Feature Article: Job-Seeker Tips for Making Good First Impressions
Secondary Feature: 24-hour Countdown to the Interview
Bonus Feature: Are You Ready for an Unexpected Job Interview?
Extra Feature: At the Interview, Why Not Brag About Your Vulnerabilities?
Quintessential Site: Featured Career Web Site of this Issue
Latest Additions: What's New on Quintessential Careers
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search
Notes from the Editor: About this Issue...
I always think of this as the time of year for new beginnings -- much more so than January.
It's the start of the academic year, not to mention college football season. Those who put off
job-hunting over the summer will be at it in full force.
Thus, it's a great time for making a terrific first impression. Find out how you come off to others on
that initial meeting with Dr. Randall Hansen's first-impressions article AND quiz.
Regular contributors Deb Walker and Joe Turner bring us, respectively, an article on unexpected
interviews and one on making the most of your vulnerabilities in an interview. My contribution
is a timetable of suggestions for the 24 hours before your interview.
Are you thinking about engaging the services of a professional writer for your resume, CV, cover letter,
thank-you letter, or other career-marketing correspondence? Before you take this step,
consider how a professional resume writer could benefit you.
Imagine you are Jack Bauer in Fox's popular TV series, 24. In 24 hours, something momentous will happen. In this case, the
anticipated event is not terrorists destroying the U.S., but your job interview. And instead of 24 hours that unfold chaotically prior to
the event, you know exactly what you'll be doing in each of those hours. This kind of planning can help you perform at your best
at your interview. The
scenario detailed in our article assumes you can spend a large part of the day before
your interview preparing. If you have other work or family
obligations that keep you from following this preparation plan, do your best with it. You may need to spread
the prep plan over several days rather than implementing it all the day before.
Bonus Feature: Unexpected Job Interview
Are You Ready for an Unexpected Job Interview?
by Deborah Walker
Most job-seekers wait to polish up their interview skills until they are looking for a
new position. Important interview opportunities, however, can present themselves
at any time. For example,
Unplanned internal job openings: You encounter a sudden opportunity to
advance your career from within, and your boss recommends you as a candidate for
the job. Are you ready to communicate your contributions to the company?
A recruiter calls: The position sounds like just the career move you’ve been
wanting. Will you say the right things to win the job, or will you blunder your best chance?
A former colleague introduces you to his boss:The organization is building
an exciting new division and looking for new staff. Can you entice the boss’s interest in
you as a must-have new team member?
iHipo --
a combination of social network and job site, iHipo provides young professionals and
students the ability to browse through hundreds of international job and internship postings,
post a profile, and develop contacts. iHipo stands for international High Potential network.
No cost to job-seekers.
International IT Jobs --
where IT professionals seeking job opportunities around the world can search
job postings as well as post your profile (or send them your resume and they will
create a profile for you). Majority of job postings are from U.S., India, United
Kingdom, Canada. No cost to job-seekers.
JobDiagnosis --
a new career assessment, where students, career-changers, job-seekers, retirees -- people of
any age and experience -- take a short test to assess your interests, skills,
abilities, and competencies to see what career path you should follow. No cost to job-seekers.
Jobrapido.co.uk
-- a UK-based meta-mega job search engine that allows job-seekers to search (by keyword and location)
or browse (by location) job listings on all UK job boards, recruiting agencies, and company Websites. No cost to job-seekers.
Find even more career and job site additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest Additions section.
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
They say job-hunting success is all about who you know. But how much you know about prospective employers plays
a crucial role, too, a recent survey confirms. Forty-seven percent of executives polled said that having little or no knowledge of the
company is the most common mistake job seekers make during interviews.
The national survey includes responses from 150 senior executives -- including those from human resources, finance and marketing
departments -- with the nation's 1,000 largest companies. It was conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Accountemps,
a specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals.
Executives were asked, "What do you think is the most common mistake candidates make during job interviews?" Their responses:
Little or no knowledge of the company: 47 percent
Unprepared to discuss skills and experience: 17 percent
Unprepared to discuss career plans and goals: 9 percent
Limited enthusiasm: 9 percent
Lack of eye contact: 3 percent
Monopolize interview: 2 percent
Focus on salary/benefits/perks: 2 percent
Lack of self-confidence: 2 percent
Inappropriate dress: 2 percent
Late arrival: 2 percent
Don't know/no answer: 5 percent
"The most successful applicants will have a beyond-the-basics understanding of the firm, including its history, chief competitors
and business objectives. Armed with this knowledge, job hopefuls should be able to describe how their skills and experience can help
the business reach its goals," said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps.
Accountemps offers the following tips for researching potential employers:
Find information at your fingertips. By visiting the company's website, you can locate a wealth of information, such as the firm's mission and values,
what products and services it provides, recent press releases and more. If it's a publicly traded company, call the investor-relations department
to request an annual report.
Research the industry. In addition to learning about the company, research the industry in which it competes to gain a better understanding
of the market and specific issues and trends that may affect the organization.
Check your network. Ask your colleagues, friends and others for information about your prospective employer. Your contacts may have
worked for or with the organization and could provide insight that may prove valuable during a job interview.
To conduct that all-important company research before you go on a job interview, you can use a new, no-cost feature from
ZoomInfo.com. You can pinpoint in-depth information on
more than 3.5 million companies with the business information search engine at ZoomInfo. The tool will let you search
the site's company database by name, product category, industry, market niche
and other factors and then review detailed descriptions of individual companies
that include their revenue, the names and bios of key employees, their location(s),
competitors, and even their recent acquisitions.
While most job-seekers strive to make a positive impression when meeting with hiring managers, a recent survey suggests
others seem to go out of their way to remove themselves from consideration. Executives were asked to describe the most
inappropriate comments candidates have made during employment interviews. The responses ranged from the applicant who declared
she didn't want to work hard to the person who argued the job requirements were wrong -- and then fell asleep.
The national survey includes responses from 150 senior executives -- including those from human resources, finance and marketing departments
-- with the nation's 1,000 largest companies. It was conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Accountemps.
Executives were asked, "What is the most inappropriate thing a candidate has said during a job interview?" Here are some of their responses:
One candidate cursed during the interview.
An applicant stated that there was nothing I could tell him he didn't already know; he said he knew everything about our business.
One candidate was 25 minutes late for his interview and was upset with me for being annoyed by his tardiness.
The person invited me out for a drink after the interview.
These applicants also may have been too candid:
One prospect told me all of the reasons he shouldn't be hired.
An individual applied for a customer service job, and when asked what he might not like about the job, he said, "dealing with people."
The applicant told me he really was not interested in the position, but he liked that we allowed for a lot of time off.
The candidate said she would really prefer a job offer from our competitor.
If your school, organization, business or other
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If you already have a link from your site, we want you to know we
appreciate it. If you don't have a link to us, please
send a request to your site's Webmaster to establish a
link to Quintessential Careers. Thanks so much!
For more details (including sample HTML copy), see our
Link to Us page.
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QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Office Politics
* Gossiping at the Office
* Defending Yourself at Work
* How to Transition Back to Work: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Parents
* Women as Breadwinners
* Maternity Leave
* Your Job Search IQ
* Jobs on the Cutting Edge
* Your Blog as a Resume?
* Font Facts: Resume Typography
* Resume Bullet Points: Before and After
* Social/Online Networking from the Recruiter's Perspective
* Salary Negotiation Mistakes to Avoid
* Use Your Resume to Negotiate a Higher Salary
* GLBT Job-search Issues
* The Value of Internships Abroad and Study Abroad
* Top 10 Fears of Job-seekers
* For Job-hunting Success, Develop a Detailed Job-Search Plan
* Keep Your Career Dreams Alive
* MBA Career Portfolios
* Pre-Hire Background/Credit Checks
* Financial Aid/Scholarship Timetable
* Build Confidence and Avoid Insecurity in Job Interviews
* Empty Nest Job-seekers
* Are You Sabotaging Your Job-Search/Career?
* Lifelong Networking
* Networking for the Shy
* Working Night Shifts/Odd Hours
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
* Book reviews
. . . and much, much more...
