I was cleaning out my email today and came across this article I’d sent myself. I almost deleted it, but opened it and remembered why I had sent it. I love practical articles that use simple formulas, like this oneon creating an effective Summary on your LinkedIn profile. Enjoy!
Posts By virtuscareers
I Had My Interview. Now What?
The best approach you can take post-interview is a proactive one. Many candidates take the sit-and-wait-to-hear-back approach. Being proactive takes away that helpless feeling of waiting, and also positions you in a positive light to the employer.
Here are 5 things you can do after you’ve had the hiring manager interview (this might be your second interview if you’ve already had an HR phone screen):
1. Follow up
The same day of your interview, send a thank you email to the hiring manager and consider sending a thank you note in the mail. You can ask the recruiter for contact information, or to pass it on if they won’t release it.
A hand-written note is optional in a number of cases. I had a client once tell me written cards would not be viewed positively in a research institution setting, so I told him he should go with that instinct.
When composing your note, if you’re interested in the position, say so. If you’re not, simply thank them for their time. There is no need to send a note of rejection unless you’re faced with an offer. There may be another position you’re interested in some day, so you want to retain positive connections in the company.
The brief email should contain one connection between what you bring to the position and something they mentioned they’re looking for in the selected candidate. Include the connection only if you’re interested in the role.
Example email if you’re not interested:
Dear Ms. Jones,
Thank you for meeting with me to discuss the HR Business Partner position. It was a pleasure to meet you and I truly appreciate your time today.
Best regards,
Jane Doe
Example email if you are interested:
Dear Ms. Jones,
Thank you for your time today to discuss the HR Business Partner position. It was nice to meet you, and also to learn about what you’re seeking to accomplish through this role. After hearing your description of the successful candidate, I’m confident my ability to build strong relationships across an organization and the political savvy to navigate all levels of a company position me as a solid candidate.
I will follow up with you next week to see if you have any questions and to discuss the status of my candidacy.
Best regards,
Jane Doe
Follow up once weekly by email to inquire on the status of the position. During your follow up you might share an interesting article based on something you discussed with the hiring manager, or an article in the news about the employer with a positive comment. I recommend following up a minimum of 4 weeks, and no more than 7.
Dear Ms. Jones,
I hope you are doing well and having a good week. I am following up to express my continued interest in the HR Business Partner role, and to discover the status of my candidacy for the position.
Based on our discussion of the importance of customer service, I thought you’d enjoy this article.
<Insert URL>
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Jane Doe
The exception to the weekly follow up rule is if you’re given a follow up schedule by the hiring manager. For example, if they say please contact me again in two weeks, wait two weeks as directed.
2. Prepare for the salary discussion
Ideally you should research salary prior to applying and interviewing for a position, but if you haven’t completed that step, not to worry. However, you don’t want to be caught unprepared with an offer on the table and no time to research salary information.
Some salary research tools are:
Here are two articles to help prepare you for salary negotiation:
3. Prepare for the next step in the process
If you work in a field where testing is likely, you might consider working on sample projects to be more prepared. For example, if you’re a technical person, and it’s been a while since you’ve interviewed, you could conduct an online search for sample interview tests for your field.
If you’re in marketing, sales, or training, you might be asked to give a presentation. Ensure your presentation skills are up to snuff.
If you work in communications, instructional design, or a field with writing or design samples, ensure you’ve selected something stellar from your portfolio if you’re invited to the next round of interviews. You may have already provided a work sample earlier in the process, but it can’t hurt to bring another.
Some employers provide a scenario and ask candidates to create a proposal, strategy, or solution to aid their final hiring selection. Do your best to research the interview tactics common for the organization you are interviewing with (e.g.www.glassdoor.com), or search common interview formats for your field. This is especially important if it’s been a while since you’ve interviewed, as things change with time.
If you’ve taken personality tests in the past that would illustrate a good fit for the role, offer to share the results.
4. Get ready for references
Be prepared with a list of three professional references. Call or email people that are best suited to provide a reference for this opportunity and ask if they’re willing to provide a positive recommendation for you.
References can be a two-way street. Feel free to ask the employer for references (only if an offer is extended), from people who currently work, or have previously worked, in their department.
5. Make an offer
This approach is not right for everyone and is best suited for certain types of positions, or roles that can be performed as a consultant or contractor.
After meeting with the hiring manager, you could create a proposal that addresses a need they have, your services, the time it will take to complete the services, what results they can expect, and the fees associated with it.
For example, if you notice they could use some help with their LinkedIn or Facebook company page, and you possess these skills, you could submit a proposal to perform value-added services to improve their internet or social media presence.
Alternatively, if during the interview the hiring manager shared something he or she is trying to accomplish through the role, you could submit a one-page proposal outlining how you’d tackle the problem, and request an opportunity to discuss it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have all the details, they’ll be impressed at your initiative.
Be proactive after the interview to ensure you’re better prepared for the next step, demonstrate an action-oriented approach, and set yourself apart from the candidates that are quietly waiting in the wings!
What post-interview steps have you taken that have worked well in the past?
All the best to you!
Interviews with No Offers? 5 Reasons Why.
Not too long ago, I had a prospect contact me because he wasn’t getting job offers. He had impressive experience and was getting a lot of interviews, yet, every opportunity died on the interview table. He assumed he was doing something wrong, but what?
Being a coach I’ve learned to tell hard truths to people, because it’s in their best interest.
Following are some real issues I’ve encountered both as an interviewer, as well as obstacles I’ve helped clients overcome that were getting in the way of their success. The list is not exhaustive, and I welcome your adds in the comments.
1. Carrying anger or resentment forward from a previous position
Were you laid off unfairly, fired by a manager who disposed of you for their personal agenda, or some other disappointing circumstance?
It’s absolutely essential you let it go. Today.
Any root of bitterness in you is detectable in your tone or body language by an interviewer, even if you’re unaware of it. The only way to truly let it go is to forgive the person that wronged you and move on. You’re not doing it for them, you’re doing it for you. Living with resentment or anger toward someone gives them power over you. Don’t give them that control.
2. An off-putting personality trait
The person I was telling you about that wasn’t getting offers? He suspected he was doing something to put people off.
My client’s initial attitude was, “I’m going to be myself and if people don’t like me, too bad. I don’t want to work there if I have to fake who I am to get hired.”
If being likable requires faking, that’s a problem that needs to be addressed.
A woman at a networking event I attended two weeks ago mirrored his sentiment. She said, “People don’t need to like me, we just need to be able to work together.” While not everyone is going to like you, proclaiming you don’t care if people like you suggests that’s something you commonly encounter. Hiring managers have plenty of candidates to choose from that they can work well with… and like.
If you share this attitude, remember, everything happens through people. Expecting others to accommodate a bad attitude when you’re not accommodating what they need from you is an unrealistic expectation. In the long run, it’s more work dealing with the conflict a bad attitude creates in your life than the effort totransform your attitude. Don’t be the reason you don’t succeed.
Some other off-putting personality traits in an interview are arrogance, humble bragging, defensiveness, and lack of confidence.
I’m happy to report I did some interview coaching with my client and the very next interview resulted in an offer. I did, however, provide some tough love on what would be necessary to ensure he retained his employment!
3. Brutal honesty
You always want to be truthful in an interview, but you have to evaluate if some things are wise to share. I once interviewed a woman to whom I asked one area where she felt she needed personal or professional development. She told me she had a really bad temper. I wasn’t keen to experience it. Be honest, but don’t be brutally honest.
4. Your speaking style: Mumblers, fast or slow talkers
Many interviews start with a phone screen. I once did telephone coaching with a client I struggled to understand because he mumbled. One day I asked him, “Has anyone ever given you feedback that it’s difficult to understand you over the phone? You mumble, and also speak very rapidly, and I can see this being a obstacle for you– especially for a phone interview.”
No one had spoken truth to this man about his mumbling. Simple awareness of his issue enabled him to speak more clearly and slow down. After more than a year of unemployment he landed a job in under a month.
Rate of Speech
University of Michigan researchers have found people who talk really fast are seen as out to pull the wool over our eyes, while people who talk really slow are seen as not too bright, or tiresome. It is especially important not to speak too fast if you have an accent that differs from the interviewer. Practice answering interview questions with people who are willing to tell you the truth if you’re speaking too fast, or too slow.
5. Rambling
I once interviewed a guy who spent 25-minutes of a 30-minute phone screen answering only the first question I asked. I writhed in pain in my chair, and the only thought going through my head was that weekly one-on-one’s would be torture with this guy.
Rambling can be caused by nervousness, lack of preparedness, a misguided notion that the interviewer requires every detail of your story, or unfamiliarity with best practices for answering interview questions.
One way to avoid rambling is to use the STAR technique to ensure succinct answers to questions, explained here. You should also prepare a list of your top performance results to link to what the employer seeks in the job description. Step-by-step instructions are found here.
It is vitally important to have a coachable spirit and openness to feedback. If you’ve had several interviews and they’re not converting to an offer, I recommend participating in mock interviews, and seeking feedback to determine if you’re erring in any of these ways. It may just be that other candidates were more qualified, but it can’t hurt to be sure.
All the best to you!
Resumes Employers Want to See
You’ve heard it before with varied statistics: People spend anywhere from 7 to 30 seconds looking at your resume. As a hiring-manager-turned-career-coach, I want to share two simple tips to increase the effectiveness of your resume by thinking like the employer.
There’s a ton of advice floating around on getting your resume noticed: results, results, results, short bullets that don’t wrap to a second line, font, white space, results, etc. That’s all true, and important.
Let’s pause and remember that employers scan resumes. Why? It’s not just that they’re busy. Their brain is doing a matching exercise in the most efficient way it knows how: It’s performing a key word search aligned to their needs.
Help them find what they’re looking for!
First, print the job description and highlight the key requirements you meet.
Incorporate the verbiage they use in the job description into your resume for everything that is true of you.
Don’t embellish.
Language matters because it’s integral to the organization. If you mirror their language, your resume will resonate and form an opinion of stronger alignment and fit.
For example, if you have experience on your resume with Risk Managementand they’re asking for Risk Mitigation, change Management to Mitigation. If your resume says Process Improvement and they indicate Process Effectiveness, adjust your resume to match their language. You get the idea.
One very important note: You don’t want to re-write, verbatim, the job description under your experience, you just want to pull out powerful key words. The resume should align, not plagiarize.
For example:
If the job description requirement states:
- Ensuring ongoing Enterprise Architecture compatibility
Your resume might state:
- Established best practices while ensuring existingenterprise architecture compatibility
Next, reorder your experience to match their priorities.
The employer is revealing something subtly, yet not so subtly, in the job description: What is most important to them.
The most central requirements of the available position will be listed first. Ensure your matching experience is ordered accordingly. If strong stakeholder relationship management is the first requirement they list, ensure it’s not the last bullet listed in your experience.
To create an even more powerfully aligned resume, you might consider removing items from your resume that are completely unrelated, unless it’s a very impressive result.
These simple steps will help the employer’s brain create a strong connection between you and what they need.
All the best to you!
Bypass HR and Get Connected Directly to Hiring Managers
Applying for jobs online can be frustrating. Job-seekers often tell me they feel they’re submitting their resume into a black hole, and wonder if anyone even received it.
At a career workshop I was facilitating today, a participant told me she’d applied for a job and it was eight weeks before she heard confirmation her application was received. When you’re looking for a job, waiting two months for initial contact is not ideal.
On average, a company with 1,000 employees receives 100,000 employment applications annually. Adding your resume to the pile is not your best approach.
A friend of mine was job searching using a conventional online search and application process. After a month, and more than 17 applications with custom cover letters submitted, not a single response was received.
I suggested using the approach I’m about to share with you, and, in the same dayshe tried it she received three emails from people in companies she was targeting. She ended up meeting for lunch with one of those people, who then passed her information along deeper into the company, and she’s now a finalist for the position she was targeting.
As a side bar, the person she had lunch with told her his company wouldn’t have likely contacted her, because they don’t hire people without an inside connection.
Here is one way to approach this process:
Step 1: Research and Target Companies
Research companies that have the type of role you’re interested in. For example, I might use the career exploration tool O*net Online. If you’re an IT Project Manager, search “IT Project Manager” and then click a job title in the search results, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Find Jobs” to see companies in your desired area that are hiring. If you already know the companies you’re targeting, skip this step.
In my example search result, there are currently 581 IT Project Manager jobs posted in North Carolina. I can narrow and expand my search for a target location.
Step 2: Assess Your Connections
Let’s say Microsoft is a company of interest for an IT Project Manager role.
Go to the LinkedIn home page and enter “Microsoft” in the search box and click “People who work at Microsoft.”
In the search results, check if you have any 1st connections that currently work at Microsoft (you can also check for additional 1st connections by selecting people who used to work at Microsoft, as a back up).
If you do have a 1st connection and you are acquainted with them, send them a Message and ask if they’re willing to connect you with others they know within Microsoft that would know people in Project Management.
You’d be surprised how people within the target company will continue forwarding your information along until you end up in the right place.
If you don’t have 1st connections, look at your 2nd connections and expand theshared connections hyperlink (shown below) to see who you know that is connected to each 2nd connection you have.
The search results show how many 2nd connections you have (second red arrow). In the screenshot below, you can see I have 758 2nd connections and one 1st connection to Microsoft. Ideally, you want to identify 2nd connections that aremost closely related to the department or business unit you’re seeking and the person who connects you to this person is someone who has a favorable opinion of you.
Step 3: Write a Network Blurb and Ask Your Connection to Share it
Ask your 1st connection to contact the person they are connected with to ask them if they’d be willing to have an exploratory conversation with you. Make it easy for your contact by providing them with a networking blurb about you so they don’t have to conjure something to say about you.
Using the Microsoft example, I’ve written a networking blurb that states:
- The type of role I’m seeking
- Why I want to work at their company
- What I’m asking of them to do for me
“I am currently seeking to join the Microsoft team as an IT Project Manager. I have 7+ years of experience managing large IT projects such as a company-wide CRM platform upgrade which was installed on time and within budget. I am interested in working at Microsoft because of the strong commitment to continuous learning and growth of its associates. Would you be willing to have a 30 minute networking conversation with me about your experience working for Microsoft?”
You’d be surprised at the high percentage of people who say yes to this request. I network my clients regularly and I have not been declined yet. Keep in mind:
- I don’t refer people who are low potential or a poor fit for a position. Don’t ask this of people if you aren’t qualified.
- I don’t refer people I can’t reasonably vouch for
- I’m careful not to ask the same person repeatedly, or frequently
You increase your chances of landing a position by 42 times when networking.
If you have a great networking story using this method, I’d love to hear it!
All the best to you!
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Kristin A. Sherry 