Interview Tips

September 5, 2017 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

5 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID DURING JOB INTERVIEWS

Avoid these 5 Interview Mistakes to land your perfect Job: Have you ever wanted a job but not received an offer? Most of us have been there. In exploring the job market there are absolutely things any candidate should do to increase their odds at getting an offer and being the chosen one.

First impressions at an interview are very important and from the time you walk through the door you are being judged. In order to stand out from the other applicants, make sure you look alert, competent, and confident during the interview and avoid these five mistakes:

Mistake #1: Arriving Too Late or Too Early

This is a big hot button for SRS. A time is set aside for your interview and you need to respect that. Being late is never acceptable but showing up too early is equally disrespectful and can potentially set a job seeker up for low ball offers. For most occupations, we suggest announcing yourself no more than 5 -7 minutes prior to your interview although there are exceptions to the rule for some professions such as sales. Being too late or too early for an interview suggests that you have poor time management skills as well as a lack of respect for your interviewer

Don’t misunderstand; we don’t recommend that any candidate arrives with their hair on fire. We recommend you arrive in plenty of time prior to your interview just simply wait to announce yourself. If you are more than 7 minutes early, figure out where you are going and then find a place to have a seat to wait until you can officially arrive. Take this extra time to go over your notes and think of any additional questions you may have for the interviewer.

Mistake #2: Being unprepared.

Your lack of preparation will be obvious to your interviewer. If you are prepared, this will help demonstrate your researching skills and how articulate you are at communicating. Successful preparation has several elements:

Analyze how your skills match the job description. Make a list of the job requirements and how your accomplishments align with those requirements. Be prepared to give examples of how these skills match.
Research the company’s website, LinkedIn and Facebook pages so that you know your answers to these two questions – “What do you know about us?” and “Why do you want to work here?”
After reading about the company’s mission and business practices, make a list of questions that will show your interest.
Find out who will be interviewing you and check out their LinkedIn Profile. See if you have anything in common with the interviewer, such as attending the same school or belonging to the same professional association.

You should learn as much as possible about your prospective employer prior to the interview. Hiring managers will assume that you have already investigated the company’s website, so make sure you go beyond the minimum by utilizing your professional network or industry publications to find out more.

Mistake #3: Sharing Too Little/Too Much Information

Not giving enough detail makes the interviewer think you are hiding something, whereas if you share too much information, your interviewer may tune you out. Advance preparation is the key to achieving the right balance. Prior to the interview, think about possible emotional intelligence questions and behavioral questions and how you might answer them. Before you arrive at the interview, you should have already prepared succinct answers to questions about your background that will showcase your skills. Practice these responses with your friends or trusted colleagues as they can give you candid feedback that will help you refine and shorten your answers. Remember less is more and caution against giving TMI (too much information). If an interviewer wants to know more, he or she will continue to ask questions.

Mistake # 4 Getting Distracted

It is very easy to get distracted during an interview, but not paying attention can cost you. Before you get to your interview, silence your phone. Texting during your interview is not only rude and disruptive, it sends a clear message to your potential employer that getting the job is not your top priority.

Make sure you are well-rested, alert and prepared for your interview. If you feel your attention slipping away, make the effort to stay engaged. By maintaining eye contact, leaning slightly forward when talking to your interviewer you will show you are an effective listener

Mistake # 5 Badmouthing Past Employers

It is a smaller world than you think so never make the mistake of badmouthing your employers. When interviewing, you want your employer to know that you can work well with other people and handle conflicts in a mature and effective way. Have an example ready of how you turned a negative situation into a positive one.

One of the most valuable, and underrated, interviewing skills is the ability to listen, pay attention to, understand and absorb what the other person is saying. Try to customize your answers based on what you learn from the interviewer so that you can emphasize the skills you have that are most applicable to the position.

In closing, take the time to do what your competition is unwilling or unable to do. We promise you will be glad you did!

July 25, 2016 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

3 MAJOR ADVANTAGES OF PARTNERING WITH EXECUTIVE RECRUITERS

The 3 Major Advantages of Partnering With Executive Recruiters

If you’re at the top of your profession, consider speaking with an executive recruitment firm prior to a career change.

Even top-tier professionals and executive-level talent often need assistance navigating their own career path. As executive recruiters in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, LA, we hear many of our clients from the legal and IT industries admit that when the personal decision was made to seek out new opportunities, they immediately faced a huge obstacle: where to begin?

The names and faces of “Top Performers” within a specific industry are likely to be recognizable inside their business circles, especially in a localized region. If everyone knows your name, actively conducting a covert job search becomes next to impossible. Even making casual inquiries about potential opportunities to cohorts in your circles creates a significant risk to anonymity.

However, partnering with an Executive Recruiter not only protects your privacy when forging a new career path, but the relationship also offers 3 distinct advantages for talent at the top of their professional game.

Advantage #1: You’ll Have an Advocate, a Coach, and an Agent

If you’ve never used executive recruiters to assist in a job search, you may not even know what to expect from the relationship. First and foremost, a recruiter is YOUR ADVOCATE; they are watching out for your best interests and are working to find you the best match available. Being an advocate for your professional career means they’ll need to know a lot of details about you, a ton of background information, and will need a clear understanding of your ultimate career goals. When your recruiter/advocate is aware of all the pertinent information, they can design a very detailed map for your career path.

Did you know that even the most accomplished Hollywood actors typically consult with an acting coach prior to taking on a new project? Seasoned actors realized long ago that in order to ensure success in a new role, they must prepare and practice…and this is made possible by getting guidance from an acting coach. In a similar way, an employment recruiter assumes the role of COACH. Your recruiter/coach is available to guide you throughout the job search process, provides education and resources about potential new employers, and helps you prepare and practice for interviews.

In the same way, a professional athlete needs a sports agent, top-tier talent needs their recruiter to act as their CAREER AGENT. In this role, your recruiter will be actively seeking out attractive opportunities that match your specific skillsets, talents, abilities, and other factors (e.g.; location, salary requirements, workload). The agent role is also vital when it comes time to negotiate with potential employers. And this brings us to the next huge advantage…

Advantage #2: Your Recruiter Offers Guidance & Negotiation Skills

As stated before, your recruiter has a vested interest in your success. Therefore, you should expect they will guide and educate you through the entire process. From the first step of identifying and evaluating desirable opportunities to negotiating with the new employer and transitioning from your old company, your recruiter should be right there with you every step of the way.

One of the most sensitive (and sometimes, awkward) aspects of pursuing a new career opportunity is negotiating compensation. Even skilled sales pros or experienced courtroom litigators often balk at conducting tough negotiations on their own behalf; sometimes we’re simply too invested emotionally to have the right perspective on what is considered “attractive compensation”! However, experienced recruiters can remove the emotional element and negotiate based on current market data and other competitive factors. In fact, many company executives prefer negotiating with a third party when it comes to hiring top-level professionals.

Advantage #3: Executive Recruiters Have Access to Insider Information

Recruiters are familiar with the culture, reputation, business models and work environment of most prominent employers. This valuable insider information not only helps thoroughly prepare their talent partners for the interview process, but it also assists in matching candidates with the most desirable employment situation.

But the biggest advantage of “insider information” is that professional recruiters have the inside track on available (or potential) opportunities that have yet to become public. Simply due to the nature of their business, executive staffing companies are in constant communication with the companies they represent and thus receive advanced notice on positions that are likely to become available. Naturally, they quickly alert their qualified talent clients about these opportunities, which means you’ll be competing with fewer candidates at the outset. And being “first out of the gate” provides a significant competitive advantage over other job seekers who must wait for the opportunities to be posted publicly!

So if you are a top performing professional looking to forge a new career path, consider partnering with a trusted executive recruiting firm like Strategic Recruitment Solutions. We work with most of the law firms and technology companies in the Louisiana Gulf Coast region, as well as top companies throughout the nation. Therefore, we can provide access to positions in the Legal and IT fields that may not be advertised on job boards or a company’s website. Search our current opportunities or submit your resume to get started!

Although they are sometimes referred to as “professional headhunters”, executive-level recruiters generally try to work with candidates within a few specific industries, allowing executive recruiters to maintain a high level of expertise within those select fields. Their expert knowledge is used to match talent clients with positions where they’d most likely excel, help prepare candidates for the interview process, and even facilitate negotiations based on the most current industry data.

January 31, 2013 by Amy Shanks 3 Comments

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE JOB INTERVIEW

Newsflash from SRS –

No one will pay you for being JUST book smart!!! Let’s talk about Emotional Intelligence.

There is, in fact, a kind of smart which can pay off in the job market, and it has nothing to do with IQ (a measure of a person’s ability to learn which – stays the same throughout life). That kind of smart is called Emotional Intelligence (a flexible skill set which can be improved with practice). The whole of a person is made up of Intelligence Quotient, Emotional Intelligence and personality. Which of these is the strongest predictor of performance in the work world? Emotional Intelligence or E I, many psychologists say, is responsible for 58% of success. It is seen as the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence. In fact, a high degree of E I is reported to be responsible for a person earning an average of $29,000/year more than those with a low E I. This is true of all industries, at all levels, and in all parts of the country.

Emotional intelligence is an intangible that affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions in such a way as to achieve positive results. It falls into two primary competencies personal and social. Skills within the personal category are self-awareness and self-management. Is a person able to perceive his/her emotions and keep an awareness of them? Can this awareness be used to keep a person flexible and positive?

Within the Social Competency are the skills of social awareness and relationship management. Is the person able to understand other people’s moods, and behaviors and in doing so improve the quality of relationships? Can he/she manage interactions with coworkers?

This is no news to recruiters and HR professionals!

The interview process is designed to meet the person behind the resume’. In other words, it gives the interviewer an opportunity to separate the achievements on the resume which are largely a product of IQ from Emotional I Q which is difficult to quantify and list. For example, a candidate can have terrific accounting skills and great grades but yet be arrogant, have trouble working with others and be a person who blames others when things go wrong. When competing for the same job a more desirable candidate might have slightly lower grades and a more narrow skill set, yet he/she is polite, works well with others, stays focused and has leadership potential. She/he has the ability to manage emotions, relates well to others, adapts to the work environment, takes criticism and is eager to learn. Who will get the job? Who would you want to work with? It is much harder to train someone to manage his emotions than it is to strengthen his skills and train him for a particular job. Compared to IQ and expertise, emotional intelligence matters twice as much as IQ according to psychologist Daniel Goleman.

Given the huge pool of talent that most companies have to choose from in this competitive job market, doesn’t it make sense that employers will spend time in attempting to hire employees that are emotionally fit?

Job postings increasingly use terms such as mature and resilient as employers are more discerning in what they are looking for beyond skills and accomplishments on the resume’. The online shoe retailer Zappos.com weeds out candidates who don’t have their emotions in check. Christa Foley, senior HR manager at Zappos says “We ask a lot of questions to make sure they’re humble.” Arrogance has no place when talking to potential customers so an often asked question is, “Can you tell me a common perception people have of you?” Answers like, “I always have an opinion on something,” can be a red flag that a person can be arrogant.

Given a choice most employers would prefer to hire someone with limited technical skills (which can be improved) and a high emotional intelligence.

Before an interview, consider possible emotional intelligence interview questions – those that attempt to get information about your personal and social skills, i.e. self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. Remember the interviewer is attempting to see the real you – particularly your E I apart from the resume’.

Consider your answer to the following questions:

Tell me about a time when you felt confident in your abilities. What was the situation? Why did you feel confident? How did you know? What was the result?
Think of a situation you faced where you felt angry or frustrated at work (whether you showed it or not). How did you know that you were feeling this way? Why were you frustrated? What did you say or do? What was the impact you had on the other people who were involved?
Everyone is better at some things than others. What is an example of something that isn’t one of your strengths? What have you done in your professional life to accommodate for this?
How would your current or previous co-workers, supervisor and staff describe your communication and interpersonal style? Give me an example or two.
Describe a difficult conversation you faced at work. What was it? What did you do? What was the result?

SPEND SOME TIME REALLY THINKING ABOUT ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS LIKE THESE. PRACTICE A RESPONSE THAT SHOWS YOU HAVE STRONG EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. ENGAGE SOMEONE TO LISTEN TO THE QUESTION AND YOUR RESPONSE – YOUR RECRUITER IS AN EXCELLENT SOURCE/SOUNDING BOARD FOR YOUR POSSIBLE ANSWERS TO THESE AND SIMILAR QUESTIONS – USE THEM.

Remember in the interview to thoughtfully answer all questions. You are not being timed. Thinking through a question and asking for clarification if necessary demonstrates important characteristics of those with a high E I, which are self-awareness and the ability to manage behavior and social interaction.

“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”
Ann Landers

Good luck and remember that luck comes in abundance to those that prepare!

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Samuel Goldwyn