Here’s a little humour to relieve us from the summer heat in the city. Enjoy this funny movie trailer.
The local economy is starting to show some signs of new confidence. Now is the time to sharpen up your interviewing strategies. Remember that you are your brand and that every part of you is under scrutiny in this process. Your cell phone, e-mail address and social media accounts should give your prospective employer every reason to spend some time taking a further look into brand you. Before you walk in the door, consider some prep work to be in order. A few points to note:
• Be prepared, do your research: the Internet will often tell you so much. Study local business periodicals and scour for advertisements highlighting your target company. Look for corporate recognition internally and externally. These things will say a lot about what makes an organization tick. In your travels, you may also be able to learn more about the individual teams within the corporation.
• Prioritize your questions: make sure you have your most important questions ready to ask. Time them throughout the interview versus loading them up at the beginning or the end.
• Budget your time: know approximately how long the interview is intended to be. There is nothing worse than a person who goes on and on, forcing the interviewer to fight to get through their questioning. Organize your thoughts.
The Interview
• This is a collaborative and interactive experience: think of it as an extended discussion in a coffee shop. Get into detail, but don’t share so much that you are long-winded or get off topic. Remember it’s about you and them, not just you. It’s a two-way street – you get to know them and they get to know you. In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell conveys this type of process as a kind of a dance. Fall into sequence together, a “conversation rhythm,” according to Gladwell, and you’ll likely find yourself with an offer.
• Listen to the question before jumping in with an answer: do not speak in general terms when you have been asked a question looking for specifics. Nervousness might have you jump to conclusions that are way off from what the interviewer is intending. Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions. And never interrupt the interviewer when he or she is speaking. We hear about this all the time.
Teamwork vs. Me-work
• While it is important for most companies to know about your ability to work as part of a team, keep in mind when the question comes about asking what did YOU do on that project? So many times we hear, “Well, we did this and we did that,” and “We came in under budget,” etc. Never does the individual reveal what his or her specific contributions were. This seemingly says the person did not have a significant role in the project. This might be totally incorrect, but could cost him or her the job.
The Paperwork
• This may be an obvious point but, surprisingly, one that’s often forgotten. Always bring a copy of your resumé for yourself as well as copies for the people that you will be meeting. If you have been asked to bring along additional documentation, make sure you have it available. Also, a thorough reference listing of past supervisors should be attached to your resumé. Make sure you have contacted the references in advance of the interview so they are aware they may receive a phone call and, most importantly, know about the position you are applying for.
One last thing. Relax. You might find yourself enjoying the job-search process. And remember, it’s not just about you.
Below is Dennis Wolff’s current article in this week’s edition of Business in Vancouver newspaper.
The emergence of social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter has created a critical mass of users who are voicing their opinions online. With distinct online personas, individuals are not only more connected than ever before, they also have started to play a much more distinct role as consumers. User-generated business directories such as Yelp are evidence of who is really in control of brand perception. In an effort to stay connected with their customers, many companies were quick to adapt to this new reality by creating corporate profiles and engaging in social media marketing to build online communities and increase brand visibility. However, the emergence of social media has caused a paradigm shift in the field of corporate marketing and communication: Companies are no longer in full control of how their products and services are being perceived. In the age of Yelp, a brand is only as strong as the most recent user-generated review. Social media participation has become a key to the new reality of corporate branding and communication.
In its recently published Social Media Survey, Vancouver’s 6S Marketing Inc. claims that every second blogger in Canada runs a business blog. One third of these post on both personal and professional topics. The lines between public and private, personal and professional have become more and more blurred; with Generation Y joining the workforce, this trend can only intensify. While some companies have not yet formulated specific rules for social media participation, others have restricted their employees’ access to social media websites during work hours. From a corporate perspective, there are valid reasons to fear employee participation in social media platforms. Most concerns circle around legal uncertainties and worries of inappropriate comments made about the company. This risk-focused approach, however, ignores that employees are often the biggest brand enthusiasts of their own company. Such employees will naturally act as their employer’s ambassadors when participating in social media. Raving employees have the power to create an online buzz around a company that will help raise brand recognition while marketing their company as a desirable place to work.
To ensure that both employers and employees are clear on each other’s expectations with regard to social media participation, and to protect both the company and the employee, guidelines are essential. IBM and Intel are two prominent companies that have successfully developed social media policies that allow their employees to be active online participants. In the case of IBM, a blogging policy was drafted for all employees to discuss internally. After a quick corporate review and final edit, it found approval from legal. When Intel recently announced its new social media approach by publicly posting its guidelines online, the company received raving responses from the blogosphere and was praised for its commitment to employee empowerment. Not only does Intel allow workers to use social media for work purposes, it even encourages them to truly be themselves while doing so. The online buzz IBM and Intel employees have successively created speaks for itself and only suggests what enormous branding and marketing potential is to be unravelled by supporting employee participation in social media. And what can be more exciting from an employer’s perspective than turning your employees into ambassadors for your own company and brand?
Jim Collins, Author of Good to Great shares concise insight in his 3 minute audio, First Who, The Hedgehog Concept and Your Personal Trajectory on ‘being with the right who’s’. This advice is valuable to everyone at all career stages.
The hedgehog concept stems from Isaiah Berlin’s, famous essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” in which he divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
This audio is a perfect point for reflection. Don’t compromise. Don’t settle. It’s your life.
Posted in career
Tagged career, empowering, engagement, fun, high performance, personal brand
