Bring three key stories to your job interview People fill up the room at the job fair on Monday, July 15, 2013 in South Burlington, Vt. The Vermont Department of Labor gathered more than 80 companies on Monday morning for a job fair aimed at the estimated 300 IBM employees who lost their jobs a month ago.(AP Photo/Toby Talbot) Toby Talbot (MoneyWatch) People often spend a lot of time preparing for job interviews by trying to come up with specific answers to all the typical interview questions. Recently, Lifehacker zeroed in on an excellent strategy for arriving at an interview equipped with not all the answers, but just the right ones. In a nutshell, don't try to craft perfect answers to the common interview questions. Not only is it a lot easier to remember just three stories instead of disparate anecdotes and answers for two dozen situations, but these stories provide consistency and cohesion to your interview. This is great advice. Photo courtesy Flickr user bpsusf © 2013 CBS Interactive Inc..
Why You Didn't Get the Interview (Part Two) Personal branding 101 Personal branding is often seen as a self-serving part of job hunting. But there are important reasons to think about your personal brand online: not only does it play a bigger role in recruitment and hiring, but also, it can reflect on your organization or cause. Why should you care about personal branding? 1. 2. 3. Ready to build you brand? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Happy branding! Go back to our resources. Walk Into a Salary Negotiation with the Right List of Accomplishments The Question Interviewers Always Ask (and How to Answer It) Interviews are a bittersweet business. On one hand, you’re usually pretty stoked to be meeting a prospective employer. On the other, you know you’re about to willingly subject yourself to some of the most awkward lines of questioning known to man. Including the inevitable, “So, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?” Talking about yourself should be easy—you’ve known yourself your entire life! But for most of us, it’s pretty tough, especially when you’re in the hot seat in an interview. Fortunately, there are a few ways you can psych yourself up for this portion of big day, and nail it, too. Assume the Position Body language is important, and whether you realize it or not, it speaks volumes about your personality and state of mind without you saying a word. So, when you’re asked to talk about yourself, give your body a moment to catch up to your brain before you speak. Keep it Short Follow the Formula So, what should you include? Be Yourself Photo of interview courtesy of Shutterstock.
Print This Checklist to Better Prepare for Your Next Job Interview Employer Questions to Research before a Job Interview 2 of 10 in Series: The Essentials of Preparing for a Job Interview When you're preparing for a job interview by researching the company, there are several questions you should be able to answer after completing your research. Use the questions listed below as a checklist to start gathering the information you need. You may also think of additional questions that are important for your specific search. Here’s the rule on how much research to do: The more responsible the job — or the more competitive the race — the greater amount of research you must do to pull ahead. Size and growth patterns The size of a company and the scope of its operations say a great deal about the company’s ambitions and opportunities for advancement. What is the company’s industry? Direction and planning Answers to questions about the company’s plans may be difficult to find outside of the company’s Web site, annual report, newspaper business pages, business magazines, or the industry’s trade publications.
The Value of Being the "Weird" Job Candidate