Check out this post on Recruiting Blogs by Katie, titled Personality vs. Qualified.  She talks about a challenge that regularly comes up.  No matter how fair anything should be, there are always nuances, and biases, and circumstances… so there is not one “right answer.”

Here’s Katie’s advice, which should help you interview better:

“Show interest and spunk in an interview and make sure you have done your research on the position you are interviewing for and what the job duties will entail. It really isn’t a “tough world out there”, if you just put some time and effort into your interview process. Show your passion. And if you don’t end up getting hired at that certain company– I’m sure in the long run it really was not a good fit anyway.”

Let’s break this advice down:

• Show interest and spunk in an interview: You don’t have to fake this.  If you are really interested, it should show without any special effort.
• Make sure you have done your research on the position you are interviewing for and what the job duties will entail: If you ask a question that I, as the interviewer, thinks you should already know the answer to, I’ll think you are too lazy to simple web research, or you are not as interested as the 5 others who asked better questions.
• ….if you just put some time and effort into your interview process: Does your interviewer feel like you haven’t put any time into your interview?  Or do they feel like you are well-prepared?  Who do you think they are going to hire?  The one who cares about the position enough to put time into it, or the one who is just throwing mud up on the walls to see what sticks??
• Show your passion: Two parts to this… first, like in bullet one, be interested!  Second, know the right questions to ask to show you are passionate. If you are passionate, let it show… don’t keep it quiet.
• … if you don’t end up getting hired at that certain company– I’m sure in the long run it really was not a good fit anyway: If you let getting passed over affect your attitude, it will affect your entire job search.  What you want and need is coming, even if it looks different than what you thought it would be.

Katie has great interviewing advice – take time to digest this and become a better interviewee!

And we do it wrong (or poorly)…. almost all the time.

Can you communicate just a little bit better? Communication in your job search is key.

It’s why job seekers spend hours working on their “elevator pitch.”

It’s why people pay to have a professional resume writer hone their 2 page resume (aka, marketing tool).

It’s why people pay to have an image consultant help them with their body image, clothes, etc.

It’s why people pay to have an interview coach help prepare them nail the interview.

It’s why people tell you to have a better handshake.

It’s why people do mock interviews, record them, and critique them.

Think about it – in your job search, most everything you do is communicating in one form or another.

How’s your communication?  Can it be improved?  I’d suggest looking for marginal improvements, one step-at-a-time.  Communicate better on purpose, and you’ll be a better, more successful job seeker!

Because of my raw blog posts over the years, I’ve said I was “unemployable.”  That is, if a potential employer saw stuff I have written, they might think I wasn’t going to be a good team player (or something like that).  I’ve been very outspoken on workplace and hiring issues.

If you came to me and said “I’ve been working for myself for 15 years, but want to settle down into your company,” what am I to think?  I am quick to judge, like pretty much everyone (even you)… I might think:

Wasn’t good enough to make it on your own?

Is your business dying, and how much of the blame falls on you?

Are you looking for less responsibility, and to slow down?  Because we are ramping up!

What are you hiding from me?

As someone who’s gone from corporate to self-employed, I feel that a self-employed person has “tasted of the forbidden fruit,” and going back to a cubicle day job would be almost impossible, if they were successful on their own.  There might be scheduling issues (”but I’m used to being able to go to my daughter’s dance recitals whenever I want!!”) to money issues (”I just made this huge sale and all I get is a $200 bonus?? Before, I would get all of the profit!!”) to working-with-others issues.

Am I right?  Perhaps not!  Those assumptions are judgmental, and might not be accurate at all.

BUT THAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH STEREOTYPES, JUDGEMENTS, ETC.

They happen based on a lack of information.

So, let’s go back to the “can you go from self-employed to hired” idea.

Can you do it?  YES YOU CAN!

But you have to help the interviewer/hiring manager understand you can, and get through their own preconceived ideas (which may or may not look like my issues above).

Want a second opinion, and some meat?  Go check out Ask the Headhunter’s post on this.  Nick Corcodilos puts it very plainly, and the comments below are very, very interesting. His post is titled: You’ll never get hired if you’re self-employed

People spend a lot of time and energy on things like LinkedIn, their resume, networking, getting ready for interviews, applying to jobs online, and much, much more.

The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve become convinced that the job search is almost completely about COMMUNICATION.

Whether it is written (resume, email, cover letter, social networking) or verbal (interviews, Me in 30 Seconds pitch, general face-to-face networking) or visual (body language, the clothes you wear, how you sit or walk, smiling, etc.), you are continually saying “hire me” or “pay attention to me” or “stay out of my way.”

So… how is your communication?  Can you improve on anything?

I challenge you to honestly look at what you are saying, regardless of how you are saying it, and think about how you can improve it.  I learned to write better by blogging regularly… over the last five years my writing has improved.  You can learn to speak better through Toastmasters, or by studying comedians.  Here’s a post to polish your speaking skills.

Whatever specific thing you need to improve upon for better communication, do it.  It will serve you well the rest of your life!

If they are good, shouldn’t they remember who you are??  Isn’t that THEIR JOB?

It might be a part of their job, but if they aren’t doing that part of their job well, is it their FAULT?

Some recruiters will be really good at remembering you.  Especially if there is a reason to remember you.  Sometimes, though, you will be just another number, just another random resume.

Is this an issue? Isabelle Shelby asks if it is okay to take a picture of candidates to help remember them better (and wonders if there are ethical issues with this).  I’m a visual person, so this would definitely help me, but I would feel awkward asking people if I could take their picture… at that link there is a lively discussion about taking pictures of the job seeker to help the recruiter remember who they are.

What can YOU DO to help them remember who you are?

1. Follow-up. Because practically no one really does this, as you follow-up you’ll be more memorable.  You’ve heard the saying “the squeaky wheel gets the oil….”  Be that squeaky wheel (but not annoying).
2. Have a solid story. In a comment on that post one recruiter says “… isn’t it performance, good or bad, that make an employee memorable…”  Is your story, and your performance, making you memorable?  If you have a LIST of things you’ve done, you are as memorable as the 1,000 others who have a LIST.  Tell stories and stand out.
3. Introduce your recruiter to others. When you open up your network to them, you provide them value. The more you do this, the more valuable you become to them.  You’ll be on their mind more often.
4. Follow-up, some more! The follow-up is NOT a one-time thing.  Think about nurturing a long-term relationship – that takes work, and multiple follow-ups.

I don’t object to the picture thing – John Comyn makes a strong case for that.  But YOU can do things, like the four I mentioned above, to give the recruiter (or hiring manager, or HR, or the venture capitalist, etc.) remember you for many months, or years, to come.

Top 50 Interview Questions: personally, I hate the wierd questions. I find them almost offensive, and lazy.  Maybe because I’m more of a programmer-type, and I like ones and zeros, and don’t gravitate towards philosophy.  But in my experience, interviewers aren’t really smart enough to understand a clever or brilliant answer to their quirky questions, especially if they weren’t expecting it – so you are disqualified for actually being smarter than what they expected.

Nonetheless, the questions Alison Doyle lists are good, and you should be prepared for them!  Prepare for the interview before, and be aware (or, beware) of questions that might be designed to throw you off and make you uncomfortable (although, I personally wouldn’t put up with ILLEGAL questions).  Prepare for the questions with excellent responses and you’ll be significantly better than most others who just kind of wander into the interview.

Top 50 Interview Mistakes: reading through many of these makes me wonder if it is a joke, but I know that people do stupid things before, during or after an interview.  Please, read these, and vow to never do them!

You never know when the opportunity to interview will come – be prepared! You don’t really have time to read a few articles an hour before you leave… that’s not preparing!  Do it now

Tip: You can use JibberJobber.com as an interview preparation tool.  Login, then go to Interview Prep, where you can record the answers to those questions.

Networking is supposedly how you are going to land your next gig.

What if it just doesn’t work for you??

Read her post here.

Her points include:

Walk in (to companies).

Have someone call on your behalf. Much better to get an introduction than try a cold call.

Spread the word. Talk to everyone “who likes you!”

Use the call-email-call-call strategy. I haven’t heard of this before but I like it!  You’ll need a good job search CRM like JibberJobber.com to organize and manage this!

Send more than a thank-you note after an interview.

If someone else got hired, call the hiring manager. I LOVE THIS.

If networking not working from you, my experience tells me you aren’t doing the right things enough.

Read her post here to get her entire viewpoint.

How do you succeed in a video interview?  Alyssa Martino wrote a post titled How to Not Screw Up a Skype Interview on Brazen Careerist.  In her post she has three sections, each with valuable gems to succeed on video:

Tend to the Big Picture talks about body language, colors to where (yes, it is important!), where to look, and what to have in your background.

Silence is Golden talks about cutting out distractions, like chat clients and cell phones, as well as any noises that might come from other family members or pets.  She suggests you even put a sign over the doorbell so people don’t ring and ring.

Expect Technology Hiccups talks about what kind of connection to choose, using Skype before you do the interview to be familiar with it, and having a Plan B (another laptop).

I’ve done many interviews, and here’s the bottom line.  You can wing it with your responses, and with your technology.  But, just as you might say something off because you haven’t prepared, you may have some glitch in your presentation or your appearance or your technology, and that can be distracting enough that people don’t listen to your message and your substance.

Don’t let poor preparation get in the way of successfully getting your message across.  PREPARE!

Gavin Redelman wrote a great post on Recruiting Blogs titled Preparing for the Job Interview.  He tells a story about one candidate who beat out nine others, mostly because of the way he closed the interview.

Please take a few minutes and review Gavin’s post.  At the end of his post he has 10 bullet points that can act as a template to help you prepare for your interview.

Go, now… and prepare better.  Be that one that wins, not the nine that are edged out!

I personally think these types of questions are ridiculous (depending on the job).  There are books on weird questions “to be ready for.”   But many of these questions don’t necessarily get to the heart of your capabilities, or history (which can determine future success).

When I was interviewing I was so frustrated at the lack of sophistication of the interviewer.   I had gotten some training on interviewing well, and had videod a mock interview, and was ready to do a good interview, and then the interviewer didn’t know what he/she was doing.

The good news, then, is that you can have more control in the interview, and perhaps drive it to better places.

This means that you don’t just answer the questions at face value.  Create more of a conversation.  Tie stories into your answers, and refer back to those stories to showcase your skills.  Stand out, don’t just follow the interviewer.

Of course, you need to be careful to not be obnoxious and pushy, but don’t be passive.