Questions Interviewers ask to test your personality.

What was the last new task or skill you learned, and how did you go about it?

Employers ask this question to evaluate how a candidate views their own professional development.

Answer with details on how you learn new skills. Emphasize that you’re curious and continually learning new things about your profession.

Tell me about a time that you did more than what was required on the job

Your interviewer wants to make sure that you’re committed to excelling.

Give an example of a time where you went above and beyond the call of duty. This will also help show that you care about the quality of your work.

If your best friend was sitting here, what would they say is the best part about being your friend?

The purpose of this question is to bring out a sense of honesty and candor in a candidate.

Learning about what makes an applicant a good friend allows employers to get a better feel for whether or not they would fit in with the company culture.

If you could change one thing about the way you approach challenges, what would it be?

This question puts candidates on the spot, and allows hiring managers to evaluate a candidate’s self-awareness and ability to admit there are some aspects of their professional life they would like to improve.

Since humility is an important quality to many employers, a response to this question is something they listen closely to.

Are you a mentor?

While mentorship does entail teaching and helping out your mentee, you don’t have to approach it as solely top-down. Your mentee can be a professional asset to you, the mentor, in a number of ways–from collaborating with you on a special project to connecting you to people at their company once they’ve landed their dream job (with help from their amazing mentor).

Too young or inexperienced to be a mentor, you say? There’s no such thing. A mentor doesn’t have to be a wise old person with a cane (although they can be).

All you need to be a great mentor is the desire to help someone fulfill their career potential.

How are your target companies advertising for available jobs?

Where do companies advertise?

  • Listing Jobs on Company Websites: Most larger companies, and many smaller companies, post available jobs on their company website. Job applicants can search for jobs, review job listings and apply for jobs online. Job seekers may be able to set up job search agents to notify them via email of new openings. Some companies schedule interviews online, as well.
  • Posting Jobs Online: Companies that are actively recruiting candidates will not only post jobs on their website but will also post jobs on job boards and other job sites. Jobs may be posted on general job boards like Monster and/or on niche sites like MediaBistro.
  • Using LinkedIn: Companies may post open positions on LinkedIn, the professional networking site. In addition, companies may search LinkedIn to find candidates to recruit. LinkedIn Groups are another venue that employers use to post jobs and find applicants.
  • Social Recruiting: Companies are increasingly using social recruiting to source candidates for employment on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, as well as to investigate applicants they are considering hiring. Companies may use Facebook apps to recruit or have a Facebook page dedicated to careers with the company. On Twitter, companies may tweet job listings and source candidates to recruit.

3 Things you need from every job

A Safe and Supportive Environment

Let’s start with the basics. You’re more than worthy of feeling safe and supported in your office. You should be able to bring your authentic self (your authentic professional self, of course) into work and not feel worried or threatened when doing so.
Rest assured that your expectations in regards to feeling secure in your surroundings aren’t unreasonable or out of line. Nobody should have to head into the office day in and day out wondering who’s going to throw them under the bus or stab them in the back. You’re entitled to a basic sense of respect and a company culture that isn’t overflowing with toxicity.

A Boss Who’s Invested in Your Growth

When it comes to your career, your manager should be your greatest ally. They should be in the loop on your desires and plans for professional development and provide necessary support and guidance whenever they can.
If you feel like your supervisor is always undermining your accomplishments, offering criticisms that are in no way constructive, and is completely disinterested in your growth and advancement, know that you’re justified in wanting more.
Your boss doesn’t necessarily have to be your biggest cheerleader, but they should at least be in your corner.

An Appreciation for Your Contributions

There’s dignity in all work. Your job exists for a reason. Regardless of your specific role, you’re serving your company in some important way—whether you’re in the mail room or in the corner office.
That means you shouldn’t ever be made to feel worthless. You should pack up and head home every evening knowing that your contributions matter and are respected by the people that you work with.
No, you shouldn’t expect ice cream cakes and celebrations in your honor each and every week. But, there’s a big difference between that excessive level of recognition and simply feeling heard and valued for what you bring to the table.

5 way to keep engaged in your current job

Life is too precious to waste on things that you do not care about, you spend a lot of your physical and mental energy on your job, shouldn’t you be at least interested, if not passionate about what you are doing.

Here is 5 ways in which you can get that level of engagement back…

Know your “why.” This is fundamental and where you need to start. Why do you do what you do? Make sure you’re in a line of work that you find interesting, and then clearly identify why you’re doing it.

Set digital goals. Now that you know why you’re doing what you do, set up short-term and long-term goals to keep you engaged and on track! use digital tools and apps since they can give friendly reminders. Want to get promoted in 12 months? What are the steps you can take to get there? Get them on the calendar, and start working.

Pick up a new skill. Keep your brain sharp by learning something new. Look into training’s at work, or ask to go to a seminar or conference.  Select something that falls outside of your comfort zone but that is still relevant to your career. Your boss will love the added value you’re bringing to the team, while it won’t hurt to add an additional skill to your resume either.

Ask for feedback. If you aren’t getting the feedback you need, ask for it. A good manager will want to see that you’re interested in your career as well. Feedback can motivate you to perform better since you’ll feel more valued at work, and it’s a tool for continuous learning. Staying stagnant in your career most likely won’t keep you interested in anything more than a steady paycheck…which can work for a while (if you’re getting paid what you’re worth), but generally isn’t sustainable for career engagement.

Be mindful. Start each morning with a positive mantra. Then, watch what you say to yourself and others throughout the day. Avoid negative thoughts and comments about your job, and skip the office gossip. Stop taking everything so personally.

 

Searching for a job while employed?

Make Job Search Related Phone Calls Away From the Office

Make all calls related to your job search away from your employer’s premises. Even though you are using your own cell phone and data plan and are therefore eliminating the risk of electronic monitoring, someone may eavesdrop on you the old fashioned way—by listening. Although the break room may seem like a private place, you never know who will walk in on you. Go to your car or take a walk to a nearby coffee shop that isn’t frequented by your coworkers.

Use Former Employers as References

A new employer who is close to hiring may ask for a job reference. Since you don’t want your current boss to know about your activities, you obviously can’t ask him. Most prospective employers will be understanding about this. They are usually satisfied with a reference from a previous employer instead of your current one.

Be Careful About What You Wear

Your boss and coworkers will be suspicious if you show up for work wearing a suit when you normally dress casually. Find someplace to do a quick “Superman-style” change into interview attire. While there aren’t any phone booths around these days, the bathroom of a coffee shop will serve the purpose.

Career Breaks and how to deal with them

Whether your career break was planned or unplanned, returning to the workforce after an extended period away can be challenging. Some recruiters and hiring managers will be understanding about years away from the nine-to-five grind, but others may feel trepidation about hiring you. And, with time away from the workforce, your skills—along with your resume and interview skills—may need an update. It may be hard to feel confident and qualified, too.

Overwhelmed? Nervous? Don’t be: Here’s how to have a successful job search and transition back to employment after a leave.

Tips for Getting Back into the Workforce After a Career Break

Assess Your Job Wants & Needs

Don’t just dive into searching on job posting websites. Instead, take time to consider what you want: What type of job will be fulfilling and gratifying? And, do you want to go back to a role like the one you had before you left the workforce, or do you want to try something a bit different? Consider what you’d like to get out of a job, and why (aside from financial reasons) you’re interested in working again. Keep your needs in mind, too: whether it’s salary requirements, flexible hours, or anything else.

Re-Learn Your Industry and Network

If it’s been quite a while since you worked, you’ll likely need to refamiliarize yourself with your industry and the job opportunities in it. Some possible steps to take:

  • Research your industry
  • Network
  • Attend conferences & informational interviews

Freshen Your Skills

Freshen up your skills before you go out on interviews or send out cover letters—this will help you feel more confident as a candidate. Here are a few ideas:

  • Volunteer work
  • Classes
  • Newsletters, podcasts, etc.

Practice Job Search Skills

How long has it been since you last applied for a job? If it’s hard to remember, you probably need to update your resume. (And maybe your LinkedIn profile, too!) As you update your resume, consider opting for a functional version, rather than a chronological one—this may help de-emphasize the gap in your employment history.

You’ll also want to practice interviewing too

Explain Your Career Break—But Keep It Brief

If you’ve had a long break, you’ll likely have to discuss it within your cover letter, as well as during interviews. No matter what your reason for your extended leave from the workforce, keep your explanation brief. A simple sentence will do. Try, “I’ve spent time caring for a sick relative,” or “It was important to me to be home with my child until nursery school,” “I’ve been volunteering at a homelessness charity while taking bookkeeping classes,” or “I’ve spent the past few years traveling throughout the world, working on my language skills.”

Whatever your reason for being away, try to distill it down to something brief—and the return the conversation to the work you did prior to your time away. Your work experience remains relevant, even if some time has passed since you gained that experience.

Don’t forget these things while looking for jobs

Double-check your privacy settings on Facebook. On Facebook, simply hiding your tagged photos or wall posts may not be enough. Potential employers might still be able to view pages you’ve liked, or events you’ve attended or RSVP’d to—and you may not want recruiters or hiring managers to see the bar crawl or burlesque show you went to. To see how your page looks to the public, navigate to the ‘Timeline and Tagging’ page and then, in the ‘Review’ section, click “Review what other people see on your timeline.”

Ensure any personal websites or portfolios are working and updated. If you link to anything like a personal site, portfolio, or blog anywhere on your resume, cover letter, or on your LinkedIn page, be sure these sites are accessible (e.g., sometimes web hosting or domain names can expire without you knowing) and up-to-date, reflecting your most recent (and best) accomplishments.

When you’re applying for jobs that request references, ensure your references know to expect a call or email. If you’ve listed or submitted references, don’t forget to let your references know.

You should also give them some information about the positions you’ve applied to—a link to the job listing, the company’s ‘About’ page, and a brief note outlining how you’ve described your experience should suffice. Take a few minutes to follow-up with your references after your interviews.

Be responsive. From responding to an invitation to interview, to following up an interview with a thank you note, don’t forget to be responsive. By definition, this means your responses should be prompt. Don’t let too much time lag, especially when it comes to messages that require you to take action (e.g., letting a potential employer know what days or times would work best for an interview, or sending along references or your portfolio). If too much time passes, the hiring manager may assume you’re not that interested, or may just pass you over for someone who was quick and enthusiastic in their replies.

Educational Requirements for Jobs

Why Do You Need to Know About Educational Requirements?

Before you decide to pursue a particular career, you must make sure you are willing to fulfill the educational requirements that will allow you to get an entry-level job. If career advancement is important to you, you will also want to discover what you will need to do to move up in that field. If you are unwilling to meet the educational requirements, or if you must start working immediately and don’t have time to get the appropriate training, you will have to think about other options. On a similar note, you may not want a job that doesn’t require a certain amount of education, for example, a college degree.

How To Find the Training You Need

When the required education for an occupation is very precise, for instance, if you must get a particular certificate or a degree from an accredited program, you will have to decide what institution to attend. There are several ways to go about finding out where to get the training you need.

  • Professional Associations: Use any search engine to find the professional association for an occupation. Then go to the organization’s website and look for a section about education or careers. If you must get your training or degree from an accredited program, it will probably say so here. There will likely be a list of programs, as well, or links to resources you can use to locate that information.
  • Local Training: Search for training by location. Programs include colleges, trades schools, unemployment retraining and short-term programs.
  • Your Network: If you have contacts in your prospective career field, find out where they received their training. You may also uncover this information through informational interviews with people who work in the occupation you are researching.

What You Need to Know About Additional Qualifications

In addition to educational requirements, the state or municipality in which you want to work may require you to have a license or certificate. You may need a certain amount of experience and have to pass written and practical examinations to get licensed or certified.

You should be aware of the difference between mandatory certification, as discussed above, and voluntary certification. Some professional associations grant credentials to individuals who demonstrate competence in an occupation or industry. This is what is meant by voluntary certification. The state or municipality will not require you to get it but it could make you a more desirable job candidate. Some employers, however, may require it.

Does your resume do its job?

A resume is a marketing document, not a legal document. It needs to showcase you. You are so much more than a collection of skills and educational attainments!

Right now, your resume is not doing its job for you because there is so little of you in it. You can easily power up your resume. Right now, your resume’s problem is that it is too timid and too wan. It sounds like anybody’s resume, or nobody’s. The biggest mistake most people make when they write their resumes is that they fall into a Mad Libs style of writing. They write in the traditional business language. You’ve seen it before. It looks like this:

Results-oriented Marketing professional with a bottom-line orientation, eager for a new challenge that will allow me to make a significant contribution to the bottom line.

This is garbage language that could never do you justice and will never entice anyone to get to know you better.

Let’s try the opening paragraph (the Summary) of your resume again:

I’m a healthcare Marketer with a passion for supporting the sales process through traditional and online marketing efforts. At XYZ I helped the company grow from $2M in annual sales to $20M in four years.

Use the word “I” in your resume. You are the subject of your resume! Tell your story. Tell us what you do well and what you like to do. That’s how your competence, intelligence and confidence will come across on the page! Go through your resume and highlight all the traditional verbiage you find. Then, work your way through your resume replacing this boring made-up language with normal human speech. Don’t list your tasks and duties from previous jobs. Tell us what you left in your wake in each job, instead!

Hiring managers want to see a living, breathing person in a resume — not a thicket of boring robot language that brands you as a boring robot person.  You are anything but that! Come out from behind that robotic persona and be yourself in your resume.

Not every hiring manager will appreciate it, but so what? You only need one hiring manager to get you — and therefore deserve you on their team.