Posts Tagged ‘interview coaching’

A recent post on a career industry association e-list sparked quite a discussion about job seeker appearance and hiring standards. An association member came across a job board that caters to “beautiful, skilled and talented people looking for employment” and “employers who are looking to hire beautiful, skilled and talented people.” To access job leads, candidates must first register and upload their photo, which is then rated by visitors and members to determine if the account should be activated or rejected.

Is there no end to the limits some individuals will go to in exploiting the tight job market while making candidates feel less than worthy?

Okay, I will admit that appearance has always been a factor in how candidates are evaluated during the interview. After all, don’t we advise candidates to “look their best” when approaching an employer? We coach clients on what to wear, how to fix their hair and make-up, and what subtle things such as facial hair and fingernail length communicate to an employer. And we talk to clients about how they need “to look the part” to “get the part” – which is what makes some job titles, such as librarian or construction worker,  immediately conjure up images that even the most diplomatic employer has to shake.

Set aside the audaciousness of BeautifulJobSeekers.com and we are still faced with reconciling the impact one’s photo has on their success in landing a job. With the widespread use of social media to match candidates to jobs, are employers - who are trying to comply with EEO regulations - feeling like they need to cover their eyes when reviewing candidate credentials on Facebook, LinkedIn and other online networking sites? Are hungry lawyers lining up to pursue action against employers on behalf of candidates who feel they have been rejected because of their apparent age, race, ethnic background – or heaven forbid, height, weight and eye color!?

I don’t know the answer, but it all makes me a little nervous. As a professional résumé writer, I have always scoffed at competitors who advised clients to include a photo on their résumé, but now I am wondering if I should rethink my position. In a country that seems to have lost its senses to reality TV, entertainment magazines, and viewer-cast ballots for who should be the next “American Idol,” maybe it’s time that employers and career services professionals have some serious conversations about how these trends are impacting the job market – and come up with some realistic solutions.

I was doing some interview coaching with a client earlier this week; a delightful young woman whose résumé illustrated an extremely impressive academic and career background. She had applied for a graduate program and was extremely nervous about her upcoming interview. In addition to helping her prepare for the interview, I was also trying to assess what might have contributed to her not being accepted following an interview with another school.

She seemed to be doing fine until I started hitting her with some of the standard interview questions: What do you know about our program (company)?  What would you say are some of the biggest challenges faced by our industry? What are your strengths? Why should we accept you into the program versus someone else?

We all hear how important it is to “sell” oneself during an interview, and this young woman was really pushing hard for the sale. She answered every question with almost a sense of urgency about needing to tell the me everything possible about her skills and experience. Within the first 10 minutes of our “mock interview session” I had to stop her. Our interaction was beginning to remind me of a blind date I had many years ago – one that I could not wait to end.

Like my client, this date sat across the table from me and talked endlessly about all of his wants, needs, interests and accomplishments. He clearly demonstrated that he never did any background “research” about me and never once asked me about my wants, needs, interests and accomplishments. It was clear that this interaction was “all about him” and, in spite of the good first impression I had of him, I quickly lost interest.

The best way to make a sale is not by simply extolling all the wonderful features of your “product.” If you really want to make the sale, close the deal (get the job offer) than do this: Learn all you can about the employer before the interview; find out what is important to him and identify his needs. Then as you answer and ask questions, link your features (skills, experience and achievements) to how they will prove beneficial to the employer should he choose you.

Confidently talking about how much you have to offer is important, but even more important is choosing the aspects of your career and personality that are of greatest value to each particular employer and talking about these. Sure the employer is interested in you, but he is even more interested in knowing the benefits of choosing you over the competition.

As a professional who writes resumes and provides career-related services and advice to clients all over the world, I realized that there was a great deal of information being dispensed about the right and wrong ways to manage a career. With so many differing opinions, and sometimes incorrect or inaccurate advice, it would be easy for job seekers to become frustrated and not know who was telling them the truth.

Knowing how prevalent this was, I felt compelled to provide a “solution.” I knew job seekers needed trusted individuals to whom they could turn to for preparation of career-related documents, and interview and career coaching, as well as information about job search and career management in one centralized location.

I began to think how I could provide a single resource that would meet the needs of job search candidates. I wanted to make sure the information provided came from experts who have spent years in their area of specialization. But, I knew I couldn’t do it alone. I needed a "partner" to assist me in this mission.

After much thought and consideration, I identified another career industry professional who has a reputation for operating with integrity, delivering quality products / services to her clients, and basing her insights regarding career-related matters on experience, facts, and research, rather than opinions.

When I contacted this professional, she was excited and immediately decided to join me in this new endeavor. We brainstormed together on determining our mission and the methods by which we would deliver our expertise. And, that's how The Career Clinicians was established.

Who are The Career Clinicians? Well, we are career industry professionals who operate our own individual resume writing and / or interview and career coaching practices. But, we are also a team of individuals who want to educate professionals and job search candidates on methods and tools to enhance their careers.

The Career Clinicians are:

Kathy Sweeney, NCRW, CPRW, CEIC, CCM of The Write Resume
Norine Dagliano, NCRW, CPRW, CFRW/CC of ekm Inspirations

We decided the best way to communicate our expertise was to utilize online tools, including a website, a blog, BlogTalkRadio, Twitter, and social media sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace.

Our website, www.thecareerclinicians.com, is packed with information and resources to assist with your career journey.

On our Radio Show, which is broadcast live every Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-career-clinicians, The Career Clinicians will provide direct advice, as well as hosting guests. Our guests span the entire scope of the careers / employment industry, including recruiters, human resources professionals, and authors.

You can call in or listen to it online. If you can’t attend our live broadcast, the previous shows will be archived on our website at www.thecareerclinicians.com/radio-show.htm.

If you would like to read updated information on employment-related topics, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CareerTriage.

We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share our expertise with you. We hope that you will gain insight into the confusing world of job search and feel better prepared to embark on your own journey toward career success.