interview

The Two Magic Words to Use in an Interview & The Story Behind The Story | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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I discuss how to prepare for your interviews, how to improve your resume, and the two magic words to use during your interviews.

 

[spp-transcript]

Let’s talk today about preparing for an interview.  This tactic can also be used for improving your resume dramatically. But, at a minimum. If you haven’t done this before and had just been sending out resumes, it is the gold that will help you excel on your interviews.

Here’s what you did.  You go back to your resume and go bullet point by bullet point and ask yourself the question, “What’s the story behind this statement?”  I made the statement that I did such and such.  What’s the story, what events occurred?  Put in you, talking to a friend or family member about what it is that she did and how you went about doing it as well as what you stepped into at the time.  Prepare yourself with the story behind those facts.

This is an approach that works extremely well and resumes and will help differentiate you from the competition in your resume.  After all, if you just lay out a resume as if it were job description (I do this. I do that.  I am part of a team that does this or that.),  Your resume becomes boring.  But if you put some life into it by giving some texture to it, by contextualizing what you did and giving a bigger impact at your organization, it has enormous results and you will get many more interviews.  When you tell the stories behind the story on your interview, you will stand out from the competition.

I also want to teach you the 2 magic words to use on your interviews to really differentiate yourself.

I’m sure you’ll be asked about what you did and how you went about doing it on your interviews.  You’re the 2 magic words to use on your interviews:

“For example.”

Then you talk about what you stepped into.  Those 2 words, for example, go a long way to allowing people to see you for what you did and what you accomplish at your previous organization.  It allows you to speak freely about what you’ve accomplished and doing it in the way that audiences love– stories. People love stories.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Building Charisma

Building Charisma | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses the importance of charisma when you interview and explains how you can increase yours.

[spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

The Music of Answering Questions – No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains the music of answering interview questions and why it’s important to end on a down note.

 

[spp-transcript]

Let me talk with you today about one of those things that people do in interviews goes past the point of being annoying to being harmful to your candidacy.  Let me illustrate why.

I’m speaking with someone yesterday and asking them a question. Every time they answered the question for me, Instead of ending a sentence in a downtown,they would answer it with an up tone (Listen to the audio to understand what I mean). So I would ask them a question (up tone) and he would always answer in an up. If you listen to the audio.  You’ll hear me illustrated a few times.

The impact of this is that employers when they interview someone and they ended and up find it harder to be convinced by the person they are interviewing because you just sound more uncertain and unsure. This air of uncertainty that you create by ending your phrases and sentences with an up tone makes you sound like you are unsure.

So, always end with a down tone on the last word.  If you have the habit of ending with an up tone, it is something to work on.  After all, the impact of this can be very expensive for you in lost salary and in lost opportunities.  After all, you just don’t sound convincing as to what you believe when they ask you something.

Again, go for a down tone instead of an up.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Stupid Interview Mistakes: Monologuing – No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses the top job interview mistake that too many people make and how to avoid it.

[spp-transcript]

Today I want to talk with you about one of those tragic and completely avoidable job interview mistakes that too many people engage in. I was reminded of it when I asked the question of the job hunter and they went off on this three minute monologue that, maybe, for 10 or 15 seconds had something to do with my question and then they went way off into left field.

I listened for a while, letting them talk on, when he finally came up for air, you know, that pause in the conversation when they finally let someone else speak, I said, “By the way, do you remember my original question?” He thought for a while and eventually answered, “No. I don’t.” We can laugh about it now but how many of you have done that?

What ultimately happens is that you start to think you know the question before the interviewer has asked it because you have been on so many interviews. The problem with you getting a job be be that you don’t interview anywhere near as well as you think you do. This can be one of the big reasons.

You start anticipating the questions and start answering what you think is being asked, go often these long-winded explanations, instead of keeping your answers to 45 seconds, maybe one minute (By the way, if you think that is a short amount of time, try time yourself talking for 45 seconds and see how long that is). You will develop an appreciation for the fact that 45 seconds is a long time.

Your goal is to answer the question. If it is a phone interview, I want you to have your resume out in front of you and write the question down in front of you so that is a reminder that will help you stay on point. When you hear the question, you can even circle a few things on your resume term I do have some talking points you want to make sure to cover.

Answer the question, no more and no less. Don’t go off on long-winded tangents. 45 seconds. Maybe a minute tops. Keep your answer to the point. Otherwise what starts to happen is something that is happened to me – – the interviewer starts to mentally channel surf (thinking about what they would rather be doing; what else they can be doing other than sitting and listening to you; what the next appointment is; who the next call is with). They are no longer listening to you. This could be the very reason why you are failing on your interviews.

You stop listening because you thought you knew what the question was and go off on tangents.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

3 Questions to Ask at the End of a Job Interview

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter offers three questions you should ask at the end of every single job interview.

[spp-transcript]

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves life coaching, as well as executive job search coaching and business life coaching. He is the host of “Job Search Radio,” “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” and his newest show, “No BS Coaching Advice.”

Are you interested in 1:1 coaching from me?  Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us and put the word, “Coaching” in the subject line.

Do you have a quick question you would like me to answer? Pay $50 via PayPal to TheBigGameHunter@gmail.com  

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com offers great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.  

Connect with me on LinkedIn. Like me on Facebook.

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

If you want to know how to win more interviews, order “Winning Interviews.” You’ll learn how to win phone interviews, in-person interviews, the best question to ask on any interview and more.

Two Second Interview Questions and Answers

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains how to answer two tricky questions that are often asked on second interviews.

[spp-transcript]

Today, I want to talk with you about two questions the rest on second interviews pretty regularly. They aren’t difficult but, because of the stress and tension that is often associated with a second or third interview, people sometimes panic and blow the questions.

The first one is, “What have you learned about us so far?”

This requires a certain amount of good preparation for you because it will help coalesce your thoughts and opinions of this firm before the interview. You may be on a second or third interview. Each interview, you probably have spoken with different people or different groups of people that give you impressions about the job and the organization. You may have visited the website at some point before the interview.

Answer by starting off with an overview of the position as it is been discussed with you. When you get to the end of your description, pause and say, “Have I described it accurately because if I haven’t, I want to get the correct description of the position.”

Then talk about each of the people you’ve spoken with so far, what your sense of the personalities is and how they presented themselves to you ALWAYS IN COMPLIMENTARY TERMS, of course. Speak about the firm, what it’s standing is in its industry, what it does. That will come from the website and any other research that you’ve done.

So, that’s the easy question to handle. Then, there is the follow-up, “how would you proceed if you were hired for the role?”

Some people talk about it beginning from day one. I suggest talking about a firm before day one.

You receive the offer; you accept the offer; you give notice. You speak with your future manager about what their expectations are starting the role. You do that right after you give notice. In this way, you can lay out some plans, perhaps schedule some meetings not long after you come on board. Perhaps they have an idea of what your early schedule will be like, but it is best to talk about this proactively before you start, rather than beginning with your first day.

“On my first day, what will wind up doing is walking in and… ” Whatever

these are very simple questions but because of the stress associated with second or third interviews, you want to demonstrate that you have done your homework well.

And the second question (the one about preparing for when you start), that one is an easy one because what you are doing is showing that you are go-getter, aggressive, you are hardcharging and that you are getting yourself prepared even before you start.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

When To Schedule Your Next Interview – No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains when to schedule an interview for and when not to schedule an interview for.

[spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

More Phone Interview Tips for Job Hunters

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter offers more phone interview tips for job hunters.

[spp-transcript]

Although I have done videos about, about phone interviewing I want to cover a couple of additional points.

I’ll simply say that you already know that you need to be in a quiet place for the conversation. But there are some fun things that you can do that will help you really excel in a phone interview.

When the interviewer calls, you thank them for making the call, and they say, “I’ve looked at the job description, but can get an idea of what it is that you’re looking for from me? This way, you make sure you’re on the same page as the interviewer.

Often, from the time that the position description has been created until the time that you actually interview, the job has evolved a bit, although the job may read one way on paper, in actuality, the screening for something a little bit different. So always take the time to explain what it is that they are is the looking.

Another subtlety is, ask them, “How long do you expdo you expect we will be speaking?” You can simply say that I just want to make sure that I have that amount of time in my schedule. When they are scheduling the interview and ask, “Can we speak at 1 o’clock?”

“Terrific! Ihow much time should I set aside my calendar?” Just get an idea of the amount of time that you will be talking to them.

Listen to the question. I can’t tell you the number of times where people start to get off on these long tirades and I hav call them a tirade because, after a while, I have no idea what they’re talking no recollection of the question. I have gone so far as to ask them, “Do you remember my original question?”

So try to to stay on point by answering the question in 45 seconds or less. If you have to go to a minute, so be it. But try to keep your answers to about 45 seconds in length and listen to what they’re asking you.

Along the way, you may want to sound like you are thinking about your answer and being all reflective. It is acting that you are doing. They can’t see that you have notes out in front of you and that you’re jotting down some things. Another thing I’ll mentioned to you is try using headphones. If you have access to headphones, use them. I find that being hands-free when I do my radio show and when I do my calls all day long is extremely helpful. It just allows me to use my hands, I’m not going to develop a crick in my neck that’s going to wind up hurting during the course of my conversations. Use headphones if you can.

Finally, at the end of this, you might ask them, ” so what’s going to happen next? When do you expect I would hear back about next steps in the process?”

That gives you a sense of timeline. Again, nothing I’m talking about is to be done in a way with it sounds like you’re anxious or nervous. Everything is, again, about the acting of the part. So you might just simply say, “Thanks for calling. When do you think I might be hearing back about next steps in the process?

“Well, I have a number of people to speak with.”

Oc ourse, you have a number of people to speak with! I am just trying to get a feel for the timeline that you folks have.”

“I expect to get back to you in a week to 10 days,” or “I expect I’ll call you tomorrow about scheduling an in-person interview,” or whatever it is, just get a sense of timeline. Then, concluded by saying,”I’m andI just want you to know how interestws I am in this role. I do look forward to hearing from you about next steps of you. I would love to continue further.

Firms find it much more appealing when they are being pursued. One of the things that hiring managers, in particular, hate is when they have to extend an offer that is going to get turned down. So, you want to express interest because, often, frequently, it’s a differentiator when hiring managers are deciding which person to make the offer to.

They have two individuals; they like them a lot; they both quite capable. The thing that puts it over the edge for you can be very simple –they think you are interested.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Using a Proper Handshake or Bow

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains the importance of using correct body language at the beginning of your interview.

[spp-transcript]

I want to talk with you about body language today and a very simple piece of body language that some people in the US get tripped up on.

I’ve spoken about the smile; I’ve spoken about the positioning of yourself in a chair during an interview but they were but, today I want to about the handshake. If you are born in the US, you understand that in the US a handshake is firm that you and maintain eye contact while you are shaking hands. If you’re from other cultures, that would be considered rude; but if you are interviewing in the US that is the appropriate thing to do.

So I want to encourage you to practice the proper handshake if you are not US born and if you are US born and interviewing outside the country, remember, culturally, it may be different. You may not be interviewing with an ex-pat working abroad. You may be interviewing with someone local who is used to, we say, a milder handshake.

In some cultures, the appropriate thing is not a handshake. It’s a bow. if you’re US-born, you have no experience with this. It’s the equivalent of someone being foreign-born and shaking hands in the US. You have to learn to bow. I can’t do that because different cultures do it differently but wherever you are, if you are interviewing with someone who’s expecting a bow, because you are interviewing in and other country (that is a non-US country), you have to come to someone to practice with.

This is an example of one of those “practice ahead of the interview” kind of things I talk about with regularity and being rude and not bowing, being rude and not shaking hands properly, will hurt you in the interview because it will temporarily distract the interviewer from paying attention to who you are or what you can give them.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Ask This Question on Your Next Job Interview

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter suggest that you ask this question on your next job interview in order to get a clear idea of your future manager’s priorities.

[spp-transcript]

 

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves life coaching, as well as executive job search coaching and business life coaching. He is the host of “Job Search Radio” and “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” both available through iTunes and Stitcher.

Are you interested in 1:1 coaching from me?  Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us and put the word, “Coaching” in the subject line.

Do you have a quick question you would like me to answer? Pay $50 via PayPal to TheBigGameHunter@gmail.com  

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com offers great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.  

Connect with me on LinkedIn. Like me on Facebook.

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

If you want to know how to win more interviews, order “Winning Interviews.” You’ll learn how to win phone interviews, in-person interviews, the best question to ask on any interview and more.