job search strategies Archives - Page 3 of 3

be nice to the administrative personnel

one of our candidates today whose “healthy” ego became too big lost a great opportunity

the hiring authority of our client company purposely makes candidates sit and wait at least 20 to 25 minutes after the interview is suppose to start..

he does this to see if the candidates are nice to the administrative personnel at the front desk…he want to see if the candidates engage with the admins in a nice way…

after the formal interview, he asks the administrative personnel if the candidate was nice…cold…grumpy, etc….he makes much of his decision on how the candidate treats these folks…

our candidate’s ego got the best of him…he was cold..grumpy..impatient and not engaging…in fact, he was down right rude to the admins… but, boy!…when he got into the formal interview, he was as nice as he could be…

dumb…dumb…dumb…moral: be nice to everyone..especially when you are interviewing…you never know if you are going to be “tested”

By Tony Beshara|2008-06-16T22:08:40-05:00June 16, 2008|communication, employers, interviewing, job search strategies, psychology|

failures in the job search process

Michael Jordan stated: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted with the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again all my life. And that is why I succeed!”

in order for your job search to be successful, you best expect lots of “failures”…failures to get interviews, to do well in some interviews…to get offers that you want..

in fact, that is part of the deal…even the best candidates have to get 12 interviews to get an offer…even one they may not like…and these are candidates with exceptional experience and credentials..

so…you have to expect misses…it is part of the “game”… in fact, if you follow my mentorship, you realize that the “misses” are simply steps toward successes…

keep shooting…get as many interviews as you can…sell yourself as hard as you can…remember what Zig Ziglar said many years ago..”a big shot is simply a little shot that kept on shooting!”

By Tony Beshara|2008-06-15T10:35:39-05:00June 15, 2008|job search, job search strategies, psychology|

…on vacation???

..candidate has been out of work for three months…we get her an interview and she says she is going on vacation for two weeks???

vacation from what..?

most employers would think that the priorities are out of sync here….and they are right!

By Tony Beshara|2008-05-24T14:58:36-05:00May 24, 2008|career development, job search, job search strategies|

good grades in school

we are at Wake Forest this weekend…our youngest son is graduating from there…it made me think about how getting good grades in college can really makes a difference in your future…

now, many of us, like me, got by in undergrad with C’s…we still did OK, because we work hard…

BUT, it sure makes a big difference if you can show folks that you are smart..yes, even, “book smart”…common sense has to be there…but being smart sure helps you in life…and employers love it..

so when interviewing, even if you have been out of school for a few years, if your grades were really good, let the hiring authority know you did well in school…

if you didn’t do so well in the first year or two of college and did well in the last couple of years …or you had good grades in your major, but your overall gpa wasn’t so hot…don’t hesitate to share with a hiring authority that you did well in those situations…

if your grades in college were not that hot, whatever you do, don’t justify poor performance…something like, “My grades were not as good as I would have liked. If I had it to do over again, I would have studied harder,” works well. Then emphasize working hard at “other” things, like a job during school, or social activities, i.e. fraternity, sorority, organizations, politics, etc.

You will never be able to make reasonable excuses for poor grades, so don’t try.

If your kids or someone you know is starting college, tell them that Tony said that few things take the place of being smart…you can open many more doors in your career with good grades…

By Tony Beshara|2008-05-18T14:25:36-05:00May 18, 2008|communication, education, interviewing, job search, job search strategies|

…never talk about the money you want on the first interview

My candidate last week was perfect for the job. She goes to the interview and things are going great…until…she starts talking about how she has been under paid and she is now going to make up for it by being sure she gets paid “what she is worth”.

The hiring authority, naturally, asks her what she thinks she is “worth”…she tells him $20,000 more than what she is now making.

The interview went south after that….

Don’t ever, ever, ever talk about “what you are worth” until you have established your value to an employer.

By Tony Beshara|2018-02-21T16:38:23-05:00May 3, 2008|communication, interviewing, job search strategies, negotiating|

…never take it personally

Today one of my candidates got called by an employer I sent him to a month ago. The candidate called him to check in as the employer told him to do. In fact, the candidate called the employer close to 25 or 30 times over two or three weeks and never got a return call.

Frankly, you and I know that is rude, but I kept telling my candidate to keep calling. Don’t take it personally. These hiring folks will tell you that hiring is a priority but not call you back even though they say they will…rude, rude, rude.

Well today, out of the blue, the hiring authority calls the candidate, tells him that he’d like to see him tomorrow and talk about an offer. He never apologizes or acknowledges his never returning the calls. Nothing.

Well, the job is a good one, so my candidate is going to go to the interview tomorrow and talk to the hiring authority.

The lesson is: never take it personally. We won’t know why the employer didn’t return the calls, but the job is still a good one and the candidate should still consider it.

By Tony Beshara|2016-08-31T16:55:23-05:00April 30, 2008|communication, employers, job search strategies, psychology|

don’t believe what you hear…

one of my candidates has been waiting three weeks for an offer he was told he was going to get…it was not my client, thank goodness…but i kept telling him to keep interviewing…but he wouldn’t listen…it was his dream job..

he has been calling the hiring authority every three or four days…has a start date and has been told, “no problem”..

well, today he found out that the hiring authority is going to be promoted…good for him..bad for my candidate..

they are going to wait on hiring…either promote from within or hire a new manager from outside the company..

sadly, the hiring authority knew this was a possibility a month ago, but wanted to hedge his bet, that if he didn’t get promoted he would hire my candidate…he was dealing to what was best for him and not the candidate..

lesson: don’t believe a damn word about “we are going to hire you”..until you get an offer letter..

my candidate is devastated…

By Tony Beshara|2008-04-16T21:53:13-05:00April 16, 2008|interviewing, job search, job search strategies, psychology|