New Job

Interview Basics

So you got the interview.  Great, but that is only half the battle.  Next up…….going to the interview.  This might come as a surprise to some of you, but you can’t just show up in the clothes you wear to the mall.  A suit is usually preferred, no matter who or where you are interviewing.  If you don’t have a full suit, for sure a shirt and tie.  This shows the interviewer that you are serious about the job and you are taking the interview seriously as well.

The Company

So you have a suit, now it’s time to research who you are interviewing with.  2 reasons why researching the company is beneficial to you as an interviewer.  Reason #1 is pretty obvious.  You need to know what the company’s primary functions are so you know what you are getting in to.  Reason #2 is to impress the hiring manager.  Let’s put ourselves in a manager’s shoes.  You are choosing between 2 candidates, one that didn’t know much about your company during the interview and the other that did.  If these 2 are the same candidate in the manager’s eyes would you hire someone who took the time to educate him/herself on the company or one that didn’t?  The answer is pretty obvious I think.

The Interview

The moment of truth, you walk in with your suit, the notes you took about the company burned in your brain, and now you meet the man/woman of the hour.  The manager that will be saying “yes” or “no” to you getting a paycheck from this company.  This is a big deal, no one else matters at this moment(unless there are multiple people in the interview).  You sit down and he/she starts the interview right?  Wrong!  Either you have a bit of a walk to the interview or it is not a far walk at all, there will be small talk.  Have 1 or 2 questions ready for this time.  If the manager is asking you questions, great! If it is silent, break that silence with a couple of questions that you have prepared for this.  You want everyone involved to feel like you are already part of the family when you start the interview.  This will make it easier for them to picture you as part of the team.

While interviewing, be sure you make eye contact with everyone in the room as evenly as possible.  This seems like a minor detail, but is a big deal to some. Don’t leave your fate to one person who wants you to make eye contact with them. Just do it.  Be humble.  Confidence is ok, cockiness is not.   The final thought I have for you to succeed in an interview is always(or as much as you can) answer a question with an example of your work.  Manager – “Have you ever had to deal with adversity in the workplace?”   You – “Yes.”   NO!  Manager – “Have you ever had to deal with adversity in the workplace?”  You – “Yes I have, at my last position………”  YES!  The rest is up to you.

And there you have it, my guide to getting the job after you get the interview.  Pretty easy right?  When nerves are high and the opportunity is right in front of you, it gets a little more difficult.  Take a deep breath and just think of it as just another networking conversation.  You have networked before right?  Wait, you haven’t?  Ok, so we have a lot more work to do than I thought….. I’m outta here for now!

Please leave your comments below! I welcome any and all feedback!

First Impressions

Everyone knows first impressions are very important.  These days face to face meetings happen less and less.  I have recruited on roles that offer a Skype interview and the employee never even meets his/her manager F2F(Face to Face).  Things have definitely changed over the years.  Since the F2F meeting is almost becoming extinct, what would happen if you got really, really good at meeting people?  I’m not talking about being really good at shaking hands, although that is an art too(maybe to discuss another time), I’m talking about being really good at striking up a conversation with a complete stranger and honestly connecting with them. Here are some helpful tips to start you off…

Do your homework.  – What if you’re headed to a networking event and you know the president of a prestigious local company is going to be there.  You would really like to chat with him because you plan on applying to his company the next time there is an opening that matches your skill set.  Do you walk up to him and say, “Hello Mr. President, how’s it going?”  If you said “Yes,” please email me(thedsmrecruiter@gmail.com) immediately and we will meet to chat about it.  Anyway, with so many avenues to research, said President, you NEED to do your homework on him/her.  Head to the Google Machine(I stole this phrase from a buddy) and see what he/she has been up to the past couple months/years.  Being the president of a company the social media networks are probably set to private or show very little, but it’s worth a try.  Give the name a search on Facebook or Twitter to see what you can find.  Maybe he/she likes shows at the Civic Center and you just saw the Oz last week.  Talk about it!  Heck, read a newspaper.  Maybe you’ll find something in there that will be of some help to find a topic to discuss.  The possibilities are endless with this one, especially because so much information is right at your finger tips.

No idea who’s going to be at the “party?” – This happens more times than not.  So what are you supposed to do if you don’t know who is going to be at the networking event?  Come up with a list of general questions to ask people about themselves and their companies.  I don’t want to do all the work for you, but if you want to talk about more about these please email me at thedsmrecruiter@gmail.com, but here are a few examples.  After you get the general information about someone, ask questions that are more in-depth.  “What is the last book you read and what is the most influential book?”  This is one of my “go-to” questions because I love to read.  Most of the books I’ve read have been referrals from people I’ve asked. It doesn’t matter their position or job title.  People who read have probably read a great book that I haven’t.

Asking someone about their company is a little different.  Sometimes they don’t want to give away too much info, so you have to walk that line.  One of my favorites is “What do you see your biggest problem being in the next 12 months?”  I love this one, because when the individual gives the answer, you can immediately follow-up with, “Why?”  Plus, if it’s a problem, and you know someone who fixes those types of problems, you connect those two and immediately have a business relationship with that individual. BOOM!

Conclusion – The advice above is strictly from my experience. In the staffing industry, networking groups are a must. So I’ve had a little experience with what works and what doesn’t.  Everything I’ve mentioned above is so much easier if you keep a pulse on what’s going on around you.  Whether it be you picking up the Juice Magazine or the Des Moines Register, following local journalists on Twitter and Facebook or connecting on LinkedIn.  Be knowledgeable about what is happening in your area.  Know if there has been some layoffs, know if there was a recent merger of two companies in the area, know if a company in Des Moines has just hired a new president.  All of these tasks are relatively easy and inexpensive, so I don’t think you have an excuse.

If there are any books you’ve read that you think would be of some benefit to me, please either comment below or send me an email(I don’t have to type my email address again do it?)!  I’ll respond with a couple that I enjoy to return the favor.  Also, networking events.  Know any?  Let me know!

Happy Hunting!

Why work with a Recruiter? 4 reasons why not and 4 arguments!

It’s amazing to me how many people are looking for a new job and refuse to even entertain the idea of working with a recruiter. As I have explained many times, there are so many reasons why job seekers should use recruiters.  For all y’all that don’t know, check it out(I hope at least one of you gets the Kris Kross reference…)!

Job Seekers don’t use Recruiters because……

1. “I don’t want to pay someone to find me a job.”  

-This isn’t the case in all situations, but the majority(99%) of the companies that I know of, the candidate doesn’t have to pay a penny.   The company that the recruiting firm is working for is the one that shells out the cash!  So go ahead, contact a professional to take care of your job search.

2. “They call ALL the time and are too pushy.” 

-Unfortunately this does happen.  With different motives being the culprit, recruiters get a little overzealous and use their telephone too often. My advice is to set the ground rules immediately, if you only want to be contacted after 5pm, tell him/her.  If you only want to be emailed, tell him/her.  If you don’t want to be sent text messages(yes, we do that), tell him/her.  Hopefully the reason they are contacting you so much is because they have so many opportunities that you are a match for, they HAVE to.  But, definitely not always the case.

3. “There are plenty of jobs out there, I’ll just find one myself.” 

-This is actually not true at all!  At least in the market I’m working in.  Good jobs, at good companies, are at a high premium currently.  This does vary with location and time of year.  I’ve been in the industry for 3.5 yrs and I’ve seen the ups and downs. Again, why not have a professional working for you to find you the best fit?

4. “I’m already working with a recruiter, I can’t work with another one.”

-I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but this is also not true!  My recommendation to ANY job seeker is, work with as many as possible!  To be clear, most clients have rules against having your resume submitted by 2 recruiters to the same job.  So DO NOT do that.  But, my company will have clients and openings that other firms don’t, and vice versa!  So as long as you’re organized with the positions you are submitted for, there shouldn’t be any problems.

Conclusion:

I have read that blog posts aren’t supposed to be very long, so I am cutting my list short at 4.  I have many other reasons, so if you are looking for more, please comment or contact me at any time!

Until next time job seekers…Happy Hunting!

Stop being so negative!

So you got the interview of a lifetime at a company that you’ve been wanting to get into FOREVER.  You’re sitting there fielding questions from 2-3 different people and you could not be happier with how things are going.  Then one of the talking heads in front of you asks, “So why are you looking for a new job?”

What happens:

You go on and on about how you didn’t get along with your manager, you disagreed on everything, you never saw eye to eye, he/she was the worst manager you have ever had.  Are you done yet?  Why on Earth would anyone hire you if you talk this way about a manager.  Won’t you do the same for your new manager?

What should happen: 

First off, don’t lie.  Never lie in a job interview.  If not for moral reasons, because lies are usually uncovered and things just get messy from there.  I digress…. Answering that question is tough, especially if you really didn’t see eye to eye with your manager and that was the reason you left.  My suggestion is to talk about it.  You really didn’t agree with him/her, but also talk about the lessons you learned from that.  Examples;

“I learned that I’m not always right.”

“From this, I learned to see things from other people’s point of view.”

“Because I didn’t always see eye to eye with him/her, I learned there are some things you just can’t control.”

Obviously everyone has different lessons learned from poor situations.  Think of these before you get to the interview, this will make it much easier.  Happy Interviewing!

Searching during the Holidays? Why not!

Typically the end of the year is the worst time to be searching for a new job. Sorry to say it, but it’s true. This also makes the process 10 times more stressful if you NEED a new job. Usually there are 2 reasons for this. Reason #1 is the companies are running out or low on the budget they were allotted at the beginning of the year(managers get a set number that they can use towards new or contract employees). Reason #2 is the managers or decision makers don’t have time to interview. They are either out of the office or too busy with end of the year duties.

So what do you do if you are looking for a job at this time? First thing’s first, keep applying for jobs and talking to people that can help you apply for jobs. The paragraph above does not go for all companies. It is usually the trend that takes place at the end of the year. But one of the more important things you can do is network. This definitely gets over looked by many people during this time. You’ve never networked before? Ok, here are some tips.

-Use LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). Since you are looking for a new job, hopefully you have an account set up by now. I have read some articles that say LinkedIn is used by employers more than the job boards out there. It is a MUST if you are looking for a new job.
-Checkout http://www.meetup.com (@meetup) in your area. Meetup sends you weekly emails that list networking events in your area.
-Talk to your friends about it. Tell them that you are looking for people to network with and you would appreciate them introducing you to some of their co-workers, friends, or people that might be able to help you. If they are truly your friend they will have no problem with this.
-If you’re lucky enough to live in Iowa Tech Brew is a great option one Thursday night a month. Head over to http://www.technologyiowa.org (@technologyiowa) and sign up for their distribution list. They send an email reminder a couple days in advance.

So there you have it, your high level guide to networking. When times are slow, this will be one of the most effective uses of your time. Just keep in mind that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know………sometimes.

Happy Hunting!