July 2016 – Accelerated, Collaborative Technology Training Services

Most job interviews end with a variation of the same question: “Is there anything else you’d like to know about this job?” This is an opportunity you shouldn’t fumble. An insightful and intelligent query will help you to stand out from other candidates. It lets the interviewer know that you’re genuinely interested in the business and have given the position considerable thought. Here are 12 questions that you should consider asking, courtesy of Search Party and JobAdvisor CEO Ben Hutt.

“Just as your potential employer needs to make up their mind about your fit in terms of skills and culture, you need to be sure that you’re making the right decision for you as well,” Hutt explained to Lifehacker. “That’s why asking questions in an interview is really important.”

In addition to helping you assess a job’s suitability, asking the right questions can also improve your chances of actually landing the job. When a prospective employer invites you to ask questions of your own, they’re not just being polite: they genuinely want to answer any and all queries about the position and the wider company. Coming up blank or only asking about holidays/salary isn’t going to be viewed favourably. As Hutt explains:

“Beyond understanding if a company is right for you, your other goal is to get them to hire you. This is where asking questions can also be helpful. Do some internet sleuthing beforehand and ask some specific questions about the company.

“Try to focus on positive things like interesting news coverage or recent product release. This shows that you’ve done your research and will set you apart from other candidates who prepare less than you.”

So what are the top questions to ask? According to Hutt, the most valuable questions fall into one of three main categories: work culture, career development and personal. Here are some examples of each.

Although most if not all of us were taught to write our resumes using horrible, zombie language like “Motivated self-starter with a bottom-line orientation,” it is easy to see that if your resume sounds like everybody else’s resume, no one will notice your brilliance!

You have to stand out, right in your resume. You have to sound like yourself.

You can’t pitch your resume into anonymous online recruiting portals. Those things don’t work. You could wait months to hear back from an employer when you apply for jobs online. You may never ever hear anything.

You have to take a different route to get a job these days, and contact your hiring manager (a.k.a. Your Next Boss) directly.

You’ll send two documents to your hiring manager and skip the online job application. You’ll send your two documents together in the mail, stapled to one another with one staple in the upper-left corner. The two documents are your Pain Letter, written specifically for this hiring manager, and your Human-Voiced Resume.

Your resume has to sound like a human being wrote it in order for it to catch your hiring manager’s attention. He or she is crazy busy the way we all are. Here are ten mistakes that will keep your resume from doing its job for you.

Make sure your resume isn’t holding back your career by failing to brand you as the capable and unlike-anyone-else person you are!

July 18, 2016
Posted by dherrig1 at 11:11 am
Comments Off on These Ten Mistakes Are Killing Your Resume – Liz Ryan
Career Success, Resume Tips

A stack of resumes sits in front of you. You’ve read them and sorted them into accept and reject piles. You think you’ve found candidates likely to fit in your company. You want the right people in your company and on your team. But how can you decide among these applicants which are the “right” people? What do you need to look for in your new hires? Who will help you gain the competitive edge you need? Will they step up and help move your company forward? Keep in mind, it may take several months to hire the right person but it can take years to get rid of the wrong ones.

On the other side of the table, as a job seeker your resume has resulted in the opportunity for an interview. How can you find out if this is a place you want to work? Do they have a culture and environment where you can make a major contribution?

July 11, 2016
Posted by dherrig1 at 11:00 am
Comments Off on Four Breakthrough Topics And Questions For A Job Interview – Pollyanna Pixton
Career Success, Interviewing, Social Skills

Getting your interviewer off the job interview script is essential in the Pain Interviewing process I teach. If you allow the interview to be governed by the goofy script the interviewer holds in his or her hands, you won’t have the opportunity you need to get past the standard interview questions and talk about what’s really at stake.

Your goal is to get your interviewer off the script and into a human conversation with you — not asking you dumb questions like “What’s your greatest weakness?” but rather talking about the real issues in his or her department, and your success slaying similar dragons in the past.

Of course, you must be polite as you gently guide your interviewer out of Zombie Interview Script Land and into Human Conversation Land. You can’t be pushy.

Anybody who begins your interview by asking you standard interview questions is someone who is comfortable with the scripted approach. To get your interviewer off the script, you have to use a little tact and finesse.

You can’t use this approach with an HR screener or a recruiter. It doesn’t work with those guys, because they are not in pain. They have a list of things they want to know about you, and they want to use their time with you to get answers to their questions – period.

You’ll use the Pain Interviewing approach with your hiring manager — the person who will be your boss if you end up accepting his or her job offer. This person has pain. If they didn’t have any pain, the finance person who approves every job opening would not have given permission for your hiring manager to hire anyone new.

July 5, 2016
Posted by dherrig1 at 9:06 am
Comments Off on How To Get Your Interviewer Off The Script – Liz Ryan
Career Success, Interviewing, Social Skills