Interviews Tips (Infographic)

While I was on Pinterest doing research last night, I came across this infographic that I just had to share! I think this really accurately sums up a lot of advice I've been giving into a form that is really easy to use and understand. It at least has some really great point to think about!
(I did borrow it from the original source, so ignore the bottom part).

More about Questions... the right ones and the wrong ones

This is from an article on Forbes this morning.

I wanted to share it because some of them haven't crossed my mind about suggested questions and questions you definitely shouldn't ask... but that doesn't mean someone won't tank their interview because they asked them... so here is a pretty great list, in my opinion:

Questions you should ask in an interview:

• How would you describe the company’s culture and leadership philosophy?
• Can you please show me some examples of projects that I’d be working on?
• What is the single largest problem facing your staff, and would I be in a position to help you solve this problem?
• What specific qualities and skills are you looking for in the job candidate?
• Is this a new position, or did someone leave? If someone left, why did they leave or what did they go on to do?
• What is the typical career trajectory for a person in this position?
• What would you say are the three most important skills needed to excel in this position?
• Who would be my manager, and will I have the opportunity to meet him or her?
• Why do you like working here?
• What does a typical day or week look like for the person in this position? Is there travel, flextime, etc?
• How do you see this position contributing to the success of the organization?
• What do you think distinguishes this company from its competitors, both from a public and employee perspective?
• Does the company offer continued education and professional training?
• How can I best contribute to the department?
• What particular achievements would equate to success at this job? What would success look like?
• Are you most interested in a candidate who works independently, on a team, cross-functionally, or through a combination of them all? Can you give me an example?
• What is your ideal communication style with your staff? Do you meet regularly with your team, rely heavily on e-mail, use status reports or work primarily through other means?
• How do you see me as a candidate for the job in comparison with an ideal candidate?
• Do you have any concerns about me or about my qualifications that may prevent you from selecting me for the job?
• What is the next step? When do you think you will be making a decision?

Questions to avoid in an interview:

• Never ask for information you could have easily found with a quick Google search.
• Never ask if you can change the job details, the schedule, or the salary.
• Never ask many questions about the interviewer’s background.
• Never ask about pay, time off, benefits, etc. (Wait until later in the process to inquire about these things.)
• Never ask “What does your company do?”
• Never ask “If I’m hired, when can I start applying for other positions in the company?”
• Never ask how quickly you can be promoted.
• Never ask “Do you do background checks?”
• Never ask about gossip you’ve heard.
• Never ask if the company monitors e-mail or Internet usage.

Pre- Interview I.M.A.G.E.

Like it or not/ know it or not, you have an image. You are judged by people based on this image. This is usually doubly true when you're applying for a job. Your social media, the emails you send, how your hair looks, the number of rings you're wearing, or how appropriate you are with your questions all factor in to how a potential future employer perceives your IMAGE.

Unfortunately, "judging" is the way of the world. When a hiring manager only has a few minutes of interaction with you to make a decision of the magnitude of a permanent addition to their staff, they are going to use other cues to help make that decision. With that knowledge, hiring managers tend to start judging way before you might put that professional suit on. You've heard of the saying, "you never get a second chance at a first impression"... right? Well, your first impression to recruiters and hiring managers could be earlier than you think!

From this desk, I've seen and heard all different types of mistakes that candidates make when presenting themselves, and unfortunately, a lot of "no"s during the job search are due to one of these common mistakes... way before you step foot into the building for your interview. We all know we're supposed to dress professional, we’re supposed to arrive a bit early, we’re supposed to have a strong handshake when meeting people, and we’re not supposed to be chewing gum or twirling our hair... but what if you never get to the interview? What could you be doing wrong?

Firstly, with the internet as strong and powerful as it is, you have to make sure your image is consistent through and through. If you've applied to a professional organization trying to convince them that you're a responsible and professional candidate... make sure every correspondence, every mention of you on the internet, and anything else a recruiter might see or hear is also representing you as responsible and professional. If you're applying to a job on Craig's List (and believe me, I've seen my fair share of CL responses) make sure you don't sound rude, informal, or needy. Those are immediate turn-offs to someone who has 50 resumes to choose from. Remember that the point of sending your resume into a company or in response to an ad is to look attractive enough to be called about it... so you can make your case for your interview (and, no, I don't mean attractive like you should include a head shot on your resume).

Email Address:  This is actually a critical but often overlooked point. If your email address is "Stonerstonedstone420@hotmail.com... I'm not calling you. To that point, if your email address name is different than the resume you send me or the signature (EX: Susan populates as the identity of the sender, and the first line introduces the applicant as Javier)... I'm not calling you. Email addresses are FREE with yahoo or Gmail (both incredibly appropriate servers to use) and chances are, you only job hunt every once in a while... so create a professional handle that you only have to check for the 3 months you're sending your resume out. You can also even just forward messages from that email address directly to the service or user name you typically use. Put some effort into your job search. If you don't why would anyone else?

Subject Line: If your email to a post has a subject that says: "I want to find out more about the position your offering...." I'm not calling you. You automatically seem needy, mean, grouchy, unhelpful, or at the very least unaware... all of which are things not listed in the JD as ideal qualities in a candidate. Appropriate subject lines could be the title to which you are applying, your name, "Good Morning"... all of these are better than an inappropriate complete thought... in the subject line.

Attachments: If the attachment is some sort of sky-drive or a link to a drop box... I'm not calling you.  Borrow a friend's computer at the very least and attach a PDF or Microsoft Word version of your resume.  Again, you don't want to make anyone work to hard to see who you are what you might bring to this position. Make it easy. (You can see my thoughts on what exactly should be on your resume here and here.)

Social Media: If when I Google your name three selfies with Duck Faces turn up, followed by a link to your Instagram account with photos of you drinking straight out of a vodka bottle... I'm not calling you. And the reason I'll delete your email immediately is not because of my judgement of your personal life, or how you like to unwind.. It’s more likely based on what that lack of privacy or responsibility means for your sense of discretion. As a hiring manager to see that, they would think the same thing. At some point you might be asked to attend a company dinner, or speak to clients on behalf of the company... if you can't be trusted with your own image online, what does that say about how you'll represent the company. If you're working with a client and they Google you, your actions and social activity will reflect on the firm. A hiring manager is going to want someone who needs no hand holding in this regard. Don't take then post pictures that could get you in trouble. If you feel the urge to do so, and that idea is infringing on your right to be who you are, fine, just make your profiles completely private. Or don't hope to get a job where that is a requirement. (Fun tip: have a friend Google you once you think you've set everything to uber private mode, to double check you'll be hidden from at least a basic search.)

Ring back tones: If when I call you for the first time and the ring back tone is some hard-core rap that sounds like a mush of noise... I'm hanging up before you answer. Ring backs were awesome when they hit cell phones in 2006 when I was in college. At this point, you can have that classic Classical tone, or a normal ring. That's it. Anything else is annoying and unprofessional which calls into question the kind of candidate you'll be. (This applies to your email signature and your Voicemail message. Keep it normal and professional, at least while you're searching for a job.)

Ryan Gosling? I'm all ears.

I was perusing LinkedIn this afternoon, and happened on this article which reminded me of something I tell my candidates all the time... This author used this tale to urge his readers to change how they talk about business, while I'm posting it here, obviously to change how you talk about yourself in the job search.

The author talks about how once he learned Ryan Gosling's back story, about some unique and interesting facets of his childhood, all of a sudden he cared about this Hollywood Movie Star and the cause of 20-somethings' fluttering hearts, and date I say, liked him.

This is true when interviewing for jobs, too. If you give a hiring manager a reason that this job fits in with your story, or endear yourself to them in another way, they're more likely to remember you fondly when they go back to their desk staring at the resumes of the 5 people they met that day. They might even write a little reminder in the margin about that story you told. And boom, you're getting a second interview over the same caliber of candidate interviewing against you.

Now, be careful... this does not mean you should start dumping your life story on anyone you meet on your journey... this story still needs to be appropriate and relevant to the job or organization, but open up a bit.

If you're asked a question that starts, "Tell me about a time...", you could just state that example and be done, or you could tell a story about how you got to that place, what you considered before make a decision, and the result of the situation. This article illustrates that a well told "story" might prove a bit more powerful than a perfectly recited response with no color. Be honest and be memorable and you'll likely happen upon some loyalty without having to try too hard.

"No one wants someone who can do it all"

That is actually the advice I got from speaking to a former supervisor/mentor in my job search about 2 years ago.  When he told me that, I got seriously offended.  I pictured that as my identity, the only thing I knew in my life to be true.  I've always thought that I wasn't "an expert" or "a professional" at anything, but I'm pretty good at a lot of things.  And that was just the way I liked it.  I didn't score the most points on my middle-school basketball team or win many (if any) first places while I was a swimmer- even though I swam for over 10 years of my adolescent life.  But I thought that was ok, because at least I was on the teams.  I could "hang".  When I was told, effectively, that no one would want me if I continued to identify as this "Jack of all Trades", I was crushed, because that's what I was.  Or so I thought.

It took me a while in my role as a recruiter, to realize what I was being told.  It wasn't that I was not worthy... it was that I was marketing myself (and therefore probably also assessing myself and skills) all wrong.  No one wanted to hear that I was good at everything, because in the hiring world, that comes off as lazy and unconvincing.  Hiring managers wanted to know what exactly I was good at that would add value to the company.  So yes maybe I had many skills, and I could be proud of that, but what good is knowing how to juggle flaming Koosh Balls to someone looking for an Account Manager?  If I want to convince that hiring manager to consider me, I have to illustrate how exactly I've done and exhibited skills in the specific arena in which they have a need.  Now, don't get me wrong... if I've spent 23 years practicing juggling, I'm not going to waste the fact that it is a skill, but I have to use it to my advantage, and show the hiring manager how its in their advantage that I have that skill.  But I can't leave it up to them to correlate the two skills... I have to lay it out so its easy to understand and see.  "Because I've spent 23 years learning to juggle, you can see my loyalty and longevity potential as well as my laser focus, which I will be able to use in my role as Account Manager by not dropping the ball with clients needs." (adding a little pun is my style, also... it may not be yours).

But either way, this goes back to the advice I give most candidates when we meet. I obviously try to deliver it a little more tactfully than I remember it feeling when I heard it, but still be as effective, namely: Your resume should be what you want to do, not necessarily what you did (or what you can do).  Often times this is especially helpful to candidates that are trying to find a role different than their current role, because they don't like what their doing now.  If they were to list everything they did (that they didn't like) from their old position, they'd be getting calls for roles that are exactly what they aren't looking for.  Instead, take the responsibilities you did like, highlight parts of the job you do want to do again, and mention smaller aspects of larger responsibilities that are transferable skills.

If you honestly are a Jack of all Trades and you would be happy doing a variety of different jobs, like I was, then you have to have a few different resumes that highlight different aspects of your skills, or even better- change the responsibilities listed under each former job to match the responsibilities in each job you're applying for... and trust yourself that if you really need more in your role, you're going to have to prove your capabilities in what is needed first and the additional responsibilities will follow.

If you want to read more thoughts on this idea of specializing your resume based on the job... read this article from LinkedIn today.

Ways to keep your job...

Once you nail the interview and land the job... you'll want to make another fantastic first impression!!  Check out this article! While hilarious- it actually makes really great suggestions for the start of your new job.

The point about the asking questions couldn't be more true! We tell every new hire here at Monument- that the only way you'll be successful and will like your job is if you ask questions and try to learn. 

Our clients obviously feel similarly! Just today I received a glowing recommendation from a client about a temp who worked with them for only 2 days, but in that time she was so impressed with Nick! One of the reasons that she mentioned was because he arrived early, asked questions, and TOOK NOTES!

Ways to not get a job...

When I send a candidate out to interview with one of my clients, I cover a few basics, but I'm sure to the applicant, I sound like a broken record (as my co-workers will support)... but people seriously make these kinds of mistakes and often don't know why they didn't get the call back!

Most of what I tell folks seems obvious- but I swear the only reason I'm telling you about it is because these things ACTUALLY happen! I don't THINK you - my candidate - will do these things, but you and I both would hate it if you did and I didn't remind you! You want the company to decide on hiring you based on YOU not a mistake or mis-judgement.

Check out this article by Dave Kerpen on LinkedIn today. It really effectively summarizes some common (and not so common) mistakes but also the thought process that employers use when these things come up. This is a must read for everyone- I'll definitely be sending it to folks who are going on first interviews with me!!

My favorites are:
#6- Not Preparing Anecdotes
This is well put... I try to tell people to think of time that you did what the interviewer is asking so that you can speak with confidence- often if you picture the time you sound less vague. But this tip takes it one step further.... prepare some instances that might work for a few questions or some obvious ones and really color them up. Make them lively and interesting so when you tell those stories you're really painting a picture for them.

#10- Talking Themselves Out of the Job
I don't often cover this with candidates, because I think most people must want to sell themselves, but the article brings up a good point... you have to convince someone you're right. They probably automatically are inclined to see how you don't fit... its your job AND OPPORTUNITY to show them why they're wrong! You haven't used Salesforce? Talk about any other databases you use, or that you watched you tube videos and you've used similar programs and are confident you could get caught up on this particular skill very quickly. Sell it!!

#11- Hedging Bets
Another good point- you and I know you're going on a lot of interviews, but you want this company to feel like you're only interested in this role for them and nothing else matters. If they like you but for another position, have faith they'll see it and make that connection on their own!