Interview Lessons from the World of Podcasting

Interview Lessons from the World of Podcasting I’m multi-tasking. Not something I’m particularly good at, but listening to Marc Maron’s podcast  with President Obama I’m reminded how interviewing techniques, questions and the process  employers have used for hiring over decades is broken. Employers know it. Job-seekers feel it.  Stats confirm it. Maron starts the podcast rambling about how nervous he is, “I’m panicking all morning,” his  attempt to prepare questions, then the President walks into the garage and he and Maron just  start having a conversation. It’s about eight minutes in and Maron says, “…wow we just jumped  into it.” Exactly. A real conversation. Ditch the fire response interview. Go for the conversation. Every college student and graduate who has worked with me knows I think the fire response  style of interviewing generates lazy questions that yield canned answers. Maron, and I give  props to the President as well for the style and direction of the interview, he just said, “…we just  dove in, I went with it.” Wow, they’re covering everything and more you would want in a job  interview. Here’s what I’m hearing: Transitioning from high school to college Guns Racism Healthcare Basketball Ageing Family His children (Malia is driving!) His father Michelle’s family Religion Comedy Washington politics  A Hawaii-induced mindset Post-9/11 policies Bin Laden Basketball Oh did I say basketball? That’s a lot of ground in an hour. Not what are your strengths, weaknesses, where do you want  to be in five years questions. Breaking for a rant. While listening to the podcast and taping on the keys, I’m googling ‘interview  process broken’. Im not including the person name or the company, because, well, this  infuriates me. traditional interviews dont allow you to know the real person youre hiring. “I ask questions  like ‘what would other people say about you,’” she says. She also doesn’t just ask the old  â€œwhere do you want to be in five years,” but instead asks where they want to be in 10 or 20. It  makes them off guard and you get some really interesting information from them.” Really! First, the idea that you want to catch someone off guard in an interview is hostile, mean,  pointless. Where you want to be in 10, 20 years is the same old tired question. The world can  spin off its axis; that about screws that plan. There are so many other ways to find out in an  interview what others think about the candidate. Nothing in this person’s interview style  suggests they will get to know the real person. I coach job candidates to go in for the conversation. Get the interviewer off their script so they  can really get to know you and the value you offer the company. That’s how you demonstrate fit. You have to start the dialogue. It’s tough when you’re not experienced at interviewing but it can  be done. The real art Maron and the President display in the podcast is listening. A good interview, and I think this podcast counts as one ([another google while listening and  writing,] downloaded 735,063 times in the first 24 hours of availability, and more than 900,000  times in the first 36 hours,) requires listening. It’s Improv. Interviewing is performance created at  the moment it is performed. It’s a dialogue, it’s collaborative and demands listening to each  other. Im listening and I get that Maron had an idea of what he wanted to cover (notice I did not say  ask) in the podcast and the President, with his experience, knows how this stuff goes and flows. Interviewers also know what they want to cover and learn from job candidates and job  candidates know what interviewers want to hear. Except, interviewers and interviewees are so  intent on getting the boxes checked off that they half-listen and/or listen to what is familiar. That  is no way to learn anything about anyone. High-five at the end. I’m coming to the end of the podcast and I just heard one of the best things about it. Maron and  the President gave each other a high-five. Yep, they just complimented each other on how well  the interview went. That would be an interesting way to end an interview instead of the  obligatory thank you and what are the next steps. (Yes, you still do need to do that.) Try this in your next interview. Answer the ‘tell me about yourself’ question (you know it is the first question you will be  asked) but end by asking a question of the interviewer to get the dialogue started. Try,  â€œâ€¦and how did you start your career or how would you describe the ideal candidate for  this position. If they won’t play, try it again by saying something like, “I know you have a lot of  questions for me, may I ask you something first?” Then ask ad open-ended, thought-starter question to get things going: “What do you think makes people successful in this  job/at this company?” Keep the dialogue going by asking questions throughout the interview. I advise job-seekers to never let the interview end with the interviewer saying, “What questions do  you have?” Because there’s only five minutes left, that’s a throwaway question. The  interviewer does not intend to answer your questions in a way that you will learn  anything. If the interview went well, say so, “I learned a lot from you today about this job and  company. Thank you for a great conversation.” Let me know how your next interview goes when you took it from checking boxes to a  conversation. Thanks Marc Maron and President Obama for an interesting conversation and a great lesson in  interviewing.

Training is essential, so make sure its a perk you receive

Training is essential, so make sure its a perk you receive The new workplace currency is training. Title is not important if youre not staying long term. And salary increases of three or four percent are ceremonial. So use the clout you earn to get training; it will make a difference in your life in a way that salary and title cannot because training can fundamentally change how you operate and what you have to offer. The two most important types of training teach you how to understand yourself and how you function in an office. To a large extent, you have to take responsibility for training yourself in these areas. You cant learn this stuff passively, like learning key dates in U.S. history. This must be a self-motivated kind of learning, Julie Jansen told me. As a career coach she recognizes that, The problem is that most people dont know how self-aware they are. Her book You Want me to Work with Who? offers self-diagnostic tests to show you where you fall on the spectrum and how to re-train yourself. Most people think they make a good impression, but they are misguided. So a great help is an objective third-party who can tell you where you are weak?after all, everyone has weaknesses. The trick is to identify and fix them early in your working life so they dont hold you back. Workplace stars receive great training perks. Most companies quickly segment out high potential employees and they get more advanced and aggressive training, Jeff Snipes, CEO of Ninth House, told me. Companies dont usually market these programs because they create an atmosphere of haves and have-nots. However you can ask around at your company if theres a high-potential program and what youd need to do to get in. Here are some of the types of training to ask for: 1. Self-awareness coaching. Few people can accurately judge the impression they make on others. This is so widely accepted that companies are willing to pay big bucks for the a performance review that gives 360 feedback and includes in-depth interviews between a third-party and a wide range of people you work with. Once you determine your weaknesses, hiring a coach is a great way to understand the results of the review and figure out how to either get rid of your weaknesses or at least get around them. 2. Communications coaching. One of the most difficult pieces of managing yourself is projecting what you really feel to other people. So many things get in the way of authenticity in the office â€" most notably, your ego but also your nerves. Lindy Amos, a coach at TAI Resources, teaches executives to communicate better by using acting techniques. She has said things to me like, The difference between fear and excitement is breathing. Before you decide that you are already good at projecting your true self, consider that Amoss clients are top executives from companies you respect. If they need it, you do too. So get the training early in your career so you can make authentic connections from the beginning. 3. Training on how to navigate within a company. Many young people complain that they have great ideas but no one is listening. And this is often true. Thats because its not enough to have innovative ideas. You need to know how to promote them within the company. Ninth House, for example, offers training programs that teach how to package an idea so that you can get it funded within the company. Topics in this program include how to align the idea with corporate strategy and how to find an internal sponsor, two critical pieces to being an innovator in the workplace. When it comes to selling an idea at the office, dont forget that youll have to sell the idea that training will be good for your boss and the company as well as for you. If youre unemployed, you can also think about training is in terms of the job hunt: Hayden-Wilder, for example, is one of a bunch of companies that teach people how to use public relations and marketing techniques to present themselves to employers. Whatever sort of training you use â€" self-generated, corporate funded, or a mix of the two â€" if you create a life that encourages constant learning, your career and your life will be more interesting and more fulfilling.

The Top 4 Things That Motivate Female Entrepreneurs

The Top 4 Things That Motivate Female Entrepreneurs I grew up watching  Robert Schuller  on TV on Sunday mornings.   Dr. Schuller was an American televangelist, pastor, author and  the founder of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.  He may not be one of the female entrepreneurs that have closely mentored me but  this one life-changing question he often asked always  made a big impact on me. “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”   I love this question because  it really inspires  you to think about what you are passionate about and what you would love to do in your work and life without fear and doubt in your way. So how does this question apply to entrepreneurship? Not everyone has the drive to be an entrepreneur but I wanted to explore the characteristics of the women  that do and how they handle the fears and doubts that creep in while starting a business. What motivates female entrepreneurs?  Is it the drive to control  their own schedule, manage  their own workload, and steward  their own destiny? The top 4 things that ultimately motivate successful female entrepreneurs: 1. Vision of Doing Something You Love The  female entrepreneurs  I know  have this  entrepreneurial “drive” and they envision a future where they are doing what they love to do all the time. Their vision  is waking up  happy and fulfilled and knowing that if they just put a little extra work in now, that they can create their dream future. Vision is very important for all entrepreneurs and a big reason I always recommend getting started by creating your vision board and repeating affirmations every day. 2. Changing the World According to Peter Senge, “Great entrepreneurs are motivated by a desire to change the world.   If they’re good at what they do, they’ll make money.   But, it’s more important that they have something that they’re passionate about.   If business schools continue to reinforce the idea that the purpose of business is to make money, we doom ourselves to mediocre business.” One of my main goals is helping women. I have to do it every single day. The days that I cant blog or share my advice on social media are not very happy days for me. I love waking up and getting a couple articles out because I know I have helped someone that day. I know that I have done my little part in helping to make a difference in someone elses lives. That is what motivates entrepreneurs like me. 3.  Ownership and Responsibility In my organizational behavior class during business school, we discussed  how SRC Holdings Corporation successfully  used employee ownership to motivate their employees to become entrepreneurs.   Most companies use stock merely as a form of compensation â€" a carrot to get employees to work harder.   SRC on the other hand, uses equity to involve  employees in the process of making a difference in the company and culture and giving them entrepreneurial ownership. According to A Stake in the Outcome by Jack Stack, ” If you want to build a culture of ownership, people have to understand that they have a direct role to play in creating the kind of company they want, and that creating such a company is their responsibility and the ultimate goal of the enterprise, the end result of all their efforts.” By implementing  open-book management, employees at all levels are very knowledgeable about how their job fits into the financial plan for the company. Just like an entrepreneur, employees need to be trained to understand income statements and balance sheets because they have a stake in the financial outcome of the firm. SRC understands that owners do not follow a job description and don’t just put in their time.   Instead,  they have something bigger that they are working toward and feel a sense of responsibility about accomplishing it. 4. Freedom and Flexibility This motivation is huge for female entrepreneurs  and one of the main reasons I decided to leave my corporate job in 2014. I knew I wanted a family someday and the thought of sitting in my cubicle for 8 hours while my future child spent the day with someone else made me hustle hard before she was born so that I didnt have to go back after maternity leave. [RELATED: A Day in my Life as Mompreneur] I love being in charge of my schedule as an entrepreneur and setting my own goals. I also love that if my daughter is sick, I can usually cancel my commitments pretty easily and spend the day with her. Then, just pick up what I really need to do when she falls asleep later that night. Do  you have any of these motivations to start a business? If so, join us to learn more on our next free Corporate Rescue Plan webinar. Will you be our next success story? So,  what would you do if you knew you could not fail?

How Social Networking Can Boost Your Career

How Social Networking Can Boost Your Career Traditional methods in searching for employment opportunities involved many time consuming consultations with CV agencies or browsing broadsheet newspapers In the current time frame  the key method is social media. Social media is part of our daily life with over 1 billion people registered on Google+ and over 300 million business professionals use LinkedIn. More and more, people are using social media to search for employment, seek employees and to further their careers. Because social media allows people to reach a global audience, headhunters may use social media sites to seek the kind of candidates they are searching for. Social media networks provide a massive reach to the global job market with potential opportunities.   Recent surveys have identified that after employee referrals, social media is the next best method of delivering high quality candidates.  How can you leverage these networks for your career progression? Online profile Does your profile match all the roles you want to be considered for? Make sure social media pages are professional or at least reflect your career or the profession you are seeking. A professional headhunters first step in a hiring process is to checkout a potential candidate on Google. Be careful what networks you post personal thoughts because your online presence speaks volumes to a potential employer. Use separate accounts for personal and business use in order to maintain professionalism. You should proactively grow your network so you have international contacts across many external businesses. Your social network should list professional experience, current employer, former employers and education also consider including your aspirations. International headhunters want to know where you are headed, not just where you have been. Be sure to say as much about yourself and your goals as possible without being boring. Social networks Build as many social media profiles as possible and use them all wisely. Make connections in your industry and engage them as often as you can. Being visible on your pages and your connections pages are the best ways to get noticed. LinkedIn  â€" This is currently the best platform for being found by headhunters or business leaders.  Create a profile that complements your CV and related career documents.   Consider optimising relevant keywords that are used by headhunters when searching for candidates. Facebook  â€" You can use Facebook for professional purposes, be sure to include contact information, employment history, education and your location. Google +  â€"  Simply replicate your LinkedIn profile on Google+ for search engine rankings and professional business connections. Twitter  â€" Potential employers will check twitter feeds for professionalism. Twitter can also be useful for building relationships through quick response conversations. Your posts should always have relevance to your profession skills in some way. Do not just post examples of what you can do and are doing in your field. Also show that you are on the cutting edge by starting discussions about news in your business. Even post news you think is bad and talk about it with your connections.  Headhunters want to know that you know what you are doing before they approach you. Want to get noticed? It is much easier today for headhunters to identify and engage with executive candidates through social networks. Leading headhunters and hiring managers both agree that candidates looking to progress their career must be active in social media. RELATED: 7 Ways Youre Killing Your Career on Facebook   Author: Ed Robertson is a seasoned Marketing Manager writing about a range of topics covering executive search, employment and education.  MSC Headhunters is a retained executive search firm serving corporations around the world.

5 Apps That Will Help You Become a Better Remote Worker CareerMetis.com

5 Apps That Will Help You Become a Better Remote Worker â€" CareerMetis.com More and more of today’s workers are gaining the freedom to work as remote employees. Working remotely, however, comes with a number of pros and cons. On the one hand, you are free to work in your pajamas without anyone looking over your shoulder. On the other hand, you have to be more responsible than ever for how you budget your time and how effective you are at getting work done.You also have to remain in close communication with both your superiors and co-workers â€" who may be spread out across the city or even across the country. To help make this happen, it’s important to have all the right tools in place. Thankfully, there are many apps available today that can help you stay ahead of the game.evalHere are some of the best apps that will help you be more effective and efficient as a remote worker.1) Flat TomatoevalFlat Tomato is a productivity app that can help you work smarter. It is based on the Pomodoro technique which involves working for 25 minutes and then taking a 5 -minute break. You repeat the cycle four times and then take a longer, 15-minute break. This method of working is great because it helps you break down large projects into smaller time-based tasks.Flat Tomato helps you keep track of these intervals and offers a fun and friendly way to power through big projects. It’s simple and easy to use. Just tap to start a project, touch and hold to stop all tasks or double-tap to stop the current task and record a distraction.The app features animations, sounds, and colors that change according to the task currently running. It also features a calendar to record your tasks and estimate the effort for activities to make each cycle more effective. There’s a number of different themes to choose from to match your task or mood.2) RescueTimeRescueTime is a great tool for tracking what apps and websites you spend the most time on. This helps you gain an accurate picture of what you are doing with your time.evalAs you are working on your computer or mobile devices, RescueTime runs securely in the background and gives you detailed reports on your web browsing activities as well as what you accomplished throughout the day.RescueTime can also block specific websites at certain times. This can help you focus on what you need to accomplish.You can also set alerts to tell you when you’ve spent a certain amount of time on a certain activity. For example, set an alert to tell you when you’ve spent too much time on social media or when you’ve spent enough time working and need a reminder to take a break.3) WunderlistevalWunderlist is one of the best lists of apps on the market. It allows you to organize and share daily work tasks, set due dates, reminders and even assign to-dos to someone else. Wunderlist is great for both group and individual projects that need to be broken down into a number of tasks, either individually or collaboratively.You can simultaneously create lists for both work-related and personal projects and tas ks and share them with family, friends, and colleagues. Best of all, Wunderlist is available for free on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows, Kindle Fire, and the Web. No matter what kind of device someone else is using â€" or if they don’t have on at all â€" they can still access your Wunderlist.4) SaferVPNIf you work from coffee shops, hotel rooms or airports when you’re on the go, you, naturally, need access to Wi-Fi. However, you need to be careful because connecting to a public wireless network can be dangerous. The safety of your data could be at risk as hackers could intercept anything you download or upload.With the help of SaferVPN, you can avoid the risks involved with connecting to public Wi-Fi. The app creates a Virtual Private Network, which allows you to connect to a remote server that offers bank-level encryption for surfing the web through a secure network.With SaferVPN, the second you connect to an unsecured public WiFi hotspot, your secure portal is automatical ly activated. Not only will this app protect your personal and business data from hackers and snoopers, but you can even change your IP address to match any location you prefer, allowing you to use the internet as if you were in any country in the world.eval5) Google DriveTo access your work-related documents from any device, anywhere at any time, you will need to store them in the cloud. One of the best apps that offer cloud storage is Google Drive.This cloud-based storage system allows you to store and easily share your files with your colleagues so you can collaborate on them. With advanced search features, you scan photos and PDF’s to find terms you are looking for using optical character recognition Google Drive’s file synching service ensures that you can access the same documents or information from any computer or device without losing any of your work. Google Drive also allows you to export in different file formats so a document created in Pages can easily be opened in Word and vice-versa.Final ThoughtsStaying focused as a remote employee while still maintaining good group or team dynamics can be a challenge, but can also be immensely rewarding. Luckily, today’s smart devices provide a wealth of options to help today’s remote employees accomplish tasks smoothly and efficiently.

Twitter Replaces Job Boards

Twitter Replaces Job Boards TweetDecks recent news (read article from ClickZ) about partnering with TwitJobSearch is a sign. A sign that we seek a quick solution to finding a job.   There are millions of tweets every day and many are by recruiters and employers leveraging this medium to find suitable candidates.   It weeds out those who do not speak social media.   It weeds out those who are not up on technology.   It weeds out people period. Posting J O B S is silly While this is an interesting phenomenon, posting jobs on Twitter, still focuses on the old, old, old model-   Post a job to find a candidate.   The better model is, find someone you know and trust and hire them.   But, this isnt a new model at all.   Most high level/high profile jobs have always been filled this way.   When was the last time you saw a CEO job posting on Monster? Twitters real power is that it allows us (me and you) to meet new people, people we may not have an opportunity to interact with otherwise. On LinkedIn, it is very hard to enter into a discussion with someone you do not know or are not connected to.   This is not true of Twitter.   You can enter into conversation with almost anyone, therein lies its power. Most jobs are filled through networking.   You dont like to network or you dont know how.   Therefore, it is taking you longer to find a job.   Stop searching the postings.   A very small percentage of people actually secure a job from solely applying for a job online.   So why the big fuss over TweetDecks new incorporation of job tweets?     It is because no one has been able to quantify or qualify networking well enough to make it easier to find opportunities.   It is far easier to chase the postings. Where are we heading? What this is all pointing to is that in order to manage your career, you must embrace technology and incorporate Twitter into your networking strategy. So, have a plan. Choose who you follow wisely.   Look for great thinkers and movers and shakers in your industry. Here are some other good posts about using Twitter: How to Best Use Twitter Lists for Job Search  from JobMob

Top 2020 Professional Resume Writing Services

Top 2020 Professional Resume Writing ServicesIf you are like the hundreds of thousands of people who have discovered the wonders of the Internet in their quest to land a dream job, then you may be wondering what are the top 2020 professional resume writing services and why would you hire one? Let's answer these questions in detail.The first question that will probably come to mind is why would you hire one? Since so many people today are looking for work and many of those who do not have a proper resume now know how to write one, there is a big demand for professional resume writing services. By outsourcing this task to a professional company, you will have a better chance of getting hired for the job.Now, what makes these companies different from the rest? Well, many online resume writers out there use 'brain storming' as the primary part of their process when writing an online resume. You need to be familiar with your field of work, your skill set, and more importantly, you need to know how to apply your skills. Yes, in order to succeed in your career, you need to know how to apply your skills, which most of these resume writing services will teach you.How does one distinguish the top resume writing services from the rest? Since so many of the services you find online only focus on one area of the resume, you can easily eliminate them. Those that don't tell you what to say, how to say it, and how to format your resume are not worth hiring. Those that only offer templates and limited help will be a waste of your time.When choosing between these services, you will have to be choosy about the fact that one of them is going to write your resume, while the other one has to analyze the content of your resume. But there is an ideal way of doing this, right? This is by hiring a company that specializes in interviewing and applying the best strategies to take you to the next level.Your goal is to find a company that can turn your old resume into a super quality docume nt, while at the same time offer you a great job. There are plenty of online and offline companies who know how to deal with this dilemma. By choosing a company that offers customized resume writing, you can rest assured that you will be taken care of and you will have the opportunity to enjoy a career that lasts.In the end, hiring the top 2020 professional resume writing services is an investment that will not go to waste. Once you hire a good company, they will see to it that you get the best chance of landing that dream job you have been dreaming of.