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.
Resume writing tip for job seekers. Palladian provides expert resume writing services to help job seekers stand out and land interviews.
Resume Tip: Your resume should be clear and easy to understand.
A good way to simplify your message is to include a positioning statement that clearly shows who you are and what you offer in one or two short sentences. This statement needs to be focused and tailored to the job to be most effective.
Many job seekers highlight the breadth of experiences and skills they possess. A diverse background offers multiple perspectives on problems and strategies, and can be valuable to an employer. Despite the benefits of wide range of skills, focusing your sales pitch on your diverse background can be a mistake.
Many job seekers highlight the breadth of experiences and skills they possess. A diverse background offers multiple perspectives on problems and strategies, and can be valuable to an employer.
Despite the benefits of wide range of skills, focusing your sales pitch on your diverse background can be a mistake.
The problem with this approach lies in how different experiences are presented. You should emphasize the elements of your background that directly related to the position, showing your strongest skills and abilities prominently.
When a person highlights a wide range of skills and experiences, it becomes very difficult to assess which elements are strongest. When a large number of skills are put on equal footing, a hiring manager will often conclude the job seeker is average at each skill. Average will not get someone excited to hire you.
You need to show how you are exceptional. The initial focus of your resume should be on the aspects of the job you are seeking. You need to demonstrate how you will be success in the core functions of the job. This targeted approach will make a strong impression and give you the opportunity interview. Early in the hiring process, companies typically have dozens if not hundreds of candidates to consider and need to screen a large percentage. Focusing on the core skills of a position and screening out candidates without exceptional experience with these skills is a common approach.
As you progress through the hiring process, the diversity of your experiences can then help you get hired. A breadth of experiences is a benefit to an employer. This background can be the deciding factor when a company is comparing to equally qualified candidates. The additional experiences you possess can be the selling point that gives you an edge to get hired.
Let’s look at an example – this candidate is Vice President of Supply Chain for a manufacturing firm. The company is looking for someone that can lead their supply chain function and is most concerned with reducing costs through better vendor management with Asian suppliers.
The candidate has five years of experience sourcing in Asia, ten years of supply chain management, 5 years as a manufacturing manager and 3 years as a quality engineer.
General Presentation: Successful supply chain executive with experience managing purchasing, logistics and scheduling. Excellent manufacturing management track record, with significant quality engineering experience.
Focused Approached: Successful supply chain executive, specializing in purchasing and vendor management of off-shore suppliers, with extensive experience sourcing in Asia. Experienced with logistics, scheduling, manufacturing management and quality engineering, allowing effective anticipation of problems from vendors that will affect downstream customers.
The difference between these two presentations is small. Most resumes I read are similar to the general presentation. All of the skills and experiences are put on equal footing and none standout as a result. This presentation requires the hiring manager to connect the dots and recognize the value of the different experiences.
The second presentation positions the candidate much clearer. It is targeted to show the supply chain experience, and more specifically, the experience sourcing in Asia. The addition experiences are still presented, but are placed in a secondary, supporting context to the supply chain and sourcing experience.
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Making these 10 mistakes in your job search will limit your success and hold you back.
In good economic times, a job search can be difficult. In tough times, the challenge is even greater. To be successful in a search, you need to market your potential effectively. Unfortunately, many job seekers make mistakes that hold them back. Below are ten of the biggest mistakes you can make in your search:
1. WIIFM – The biggest mistake job seekers make is focusing on “What’s In It For Me” and not what is important to the employer. When you look for a job, you are trying to persuade a company to spend tens of thousands of dollars on you. They need a good reason to do that and helping your career or satisfying your needs isn’t a priority for them.
Focus on the goals of the company and hiring manager – not your goals.
2. No Cover Letter – Sending a resume to a company introduces you to the employer. Without a cover letter, the impression you make will be less personal and less effective. The main goal of the cover letter is to motivate the hiring manager to want to read your resume. Just sending a resume usually won’t create this motivation. You need something to get them excited.
Always send a cover letter that highlights your skills and accomplishments.
3. No Objective – To many job seekers submit resumes without indicating the type of position they want. A hiring manager is not going to spend time trying to determine what the best job for you is. You need to point them in the right direction. Either in your cover letter or in your resume, indicate the type of position you are seeking.
Clearly show what type of position you should be considered for.
4. No Accomplishments – To make a good impression, you need to show what you have done. Most job seekers focus on detailing their responsibilities. Being responsible for something doesn’t make a person any good at it. You need to show your performance.
Demonstrate your potential by including specific accomplishments.
5. Missing Information – Your resume needs to convey certain information. Failing to include details that are commonly expected will make a poor impression. Employment dates, names of employers and job titles need to be included.
Ensure your resume clearly shows your employment history.
6. Overly General Applications – With the ease of sending resumes to hundreds of employers with only a few clicks, some job seekers generalize their resume. The goal is to make it as broad as possible. The result is the resume ends up looking like everyone else’s and they get passed over.
Customize your resume for each position, emphasizing your skills, abilities and accomplishments related to the job.
7. Not Networking – The most effective way to find a job is through networking, and yet, many job seekers do very little networking. Getting a contact in a company to refer you to a hiring manager will greatly improve your chances of getting hired. This is a job search strategy that you need to use.
Find someone in each target company that can help you.
8. Not Preparing for an Interview – It is essential that you research the company and position before going to an interview. This is expected by hiring managers. If you don’t do this, you will make a poor impression.
Prepare thoroughly for each interview and complete at least two or three mock interviews before your first real interview.
9. Not Proofreading – Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors need to be minimized in your resume. Your resume is the primary sales document for you. Hiring managers review resumes with the expectation that it is the highest quality work you can produce. If it is poorly written, with spelling errors, grammatical errors, inconsistent sentence structure and awkward writing, it will hurt your chances.
Read your resume slowly out loud to catch mistakes, and find a good writer to proofread your resume.
10. Not Getting Help – Most job seekers avoid getting help from experts. Some fear the negative feedback and others just think they can do it all themselves. Your resume and interviewing are too important to try a DIY approach. Get an expert to help. Their advice and assistance can be invaluable.
Get help from friends and hire expert coaches improve your resume and interview skills.
Behavioral interviews include questions about specific situations in your career. This question type is open-ended and requires you to give details of how you acted in the past. A number of manufacturing firms conduct behavioral interviews and even more incorporate behavioral questions.
Behavioral interviews include questions about specific situations in your career. This question type is open-ended and requires you to give details of how you acted in the past. A number of manufacturing firms conduct behavioral interviews and even more incorporate behavioral questions in their interview process.
Virtually any work situation can be the focus of a behavioral interview question. Preparing for a wide range of questions is essential. I’ve gathered a number of sample behavioral questions that relate to manufacturing and production management positions.
Tell me about a time when you reengineered a process.
Tell me about a time when you increased throughput in a process.
Tell me about a time when you eliminated a bottleneck.
Tell me about a time when your actions resulted in greater efficiencies of your team.
Tell me about a time when your department was overstaffed.
Tell me about a time when your department was understaffed.
Tell me about a time when your team’s morale was very low.
Tell me about a time when you made an unpopular decision.
Tell me about a time when you dealt with a conflict between people within your department.
Tell me about a time when you encountered quality problems in your department.
Tell me about a time when you needed another department to do something that helped your department’s performance but hurt that department’s performance.
Tell me about a time when you managed a large capital project.
Tell me about a time when your team was performing below expectations.
Tell me about a time when you installed new equipment in your department.
Tell me about a time when you reduced downtime.
This list of behavioral interview questions is just a sampling of the questions you might encounter in a manufacturing interview. There are thousands of potential interview questions you might be asked. It is impossible to prepare a unique answer for every question you could encounter. To be successful, you need to prepare to discuss specific situations from your experience that you can tailor to answer a variety of questions.
In addition, questions targeting manufacturing operations, you may see questions that apply to multiple industries. More general questions about leadership, communications skills, technical skills, teamwork, attitude, and values are common in behavioral interviews.
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JibberJobber effectively organizes a job search. If you commit to using it, it will help you. The free version is great and provides significant value. The premium version is even better, adding a number of useful features.
I’ve been to the JibberJobber site a number of times – the blog has some great job search articles. Despite this, I never really understood how useful JibberJobber is to a job seeker. Last week, I decided to do some research… I created an account and tried it out. I was very impressed.
How It Works
JibberJobber is a contact management system for job seekers. It provides a systematic approach for organizing and working your search. The core of the system is the contact database. You can add companies, recruiting firms and job boards, and you can add specific contacts at each organization. I like the flexibility database offers. There is a field for categories that allows you to create specific groupings for your companies. This is helpful if you are pursuing opportunities in multiple industries. The system also allows the attachment of documents – resumes and cover letters submitted, job descriptions, research on the company and any other files you want to tie to the company.
Once a company is entered, you can add contacts, events and jobs. Adding an event is easy and allows you to create past events or schedule future appointments.
Why It’s Effective
In a job search, staying organized is essential. You may apply for a position but not hear from the company for several weeks. It is likely you will forget some details by that point. Having a database that tracks the information will make you more effective.
The system can also help you in your networking. You have the ability to add contacts for each opportunity. A little research online, with social media sites, LinkedIn and other tools, will help you identify people within a company you can contact to learn about the opportunity and employer. It is likely that your contacts will know someone at each of your target companies. Contact these individuals and try to learn about the culture of the company, the types of qualities the organization prioritizes when hiring, and details of the position. Even if the person you speak with doesn’t know anything about the position you want, they will be able to help you understand the culture and hiring priorities.
By building a relationship with someone in the company, there is a chance that individual will offer to refer you to the hiring manager. The odds of getting an interview from an employee referral are dramatically higher than from an internet application.
Maintaining a tracking system for the contacts you develop will help you leverage each contact effectively.
Problems with JibberJobber
JibberJobber is a data management system. This requires entering information each time you do something with your search. Many people will find this a great strength of the system. The challenge for some will be maintaining consistency. If you don’t stick with it, it won’t help. This really isn’t a problem or limitation of the system. More of a caution that discipline is require… of course, if your job search isn’t organized and disciplined, you may have bigger problems than using JibberJobber ineffectively.
My only real reservation about the system is that getting started is a little confusing. The system is great, but there are so many features it is a little overwhelming. JibberJobber could use a lot more tooltip popups and a clearer roadmap for how to use the system. Much of the benefit of JibberJobber is organizing your job search so that you are efficient and effective. This requires knowing what information you need to log and what information is optional. If you don’t get off to a good start, the system will be less efficient. Hopefully, the team at JibberJobber will add more instructions, tutorials and tips to make it easier to get started.
Bottom Line: JibberJobber effectively organizes a job search. If you commit to using it, it will help you. The free version is great and provides significant value. The premium version is even better, adding a number of useful features.
Cover letters introduce your resume and influence how closely your resume will be read. An effective cover letter will get the reader excited to learn more. To do this, the cover letter needs to provide value beyond the resume.
Cover letters introduce your resume and influence how closely your resume will be read. An effective cover letter will get the reader excited to learn more. To do this, the cover letter needs to provide value beyond the resume.
One cover letter I received was simply a shortened version of the resume. The content was good, and I thought it was a good cover letter after reading it. My opinion changed after reading the resume.
The cover letter was close to a full page – over 200 words. It followed a typical format – it started with an introduction statement explaining the background of the job seeker, listed a number of accomplishments and concluded with statement that the candidate is looking forward to discussing opportunities with the company.
The resume was a little long, around 700 words, and followed a standard structure. It had a summary statement at the top, followed by the employment history and concluded with an education section. Like the cover letter, it wasn’t bad. Looking at the resume by itself, I thought it was ok. Not perfect, but it made a good impression.
The problem was putting the two documents together. The introduction statement of the cover letter was word for word identical to the summary statement on the resume. The accomplishments in the cover letter were also word for word identical to bullets in the work experience section.
My feeling after reading the two documents was the job seeker had wasted my time. Duplicating the information annoyed me. I would have preferred if the cover letter added something unique. This job seeker had a great progression, but had worked for their most recent employer for less than a year and just lost their job. An explanation of why would have helped.
Another effective way to structure the cover letter would have been to take only one or two of the accomplishments (instead of the seven listed in the cover letter) and tell the story behind them. A paragraph giving a lot of detail of why the accomplishment is significant could make it impressive. Listing the shorter bullet of the accomplishment in the resume would then be ok, since it shows when in the person’s career the accomplishment occurred and it would only be one item being repeated.
There may be a good reason to duplicate a limited amount of information from your resume in your cover letter. Just make sure that your cover letter is adding value and does not repeat everything word for work.
The challenges and expectations in your career will continually change. You must learn and grow to succeed. Interviewers often will question how you approach your career and what you have done to continue learning.
The challenges and expectations in your career will continually change. You must learn and grow to succeed. Interviewers often will question how you approach your career and what you have done to continue learning.
Some of the interview questions about your professional development include:
What continuing education classes have you completed recently?
What new skills have you gained in the last 3 years?
How do you stay current on developments in your industry?
Professional development can come for a variety of sources. Many people stay current through magazines, blogs and books. Others receive excellent continuing education at work. Some individuals take training classes, college courses or pursue industry certifications. All of these activities are good to discuss.
Your answers to professional development interview questions need to be specific. I’ve had candidates give answers like “I keep up on my industry by reading a few trade magazines.” This does not tell the interviewer anything. You could add some detail, for example, discussing specific periodicals and books you have read, but this is still a weak answer.
A better answer would include specific knowledge or skills that were gained. You could discuss a new technology, a tool or a process you learned. Your answer should have a clear, direct benefit to the job you are seeking. You want the interviewer to see that you are committed to your professional growth and are adding skills that will benefit them. Very broad learning unrelated to your field may help you in the long run, but probably will not make a strong memorable impression on the interviewer.
The best answer to a professional development interview question will discuss what you learned, how you learned it, and how you have applied what you learned to deliver results. This last piece makes a huge difference. It’s one thing to say you learned something. It’s another to say your learned something and applied successfully.
Look at the projects you have completed in the last couple years. Which projects required you to apply skills or knowledge that you didn’t possess before the project?
An example of an answer to a professional development interview question is:
“I am committed to continuing to learn in my field. I read several periodicals, and I try to take training courses in my field on a regular basis. Most recently, I attended a seminar on inventory management. I learned a new cycle counting approach that I applied this past year. By implementing new cycle counting procedures, we reduced our inventory levels by 20% and improved our inventory accuracy. All of this was achieved while we reduced our cycle counting hours by 15%”
This example shows a commitment to professional development, and most importantly, a commitment to the continuous improvement of the organization from the lessons learned. The results are likely to be valuable to an employer, making the candidate also valuable.
The verbs you use set the tone for your resume. Strong action verbs convey a track record of accomplishment. Weak passive verbs convey mediocrity and a lack of success. If you want to make a good impression, use verbs that present your experience in a strong positive way.
The verbs you use set the tone for your resume. Strong action verbs convey a track record of accomplishment. Weak passive verbs convey mediocrity and a lack of success. If you want to make a good impression, use verbs that present your experience in a strong positive way.
The range of verbs varies greatly from resume to resume. I picked six resume at random and listed the start of each line under the most recent job:
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Resume 1: Established… |
Resume 2: Provider of… |
Resume 3: Member, Executive Management… |
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Resume 4: Promoted and grew… |
Resume 5: Manage and direct.. |
Resume 6: Management of… |
Many of the verbs listed are weak. In fact, some aren't even verbs. With only the few words from each resume, which resumes do you want to read? Which bullets are the most significant?
It may be impossible to eliminate all passive verbs. Phrases like “Management of” and “Responsible for” may be unavoidable. The important thing to do is review the sentence structure and make sure you create the strongest presentation.
I have written a number of times about the importance of providing a minimum amount of information in a resume. There are certain elements that need to be included for the document to be a resume. I read another resume recently that omitted a key piece of information. This is so important, I’m revisiting the topic.
I have written a number of times about the importance of providing a minimum amount of information in a resume. There are certain elements that need to be included for the document to be a resume. I read another resume recently that omitted a key piece of information. This is so important, I’m revisiting the topic. The critical elements of a resume include:
Job Seeker’s Name and Contact Info
Employer Names
Job Titles
Dates of Employment
Education
If your resume is limited to just this information, it will be a weak resum, but if you don’t have all of these elements you don’t have a resume. For most job seekers, this is basic stuff. Despite this, I continue to receive resumes from job seekers that omit some of the critical information. The resume I read today is an example of this.
The job seeker held a series of sales management positions. The most recent position failed to include a job title. The job titles in order are:
No title
Branch Manager
Sales Manager
District Sales Manager
Field Engineer
The position without a title provided a description that implied the job seeker had been in a sales management position. I can’t be certain the role was a sales manager. I can think of three reasons why the job seeker omitted the title. First, he didn’t know that including all the job titles is important. I think this highly unlikely for an individual with twenty years of management experience. Second, the job seeker was careless and just forgot it. This is possible but doesn’t make a good impression of his attention to detail. Third, the job seeker is trying to hide something about his current position. This is also possible and makes a very bad impression if true.
When you are writing your resume, make sure you check it closely and look at every criteria a hiring manager will assess. After that, get a second opinion. Show your resume to a professional that is experienced assessing resumes. This will help ensure you make the impression you intend.
