Dear Career Strategist,

1.   When should I look for a job?

I love this question.  Ninety percent of the people looking for a job have made one of the following mistakes:

• Have interpersonal issues
• Are lousy employees (don’t want to work, believe it’s not their job, etc.)
• Weren’t smart enough to network and leverage themselves throughout their careers.
• Were in denial about what was going on in their companies so they got layed off or fired.  
• Their company was in a merger and they were foolish enough to stay for a bonus because they believed the bonus was more important than getting a new job.
• Were in the wrong job and finally realize it so they quit their job to find a new job.
• Hate their boss so much they decided to walk out on their job and get a new job…big mistake.

Do a great job and great things will happen to you.  Talk to headhunters when they call you. Refer people to them.  I always did.  Remember, what goes around comes around.  Better be nice to the people on the way up, because they’ll remember you on the way down.  

Certain people would not return my calls when they were in certain positions then found themselves out of work.  In other words, you should never be in a position where you are looking for a job.  When a headhunter calls you, talk to them.  This is called career leverage. Don’t be stupid.

Never be so important that you don’t talk to everybody.   

2.  When should I negotiate an increase in compensation?

Let’s start with IF YOU deserve a raise. That’s always my favorite. Everybody thinks they do, and the truth is maybe you don’t. What’s the criteria? Chances are good I may not give you one. I'm a tough boss. I've run five companies. Some big. Some small.
What are the most important issues in determining whether or not you deserve a raise.

• What do you bring to the party today and everyday?
• What are you doing for Mr. Boss?
• How are you making Mr. Boss look good?
• How are you making Mr. Boss's life easier?
• What accolades is Mr. Boss receiving about you?
• How do you demonstrate initiative?
• What are you doing for your organization that is making it better?

How do you make Mr. Boss stand out from his competition? What? Yes, Mr. Boss has competition, it's call his peers. So you better be making Mr. Boss a star or you aren't doing your job.
What has your ROI been the last 3 months, 6 months or year? Don't know? You better find out.
If you aren’t doing any of the above, you don’t deserve a raise. Got it! Otherwise, you are either spinning your wheels or taking up space. Either way I wouldn’t give you a raise. So go back to your office and do something worthwhile. Stop complaining about the money you make because you are putting in time. The truth is you are either a lousy employee or burnt out. Which is it?
You want the truth, I’ll give it to you here. You don’t like the truth, the boss probably isn’t going to give you a raise either. Now, if I’m wrong, do me a favor and come back and tell me. I want to hear about the suckers that get paid for doing nothing or the fool that pays them.
Now, if you are actually worth every dime you deserve, you are fool not to ask for more money..no strike that--negotiate your worth. Got it!!! It’s called negotiation. Know your worth.
You just completed a major project that generated new revenue for the company, or gained economic efficiencies by merging administrative support and cut your costs by 10%, or you identified, initiated, and directed a new line of business for the organization—now you can negotiate. 

3.  Should I have my resume professionally done?

Do not be fooled by resume writers.  Content is the important aspect of a resume, not formatting.  One page is best, two at the most. 

If you have 20 years of work experience, only provide extensive detail for the last five years of your professional career.  We have provided you examples of resumes – both well written and poorly written. 

The key to writing a good resume is to clarity, directness and readability.  You do not need an objective in your resume.  I prefer scanning someone’s resume and quickly discerning their experience.  Too many words, too many pages, and too many positions are all red flags.   

4. What questions will I be asked in the interview?

Every interviewer basically wants answers to ten basic questions:

• Can you do the job?
• Can you do the job the way the client wants it done from a performance, style attitude and work philosophy perspective?
• Can you solve my problems and meet my challenges?
• Can you increase my revenues or decrease my costs?
• How can you contribute to the organization?
• How can you demonstrate your most recent contribution to an organization
• Can you work as a member of a team?
• Do you have the capacity to grow? 
• Will you provide a good return on my investment?
• What drives you?

The interviewer wants to know whether or not you can do the job, probably never asking you any of these questions…but this is information they want to know. 

The greatest answers will merge your experience, accomplishments and attributes into a seamless thread of how you can contribute to the organization.  

So what questions should you be prepared for?

• Tell me about yourself.
• How would your peers and supervisors describe you?
• Who do you admire and why?
• What qualities do you look for in the people you want work for?
• How have you contributed to your organization?
• Describe your current organizational structure and how you fit in.
• Why did you get into this business?
• Why are you looking for a job?
• How would you describe your management style?
• Why would you consider leaving your present position?
• What is the best piece of constructive criticism you’ve ever received and what did you do with it?
• What are your most important career accomplishments?
• Describe in detail your biggest failure.  What would you have done differently?
• What personal interests do you enjoy?
• What are some of the problems you have encountered in your present or most recent job?  What did you do about it? 
• What personal areas are you looking to improve upon and why?
• What do you think your greatest strengths are?
• Describe how your strengths helped your boss achieve last year’s goals.
• Describe the culture of your current organization and how you feel about the culture. 
• What do you think are some of the industry’s biggest competitive threats and why? 
• What firms have you interviewed with and what are your thoughts about them?
• Why did you leave X company and join Y company? 
• Why should I consider hiring you?

  
Without being industry or job specific, these are questions that everyone should be prepared to ask and answer.  
 

5.  How should I prepare for an interview?

Do not, I repeat, do not regurgitate your resume during the interview.  The purpose of an interview is to provide information and detail that is not on your resume. 

For example, when an interviewer asks the question “tell me about yourself,” you should answer that question with specifics that give someone a flavor for who you are.  For example, “I was born in Pittsburgh into a large family.  I have four brothers and one sister.  I’m a born entrepreneur and started my first business at 9 years old.  I built… 

In addition, you want the interviewer to enjoy the interview.  So a great interview will take 60 minutes but feels like only 10 minutes—you have a discussion instead of an interview.   A lousy interview feels like 60 minutes and takes 10.  You figure it out!

So what do people want to hear in an interview?  A great story! Write out your answers or a script…to the questions that will typically be asked in an interview.  Why write the answers out?  The key to a great interview is preparation, preparation and preparation. 

By writing out the answers to each question, it will flush out how to clearly communicate HOW your skills and talents will benefit the hiring organization.  

You need to commute WHO you are in 30-45 minutes…think about it.  Could you do that off the top of your head and think you sound great?  I don’t think so.    Communicating your life story in 45 minutes should require vast preparation unless you’ve lived under a bridge. So prepare, write, re-write, and read your answers to anybody who has the patience to hear your story…  Then re-write it again…so it’s a better story.    

6.  How do I separate myself from other candidates?

There are a few basic things you can do to make a  strong impression with the interviewers, consultants, and employers.   Thoroughly understand the business of the employer through comprehensive  research, (the sites you need to visit are on the links section of this website.). 

Research top competitors and evaluate what the firm’s competitors are doing or not doing.   Read industry and global trends to understand how the company is currently or needs to be positioned for the future.

Develop astute and perceptive questions or ideas based on the information you have assimilated, (which should be about book length by now).  Based on your research, fuse the client’s needs with your experience and attributes.

Send a thank you email within 24 hours of the interview. Send a hand-written thank you note within 48 hours of the interview.