Resume Help Blog

Posts Tagged ‘interview tips’

Mary Berman, from Farmington Hills, Michigan, had been looking for work since February 2009 before starting a “Guerrilla” job search, in late September.

Up to that point, 20 weeks of job hunting had produced zero job interviews.

Just 7 weeks later, she accepted a job on Thursday, November 12, as a marketing executive assistant.

How did she use Guerrilla job hunting tactics to find work 65% faster?

“I saw a job advertised online and applied by mail. I sent a box with a paper Starbucks coffee cup, my cover letter, and resume inside. On the side of the cup, where it has boxes for the type of coffee, I made my own box that said, ‘Hire Mary’ and checked it with a black marker. I heard back a couple days later to get my first interview,” says Berman.

After her first job interview, which went well, Berman followed up with panache.

“It was Halloween time, so I decided to send them a chocolate covered apple with my hand-written thank-you note in a bag. I had a friend of mine, who was off work that day, take it over and deliver it to [the employer]. That was a big hit — they were thrilled — and I got the second interview out of it.”

Berman’s second job interview was with the executive vice president. Afterwards, she followed up diligently. “When I came home, I wrote a 30-60-90 day plan. I had taken copious notes during the interview and used that information to create suggestions for what I would do in my first 30, 60, and 90 days. I sent that to them via FedEx with another thank-you note. And I got a job offer.”

Now. Let’s break this successful Guerrilla Job Search down …

1. Start smart

The Coffee Cup Caper — a paper Starbucks cup, full-color Guerrilla Resume, and a cover letter (asking to meet for coffee), shipped in a box — gets extraordinary results. By contrast, ordinary resumes and cover letters, sent by email, get ordinary results.

2. Follow up with style

Delivering a Halloween treat with her thank-you note was correct seasonally, if not politically. Use good judgment before sending items that might be perceived as bribes by employers sensitive to such things, such as universities or public-sector organizations.

In Berman’s case, however, it worked like a (chocolate-covered) charm.

And, leaving out the gift, think of the impact a hand-delivered thank-you note can have on an employer, versus standard U.S. Mail or email. Could you arrange to have your thank-you note delivered by a courier, or a friend acting as one? Of course you could!

3. Give employers another reason to hire you

Mary did this in spades after her second interview, when she sent a written plan of action that outlined her first three months on the job.

A 30-60-90 day plan is a way of proving you can do the work — before you’re even on the payroll — by describing how you would learn the job, build rapport with employees/customers, and contribute to the bottom line.

Mary’s plan was 8 pages long and took the better part of a Friday night to prepare. (Before you balk at spending an entire evening at home researching and writing a 30-60-90 day plan, ask yourself if you wouldn’t trade a night out for getting a steady paycheck again.)

4. Score style points with your delivery

Mary’s first follow-up, the chocolate-apple-thank-you note, was delivered by a courier, not by email. Her 30-60-90 day plan was delivered by FedEx, not by email.

Do you not see a pattern? Email should NOT be the delivery method for your career documents. Because you can’t delete a courier, and a FedEx envelope can’t get caught in a spam filter.

Bottom line: This smart Guerrilla had failed to get even one job interview in 20 weeks of job hunting with conventional tactics.

After adopting unconventional Guerrilla tactics, she found work in only 7 weeks.

To be able to ace any job interview, there is a need to be compelling and competitive and go beyond what an interview is all about.

Who does not get nervous just thinking of the dreaded job interview? What is your chance of making it now after the three interviews that you failed, because you were too nervous to answer? When will you ever get your talking straight when you are in front of the board of directors?   Yes, the list goes on for the job interview problems that you need to get over to ace the position.

The chances to make it are odd and the odds are truly great, but still, you can get hired! All you need to do is to find the most credible job interview help and use it to your benefit. There is a need to experiment on every angle when it comes to a job interview preparation and it might take some time before you sound and look natural during the actual interview. You have to analyze your steps before execution and be able to think fast because nothing else beats smooth job interview skills.

All the written requirements, including the cover letter and the resume must be well thought of because they will give the impression of skill and professionalism that they need to consider you in the position. They must be well groomed as you are for the interview. However, take caution to include only what is best for the interview or the position that you wish to land on. An organized resume must not spill to the borders of the paper while the cover letter must be brief but firm and professional.

The power of impact is your key to ace any job. You have to be ready for anything when job interview questions are directed to you as an individual, an applicant, a future employee and a team leader. Be sure to save some job interview answers that produce outstanding impression that does not sound too highly of you but compelling and competitive. Some interviewers want brief but clear answers while some wish to know more about you. That is why you need to think of these things that are not included in your resume that will help them know that they need to hire someone like you.

To be compelling and competitive, you must sound and look professional in every way. Do not give them the idea of another useless employee with slow and senseless answers. You have to do everything the best that you can before the decision is taken, even up to the making of your job interview thank you letter. During the job interview follow up, for example, it must be rendered with a firm tone whether it may be on the phone or personal.

The interview will never be easy without job interview tips. There are ups and downs in life that back you down in getting employed. You have to choose to be better and seek all possible solutions to your job interview dilemmas. Break the barriers and go beyond and learn what job interview is all about.

The current economic meltdown is just the tip of a much larger iceberg that will have far reaching economic implications for all of us here in the U.S. Tens of thousands of layoffs in and beyond the financial industry will only be the start of more sober times as companies across the country will be forced to rethink their future hiring plans.

One fact seems certain. All of these circumstances will combine to have huge ramifications for job seekers. The failing economy and a constantly rising unemployment rate, will require individuals to take a fresh approach to their job search.

Referencing the most recent economic crisis, Neil McNulty, Principal Recruiter, McNulty Management Group states, ” The game has changed, but the rules remain the same: now, more than ever, job seekers need to change their mindset from looking for ‘openings’ to looking for ‘opportunities’…and opportunities are borne out of crisis and chaos, and exist even in the worst economy.”

This means that you, as a job seeker, must look beyond job postings and move into marketing yourself to the managers of the companies and organizations who are experiencing problems that you can solve.

1) Change Your Mindset

Move away from being a passive job seeker to an active problem-solver. Don’t just rely on the Internet to find job openings. Scour the marketplace to find the hidden jobs that aren’t advertised. Most jobs are not posted or advertised. The best jobs are often found through networking, word-of-mouth and informational interviews.

2) Stop Thinking of Yourself as Just an Assortment of Job Skills.

See yourself as a product to package and market, and then create your own marketing campaign to find your desired job. This includes having a state-of-the-art resume, and sharpening your interviewing skills.

3) Sell ROI

View yourself in terms of Return on Investment for an employer. See yourself as a mini-Profit and Loss Center. Be prepared to demonstrate ways you have helped to positively impact the bottom line of your past or current employer. This means demonstrating ways you’ve helped make money or save money for an employer or clients. As employees, we all touch money. Some of us may be closer to it than others. Regardless, we must find ways to prove this in short “sound bites” when given the opportunity.

Remember, it’s not about you, but about the employer. All communication with a prospective employer must answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”

The road ahead will be littered with casualties, no mistake about that. We could sit by and whine about the circumstances. We could wait for the government to initiate a “bailout” package that might somehow rescue the unemployed. Or, we could take charge of our own lives and power ourselves forward regardless of the hysteria of others. Joseph P. Kennedy said many years ago, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. That statement is just as true today as it was then. We all share this rocky, tough economy in common, whether employed or not. We can respond as victims of the economy or we can get tough and get going.