Professional resume writers will tell you that a strong resume and cover letter will paint a compelling picture of how your unique skills can solve a prospective employer's challenges. Likewise, professional career coaches will tell you that a job interview is your opportunity to connect with the prospective employer, both on a professional and personal level, to sell your skills and abilit…
It's an old adage that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Ironically, your job search will likely provide you with several opportunities to make a first impression. Your resume and cover letter make a first impression about your qualifications, which hopefully will lead an employer to contact you. When the employer calls to arrange a face-to-face interview or conduct …
Identifying your objective, setting your goal, and successfully navigating the twists and turns of your career path are all essential to achieving success. Hopefully by now you've researched the company, developed your success stories, lined up some killer references, and figured out what you should wear to your interview. Now it's time to think about the logistics of actually going …
The title of this chapter is a bit of a misnomer because, in reality, there aren't any routine job interview questions. What we're really talking about in this chapter are the most routinely asked interview questions. These questions (I've picked 10 of the most common) are the ones that just about every interviewer asks, and if you've been on an interview recently, you&…
Savvy interviewers have a reason for asking each and every question during your interview. As we've discussed, sometimes these reasons are clear and self-evident; and other times, there are underlying objectives at play. The better you understand the real question behind the question, the more likely it is that you will satisfy the interviewer and present yourself in the most positive light…
Let's face it: For most of us, the entire job-search process, especially anything remotely resembling an interview, presents challenges of one kind or another. We've already explored a range of interview questions, and you've had the opportunity to develop your own unique approach to handling such questions in order to demonstrate that you have what it takes to meet the prospe…
The salary discussion is probably the toughest part of the job-search process in general, and the most challenging aspect of the interviewing process in particular. If you've been out of work for more than a few weeks, you may already be feeling the pinch, and are likely anxious to start drawing a paycheck. If your job search wears on for several months, you may legitimately be in dire fina…
Whatever the results of your personal interview evaluation, following up with a thank-you letter to the interviewer(s) is essential. It's astonishing that only a very small percentage of candidates actually follow through on sending thank-you letters. Yet, this is understandable, as it's so easy to rationalize skipping this step—especially in the throes of an intensive job sea…
So you've prepared for the interview, gone to the interview and performed well, sent your thank-you letter immediately after the interview, and are now sitting back waiting for that job offer you just know is coming any day now. Not so fast! If you were the first of many candidates interviewed, or some corporate crisis has totally distracted the decision-maker(s) from the hiring process, th…
