Career Hub

Little Things

So you've practiced and practiced interviewing and now you're ready for the big day to present yourself in person. You've rehearsed the questions, prepared your responses, researched the organization, and know in your heart that you're perfect for the job, right?

But wait! Have you also considered some of the little things that can make or break your chances of moving to round two? Don't get yourself ruled out because of some personal factor within your control.  All the right answers in the world won't help you if you're doing some little thing to sabotage self! Take a look at the following factors to make sure that you're presenting your very best self in the interview.

1. Your clothing -- are you dressed in attire that exudes professionalism and serious business or will the decision-maker remember your outlandish accessories and inappropriate clothing?
2. Your hair -- is it washed and combed or does it need some help?
3. Your eyes -- are they clear and bright or tired and bloodshot? Are you comfortable looking at the prospective employer as you speak, or do you avoid eye contact?
4. Your hands -- are your fingernails clean and manicured? Is your handshake firm and confident or limp and lame?
5. Your teeth -- are they brushed and clean? Are they as bright white as you'd like? How is your smile?
6. Your breath -- does it smell fresh? If not, what can you do to make it better?
7. Your feet -- are you wearing professional-looking shoes? Are they polished? Are they appropriate for the interview?
8. Your mannerisms -- do you have any particular mannerisms that are distracting? Biting your nails, playing with your hair, cracking your knuckles, fidgeting or squirming, tapping your fingers, your ringing cell phone -- distractions.
9. Use sense with your scents -- minimize the amount of cologne or fragrance you apply prior to the interview; some people are allergic to the smell and the aroma lingers long after you're gone.

What, if any, of these personal factors can you enhance to make a better first impression? Add to this list any other personal factors that warrant your attention before the interview. In today's competitive market place, the little things do mean a lot.   

And the Oscar goes to.........

Probably like many of you, I watched the Oscars last night - long enough to see Al Gore's documentary win, but not long enough to see Scorsese receive the consolation Oscar that he should have won a long time ago.

Al Gore's rise to popularity has been nothing short of amazing, but it is also a lesson in what not to do when building your personal brand.

When he was running for President, Gore struck me as a little stiff and almost unenthusiastic. But I have been reading about him a lot recently given the success of his film and that he was in Toronto last week to speak at an event where tickets were exchanging hands for more multiples of their face value than even hockey tickets - and that is saying something in Canada!

I do not remember his saying much about the environment during his campaigning in 2000 and certainly do not recollect his ability to articulate and command an audience as well as he is doing now. Yet he has been passionate about this subject for 30 years!

One of the key foundation pieces that we work on with clients in the personal branding process are Passions - if you are working in an area that you are passionate about, you are going to feel more engaged and focused and ultimately more successful. People will support what you are passionate about, want to be with you, connected to you, Gore is proving that right now - if he announces his candidacy he will have an incredible start to a campaign given his current level of 'brand awareness'.

But if you do not follow your passions - who loses?

Cross posted by Paul Copcutt on Reflections of a Square Peg

A Good Brand Can Save a Career and an Airline too

A short time ago, JetBlue sufffered a Tylenol-sized headache when the airline known for customer service disappointed thousands of  its passengers.  Laura Ries provides a superb analysis of this incident from a branding viewpoint and explains how a good brand survives even colossal mistakes.

When I read Laura's blog, it brought to mind a couple of career-related situations where a strong personal brand could guard against long term professional loss. For example, the prospective hire who blows an interview might be able to reestablish credibility and a talented employee can recoup their future after an unfortunate error if each of these individuals have established their credibility and historically proven their brand as a reliable, trustworthy, high value resource.

The moral of this story? You can't afford to NOT create a positive brand to guard against possible future errors. You can't change minds that are running against you, unless you have previously generated good will and a positive image. Start now to show others they can always count on your expertise. Shape and promote the image you  want others to have about you. Don't let others define your brand. Carve out a clear role for yourself that others recognize and appreciate and where you can deliver beyond expectations. Branding doesn't happen overnight, but losing it can.

Posted by Debra Feldman, the JobWhiz

Changing careers? Here's the wrong question to ask.

I’ve heard this question hundreds of times from nurses, teachers (especially teachers), software engineers, accountants, lawyers and dancers who want a new career: What else is out there?

This is the wrong question to be asking. Even if you're clueless about what to do next, it's still not the question to ask.

Here is what you should be asking instead.

So How Do You Think You Did?

If you have ever come back home from an interview and been asked the question "So how did it go?" - are you able to clearly identify the parts of the interview that went well and those that you could have improved on?

Chances are, like many job candidates, interviews go past very quickly and you are lucky if you have the ability to recollect even half of what went on.

So what are the options to get some interview practice?

- In front of the mirror (be cautious, the family get quite concerned if they start hearing you have conversations with yourself in the bathroom)

- Recording yourself on video camera (don't upset your teenage son enough that they they end up posting it on YouTube)

- Asking a friend or colleague to ask you questions (can be a give away if you do this at your cubicle in your lunch hour)

- Getting a career coach to take you through the process (useful in terms that this is, in part, what they do for a living and are usually well versed in latest techniques and questions)

Now there is also the latest web technology available - The Virtual Interview - you can take a webcam and a PC and go to InterviewTrue.com where you can set up a mock interview, even picking from over 1,000 interview questions, they are even split in to categories such as problem solving and teamwork. Six months access can be gained for just $19.95, with unlimited interviews.

Where this could be heading are a number of directions:

- Candidates sending links of their interview to prospective employers and recruiters, especially where geography makes an initial face to face meeting difficult

- Placing a link to your interview on your resume or in your cover letter

- Placing your interview link on your on line web portfolio, adding another dimension to your personal brand

- Employers and recruiters using this method to select candidates

- YouTube hacking in to the site and gaining content for the next 100 years!

This was cross posted on Reflections of a Square Peg

Are you a Superhero?

Have you ever been asked the question in an interview - if you were a XXXXXXXX who would you be?

One of the tools we use in the personal branding process is to ask people who know you what car or cereal they think you are. Now you can go and determine which Superhero you are and why - Superhero Quiz from Frank Shaw at The Glasshouse.

I was Spiderman, "You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility" absolutely spot on although not so sure about the geeky part! - let me know who you were and if you agree.

Posted by Paul Copcutt

Is Everybody Happy? Work/Life Balance Makes Sense

Someone called me today in need of coaching regarding work/life issues (it was actually for his wife, who was too busy to be able to make the call herself).  This reminded me that the 'perfect job' entails more than using skills you love, in work that interests you, and that pays a decent salary and benefits. The 'perfect job' contains a good dose of work/life satisfaction, which is an expression of our unique work and life values.

Just look at Fortune magazine's '100 Best Companies to Work For' list and you will see many companies interested in making their employees more happy on the job. And why not? According to an article entitled 'Work-Life Balance Key to Being the Best' in Management Issues News, publicly traded companies in the '100 Best' list since 1998 have nearly tripled the return of the Standard & Poor's 500 average. That sounds like pretty good news for employers and shareholders, right?

Then why are so many workers unhappy...in fact, unhappy enough to make job and career changes in record numbers in the pursuit of happiness? Perhaps the majority of American companies need to take notice of what the '100 Best' are doing right - such as flextime, reduced hours, job sharing, telecommuting, and compressed work weeks on a year-round basis - and commit to making much-needed changes that will increase the happiness quotient AND bring in a decent business return-on-investment.

Paying lip service to work/life policies in a company just doesn't cut it...word gets out quickly (remember we are a socially interconnected world now) that it's just a recruitment ploy. In Management Issues News article 'Work-Life Policies Are Window Dressing', some of the accounting Big Four firms are taken to task for just this kind of lip service.

Somehow this all seems connected to 'The World Map of Happiness' blog posting by Guy Kawasaki. This map, constructed by Adrian G. White, a University of Leicester psychologist, and based on data from UNESCO, the CIA, the New Economics Foundation, the World Health Organization (WHO) and many more organizations, shows the USA ranking at number 23 on the world map of happiness. What's remarkable to me is that countries I know very little about have ranked higher - such as The Seychelles (#20), Brunei (#9), and Malta (#14).

What would it take to put America in the top 20? Perhaps work/life satisfaction issues are as good a place to start as any.

Cross-posted at Career Goddess blog

Using Your Personal Voice in a Resume

Google made news recently for ranking as the #1 place to work in the US. The reporter mentioned that the company gets 1000 resumes a day. If we put ourselves in the mind of the reader of those resumes that make the first electronic cut, we might be really glad to get the occasional resume that wasn’t weighted down with “resume speak.” You know what “resume speak” is: the stock phrases you read in most resumes. Many of these phrases are hard to say other ways, and many are necessary keywords, but consider adding some spice. Even if you are applying to jobs where the competition isn’t so stiff, your resume might attract more attention if you give the reader a break and attract some interest by inserting a little bit of your own authentic voice into the writing. The summary is a great place to add your voice, even if only in one sentence, and to articulate part of your personal brand and perhaps let your passion show. Here is a phrase that a job seeker added to his summary that comes straight from the heart: “Breathe life and vitality into next-generation products.” The sentence stands out in the business-centric summary by reflecting the intangible enthusiasm and interest the job seeker has for his work. Perhaps it is the use of the words “breathe life” that make the sentence jump out and lighten the resume, infusing it with personality and brand. Why not lighten up the day for the HR staff or hiring authority by letting your unique authentic voice be heard here and there?

Salary Negotiation...Deal or No Deal?

When evaluating job offers, many candidates focus on base compensation and neglect to review the offer in terms of the total compensation package on the table. What looks like a similar or better salary compared to what the job seeker previously earned, might actually be inferior when the total package is considered. For example, if you are transitioning from a company with a generous benefits package to a start-up, you may end up paying significantly more for your coverage which translates into less money in your pocket. If you are switching from a position with overtime pay to a salaried position, a higher base salary might still be less than your previous total earnings. If you are considering employment with a company that offers half the amount of paid vacation time as that offered by your previous employer, you may end up working more for less.

As with all salary negotiation conversations, it's critical to position your requests for additional compensation in terms of what's fair and reasonable. For example, if a prospective employer offers a  benefits package with more out of pocket expenses than your previous paid, you might try to negotiate additional salary to compensate for the additional expense. If a hiring manager of a start-up firm can't offer you the starting salary that you were hoping for due to budgetary constraints, you can try to negotiate additional stock options in lieu of base salary.

The concept of total compensation becomes extremely important when recruiters and hiring managers are trying to use your past salary as a benchmark for what  they plan to offer you for their open position. Many benefits packages are valued at 30% of an employee's salary, so be sure to take this into account when discussing salary expectations.

Don't leave your negotiations to chance. Base your conversations on total compensation and take benefits, bonuses, stock options, vacation time, and any other perks into account before you decide to take the deal.

Posted by Barbara Safani

Scary Trend... or Opportunity?

Interesting article in Feb. 12 Business Week about the short tenure of many top-level managers. Whether for poor fit or lack of immediate results, top hires are being ushered out quickly as corporate Boards and senior executives refuse to grant much of a honeymoon period.

And therein lies the opportunity. If you were NOT the first choice for a job you covet, keep in touch with the hiring manager... keep an eye on company results... and be available should the new hire fail. Similarly, don't be afraid to approach target companies that don't have appropriate openings for you right now - you never know what's going on in the Boardroom or when a key player will be given the boot.

A pull quote from the article: "About half of executives brought in from outside will fail within two years." Legal, financial, and marketing execs are especially vulnerable.

Finally - harking back to some great branding/fit articles that appeared on this blog recently! - do everything you can to ensure a very close fit before you accept your next job. Get it right, make it happen, or be prepared to start your job search again. Now that's a scary thought.

Posted by Louise Kursmark