10 Tips for Mastering the Phone Interview

Phone interviews are becoming more and more common as companies gain greater access to candidates and as more recruiters and hiring managers work from virtual offices. On the positive side, with a phone interview you don’t have to worry about having your suit pressed, and you can have your notes right in front of you. On the flip side, it’s much more difficult to establish rapport and get a read on the hiring manager during a phone conversation.

Here are 10 tips to get the most out of your phone interviews.

1. Schedule the meeting during a time when you won’t be distracted.
   A phone interview should be scheduled like any other interview. At the designated appointment time, be sure the dog is in the backyard and someone else is watching the kids. Don’t add additional hassle to an already stressful situation. If a recruiter or hiring manager calls you without advance notice and wants to interview you on the spot, use caution. If the interview conditions are not optimal at the time of the call, it’s best to tell the interviewer that you are very interested in the position, but need to schedule another time to have a conversation. That time can be as soon as 10 minutes later if that works for you — just make sure that you can take the call without being distracted.
2. Conduct interviews from a land line.
   Cell phones are a boon to modern communication, but the quality is still not the same as that of a land line. The last thing you want to do is frustrate the recruiter or hiring manager with a bad connection. Using a cell phone means you have a greater chance of getting distracted by multitasking when your attention should be completely focused on the interview. A land line forces you to stay in a relatively stationary locale. Plan your interview from a reliable phone line.
3. Create an office space.
   Dedicate an area as your office. This area could be as simple as a card table with a phone and your documents. Conduct your interviews from that "office." Being seated at a desk or table allows you to create an environment similar to an in-person interview.
4. Put a mirror in front of you.
   This helps you focus, and it anchors your conversation to the visual representation of a person. Monitoring your facial expressions helps you see if you are communicating your enthusiasm to the recruiter.
5. Have a glass of water nearby.
   If your throat is dry or you get a tickle, you can take care of it before it turns into a cough and disrupts the flow of the interview.
6. Have your notes in front of you.
   A phone interview is like an open-book test: You can have your research about the company and answers to potential interview questions right in front of you. Try organizing your key information on colored index cards by category so you’re not fumbling through papers in the middle of the interview.
7. Vary your voice.
   Since the other person can't see you, it’s critical that you vary the tone and cadence of your voice to communicate interest and develop rapport.
8. Use pauses effectively.
   Pauses in an interview situation are always difficult, and they can be especially awkward during a phone interview since you can’t judge what the interviewer is thinking by his body language. Rather than wondering what the person on the other end of the line is doing (or even if she's still there), use the silence to ask a question. For example, if the interviewer has just asked you about your strengths and your response is met with silence, make that an opportunity to ask a question like, "What are the key strengths of your ideal candidate?" This tactic both takes care of the silence and allows you to learn more about the position.
9. Don't multitask.
   We have grown so accustomed to multitasking; however, as mentioned in tip #2, it can be counterproductive during a phone interview. Don’t check your e-mail or stick a casserole in the oven while you are engaged in a phone interview. Act the same way you would for an in-office interview, and maintain your focus.
10. Practice.
    Record some of your answers to prospective interview questions. Play them back and critique yourself. Are you easy to understand? Are you talking too fast? Is your presentation riddled with long pauses and "ums?" Do you communicate interest and enthusiasm? If necessary, rework your answers and your overall presentation.

Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers, has more than 10 years of experience in career management, recruiting, executive coaching and organizational development. She is a triple-certified resume writer and frequent contributor to numerous career-related publications.

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Online Personal Brand « Career Brander

In December 2009 Microsoft commissioned market research firm Cross-tab to conduct a survey on the growing impact and related social trends of Online Identity Management.  Cross-tabs surveyed several hundred recruiters and Human Resource (HR) professionals as well as several hundred consumers in Europe as well as the United States.

The results of this survey further support the increasing role of online identity in hiring decisions.

Here are some sample takeaways from the study:

• Companies are making online screening a formal requirement in the hiring process.
• 85% of recruiters and HR professionals say positive online reputation influences their hiring decision.
• Approximately 70% of recruiters and HR professionals say they rejected candidates based on what they found online.
• Recruiters and HR professionals in the United States are almost twice as likely to perform an online screening then their European counterparts.

To further emphasize the strength of online screening in the United States, 98% of the recruiters and HR professionals surveyed said they used at least one of the following sites to gain further applicant information during the hiring process.

According to the survey, here are the percent of recruiters and HR professionals who use these types of sites when researching applicants.
Search engines	78%
Social networking sites	63%
Photo and video sharing sites	59%
Professional and business networking sites	57%
Personal Web sites	48%
Blogs	46%
News sharing sites (e.g. Twitter)	41%
Online forums and communities	34%
Virtual world sites	32%
Web sites that aggregate personal information	32%
Online gaming sites	27%
Professional background checking services	27%
Classifieds and auction sites	25%
None of these	2%

The study goes on to say the most common methods consumers are using to better manage personal and professional identities online are:

• Update and create multiple profiles on-line with an emphasis on separating personal from professional profiles.
• Keep profiles anonymous by correctly employing privacy settings.
• Use restrictive access tools similar to Career Brander’s Site in 60 website content padlocks.

Despite the growing trend and role of online identity management, an amazing 1/3 of all consumers have taken no measures whatsoever to enhance, protect or manage their online persona.

Career Brander feels, this “head in the sand” mentality is a flawed approach for anyone in career transition. We strongly recommend any individual in career transition look to the chart above and consider using it as a roadmap for their online identity campaign management.   Minimally, individuals should look at the top 5 research sites from the chart above and take the time to enable, control and optimize the personal data on these destinations. To repeat in order they are:

1) Search Engines (Consider establishing profiles with them as well as creating a Vizibility button for Google)

2) Social Networking Sites (Facebook  and MySpace are probably the two critical sites)

3) Photo & Video Sharing (This is probably more about controlling content than proactively adding content.)

4) Professional/Business Networking Sites (LinkedIn is key here and given its networking power probably the most important site to job seekers.)

5) Personal Websites (Site in 60 allows for incredibly easy creation of a personal website and advanced crawls by all the search engines.)

In 2010, reputation management is central to personal branding.  An online identity audit and a proactive strategy are critical elements of effective career marketing.  Embrace the Internet as a job search tool and you will have a hiring advantage.  Ignore it, and you are positioning yourself for potential failure.    The job search process is getting more complex and individuals need to be extremely thorough and thoughtful in every aspect if they hope to find work faster.

via careerbrander.wordpress.com

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Leave Job Off Resume from Which He Was Terminated? - The Career Doctor Blog

Jeff writes:

Recently I was terminated from a sales position after two months. I am considering whether or not to include the employment on my resume. My employment gap will only be two months if I exclude the position.

Would it be better to list the position and use the term downsized? Or should I use terminated?

Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated.

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The Career Doctor responds:

Let me reiterate a critical point about resumes that all job-seekers should tuck into the back of your heads: A resume is not an all-inclusive job history. Your resume is a marketing document. You tailor the facts in your resume to fit each job with each employer. Notice I did say facts. I am not advocating lying on a resume; I am advocating making your resume a unique document for each opportunity you seek.

And here is a second point about resumes. Never provide unnecessary information. You do not need to make any mention on your resume why you left a particular job — simply put the start and end dates. You should also NOT put your supervisor’s name, your salary information, or phone numbers. For each job you have held that you wish to include, you should list your job title, the organization’s name and location (city, state), dates of employment, and your key accomplishments.

You don’t say why you were terminated so quickly, but two months is such a short stint that I would never recommend including it on your resume. And you’re right, two months is not much of a gap, especially in the current job market.

Regardless of how you handle this job on your resume, however, you will need to have some sort of story to tell in the job interview — either about why you only lasted two months on the job or why you have a two-month gap on your resume. In terms of lingo, downsized usually results from budget cuts and does not reflect on the quality of your work while terminated says your work was no longer needed (or was bad, ineffective, etc.).

If you are working on your resume, you should visit this section of Quintessential Careers for much more resume advice, tips, and samples: Resume and CV Resources for Job-Seekers.

via careerdoctor.org

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Nailing the Interview | EmploymentDigest.net

One of the most important parts of landing a job is largely based on how well you do during the interview process. From the moment you walk through the door, whether or not you know it or want to admit to it, you are being judged by the very people you may one day end up working for and with. Unless you are told otherwise, you should never show up to an interview in jeans and t-shirt. You would be surprised at how many people do this! Rather, when you are schedule to have an interview, make sure that you are dressed in business or business-casual attire. Business attire would be considered a suit and tie with a jacket and dress shoes for a male while for females, business attire could be either a pant suit or a tasteful dress/skirt combination with closed toe shoes and stockings.

If you have multiple piercings as a female, make sure that the only ones that are visible are two earrings per ear on the ear lobe (one per ear lobe is probably preferable). This means that any nose, eyebrow, cartilage or other facial piercings should be removed. If you are a male, there should be no piercings visible whatsoever. It is not acceptable for males to have pierced ears in a professional business atmosphere. Similarly, any and all visible tattoos should be covered up, as they do not give off a professional appearance.

When dressing for your interview, whether you are a male or female, avoid putting on any colognes or perfumes as doing so may irritate other co-workers, employers or people who work in the office area. For some reason, this continues to be a problem with employees who are interviewing for a job or who work in a professional setting. If you insist on putting on cologne or perfume, make sure that you only put on a minute amount so that it is barely noticeable. Instead of worrying yourself over smelling good with perfumes and colognes, try making sure that you take a thorough shower prior to your interview. Sometimes, all it takes is using a little soap and water to make you smell acceptable. Eat something small before you go to your interview so that your stomach won’t be growling while you are speaking with your interviewers. Give yourself plenty of time to eat before your interview so that you have time to brush your teeth and floss. The last thing an interviewer wants to see is what you just ate for breakfast or lunch. Make sure that you keep your food choices simple as you also don’t want to go into an interview smelling like fried food, etc.

Be comfortable during your interview but maintain a professional appearance. This means that you should speak audibly and clearly, give a firm handshake at the outset as well as the conclusion of the interview and always make sure that you are sitting up straight and never slouching. It helps to do a little research about the company beforehand, so that you can engage in some Q&A towards the end of the interview. Also, this shows that you are someone who takes initiative and is actively interested in what the company has to offer.

By Brenda Williams – Divorce Lawyer Raleigh - Divorce Attorney Raleigh

via employmentdigest.net

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Building A Great Elevator Pitch

Many months back I wrote a post to help you deliver a great elevator pitch to your local networking group.  Because when your elevator pitch has a pitch problem, you won’t have the impact.  And no one will rush the stage to meet you when it is over.

And I think that one of the most important results of a good elevator pitch is that people want to come find you.  Introduce themselves.  And network with you.

A great concept, right?

So since you’ve already read the post above about how to deliver a great pitch, here’s my advice on how to build the pitch that everyone will love.

Six steps. From a presentation I gave this week in Irvine, CA.

First I’ll tell you what to create and then I’ll give you my own example.  Sound good?

Step 1 – Tell us your name . . . .

Step 2 – Tell us your positioning statement (4-6 words that uniquely define you in the market)

Step 3 – Tell us your brief career summary (last position, industry, a key accomplishment or two)

Step 4 – Tell us your work philosophy (how you work, what reinforces your true value)

Step 5 – Tell us your specific job search objectives (target title, function, industry, geography, companies)

Step 6 – Tell us how you can help others (i.e. us)!

And that’s it!  About 45 seconds.  You can add or delete words to get down to 30 or up to 60 depending on the guidelines provided by your networking group.

Think you can build one of these?  I’ll bet you can.

via timsstrategy.com

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Concerned You Have A Weak Resume, CV or Cover Letter?

Are  your shoes dirty?

You’ve heard me talk here before about the value of a career coach.  And I really do believe in what they do.  Likewise for resume writers.  They lend a voice, a structure and a strategy to folks who a need a big leg up.

If you are out looking for your next job.  Or are employed but looking for something better.  You might want to take a look at a career expert directory.  Just to see who is out there and what an expert can do to help.  But before you do that, read my post about hiring a career expert.

Because hiring an expert should be a decision you make as part of a larger job search strategy.  And you should do it early in your process if you decide it makes sense.

You know your strengths.  You’ve identified your weak spots.  And now you are going to make one key investment to make sure that dirty shoes will not hamper your ability to impress people.

But not everyone can afford a career coach.  And not everyone’s weak spots require professional help.

Sometimes a spit shine will do.

A spit shine is something you can do at home.  At your own pace.  You just need a little guidance.  And in the case of a spit shine, for me this came during high school.  From my dad who came down into my room with his can of shoe shine.  He popped it open, spit without reservation into the can.  And mixed the shine into a  really unpleasant looking stew.  As if he were spitting into his baseball glove.

That stew warmed my shoes to a deep black color.  Then he buffed them out to a pretty good shine.  Good enough for me to leave the house confident and ready to impress.  Instead of running down for a professional shine at the shoe store.

A spit shine for your resume

If you could solve the majority of the problems on your resume without a major expense, you would.  I think we would all do that, right?

I wrote about some of these simple solutions in my guest post on Ryan Rancatore’s Personal Branding 101 blog.  It included 5 reasons your resume makes me sick.  They make me sick because they can be solved with a little bit of knowledge and a little bit of time.

So where do you get ideas for a spit shine?  Well, here of course!  Be sure to check out the posts here in the resume and cover letter category.  That’s one option.  You can also compare your resume with new friends you meet while networking.  Especially those that are getting calls on theirs.

You can check with your local church to see if they have a career ministry.  Or check with your city’s government EDD office.  Or ask your friends who do a lot of hiring to take a look.

Free advice from the experts

But the truth is that most really good career experts share their spit shine ideas on a blog.  Or on Twitter.  And if you go into the directory, look for their links.  By reading their free ideas and advice, you may find a voice that you can trust enough to pick up the phone.  And, if it makes sense, one that you can pay to upgrade from a productive spit shine to a professional one.

As time allows, I review resumes for people.  Spit shines only.  Many can be quickly improved with just a few adjustments.

And a few need to be burned at the stake.

via timsstrategy.com

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Interviews: Who Should Ask the Questions? | Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

Whether or not you are actively pursuing a leadership position in your career search, employers are considering you for your leadership potential during your interviews.

But how can you demonstrate your leadership potential in front of your interviewer beyond what he or she can read from your resume? Dr. Marlene Caroselli reminded me the other day of an important quote from Peter Drucker, the Father of Modern Management Science, who stated that "leaders know how to ask questions...the right questions."

While you typically think of the interviewer as the one asking the questions, asking questions, but more specifically, the right questions, as a candidate can not only demonstrate your leadership potential, but also your interest, your commitment and the strength of your personal brand.

Here are just some of the “right questions” to help you show off your leadership potential:

Some questions that can be especially helpful when doing informational interviews or interviews with managers in your chosen functional area or industry include “How did you break into [insert industry, functional area or company name]?” and “Do you have any advice for someone trying to get his foot in the door in [insert industry, functional area or company name]?” These questions help to put them in your shoes and offer them a relatable challenge that they were able to overcome and that they will often want to help you overcome by offering additional advice, championing you to the decision makers and more. - Chris Perry, CareerRocketeer.com

If you are an astute and verbally skilled interviewee, and interested in standing out from your competitors, ask a "leading" question. One the interviewer will not forget. For example, "I know what excites me about this industry. May I ask what first drew you to it?" - Dr. Marlene Caroselli, Caroselli.biz

I know this might sound simple maybe even obvious, but in my experience as both a recruiter and career coach, most candidates do not close the interview or ask for a decision regarding the next step. Most ask "What is the next step?" and they get the standard answer "We have more candidates to see and will get back to you in x days." My advice is never leave the interview without knowing that you have answered all the interviewer’s questions/concerns by asking "Is there any reason you can think of at this stage that you will not be taking my application forward to the next stage?" - Paul Copcutt, SquarePegSolution.com

If you feel the interviewer is not being attentive as you respond, rather than cutting short your answer, take a pause and ask the rhetorical question starting with his/her name, "Am I answering your question?" That will bring the interviewer back into the conversation in a tactful and effective way. - Dan Bauer, MBAExchange.com

Ask the recruiter for advice. For example, "What can I do to make myself more marketable?" or "What do you think I should change on my resume?" The simple act of asking for advice not only lets the recruiter know you are interested in putting forth the effort to get a great job through them, but also breaks the ice and engages them in conversation, making them more likely to take an interest in you personally. It also lets the recruiter know you respect them on a professional level and value their input. - Drew Goldsmith, HollisterStaff.com

Making a connection is about being genuine, listening and engaging the other person. You want to ask questions and show interest in them and their organization. You also want to show the value you can bring, but do it in a way that shows confidence without being too boastful or forward. Two good questions to ask in this situation are “Do I have the credentials you look for when hiring for this position?” and “What more can I do to be more in line with the requirements of this position?” These questions tell you where you stand in the hiring person's eyes and let you know what you have to do to close the gap. - Lisa Caldas Kappesser, EQCoachingSolutions.com

Thank you to all of the experts who contributed to this wealth of interview insight!

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Author:

Chris Perry, MBA is a Gen Y brand and marketing "generator," a career search and personal branding expert and the founder of Career Rocketeer and Launchpad.

via careerrocketeer.com

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