With the holidays quickly approaching, there’s lots of talk about who has been naughty and who has been nice. It’s important for job seekers to stay on that nice list. Unfortunately, not all candidates have learned this lesson.
4 Tips For Staying On The 'Nice' List
Several years ago, I worked for an IT consulting firm. Candidates interviewing at the headquarters office were quickly greeted by a receptionist soon after they arrived. The receptionist was one of the nicest people at the company and had great customer service skills.
However, there was more than one occasion when a candidate was downright rude to her for no reason. The employer’s values and corporate culture really emphasized treating all employees with respect, so this kind of behavior was not acceptable.
Furthermore, most of the employer’s work was client-facing, so we needed to hire people who were not only technically qualified, but could also act appropriately in front of a customer. If you were rude to the receptionist, you often weren’t offered the job.
You know what they say about never getting a second chance at making a first impression, so walk in the door to the prospective employer ready to charm everyone you encounter. You may be surprised how much pull the receptionist has in hiring decisions. You also can’t assume that the first person you’ll meet isn’t the hiring manager.
Here are some other tips to help you improve your niceness quotient:
1. Don’t be cocky. There’s a fine line between being confident and being an arrogant jerk. Err on the side of cautiously assertive in your abilities.
2. Smile and show interest in your interviewer. Although you may be nervous for the interview, fake it until you make it. No one wants to work with someone who is a cold fish, so smile and show interest in what the interviewer is saying. This helps you come across as warm and friendly.
3. Be gracious. At the conclusion of the interview, thank the interviewers for their time. For extra credit points, consider sending a follow-up email or handwritten note to the interviewer after you get home.
4. Be yourself. Chances are good that you are already on Santa’s nice list. Just remember to act like it when you go for your next interview!
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The leaves are changing, the kids are back in school, and that familiar chill is in the air. You think it's the perfect time to look for a job, and it is! But are your job search fears preventing you from making that leap?
It's not uncommon to feel lost when embarking on your job search journey. After all, school teaches us everything except how to get a job. What should you put on your resume? What questions should you ask in an interview? How can you stand out in the hiring process when there's so much competition?
Are you feeling spooked yet?
Believe it or not, there's no need to be afraid of the job search process! You can land your dream job with the right tools and strategy. You can find a job that won't give you nightmares. Here are three spooky secrets every job seeker should know as they look for a job this fall.
1. An Effective Job Search Starts With An Interview Bucket List
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Despite your fears, you've decided to take the plunge and look for a new job. You might be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" The answer is simple: start by creating an interview bucket list.
An interview bucket list is a list of 10-20 companies you'd love to work for. Are you passionate about a company's products or services? Do you feel connected to its mission? Can you relate to its values and beliefs as an organization? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, that company probably belongs on your interview bucket list.
Once you create an interview bucket list, you'll be able to conduct a targeted job search, one with direction and a foundation upon which everything else will be built. An interview bucket list helps you focus your job search and networking strategies on the right opportunities, making it easier to get your foot in the door at one of your dream companies.
2. Your Job Application Needs To Disrupt Hiring Managers
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In order to stand out in the hiring process, you need to disrupt recruiters and hiring managers. You accomplish this by doing two things: optimizing your resume and writing a disruptive cover letter.
A well-optimized resume includes keywords from the job description. This ensures your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of the hiring manager. Once it's in front of the hiring manager, it needs to grab and keep their attention. Quantifying your work experience—adding numbers to your bullet points—will make you stand out from other applicants. Hiring managers will want to know more about you and your accomplishments, and that's how you land a phone interview.
Before that, though, a hiring manager will read your cover letter. To disrupt them, you need to write a disruptive cover letter (obviously!). A disruptive cover letter gives you the opportunity to tell a story about why you feel connected to the company you're applying for. It's that storytelling aspect that will stand out to hiring managers and compel them to pick up the phone and give you a call.
3. Employers Hire You Based On 3 Things
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You can't get hired unless you know what employers are assessing you on in the interview process. While your skills and expertise matter, companies actually hire for three things: personality, aptitude, and experience (in that order).
Most job seekers don't realize how important it is to demonstrate their personality, aptitude, and experience in an interview. You could have the right experience for a job, but if the hiring manager doesn't think your personality is a good fit for the company culture, you probably won't get a job offer.
Make sure you demonstrate your soft skills and learn how to answer behavioral interview questions to prove you're the best candidate for the job you're applying for, not just the most qualified.
Want To Learn More Job Search Secrets?
As you look for a job this fall, it might be helpful to know some more spooky secrets so you can get over your job search fears and finally take control of your career.
We know the job search process can be scary. However, it's important to get clear on what you want to do next and focus on conducting a strategic job search, or what we refer to at Work It DAILY as job shopping. This is the only way to effectively market yourself to employers. If they can't see exactly where and how you add value, then that's going to decrease your chances of landing the job.
The competition is fierce, and there are a lot of factors that are out of your control. But the one factor you can control is your job search strategy, the tools and tactics you use to land a job.
If you want to learn the secrets to conducting a strategic job search, sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp, a two-hour, on-demand video workshop that comes with a free workbook.
In this video workshop, you'll learn:
How to use backchanneling to get directly to hiring managers.
The secret to using a connection story to stand out against the competition.
How social media can be your secret weapon to get job interviews.
The resume format that is getting job seekers more job interviews.
