By Martin Yate When you think about the most important skill needed for success in your career, you will realize that, bottom line, it’s your ability to turn
interviews into offers. This skill, the one that puts food on your table, is also likely to be your weakest professional skill, because you have so little experience doing it successfully. Many people are so weak in this area that they usually accept the first reasonable offer that comes along. This means they are just changing jobs, not making the strategic career moves that result in long-term success. Winning job offers is a bit like dancing -- all you must do is
learn the steps. Succeeding at the Salary DanceTo learn the salary dance, start with a new approach: Go to interviews with the single intent to improve your ability to get job offers. Every job interview gives you time and practice to build this critical professional skill with a new headset. Remember to focus on what you bring to the table for the employer. Research to learn as much as you can
about the employer and the opportunity. Emphasize how you can deliver what the company wants. READ MORE
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By Martin Yate Ninety-five percent of resumes today never get read, and the reason is surprising: it's because they are honest recitations of everything the
resume writer has done and thinks important. Let's look at why this doesn't work. The Resume Database - a.k.a. the "Black Hole"Resumes today rarely go straight to a recruiter's desk; typically they go into a resume database. Now, because no one ever reads resumes for the fun of it, before anyone actually reads yours, it must first be pulled from that database by a recruiter who is focused on filling a specific
job opening and who is naturally doing so with the priorities and language of that job description firmly in mind. So you can see that, if your resume is a gumbo of everything you've ever done and of everything that you happen to think is important (without reference to what your customers are actually buying), it is never going to work. Understand Your CustomerThe first lessons a professional learns in
any job are that, "the customer comes first," and "understand your customer's needs and sell to them."
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By Martin Yate While questions about age rarely get asked (they’re illegal, as if you didn’t know), that doesn’t stop the curse of age discrimination playing out at job interviews. It can occur when you are in your 50's, 60's, and older, but it can also occur when you are in your late 30's and 40's. With age comes experience, a wider frame of reference and greater steadiness, but these invaluable assets can also create blind spots that trip you up –
which makes dealing effectively with the whole issue challenging but achievable. First, Look at Yourself From the Employer’s PerspectiveWalk over to the other side of the desk, in your mind, and think about interviewing a candidate ten or more years your senior who’s telling you how much s/he knows. You can easily feel intimidated, worrying about "old dogs
and new tricks." Warning sirens about manageability start wailing. This typically happens because, as job seekers, we are exposed to this discrimination. So, we try every way we know to show how good we are. READ MORE
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Whether it is your first interview and it was over the phone or Skype, or the 3rd round of in-person interviews on-site, your thank you will put you ahead of the
majority of job candidates who don't make the effort. Your thank you will also give you an opportunity to remind each interviewer how unique and excellent you are. There are good times to interview and bad times to interview. Determining the best times to schedule your job
interview requires understanding the psychology of hiring managers. Hiring managers tend to be technically competent, highly analytical and forward thinking, and because they are always pressed for time, tend to have excellent time management and organization skills. All these considerations play into your choosing the best days and times to interview.
What you don’t know about your employer (or a potential employer) can hurt you badly! If you are employed, stay informed about
what is being published on the web about your employer. Use that information for career management and for financial self defense. If you are unemployed, stay informed about potential employers so you can avoid pursuing employment with an employer who may stop hiring or may provide only short-term employment. You don't want to be job hunting again very soon (right?). |
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