The Other Side of the Fence

By Tom Wolfe, Career Coach

With all of the uncertainty that surrounds the transition from a military to a civilian career, one thing that is certain is the likelihood that you must continue to work. Career transition is a stressful time for most people and that is particularly true for those in transition from the military to civilian status. Although the job search can be difficult for civilians, they at least know the terminology and the titles. Military-to-civilian job seekers on the other hand not only have to deal with the stress of the search but also the lack of knowledge about career options and job titles. How about you? Are you wrestling with that uncertainty and ... Read More

Military Spouses Face Major Employment Challenges

by By Barrie Barber
© 2016 Reprinted with Permission Stars and Stripes.com

Alex Masick lives in Virginia but was in the Dayton area Thursday hunting for job leads. The future military spouse plans to marry his Air Force fiancee, a second lieutenant assigned to the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson, and wants to move here with a job in hand to be with her. "It’s very challenging to communicate remotely with an employer because you don’t want to mess up your first impression,” said Masick, 32, of Falls Church, Va., and who has experience in sales and training. "I spent hours agonizing over the phrasing of an ... Read More

Successful Job Search - Know the Enemy

© Copyright, 2016, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.

For many job seekers, a successful job search means winning the war for employment. “Know the enemy” is one of the foundation elements in winning a war. This idea was first expressed by Chinese general (and philosopher) Sun Tzu many, many centuries ago. In business, we apply that principle to many aspects of what we do. We translate it to “know the competition” and “know the other side” in a business negotiation. Successful job search requires the same approach! Successful Job Search >> Know the Employer(s)In a job search, ”Know the Enemy” morphs into ”Know the Employer.” Employers are not really your enemy in a job search, although it may feel that way some times. ... Read More

Top 10 interview mistakes

Reprinted with permission - HRNasty.com

The lists of job interview mistakes are a con and a false sense of security. This weeks post is HRNasty’s list of interview mistakes and I have a different attitude on this topic. The normal Google search for “Top 10 Interview Mistakes Made in an Interview”, are for those with the manners of a cave man and I am probably insulting the cave dweller. If a candidate needs to be reminded about what is typically recommended, they are going to: Have problems with the rest of the interview. Not be successful once they land the job. The following tips are given by your typical HR / recruiter blog posts. The candidate hears this advice and then feels confident about landing the job because they won’t make the below mistakes. ... Read More

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The Big Virtual Job FAir


With the huge success of The Big Virtual Q4! TAOnline Virtual Career Fair held in January, which included names such as FCi Federal, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, TSA, NSA, NextEra Energy, DHS, Customs and Border Patrol and other military friendly companies, we are excited to offer the next event in the series. Join us for The Big Virtual - Q1! Tuesday April 19, 2016. -

Participate from 11 AM - 3 PM Eastern time in this online recruiting event if you have served, or are currently serving, in the U.S. military. The virtual career fair is for anyone seeking nationwide opportunities and is for all ranks and branches of service including active duty, Reserve, National Guard and individuals with a Security Clearance (including non military) - For details — click HERE



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Online Education Fair for Veterans * March 30, 2016 * Nationwide

Have you considered going back to school to better position yourself for long-term career success by earning an academic degree or certificate in your chosen career field? Then consider participating in an Online Education Fair for Veterans on March 30th, 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm (ET). Co-sponsored by Corporate Gray and Transition Assistance Online (TAOnline), this event will connect you with colleges and universities nationwide offering the opportunity to earn an academic degree (Associates, Bachelor's, Master's, PhD) or certificate - either on a full- or part-time basis. This online education event will use TAOnline's virtual recruiting platform. For more information and to register, visit www.taonline.com/Events/1712/ to register.



Corporate Gray Military-Friendly Job Fair * March 23, 2016 * Arlington, VA

Meet face-to-face with dozens of top employers on Wednesday, March 23rd at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Virginia. Some of the participating companies include: AECOM, Pepco, Sears, State Farm, BAE Systems, National Security Agency, National Institutes of Health, Wells Fargo, Edward Jones, HITT Contracting, New York Life, Endeavor Air, ACT-I, and more. Job Fair hours are 9 am to 12:30 pm, with a free seminar titled How to Work a Job Fair starting at 8 am. Pre-register at www.corporategray.com/jobfairs/366 to receive the job fair employer directory the weekend before the event and upload your resume to make it accessible to the participating employers in advance of the job fair.



Corporate Gray Military-Friendly Job Fair * April 21, 2016 * Springfield, VA

Meet with dozens of top employers on Thursday, April 21st at The Waterford in Springfield. Some of the participating companies include: AECOM, CIA, Edward Jones, Leidos, ACT-I, Prince William County Police Department, State Farm, and many more. Job Fair hours are 9 am to 12:30 pm, with a free career transition seminar starting at 8 am. Pre-register at corporategray.com/jobfairs/367 to receive the job fair employer directory the weekend before the event and upload your resume to make it accessible to the participating employers in advance of the job fair.

The Other Side of the Fence

© Tom Wolfe, author; all rights reserved; excerpts from Out of Uniform: Your Guide to a Successful Military-to-Civilian Career Transition; used with the permission of the author and publisher, www.potomacbooksinc.com.

With all of the uncertainty that surrounds the transition from a military to a civilian career, one thing that is certain is the likelihood that you must continue to work. Career transition is a stressful time for most people and that is particularly true for those in transition from the military to civilian status. Although the job search can be difficult for civilians, they at least know the terminology and the titles. Military-to-civilian job seekers on the other hand not only have to deal with the stress of the search but also the lack of knowledge about career options and job titles. How about you? Are you wrestling with that uncertainty and wondering what to do next? That is perfectly normal. Take some comfort in knowing that thousands of veterans have dealt with that stress successfully and help is available.

Prior to the interviewing phase of your search, I encourage you to research possible civilian job and career options. The following information will help you get started.

What jobs are available? The good news is there are hundreds of companies hiring thousands of people like you into jobs with hundreds of possible job titles. The bad news is that there are far too many of them to cover here. I can however discuss the three general categories of jobs available and in so doing perhaps give you some insight into which category is best for you. Every one of those jobs can be categorized in one of three ways: Individual Contributor, Team Member, and Team Leader. Furthermore, every job you have held in the military can be similarly categorized and a comparative analysis will do much to point you in the right direction.

An Individual Contributor is one whose contribution to the mission comes directly from that individual. The work product is his or hers alone. He or she is not directing the efforts of others. The blood, sweat and tears are those of the individual. Do not however confuse individual contributors with loners. Individual contributors can have much interaction with others, both internal and external to the organization—e.g., co-workers, vendors, clients, suppliers, and managers. They enjoy autonomy. They do not have to supervise others to be fulfilled. They prefer to see a direct link between their individual effort, their work product, and, perhaps, their compensation. Examples of individual contributors include tradesmen, tech reps, accountants, analysts, consultants, sales reps, designers, engineers, field service representatives, and recruiters.

Sometimes a group of individual contributors band together, either formally or informally, and form a team. This leads us to the second category—Team Member. There are many situations where no one single person can handle all the responsibilities of a project or tasking. It often makes sense to put together a group of individuals to form a team. Although levels of expertise are often similar, each member has a different area of expertise and is responsible for his or her own contribution to the team as a whole. Whether or not there is a designated team leader, often an informal leader will emerge. Regardless, it is the combined, collective effort of the entire team that constitutes the contribution to the goals of the organization. An excellent analogy is the athletic team—individuals playing different positions on the team, with the goal of winning the contest. You can find examples of the team member role in matrix organizations, companies that use self-directed work teams, product development, and brand management.

The final category, Team Leader, is the one that probably requires the least explanation. The team leader is assigned personnel, material, financial resources, and a task. The areas and levels of expertise among the team members vary. The team leader builds the team, trains the team, motivates the team, and provides a safe working environment. The collective efforts of the entire team under the direction and control of the team leader become the contribution to the mission. Sound familiar? Most military personnel spend the majority of their time in team leader roles. Many civilian organizations are aware of this experience and focus on hiring veterans because of it. Some typical team leader roles include operations manager, crew leader, production team leader, and manufacturing supervisor.

Which category is best for you? To answer that question, review your time in the military. You have probably held jobs in all three categories. In which ones were you the most effective? Satisfied? Happiest? Answering those questions will give you some clues. By knowing in which one you tend to thrive, you will be on your way to finding the best category for you. Although you will not necessarily be any closer to articulating exactly which job you want, you will at least be able to focus on jobs in the category or categories that are best for you.

Thanks for your service and good hunting!

By Tom Wolfe, Career Coach

© 2016; Tom Wolfe, is an author, columnist, career coach, veteran, and an expert in the field of military-to-civilian career transition. During his career he assisted thousands of service members in their searches for employment, placing more than 3000 in their new jobs. Prior to civilian life, he graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy and served as a surface warfare officer. He teaches transition courses, gives seminars on career and job change, writes about the career transition process, and continues to counsel current and former military personnel. His book, Out of Uniform: Your Guide to a Successful Military-to-Civilian Career Transition, was published by Potomac Books in 2011. Tom lives on the North Carolina coast with his wife, Julie, and their Chesapeake Bay retriever, Maggie.

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Military Spouses Face Major Employment Challenges

by By Barrie Barber
© 2016 Reprinted with Permission Stars and Stripes.com

Alex Masick lives in Virginia but was in the Dayton area Thursday hunting for job leads.

The future military spouse plans to marry his Air Force fiancee, a second lieutenant assigned to the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson, and wants to move here with a job in hand to be with her.

“It’s very challenging to communicate remotely with an employer because you don’t want to mess up your first impression,” said Masick, 32, of Falls Church, Va., and who has experience in sales and training. “I spent hours agonizing over the phrasing of an introduction email to make sure someone just doesn’t click delete within the first couple of seconds.”

Military spouses often face not only higher rates of unemployment but underemployment, one study found, as they search for a job when their husband or wife in uniform is transferred to a new and different base every few years.

“They quite often will come to somewhere that the job opportunities are quite limited and companies find it difficult to see the value of somebody who’s only going to be here for a couple of years,” said Gillian Russell, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation associate with the Hiring Our Heroes program, which connects employers with military job seekers and their spouses.

In a 2013 review, the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University found 90 percent of female spouses of active-duty service members reported they were underemployed, or had more education and experience than the jobs they had required.

“That was the biggest finding and probably gave a broader picture of the employment situation of a military spouse,” said Rosalinda Maury, IVMF director of applied research and analytics. “It’s not just unemployment, it’s underemployment.”

The analysis, conducted with the Military Officers Association of America, cited 2012 American Community Survey data that showed military spouses earned 38 percent less on average and were 30 percent more likely to be unemployed compared to their civilian counterparts.

Courtney R. Taylor, 26, who is married to an Air Force staff sergeant at Wright-Patterson, knows the difficulty of a civilian job search in a new community.

She’s searched for weeks, hoping to find a job in financial management that would coincide with her studies at Wright State University.

“It’s very, very difficult,” she said. “… I haven’t been able to find a job. I’m just trying to get my foot in the door somewhere and it’s a little difficult to find that opportunity.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes initiative held a job fair Thursday at Wright-Patt. Some 50 companies and agencies were represented — from Starbucks to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

The goal is to show employers the skills spouses can bring to the workplace, Russell said. “They might not be working, they might have flaws in their resume, but what they are doing is they are volunteering, they are helping to run the bases, they’re helping to make sure that families are looked after while service members are away, and all of these skills make them absolutely fantastic employees.

“We work with our national sponsors and local partners to make sure that those military spouses are being recognized and they’re getting meaningful jobs,” she said.

Chris Phillips, a PNC Bank diversity specialist who recruits military spouses, said they have organizational and leadership skills useful to employers.

“It’s not just the veteran, it’s the spouse,” she said. “They’re the caregiver, they’re the ones that manage the household so they’ve very loyal to an employer and it makes good business sense to us.”

Explaining gaps in work history to employers and finding a job in their career field are the most common complaints from military spouses, said Shonte Gonzalez, an Airmen and Family Readiness Center community readiness specialist who counsels job-hunting spouses at Wright-Patterson. The center offers tips on resumes and preps spouses with mock job interviews.

“Their gaps in employment are probably one of the biggest things that are stressful to them,” Gonzalez said. Many Dayton area employers understand the work history gaps that may accompany military life as a spouse, Gonzalez said.

Unemployed spouses can boost their resume by stressing their volunteer work, she said.

“It’s not paid, but it’s a job,” Gonzalez said. “People like to see that people are busy.

“We encourage them to volunteer,” she added. “We try to get them out in the market because the only way you’re going to meet people is to network.”

Kendra Mustain, a recruiting coordinator at Comfort Keepers, a business that offers home care to the elderly, said she’s a former military spouse who understands the challenge of moving frequently.

“I personally think that military spouses would make excellent caregivers because they are by nature supportive people,” she said.

———

©2016 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)

Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Successful Job Search - Know the Enemy

© Copyright, 2016, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved.

For many job seekers, a successful job search means winning the war for employment. “Know the enemy” is one of the foundation elements in winning a war. This idea was first expressed by Chinese general (and philosopher) Sun Tzu many, many centuries ago.

In business, we apply that principle to many aspects of what we do. We translate it to “know the competition” and “know the other side” in a business negotiation. Successful job search requires the same approach!

Successful Job Search >> Know the Employer(s)

In a job search, ”Know the Enemy” morphs into ”Know the Employer.” Employers are not really your enemy in a job search, although it may feel that way some times.

In a job search, “know the enemy” means collecting and analyzing information about potential employers to:

  • Focus your job search efforts on organizations with the best opportunities for you.
  • Find the best opportunities for you inside those organizations.
  • Learn the best ways to land a job with each of those organizations.
  • Identify contacts that can help you penetrate the HR wall, preferably as someone referred by an employee.
  • Make an informed decision when you accept a job offer.

Ideally, this enables you to focus your job search on the NOT a fingers-crossed, please-let-this-work-out decision!

3 Important Sources of Information for Job Search Success

In a job search, your goal is to learn as much as you can about your target employers. Then, you can approach them most effectively. Start with these sources and expand and modify as appropriate for you, the job you want, and your target employers.

1. The employer’s website

Visit the employer’s website, and learn as much as possible from it. For a successful job search (and job interview), learn as much as you can from the employer’s website:

  • What do they do?
  • Where are they (local, national, or international)? Where is the headquarters or “home” office located if they have more than one location?
  • Who leads the company?
  • Who else works there? (Do you know anyone who works there?)
  • Do they have an employee referral program (ERP)? Is it described on the employer’s website? Make note of the requirements if you can find them, so you can comply.
  • What are the products and/or services?
  • How big is it (employees, sales, profit)?
  • What do they show as “news” or “press releases” on their site?
  • When and where are their jobs posted?
  • What are their standard requirements and the technology related to your job that they use?

You won’t find all of those answers on the employer’s website, but hopefully you will find most of them. Make note of the information you find. Your notes will help you prepare for the “So, what do you know about us?” job interview question. Hopefully, you will be able to effectively leverage the ERP program (which greatly increases your probability of being hired).

2. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an excellent source of information on employers and the people who work for them. Leveraging this resource will help you have a successful job search.

LinkedIn Search. Search on the company name in the LinkedIn search bar. In addition to the Company Profile (next, below), look for employees (current and former) you are connected to, related LinkedIn Groups (like “alumni” of the company), SlideShare presentations about the employer (and their products or services), and related job postings for the company.

Company Profile. Check for a Company Profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn shows – number of employees on LinkedIn (including how many you are “connected” with), “Updates” shared with LinkedIn, job postings (maybe), and more information on the “Careers” tab.

If you are interested in the employer, click the “Follow” button to hear more about the company on LinkedIn. They often note who follows them.

Employee Profiles. If you are connected with any employees, check their LinkedIn Profiles to see their education, experiences, and other things they seem to have in common. See what LinkedIn Groups they belong to so you can join those Groups. You may pick up interesting information from those observations, and you may also be able to ask questions to elicit responses directly from employees of your target (or possible target) employers.

If you are connected with any current employees and know them well enough to contact them about the employer, reach out and perhaps connect with a referral or get good advice on the hiring process and how to approach the employer most successfully.

Also check out the former employees using LinkedIn to see where they went next, and what you may have in common with them. If you are connected, ask them about their experience working there — the organization, the “culture” and the hiring process.

3. Google

Research on Google will show you what “the world” has to say about the employer, perhaps contradicting what the employer’s website and LinkedIn Company Profile show.

Look for signs of prosperity or decline. New or pending contracts, product roll outs, and/or locations could mean new hires. A contract loss or closure of a location could mean the opposite. What’s in the news section of the website and in Google’s news search?

  • If they sell products or services, search for reviews of those products or services.
  • If you find the names of a parent organization, business partners, major customers, or contracts on their website or in news about them, search for information about those organizations, too.
  • What does Google “suggest” about them when you start a query with the company name?
  • Does Google Maps show you a “street view” of the organization’s location? Is it large or small? Does it look well-maintained and prosperous or in disrepair? Good neighborhood or bad? What you want/expect, or not?

If the employer is a publicly-traded company, Google Finance is a treasure trove of information about the company. Most of it is aimed at investors, but that information is very helpful for job seekers as well. Profits going down – maybe a cutback (with layoffs) is pending? Sales skyrocketing – maybe a big increase in staff is pending?

Look at the stock performance. If the stock price is jumping much higher than competitors, the market is expecting some good news. But, be careful – good news to the stock market may not be good news for your job search. The news could be a hot new product or service being introduced, OR it could mean the company is being sold and investors expect to make a killing. See what the stock analysts think.

Applying the Intelligence

A successful job search that lands you with an unsuccessful employer is not a good outcome. Once you have gathered and analyzed the information, apply it for your job search:

  • Discard the employers who appear shaky, have poor reviews, or don’t “feel” right to you.
  • Focus your efforts on the most positive employers and the most positive sections of those organizations as well as the managers with the best reputations.
  • Develop good questions for the formal job interview process.
  • Use the information you have collected to approach the employer – LinkedIn may be best for an employer who values skills with LinkedIn, for example.
  • Consider what accomplishments, skills, and experiences you have that would be of value to that employer, and how to package them for that culture.

Once you have collected the information, you will find more ways than I can describe to use that information for your job search. Just take the time to collect the information, analyze it, and consider how to apply it.

About the Author… Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 2011, NETability purchased WorkCoachCafe.com, and Susan has been editor and publisher of WorkCoach since then. Susan also edits and publishes Job-Hunt.org, is a Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a columnist on HuffingtonPost. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Google+

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Top 10 interview mistakes

Reprinted with permission - HRNasty.com

The lists of job interview mistakes are a con and a false sense of security. This weeks post is HRNasty’s list of interview mistakes and I have a different attitude on this topic. The normal Google search for “Top 10 Interview Mistakes Made in an Interview”, are for those with the manners of a cave man and I am probably insulting the cave dweller. If a candidate needs to be reminded about what is typically recommended, they are going to:

  1. Have problems with the rest of the interview
  2. Not be successful once they land the job

The following tips are given by your typical HR / recruiter blog posts. The candidate hears this advice and then feels confident about landing the job because they won’t make the below mistakes. The candidate is set up for failure. In my opinion, the usual lists don’t provide any real help to a candidate new to the interview process. Interview mistakes are made and opportunities lost.

Interview mistakes

The usual suspects (I mean interview mistakes)

Below are the usual suspects provided by your usual not so helpful HR experts:

  1. Don’t be late to the interview, arrive a few minutes early.
  2. Don’t badmouth prior co-workers, prior managers, or prior companies.
  3. Ask questions during the interview. (You would be surprised how many candidates do NOT have any questions and this comes off as arrogant.)
  4. Don’t lie about salary, start or end dates.
  5. Keep it professional. Try to keep your personal opinions out of the conversation.
  6. Do NOT answer the “how much are you looking for” question until you are ready to negotiate a salary.
  7. Don’t ask about the benefits plan on the first interview.
  8. Don’t look at your phone while in the interview.

OK, so I don’t know how to count to ten and I only provided 8. Remember, I am not in finance and after reading the common themes over and over, I got so disgusted with the exercise I couldn’t take anymore and quit. Here is the problem with this advice. It really doesn’t help anyone get through an interview. This advice would help us get through LIFE but it shouldn’t give you any confidence when it comes to the interview. What this advice says to the reader is the following:

“If I don’t check my phone, if I show up on time, and I don’t badmouth my prior manager, I have a shot at landing the job”.

I call bullsh@#. The above is just common courtesy and if we need to be reminded about this stuff then we should have been Darwinized out of the system of LIFE. Every single one of the above, points to common courtesy. If you went on a first date and encountered any one or two of the above – Mrs. Right will turn into Mrs. Wrong, and Mr. Right just became your future ex. Regular readers know I like to compare the interview process to the dating scene so lets compare and contrast the numbered bullets above with the numbered wreckage below.

Interview mistakes in dating parlance:

  1. If Mr. Right is late, you are wondering if you were stood up. (If you are 2 minutes late, the recruiter is wondering if they were stood up.)
  2. If Mrs. Right starts bad mouthing prior relationships, I hear nothing but baggage I gotta’ carry and I am not a Sherpa. (The recruiter doesn’t want to carry your professional baggage.)
  3. If Mr. Wrong doesn’t ask you any questions on the first date, then this will be interpreted as no interest, no chemistry and no fireworks back at your place later in the evening. (AKA, no job offer!)
  4. You don’t want to hear that Mr. Right has a great job only to find out he is un-employed. (Recruiters don’t want to run a background check and see jail time or see a different number on your W-2.)
  5. Try to keep the interview conversation focused on what needs to be learned. (We don’t need to hear about skeletons in the closet, ever.)
  6. On a first interview, DO tell the recruiter your salary requirements. (If Mr. Right asks you how many kids you want in your family, you don’t skirt this question.)
  7. We shouldn’t ask Mr. Right how much he makes or what kind of car he drives on the first date. (This just looks like a GoldDigger looking for benefits.)
  8. If we are constantly looking at our phone on a first date, Mrs. Right will think I have more important things to do and people to see. (The recruiter will think the same thing.)

So, the below are a few pieces of advice that I believe WILL make you more successful in an interview situation and will help you avoid the uncovered interview mistakes.

  1. Try not to answer a question with a question. EG: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?” Nothing more frustrating than asking the question and being asked, “What do you want to know?” Tell the interviewer a little bit about you like to do outside of work so you appear likeable and then talk about why you are interested in the position and why you think you are a fit. Answering a question with another questions is wasting valuable interview time and as a candidate, our time is limited.
  1. If experience on your resume isn’t relevant, it isn’t experience. I see a lot of resumes that have information that is unrelated to the experience we listed in the job description. Information on the resume should be directly related to the requirements of the job.
  1. Blank space on a resume says “I could have told you more about my accomplishments, but I couldn’t think of anything and / or “I got lazy”. You pick. If you have less than a full-page than see number 2 above and then adjust the width of the margins on the sides, top and bottom. You can also increase the font size to help fill up entire pages. Half empty pages say “half qualified candidate”.
  1. Always tell the truth when it comes to interviews. There are too many people involved in the interview to keep track of discrepancies. Many companies will run background checks, criminal checks and depending on the position, credit checks. Large companies may ask for a W-2 and grade transcripts. Be as accurate as possible when it comes to start and end dates with prior employers and salaries earned.
  1. Do give your references a heads up that they may be called upon when the time approaches. Send your references a job description and let them know what came up during the interviews that they should reinforce about your prior history.
  1. Do send a thank you letter or email to everyone you talked with. You will be surprised how strong a move this is just because so few candidates follow through. You can take this opportunity to reinforce WHY you are interested in the position and if you botched an interview question you can say “I have been thinking about the question you asked me and wanted to clarify my answer. . . .”.
  1. Feel free to ask the recruiter you are working with for any advice they may have. You will be surprised how often and how much a recruiter will give up with just the single ask. Remember, you are representing them. If you don’t look good, they don’t look good so they are motivated to make sure you show well.
  1. Treat the interview like two friends who just met at a party and are casually talking over beers. Too many interviews feel stiff because the candidate feels like the interviewer has ALL the power and they need to just answer the question. I want to work with folks I can have a beer with. I don’t want to work with someone who is scared of me and interviews as if I was an IRS agent.

Hopefully the above give you more insight into the interview process and interview mistakes that can be avoided. If you picked up a nugget or two, I have plenty more where this came from. (Mainly from watching interview mistakes made that got candidates declined) Just click on any one of the “HRNasty” categories on the left hand pane.

See you at the after party,

HRNasty

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