How to Handle this Dreaded Interview Question

Picture this scenario - 

You’ve been unemployed for a while and though you’ve done the best you can, you just can’t seem to secure an offer. You suspect the huge gap on your resume is the major reason why you’re not being considered for jobs.

So, how will you answer this dreaded question during your next interview? –

“I see you’ve been out of work for a while, what have you been doing over the past two years?”

To begin with, don’t let this question throw you. Everyone has taken a break at one time or other and in today’s job market, it has become all too common for applicants to have gaps on their resume. It doesn’t matter if you have been forced to do so due to downsizing or to attend to your personal affairs.

Instead of dreading the question, be proactive and prepare for it with confidence.

First of all, be honest about the reasons and then balance it with a strong proposition that the hiring manager cannot resist.

Here are a few suggestions:

Demonstrate that you are in tune with the latest trends in your field

Read up on what’s happening in your industry, join trade associations, and network with people in your field to find out about the latest trends in your industry. Perhaps, even write an article or blog and submit it to a trade journal or write a white paper on a relevant topic. You can bring the white paper with you on the interview, post it to your LinkedIn profile or look for an opportunity to mention it during the interview.

Fill in the gaps on your resume

The primary concern that a prospective employer has with applicants that have been out of work for extended absences is that their skills may not be up-to-date. The best way to address this is to prove that you’ve been able to keep your skills current. You also want to make it look as though you’ve been productive and not just busy looking for a job.

An easy way to keep your skills current is to work on a project as a volunteer for a charitable organization or for a local chapter of your industry association, (another option is to get work as a consultant or freelancer). The key here is to do work that is relevant to your job target.

For example, John was an attorney who volunteered to serve on the Board of Directors as legal counsel for his local Red Cross chapter. He was able to talk about the various legal issues he encountered and also added this experience at the top of his resume under “relevant experience.” On top of that, he was able to show his passion for charitable causes.

Be enthusiastic

Every candidate who has an unbroken career path is your competition. He or she is what a hiring manager would call the safe and sound choice. How can you differentiate yourself from the conventional choice?

Display your passion. Show that you are up to the challenge. Instead of trying to cover up a career break, put forth plausible reasons and show that your skills are up-to-date.

Then when someone asks what you’ve been doing, you can say, “I took care of a family situation for a while, but most recently I’ve been consulting on a part-time basis…” or “While taking a career break to attend to family matters, I worked with a not-for-profit organization where I was able to keep my skills current doing …”

When you take the initiative to address or bring up the career break on your own, you take the advantage away from the interviewer. It shows that you are prepared and weren’t hoping that the question will not come up.

You have addressed the elephant in the interview room and turned the situation to your advantage.

Don’t look away from a challenge. It won’t go away. In fact, it will follow you. So, face it to overcome it

How to Prevent People from Hating You on LinkedIn

We’ve all been there, you’ve signed into your LinkedIn profile and they’ve done it again – nailed you with another mind teaser post on your home page. Like other serious LinkedIn members, your intention is to use LinkedIn to network, not procrastinate! Why can’t others do the same?

If you want to make sure you’re not one of those irritating participants on LinkedIn, here are some pointers that will add value rather than detract so that you can proactively develop relationships and grow your connections – after all isn’t that your intention for being on LinkedIn in the first place?

1)   Build Relationships Before Asking For Favors: Don’t make assumptions – don’t ask people for favors if they barely know you. Get to know them first before making any requests. For example, assuming someone will provide you with a reference to one of their high level, valued connections just because they are connected to you, is the quickest way to get unlinked. Remember, the number one rule for networking is to focus on the other person’s needs and find out how you can help them. Be sure to offer a favor before you ask for a favor.

2)   Choose Groups Wisely: Connecting with communities of people with similar interests is an easy way to engage with others. If you’re looking for a job or to advance your career this is particularly relevant as it’s important to demonstrate your expertise and knowledge to others within discussions. If you participate in groups unrelated to your background or experience, people may not give credence to your comments or consider you a credible source.

3)   Don’t Be a Lurker: Participate in groups and provide quality posts about current info. You never know when the CEO is looking at your comments – and don’t post fluff such as teasers or word games.

4)   Don’t use LinkedIn’s pre-made templates when reaching out to people to connect: Customize your messages to others. By doing so, it shows you care. A generic message will not get you noticed!

5)   Don’t Forget Your Picture and Make it the Right Picture: People like to know who they are talking to. It’s also important to look professional in order to make a great impression.  (No pictures with your dog or out by the pool!)

6)   Give Thoughtful Recommendations/Endorsements: only endorse people you know – not your entire connection list. Blind endorsements can appear disingenuous and given for self-promotion.

7)   Show Your Personal Side: Don’t just talk about your work! Provide a fun fact about your personal interests or make note of your hobbies. Don’t be afraid to allow people to get to know the REAL you.

Will You Be Ready for This? 5 Steps to Prepare for a Layoff

The actress, Valerie Harper, was recently on TV discussing her amazing journey with cancer. Doctors had told her that she had only 3 months to live so she prepared herself for the inevitable – well, that was one year ago! She told the interviewers that she is thrilled and grateful for her progress and acknowledges she still has cancer, but after all is said and done, we are all “terminal.” Her comment made me think that as much as we’d like to believe to the contrary, unfortunately, there is no such thing as 100% security in life. You could be here today and gone tomorrow.

The same can be said for your career. You may think you have the best job working for the greatest company, but unfortunately there is no such thing as a sure thing. As the popular career blog, Careerealism, notes on its home page, “every job is temporary.” Today, it is a common occurrence to hear stories about people who are completely blindsided when they are laid off at work.

I read a great article recently on Monster that sets out the “7 Signs You’re About to be Fired.” http://career-advice.monster.com/in-the-office/Workplace-Issues/signs_you_are_about_to_be_fired/article.aspx?wt.srch=1&wt.mc_n=olm_sk_disp_td_tbl_RON61_img32

According to the article, the 7 signs are as follows:

1)   Your Level of Responsibility Has Taken a Nosedive

2)   The Boss Is Avoiding You

3)   You’ve Been Disciplined Recently

4)   All Hail the Robots! (Your job can be automated)

5)   No More Professional Development

6)   Your Company Was Recently Acquired

7)   You’ve Been Asked to Create a Job Description for Your Position

I would add to this list:

·      You’ve been passed over for a promotion.

·      You’ve been asked to train someone on part or all of your job duties.

Now, I don’t want you to panic if you can answer, “yes” to any of the above; instead I would urge you to think of every job as being temporary and to take the following steps to make sure you are prepared in the event you are ever given the pink slip.

Step One – Create a Vision for Your Career

I often come across people who have a narrow viewpoint of their career because they never take the time to think about what they really want or they're so afraid of losing what they have that they are willing to settle for less. The most proactive approach to getting ahead in your career is to think of it in the long view. When you take the time to set an intention, you are a thousand times more likely to reach it. Instead of letting your career happen to you, empower yourself to firmly take control of your career progression by thinking of yourself as CEO of your career.

Ask yourself these questions:

-       Where do I want to ultimately end up in my career? (For example, President of a Fortune 500 company in the tech industry.)

-       What will it take for me to implement my vision?

I know there are some people out there thinking – “Oh well, I’d like to be the next Bill Gates or Donald Trump.” Obviously, this will require a realistic viewpoint and that you take into account what would be a good fit for you based on your personality, attributes, skills, natural abilities, and experience. However, it’s always a good idea to aim high. You could emulate Donald Trump if you really wanted to – just perhaps on a smaller scale.

Step Two – Take Inventory of Your Accomplishments

It’s extremely important to know your value in the marketplace and to be able to articulate your worth. Companies want employees who will add to their bottom line and solve problems for them.

I hope you’ve kept a folder with notes about your career accomplishments as I’ve recommended in past blog posts. If not, it’s never too late to get started. Be sure to think in terms of the results you’ve delivered in relation to your job duties and of course, quantify them when possible. Be sure to include them on your resume, LinkedIn profile and cover letter – then be prepared to talk about them during interviews and when networking.

Step Three – Prepare Stellar Personal Marketing Materials

Make sure you have a powerful, up-to-date resume together with other marketing documents such as a LinkedIn profile and cover letter that “sell” you to prospective employers. If you want to get a prospective employer’s attention, your resume needs 7 elements in order to make an impact.

It should:

1)   Have a clear strategy. What is your career objective?

2)   Be written for your target position.

3)   Grab attention at the outset in the Summary Section.

4)   Define your brand.

5)   Focus on your accomplishments.

6)   Be clear & concise.

7)   Visually capture the reader’s attention with eye-catching formatting elements.

Step Four - Engage in Purposeful Networking

Assuming you are clear about what you would want to do, consider where you would like to work. Put together a profile of the ideal company prototype taking into consideration the company size, location, industry, and corporate culture.

Once you have a clear picture of where you want to work, make a list of the top 10 - 20 companies that fit your description (40 - 50 would be better as you will eliminate companies as you research them).  Research those companies to make sure they are in alignment with what you have in mind.

Finally, begin cultivating contacts and relationships with people in those companies. The idea is to engage in purposeful networking before you have to.

Step Five – Take stock of your finances

Here are a few quick things you can do to protect your finances:

1)   Set up an emergency fund of 3 – 6 months of income to tide you over while you look for your next position.

2)   Find out what compensation you would be entitled to if you were let go. For example, would you receive unemployment benefits and for how much?

3)   Make sure you can handle payments of any outstanding debt or loans.

4)   Write down money-saving strategies you can implement if necessary.

So, what do you think?

How have you prepared for the possibility of losing your job? 

Do you have any tips to add to the above? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

One Way to Get Your Resume into the Hiring Manager’s Hands

Have you ever had this thought (or something like it)?

“How can I possibly get my resume into the hands of the hiring manager? When I post my resume on job boards or company websites I never hear back from anyone. It’s as if my resume goes into a black hole!”

There are a number of more effective ways to get your resume into the hiring manager’s hands than to submit your resume in response to advertised job openings (Think: Networking! Networking! Networking!). Statistically, it has been said that only 2% - 4% of jobs are acquired through jobs advertised on job boards. It is still worthwhile to use this job search method – just don’t spend most or all of your time doing so (as so many people do). Keep in mind you will increase your chances of success by posting to specific company websites and targeted job boards.

However, before posting your resume, it is important for you to know that your resume can be rejected before human eyes ever get the opportunity to see it.

Here’s how:

When you post your resume online, most large corporations rely on applicant tracking systems (ATS) to pre-filter resumes and pre-quality candidates. The systems work by searching through files based on keywords and key phrases and then mathematically scoring them for relevance. The ATS will deliver resumes that most closely fit job-specific search criteria pulling the most relevant to the top and sending them through for review.

The purpose of the ATS is to save HR Managers the time and bother of sorting through irrelevant, unqualified, weak resumes to find the best candidates - which means that you could be an extremely qualified candidate, but if your resume isn’t written properly, you could be disqualified before you ever get started in the job search game.

So, here’s what you should do to prevent your resume from being rejected by the ATS and into the hiring manager’s hands:

Include keywords and key phrases relevant to the position you’re targeting on your resume.

Two ways to find them are:

1)   Ask yourself - What skills, responsibilities, basic skills, licenses, certifications, etc. would the ideal candidate in my field possess? If you’re not sure, ask others in your field.

2)   Look for verb phrases and skills within the job description.

Also:

·      Be sure to incorporate keywords into your career history section as well; not just in the summary.

·      A word of caution: Don’t overdo it by cramming your resume with too many keywords.  It will not make the best impression if your resume does ultimately make it through to the hiring manager.

Create a plain text resume in addition to your regular resume.

While a uniquely designed resume with a bit of color and creative formatting might get you noticed and separate you from the hundreds of other applicants vying for the same position, this is not the time or place to submit that eye-catching resume.

Here are a few tips for creating a scannable, plain text resume for the ATS:

·      Use a standard font such as Arial, Courier or Times New Roman.

·      Send your resume as a Word 97-2003 (.doc) as many ATSs cannot read .docx, PDF, or RTF formats.

·      Eliminate all lines, shading, unusual characters such as foreign letters, symbols or accented letters.

·      Do not include text boxes, tables, page breaks or columns.

·      Do not underline or use italics.

Nix the Spelling Errors.

It is safe to say that you should NEVER have any spelling errors on your resume! (A recruiter recently told me about a candidate he recommended for one of his openings who made this fatal mistake.  After several rounds of interviews, the hiring company had narrowed down their choices to his candidate and one other applicant but disqualified his solely due to the fact that she had spelling errors on her resume!)

The ATS will disqualify you if you have spelling errors simply because it will be unable to understand what you intended to write. So it is absolutely essential for you to make sure your resume is error free. Be sure to read it over multiple times, and perhaps give it to a trusted friend for a second opinion. You may even want to read it backwards to make absolutely sure it’s correct!

Bottom line, job seekers need to have a resume that will pass through the ATS in order to make it through to the person who has the decision-making power. The way to impress that person is to have a strategic, well-written, branded, powerful resume that showcases your achievements – that resume will get you called in for an interview so that you can move onto the next phase of the job search to ultimately land the job.