Job Interviews: 6 Strategies for Success

Once you have secured an interview, building rapport with the hiring manager or selection panel is critical for your success. To learn how to set yourself up for interview success read on. The top tips to help you build a relationship during your next interview include the following:

1. Preparation - Properly preparing for an interview reduces nervousness and enhances your ability to relax. Find out as much as you can about the company, its goals, objectives, etc. If possible, also take the time to suss out information on the interviewers, as well. - Internet searches on Google and Linked In are wonderful tools for this exercise.


2. Rehearse - Confidence breeds success to the same degree that success breeds confidence. Practice your answers and questions with friends and family members. The confidence that comes from practice is a powerful antidote for nervousness.


3. Eye Contact - When being interviewed by a panel, pay close attention to the job title/position within the organization of the person asking the question and tailor your answers accordingly. When answering questions put forth by a panel, strive to make eye contact with every member of the panel and not just one asking the question.


4. Discuss - The ‘best’ interviews are conversational in nature. During the interview process, the interviewer[s] will be assessing your fit within the role and company culture as well as determining if you can do the job.


5. Articulate - Converse clearly by using correct pronunciation and accurate terminology. Your voice must be clear enough for the interviewer to understand. Answer questions clearly, concisely and confidently. If you do not know how to answer to a question, ask for further clarification. If you do not know the answer, say so with the addendum that it is an interesting question and that you will look into it for your own edification.


6. Value Proposition - When preparing for an interview, understand that you have a strategic advantage as an interviewee. Prepare a brief outline of the points you want to make in the interview and practice drawing these points into the conversation. Know that you already have the mandatory skills and expertise to do the job, or, you would have never secured the interview in the first place. Strive to position your expertise by using anecdotes from your career history to demonstrate the skills required as listed in the original job advertisement.

Regardless of the outcome of the interview, be ready to move on. The success or failure of a job interview may not be personal. If the interviewers do not see you fitting in with the organisational culture, they are doing you a favour by saving you the pain and frustration of working for a company or organization where you would not be happy. Alternatively, they may be simply making a huge mistake. Do you want to work for a company or organization that is not enlightened enough to envision or take advantage of your expertise in terms of what you can do for them?

You are competent and talented and there are great companies out there that would be lucky to have you. Never stop looking for the right fit!



Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved.Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of Mary Salvino.“Career Matters” is a blog hosted by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. This blog is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future job opportunities. We welcome readers to share their experiences, post their comments or ask questions about career related matters. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

Mastermind Groups and You - Part Three

What Can a Mastermind Group Do For You?

A Mastermind magnifies your brainpower and will set you above your competitors by providing:

Provide A Mentor - Masterminds that take place under the leadership of a mentor are 10 times more successful. The mentor provides the safe, trusting space for the community to meet, maintains the focus and streamlines the efforts of the group.

Provide an Organizational Structure - A Mastermind group needs to be incredibly organized to maximize the time the group spends together. The mentor serves as the sole person to coordinate the group so the members can focus solely on their businesses.

Provide an Opportunity to Meet Regularly with Like-minded People - A Mastermind group is only as good as its members. The mentor/facilitator takes on the responsibility of reviewing people who desire to be a part of the group. It is the mentor/facilitator who determines whether any new and potential members are a good match for the group and would be willing to participate and share unconditionally.

Accountability - The mentor of the group provides the structure for accountability. In order for a Mastermind to be successful and for members to really strive for success, they need to be held accountable by the group to stay on track to achieve their goals.

To ensure you are a good fit with the Mastermind concept, take some time to reflect and answer the following questions for yourself:

• What is your desired outcome in participating in the Mastermind?


• What top 3 goals would you like to achieve with the support of this group?


• What specific support could you use from the group?


• What personal experience, talents, skills or insights can you share with the others?


• How will you be sure to ensure success?

Is joining a Mastermind group right for you? Try it! What have you got to lose?


Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved.Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of Mary Salvino.“Career Matters” is a blog hosted by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. This blog is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future job opportunities. We welcome readers to share their experiences, post their comments or ask questions about career related matters. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

Mastermind Groups and You - Part Two

What Can You Get Out of a Mastermind Meeting?

While you may be an expert in your field, you probably are not in areas that require you to move to the next stage of your business or career opportunity. A Mastermind group offers an occasion to call on experts. Time is money and we need to learn new things quickly and efficiently. By connecting with peers in a Mastermind group you can draw from others' experiences and, more important, failures in order to shorten your road to success.

Another important element of these groups is the accountability factor. As members of a Mastermind group, we are just as accountable to each other as we are to ourselves. Attending a Mastermind group makes us accountable for the actions we commit to taking and are a strong factor in shortening our learning curve.

Finding your Mastermind "mindset"

As you enter a new Mastermind group, it is important that you get yourself into the right mindset for optimum learning and sharing within the group. Those who find Mastermind groups helpful are those who can to put into practice the following:

Remaining open and welcoming for an influx of ideas and fresh perspectives: The most valuable asset to members is the constant influx of new ideas and perspectives from a group of trusted peers.

Staying positive and motivated: Engaging regularly with a Mastermind group allows members to participate in discussions that can stimulate, challenge and inspire high levels of energy, excitement and passion.

Accountability and responsibility: Mastermind groups can act as a sounding board for its members’ individual decisions and hold them accountable and responsible until completion of goals. Simple systems, such as a buddy system, can be set up within the group to track members' progress or any follow-up action.

Shorten learning curves: In an era in which time is money, people have to learn things in half the time. By connecting with peers in a Mastermind group who have similar experiences, members can learn and benefit from their co-member’s knowledge and input.

Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved.Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of Mary Salvino.“Career Matters” is a blog hosted by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. This blog is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future job opportunities. We welcome readers to share their experiences, post their comments or ask questions about career related matters. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

Mastermind Groups and You - Part One

Given that creating connections is crucial to success, it makes sense to leverage your time by doing something for yourself and your search for a new opportunities, career or otherwise, simultaneously. As the world moves to towards becoming more virtual and people become more isolated, it is even more important that strategic networking be a part of your strategy for success.

Joining a Mastermind group may end up being one of the better job search strategies out there. These groups are structured to help its members connect with like-minded people to make lasting business connections. Although, Mastermind groups have been around for decades, the activity was typically reserved for the wealthy and the elite.

What is a Mastermind Group?

The idea of a Mastermind Group comes from the book by Napoleon Hill "Think & Grow Rich", written in 1937.

Who Makes up a Mastermind Group?

The Mastermind group is made up of individuals, typically from diverse backgrounds, who meet in an open, supportive environment on a regular basis. They are built on the foundation of trust, confidentiality and harmony. .Due to the group nature, a commitment of time and energy is required. Group members should be motivated people who are willing to ask for as well as offer help and support.

What Goes On at a Mastermind Meeting?
Although the agenda belongs to the group, and each person’s participation is key, Mastermind Groups are facilitated by A Mastermind mentor acts as chairperson for the group. The leader is typically someone that the group respects and can guide its group’s members to share concerns, inspirations, and ideas.

In order for the Mastermind group to be more effective, its members should be prepared to do the following:

• Give each other feedback


• Help brainstorm new possibilities


• Set up accountability structures that keep members focused and on track


• Create a community of supportive colleagues who will work together to move the group to new heights

Theoretically, it is through this process that the group creates yet another ‘collective’ mind and that this ‘collective mind’ can provide hints and/or insights to help get its individual members get ‘unstuck’, regardless of the issue


Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved.Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of Mary Salvino.“Career Matters” is a blog hosted by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. This blog is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future job opportunities. We welcome readers to share their experiences, post their comments or ask questions about career related matters. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

SEO and YOU, the Job Seeker - Part Four

Are you an Observer, Participant, or Outcast?

Once you have spent all that time and effort into building your personal brand, it also makes sense that you monitor the result of your labour. To illustrate this point, you need look no further than eBay. Did you know that eBay has a seller rating that attempts to represent the ‘trustworthiness’ of the seller and that a negative rating of 1% can decrease the selling price of an item by 4%.

If your current state of employment puts you in the position of looking for a new opportunity, then the published and quantified results for eBay should be viewed as of significant importance to you as eBay’s results can be directly applied to your current situation. If you are unemployed or looking for a new opportunity, you are in the business of sales and the product you are selling is YOU. Further, it is not in your best interest to have anything that can be interpreted as negative out there floating around the airwaves or your paycheque is likely to suffer.

Unlike many years ago, when people talked, it was behind your backs and you almost never found out about it. Today, all kinds of dialogues occur right in front of your very eyes and the number of places where that information can be found is astronomical. Just like many years ago, when you had no choice and you could not control what was being said about you, the times have changed and you now have a choice. Now that you know that someone somewhere is talking about you, with or without your consent, that choice is to manage what is being said or continuing to remain lackadaisical about the issue.

Today’s technology now allows you to be in the position wherein you can choose to be an observer, a participant, or an outcast. Should you choose to become and observer or an outcast, you need to be cognizant that some conversations that occur without the benefit of your input can have a negative effect on your personal brand. You should also know that when these conversations start on the web, they, like forest fires, can travel very fast and can wreak havoc along the way.

When all is said and done, a reputation is a terrible thing to lose, so it makes sense to mitigate the possibility of tarnishing your personal brand by doing the following:

• Add your name to on-line communities and discussion boards that will add to your credibility


• Claim your name on every social networking site you can think of


• If able, position yourself as an expert in the field


• Make positive well-thought out comments on other people’s blogs


• Become familiar with and optimize the privacy settings on all of the social media sites where you are a member

Developing your personal brand is a living and breathing exercise. You began the process of creating your personal brand the second you created any kind of Internet account. Once you created the account, you became part of the on-line community and consequently been pushed into the public eye. If, you are currently seeking a new career opportunity, it is critical that you learn how to manage your personal brand properly or unfortunately, suffer the consequences.


Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved.Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of Mary Salvino.“Career Matters” is a blog hosted by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. This blog is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future job opportunities. We welcome readers to share their experiences, post their comments or ask questions about career related matters. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

SEO and YOU, the Job Seeker - Part Three

Personal branding is not just for celebrities anymore!

While most think that personal branding is just for people like Donald Trump or Oprah Winfrey, the fact is that each and every one of us is a brand, and each and every one of us should be managing that brand to maximize its effectiveness.

Personal branding, by definition, is the process by which people market themselves. Thanks to social media, non-celebrities can leverage the same strategies that make celebrities’ personal brands appeal to others.
Steps to personal branding:

1. Think about the ‘face’ you want to show the world. A well thought out ‘face’ will be your key to success.



2. Take the time to discover who you are. This includes figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life, setting SMART goals for yourself, perhaps writing down a mission statement and putting that vision and personal brand statement down on paper. HINT: Consider how your closest friends view you. If your friends think of you as intelligent or witty, that is and should be part of your personal brand. If you can make the following statement hold true, you have been successful at discovering your personal brand:
   
   How you perceive yourself to be = How you are perceived by others
   
   
3. Begin to build your Personal Brand Toolkit. Your toolkit should consist of the following elements:
   
   a. Business cards - These cards will represent you when you are not in the company of those who have your card. What does your business card say about you? Is it clean? Crisp? Does it have the same look and feel as your personal website? Same colours? Same font?
   
   b. Address book - Collect other people’s business cards and enter their data into your personal address book.
   
   c. Résumé/Cover Letter - Do these documents have the same look and feel as your business cards? Same font? Do these documents indicate that you also have a presence on social media?
   
   d. Social media - Do you have personal pages on social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook? What do these sites say about you? HINT: Do a Google search on your name to suss out what other can find out about you.
   
   e. On-line portfolio - This is the Internet version of what some people call a ‘brag book’. Your personal brand can benefit form showing others what you can and have done. Can your provide samples of your written word, advertising copy, graphic designs, photographs, etc?
   
   f. Blog - If you are an expert in your field, this is a great way to demonstrate that knowledge. At the very minimum, you should be making comments on other people’s blog. This action will demonstrate that you are aware of trends and are interested in the subject.
   
   g. Wardrobe - Your personal style is tangible. Make a habit of always looking good by wearing colours that suit you and clothes that fit you well. You never know when someone will snap your photo and post it for the world to see.
   
   h. E-mail address - Use one that reflects your name. First name.Last name @ Wherever.com



4. Don’t be fooled by the myth that “If you build it, they will come.”

Personal branding takes work. While refining your brand over time is desirable and doable, it is best to plan the road rather than rebuild it. After all, you won’t get a second chance to make a first impression.


Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved.Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2010, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of Mary Salvino.“Career Matters” is a blog hosted by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com. This blog is dedicated to those who are seeking advice on managing their career and future job opportunities. We welcome readers to share their experiences, post their comments or ask questions about career related matters. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca