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It’s easy to answer a difficult question

I enjoy getting readers’ letters and feedback on my columns. Here’s a recent one about the interview process.

I went on two interviews recently, and on both I was asked, “Tell me about yourself.” What is the best way to answer this question?All the questions you will face in an interview offer an opportunity to position yourself effectively. No request is more powerful than the deceptively simple “Tell me about yourself,” which many unprepared candidates flub.

This request or a variation — What are you looking for? Why are we getting together? Tell me about your career? — comes up in nearly every interview and is easy to prepare for.

Handled properly, you can set the stage for a great interview. Handled poorly, it can effectively end the interview.

So let’s get it right. As with many questions, it is important to understand what the interviewer is really asking for. Essentially, you are being asked why you are the right person for the job.

This is your opportunity to highlight your job specific skills, experiences, successes and goals and then tie them into the job. By explicitly making the connection, you will help the interviewer and move yourself up the candidate list. Never let the interviewer try to connect the dots, do that for them.

Your answer should be no longer than two minutes, otherwise it may become confused with a Shakespearean soliloquy. You should address the following:

# Key achievements

# Strengths, skills or talents exhibited in making achievements

# How your achievements and strengths relate to the position and how you can positively affect the organization

# End with a question for the interviewer.

For example: “I always wanted to be in commercial real estate and my education and experience has prepared me for this opportunity. I received a bachelor’s degree in real estate from state university.

“While in school, I was on dean’s list, became a whiz at Excel and graduated with a 3.4 grade point average. My education gave me a great foundation on which to build and offered insight and knowledge into the different factors that impact real estate.

I interned for the city real estate commission, and when I graduated from school, I went to work for a developer, helping him achieve a 10 percent higher growth rate than his peers. I learned how to conduct research, cold call, deliver customer service, manage projects and budgets and work in a team environment.

“I believe my education and experience have prepared me well for this opportunity. Is my background similar to what you are looking for?”

If changing careers: “I have been successful in IT consulting for a number of years. The business is changing, and instead of reinventing myself within the IT industry, I want to transition my experience to project management in the pharmaceutical industry. I ran my own consulting firm, where I managed multimillion-dollar projects and teams of more than 15 people and regularly completed my projects on time and under budget.

My success was predicated on my attention to detail, interpersonal skills and the customer service I delivered. Is this what you are looking for in project management?”

Unfortunately, in my role as an interviewer, I often receive these typical responses: “What do you want to know?” Or “I grew up in New Jersey, went to the University of Michigan and I am pretty open to any jobs.”

To prepare for “Tell me about yourself,” you should identify the three or four achievement-strength combinations that are the most relevant for the position. Then, tie it in to the job and company in a powerful way.

Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” He was right. Do not leave this question to chance. It is an easy way to get your interview off to a great start.

A word of caution: Don’t talk about your personal life — your kids, extracurricular activities, etc. — focus on your work experience and skills.

These tips and examples will help you effectively tell the interviewer about you.

Mark Schnurman, a veteran human resources executive and lawyer who lives in West Orange, has successfully recruited, trained and coached thousands of individuals. Contact him about career coaching or your resume at holbert

group@hotmail.com. Visit him on the web at www.markschnurman.com.

Preparing for an Interview

Whether it is your first job after graduation or a well-considered career move, you always need to be well prepared for the interview. Ensure that your resume is well written. To stand out from the crowd, a professionally written resume is a wise investment. A well-written resume and cover letter will ensure that you are called for a job interview. The process of interviews intimidates many, but you should look at it as a discussion to determine if you are suitable for the job and if this company is right for you. Keep in mind that being well prepared for an interview is as important as the interview itself.

From the first contact, you make with your prospective employer you will be assessed as a prospective employee. You will be evaluated on your level of professionalism, language, and interest in the position.

Do Not Leave Anything to Chance

Most people find the preparation for the interview more stressful than the interview itself. Your preparation for the interview should not leave anything to chance, as you can be sure, neither will your prospective employer. You should have a specific plan of action:

* Prior to the interview, do some online research so you know as much as possible about the company and its corporate objective and mission. Make sure your responses at the interview are a good fit for the company.
* Be sure of the interview format: what do you need to bring with you; whether you will be required to make a presentation, and how long the interview is likely to last.

* You should be dressed appropriately for the occasion neatly and professionally.
* Check out the time required to reach the venue of the interview, and plan to reach at least 10 to 15 minutes early.
* Rehearse your answers to possible questions.
* Act with poise and be relaxed.
* Always carry extra copies of your resume, in case the interview panel needs a copy.
* Prepare your own set of questions to ask the employer.
* Be well prepared to answer how your experience, education and skills will be an asset to the position you have applied for.

When answering questions, be specific but succinct - try to not respond with long, drawn out answers. Your complete demeanor should reflect your confidence. Neatly fill out the application form. Greet everyone with a firm handshake, and wait to be invited to sit before taking a chair. Do not slouch in the chair and sit up. When talking, smile and always maintain eye contact. Know all your interviewers by name and address them appropriately.

Post Interview Actions

Once the interview is over, thank everyone present and comment about enjoying being there and your continued interest in being considered for the position. It is crucial that you follow-up with a thank you letter that is short and brief. It should reiterate no more than 3 of your strongest skills that you can offer the employer. Do call the employer and do not email the employer unless you have express permission to do so. This will convey your interest for the job, and will demonstrate your follow up skills and enthusiasm for the job.

The impression you have left, your confidence, poise and posture, along with your knowledge on the subject will be an opening for a follow up interview.

All new job seekers have plenty of questions about the job interview. Almost intuitively they know their success or lack of it in the interview can make the difference in them getting the job. Sadly, this fear of success keeps many job seekers from doing their best. Here, are a few job interview tips to help make sure this does not happen to you:

1. Research the company. Spending some time to learn some basic facts about the company will do wonders for your confidence level. It provides you with some information you can share with your interviewer and will help to get you to start focusing on the company than rather your “fear”. This is a good proactive step in helping you look forward to further interview preparation.

2. Practice and refine your answers to interview questions. Simply thinking about and practicing interviews before the event will make the real thing much easier. As you practice answering interview questions, you will start to see where you can improve your answers and will gradually come to a point where your scripted answers will become natural. This will be a great tipping point because you will begin to actually look forward to the interview to be able to show off all you have learned and done. This will be similar to the feeling you had when you took a test where you were way over-prepared for it.

3. Dress for success and have a backup plan. This means make sure you have a good conservative suit or pants suit that will not detract from your candidacy. If you do not have a suit, go ahead and buy one as you will end up needing it for other purposes and most business professionals should have at least 2 to 3 suits anyway. Also, bring along an extra suit and clothes just in case and leave it in your car. This will give you some additional peace of mind knowing that you have a backup suit just in case your coat rips or you spill some coffee on your shirt.

4. Follow-up with the company after the interview. Send those thank you cards and follow-up with the company every 4 or 5 business days after the interview. The thank you cards can be used as an opportunity to showcase your talents one last time or help address any concerns they may have about your candidacy. Do not neglect this step as it could mean the difference in you getting to the next round or getting the boot.

These job interview tips are a good starting point towards success in your next job interview. However, to get the maximum benefits from these tips, you will need more specific Job Interview Tips. To get more tips like the ones in this article, please click on http://www.interviewquestionsandanswers.org

The most effective strategy to getting hired in record time is to pick up the phone and set up your own job interviews! Learn how to set up 3-5 job interviews THIS WEEK without a resume!

The job hunting process has become so routine. Job seekers are still following the same guidelines that only work for a select few.

Why do you still do the same thing? Wait patiently for a job listing. Submit a resume. Wait patiently for someone to call. Wait patiently for another job listing. Submit a resume. Then, wait patiently for another person to call? That makes no sense!

For those in that category, you must understand that you're ruining your chances of getting hired just by waiting on others' to contact you for an interview.

A good recruiter would NEVER send in a candidate's resume, then sit and wait for a response, and repeat the same process over and over again with minimum results. A good recruiter would call his client (or potential client), pitch the candidate's experience, and arrange an interview (or at least a tentative interview) before submitting a single document.

Maybe it's a hidden secret among recruiters. Maybe it's a general rule only experienced recruiters seem to follow. Either way, it's time for the general public to begin doing things differently and dramatically increase their chances of getting hired instead of waiting by the phone for it to ring.

There are FIVE major steps to this process. If done right, you'll be able to set up at least 3-5 job interviews in record time. I’ll give you sections from three of my five steps to setting up interviews in record time.

Here's a section of Step ONE:

I. Decide which positions you’re interested in. This is an essential step in this process because most people are pretty vague when communicating what kind of positions they're interested in. This annoys hiring authorities quite a bit. In fact, it is a primary cause for applicants being turned down for positions.

You've to be prepared to hear comments such as, “We already have enough candidates for that position.” or “You don't have enough experience for this position.” etc.

If you plan properly during this step, you’ll be far ahead of your competitors. Never pick up the phone and call a potential employer without being able to offer alternative solutions to get yourself in the door. This planning stage is critical!

Here is a section of step TWO: Create a list of potential employers. This isn't as simple as it sounds. There are lots of others ways to find out who is hiring aside from job searching online. Be creative and think outside of the box.

Here is a section of step THREE: Start sourcing the names of the hiring managers you’ll need to speak with. At this point, DO NOT contact them. There's so much more to cover before you get to that stage.

Once you've finished all five steps, you'll be ready to set up your own job interviews and receive great job offers in no time.

Fact: The proof is in the numbers. Don't give up after your first try. In most cases, you will have to speak with 10-20 people before you get your first interview. Either way, it's superior than waiting for the phone to ring!

Job TIP: Be wise with the information you decide to place on your resume. Many people are not even called in for an interview because of simple mistakes they make on their resumes. They also make interview mistakes which prevents them from getting job offers.

Put these simple techniques to work, refuse to give up, and you should be able to set up 3-5 interviews in less than a few days. Trust me, experienced recruiters do this each day, and it works!

Read the entire interview training guide and get ahead of your competition!

VP of a staffing firm and Career Author of How to Set Up 3-5 Job Interviews THIS WEEK Without a Resume! and 25 Reasons Why THEY Won't Hire You! http://www.setupinterviews.com

No One Cares What You Want! by Louise Fletcher

That may sound harsh, but during a job search it's true.

The hiring manager has many concerns, issues, worries and problems - too much work, not enough staff, looming business issues or missed opportunities, a headache, a fight with her teenage daughter … but whatever is swirling round her mind when she looks at your resume, the very last thing she's thinking is "I wonder what all these candidates want in their next job? I wonder what's important to them?"

(She might care about that later, if she interviews you and likes you and is thinking about an offer, but right now she doesn't give two hoots.)

This is why I hate resumes that begin with an objective statement. Even the most well-written objective statement is a waste of space because the employer just doesn't care. But most are not actually counter-productive. This week I came across a resume that had one of the LEAST effective objective statements I've ever seen. One that would surely dissuade employers from ever even picking up the phone.

It started with a short description of the type of job being sought, but then it went on: "I do NOT want to work at a company that doesn't value it's employees. I do NOT want to have to ask permission when I have an idea. I do NOT want …"

It went on a little longer but you get the idea. Not only is this candidate focused only on his own concerns - he's also making himself look like a troublemaker, even though there is nothing inherently wrong with the things he is seeking in his next position - they just don't belong on a resume!

Your resume and cover letters must never focus on your needs and concerns. Every word must focus on showing why you can add value to potential employers. Your introduction should focus on this entirely with no mention of your own desires.

That's not to say your desires are not important - of course they are. You will asses opportunities based on your needs and concerns. You will choose a job that meets those needs. But by focusing your resume on what the employer needs, you will ensure that you have the broadest array of options from which to select.