At its best, networking is about having an influential group of people respect you and your work such that they are willing and pleased to make referrals on your behalf. Coming across as desperate, over-eager or focused to the exclusion of building genuine ties sends a mixed message of desperation and self-absorption. This is not a great selling point.
There are a handful of reasons people justify not creating a cover letter to include with their resumes. A popular theory is that the cover letter isn’t read anyway. I recently read where almost half of those hiring don’t read them. But, that tells me that almost half of those hiring do. Not one to take a big gamble while applying for my dream job, I’m not taking the risk of not including one. Besides, if it’s a required document for application, then you’re on the hook for providing one. Like it or not.
Stop and think about those whom you consider “great leaders.” What makes them so? Are they the ones who know all of the ins and outs of an operation and could move mountains by themselves if need be? You know as well as I that the definition of a great leader is quite...
The amount of resources about the best ways to prepare for your job interview is almost immeasurable. One, quick Web search, and you have a multitude of articles showing you the way. In addition to the overlap in the information from various sources, there is also plenty of outlier advice. And, it all adds up to a lot for you to decipher and decide when preparing for your interview.
But, what does the decision to hire really boil down to? Jeremy Schifeling offers his opinion in his article, “The 2 Traits All Hiring Managers Look for During Interviews (Without Even Realizing It). He summarizes the ultimate decision to hire into two factors: How people evaluate each other and how to be the one chosen.
No matter the role you play during any given moment, your ability to listen to those around you tends to be a huge key to success in the relationship. Your ability to engage in listening – yes, engage in listening – is often determinant of a good outcome in any exchange. This skill is no less important in the workplace whether you are the employee or the CEO than it is in any other affiliation. And, in all cases, you want to do your best. To that end, take a look at the common mistakes people make while listening according to Alison Davis, and then consider how to avoid them.
You’ve conquered the initial phases of the job search, and you have been contacted for an interview! You already know how important it is to present your skills and abilities in ways that directly connect to the position at hand. But, you also know an interview is more than a question-answer session about your specific experiences. This meeting, or series of meetings, is much more comprehensive than a Q & A, so let’s take a look at important areas of focus identified by Nicole Fallon Taylor in her article, “5 Interview Skills That Will Get You Hired,” to help best prepare you for what’s to come.
As I can’t relate to the multiple offer situation, I almost passed on reading Richard Moy’s article, “4 Crucial Questions You Need to Ask Yourself When Deciding Between Multiple Job Offers.” However, I am a huge fan of transferable skills, so I read it hoping to glean advice applicable not just for managing multiple offers but also to decisions associated with the search process as a whole. My hopes were met. Take a minute to check out considerations I find applicable to many stages of the search.
Both my husband and I have had the privilege of working for supervisors who are known, by name and deed, around the country. The crazy part of these experiences is that neither of us was aware of the widespread prestige of these people until after working for them for a while. It was an interesting evolution of realization into their greatness as we were drawn to the fields through our own interests, and we educated ourselves in ways that positioned us to pursue vital careers. Then, once in the doors, there was so much attention given to us and what we had to offer our respective teams that the status of our leaders wasn’t even “a thing.”