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Job Follow up After an Interview

March 3, 2013 by

There’s a fine line between being excited about getting the job and being desperate. If you really want to work for the company you’ve applied to and have done your homework to make sure you are the perfect candidate for the job, then you have to do some job follow up.

The follow up should start right after the job interview. Simply ask the hiring manager what the next step will be and when you should expect to hear something from them. A good length of time is somewhere between a few days and a week or so. In a couple of days send a hand written thank you note for them taking the time to meet with you. Wait for them to get your note and give them time to respond. [Read more...]

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An Inside Look at a Job Interview

June 11, 2012 by

I guess you learn something new every day. I didn’t know about the site GlassDoor.com, which is a free jobs and career site that gives job seekers an inside peek into the jobs and companies that they will be applying for. Content is posted by job seekers, employees, and sometimes the companies themselves.

The site has about 3 million reviews on how the companies conduct their interviews, how they treat employees, and about the salaries for a particular job. This is a good way to save you time and energy as a job seeker by avoiding the places you really don’t want to work at. Or if you do want to work there, at least you have a good idea of what to expect.

Job seekers spend enough time searching for work. Glass Door takes some of the guesswork out of trying to figure out just what the company is looking for. This way you can know in advance what kind of questions they are likely to ask you in the interview and what the salary will likely be before wasting time with jobs you’re not really interested in. Sounds good to me!

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Personality Job Tests

May 23, 2012 by

You’ve got a great resume, which includes the right education from a good school, and you have the experience for the job you’re applying for. But do you have the right personality for the job? Do you have the right personality for the company? You may think you do, but the person hiring you has a huge pool of talent to choose from these days and a wrong hiring decision can be very costly. So they really want to make sure.

And one of the ways companies are testing job seekers is with a personality test. Certain jobs, like customer service require a certain type of personality. Even if you think you can handle it, you might not be the best applicant for the position. It’s a better use of a company’s time and money to find out before they actually start working.

Jobs that require complex problem solving and decision making may also be subject to a personality test. They help to uncover your attitude and temperament. The first part of the tests often just weed out the extremes and the people that are clearly not suited for the job. I frankly think this is a good idea, whether I’m on the job seeker side or the employer side. It’s hard to know for sure exactly what a company is looking for. What you think it is might be something very different. And they might expect certain things out of you as an employee that you wouldn’t like down the road.

The first things employers want to weed out are dishonesty and a tendency towards violence. Then they want to make sure you can work in a team and will be persistent on the job. For some jobs being an extrovert is more desirable than being an introvert. Jobs like sales and customer service rely on having employees that are more extroverted.

As a business owner, I have never hired anyone solely based on their resume. I hire people I know very well, so I can tell if they are the right ones for the job and if we would get along in a small office space. I tend to hire people who are more entrepreneurial and don’t need to have a lot of hand holding. I can give them the work to do and I can trust them to do much of the problem solving on their own. I can trust that they will make the best decisions.



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How Do You Sound in a Job Interview?

April 5, 2012 by

After working at job fairs for the past few years I’ve been paying attention to how job seekers sound in their brief interviews with recruiters. Just a few slight changes can make a big difference in how a recruiter views you. The way we sound to others speaks volumes about who we are and how we will represent a company.

The first thing to take out of your vocabulary are the phrases “Like” and “You know”. Both make you seem too immature and unprofessional. Same with slang.

Ask a friend to help you evaluate whether you speak too quickly or too slowly. Speak at a normal speed and try not to interrupt the recruiter. Make sure you are an active listener and not planning what you’re going to say next. You might miss critical information.

Monitor the pitch of your voice. Men seem more authoritative if they have lower voices. Women need to stay in a neutral range. Not too high (immature) and not too low. Try taping yourself to see how you sound. Listening to newscasters and emulating them is good practice. This is how I got rid of my accent and prepared for a career in TV hosting.

Pay attention to how you sound and fix any problems before your job interview. It might make all the difference.

 

 



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Job Interview Mistakes

January 13, 2011 by

Since I’ve been putting on job fairs I spend a lot of time talking to recruiters and HR. As tough as the job market is out there I’m constantly shocked at the mistakes people make once they actually get in the door for an interview.

The first one kind of surprises me and that’s the inappropriate dress. I’ve also seen this at job fairs quite a lot. A job fair should be treated like an interview. You should dress appropriately for both of them.

I have seen people waiting in line in flip flops, tons of gold chains around their neck, very low cut blouses, sweat pants, and mini skirts. I’m not making this stuff up! I’ve also heard the same thing from HR professionals. It’s shocking.

Another interview mistake would be texting and answering your cell phone in an interview. Turn it off or just leave it at home. You would think that would be common sense.

After working the entertainment business in casting, I am aware of another big mistake…missing an interview or showing up late. It’s hard enough to get that interview, especially these days. If you can’t make it or you are going to be late (and it had better be a really good reason), then at least call. It’s common courtesy.

Above all, use common sense!



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