Interviewing and Resume Writing Workshop

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Interviewing and Resume Writing Workshop

• Elizabeth Johnson
• American University

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The New Job Security

• Your fathers Oldsmobile
• Career path for life
• Patriarchal employer relationship
• Work hard and youll succeed
• 2-way loyalty, cradle to grave

• Todays reality
• Many career options
• Patriarchal relationship loyalty gone
• Downsizing, outsourcing, worker mobility
• New risk/reward paradigm

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YOU ARE YOUR OWN CAREER AGENT

• You decide what you want to do
• You decide whom to do it for
• You are responsible for uncovering pursuing
  opportunities
• You are responsible for continually enhancing
  your network
• You are responsible for your own job
  security.today and throughout your career

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WHAT ARE MY CAREER OPTIONS?

• Nobody can tell you what you should do
• Know thyself
• - what you like
• - what you know
• - what youre good at
• Follow your passion!
• - I get to do X vs. I have to do X

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Project Management

• Think of your career search as a project you
  manage
• As part of the project, you have a marketing and
  communications plan

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Communication Tool Resume

• You identify
• Your Professional Objective
• Your Qualifications/Experience
• Your Achievements Accomplishments
• Your differential (why should I hire you?)
• For your target market

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Achievements

• Achievements Skills in Action
• Moments of Pride
• Dont tell me youre good,
• show me youre good
• Facts tell, stories sell

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Achievements(cont)

• For interviews, especially behavioral interviews
  For networking For resumes
• They are the bullets
• Focuses on results
• Quality Quantity
• Reduced cost
• Increased sales/revenues
• Improved productivity
• Saved Time
• Reduced accidents

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ACHIEVEMENTS

• Situation Describe what you did and where
• Action What skills did you use and what actions
  did you take?
• Results (, , )
• Also what challenges did you have to overcome?

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Achievements Exercise
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WHAT A RESUME IS/ISNT

• Old approach
• Legalistic/formal language
• Resume is very detailed
• Reads like a job description
• Limited to one page
• One-size-fits-all
• Owners manual

• New approach
• Concise, action-driven, newspaper headline style
• Details either support your positioning or
  detract from it
• Focuses less on what you did, more on how well
  you did it
• Tailored to each opportunity/employer
• An advertisement

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WHAT A RESUME IS/ISNT (cont)

• ISNT likely to be
• Read thoroughly
• 1 of handful of resumes received
• Screened by human being

• IS likely to be
• Given 3-4 second glance
• 1 of hundreds, maybe thousands, received
• Screened by computer

• Moral of the story
• make sure your key stuff (Unique Selling
  Propositions) gets noticed first and
  minimize/ditch the rest!
• Include keywords esp. if submitting through
  online system!

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RESUMES FORMATS

• Reverse chronological
• Typically best choice
• Reviews best features of experience and
  education to date, in reverse chronological order
• Functional
• Best if re-careering or dealing with notable
  gaps
• Focuses on transferable skills rather than
  where/what/when you have worked
• Combination

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Resume Musts

• Never Lie
• Proof read
• A resume is a work in progress.

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Key Elements

• Must have a summary that tells the reader who you
  are and what you want to do. Dont make them
  guess.
• Resume must be achievement based not just what
  you do --- but how you did it and what were the
  results

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Content Tips

• A resume is not a biography where you list
  everything you ever did
• Use space to focus on the content that is most
  relevant to your target
• Dont put anything on your resume that you do not
  want to do ---you end up doing it!
• Dont use I use robust strong action words

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More Content Tips

• Use present tense for current work and past tense
  for previous work
• Use margins white space bullets underlining
  caps to increase readability
• It is possible to be too creative know when you
  cross the line!

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ELEVATOR SPEECH(AKA Positioning statement)

• Answers the question Tell me about yourself
• Brief whet the appetite for more
• Tailored to each employer/opportunity!
• You are a multi-faceted diamond
• Best shot at making right first impression
• Include an appetizer
• Lead into your IQ for them

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Elevator Speech (cont)

• Practice it
• Learn it
• Use it
• Tailor it

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EXAMPLES

• I am a Finance Professional and Im currently
  pursuing my MBA at American University, with a
  concentration in Finance and Accounting. I
  participate in managing a student-run venture
  capital fund at school. My internships have been
  with a Fortune 500 firm and a small
  entrepreneurial business. My strengths include
  strategic planning and data and trend analysis.
  My employers and professors frequently point out
  my ability to take data and turn it into
  easy-to-understand language.

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Examples

• Im an MBA candidate at American Universitys
  Kogod School of Business, and I hope to build a
  career in the marketing field, preferably with
  not-for-profits. Most recently, I used my
  marketing learning as a Development Assistant
  intern with a fundraising agency, supporting
  clients major gifts programs. My expertise is in
  designing information packets and related
  materials, as well as organizing appreciation
  events. My unique strength is a knack for
  remembering details while implementing an over
  all plan.

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Examples

• I have a BS in Information Technology, and Im
  currently completing my MBA at the Kogod School
  of Business at American University. In between my
  undergraduate and graduate programs, I worked for
  five years at an IT consulting firm in Baltimore,
  MD, where I gained hands-on experience diagnosing
  client requirements, turning them into system
  specifications, and helping to manage system
  development projects. As a graduate student, Ive
  been active helping my Academic Advisor and the
  local Finance Club chapter make better use of
  technology to share information with their target
  customers.

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MASTERING YOUR ELEVATOR SPEECH

• Once youve drafted it, write it out a 2nd time
  on a separate sheet of paper
• Write it out a 3rd time on a new sheet of paper,
  reading it aloud as you write it
• Write it out one last time on a new sheet, but
  writing only keywords
• Practice it aloud, using the keyword version
• Be sure you decide which points are
  customizable to one particular target versus
  another
• You dont have to reinvent the wheel with every
  use
• Practicing this way will help you gain the
  confidence you need to use it and even adapt it
  on the fly

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Tell me about yourself prep
• I am a _____________ professional with x years
  of experience in _________ . Im currently
  pursuing my MBA at American University.
• Brief summary of EXPERIENCE
• - Functional experience and/or
• - Industry experience
• - Dont regurgitate whats on resume
• - Whet the appetite for more

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Some of my key skills/strengths include X, Y and
  Z tailored to company position!
• For example, include an appetizer SAR story
  (mainly, the Result)
• Id be happy to elaborate on any particular area
  youd like to begin with.

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Writing your Elevator Speech Exercise
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INTERVIEWING

• Before the interview
• Types of interviews
• Preparing for your interview
• Handling tough questions
• Questions for you to ask
• After the interview
• General tips

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INTERVIEWING

• Before the interview
• Ask who youll be meeting with (titles)
• Ask where company is in the recruiting process
• Do a dry run to the location at same time of
  day as your interview
• DO YOUR HOMEWORK - research
• PREPARE YOUR ELEVATOR SPEECH IQs

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Is it a Match?

• Interviewers ask
• Can you do the job?
• Do you Fit with the Organization?
• Can you work with the team?
• You ask
• Can I do the job?
• Is this the type of place I want to work?
• Can I work with these people?
• Does the pay fit with what the job is requiring?
  Am I willing to do the work for what they will be
  paying me?

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Types of interviews
• Phone screens
• Traditional
• Behavioral
• Panel
• Case interviewing
• Multiple Level
• Stress

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Phone screen interviews
• Could be by junior HR person Typically just
  ascertaining you could be considered. Checking
  key qualifications, in right salary range, etc.
• Could be by hiring manager treat it like the
  real thing
• Stand up while interviewing
• Not place time to ask about money, hours,
  benefits, etc.
• Ask about next steps including timing

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Are you prepared to handle the salary question?
• According to my salary research, XYZs (e.g., IT
  Analysts) in this area of the country currently
  earn between x and x, and Im comfortable
  within that range.

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INTERVIEWING

• If they press for current/recent salary
• It was in the range
• Of course, it reflects the particular roles and
  responsibilities I held in that position. Help me
  make a reasonable comparison to this position.
  For example,.

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Traditional interviews
• Best if a dialogue (unless interviewer insists on
  his/her own structure)
• Can turn your answer into a question
• Often opens with Tell me about yourself
• Thats your opportunity to drive the agenda be
  prepared!

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Behavioral interviewing
• Based on premise that past behavior is best
  predictor of future behavior
• Behavior how you deal
• Questions typically phrased, Tell me about a
  time when you or Give me an example of when
  you .
• Questions can be positive (Tell me about a time
  you solved a problem creatively)

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• or negative (Tell me about a time you missed
  an important deadline)
• Either way, the answer is a (SAR) story, not a
  hypothetical or an opinion
• Always end negative stories with and this is
  what I learned from it or and this is what I
  did to improve in that area.

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• No employee is perfect, no job is perfect
• Dont get defensive, answer honestly and
  demonstrate you learn from your mistakes
• Thats what theyre after with negative
  behavioral questions the ability to deal with
  setbacks

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Panel interviewing
• Becoming more popular
• Ask for business cards and line them up
• Not everyone will ask questions, but treat
  everyone with equal respect

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• No need to worryif youve ever been in a meeting
  before!
• Treat a panel interview like any business meeting
• Maintain eye contact primarily with person asking
  a question, with occasional nod to other
  stakeholders as appropriate

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Case interviewing
• Tests your ability to synthesize different
  elements into cohesive understanding of problem
  at hand -- and your grace under pressure
• Point is to test your abilities, not to give
  right or wrong answer
• Draws on business experience, analytical
  abilities and deductive reasoning skills
• 15-60 min., with or without supporting detailed
  info

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Take notes (bring graph paper too)
• Make no assumptions
• Ask questions
• Listen to the answers
• Maintain eye contact
• Take your time

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Lay out a roadmap for interviewer (your planned
  approach to problem
• Think out loud the interviewer is examining how
  you think
• Present your thinking in a clear, logical manner,
  e.g.
• - understand scope of engagement
• - pinpoint engagement objectives
• - identify key players
• - work toward recommendation
• 10. Quickly summarize your conclusions

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Dont fret if you make an error learning from
  your mistakes is an essential ability show them
  you can rebound
• Dont be afraid to ask if you dont understand
  something
• Predict interview questions match achievements
  to employer

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Preparing for interview
• .DO YOUR HOMEWORK
• Research the companys business situation
  (including competitors, threats, opportunities)
• SWAG whats keeping hiring manager awake at night
• Develop IQs based on likely needs
• Identify likely stake of other interviewers in a
  successful hire (whats in it for them?)

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Tailor and practice your Elevator Speech unique
  for interviews
• Update and learn SAR stories (cheat sheet OK)
• Find alumni/friends familiar with company,
  industry or role

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Brush up on tough questions
• Martin Yate Knock Em Dead 2004 Great Answers
  to Over 200 Tough Interview Questions
• J. Block M. Betrus Great Answers! Great
  Questions! For Your Job Interview
• Matthew j. DeLuca Best Answers to the 201 most
  frequently asked interview questions

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Prepare YOUR questions
• For HR/recruiter
• For hiring manager
• For others

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Questions for HR/recruiter
• Whats the corporate culture like?
• Whats your companys philosophy on career
  advancement/employee development and growth or
  other non-searchable criteria and how does ABC
  Co. compare to its competitors in that regard?
• Where are you in the recruiting process on this
  position?

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Questions for hiring manager
• Think like a consultant, hired to help this
  hiring manager solve problems/meet goals
• IQs
• SWAG based on your research what
  issues/problems/opportunities is the company
  likely facing?
• What keeps you awake at night?

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Questions for others
• How did you get into this line of work?
• What has been your career path?
• What did you study in school?
• What are the most important skills to be
  successful in your functional area?
• What types of jobs do people with MBAs/my major
  do?
• How is your organization structured?

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FOLLOW-UP

• After the interview
• Thank you for your time Im excited about this
  opportunity! Im not sure where you are in the
  recruiting process for this positionwould a week
  be enough time before I follow up with you?
• Thank you notes to everyone you interviewed with
  (try to vary the language)
• Within 24 hours, preferably hand-written if will
  get there quickly enough

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Say something in thank-you note to remind them of
  who you are
• Alert your references (if company requested them)
• If nothing else, it was good interview practice
• Treat yourself you deserve it!

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• General tips
• Dress for success keep it conservative
• Bring clean resumes references
• Know what your nervous habit is and CONTROL it!
• Watch the slang
• Eye contact other body language
• Smile Be positive about yourself and prior
  employers
• Firm handshake no dead fish, please
• Professional to all

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INTERVIEWING (cont)

• Be honest if you dont know, dont bluff
• If youre weak in a particular area, show how
  quickly you have learned other new things
• Mental block? to buy time, ask them to
  repeat/rephrase the question
• More great interviewing tips on
  www.collegegrad.com
• Most important tip of all Relax!

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AFTER THE INTERVIEW

• Find a quiet place and write down
• What went well, what didnt
• What was discussed and with whom
• What you missed
• Assess your performance