Q. I have been looking for some time. When I get in an interview I seem to get nervous because I know I need the job. I think the nervousness is impacting how I interview.
I use two approaches with the people I coach to overcome this very common issue. The first one is lots of preparation and practice. We spend a lot of time preparing and then conducting mock interviews. I also insist that the candidate write out answers to frequently asked questions. Writing out the answers is critical. When you write the answers it forces you to think differently. It also helps you crystallize your thoughts on the question. Writing out the answers and the mock interviews gets the candidate very comfortable and confident. Confidence is part two. I teach candidates that they must interview as if they had the best job in the world and didn’t need the one they are interviewing for. This changes the candidate’s mindset in the interview. Now they act completely differently. Their body language improves, they no longer appear desperate, the questions they ask are more probing and sometimes a little challenging, the answers are on target and complete, they demonstrate to the interviewer they are well prepared just as they will be once on the job. Managers want to hire confident people. Having this level of confidence is what gets them over the nervousness.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
For most, consulting while looking for a job is a double-edged sword. On the one hand you are working and generating revenue. On the other hand most people stop conducting their job search during this period. What they have actually done is accept a short-term full time job. So when the job is over in three to six months they start their search again. This causes the candidate to keep starting and stopping their job search. What happens if the ideal position becomes available while you are working this short-term position? Generally, you will miss it.
If you are going to take a short-term position, I recommend making it clear to the company your goal is to find a full-time position. In order to that let them know up front you may have to leave for interviews, networking events, or other issues surrounding your primary goal of finding a job. Consider requesting a work week of four ten hour days instead of five days. This will leave you one day a week to work on your job search.
I believe there are enough ups and downs in a job search without trying to ramp up a new job search every three to six months.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. I find looking for a job has many ups and downs. Is there a way to avoid the peaks and valleys?
One way might be to find an accountability partner. A good accountability partner can help keep you on track and focused on your job search. Their role is to hold you accountable to a schedule and plan. With the people I coach, I find that it is very easy for candidates to get distracted causing them to lose focus on the goal. An accountability partner’s job is to make sure you create an effective job search plan with daily and weekly goals. Then hold you accountable to those. They are not there to let you make excuses about why you couldn’t get them done. Good partners will bring a tough love to the process. They should be someone you trust, have experience helping people with job search issues, someone willing to be completely honest with you, a person that will listen when you are down, but knows the best way to get you feeling good again is by having you make progress in your search.
You should meet at least weekly with your partner to review the progress you have made and layout what you will do in the following week.
Here is a link to a discussion on what an accountability partner should do and how to select one. http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/careerblog/2011/01/04/1-step-to-turbo-charge-your-search-in-2011-part-1/
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. I have been contacted by a firm that promises to market my skills to companies. They claim to have many contacts with local companies. I’m not sure it is worth the cost. Any recommendations regarding using someone to market me?
I have two words for you, BUYER BEWARE. Too often these firms claim a lot and deliver very little. Since they contacted you, that is a red flag and you need to do your research. These firms always spring up in times of high unemployment.
Some things to consider before writing a check include: Are they claiming or even implying they will find you a job? If this is even implied, run and run fast. Do they claim to have access to the “hidden job market?” Have them provide references of other candidates they have worked with that are now working due to their help. If they are as good as they claim they should have a list of raving fans. You should speak with people currently in the program. Contact the Better Business Bureau to check on any complaints. If they claim they have companies they work with regularly ask to speak to someone at the company. Don’t accept any excuses for not being able to do this. Do they offer a money back guarantee? Ask to speak to someone they actually refunded the money to. Don’t accept that they have never had to give a refund. No one is that perfect. Is the full fee paid up front? Finally, you should write out a list of expected results you want them to deliver and over what period of time they will deliver these results. Make them very specific. If they don’t meet them then they agree in writing to refund your money.
I know too many candidates that have fallen prey to these firms. There are good ones and many excellent professionals, but be careful. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true. It probably is.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Why do so many candidates focus their energy around responding to job board advertising. Here’s a great quote from an article I recently read:
“It’s a crap shoot at best, with success rates of landing jobs running at about 2-4%. Compare that to a success rate of over 60% for ‘word-of-mouth’ referrals.”
The article comes from a guest posting discussing 3 job search mistakes by former recruiter David Alan Carter. Everyone makes mistakes. That’s just part of being human. But if you’re in between jobs, you can ill afford too many of them.
80-90 percent of the jobs available – especially at the executive level are HIDDEN! They are never advertised on job boards. The only way to uncover them is through referrals of your network. If you’re building a powerful job search network capable of generating an abundance of job leads and referrals, you’re doomed to a CRAPSHOOT in your job search.
What’s your next step?
Barry Deutsch
To see the full article, please go to www.greatresumesfast.com
Q. I have only worked for one company in my career. Recently our company was sold and I’m not sure how to start a job search or even how to put together a resume. Where do I go to get help?
Like most things today the best place to start is the Internet. The good news is that there is a wealth of good information available on the Web and most of it is free. Google, “job search help” “resume writing” “job search networking” “where to start a job search” “how to start a job search” and you will be surprised at the amount of information available. On our website we offer an extensive amount of articles, audio files, examples to download, tools and resources to help you and the vast majority are free.
In addition, LinkedIn offers a tremendous amount of resources via the groups. Once you establish a profile on LinkedIn join some of the job search groups. These groups have great discussions, links to resources and many excellent professionals offering advice. All are free. Twitter is another wonderful resource. Set up an account and download the Twitter application Hootsuite. It is free. Once you do this simply set up columns for resumes, unemployed, interviewing, and jobsearch. You will then be able to view all the information professionals discuss using these subjects. Both LinkedIn Groups and Twitter are excellent resources to start learning about conducting a job search.
Finally, don’t forget the State’s unemployment department. They also offer many courses and support to help with these issues. Again, these are all free.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Face-to-Face Inteviewing, Interview Preparation, Interviewing | bradremillard October 30, 2012 | 
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