Wait a sec – what did that interview question REALLY mean?

Posted November 17th, 2010 in blog_news, For Job Seekers

You know what they say:  Being good at taking tests is a good indicator of how good you are at taking tests, not necessarily how well you’ll do in later life.

In many ways, the same is true about interviewing skills:  Doing well (or poorly) in interviews is not always a good predictor of how well you’ll perform in a particular job in the long term.

interview skills

Reading this list of Top 25 OddBall Interview Questions reminded me that the best interviews aren’t so much Q&A sessions as they are conversations. They’re like a first date.

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If you don’t know what job you want, you’re guaranteed not to find it.

Posted October 23rd, 2010 in For Job Seekers

Recruiters aren’t mind-readers. If you want them to connect you to your dream job, you have to be able to tell them what that dream job looks like.

In previous posts, we’ve talked about the basics of working with a recruiter (aka ‘headhunter’), and how to ensure they put you at the top of their callback list.

But this week I was reminded that before you start connecting with recruiters – before you even start writing your resume, in fact – you need to do one very important thing:  Figure out what job you want.

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Drinks with a friend may be the best professional development you’ve done all year

Posted October 10th, 2010 in blog_news

No matter what you do for a living – and especially if you’re not currently doing anything for a living, because you’re looking for a job – networking is crucial to your success.  The more people you know (and maintain relationships with), the more likely you are to receive the 3 Rs:  Recommended, Referred or Requested.

As we’ve discussed before, ‘networking’ doesn’t just mean ‘people in your industry, role, or profession. Your personal network, including friends and family, can also be a powerful network – after all, your friends and family are more invested in your career success than that VP Finance you met last week at a conference.

However, if you’re the sort of person who keeps their ‘personal’ and ‘professional’ lives separate – in other words, if you don’t believe in talking about work when out at a pub with your friends – you may not have realized that your friends have more to offer your career than just the 3 Rs.  They may have all kinds of job-related skills, knowledge and insights that would be relevant to your professional development, but which simply don’t come up around the dinner table.

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What’s in a name? 33% fewer interviews.

Posted September 12th, 2010 in blog_news, For Employers

Last week we discussed diversity in the workplace and how important it is to be pro-active, both within the recruiting department and across the rest of the organization.

That’s great, but before you can have a diverse workforce, you have to hire diverse candidates.  the problem is that discrimination often begins long before the interview process.

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