Category Archives: Interview

August 18, 2016 · 9:45 am

Recruiting to Broaden the Applicant Pool

One of the best ways to change up your work groups and increase the diversity of your company is to use external recruiters and I am not just saying that because I am an external recruiter.
When you work with someone outside your company, you are focused on describing what the new person is going to do and where they fit into the greater scheme of things.
Your talk about the activities and leadership style, their technical knowledge and priorities.

The external recruiter does not know that people in your organization all went to Stanford and all play broom ball.

So they hit the candidate marketplace and start talking about your company and the great things that are happening and within a few weeks, you have a new group of candidates who would not have applied to your posting or been a part of your employees’ networks.

There is gong to be some fresh new thinking in that group. It can be a pretty interesting experience to interview someone who understands the role but is from a different environment.

They have credibility but none of the baggage. This can be a tremendous help with innovation based roles or where a group has become a bit stagnant.

The key is to keep an open mind when you are interviewing. Review your questions before hand. Be sure to remove things that contain company specific acronyms or personalities.  

When you find the gem and hire them, Make sure you have a very inclusive on-boarding process. Hiring managers and peers alike sometimes need to be reminded that even though someone can’t play broom ball, they still contribute some great ideas.  

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June 2, 2016 · 9:43 am

Is it okay to Laugh in a Job Interview?

I had a good discussion with one of my friends this week about using humour at work, especially when you are new in a group or organization.  That got me thinking about humour in an interview setting.

An interview is like a first date.  You are listening and answering to see if there is a fit, to see if you get along.  Do you relate to the same things?  Do you share a common language or way of speaking?

There certainly can be some shared laughter in that kind of conversation but be careful it’s not nervous humour.  High pitched giggles and bathroom humour are definitely out.

If you are going to say something that you think is funny, check your gut first – is it respectful and professional?  There is definitely no room for sarcasm in an interview.  Even if the hiring manager seems to be okay with throwing out some barbs, don’t do it.  Sarcasm is mean and even if it’s delivered in a funny way, it can still hurt someone’s feelings.

If the interviewer says something that seems funny to you, check their face before you burst out laughing.  If their eyes and mouth are not warm and smiling, perhaps it is not funny to them.  Definitely avoid laughing if they are not laughing.  This can be very awkward.

So tread carefully and pay attention.

And disregard this whole thing if you are interviewing at a Comedy Club.

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March 10, 2016 · 9:43 am

Keep it Fresh – Great Interview Stories

I heard a great expression this week:  “We change our teams every three months to keep things from getting calcified.”

Calcified.

What a great description.  When things are in this state, they are steady and stable but only creative or dynamic if you are will to wait for a couple hundred years.

This is not an ideal way to describe what you do or why you are so good at it.  I am not saying that you need to treat an interview like a stand up comedy performance but you do need to make sure that your examples sound fresh and interesting.

The best way to do this is to practice.  Pick five or six situations that really show your mettle.  Think about how to set the stage, describe the players, the problem or situation and the resolution.  Once you have those details laid out, grab a friend and practice telling the story.

Have them make notes on your delivery, the brightness of your eyes, how often you smiled and most importantly, how long it took.

Despite my uncle who can always “make a long story short”, examples need to crisp and clear and told in 2-3 minutes.  If they take longer, you run the risk of forgetting the question and that is super embarrassing.

This is not unlike preparing to give a toast at a wedding or doing a presentation at work.  You have a couple of lines that are proven winners to warm up the audience and then you get to the real stuff.  By then, people are hanging on the what you have to say.

Final tip:  if you can’t find a friend willing to listen to your practice, then take the hint and sign up for Toastmasters.

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September 10, 2015 · 9:45 am

Interview Prep – the Key to Success

Imagine you have just gotten off the phone with your recruiter. You got the interview! But instead of being excited, you feel like you are going to throw up.
How do you harness all that nervous energy and all those great ideas swirling around in your head so that you appear focussed and confident?
Think of the interview as an audition or a tryout. Think about how you used to prepare for those when you were in high school. How did you get ready for the community theatre audition or tryouts for your rec hockey team?

Research
You probably talked to someone who knew the coach or someone who has worked with the director before. It’s good to find out about their style or particular hot buttons before you are face to face with them.

Prepare

Consider the role you are trying out for. What kinds of skills and experience are listed in the job posting? Obviously you have some of those things or you would not have gotten this far.

Develop examples of the top three or four skills required. Where did you perform this skill? For whom? What did the team look like? Were you successful? What did you learn?

Practice

Success at an interview is just like success in any sport or performance. It comes from practice. Do not underestimate this. Winging it based on your charm and relaxed attitude will not work. You can really only pull off the relaxed look if you are super comfortable with your material and that only happen if you practice. Tell your stories to your friends and your spouse and when they are sick of hearing you talk, use the recording app on your phone.

Last bit of advice: check your teeth and your fly on the way in to the interview. Discovering a poppyseed in your teeth when you are back in the car, is a cruel way to finish a great conversation.

Good luck!

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Filed under career change, Interview, Job Search

July 9, 2015 · 9:43 am

Humour and the Job Interview – Tread Lightly

I had a good discussion with one of my friends this week about using humour at work, especially when you are new in a group or organization.  That got me thinking about humour in an interview setting.

An interview is like a first date.  You are listening and answering to see if there is a fit, to see if you get along.  Do you relate to the same things?  Do you share a common language or way of speaking?

There certainly can be some shared laughter in that kind of conversation but be careful it’s not nervous humour.  High pitched giggles and bathroom humour are definitely out.

If you are going to say something that you think is funny, check first – is it respectful and professional?  There is definitely no room for sarcasm in an interview.  Even if the hiring manager seems to be okay with it or throwing out some barbs, don’t do it.  Sarcasm is mean and even if it’s delivered in a funny way, it can still hurt someone’s feelings.

If the interviewer says something that’s funny to you, check their face before you burst out laughing.  If their eyes and mouth are not warm and smiling, perhaps it is not funny to them.  Definitely avoid laughing if they are not laughing.  This can be very awkward.

So tread carefully and pay attention.

And disregard this whole thing if you are interviewing at a Comedy Club.

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April 2, 2015 · 9:40 am

Spring Cleaning for your Network

This weekend marks the practical beginning of spring. I know it was a couple of weeks ago on the calendar but I can still see my breath in the mornings so it’s not here yet.

Spring is when we think about cleaning, decluttering and generally freshening things up.  This should not include just your living room, fridge or stinky, salt stained car but also your network.

Yes, I said network.

I am not saying you should unfriend people in droves however, once in a while, you need to take a look at your network to see if it reflects your needs. Your network is a bit like insurance.  You really only learn about the consequences of choosing the cheap plan when you get into an accident and realize what is not covered.  

You don’t want to figure out that your network is made up of mostly peers from the same company or industry when there is a downturn in that business.  You will all be moping at the same time.  Not helpful.

Here is what really drove this home for me:  Justin Bieber.  Seriously.  We watched his roast on Comedy Central this week.  It was hilarious (on many levels) but what struck me was the diversity of the people willing to go on tv to roast the kid.

You might expect comics like Kevin Hart and musicians like Ludacris.  They are his natural, industry network.  They probably go to the same parties and award shows and have  a lot in common.

Guess who else was on the stage?  Shaquille O’Neil, Snoop Dog and, wait for it, Martha Stewart.

No matter that they were only there to make fun of him.  That’s not the point.  The point is that they were willing to expose themselves by telling jokes about him to a live audience.  

That is a powerful network.  With that kind of diversity, Justin should be able to steer clear of all kinds of career obstacles.  He should be able to use them to evaluate opportunities and get doors opened for new ideas.

So, who would do your roast?  Can you pull together people from difference industries and backgrounds?  Do they know enough about you to tell some stories?  

Forget cleaning the fridge.  Spruce up your network instead.

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Filed under career change, Interview, Networking

March 19, 2015 · 9:43 am

How to Deal with Oddball Interview Questions

There has been a lot of chatter on the internet this week about interview questions, particularly, the weird and crazy ones.  I think it stems from a new report that was released by  Glassdoor. You can read it here.

It is pretty easy to get worked up before an interview and worrying about off the wall questions won’t help.

Here’s a bit of a perspective:

Hiring managers are interested in what you have done and how that will solve their problems.  They need to ask the kinds of questions that will reveal that information.  While they are listening to your responses, they are considering your communication style and how that will fit in with their group/team/customers.

They may have a list of expected responses or a matrix to score what they hear from you.  This stuff is pretty straightforward.  If you are being interviewed for an HR role and you are in construction, it will be tricky but if you are in HR now, it should be pretty smooth.

Forward thinking companies may also be considering what you could do and how you could contribute after you have mastered the tasks you are hired for.  Sometimes this can lead too slightly more hypothetical “what would you do if….” type questions.

These are typically more open ended.  There is no real way to prepare for these except to make sure that the stress of the situation does not cause your brain to freeze up and your mouth to run on.

In these questions, make sure you listen to the whole question and then pause for a moment to gather your thoughts.  This should prevent you from running off on a half assed tangent.

If you find your words trickling off and you can’t remember the point you were making, the only recovery is to say “Was there anything else you wanted to know?”  I don’t think there is any other way out of that.

Tips:

  • Research the company and its products and services
  • Check sites like glassdoor for additional info
  • Practice talking about what you do using full sentences.

So, it’s okay for Google and Apple to ask off the wall questions because if they have selected you to interview, you probably think like that too.

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March 12, 2015 · 9:43 am

Smiles for the Job Seeker

Being a job seeker is not all sunshine and roses.  Sometimes we just need a laugh to break up the repetitive job listings on LinkedIn and the “thanks but no thanks” emails.

Here a few lines might cheer you up a little.  Even a small grin will make a better day.

  • I just lost my job as a Psychic. I did not see that coming.
  • I love being a maze designer. I get completely lost in my work..
  • Inspecting mirrors is a job I could really see myself doing.
  • Being friends with co-workers is like having pet tigers…. fun in theory but you still wonder when they will turn on you.
  • I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paycheques.
  • Some days, the best thing about my job is that my chair spins.
  • Thanks for the advice about my career. Maybe someday  you will have one of your own.
  • My career plans were much more exciting when I was five.
  • Success is doing what you love and making it a career but I don’t know who will pay me to drink beer while looking at cat pictures.

And finally, put on your headphones and have an interview-fail giggle here. https://youtu.be/2ikXSt4L6BE

Feel free to pass this along to your friends and former colleagues – it might be the best thing they get all day!

 

 

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Filed under career change, Interview, Job Search, Uncategorized

October 16, 2014 · 9:45 am

Take a minute. Take my call.

This week I have spent most of my time talking with candidates who are not looking for new jobs. They have jobs and they like them.

But something compelled them to make some time to hear about the role I am helping my client to fill.

Maybe they found the message compelling. Maybe they were having a bad day. Maybe they were just plain curious. It doesn’t matter why. What matters is that they took a few minutes to explore an opportunity.

It’s all well and good to be happy with your job but how do you know its the best place for you? You only know that by comparing it to other roles in other places.

When recruiters call, its a great chance for you to kick the tires on something new with no obligation. You can assess the role, gauge the compensation package and get a better understanding of the market for your skills.

What if you have a rare, in demand skill set and it feels like you get calls all the time? Then be judicious about which recruiters you engage with but be conscious of the fact that sometimes companies go straight to recruiters. Some roles never get posted on corporate job sites.

I worked with a highly recognizable name brand company in the food and beverage sector and they used our firm for all their marketing positions. They found that when they posted these jobs on their own, they were inundated with hundreds and hundreds of applicants. Sifting through them was just too much.

Recruiters add value in two ways. By posting roles on behalf of clients and by digging into the market to find candidates who might be interested and qualified.

When we reach out to you, it is because we think you have good skills and experience. Only a conversation reveals the rest of the story. So talk to us. You have nothing to lose and solid market intel to gain.

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Filed under career change, Interview, Job Search, Networking, recruiter

October 9, 2014 · 9:43 am

Two Minute Trick for a Better Interview

Today at lunch, I watched an excellent TED talk about power posing.  You can watch the whole thing here but the gist of the presentation was this:  two minutes of standing in a powerful position will cause physical changes in your body that will actually make you feel more powerful and in control.

Amy Cuddy, a Professor and Researcher at Harvard tested this with real humans.  She had them spit in a tube, do a power pose for two minutes, do some gambling and then spit in the tube again.  There was an actual change in the subject’s testosterone and cortisol levels. Testosterone is the “dominance” hormone and cortisol is the “dealing with stress” hormone.   In addition to the physical changes, the posers where more likely to gamble – that’s how sure they felt about themselves.pose 1

It’s not that I want to grow chest hair before an interview, but there is a pretty good chance I will feel more on top of my game and that will cause the interviewer view me as confident and positive.

So, when you arrive for your next meeting or interview, give yourself two minutes in a bathroom stall or in an empty hallway and try one of these poses.

I spoke to several of the strong business development people I know and they said that they always use tricks like this and feel more confident when they go into a pitch or a difficult meeting.

Be careful using this at home. It works on kids but go easy with your spouse.

pose 2

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