Job hunting secrets/Interview tips

So I have been reading a lot lately about things that either are or could be come trend in hiring/employment. Several of my recent posts have been about these trends, especially the raise of the freelance economy. In some industries/sectors this is nothing new. For example academia has called this class of employee adjuncts and the practice has been around for decades.

Because of this focus I haven't had as much time to pass on general job hunting and interviewing advice columns. These two did register on my radar and I set them aside to pass along. The first is by Lou Adler, who wrote The Ten Best Job-hunting Secrets of all time. The second is by Jeff Haden, who wrote What Interviewers Wish They Could Tell Every Job Candidate.  Neither of these seemed groundbreaking to me, but admittedly I read a lot of these columns/articles, so they may be new to you.

In Mr. Adler's piece he provides 10 tips, mostly about networking and answering interviewer questions. They are all sound, but as I said nothing that seems radically different. Also as is typically the case there is very little description or explanation of how to apply the tips. One thing I will give him credit for is linking job seekers to a column he wrote on advice for the interviewer to use in judging our answers, so obviously it might be helpful to review that advice as well.

In Mr. Harden's piece he talks about nine traits/attributes that the interviewer wants to see/pick up on in the interview. Used along side the two articles by Mr. Adler these could help develop a picture of what you might expect the interviewer to think/feel about you as a candidate.

So as a example the #3 tip from Mr. Harden's column was that interviewers what candidates to stand out. If you paired that with the #'s 7 & 8 tips from Mr. Adler's piece (and some Google searching for what exactly SAFW is and how to do it...)you should be able to construct some strong answers to questions you expect the interviewer might ask.

How do you determine what questions they might ask (you might be saying to your self...) well you have a few choices:

• First examine your resume and cover letter and be prepared to talk about any and all statements, experiences, accomplishments you have provided  to them.
• Try a sight like Glassdoor.com (I wrote this review) and look up sample interview questions.

Another interviewing technique similar to the SAFW that Mr. Adler describes is STAR. It is another way to help you organize your thoughts and prepare a strong answer.

Hopefully these and other things I have written about over the past year and a half are helping people out. As always I would love to hear from readers and get a conversation going.