be obvious. Others, however require simple observation and the willingness to ask questions—even if you think they may be stupid ones. 

While working hard is of course important, you can work hard and STILL not achieve the measure of success that you desire and deserve. The most essential part of this whole process is to understand and appreciate the goals of the employer. Secondly, to achieve the success you’re looking for, it will be necessary to maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity.  You will also need to be reliable and dependable. Among other things, this means keeping your word and behaving responsibly.

Thirdly. you must be both personable and approachable as well.  It’s a well-known fact that when the promotions roll around, managers will look first at team members who  have emerged as reliable, dependable and  likeable.  In fact, they tend to watch carefully to identify those employees to whom others routinely go for advice, support and counsel.

You will also need to be constantly alert to any opportunities that arise for the advancement of your career. These may come in the form of extra assignments you are given, or those you volunteer to take on.  Whatever the case, give them your full attention and do the best you can. 

Finally, your success will depend on the level of your motivation and determination to achieve. . If you’re someone who gives up at the first sign of difficulty, you probably won’t get very far.