This is 17th post of the series written to help people over 45 secure jobs for them. We have come a long way. I hope by now you have gained enough confidence and rearing up to go. Some of you might have gone ahead and secured a job. This series is approaching its end now. It would be no more than 2 posts in this series. So, before it gets over, let us get together and pour everything on paper for you to see and use it.
Plan, Plan, and Plan
Planning is important. It takes the surprise factor and blind spot out of the equation. Review the list of common questions asked in an interview, and prepare an answer for each one of them. Do not mug up. Just make yourself comfortable with the questions. During the planning process also find a way out to blunt the ruthless edge of your negative characteristics. Do not make it look like your biggest asset, but soften its edge and make it look less damaging.
Look uber-cool
Well, I do not intend to suggest that you should take in all those garbage being consumed by teenagers in the name of fashion and “walking ahead of time”. All I want to suggest is to look up-to-date and in the know of things that matter to the job you are being interviewed for.
When I say up-to-date I also mean up-to-date in your appearance. I know it was not the first thing you expected to read when you wake up in the morning, but it important. You will not like to look like a black sheep among all the white clones. Dress as the way people younger to your dress, at least for the interview. It will convey the person on the other side of the table that you may be chronologically from different group, but your psychosocial make is same as his own.
Tell them you will learn
Do not flinch if you are faced with a question that you do not know answer of, or if you have asked about a technology which you have never heard of. Tell your interviewer that you are unaware of thing in question, but you will learn it sooner than expected, and if you are promised the job, you can start learning right from today. This will tell your interviewer, how much keen you are for the job, and how much time you are willing to devote for that. The interviewer will not pass unimpressed.
What else do you think is necessary to excel in an interview? Use the comment box and send in your suggestions.
Tags: Appearance, Black Sheep, Blind Spot, Clones, Common Questions Asked In An Interview, Confidence, Fashion, Garbage, Interviewer, Job Guide, Job Help, Job Search, Jobs, Negative Characteristics, Psychosocial, Questions Asked In An Interview, Search People, Surprise, Teenagers, Things That Matter
Feeling that you deserve a raise for your hard work is all well and good, but bringing about the fact is a fine art. You have to time your approach perfectly and ensure that you are well prepared to make your point in outstanding fashion. Anything less can lead to an uncomfortable confrontation the likes of which you’d want to forget. Or worse, could lead your boss to think it may be time to look for a different employee happy to work at your pay level.
Taking those thoughts into account, you are better prepared to make your case. Start out by making an appointment with your boss for a personal meeting. Springing a situation like this on your superior is never a good idea. Talking money is not a great surprise conversation for anyone, and your boss won’t appreciate being sprung with that at all. So ensure you avoid that confrontation, and set up an appointment to meet with them, but don’t tell them the situation just yet.
Try to have the meeting take place in a different area than the boss’ office. In their office they are the master of the domain, and will act as such, creating a power shift from your arguments to theirs. So try some neutral territory, like a working lunch. Take your boss out and have the meeting at a restaurant, that gives you a good level playing field, and if you offer to pay for the meal, a happy boss to start out with. Otherwise you can always try a neutral meeting room around the office, or an empty break room. Anywhere but the boss’ office is good for making your case.
Practice your argument for why you feel you deserve a raise. This way you know the points you want to make, and will appear prepared and knowledgeable about the situation at hand. Also it gives you an opportunity to answer any arguments your boss may have, through your understanding of the facts. But remember to always be courteous, this isn’t a “give me a raise or I’ll leave scenario“. This is just an opportunity to outline your worth to the company, and your hardworking nature which makes you feel worthy of a raise.
Finally, just be cautious to not cross a line that your boss wouldn’t appreciate you crossing. Stay courteous and professional, and overall positive even if the meeting doesn’t go the way you want. Your boss already knows whether or not they want to give you a raise before you’re even having the meeting, this is just a chance to take some initiative. If your boss doesn’t want to pay you more, you’re not going to get it, so don’t take that personally.Feeling that you deserve a raise for your hard work is all well and good, but bringing about the fact is a fine art. You have to time your approach perfectly and ensure that you are well prepared to make your point in outstanding fashion. Anything less can lead to an uncomfortable confrontation the likes of which you’d want to forget. Or worse, could lead your boss to think it may be time to look for a different employee happy to work at your pay level.
Taking those thoughts into account, you are better prepared to make your case. Start out by making an appointment with your boss for a personal meeting. Springing a situation like this on your superior is never a good idea. Talking money is not a great surprise conversation for anyone, and your boss won’t appreciate being sprung with that at all. So ensure you avoid that confrontation, and set up an appointment to meet with them, but don’t tell them the situation just yet.
Try to have the meeting take place in a different area than the boss’ office. In their office they are the master of the domain, and will act as such, creating a power shift from your arguments to theirs. So try some neutral territory, like a working lunch. Take your boss out and have the meeting at a restaurant, that gives you a good level playing field, and if you offer to pay for the meal, a happy boss to start out with. Otherwise you can always try a neutral meeting room around the office, or an empty break room. Anywhere but the boss’ office is good for making your case.
Practice your argument for why you feel you deserve a raise. This way you know the points you want to make, and will appear prepared and knowledgeable about the situation at hand. Also it gives you an opportunity to answer any arguments your boss may have, through your understanding of the facts. But remember to always be courteous, this isn’t a “give me a raise or I’ll leave scenario“. This is just an opportunity to outline your worth to the company, and your hardworking nature which makes you feel worthy of a raise.
Finally, just be cautious to not cross a line that your boss wouldn’t appreciate you crossing. Stay courteous and professional, and overall positive even if the meeting doesn’t go the way you want. Your boss already knows whether or not they want to give you a raise before you’re even having the meeting, this is just a chance to take some initiative. If your boss doesn’t want to pay you more, you’re not going to get it, so don’t take that personally.
Tags: Appointment, Ask For A Raise, Boss, Break Room, Confrontation, Fashion, Fine Art, Lead, Level Playing Field, Meeting Room, Money, Neutral Territory, Opportunity, Power Shift, Surprise, When To Ask For A Raise, Working Lunch
Writing a good resume is practically an art form, so it’s no surprise that many people forget, or don’t even know how to utilize the tools at their disposal to manufacture a perfect resume. You want to make a clear impact with the direction of your resume, but you also need to do so relatively quickly, as you aren’t allowed a whole lot of time in the consideration process to make your points come across. Which is why you can use a few techniques to your advantage to garner attention and make yourself stand out from the other applicants on the pile.
Being unafraid to get your name out there as much as possible is usually a very good factor to have in your camp when applying to a job. Work on increasing your online presence as much as possible, even Google your own name to see what pops up, in terms of your past accomplishments. If you like what you see, why not throw an invitation for your prospective employer to do a Google search on you, to look up past accomplishments. Nothing tells the truth like sources beyond yourself with nothing but good things to say.
Don’t waste your time writing about responsibilities you had beyond just previous job titles. Usually any interviewer can discern the information that applies to them from that alone, and your time is better sent describing the difference you made at the company, and what you accomplished. That’s what your next employer cares about, what you did at your previous job, not just what you were expected to accomplish.
Let your personality shine, so many people just send in form resumes, and that get’s extremely tired for the interviewer, and makes you appear unwilling to devote time and effort to a project. Write everything as you would speak given the opportunity to have an interview. This way you come across as a real person, and who you are is reflected as much as the abilities you can offer.
Finally, never underestimate the value of a few good references. Well earned and picked references can be the difference between getting a losing a job opportunity. Just like you would read a few film reviews when trying to find which movie you want to see, your interviewer needs sources about you, so that they can decipher what to expect and if you are the right addition to the team for them to choose. Good references are key, so always do what you can to ensure you don’t burn any bridges on your journeys through the corporate system.
Tags: applicants, Art Form, attention, employer, good, Google, Google Search, Interviewer, Invitation, Job Interview, Job Titles, Perfect Resume, Personality, Presence, Prospective Employer, Real Person, Resume, Resume Form, Resume Writing, Resumes, strong, Surprise, techniques, Truth, Whole Lot, write, Write Resume, Writing A Good Resume, Writing Resume
Low cost and high quality provided by the top Website Hosting providers.
Meet Michael Fertik with Reputation.com.
