You Did WHAT at Your Interview?! | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

I recently heard a story about a complete failure of a job interview. The person had strong experience and a passion for the industry, but once in the door for an interview, it all went down hill. After requesting a tour of the office during the interview, this person made attempts to speak with senior executives at the company, and then walked right in to the CEO’s office to introduce himself. Very bold and very unprofessional. I couldn’t believe someone would think that this was okay!

More often than not

It was not until I was reading this article today about “Big Blunders Job Hunters Make” did I realize how often this type of activity occurs. I was appalled at the lack of judgment that these job candidates apparently had. Stories of eating during an interview, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, sending gifts to hiring managers, and bringing their parents on interviews shocked and awed me as I read.

I was once told that everyone at the company I was interviewing for wore t-shirts and jeans, and that I should not wear my suit next time. Would I have gotten the job if I had worn shorts and a t-shirt to my second interview? Probably. Did I wear shorts and a t-shirt to a job interview? Absolutely not!

I know this is a lot of storytelling, but it’s very purposeful. Think to yourself about your past interview experiences. Does something you did seem like it would find its way in to this article? My advice to everyone is this — practice your interview from inception to acceptance/rejection with at least one other person. If you have a career mentor or career services that you can leverage for help, do it. All of these people must have thought that their behavior was acceptable.

What if one of your interview tactics is what will lose you the job?

Author:

David Trahan is currently working at leading social marketing agency Mr Youth in New York where he develops innovative marketing campaigns for some of the world’s leading brands. He has previously held positions with the Ad Council, Goldman Sachs and others, and is a graduate of the Pace University Lubin School of Business.  David is now a mentor in the Alumni Mentor Program at Pace and is a member of the AD Club of NY Young Professionals Steering Committee. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Posted via email from AndyWergedal

MBA Salary Survey 2010

Salary is probably the only topic that inevitably comes up in every discussion with friends. Everybody wants to know what everybody else is earning these days. Whats their “Market Salary”?

Unfortunately, there is no structured way to know that. The only way to get that information is to ask peers who have switched jobs recently. That’s obviously not the best way to do it. There is a limit to how many people you can ask this. And they might be in a different industry or role.

At iimjobs.com, we decided to conduct this study to understand the trends in compensation of MBAs from premier busienss schools in India. We conduct this survey every year to help professionals benchmark their salary against their peers in the Industry.

The survey was administered from May 16 to 31, 2010 with over 5600 MBA graduates sharing their salary data anonymously. We made sure that we didn’t collect any individually identifiable information to maintain confidentiality during the whole process. The data was then tabulated based on area of specialization and years of experience. The areas being covered as part of this survey are – Finance, Marketing, General Management/Consulting, and Systems (IT).

Salaries grew fastest at 12.7% for professionals working in IT sector, taking them closer to their batch mates working in Finance and Consulting. Average salary for MBAs working in IT sector was observed to be 12.9 lakhs for 3 to 4 years of experience and 17.3 lakhs for 5 to 7 years of experience.

Sales & Marketing Jobs saw 11.8% growth in compensation this year. Average salary for MBAs working in Sales & Marketing was observed to be 9.8 lakhs for 1 to 2 years of experience, 13.6 lakhs for 3 to 4 years of experience and 18.1 lakhs for 5 to 7 years of experience.

Average salaries in Finance Jobs was observed to be 11.5 lakhs for 1 to 2 years of experience, 14.3 lakhs for 3 to 4 years of experience and 19.6 lakhs for 5 to 7 years of experience.

Average salaries in Consulting Jobs grew around 7.6% and was observed to be 11.5 lakhs for 1 to 2 years of experience, 14.7 lakhs for 3 to 4 years of experience and 18.4 lakhs for 5 to 7 years of experience.

We also collected attrition data this time. Attrition rate was observed to be highest at 13.6 % for Finance graduates with 3 to 4 years of experience. It was lowest at 6.9% for professionals in General Management/Consulting. Average Attrition rate was 11.2%

What do you think? Please comment.

Tarun Matta is the founder of iimjobs.com – an exclusive job portal for MBAs from premier business schools in India.

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Posted via email from AndyWergedal

5 Popular Career Personality Tests - Career blog - Position Ignition - taking you to the next step in your career

If you’re in a position to make a career change, for whatever reason, you’re probably wondering what type of career would suit your personality. Psychometric tests are a quick, convenient way of “personality typing”-getting an idea of which specific personality group you fall into in terms of skill sets, ambitions and aspirations. Once you know which group you fall into, it’s easier to assess what type of career might be suited to you.

Personality psychometric tests are not to be confused with the psychometric tests employers use to test candidates’ ability. These are usually taken in exam-like conditions and involve numerical and verbal reasoning in order to assess a candidate’s capability for the job at hand. Although personality psychometric tests such as OPQ32 are used by managers and businesses to get an idea of an individual’s behavioural style, there are many free online personality psychometric tests that can be taken for your own reference, at your leisure. There’s a multitude of free online tests that you can take at your convenience. In fact, there are so many of these tests, that it is overwhelming to try and select just a few. So to make it a bit more manageable, we’ve rounded up five of the most popular tests doing the rounds at the moment:

Jung Typology Test

According to the thinking behind this test, personality typing involves classifying the individual according to four criteria: extroversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, judging/perceiving. Different combinations of the criteria determine a type. For instance, if you are an Extrovert Intuition Feeling Judging, you are type EIFJ (obviously!). According to which type you are, the test not only feeds back a list of suitable career options, but also some educational institutions where you can receive the relevant skills learning.

Career Psychometrics: ‘How to Land your Ideal Job’

You have 2 minutes 50 seconds to answer a short series of questions about what personality traits you believe you have. After you’ve completed it, you get a free Personality Report that explicitly tells you not only what type of job is for you, but also what type of job isn’t for you.

Finding Potential: Individuals’ Personality Questionnaire

This test takes around 15 minutes to complete and gives you a 15 page report that shows you the personality traits you scored higher and lower on; gives you a detailed breakdown of these traits; and then matches work preferences and possible jobs to you according to whether you scored high or low on each particular trait.

SimilarMinds.com: ‘What Career Suits Me’?

This is slightly different in that it first asks you what your ‘current or desired’ career is before you take the test. It then gives you a list of statements and you have to indicate to what degree each statement is true of you. In the results it categorises you as a certain type of person such as an ‘Idealist’ and then gives you a list of possible professions.

PersonalityType.com/Monster: ‘Discover Your Perfect Career’ Quiz

This uses the same criteria as the Jung Typology Test, except you yourself have to decide whether you are an extrovert or introvert, sensor or intuitive, etc. by reading bullet point descriptions of each pair of qualities and then picking which of the two qualities is most like you. After you’ve chosen from the four categories, the test identifies your personality type as the conventional Jung test does (i.e. you may be INTP) and then gives you a list of suitable careers.

Although these type of tests can certainly be useful tools for giving you a number of possible career change options, it is important that you eventually narrow down and target the one career you want to pursue. If you would like help with this, we at Position Ignition can offer you a range of methods for deciding upon which career to choose. Not only do we use personality tests similar to the one above, we also give each of our clients access to one of our Career Guides and encourage them to use other tools such as Visionboards. If this interests you, get in contact with us for a free consultation today!

www.positionignition.com

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Resumes for Every Generation » Blog | Great Resumes Fast

This past week I attended a presentation about Baby Boomers, Generation X-ers, and Millennials learning to communicate and work well together in the professional world.  The speaker provided great tips for understanding each generation and how to effectively use their strengths to the best advantage.  While the presentation focused on helping everyone work well together, I couldn’t help but think about the ramifications of what she was saying for those out in the job market today.

Let’s start with Baby Boomers, those born between 1946-1964.  Baby Boomers have generally been in the workplace for several decades and possess knowledge and experience.  Writing a resume for a Boomer often entails trying to pare the candidate’s experience down to only the most important elements.  However, Boomers also need to be particularly careful to include on their resumes any technological competencies they possess.  For those in the position of competing with Millennials when they apply for jobs, it’s particularly important to show that they can work quickly and efficiently.

Generation X defines those who were born between 1965 and 1979.  Gen X-ers are in their 30s and 40s and often have significant work experience.  A Gen X-er preparing his resume should pay particular attention to quantifying his achievements with numbers and statistics.  Many members of this generation have managed others or have been responsible for various financial results; so putting a number to those results helps to truly define you as a candidate.

Millennials are those who were born between 1980 and 2010.  Employers generally assume that Millennials grasp technology or will be able to learn new software programs quickly.  However, Millennials too often lack the all-important “soft skills” of intelligent and effective communication and socially acceptable personal presentation that some employers still value so much.  Therefore, for those who are in their 20s and are trying to enter into or move around in the workforce, it’s particularly important that both your resume and your interview reflect your ability to communicate personably and effectively.

With one in 10 Americans currently looking for full-time work, all three generations are competing against one another for available jobs.  It’s helpful to understand the assumptions a member of another generation might make about you as a candidate so that you can present your resume and yourself in a way that speaks to those concerns.

For a free resume analysis submit your resume via e-mail to info@greatresumesfast.com. Or view professionally-written resume samples at http://www.greatresumesfast.com.

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How to Keep Your Job Search Confidential » Blog | Great Resumes Fast

The very best time to look for a new job is while you still have your old one–but what if that means you need to keep it on the down low? Keeping your job search confidential can seem virtually impossible, but it isn’t.

One great way to stealth job search is by using LinkedIn. It’s entirely possible to reach out to others without it being a matter of public record. Using LinkedIn to contact hiring managers directly is amazingly effective.

So what do you have to do?

Above all else, you must have a polished LinkedIn profile. The better you look on LinkedIn, the more likely it becomes that you’re contacted by recruiters or hiring managers (the easiest way to land a job of all). But be careful of what you write in your summary. You can’t put “seeking a sales opportunity” if you’re trying to keep it quiet. Concentrate on highlighting your skills and accomplishments while making connections and participating in relevant groups. Essentially, you’re putting your best foot forward while growing your network. And you’ll learn a tremendous amount of information from the resources you’ll find there.

What if your employer wants to know why you have such a shined up LinkedIn profile? Don’t let him put you on the spot. You can say (especially if you’re in sales or marketing) that you see yourself as the face of the company, and customers seek you out on LinkedIn. You can also say that you’re trying to learn about the latest social media tools to be current on the trends. There are over 65 million professionals on LinkedIn, and they’re not all looking for jobs. It’s not going to be unusual for you to jump in, too.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

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Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Career Advice, Personal Branding & Job Search Help from Top Career Experts : CAREEREALISM

By CAREEREALISM founder, J.T. O’Donnell

There are 3 Chefs vying for NYC win in the Sears Chef Challenge. 10+ year software sales veteran turned personal chef, Matthew West, is one of them. Matt’s story is just the kind of thing we LOVE to hear at CAREEREALISM.com. I interviewed him recently to learn how and why he made such a dramatic career change.If you find his story encouraging, feel free to vote for him so he can win the contest.

How did you know it was time to make a career change & what gave you the courage to make the change? I lost two jobs in two years. I was unhappy and realized I couldn’t put my dreams on hold any more. Life was passing too quickly and I was afraid to spend the rest of my days worried about finding work that I didn’t enjoy. So, with the support of my wife and friends I decided to make the change.

What are the 3 most important things you learned about yourself by changing careers? I realized I didn’t like Corperate america, I could be happy earning less money, and anything worth doing takes plenty of sacrifice, passion and attention.

What practical advice would you give job seekers who are afraid to make a career change? Don’t wait until you are too old to make the leap – do it while there is time and if need be you can fall back to previous experience.

Why did you join the Sears Chef Challenge? I thought it was an awesome resume builder and would provide me/my business a certain stamp of credibility.

Why should complete strangers vote for you? Because I believe I provide the best live demo’s; entertaining as well as educating my live audiences and imparting my love of food and cooking – a love that I have finally turned into my career.

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Fight Ageism Job Seekers: Older IS Wiser - Careers Articles

By Jeff Lipschultz

We've all heard stories of younger job seekers winning jobs over older job seekers. The bias against the older work force is typically bogus, but can be hard to overcome. And younger folks supposedly require less salary, too. My question to you, the older and wiser job seeker, is: Are you leveraging all your assets in an interview?

A new study, shared in an article by Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, shows that "Brain scans had identified four brain regions that contribute to wisdom. The elderly have more activity in these regions than the young, which results in their wiser judgments... Scans also showed the brain never lost the ability to grow."

Get specific

Now I'm not suggesting you should print out the results of the study and plop it down on the interviewer's desk. But you should relate how in difficult decision-making situations you have, time and time again, led a team in a good direction. There are thousands of jobs that require experience -- real-world experience including technical know-how, but also business process and problem-solving.

The salary range for the position has likely been set before the interviews began. Some applicants might be able to settle for the low end of the range. You might require the top end. There's probably not a large difference between the two. Your goal is to convey what the company will get for the extra investment. As I always say, talk with examples. Don't say "I've had great success leading projects." Talk about a project in detail where you've had "great success."

Talk long term

Another mistake older workers make in interviews is to make age a part of the discussion. Interviewers cannot bring this subject to the table -- it is discrimination to talk about your age. Older workers sometimes feel the need to say, "I have a long career path still ahead of me." It is better to talk in terms of goals for your career that dovetail with the position and/or direction of the company. If you talk about long-term goals you still plan to achieve -- ones that require true dedication and hard work -- the interviewers will start to view you as someone who will be around for a while. There's a subtle difference, but a positive one.

With experience comes knowledge. With knowledge comes wisdom. The older, wiser work force has a lot to contribute to the success of our companies. Make sure you remind the world of this.

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