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Items filtered by date: January 2015
Thursday, 08 January 2015 10:25

5 Ways to Bomb an Interview!

It's not surprising that occasionally job seekers prevent themselves from getting a job, but you might be surprised at how they do it. Below are 5 ways you are almost guaranteed to bomb the interview, they might give you an idea of what to avoid.

These come to me from the mouths of HR People and Hiring Managers, and occasionally from the applicants themselves. 

1. Losing control of yourself: An employer flew the candidate in on the corporate je to get the offer, and the candidate helped himself to the 'all you can drink' bar on the Lear jet. Thus ending his career with the firm before it started.


2. Giving the employer reason to believe that you don't intend to stay long:One applicant admitted that he only needed a job for 6 months than he would quit, so he could help his wife run a daycare out of their home.


3. Admitting that you prefer to keep your job and are using the interview as leverage against your employer. I had an applicant brag about it, and he was promptly shown the door. (see my article "5 Reasons Counter Offers Are Bad)


4.Not dressing appropriately for the interview. I once had an applicant show up to the interview dressed in pajama bottoms, and a biker jacket. They were very polite in the interview, but it lasted a mere 10 minutes.


5. Talking your way out of the job. Admitting your shortcomings, telling the employer you are prejudice/racist, asking the employer on a date, sharing your views on politics or religion, or just talking too much.


Believe it or not everything you say or do in an interview is up for consideration. Plan your visit, dress for success, focus as if the job is the only one you want, never discuss your previous employer in a negative way, and never mix business with pleasure. Follow these guidelines and you should do better in your interviews. 

About me: Hello my name is Mike Devlin, and I have 18 years’ experience in the staffing world mostly advocating for job seekers. Through education, and critical advice I help people improve their job searches by helping them define what they seek; helping them express their experience and their goals, and helping them improve their interview skills.

Published in Blog

Social media marketing is mistakenly considered by many as a hype when actually it plays an essential role in the marketing mix today. Here`s how social media marketing can help your business to become more successful in 2015:

1. Find Greater Exposure

The social media population is not only ballooning at a rapid pace, but people are increasingly spending time on these platforms to perform a legion of activities daily. There is no discussing, social media networks are excellent to increase the visibility of brands with whom the public are not that familiar with.

2. Create Brand Recognition and Trustworthiness

Companies can capitalize on the various facets of social media channels to publish content – be it videos or infographics, to beef up the image and reputation of their brand. An accessible and recognized brand is more trustworthy than otherwise!

3. Listen to your Target Audience & Generate a Loyal Community

On social media platforms, brands can have frequent, direct and sustainable interactions with their target audience. From their comments, queries and other feedbacks, brands can acquire deep insights on their target audience`s needs and expectations. Further, through constant and diversified interactions, the loyalty of the community to the brand can be strengthened.

4. Targeting and Lead Generation

Unlike traditional means, with social media marketing, you can accurately choose to whom you want your message to be exposed at. The more efficient the targeting, the higher the sales conversion will be!

5. Cut Down on Costs!

Unsurprisingly while being more efficient, social media marketing costs less than traditional marketing. Brands can derive solid Return on Investment (ROI) if there is a solid strategy and a dedicated team backstage! 

Image Courtesy: marketing.24h.com

Published in Blog

Colleges and job training programs tend to focus on the hard skills you need for a particular career — how to use specific tools and programs, the knowledge needed to complete your tasks — but there are other skills, so-called “soft” skills that are perhaps even more important for a truly successful career.

In fact, there’s nothing soft at all about soft skills; they can be difficult to master, but if you do, you’ll be employable in practically any field. No matter what your industry, position, or current employment, the following seven skills are vital to success in any chosen field.

1. High EQ

EQ stands for emotional intelligence quotient, and your emotional intelligence determines how well you relate to other people, your ability to put yourself in other’s shoes, and your ability to build rapport. It’s important when you’re managing or working with a team, in networking, in understanding workplace politics and really any time you need to interact with a co-worker or client. In other words: it’s invaluable to develop these skills. You can improve your EQ by mindfully practicing putting yourself in another’s shoes, for example, to practice empathy and understanding.

2. Communication Skills

You might have the most brilliant ideas in the room, but if you aren’t able to effectively communicate those ideas, you’ll never get anywhere. Being able to communicate clearly is vital to working with managers, teams, and clients. You can start improving your communications skills by studying the words and phrases you should never use, and paying more attention to what you say.

3. Decision Making

A decisive person is going to be desirable in any position, at any level, and the ability to make decisions is especially important the higher up you climb on the ladder. Taking forever to decide, procrastinating by doing unnecessary research, or avoiding making decisions altogether aren’t a good way to get ahead anywhere. Practice being decisive and demonstrating your decision making abilities to get ahead.

4. Integrity

Integrity at work means owning your mistakes, doing what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it, acknowledging when new information means you’re wrong, and being willing to say, “I don’t know.” People will respect and trust a person much more who has a reputation for integrity than someone who never admits he’s wrong or always puts the blame on others.

5. Drive

Having drive doesn’t have to mean working 80 hours per week or volunteering for every extra project. Instead, demonstrating that you have drive could mean consistently working hard while you’re at work. It could mean having the initiative to continue your education in your field or go the extra mile for a project. It demonstrates that you’re committed to your work, and that’s very attractive to employers and managers.

6. Focus

Maintaining focus is an extremely important skill, whether we’re talking about focusing on a single task at hand or on your long-term objectives. It also means not getting sidetracked by “shiny object syndrome” or by what seems easy or expedient.

7. Balance

Perhaps most importantly, the key to a successful career in any job is maintaining a healthy balance. Only you can determine what makes a healthy balance for you, but it’s vital to balance your career with those things that will make you truly happy.

These are my picks for the top seven skills that are essential to career success, but they’re certainly not the only ones. What soft skills would you add to the list?

Published in Blog
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