Cv for Interviews

Archive for the ‘Interview Tips’ Category

A lot of research has been made about the interviewing process.

Here is a brief run-through:

First, you make a schedule for the interview.
Then, you are there in the office and you are seen by the interviewee.
The interview itself then transpires.
Next is the closing, then you follow-up with a thank-you-note.
You eventually get accepted and you discuss, negotiate for and signup
the job offer.
You may notice that the interviewing takes up a great deal of the
getting-hired process, so you might as well polish up your interviewing
skills on your way to getting that dream job.

You may find it hard to use networking to find a job if you can’t rely on
your warm contacts to give you the information you need. At times,
you would have to ask your warm contacts to refer you to at least two
people that they know who will be able to give you the information you
needed.
However, there are times that your warm contact, particularly those
who don’t know you well, may not readily provide you with the
information. Some of your warm contacts may feel reluctant about
vouching for you to their other contacts.
Because of this, you may find it difficult to use your network. To make
networking and getting referrals an easy task for you, here are a few
tips.
* Nurture your warm contacts.
Before you even need your warm contacts or before you even
ask for help, keep in touch with your warm contacts. You may
send notes or greetings from time to time, call to “catch up” on
them, invite them to lunch, be interested or help in their
business or do anything just to cultivate your connection with
them.
In this way, by the time you need help, they can remember you
and can more readily give information about their other contacts
that will be able to help you.
* Be polite.
Since you might not have close personal relationships with some
of your valuable warm contacts, it is inappropriate to just give
them a call and ask them for information about your field of
interest.
Sometimes, sending a note in advance, or asking to meet them
for lunch is a better way to ask for their help.
* Listen to them.
Most of the time, even if your warm contact knows little in the
field where you are trying to find a job, they might offer you
advice. Be polite and interested in what they are saying. Who
knows, the information that they are giving may be valuable to
you in the future.
There are times that your warm contacts may be telling you tips
on what manner will work best when you talk to the persons to
whom you are being referred. Your warm contacts may also
imply what qualities and qualifications the person is looking for.
* Ask for at least two referrals.
Before you ask for referrals, make sure that your warm contact had
said everything that he or she can say about your field of interest.
Even if they know little about that field, it is impolite if you cut them
short while they are speaking to ask if they know somebody who will
be able to help you.
If they weren’t able to refer you to at least one of their contacts,
thoughtfully ask them why they couldn’t do so. They may give you
answers that may include indirect comments or suggestions. They
may also indicate a lack of confidence in your work strategy. If this is
so, you may have to make follow ups with them to prove that you are
indeed credible and match their requirements.
However, there are also times when they can’t refer you to their
contacts because they just don’t know anybody who might have the
information or might be interested in the product.
In this case, ask them to keep their eyes open for opportunities that
you might be interested in. You can also leave with them copies of
your resume.
* Just ask for two referrals.
Two referrals are enough from each warm contact. This is to have
another option in case the first one didn’t work out. Asking for more
than two referrals could be impolite as it can take much time from
your warm contact. Also, that will make your warm contact feel that
you are relying mostly on him or her for your job search. So, unless
they volunteer the information, don’t ask for more than 2 referrals.
* Contact referrals as soon as possible.
When your warm contacts give you referrals, there are times that they
also call these people personally to give more information about you.
On the other hand, when you contact the people to whom you were
referred, your referrals may call your warm contacts to verify the
information or to ask more information about you.
Either way, you have to contact your referrals soon enough that these
people can still remember their conversation with your warm contact,
or your warm contact can still remember that you have talked.
At times, after your referrals were called by your warm contacts, they
anticipate your call and even prepare questionnaires and exams for
you to take. Do not waste this opportunity by delaying follow-up on
referrals.
Keeping these tips in mind will be able to help you in asking for good
referrals from your warm contacts.

If you are still in the job search process, it is extremely important to follow up on all contacts. It is not good to just sit and wait for results
to come pouring in when you think that you’ve already done your part because your contact information has been distributed.
Consider two men applying for a prime position at a company. After the interview, the first applicant just sits around waiting to hear from
his prospective employer.

On the other hand, the second applicant distributes his contact information to some people that he met in the company. Furthermore,
applicant number two does a follow-up on the results of the job interview a few days later. The first applicant has not been heard from,
because he just relies on the basic “We’ll call you” routine. Who do you think will have a greater chance of getting the job?
Even though the first applicant is more qualified, since he did not follow up or even send a thank you note to the interviewer, in the end,
he does not get the job.

If you are still waiting for that job offer and you do not follow up on your contacts, your chances of getting hired become slimmer. In
business, following up on all of your contacts is a sure-fire way to spread the word about you, your business sense and expanding your
horizons.

Usually when you are looking for a job, you would ask for help from
family and friends. You would contact these people to ask for
information on current job openings, business opportunities and tips.
Your family, relatives and friends belong to your warm contact list.
The warm contact list is the list of people with whom you have or had
some personal association. A former classmate, officemate or
neighbor may belong to your warm contact list.

Who may be included in your warm contact list? Here are a number of selections.
* Relatives and Friends
These people are always willing to help you in your job search or
business venture. They will be able to provide you information if they
have some, or refer you to trustworthy people who will be able to help
you. If they will introduce you to some of their contacts, they can
surely provide honest information to you regarding the person you are
going to associate with.
* Members of the church, political party, social club or fraternity or
sorority

You probably did not expect it, but people who share the same faith,
beliefs or hobbies may also help you with finding a job. You may have
a different career from theirs, but they might know somebody who is
in the same field or will be able to help you in your career.

Once the application has been sent and the resume has been received the next thing that would possibly happen is that the employer will be
calling to test communication skills by means of an interview. Allowing oneself to be given the option on which employer is best fitting the
applicant is one characteristic of being pro-active. Consider being called by multiple employers for a job interview in a day a good sign.
This only means that they were really impressed with the documents submitted, therefore, deserving a personal communication on how
most likely an applicant would land on the job.

Resumes can present an individual very well. Seventy-five per cent of employers say that applicants with resumes passing their standards
would definitely be invited for a job interview. Allow two or more interviews.

When you are looking for a specific type of job, it may be in your best interest to
seek the services of employment agencies and job banks that handle that specific
line of work. Sometimes they are defined more specific while others are more
general. For example, if you are a paralegal looking for employment, you may wish
to seek an employment agency that specializes in either legal employment or
professionals. Sometimes you may find something that is more refined while other
times you may have to look at something on a wider scale.

When the opportunity is available you should always work with employment
agencies and job banks that specialize in the type of work you seek. This will give
you a better scope of what is available in your field and help you find the job that is
perfect for you easier and quicker. If youre looking for a job as an engineer, you
dont want to have to sort through thousands of advertisements for chemists or
administrative assistants. The fact that the job banks allow you to filter your
searches is a great advantage but most employment agencies do not allow that and
are unable to tell you if they even have more jobs in one field than another.
Your local newspaper is one source that will allow you to see advertisements only
for the field in which you have an interest. On the other hand, it does not provide
enough information for you to know if a particular advertisement is worth your
time. Many newspaper advertisements do not list the employers name or the
salary, and it is not advisable to ask for the salary during the interviewjobinterviewing
protocol indicates you should wait until a job offer occurs if the
employer does not volunteer the information during the interview.
When you look at all of the possibilities, it indicates that your best sources are
those that specialize in specific fields. This may not always be possible but when
these specialty agencies and job boards are available you should certainly make
use of them. The less time you have to spend looking for a job the better your
chances will be of finding the job that is perfect for you in the least amount of time
possible. Look at it as your time being money and the longer it takes to find a job
the more of your time is spent and thus more money is lost.

Prior to looking for the specific job that would be the best fit for you,
learn how to effectively market your talents. This will help you gauge
the possibility of landing the job you want.

First, skills and interests should be evaluated personally. Jotting down
a list would definitely be the best way to define your capabilities;
second, to know your limitations. There are jobs that are too
demanding that might not work for you, or jobs that you may be
overly qualified for; and third, planning the time as soon as there is an
inner instinct that tells you that you are ready and qualified.
Once this has been done, go to companies and prospective employers
early in the morning for this will give them a good impression and for
the applicant, a time to complete the process the application if lucky.
Remember, the early bird catches the worm.

The very first thing that needs to be done when looking for a job is to
prepare an impressive resume as we discussed in a previous chapter.
The resume will depend on the type of job being applied for. There
are times when certain employers require curriculum vitae and even a
cover letter or letter of intent. Every professional job you apply for
expects to receive a well written resume.
After preparing the documents needed for application, the next thing
that should follow is finding vacancies for new hires. Searching using
the Internet will be very helpful for this activity. There are sites that
provide this assistance like HotJobs, America’s Job Bank, and Monster
that utilizes resources and convenience for people to look for jobs.

There are two parts to the perfect job: obtaining it and keeping it. Its easy enough
to get hired for the job of your dreams but being able to keep that job for the long
haul is another story. With such an up and down turn in the economy over the
years many companies are downsizing and even the best people are losing their
jobs. How is it that some people are terminated while others manage to keep their
jobs? Is there something special that separates those people from the others?
One reason some people keep their jobs while others around them are being
downsized is their dedication. For some people a job is just a job and those are
usually the first ones to be eliminated when there is the need to cut staff.
Companies have a tendency to keep those employees who are dedicated, loyal and
put forth a little extra effort to get the job done. These are the people are receive
recognition for their efforts and are the first ones to be considered for a promotion.
You must become one of those dedicated people if you want to not only obtain the
perfect job but also keep it throughout a struggling economy.

Although there is never a guarantee you will keep your job, the harder you work
and the more dedicated you are the better the chances are that you will still being
sitting at your desk when others have been terminated. In places where no union
enforces the rules, the newest person is not necessarily the first person to go but
rather the person who has the least amount of dedication and loyalty to the
company. This person comes in on time and leaves on time seldom working
overtime while the dedicated employee may even come in early or stay late without
recording the time, especially when work needs completed and there is no budget
for overtime.

You invested a lot of time and effort into obtaining your perfect jobnow you want
to use that same effort and dedication to keep your job and rise to higher levels.
Develop your own standards rather than following what others around you are
doing. Put worth the effort that you feel is right for you and dont pay attention to
what anyone else thinks you should do. The choices you make will determine
whether you are the person who stays or goes when your company needs to make
staffing cuts.

There’s a little Girl Scout on the street carrying boxes of different flavored cookies, timidly trying to knock on her neighbors’ doors
worried that somehow she’ll be booed out and that doors would just slam shut on her face after offering her cookies for just a few cents?
Such a pitiful sight eh?

But imagine what this little girl could be feeling even before approaching doors. Will they know that she is on official business and
would just be selling cookies for the good of humanity? Will she be able to speak her rehearsed cookie scripts? Will she make her first
order?
Little that we know that a lot of grown ups, even professional salesmen, experience anxiety the idea of making their own cold call.
Its so normal to feel butterflies hitting big time up and down your belly, that just thinking of making the call (whether personal or
business) would even want to make you throw up. But, let me give you the exact explanation of what a cold call means.
A cold call is a personal call, it can be a visit or phone call to someone you know a little or someone whom you really don’t know. The main
reason for the call is that you are selling something for personal or official business.

Others think that a cold call is only being made to total strangers, taken from phonebooks or referrals from other persons. On the
contrary, this cold call can be made to someone you already know or to a prospect you’re already familiar with. It can be someone you met
last month at a party or maybe a friend introduced him to you before and you found him to be a good prospect to sell the product. But still,
contacting someone you know breaks the ice for a moment. Try to narrow your prospects at first where you feel comfortable, once you’ve
mastered the technique that’s the time you can move on to a more challenging prospects you never even thought of approaching.
The ordeal that you have to go through first is making that personal, meaning one on one, physical appearance or telepresence. This can
make you so tense that you feel like quitting everything. There are even cold calls that make you feel like you will disappear in a heartbeat.

Even professionals like doctors, lawyers and professors feel the same, which is why they depend on friends or clients’ referrals for fear of
losing their dignity and good name after making an unsuccessful cold call. One deep breath can help do the trick.

Nothing can be as uncomfortable as prospecting someone for your cold call. The fear of being shouted at or making a fool out of yourself, are
roadblocks and keep you from selling. This can be overcome with the right attitude together with guarded planning, preparation and if
possible – Training. Believe it or not, salesmanship is possible for everyone.

Here are some tips on following up on your contacts if you are already in business:

* Send thank you notes to current and future customers. This
rule does not just apply to people applying for a job. This is
much more helpful for those who are already in business, as a
simple thank you note would remind customers of which
company they are dealing with and your brand name will be
imprinted on their minds. This practice should send more
business your way.
* Send follow up messages. If you are in sales, it is good to
follow up on existing buyers who are most likely to purchase
your products again.

You might also want to personalize any correspondence that you
send out as this leaves the customers feeling as if they know you
personally. This should lead you to earning their trust, which in
turn leaves the customer feeling secure that you are handling
efficiently whatever business it is that they throw your way.
* Make sure that you follow up swiftly and promptly. The rule of
thumb is to reply fast, fast, fast. Whether it is a solution to a
problem or sending out an order or replying to a letter,
responding quickly to a customer is the easiest way for them to
think of you and your company in a positive way.