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From the Coach
Happy New Year – 2004.
My
personal wish for you is to have a wonderful year filled with new opportunities.
When I
put my new pages into my daytimer (not a palm pilot user- yet) it was
stimulating
to think about filling in all those blank pages with activities during the
coming year. |
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This will be an exciting year for me as I have
a new book. "BOOST YOUR INTERVIEW IQ"
-- Mc Graw Hill. It is a fun book -- that contains an interview quiz
(Virtual Interviews) with 50 popular questions. The reader determines
which is the strongest answer, and there is a score card to test your
interview IQ. The answers are followed by an explanation of what makes one
answer stronger than another. There are fifty questions and 150 possible
answers to the questions.
The book also teaches the reader
"storytelling." How to write and tell your own stories using a formula to
answer those sticky "behavioral questions." I think the book is very
unique and should give the reader a stronger sense of what the interviewer
is hearing or looking to hear in the course of the interview.
I am also very excited about working with
several FBI candidates who are interviewing for the Phase II interview
process. The FBI will be hiring as many as 900 people in the upcoming
year.
This promises to be a very interesting year on
many fronts -- I hope that includes yours.
Best wishes – HAPPY 2004!
Carole
The Coach
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From
the Front - The Job Front |
Depending on which newspaper or article you read there are mixed messages
regarding what can be expected in 2004. There seems to be a sense of optimism
but also a caution not to get too optimistic.
People will continue to lose their jobs in large
numbers, but at the same time the numbers of those being hired is increasing.
Personally, I do see a change in the number of
people getting interviews -- that's good news. The bad news is there are still a
huge number of competitors for each job. So, it is extremely important that you
be ready and prepared to let the interviewer know what you can bring that the
last or next person interviewing cannot.
I've written an article for Career-Intelligence.com
-- "How To Stand Out From a Crowd of Candidates."
Let's assume that you have an outstanding resume and
that you make it to the top of the stack of resumes of people to be called for
an interview; you and maybe nine or ten other equally qualified people for the
position, that is.
Because companies have so many candidates to choose
from, they are interviewing more people so that they can select the "best." When
you are lucky enough to be invited to an interview, it is essential that you be
ready to sell yourself, to let the interviewers know what makes you unique, what
added value you can bring to the position--in other words, why you are the best
person for the job.
By doing some basic preparation, you can determine
your uniqueness and where you should focus your attention. The first step in
this process is to identify your five strengths. These strengths are the areas
where you do very well.
Read More -
http://www.career-intelligence.com/transition/ChangeStrategies/Uniqueness.html
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Question of the Month - "Dear
Interview Coach" |
From a fellow Career Counselor
Q.
Dear Carole: I have a quick question that
I am hoping you can help with. I have a client who is in the midst of a job
search. Her current company was recently written up in the paper regarding an
ethics scandal, mistreatment of employees and union violations. My client is a
director but not directly involved in any of these dealings. She is worried
about this scandal coming up during an interview and she is looking for advice
on how to handle it.
Unfortunately, given Enron and all the
latest corporate scandals, I was wondering if you have any quick advice on the
topic.
A.
My feeling is that unless the person was
indeed involved in the mis-doing - it had nothing to do with her. If things were
going on that she was not aware of - there was nothing she did wrong. If she
knew something was wrong and wants to say that is why she left the company, then
that is different.
My advice is "don't bring it up at all."
If asked about it, tell the interviewer that first of all she didn't know
anything about what was happening behind the scenes, and secondly she feels that
it would be unprofessional of her to talk about her former company - whether
right or wrong it is being taken care of by professional and legal experts. As
far as her performance and her job went she was doing a good job.
The Interview Coach
Hi Carole:
I had an interview with ADP just recently
because HR found my resume online and gave me a chance to be interviewed. I am
so happy that I was able to apply everything I have learned from your tele-seminar
I attended a month ago. The IT manager was so impressed that aside from being
astounded by my English (not to mention I am Filipina and have just been here
for 5 years), but with how I answered his questions. I felt equally comfortable
talking to him. I hadn't interviewed for many years and I not only got through
the interview, but left a great impression on ADP. I now feel I have the
confidence and experience about what to say during the interview. I am looking
forward to my interviews in the future.
Thanks for your
help
Sincerely,
L. Q.
IT Professional
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"BOOST YOUR INTERVIEW IQ" --
written by Carole Martin (McGraw-Hill).
This book features an interview quiz to test your
ability to give the strongest answers. Included are exercises to assist you in
strengthening your own answers. Retaking the quiz after you do the exercises in
the book will help you boost your "Interview IQ" and give stronger answers in
interviews.
Buy it from Amazon.com!
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