The Only Three True Interview Questions

From Forbes Magazine contributor George Bradt writes this piece about Acing the only three true interview questions. His questions are:

• Can you do the job?
• Will you love the job?
• Can we tolerate working with you?

and he has a more detailed piece about why these are the only three questions.  First I encourage everyone to read both of his pieces, but his advice for acing these interview questions he gives three simple steps:

1. Think before opening your mouth.
2. Answer the question asked.
3. Bridge to answer the true underlying question.

I have unfortunately not been  meticulously documenting all interview questions I have gotten in the past two and a half years of my job search. I can however give some examples of how I think I have done this well and how I have not done so well.

First the not so well...

I was interviewing for a job as an academic librarian where the primary job function was managing the information commons (which was being built in the new building.) My understanding of one of the primary job functions was that this position would be responsible for programming, that is organizing and putting on events to bring students, faculty, and the public to the library. I can freely admit that this was not my biggest strength, but I have experience putting on these types of events. So at several points in the interview (and for those of you who are unfamiliar with academic interviews, they average a day and a half!) when I was asked about programming background and/or ideas I described my experiences. Now my personal experiences primarily center around using games (board, computer, console, and trivia) and while I am sure I mentioned other ideas I can with hindsight see that if most of my ideas appeared to be centered on games and gaming this might not jive with the library and staff.

By using Mr. Bradt's three steps here is something closer to how I might have answered the question:

think about my gaming experience
Begin the answer with a brief example of one of these game events, but quickly pivot to how I have planned events, and programs around many themes depending on circumstances.

Where I think I did well...

In this case I was interviewing for an academic librarian where the primary job function was business reference. The question was about my experience developing a collection for students and faculty in this area. I answered by describing which business areas I had supported in a previous position, talked about how I worked with the faculty in these areas to learn what was important to them and their students, and then described a project at that previous job where we analyzed the collection and removed a large amount of material that was dated, and no longer as important for students and researchers.

Now I did not get that job either, but I did have a very positive conversation with the administrator in charge of the search about how well I did, and my strengths as a candidate (which is unfortunately rare) but how the candidate they chose had twenty years experience and an advanced degree in business.

I for one am going to be practicing the techniques that Mr. Bradt describes. Have you had any experiences positive or negative with job interviews and these types of questions? How do you answer them?

Preparing for the new job market

Here is some career advice from a blog that I am less familiar with, but it matches much of what I am reading elsewhere. The advice boils down to the three tips:

• Pay attention to your industry.
• Develop niche expertise.
• Learn to market yourself.

These are again tips that may career counselors and  career bloggers are giving. This makes me feel comfortable pointing my readers to a anonymous blog post. I also find it interesting because of the theme it is constructed around. The job market is changing.

Now I have blogged about this premise before:

Is Traditional Employment Dead?
Traditional Employment (part 2)
The new job interview?

These three posts all tackle the issue from different angles... but taken in total I believe that they are pointing towards a growing trend in employment. So back to the article that motivated today's post... the three tips fall in line with things I have been saying in most of my blog posts. By paying attention to your industry through business news sources you are performing the research necessary to keep sharp as a job candidate. In this post (Company Research - business news) I detail how to conduct the research in the business news sources to learn and keep current in your industry.

By developing your niche and learning to market yourself you can stand out in a crowded candidate pool. These are actually the reasons I started this blog. During a lengthy unemployment I received some advice that to stay connected and relevant it might help to blog about an area I felt was my strength. Since I had worked with students at a major university, teaching them how to conduct this type of research to prepare for job interviews I felt I could broaden those skills for all individuals hunting for employment.

I would love to hear from any of you who feel that employment is changing.

More interview question advice

Another piece from Forbes about interview questions designed to trip us up, in this piece Jenna Goudreau lists 10 of these questions. Notice that number three is very related to the theme of this blog, researching before the job interview. I was actually asked this question at a recent interview.

Being able to connect with their situation goes a long way, and being able to tie your skills and abilities to their situation gets you even further.

Her analysis seems very reasonable and helps dig into the intent that interviewers are trying to get at by asking these and similar questions.

I hope that these are helpful to anyone who is interviewing in the near future.

Turning part time work into full time.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I have finally found work. Currently it is part time work, but hopefully someday soon I will find full time work. This blog post from AOL Jobs gives 5 Surefire Ways to Turn A Part-Time Gig Into a Full-Tie Job. Their five tips are:

1. Dress like you're on a job interview.
2. Get to know everyone.
3. Be gracious.
4. Go out of your way to be helpful.
5. Focus on excellence, not speed.

The explanations are good, and the list makes sense. My perspective after a week is that these tips may not make the jump to full time possible, but this is due more to the nature of my position. I have been informed that all the previous holders of the position I am in have gone on to full time work in my field, so that is great. For anyone out there currently in a part time position I recommend following these principles to help you make the jump to full time if that is your desire.

Good luck!
-George

Do you need a Facebook profile to get a job?

My short answer is NO. But as this article from AOL Jobs points out you should not be completely invisible online if you are actively job searching. The article cites a survey that matches closely with a study I talked about in a previous post. These both suggest that the #1 social media site checked by HR is LinkedIn. The AOL article also points out another useful tip:

It's okay to protect your Facebook updates with privacy settings, but allow your Work and Education, About You, and Contact Information sections to be public.

As a librarian interested in both educating the public on the importance of information security and how to effectively use technology in the job search, I like this advice. Use the security/privacy features provided to you by the sites where you are a member... but don't lock it down so tight that the HR manager can't find you online.

Comments or questions? Let me know. Cheers!
-George

Taking Charge of Your Career

A few weeks back an article appeared in The Atlantic that has stirred up some controversy. It talked about the near impossibility of women 'having it all'... I debated discussing it here on my blog, but it didn't quite seem to fit perfectly with my general theme of advice for those looking for work. Then I saw this response to that article, 5 Tips to Take Charge of Your Career (Startup Success for Women). The author, Mariette Johnson Wharton, is an entrepreneur in the field of marketing and has some good advice (that is of course valuable for men and women.)

#1 Negotiate for promotions and salary increases...
          don't for get my many posts about salary, especially this one on finding salary and employment data.

#2 Start doing the job you want.
          Most of us know what we want to do, but opportunities can come at unexpected times and in unexpected ways...

#3 Work on developing a strong leadership style.
          Try reading my friends Jerry Steuerwald's leadership blog.

#4 Become a subject matter expert.
          Knowing your subject better than anyone else will equal success as an entrepreneur.

#5 Build strong relationships in industry.
          Networking, networking, networking.

It doesn't matter if you are considering starting your own business or remaining in a traditional company or if you are a man or a woman... these tips can be valuable for shaping your future employment prospects.

Good luck.

Long term unemployment rolls on.

This piece from CNN/Money covers the increasing problem of the long term unemployed. This hits close to home, since I have now been out of work for twenty months and counting. Lets recap some of the general advice for dealing with long term unemployment:

consider additional schooling/training
maintain a strong professional network
start you own business

I am friends with one new business owner, and thought I would spend the next few posts discussing resources that any new entrepreneur should be aware of for their budding start-up.

Advice from a toddler.

This piece which was originally posted on the Examiner covers some career advice from a toddler. This mother relays some career advice she learned from her child. I particularly like the fourth and fifth points: dust yourself off and play again and keep on learning. All of these tips are useful but these two stick with me.

As I approach my second year of unemployment I try and keep these with me everyday. Look for opportunities to grow and learn both within your profession and outside of it as well. If anyone else has any advice, whether you learned it from a toddler or not... please share in the comments.

Making Employers FInd You.

In this piece originally from theundercoverrecruiter.com provides 7 Secrets to Making Employers Find You. When I first encounters this article on a listserv I thought it would make a good piece to blog about myself. As most of you know I try to link to relevant career related articles and blogs and provide my own commentary.

As I read the tips I thought to myself these aren't secrets. They seem geared towards professional careers more then manufacturing and service careers. Also I have written previous blog posts about similar articles dealing with the importance of Social Media on the career search. Now before the comments come, I freely admit and acknowledge that not all of these seven secrets are not all about social media... but more than half of them are directly tied to social media and the others are related.

Now even if we concede that these are oft written about, and maybe even common sense we shouldn't just ignore them. HR personnel do use LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media tools to find and screen candidates. By being proactive as a job seeker you can help improve their opinion of you as a future colleague.

Thoughts?

Simplifying Social Media and the job search.

In part one on using Social Media I detailed a study on the use of these tools by HR staff at companies to learn about perspective employees. In part two I referenced two books I have been reviewing about how to use various social median tools more effectively. I have just seen a blog post over on SocialMedia Examiner about tips to simplifying the use of your social media tools. I knew about several of the tools/tips they were describing, but some were new to me. Reviewing these tips may help some of you in your use of social media tools for your job search.

Have you used any of these or other tools for organizing your social media presence for the job search?

Social Media & jobs (part 2)

LinkedIn just hit 150 million users. Yet another reason to use it for job searching and more importantly networking. But in case you are still skeptical, I am reading through a few books that might interest some of you:

Schepp, Bard & Debra. How to find a job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other Social Networks. McGraw-Hill. New York. 2010.

Crompton, Diane & Ellen Sautter. Find a Job Through Social Networking: Use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and More to Advance Your Career. Jist Works. Indianapolis. 2011.

As I say, I am still reviewing these, but my initial assessment is that the first does a good job of walking through the process of setting up accounts on LinkedIn and other social media tools, the second book covers a wider variety of tools. This creates a larger breadth but of course the side effect is less depth on each tool.

Do any of you have a favorite social media tool? How are you highlighting your skills?

Career Wisdom in just 6 words...

I have just seen this piece about on a new book(Six Words About Work) about career wisdom. I have not yet seen the book, but when I learn more I'll let everyone know.

Company Research part 2

A few weeks ago I began what will be a series of posts about company research. I pointed out that many states provide all of their residents with access to a suite of resources to help all residents with their information needs. Below are the links to these resources. I have found 45 states that provide such access, and 4 others that help the individual libraries negotiate with the companies that own these resources to provide access to their communities. While I have not had the time to examine every state's suite extensively, they all provide access to sources for finding newspaper and journal articles. My next post will go into more depth about how best to use these resources for improving your company research.

States Providing full access to residents:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

States assisting Individual Libraries:
Colorado
Washington

Using Social Networks to get hired.

The Society of Human Resource Management conducted a study recently that found 95%  of respondent organizations used (or would use) LinkedIn for Recruitment in 2011. The use of this and other social networks for passive searching (searching for people who may not be currently looking for jobs) is up to 72%.

Moral of the story... if you are not using LinkedIn yet you should. Keep in mind, however, that you want a profile as complete as possible. Don't just stop at the basic resume type information, make connections to people you know in the industry you would like to work in. Join groups for that industry(ies) and contribute your ideas. In this way you will begin to be noticed by people in the industry, and hopefully make a positive impression. If possible get recommendations from former employers and colleagues. These steps won't necessarily garner a job, but when the next company you apply to searches they should find a more positive image of you than if you have no profile or an incomplete profile.