insider tips for interview success 2011 v1

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Insider Tips for Interview Success

WSFS Community Career Fair

August 30, 2011

Barton Career Advisors, LLC



Introduction & Agenda

• First Things First- My C.E.P.P., Brand & USP

• The Perfect Fit Takes Time & Skill

• Preparation- W5 (Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?)

• Changing the Flow by Understanding W.A.S. model

• Commonly Misread Questions

• Storytelling with A.S.R. (Action, Situation, Results)

• Blunders that MUST be avoided

• Little Lies Role Play- Uh Oh!

• Recap with Q&A



Career Emergency Preparedness Plan

• An idea that was born out of an understanding of disaster recovery

• Business continuity is founded on the concept that to remain a “going concern” the institution must have a plan for emergencies

• The protection of unique assets and capabilities ensures that a business can still compete

• Entities that do not prepare for emergencies can experience drastic and fatal consequences

A Career Emergency Preparedness Plan or CEPP for a professional provides a foundation from which one can adequately define career goals and plan for unforeseen circumstances. Through an understanding of a larger career picture built on consistent Exercise, Planning and Prayer each of us can better predict professional inflection points.



The CEPP Imperative

• Research now suggests multiple lifetime career changes

• Significant competition in the job market and talent is “on sale”

• Knowledge workers will be affected by evolving technologies

• Macro-economic factors (legislation, acts of nature)

• Business needs and corporate acquisitions

• Changing work styles (contractors, telecommuting)



The Three Components of CEPP

• Exercise- It goes beyond the concept of physical health

• Plan- A road map to our destination and ability to define possible obstacles

• Pray- Effective meditation and visualization through daily silent reflection- “see and achieve”



1.Exercise 2.Plan 3.Pray

CEPP Component Practice Areas

Exercise- What am I doing daily to ensure I am physically and mentally prepared/informed for career change?

•Informational Reading (company, economic, trade)•Regular reading list•Physiological (overall physical health, mood/attitude)•Personal interests and hobbies

Plan- Have I laid out the steps to handle anticipated inflections points and tied my stated plan to concrete goals?

•Regular growth of professional networks•Chronicle of success on a yearly basis (big picture)•Education & certification (continual coaching)•Time management & goal setting

Pray- Do I allow for some daily form of reflective meditation regardless of my spiritual beliefs?

•Reflection & visualization of goals•Quiet time to avoid being consumed by daily demands•Letting out negative thoughts and experiences•Grounding in what is important versus urgent



Brand Definition for Professionals

The “brand” of an individual professional is their personal mark of quality and implied warranty to a prospective employer and others within their field. A well thought and maintained professional brand will represent the significance of past accomplishments and a set of feature/benefit equations that are sought out by others.” –Chris Barton

“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You."- Tom Peters, "The Brand Called You", Fast Company, Issue 10, August 1997



Assessment

WinsMaterials

Network

Components of Professional Brand

•Desired Work•Skills•Personality

•Accomplishments•Projects•ROI•Recommendations

•Resume•Bio•Cover Letters•Campaign

•Contacts•Events•Tools•Strategy



Assessment

WinsMaterials

Network

Understand

QuantifyDocument

Market

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)



CEPP- Foundation of Brand

Exercise Plan Pray

Career Planning



The Perfect Fit Takes Time & Skill

CA REER

FIT

TIME (Length of Search)

SEARCH

SKILL

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Maslow%27s_Hierarchy_of_Needs.svg�



Preparation W5 Model

Who?

• Who is the interviewer?

• Who knows them?

• Who is the final decision maker?

• Who knows them?

What?

• What is the job/role?

• What do you know about it?

• What can you do to position your USP?

When?

• When is the interview?

• When are they looking to fill the role?

Where?

• Where is the position located?

• Where will you interview?

• Where should you be 60 minutes prior?

Why?

• Why is the position open new vs. replace?

• Why are you the right candidate?



W.A.S.

Hiring managers and decision makers are looking for three key things when evaluating your candidacy. By preparing in advance you can change the flow of your meeting-

• Willingness- Is this person willing to do the work that we have for them?

• Ability- Does this candidate have the skills and ability to do this job?

• Stability- Do I feel comfortable that this candidate has a work history that demonstrates commitment?



Changing The Conversation Flow

• Willingness– Ask questions first (use rapport building time wisely)

– Say so! Incorporate into interview answers

• Ability– Prepare and tell good accomplishment stories (A.S.R.)

– Study role and company and match skills to opportunity

• Stability– Point to previous roles with solid commitment

– Indicate intended commitment level



Commonly Misread Questions

• Tell Me About Yourself.

• What are your goals?

Response Comments/Opportunities As far as who I am- takes a look at everything he does and honesty is a big part of who I am- coorelate that to my business life- enjoys, investing and sports. Competitive. I have done quite a few volunteer activities. Blend personal and professional- mentoring, Ronald McDonald House. Golf coach at high school. It’s interesting to see the kids progress.

This is a BIG trap of a question that is designed to just see what you’ll say. The idea is to provide some personal background information without getting “too” personal. The golf stuff is great. Come up with an answer to this type of question in advance.

Tremendous upside- global leader- pharma will continue to grow. Marketing of products on an ongoing basis. Patents ending- broaden range to other clients will be essential in the future.

Missed a major part of this question…what are your goals? Need to list some of your objectives and why this role/company line up with your needs.



Commonly Misread Questions

• Why did you leave your last job?

• What will be the biggest challenge in this role?

They are very old German culture. Some folks had difficulty fitting in. Location. Strain on personal life. Engineering manager was not on site and was recognized as being a difficult person to work with. Equipment was changed and improved and was a friction for engineering.

This answer sounds like an ownership issue again. We don’t want to provide too much info about the “crime scene” so to speak. Also, we don’t want to talk about a lot of interpersonal conflict stuff in an interview. We don’t want them thinking that you can’t get along with people!

Challenge goes back to communication. A clear understanding of what is needed. Very clear expectations. Depends on the results of the business. Rhode Island- machine uptime was a big issue. An analysis of data and trends. Determine that largest waste and costs. Saw that 60% of problems came from one line (can’t run the same formula on this line). When referring to Klockner said “they”.

You should not highlight communication as a core challenge particularly after indicating early in the interview that you are a strong communicator using visuals etc. Also, if you are referring to your time at Klockner you should say “we” not “they”. Using they conveys a lack of ownership.



A.S.R. Handout

ACTION. SITUATON. RESULT.

Learn to tell these stories!



Interview Blunders to Avoid

• Showing up late- the reason will never matter

• Don’t bring your cell phone….or at least turn it off!

• Getting the dress code wrong

• Forgetting the thank you

• Obvious Embellishment

• Talking about salary, hours, benefits, perks

• Speaking poorly about previous roles/companies

• Not listening to the question- The Zone Out

• Overly familiar (talking about that picture)

• Putting the interviewer on the spot



Little Lies Matter Role Play!Chris- Hello Kim. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for traveling all this way from

Chicago to meet with us. Why don’t we run over here to the conference room and get started with the interview.

Chris- Okay. So Kim, tell me about yourself and some of the things that I would not see on your resume.

Kim (Name Protected)- Well, let’s see. (pause) I love to travel and I have been all over the US. It really is great getting to know new people and places. I come from a large family and I have been in sales for the last 5 years.

Chris- Great. Tell me more.Kim- I am also a voracious reader.Chris- Interesting. What genre of books do you enjoy?Kim- I am a big Anne Rice fan!Chris- So you like fiction. I am not a real big fan.Kim- (Laughs) Fiction is the best. You get to just put yourself into the story. What do

you read.Chris- I am a fan of business guru books.



Little Lies Matter Role Play (Continued)!Kim- I read business books too. As a matter of fact, I try to read one business book

and one fiction book per month.Chris- Really! That’s a big commitment of time. Tell me about the last business book

you read.Kim- I just finished The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.Chris- One of my favorites. I’ve read it several times. Tell me what you think about

Covey’s coverage of the four quadrants and the Urgent vs. the ImportantKim- I am just getting into it now and have not gotten to that part yet but it sounds

interesting.Chris- Just give me an overview of the first chapter.Kim- I am not sure that we are talking about the same book.Chris- I think we are definitely talking about the book that you mentioned. One of the

most popular business books of all time.Kim- I must have been confused.Chris- Kim, I wish you luck in your job search. We’ll make sure you get some lunch

before you get the shuttle back to the airport!



Questions & Answers

insider tips for interview success 2011 v1

Documents

career goals

career change

brand usp

professionalsthe brand

brand definition

individual professional

professional inflection

components of cepp exercise