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Your #Career : Is It Ever OK To Accept A Job Offer And Continue To #Interview?…Picture this Job Search Conundrum: a Job Seeker has Multiple Hot Leads in Play. One of Them Extends an Offer.

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It’s Solid but Not Ideal, So the Job Seeker Tries to Hurry the Other Leads Into Additional Offers While Buying More Time to Respond to the First Offer. Eventually, that decision deadline can be pushed no further, and the other leads, while still interested, are not in a position to decide just yet.

  • Should you turn down the first offer, keep interviewing and run the risk that you don’t get anything else?
  • Should you accept the first offer and stop your search, forever wondering if you should have held out for something better?
  • Or do you accept the first offer, continue discussions with other companies, and take something else if a better offer comes? Is it ever OK to accept a job offer and continue to interview?

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In general, it is a terrible idea to accept an offer and continue to interview.

While most work agreements are employment-at-will so you can quit at any time, you don’t want to be someone who quits shortly after accepting an offer. You do want your word to mean something.

In addition, being new to any job requires transition time. If you accept a role but haven’t 100% let go of the prospect of something “better” coming along, then you’re not really giving your new employer your full attention. During the inevitable awkwardness of adjusting to the new role, work environment and culture, you are not giving your best effort, and you may be too distracted to integrate fully. Your half-hearted acceptance is thus the start of a downward spiral.

Finally, it’s a small, small world. Confidentiality is paramount in the hiring process, but so many people are involved that you can’t lock things down 100%. If your new employer finds out you didn’t break off ties with previous prospects, this breach of trust could derail your stint right from the start, if not cause your new employer to cut ties immediately.

 

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That said, there are legitimate reasons why you still might interview even after accepting another job.

You can get closure on the other opportunities. You see your options fully play out, since clearly this new employer is not exactly right. You might even feel better about your new employer, if the other opportunities don’t end up as you expected.

You will have to manage the confidentiality very closely – when exactly are you going to complete these other interviews? If another offer does come through and you want to accept that, you need to make as little disruption for your new employer as possible – helping them secure your replacement, or helping with messaging around your premature departure. Keep in mind that your positive gestures may be rebuffed entirely – the risk of burning bridges when you renege on an acceptance or quit shortly after starting a job is high.

So proceed with caution, whatever you decide to do.

If you turn down an offer for other imminent, but still uncertain prospects, this is the time to really step up your search, including generating brand new leads. Seemingly imminent offers have a nasty habit of disappearing. If the other offers don’t pan out, having newer leads can distract you from regretting to accept that first offer.

If you decide to accept a job that is less than ideal and stop interviewing elsewhere, then don’t drive yourself crazy with what-if scenarios. It’s easy to convince yourself that some other offer would have been better, but that’s just fantasy. Embrace the new role you do have and make a go of it. Pour your energies into doing an amazing job and into changing over time the factors of the job you were less than ideal when you accepted.

If you accept the job but continue to interview, manage your risks in the immediate term as you sort out all the different options. In the longer-term, manage your career more proactively. You felt the need to accept an offer that is less-than-ideal. Why? If you felt you had no other alternatives, shore up your network, your job search technique, and your financial foundation so you increase your capacity to think and act long-term. If you needed to get out of your current company, take a hard look about what didn’t work before and make a plan to correct any shortcomings because the problems you had before might follow you to your new employer.

Did you accept a job before your job search fully played out? What happened?

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is co-founder of SixFigureStart® career coaching. She has worked with executives from American Express, Citigroup, Condé Nast, Gilt, Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey, and other leading firms. She’s also a stand-up comic, so she’s not your typical coach. Connect with Caroline on Google+.
Forbes.com | July 14, 2015

Your #Career : 7 Ways To Deal With Today’s Long Job Hiring Process…If you’re Looking for a Job, You Might have Sensed that it Seems to be Taking Longer to Snag an Offer Than in the Past. You’re Right.

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A Recent Study from the Employment Site Glassdoor.com Found that the Average Interview Process in the U.S. is Now 22.9 Days, Nearly Double the 12.6 Days in 2010.  It’s a maddening shift that’s only added stress for job hunters. I’ll provide tips on how to deal with this new reality in a moment, but first it’s important to understand what’s driving this change.

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On the surface, the trend towards longer hiring cycles seems counterintuitive. After all, as the war for talent has been heating up, you’d expect employers to act faster, not slower, to lock-in the best candidates. The unemployment rate just hit a seven-year low (at 5.3%) and the CareerBuilder jobs site says 49% of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in the second half of 2015, up from 47% last year.

So what gives?

According to Glassdoor Chief Economist Andrew Chamberlain, there are several reasons why the interview process is taking longer these days.

“Overall, the interview process has become longer largely due to the fact that more employers are requiring more comprehensive interview processes,” Chamberlain told me via email. “For job candidates, that basically means more hoops and hurdles they may have to jump through.”

Screening methods such as group presentations, IQ tests, personality tests and drug tests have gained in popularity, each lengthening the hiring timeline.

Chamberlain also noted that there’s been a marked change in the composition of the workplace in recent years, with a shift away from low-skilled, routine jobs and towards higher-skilled positions requiring more sophisticated skills. Hiring specialized and technical workers requires a more careful — that is, longer — vetting process.

Of course, hiring timelines vary according to job type and industry. Glassdoor says hiring decisions for entry-level jobs like retail sales clerks take less than a week, while the process for senior-level execs typically drags on for two months or more. If you’re a law enforcement candidate, you’d better have a holster full of patience: the average hiring time for police officers clocks in at a painfully slow 128 days.

Glassdoor says neither age, gender or education affect hiring time, though.

7 Tips for Job Seekers

Its report leaves little doubt that you should expect your job search to last awhile. Given that reality, here are seven ways to better manage the wait and, with any luck, cut the time it takes for you to get hired:

1.  Do your homework about the employer’s hiring process.Learn what you can before you apply. This will help you tamp down expectations.

Many companies now post information about their particular hiring process on the career page of their websites; some even offer online chats for prospective applicants.  You can also research the interview process by reading employer reviews on sites like Glassdoor.com or Indeed.com as well as by speaking with friends who work at your target employers.

 

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2. Ask about “next steps” at the end of each interview. Find out if more interviews will be needed — and if so, roughly how many, how soon they’ll occur and how they’ll be done (group, individual, phone, etc.). Ask the employer if you’ll need to provide any additional information such as references. Or, if appropriate, whether you’ll need to schedule drug testing. The more proactive you are about handling needed tasks early on, the less chance of delays happening on the back end.

3.  Do what you can to nudge the process along. While you can’t do much to control the employer’s internal decision-making process, there are a few ways to bolster your standing and help speed up a potential offer.

For one, send a compelling thank-you note that clearly explains why you’re the best person for the job. It’s not only the polite thing to do; the note will provide a reminder that you’re a savvy candidate who might get snatched up by a competitor if the employer doesn’t act quickly.

If you know someone who works for the employer, ask him or her to put in a good word for you. As I’ve written before, a strong internal reference is one of the most effective ways to best the competition.

Of course, it’s wise not to appear too eager. There’s a fine line between good follow-up and looking desperate. So demonstrate your interest by touching base at the agreed upon checkpoints, but resist the temptation to check in every time you get anxious.

4. Don’t read too much into employer promises. Even if you’re told “We’ll definitely have a decision by next week” or “You’re one of our top two candidates,” take such comments with a grain of salt.

Employers’ plans change. A hundred things that have nothing to do with you can delay the decision: The hiring manager goes on vacation; an internal project suddenly requires attention; the company becomes the target of a takeover.

It’s fine to take a moment to relish any encouraging comments, but then plow full steam ahead with the job search.

5. Adjust your expectations (and advise your significant others to do the same). Reset your mental time clock and plan on the process lasting two or three times longer than the employer indicates. If it finishes sooner, great. But in the meantime, you’ll have an easier time managing your anxiety during the wait.

6. Keep your job application pipeline full. When you only have one prospect, you’ll obsess over it day and night. The best way to keep your sanity during a long interview wait is by generating a steady flow of new opportunities.

Even if your dream job seems within reach, keep searching, keep networking and keep applying. That way, you’ll feel like you’re making progress and you may uncover other interesting job openings in the process.

7. Snag a competitive offer. Nothing speeds up the hiring process faster than letting employers know you have another job offer. Just like dating, you’ll appear way more attractive to potential suitors once they know others are seriously interested.

Of course, there are risks involved with this strategy, so use it wisely. Once you tell an employer there’s a competing offer, you start the clock ticking. That’s why this approach can backfire if the employer’s lengthy interview timeline can’t be easily shortened. Also, some employers might resent being pressured into making a decision before they’re ready.

But when presented in a non-threatening and professional manner, having a bird in hand is one of the best ways to force the employer’shand — and maybe even get a higher starting salary to boot.

Nancy Collamer, M.S., is a career coach, speaker and author of Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement and a contributor to Next Avenue. Her website is MyLifestyleCareer.com; on Twitter she is @NancyCollamer.

Forbes.com | July 14, 2015 | Next Avenue 

Job Seekers: What To Do If You Aren’t Getting Called For Interviews…Go Through this Process for Several Other Jobs for Which You’ve Applied. Do You See a Pattern?

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When you’ve been actively applying for jobs, it can get really frustrating when you aren’t getting called for interviews. If this is happening to you, don’t give up; but take a short ‘time out’ to analyze the reasonswhy you’re not making it to the next round in the hiring process.

ChairsTable

First, look at how much of a ‘fit’ you are for the jobs to which you’ve been applying. Review several of the job postings for jobs to which you’ve applied. Read through one job posting and as you read each requirement, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do I meet the minimum level of experience required for the position?
  • Do I meet the minimum level of education required for the job?
  • Do I have most of the required skills for the job?
  • Do I have the certifications required for the position? (if any are required)

For each requirement, write down whether you meet, partially meet or don’t meet that requirement. Once you’ve done this for the first job posting, look at what you’ve written. Do you meet the majority of the requirements?

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Then, go through this process for several other jobs for which you’ve applied. Do you see a pattern? The most common reason I’ve found when people don’t get telephone or in-person interviews is that there are other candidates who are a better ‘fit’ (more qualified) for the job. As a hiring manager, I look for candidates who meet at least 80 percent of the job requirements. One reason you aren’t making it to the interview round might be because hiring managers don’t see you as qualified enough for the position.

If you believe this may be your issue, look for ways you can obtain the education, certifications, skills or experience required – so that you’ll be a better fit in the near future. Then, before you apply for any more jobs, conduct this same exercise of analyzing yourself against the requirements listed in the next job posting. Pretend you’re the hiring manager and take a critical look at your resume. If you were the hiring manager, would you hire this candidate for the job?

Some people have a tendency to apply for higher-level positions than what they’re qualified for, which is why they don’t get called for interviews. In this situation, try looking for lower-level jobs that are the stepping-stones to get you to those higher-level jobs you’d like to have in the future – and apply for those.

Another issue I’ve seen is where someone has the relevant skills, experience or education, but forgot to include many of these on their resume. For every requirement in the job posting that you meet, somewhere on your resume, you should explain that you have that skill, experience or education. If you aren’t customizing your resume to include the appropriate information, then your resume won’t get the attention it deserves by recruiters and hiring managers – and you won’t get as many calls for interviews.

~ Lisa Quast, author of the book, Secrets of a Hiring Manager Turned Career Coach: A Foolproof Guide to Getting the Job You Want. Every Time.   Join me on Twitter @careerwomaninc

 
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Got Kids? The 10 Best Websites For Finding An Internship…Question: When do You Need to Search for your Summer Internship? Answer: Now!

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Alexis DePuyt, 21, an English major at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, was spending the spring semester of her junior year studying in London, when she started hunting for a summer internship back in the States. She logged onto a website called Internships.com and looked for positions near her parents’ home in Philadelphia. Up popped a posting for a paid summer internship at a three-year-old boutique marketing firm called Sweet Rose Studios in nearby Blue Bell, PA.

20 yr old hired

 

Through Internships.com she sent in a résumé and cover letter. Within weeks she heard from the firm’s founder, Sean Rose, who interviewed her via Skype. “She was very ambitious and smart and she knew how to research what we do online,” he recalls. DePuyt got the internship and loved it. “It was a great way to utilize my writing skills,” she says. “I did blogging, emailing and worked on attracting prospective customers.” Says Rose, “She’s a terrific writer, very ambitious, independent and able to do things without a ton of babysitting.”

In most of my stories about using the Internet to find work, I exhort job seekers to limit their time online. Spending eight hours plugging your search criteria into job board aggregators like Indeed or SimplyHired and then sending your résumé into a black hole by hitting the “apply” button, is almost guaranteed to get you nowhere.

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Most jobs posted online have either already been filled or will likely be taken by someone with a personal connection at the company. If you want to have a shot at getting hired for a job listed online, you have to reach beyond the posting, scouring LinkedIn and your personal network for a contact at the company, meeting with that contact, doing lots of research on the company, trying to land an in-person meeting with the hiring manager by writing a carefully-crafted email that shows how impassioned you are about the position and how you can solve the company’s problems.
But I think the story is different for internships, especially if you’re college-age and looking for a summer spot. Many companies field applicants from job boards. Amanda Fox, 20, a junior at the University of Connecticut, had never done an internship. Instead she had worked summers as a lifeguard at the YMCA. She wanted an internship where she could apply some of what she was learning as an economics major.

On Internmatch.com she signed up to get daily notifications for new postings. One of them was for Enterprise Rent-a-Car at a location in Vernon, CT, just five minutes from where her parents live. Internmatch referred her directly to Enterprise’s site, she applied online and got the job, which pays $10.50 an hour. “I didn’t have to jump through any hoops,” she says. “Internmatch was all I needed.”

I don’t want to deter anyone from hunting for internships the way I usually recommend job seekers go about their search, by first tapping their network, relying on personal referrals and targeting companies that attract them. But because online searches really can work for internships, and also help you focus on what you want, I’ve put together a list of the best sites for finding an internship:

1. LinkedIn: Not only should you use LinkedIn to hunt for internships, you should build a fleshed-out profile and reach out to everyone you know, especially professional contacts, on the 12-year-old Mountain View, CA professional networking site. Get people you’ve worked for to write you recommendations. Do include volunteer work.

To search for internship listings, go to the jobs tab at the top of the page and put “internship” in the search box. Then refine your search by filling in the boxes on the left side of the page. I searched for “marketing internship” and a New York City zip code came up with ten pages of listings. One downside: You can’t filter for paid or unpaid positions. The most valuable aspect of LinkedIn: instantly seeing which of your contacts works at a company or knows people who work there. I also recommend college students get their parents to search their own LinkedIn networks for contacts. Companies pay varying rates to list internships and jobs on LinkedIn (a 30-day posting in San Francisco costs $499), so they are serious about hiring for many of those jobs. A possible downside is that the fee might deter smaller players, like Sean Rose, who says he listed on Internships.com because it was free and he was only hiring one intern.

2. Glassdoor: Founded in 2007 and based in Sausalito, CA, Glassdoor scrapes job boards for internship listings. But its main attraction is that it offers an instant way to search for salaries, company reviews and descriptions of job interviews. Its interface is straightforward, though for smaller companies, the salary and review functions don’t always bear fruit. In the search fields I tried putting in “paid marketing internship” and in the location box, New York City, and I got 21 listings. When I clicked on the first listing that came up, for Inspired Marketing Associates in the Bronx, I found just two company reviews and no salary listings. But a paid internship for Major League Baseball had 37 reviews and one internship salary ($1,660/month).

3. Google: Don’t underestimate the power of a Google search. I put in “paid marketing internship New York City” and got hits for several of the sites in this piece and others I’m not familiar with, likeFindSpark, which bills itself as having “the best creative internships & entry level jobs in NYC.” I like that you can filter for paid internships (I believe that by law, almost all internships should be paid, but that’s another story), though when I filtered for paid marketing internship, only one job came up, at Inc. magazine. Still, Google is a great shortcut.

4. Your school’s job listing site and alumni network: At my alma mater, Brown University, there’s something called Brown Connect, where alumni post internship listings. If you can get access to a database like this, you will vault over other potential interns vying for these jobs. This is a first stop if you are a student.

5. Internships.com: Founded in 2010, Internships.com is now owned by textbook rental and online tutoring company Chegg in Santa Clara, CA. It offers 100,000 listings from 60,000 employers. Internships.com does not charge employers to list positions. When I searched for “paid marketing internship” in New York City, I got 10 listings. One huge advantage the site offers: a “who” button that lets you see which of your Facebook friends have a connection to a company, either because they work there or used to work there. Facebook has no job listings and no other site I could find has the capability to match a job search with your friends’ résumés.

6. Internmatch.com: Founded in 2009, San Francisco-based Internmatch has listings from 30,000 companies. It specializes in internships, and entry level jobs up to two years after graduation. When I searched for “paid marketing internship” in New York City I got seven pages of results, though some of them were for jobs as far away as Morristown, NJ and not all of them were paid. But there were some promising listings, like a paid internship at DirecTV. You can sign up and the site will send you notifications when new internships in your area of interest are posted. Employers can post up to 10 listings for free, after which they pay a fee. Some of the big companies who have listed on the site: Facebook, Zappos, Aflac.
7. YouTern An unusual site, YouTern tries to mentor and connect would-be interns using social media tools like Twitter. Internship seekers fill out a profile and interact with mentors. Founder Mark Babbitt says he has relationships with recruiters at 100 companies and personally refers appropriate candidates. But internship seekers need to interact with the site before they get referred to jobs. YouTern also includes a jobs board powered by aggregator SimplyHired. Babbitt says he has connections with many startups but also works with established companies like ad firm Ogilvy & Mather. YouTern launched in 2010 and is based in Lake Tahoe, NV.

8. Idealist: An excellent site to look for both internships and jobs in the non-profit sector, Idealist, based in Portland, OR, dates back to 1996. Run as a non-profit, it has listings for organizations around the world. The site currently lists more than 2,000 internships worldwide. A couple of current offerings for paid internships: a fundraising position in Washington, DC for the National Hispanic Council on Aging and a summer internship at the progressive Nation magazine and Nation Institute.

9. Global Experiences: Founded in 2001 and based in Annapolis, MD, Global Experiences offers internships where interns pay instead of getting paid. This would surely run afoul of US laws but the bulk of its offerings are overseas and interns get visas that don’t allow them to work. The plus: genuine work experience in foreign cities. Global Experiences works in eight cities—London, Paris, Dublin, Barcelona, Florence, Milan, Shanghai and Sydney. Prices range from $6,000 to $10,000 per internship stint. Company founder Emily Merson says that some colleges like Arizona State, University of Southern California and University of Illinois have partnerships with the company and pick up the tab. Students must apply but once they’re accepted, placement is 100% guaranteed.

10. CoolWorks: This site isn’t for internships per se, but rather for jobs, especially summer positions, geared toward young people. According to the website, it offers “job opportunities in great places like national parks, various resorts, ranches, camps, ski resorts, and jobs on the water.”

Founded in 1995 it’s based, rather exotically, just outside the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Sample jobs: Ranch Foreman/Ranch Hand/Wrangler/Packer at a ranch called Flying B in Idaho wilderness located on the middle fork of the Salmon River, and Rafting Guide on the Arkansas River in Buena Vista, Colorado. Some of the jobs are listed as “internships,” but they seem indistinguishable from the other jobs on the site. Example: positions with Alaska Wildland Adventures on the Kenai Peninsula in Denali National Park.

 

Forbes.com | January 30, 2015 | Susan Adams

Your Career: Job Hunting In 2015: 7 Things You Need To Know…Get Creative with Your CVs. Don’t just Opt for the Standard Words on a Page, Do Something Different to Stand Out

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Work.  The dreaded, daily, servitude that burdens your already tired and weary shoulders. Beaten, bedraggled and crestfallen you slump out of your bed at 6am, ready for another day of instant coffee, TPS reports and habitual sighing.

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If any part of that sounds like you -or your daily routine – then there’s a good chance that it’s time for a change. Or, if you’re entering the workforce for the first time, and this is what you’re expecting from a job market that’s not too friendly to young people and graduates, then fear not – there are options.

If you’re so inclined, many of those options exist in the tech industry, which is experiencing an ever growing roster of successful companies, huge investments and even a Mike Judge TV show (the only true metric of success).

In response,young people, graduates and experienced employees are flocking towards either building their own startup or working for an exciting tech company. But the popularity of these companies means that you will need to stand out – in a big way.

So what can you do to land a top job in tech (or any other industry)? I asked some big tech companies, and some startups, what it takes to be the winning candidate.

Get Creative

Ann Pickering HR Director at O2,  suggests that people get creative with their CVs. Don’t just opt for the standard words on a page, do something different to stand out.

“Use your application as a chance to show what you’d bring to the role – and it doesn’t need to just be words on a page. People who bring a digital aspect to their application, whether that’s a well-crafted blog post or a snappy Vine video, will always leave a lasting impression.”

Pickering explained that it’s also important to keep your application succinct and to the point – explaining exactly what your skills are and why you’re suited to the role.

“It can be tempting to shout about everything you’ve ever accomplished, but this can sometimes mean doing yourself a disservice. No one wants – nor has the time – to wade through pages and pages of preamble, so make sure your CV gets straight to the point. Read the skills and requirements an employer is looking for closely, and ask yourself whether your application can link back to every point on the list. If not, change it – and cut out anything that’s not relevant.”

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Make a connection with the interviewer

Nedhal Alkhatib, Programme Manager for Motorola, told me that it’s not only important to make an impression during the interview, but also a connection.

“How the candidate’s personality comes across is extremely important to me.  I look for a ‘can do’ attitude – someone who is approachable, and consistent throughout the interview. It’s absolutely fine if they don’t know the answer to something; I just want to see a willingness to learn underpinned by a confidence and drive to succeed. I also want them to make a connection with me, I often interview many people for a role and so standing out is vital – if I leave happy and get on with the candidate I’ll remember them and be more likely to hire them.”

She continued: “How you present yourself in the interview is crucial – don’t come across as over keen or desperate – you want the interviewer to like you and your personality, not pity you. In the same vein, don’t forget to ask what the company can offer you in return – this should be a mutually satisfactory exchange and you should leave with your questions answered.”

 

Never stop learning and picking up new skills

Ben Medlock, co-founder of Swiftkey, is a big advocate of skills. If you want to contribute to a startup, then you’ll need to bring something fresh.

“The main thing not to do is stop learning or stop being curious. We rate people who are always teaching themselves and others something new. That gives you lots to talk about in an interview, too.”

Medlock continued: “We definitely look for an entrepreneurial spirit, the kind of people who’ve taught themselves new skills and challenged themselves. But starting your own business isn’t a requirement. You need many different backgrounds, personalities and experiences to build an effective team and we find our strength in our diversity – our team speaks 33 languages between them and everyone brings a fresh perspective and set of skills.”

Graeme Smith, Managing Director of Amazon’s Development Centre in Scotland, explained to me how important technical skills are.

“We’re solving hard problems and building systems that run at massive scale, we need people who are great at coding and problem solving.”

He added: “To push the boundaries of technology you need a solid base of theory, so we generally look for a Computer Science degree from a good university. On top of that, we work in close-knit teams so we need people with exemplary written and verbal communications skills.

Be comfortable with change

Leah Busque, founder and CEO of TaskRabbit, says that it’s imperative for people in tech to be comfortable with the rapidly changing industry.

“Be open to the possibility of not knowing. In Technology, we’re in the business of creating entirely new paradigms to advance the world and that can mean more experimenting and failing than knowing and succeeding. The more you are able to demonstrate your comfort in this perpetual state of change, the better.”

Rob Coupland, MD of TelecityGroup agrees that being adaptable is key to working in tech: “Be open-minded, be adaptable, and be flexible. Technology is an extremely fast-moving industry, and you should be open to all the opportunities that are presented to you. For example, there are now countless more creative roles in technology than there were just a few years ago. If you are self-motivated and always eager to learn, you will be perfectly placed to seize new opportunities as our industry continues to evolve.”

Be genuinely passionate about the job you’re applying for

Busque also suggests that those excited by an industry will generally succeed in landing a job in it.

“Targeting a company that you know well but that doesn’t align with what will ignite that daily fire to learn and grow will prove unsustainable and ultimately be a disservice to your career and even personal life. Every person I’ve seen succeed in the industry is excited by the promise of their product or company mission. Believe in what you’re working on and the rest will follow.”

Graeme Smith agrees and places a particular importance on a candidate’s visible passion for the industry.

“First and foremost we’re looking for people who are passionate about inventing for customers and passionate about technology. We’re inventing on behalf of our customers, so we need people who can think from a customer’s perspective and don’t just build technology for technology’s sake.”

Have an understanding of different areas of the industry

Coupland explains that understanding the industry you want to work in, from bottom to top, can really demonstrate multiple skills.

“If an applicant has spent time in a retail environment, or on a helpdesk, they can demonstrate that they recognise the importance of both customer service and technical expertise. For example, if you’ve had work experience at Apple AAPL -3.52% Store, you are demonstrating that you understand technology, that you are commercially competent, and that you are able explain technology in a way that everyone can understand.”

Get connected and get active

Sarah Wood, co-founder of Unruly, thinks that it’s important to fully immerse yourself in the industry by making contacts and showing off your talents.

“Get connected. On LinkedIn LNKD -1.65%, in tech forums and best of all in person. This way you’ll understand how the ecosystem works and where to find the most promising points of entry. Build a portfolio of outputs that you can show to prospective employers – a blog, a working prototype, a university project, a video of the Code Club you ran – visual, tangible proof that you won’t just talk the talk, you’ll walk the walk. Voluntary work as a teacher at code club will boost your resume and help kids improve their future prospects too.”

Graeme Smith also thinks it’s important to be as busy as possible: “Attend tech meetups to get to know people from your target companies, that’s often the best way in. Don’t wait for a job ad to apply for a job, many companies will respond favourably to speculative applications. The demand for talent is massive right now so don’t sell yourself short.”

Jay McGregor is a freelance technology journalist who writes for The Guardian, Forbes, TechRadar and is a tech correspondent for BBC’s James Hazel show. Follow on Twitter @_jaymcgregor

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Your Career: How To Spend The Hour Before Your Job Interview…Don’t Let Last-Minute Anxiety Spoil your Long-Term Preparation. Follow this Expert Advice to Feel Calm & Focused

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Your suit is ironed, tucked and free of cat hairs. Your own hairs are combed, your padfolio is organized and your employer research is thorough. And your mind? For this interview, you’ve packed it like a filing cabinet: Answers to typical interview questions are filed under A; smart questions you plan to ask your interviewers are under Q; and examples of your achievements are under E.

laptop cafe girl blonde

Do some last-minute LinkedIn research.

But although you’ve set yourself up for success, a shiver of doubt may slink up your suit in that darkest hour before the interview. Nerves set in. You try to appear relaxed, but not boring. Enthused, but not abrasive. Prepared, but not canned.

Don’t let last-minute anxiety spoil your long-term preparation. Follow this expert advice to feel calm and focused in the hour before a job interview:

Warm up your vocal cords. Talk about a quick confidence killer: introducing yourself to the interviewers only to have your voice crack or sound strained. Don’t let a weak, I-woke-up-an-hour-ago voice set the tone for the rest of the day. Lewis Lin, founder and CEO of Impact Interview, an interview coaching service, suggests warming up your vocal cords, especially before phone interviews. Before the interview — say, on the drive to the office — speak through your talking points loud and clear, “as if you were an actor or actress getting ready for an audition,” Lin says.

Do some last-minute LinkedIn research. Being likable in the interview is key, Lin says. After all, your interviewers are not only hiring, say, a product manager. They’re hiring someone they’ll encounter daily: at meetings, in the break room, at happy hours and in the buffet line of holiday parties. Show the interviewers you’re someone they should want to work with. “A great way to build that chemistry, that rapport with the interviewer, is to be able to relate to the interviewer,” Lin says.

He suggests using the hour before the interview to scan your interviewers’ profiles on LinkedIn and Twitter, as well as any personal website they have or articles written about them. Did you and one of your interviewers attend neighboring colleges? Do you both know Pete from Boston? Did you attend the same conference last summer? Breathe easier knowing you have a shared connection to mention come interview time.

Strike a power pose. Consider your pre-interview posture, says Susan Joyce, an online job search expert. She suggests looking at the research and TED Talk of social psychologist Amy Cuddy, an associate professor​ at Harvard Business School. ​Cuddy’s work shows that power poses can boost confidence, and as Joyce points out, what better time to feel confident than minutes before speaking to a prospective employer?

Joyce suggests ducking into a restroom stall before the interview and trying the starfish pose. With your feet spread apart, “you raise your arms up to the sky, you look up to the ceiling and you smile,” Joyce says. “It’s an amazing quick fix to confidence.”

Think happy thoughts. This will be easier to do after those poses, Joyce says. She and Lin say candidates often put tons of pressure on themselves: What if I blow this interview, and then I don’t get the job, and then I don’t get an interview for another six months, and then I can’t pay rent? And so on. “End-of-world-type scenarios start dancing through our heads,” Lin says, “and that’s clearly not going to be helpful when you’ve got that much pressure.”

Lin’s suggestion for showing you’re passionate about the position, but not crazy-eyed and desperate? “Have that kind of kid-like wonder,” he says.​ “Like, ‘Hey, I’m just going to have this conversation with another professional in the industry. I get to share my experiences, the things I’ve learned and I hope we get a chance to learn about the other person and the experiences they’ve had.’”

Joyce recommends repeating a few positive affirmations. Think: “I’m perfectly qualified for this job. I’m perfectly qualified for this job. I’m perfectly qualified for this job.”

Calm your nerves. “Nerves mess up a lot of interviews,” Lin says. “Whatever ritual [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][or] routine or habit that works for you to get in the right mindset to come across as relaxed and confident is really important.”  He suggests exercising if you have the time before suiting up or watching a clip from your favorite movie. Listening to music can help you focus, too. Watch pregame coverage of a professional sporting event​, and you’ll see most players entering the facility while listening to music on their headphones, Lin points out. (Ray Lewis, former NFL linebacker once told Men’s Journal that he listened to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” before every game with the Baltimore Ravens to get fired up.)

Whether you’re about to tackle quarterbacks or a high-stakes interview, simply taking deep breaths will help settle your nerves, too, Lin and Joyce say. Before you enter the building, as you sit in the reception area and as you open wide in starfish pose, take a few long inhales through the nose and exhales through the mouth.

As Joyce sums up: “Take a big deep breath, put a smile on your face and roll with it.”

This article originally appeared at U.S. News & World Report. Copyright 2015. Follow U.S. News & World Report on Twitter.

 

Businessinsider.com |  January 26, 2015  |  LAURA MCMULLEN, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT

http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2015/01/14/how-to-spend-the-hour-before-your-interview#ixzz3PxiF6Utb

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