Interview Preparation: Dress for Success Part 4

How to Dress for Success

Dressing for success requires understanding why your appearance matters and then using that information to best market yourself as a candidate.  As part 4 of our 4 part guide we will publish how to be prepared for that important interview.


Grooming

    * Make sure your general appearance is neat and clean.
    * Make sure your hair is neatly combed and you have shaved.
    * If you have a beard, make sure it is well kept.
    * If you wear makeup, keep it conservative.
    * Make sure you brush your teeth. The easiest way to cut an interview short is bad breath. Make sure an interviewer cannot smell your last meal or your last cigarette.
    * No alcohol. Without a doubt, you will be eliminated if interviewer smells alcohol on your breath.
    * Avoid excessive perfume, cologne or shaving lotion or strong body odor.
    * Keep any jewelry modest. Dangling sparkly earrings or a bulbous, shiny watch will distract the interviewer from what you are saying.


Accessories

    * Be careful what you bring to an interview. A disorganized bag is the sign of a disorganized person. If you bring a bag or briefcase:
    * Make sure it is modestly sized and easily tucked away so you can focus on the interview.
    * Keep the contents simple: 2 Pens, a clean writing pad, trade periodical, extra copies of your résumé and references and NOTHING ELSE visible to the interviewer.
    * If you are bringing an overnight bag, overcoat or umbrella, store it in the reception area or an outer office. Perhaps, a receptionist will help guide you to a closet.



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Interview Preparation: Dress for Success Part 3

How to Dress for Success

Dressing for success requires understanding why your appearance matters and then using that information to best market yourself as a candidate.  As part 3 of our 4 part guide we will publish how to be prepared for that important interview.


How do I determine what is appropriate to wear?

If you have no idea what to wear to a particular interview, ask your friends or your employment placement counselor. If you are still unsure, do some pre-interview reconnoitering. Visit the company prior to your interview to see what the employees walking into the building are wearing. (This will also ensure that you know where the company is located and how long it will take you to get there). If all else fails, Ask a Global Expert.


What else matters concerning my appearance?

Dressing for success starts the morning of your interview and entails much more than donning a nice suit. Proper grooming and accessories are equally important for success.


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Interview Preparation: Dress For Success Part 2

How to Dress for Success

Dressing for success requires understanding why your appearance matters and then using that information to best market yourself as a candidate.  As part 2 of our 4 part guide we will publish how to be prepared for that important interview.

What should I wear to an interview?

Dress for the job you want and not the job you have. On one hand, do not dress too casually, and on the other, do not dress too formally for the interview. Also, be sure not to wear uncomfortable clothes or shoes, since discomfort often makes a person seem ill-at-ease.


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Interview Preparation: How to Dress for Success Part 1

How to Dress for Success

Dressing for success requires understanding why your appearance matters and then using that information to best market yourself as a candidate.  As part 1 of our 4 part guide we will publish how to be prepared for that important interview.

Why should it matter what I wear?

A common question asked by job candidates is: “My résumé and Gild Certifications speak for themselves, I am an engineer, not a fashion model – why does it matter what I wear to an interview?”

Like it or not, empirical studies show that interviewers make decisions about candidates quickly. While your Gild Certifications help interviewers to understand your job performance potential, the first subjective impression you make in-person often begins with how you look.

Professional and fastidious self-presentation matters because it will position you as a candidate that is:

    * Respectful of the interviewer
    * Interested in the job
    * Attentive to detail
    * Confident
    * Presentable to clients
    * Professional in demeanor and approach
    * Possessing high self-esteem




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Why the Cover Letter Matters Part 2

Why the Cover Letter Matters

The cover letter is your electronic look in the eye and handshake announcing you to a prospective employer, marketing you as the best candidate for the job.

Your cover letter must get the recruiter or hiring manager to be interested enough in you to read your résumé. Recruiters look over hundreds of cover letters each and this is no easy task. Now, let’s review the steps of writing a cover letter that will help you stand out from the crowd.

How to Write the Best Traditional Cover Letter

FORMAT

When writing a conventional cover letter that you plan to mail to a company, your cover letter should follow basic business letter writing conventions. For professional letters we recommend using 11- or 12-point type set in a legible, professional-looking font such as Times New Roman.

YOUR ADDRESS

Put your current contact information at the top of the letter, including your:

    * Full name
    * Mailing address
    * Telephone number – put a number that you control, and it is best to include a number that accepts voicemail that only you check. If you don’t have a telephone where you can consistently get messages, do not put your telephone number down. For example, if your forgetful 7 year-old sister is in charge of taking down all messages at your home – do not include a phone number.
    * Email address – if your email address is inappropriate (for example: iamnotfunny@yahoo.com) get a new email address that you can use for professional purposes.




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Why the Cover Letter Matters Part 1

Why the Cover Letter Matters

The cover letter is your electronic look in the eye and handshake announcing you to a prospective employer, marketing you as the best candidate for the job.

Your cover letter must get the recruiter or hiring manager to be interested enough in you to read your résumé. Recruiters look over hundreds of cover letters each and this is no easy task. Now, let’s review the steps of writing a cover letter that will help you stand out from the crowd.

How To Prepare to Write the Best Conventional Cover Letter

RESEARCH. RESEARCH. RESEARCH.

Company Needs

Research the company you are applying to by going to their website, looking at their profile or conducting a web search on the company name to understand exactly what the company is looking for.

Company Contacts

By addressing your cover letter to the specific decision-maker, it shows your attention to detail and interest in the position since you have taken the time to find out who’s hiring for the job opportunity. This means you should find out the contact information for the employer by:

    * Searching on the Internet for “XYZ High-Tech Corporation” and “HR manager”
    * Calling the company’s main telephone line and asking for the name of the person who is hiring for the position that interests you
    * Asking any friends who work for the company whom you should contact concerning the position

If you cannot find the appropriate contact, you should still send the cover letter to “Dear Hiring Manager.” However, this generic approach should be taken only as a last resort.

START AFRESH

A good cover letter will require considerable time and effort to create and it must be tailored to the specific company and job opportunity. Remember, any job opening you find represents, in business terms, either a problem a company needs to solve or an opportunity they want to seize. Your cover letter must address why you are the person who will solve this problem and/or address this opportunity.



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How to Write Great Résumés Part 3

As a general rule, include your work experience of the last 10 years and avoid work period gaps whenever possible. Experience older than 10 years is usually too remote and outdated—especially given how fast and relentlessly IT and relevant skill sets constantly evolve.

Include any work experience you have had, whether you were paid for it or not. If you completed the work as an intern, volunteer, or teacher’s assistant, include that information if it is relevant to the job for which you are applying. To properly list your experience, you should include three components, your employer, your position, and the time period during which you held that position. For example:

IBM, Database Administrator, June 2001 – present

Database Administrator, IBM, June 2001 – present

If your job title was significantly more impressive than the employer’s name in the industry, list your title ahead of your employer’s name. If your company is as impressive as—or more impressive than—your title, lead with the company name.

If you held different positions within the same company, use the company as a heading and list your positions below. For example:

IBMSenior Database Administrator, June 1999-present
Database Administrator, June 1998-June 1999
Standing Out From the Crowd: Positioning Your Experience

As much as any other step in your job search, positioning is incredibly important when drafting and perfecting your résumé. As you learned in How to Stand Out From the Crowd, positioning yourself is a five-step process.

   1. Take the research you have done about the company for whom you’d like to work and use it to determine what the company needs from you.
   2. Take the research and contemplation you have done about yourself and identify the skills that you have that the company needs.
   3. By understanding both the company’s needs and the skills and traits you can offer, you can compare the two and determine how you, as a potential employee, can most help the company.
   4. Explain and demonstrate to the company’s representatives how your skills will benefit them by citing specific examples of how you’ve applied your skills in the past.
   5. Lastly, be sure to show the company how your soft-skills complement and compound your technical skills, making you an even more valuable potential employee.

PAR

A widely used and very good technique for positioning your skills and experience within a résumé is commonly referred to as PAR (Problem, Action and Results). Use the PAR approach when citing past work experiences and accomplishments to explain your value to your potential new employer. PAR statements, in essence, answer the following questions in the following order:

   1. Problem – What problem did I solve for my employer?
   2. Action – What action did I take to solve the problem for my employer?
   3. Results – What were the beneficial results of my action?

Consider using the PAR structure when detailing your prior employment experience. For example, a PAR statement on your résumé would read:

Reduced cost of purchased network systems by over $35,000 by finding and negotiating with alternative suppliers.

Implemented standardized configuration control standard to streamline helpdesk operation and increase calls handled per hour by over 23%.


RECOGNITION AND AWARDS

Make sure your résumé highlights outstanding recognition you have received for past accomplishments. Such recognition and awards might include:

    * GILD Certifications
    * Customer recognition for an achievement
    * Co-worker recognition for an achievement
    * Manager recognition for an achievement
    * A promotion
    * A company award
    * A productivity bonus
    * Being selected to assume greater, special professional responsibilities



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How to Stand Out in a Phone Interview

More employers are using phone interviews as screening mechanisms to narrow down their applicant pool. These calls can range from short and perfunctory to long and in-depth, but either way, it's crucial to be prepared for them.

Here are 10 tips to help you become a phone interview ninja:

1. Ask ahead of time how much time to allot for the call.This can tell you what type of interview to expect. If you're told it'll take 10 to 15 minutes, it's just going to be a simple screening to check your basic match-up with the job. But if you're told to set aside 45 minutes or an hour, expect a much more thorough call where you might be asked about past accomplishments and where you might face behavioral interview questions.

2. Make sure you have somewhere quiet to talk where you won't be interrupted. This sounds obvious, but some candidates on phone interviews get interrupted by kids, barking dogs, coworkers at their current jobs, or other calls coming in. Not only does this come across as unprofessional and as if you're not taking the opportunity seriously, but it also will harm your ability to focus.

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When to Talk About Salary

Bringing up salary too early with a potential employer might cost you the chance of landing the job. Wait too long and you might not get to negotiate. Let's look at when to talk about salary in two scenarios: working with a recruiter and working with the company hiring manager.

When Working with a Third-Party Recruiter

Discussing your salary expectations with a recruiter early in the your relations will help her present you with the most appropriate opportunities. Remember that a recruiter wants to make the opportunity work for her client and for you, so bluffing or withholding information about the salary makes the situation more complicated than it needs to be.

She will have a better idea of what a company is able to pay; if it doesn't meet your requirements, then either she'll approach you with opportunities that are better suited or if it's not that far off, she can assess the situation upfront and open the possibilities. And remember: if she specializes in your industry niche, she can give you insider information about what you can expect in your local market.

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5 Questions to Ask on Your Next Interview

When it comes to job interview prep, much emphasis is put on having the right answers. But while you're struggling to come up with responses to queries on your biggest weakness and why you should be hired, don't forget to craft some smart questions, too.

You will be judged, after all, by what you ask (or fail to ask).

"Candidates should always have questions prepared to ask during the interview," says Tom Gimbel of the Chicago-based staffing firm The LaSalle Network. "A lack of questions demonstrates a disinterest in the position and lack of preparation for the interview."

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Three Clues You’re About to Lose Your Job

The firing process is God awful. (No matter how gleefully Mitt Romney extolled its virtues on the campaign trail.) People hate to cause pain, so there's major stress involved with letting someone go for underperformance. Of course this doesn't even come close to the anguish of the person beingfired. Can't this whole process be avoided?

Both sides may wonder how it ever came to this. Managers question why people don't see the writing on the wall and voluntarily exit a company. Employees feel blindsided.

I was in this exact conversation last week with a coaching client, who had an employee on a serious development plan. My client's strong desire was that this person would self-select out rather than having to go through a messy termination process. However, there was no evidence that this was the case.

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10 Ways to Ruin a Job Interview

You can have the perfect resume and a compelling cover letter and show up for the job interviewready to impress, but get ready to forgo the job offer if you make one of these stumbles.

1. Being late. Arriving late to a job interview is often an instant deal-breaker. Hiring managers assume that you're on your best behavior while interviewing, so if you're late, they'll assume you'll be unreliable once on the job. Always allow more time than you'll need to get to your interview, so that you have a buffer in case something goes wrong.

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