11/5 Handout is attached. Job Interviewing: Share your questions, Tips, Tactics

[Don Lubach]

Dear Age of Workers. This forum is a bit disorganized. Sorry.
If you scroll to the end to the last comment from me, it contains a 20 page handout of documents that Mr. Canton is bringing to class. Print your own if you are into that sort of thing. This will be a great session!


This is a forum about Interviewing. Once you've worked so hard to apply for jobs, interviewing well is critical. The good news; in my experience as a career counselor I see immediate improvement on interviewing skills with any client willing to do a relatively small amount of work. I am constantly astonished at how quickly folks improve. Very, very few of us are "naturals" at interviewing. And a great interviewee is not usually the talkative and glib candidate-- it's the well prepared candidate who demonstrates how much they care about getting the position. Mature workers are more likely to understand the importance of a bit of preparation.

INTERVIEW TIPS from our guest Eric Canton (Thanks, Eric!)

1. Know the prospect company as well as you are able
2. Engage the interviewer
3. Talk too much, bore your listener to death
4. Draw parallels between all you know and do to the requirements of the position
5. Your two-minute summary should leave the interviewer with the knowledge that you grasp and can excel at the opportunity



I have added some resource links below:

Nice piece on the basics of Thank You letters here:

And, if that's not enough, here are five reasons to write a thank-you letter.

Ahhh. 50 sample cover letters from Susan Ireland's site.

III. We'll talk about interviewing:

I have more than 20 years in this career counseling business and one topic that I find of continual fascination and interest is the Job Interview. During the final workshop, after the fair, Kate and I will share some of our secrets. Ahead of that, let's use this space to share tips and tricks, ask about interviewing questions, and perhaps even visit the topic of ethics for both job seeker and job provider.

I'm attaching a nice handout on interviewing I just received from the Chancellor's office of the California Community College System. It is a .PDF so you ought to be able to find it and enjoy it.

Here's a link to fine article on interviewing from AARP.

Also, Adding this info below, about Toastmasters. I am the adviser for the UCSB chapter. This really is a fast way to improve on many things in life.

Toastmasters is a nonprofit organization that offers participants an opportunity to practice and hone their communication and leadership skills. Thousands of members meet regularly to develop various skills useful in public speaking. If you want to expose your students to the unique opportunities Toastmasters offers them, put together a simple Toastmasters assignment and award extra credit points as an added incentive. Suggest that students team up, find a local “open” meeting, confirm meeting time and location, attend the meeting, and deliver a 1-2 minute summary of what they discovered to your class. Attending a meeting will give students an added advantage to build their networks, connect with the business community, and identify a resource that could help them now or in the future.

Any local toastmasters want to invite members of this group to your meetings?

Here, from the good folks at www.quintcareers.com, a fine overview of interviewing tips.


Here's another one from Quintessential Careers on the 2nd interview.


Here's a good video from the Wall Street Journal site. It's on phone interviews.

[Michelle Magnusson]

I just wanted to add another rousing endorsement for the Toastmasters. As a teetotaler myself, I was a little wary of the sound of it until I found out what great work they are doing! I've seen high school students who can convey themselves like professionals after working with Toastmaster volunteers. A great place to practice if you need extra help making your presence more impressive!

[Jean]

Yes on the Toastmasters! I had a coworker who joined Toastmasters and was then able to gain confidence in speaking and interviewing. She got a much better job thanks the Toastmasters experience.

[bob]

Here's an article that says the one interview question people should always ask is "What do you do in your spare time?"

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cs/2009/01/the_interview_question_...

[Don Lubach]

Here's a link to a short but informative article on disability and job interviewing.

[Mike Jacobs]

I heard an interesting podcast for older workers on interviews, the speaker suggests that you approach the topic of age head-on. I think in some cases this might be a good idea especially if the hiring manager is a great deal younger. The conversation might go something like this:
" I'm clearly not a 20 something and in your position you might be wondering and have some questions. Well, I'm 55 and there are several distinct benefits to my age.
1- I've seen most of the problems in our field before. They don't scare me, I stay calm and now what to do to address them
2- I've already made my mistakes, earlier in my career and on someone elses payroll.
3- My experience has taught me to anticipate problems, how to avoid many of them and how to correct the others.
4- I'm not after anyone's job. That means I'm a great team player.
5- With my experience and loyalty I'm a good person to have at your back in any situation."

I'm interested in your feedback, comments and experiences on this and on age in the interview process in general.

[bob]

Mike,

Here are some of my reactions to your suggestions:

the 20 something seems a bit us vs them. The hiring manager might not want to be labelled and might be in their 30s. Instead of a specific age, you might just say you're older.

Be careful of arrogance and rigidity.

1) this could be read as you thinking the field hasn't changed and you're going to bring old thinking to it because you are saying you know all about it.
2) Saying you've already made your mistakes seems a bit arrogant. Does that mean you're not going to admit you make mistakes? That mistakes are for younger people, like the hiring manager?
3) more hints of the complacency I mentioned in 1.
4) Why aren't you after someone's job? Just because you're older and have spent 1-3 telling them you know more than the young person who will be your boss?
5) How have you shown loyalty? What if they're not hiring someone to cover their back but want an innovative thinker who will be out front?

[Mike Jacobs]

Hi Bob,
Thanks for the reply. I'm glad you agree with my post, lol.
This approach is controversial. As I said, in some cases it may be a useful approach.

Since I've been interviewing, I've had age come up in several interviews in a number of subtle ways.
Do you have some suggestions on how to deal with it? What approaches do you take?

The quoted text is my translation from the podcast. Obviously the wording was meant as a suggestion and starting point.
Remember what you see as arrogance others could see as confidence.



bob said:

Mike,
Here are some of my reactions to your suggestions:
the 20 something seems a bit us vs them. The hiring manager might not want to be labelled and might be in their 30s. Instead of a specific age, you might just say you're older.

Be careful of arrogance and rigidity.

1) this could be read as you thinking the field hasn't changed and you're going to bring old thinking to it because you are saying you know all about it.
2) Saying you've already made your mistakes seems a bit arrogant. Does that mean you're not going to admit you make mistakes? That mistakes are for younger people, like the hiring manager?
3) more hints of the complacency I mentioned in 1.
4) Why aren't you after someone's job? Just because you're older and have spent 1-3 telling them you know more than the young person who will be your boss?
5) How have you shown loyalty? What if they're not hiring someone to cover their back but want an innovative thinker who will be out front?

[Don Lubach]

Dear Age of Workers,

Here's a handout for Thursday! I printed some for the class. But only 10 copies. So print one up for yourself if you like paper!

D

[Kathy C]

This is great advice and given in good humor