Job Seekers, Do You Have Interview ‘Curb Appeal’?

by Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

“If the eyes are windows to the soul, and the mouth is the door, then the ears are the path that lead to the core.” ~ M. Salvino

Participating in an interview as the interviewee is akin to showing your ‘soon to be sold’ home to the highest bidder.  If you take the time to ‘stage’ your home properly, the sale will go much faster and you are likely to get a higher price than if you did not ‘stage’ your home at all.  All good real estate agents will tell you that one of the key elements necessary to help ensure the sale of your home is if your home has good ‘curb appeal’.

Now that you have an interested ‘buyer’, i.e. you have been called in for an interview, it’s time to start selling!  Know that there is no 'correct' or 'incorrect' method to sell anything.  Some professional slaespeople prefer to use a ‘hard sell’ approach while others prefer the ‘soft sell’ approach.  The style used to sell is a personal preference.  Regardless of the selling style, successful candidates have mastered the following key components to ‘close the deal’.

The Power of Great Eye Contact
All good salespeople know that people buy from people who are deemed charismatic.  Good eye contact is a critical tool in creating a charismatic impression when you speak - either one-on-one or one-to-many, as would be the case during a panel interview.  When charismatic speakers present, every person in the room feels that their comments are directed towards them personally.  When they speak, they hold our attention. Good eye contact plays a critical role in creating this impact.

Why using your eyes is so critical

Failing to make eye contact with others sends a variety of messages depending upon the relationship between the two people in question. Failing to let others see your eyes can send a message that you are shy and lacking in self-confidence. 

In North America, a lack of eye contact is most often interpreted as dishonesty, untrustworthiness, evasion, nervousness, lack of interest or shiftiness.  On the flip side, those who can maintain eye contact make a longer lasting and more positive impression of self-confidence, honesty and trustworthiness.

How to make positive eye contact one-one-one

When you’re being introduced to someone new look them in the eyes as you’re given their names and, as you grasp their hands in a firm handshake, hold that contact and smile with both your lips and your eyes. Then, as you continue to speak with them, maintain comfortable eye contact. Be careful not to stare fixedly; be sure to break away from their eyes every three to five seconds. A good strategy to avoid staring is to choose a few different spots to focus upon around the other person’s general facial area. It sounds peculiar but the overall impression is one of good eye contact without any uncomfortable staring effect. 

Hint #1: Make your eye transitions smoothly.  Don’t look like you’re scanning their face from left to right like the carriage in an old fashioned typewriter, or bobbing your head up and down like one of those novelty nodding animals you see on the back windows of automobiles.  The transitions must be smooth and natural.

Hint #2: You should aim to be in direct eye contact somewhere between 70-80% of the time – any less and the interviewer will believe that you are less than interested, and any more will make you appear too intense.  This punctuation, with breaks every few seconds, avoids an excessively probing or aggressive impression and prevents you from deteriorating into an uncomfortable stare.

Hint #3: If a group or panel of people is interviewing you, strive to make direct eye contact with every member of the panel and ensure that your direct eye contact begins and ends with the person who posed the question.

Learn from those around you – and from the pros

To master eye contact watch how the pros do it.  Carefully watch your favourite TV interviewer or speaker, become a student of the way he or she communicates, and then emulate it.  How do they make a strong point, how do they express agreement or disagreement, create rapport, express surprise and so on?

When you make a point of creating better eye contact, you will soon see how it warms up your relationships and contacts and they become more attentive and receptive to what you are saying.

Please let me know if you found this post useful and/or worth sharing with your friends and colleagues.

Copyright © 2012, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2012, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com that 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. This blog is also dedicated to those who stand a little taller each time they picked themselves up after failing and those who gained the wisdom and humility from those experiences to help others do the same. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

Are You and Your Job Search Full of Grit?

 by Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca


Jonah Lehrer is an American author and journalist who writes on the topics of psychology, neuroscience and the relationship between science and the humanities.

Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Angela studies non-IQ competencies that predict success both academically and professionally.

In his third book, “How We Decide”, Lehrer argues that decision-making involves both the rational and emotional the parts of the brain and that the single character trait that separates successful job seekers to those who remain unemployed and/or underemployed is grit.  GRIT, according to Lehrer is the single-most predictor of success.

Grit is not just about stubborn persistence.  It is about choosing the correct [SMART] goals in the first place.

Although the personality trait of ‘grit’ was first identified by Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth, it was also explored by writer, Jonah Lehrer.  Both of these authors study competencies other than general intelligence that predict academic and professional achievement.  For example, people who possess the characteristic of grit are far more likely to be successful, largely because higher levels this particular characteristic drives them to put in more hours of deliberate practice.

According to Jonah Lehrer, “ Grit is not just about stubborn persistence. It’s no use persisting, after all, if a goal is truly impossible. While you’ve no doubt been bombarded with successful people telling you that dreams always come true, that we just need to believe, that if you can imagine it then it can happen, the dismal reality is that not every goal is worth pursuing. I might want to play in the NBA, but I’m not Spud Webb. I still want to compose the Great American Novel, but I also know that my college creative writing professor was right: I have no talent for fiction. Unless I’m honest about my limitations, I’ll waste time chasing a far-fetched future, which quickly gets very frustrating.”

Dreams do come true.  However, first you do need to pick the right one[s] to be successful.  So, how can you sort your ‘worthy’ long-term goals from your ‘futile’ ones?  How can you ensure that all of your struggles and sacrifices will be worth it?  The answer is simple. If your job search strategy is predictable and mind numbing, change it!  Think about your job search in the same way as you think about your underwear.  Do you actually feel it?  Have you become accustomed to the feel of the fabric on your butt?   If the answer is, “No”, then it is time to change your underwear, i.e. job search methodology.

You must keep your eye on the prize and do whatever is necessary to keep you aware of the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of your actions in order to remain motivated to reach your goals. N.B. It's a marathon and not a sprint.

Do you need a simple recipe for achievement?  Anthropologist Francis Galton, sums it up in this way:

"The truly eminent have ability combined with zeal and a capacity for hard labour"

**Please let me know if you found this post useful and/or worth sharing with your friends and colleagues.

Copyright © 2012, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2012, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com that 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. This blog is also dedicated to those who stand a little taller each time they picked themselves up after failing and those who gained the wisdom and humility from those experiences to help others do the same. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

Your Job Search SOS

Searching for a new job is stressful.  Having and using a Simple Organized System [SOS] for your job search is critical for your success.  The keys to your success are as follows:

Key #1 Stop filling out Applicant Tracking Software [ATS] forms in the Internet. 

Key #2 Vet the company/organization for elements that are important to you BEFORE you apply

Key #3 Save time by only applying for jobs that you really want and for which you are qualified

Key #4 Find people in your network who already work for the company/organization you desire to work for and don’t be afraid to ask for information and tips on how to proceed with your application

Key #5 Seek to remain current and knowledgeable with the new sourcing technology used by hiring managers

Key #6 If you are going to work with a recruiter, take the time to suss out his or her expertise and the niche industries within which they choose to work

Key #7 Find and share your success, strategies and/or frustrations with a confidant or coach

Key #8 Be sure to take time away from your job search throughout your day

Key #9 Find an use a job search SOS [electronic or paper] to track your applications

Key #10 Ensure that you network both on-line and off-line

In case you are at a loss with regard to the necessary contents of your job search SOS, it should include the following components:

·        A copy of the original advertisement

·        Contact information for the person who will be receiving your information

·        A MASTER copy of your résumé

·        A copy of the customized résumé you sent to the potential employer

·        A copy of the customized cover letter you sent to the potential employer

·        An electronic or paper system for following up on applications

·        A copy of the follow-up note you sent to the interviewer[s] after you have been interviewed

Copyright © 2012, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2012, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com that 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. This blog is also dedicated to those who stand a little taller each time they picked themselves up after failing and those who gained the wisdom and humility from those experiences to help others do the same. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

Job Seekers: The REAL Reasons You Are Not Reaching Your Goals

You are undoubtedly familiar with the term SMART goal setting with SMART being an acronym for the words Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Rewarding and Time-bound.  The reality is that if goals, even the SMART ones were easy to reach, then we would all be industry rock stars, billionaires, brain surgeons and rocket scientists.  Even though there are TONS of coaches out there that tell you that all you need to do to succeed is dream big and keep you eyes on the prize, I am not one of them.  I am going buck the current trend and throw a wrench into your dream machine by telling you that having big dreams and a good strategy is simply not enough.  You will also have to walk the walk.  Moreover, that walk is not a stroll in the park or a meander along the beach shore but rather something more akin to the trial of King Sisyphus.  For those of you who are not familiar with the Greek legend, the story is that King Sisyphus offended Zeus and that as punishment Sisyphus was damned to roll an enormous boulder to the top of a steep hill.  Unfortunately for Sisyphus, each time the boulder neared the top of the hill, the rock rolled back down the hill and Sisyphus was forced to start again.  Fortunately, it is extremely unlikely that you, as a job seeker in the 21^st century, have any reason to fear the wrath of Zeus.  What you do need, however, is to understand why it feels like you are repeatedly pushing that metaphoric boulder up the hill and what to do about it.

Reason One: You are searching alone.   Unemployment and/or under-employment are stressful.  Look and find support from others who can help you with your job search strategy or are in a similar situation.

Reason Two: You are not measuring your success rate [ROI].  Review your job search strategy and compare the time you taking doing a particular task to your rate of success.  This ROI analysis may surprise you.  You refuse to change the plan.  Understand that you are not the first person who has set the bar a little too high in terms of your own expectations.  If something is not working for you, change it!  

Reason Three: You are not measuring the right stuff.  Your Key Performance Indicators [KPI], when set up properly, will show you what is working for you and what isn’t working for you.  Make sure you are measuring the right things. E.g. Time searching for opportunities on the Internet, time spent marketing yourself on-line or off-line, rate of résumé submissions to interview calls, etc.

Reason Four: You refuse to change course.  You have done your ROI analysis and you know you are spending 80% of your time on an activity that is not resulting in an 80% success rate.   Stop spending an inordinate amount of time on what is not working.  

Reason Five: Your expect results without putting in the time.  There is no magic bullet!  Think long-term.  Acknowledge that anything worth having is going to require the correct amount of resources, i.e. time, skills and effort.  No one can wake up one morning and decide that today is the day that they are going to run a marathon unless they have put in the time necessary to properly train for it.

Reason Six: You are not properly taking care of your mental and physical health.  Burnout is REAL.  When you are not a priority in your own life, your enthusiasm [desperation] will contribute to your inevitable burnout. Acknowledge the fact that this period of unemployment, or under-employment, will include both good and bad days and that you need to prepared for both. A moderate, sustained effort is better for you than intense bursts that leave you exhausted. Pacing yourself is crucial to achieving your goals.

Reason Seven:  You are waiting for your ‘Perfect Storm’.  Life is inherently imperfect.  When you wait for the perfect time, perfect place or perfect opportunity, you may turn your desire for perfection into procrastination.  Understand that your ‘perfect storm’ may never hit and the time spent waiting for it to do so is time well wasted.

Reason Eight: Persistence counts and resilience counts even more than persistence. Stop reading gloomy job forecasts or articles related to how poorly the economy is doing.  You only need one employer to say ‘Yes, I want/need you!’ to move forward!

Reason Nine: Stop trying to please others. Pleasing others at the cost of what brings you pleasure builds resentment.  Strive to understand the rationale for making the choices you have made in the past and the choices you are currently making on a day-to-day basis.  Are you building towards the future you desire or still throwing your limited resources at some unreasonable goal.   

Reason Ten: Learn from your mistakes.  Leave your history in the past.  Stop punishing yourself for the choices you made. 

            “When you know better, you do better.”~ Maya Angelou  

            “Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant.” ~ Maya Angelou

The good news here is that everyone has sabotaged his or her goal achieving progress in one way or another.  The other good news is that you can succeed.  Your ultimate success depends not upon ONE goal but rather upon a series of goals with SMART timelines attached to them.

Copyright © 2012, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2012, Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com that 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. This blog is also dedicated to those who stand a little taller each time they picked themselves up after failing and those who gained the wisdom and humility from those experiences to help others do the same. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca

Career Tips from 'Dancing With The Stars'

You may be ‘dancing as fast as you can’ but, unless you are prepared to learn how businesses in your industry work, from an operational standpoint, you will never be taken seriously, considered for promotion, or ultimately win the shiny trophy for which you yearn.

Remaining business savvy and competitive requires the following:

• Understanding that those who resist getting knowledgeable about the very business they are in or want to help guide are destined to suffer ‘elimination’ via ‘pink slip’
• Knowing how the business operates, including its key performance indicators, is critical to success
• You will need to get into the rhythm of practicing your basic skills until they become rote before you will be able to do anything remotely significant at the ‘advanced level’

Here are eight ways you can build your business expertise:

1.         Get in the Trenches!

If your company has manufacturing plants, get out on the floor with the folks on the front line who make the product. Talk to them about their issues.   The best way of getting a pulse beat on the business is to get out and walk the plant floor on regular basis.  If you can’t walk the floor, sit and chat with front-line workers on your coffee or lunch break.

2.         Know the Customers/Target Market!

Customers are the lifeblood of any organization. If are employed and can get some of the sales reps at the company to let you go on sales calls with them to learn the needs of the customers and consumers of your business, you will gain valuable insights into issues and concerns from the customer perspective.  

Alternatively, if you are able to set aside a few hours on a regular basis and watch how your customer service reps work with irate customer calls, you will also gain from the experience

Whenever possible, set up routine meetings with your colleagues in other departments e.g. Purchasing, Engineering, Marketing, R&D on their turf (not yours), or people who do not work at your company but do work in a similar industry, to learn about the challenges they face in their area of the organization.  Make this one of your weekly priorities.

3.         Start a Regular Reading Program on Your Business! 

Understand the lifeblood of the organization and do the following:

• Become familiar with the strategic business plans for your unit.
• Read your company’s annual report.
• Read the same industry trade publications or investor reports that your business leaders read.
• Beef up your understanding of balance sheets and P&L statements. For this, read: “How To Read A Financial Report” published by Merrill Lynch and download it online.

4.         Make Friends with Finance!

Your company may or may not have a dedicated CFO and you certainly don’t want to bug the crap out of the person who is in charge of the company’s finances, but at the very minimum, you do want to find someone in the organization who helps pull the numbers that show how the company is performing.  

• Build a relationship with this person
• Schedule an informal lunch and learn session with him or her
• Get their coaching on how your business makes money
• Offer to return the favour by becoming a resource to them in your area of expertise

5.         Bond with Investor Relations!

If you are in a publicly traded company, the folks in the Investor Relations (IR) group are the key story tellers who have to explain to shareholders everything from the latest SEC filing to the quarterly earnings or latest product launches.

When they are not scrambling to meet a disclosure deadline, schedule a brown bag lunch with one of them from time to time to understand the big picture. It’s time well spent.

6.         Get on Relevant Distribution Lists!

Many Finance, IR, Strategy or Competitive Intelligence functions in companies have distribution lists for financial updates, analyst reports, competitor news and legislative and regulatory issues.

Knowledge is power.  If the data is good enough for your business and industry leaders, it is good enough for you.

7.         Get Wired!

For up-to-the-minute insights on your business, subscribe to RSS feeds, Google alerts on what’s being written online and in social media about your company, its competitors and your industry.

This puts you ‘in the know’ as fast as any executive in your company.

8.         Tune in to Earnings Calls!

If you’re in a publicly traded company, listen to the quarterly earnings call with the analysts.  Especially the Q&A segment at the end of the call.  If you don’t get the opportunity to listen in on the call, at least read the transcripts. It’s a good way to get a concise summary of the strategy story that your company is telling and even better insights on what investors – and your business leaders — are excited and worried about.

9.         Get out and meet industry leaders

Take some do some face-to-face networking at industry related events.  Even though these events are often touted as informal ‘getting to know you’ gatherings, sometimes these familiar faces will share information with you that has yet to make it into any formal company reports.  

To conclude…

It is tantamount to career suicide to think that staying in your office or focusing on your work alone will boost the impact you have on or in your organization.

The fastest way to knock the socks off your current or 'would be' superiors is to impress them with your knowledge of the business as a whole.  Failing to do this will forever relegate you to the back of the bus and weaken your job security.

Copyright © 2012, Career Matters. All Rights Reserved. Permission to Reprint: This article may be reprinted, provided it appears in its entirety with the following attribution: Copyright © 2012 Career Matters. Reprinted by permission of the author, Mary Salvino. “Career Matters” is a blog authored by Mary Salvino, Senior Consultant for SMART Career Planning.com that 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. This blog is also dedicated to those who stand a little taller each time they picked themselves up after failing and those who gained the wisdom and humility from those experiences to help others do the same. For any questions or comments that are better addressed privately, please feel free to e-mail Mary directly at Mary.Salvino@shaw.ca