Job Application: Fired?

Kate, a life coach, asks: How should a client answer an interview question/fill out an application if they have been fired? The person I am working with feels they were wrongly fired from a company due to a personality conflict with a manager. When asked at a job interview why he isn’t currently working, what does he say to be truthful but not scare the potential employer? Or how does he fill out an application that asks if he was fired and why? “Joe” felt the manager was disrespectful and treated him differently than other employers. So “Joe” asked to transfer to a different manager. A day later, “Joe” was let go and was told the reason was because his breaks were too long & broke company policy. If “Joe” is able to prove that he was fired inappropriately, how would he include this information in an application or interview? If a potential employer wants a reference from his previous manager, with whom he had a conflict, how should my client approach this?

In answer:

Employers simply want to know you can do the job, and that any issues that you have had previously are well in the past.

The answer is: focus on what was learnt over the details of what went on. The moment you get into the details of what went on, it is much like a running length of yarn unwinding a jumper: it never ends, and you keep digging yourself into a deeper hole!

Job Application: stick to the facts!

Stick to the facts by echoing what ever a reference will say, eg: “I was dismissed for minor infringements on company time keeping. I didn’t get on with my boss, and that was core to to me leaving the company. I learnt that I needed to make sure I could get on with my boss as much as I could do the job required of me in being successful, so now check that aspect of any potential employer or offer. I also like a mix of informal as well as formalised communication, to make sure everything is going in the right direction. Can you tell me Mr potential manager about your format of staff communication?”

Job references due to legal cases these days will come down to: start date, end date, reason for leaving. Only if the sector is regulated (eg: financial services, anything involving children/the vulnerable), will it go any further.

Focus on the what was learnt over the what went on: one is history, and should always be left back there.

Good Luck!

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Many job interviews, no job offers

Mary asks: I am a teacher, and am having no luck in landing a job. I am getting a good ratio of job interviews, but in 10 so far have not been offered one job. What am I doing wrong, what could I do to improve my performance?

In answer:
Firstly, congratulations. Getting interviews in this economy is tough, and it means you have past the first three tests of getting a job:

1. Knowing yourself
2. Finding and applying for the right jobs
3. Getting through the telephone interview

There is a different measure in success in job interviews, in that after three you should be hitting job offers. But I am guessing that you have attended more than three interviews, and hence the concern.

Job Interview

The problem normally is nerves related, with too many leading to over verbalisation. Candidates tend to speak too much, and about that situation, not relating it eventually to the job on offer.

Like any conversation, an interview is a two way process: you are not expected to do 90% of the talking. When any question is posed, make sure you understand the question and its objective: always seek clarification “did you mean, what are you trying to find out” etc. Speak with gaps between your sentences/key points, allowing the interviewer to ask points of clarification. Never speak, unless you are presenting, for more than a minute, two minutes absolutely maximum. Try also to make three points in piece of speech – certainly no more than five. And finally, always come back to closing the circle, by showing how that experience relates to answering that question.

All of these tactics break down the conversation allowing the interviewer to seek clarification, and direct the interview. The fact you can then pick up the though train after allowing intervention shows to the interviewer that the claimed experience os real and strong.

One point as a trained interviewer I am always told to mark down on, is candidates who have done little research on the organisation I am employing for, and secondly have no questions of their own about the organisation/position. You need to have done and show your research (place it on the table when you first go it), and have at least 10 questions about the organisation/position that couldn’t be answered by reading their own literature/website. You want to be able to ask three questions at the end of an interview, and a few will be answered through the process, so 10 is always the number I recommend.

Job Interview questions and answers

My tips points Job Interview questions and answers:

• Keep answers to the point, say what you need to cover it. Initially, you shouldn’t speak for more than one minute in any answer. If you find yourself going over that then think hard about why – and don’t be afraid to ask the interviewer if they need more detail.
• Be honest. If you don’t know something or haven’t got a specific example of something then say so, don’t try to make it up!
• Answer the question as asked. Don’t do the politician trick of answering a different question you wish had been asked.
• Always always always have a good set of questions to ask about the job & company – too many people prepare one, so if it’s already been covered they have nothing.
• Find out as much as you can about the company beforehand. In these days of the web there’s no excuse not to know.
• Take a small but effective portfolio in with you, papers that you can produce to prove and illustrate major achievements. Rarely will you have to show one in detail, but just opening it to show you’ve got these ready is a big demonstration of professionalism.

Job interview tips

If you can afford it, get a professional to do mock interviews with you and give feedback. Many finds major gaps, improvements or tweaks to make themselves better. If you can’t afford this what about a friend who does recruitment and is willing to do this for you – anything they can suggest might be the one thing that makes a difference.

One last point: if you do get rejected, always phone in for feedback. Make it clear when you make the call that you know the job has gone to someone else, but that you would like feedback on how you could improve your job interview performance could be improved. You will hence always improve your job interview performance, and possibly even get that job: 1 in 10 successful job seekers are not at the organisation that employed them 30days after starting there, and the first candidates you always seek as an alternate are the ones who showed greatest interest.

Good Luck!

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Reference: when in a job application?

John, a job seeker in sales, asks: I am in a good job at present, but looking to move soon. My question is, when should I seek to line up my references? Most of my old bosses/employers have moved on or gone out of business. Approaching some of my old customers in my present job would be inappropriate now, and my existing customers impossible until I hand in my notice, so I wouldn’t know what either would say. Help!

In answer:
Good question John, and the answer to your question is that you are asking the question at the correct time: get your references lined up BEFORE you get into a job application.

Employers will engage you because of you prove to them that you have:

• Technical Fit – you meet the minimum standard of the job description
• Social Fit – you fit in with their manager/team/organisation (in that order)
• Magnetic Fit – you and the organisation are going in the same direction, so that you won’t be leaving in 3months

But various studies have shown that should your references clash or not meet with one of the prospective employers expectations set by yourself through your job application, that all the hard work before means nothing, and you will not get the job.

Reference: Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll know who you are

Why will you get rejected? Think about it: the employer has known you for five minutes through their own job application process, and you have all the people you know to choose from. Yet the person you choose says something negative about you. The fact that you choose them as an employment reference and that they say something bad about you says more to the prospective employer than their job application process does: dismissed!

In summary, an old adage says: Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll know who you are.

If you follow a conventional employer led job application process, you need your references both lined up, briefed, and positive. How do you achieve this?

Reference: job application

The only way to address the question of references, is first to find and then vet your references. I always suggest to people that they have at least six references lined up. Most employers ask for two or three references, and if you have six then you have a series of different portfolio “pictures” of yourself. You can then choose the right reference for the right employer question that they need answering.

To find out who you can choose from, first make a list and then ask them to provide a recommendation on a business social networking site like LinkedIn. If someone is not willing to publicly say on LinkedIn that you are good/great, then why would they in any form of job reference? Secondly, if they give you a recommendation on LinkedIn, they can then hardly turn around and say something different in a job reference, can they?

Thirdly, using a networking site like LinkedIn – especially if you don’t suddenly have a burst of activity and recommendations come in, raising suspicion in your employers mind – means you can approach anyone on the site or you happen to have worked with/for/against/supply/buy/sold to. Now your potential references can come from old employers, existing work mates and old/new customers and suppliers; and even competitors you may have bid against on, and then chatted to at the bar at the next sector convention.

The easiest way to gain positive references via a business social network is to give positive recommendations. Don’t give them to anyone, but people who you truly would go to in times of either personal or business need, ideally both. In business, the ultimate question has to be: would or did you agree to pay this person for a service, that they then truly delivered? If yes, then satisfied customers are the best references.

Having completed this exercise, you now know who your reference friends are. You can now start briefing them on your job application aspirations. But had you thought about it – this is a whole new opportunity to find a job!

References and employment

If you ask someone for a reference, and they happily provide one, what does this say about your relationship with them?

It effectively means you now have a new advocate, who most likely having given you a positive reference would be willing to introduce you to their wider business contacts as a warm introduction. Secondly, if they are asked by someone in their network who do they know who could do a particular job, and that job description fits your skills, would they recommend you? If they have given you a reference, then most likely yes.

If such a person is willing to give you a reference, then they could have the inside track to your next position, secured through warm recommendation over a cold and competitive job application process.

So, next time you think about a job application, first act on gaining references. Rather than being an administrative task you have to worry about completing at the end of a job application, they could be a new route to a whole new and easily secured career opportunity.

Good Luck!

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Job Application: always think Job Interview

If there is one mistake that the majority of job applications make, it is focusing serially on their job application, over success in the final aim: the job interview

Why is focusing on the job interview a more successful strategy over focusing serially on:

• Finding jobs
• Job Application
• Telephone Interview
• Job Interview

The tendency to focus serially on the task of getting a job is brought about by a lack of experience. Probably, the last time you applied for a job, was at least 18months ago,  if not most commonly at present over ten years. Hence, thinking about the end game, and thinking about being dressed up in a suit as you will see it, being grilled by two former members of the Spanish inquisition will seem – daunting!

Therefore, just take it step by step.

Now, in most tasks, when in doubt or in fear this strategy would work. So why does it not work in job search or job application, or at least bring far less success?

Job Application

Simply because in a job application, you need to keep the story consistent and building along the employers job application process. Taking several serial steps means there is most often a disjointed story, resulting in the employer finding out no more about you than being a desperate job seeker. As I have said before, desperation = unemployment

Now, you could expect the employers process to build the picture for you. But the reality is, until you are in the interview room, the majority of employers recruitment processes are built around rejection over inclusion. Secondly, all employers processes will be built around assessment to a set of standards, over people interaction. One of the key concerns for executives applying for positions with large corporates, is that the Human Resources team will most often use the same basic level of entry employment tests and procedures for a school leavers as they will for a Chief Executive – if not initially, then at least at some point. If that is the mentality of the HR department, where only the fittest of job applicants will succeed, why believe they have your best interests at heart and will extract unknown skills from you for their benefit?

To build a consistent story and momentum through your job application, the only choice is to focus on the job interview. The key to a good job interview, and why most employers will engage a job applicant as a new member of staff, is answering the question “why should I employ you?”

Think Job Interview

In other entries on this website and blog, you will find the key solution to employment success for candidates is being able to tick three employer issues:

• Functional fit – do you have the right skills for the job?
• Social fit – will you fit in with our team?
• Magnetic fit – do we share the same medium term vision, and hence will you stick around for more than 5minutes?

Magnetic fit is where the definitive answer is found to the employers question “why should I employ you?” If you can answer that question, then an employer will know you are their person, and want to employ you. The sooner in the job application process you answer that for them – perhaps in a subtle way in your Cover Letter – then the more likely your are to be employed.

Hence, if you are just staring out on your job search, think job interview and how to answer the question “why should I employ you,” and not how to complete their forms.

Good Luck!

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Elevator Pitch

You may not have heard of it before, but I know from the results we see through our Professional CV service, that creating an Elevator Pitch is the most important step you can take in CV Writing or winning your Job Search. Why? What if you had a statement – known as an Elevator Pitch, or a Lift Pitch – that communicated to your target prospective employer what your skills and capabilities are, and why you are suitable for that position? It would be an instant answer to the Job Interview questions of “Tell me about yourself?” It would also allow you to quickly:

• Write your CV Personal Statement
• How to write a Cover Letter
• What to say in opening a conversation in a Telephone Interview

The second benefit is that the exercise of coming up with a succinct Elevator Pitch, would help you focus on your own strengths, and understand just what market you’re in, as well as how to sell yourself. If you had a statement like that, then you have an engaging piece of conversation you could expand on, which kept you and your capabilities (ie: personal brand) consistent throughout your entire job application. Hence simply, if you don’t have an elevator pitch, you won’t get hired: because you couldn’t sell yourself, or keep your brand consistent through the job application process.

What is an Elevator Pitch?

The term Elevator Pitch originally comes from the home of US advertising, New York. The idea is to be able to communicate to another “knowledgeable but not knowing of your product” person, in the time it takes to go up a one floor flight of elevators (aka Lift Pitch – three floors in a lift), the product or service and its features or benefits, so that at the end of the elevator pitch they know what the product or service does, the key benefits to them, and have enough interest to take action to learn more.

My offer to you…

As a result of seeing on a daily basis, too may people with too foggy and imprecise view of themselves, writing about “great team worker” or being “self motivated,” I wrote out a book that we use in the process for our clients to create a Professional CV for them. Together with a few other tactics we use, the book has proved very effective in turning job seekers into employees, simply through them understanding what they bring to a prospective employer.

So, we have decided to offer the book out to the general public. We are quite happy to sell you the book, short though it is, for £9.97. But you could alternatively get it for free by signing into our Newsletter, where you will also get weekly tips on a better Job Search and hence get employed quicker.
The only reason I have agreed to give this away, is that this simple book seems to quickly change peoples lives. I hope you also find it useful.

Good Luck!

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Job Interview: kept waiting

Graham, an engineer asks: What do you do when the employer kept you waiting? You waited patiently for your interview. The PA told you the person in charge is out for a meeting and will be back. After 30 mins, there is no sight of them. You checked with the PA and she said she couldn’t reach them. Do you continue to wait? Why?

In answer:
Great question, which appears simple – but there are many drivers and hence outcomes:

• How important is this job/employer to you?
• How important are you to this person/company?
• Were you applying against an advert, your/their own direct approach, or an introduction?

The great thing about failure in organisations is that it shows you how they work at the worst level. How good are they at coping/recovery and most importantly communication?

You have to accept that things and crisis happen in life: it can not always be planned for and perfect. But, it is in answering the first question (the compelling need to stay), and the second question (could I work in a place that handles this amount of crisis in this way?), that tells you whether you have social fit with the organisation, and hence want to work there.

Once you have concluded that the answer to the second question is no, then leave when ever you want to. While the answer to the first remains compelling enough, and the second unanswered, stay until they go home.

Good Luck!

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How Would You Describe Yourself?

Kathy, an IT professional looking at moving for career development, asks: Hi team at CV4.biz, I hope this finds you all well – Bora Da! Love my new Professional CV and the results it is getting in positive engagement with lots of telephone interviews, but I am now getting nervous about the upcoming physical interviews. I have read all through the notes and eBook on Behavioural Interviews, but want to ask a supplemental question about a particular type of that question. How would you advise someone to answer the interview question: How would your former colleagues or boss describe you? Thank you!

In answer:
The “how would you/a third party describe you” type question, is a behavioural interview type job interview question: it places you, in a situation, and asks you to describe the experience (ideally real, or created).

The interviewer can gain different perspectives by either posing it from your point of view, a friend, or a close third party/superior at work. Psychological evidence shows us that when we put an individual outside their own person and place them with an external view point looking in at themselves, as the stimulus we often will use less words to get more revealing answers, which are also more critical/negative in perspective.

Accepting you should always remain mentally positive in interview, there are three things to take account of in answering such a question, in this priority order:

• Relevance of experience to job being applied for
• That experience is reference able
• That it is not (totally) negative!

Why is negative last, why not first you may be asking? Because, as a trained interviewer, I am taught that if every thing is wonderful/rosy in the garden and all is well, to ask the question at some point about a negative experience and how you dealt with it, eg:

Tell me about a situation where you had a negative experience (eg: conflict, dispute, legal issue)

at work or in another situation,

where you faced a negative reaction from someone you worked closely with, and how you dealt with it?

Secondly, are we as individuals always all good, or at least not as good at some things, let alone bad? The HR view on competencies is that often positive things (eg: drive or energy), can have negative trailing consequences (ie: leaving people behind, distancing individuals). Not taking account of these, or at least not actively acknowledging them, is a severe personal weakness.

Answering Interview Questions

Hence, tactically and strategically in a job interview, if you can find an opportunity to insert a “nice” difficult experience – or at least one with a good outcome, eventually – then this type of personal question is an ideal point in which to use it. You can also tightly manage/ensure the probable outcome. Yes, as the interviewer it will be easy for me to put you under pressure in such a question – it is close, it is personal. But legally there is only so much I can push on: this can’t get too personal.

Can’t think of a “nice” negative quality that you can manage? Choose one of the key skills the job requires/you have, and over emphasise it: eg: I am too X, or a bit too Y, etc. With some jobs and skill sets, this “over good to negative” could create an excellent employer impression, most easily seen in sales, eg: “I’m too dedicated too getting the right results, and tend occasionally at present to need a talk at some point, which I have found quickly allows me to pull back and consolidate my learning.”

Therefore, in answering the question try to touch on the top three things you have, which the job also requires: drive, energy, passion for instance in sales, or listening, caring and dedicated for a customer services job. Then pick one negative thing. In each case, and anticipating the interviewers follow up on the first item only, move a step further and use quantifiable examples. For example, avoid clichéd phrases like “hard worker, “team player,” and use something along the lines of: “I am told that I am a good team player team because I managed a group of 50 people and worked closely with upper level management to complete…” shows a good quality along with the proof.

Hence, in answering the question, you need to think about the job, and how your skills fit the employers requirements.

Good Luck!

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Job Interview Hair Styles

Job Interviews are about two things:

1. Confirming you have the applicable skills you claim to have in your CV/resume
2. Showing you will socially fit in with the organisation

Confirm – not necessarily complete – those two issues, and the job is yours: easy.

But, you would be amazed and shocked what sometimes happens in the interview room, regularly. Or what questions are asked regularly by what would seem to be sensitive human beings, who at that time also happen to be job applicants preparing for an interview.

Dressing for a Job Interview

The simple answer is, dress conservatively. Yes, it might seem stiff, boring, etc, but – once dressed conservatively, you can always dress down. A jacket hangs nicely on a chair, and gets a tie is easy to undo – not the same advice to ladies please re blouse buttons!

For instance, what about interview hairstyles? To me, it doesn’t matter if you have hair or not, its just that is needs to be clean and in a business format style. Yes, that can include conservative coloured dye’s, and even gels – just nothing in which there are anay acute angles  or more than 5 colours, none of which is available from BiC as a highlighter pen colour.

In example, take the following:

David, a business studies graduate asks: I love to style my hair in crazy ways, but can’t find a job because of it. Do you know of a job in business that lets me do that? I’m nuts for crazy hair styles and love having people look at me for it, but potential employers don’t like it at all. Now I would like to know if you know of ANY jobs where the employers would endure or even encourage it? Help me please!

In answer:
So, you want to be a hairdresser then?

You don’t state what type of work it is you want to do, but I am guessing that its not arty or creative.

Employers look for: functional fit (you have the required skills), and social fit (you will fit in with their team/culture). Hence, going for an “office job” with wacky hair means rejection – yes, it is that simple! Many employers have “fit for customer” clauses in their contracts now, which don’t/can’t say you must have neat hair, but if your overall style doesn’t match their corporate image you can get sacked.

Decide what comes first: fulfilling your life doing the job you want, or keeping your hair. If the hair is the answer, look at jobs where the hair is normal/an asset: creative, arty, design, etc. Be aware that even in those circles, your hair style could still be too wacky – style at extreme has a marmite effect on all. If the career is the answer, then lose the hair under some dark hair dye in a flat style for a day or two – you know it will be worth it.

Good Luck!

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Explaining unemployment in a job interview?

Haydn asks: I have been unemployed for nearly 6 months now. I finished university in 2007 and have only managed to get 2 fixed terms jobs (one for 6 months and another for 4) with gaps in between them. The problem is that in the last 6 months I have applied for well over a hundred jobs, yet I have had no luck. Now, I have been invited to attend an assessment centre for a graduate position, but I have a large 6 month gap since I last worked. The real problem is that I sent them my CV and application back in October of last year, when I was still working, so they have no idea that I am unemployed at the moment. If I tell them that I have applied to many jobs but I have been unsuccessful then will that make me look like there is something wrong with me? Are companies more understanding with unemployment at the moment because of the economic conditions? Any advice would be great. I am getting a little worried that because I have been out of work for so long that it will ruin my chances of getting the job. Thanks.

In answer:
Lots of questions here, so lets take them in order.

Firstly, employers ask you to interviews or assessments because they think you have the skills they require (functional fit), and the potential to fit into their organisation (social fit): so this request is a huge positive. Organisations run assessment centres to process large numbers of job applicants, but really they should be though of an mass-applicant job interview sessions. The term assessment centre is a nice polite term, and means they can open the opportunity to many more people at little additional cost.

Secondly, employers are aware of the economy. They know that presently and for the last 12months+ people have been laid off and made redundant. HR Departments hence accept that a proportion of new job applicants will be applying because they are presently “between opportunities.” Much as though in a normal economy you would have explain why you were made redundant, at present employers accept a proportion will be.

Gaps in employment history

I am concerned as a recruiter if some people applying for our current vacancies are using the economy as an excuse/veil to the real reasons of why they are applying. Hence like many, we still run the same rigorous background and reference checks. So the best advice I can give is: Just be honest and tell them exactly how it is! Employers want people who are enthused, so if your unemployment comes up, show that you have been looking for work and not sat on your backside!

Now tactically, how to handle the question. Being open about being unemployed is one thing, but saying that you have been rejected from 100′s of jobs is another. I always coach that if you are not getting 1 job interview in 10 job applications, that there is something wrong either in the jobs you are applying for (ie – you don’t have the right skills, qualifications or experiences); or that there is something wrong with your CV (ie – there is a communications problems in there, and you probably need our Free CV review service). Keep the conversation focused on the types of job you want to do, and in an interview for that employer make those jobs focused around their core area. Now, that doesn’t mean that you make stuff up or lie, its just that you don’t openly provide the entire width of jobs types that you have been applying for: OK? Keep it focused and controlled.

In summary, don’t worry about unemployment at the moment, but do get happy about being asked for an interview; keep your focus on that employer/job and the opportunities they provide.

Good Luck!

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Tough Interview Questions

Bob McIntosh, a career coach, asks: Why do people lose their wits at an interview? People who otherwise appear confident and accomplished, sometimes fall down at an interview. Why?

In answer:
Often, simply because they have not accepted the situation as one where pressure will be applied, and secondly are inexperienced in interview tactics.

As a trained interviewer, I find even the most professional and experienced types can crack at any time, even in pre “I’m looking for a job” situations.

The aim of the professional interviewer is never to crack the candidate, but to extract the truthful best from them, and explore capability. Yes, that means you will go towards the edge and beyond of capability. But, cracking a candidate should be seen as failure over success: its only the amateur interviewer/professional line manager who could be happy to have an unhappy job applicant.

Interview Tips

I normally find two things brighten up candidate performance:

• Explaining that it is a pressure situation, and that feeling nervous is OK and actually quite good
• Explaining simple interviewer tactics to candidates, to give them the theory behind question variation and points of address (ie: direct v indirect)

There is also a tactic I give them, which is that in the first 15mins of an interview to turn the question around on the interviewer: why do you ask that or what are you seeking in the answer to that question? Poor interviewers will bat it straight back, but if the candidate persists with I’m just seeking clarification then almost every one will expand the reasoning. The result is that the candidate now knows it is a two-way level street, over a combat situation!

All interview candidates normally perform much better after practise, so always get some in: either with professional assistance or by asking an experienced friend.

Good Luck!

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