How to Come Back From a Bad First Impression

How to Come Back From a Bad First Impression Can you be given a second chance if you slip up in an interview? So, imagine if you have a really important interview at a  company you have had your sights on for a long time and it could be the chance of a lifetime. However, on your journey there you encounter some major road  works and you are 10 minutes late and then when you eventually arrive completely stressed out and with a significant perspiration issue, you call the CEO Daniel rather than David! Is there actually any way to recover from this pretty poor first impression to actually go on to secure the position? It may seem like a lost cause and a missed opportunity, however there are a few things you can do at the time of interview or even once you?ve left the building to try and reverse a bad opinion. Below are a few points on how to potentially turn a bad first impression into a good one. Better late than never: One of the most frowned upon ?dont?s? as far as interview etiquette is concerned  is whatever you do, DON?T BE LATE! However we are human after all and sometimes we encounter obstacles that are there to try and trip us up no matter how early we set off. There is no point pretending to be on time and not mention it. Be honest, say that you are sorry, explain that you know it is unacceptable and describe the circumstances. You may find that the interviewer actually respects your honesty and is impressed with the amount of effort you have made to get there on time. Dont sweat the small stuff: It is well documented that we form an almost immediate opinion of someone when meeting them for the first time based upon their appearance.  Therefore,  it is incredibly important that your outward image reflects the overall brand you are trying to portray. Once you have spent an age preening and perfecting your best interview attire, it is incredibly annoying to be reduced to a quivering mess and all that hard work seems to have been wasted. It is not very easy to keep nerves under wraps entirely, especially if the job you are going for could be a life-changer and your best laid plans of preparation have gone astray. However, you must remember that most interviewers expect a few nerves so don?t right yourself off. If you are going for a pressurised sales role however, it may leave the interviewer wondering if you are made of strong enough stuff. Try to keep nerves at bay by doing as much preparation as possible regarding the company, role and even the best route to travel there and have a few well practised answers to common interview questions. It will help your confidence to have good examples prepared, highlighting your skills and experience. The pen is mightier than the sword: It is not uncommon to have a mental block when answering a tricky interview question or go off on a tangent and not answer the question to properly showcase your experience and talent. At the time, an interviewer will understand if you apologise and take a moment to gather yourself. In hindsight it?s easy to be wise after the event, we all think of things we could have said or done better. If you are in doubt about your performance following the interview, or made a complete mess of it, then a follow up letter or email the next day might just help your chances. Take some time and properly articulate your answers to the questions you let yourself down on because of nerves. Perhaps explain that it is not a true reflection of how you normally behave in a work/business scenario, but you were not on top form because of legitimate reasons, therefore you would appreciate a second chance at interview. Apologise for any errors you may have made i.e. lateness, not switching your phone on to silent, getting the interviewers name wrong, not doing your research etc. At the end of the day you have nothing to lose, they can either give you a second chance or not. If the position is really important to you it is worth the effort. If you do go the extra mile they might just respect you for it and you will be more memorable than the competition. Theres an exception to every rule: As an executive search consultancy we interview hundreds of candidates every year before putting them forward to clients to be interviewed and there is something to be said about an interview that perhaps didn?t go quite to plan, for whatever reason, or the interviewee making a fool of themselves. These are usually interviews/interviewees you remember and stand out from the crowd. Unless you have made a completely unforgivable error and are totally written off, most people are given a second chance to prove themselves, so don?t think it is a lost cause and lose hope. The incident will make the interview rememberable, but it is how you redeem yourself that will create the lasting impression.

Using Google Alerts for Hunting Jobs

Using Google Alerts for Hunting Jobs When it comes to job hunting, finding a suitable job is always a challenge. Many people still rely on the out-dated methods for finding jobs. They go through the classified columns of the dailies or at most consult the job websites online. Going through hundreds of job search websites or finding an ideal position through the thousands of advertised jobs in dailies can truly be a difficult task. However, there are many new tools that can make the job search process effective, easier, and faster. These tools will enable to crack the jobs that are not advertised anywhere. Google Alert is one such tool that should be a part of your job search kit, so that you receive an email alert every time the search engine discovers the information that you have told it to look for. It can include news stories, press releases, articles, and any other mention about the particular subject. You can use the Google Alert Strategy along with other job search techniques that you are already using. How you can set up the Alert? Visit the page http://www.google.com/alerts and then sign in with your email account. (You will not require a Gmail account for that) You can determine how often you will like to receive the alerts. You might be interested in a particular job role or job sector. Whatever be your preferred industry or role, you need to think of the search terms that your potential boss may use at the time of publishing the blog post, press releases, or articles and accordingly frame the search queries. You can mention the industry name and the location in the search query to receive more specific alerts that may be relevant to you. Going through the job alerts you receive, you can select the ones that are of true interests for you and disregard them which may look irrelevant. If the employers’ name is two or more words enclosed it within the quotation marks. If you wish to include the name of multiple employers within the search terms use the word “OR” in between the names. If you are not happy with the kind of responses received, refine the filter as required. What to do with the alerts received? Monitoring your desired employers with Google Alerts, will provide you an inside scoop of what is happening in their companies. It will keep you updated about the possible openings in the company. You can drop a resume whenever there are suitable posts. Say, you read news about a certain company that they are going to expand in France and you speak fluent French. You can mention this skill in your resume while applying for a vacant position for that company. This specific skill will strengthen your candidature. Research employers in a specific geographical area. You can use Google Alerts to track the breaking news of interested employers. It will be effective to search jobs either where you live or where you are planning to move. For example you are willing to work in the insurance sector in New York and you live in Florida. You might set a Google Alert for New York Insurance companies. You might have the information about the growth of the companies including the search terms like “insurance companies signing new lease” or “expansion”. Make a good impression at the interview. Setting up alerts like the target companies’ financial statement, competition, merger or acquisition information can give you many details to shine in the interview. Thoroughly, research any of the news that you come across about the company. You may prepare a proposal to present in the interview as per the recent news released by the company. Network with suitable people. These days, networking and referrals are effective for bagging an appropriate job opportunity. Though, LinkedIn is the best site for this purpose, Google Alerts keep you updated about someone making a significant impact on the industrial front or moving to a different job sector even if that person is not in your LinkedIn network. Certain renowned professionals may not update their LinkedIn profiles regularly, but Google Alerts may help you stay updated about them also. Maintain your online reputation. When a resume is considered for potential hiring, the employer Google the name of the applicant, to check whether there is any offending information about that person in the digital space. Therefore, it is important to set up Google Alert for your own name. It will notify you if your name is mentioned anywhere online. It becomes easier to get rid of inaccurate information about you online, before it catches the eyes of potential employers. With the set Alerts, you will soon receive a great job opportunity and will be able to bag it successfully. 0

What Candidates Want to Know About Your Company

What Candidates Want to Know About Your Company Theres far more to a job than the responsibilities the role involves  and factors such as the size of the team, the working environment and the working hours can be just as important to an individual looking for their next opportunity.  So  when looking for a new job, candidates want to build a thorough  idea about a companys values and culture ahead of applying for a role  there. In order to create a rounded impression of the organisation, job seekers frequently research the company on social media and their company website, so it is important that employers provide them with the information that they are looking for. If a job seeker cannot find the information they want to know about a company, they may choose not to apply and will apply elsewhere, meaning you could miss out on some of the best candidates. A transparent employer brand is also the key to hiring the best suited employees, as it allows them to assess how they would fit in based on their experience and personality ahead of making the decision to apply or accept a job there. In order to keep candidates in the loop and attract talent to your organisation, here are a few of the things that candidates want to know about your company when considering applying for a job there: 1) Organisation values and goals Employees want to be able to relate to the organisations values and goals and feel like they share the same purpose. They want to feel like they can play a part in meeting the companys goals and where they fit in within future plans for the business. Being transparent about company values and goals will enable candidates to envision where the could fit in and the impact they could have. 2)  Company culture The working environment and team dynamics can make or break and employees experience at the company. Whereas some work well independently and appreciate a quiet environment, others thrive in a high energy workplace with a high level of collaboration.  Therefore, it is essential that candidates are able to  gage what kind of company culture an organisation has before applying to work there. While you want to demonstrate why your company is great place to work, it is essential that you provide an honest account of what it is like to work there, so that you hire employees who are a good fit. You can do this by showcasing behind the scenes insights into office life and the team, or providing details on your website. 3) The customers If you have a few notable clients or customers, share this information, as it will help candidates to build a picture of the types of companies or people they will be working with. Mentioning some big names can help to gain a bit of credibility and lets candidates know what to expect and the type of contacts they can expect to make. 4) The team One of the biggest factors that influences our happiness at work is the people who we work with. We have to spend every day with them, so you want to be working alongside people who you get along well with and who gel as a team. A lot of companies provide  a bit of information about their employees on their website, so people can get a sense of the type of people who  work there, for example a short paragraph about their role at the company and some of their personal interests.  Social media is also a great way to  showcase your team and reveal a bit about individuals personalities and the way that everyone works with each other. 5) Leadership style Ahead of applying for a role, candidates want to know what the management style is like within the organisation. Different approaches work for different people, so it is important that they feel that it suits them as a professional. Provide a bit of information about who is in charge and how they like to work, so they can get a bit of an insight into how the business runs. [Image Credit:  Pablo]

How to Get a Promotion (Without Working Longer Hours)

How to Get a Promotion (Without Working Longer Hours) If you’ve been slogging away at the office, working long hours in the hope your good efforts will mark you out for promotion, you could be doing it all wrong. Unless you are an Olympic athlete, feats of strength and stamina are unlikely to be what your boss is looking for. Many of todays business leaders are looking for something more than a workforce to carry out certain tasks. They want somebody that is on-message, loyal and adaptable. Your priority needs to be abiout ensuring your boss knows what it is that makes you special,rather than just putting in hours of additional grunt work that may not even be noticed! Strategise! If you’ve set your eye on a new position, you need a strategy. And there is a mantra you need to hold in mind throughout your campaign: work smarter, not harder. If you can establish yourself as a unique but highly suitable candidate for promotion, you will place yourself heads and shoulders above workhorses who are destined to remain where they are most needed â€" doing the simple, repetitive work that you want to leave behind. Your strategy, then, should begin with identifying just what ‘smarter working means to your organization. What are the firm’s core values, and what measures do they have in place to honor them? What are their achievements right now â€" and their goals for the future? What ideas can you bring to the table to help the company move in this direction? Get inspired If you’re short of inspiration or you’re not sure how to apply new  insights, think about who else has been promoted before you. Of course, you need to be promoted on your own strengths, and you will soon get found out if you thoughtlessly emulate the behavior of the last guy or girl who rose from your position. But if you notice that there are certain skills that are frequently found among those who’ve been recently promoted, these could be areas to work on. Once you’ve started this period of self-development â€" learning the way your company works and the skills you must develop to proceed â€" be sure to be open about it. This is not a stealth game. Without showing off or sucking up, make sure your boss and the people around you know that you are improving the way you work and that you are focused on the company goals. If you don’t tell them, they  might never know. Ask for feedback A great way to go about it is to seek feedback from those above. Ask for advice on how to get training in the areas you’ve identified for improvement, and run your regular work past them from time to time to see if there are any areas you need to tweak. Companies promote not just employees who seem to fit a new role, but those who show a desire to grow into that role â€" and into subsequent positions as they gain experience. Your loyalty and ambition will not go unnoticed, if your employers are aware of your daily efforts. Think of the bigger picture If you’ve noticed that most of these strategies seem a little focused on yourself, your instincts are right: while these are smart techniques for improving your shot at promotion, they are useless by themselves. Working in a company is about co-operation and collaboration. Share your ideas with others, and develop together where possible. If you miss out on the promotion this time around, the person who gets it may be in a position to help you in future â€" if they know you are a team player. Honor the strengths of the company as a whole, because if you’re identified as a self-interested careerist your peers will be wary of lending you the trust you need. These tips and more are explored in CashnetUSAs  new infographic  that lays out some key techniques in an easy to follow style. It’s well worth referring back to as you build your profile at the workplace â€" and refine your daily activities to become the kind of worker that bosses want to promote. About the author: Marilyn Vinch is a freelance writer and HR specialist. She works for several marketing and public relations agencies, supporting their content teams. She writes about leadership, careers and personal development, and has a knack for productivity and time management techniques.   Courtesy of: CashNetUSA

Writing a Resume For a High School Student

Writing a Resume For a High School StudentIf you are a high school or college student looking to find that one great job after graduation, then you are probably aware of the need to be able to write a resume. Many people who want to land a high paying job wind up overdoing it and making the wrong impression on the company hiring them.This is true of all types of jobs, but it is particularly important to be prepared when you are applying for a job as a high school student. You don't want to risk ruining your chances of finding that job.There are a few things that you will want to keep in mind when you are writing a resume for a high school student. You will want to avoid being too formal with your writing. You will also want to avoid being too informal with it.The first thing that you will want to avoid doing when you are writing a resume for a high school student is to get too technical. This can be a turn off for many people.Many people when they write a resume for a high school stu dent tend to read too much into it and often get a bit too detailed. This can really hurt your chances at landing that job because it means that the employer thinks that you have already learned about the job that you are applying for.Many people may wonder why this is so important. The truth is that there are many people out there who are going to look for someone who has already done what they are doing.If you show up at a job interview with a resume that has everything that they need, they may feel that you do not really know what you are doing. They may conclude that you are not prepared to take on the responsibility that they may be having.As you can see, writing a resume for a high school student is a bit more complicated than just writing it out for yourself. You will want to make sure that you are writing it in a way that is professional and formal but you also want to make sure that you keep your message straight and that it is clear.

Top 12 Picks Job Search Blogs and Resources for New Graduates

Top 12 Picks Job Search Blogs and Resources for New Graduates If you are a recent graduate you may know about some of these resources, then again, maybe you dont.   If you are a parent of a recent graduate, please, share this with your son or daughter. One of the biggest challenges for a recent graduate is their lack of on the job experience.   The other challenges are lack of experience, lack of experience and lack of experience. Perhaps this is a good thing. Their expectations and assumptions may not be interfering with how they pursue a job.   In other words, they know they dont have work experience, they know that this will be tough and perhaps they realize that theyll have to work really hard to find the right employer who will offer them a chance. What recent graduates dont understand (nor do others new to job search) is how hiring actually happens. From the application to the interview there are a series of steps in the process and no two companies do it quite the same way.   Learning from doing is the best teacher.   This isnt something anyone wants to hear, I know.   Who wants to apply to 100 jobs or more and interview with 10 or more companies to gain the knowledge of how this works?   The smart newbies bone up on their research and try to gain as much knowledge as possible.   They use these resources, or at least they should! Alexandra Levitt helped build JobStart101, a 90 minute online course for twenty-somethings. Alexandra is a well-regarded expert in GenY and workforce trends. Her blog is Watercooler Wisdom. Life After College, by Jenny Blake Student Branding Blog (a spin off for new grads from Dan Schawbel) Come Recommended (and dont miss Heather Huhmans new book, Lies, Damned Lies and Internships Campus to Career by Kirk Baumann One Day, One Internship Willy Franzen Gradspot The Savvy Intern Intern Queen Some of my research indicates that recent graduates dont really use Twitter.   OK.   To help you jump right in and see the value, check out these Twitter chats #InternChat (Every other Tuesday at 7 ET) GenYChat (Follow or join the conversation on twitter #GenYChat held every Wed. 9pm ET) Of course, there are so many other resources that would work, but I wanted to focus this post on the specific needs of new graduatesdid I miss a favorite?   Add it to the comments!

Should I Ask About Benefits During an Interview - CareerAlley

Should I Ask About Benefits During an Interview - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Resumes, cover letters, and a professional look these are the essential ingredients for your next job interview. Youve got a list in your head of everything youll do: Smile, sit up straight, highlight your strengths and ask about salary and benefits? Because benefits can comprise up to 30 percent of your compensation, and because your salary is also extremely important (nobody wants to work for free), it might seem pertinent in your first interview with a prospective employer to ask about health care benefits and salary. But is it really? Dont jump the gun Bringing up salary and/or health care benefits (or benefits of any kind) during a primary interview is like going for a good night kiss at the beginning of a first date; most people generally arent receptive to it. The biggest blunder made by job applicants is the tendency to jump to the issue of compensation too quickly, says Deb Koen, vice president of a nonprofit group called Career Development Services. So keep those questions to yourself for the time beingyou dont want to look like youre interested in only one thing. more What is the right compensation? There is a time and place For your first and second interview, chances are that youre going to hear the stock-phrases full benefits, or competitive benefits and salary. Dont waste your time trying to break those down into concrete absolutes. After the prospective employer makes an offer with you, then you are in a position to talk about the specifics of your compensation. Weigh your options Some companies are going to offer better benefits than others. Make sure that you are fully aware of what your prospective employer is offering and whether or not it fits into your life. Find out if your spouse or partner will be covered, and be sure to ask about pre-existing conditions, as some plans require a waiting period before it will begin to cover them, and some wont cover them at all. If lack of coverage in a certain area is a deal-breaker for you, remember that you dont have to accept an offer just because its on the table. Negotiate if possible The keywords here are if possible. If youre relatively green in the job market and this is your first full-time job, you may not have as much negotiating power as, say, a seasoned vet with a performance-proven track record. Still, it can never hurt to try to bargain for things that you need. For example, if you or somebody in your family has a specific medical condition, your prospective employer may be open to finding you the right coverage for it. There are also companies out there that offer cafeteria plans, where you get to choose types of coverage from a list so that you and your family get benefits that are as form-fitted as possible. more Negotiating Job Offers Not all companies will offer benefits Its the last thing to remember and its as simple as it sounds, some companies simply will not offer compensation other than salary. However, if you know what youre worth and you know what you require, you will eventually find an employer that offers the benefits that are right for you. Book Corner [easyazon_link asin=0615779190 locale=US new_window=default nofollow=default tag=caree07-20 add_to_cart=default cloaking=default localization=default popups=default]How to Negotiate A Killer Job Offer: The Job Secret Agent Series (Volume 1)[/easyazon_link] Kevin Murphy is a freelance writer and former insurance industry professional. He spends most of his time in his native Australia, and he writes about Health Insurance for Frank Health Insurance. This is a Guest post. We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+ what where job title, keywords or company city, state or zip jobs by