The Ultimate Guide to Being an Interview Pro

The Ultimate Guide to Being an Interview Pro A job interview is always a daunting experience. The pressure to perform, show your personality,  be bright and engaging, convey your skill set, all whilst being calm and collected is no easy feat. However, with preparation, poise and a pleasant smile you’ll find the interview will go much  smoother than once imagined. Remember, you have already passed the first hurdle: the interviewer  liked your CV. Now is your time to impress face to face. Here are a few helpful tips and tricks that  will leave a lasting impression on your interviewer and, hopefully, secure the job in question: Before: Preparation First and foremost, to succeed in an interview, preparation is key.  To be uncertain  of the company, the job specification or what to expect in general, will put you at a  disadvantageous position. Therefore, initially, make sure you research the role you have  applied for. Why do you want to get this job? What is it that makes you excited about  the role? You must show the employer that you have a passion for the position and are  interested in pursuing a career in the given sector. Research Secondly, research the company you are meeting.  What are they like as a company: creative  or corporate? Big or small? Buzzy or quiet? These are things that are important to gage prior  to the interview, firstly, to work out whether you are right for the company as a whole, and  secondly, to present yourself and act accordingly in the interview itself. Take a look at the  company’s website to get a better insight into their recent developments and successes.  Articulating this information to your interviewer will show you have initiative, as well as  conveying that you have a true interest in becoming part of the team. Answers A further recommendation is to prepare answers to some ‘mock’ questions. Interviewers will  often ask you to define your skills or how you are as a person, and then expect you to back it  up with examples. If you can ensure you have these examples to hand, you will find yourself  able to answer questions confidently and without hesitation. However, potential employers  want to know the real you, so make sure not to sound overly rehearsed. It is important to  come across as natural and at ease. During: First impression Research has shown that an individual will subconsciously make their mind up about  another in the first 30 seconds of meeting. On that basis, a great first impression is  absolutely crucial when attending an interview. Give yourself plenty of time to get there,  arriving a little early to show you have good time keeping skills. On greeting the interviewer,  smile warmly and give a confident handshake. Eye contact is also very important so keep a  steady gaze and make sure to maintain this throughout. Attire What you are wearing and how you physically present yourself will contribute to how you  are first perceived, so you need to make sure you are dressed to impress. If the company is  very corporate, wear a smart suit and have your hair neat and tidy. If the company is more  creative, you may want to dress slightly more casual, so long as you are clean and smart.  Most importantly, make sure you look and feel good, as this will reflect in your interview  technique. Sell yourself Once in the interview, keeping calm and answering the questions in an articulate, concise  and composed manner is what matters most. Concentrate on why you are the best person  for the job. Often, in the job specification, there will be a list of competencies and qualities  that the potential employer is looking for. Revert back to your prepared examples here in  order to demonstrate that you have the necessary skills and personality to fill the position  perfectly. Dont panic Be aware that not everything can be premeditated. It is likely that you will be asked a  question you had neither expected nor planned for. Don’t panic and stay calm. Think the  question through properly before answering whilst keeping your composure. This will be  sure to impress the interviewer. Positivity A positive attitude is imperative. Try not to be negative about previous roles you have had  in the past as it can portray an unenthusiastic or bitter attitude to work. If you have had a  negative experience with a past employer, simply say it did not work out or it was time to  move on. Concentrate on your positivity and enthusiasm for the current role rather than  reflecting on the past. Friendly Lastly, try to keep things friendly and relaxed throughout. Building a rapport is important  as it shows that you are easy to get on with. It will also give your interviewer an insight into  how well you would fit in with the company and rest of the staff. Ask questions Often in an interview, you will be given the chance to ask your own questions. This is your  time to find out about more about the company: their culture, strengths and goals. You  can also clarify anything you may not fully understand about what they do as a company or  what the role encompasses. By asking questions it shows that you are inquisitive and also  demonstrates your interest in the job. After: Once out of the interview, say good-bye to your interviewer, again, with a firm handshake  and a smile. Tell them you look forward to hearing from them, and, if the moment seems  right, ask for their business card. Once home, you could even send an email thanking them  for their time. This shows how keen you are for the role and will be sure to put you in good  stead with your potential employer. By following these tips, you can really impress. Preparation, selling yourself, good body language  and asking questions will all contribute towards a great interview. But most importantly, be yourself. Good luck! Author: Kate Dow is from atticrecruitment.co.uk  who  specialise in PA, Secretarial and Graduate Recruitment.

Americas Most Overpaid and Underpaid Jobs (Visual)

Americas Most Overpaid and Underpaid Jobs (Visual) One of the biggest ways to feel unmotivated in your job is to find out how much youre underpaid. In a new Business Insider/SurveyMonkey poll, 400 respondents chimed in and rated the most overpaid, somewhat overpaid, paid about right, somewhat underpaid, or very underpaid jobs. The results were captured below. Which of these jobs shock you as being underpaid or overpaid?   If you could use a pay upgrade, subscribe to the blog for content focused on helping you find your Careertopia.

10 Things That Could Ruin Your Career - Classy Career Girl

10 Things That Could Ruin Your Career So you’ve found your dream job. Now what? Millions of workers around the world are stuck in jobs they don’t like. A survey revealed that nearly half of the world’s employees are unhappy at their work. Covering 120,000 respondents worldwide, the survey found that part of what is making 48% of workers unhappy are headcount reductions, smaller bonuses, and company policies. Another sign of unhappy workers is the constant shifting of jobs, a phenomenon very closely identified with millennials. Known as the job-hopping generation, career shift among millennials is the new normal. A 2016 Gallup report found that 21% of millennials said they have changed jobs within the past year, three times more than other generations. This job hopping of millennials  translates to economic losses and even more young workers disengaged at work. Being disengaged at work to the point of being miserable can ruin quickly ruin your career without you even knowing it. 10 Things That Could Ruin Your Career 1. Consistently Showing  Up Late  â€œI’m on my way,” is probably the greatest lie ever to be crafted by humanity. It is rude enough to do this to a friend, but to do this at work is fatal. If you do this consistently and have stopped caring what other people say and how it may affect the quality of your work and your relationships with colleagues, you are ruining your career. Coming to work, meetings, and other functions late is simply disrespectful. 2. Making Too Many Excuses Even legit excuses have their tipping point. You can only make so many excuses. Always having an excuse for everything ruins your credibility and will make your co-workers think that they can’t trust you to do things right or deliver on time. Some employees spend so much time thinking about an excuse when they really should be focusing on ways to ensure everything is done correctly. 3. Engaging in the Blame Game At work, you have to deal with many people and departments to get things done. Some customer service personnel sometimes need to work with sales and operations. If the job ends up a disaster, it is very convenient to blame it on other people. But, is that going to help? Not only will blaming others leave the problem unresolved, engaging in the blame game also makes you look unprofessional and unable to take on more responsibility. 4. Putting  Others Down Let it be clear that when you put others down, you don’t pull yourself up. For example, a call center agent gets promoted or gets an increase and you flash the biggest congratulatory smile to the person but secretly tell everyone how undeserving she is. Not only do you come off as pathetic and bitter, you also appear unworthy of your co-worker’s trust. Gossip is a very unhealthy activity and pretty soon you will feel all of your co-workers gossipping about you. [RELATED: My 10 Success Principles] 5. Multitasking But Not Getting Anything Done There’s a huge difference between working hard and working smart. When you try to do everything all at once, the risk is that you end up accomplishing nothing or turning in work that isnt your best work possible. Spreading yourself too thin will leave you more vulnerable to making mistakes. Instead of multitasking, focus on the most important task and work your way down. 6. Being Too Personal For Work Taking occasional personal calls or ordering online to buy your spouse a birthday gift is acceptable. But, when your personal life interferes with your work so often that you can barely distinguish work emails from personal ones, you appear disinterested and disengaged. 7. Moving Too Often So this is your third job in six months? Maybe you are just testing the waters and still figuring things out and that’s totally fine. We all have to cut ourselves some slack. But, how long do you intend to figure things out? It is hard to find your career path when you move too much. Chances are that you will miss out on the long-term impact of your work and your growth will be limited. Employers might also think that you lack commitment especially if you hop across different industries. 8. Talking Yourself Up But Not Delivering Do not make promises you can’t keep. Never over-promise and under-deliver. Not only will you end up discouraging your employer and co-workers, you will also come off as inefficient and unreliable. For example, if you desire to be successful in your career, do not take multiple shifts, accounts or workload if you can’t handle it. 9. Going  Overboard With Social Even if you are a social media specialist at work, you must still learn how to detach your virtual life from your official job function. Do not let hours of web surfing and online chatting get out of hand. Before you know it, you have watched too many videos on YouTube and have accomplished nothing on your long to-do list. As you engage with your virtual friends, you disengage yourself from the workplace. 10. Telling Lies Instead of Owning Up Honesty is a value that is fundamental in any work environment. This shows that you can be trusted. But, when you make a mistake and lie instead of owning up to it, your credibility and trustworthiness are compromised. Remember, coverups only make  things worse. You might not be aware of it but you are actually ruining your career by doing these ten things. You may think that having the right skills and abilities is enough, but remember that getting a job and keeping it require character and hard work.

Saving Money While Living in the Most Expensive US States

Saving Money While Living in the Most Expensive US States The USA is a big place and where you choose to live can have a major effect on your outgoings. The most expensive states, including California, Washington D.C. and Hawaii, remain attractive, however, because of everything they offer their residents. So, if you don’t mind paying a little extra for the finer things in life, there are plenty of reasons to move to some of the USs more pricey areas. However, not everything has to cost you an arm and a leg. By finding savings here and there, you can still save money while living in the country’s most expensive places. Spend sensibly in the Golden State With exciting startups in Silicon Valley, cultural icons in Hollywood and 840 miles of beautiful coastline, it isn’t difficult to understand why almost 40 million Americans call California their home. However, the state isn’t all sunshine and rainbows and anyone moving here from elsewhere in the US may find their living expenses greatly increase. House prices, in particular, can come as a shock, with homes often valued at two-and-a-half times the national average. When looking to purchase a property in an expensive area, the best way to save money is to seek professional advice. By having extensive knowledge of the market and current economic climate, local experts can save you thousands of dollars. California Mortgage Advisors, for example, have branches all over the state and are able to offer money saving guidance as well as loans.  Fine dining in Washington D.C. Although not technically a state, the federal district of Washington D.C is one of the more expensive parts of the US to live in. The US capital may be most closely associated with politics, but it also has a burgeoning food scene that is as expensive as it is delicious. As with other parts of the US, looking outside of the usual tourist traps and established eateries is a great way of getting fantastic food at more affordable prices. Check out recently opened restaurants using local city guides in order to experience top quality food before word gets around and prices go up. Washington D.C was recently voted the Restaurant City of the Year, which means that it is host to a wide variety of outlets. By doing some local research, you should be able to hunt down a local bargain. Exploring paradise in Hawaii You can’t put a price on the kind of picturesque views on offer in Hawaii and, fortunately, you don’t have to. One of the great ways to get value for money in this state, and many others in the USA, is by making the most of its natural beauty. Why not go snorkeling in some of the island’s glorious bays, or enjoy a long walk on the beach as the sun sets? Some of Hawaii’s national parks are also free on national holidays, so you can make the most of the state’s volcanic landscape without spending a penny. Although the cost of living in some of the USs most expensive areas can sometimes seem daunting, there are affordable experiences out there. They may require a bit of hunting for, but they are certainly worth it. . Image credits. Main.  Cali.  DC.  

What Happens To Your Online Personal Brand After Youre Gone - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

What Happens To Your Online Personal Brand After Youre Gone Morbid topic. But if you’ve spent any time working on building your brand and online presence across various channels, you have to wonder what will become of all those profiles and photos. And if you’re a blogger or article-writer, do you want all that content you’ve created to be out there forever? Occasionally I ponder this very dilemma. I have 3 blogsites, and many other online profiles, my photo all over the place, content on Twitter and other social networks, and hundreds of executive branding and job search articles copyrighted to me sitting on numerous other sites. The online profiles could be shut down. Social networking activity would, of course, cease, and the accounts could be shut down, unless I want to memorialize them and have them live on. But would I want my blogsites to be taken down, making all that content inaccessible? Although after time it would be somewhat dated, I’d like to think that it would still be of benefit to executive job seekers. Even now, after only 4 years of blogging, people have told me they come back often to my sites and use them as a resource. Social media is still in its infancy. I can only imagine how search engines will favor content that’s twenty or more years old. And would I want my online personal brand â€" something I’ve worked so hard to communicate and cultivate â€" to fizzle out, and my mark on the careers industry to be forgotten? Obviously, I need to put a plan in place designate someone to oversee things give them passwords and instructions. I was once again reminded of this after reading a post by Drew McLellan, a marketing and branding expert, Does an online presence need to fade into that good night? He wrote about a colleague of his in the advertising world who died and left behind a blog filled with smart, valuable posts on advertising lore that he often returned to. His family took the blog down. Most people have probably not discussed this with their family and friends. Much like the I want to be cremated or buried conversation  â€" part of the 21st century needs to be a conversation about what we want done with our online accounts and content. What do you want to have happen to your online presence? Do you have a plan in place? Related posts: Executive Brand Online Reputation Management: Relevance, Quality, Diversity, Volume, Consistency Social Media ROI: Is It Worth the Time? Does Your Online Presence Scream DON’T Hire Me? photo by Vince Alongi 00 0

Why You Dont Want to Be the Smartest Person in the Room

Why You Don’t Want to Be the Smartest Person in the Room Do you want others to see you as smart, capable and successful? I know I do. From childhood, they test us on our knowledge, give us grades, equate going to a prestigious school with success. Then we get that great job and the cycle starts again, only on steroids. Indeed the whole “gerbil track” is geared around being seen as smart, capable and successful, and rewarding those who are. And that’s the beginning of a slippery slope. The Slippery Slope The system leads us to want to be the smartest and best person in the room, where “smartest” incorporates being capable, successful and any of the other attributes society tends to ascribe to “A Players”. It’s addictive, heady stuff. Then it becomes tempting â€" and even natural â€" to surround yourself with people where there’s a comfortable margin between you and everyone else. That’s where the idea of surrounding yourself with “yes men” comes from. People who won’t challenge your worldview of being the smartest, most capable and most successful of the group. The thing is, it happens gradually, so it’s hard to notice until one day you wake up and find that you’re left behind. That’s when you realize that the truly successful people have continued to learn and grow. We learn, grow and become better when we surround ourselves with people who are smarter than us The Downsides to Being the Smartest Person in the Room There are real downsides to allowing yourself to glide along this path toward being the smartest person in the room. Here are three in particular that can be showstoppers for your career. When the chips are down, you’re on your own When a truly big, complicated problem arises, you won’t have people to help you solve it. Instead, you’ll be expected to know everything. It’s like being the mighty and powerful Wizard of Oz (a.k.a. “smartest person in the room” of Oz) who turns out to be a quite ordinary â€" and lonely â€" person. Ultimately, we all face the big gnarly problem that we can’t solve on our own, and that’s where your career starts taking a turn for worse. You stop learning and growing At a recent conference, I asked a fellow attendee how he was enjoying the event. His answer was, “We've discovered we’re more advanced than most of the people here, so we’re not learning nearly as much as when we first started attending years ago. So it hasn’t been great.” That was telling. Here was a person who was basically saying that he and his team were now the smartest people in the room, and it wasn’t so useful. While others might use this as an opportunity to gloat about being ahead of others, he was disappointed to miss the chance for greater learning and development. Given this mindset, I predict that his group will continue to stay ahead of the pack and do some great things for the world. You top out in your career Another version of being the smartest in the room is when you surround yourself with people who are great at executing on what you tell them, but aren’t otherwise as capable as you. One of my clients is dealing with just this issue with one of his direct reports, John (not his real name), who runs a major division of the organization. John built his track record by being great at running the nuts and bolts of the operation. He did that by building a team he could trust to do as they’re told and execute on the plan… his plan. But now at this loftier level, John lacks the talent around him to drive performance at the next level, which means being innovative. My client wonders whether John is too insecure to hire people who are independent thinkers and might challenge him. Or maybe he just doesn't understand how to build the right team. Either way, John is no longer seen as being on an upward trajectory and has topped out. Ultimately, that will probably put him at risk of losing his job. How Will You Go Through Life? As with all things in life, you have choices. In this case, it’s about being smart right now versus tapping into a way to become better and better. On the one hand, you can do what we’ve been trained to do since childhood. Show how much you know and hide the rest. Find the group where you can be the smartest person in the room and settle for being smart right now. Or, you can open yourself up to a lifetime of learning and growing. Someone who never wants to be the smartest one in the room. Someone who wants to become better by tapping into a room full of genius and inspiration. That requires being comfortable with yourself so that you can be vulnerable and open to the new and unknown without feeling inferior. From personal experience, it’s hard to take that personal risk, but it’s well worth it. Plus, it’s one way to not fear getting older, because you can keep getting better! Become better by opening yourself up to a lifetime of learning and growing The question is, how do you want to live your life? Leave a comment and let me know.

What are your talents and skills - Hallie Crawford

What are your talents and skills I had a client in one of our coaching groups recently say to me she didn’t know what her challenges were or things she had to improve on. And, she wasn’t sure what her talents were either. I’ve been there, done that! Until we know what our talents are, it’s hard to define what career is right for us-and know how we stand out from the crowd. Here are 2 great ways to get answers to these questions-by seeing ourselves through other’s eyes. This comes from DailyOm. Blurb below and 2 examples of how to do this: “Being with others is a wonderful way to learn more about ourselves. When we see the world through the eyes of other people we become more open to new ideas as well as differing viewpoints, since we are sometimes bound to our own opinions about how the world should be. This sense of blindness lifts when we are with other people, for the more open we are to them, the more we are able to see the various parts of ourselves that we have covered up. Others become a mirror reflecting parts of ourselves back to us and allowing us to see what is both wonderful about ourselves and what we need to improve.” DailyOm.com 1) A great way to uncover hidden skills or talents you don’t realize you have is to ask people who know you well. Ask them this week, what is my greatest strength or what do I do better than most people you know? Listen closely to what theu say. Take it in and don’t argue with them. 2) Also, don’t brush off compliments. We tend to do this in an effort to be humble. Guess what-you can be humble and also graciously accept a compliment. Let it in, say thank you when someone says they’re proud of you, or when they say you have a talent for something. Smile and truly accept it. Heres to having a career you love! Career Advice and Help