Six Rules To Successful Job References.

Excellent references are essential to successfully gaining employment, most job offers are subject to references so even when you have an offer you still need your qualities and experience rubber-stamped by your previous employer. Bearing this in mind it is essential to adhere to the following rules when supplying referees;

1. Ensure the referee is a previous manager or supervisor, rather than a friend.

2. Graduates and Interns should use college professors as referees if they have no work experience.

3. Choose a former supervisor with whom you had a good relationship when looking for a referee.

4. Make sure you gain the approval of the referee before including them on your resume.

5. Should you receive an offer “subject to successful reference” then call your referees in advance to tell them to expect a call from the company offering you the job.

6. Ensure the contact details are correct and up to date before submitting them. The contact details should include name, position, company, telephone number and email address.

A bad reference could have a disastrous impact on your employment chances so take time to pick referees that you know will enhance your application and leave you with nothing to worry about when your offer is “subject to references.”

Issues To Consider Before Deciding To Change Your Job.

Changing jobs is an important decision, so careful consideration should be taken into understanding the root cause of your unhappiness and see if they can be resolved. You should make a list of the reasons why you want to change jobs and sort them in order of importance. Examples of some of the main reasons employees look to move to a new job are outlined below along with tips to overcoming the obstacles.

1. You are considering leaving because you want more money.

This is straight-forward enough, if you like your job but feel that you are being paid below your worth then arrange a meeting with your manager and HR to discuss the problem. Come prepared with examples of your work and salary-surveys that will help back-up your claim. Be reasonable and see if a mutually happy agreement can be agreed upon, if not then it will probably reaffirm your decision to seek pastures new.

2. You are considering leaving because of the commute to work.

The balancing act of career and family- life can be a tricky one, if there is an hour or two added to your journey each day it makes it an even trickier balancing act. Employers are not unsympathetic to this so before making the final decision to move, arrange a meeting with your boss to try and work-out a compromise. Again depending on your job you may be allowed work from home a couple of days a week or be given the opportunity to flexible working-hours to help avoid traffic congestion at peak-times.

3. You are considering leaving because you were overlooked for a promotion.

Arrange a meeting with your manager to discuss the reasons why you did not get the job. Do not be confrontational, instead ask the manager where he/she sees your future in the company. The feedback you get from him/her will give you a strong indication of where your future lies.

If you are steadfast in your decision to leave then make sure you have a job to walk into once you finish your notice-period. In the current economic climate job-openings are at a premium so make sure you’re leaving your current company for the right reasons as opposed to obstacles that can be overcome.

3 Reasons Not To Apply For A Job Until You Know Who The Job Is With.

If you are currently in a job the importance of being made knowing in advance where your resume is being sent cannot be understated. In your eagerness to find new employment you may be tempted to apply for jobs where the client company is not specified, this could turn out to be a big mistake. If you see a job advertisement that looks perfect but has “Confidential” listed as the company then avoid applying for it until you can garner more information about the job. The following examples highlight just 3 of the dangers .

1. Your resume gets sent to your existing employer.

Yes the unthinkable could happen, you apply for a job before eventually finding out the dreaded information that the role is with your existing employer. Expect a call to the bosses office should this happen but not necessarily for the type of meeting you hoped for.

2. Your resume gets sent to a client of your existing company.

Your boss won’t appreciate getting a call from a vendor asking “What’s that employee John Smith (for example) like?, he has applied for a job here with us”. This will be met with, at the very least, disappointment by your existing employer and like above will a meeting with your company management for further discussion.

3. The job may not exist.

You read that right, it is not unheard of for companies / recruiters to want to build a database of resumes for certain positions, in order to have them on file should such a position become available through an employee leaving or company growth. It is rare in the extreme that this happens but is worth bearing in mind nonetheless.

It is important not to let your desire to find a job curtail your professionalism in seeking one, should you see a job advertised without a name do all that you can do to find out who it is with. One way of trying to find out their identity is to send an email (not from your company email address) requesting information about where the role is based, at the very least, this should help you eliminate your own company as being the employer.

5 Tips For Panel Interviews.

Panel interviews may seem daunting particularly for inexperienced job-applicants however an interview of this nature can be more relaxed than being interviewed by a single individual. Treat a panel interview with the same attention to detail that you would a regular interview.Consider the interview as a professional business meeting with a group of people, rather than worrying about responding to a panel and be thankful for the opportunity to showcase your ability in front of them.

1. Send a thank-you letter to each person.

You know by now the importance of a good thank-you letter following your interview, therefore be sure to send a courtesy letter/email thanking each individual for his/her time.

2. Ask questions to the appropriate interviewer.

As with a thank-you letter, asking questions, whether in a one-to-one interview or a panel interview, is very important. It is vital to ask questions to the right person, you do not want to ask a question about sales, for example, to the recruiter if the Sales Director is on the panel of interviewers. It is important to know in advance who will be on the panel and their position in the company, asking questions to the appropriate person not only is a sign of professionalism, it also signifies to the interviewers that you have done research on the company and that will bode well for your application.

3. Use eye-contact to your advantage.

It may seem safer to maintain eye-contact with the person you know better or with a smiling interviewer on the panel, but you will be better-served by initially focusing on the person who asked you the question before scanning the room to make eye-contact with each person through the course of your answer. If the question asked requires a short answer then concentrate on the person who asked it.

4. Have at least one example that will impress each interviewer.

As mentioned knowing who the panel will consist of in advance is crucial, knowing who you are meeting allows you prepare an example of your work that will have elements that each interviewer will be impressed by. If for example the 5 people on the panel are the HR Manager, Financial Director, Sales Manager, Project Manager and CEO then you should provide an example where you successfully managed a project where you built a team, reached sales-target whilst maintaining control over costs. Stats and figures work well in a panel interview so have your key-points prepared in advance.

5. At the end of the interview shake each person’s hand.

Just as you would in a regular interview, at the end of a panel interview you should to firmly clasp the hand of each person, smile, and thank them for their time. Be sure to address each interviewer by their name as you thank them and say how you look forward to hearing from them before departing.

From a company’s perspective a panel interview can save time and money whilst expediting the hiring process, for the applicant it provides an opportunity to impress to many rather than a sole interviewer. Doing well in a panel interview will greatly enhance your chances of getting the job, so prepare well and look forward to the interview with confidence rather than trepidation.

5 Things You Should Do After Your Job Interview.

There are few industries where an applicant gets a job offer after one interview alone, therefore preparing for a potential second interview should begin the minute you get home from the first interview. Details of the interview will be fresh in your mind so rather than slumping into a reactive mode become proactive and begin preparations for a 2nd interview.

1. Write notes about any areas of the job that the interviewer focused on.

The interviewer will be feeding this information back to the Hiring Manager and should you be called for a second interview your note-taking will provide you with a fair idea of what element of your resume or job spec that will be scrutinized in the 2nd interview, so have answers ready to clarify these points and you will be on your way to a successful interview.

2. Send a Thank-You note.

Irrespective of how well you thought your interview went, be courteous and thank the company for their time and reiterate your interest in the job.

3. Practice your interviewing skills.

Following your interview you will be aware of the type of questions that you didn’t respond well to, the have been behavioral questions such as “Give me an example of when you had to deal with a sensitive issue in your job?” or structured interview questions such as “Where do you see yourself being in 3 years?”. Spend time practicing in order to give a confident complete interview next time around.

4. Reflect on whether it is the job for you.

If after the 1st interview you decide that you don’t think the role is what you want that’s fine, however if it is a job you truly want jot down the criteria needed for you to accept the position. Having this information in your mind will help you give a more productive 2nd interview.

5. Write down the negatives and positives of the job.

You will have a much clearer picture of both the position and the company themselves following the 1st interview. Should you be selected for 2nd interview you can be forthcoming with any perceived problems with the job and see if they can resolved and turned into positives.

Attention to detail can be the trump card when it comes to successful job interviews, remember that job interviews are as much about listening as they are about talking and remember that preparation doesn’t end once the interview is over.

5 Cliches To Avoid During A Job Interview

Knowing what to say and what not say in a job interview is important so it is key that you do not provide tired old cliches that you can bet the interviewer hears time and time again. The fear of having the interviewer think you have not prepared correctly and are on auto-pilot in effect will have a damaging effect on your interview success-rate so with that in mind let us look at 5 of the most oft-used cliches used in interviews.

1. At the end of the day.

Sporting heroes are to blame for this overused cliche, but you are in an interview so omit it from your vocabulary for the duration of your discussions.

2. I’m task-oriented (or multi-tasked).

Stating the obvious will do you no favors when being interviewed so choose different expressions that reflect on the specific tasks that are related to the interview.

3. I think outside the box.

In business-speak terms this phrase is up there with the most annoyingly common cliches used in interviews. You will be better served providing examples of how you dealt with certain situations that prove you have the know-how to get things done.

4. My resume speaks for itself

No matter how qualified you think you are displaying cockiness will harm your chances of getting the job. The interviewer will have read your resume and knows exactly what is in it so use the interview as a chance to sell yourself, your strengths and your personality not your resume.

5. This is a company I really admire.

The recruiter will think “I bet he/her says that about every company when interviewing” instead provide a reason/example of why it is a company you admire otherwise don’t mention it at all.

A proactive, vibrant interview will do your chances of getting a job the world of good, so eradicate these annoying cliches from you vocabulary and look forward to interview joy.

Information That A Job Offer Letter Contains.

If your resume was selected for interview and you then gave a winning interview, what happens next? You wait anxiously for your offer letter to arrive so you can absorb the details of the job and look forward to a new phase in your career. An offer letter can be accompanied by an employment contract or in some cases may be sent in advance of a full contract until references have been secured. Depending on the role, size of the company, the industry and other variables you may not receive one but if you do expect it to contain;

Job title.
You need to be sure that you are accepting the role that you initially applied for so be sure the correct job title is described.

Start-date.
Ensure that the date proposed on the offer letter fits in with any notice period that you may have a duty to fulfill in your current company.

Time to commence work on opening day.
Arriving late on day one will not make a good impression so be sure to fond out the appropriate starting time for your position.

Reporting details.
Expect your offer letter to provide the name and job-title of the person that you should report to.

Salary & benefits.
Ensure the salary proposed on the offer letter tallies with any offer verbally agreed.  As with salary you can expect to see most of the company benefits described in the offer letter.  Examples of benefits include bonuses, company cars, relocation expenses amongst others.

Vacation time.
Details of vacation time is regularly displayed in the offer letter along with the employment contract.

Offer letters that are deemed as full employment contracts will often contain a more formal approach outlining company policies and procedures etc. Often companies have mandatory drug screenings, if this is the case then expect that to be mentioned in your offer letter. Be sure to check that all compensations, be they salary or otherwise, that were verbally agreed in your job offer is mentioned in the offer letter.

Should you be in any way unsure about any aspect of your offer letter don’t be afraid call the HR Dept you will usually find they are only too glad assist in your queries.

How To Answer 3 Tricky Interview Questions

Interviewers generally do not ask questions to purposely have candidates tripping over themselves in their answers however they do have a responsibility to find whether you are the most-suited person for the role therefore probing questions are often asked. I’m sure you have all heard the old saying that “it’s not the questions that are hard, it’s the answers”, bearing that in mind let us look at 3 questions that for many people would fall under the “tricky” category and suitable responses to them.

I’m not the type of person that becomes stressed very easily. However, if in an extreme circumstance I did start to become stressed, I would look to the cause of it and attempt to identify a solution. I would certainly not be afraid to look to others for their input and assistance. In a working environment I think stress comes around from pressurized situations. In such cases the best solution is often one of situation management until the crisis abates. 

What are your weaknesses? How do you overcome them?

How do you feel about your current employer?

I  enjoyed my time at Sample Co Ltd. We parted on very good terms and I still have some great friends there. I learnt a lot during my stay at the company it was a very rewarding experience. I decided to leave because I wanted to move to a company with greater ambitions where I could continue to fulfill my career goals.

Overcoming questions like these in a successful manner during your interview will be of great benefit to your chances of getting the job so be prepared for questions like these and showcase your ability to respond to them in a confident manner

You hopefully know by now the importance of sending a thank-you letter to your recruiter following your interview, aside from being courteous and polite, a nice thank-you letter will stand you in good stead when looking for employment.

Your thank-you letter should;

• provide contact information for future correspondence
• reinforce your interest in the job.
• compliment the company.
• expand on your suitability for the job.
• thank the interviewer for his/her time

A thank-you letter provides the ideal opportunity to furnish the employer with pertinent information, that was not asked during the interview, that you feel will enhance your application. Something like “my experience as sales manager in Company X saw a growth of 75% in sales, a success I wish to bring to Company B” works well to help solidify your job chances.

 In job-hunting, as in many things in life, it is the little things that make a big difference, thank-you letters certainly fall into this category so be sure to use them when you are on the hunt for a job.

5 Tips On How To Conduct Yourself During A Job Interview. 

In todays competitive business environment gaining a job interview can be a difficult task, it is essential therefore that, if granted an interview, you should grasp the opportunity and conduct yourself in a professional manner throughout the process.

1)Take a considered approach to answering questions rather than rushing in with a hurried response.
By this I do not meaning pausing at every question asked, as this will interrupt the natural flow of conversation, however do take a measured approach to answering any tricky questions.

2) Be assertive but never aggressive.
Showing any traits of aggression during a job interview will end any chances you had in being hired.

3) Be confident, but don’t be cocky.
There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness in job interviews, the one difference being confidence is liked and cockiness loathed.

4) Don’t provide scripted answers.
H.R Managers are usually aware of when a candidate is providing a scripted answer rather than their own response, research by all means just don’t provide answers in a monotone manner.

5) Leave in a friendly manner.
No matter how good/bad you think you may have done, when the interview ends maintain eye-contact, provide a firm handshake, a friendly smile and thank the interviewer for his/her time.       

Combine this information along with an earlier post 5 steps to interview success and look forward with confidence to your interview.