Readers: Dr. Randall Hansen, a nationally recognized career expert, is the Career Doctor.
Discover more about Dr. Hansen, read about the purpose of this column,
and find previous issues of this column at the home of The Career Doctor.
Dr. Hansen writes this column on a biweekly basis. If you have any college, career, or job-related questions or comments that Dr. Hansen could
provide valuable assistance with, please
feel free to email him at: careerdr@quintcareers.com.
Barbara writes:
I have a question. I am a very experienced and highly qualified executive secretary with over
20 years of experience.
I am actively seeking a new job. I am very nervous as I am 50 pounds overweight. I feel I have
everything going for me. I am dedicated, knowledgeable and very likeable. I have excellent
credentials and references.
Do you feel the weight will stop them from hiring me? I am presently using your website to
prepare for the questions.
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
I have good news and bad news for you.
The bad news is that job-hunting often shares some similarities to dating -- and one of those
shared attributes is the power of first impressions. I can guarantee the interviewer will make
an immediate judgment about you when s/he meets you for the interview. It won’t always be
a negative one, but there are certainly negative stereotypes about overweight and obese people.
Is this a bad thing? Job-seekers ask me all the time why first impressions make such an
impact, and the answer is easy -- we use it as a shortcut to stereotype people into easy-to-understand
categories. And, of course, this stereotyping happens in many other situations besides job-hunting.
The good news is that you have the power to first minimize the impact and then overcome any
lingering negative first impressions with a powerful interview. You can minimize the impact by
wearing a professional outfit that downplays (as much as possible) your weight. The same
rules of dress-for-success apply to you as they do for ALL job-seekers. Look professional --
and no matter what your size or height or color or age -- and you minimize any bias the
interviewer may have.
And then do just as you are doing. Prepare for the interview. Prepare answers to common interview
questions -- create stories that showcase your strengths and accomplishments -- but don’t
memorize them. I suggest writing them down to help you remember them.
Finally, I would also watch highlighting the more than 20 years of experience because most
career experts say focus on the last 15 years -- at the very most -- so that you also do not run
into age discrimination.
LaVerne writes:
I am preparing to send a letter requesting an informational interview. However, I
was wondering if it would be appropriate for me to enclose my resume with the letter?
Would you be kind enough to let me know what is proper professional etiquette?
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
Informational interviews are the ultimate networking technique, so I applaud your efforts to not
only conduct one, but to do so properly and professionally.
Informational interviews are meetings you request to gather information and expand your
network of contacts. What kind of information? The information you need to choose or refine
a career path, learn how to break in and find out if you have what it takes to succeed. It's the
process of spending time (usually about 20-30 minutes, but sometimes much longer) with
someone at a more advanced level in their career in a highly focused conversation that provides
you with key information you need to launch or boost your career.
The letter you send to a potential interviewee should be short and to the point. It is similar to a
cover letter, but instead of asking for a job interview, you are requesting an informational interview.
Do NOT send a resume with your letter, but DO bring a copy of your resume to the interview in case
the interviewer asks to see it. Remember, an informational interview is NOT a backdoor method
of gaining a job interview.
Your letter should include a brief introduction about yourself and why you are writing to this particular
individual. Be specific about your career interests and request an interview to gain his or her insights
into the field. The last paragraph should include a sentence about how and when you will follow-up
with this person.
Get a much more detailed overview of everything you could possibly ever want to know about informational
interviews by going to the Quintessential Careers
Informational Interview Tutorial.
Q:
Laney writes:
My husband recently interviewed with a company and follow-up with a thank you email.
In the email he spelled The Greenley Group as The Greeney Group and left out the letter (l)
and he's sweating bullets. I'm inquiring as to what to do with it? He used other words
describing his interview experience and how he was excited about the job, etc.
How big of a mistake is it that he left the (l) out?
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
Typos and misspellings are often the curse of job-hunting. Some employers are less bothered
by them than others, but I fall into the camp that if you have any kind of major error on your
cover letter or resume, then your application is done, over, tossed.
But yours is an interesting scenario because it’s after the first round of interviews, so your
husband obviously made the initial cut, and, depending on his interview, may even be a frontrunner
for the position.
In my mind, unless he interviewed the founder of the company, misspelling the company’s name
is less of a sin than misspelling the interviewer’s name.
He has two options. Say nothing and hope that the thank-you letter made enough of an impression
that perhaps the company name’s misspelling was not even noticed. Or, write a quick follow-up
saying that he was so excited about the fit between himself and the company that in his haste to
share that excitement in a thank-you note he accidentally misspelled the name of the company.
By writing such a note, he shows he is one to take the blame when something is his fault -- which
is a good thing. The only downside is if the interviewer never noticed the error on the original letter.
Overall, I think the error is a minor one, but catching it and owning it while again expressing his
interest and desire to work for the company is probably the best route to take.
Q:
Debi writes:
With so many companies doing background checks, how do I handle a having bad
credit report? I was out of work for a little over a year and my credit is shot. I'm still
working on repairing the damage. How can I proactively address the credit issue?
Should I include an explanatory paragraph in my cover letter -- or bring it up when I
get an interview?
I feel it's a double-edged issue. If I bring it up, I could be negating their interest from
the get go but if I don't bring it up, it could look like I'm trying to hide it.
Do you think having a bad credit report would be enough of a reason for an employer to
not contact a potential employee who has the experience and skills they say they want?
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
First let me stress an important rule of job-seeking. Never, never include anything negative
in your cover letter, resume, or job application. By providing negative information in any of
these documents, you basically eliminate yourself from consideration. The time to address
any negative information is in the job interview -- once you have made the initial cut.
I still remember one of my favorite bad cover letters, which stated in the first sentence of the
letter, “While I have been fired from my last two jobs…” Who would ever keep reading that letter?
Now, credit reports are a sore subject for me because it’s a trend in hiring that I do not like nor
support. So many people have been downsized or simply struggling in low-wage jobs and thus
have problems with their credit report that I think this tool of evaluating a candidate’s worthiness
makes no sense except for industries like banking or accounting. And no one has ever been
able to show me a study that correlates a bad credit report with a bad employee, yet some
employers will not hire you without a good credit score.
So, I totally am behind you here. Do not include any mention of it in your cover letter and do not
bring it up in the interview -- until, and only then, the employer ask for references in preparation
for a background check. It is ONLY at this point that I would bring it up. I would ask if they just
check with references or if they do a more detailed background check. If they do a more detailed
check, then I would go with a short explanation about your credit rating -- of why it’s bad and
the steps you have taken to fix it.
