Preparing for a Possible Layoff
By Suze Orman
O, The Oprah Magazine | March 17, 2009
As I write this, the official unemployment rate is above 7 percent, and I expect it to keep climbing in 2009. If that gives you a shiver of job insecurity, good! Never has "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst" been sounder advice for your financial security. Keeping your job is probably a function of many factors beyond your control; how well you manage if you are laid off depends on how well you have planned for one of life's most unsettling what-ifs.
Bolster your savings fund. Make it a priority to have at least eight months of living costs set aside in a federally insured bank or credit union account. Never invest emergency savings in the stock market. And don't rely on a HELOC. When you go to tap the credit line, the bank may say no.
Get rid of debt now. If you still have income coming in, or a severance payout, and you have an eight-month emergency fund, make it a priority to pay off credit card debt ASAP. If you have an outstanding 401(k) loan, pay it off now. If you are under 55 years old and get laid off, the loan usually must be repaid within a month or two, or you will be stuck paying income tax on the loan amount as well as a 10 percent penalty.
Cut back your spending now. Don't wait until you are laid off to save. Repeat after me: Needs, yes. Wants, no. Got it? Use the money to get out of credit card debt and boost your savings.
Maximize unemployment benefits. If you received a good severance package, don't use it as an excuse to take a long vacation. Give yourself a week or two to decompress and then get serious about job hunting. You want to find a job before your severance runs out, and that could take months. Also, make sure you apply for unemployment benefits; you can find out how to file in your state at CareerOneStop.org . And take advantage of online filing if it's available in your state. Given the rising jobless ranks, the offices and telephone lines for unemployment offices are jammed.
Suze Orman's most recent book is her 2009 Action Plan: Keeping Your Money Safe & Sound (Spiegel & Grau).
MY THOUGHTS
i think our country got so used to the unemployment we don't feel it that much. but it pays to take heed of the tips in this article. in today's uncertainties and unpredictabilities, one never knows.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Is There Hope for a Job-Hopper?
Is There Hope for a Job-Hopper?
By Suzanne Lucas | November 12, 2010
Dear Evil HR Lady,
I am 48 years old with an MBA in business management from a non-traditional university. In my younger years, I would skip around from job to job as boredom would quickly overtake the excitement of a new career path. Today, I find myself unemployed after being part of a department-wide downsizing a year and a half ago.
For the past year and a half, I have been self-employed and have worked to build name recognition, but now I want to go back to being an employee. My broad and diverse background is a gentle way to express the many things I’ve done in life. I have been that front desk person, the admin person, the HR recruiter, the holistic wellness expert, the emergency room clerk, the DJ, the newspaper reporter, the entrepreneur, the tradeshow consultant, the non-profit employee, the sales rep, the disaster response worker, the staffing specialist … I even spent some time attempting to build the next QVC (obviously, that was a dismal failure!).
I have been released from, or asked to leave, five different positions. Why? Because each time I was told that since I could do the job of the CEO, the HR Director, the Business Manager, and/or the Regional Manager … there simply “wasn’t room for the two of us”. From my perspective, all I did with each position was the job I was hired to do (I hope this statement doesn’t make me a jerk).
Today I am gun-shy, so to speak. Have you come across others with this same dilemma? It is my experience that companies want their prospective employees to be an expert at one thing only; they do not want a “jack of all trades” such as I on their payroll. Am I a hopeless case, or is there light at the end of the tunnel?
There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. The problem is that it is sometimes a train.
As you’ve surmised, your “broad” background looks an awful lot like job-hopping to those of us who figured out what we wanted to be when we were 7 and stuck with it for the rest of our lives. (Okay, when I was 7 I wanted to be a nurse, but then I found out that you had to deal with bodily fluids, and well, ick.) It’s true that people are far more likely to move from company to company and from career to career now than they were years ago, but it’s also true that we like to hire people who know what they are doing in the particular job we are hiring for.
I’m going to give you what I hope is a bit of insight into your firings. I have no doubt that you’re a fabulous worker and that you’re bright and that you have great ideas. But, I also have no doubt that you overstep boundaries.
Being told, “There isn’t room for the two of us” isn’t a compliment on your abilities, but a “nice” way of saying, “you are doing things way outside your job description, making decisions you shouldn’t be making, and attempting to manage people and processes that you should not be managing. Meanwhile, you’re neglecting the tasks you should be managing.” They don’t need two people in the lead job because what they do need is one person doing the job you were hired to do.
Of course, as you know, getting the job in the first place is going to be hard. Here are some tips:
You cannot go into the job search with the idea that you are a hopeless case. That will show through in the interview.
You’ve obviously got some talent interviewing or you wouldn’t have been able to make so many career moves. Use that to your advantage.
Your best bet is to network with your former coworkers. They know your skills and may be able to spot positions you’d be good at.
When you find out about a job through networking, try to speak to the hiring manager before presenting your resume. Convince him that you’re the right person before he sees your job-hopping past.
Pick out what you want to do, and rewrite your resume to reflect the skills you have that apply to the new job. For instance, if you decide you want to go back to being a tradeshow consultant, you’ll need to demonstrate your organizational skills. So, under the “disaster response worker” portion of your resume, don’t write “responded to disasters” (duh!) write about how you organized the other workers, managed the relief supplies, or whatever it is that you did.
Don’t spread a wide net in your job search, hoping for anything. Job searches almost always go better when they are targeted.
Be prepared to answer why you want to be an employee. Really prepared, because you’ll be grilled on it.
You also should do some introspection and decide if you really want to be an employee again. I suppose you aren’t doing fabulously well at your current venture or you wouldn’t be looking for a job, but perhaps you should try a different line of business. If you have issues with overstepping your manager’s boundaries, it might be best for you to be the boss. (But of course, you’ll have to learn how to delegate and trust that the work will get done once you have people working for you.)
And keep in mind, even if that light is coming from a train, just move to the side a little bit, and hop on it as it passes.
MY THOUGHTS
what else can i say. sometimes you get to a point where the only door that opens is the oddor opened through a friend. what does it matter? you need that open door. get your foot in and show your new employer that your friend is not lying when he said you're the best. you owe that much to your friend. and to yourself. then stop hopping.
By Suzanne Lucas | November 12, 2010
Dear Evil HR Lady,
I am 48 years old with an MBA in business management from a non-traditional university. In my younger years, I would skip around from job to job as boredom would quickly overtake the excitement of a new career path. Today, I find myself unemployed after being part of a department-wide downsizing a year and a half ago.
For the past year and a half, I have been self-employed and have worked to build name recognition, but now I want to go back to being an employee. My broad and diverse background is a gentle way to express the many things I’ve done in life. I have been that front desk person, the admin person, the HR recruiter, the holistic wellness expert, the emergency room clerk, the DJ, the newspaper reporter, the entrepreneur, the tradeshow consultant, the non-profit employee, the sales rep, the disaster response worker, the staffing specialist … I even spent some time attempting to build the next QVC (obviously, that was a dismal failure!).
I have been released from, or asked to leave, five different positions. Why? Because each time I was told that since I could do the job of the CEO, the HR Director, the Business Manager, and/or the Regional Manager … there simply “wasn’t room for the two of us”. From my perspective, all I did with each position was the job I was hired to do (I hope this statement doesn’t make me a jerk).
Today I am gun-shy, so to speak. Have you come across others with this same dilemma? It is my experience that companies want their prospective employees to be an expert at one thing only; they do not want a “jack of all trades” such as I on their payroll. Am I a hopeless case, or is there light at the end of the tunnel?
There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. The problem is that it is sometimes a train.
As you’ve surmised, your “broad” background looks an awful lot like job-hopping to those of us who figured out what we wanted to be when we were 7 and stuck with it for the rest of our lives. (Okay, when I was 7 I wanted to be a nurse, but then I found out that you had to deal with bodily fluids, and well, ick.) It’s true that people are far more likely to move from company to company and from career to career now than they were years ago, but it’s also true that we like to hire people who know what they are doing in the particular job we are hiring for.
I’m going to give you what I hope is a bit of insight into your firings. I have no doubt that you’re a fabulous worker and that you’re bright and that you have great ideas. But, I also have no doubt that you overstep boundaries.
Being told, “There isn’t room for the two of us” isn’t a compliment on your abilities, but a “nice” way of saying, “you are doing things way outside your job description, making decisions you shouldn’t be making, and attempting to manage people and processes that you should not be managing. Meanwhile, you’re neglecting the tasks you should be managing.” They don’t need two people in the lead job because what they do need is one person doing the job you were hired to do.
Of course, as you know, getting the job in the first place is going to be hard. Here are some tips:
You cannot go into the job search with the idea that you are a hopeless case. That will show through in the interview.
You’ve obviously got some talent interviewing or you wouldn’t have been able to make so many career moves. Use that to your advantage.
Your best bet is to network with your former coworkers. They know your skills and may be able to spot positions you’d be good at.
When you find out about a job through networking, try to speak to the hiring manager before presenting your resume. Convince him that you’re the right person before he sees your job-hopping past.
Pick out what you want to do, and rewrite your resume to reflect the skills you have that apply to the new job. For instance, if you decide you want to go back to being a tradeshow consultant, you’ll need to demonstrate your organizational skills. So, under the “disaster response worker” portion of your resume, don’t write “responded to disasters” (duh!) write about how you organized the other workers, managed the relief supplies, or whatever it is that you did.
Don’t spread a wide net in your job search, hoping for anything. Job searches almost always go better when they are targeted.
Be prepared to answer why you want to be an employee. Really prepared, because you’ll be grilled on it.
You also should do some introspection and decide if you really want to be an employee again. I suppose you aren’t doing fabulously well at your current venture or you wouldn’t be looking for a job, but perhaps you should try a different line of business. If you have issues with overstepping your manager’s boundaries, it might be best for you to be the boss. (But of course, you’ll have to learn how to delegate and trust that the work will get done once you have people working for you.)
And keep in mind, even if that light is coming from a train, just move to the side a little bit, and hop on it as it passes.
MY THOUGHTS
what else can i say. sometimes you get to a point where the only door that opens is the oddor opened through a friend. what does it matter? you need that open door. get your foot in and show your new employer that your friend is not lying when he said you're the best. you owe that much to your friend. and to yourself. then stop hopping.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
10 High-Paying Careers with No Future
Disappearing Jobs: 10 High-Paying Careers with No Future
by Louise Tutelian | Nov 19, 2010
It may come as no surprise that the job of newspaper reporter is going the way of the buggy whip maker — but the forces of modernity have placed some unexpected occupations on the endangered species list as well. Using statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011, we identified 10 of the most surprising job categories whose numbers are projected to shrink in the coming years, plus a few that will grow so slowly that you might as well be sending your resume to Irish banks.
Judge
Politicians can argue whether the best quality for a judge is empathy or an ability to call balls and strikes, but here’s a different perspective: What you really need is patience. By 2018, the BLS predicts that there will be 700 fewer jobs for judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates, than there were in 2008, thanks mainly to budget cuts. And since the average tenure for a judge is 14 years, turnover is glacial. “Years ago, some left to become general counsel in the private sector, where they could triple their salary, but since the economic downturn, they’re staying longer on the bench,” says Tamara Dillon, who researches the occupation for the BLS.
Fashion Designer
Call it Project Turnaway. By 2018, only 200 more designers will find work in a field that employed 22,700 people as of 2008. That’s about 2 percent of the number who applied to become Project Runway contestants in 2009, estimates Carol-Hannah Whitfield, who was a finalist on the show that year. “The world doesn’t need another designer,” Whitfield says.
Insurance Underwriter
Blame it on the software. New programs allow underwriters to take on three times as much work as in the past, collapsing the need for more hires. As a result, the BLS projects that the number of people employed in the field will decline by 4 percent, or 4,300 jobs, by 2018. “[The underwriter] just punches in data, and it spits out, say, whether a potential homebuyer is approved or not,” says Henry Kasper, supervisory economist at the BLS. Growth in the insurance industry isn’t exactly exploding either, further undermining the career outlook for underwriters.
Travel Agent
Call it the Attack of the Roaming Gnome: Online sites such as Travelocity, Priceline.com, Expedia, and Orbitz have decimated the ranks of travel agents as consumers increasingly book their own trips. The BLS expects 1,200 fewer travel agents to be employed in 2018 than in 2008. And the number of traditional travel agencies has been sliced in half — from a peak of 44,000 in 1997 to about 20,000 today, according to Douglas Quinby of PhoCusWright, a travel industry research company based in Sherman, Connecticut.
Newspaper Reporter
Read it and weep: According to the BLS, a whopping 4,400 jobs will disappear by 2018 (out of 69,400 total in 2008). That’s more than three times the number of newsroom employees at The New York Times. The bad news for print can be summed up in one word: Internet. “Some of the print people are finding jobs online,” says Lauren Csorny, an economist at the BLS. “But there aren’t enough to make up for the losses.” No wonder that newspaper reporters ranked No. 184 out of 200 jobs, one slot above stevedore, in CareerCast.com’s annual JobsRated survey.
Broadcast Announcer
The play-by-play for this occupation isn’t pretty. Consolidation has eliminated many jobs already, and technology is hijacking off-air tasks, such as editing, once performed by announcers (and future announcers paying their dues). Add the increased use of syndication and the growth of satellite radio and the picture is even bleaker. By 2018, broadcasting is expected to lose 2,400 radio and TV announcer jobs.
Plant Manager
Automation and offshoring will decimate the ranks of production managers by 2018. According to the BLS, employment will drop by 11,900 jobs from a 2008 total of 156,100. With faster machines and better productivity, one plant can do the work of two, squeezing managers out. Increased imports of manufactured goods will do additional damage. With 50 percent of the textile industry moving off-shore, for example, half the plant managers in that sector are at risk of losing their jobs. The outlook is equally bleak for managers in the computer, electronics, and auto parts industries.
Chemist
Nearly half of all chemists are employed in manufacturing firms — plastics, pesticides, and paint, to name a few. And that’s a bummer for them, because manufacturing companies are continuing to outsource their R&D and testing to small, specialized firms, cutting job opportunities for in-house chemists. The profession lost 42,000 jobs from 2008 to 2009, according to Chemical and Engineering News, and the BLS projects only a 2 percent rise in the total number of chemists employed by 2018.
Economist
The Federal government is the largest employer of economists in the country. More than half — 53 percent — of all economists in the U.S. work for declining government sectors, so Uncle Sam’s not hiring a lot of economists just now. “Econ” is a hot college major, but most of those newly-minted grads won’t find work as traditional economists. Instead, they’ll end up in niche sectors in business, finance, insurance, and education. Those set on working as conventional economists better have a Plan B, or a Plan Ph.D, because they’ll need one. The economists at BLS do tell us that by 2018, an additional 900 economists will be employed — so the outlook is not as dismal for dismal scientists as it is for, say, travel agents. But if current trends continue, the future isn’t promising. “You look at the last 10 to15 years and it has been flat,” says Henry Kasper of the BLS. “There’s little reason to think it’s going to get better.”
CEO
OK, it’s not a profession, but it’s worth keeping in mind if you aspire to the corner office: Mergers and streamlining will make the climb to the top harder than K2, as companies combine and jobs are eliminated. The BLS projects that there will be 5,500 fewer CEOs by 2018. To boost your odds, consider Rosetta Stone; CEO candidates should be fluent in at least two languages, says Patricia Tate of the BLS. So if you speak Spanish, Arabic, or Chinese, félicitations.
MY THOUGHTS
i have to agree with this article. mainly because the world is changing so fast and everyone's expected to jump on the 'change wagon' or get ditched forever. this year, i had to take approximately 50 local flights. only 2 of these flights were booked thru an agent. and only because i was too busy to do it myself on the net. i agree that the plant manager and the ceo jobs will be less and less. personally i prefer to work only with 2 super excellent staff than with 4 people who have made mediocrity their way of life. technology will get better and better. when i was a kid, i spent time talking to our neighbor who gets paid to do our laundry. now, i talk to our washing machine. i wouldn't be surprised if my former classmate who does my nails will find herself jobless years from now. becuase all i need to do is put my nails on a machine then dip them on a can of nail polish and voila - instant manicure and pedicure.
by Louise Tutelian | Nov 19, 2010
It may come as no surprise that the job of newspaper reporter is going the way of the buggy whip maker — but the forces of modernity have placed some unexpected occupations on the endangered species list as well. Using statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011, we identified 10 of the most surprising job categories whose numbers are projected to shrink in the coming years, plus a few that will grow so slowly that you might as well be sending your resume to Irish banks.
Judge
Politicians can argue whether the best quality for a judge is empathy or an ability to call balls and strikes, but here’s a different perspective: What you really need is patience. By 2018, the BLS predicts that there will be 700 fewer jobs for judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates, than there were in 2008, thanks mainly to budget cuts. And since the average tenure for a judge is 14 years, turnover is glacial. “Years ago, some left to become general counsel in the private sector, where they could triple their salary, but since the economic downturn, they’re staying longer on the bench,” says Tamara Dillon, who researches the occupation for the BLS.
Fashion Designer
Call it Project Turnaway. By 2018, only 200 more designers will find work in a field that employed 22,700 people as of 2008. That’s about 2 percent of the number who applied to become Project Runway contestants in 2009, estimates Carol-Hannah Whitfield, who was a finalist on the show that year. “The world doesn’t need another designer,” Whitfield says.
Insurance Underwriter
Blame it on the software. New programs allow underwriters to take on three times as much work as in the past, collapsing the need for more hires. As a result, the BLS projects that the number of people employed in the field will decline by 4 percent, or 4,300 jobs, by 2018. “[The underwriter] just punches in data, and it spits out, say, whether a potential homebuyer is approved or not,” says Henry Kasper, supervisory economist at the BLS. Growth in the insurance industry isn’t exactly exploding either, further undermining the career outlook for underwriters.
Travel Agent
Call it the Attack of the Roaming Gnome: Online sites such as Travelocity, Priceline.com, Expedia, and Orbitz have decimated the ranks of travel agents as consumers increasingly book their own trips. The BLS expects 1,200 fewer travel agents to be employed in 2018 than in 2008. And the number of traditional travel agencies has been sliced in half — from a peak of 44,000 in 1997 to about 20,000 today, according to Douglas Quinby of PhoCusWright, a travel industry research company based in Sherman, Connecticut.
Newspaper Reporter
Read it and weep: According to the BLS, a whopping 4,400 jobs will disappear by 2018 (out of 69,400 total in 2008). That’s more than three times the number of newsroom employees at The New York Times. The bad news for print can be summed up in one word: Internet. “Some of the print people are finding jobs online,” says Lauren Csorny, an economist at the BLS. “But there aren’t enough to make up for the losses.” No wonder that newspaper reporters ranked No. 184 out of 200 jobs, one slot above stevedore, in CareerCast.com’s annual JobsRated survey.
Broadcast Announcer
The play-by-play for this occupation isn’t pretty. Consolidation has eliminated many jobs already, and technology is hijacking off-air tasks, such as editing, once performed by announcers (and future announcers paying their dues). Add the increased use of syndication and the growth of satellite radio and the picture is even bleaker. By 2018, broadcasting is expected to lose 2,400 radio and TV announcer jobs.
Plant Manager
Automation and offshoring will decimate the ranks of production managers by 2018. According to the BLS, employment will drop by 11,900 jobs from a 2008 total of 156,100. With faster machines and better productivity, one plant can do the work of two, squeezing managers out. Increased imports of manufactured goods will do additional damage. With 50 percent of the textile industry moving off-shore, for example, half the plant managers in that sector are at risk of losing their jobs. The outlook is equally bleak for managers in the computer, electronics, and auto parts industries.
Chemist
Nearly half of all chemists are employed in manufacturing firms — plastics, pesticides, and paint, to name a few. And that’s a bummer for them, because manufacturing companies are continuing to outsource their R&D and testing to small, specialized firms, cutting job opportunities for in-house chemists. The profession lost 42,000 jobs from 2008 to 2009, according to Chemical and Engineering News, and the BLS projects only a 2 percent rise in the total number of chemists employed by 2018.
Economist
The Federal government is the largest employer of economists in the country. More than half — 53 percent — of all economists in the U.S. work for declining government sectors, so Uncle Sam’s not hiring a lot of economists just now. “Econ” is a hot college major, but most of those newly-minted grads won’t find work as traditional economists. Instead, they’ll end up in niche sectors in business, finance, insurance, and education. Those set on working as conventional economists better have a Plan B, or a Plan Ph.D, because they’ll need one. The economists at BLS do tell us that by 2018, an additional 900 economists will be employed — so the outlook is not as dismal for dismal scientists as it is for, say, travel agents. But if current trends continue, the future isn’t promising. “You look at the last 10 to15 years and it has been flat,” says Henry Kasper of the BLS. “There’s little reason to think it’s going to get better.”
CEO
OK, it’s not a profession, but it’s worth keeping in mind if you aspire to the corner office: Mergers and streamlining will make the climb to the top harder than K2, as companies combine and jobs are eliminated. The BLS projects that there will be 5,500 fewer CEOs by 2018. To boost your odds, consider Rosetta Stone; CEO candidates should be fluent in at least two languages, says Patricia Tate of the BLS. So if you speak Spanish, Arabic, or Chinese, félicitations.
MY THOUGHTS
i have to agree with this article. mainly because the world is changing so fast and everyone's expected to jump on the 'change wagon' or get ditched forever. this year, i had to take approximately 50 local flights. only 2 of these flights were booked thru an agent. and only because i was too busy to do it myself on the net. i agree that the plant manager and the ceo jobs will be less and less. personally i prefer to work only with 2 super excellent staff than with 4 people who have made mediocrity their way of life. technology will get better and better. when i was a kid, i spent time talking to our neighbor who gets paid to do our laundry. now, i talk to our washing machine. i wouldn't be surprised if my former classmate who does my nails will find herself jobless years from now. becuase all i need to do is put my nails on a machine then dip them on a can of nail polish and voila - instant manicure and pedicure.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Finding a Job: Know the Interview Questions
The 7 Interview Questions You Must Ask
By Brian Libby | February 27, 2007
There are no magic bullets when it comes to job interview questions, but the way you structure your queries is important: It's the interviewer's job to create a framework for the discussion and prevent it from running off the rails. Every company's needs are different, but a good basic strategy is to ground the interview in questions about past job performance. Then throw in some situational questions to evaluate practical decision making, and learn a little bit about how the job fits in with a candidate's biography.
Question #1: "How about those Yankees?"
Purpose: Develop the rapport needed to get the interview off the ground.
Every interview should begin with an icebreaker. It helps nervous applicants calm down and builds a sense of trust. If you have a 45-minute interview, you should spend at least the first five minutes trying to connect on a neutral topic. Make the person feel at ease and you'll solicit better information—and much more honest responses.
Alternate Version 1: "Did you go to the industry conference last week?"
Alternate Version 2: "Were you affected by the heat wave/cold snap?"
Alternate Version 3: "Did you have a good holiday?"
Question #2: "Talk about a time when you had to overcome major obstacles."
Purpose: Get a clear picture of the candidate's past performance.
Variations on this question should actually comprise your next several questions. Don't hesitate to guide the candidate through the variety of tasks (both tangible and theoretical) necessary to perform the job, and listen carefully to how he or she has handled such challenges. Pay attention to intangibles: some people are better at performing in interviews than on the job. If your candidate continually plays the role of hero or victim, that's a red flag that you're probably not getting the whole story.
Alternate Version 1: "Tell me about a time when you wrote a report that was well received. Why do you think it was successful?"
Alternate Version 2: "Describe a time when you hired (or fired) the wrong person."
Alternate Version 3: "If you had to do that activity again, how would you do it differently?"
See Also: How to Conduct a Job Interview
Question #3: "What interests you about this position?"
Purpose: Find out how the candidate feels about the job and the company.
People apply for jobs for plenty reasons besides the obvious ones. Asking a candidate why he or she wants the position gives insight into their motivation. The answer may be personal (such as a narrative about what spurred them to seek a new job), or it may connect the candidate to the company: her experience with the brand, the mission statement, or the organization's role in the community. Any of these answers (or some combination) are acceptable—a personal answer can communicate trust, and a connection to the business indicates loyalty and a sense of ownership.
Alternate Version 1: "Where does this job fit into your career path?"
Alternate Version 2: "If you had to convince a friend or colleague to apply for this job, what might you tell them?"
Alternate Version 3: "What motivated you to apply for this job?"
Question #4: "Is there intelligent life in outer space?"
Purpose: Find out what kind of thinker the candidate is and how he deals with surprises.
This is your curveball, designed to make the candidate ad-lib instead of just reciting well-rehearsed answers. How much will he or she play along? As long as it's not too short or too long, virtually any response is a good one. But pay attention to attitude, the way the candidate approaches the problem, and the ease or difficulty they have in coming up with a response.
Alternate Version 1: "How many phone books are there in New York City?"
Alternate Version 2: "How do they get the cream filling inside a Twinkie?"
Alternate Version 3: "Why do people climb mountains?"
Question #5: "Imagine we've just hired you. What's the most important thing on your to-do list on the first day of work?"
Purpose: Learn about the candidate's judgment and decision-making skills.
This is an example of a situational question, which is like a behavioral question in that it's designed to assess judgment, but it's also like a curveball question because it illuminates the candidate's thought process. You want to see whether he demonstrates the competencies and priorities that are important to the job.
Alternate Version 1: "Say a coworker tells you that he submitted phony expense account receipts. Do you tell your boss?"
Alternate Version 2: "How would you handle an employee whose performance is fine but who you know has the potential to do better?"
Alternate Version 3: "What would you do if you got behind schedule with your part of a project?"
See Also: 10 Mistakes You’re Probably Making in Job Interviews
Question #6: "Why did you get into this line of work?"
Purpose: Measure the fit between the candidate's values and the culture of your company.
It risks a long, drawn-out answer, but this type of question will help you select candidates that fit your company's culture. It's not about finding people like you, or people with similar backgrounds that led them to your company, but about getting a sense of their values and motivations. Concepts like values and culture can be subjective and difficult to define, but you should be looking for someone whose work ethic, motivations, and methods match the company's. This isn't a quantitative measurement so much as a qualitative one. Coke and Pepsi may seem the same to people outside the soft-drink industry, but each houses people with different approaches to making cola and running a business.
Alternate Version 1: "What do you like best about your current job?"
Alternate Version 2: "When did you realize this would be your career?"
Alternate Version 3: "What keeps you coming to work besides the paycheck?"
Question #7: "But enough about you. What about us?"
Purpose: Find out if the candidate has done his or her homework.
It's a cliché to end an interview with the standard, 'So, any questions?' But the fact remains that you really do want to let the candidate ask a few things of you. Reversing roles communicates that the company seeks an open a dialogue, and it helps you ascertain just how curious and knowledgeable a candidate is about your company. If he doesn't ask any questions about the job or the business, it's a safe bet his heart isn't in it. Listen for insightful questions that demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the circumstances of the job, the company, the competitive landscape, or the industry.
Alternate Version 1: "Where do you think the company should be in ten years?"
Alternate Version 2: "What's your opinion of our new product?"
Alternate Version 3: "Have you seen the company's new ad campaign?"
MY THOUGHTS
people looking for jobs should read this article. it tells them what a good company is looking for and how a really good interviewer would throw the questions to make a most objective assessment.i read somewhere that most decisions are made during the first few minutes of the interview.i've learned as much from experience. of the hundreds of people i've interviewed my decision not to hire came after 1 or 2 questions. so,if you're not going to make it, you probably won't makeit past question #2.
By Brian Libby | February 27, 2007
There are no magic bullets when it comes to job interview questions, but the way you structure your queries is important: It's the interviewer's job to create a framework for the discussion and prevent it from running off the rails. Every company's needs are different, but a good basic strategy is to ground the interview in questions about past job performance. Then throw in some situational questions to evaluate practical decision making, and learn a little bit about how the job fits in with a candidate's biography.
Question #1: "How about those Yankees?"
Purpose: Develop the rapport needed to get the interview off the ground.
Every interview should begin with an icebreaker. It helps nervous applicants calm down and builds a sense of trust. If you have a 45-minute interview, you should spend at least the first five minutes trying to connect on a neutral topic. Make the person feel at ease and you'll solicit better information—and much more honest responses.
Alternate Version 1: "Did you go to the industry conference last week?"
Alternate Version 2: "Were you affected by the heat wave/cold snap?"
Alternate Version 3: "Did you have a good holiday?"
Question #2: "Talk about a time when you had to overcome major obstacles."
Purpose: Get a clear picture of the candidate's past performance.
Variations on this question should actually comprise your next several questions. Don't hesitate to guide the candidate through the variety of tasks (both tangible and theoretical) necessary to perform the job, and listen carefully to how he or she has handled such challenges. Pay attention to intangibles: some people are better at performing in interviews than on the job. If your candidate continually plays the role of hero or victim, that's a red flag that you're probably not getting the whole story.
Alternate Version 1: "Tell me about a time when you wrote a report that was well received. Why do you think it was successful?"
Alternate Version 2: "Describe a time when you hired (or fired) the wrong person."
Alternate Version 3: "If you had to do that activity again, how would you do it differently?"
See Also: How to Conduct a Job Interview
Question #3: "What interests you about this position?"
Purpose: Find out how the candidate feels about the job and the company.
People apply for jobs for plenty reasons besides the obvious ones. Asking a candidate why he or she wants the position gives insight into their motivation. The answer may be personal (such as a narrative about what spurred them to seek a new job), or it may connect the candidate to the company: her experience with the brand, the mission statement, or the organization's role in the community. Any of these answers (or some combination) are acceptable—a personal answer can communicate trust, and a connection to the business indicates loyalty and a sense of ownership.
Alternate Version 1: "Where does this job fit into your career path?"
Alternate Version 2: "If you had to convince a friend or colleague to apply for this job, what might you tell them?"
Alternate Version 3: "What motivated you to apply for this job?"
Question #4: "Is there intelligent life in outer space?"
Purpose: Find out what kind of thinker the candidate is and how he deals with surprises.
This is your curveball, designed to make the candidate ad-lib instead of just reciting well-rehearsed answers. How much will he or she play along? As long as it's not too short or too long, virtually any response is a good one. But pay attention to attitude, the way the candidate approaches the problem, and the ease or difficulty they have in coming up with a response.
Alternate Version 1: "How many phone books are there in New York City?"
Alternate Version 2: "How do they get the cream filling inside a Twinkie?"
Alternate Version 3: "Why do people climb mountains?"
Question #5: "Imagine we've just hired you. What's the most important thing on your to-do list on the first day of work?"
Purpose: Learn about the candidate's judgment and decision-making skills.
This is an example of a situational question, which is like a behavioral question in that it's designed to assess judgment, but it's also like a curveball question because it illuminates the candidate's thought process. You want to see whether he demonstrates the competencies and priorities that are important to the job.
Alternate Version 1: "Say a coworker tells you that he submitted phony expense account receipts. Do you tell your boss?"
Alternate Version 2: "How would you handle an employee whose performance is fine but who you know has the potential to do better?"
Alternate Version 3: "What would you do if you got behind schedule with your part of a project?"
See Also: 10 Mistakes You’re Probably Making in Job Interviews
Question #6: "Why did you get into this line of work?"
Purpose: Measure the fit between the candidate's values and the culture of your company.
It risks a long, drawn-out answer, but this type of question will help you select candidates that fit your company's culture. It's not about finding people like you, or people with similar backgrounds that led them to your company, but about getting a sense of their values and motivations. Concepts like values and culture can be subjective and difficult to define, but you should be looking for someone whose work ethic, motivations, and methods match the company's. This isn't a quantitative measurement so much as a qualitative one. Coke and Pepsi may seem the same to people outside the soft-drink industry, but each houses people with different approaches to making cola and running a business.
Alternate Version 1: "What do you like best about your current job?"
Alternate Version 2: "When did you realize this would be your career?"
Alternate Version 3: "What keeps you coming to work besides the paycheck?"
Question #7: "But enough about you. What about us?"
Purpose: Find out if the candidate has done his or her homework.
It's a cliché to end an interview with the standard, 'So, any questions?' But the fact remains that you really do want to let the candidate ask a few things of you. Reversing roles communicates that the company seeks an open a dialogue, and it helps you ascertain just how curious and knowledgeable a candidate is about your company. If he doesn't ask any questions about the job or the business, it's a safe bet his heart isn't in it. Listen for insightful questions that demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the circumstances of the job, the company, the competitive landscape, or the industry.
Alternate Version 1: "Where do you think the company should be in ten years?"
Alternate Version 2: "What's your opinion of our new product?"
Alternate Version 3: "Have you seen the company's new ad campaign?"
MY THOUGHTS
people looking for jobs should read this article. it tells them what a good company is looking for and how a really good interviewer would throw the questions to make a most objective assessment.i read somewhere that most decisions are made during the first few minutes of the interview.i've learned as much from experience. of the hundreds of people i've interviewed my decision not to hire came after 1 or 2 questions. so,if you're not going to make it, you probably won't makeit past question #2.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Resume Angst: Should I Include Short-Term, Unrelated Positions in my resume?
Resume Angst: Should I Include Short-Term, Unrelated Positions?
By Suzanne Lucas | August 5, 2010
Dear Evil HR Lady,
I lost my job over a year ago. It paid very well and since then I have jumped around to about 4 different jobs trying to find a good fit and reasonable pay. Most of the jobs were beneath my skill level but I needed to earn more than unemployment so I took them. I finally landed an interview with a job that is comparable to my lost job in qualifications and pay, as well as skill level. Should I disclose all my past employers on the new application? Will any be found on a background check if they were less then a few months? In my past I had a very stable job history- worked at a company for over 10 years then the one that laid me off was 2 years. It was only the last year that I did not have stability. Can you offer me any advice as to how to handle this?
You are not alone in your plight. Lots of people got laid off and lots of people took jobs they wouldn’t have otherwise taken. Heck, who cares if you went from being an executive to cleaning toilets? If it’s paid work, it’s paid work. I would list the short term jobs because they are your most recent jobs and they show you haven’t been sitting around watching Oprah for the past year.
There are some negative aspects to listing them, though. Here are some points–both positive and negative:
Taking a job to pay the bills is honorable and not embarrassing.
Your stable job history will speak for itself. Any manager worth working for knows it’s been a rough couple of years for a lot of people.
Unless the job requires a security clearance, it’s doubtful any background check run will uncover jobs you’ve had that aren’t listed on your resume
If you lie, know that even though the background probably won’t come up with your short term jobs, the person you share a cube wall with will be Facebook friends with your college roommate and somehow it will come up that you were cleaning restroom toilets for the past year. Then people will want to know why you didn’t mention it.
Your resume must be honest, but it doesn’t have to be all inclusive.
Jobs at a lower skill level may demonstrate that you are willing to work for less money than you are “worth.”
If you don’t wish to list the jobs specifically (nothing wrong with that, I don’t list my high school stint at Burger King either), then prepare an HONEST answer for what you’ve been doing. For instance, “I’ve been working short term jobs outside of my area of expertise. I didn’t include them on my resume because I wanted to focus on my skills and experience that will benefit your company.”
Since you’ve been working outside your primary area, make sure you make it very clear that that was a temporary fix and you don’t want to change industries/professions
As I said, I would list them. I find that busy is better than bored and people respect people who are working, no matter the work (I would list unpaid volunteer work as well). Yes, I know that for many people the job search is a full time job, but if you were working there is no reason to hide it.
That said, when you get this job (I’m in an optimistic mood today) and 3 years from now are applying for another job, leaving this year’s short term jobs off the resume wouldn’t raise any flags for me
MY THOUGHTS
when we fill-up application forms, we are asked to sign a cluse that says there is nothing fraudulent in our application. i stil maintain that it is best not get hired for being honest than get fired for lying.
By Suzanne Lucas | August 5, 2010
Dear Evil HR Lady,
I lost my job over a year ago. It paid very well and since then I have jumped around to about 4 different jobs trying to find a good fit and reasonable pay. Most of the jobs were beneath my skill level but I needed to earn more than unemployment so I took them. I finally landed an interview with a job that is comparable to my lost job in qualifications and pay, as well as skill level. Should I disclose all my past employers on the new application? Will any be found on a background check if they were less then a few months? In my past I had a very stable job history- worked at a company for over 10 years then the one that laid me off was 2 years. It was only the last year that I did not have stability. Can you offer me any advice as to how to handle this?
You are not alone in your plight. Lots of people got laid off and lots of people took jobs they wouldn’t have otherwise taken. Heck, who cares if you went from being an executive to cleaning toilets? If it’s paid work, it’s paid work. I would list the short term jobs because they are your most recent jobs and they show you haven’t been sitting around watching Oprah for the past year.
There are some negative aspects to listing them, though. Here are some points–both positive and negative:
Taking a job to pay the bills is honorable and not embarrassing.
Your stable job history will speak for itself. Any manager worth working for knows it’s been a rough couple of years for a lot of people.
Unless the job requires a security clearance, it’s doubtful any background check run will uncover jobs you’ve had that aren’t listed on your resume
If you lie, know that even though the background probably won’t come up with your short term jobs, the person you share a cube wall with will be Facebook friends with your college roommate and somehow it will come up that you were cleaning restroom toilets for the past year. Then people will want to know why you didn’t mention it.
Your resume must be honest, but it doesn’t have to be all inclusive.
Jobs at a lower skill level may demonstrate that you are willing to work for less money than you are “worth.”
If you don’t wish to list the jobs specifically (nothing wrong with that, I don’t list my high school stint at Burger King either), then prepare an HONEST answer for what you’ve been doing. For instance, “I’ve been working short term jobs outside of my area of expertise. I didn’t include them on my resume because I wanted to focus on my skills and experience that will benefit your company.”
Since you’ve been working outside your primary area, make sure you make it very clear that that was a temporary fix and you don’t want to change industries/professions
As I said, I would list them. I find that busy is better than bored and people respect people who are working, no matter the work (I would list unpaid volunteer work as well). Yes, I know that for many people the job search is a full time job, but if you were working there is no reason to hide it.
That said, when you get this job (I’m in an optimistic mood today) and 3 years from now are applying for another job, leaving this year’s short term jobs off the resume wouldn’t raise any flags for me
MY THOUGHTS
when we fill-up application forms, we are asked to sign a cluse that says there is nothing fraudulent in our application. i stil maintain that it is best not get hired for being honest than get fired for lying.
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