Job Interviewing

The Salary Question just got a lot Easier to Answer

August 16, 2016 By Marta Goertzen

Candidates tell us they have the hardest time answering the salary question.

Job seekers hungry for their next opportunity hate to be stopped at the door by their salary. Pick a salary too high and you are out. Pick a salary too low and you leave money on the table.

We advise candidates to stick with the market range for their ideal job. This seems to be the safest way to avoid getting the salary knock-out. Apparently the Commonwealth of Massachusetts agrees.

Massachusetts just passed a pay equity law that requires employers to pay men and women equally for comparable work. According to an article in CNN Money, the new law prevents employers from even asking about salary history as part of the screening process or during an interview.

The idea is that if employers pay the market competitive salary range then the candidates’ previous salary becomes irrelevant. “This legislation is an important step toward advancing more equal, inclusive and thriving workplaces throughout the Commonwealth for women and families,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, in a release Monday.

Thousands of relieved job seekers just exhaled in relief.

The new law permits employers to take certain attributes into consideration like work experience, education, job training, productivity and measurements like sales, productivity or revenue. So the range for a plant manager in a large organization could be different / higher than someone with the same title in a smaller organization. But a man and a woman doing the same job in the same organization should be paid in the same competitive market range.

This makes it all the more important for candidates in Massachusetts and anywhere for that matter to understand what is the proper range for the job their want to perform. This information is readily available. My favorite site is www.salary.com. You can also check out www.salaryexpert.com, www.payscale.com or the old fashioned method of just asking people who do the job already.

For example, a recent client, we will call her Ericka, a manufacturing production manager, was interviewing for a position as a manufacturing production manager in another company. She previously earned $75,000 but felt like she was underpaid. We looked up the job on www.salary.com. The job description fit. The resulting salary information showed a range of $80,000 at the 25% low end to $93,000 at the median with $105,000 at the top end. Our client’s salary certainly was at the low end of the competitive salary range, even perhaps too low.

Armed with this competitive salary information gives candidates confidence in responding to the salary question.

Erika should respond to salary questions by saying, “I understand that the competitive range for this position is $85,000 to $90,000. I am fine with that range.” This way Erika avoids revealing her actual (low) salary and has a chance of getting offered a competitive (higher) salary.

This approach is completely different than responding, “I was earning $75,000 in my last position.” See the difference?

How will you respond to the salary question?

Get the confidence you need with a FREE copy of The Interview Doctor’s Job Requirements Comparison List and prepare yourself to prove with evidence that you can do the job!

What to Expect When Using a Recruiter

August 9, 2016 By Marta Goertzen

Have you ever had a call from a professional recruiter?

Were you intrigued with the position, answered a few questions, and then waited and waited, and never heard another word?

Or maybe when you changed jobs a few years ago, you had several calls from recruiters, went on several interviews arranged by a recruiter, and a couple of them led to offers, which you declined, and you ultimately took a job in which your own network found you the position?

Or perhaps every job you have had in the last 20 years was because of a call from a recruiter, and if you ever make another change, you’ll start by contacting a recruiter?

I know people with each of these three results from recruiters. I’m a professional recruiter. And the employment world looks a little different when you are a professional recruiter.

Here are a few tips from a recruiter’s perspective:

Consider a recruiter only if you have worked at least five years: If you are relatively new to your profession, it’s not as likely you’ll find recruiters helpful. With the ease of the internet at the finger tips of all, including hiring managers, junior-level positions are typically filled by employers themselves.
Stay employed: Hiring managers today seem to have a pretty strong bias toward candidates who are already employed, so make your connection while you are still employed, if possible. If you are out of work, or underemployed, you’ll need a good story, and may want to consider employing yourself.
Determine whether to call the company first or the recruiter: If you’re interested in a particular company, and you’ve networked to a decision-maker, go directly to the company. If you don’t know anyone at the company, and you talk with a recruiter who does have a personal relationship with the company and/or a hiring manager, utilize that relationship, and go through the recruiter.
Target your niche recruiters, and cultivate. Begin by identifying niche recruiter agencies that pursue the types of jobs, the industries, and the areas of the country where you would like to work. Check the niche agency job postings on their website often, and when your experience fits a job well that is posted, pursue an acquaintance with someone in that agency. ‘I match the requirements well to a job you have posted’ is a good tactic to begin a productive conversation with a recruiter.
Make yourself ‘findable’ when a recruiter does a search: Keep your on-line profiles (LinkedIn, Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.) up to date, and use as many ‘keywords’ in your niche as possible. You can add key words as you hear of positions that sound interesting. Recruiters look for candidates on these sites.
Recruiters find people for jobs (not jobs for people): Although at times recruiters may offer to tweak your resume or suggest some interviewing tips, do not mistake the recruiter for your agent. Recruiters get paid by the client, and will take care of the client; that’s who’s paying them for their services.
Communication with a recruiter may be helpful: Recruiters can provide you good information about what they see in the market place in a particular industry or type of job. They may (or may not) be courteous, generous in providing useful information, and prompt in getting back to you. Let me say it again: remember how the recruiter gets paid – when they fill a job; that’s what drives a recruiter’s interactions with you.
Make the recruiter your friend: Try throwing the recruiter some business. Offer an introduction to somebody within your network who’s looking and who would welcome contact with a recruiter. The recruiter may return the favor by keeping you in mind for future jobs.
Approach a recruiter like it’s a game of poker: You want to appear confident, poised, and with a bit of panache. Be aggressive and strategic, not intent on answering every job posting you can find. If you respond to jobs to which you are marginally qualified, you are creating a bad impression. A sense of desperation is a turn-off to recruiters, leery of wasting time on someone who has been turned down by a bunch of companies.
Be prepared and know the right kind of questions to ask the recruiter when one calls you about a job.

Stay tuned for our next article which will share the Top 7 Questions to Ask a Recruiter when they call.

If handled correctly, recruiters are a resource and a potential avenue. Know how to approach them, and when; they may be the answer to finding your next interesting position.

If you would like to be even more prepared at a Job Interview, download our ebook, “The Top 30 Most Frequently Asked Questions at a Job Interview“. It’s Free!

What can Dancing with the Stars Teach us about Job Interviews?

August 5, 2016 By Marta Goertzen

You MUST Rehearse to Sound Great at your Next Job Interview!

I love watching the famous dancers on old musicals. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Gene Kelly. They are awesome dancers. I appreciate it so much because I can’t dance. I have tried. One Christmas my daughter gave my husband, Kermit, and I dance lessons. We attended lessons twice a week for five months. I never laughed so hard in my life as the tiny little dance instructor would ask me very seriously, “Do you mind if I borrow your partner” then whisk Kermit away to demonstrate a better way to lead his partner. It never took. We still can’t dance very well.

What is the difference between Ginger Rogers and me? Talent and practice.

Let’s put the talent question aside for a moment. Dancing with the Stars clearly demonstrates that practice is critical and talent is much less important. Most of those stars are clearly amateur dancers. But when they practice six to eight hours a day with a talented partner they come on stage looking pretty professional. Very few contestants embarrass themselves.

The key is practice.

Interviewing is a similarly complicated activity. Most of us do not interview regularly. What makes us think when we get out on the figurative dance floor that we can dance like a professional when we do not practice? Yet it happens every day.

Every day hiring managers interview people without any practice. Every day candidates go to interviews without any practice. It can end up embarrassing for each party.

Practice is the essential element. We can practice out loud and practice in our heads with mental imagery. Both activities train the brain to respond in a certain way, allowing us to achieve the desired goal whether that goal is dancing a certain way or conducting an interview with a certain outcome.

Sean Mullen, professor of kinesiology and community health who studies exercise psychology said, “The more someone practices imagining a specific action, the more efficiently the brain can remember the neurological patterns involved in performing that action. Because the brain recognizes the patterns once they have been created, it becomes easier for the brain to activate the motor cortex to physically perform the task.”

We must practice enough so that the outcome you imagine comes out easily. Practice makes us confident!

When you prepare for an interview as a candidate, you must practice out loud the answers you want to say to the questions you imagine the hiring manager will ask. Otherwise it never comes out smoothly. Never.

Going into an interview unprepared without knowing exactly what you want to say and how it will sound when you say it is the same as a Dancing With the Stars contestant going on the stage immediately after signing the contract to participate. Nothing good will come of it.

Before any job interview, practice what you want to say out loud for at least 3 hours for every 30 minutes of interview time. Get someone to ask you questions. Record your responses on audio or video then play them back to evaluate how you can improve.

An interview is a terrible thing to waste.

If you would like to be even more prepared at a Job Interview, download our ebook, “The Top 30 Most Frequently Asked Questions at a Job Interview“. It’s Free!

The Game Changer Question in a Job Interview

July 19, 2016 By Marta Goertzen

Preparation is the key for Job Interviews!

How to interview is all about preparation, and one of the key questions for an interview is the game changer, ‘Tell me about yourself.’ Prepare your answers to this multi-faceted question, and you will be ready to change the game in your favor!

Watch the video below as Katherine Burik explains the importance of preparation and tips on how to answer the question “Tell me about yourself”.

If you would like more tips on a successful job search, check out a replay video of our recent job search training – it is free and is filled with job search tips for you.

Become the Candidate that Best Fits in with the Team to Land that Job

July 15, 2016 By Katherine Burik

I talk to plenty of candidates who think they should get the job because they are the most qualified.

They are frequently disappointed. They are missing the personal factor, the cultural fit.

I have long believed that most hiring managers want to hire someone they like, someone they can bond with. The person they hire is not always the best qualified or the most skilled.

This is important news for job seekers. You can make this perception work to your advantage.

Be open and friendly when you meet people at an interview, especially the receptionist and people you meet in the halls. These could be your future colleagues. You want to make a good first impression as a person they would like to work with. Many times after an interview I would check in with the receptionist to get her impression. If she did not like the candidate, he or she was out of consideration.
Try to make a personal connection by finding something you have in common with the person you are talking to. Notice the pictures and decorations? Golf memorabilia? Ask about golf. I had pictures of my scuba diving vacations on my office wall. Only a few people ever commented. I really liked those folks!
Comment on personal interests in LinkedIn. I once scored coffee with an HR exec who never took networking meetings because I commented on her interesting in scuba diving.
Don’t be afraid to put a few personal interests in your LinkedIn profile if they are a little unusual. Now don’t go crazy here. Leave off the religious and political interests; these can only limit your contacts. If all you do is read and ride your bike, probably best to leave it off. But if you are a triathlete, ran the Chicago marathon, or just completed a circumnavigation of the eastern United States, consider adding those interests. Unusual hobbies can spark interest from viewers and help build a personal connection.
Read some of the books and articles noted in LinkedIn and make comments either on your main profile or in one of your groups. Getting into a discussion with someone makes you more “real” and 3 dimensional than just a profile or a resume.

You can be the most qualified candidate but it doesn’t mean anything unless you demonstrate that you can fit in by making a personal connection with the hiring manager.

No matter whether you are a new graduate or have been looking to make the switch to another job or career, the new training class “5 Tips to Kick Off a Successful Job Search” will help you see better results from your job search. Register to guarantee your spot today!