6 Practical Steps to Improve Your Job Interview Skills - Sterling Career Concepts

6 Practical Steps to Improve Your Job Interview Skills 6 Practical Steps to Improve Your Job Interview Skills Interview preparation is essential if you want to get the job you dream of, regardless of how much experience you have or how polished your resume is. Improving your interview skills will take a great deal of dedication and practice. Also, there are several things you can do to boost your skills so you can excel in your job interview. Business experts and Ivy league college consultants share steps below to enhance your interview skills and boost your chances of getting hired. How to Enrich your Interview Skills 1. Use the job description Think of the job description as your interview preparation cheat sheet. Basically, this will spell out where you should be focusing your preparation efforts. Often, most job seekers are forgetting to use such a handy guide. The job description will outline how the interview will go, so use it to create position-specific interview questions to practice with. Once you are done creating questions, read through it and determine if there is a missing piece. Moreover, you can use it to craft relevant stories and examples that you can use during the interview. For instance, if the company is looking for detail-oriented persons capable of managing multiple projects, you must have a story or two to exemplify that. 2. Do your research on the company During the interview, you won’t just be selling your skills, but you will also be trying to pitch what a great fit you are for the organization. Therefore, you need to know everything about the company. If so, you will most likely stand out from the competition. Most interviewers will ask why you want to work here. Knowing what the company is all about and connecting the dots as to why you will be a perfect addition to the team will help you create the best answer to this question. Look into the company’s website and read the values, mission and vision, and the annual report. Furthermore, you also need to get a sense of the firm’s strengths. Learn what it does to outgrow its competitors. Hiring managers will greatly appreciate a candidate who compliments the organization for excelling in its industry. 3. Practice answering the common interview questions Most interviewers will be asking common interview questions so make sure to practice your answers to such. List crucial points you want to cover before each interview. These include your leadership and creativity skills, work experience, professional ambitions, and strengths. Rehearse your delivery in front of your friend or the mirror, or do a mock interview with someone you trust. 4. Learn the importance of nonverbal communication Another way of demonstrating energy and confidence to potential employers is through nonverbal communication. During your mock interview, practice making eye contact with the interviewer whilst maintaining good posture. Always wear a smile. Most importantly, practice avoiding any nonverbal behaviors that can leave a negative impression, such as chewing gum and looking at your watch. 5. Practice active listening Often, interviewees easily get so caught up in their answers that they do not listen to what the interviewers are asking or telling them. Find a way to let the interviewers know that you heard what they said by bringing up some ideas that they have mentioned. This will show that you are paying attention and you are very much interested. This will also help you make a good impression. 6. Get expert help There are professionals and graduate school admissions consulting services that help and guide those who are looking for a job. They can help you with all the areas of employability, including how to perform better in interviews and improve your motivation. Trained guidance officers can help identify problems in your job search approach as well as help you improve your chances of getting hired. What you wear during the interview matters as well to land the job you want. Avoid wearing too many accessories. Let your intended position and the company’s culture guide how formal your outfit must be. Improving your job interview skills is among the best ways of boosting your confidence and performance. These steps will help you make a good and unforgettable impression on potential employers. It will also help you become more relaxed for a smoother interview process. By approaching an interview expecting to succeed, you will most likely to do just that. GUEST AUTHOR BIO Brian Giroux is an experienced college admissions advisor and co-founder of Capital College Consulting. Brian is a Professional Member of Independent Educational Consulting Association (IECA). Brian has worked with students from over 30 countries to help provide guidance through the US admissions process. Brians experience includes 18+ years in education serving multiple roles as educator, athletic director, and college admissions consultant.

Polishing Your Résumé Part I - Hallie Crawford

Polishing Your Résumé Part I Is your résumé the best it can be? Need to start over from scratch? Use these insightful tips to create a winning résumé. Résumé writing can be intimidating. We wonder, what do I include, what do I leave out? How do I make it look nice? In what order do I need to list everything? Some of the most common concerns I hear from my career coaching clients are about how to organize their résumé and what pieces of information to include. Here are some tips that can help you get started on either creating your résumé from scratch or updating it for your next job search. Brainstorm: The best way to get started is to brainstorm about your natural talents and abilities. Write down everything you’ve accomplished, even as far back as childhood. This is a confidence boost and also can help you get everything out on paper that you could possibly include in your résumé. Give Yourself Credit: We tend to downplay the things we are naturally good at. This is because we assume that since it comes so naturally to us, everyone must be good at it, right? Wrong. Just because you can easily organize your office and keep your files in amazing working order does not mean everyone can do that. Perhaps you coordinated your local church’s picnic and did a spectacular job. Not everyone has that particular skill, so give yourself credit for what comes naturally to you. Do this, of course, while being honest and accurate. It’s never a good idea to blatantly lie on your résumé. Organize in a Way that Is Best for You: One thing people frequently ask me is, “Do I have to put my résumé in chronological order?” The answer is no. Ordering your work experience by date isn’t necessaryâ€" relevance is. If you prefer chronological order, and it seems particularly appropriate for the job you’re hunting for, go for it. But I typically recommend highlighting your skills and accomplishments that are relevant to the position, and organizing the résumé with jobs that are most relevant at the top. If you have a spotty job record, this also helps minimize that issue. Clearly State Your Objective: Make sure your career objective clearly states the type of work you desireâ€"the more specific, the better. Specific objectives are more powerful and hard-hitting. They stand out. If you’re not sure what type of job you want, consider working with a career coach or counselor to clarify the next step you would like to take in your career If you need help with a resume or cover letter, consider a resume/cover letter session. Heres to having a career you love! Career Help www.halliecrawford.com

Absolute Donts For Writing a Resume - Mistakes Many People Make When Writing a Resume

Absolute Don'ts For Writing a Resume - Mistakes Many People Make When Writing a ResumeAbsolute don'ts for writing a resume are essential when you are applying for a job. There are plenty of places where this can be done, but you need to remember that the first mistake many people make is not doing it properly.You can start by looking at your local newspaper or search engines, or else your job board and other career website will have information on the companies in your area. These sites offer suggestions on how to write a resume in such a way that you stand out from the crowd.To use their suggestions as a guide, instead of writing generic resumes, you can find two-page resumes. Your resume should only have one page for your name, two pages for contact information, and the third for company names and the rest as space for facts. You should also remember to add a cover letter to this space so that it is clear that you are applying for a specific position.Also be sure to include what yo u do for work, what type of experience you have, and your education and work experiences in your resume. This is important since you will be asked about this in the interview process.By making yourself stand out from the crowd, you will find that most job applicants have things in common with you, thus making it easier for you to find their resume online. This will be the next step.The next thing you should do is utilize online application sites such as Monster, Kijiji, Orchid, Careerbuilder, and Ezine. Once you have access to these sites, you can quickly get a listing of people in your area who are looking for work at the company you are applying for.Youmay already know their email address and phone number, but if not, these sites can provide a back up and allow you to provide more information on them at a later time. In turn, they will help you apply for their company and find out if you are successful in getting a job at their company.

Retire How to Ease out of Work Gradually

Retire How to Ease out of Work Gradually Older workers are a hot topic among HR professionals these days, especially since the share of the labor force of people 55 and over is projected to rise to 25% by 2020. That conversation will increasingly shift toward redesigning corporate benefits for themâ€"especially helping older employees phase into retirement. But what are firms actually doing to ease this transition and what should you do if you’d like yours to let you gradually move from full-time to part-time and eventually no-time? Ad Hoc Deals for Phased Retirement Typically, motivated older workers have had to try negotiating ad hoc arrangements with HR or their boss for gradual exits out of the company, perhaps with part-time contracts in hand. “If employers would accelerate the drive for flexible work arrangements, everyone would be better off,” says Richard Johnson, labor market expert at the Urban Institute. “Flexibility is important.” But some firms have made strides toward offering their employees greater job flexibility. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey of 650 C-level executives and human resources and benefit plan leaders found that half of the employers offer flexible or customized work schedules to retain older workers. A third offer continuing education and development opportunities, while 22% let employees work remotely and 21% offer extended benefits to older employees, such as cafeteria plans that allow for tailoring benefit packages. How Employers Are Changing Until fairly recently, the term retirement in the workplace signaled the day an older employee left the organization to enter a lifestyle of leisure. At least that was the image. But a number of far-sighted managements now recognize that the work-and-retirement divide is less true today and that realization will likely affect the design of employee benefits. Case in point: Intel. Like all big, dynamic companies, the Silicon Valley behemoth offers its employees a good benefits package, including retirement savings. But Intel also supports employees phasing into retirement. Recently, the company has experimented with several new pilot programs. For instance, U.S. employees eligible to retire from Intel can apply for an Encore Career Fellowship. That helps them ease into the next stage of their lives by leveraging their skills, evoking their passions, and making an impact in their communities through a short-term stint at a local nonprofit. “Creating a culture that supports our employees as they prepare and plan for retirement is important,” says Amber Wiseley, Intel Retirement Benefits Strategist. “Our employees are looking for different options to reimagine retirement and are seeking opportunities to continue to have an impact on society.” Jobs With Built-In Flexibility A comparable conversation is taking place far from Silicon Valley, at Herman Miller in Zeeland, Mich., where about a quarter of the company’s workforce is 55+. Does that mean in five years Herman Miller will suffer an enormous outflow of employees heading into retirement? Doubtful. “The old model that people will retire at 62 and they’ll pack up their belongings and move to Florida is really dated,” says Tony Cortese, Herman Miller’s senior vice president for human resources. “I don’t think that’s the reality we confront.” Still, Herman Miller execs worry about losing their older employees’ skills and knowledge too quickly. So the company has instituted programs with built-in flexibility. For example, workers get to take six to 12 consecutive weeks off during the year. Employees aren’t paid during that time, but keep their benefits and length of service toward their pension. Says Cortese: “We’ve had people who are 55 or older say, ‘I don’t know if I’m ready for retirement, but I’m going to try this instead.’” Herman Miller also recently rolled out a “flex retirement” plan, allowing an employee who’s 60 or over and has at least five years of service at the company to plan an exit over six months to two years. The retirement decision is irreversible and, in return for the planned reduction in hours, the flex-retirement employee puts together a knowledge-transfer plan to teach the ropes of his or her job to a replacement. Observes Cortese: “They say, ‘I’m ready to retire, but I’m not ready to go today.’” Letting Full-Time Workers Go Part-Time At Baptist Health South Florida, the largest not-for-profit health care organization in the region, employees who are at 59-and-six-months who have been with the company for 10 years or more can begin drawing on their retirement savings and still work part-time. AGL Resources, a natural gas distribution company based in Atlanta, Ga., lets its retired workers return on a part-time or project basis and participate in company benefits, such as its 401(k) plan. The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., which Next Avenue recently said may be America’s best employer for older workers, is famous for its flexible work schedules and telecommuting opportunities. A critical initiative that will inform the Unretirement movement is the federal government’s new phased retirement program. Starting in November, many full-time government workers with at least 20 or 30 years of service who are nearing retirement age can apply to work a part-time schedule while drawing partial retirement benefits. The program also requires participants to spend at least 20% of their time mentoring younger employees. What the Future Holds Employers like these represent just the beginning of a trend that will gather momentum as Unretirement and encore careers become part of the expected and desired lifecycle among an aging workforce. Benefits like these are good for employees and employers. Says Joseph Coughlin of MIT’s AgeLab: “In the near future, the ‘new kid down the hall’ may, in fact, be someone’s grandmother in the next stage of her multi-act life.” However, the Unretirement movement could have a larger impact on the professional experience later in life with a little encouragement. Take attorneys 65 and older. A series of changes in the legal marketplace has reduced the demand for aging boomer attorneys. The growth in legal services has been driven by corporations and organizations that use large firms less reliant on senior lawyers, and the demands for legal advice by individuals who traditionally hire smaller firms to represent them is down. “Thus, just at a time when the demographics of the legal profession have produced a very large pool of senior lawyers, the proportion of the legal profession that is needed to remain in senior positions to supervise paid work and to be well compensated for this work is declining,” observe Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Esther Lardent, Reena Glazer, and Kellen Ressmeyer in Old and Making Hay, a research paper for the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University, Bloomington. The solution, these legal experts say, is for law firms to establish “second act” programs for their senior attorneys. Senior lawyers would concentrate much of their energies on the firm’s pro bono work. The scholars calculate that even if a mere 5% of practicing attorneys over 65 participated in a pro bono second act, the number of attorneys working primarily on public interest work would double. The deal would be that older lawyers accepting the second act path would put in fewer hours and get paid less. “The legal profession has a golden opportunity to do well by its members, itself, and society at large,” the paper’s authors write. How to Get a Phased Retirement What can you do as an employee if management hasn’t gotten the Unretirement message yet? Speak up. Now, I usually roll my eyes when someone recommends that employees should lobby management. Good luck with that, right? Yet there are good reasons for making the case in this circumstance. For one thing, Unretirement is a hot topic among senior managers. For another, the suggestion isn’t coming out of left field. Many leading-edge companies are adopting benefit policies that encourage employees to phase into retirement. An appeal to corporate ego, by casually dropping some of those names (Intel, Herman Miller…), just might do the trick. Other Benefits to Aid Your Transition There are also a few corporate benefits worth exploiting that aren’t strictly geared toward Unretirement but could help you with your transition. For example, take advantage of any financial support your employer offers for training or education that could position you for your next chapter. Similarly, some companies have partnerships with nonprofits where employees can volunteer during sanctioned time. If you’re thinking about shifting from the for-profit to the nonprofit sector, pursue these volunteering opportunities to do good and make potentially valuable connections that could pay off for you in the future. And, with today’s healthier job market, if you’re considering looking for a new position elsewhere, ask the hiring manager whether the employer offers Unretirement-type benefits such as phased retirement. Resources That Can Help Remember: you’re far from alone. Networks of like-minded boomers seeking their Unretirement are springing up all over the country. A major resource for researching options and contacts is Encore.org, which maintains a list of encore organizations around the country and sponsors the Encore Fellowship Networks. Other helpful resources include The Transition Network, ReServe, Retired Brains and Next Avenue. Major work and life transitions are rarely easy, even with organizational support. Still, what’s exciting about all the phased-retirement experimentations is that they will evolve. Boomers are trying out different ideas, essentially seeing which Unretirement business and lifestyle models pay off, putting pressure on managements to create more flexibility into the workplace and economy. Managements, in turn, are trying to learn which benefit packages will boost the bottom line and improve the caliber of their workforce. Better yet, Gen X’ers, Millennials and future generations of workers will learn from boomers’ Unretirement trial and error experiences. Younger generations will see that they’ll be able to alternate the rhythm of their work lives, perhaps phasing into retirement by joining organizations with a mission that touches their hearts. We’re just getting a glimpse into the possibilities today. This article is adapted from Chris Farrell’s new book, Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life. Chris is senior economics contributor for American Public Media’s Marketplace. He writes about Unretirement twice a month, focusing on the personal finance and entrepreneurial start-up implications and the lessons people learn as they search for meaning and income. Tell him about your experiences so he can address your questions in future columns. Send your queries to him atcfarrell@mpr.org. His twitter address is@cfarrellecon. More from NextAvenue.org: What You Should Know About the 50+ Job Market Dip Your Toe Into the Encore Career Waters Phased Retirement: What You Need to Know

Job Interview Tips For Fresh Graduates - Work It Daily

Job Interview Tips For Fresh Graduates - Work It Daily When in college, you’re used to competition. Right from scholarships to internships, you compete at every step with other students. Although you may think applying for internships and scholarships is just a lesser version of a job hunt, the world of employment is a much more competitive landscape. Cleaning out your dorm, ridding school supplies with a textbook buy and sell back service, shopping for business attire, and getting student loan bills should be the signs that the party is over and it's time to pay the tab. One thing that might not dawn on you is thousands of other kids your age are in the same boat and there are a lot less dream jobs than dream seekers. Job Interview Tips For New Graduates Landing an interview is never enough. You need to go beyond the usual to impress your potential employer and grab the job. Here are a few job interview tips to help you improve your chances of success: Prepare To The Core We all know preparation is the key to succeed at any interview. But most fresh graduates don’t prepare enough, which is why they fail. If you want to get the job, then you need to prove it that you’ve done your homework. Preparation doesn’t simply mean skimming through the company’s Wikipedia page. You need to go out of your way to find out as much as you can about the company, about its culture, the industry trends, and so on. That's how you demonstrate your worth to the interviewer. Draft Stories Your interviewer wants to see how your current skills complement the requirements of the job. The best way to prove them is to draft stories about your previous achievements. Why? Because stories are more convincing than factual data. Make sure your stories are interesting and to the point. Have a good opening line and see to it that you’ve learned them by heart. Be clear and avoid sounding like a robot. Avoid Overselling Yourself You know how they say that you should “be yourself” to make the best impression? It’s an advice that you should stay away from when being interviewed. While it’s good to be enthusiastic, energetic, and positive during your interview - don’t oversell yourself. The simple reason for this is, employers know that there’s a lot of talent in the market. And candidates can go to any extent to get the job - even exaggerate their skills and experience. So if you’re going to say something, you better back it with solid proof. Focus On Your Potential Like any other candidate, you too are not perfect, which is why you shouldn’t give the interviewer a chance to talk about where you lack. Instead, lay more emphasis on your potential, which clearly shows that you have what it takes to succeed at the job. If you don’t have real world experience to boast of or if your past achievements aren’t relevant to the job, thennyou should talk about your quick learning and adapting abilities. It helps you win the confidence of your interviewer to a great extent. Remember, as a fresh graduate, you might not have highly specialized skills and years of experience under your belt, but you do have some unique to offer. That’s the uniqueness that you need to use to make an impact on your interviewer. Article Author: Jenna Smith Enjoy this article? You've got time for another! Check out these related articles: How To Answer 7 Of The Most Common Interview Questions Top 3 Tips For Phone Interviews How To Ace The Panel Interview Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!

One Mans Role at a Womens Career Fair

One Mans Role at a Womens Career ritterlich Earlier this year, my female coworkers asked me to join them at this years Society of Women Engineers conference the worlds largest conference and career fair for women in engineering and technology. I welches flattered but a little unsure why theyd want me to be there. (While being an all-around great guy is the intuitive response, it was not specifically mentioned by anyone.) But in all seriousness, I really wanted to know. So, we sat down for a conversation, and I have to admit, they enlightened me. What could (and should) a man do there? Turns out, a lot.First off, theres the obvious benefit of networking. I work in quality, and we work very closely with engineering and hire engineers on a continuous basis. This is a conference full of talented women in engineeringit will be a fantastic opportunity to chat with potential recruits.But, as my coworkers so kindly pointed out, its not just whom I see, but who sees me. A visual representati on of men at the event sends the message of support. That I (and Kohler Co.) support womens careers, and that we are actively trying to recruit women in STEM. Our discussion got mora interesting when I asked them if they perceive a barrier to women advancing in the workforce? The answer was yes, and, honestly, I was disheartened. Reviewing the numbers from our Kohler Power Systems team in the U.S., 56% of those under the age 35 are female, 50% of the department leaders are female, and overall, 40% of our team members are female. So, what were these barriers? And, how was I not seeing them?And then I realized, its about so much more than just the numbers. And I began to think, what if Im blind to my own behavior? Is there more I need to be doing in addition to looking for diversity in the candidate pool and promoting women? What else should I be doing that I am not doing? Is there a behavior or belief I need to change? Our team is full of talented women and men that require the appro priate beratung to continue growing. Our goal is to win and outperform the competition. We cant do that if Im blind to the needs of half the team.So, the last, and most important, thing this man will be doing at the Society of Women Engineers conference is listening. Asking questions. Looking for specific examples of barriers and solutions to overcome them. I want to learn what I need to do or need to do differently to become an active and visible ally to my female colleagues. I want to know if I have a blind spot. And when I get back, Im going to share what I learn with my teamboth women and menso we can take action and continue this important conversation together.--Fairygodboss is proud to partner with Kohler Co.

What Absolutely Everybody Is Saying About Writing Resume for Screening

What Absolutely Everybody Is Saying About Writing Resume for begehung Its not sufficient to have raw talent, fantastic experience, and well-developed skillsyou need to understand how to distinguish yourself from the rest of the remote professionals (i.e. your competition). Initially, you ought to have a very clear idea for what type of opportunity you are searching for. There are two methods to analyze how to assess a resume. Things like skills on how best to use certain systems and devices or deep understanding of a given subject matter are extremely common examples. What You Dont Know About Writing Resume for Screening Your resume screener wont know about your area. Resume berprfung is the procedure of sorting through resumes, either manually or non-manually, for the intent of identifying qualified candidates who might be available to fill a particular function. In reality, screening applications and resumes is among the most time-consuming recruitment process steps. Ev ery work description differs. If a recruiter can screen resumes correctly, that will enable them to come across the most suitable candidate in the briefest amount of time. An excellent recruiter is likely to go to your internet profile when they get your work program, so make things easy for them and keep all of your content synchronized. The Good, the Bad and Writing Resume for Screening Make koranvers you meet most qualifications Make sure that you meet the majority of the qualifications for the position. The applicant isnt an Australian Citizen or theyre on a visa. Jobs continue to attract a lot more applicants than busy hiring departments have the opportunity to interview. Some recruiters utilize certain keywords and phrases to screen resumes and pick the greatest potential candidates for a job opening. Even if youre currently not seeking work, an updated resume and LinkedIn profile will help you keep visible and relevant to other businesses. If youve completed a train ing program, but you need little if any work experience, set your education at the very top. If you own a lot of work experience, but you need not completed a formal training regime, you should set your work experience near the top of the resume. Dont forget, the time spent on improving your resume isnt wasted. The Writing Resume for Screening Trap The target of your resume is to secure you the interview. Discuss what youd probe with each candidate you choose to interview. In case you have any questions regarding consulting resumes, do not be afraid to ask them below and well be more than delighted to answer them. There are a few questions youll always get in PM interviews. The Upside to Writing Resume for Screening The procedure for searching for employment is grueling. Everyone can say he or she excelled at her or his final job. List just one job as the one that you are actively working on.