How do I turn interviews into job offers? - Career blog - Position Ignition - taking you to the next step in your career

Q.   - I’ve had four interviews recently for a few different positions, but I haven’t heard back from any of them. I’m getting desperate – how do I make it past the interview stage?

H.L., Stoke-on-Trent

A. - This topic comes up again and again – what’s going wrong is that you need to better understand who you are going to see. Different interviewers want different things:

Recruitment Consultants

Recruitment consultants work on behalf of the employer. It’s their job to weed out inappropriate candidates and to compile a shortlist of candidates to send to their client (the employer) as soon as possible. Remember: 1) the recruiter is working to a strict deadline, and 2) the recruiter is evaluating if you fit the brief and if they think that the client will like you. Make their job easy by making yourself readily available for interview and ensure that they can tick all the job requirements quickly and easily. Recruitment consultants won’t put you on a shortlist if they think you might pull out at a later stage so be 100% positive about the role.

Public Sector Interviews

For public sector roles, there’ll be a fixed, openly-communicated timetable and a very structured process in the form of competency-based interviews. There’s no advantage to getting your application in early or being the first person interviewed. Competency-based interviews require a different mindset. Forget your CV; it’s all about providing evidence supporting a long list of ‘competencies’ specific to the job. These include hard skills (e.g. qualifications) as well as soft skills (e.g. multicultural sensitivity, flexibility and leadership).You must provide evidence for each and every competency. Find out what the required competencies are and have a prepared example for each one. Use the STAR technique – Situation, Task, Action, Result.

Large Corporations

Get your tailored CV and cover letter in there fast (either through a recruiter or directly) so that your application is one of the first they see. If they see someone good, large corporations will often fast track them through the process. You’re likely to have two or more interviews – the first with Human Resources, the second with a line manager. HR will have read your CV in detail and have a set of standard interview questions. Quite often, the line manager won’t have had time to prepare so the second interview may be less structured. You might be asked to go through your CV again – do it enthusiastically and know the information you want to communicate. Never underestimate your CV as a support tool – if it’s good, it can answer any question the interviewer throws at you.

Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

SME interviews are unpredictable – be ready for anything. You might be expecting to meet the Operations Manager but the MD could also pop in for a chat. You might get a test dropped on you at the last minute. You might even end up being offered a job at the first interview. You’re more likely to be interviewed by line managers, so technical skills and team fit are critical. It’s your job to build trust quickly and create a rapport. SMEs tend to hire on instinct, so if your personality wins them over then you’re a shoo-in.

Of course, there’s a lot more to interview success but I don’t have room to cover it all here. To really get an edge in interviews contact us to talk to a real career expert (meet the team) who can give you mock interview practise, get you prepared for the real thing.

Author: The Career Insider from Workthing+

via positionignition.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Career Advice from Career Expert J.T. O’Donnell : CAREEREALISM

By CAREEREALISM Founder, J.T. O’Donnell

I don’t need to cite statistics that prove senior management teams in corporate America have far more men in them than women. In fact, most of us, at some point, have heard the term, “Old Boys Club,” used to describe the way a company’s professional advancement works at the highest level. What I do want to talk about is the debate around the idea , in spite of proof it works for men, women can’t seem to get their act together and form power groups of their own.

A  Dirty Little Secret – Women Like to Tear Each Other Down

MSNBC career columnist, Eve Tahmincioglu wrote this very insightful piece called, “Women Still Reluctant to Help Each Other.” In it, studies and expert interviews indicate things like jealousy and lack of time are making the development of an equally valuable, “Old Girls Club,” pretty challenging. The biggest shocker to me? Men are better mentors than women. It appears they do a more effective job because:

A) They have greater experience mentoring and being mentored in their careers.
B) They have more confidence in their ability to provide value as a mentor.

Wow! That hurts to hear. I guess I was lucky. Early on in my career, I got hired by a company with a large, strong group of women mentors. The HR department had 16 people in it; 15 women and 1 token guy. The head of HR was a very confident and charismatic woman. Ironically, I remember feeling nervous when I accepted the job offer about being part of a predominantly female team for the same reasons outlined in Tahminciogul’s article – I thought they’d be petty and mean. I was wrong! To this day, it’s the most supportive team environment I’ve ever been in. Truth is told, I’m still very close to many of my colleagues from that job, Yep, I’ll admit it: I’m part of a top-notch “Old Girls Club.”

McGraw-Hill Gets the Benefits of an “Old Girls Club”

In 2003, a small group of senior women – Connie Bennett, Sari Factor, Michelle Ferguson and Vickie Tillman – found themselves talking about what women need to succeed in corporate America and wanting to make a difference for women where they all worked: The McGraw-Hill Companies. From that initial conversation, and countless hours of hard work, the Women’s Initiative for Networking and Success (WINS) was born. (They even convinced the male-dominated executive team to fund the effort!) As a result, the program has exploded and now boasts over 24 chapters and 3,676 members worldwide.

Last month, I was invited to attend the WINS leadership conference in NYC. They gave me an award for my work with their Dubuque, IA chapter that included a $5,000 donation to my favorite charity, the Make-A-Wish Foundation. (A special congrats to Iowa co-chairs, Jill Meloy and Lisa Gottschalk. Their chapter won the WINS excellence award two years in a row!)  At the podium, I turned to face a room of 100+ professional women – all smiling members of this widely successful program. I was so overcome by the moment, I started to cry. How girly, huh? And yet, I don’t think I would have shed tears if it was a room full of men, or even a mixed crowd. I also don’t think I would have gotten weepy if I had sensed they were the kind of women that like to knock each other down. I already knew from working with the Iowa chapter they were sincere in their desire to see women succeed professionally. It was an “Old Girls Club” environment at its best!

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The Secret to Success? As the Song Goes…R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I spent the next two days observing conference workshops and meeting WINS members from all over the country. One thing was clear: These women respected the WINS program and its ability to help them move up in the company. They had powerful guest speakers that included the Governor of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman, and NY Times CEO, Janet Robinson. They openly discussed why women avoid leadership roles for reasons like fear of failing, or the impact it might have on their relationships and family lives. In short, they bonded like crazy and left confident in their ability to succeed.

Not every company can start a program like McGraw-Hill’s WINS, but every female who wants to advance their career can try to find a local women’s professional group and get active in it. If you can’t find one, then join one on-line. Better still, create your own. And, as you get more involved, remember this secret to success: Powerful “Old Girls Networks” have members who sincerely respect and embrace the concept of women helping other women. They act as role models – which reminds me, I get to end this piece with some good news. Modeling the way should be easy for us ladies.

Why? As it turns out, being good role models in the workplace is something Tahmincioglu’s research says us females are actually better at than men!

I’d love our reader’s thoughts and experiences (good and bad) with this.

Tell us your stories by posting them below. Are women helping women where you work? And, for any of you men reading, what’s your take? Do you see women helping or hurting each others’ careers at your office?

Did you enjoy this article? You can read more articles by this expert here. Also, check out all of our free webinars!

The photo for this article is provided by Shutterstock.

via careerealism.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

3 Ways That Google Can Enhance Your Executive Job Search » Blog | Great Resumes Fast

We knew that one day technology would make some significant changes in our lives. But for some reason, it seems that we had visions of flying cars and robot maids. While we haven’t quite reached that stage, we’ve seems some adjustments that were unimaginable in the job search realm only a few years ago. Google, in particular, has been at the forefront of many of those changes.

If you’re ready to make waves in your executive job search then it’s a good idea to include Google in your process at some stage. Let’s look at three ways that Google could enhance your executive job search and get you that much closer to snagging the job you want.

Google Searches Make Researching Easier
One of the most obvious ways to make the most of your executive job search is to conduct Google searches. When it’s time to apply with a company, you don’t want to just work from the perspective of a job posting or tip from a recruiter. It’s good to conduct an investigation of sorts to learn more about the company.

There are a few ways that you could do this. Of course, you could Google the company to see if they have a website and also take a look at other links that pop up about the company. But where Google really comes in handy is via news and blogs. If the company has been in the news, you want to know so that you can begin mapping out just how beneficial your services could be if they’ve had some sort of trouble over the years.

Google Alerts Improve Resumes, Interviewing and More
Another great benefit of using Google in the midst of your executive job search is the Google Alerts feature, which offers updates on what’s going on in the news as determined by the keywords you set up as your alert criteria. For instance, if you want to keep track of updates with a few companies that you’re applying with but you don’t have time to manually search for information every day, you could set up alerts in Google that would keep you updated.

In setting up your alerts, you get to choose as many keywords as you like and also determine whether you want news, videos, blogs, discussions or everything. In addition, you decide the frequency by which you will receive your alerts (as it happens, once a day, once a week) and how many per email will show up in your inbox.

A Google Profile Adds to Your Online Brand
Another great way to make use of Google is to get a Google Profile. The profile allows you to set up a resume of sorts that is guaranteed to be one of the top listings in the search engine under your name. This is a great feature to take advantage of because it helps to build your online brand by giving recruiters a source of information while helping to guide them to sites you’d like them to visit to help them know more about you.

Google offers great resources for enhancing your executive job search. So if you have not yet taken advantage of them, now’s the time to get started.

via greatresumesfast.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Your LinkedIn Network is Useless if… | I'm On LinkedIn - Now What???

I try to NEVER share the number of contacts I have because some people use the number to erroneously judge the value or success of my strategy.  So, take that number with a grain of salt.  A few things I wanted to point out:

• 3.3k first degree connections means that in my first, second and third degrees I have “access” to almost 15M people.  That’s interesting math… and my supposed reach is 20% of all of LI’s network.
• In the last 4 days (I wrote this post yesterday :p) I’ve had over 80k new people in my network… that’s pretty amazing growth!

What does all of this mean?  How does it bring me any value?

Back to the title of the post:

Your [My] LinkedIn network is USELESS if I… DON’T DO ANYTHING WITH IT!

What are YOU doing with your account/network?

via imonlinkedinnowwhat.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Finding the Right Recruiter For Your Job Search | EmploymentDigest.net

Choosing a recruiter can have a major impact on your career: the right recruiter can play a major role in achieving job success and security; the wrong recruiter get you stuck in a bad or even career damaging situation. In over twenty five years in the recruiting field, I have observed recruiters on both these poles, and mostly somewhere in between; observing both the career benefits and unhappiness a recruiter can cause in your life. Of course, you need not make an uniformed, or ill informed choice, on who you pick as your recruiter. In this post I will offer some key points for finding the right recruiter for your job search.

1. Trust: As in most areas of human interaction, trust, or a lack thereof, can be a determining factor in successful personal and professional relationships. Without, at least, some initial intuition of trustworthiness, based upon your first impression of a recruiter, I would suggest you find someone else ASAP. When I started recruiting in its earlier, what I like to call pre-professional “wild west days,” trust was almost always a concern, using a recruiter could often devolve into a “buyer beware” scenario. Today I think reputation, knowledge, recruiter consistency, ethics and career recommendations, are among key indicators in trusting, and working, with a recruiter. If you have a major negative assessment on any of these issues, then don’t select, or fire, a recruiter immediately. To borrow a phrase from one of our favorite cultural icons, some recruiters are “masters in the art of deception.” These recruiters should be avoided no matter what “rosy scenario” they paint of the job positions they offer to you. Finally, always be aware that a recruiter, no matter how effective, is paid by the hiring company, which can seriously impact the recruiter’s objectivity and, occasionally, honesty.

2. Knowledge: If a recruiter doesn’t understand what you do and what, and why, you want to do next, then forget about working with him because he is not qualified to assist you. Beyond this basic qualifier, it is important that the recruiter you choose has knowledge, and contacts, in your area of specialization: either on their own or through a reputable firm who trains junior and intermediate recruiters. Length of experience shouldn’t necessarily be the determining factor in your recruiter selection, although businesses, and business people, have a tendency to use length of experience as a main selling point in working with them. For the most part this may be true because unethical business people, and often their firms, quickly develop a bad reputation and do not stay in business very long. Moreover, an energetic and ethical junior recruiter may work very, very hard on your behalf to establish themselves and a good reputation, while a few highly experienced recruiters can sometimes become jaded and/or burned out (recruiting can be an extremely high stress occupation) and only give minimal effort to your job search

3. Track Record: How successful is your potential recruiter in placing people in situations close to what you are looking for? There are many successful recruiters out there. In itself, that is an important bit of information, but these placements may not be in your area of expertise. However, these recruiters may often have friends, who are very familiar with what you do, and for a finder’s fee from the other recruiters, or purely professional courtesy. When I first stated recruiting these recommendations or referrals were relatively rare except if the recruiters operated in different geographic regions. However, today many recruiters make a good part of their income through referrals, usually referred to as splits, to and from other recruiters with another placement firm. This is often beneficial, but make sure that your recruiter gets your prior authorization before forwarding your resume to a “split partner.” The increasing specialization and globalization of career opportunities, particularly is the service economy like IT, has contributed to this trend. Finally, finding a recruiter who has exclusive access to a hiring manager or company can be major plus in finding a career enhancing position.

4. Chemistry: As in most areas of human interactions, the chemistry between a recruiter and his client is essential for a satisfying relationship. If you are a “laid back” or deliberative type of person, then a high powered, very aggressive recruiter may not be for you or visa-versa. You might be on such different “wavelengths” that you may come to dread interacting with this person. Remember. there are a lot of recruiters who want your business. Take the time to find someone you feel comfortable working with. If you make a wise decision, your recruiter may evolve into an invaluable long term career asset, finding you future jobs, and even filling your job requisitions if you move into management

5. Source: Today, where an increasing large percentage of personal and social introductions occur over the web 2.0, a major source for finding a recruiter can be found there as well, particularly on Linkedin. Also, job boards like Monster and, my favorite, Dice are a good source for recruiters. However, job boards are quickly losing their drawing power as the job boards lost their drawing power to print advertising before them. However. on a more personal level, for many years it was thought that getting a referral from a friend or trusted associate was the best way to find a recruiter. This may still be the preferred method in some cases. However, unless you have a background similar to the person who referred the recruiter to you, the value of the referral may be negligible. Furthermore, negative chemistry towards the recruiter, and an unrealistic sense of loyalty or obligation to the referring source, may, occasionally, lead to a very negative outcome.

6. Shop Around: Your career is a very critical aspect of your life. If you allow someone to represent you, you should be fairly certain that this person values you as something more than a quick placement commission. To avoid being treated like a commodity, I would recommend that you speak with at least 3 recruiters to feel comfortable that you have found someone to represent your best interests. Next, after careful consideration, I would choose no more than 2 recruiters. If a recruiter senses you will work with anyone, then that could prove to be a disincentive for the recruiter to exert maximum effort on your part. However, if your recruiter(s) don’t either get you some interviews or stay in close contact with you within a few weeks, then It may be time to consider other, or additional recruiters.

As stated earlier, finding the recruiter who can most adequately satisfy your short and long term career needs is essential. This recruiter “must have your best interests” as a top priority. Although there has been a major improvement in the quality and legitimacy of recruiting professionals in the last 20 years, there are still shysters out there that should be detected and avoided to avert a potentially disastrous career move. Luckily, the increasingly competitive job market and very cautious employers have made unscrupulous headhunters an endangered species.

By  Michael Jay Sullivan: So now your concern in working with a recruiter should generally focus slightly less on the recruiter’s ethical legitimacy and more on issues related to competency, chemistry, and clientele. Interviews and job offers can often be confusing and inconclusive experiences. A good recruiter, should have the expertise to clarify ad coordinate this crucial situation, leading to a win, win, win, outcome for you, your future employer and you.

via employmentdigest.net

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

When to Dress Down For a Six Figure Job Interview | EmploymentDigest.net

This piece of job career advice may shock and amaze some executive recruiters and so called HR experts. However there are some cases when it may actually pay to dress down for your next six figure job interview. The classic line and traditional job career advice for dressing appropriately for a job interview has always been to wear a suit and tie. While this still may apply for many jobs and many areas regardless of it is a 6 figure job there are areas and companies where you could be at a disadvantage by overdressing for the occasion.

To clarify, if you are going to an interview for a six figure executive job in cities like New York or London you are expected to wear a suit and tie and show up looking immaculate. In these cases you certainly want to follow the line and look the part, no questions asked. There are other jobs still where you may never wear a suit or a tie for every day work but it is expected at the interview and the only logical job career advice is that you should again of course comply.

However there are certain circumstances when wearing a suit and tie can work against you in you six figure job interview. In some areas, for example in South Florida and parts of California those executives who are really successful will never (or extremely rarely) lumber themselves with a suit and tie. For them, those candidates wearing a suit are often young novices who are trying to look successful to impress others instead of actually being successful enough to dress how they feel comfortable. If you are familiar with the company you are going to be interviewing with for your new six figure job and can visit for a bit of reconnaissance prior to your 6 figure job interview or already know how the executives dress you can tailor your dress that day to fit in.

CEOs and executives like people like themselves who look like they like the same things and will fit in. This does not mean shorts and flip flops, but perhaps designer jeans and dress shirts. This certainly also does not mean that your shoes can’t be $200 Kenneth Coles with a $500 shirt. Dress for success! The bottom line is to fit in with the status quo and give the appearance that you belong. If in doubt then definitely wear the suit, though a little corporate intelligence can go a long way. Good luck getting that six figure job!

Tim Houghten has been a business owner, HR specialist and executive recruiter for over ten years and now as a consultant and freelancer writer he writes for The Career Advice Column where executives come for job search advice and to find the best sources for $100k plus jobs.

via employmentdigest.net

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

How Working on Your Brand Delivers Cutting Edge Skills & Promotions | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

A successful personal brand differentiates you as a dynamic, growing professional, so it evolves along with market demands (employer requirements) and your growing skills. When your skills keep current with changing market demands, your brand stays relevant and you maximize your earnings potential. From a practical POV, this demands an objective way to track relentlessly changing employer needs.

A practical point of view (POV)

The most reliable approach is with a Gap analysis  (the gap between where we are and where we need to be) with a career-management focus.  And with the two additional applications that I’ll share at the end, this is a tactic you’ll be using for years.

Gap analysis

Step One. Collect 6 job postings for the job you would pursue if you were looking for one right now.

Step Two. Create a Word document where you will prioritize these employers’ needs.

Look through the job postings for a single requirement that is common to all six, then copy and paste it into your document.  Place #6 alongside the entry to identify that this requirement is common to all 6 job postings. Repeat this exercise for other requirements common to all 6 jobs.

Step Three. Repeat the exercise for all requirements common to five of the job postings, and then four, and so on all the way down to those requirements mentioned in only one.

Step Four. Review the document to identify the current, most cutting-edge skills required to execute each of these requirements.

Step Five. Review each individual requirement and recall the best person you have ever known doing that work and what made this person stand out. Do this conscientiously, and you will have a behavioral blueprint for professional success: a complete behavioral profile of the person everyone wants to work with, every employer wants to hire.

Step Six. Look one last time at each individual requirement and recall the worst person you have ever known doing that work and what made this person stand out. Do this conscientiously as well and you will have a complete behavioral profile of the person no one wants to work with, no employer wants to hire; in other words, a behavioral blueprint for guaranteed professional failure.

The completed document is a profile of the skills and behaviors you need for a marketable brand today. Do this on a regular basis to maintain the cutting edge skills that differentiate your brand.

I promised you two other applications for this neat little career management tool:

• This same process guarantees your résumé focuses on employer priorities.
• For a promotion, decide on the title of your target job and this same exercise will deliver a skill development plan to qualify you for that next step up the professional ladder.

Author:

Martin Yate (CPC) is the author of Knock em Dead The Ultimate Job Search Guide, a NY Times bestseller updated annually for 24 years.  He’s been in career management  for 34 years: Silicon Valley Headhunter and VP with the seminal and feared Executek, Director of HR for Bell Industries Computer Memory Division, Director of Training and Development for Dunhill . Martin believes that change is your future, branding is critical, but no one has ever taught you how to navigate this stuff.

via personalbrandingblog.com

Posted via email from AndyWergedal