10 Tips to Prepare for & Rock a Job Interview

Congratulations! You landed a job interview at your dream company! A lot of hard work has gone into determining which companies to apply to, networking, writing fantastic cover letters & submitting applications. You should be proud you made it past the initial resume screen. It means you look great on paper. Now it’s time to prove you are even better in person!

Uses these 10 tips to Prepare for your Interview:

1. Get organized - Write down the date, time and location of your interview in your smart phone or date book right away. 

•      Tip: Ask the recruiter for key information like the name of your interviewer and the interview style to help you prepare in the below steps.

2. Research the company:

•      Their website - Check out their mission statement, values/competences, services or products, case studies, awards, blog and Executive. Be confident you can summarize why you want to work at the company and why you make a great company fit.

•      Job Site – See what current job openings they have other than your specific interest. This will give you a well rounded view of the company.

•      LinkedIn – Do they have a company page? Any relevant information that isn’t on their website?

•      Google Search – Look for press releases or any awards/information that the company may not have highlighted on their website.

•      Tip: Print off any key information and highlight it or take notes. Don’t be afraid to take this prep package with you to the interview in a folder so they see you are prepared. Also write down any questions you have to ask to determine if the company is the right fit for you and you are the right fit for them.

3. Get the REAL Story via social media:

•      Check out their Facebook page to see photos, comments and general company news. This can be a great place to see company social event photos.

•      See if they have a twitter account or a company #hashtag so you can see what your future colleagues are tweeting about

•      See if there are any employee videos on YouTube

•      Check out Glassdoor.com and valut.com – see ratings and candid feedback from past employees

•      Tip: Seeing the inside scoop from current employees helps you understand your future colleagues and the “real” experience working at Company X!

4. Research your interviewers:

•      If you have the interviewer names, check them out on LinkedIn. See how long they have been with the company, positions they have held.

•      Tip: You can use this information when asking them about their experience at X Company or when asking questions at the end of the interview. Example: “I see that you have been at X for 5 years and have worked in the recruiting and marketing teams tell me why you love working here…” This shows you went above and beyond in your research.

5.      Research the industry:

•      What are top trends in the industry right now?

•      Why do you feel this industry is a great fit for you?

•      Who are the biggest competitors of this company?

•      Tip: Use this information when they ask you the question “why do you want to join company X or what interests you about this industry” - Show that you are passionate about the industry & well versed!

6.      Reach out to Friends or Connections

•      Do you have any friends that work at the company or have interviewed? Find out what type of interview questions they ask – behaviour based? Is there a competency exam?  

•      Tip: Getting the inside scoop always sets you up for success. If you have a friend who works there, ask them about the person interviewing you and typical questions. Also, don’t be afraid to ask them to refer you or highlight your name to set you apart from the rest of the applicants!

7.      Practice Being Interviewed:

•      Ask the recruiter what type of interview it will be (usually the answer is behaviour based). Google “behaviour based interview questions” and see a ton of great examples.

•      Have a family member, friend, or roommate ask you the questions & practice giving answers. Some great sites will not only list the question but also key skills to highlight.

•      The best trick with behaviour based interview questions is answer using the following technique: outline the Situation, Action, followed by the Result. Focus the majority of your time on your specific Action. Think of outlining the Situation and recapping the Result as bookends.

•      Tip: Remember to always tell the truth and focus on situations that you played a lead role!

8.      Plan your Interview Outfit:

•      Don’t wait until the morning of your interview to figure out what to wear. Plan it out the night before & ensure it is ironed and ready to go first thing.

•      Tip: Do your research on the company dress code. My rule of thumb is to dress one level above their dress code for your interview. Example: If the office is very casual, dress business casual. If they are business casual, dress more business formal (suit).

9.      Re-Read Your Notes & Prep Your Own Questions:

•      Read over your research the night before or even when you are having breakfast that morning. Don’t memorize everything but ensure you know their service offerings or products, their vision/mission statement and any top trends in the industry.

•      Write down a list of potential questions you would like to ask the interviewer.  This always impresses!

•      Tip: Remember that an interview works both ways – you are interviewing the company to see if it’s the right fit for you just as they are interviewing you.

10.  Arrive Early

•      Leave yourself plenty of time to arrive at your interview location. There is nothing worse than panicking about being late.

•      Tip: Remember to have confidence in introducing yourself with a smile, confident tone and great eye contact. Showcase all of your great research and

Good luck in your big interview! With this preparation you will have confidence and show them what a great employee you will make!

 

How Companies use Social Media for Recruiting

Are you as a company on trend in using social media to find the perfect candidate to join your team? Find out what your competition is using!



Credit: Mashable - http://on.mash.to/mXWPGR

Tips for Employees with New Managers

This post builds on last week's article setting up new managers for success.  Many look to their new manager to set the tone for a working relationship. It's also very important for new employees to be open, build credibility and want the new reporting line to work. Here are some tips if you have a new manager.

For an Employee with a New Manager:

There is comfort in having worked for a manager for a period of time – they know the way you think, they have trust in your abilities, they know the best way to coach you. How do you start all over again?  It’s a scary time but also a great time to grow your skills and be challenged by a new perspective.

Tips:

-          Come in open minded. Your new manager is going to likely operate differently, seek to understand their perspective. Don’t make snap judgments.

-          Ask Questions – this is tied to not making quick decisions or judgments. Ask questions to seek understanding about changes your new manager is making if they aren’t giving you the rationale/background.

-          Deliver results - delivering results with a great attitude is the best way to will build your personal credibility with a new manager.

-          Speak with your current manager about the transition they are completing with your new manager. If you had an open relationship with your previous manager, you can help shape this discussion by highlighting key things that really work in your current relationship

o   If your current manager is unable to have a transition with your new manager, take matters into your own hands. Put together a “get to know me” email with your job description, org chart of your team (if applicable), previous performance review, and current targets/goals. Book time with your new manager to get to know each other and walk through your current work load and goals.

Open conversation & transparency will work well on both sides to create a strong relationship. Good luck!

Have you recently had a new manager? What do you think they did well to support you? What do you think you did well to set your new manager up and make them look good? Reading the above tips, what would you have done differently?

Tips for New Managers

With fast paced moving companies, reporting lines often change due to realignment of departments, promotions or general business needs.  Change creates natural trepidation but also hints at great possibilities. Reporting relationships take time to build from both a manager’s and a direct report’s perspectives. This week’s blog post is for a manager with a new direct report & next week’s will be for an employee who has a new manager.

For a Manager with a New Direct Report:

Getting to know your team is a big challenge. You want to create quick wins and not steamroll new reports with big changes right away. These tips will help you gain credibility and build trust.

-          Listen first. Seek to understand procedures, strategies, organizational charts, and roles/responsibilities of your new team. As a new manager, you are likely eager to make your mark in your new role. First seek to understand why things are done a certain way before barging in with changes.

-          Ask questions - understand what your team thinks works well, how processes align to goals, and ask what they would change. If your team agrees on priorities they are more likely to buy into such change. 

-          Create transparency – talk to your team about your goals/mandate and what you are trying to achieve so they can be part of the solution.

-          Get to know your team – your people are your greatest asset to create quick wins in your new role. Potentially use a questionnaire that they fill out and then book time to review it together. It’s a way to have a little fun, get to know them professionally and start to build a personal relationship. I often use something called a management contract to start this (read here: http://bit.ly/gOr24X). You can ask things like: favourite coffee, morning or afternoon thinker, and then things like strengths, growth opportunities, personal goals, what they like in a manager, etc… Using this to facilitate a conversation can get you going on a great foot right away.

-          Transition from past managers - If you are taking on an employee from another manager within the same organization, book time to do a proper transition. Ask them to share previous performance reviews and tips for management.

-          Talk about your management style – just like you want to get to know your new team, they want to get to know their new manager. Talk about tips for working with you, the working environment you like to create and your plan for the team.

-          Have regular team updates – book a bi-weekly or monthly meeting with your direct reports to discuss your findings, recommended changes & the team’s progress. This will help you create buy in and overall transparency and be viewed as a leader who is creating team work right from the get go!

 

For those who have recently moved into a new role managing a new team, what do you think about the above tips? What helped set off your new relationship for the better and what do you wish you had done differently?

Stay posted for next week's post on tips for employees with new managers.

Students: Building Your Personal Brand For A Career In Sales And Marketing

Marketing and sales students – this post is just for you!

With leaves changing to fall colours, many companies have been hitting campus with gusto to find the best seniors for upcoming internships and new grad jobs.

The competition on campus between employers is getting hot as the economy picks up and companies’ hiring numbers increase. A shift is starting, where students will have more power as the number of jobs available increases; however, we aren’t quite there yet. As a student, it is important to play a lead role in choosing your first job out of school and selling yourself to your employer(s) of choice.

Your personal brand

You need to build your personal brand as a sales and marketing student because potential employers want to see that you can apply the basic principles of marketing. If you can’t sell or market yourself, why should they trust you to market or sell their products and services?

First, do a branding exercise to understand your unique value to a future employer. Think about how you present yourself both in person at company campus recruiting events or interviews, and in online spaces.

Things you should evaluate include:

·         How you dress

·         The language you use

·         How you can showcase specific accomplishments

·         How you come across to employers – do you seem credible/real?

Your personal brand - online

Your online personality should mirror how you come across in person. Ensure that, if your future employer seeks you out on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook, there is consistency in the things you say you are knowledgeable about or roles you played in extra-curricular activities.

Things like LinkedIn recommendations are very valuable, especially with LinkedIn launching a new student profile option.

In sales and marketing, future employers will likely perform a social media search on their top candidates – think of this as a “reference check.” Make sure that you hide information that future employers don’t need to see (e.g., Facebook photos) and remember that social media is PERMANENT. 

Your personal brand – in person

For in in-person events, network and showcase your personality as well as your interests and skills.

Marketing and sales is a lot about a “fit” in being personable, believable and coachable. When I interview for entry-level marketing roles, I look more for a strong personal impression than wide sales/marketing experience – I can teach you how to be successful, but I can’t teach you how to think critically or have personal credibility.

I want you to highlight your interests, where you think the industry is going, recent highlights at my specific company, and why you believe you fit the company culture. Show you spent some time researching my company online, even talking to past interns or employees, and understanding our culture.

Don’t treat every networking session, interview or online application the same. Most recruiters are very open to telling you the unique parts of their company, so talk to them and ask for a follow-up prep call prior to an interview.

If you don’t meet a recruiter on campus, reach out to them via LinkedIn. Recruiters will highlight great candidates’ applications if you wow them. Consider this reach-out like dating – you only have one opportunity to make that perfect impression that might lead to a relationship (or in this case, a fantastic career)!

Students: As I am now a regular contributor to TalentEgg.ca (Canada's leading job site and career resource for students and new graduates), I will be featuring monthly articles written specifically for students on my blog. I would love your thoughts on what you want to hear about! Please comment below to drive future articles.

Talent Management 101

Talent Management is a HOT topic. It is really about managing your talent proactively, aligning talent to organizational values and opportunities, and succession planning to keep your top talent happy at YOUR Company. According to Wikipedia (the best definition source) talent management “refers to the skills of attracting highly skilled worked, of integrating new workers, and developing and retaining current workers to meet current and future business objectives.” As the article calls out, “companies engaging in a talent management strategy shift the responsibility of employees from the HR department to all managers throughout the organization.” HR is a lead player in working with a company’s senior leadership team to align on a talent management strategy but ALL managers must then take accountability for developing their direct reports. Thus, training & organizational education is also a key part of a talent management strategy.  Talent management also goes hand in hand with recruiting so you can acquire the right talent to meet your business needs once you create a language to discuss skill gaps or needs. Talent management is increasingly a point of differentiation as happier employees are more productive and it helps you keep your high performers/high potentials happy and not seeking (or being open) to other opportunities.

The economy is picking up and the market for strong talent is getting hotter than ever. Many companies are failing to bench mark their talent, create guidelines for talent management development, and build succession plans for top performers.  This puts your talent at risk when other’s come calling and puts you in reactive mode dealing with counter offers or potentially being too late in the game to keep your high performers.

Here is Talent Management 101

If this is a hot topic for you, please let me know so I can build out further posts on the topic.

Step 1: Determine bench marks for talent.  What are the key pillars involved in each role & at which level to you want each manager (based on title) to be an expert? This is an exercise in itself that takes time.

Step 2: Make a companywide plan on succession planning & create guidelines for promotions, bonus plans, talent reviews, and learning & development.

Step 3: Internal Talent Review. Work with all of the senior managers to bench mark your employees (aka your talent) & identify the top performers/high potential candidates. Ensure that all managers are aligned. There are many tools/processes/templates out there to help you with this process. This should be an executive/senior manager discussion so you can really compare talent from multiple teams and have a consistent evaluation among all employees. Start with your most senior managers and work your way through each level. HR should manage these conversations.

Step 4: Coach your managers on how to have conversations with all employees – especially those high potential individuals and take them through template succession plans to determine their 1-3 year plans. Work to have a consistent strategy on getting these candidates additional exposure & opportunities based on their long term talent to truly grow them into your company’s future leaders. Templates, training & education is very important at this step as some managers may be leading high potential candidates but they themselves might be more a “steady Eddie” – also people important to keep happy & developed.

Step 5: When new business is secured or a promotion is justified, ensure that you look to those ready & willing candidates who have the right skills & the right aptitude to move into the role. Base your promotions on fit & talent versus things like tenure.

Step 6: Visit your talent review annually to revisit how you are doing on your strategy & re-evaluate your team’s growth over the past year.

Step 7: repeat repeat repeat. Remember that training & development of your managers & support from a strong HR Talent Manager/Lead is very key to lead all of the change management necessary to properly build & execute a strong talent management strategy. This is different way of thinking and thus this strategy will take time and needs alignment between HR and Sr leaders in developing the organizational plan and managing this change for your organization.

There are many assessments/processes out there to support your talent management strategy. Remember to use tools & research research research! Have a plan & then work that plan.

For those of you with existing talent management strategies, what is working? What have you learned? What would you do differently? For those just starting, how are you doing in your planning?

Below is just one visual example of an important talent management strategy as it should include everything from Acquiring Talent, to Developing, Aligning, & Assessing Talent.

Wikipedia definition of Talent Management: http://bit.ly/oDuhlt

Talent Management Process Example <via Taleo>: http://bit.ly/q3q3hE

Do Unto Others

This is a short blog post with just a note on work/life/living. I work with so many different people from so many different cultures & it always amazes me that the saying "you get more bees with honey than vinegar" is true. Just a reminder that in recruiting new people or in managing existing people you must treat them well & with respect. By doing so you will go further in your career than if you use others as a stepping stone to personal higher aspirations. My belief is that I can only get ahead by driving the success of those under me as I can't be promoted until others are ready to fill my shoes. Are you living by this rule?

Thursday News Day: Global Campus Recruiting

As per my article on Tuesday of this week, I’m focused on international global recruiting best practices as a theme right now. Despite all of my best searches, the information available online on this topic is shockingly limited. The best article I could find to share is from 2010; however, it does have some strong points that many companies are still not doing half way through 2011 and it is less than 1 year old. Read here for tips & tricks and know I will be working on many more articles on this topic moving forward.

If you have any great articles or resources on global recruiting beset practices, please include them as a comment in the below to share with myself & other readers.

Employment Branding:

 “Global Recruiting in 2010: Trends & Best Practices”

-          Featured on: slideshare  

-          Writer:  Kevin Wheeler

-          Publishing date: Aug 25, 2010

-          Link: http://slidesha.re/dm81lO

Good webinar with a 5 trends & best practices for global recruiting.  Major trends include globalization = ubiquitous mobility, shortages of key skills, recruiting is internet dependent & recruiting remains local. This article includes good statistics, research & recommendations for any recruiting manager building a campus recruiting program.

Happy reading! Any resources/articles/webinars you can share about global recruiting? What are your challenges? Learnings? Best practices for global recruiting or taking global plans & implementing on a local level?   I would love questions/ideas/thoughts as inspiration for future blog articles.

Global Campus Recruiting Best Practices

As I’m working internationally this week in Europe, I was inspired to share information about campus recruiting at a global level. As many of my readers know, my specialty is building campus programs & I have developed & successfully run campus recruiting programs in over 12 countries from North America to Asia to Western Europe and Eastern Europe. It may shock you that students around the world essentially want the same things – enjoyment of work, development opportunities, exposure to leadership, work/life balance. Though the cultures of each country influence the practices/students, best practices in student recruiting essentially do work globally. Building the right programming is important to find that perfect new hire!

Though many global companies build management trainee or global recruiting principles, there are some things to keep in mind that work globally & some things to consider in tweaking your programming for each individual market. Read on to find out more!

From my experience, here are some best practices for building campus recruiting programs in multiple countries:

-     Strong employment branding website with information about a day in the life at your company. Remember, your website should ENGAGE with students. Think blogs, twitter feeds, YouTube videos of your office, testimonials etc

-     Key messaging/job offerings that speak to students. Knowing what students want & ensuring your offering speaks to these categories is important. Look to local/nation surveys on student values to build out your messages

-     Campus Ambassadors, students who work a set number of hours per work promoting job opportunities with your company, helping to build your brand on campus & generate referrals.  I have seen this program work around the world. The key factors are training them, have ongoing management & KPI’s (key performance indicators) that they are rewarded for meeting.

-     Referral based programming works! Track referrals to applications & reward based on results.

-     Campus events are so important for building up your brand on campus and recognition among students. Job fairs, information sessions, company presentations, case competitions etc are a great way to engage students.

-     Relationships with Career Centers – Career Centers can make or break your experience on campus. Getting to know your contacts and  educating them on your company’s offering is very important as they will help market your campus events, promote your company to influential students & help you gain access to deans & professors

-     Relationships with Deans/Professors are very important. Guest lecturing in class rooms, supporting with real business cases to supplement curriculum and seeking referrals from influential professors will help gain traction with the right students.

-     Supporting student groups. Find those groups that are part of your target market and work to be a key advisor/support. Do not just provide sponsorship dollars but instead work to provide the group mentors, internships, and/or business advice as this will be a better use of your sponsorship dollars. By spending time with these groups you will get to know the top students you want to recruit for your company.

-     Giveaways are not a key part of a campus program. They are supplementary to educate students on your EVP (employer value proposition) but a cool giveaway is not going to sell a student on applying to your company

 Things to tweak on a country by country basis:

-     Consider Internet Access

o   Some countries outside of Western Europe & North America have limited internet access or slow speeds. Having a length application process that relies heavily on internet access/online testing may decrease your applicants and candidate engagement in some countries. Consider this access to technology when tailoring the application for each country.

-     On Campus activities really differ per campus. Some schools allow for class presentations by other students and some don’t. Know what’s allowed in your country & per campus to meet your KPI’s.  Work with your career center to understand what works best on their campus. Tailor this metric not only by country but also by school.

-     Postering/handouts – many schools internally have different rules about what is allowed on posters or if posters are even allowed to be hung on campus property. Ensure that you allow local offices to determine these nuances before ordering global quantities with a set design.

-     Timing – even within a continent, the countries may have very different calendar years. Your recruiting season in England and Germany are very different as German students don’t go back to school until October versus August/Sept in England. Thus, your timing for applications, interviews and job offers will be sensitive to each country.
-     Social media sites/usage varies per country. Ask your recent new hires what social media sites you should be using!

I hope these tips help you understand what global recruiting best practices work on a global level & what needs to be tweaked locally. Cheers & happy recruiting!

Thursday News Day: Employment Branding

As I’m currently consulting in Europe for clients, I was inspired to discuss global campus recruiting in this week’s articles. Despite my BEST goggle searches, I didn’t find any relevant articles about global employment branding or campus recruiting … this of course inspired next week’s post about campus recruiting and global best practices. For this week’s article (as it is Thursday News Day!) I have included a good piece about employment branding as knowing the basic principles in building your EVP (employee value proposition) will help set you up for understanding global best practices for campus recruiting.

Employment Branding:

 “Employment Branding: The only long term Recruitment Strategy”

-          Featured on: www.ere.net

-          Writer:  Dr. John Sullivan

-          Publishing date: Jan 7, 2008

-          Link: http://bit.ly/Wfj0a

Though this article is a couple of years old, it really highlights the basic principles of employment branding and those principles haven’t changed. The way you execute on your brand has evolved but this is a good introductory read to the key components of and long term benefits of employment branding. The author quotes that typically companies only spend 5% of their budgets on employment branding… which camp do you fall into?

I hope you read over this solid employment branding article so that in my next few posts about campus recruiting & global recruiting, you understand the benefit of having a EVP prior to hitting campus. Shockingly, I found very few other articles about campus recruiting unless they were tied to a company as a pitch document. Looks like I found a new wealth of things to write about! Stay posted over the next few weeks for posts on campus recruiting & global student behaviours.