Be Your Own Detective: 6 Important Questions To Help You Get Hired

While I encourage those of you who are having trouble finding a job to reach out and ask for help, with writing your resume or brushing up on your interviewing skills or even trying to figure out what company is hiring, you can also help yourself along the way by being your own detective.

And what do detectives do? They ask questions! By now, you’ve noticed I get you to ask a lot of questions of yourself, and some of you may be thinking, “Oh no, not again. I don’t want to do the work.” Well, that’s fine, then hire someone like me to do the work for you (**hint, hint, nudge nudge**) but still be prepared to answer questions. What are those six important questions? Here they are:

What? Who? Where? Why? When? and How?

What makes these questions important are all the questions within these questions that they address. And don’t be afraid to add to this list!

What? What do I want to DO to earn money? What don’t I want to do? What do I want to be paid for for my time, effort and expertise? What do I want in a company, (i.e., large/small, pet-friendly or not)? What do I want in benefits? What do I need to have, what skills, education, experience in order to apply for the position?

Who? Who can I speak to to find out about a certain job or company or career? Who is the expert in the field I’m now interested in, (ideal to target to ask for an informational interview)? Who do I want to work for? Who don’t I want to work for? An environmentally conscious company or does it even matter to me? (Do I want to work for someone who belittles me or supports me?)

Where? Where do I want to work, (city/small town)? Where do I want to move to? Where do I want to live in relation to work? (Do I want to commute and how far?)

Why? Why do I want this job? Why do I want to work for this company? Why don’t I want this job and why don’t I want to work for this company? Why is my resume not producing calls? Why am I getting interviews but no offers?

When? When do I need to go back to work, (when will your severance pay run out)? When can I go back to work, (due to illness or injury)? When do I want to go back to work, (very important to take a candid look if you don’t want to go back to work)? When can I fit in job fairs or interviews? When do I know I need help with my interviewing skills or my resume?

How? How do I know if a company is right for me? How do I know the position is right for me? How do I ask for my salary requirement, (or even calculate it)? How can I improve my chances of getting hired? How do I ask for help?

Do you see how this line of questioning helps you discover exactly what you are looking for in a job and can help you target a company and then a position within that company?

It is a very effective way to fine-tune your job search, hone your resume, and help your interviews go very smoothly and quite effectively. When you know exactly what you want in a company and a position, know what you have to offer to help that company, and can articulate this information to a potential employer, you have greatly increased your chance of getting hired.

Your knowledge and enthusiasm will put you ahead of any other candidates as your potential employer will hear you say, “You know, I like what your company stands for (explain specifically), I have experience in this and I want to have additional experience in this. I’m excited to learn and contribute to the success of this company by (give specific examples, even if it’s simply providing excellent customer service but give an example of how you would do so).”

Knowledge and enthusiasm are key to rising to the top of the “to be hired” list, and how do you acquire that knowledge and enthusiasm? By being your own detective! Are you up to the challenge?

I’d love to hear some of your own examples of this process and how it helped you get hired. And, if you’d like to hear an audio version of this post, please visit BlogTalkRadio for today’s episode.

Copyright 2010 – All rights reserved.

Be Prepared: 15 Tips For Attending A Job Fair

Always Be Prepared

Attending a job fair can be overwhelming and confusing, so the best advice is what we all learned in Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts: ‘be prepared’.

Think of it this way: being prepared for a job interview is just like preparing for a day in the park with your family. You want to have everything you need and then some, just in case. You bring a small version of a medical kit, any possible medications you may need, water, food, any sort of documents (map to your destination and map of your destination, if need be), you wear proper attire, and don’t wear perfume because insects/bugs LOVE that.

The following is a checklist of what to do beforehand, what to wear, and what to bring.

1. Acquire the list of attendees and choose which companies you’d like to work for after doing some research on them.
2. Strategize where their booths are in relation to the entrance and plan a line of attack. You want to minimize wandering.
3. Have multiple copies (10-20) of your best resume in a file, attaché/briefcase, something that is easily accessible and keeps them in good shape.
4. Make sure to have several pens with you, in case you lend one to someone and they walk off with it or one runs out of ink.
5. Bring a stenopad with you for your questions as well as for your impressions, and notes about the company and person you speak with that day. Old school, I know, but far less distracting and rude than a laptop or Blackberry.
   
6. Make sure you have your business cards (if you have any) with you and put them in your breast pocket if you’re wearing a suit, or for women, easily accessible in your purse. No digging around for them, rig them in an inside ready-to-grab pocket. I would bring at least 25-50. You may end up giving them to others who are attending as well.
7. This is important: Dress appropriately (aside from the weather, I mean). Women wear a suit or at least a nice skirt/slacks, knee-length with a nice blouse and blazer. Wearing a blazer commands attention. As far as color goes? Women can get away w/wearing suits of color far more than men, so go for it. Deep purple, deep red, burgundy, or charcoal gray, or navy, or black w/pop of color for a blouse. I would stay away from bright colors like lemon yellow or lime green, however. You want to stand out as rich and elegant. Not rich as in money-wise, but rich as in quality and good taste.
8. Men, dressing appropriately is just as important for you too. Wear a clean, pressed suit (again, black, dark gray, navy) with an appropriate tie. This is not the time to put on the tie your child gave you: the one with all the bunnies or fire engines. Think solid or stripes.
9. Do not slather yourself with cologne or perfume. That many people in close quarters all wearing various colognes and perfumes will make it difficult to breathe for some people. So many people have allergies to scents in perfumes and colognes, and also have asthma these days, I would skip on them altogether. Just be clean and neat. Your shampoo and hair products as well as shaving cream scents are enough.
   
10. Speaking of clean and neat, make sure your fingernails are trimmed and clean, especially for men. I know I look at people’s hands, you know whomever you’re having a speed interview is, is going to be doing so as well. He/she is shaking a lot of hands that day.
11. Bring your best firm handshake. Remember, only 1-2 pumps of the hand in a full grip, repeat their name or your name and SMILE!
12. Make sure you have your opening line all set to go. Remember, you will have researched the company and hopefully, found out exactly what they are looking for – what position and type of person. Gear your opening line to tell them immediately what you have to offer them. The point is to introduce yourself, make them aware that you’ve done your research on their company and their needs, and tell them how you can fix or improve their company’s standing, bottom line, profit share, customer service, whatever the case may be.
    
13. Bring water! Definitely. Bring water and any medications you may need for nervousness, upset stomach or low blood sugar.
14. If you need to bring snacks, do so! Wrap them up well, you don’t want any leaks, and choose snacks that will give you energy for the long-term, not a sugary spike to make you hyper. So…carrots (one of nature’s best breath mints), celery, fruit, whole-grain crackers are good choices if you know you have to wait an hour in line before getting in and the job fair is held around lunchtime. You don’t want to be cranky when you finally meet the person from the company you’ve been waiting for so choose wisely.
    
15. Don’t forget your hand-wipes (handy before and after snacks), and/or Purell to keep you healthy during cold-and-flu season when you’re around so many people in close quarters.
    

Now, these days, a job fair may be so inundated with people, it might not behoove you to go to one but you can still benefit from the information you’ve gathered. You can go to the site of whomever is holding the job fair: the organization behind it, the hotel or conference center, wherever it is being held, and acquire a list of the companies who are participating.

This will be a valuable resource for you in your job search whether you go or not! All you have to do is get that list, do your research on the companies, and find out what positions key companies are hiring for, and if it’s not on their website, give them a call! Don’t be afraid to ask. If the receptionist doesn’t know, ask them whom you should speak to…they’ll know.

I hope this list proves helpful. If you have been reading my posts and following my BlogTalkRadio shows, you’re probably ready to go to one of these job fairs, or any interview, at the drop of a hat. Your resumes are in a file in your briefcase w/your business cards, extra pens, and steno pad with your questions listed. You may even have these items in the trunk of your car, just in case.

If you aren’t ready, it’s time to pay attention and remember your Scout training to ‘be prepared’ for any opportunity that comes your way!

If you have any tips of your own when you attend job fairs, please let me know in the comment section below. We’ll all benefit. Thanks!

Lisa

Copyright 2010 – All rights reserved.