Attitude.....

How many offers of employment have you had?

If you are not getting the job offers you want you need to assess your personal presentation in the workplace and in interviews. We're not talking about the way you dress; it's the way you are perceived by those around you. Have you ever asked an associate or boss for an honest appraisal of your skills, style, abilities or weaknesses? It can be a good starting point for becoming a better you.

Some of the most successful people we've worked with have been fortunate to have mentors in their lives and careers; people who were highly successful and who derive personal satisfaction by helping others achieve their goals. They deliver honest, direct comments and are willing to answer questions and give advice. If you're starting out in a new direction or in a new career look around you and figure out who you can approach to develop a mentoring relationship. You have to be open to criticism and be willing to take the advice and make changes if you want the mentoring to have any value. There is no point to asking for help if you choose to ignore it.

There are a number of common questions asked in Interviews; you need to be familiar with the questions and be prepared to answer them. "Tell me about yourself" is one of the opening questions you'll hear and it's not the time to fumble. Who are you?  Where have you been? Where are you going? What have you accomplished? What are you most proud of in your career? In your life? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Why have you made the choices you've made? Do you have any career regrets? What would you do differently if you had the chance to start your career over? Are you organized? How do you plan your week, month, year? Are you goal oriented? How do you set and achieve your goals? Have you ever failed? What are the biggest obstacles you've ever faced? Did you overcome them? If so, how? What are your gifts? What are you doing to enhance your abilities? What do you do for fun? How do you deal with difficult people? What stresses you? What do you do when faced with a significant problem? Examples? Where do you draw your strength from? Who are your mentors? Why? Where do you see yourself in two, five, ten, twenty years? Why do you want to work for us? Why should we hire you? What would your boss say about you in a reference? What would your peers and clients/customers say? Do you have enemies? Who are your heroes? What bothers you? What do you need from your employer to be successful? What part of your current position do you like the most? The least? What do you absolutely never want to do again? Why do you want to leave your current position? Is there anything your employer could do to entice you to stay? How long would you work for us? Which of your skills needs the most improvement? How do you plan on making those improvements? What can you do for us? How long would it take you to become successful within our organization? What is your level of competitive knowledge? What do you think of your competitors? Which one do you respect the most? The least? Do you consider yourself to be a positive or negative person? Why? Are you a good loser? Are you a team player? Are you independent?

We could supply you with the expected and appropriate answers to the questions but that wouldn't be fair to you or the employer who is doing the interviewing. You should be able to examine your life and career and answer each one of these questions on your own. Copy and paste or print the questions out and work on them until you are fully comfortable with your answers. Think positively but if you find that you don't have good answers you need to fix the areas of weakness. There are a number of great books on interviewing and career changes, click on our "Reading List" page for a few suggestions.

Personality....

It is said that personalities are formed by the time we are three years of age, while the basic premise may be true, other factors play into our public personalities. Some of the factors are based upon ego, some fear and others bad habits. We're not psychologists, so we're not going to get deep into the "why" people behave the way they do. What we can tell you about are the types of personalities that are successful and those who fail in interviews and in their careers.

Successful people tend to be very optimistic, creative, positive thinkers; they see opportunity where others find faults. They look for solutions to problems rather than placing blame, pointing fingers or deflecting responsibility. Successful people are organized and plan ahead, they are resourceful, detail oriented and they have vision and dreams of things they'd like to accomplish. Successful people need to win; they find personal satisfaction in accomplishment. They are focused on their goals, they are relentless in the drive to attain the goals and they set new goals as they achieve the previous ones. They are flexible and able to accept and promote change. Successful people sometimes fail, they make mistakes; but they learn from them and jump back into the game to do better in the next round. When a successful person makes a mistake they step up and accept responsibility for the problem and they find a solution for the problem. They can generate a conversation with anyone in any situation. They are genuinely interested in other people and find an affinity with the people they encounter.

Unsuccessful people tend to be negative thinkers; they tell themselves they are "unlucky", they assume they will fail and don't bother to compete for fear of failure. They shirk responsibilities letting someone else do their work or to redo the job they did without care. Unsuccessful people easily blame others for their problems; they make excuses and whine that they are being treated unfairly. Unsuccessful people don't think about the future nor do they plan goals for themselves. They tend to stay with jobs they don't like because they don't believe they will find a better position. Unsuccessful people don't strive to achieve, they do just enough to stay out of trouble at work. When given the opportunity to take on a special project or extra work the unsuccessful person feels put upon rather than seeing the opportunity to be recognized as a team player and someone who can be counted on. Unsuccessful people are self-involved; they don’t care about other people or their needs and wants. They are poor conversationalists; they may either tend to avoid or hold back in conversations or they don't listen and only talk about themselves. Unsuccessful people feel jealousy and envy rather than finding common ground and learning from those around them.

Where do you fit in? Which paragraph describes you; are you a winner or a loser?

The greatest gift human beings have is the ability to change; we can break old bad habits and improve our circumstances. We can examine our lives and understand why we've made the choices we've made and we can imagine and plan personal goals to improve our lives.

If you fall into the "unsuccessful" paragraph above you need to figure out why you do what you do. Believing that you can't achieve is a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you believe you'll fail, you will fail. You need to break out of the pattern. There are several excellent books on Positive Mental Attitude listed on the "Reading List" page of this website; get the books and study them. If you can't get yourself on the right track find a psychologist or "Coach" who will work with you. A negative attitude will not go away by itself; you have to consciously decide to work on changing your attitude.

Physical Presence....

If you followed the earlier advice and have dressed professionally for your interview the next big hurdle is how you present yourself physically. Confidence shows in how you walk, how you stand, how you sit, your gestures, facial expression and how you speak. Each one of these characteristics is critical in how you will be perceived by those around you.

In College it may be acceptable to avoid eye contact, play with your hair, pick your cuticles, bite your nails, scratch yourself, and sit with your feet underneath you or to kick your foot and fidget while having a conversation. It won't work in the business world; you have to act the part to get the part. Go to a popular coffee shop or restaurant where business people meet and watch how they act. You'll see those who have mastered the professional image and those who are clueless. Being socially aware and adept in good manners and personal presence is critical to your success.

A fast rule of thumb: Stand straight, sit straight - lean forward when making a point, walk tall and with purpose - never shuffle your feet or walk with your head down and shoulders slumped. When you walk into a room to meet the Interviewer look the person in the eyes, smile, shake hands with a firm grip and don't sit until your are asked to sit. Let the Interviewer lead the conversation, answer thoughtfully, it's okay to ask for clarification if you don't understand the question but don't go overboard with clarifications.

Make sure you keep your posture straight and professional. Don't fidget or play with anything during the interview. It is acceptable and wise to take a list of questions regarding the position and company. You can ask the questions and take notes when the Interviewer asks if you have questions. You need to pace yourself when speaking, if the interviewer talks rapidly you can also do it if it is your normal style, if you are uneasy because of the rapid style of the interviewer take your time and answer at your own pace. If the interviewer is slow and deliberate in speaking pace yourself to his/her style but don't hold back on your enthusiasm.

Don’t use sloppy speech! If you are giving an affirmative answer the word is “yes” not “yeah”. Do not say “you know” or “okay” at the end of your sentences. If you want to be professional you have to sound professional and that means proper pronunciation of words and using appropriate words; absolutely no profanity during an interview even if the Interviewer uses it.  If you are in the habit of speaking as a “valley girl” you have to stop it before you even think of interviewing. You will be perceived as an “air head” or arrogant unless you are interviewing with a firm full of people who speak in that manner.

When the interview is nearing the end and you've asked your questions you have a chance to ask for the job if you want it. That doesn't mean saying "Thank you for meeting with me. I look forward to the next step." It means saying “I appreciate all of the information and time you've shared with me today. Based on what you've told me and what I've learned about your company on my own, I know this is the job I want. I want to work for you (or “this company”).”  Some other closing questions you might use are: “Am I the kind of person you'd hire?”, “Is there anything else you need from me to make your decision?”, “Where do I stand compared to the other candidates you've interviewed?”, ”I can start on Monday or would Friday of this week be better for you?”  If you want the job, you have to ask for it and if you don’t get the affirmative answer you want you should probe to find out what concerns the Interviewer may have or what other information is needed to make a decision.

When the interview has concluded; stand up straight, smile, shake hands and thank the Interviewer. If you did not receive the Interviewer’s business card earlier ask for it now. If you have interviewed in a hotel go to the lobby and write a “Thank you” note to the Interviewer that expresses your desire to work for him/her. Leave the sealed note with the hotel desk clerk for delivery. If the interview is at the company offices write the note and mail it or email the note to the Interviewer.

Take ten minutes in your car or in the hotel lobby after the interview and make yourself an outline of key points that were discussed during the interview. Note any points that you believe you should have made, note any mistakes or weak statements you’d like to correct. Note the Interviewer’s personal information; their personal interests, hobbies, career history and progress, any goals mentioned.  Note any particular information you learned during the interview that you feel you should remember. If you did a good job on the first interview the notes will help prepare you for the next round of interviews.