What are the top three tips you would provide your client for handling the telephone interview?  Why?

TIP ONE

Be as prepared as you can for telephone interviews and make sure there are no distractions.

• Have a file of jobs that you have applied for readily available, so that you have a copy of the advertisement that you responded to, plus a copy of the cover letter.
• Try to remove all distracting elements, by going to a room, without television, radio and away from the family (for example, ask your children not to disturb you).  Put the employer on hold, if necessary, while finding a quiet location.

[Read more…]

If you don’t know what an informational interview is, then it is simply a way in which you conduct a very informal interviews with people in the ‘know’, that can help progress your career and future.

Or putting it another way, it is not about asking for a job, it is simply a ‘fact finding mission’ where you find out as much as you can and expand your network. [Read more…]

Most of my clients are not in the least bit concerned about job interviews. While a few clients are nervous or apprehensive, or do understand that they are weak at job interviews; most clients don’t feel like they need to invest in job interview coaching.

Yet, if you talk to recruiters, or those within human resources, most people don’t present that well in interview (including executives). The reality is most candidates don’t specifically focus on the exact needs of the employer, fail to adequately research and prepare (and no, scanning the website of a company is not research), and don’t adequately sell what they offer.

From my perspective, I think the primary reason why most job candidates don’t perform as well as they could, is because they misunderstand the true purpose of a job interview. While there is a mutual understanding that a job interview is about finding the right skills match, most candidates fail to understand that the other primary purpose of the interview is about making the right connection, whether entry level or executive.

[Read more…]