April 2016 |
Transition-e-news Volume 3 Issue 118 |
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Transition Insight
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USA Today Veterans Affairs - Special Edition Magazine
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Interview Coaching: Is it really worth the money?
by Barbara Adams, CPRW, CEIP, MFRW, MMRW, MFCA-T As we've discussed before, a stellar resume can cost a chunk of change and exactly why you need to consider it an investment in your future. Allow me to remind you of this quote by Austin Kiplinger: "Look at your career as your primary investment. Keep your earning power at its highest level. The money you spend doing this will return more to you than all other investments you are likely to make. You are your own best investment!" Part of that investment may be in the form of interview coaching. If you aspire to move your career forward, you may ask yourself, "Should I hire an interview coach?" You've got the perfect resume that's practically guaranteed to get you the big interview. And you believe you're ready to totally rock that interview. "So what do I need with an interview coach? Are they really worth the money?" you ask yourself. It's an important question that only you can answer and an important decision to make for your career. Look at it this way . . . No one in the sporting world would ever consider competing without a coach. It's unheard of. Even if it's just a mentor or merely an advisor; an athlete is not an island, no matter how much talent he or she possesses. The best athletes in the world don't see the question as relevant. In other words, it's a no-brainer. Now, you may have the best resume in the world, proven by your education and vast experience. You may think you're ready to rock the interview, and that's great. But then the doubts start to creep in and your confidence is shaken. Your future is riding on this opportunity. You may not ever get another shot like it so you've got to "nail the audition." Many of the greatest actors to ever grace our presence with their abilities honed their raw talent by using an acting coach. If you follow the logic, it certainly makes sense to pursue the services of an interview coach. Let's talk about the definition of a coach. So, what exactly IS a coach? According to Merriam-Webster, a coach is "a person who teaches and trains an athlete or performer." You likely have a picture in your head of a famous coach like Vince Lombardi . . . or Don Shula . . . or maybe Chuck Knoll (can you tell I'm a football guy?). What does that picture reveal about the term coach? Yelling . . . or directing . . . maybe giving orders . . . encouraging . . . cheering . . . and probably chewing someone's a$$. Whatever it is, the goal is always the same. WIN THE GAME—whatever it takes, as long as it's ethical and legal—WIN THE GAME! A team doesn't win the Super Bowl without a coach. The biggest tennis stars always have their coaches present at the match. Any sport in the world, whether team or solo, has a coach to lead the players. They provide guidance in competition—and in life. Olympic athletes are some of the most talented in the world. But talent still requires a coach. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson—some of the best basketball players ever—relied on their coaches to take them to the next level. They would be the first to admit that they wouldn't have what they have without their coaches. They understand the value that a coach brings to raw talent. A coach's job is to recognize that talent, focus on the basics, and build from there. Once again, according to Merriam-Webster, "A coach is a private teacher who gives someone lessons in a particular subject." An interview is a performance just like anything else. You have the talent, qualifications, education, and experience and you've proven that in your resume. But now it's time to perform. It's time for the audition. So the question is not "should I hire an interview coach?" The question is this, "Where can I find the right interview coach for me?" The resume is designed specifically to get you the interview but it won't help you ace the interview. That's where coaching is critical. CareerPro Global Career Coaches can help you prepare for targeted interviews, behavioral-based interviews, or general interviews. What if you were asked these questions: "Why should we hire you?" "Tell us about a situation in which you didn't agree with your manager." "Describe a time you had to deal with a difficult employee." (CareerPro Plus-Basic Interview Coaching) All relevant questions, so let's touch briefly on three different types of interview coaching. Practice Interviewing This is a mock interview with a set of questions based on the position you're currently targeting. The focus is on key behavior-based interview questions. A live evaluation is conducted to examine responses. The coach then provides constructive feedback designed to raise awareness of deficiencies and reinforce strengths. The goal is to assist with positive examples from previous employment to help illustrate necessary skill sets for the targeted position. Basic Interview Coaching Do you have flaws in your communication style? There could be things you may not be aware of that can sabotage your efforts toward a successful interview. The General Interviewing Insights Assessment (GIIA) will make you aware so you can take the steps to move forward confidently. And that confidence will translate to success in your next interview. The assessment takes just a few minutes and can be taken from where you're sitting right now. Behavioral-Based Interview Coaching This type of coaching places more emphasis on behavioral interview questions that delve into the "what would you do in this scenario" or "name a time when you disagreed with your boss and how did you handle that?" They're asking you to describe your behavior in the typical business environment. Your answers to these questions tell interviewers what they need to know about how you interact with others. Sign me up . . . If you've made the decision to invest in an interview or career coach, congratulations! Simply click here to get started today! Barbara Adams, President and CEO of CareerPro Global (CPG), the parent company of www.careerproplus.com and www.militaryresumewriters.com, has been a member of the careers community for the past 20 years. Ms. Adams holds four prestigious industry certifications. CareerPro Global is the only ISO 9001-2008 Certified Career Service in the industry, as well as one of the fastest-growing Military, Federal, and Civilian Resume-Writing and Careers-Coaching companies. The team of Certified Professional Federal and Military Resume Writers at CPG assist thousands of clients in applying for and gaining employment each year. We can help you land your military to civilian job. |
6 Things Employers Wish Veterans Understood About Salary
by Sultan Camp First of all, if you're looking for an article that will tell you that you begin the process of figuring out salary based on what you're “worth,” read no further. This post is written for those military professionals who really want to know in a frank, candid way how to handle money talk in their transition from the military. Most service members have never had to negotiate their compensation and benefits, and those who may have done so aren’t familiar with the current industry trends. So the purpose of this article is to share the six things you need to know about negotiating your salary so you don't blow that dream job opportunity as you hang the uniform up.
1. Don't You Dare Start with “As Long as I Can Maintain My Current Standard of Living…”One of the first questions I ask as a candidate recruiter is “How much are you looking to make?” And, without a shadow of a doubt, the most frequent answer is “The same amount that I make right now.” While this gives me a starting point as a recruiter to determine which jobs may be a good fit, it generally means that the job seeker has some homework to do. For some reason, a lot of folks like to have trained, accredited professionals do everything except give them an accurate assessment of their financial picture. This is an absolute must-do as you transition. You can get one at no cost at your local FFSC if you're in the Navy or at your local military Family Service Center and save the $500+ that civilians pay for a similar service. This takes the guesswork out of your salary range, as well as your insurance and benefits needs, especially with regard to the minimum levels needed. It gives you a practical “walk away” figure that will enable you to refuse an offer because you know that you won't be able to make ends meet. Generally, I suggest that only you (and your spouse) know this figure.
2. Companies Don't Care About What You Think You're Worth So Much as What They’ve Budgeted for the PositionWith the abundance of resources on the Web today, there's absolutely no excuse for not knowing what the average salary ranges are for your given industry and your level of expertise. As a military candidate recruiter, I can provide “real-world” insight because I know what employers are willing to pay for candidates with a certain type of background. However, if you're conducting your job search on your own, you need to know these figures. As a matter of fact, a lot of online job applications mandate the salary field be filled out (and no, “negotiable” is not allowed). Don't start with those military compensation calculators because that's putting the cart before the horse. Instead, start with websites such as Glassdoor, Payscale or Salary.com to find out what companies are paying for your type of position.
3. Understand the Dynamics of the Local Labor Market If You (or Your Spouse) Don't Want to MoveBy this I mean that Economics 101 applies here. High supply of military labor ÷ limited jobs = significantly less salary. Not so long ago, when the defense budget was very well-funded, jobs in high military concentration areas paid very well. The multitude of jobs and high wages made transitioning into the civilian sector a painless process. We’ve all heard of that person who left the uniform on Friday and went to work the next Monday in a suit making twice as much. These days, with a mandate by the general population to curb federal spending, not only are the salaries in those previously lucrative contracting jobs greatly reduced; the number of job opportunities themselves have dwindled. Service members who are transitioning and will soon be job seekers acknowledge that they know they'll be paid less in areas such as Hampton Roads, San Diego, Jacksonville, etc., but I believe that many don't understand the full ramification of this (see point #1). Ironically, many of us would avoid high-cost-of-living areas when it comes to our next duty station to go where we would be compensated in a more comfortable fashion.
4. Before You Even Think About Negotiating Your Salary, Understand the Dynamics at PlayThe numbers are stacked against you in the hiring process, and a hiring manager may be looking at 25 candidates for their job opening. Understand that if you are 1 of the 3 invited back for the second interview and offered the job, the employer wants you to be happy and, more importantly, say yes. Because recruiters know your salary range beforehand and match you only with those opportunities that fall within your parameters, the same applies. If you do believe that there's room for negotiation, ask if there's any “wiggle room” in the offer. However, be careful, because you may potentially screen yourself out of an opportunity. Remember that the employer is taking a huge risk by bringing you on board (especially at a higher level).
5. Understand That Salary Negotiation is Like Buying a CarLet's suppose for a minute that you wanted a base model econo-car just to get you around town. If the car salesman tried to convince you to buy the fully loaded model the moment you walked onto the dealer's lot, you'd quickly reject them outright, correct? However, if the salesman agreed to show you the base model, take it for a test drive and find out more about your driving habits, commuting routes and suggested additional features that would matter to you, you may consider paying more than you had initially planned for an upgraded model. The same principle applies to the salary discussion. Don't be afraid to start off with a lower figure if pressed during the interviewing stage to disclose what your figure is. However, pay close attention to what the employer is looking for in terms of duties, responsibilities and the number of people you'd be expected to manage, and try to highlight your “features” to build your value to the hiring manager.
6. Understand That Salary Negotiation is Nothing like Buying a CarThere’s a misconception among military professionals that civilians are out to pay them at the lowest possible level—like car dealerships aim to get the most out of your wallet. While this may be true for less-reputable employers (which you should avoid anyway), the majority of companies are keenly aware of what their competitors' compensation and benefits packages look like and look to pay their employees comparably. If they weren't, they would be in a perpetual hiring mode (which, if you haven't noticed yet, is quite expensive). My point is: resist the temptation to “win” while you negotiate your salary. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Negotiate in good faith based on your needs as identified in step 1, because—unlike buying that car and never dealing with that salesperson again—you'll likely be working with, and potentially for, the person who is extending a job offer to you. Remember that you're taking your transition seriously by being proactive. (Heck, you're reading this article, aren’t you?) So keep these ideas in mind, do your preparation, and you'll not only find a job that's a great fit for your skills and background, but you'll walk away knowing you were better-prepared to handle the discussion about salary. This post originally appeared on Career Attraction. |
The New Rules for Successful Job Search Today© Copyright, 2016, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved. The new rules for a successful job search are not difficult to understand or to follow. But, these rules have changed substantially from those in the past. Most of the reason for these changes is that employers recruit in new ways. Those changes in recruiting, largely focused on new and increased use of technology, have dramatically changed the unwritten rules we have always followed for finding a new job. Five New Rules for Successful Job SearchTo understand what works today for successful job search, follow the new rules below. 1. Be easy to find and hire.Recruiters are in a hurry. Most internal recruiters are typically measured on “time-to-hire” or “time-to-fill” metrics — how fast they fill the jobs they have open. If it is not clear who you are (avoid name confusion with someone else) or that you are actually qualified for their job, they don’t have time to figure it out. They move on to the next candidate. Solution: Your qualifications need to be clear and obvious, easy for people in a hurry to see with very little effort. Keep your resumes and applications focused on the opportunity you are seeking.
For more information, read How to Get Noticed by External Recruiters and To Be Hired, Be Found Where Recruiters Look. To avoid name confusion, read Ego Surfing or Smart Self-Defense. 2. Don’t be generic.I’ve talked with so many job seekers who “don’t want to be pigeon-holed.” They are “open to anything” and “don’t want to limit my options.” They believe that being flexible offers them more opportunities. These are the folks who use a vague identity like “Marketing Professional” or “Unemployed.” This generic approach is a waste of time, energy, and electrons. Those recruiters-in-a-hurry don’t waste their time searching They search for people with a specific job title like a “social media marketing analyst.” They also search for people with specific skills for that job, like someone skilled in “user reach and engagement through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.” Solution: Focus your LinkedIn Profile and resumes on your target job. Yes, pick one NOW! You can change your mind later (and change your LinkedIn Profile and resumes). Focus provides the essential elements needed for success today allowing:
Keywords are how and why you are found by recruiters and employers searching in LinkedIn or their internal applicant tracking system (“ATS”). They are the search terms used by the recruiters and sourcers looking for qualified job candidates. Keywords are NOT generic. They are specific to the opportunity being filled. Those terms — the job titles and skills required for those jobs — are the keywords essential for today. For more information, read To Be Hired, Be Found: Your Best Keywords. 3. Target your job search to specific employers.When you focus your job search only on the open jobs you find on job boards, you face the greatest competition you can possibly have. You also are limited to the jobs and employers in your job board search results. So, too much competition and too narrow a choice of employers. Not good! Solution: If you don’t have a target list of employers, develop it. Now. This list helps you focus your networking and usually makes you more successful.The list can be as large as 20 or 40 potential employers, and can change over time as you learn more about them or find better employers. Start your list by looking around at local employers, asking friends and family, and researching online. Who are the best employees in your area? Once you have a list of target employers, you can focus your networking efforts and research on those employers. You’ll be more successful and more apt to be one of the lucky referred job candidates vs. one of the crowd of job applicants. For more on how to be referred, read To Be Hired, Be Referred for the Job. 4. Don’t be visibly nasty or rude online.Too many people seem to think that the famous First Amendment to our Constitution — which guarantees “freedom of speech” — means they can be as mean, nasty, rude, and profane online as they want with no fear of repercussions. This shows a lack of understanding on many levels. The First Amendment means that the government cannot make a law which limits our speech. It doesn’t mean that other citizens (and non-citizens) cannot judge us by what we make public online — particularly in LinkedIn and other social media. Recent studies have shown that employers do Google job applicants before hiring them. And, if you think the person receiving or viewing rude and nasty comments doesn’t “judge” the perpetrator, you’re completely wrong. Solution: Simply “play nice” as your mother and your grammar school teachers tried to teach you. Being rude and nasty is not usually appealing in a job candidate. In fact, it often eliminates the nasty person from consideration. Who wants to hire and/or work with a nasty person? No one. If you absolutely must be rude, use a different name than the name you use for your job search. 5. Leverage the technology to network.Because networking is the most effective method of finding a job, invest more time in networking than in responding to job ads. Solution: Today, you have many tools to help you with your networking, and technology is a primary solution for most of us. Fortunately, we have many options:
Don’t forget to make yourself find-able on social media, particularly LinkedIn and Facebook so members of your network can find you when they are looking. Bottom LineIt’s too easy to spend time searching through job boards for your next job. All that searching and applying feels productive. But, in most cases, it is a waste of time, and too easy to do sloppily. Follow the new rules to job search success! More About the New Rules for Successful Job SearchTo Be Hired, Be Focused on the Job You Want Express Lane to a New Job: Employee Referral Why Referrals Close the Sale for a Successful Job Search 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+ |
US hiring reaches 9-year high; job openings slip
By: By Christopher S. Rugaber WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. hiring jumped to a nine-year high in February, a sign of robust business demand for new workers, while the number of open positions slipped. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that 5.4 million people found jobs, a 5.8 percent jump from January and the most since November 2006. More Americans also quit their jobs. Both figures point to a healthier, more dynamic labor market. Businesses have been reluctant to accelerate hiring for much of the nearly seven year old recovery. But the raw hiring numbers have now returned to pre-recession levels. That suggests businesses are more confident about the economy's future. Tuesday's figures track total hiring. The monthly jobs report released last week calculates a net total of job gains after subtracting those who quit, retired or were laid off. The latest jobs report showed that employers added a solid 215,000 positions in March, while the unemployment rate rose to 5 percent from 4.9 percent. Yet the increase in the rate occurred mostly for positive reasons: More Americans began hunting for jobs, though not all were immediately hired. That pushed up the number of unemployed, despite the job gain. Employers are adding jobs at a steady clip, even as the economy has shown some signs of slowing. Americans barely increased their spending in February for the third month in a row, holding back growth and pointing to ongoing caution despite the job gains. Many analysts now expect the economy will expand at just a 1 percent annual rate or less in the first three months of this year, after a tepid 1.4 percent increase in last year's fourth quarter. But employers' willingness to fill jobs suggests they see the slowdown as mostly temporary. Cheaper gas and modest wage gains are putting more money in Americans' pockets, which could boost spending and growth in the coming months. The number of people quitting their jobs rose to a healthy 2.95 million in February, though that remained just below December's recent peak. Workers typically quit when they have another job lined up, usually for higher pay. So more quitting is generally a good sign for the economy. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen monitors the hiring and quits figures closely to gauge the job market's health. Some recent data suggests the economy is stabilizing, after slower growth overseas and sluggish spending dragged down growth in the first quarter. Manufacturing expanded in March for the first time in six months, according to a survey of purchasing managers by the Institute for Supply Management. New orders and output grew. And services companies, such as banks, retailers and hotels, grew more quickly in March than the previous month, according to a separate ISM survey. |
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