My question is: are you working with a headhunter, recruiter or someone that will help you design your job search, evaluate your resume, provide recruiter & job leads and help prepare you for those phone screens and ultimate face to face interviews?
Believe it or not, I have been called everything from 'headhunter', 'recruiter', 'connector', 'career coach' and more importantly, 'friend'. I attend a lot of career groups, constantly make new friends and develop candidates into the people that they are trying to become and ready for interviews. It is funny, because when I was 'out of work' years ago, I went through the psychological ups and downs that many people go through and if it wasn't for a good friend who pulled me aside and over the course of many weeks, gave me what I needed psychologically and physically (resume, cover letter, one pager, 60 second elevator speech and contacts) to march into the corporate interview jungle, I may have not found the career and position that I am to this day enjoying.
After getting the help I needed from my friend, I have made it a part of my mind set and part of the many services that I offer to candidates, who come to my company's table looking for direction, to 'pay it forward' with the same compassion and sincerity that I had received many years ago . I guess the key word is 'organization'. Most of the people that I meet are professionals and often times feel that they do not need the ancillary help with their documents or interview speak. But we are not all the same, there are those professionals who need the extra mile of coaching to achieve that comfort level to get them back on track.
Typically, I either meet or talk to candidates on the phone and ask them a few of the infamous questions that occur when they step up to the plate at an interview. It is mainly to see what level of interviewing skills that they may have and where would be a good place to begin the coaching process. People do have trouble with 'watermelon' (easy) questions, like: "tell me about yourself". If someone cannot answer that question, then the following questions will become extremely difficult almost as bad as climbing Mt. Everest in a sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. The word is 'Preparation'.
Before I send candidates to my fellow recruiters or to Human Resource professionals, I engage and ask 5 easy but key questions which will determine if further help is needed on the interview process and I grade the answers: (Scale of 1 to 10)
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What have been your greatest career challenges and how did you overcome them?
3. What is your greatest weakness and how are you overcoming it?
4. Why do you think that you are qualified for the position that you are interviewing for?
5. Why should I hire you?
These are basic questions that need to be addressed and studied prior to parking your car in the company's lot 15 minutes before your interview. Some people are better than others in answering these type of questions, and then there are those that tell me that they are not good at interviewing. When I hear that, I immediately send them the '25 questions and answers normally asked at interviews', a document that I have prepared with the help of other experts on the internet, and then tell them that they have a week to prepare. Also, it is very important to go onto the internet and look up the top 'behavioral interview questions and answers', which are a bit different than the average questions and a direction where most interviews usually go. Recruiters and HR professionals want to know how your brain works and this is a good way to prepare for their questions.
I trust that the experience that I put people through is an educational one and given all the competition in today's marketplace, gives them the confidence that they need to effectively interview and attain that viable position. It is the little things that people remember and the journey they went through to attain the prize. It is then that I get the 'Referrals', and am able to put others through the same process. The cycle repeats and repeats and it is very fulfilling. Depending on the needs of the candidates, I have referred many away to other career coaches who specialize in defined areas. There are many career coaches in the marketplace with value and expertise who have carved out niches for themselves and for their candidates. It may help you to interview a few career coaches and determine which one may fit your specific values, expertise that you need and your pocketbook. It comes down to one word: 'Results'.
The better prepared a person is, the better they will perform in an interview. Preparation instills 'confidence'. Like I said, I currently belong to many career oriented groups in the Philadelphia area which provide great 'fundamentals', 'organization' and 'support' for a person's job search. These groups grow over time to be like an extended family where other things come into play like 'encouragement', 'motivation' and 'constructive criticism' and really inform people what they need for their job search. Imagine attending a group that will give you time to introduce yourself, network with others and then have members or attendees present you with helpful contacts or even job leads. The bottom line is that you have to choose a group that you feel comfortable with and one that you can extract something from at every meeting that you can apply instantaneously to your job search.
What is helpful to bring to these groups are the following:
1. A 'positive attitude' and an 'open mind'.
2. A 'one pager', which defines your accomplishments, your target companies and titles you are seeking.
3. Bring 20-30 of these 'one pagers' so that you have enough to hand out to everyone.
4. The template for 'one pagers' can be found on the internet if you don't already have one.
5. Your resume in the case you are asked for it. You may meet a CEO. (Your CV should be two pages.)
6. Your 'networking' personality. Be ready to talk and to listen. People will be very eager to talk to you.
'Keywords'. Do not forget to tailor your resume for each job that you apply for. Start with your original resume and save it to your hard drive. When applying for a job, copy your original resume to a new file and give it a new name: ex: Resume2. Then, review the job description and take many of those 'keywords' and put them into your resume and cover letter before you apply for the job and send out your CV package. Realistically, you may end up with 30 or 40 resumes or more before you find that great position. If you do not use the job description's keywords, then your CV may end up in a recruiter's '(ATS) applicant tracking system' and no one would know it is there. A recruiter may key into his computer a specific key word and all those resumes with that word would appear. That is terrible. All your hard work and no one is able to look at your CV.
Know your resume, your background and know how to convey and explain 'keywords' that may be on your CV. Remember, recruiters statistically take less than 20 seconds to evaluate your resume to see if they want to review it further at a later time. There have been people that I have interviewed in the past and they could not effectively explain some of the 'nickel words' that were used on their resume. That could mean, that they did not write the resume or the truth has been embellished using unfamiliar terms. So, know what is on your resume and study the information. Practice your 30-60 second elevator speech so you can spit it back to yourself in your sleep or practice it in front of a 'friend' many times. You never know when you are going to have to introduce yourself to someone who just may be in a position to hire you. I hear many great stories of people in the most unique places meeting a CEO or an HR Director and the well rehearsed 'elevator speech' got them the opportunity to interview. Remember, when presenting your elevator speech, try not to sound like a robot. Use the King's English and be upbeat, conversational and 'ask for the order'.
What does 'ASK FOR THE ORDER' mean? It is one of the most important concepts in sales. I have interviewed many people who interviewed very well. But, they never asked me for the job. If you are in sales, you know that asking for the order is one of the most important elements of the sales game. If you are interviewing for a position, you are 'selling yourself', so ask for the job! If you are at one of those places where you are fortunate enough to meet a CEO, HR Director, Corporate Recruiter, Manager who is in a position to hire you, ask for the opportunity to follow up this meeting with a resume and a potential meeting to discuss opportunities. I like to refer this kind of an event as 'alpha destiny'. It is the beginning of an opportunity which could lead to something greater. A new position. It came about because you had your 'networking personality' hat on. Everybody that you meet from this day forward, whether it is in an office environment or not, should be considered an interview for your future. Your 'networking' hat should always be on and ready to go. If you do not have a 'networking personality', you may have to find one while you are networking for a new position.
Background. If there is something in your background that is causing you concern, the only thing that I can say to you is to be 'honest' about it in the interview process. I have always felt that it is better to be honest about transgressions in your background upfront at the interview rather than having to explain the issue after a background check is performed. You know your background and if you feel certain things will appear on your background check then they need to be discussed. Quickly, matter of factly and get off it and move on to the next topic. I remember interviewing a person, when asked the question 'tell me about yourself', the person began with the topic of "I am a divorced parent of two and my spouse is a jerk". This is not something that should have been communicated at the interview. Because I believe in second chances, I told the person to "stop speaking. I was going to go and get a cup of coffee and will be back in 10 minutes. When I get back I will ask you the same question again, and I expect you to be on point". That person had a great background and when I returned, I asked the same question and a received a stellar response and ended up hiring the person. In the interview process, you may not get that second chance. Be honest. Know what you need to discuss and stay on point. Practice your elevator speech and interviewing with a friend.
Now, lets look at all the keywords from this article that you should keep in mind:
* 25 Questions and answers
* Alpha destiny
* Applicant tracking system
* Ask for the order
* Behavioral questions and answers
* Career coach
* Compassion
* Confidence
* Connector
* Constructive criticism
* Elevator speech
* Encouragement
* Friend
* Fundamentals
* Headhunter
* Honesty
* Keywords
* Motivation
* Networking
* Your networking personality
* Open mind
* Organization
* Pay it forward
* Positive attitude
* Preparation
* Recruiter
* Referrals
* Results
* Selling yourself
* Sincerity
* Support
* Watermelon (easy)
All these concepts are important to understand and are very relevant to your job search. No matter what career group that you attend, what type of person that you use for your job search development, what education you have achieved in the process or the time it takes you to get the job that you want, my hope is that you will see the value of what you have learned and that you will adopt the 'pay it forward' mentality and help someone with the same 'compassion' and 'sincerity' that you received from those that made it possible for you to move forward with a new position.
My best,
Steven Morris
Hyde Park Search Strategies
smorris7912@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/48morris
Believe it or not, I have been called everything from 'headhunter', 'recruiter', 'connector', 'career coach' and more importantly, 'friend'. I attend a lot of career groups, constantly make new friends and develop candidates into the people that they are trying to become and ready for interviews. It is funny, because when I was 'out of work' years ago, I went through the psychological ups and downs that many people go through and if it wasn't for a good friend who pulled me aside and over the course of many weeks, gave me what I needed psychologically and physically (resume, cover letter, one pager, 60 second elevator speech and contacts) to march into the corporate interview jungle, I may have not found the career and position that I am to this day enjoying.
After getting the help I needed from my friend, I have made it a part of my mind set and part of the many services that I offer to candidates, who come to my company's table looking for direction, to 'pay it forward' with the same compassion and sincerity that I had received many years ago . I guess the key word is 'organization'. Most of the people that I meet are professionals and often times feel that they do not need the ancillary help with their documents or interview speak. But we are not all the same, there are those professionals who need the extra mile of coaching to achieve that comfort level to get them back on track.
Typically, I either meet or talk to candidates on the phone and ask them a few of the infamous questions that occur when they step up to the plate at an interview. It is mainly to see what level of interviewing skills that they may have and where would be a good place to begin the coaching process. People do have trouble with 'watermelon' (easy) questions, like: "tell me about yourself". If someone cannot answer that question, then the following questions will become extremely difficult almost as bad as climbing Mt. Everest in a sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. The word is 'Preparation'.
Before I send candidates to my fellow recruiters or to Human Resource professionals, I engage and ask 5 easy but key questions which will determine if further help is needed on the interview process and I grade the answers: (Scale of 1 to 10)
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What have been your greatest career challenges and how did you overcome them?
3. What is your greatest weakness and how are you overcoming it?
4. Why do you think that you are qualified for the position that you are interviewing for?
5. Why should I hire you?
These are basic questions that need to be addressed and studied prior to parking your car in the company's lot 15 minutes before your interview. Some people are better than others in answering these type of questions, and then there are those that tell me that they are not good at interviewing. When I hear that, I immediately send them the '25 questions and answers normally asked at interviews', a document that I have prepared with the help of other experts on the internet, and then tell them that they have a week to prepare. Also, it is very important to go onto the internet and look up the top 'behavioral interview questions and answers', which are a bit different than the average questions and a direction where most interviews usually go. Recruiters and HR professionals want to know how your brain works and this is a good way to prepare for their questions.
I trust that the experience that I put people through is an educational one and given all the competition in today's marketplace, gives them the confidence that they need to effectively interview and attain that viable position. It is the little things that people remember and the journey they went through to attain the prize. It is then that I get the 'Referrals', and am able to put others through the same process. The cycle repeats and repeats and it is very fulfilling. Depending on the needs of the candidates, I have referred many away to other career coaches who specialize in defined areas. There are many career coaches in the marketplace with value and expertise who have carved out niches for themselves and for their candidates. It may help you to interview a few career coaches and determine which one may fit your specific values, expertise that you need and your pocketbook. It comes down to one word: 'Results'.
The better prepared a person is, the better they will perform in an interview. Preparation instills 'confidence'. Like I said, I currently belong to many career oriented groups in the Philadelphia area which provide great 'fundamentals', 'organization' and 'support' for a person's job search. These groups grow over time to be like an extended family where other things come into play like 'encouragement', 'motivation' and 'constructive criticism' and really inform people what they need for their job search. Imagine attending a group that will give you time to introduce yourself, network with others and then have members or attendees present you with helpful contacts or even job leads. The bottom line is that you have to choose a group that you feel comfortable with and one that you can extract something from at every meeting that you can apply instantaneously to your job search.
What is helpful to bring to these groups are the following:
1. A 'positive attitude' and an 'open mind'.
2. A 'one pager', which defines your accomplishments, your target companies and titles you are seeking.
3. Bring 20-30 of these 'one pagers' so that you have enough to hand out to everyone.
4. The template for 'one pagers' can be found on the internet if you don't already have one.
5. Your resume in the case you are asked for it. You may meet a CEO. (Your CV should be two pages.)
6. Your 'networking' personality. Be ready to talk and to listen. People will be very eager to talk to you.
'Keywords'. Do not forget to tailor your resume for each job that you apply for. Start with your original resume and save it to your hard drive. When applying for a job, copy your original resume to a new file and give it a new name: ex: Resume2. Then, review the job description and take many of those 'keywords' and put them into your resume and cover letter before you apply for the job and send out your CV package. Realistically, you may end up with 30 or 40 resumes or more before you find that great position. If you do not use the job description's keywords, then your CV may end up in a recruiter's '(ATS) applicant tracking system' and no one would know it is there. A recruiter may key into his computer a specific key word and all those resumes with that word would appear. That is terrible. All your hard work and no one is able to look at your CV.
Know your resume, your background and know how to convey and explain 'keywords' that may be on your CV. Remember, recruiters statistically take less than 20 seconds to evaluate your resume to see if they want to review it further at a later time. There have been people that I have interviewed in the past and they could not effectively explain some of the 'nickel words' that were used on their resume. That could mean, that they did not write the resume or the truth has been embellished using unfamiliar terms. So, know what is on your resume and study the information. Practice your 30-60 second elevator speech so you can spit it back to yourself in your sleep or practice it in front of a 'friend' many times. You never know when you are going to have to introduce yourself to someone who just may be in a position to hire you. I hear many great stories of people in the most unique places meeting a CEO or an HR Director and the well rehearsed 'elevator speech' got them the opportunity to interview. Remember, when presenting your elevator speech, try not to sound like a robot. Use the King's English and be upbeat, conversational and 'ask for the order'.
What does 'ASK FOR THE ORDER' mean? It is one of the most important concepts in sales. I have interviewed many people who interviewed very well. But, they never asked me for the job. If you are in sales, you know that asking for the order is one of the most important elements of the sales game. If you are interviewing for a position, you are 'selling yourself', so ask for the job! If you are at one of those places where you are fortunate enough to meet a CEO, HR Director, Corporate Recruiter, Manager who is in a position to hire you, ask for the opportunity to follow up this meeting with a resume and a potential meeting to discuss opportunities. I like to refer this kind of an event as 'alpha destiny'. It is the beginning of an opportunity which could lead to something greater. A new position. It came about because you had your 'networking personality' hat on. Everybody that you meet from this day forward, whether it is in an office environment or not, should be considered an interview for your future. Your 'networking' hat should always be on and ready to go. If you do not have a 'networking personality', you may have to find one while you are networking for a new position.
Background. If there is something in your background that is causing you concern, the only thing that I can say to you is to be 'honest' about it in the interview process. I have always felt that it is better to be honest about transgressions in your background upfront at the interview rather than having to explain the issue after a background check is performed. You know your background and if you feel certain things will appear on your background check then they need to be discussed. Quickly, matter of factly and get off it and move on to the next topic. I remember interviewing a person, when asked the question 'tell me about yourself', the person began with the topic of "I am a divorced parent of two and my spouse is a jerk". This is not something that should have been communicated at the interview. Because I believe in second chances, I told the person to "stop speaking. I was going to go and get a cup of coffee and will be back in 10 minutes. When I get back I will ask you the same question again, and I expect you to be on point". That person had a great background and when I returned, I asked the same question and a received a stellar response and ended up hiring the person. In the interview process, you may not get that second chance. Be honest. Know what you need to discuss and stay on point. Practice your elevator speech and interviewing with a friend.
Now, lets look at all the keywords from this article that you should keep in mind:
* 25 Questions and answers
* Alpha destiny
* Applicant tracking system
* Ask for the order
* Behavioral questions and answers
* Career coach
* Compassion
* Confidence
* Connector
* Constructive criticism
* Elevator speech
* Encouragement
* Friend
* Fundamentals
* Headhunter
* Honesty
* Keywords
* Motivation
* Networking
* Your networking personality
* Open mind
* Organization
* Pay it forward
* Positive attitude
* Preparation
* Recruiter
* Referrals
* Results
* Selling yourself
* Sincerity
* Support
* Watermelon (easy)
All these concepts are important to understand and are very relevant to your job search. No matter what career group that you attend, what type of person that you use for your job search development, what education you have achieved in the process or the time it takes you to get the job that you want, my hope is that you will see the value of what you have learned and that you will adopt the 'pay it forward' mentality and help someone with the same 'compassion' and 'sincerity' that you received from those that made it possible for you to move forward with a new position.
My best,
Steven Morris
Hyde Park Search Strategies
smorris7912@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/48morris
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