A Lesson Learned About Social Media

How to prepare for a phone screening interview

Phone screening interviews are usually a necessary first step to graduate to an in-person interview with a hiring manager. How can you make sure you are selected to move on?

Be Prepared!

1. Have all information about the contact and position in front of you, water in case you have a dry throat, your calendar, questions you’d like to ask the company, and answers to questions you may be asked.

2. Pause when necessary between questions to give yourself time to prepare an answer. Rephrase the question if you need to.

3. Walk around, smile, use hand gestures, or whatever you can do to make you feel you are in the same room with the interviewer.

How to get a job? Think from an employer’s perspective!

A small business owner recently told me about an opening she was trying to fill. She posted the position on Craigslist and received 60 to 70 resumes. After weaning down the list, she interviewed five people but none of them seemed to click. Then she heard from the following applicant. Even though she admitted, “Usually I don’t read cover letters,” this one captured her attention.

Here’s an excerpt from that letter: “Please do not discount my résumé because I am overqualified. I am NOT looking for a supervisory or management position. I want to get back to the basic grunt work of payables, researching invoices, matching them to purchase orders, and preparing the check run. If you hire me you will get experience, maturity, dependability, and a team player with no personal drama ready to hit the ground running.”

The employer heard all that she needed to hear. This person pointed out exactly how she could meet the employer’s needs with enthusiasm. Needless to say, the employer called her immediately, interviewed her, and hired her on the spot. Her new employee even offered to come in and work a few hours for FREE before her official start date just to convince the employer of her skills and determination. The employer was delighted and couldn’t wait to share the news with me.

What are you doing to capture the interest of your next employer? Find out exactly what they are looking for, and let them know how you can fulfill their needs.

Overwhelmed by emails? Practical strategies to help you get organized during your job search.

How many emails do you get in a day? Tens? Hundreds? More? If you are like many of us, every day you are bombarded by mounds of emails, many which are totally junk. Have you gotten emails like this?

• Gifts under $10 plus FREE shipping!       
• Claim your birthday gift from ABC Company. 
• Prop 100: Be informed!

You delete one email after another, and if you miss a day, an important email may have gotten buried under the junk and could get deleted by accident.

If you are in a job search, missing an important email could be missing out on an opportunity.

So tell me about yourself…

Where do you begin when asked that all-important question during  an interview? Let me share a recent experience that illustrates how  you might respond when it happens to you.

Recently I reconnected with a dance teacher I had not seen in 30 years; I found her daughter though a social networking site and she told me that her mother was still working in her dance studio in New Jersey at the age of 80! When I reached her by phone, she immediately asked “So tell me about yourself, how are you doing?”

I first felt at a loss for words; where should I begin?