A job interview will quickly disintegrate into an interrogation or monologue unless you ask some high quality questions of your own. Candidate questions are the lifeblood of any successful interview, because they create dialogue and help clarify your understanding of the company and the position responsibilities. In addition the questions you ask serve to indicate…(Read More)
Experienced job seekers know there are four basic types of interview questions—and they prepare accordingly. First, there are the resume questions. These relate to your past experience, skills, job responsibilities, education, upbringing, personal interests, and so forth. Resume questions require accurate, objective answers, since your resume consists of facts which tend to be quantifiable…(Read More)
Here are eight of the most commonly asked (and basic) interviewing questions. Do yourself and the prospective employer a favor, and give them some thought before the interview occurs. Why do you want this job? Why do you want to leave your current job? What are your personal and professional goals? What do you like…(Read More)
During the employment interview, there’s a good chance you’ll be asked about your current and expected level of compensation. Here’s the way to handle the following questions: Question: What are you currently earning? Answer: “My compensation, including bonus, is in the high forties. I’m expecting my annual review next month, and…(Read More)
There are two ways to answer interview questions: the short version and the long version. When a question is open-ended, I always suggest to candidates that they say, “Let me give you the short version. If we need to explore some aspect of the answer more fully, I’d be happy to go into…(Read More)
Assuming you’re qualified for the job, the outcome of your employment interview will be dependent on your ability to discover needs and empathize with the interviewer. You can do this by asking questions that verify your understanding of what the interviewer has just said, without editorializing or expressing an opinion. By establishing empathy in…(Read More)
Would you dump your life savings—every single dollar—into a single stock? Probably not; it’s far too risky to put all your eggs in one investment basket. And yet, you’d be surprised how many people manage their careers with a single-stock mindset. They toil away, year after year, investing their talents…(Read More)
Nearly everything written about resume design concentrates on what you should put in. But let’s look at what should be left out, or at least minimized. Item #1: Salary history or salary requirements. I’ve never heard one good reason to mention your past, current, or expected salary. If you see a classified ad…(Read More)
There are many deeply personal reasons to change your employment situation. However, from a purely strategic point of view, there are four good reasons to change jobs within the same (or similar) industry three times during your first ten years of employment: Reason #1: Changing jobs gives you a broader base of experience: After about…(Read More)
The best approach to putting the deal together is to decide whether you want the job before an offer is extended. This allows you to clarify whether the job suits your needs. Unless you’re motivated solely by money, it’s doubtful a few extra dollars will turn a bad job into a good one…(Read More)