Category: Career

Facing a Job Interview?

5 Prep Tips for Acing It! Part 2

So, you’re facing a job interview!  Need advice about how to prepare for it? Well, there’s no shortage of advice available to you on the internet. A Google search for “how to prepare for a job interview” yields more than 200,000 hits. And some of those hits will tell you that their advice is “best” or “the ultimate”.

Here in “Prep Tips for Acing It!” we divide the preparation into two parts:

Part 1: RESEARCH … see last month’s blog post for Part 1 or the SlideShare version below…

https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/facing-a-job-interview-5-prep-tips-for-acing-it-part-2/178766618

Part 2: the THINKING that builds on the research you do

Here in Part 2 are 5 tips for the THINKING phase of your preparation:

Think about how you FIT with BOTH the job AND company…

Now that you’ve researched the company as described in our Part 1, it’s time to put your research findings to use in thinking about HOW YOU FIT WITH THE JOB AND WITH THE COMPANY. Your interviewers are going to look for what interests you about the company, why you want to make a change, and why you think you’d be a good fit for the job and with their company. THINK about your answers to these question areas.

Think about your past PROFESSIONAL accomplishments…

Your interviewers will also be looking NOT ONLY for what you’ve done in previous jobs BUT ALSO how you’ve done it. Did you show initiative, resourcefulness, persistence, special skills, great teamwork? Are you a consistent achiever, or a “sometimes” achiever? What do you do when faced with obstacles or setbacks? Plan to provide specific examples (more than one, for sure!) to respond to questions related to your professional accomplishments.

Think about your past PERSONAL accomplishments…

Interviewers also want to get to know what YOU are like as a person and how your personal characteristics lead to success on the job. Again, plan to provide specific examples to respond to questions related to your personal accomplishments.

Think about how you MAKE DECISIONS on the job – including this decision to change companies!

Think through RATIONALLY, not EMOTIONALLY, why you are considering making a change. Interviewers want to learn how you make decisions – BIG decisions, such as leaving your current job and moving to another one.

Think about what UNIQUE and valuable contributions you could make in your new job and company...

Develop AT LEAST one compelling reason why YOU could be UNIQUELY helpful to your new company in the job you’re seeking and be prepared to talk about it enthusiastically! If you aren’t asked a question directly about this by your primary interviewer, plan to use this compelling reason as your SALES PITCH at the conclusion of your on-site interview AND in your follow-up THANK YOU letter to your interview contacts at the company.

So when you’re FACING a job interview, remember:

RESEARCHING it + THINKING about it = ACING it!

Facing a Job Interview?

5 Prep Tips for Acing It! Part 1

So, you’re facing a job interview!  Need advice about how to prepare for it? Well, there’s no shortage of advice available to you on the internet. A Google search for “how to prepare for a job interview” yields more than 200,000 hits. And some of those hits will tell you that their advice is “best” or “the ultimate”.

Here in “Prep Tips for Acing It!” we divide the preparation into two parts:

Part 1: RESEARCH

Part 2: the THINKING that builds on the research you do

Here in Part I are 5 tips for the research phase of your preparation:

Research the COMPANY you’ll be interviewing with…

There are more online resources than ever to help you with company research. Some questions to direct your research: What businesses are they in? What geographies are they in? Who are their customers? How are their products or services used? Are they getting into any new areas? Are they moving away from old areas? Are they public or private?

Research the JOB you’ll be interviewing for…

Read the job description carefully. What is specifically included in the description and what appears to be left out? What can you infer from the job description about the “soft skills” the ideal candidate should have, e.g., time management, decision-making, and team member skills?

Research the PEOPLE who work at that company…

Who in your network has worked for, still works for that company? Use your college alumni directory, LinkedIn, and other social media groups to identify personal or professional acquaintances who can provide some insight into the job candidates that would be attractive to the company and why.

Research the CULTURE of that company…

The contacts you find during your research in step #3 above can also provide information and insight regarding company culture, too, especially the “unwritten rules” that typically govern day-to-day work life.

Research how the company is doing FINANCIALLY…

If the company is publicly held, then numerous online sources of financial performance information are available, e.g., Yahoo Finance.  For both publicly traded and privately held companies, check the company website for downloadable management and financial reports. Consider setting up Google Alerts using the company name as the alert term, so that you’ll automatically receive notice as soon as any information about the company has been posted anywhere on the internet. And the contacts you talk to in step #4 above may also be able to provide information regarding the company’s current and even near-term future financial performance.

The research you do in Part I of your preparation will eliminate much of the uncertainty regarding your prospective new employer and prospective new job. The research findings will serve as the raw material for the “thinking” part of your preparation, which we’ll cover in Part 2. Stay tuned!

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Yes, MENTORS, there IS a PAYOFF!

What business roles have the greatest return on investment as measured by revenue and economic growth? The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) in collaboration with Ernst and Young (EY) explored this very issue. The scope of their study was broad and deep: approximately 22,000 publicly traded global companies; 91 countries; a range of industries and sectors. The results of their study were published in a 2016 report titled Is Gender Diversity Profitable? Evidence from a Global Study.  Among the reported findings and related implications:

  1. An organization with 30% female leaders could add up to 6 percentage points to its net margin.
  2. Payoffs from policies that enable women rising through the corporate ranks could be significant.
  3. The largest economic gain came from the proportion of female executives within the firm, followed by the proportion of female board members.
  4. There is a “robust and positive” correlation between having female management, and presumably a pipeline of female future leaders, with increased firm profitability.

Think about this: an organization with 30% female leaders could add up to 6 percentage points to its net margin. Mentors and managers, if you were challenged to add 6 percentage points to your company’s net margin, how would you do it? If you haven’t yet elevated formal mentoring of your women staff for the purpose of developing a pipeline of female future leaders, you’re ignoring a strategic business process with demonstrated power to improve profitability. For much more on how and why to be a better career mentor, see my full article “How (and Why) to Be a Better Career Mentor to Women” published in AMA Quarterly, Summer 2018, p. 45  https://www.amanet.org/uploaded/amaquarterly-summer-18.pdf

Looking for a “Sponsor”?

Even with effective mentoring relationships in the workplace, employees can feel “stalled” in their careers. Often, what seems to be missing from their professional life is someone with influence and “clout” within the organization to help them advance to the next level. That someone can be called a “sponsor.” It’s evident from the previous line that a mentor is not necessarily a sponsor. And, more often than not, the sponsor you’re looking for may never have served as your mentor. Before you go looking for a sponsor, consider these three essential requirements for career advancement:

  1. Opportunity:  there needs to be a “job opening” for which you meet management’s qualifications in terms of your objective professional and personal attributes. 
  2. Timing:  you need to be “ready” to step into the new role and achieve success in that role…success as defined by management’s needs for that role.
  3. Sponsorship:  there needs to be someone who steps up and sponsors you to be considered for that advancement…someone who, usually by his/her previous success in the workplace and knowledge of the job, has the confidence of management generally and is perceived by management to have good judgment in personnel matters specifically

Now that you know how sponsors fit into career advancement, here is an action plan for you:

  1. Keep your antennae up for specific job openings that to you would represent career advancement
  2. Think honestly about how your professional and personal attributes would qualify (or disqualify!) you for the specific advancement that’s potentially open to you
  3. If you think you are a strong candidate for a specific advancement, talk to your mentor and/or to your direct supervisor about your interest in contributing to the company in that new role and why and how you could be successful in that role. Ask for their advice regarding how to move forward as a candidate.

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