Interview Tip: Prepare to discuss how you stay organized and meet deadline.
Interview Tip: Prepare to discuss how you stay organized and meet deadlines.
Virtually all jobs require organization and a sense of urgency. It is important in an interview to be able to address your organization and time management skills. Being organized will not get you hired, but projecting disorganization and unreliability will cause you to be rejected.
Resume Tip: Include the continuing education you have completed on your resume.
Resume Tip: Include the continuing education you have completed on your resume.
It is important to update your skills and continue to improve throughout your career. List major continuing education events: classes, workshops, conferences and certifications. Don’t go overboard with this. Many companies provide annual training of basic procedures, safety practices and government compliance topics. Usually, listing all of these is a mistake. Focus on significant training events that will separate you from your competition.
I received the CareerBuilder Hiring Forecast for 2009 along with a few other reports from CareerBuilder recently. There are a number of interesting items in the reports, and two in particular that jumped out to me.
I received the CareerBuilder Hiring Forecast for 2009 along with a few other reports from CareerBuilder recently. There are a number of interesting items in the reports, and two in particular that jumped out to me.
Changes in Staffing Levels
The hiring forecast compiled data from 3,200 hiring managers. Interestingly, most said they were increasing or maintaining staffing levels. Only 16% said that they planned to reduce the number of permanent full-time employees in their location.
This may come as a shock to a lot people. The only news you can find talks about how bad the economy is. The economy is bad. We’re in a recession. January’s unemployment figure is due out today, and I expect it to be bad.
So, how can the CareerBuilder figure be right? As bad as the economy is, it is still running. We have unemployment around 7%… that means 93% of the workforce is employed. Companies also moved aggressively to layoff workers at the end of 2008 to position themselves for ’09. Many facilities are now staffed to ride out the downturn.
Additionally, many hiring managers understand that the average recession lasts about a year, and we haven’t had a recession lasting more than two years since the great
depression. We’re already a year into this, so the hope is that by 2010, we’ll be on the path to recovery. There is no guarantee that this will happen, in the 1800’s, we had two recessions last more than five years without an upturn. Our situation is bad, but doesn’t compare to the situation at those times. One of the prolonged recessions occurred after the War of 1812, when Washington DC was burned by the British, and the other occurred in the early 1870’s with the county still trying to recover from the Civil War.
Fortunately, our country is in much better shape than at either of those times.
We don’t know when the economy will start growing again. We don’t know which companies are going to hire and which will layoff. We can’t be sure of much right now, and the negativity in the news can be overwhelming.
If you need a job, the only option is to forget the stats and headlines. Aggressively work to find your next job. Maintain your self-confidence. There will be job seekers that desperately need a job but lose momentum in their search expecting failure with each application.
No matter how bad the economy becomes, there will be millions of people that find jobs in 2009. To be one of them, you need to be positive, confident and proactive. Attitude and effort will make a huge difference in your search.
Social Media
Employers are using social media sites to assess job seekers. A social media site is a website with a community of users that interact. MySpace and Facebook are the two biggest, but there are a lot more out there. Of the managers that checked social media for a candidate, one-third found a significant reason to reject the candidate based on what they found.
Some of the common problems that were identified included drug and alcohol use, inappropriate conduct, a bad attitude towards past employers, poor communications skills and lies about the candidate’s qualifications. If you have online public profiles, you need to maintain a basic level of decency.
You should also google your name to check what information is on the web about you. It is so easy to do a search on a candidate’s name, it will become a common screening procedure at many companies. You should at least know what they are going to find.
More information can be found in the the 2009 CareerBuilder Hiring Forecast the CareerBuilder Report on Social Media.
Reference checks are an important step in the hiring process of many companies. They are extremely common, and it is likely you will be asked for the names of several references before you are made a job offer. There are a few mistakes job seekers make with their references that are easily avoidable.
Reference checks are an important step in the hiring process of many companies. They are extremely common, and it is likely you will be asked for the names of several references before you are made a job offer. There are a few mistakes job seekers make with their references that are easily avoidable.
References on Your Resume
Some job seekers list their references directly on their resume. These can be included at the end in a reference section, of throughout the resume under each job. In either case, this is a mistake.
You should not list your references on your resume. By placing your references on your resume, you are inviting anyone that reads your resume to contact the people you list. As an executive recruiter, I’ve read articles from several sources that advise recruiters to search resumes for references to recruit. If you are posting your resume on online, with references attached, there’s a good chance a recruiter will use the information you give them.
There isn’t a benefit to listing your references on your resume. To land an interview, you need to demonstrate your skills, experience and track record of success. Listing a former supervisor will not help in this capacity. The hiring manager will make their decision to interview you long before they invest the time to contact a reference.
References Available Upon Request
It is common to see the phrase “References Available Upon Request” at the bottom of a resume. This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s completely unnecessary. If a company requires reference checks in its process, it is going to ask for them whether you write this or not. A company will expect you to be able to provide references.
Go ahead and leave the “References Available Upon Request” off your resume. Save the space for information that will make a difference in landing an interview.
Choice of References
When you provide references, try to select former supervisors and try to select individuals from your recent work history. The best reference is your most recent direct supervisor. This individual should have a similar perspective as the manager hiring you. After this, past supervisors, make good references. References from more recent positions are more valuable than older ones.
After direct supervisors, individuals at the same level as your direct supervisor, but in a different functional area, can provide helpful references. A senior executive several levels above you is also a good reference, but usually not as good as a direct supervisor. A direct supervisor has much more contact and time directly observing your performance than senior level people. This allows the supervisor to describe your performance in more detail.
Peer references are also good to have, but are less valued by employers. It is easier to pick and choose a peer that you are friends with that you know will give a very positive reference. Hiring managers often discount these references.
Personal references are rarely valuable. Friends, neighbors, ministers, teachers and other individuals may be able to describe your personality, values and background. They rarely can provide an assessment of your performance and potential in a specific job.
Notifying Your References
When you select your references, you should let the reference know that you would like to use them as a reference. Let them know you are interviewing for a job and they may be contacted. Describe to them why you are looking for a job, the type of positions you are seeking and the type of companies you are pursuing.
Information to Provide With Each
Reference
Number of References
You should have at a minimum three references. Don’t expect a company to check every reference. They may only check a few. The company may request additional references, especially if you do not include any former supervisors.
A great selection of references would include two direct supervisors, a exec above the level of your supervisor and a couple peers. A list of five references like this should satisfy an employer.
Letters of Recommendation
A letter of recommendation is a reference that is written and given to you so that you can provide it to a prospective employer. Recommendations are good to have, but do not eliminate the desire of companies to speak with your references directly. They may have questions that the letter does not address, or just want to hear from the reference directly. In either case, you may still be asked for contact information of someone that provided a recommendation.
An option for recommendations that is becoming more common is to obtain recommendations on LinkedIn. When a former boss or coworker writes a recommendation on LinkedIn, it can be viewed by anyone (if you have your profile set to a public status), and can be beneficial in your search.
Other Considerations
If you are employed and your employer does not know you are considering a change, you many not want your current employer to be contacted. This is usually not a problem and is understood by companies. Make sure you provide references from the position immediately prior to your current position. If you have been with the same company for a long time, you should try to get one or more references from your current employer. In this case, it is easier to get peers and this should be ok. Just try to get a supervisor from sometime in your work history.
References are usually requested around the time of the first face-to-face interview, often immediately following the interview.
You may have a past employer that will only verify employment dates. Companies do this to avoid any legal liability that may arise from providing a negative reference. They decide to avoid references all together. If this is an employer’s policy, there is little you can do to change their stance. A prospective employer should understand. Just make sure you have selection of references from other employers.
These behavioral interview questions will help you prepare for an interview for a production scheduling position.
Production schedulers develop the forecasts and production plans for manufacturing operations. These positions are critical to the success of a company and have to adapt to changing business conditions quickly. This makes behavioral interviews a great choice for assessing production scheduling candidates.
A behavioral interview focuses on assessing the candidate’s past performance by asking questions about specific situations the candidate has encountered. Some of the behavioral questions you may see for a production scheduling position include:
To be successful answering behavioral interview questions, you need to discuss specific situations. A clear, easily understood story of a challenge you faced, how you dealt with the challenge and the results of your actions can make a very impressive presentation.
Failing to prepare for a behavioral interview makes it very difficult to succeed. The best presentation requires specific details of the situations discussed. A general answer, lacking specificity, will not make a strong impression and will not be remembered.
The questions listed about above cover a range of challenges a production scheduler may face, but they are far from an inclusive list. There are thousands of potential interview questions. The key to preparing is to develop stories you can use to answer a variety of questions. If done effectively, preparing a number of stories can allow you to adapt to almost any interview question.
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Other Great Books to help you prepare for Behavioral Interviews:
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Finding the perfect job is a goal we all have. Many people find great jobs, that are rewarding and enjoyable, but perfection is elusive. There’s a simple reason for this. For almost every job, there’s a reason employers pay people to do the work. If an employer didn’t pay anything, they wouldn’t be able to persuade anyone to take the position.
Finding the perfect job is a goal we all have. Many people find great jobs, that are rewarding and enjoyable, but perfection is elusive. There’s a simple reason for this. For almost every job, there’s a reason employers pay people to do the work. If an employer didn’t pay anything, they wouldn’t be able to persuade anyone to take the position.
There is an exception available right now. A job that most people would pay to do. The job is to live on the beach at resort for six months. The “work” required includes:
Does this sound like difficult, stressful, tedious work? How much would you need to be paid to do this? The salary for this position is AUD$150,000 for six months work… Australian dollars since the position is in Australia on Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Accommodations are provided.
The downside of the position is the duration – it’s only a six month contract, then you have to go home.
My first reaction to hearing about this was to think that it had to be a joke. It isn’t. The job is being offered by the Tourism Queensland. An important component of the job is to write a weekly blog showing the range of activities and your overall impression of the location. The person that gets the job will help promote the resort by showing the world how perfect being there is.
The deadline to apply is February 22nd. Now, get working on your application (you need to submit a video), and good luck.
Behavioral interviews are a type of interview that asks the candidate to describe specific situations from their experience. This interview type is becoming more common with many companies. If you want to be prepared for every interview, working on behavioral interview techniques is one element your should include in your interview preparation.
Behavioral interviews are a type of interview that asks the candidate to describe specific situations from their experience. This interview type is becoming more common with many companies. If you want to be prepared for every interview, working on behavioral interview techniques is one element you should include in your interview preparation.
It is very difficult to excel in a behavioral interview if you haven’t prepared for this specific type. The interview style requires you to tell very specific stories from your background. Trying to select and tell the best story, emphasizing your strongest skills and showing how you will succeed, is extremely difficult on the fly. You may nail one or two questions, but it’s likely you will bomb a few too. If you are competing against a candidate that has prepared thoroughly, you will be at a distinct disadvantage.
Although being prepared for a common interview type should be enough motivation to work on behavioral interview preparation, there is another important reason you should improve your behavioral interviewing skills:
Behavioral interview techniques can be applied to non-behavioral interviews.
At its core, behavioral interviewing emphasizes storytelling. You will be asked to describe times when you encountered situations similar to the situations in the job you are seeking. The stories you prepare should show your skills, experience, attitude and character. All of these elements are important in every interview. Learning to provide examples that demonstrate your performance will help set you apart in any interview.
The better you get at showing an interviewer how you have performed, the more effective your interviews will be. Hiring managers want to know what they are going to get when they hire someone. Despite this, many job seekers are vague in their presentations. Every job seeker is going to claim to be hard working, a good communicator, good with people, knowledgeable in their field and successful in their career. If you make the same assertions as everyone else, you will look like everyone else.
Using behavioral interview techniques allows you to show the interviewer how you have performed in the past. You can make a strong, memorable impression by describing, very clearly, what you did and what the results were.
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Interviewing tip from Palladian. Get expert coaching to improve your interview skills.
Interview Tip: During your interview prep, focus on how you communicate the contributions you have made in the past and the the value you will provide to an employer.
At the end of an interview, you want the interviewer having a clear idea how you will perform in their organization. To do this, you need to focus on their needs – the goals, objectives and challenges that they must meet, and show how you have performed in similar situations in the past.
