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.

Salary Negotiation

Salary Negotiation is never fun, but this two step process from Julia Philips on the 4 Business Networking blog is sound advice. The only problem is the way she casually mentions checking Google to find out the salary range for the position type and experience level.

• First this is not easily achieved by a Google search...
• Second, you also need to account for your geographic area.

I have mentioned before several web services for salary searching. I have also talked about America's Career InfoNet, which is a subset of Career One Stop. The ACI is a nice site with a usable interface for BLS data. You can use it to find your job/title and your zip code; and then get high, median and low salaries for both annual and hourly rates. Factoring in experience can be much more difficult. The typical method suggested by many career counselors is to peruse job ads, but my problem with that is that most ads don't list a salary. When they do, they give a large range so that it is difficult to judge where you lie on an experience scale.

Now if you are lucky and the place of employment is something like a government position or other job where the budgets are a part of the public record, then you can look the info up online... but if you don't personally know people who hold positions to the one you are applying for (and their personal experience) then it is difficult to use this data. At best you can use it to calculate a local high, median, and low salary.

The morale of this post is, that while I totally agree with the importance to have an idea of an appropriate salary before beginning the negotiation. It is not just a simple Google search away. I hope my tips are useful for those of you preparing for such a negotiation.

Good Luck All.

Is it a Mistake to Hold Out For a Full-Time Job?

This is the question posed by Fran Hopkins in a piece over on the AOL Jobs blog. Before I get into her reasoning I must state the obvious, that this is a very personal decision that hinges on many factors that are all unique to your own situation. For Ms. Hopkins she feels that she can support herself as a freelance writer. I she is being published on AOL Jobs, then we can assume that this is a reasonable decision for her to make. We of course don't know how long she has been looking, what exactly her specialty/field is or her geographic location. All of these will play a large role in this type of decision.

For myself, I have taken part time work. First I am geographically tied to one place, so I can only apply for jobs in a limited area. Second my profession (librarianship) is tied directly and indirectly to government spending, which as most know has been declining in recent years. Lastly and probably most importantly I had been out of work for close to two years. As I described in my last post, a lengthy unemployment is becoming increasingly harder to overcome in this job market. If I had continued to hold out for full-time work I could have been hurting my chances with each passing month.

Unlike Ms. Hopkins I am finding my part-time work very rewarding. The job functions are nearly identical to those I performed in my last full-time job, so that helps. The part-time hours still gives me time to search for full-time work. Perhaps most importantly I can be a little more selective in what full-time jobs I apply for. This is of course something that many might not be able to do, but for my current situation I can be more selective.

If you have been reading my blog long you will be aware of the importance of researching a job and company before and during your application/review/interview process. This means that if you can be more selective (a big if for many job seekers) you have the ability to only apply for jobs that truly match your skills and abilities AND that you are passionate about landing. This will show in both the cover letter and the interview process, which should count in your favor.

I hope that all of you are fortunate enough to have a situation that allows selectivity. Take the time to prepare for the writing of the cover letter and the interview(s). Your dream job is out there for you.

Reasons for employers not calling back.

I have been intending to write about this for a little while, and this article from Fortune is a good place to get us started...

Their list includes:

• Job hoping
• Outdated skills
• Getting fired
• Age
• Unemployement

Three of these five you can't do much about if they are a factor for you (job hoping, getting fired, age.) One you can address/improve (outdated skills.) The final (unemployment) is more of a concern if you don't use the time to stay active in your field. Some of the suggestions from the article include:

• Online courses
• Certifications
• internships/volunteering
• networking

There is on item that they have overlooked, which if you are in the long-term unemployed you want to think about and try to improve. Your credit. If you are asking yourself why? keep this in mind: It is legal (and becoming more common) for employers to check your credit as a factor in employment decisions. Here are some articles that explain this further: Can credit kill a job offer? or Credit scores and jobs.

If you want to learn more about credit scores and how it can effect you, try this site I designed for the Community College I work at.

Good luck!
-George

Questions, Questions, Questions!

I have written several posts that highlight the importance of asking questions during the interview process. This piece from Fortune Magazine's Ask Annie column highlights key questions of a potential boss to judge fit with the organization.

I have always found that asking a variation on the "key attributes that the next candidate will bring to this job" is highly effective. First as the column notes you can hear what they are looking for in a slightly more informal way and judge if what they want matches with what you could bring. Second, not mentioned is that if you ask this near the end of the interview you can then recap some of the information you have presented to them during the interview of how you feel you would match those characteristics (assuming you still want to be considered for the job.) If you think that it would not be a good fit you can then work on crafting a respectful communication to send to the hiring manager after the interview detailing why you are removing your self from consideration.

Never underestimate the power this can bring to your networking! Most professions/industries are small. By this I mean that the people you know and who know you may easily know a person that will be interviewing you for your next job. By declining a spot earlier (if you truly feel you don't think you would enjoy the job or the company) you can create a positive image of yourself as a professional (i.e. you know when a job would not have worked and you are respecting their time and resources.) Therefore in the future if you are interviewing for or being considered for a position that you know you are qualified for and want... that person/company may ask some of their colleagues whom you possible interviewed with. They will be able to not only comment on how you presented yourself but be able to comment on your commitment to finding the right job fit for you.

What other questions do you find useful to ask a potential boss?

More things not to do in an interview.

I bring up this piece from AOL Jobs, not because the list is particularly unique. Rather I bring it up to first remind us that there might be things we are doing that could hurt our chances. It never hurts to have practice interview time with a job coach, counselor, or other HR expert. All states should have work force development office with these types of services, as well as the career services office from any college you may have attended.

My second reason for mentioning this specific list is that it highlights the one area I hope to be counseling/advising against:

Having no clue about the company you're interviewing with.

 In the world we live in, there is no excuse for going into an interview unprepared to talk about them and their business. The best candidates will also be able to tie that knowledge into their own experience and how they can be the best fit for the job they are interviewing for. In the posts labeled research tips I try to either highlight articles on the web that give good information about performing this type of research, or my own insights from four years at Purdue University working with students in the Krannert School of Management.

I think that the best place to start is the post I wrote about searching business news sources. That post also links back to two earlier posts for some more basics.

How do we define ourselves?

I have seen this theme recurring over the past few months, without a career how does one define themselves? Here is the latest piece from NPR contributor Scott Simon. As someone who was looking for work until very recently I can say from personal experience that I continued to think of myself as a librarian. In web communication and when networking I would explain that I was a librarian without a library.

It appears from this story that I am fortunate in that my current part-time position is still in the field for which I am trained. When this is not the case how does that effect one's feelings of self worth and mental well being?

Would it possible be better to begin shifting our focus to our other interests? Family, hobbies, activities?

Also how does this tie into the American trait of working too much, and not using the vacation time they have earned? In study after study Americans consistently (myself includes, when I earned vacation) don't take all the vacation time they earn at their full time jobs. Is this healthy?

I would love to hear what others think.