Please note: On a somewhat infrequent basis, Quintessential Careers asks noted
career experts five questions related to their expertise and publishes the interview
in the current issue of QuintZine,
our biweekly newsletter. Here is one such interview.
Diane Burns is an international careers industry speaker and national writer.
Q:
What's the biggest mistake jobseekers make in interviews?
A:
Overconfidence. Many jobseekers are overconfident in their interviews.
Many clients say, “If I can just get into the interview, I know I will ace it.”
When the interview is over they say, “I blew the interview.” It is not wise
to assume that you can convince a hiring manager to hire you, there is
strong competition in the marketplace. You have to be yourself and
answer questions naturally.
Overconfidence can make an interviewer feel intimidated or unsure
of your motives for wanting the position. Overconfidence also is
displayed in how you treat other people involved in the interview
process -- the secretary or team members you may meet during the
day. Everyone that you come in contact with on the interview day will
be asked about you…how do they like you? How did you treat them?
Overconfidence allows you to think you don’t need to practice for
an interview or conduct industry/company research. Overconfidence
may cause you to embellish your experience or credentials, “Yea, I
have done that,” or “Yea, I can do that,” when you have never actually
applied the skill on the job.
Overconfidence allows you to assume that you can name your
salary. Overconfidence makes you think the employer will contact
you within a week with an offer; consequently, you don’t ask for
follow-up information before you leave the interview. Moreover,
overconfidence makes you think you do not have to send a thank-you
note to help you lock in the position.
Overconfident candidates can make any of the above mistakes,
which hurts their chances of being selected, because they are not
coming across as natural.
To succeed in an interview, you have to be a good “fit” or good “match,”
according to the interviewer. The interviewer is sizing up the candidate
to determine if his or her personality is pleasant and whether he or she
will work well with the office staff and other team members. Consequently, if you:
practice interviewing,
allow yourself to be yourself -- not putting on a different face or
personality because you think it will make the interviewer like you more,
answer questions honestly,
you have a better chance against your competition.
Q:
What's the best way to prepare for a job interview?
A:
Practice interviewing skills and conduct thorough research about the
intended company’s products/services and competition to be able to
speak intelligibly during the interview.
No one can predict what type of interview he or she will encounter, i.e.,
one-to-one, panel, luncheon, set questions, technical interview,
behavioral questions, etc. And even if you practice responding to
hundreds of questions, you may still be asked one you did not think
of. But good practice will help you respond calmly to questions posed
and help you understand the dynamics of the interview. You do not
want to manipulate responses to questions; rather, respond normally
and honestly. Practicing interviewing through role-playing with a
colleague, spouse, or career coach will provide some measure of
confidence and provide opportunities to troubleshoot potential
interview scenarios. Role-playing should include appropriate attire,
a firm handshake, strong eye contact, and ability to answer
questions without saying, “Um, well, I don’t know how to answer that.”
When you critique the role-playing session, note such things as
handshake, eye contact, image, fidgeting and other body language
(crossing arms), clean teeth and neat hair, and ability to respond to
a variety of questions without trepidation (and without complaining
about former employers or providing answers that are either too
short or too long). Take the role-playing session seriously to help
prepare for the potentially grueling interview process.
To best prepare to answer questions, research the company
and its products/services. Remember, the company wants to
know why you want to work there. Your response should shed light
on your knowledge of the organization’s products/services,
competition, and other company information you gleaned from
reading press releases, newspaper articles, and quarterly and
annual reports. Nevertheless, remember, ultimately in the interview,
be yourself, share your experiences, and impart your knowledge
of the company via the research you conducted.
Q:
What's the one job-hunting secret you share with clients but that may not be widely known?
A:
One of the career-search tactics I encourage candidates to use is the
thank-you letter. It seems that career seekers are constantly reminded
to send thank-you letters, yet very few actually use or send them. I
spoke with one recruiter who said he received so few thank-you letters,
that when a thank-you letter arrived at his office, he posted it on the
bulletin board.
Certainly it is a recruiter’s job to recruit and place candidates in
interviews. But, recruiters work the placement on the candidate’s behalf.
A thank-you letter does not need to be lengthy and can even be
handwritten. Hiring managers on the other hand, do not get paid to
interview candidates. Yes, they receive their paycheck when they
interview candidates, but the time needed to interview and hire
new employees takes away from daily operations and productivity.
Consequently, a simple thank-you letter to both the recruiter and
hiring manager, is a very thoughtful, courteous act.
Candidates should take some notes during the interview and
refer to the notes to construct the thank-you letter for the hiring
manager. The letter may include a few short bullets responding to
specifics discussed in the interview or a suggestion to begin fixing
the organizational problems that were discussed in the interview.
The letter also provides a forum for telling the interviewer anything
that you forgot to mention in the interview, and finally it reinforces
your interest in the position and the company. Your closing line
should recap any final instructions from the interview, i.e., “I look
forward to hearing from in 10 days, as we discussed…”
Send a thank-you letter no later than the day after the interview.
Q:
What's the biggest mistake job seekers make that your advice could correct or prevent?
A:
Using only the Internet for resume circulation.
As of spring 2003, statistics and national articles indicate that the
probability of finding a job from posting a resume on Monster.com
is only 1.7 percent. This percentage is significantly lower than
networking (60 to 80 percent of career seekers find a new position
via networking) and even seeking employment using other means,
such as through association memberships and newspaper
postings (6 percent).
Unfortunately, many career-seekers find it very easy to post their
resume online targeting a listed vacancy announcement. They
assume that their experience and credentials match exactly to the
announcement, so they are a perfect fit for the job and will receive
an interview. But, with each recruiter receiving literally thousands
of resumes for each posted position, most resumes will never be
seen, read, or scored. So, Internet resume-posting is a very
passive method of seeking new employment.
The best way to conduct a career-search campaign, is to
network and employ other low-tech or “old-fashioned” methods to
circulate resumes. Networking requires footwork and follow-up.
To begin a networking campaign, prepare a list of everyone you
know or have ever known. Send them a letter asking for their
assistance in your career search. Ask them for leads. Secondly,
join associations and community meetings. Volunteer with local
charities or schools to meet new people. Attend networking
breakfasts, join LEADS groups, circulate your resume to recruiters,
and participate in job fairs. Finally, circulate your resume in response
to newspaper ads, alumni associations, and career-specific associations.
Once your resume and letters are floating amongst your network of
colleagues and professional contacts, get on the phone and follow up.
Ask them for leads. Ask them if you can meet for coffee to learn more
about their company or profession. Conduct career investigation interviews.
Don’t rely solely on the Internet to obtain employment; rather get
active, get involved, and get busy.
Q:
What's the biggest myth about job-hunting?
A:
The one-page resume.
The invention and explosion of the Internet has changed many of the
ways in which the career-search campaign is conducted. For example,
for many years (1970s and 1980s) the one-page chronological resume
was standard. The myth that is believed by most career-seekers is: You
should prepare and circulate a one-page resume. Or it is thought, if you
have more than 10 years of experience, you could write a two-page resume.
The reality is: There are no set rules or standardized requirements for
resume preparation, including page length (except for some online job
boards -- which have specific Internet submission requirements). A
two-page resume is fine (and fairly standard) and a three- or four-page
resume is fine if the candidate is a senior executive, medical professional,
or in academia. The resume length should fit the requirements and
background of the candidate. Interestingly, many career-seekers
who believe that a resume should be only one page are allowed to
submit lengthy four- to five-page resumes on Internet job boards.
Appearance is also a consideration for preparing a two-page resume.
It is better to use a two-page resume than cram 1.5 pages of data on
one page, using a small point font and narrow margins. Every recruiter I
speak with says they don’t care so much about resume length, but they
prefer to see some type of objective, solid experience, dates that flow,
education, and skills. Recruiters tell me that they would rather candidates
market themselves in two pages rather than one page if the document tells
them what they need to know to present the candidate’s qualifications to their
client firms.
Diane Burns, Certified Professional Resume Writer, Certified Career
Management Coach, Credentialed Career Master, Certified Employment
Interview Professional, and International Job and Career Transition Coach, is
an international careers industry speaker and national writer. She has authored
dozens of articles and pens a monthly career-coaching column for the
Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches. Her resumes
are published in more than 14 books. Burns specializes in military to corporate
resumes and career coaching, and federal government resumes and
application procedures. She can be reached at 410-884-0213 or through
her Website.
