Tag Archives: interviewing

The best way to answer an interview question; Prove It.

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Woman Job CandidateYou’re asked the interview question, “what is your greatest strength?” To which you answer, “I would say customer service is my greatest strength.”  Paus…. Long silence between you and the interviewer…. Interviewer writes on her notepad…. She clears her throat…. Next question….

What did you do wrong?

If you say you did nothing wrong, that you answered the question by addressing the major skill the employer is seeking; you’re partly correct. What you failed to do is prove that customer service is your greatest strength. Here’s how to prove your greatest strength.

Take a breath before answering this question. “I would say customer service is my greatest strength. I listen to the customer’s needs, always asking how I can help him/her. When I understand the customer’s needs, I do my best to meet them. Can I give you an example?”

The interviewer nods and waits with anticipation for you to prove what you assert. To do this you’ll tell a story using the STAR formula, which may go like this:

Situation: One of our longstanding customers had left us prior to my arrival at Company X. I had heard the customer was unhappy to the point where he said he no longer needed our services.

Task: My vice president wanted me to persuade the customer to return. As the new manager of a group of five furnace technicians, it was my mission to win back this customer.

prove itActions:To begin with, I had to understand what made our customer unhappy, so I asked one of my subordinates who was close to the situation. He told me it was because the person who previously worked on his furnace did shoddy work and wasn’t responsive.

With this information in hand, I called out customer to introduce myself as a new manager of the company and ask him why he was unhappy with our service. At first he was justifiably angry, telling me he would never use us again. He revealed that his furnace was never cleaned, that it still smoked..

This was going to be a tough one, based on the tone in his voice. I listened to what he said and told him I really couldn’t blame him for being upset. I agreed with him that he wasn’t treated properly. I was going to make it right. Too late, he told me; he was going to go with a competitor of ours. He hung up before I had the chance to talk with him further.

I decided to go unannounced to his house to introduce myself from Company X, I was met with, “Boy, you’re persistent. I apologized for coming without warning and asked him if I could look at his furnace. He didn’t seem to mind and told me to go to the basement through the back.

“But I ain’t paying for nothing,” he told me. Fair enough, I told him. We want to regain your trust, and if I can’t fix what’s broken, I wish you the best. I am still sharp with my technical skills, so I was sure I could fix his furnace and win back his business.

I spent two hours fixing what was broken, namely the exhaust pipe was full of soot, which required vacuuming. In addition, the oil pump had to be replaced. This was not news our customer wanted to hear, but he was happy I was honest with him and for the work I had done. He also said the former technician didn’t catch these problems, or didn’t care.

When he asked me what he owed me, I told him there was no charge. I just wanted to be assured that he’d stay with our company.

Result: My customer told me that I had regained his trust. Further, he appreciated my honesty and concern that his furnace would be fixed right the first time. He returned to our company. For my efforts, he tried to give me forty dollars “to take the missus out for dinner.” Of course I refused his money.

From the above story, you see how the job candidate proves how he provided customer service in this instance. Of course the interviewer will ask more questions about customer service, both requiring positive and negative outcomes. Although this story exceeded two minutes, the job candidate was able to grab the interviewer’s attention.

Don’t be stumped at the interview; ask questions about 3 major areas

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stumpedHow often have you come to the end of an interview and drawn a blank when it was your time to ask the questions? The interview has proceeded like a pleasant conversation in which you’ve asked questions throughout, but now you’re stumped.

You’ve asked all the questions you can think of.

Hopefully this hasn’t happened too often or not at all. But even the most qualified candidates have a moment of letdown and lose the interview because they were unprepared.

It’s extremely important that you have insightful questions to ask at the end of an interview. It shows your interest in the job and the company, and it shows that you’re prepared, all of which the employer likes to know.

Arrive prepared for the interview. Before the interview write 10-15 questions on a sheet of paper or note cards. If you think you can remember them, simply tuck them in your leather binder for safekeeping. However, you may need assistance when your nerves are rattled and you’ve reached the point of exhaustion, in which case you can ask if you can refer to your written questions. Interviewers will generally allow you to read your answers off your sheet or note cards.

So what types of questions do you want to ask? What is the employer hoping to hear? Not “How much time do I get for lunch?” nor “What are the work hours?” nor “What’s the salary for this position?” In other words, no stupid question that will reflect poorly on you.

I tell my customers to focus on three general areas: the position, the company, and the competition.

1. The position. Don’t ask questions you could find by reading the job description; rather ask questions that demonstrate your advanced knowledge. For example, the ad says you’ll be required to manage a supervisor and 10 employees. You realize that a start-up company might not have the resources to train its supervisors in Lean Six Sigma, and you want to highlight your certificate as a Black Belt.

“I’d be curious to know if the current supervisor is certified in Lean Six Sigma, and if not would your company consider having me give him a basic course in LSS?” The answer is yes to your question, so you follow with another question that could lead to further conversation. “Would you like to talk further about how I can save your company money by training your supervisor?”

This question shows a legitimate concern for quality performance but also demonstrates your willingness to improve the supervisor’s knowledge, your ability to solve problems, and your desire to save the company money. Always ask questions that indicate you’re concerned most with what the company needs, not what you need.

2. The company. Like the questions you’ll ask about the position, research is essential for this area of questioning. Your research should entail more than visiting the company’s website and reading its marketing material—everything written will extol its superior products or services. In addition, talk to people in the company who can give you the good, bad, and ugly of the company.

“I’ve read on your website and spoken with some of the people here who verify that your customer satisfaction rate is very high. Could you tell me if there are issues your customers have that need to be addressed immediately?”

The interviewers are happy to hear that you’re thinking about satisfying customers and indicate there have been some complaints about late shipments.

“In that case, I can assure you that late shipments will dramatically decrease. We may have failed to talk about the role I had at my previous company which had me oversee shiping and create a system that decreased late shipments by 35%, thereby saving the company thousands of dollars in returns. Would you like to talk about how I can help your company improve shipping processes?”

3. The competition. The company has one company that is giving it headaches. It’s a sore topic, but you want to make the interviewers aware that you are coming in with your eyes wide open. Your research has told you that the other company is competing for some market share in the widget product.

“I’m aware of company XYZ’s movement in its widget. What are your concerns, if any, Company XYZ poses in this market? I have ideas of how to market your similar product to your customers. Would you like to hear them?”

After a great conversation, where you’ve answered the interviewers’ questions and asked some of your own,  it’s your turn to ask more questions. Don’t go to the interview unprepared to ask the interviewers illuminating questions of your own. Failing to ask quality questions can mean he difference between getting or not getting the job.

11 traits of the best interviewer ever

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Best InterviewerAs I read articles on the five traits employers look for in the ideal job candidate and others like it, I think about what traits the  ideal  interviewer would demonstrate in the hiring process.

Job candidates are responsible for showing they’re the most qualified person, but who’s to say interviewer/s shouldn’t be accountable for hiring the most qualified person for the job?

According to an article from CareerBuilder.com, a whopping 69% of employers say they’ve hired people who aren’t qualified to do the job or aren’t a fit. Furthermore, employers are losing humongous sums of money because of their poor hiring decisions, as much as $25,000-$50,000 per bad hire.

I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t bode well for employers’ hiring strategies and, more specifically, how they interview and choose their candidates.

Interviewing people for a position isn’t the easiest thing to do, nor is it the most pleasurable part of a job according to most hiring managers I’ve asked. I didn’t particularly like it myself, but it was a necessity. Who is the best interviewer ever? He or she has the following 11 traits:

  1. She’s prepared from the beginning. The success of an interview depends a great deal on whether the best interviewer ever has taken the time to prepare for the big event. This means identifying the skills and experience she seeks in the candidates, as well as recognizing the weaknesses she wants to avoid. She prepares answers in advanced and doesn’t rush around asking people in the office what interview questions she should ask five minutes prior to the interview.
  2. Doesn’t care that the candidates are nervous. Some jobseekers don’t interview well, but that doesn’t mean they can’t excel at the duties of the job. It’s a totally different matter if they’re not prepared for the interview or commit all of the faux pas described in the hundreds of published books and online articles. The best interviewer ever will overlook such poor first impressions.
  3. Puts the candidates at ease. Related to the previous trait, the best interviewer ever will try to bring out the best in the candidates by making them comfortable, trying to reduce the stress level. A great opening statement might be, “I’d like you to relax and consider this a conversation. I’m interested in getting to know you so I can make a good judgement about your skills and experience.” This certainly will bring out the best in the candidates.
  4. Asks the candidates relevant questions. These would include questions that were well thought out, not ones that the interviewer read from a book, or questions that were devised three years ago by Human Resources that meet the requirements for previous HMs. The best interviewer ever does her due diligence before the interviews begin by meeting with the HM to determine his needs and wants.
  5. Asks tough questions that get to the core of the candidates. Most employers would agree that besides the questions that determine someone’s technical abilities, behavioral-based are the best at predicting how the candidates will perform in the future, based on past behaviors and their motivation to overcome obstacles. Related to #2, the best interviewer ever knows these questions will stress candidates more than more traditional questions, so will be less concerned about performance.
  6. Interviews candidates for a job that exists. Oh sure, there’s a need for someone to fill a position in the company; but the company plans to go with an inside candidate and is holding the interview for appearance sake. This is a waste of time for everyone involved and a letdown for expectant candidates. This is plain wrong and may not be on the head of the best interviewer ever.
  7. Interviews candidates for the correct position. The best interviewer ever doesn’t interview candidates for a position that has different requirements than advertised in the job posting. Many of my customers have told me they prepared for the ideal job only to find out the requirements were beyond their reach, making them obviously unfit for the position. A big waste of time.
  8.  Doesn’t ask illegal questions. “How old are you?” one of my customers was asked during a phone interview. Other illegal questions include: what country are you from? Do you have any children? Are you taking medication? The best interviewer ever will refrain from asking questions about race, color, sex, religion, national origin, birthplace, age, disability, and marital/family status, etc. The best interviewer ever knows better.
  9. He doesn’t make a decision based on appearance. I once worked for someone who hired very young, attractive women; and the running joke was that he was a “dirty old man.” This makes one wonder if many qualified people were passed over because they didn’t meet his appearance standards. The best interviewer ever will disregard appearance and focus on technical and personality fit, ultimately hiring people who are right for the job, not better suited for modeling.
  10. She provides feedback if a rejected candidate asks. This is a tough one because a few candidates might cry foul or press the best interviewer ever for more details. However, many of my jobseekers simply want to know how they can do better at the next interview, nothing more. I applaud an interviewer who will provide critique on how a candidate answered certain questions, what skills they lacked, or if they wouldn’t be a personality fit for the company (there is such thing).

As mentioned earlier, making great hiring decisions is not as easy as people would think, ergo the 69% of hiring managers who make wrong hiring decisions at one point or more in their career. But if said interviewers consider their goal of hiring the best candidate, they must think not only of themselves but rather consider how best to get the necessary information from the people they’re considering hiring.

Oh, lastly, 11. He sends a rejection letter. A little bit of courtesy will go a long way.

Photo: xianrendujia, Flickr

Job Search Tip #3: Assess your skills

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Last week we looked at assessing your work values. Now we’re going to look at assessing your skills.

When asked at the interview about your greatest strength, you’ll most likely respond by talking about one or two of the three skill types: technical, transferable, or adaptive (personality). You might address your expertise in C++, market analysis, team building, or innovation, for example.

Of course the best policy is to talk about skills that relate to the job at hand. In other words, if the company or organization is looking for someone strong in communications, customer service, and Oracle, these are the skills you’ll highlight, providing you’ve demonstrated them with accomplishments.

The same strategy applies to writing your tailored résumés and cover letters, and your LinkedIn profile. Your emphasis will be on the skills required to succeed at the position for which you’re applying.

Assessing your skills. Knowledge of your skills is not only import in succeeding at the interview or when writing effective job-search documents; you’ll highlight them when networking and sending follow-up letters, as well as preparing your elevator speech. It’s important that you know the difference between the three skill types and can talk to them with conviction.

Technical skills are absolutely required to do the job. Let’s say you aspire to be a marketing manager. Technical skills for this occupation include, but are not limited to:

Product Marketing

Retail Brand Management

Pricing Distribution

Account-Based Marketing

Transferable skills are universal: If you think any job can be performed with technical skills alone, you’re sadly mistaken. (You’ll notice that the list above is shorter than the subsequent lists. Your transferable skills are necessary, if not more than your technical skills. 

When thinking about your transferable skills, think about them completing the thought, I can….Here is a list of transferable skills considered important in general, but by no means is it conclusive. 

Knowledge of Basic Marketing Principles Communications Skills (Listening, Verbal, Written) Analytical
Managing Priorities Management Multicultural Sensitivity/Awareness
Collaboration Strategic Thinking Motivating Others
Problem-Solving Research Coordination
Computer/Technical Literacy Planning Reasoning
Organizing Project Management Presentation

Adaptive skills define you as a person and worker. How would you describe your work habits? What makes you a fit in the company? The answer to these questions has a great deal to do with your adaptive skills. In fact, some employers rate these as some of the most important skills, yet some jobseekers disregard them.

You might describe yourself as a team builder who consistent, fair, insightful, and others supporting personality skills. When thinking about these skills, thing about them completing the thought, I am….Here are some common adaptive skills:

Intelligent Leader Have Vision
Honest/Moral Adaptable/Flexible Tenacious
Dependable Creative Loyal
Positive Motivated/Energetic/Passionate Professional
Self-Confident Diligent A Team Player

From this limited list of transferable and adaptive skills chose the ones that best describe you and are most important to what you do, and also what the employer seeks in his/her next employee. Keep in mind that your transferable and adaptive skills play a major role in shaping you as a productive employee.

Next Friday we’ll look at revising or writing your résumé.

Do first impressions matter in the job search? Not as much as performance, according to Lou Adler

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First ImpressionWhen someone gives me a limp handshake or, worse yet, a sweaty palm, I cringe inside. The handshake, to me, says a great deal about a person’s character. It says, I’m a stand-up guy or gal. Really nice to meet you. The handshake should be firm but not crush one’s bones.

Eye contact means a great deal to me, as well. Steady eye contact says, “I’m paying attention. I’m interested. I’m not hiding anything, etc.” A pleasant smile helps to create a great first impression, as well.

But Lou Adler downplays the importance of first impressions in his article Performance Matters, First Impressions Don’t.  Now what would Lou Adler know about interviewing and hiring quality candidates? A boatload. He wrote the books: Hire With Your Head and The Essential Guide for Hiring, the second of which I own. What do I know? Not as much as him. I’ve interviewed people before but not the thousands he has. Here’s what he writes in his article:

“The only common trait among the best people is their track record of solid performance, not the quality of their first impression.”

Were this to be true, that’s great, because some people’s first impression simply suck. They come across as approachable as Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, devoid of character; or they maintain eye contact like a shy child being interrogated…I mean questioned by adults; or they shake your hand like they’re afraid to touch you. I agree with Mr. Adler that performance is paramount, but a terrible first impression? Read Mr. Adler’s article, a wonderful tale.

3 elements of a successful job search and playoff soccer

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SkillsCharacterEnduranceThis past weekend my son participated in a soccer tournament for the state championship.

What this means is he played eight additional games for a total of 18 this spring.

This also means I coached 18 games. I never thought I’d say I’m sick of the world’s most popular sport, but I am.

The teams that succeed in reaching the state finals had three things going for them: skill, character, and endurance. The coaches and parents were just plain crazy for sticking it out.

Similarly jobseekers who succeed in landing a job—the winner of a state final in soccer of the job search—demonstrate the same three traits throughout the entire process.

Skills. Not enough to have the required skills and accomplishments, jobseekers must be able to display them in their written and verbal communications. I tell the participants who attend my Job Search 101 workshop that bringing their written and verbal communications together makes for a successful marketing campaign.

The most obvious example of written communications would be the résumé, which above all else must address employers’ needs by demonstrating the required qualifications. Employers want to see the skills and accomplishments needed to do the job well, not a generic, one-fits-all document.

The interview is the ultimate display of verbal communications. Let’s face it, if you can’t pass the interview, you don’t get hired. Only one person gets hired, and this is the person who shows he/she has the skills and accomplishments that fit the job. Know what skills the employer requires, so you can better predict the questions that will be asked.

Character.  This is a vague term but is essential to achieving likability, demanding respect, and showing humor. You must show your character when networking. Networkers appreciate other networkers who they understand—think clarity of skills and goals—as well as those who are willing to help them.

Your character is essential at the interview, as it demonstrates your interpersonal skills, motivation, enthusiasm, ability to work as a member of a team, and other desired “soft skills” the employer is seeking.

Your character also shows itself in your written communications. Many of us have received LinkedIn messages that are negative in verbiage and tone. The writers complain and make excuses about their past failures, showing a lack of self-awareness. This is another way for people to show a lack of character.

Endurance. This is perhaps one of the most difficult of the three components to sustain. Sadly I must admit I was willing–nay hoping–for the soccer tournament to end, because I felt my energy drain from me with each game.

Jobseekers sometimes feel this way, especially if the interview process stretches to five interviews over a period of 5 weeks. Some of  my customer have described this hellish situation to me.

This is when a jobseeker must reach down deep in his soul to move on, not dwelling on the worse–he doesn’t get the job. Maintaining endurance is a matter of treating yourself well during the process.

Get enough sleep, spread your research out over a period of days and not cramming like a college student, and take a well advised break are some of the things you should do to keep the endurance. My response to jobseekers during these times is stay the course and do your best.

Endurance is also required when writing tailored documents for each job, as opposed to blasting 20-30 resumes and cover letters over the Internet, or should we say into the black whole. Every resume and cover letter is unique to every job.

Jobseekers must faithfully attend networking events or network in public whenever they get the opportunity. LinkedIn is a great way to network online, but it should not replace face-to-face networking. Demonstrating excellent skills and character is essential when speaking with others who may be able to help you, so consistency is important as you brand yourself.

My son’s team was eliminated from the tournament in the semi-finals. You might think I was relieved, and up to the point where the final whistle blew, I thought I’d be happy for it to end; but I was actually disappointed that the games were over. The boys demonstrated skills, character, and endurance throughout the whole season. This is what I hope my customers are able to sustain. Of course the stakes are much higher–after all soccer is a game–but the same principles apply.

Stories are important to the job search, but how many are necessary?

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I have a hard time remembering my brothers’ birthdays, so you can imagine how difficult it would be for me to remember the specifics of my customers’ occupations and goals for employment. I need to know more than: software engineer in the defense industry, or nurse in pediatrics, or physics teacher in high school with a dual license in middle school.

I need a story, and not just any story, from my customers. A story that shows accomplishments and highlights  numerous skills. Employers feel the same way; they’re going to remember you best if you tell them compelling stories. You may wonder how many stories you’ll need in your arsenal to succeed at an interview.

How many stories are enough? Katharine Hansen in her blog titled, Create a Memory in Job Interviews By Telling Stories, talks about the importance of telling stories to help the employer remember you.

“When I have taught students or conducted workshops about using story in job interviews,” she writes, “I have participants develop three stories—largely because most audiences can develop three in the short time period of a class/workshop. I’ve found that with even just three stories, participants can adapt the stories into responses to many, if not most, interview questions.”

Katharine continues to explain that preparing for an interview will probably require more than three stories. She refers to both Ellyn Enisman, author of Job Interview Skills 101, and Richard Bolles, What Color is Your Parachute, of the importance of the number seven—the magical number of stories a person needs to succeed at any interview.

Really, how many stories are enough? Katharine pushes the envelope, saying that 10-20 would be a better range of stories to tell, but then recants and says that the number seven is more realistic. I agree that the goal of 10-15 stories is a bit demanding. I encourage my customers to identify in a job ad the most important competencies for the position and write a story for each one. If there are eight competencies, develop eight stories. But this, I believe, is also pushing the envelope.

Stories tell more than one story. One wonderful thing about stories is that often they reveal more skills in the candidate than the interviewer originally asks for. For example, the interviewer asks you a question based on leading global teams. You tell a story that reveals not only leadership skills, but also problem solving, time management, and communication skills…with positive quantified results. The story is told with such conviction and confidence that it covers potentially four questions.

How to prepare your stories. There are many acronyms you can use to organize your stories. One I present to my customers is (STAR) situation/task (their task in the situation), actions, result/s. There are also (PAR) problem, actions, result/s;  (CAR), challenge, actions, result/s (OAR) opportunity, action, results, etc.

Regardless of which structure you use to tell your story, try to structure it the following way: 20% for the situation/task; 60% for the actions, and 20% for the results. Employers will be most interested in the actions you took to arrive at the result/s, so make sure you describe your role in the situation.

What if….It’s also important that you not only prepare success stories; you also prepare stories that address failures. These types of stories contain the same elements: the situation/task, the action you took to meet the situation, and the result; which in this case is mildly negative. You’ll also keep the “failure” questions short and sweet; don’t elaborate as you would with the success stories. It’s advisable to prepare a failure story for each competency. When you do the math, you may double the number of stories from seven or eight to fourteen or sixteen.

What you’ve read is a lot to stomach. The important thing to keep in mind is that stories when told well are powerful and memorable. Once you have written your stories based on the competencies required by the employer, most of the hard work is accomplished. The next step is telling your stories at the interview.

Companies that are doing it wrong, you might learn some things from “Blink”

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The book, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, talks about decisions made from our unconscious and the negative or positive consequences such decisions produce. Some may call them split decisions or acting without thinking; Gladwell calls this phenomenon “the power of thinking without thinking.” The point is that whether we know it or not, there are decisions we make based on what little knowledge we have of a situation. 

Two specific examples in the book stand out for me. The first one: four policemen in Brooklyn, New York, shoot an innocent man because of their instinctive reaction to a sketchy situation. This is a sad occurrence as a result of not knowing enough about the situation, relying completely on “blink.”

The second and most poignant story Gladwell tells is about how the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra hires a talented Italian trombonist player. The search committee, striving for total objectivity, sets up a screen so the auditioning musicians cannot be seen. They hire the best trombonist they hear. To their chagrin, the musician they choose as the best player is a woman.

The consequence of this instance of “blink” is hiring the best trombonist for their orchestra—a far cry from unloading 42 bullets into an enclosed entryway and killing a man because he was reaching for his wallet. Nonetheless, they are devastated to find that the winner is a woman.

This second instance of “blink” makes me wonder is this is a viable practice all employers who are hiring jobseekers for positions should practice. What the Munich Philharmonic accomplished was to prove that total objectivity yields the best result, albeit not what they wanted in terms of gender. Perhaps employers continue to use ineffective ways of hiring people because they make their decisions based on biases, or…they’re given the opportunity to think.

Following the practice of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra would most likely preclude employers from discriminating against various populations, including the disabled; minorities; woman; one of the hardest hit populations, the older workers; and other groups. In other words, the most qualified candidates would be hired the majority of the time. But there could be some drawbacks for employers who, for instance, are trying to get a viable “fit.”

How would employers emulate the success of the Munich Philharmonic?  To safeguard against preventing them from discriminating against the aforementioned populations, they would have to abide by the following rigid steps:

Step One. Conduct telephone interviews to determine minimum technical requirements met and salary expectations are in synch with their budget. The telephone interview remains pure and objective to this day. Next a face-to-face interview would be scheduled if the two issues are ironed out.

Step Two. Candidates, like the musicians who auditioned for the Munich Philharmonic, would enter the interview location unseen and unheard. Interviewers would not see their bodies and faces—it’s a well-known fact that the “blink” phenomenon has played a role in determining a person’s perceived greatness. (Ex. The notorious President Warren Harding, explained by Gladwell in Blink, was elected, in part, because of his physical stature.)

Step Three. Interviewers will literally conduct all interviews with a twelve-foot screen separating them and the job candidates. All candidates would be equipped with a voice scrambling device, thus disguising their gender, ethnicity, age, or vocal disability.

Step Four. There would be no trick/illegal questions asked to determine candidates’ isms. Questions like these would be forbidden:

  • “What country are you from?”
  • “When did you graduate from college?”
  • “Do you favor the current President, or the opposing party?”
  • “Who is the breadwinner in your house?”
  • “Do you require any special accommodations?”

Interviewers may ask questions that are neutral and reveal the candidates’ required skills and experience. These could include any technically related questions, behavioral-based questions, and questions that get to the applicant’s personality fit.

Step Five. Once the interviewers’ decision is made, based on objective, unbiased questions; it is final. Had the interviewers hoped for someone in his/her 30’s; tough. If they wanted someone who was a man, or woman; too bad. Tough cookies if they wanted someone as healthy as a horse but ended up with someone in a wheelchair—install a ramp.

What are some possible drawbacks of this approach to interviewing? Interviewers would not see the candidates’ body language and visa-versa. Interviewers would have to rely on the content of the candidates’ answers to ensure overall fit, including technical, transferable, and personality skills. Further, candidates would not be allowed to see the companies’ facilities in order to maintain total anonymity. The personal nature of the interview would be eliminated.

The likelihood of employers conducting this kind of interview is very slim at best. Employers have a right to hire who they want. But to “blink” and not be given time to think, would eliminate some of what’s wrong with the interview system. Let’s look at the Munich Philharmonic’s example of objective hiring as something that’s attainable in a theoretical way. Lord knows too many qualified people are slipping through the cracks.

For those of you who are trying, hang in there and have hope

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I’m going to preface this article by saying plenty of jobseekers I know are conducting a proactive job search but to no avail.

They’re not relying completely on the job boards, placing all their cards on recruiters, sending out cookie cutter resumes, and wasting their time on more ineffective job search methods. In other words, they’re trying. I and other career trainers see your efforts and applaud you.

A recent article on wjs.com called No Market for Lazy Jobseekers, Ruth Mantell, might give you the impression that we career search pundits think conducting the proper job search will guarantee you a job. That we don’t understand the emotional and financial difficulties that consume many people who have been unemployed for one month or one year.

The article notes 10  lazy job-seeking habits. And while they may be accurate, the article doesn’t take into consideration the complexity of finding a job in today’s economy. It doesn’t feign empathy for those who have done what has been asked of them in terms of conducting the proper job search.

But our mission as job search trainers is to give guidance. It isn’t to dwell on the unfortunate realities of unemployment. To that end, we can only point out obvious mistakes, as noted in the article, and offer up suggestions that make for a more productive job search.

Some career trainers like me have lost a job, or two, and understand the despondency heightened by day after day of activity with little progress. The words “it sucks” don’t quite cover the emotional rollercoaster you…I’ve…gone through.

To say, “We get it” is accurate. We understand that telling jobseekers how to find work is often easier said than done; but, at the same time, to conduct a job search based on blasting out hundreds of résumés a month does not constitute a viable campaign.

Point two of the article, Using a Stock Résumé, is very sound advice. Violating networking etiquette is not cool, and asking only what your network can do for you is asking for trouble. There’s no arguing against Ms. Mantell’s advice. To honestly say, “I’m doing everything right but nothing’s working” is fair and should be rewarded.

For what it’s worth, I appreciate you following through on writing targeted résumés, cover letters, and approach letters; going to the interviews prepared for the tough traditional questions and even tougher behavioral question. I’m thrilled to see your efforts on LinkedIn. Glad to link up with you when you send invites to me (even with default invitations). All of this is not for naught.

When you get a job, I’m thrilled. I don’t attribute it to my advice, because you’re the one who did the leg work and sat in the hot seat. You sent the thank you letters. Some of you came back after a short stint, while others made the temp-to-perm job a permanent one. (Pete, you still owe me a cheesecake.)

I still assert that there are proper methods to use in the job search and will continue to point them out. I will not provide the slightest window of opportunity for self-pity, as this is behavior for you to harbor and not let it surface in workshops or while networking or at an interview.

I’m fond of saying, “Hang in there” when other words escape me. So that’s what I’d like you to do. Never give up. Never question your abilities, even if you’ve been off the horse for a while now. And know that you have the support of career trainers, because our mission is to help you to find work. If you read this and feel that I feel you, drop by to say, “Hey” or send an e-mail to confirm you’ve gotten my message. Hell, tell me to jump off a cliff with my condescension. Whatever works…works.

10,000 hours dedicated to your job search may be too much, but the time you put in will make a difference

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If you think Bill Gates and the Beatles were successful because of their innate talent alone, Malcolm Gladwell offers another reason for their success, which he outlines in his book Outliers. Outliers are people who separate themselves from the “ordinary” because of their success, which is due in part because of the 10,000-hour rule. This rule asserts that the time one spends on a certain activity can often predict his/her success.

Gates, for instance, was given the opportunity to practice on personal computers at a private secondary school he attended when personal computers arrived on the scene. This was before he attended, and dropped out of, Harvard and later developed Microsoft.

The Beatles were given the opportunity to play eight hours a day in Hamburg, Germany, when they started out. Gates and the Beatles were driven and talented individuals, of course, but having logged over 10,000 hours to perfect their art made a huge difference, according to Gladwell.

What Gladwell’s 10,000-hour theory has to do with the job search is similar to the amount of time you must put into your search. In other words, your success is proportional to the hours you dedicate to it. However, you can’t dive into your job search without having a plan of attack. Your plan has to demonstrate vision with results. Here are the five most important elements of your job search:

  1. Determining your work values and assessing your skills.
  2. Revising your résumé to fit today’s résumé.
  3. Networking with a purpose.
  4. Polishing your interview techniques, both traditional and behavioral.
  5. Maintaining that positive attitude.

I hope your job search doesn’t require 10,000 hours, or 1.2 years. Forty hours a week for six months (or 960 hours) is probably more than some of you would like to spend on your search. One of the points Gladwell makes in this “must-read” book is that success doesn’t come from only raw talent; it comes from practice and hard work. Read the Outliers. There are many other stories about how people became successful, including timing and their ethnicity.