First Comment

The great guest posts continue to roll in here at Astron Solutions World of HR. Phone interviews can be some of the most stressful parts of an interview process since you can't actually see the person you are speaking to (and sometimes can't hear them well either). Alexis Bonari has a blog post today to help you ace that interview. Alexis is currently a resident blogger at College Scholarships, where recently she’s been researching arabic scholarships as well as tips on finding archery scholarships. Whenever this WAHM gets some free time she enjoys doing yoga, cooking with the freshest organic in-season fare, and practicing the art of coupon clipping. Here is Alexis' guest post:
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More and more employers and recruiters have started interviewing potential job candidates over the phone because it is relatively cheap, and can be done fairly quickly. If you are a recent grad student, then participating in a phone interview with a potential employer could be stressful and intimidating.
Because of this, it’s extremely important to take the proper steps beforehand to make sure you are fully prepared for a phone interview in order to succeed in your job search.

The first step in preparing for a phone interview is to make sure your cell phone is completely charged, and that you are in an area with excellent reception. (If you are using a land line then this shouldn’t be a concern for you).

It’s also important to make sure you are in a quiet room so there won’t be any background noise that will distract you as you are on the phone with your (hopefully) future employer.
You should also make sure your phone volume is set on high, and turn off any appliances, or even your TV or stereo, because they could act as potential distractions. (It may even be a good idea to place a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door as well, just in case).

The next step is preparing some notes of what you would like to say or bring up during the interview. Write down some questions or even points you want to make beforehand, and have a paper and pen handy so you can write down notes during the interview as well. Remember one of the benefits of a phone interview is that the person interviewing you can’t see what you’re doing, so take advantage of this and lay out pages and pages of notes and questions you want to cover during the interview.

Also it’s extremely important to remember to speak slowly and clearly, and try to avoid drinking, eating, or even chewing gum during the interview, as each sound you make is essentially magnified over the phone. So if the person interviewing you can hear you eat while you talk, they could find it offensive and be easily turned off by your phone etiquette.

To make your voice sound more loud and clear during a phone interview, be sure to speak directly into the phone, or even try standing up so your voice will sound stronger. Also try to avoid saying things like “um” and “er” because these habits are particularly noticeable on the phone. If you try smiling while you talk it will also make your voice sound more upbeat, and will ultimately leave a good impression with the person interviewing you as well.

If you are still feeling nervous and uneasy about a future phone interview, there is no need to be! Remind yourself that a phone interview is actually much less stressful than an in-person interview because your potential employer won’t be judging you by how you look or act, but by what you say. So as long as you prepare what you are going to say beforehand, your phone interview should be a breeze.

I'm sorry to have been absent from the blogging world for a while but I just recently entered the world of dog ownership (picture on the right) and the puppy has been occupying way too much of my time. But I'm back now and we've got some great stuff on tap for this week including a few great guest posts. The first guest post is contributed by Katheryn Rivas, who writes on the topics of online universities. She welcomes your comments at her email: katherynrivas87@gmail.com.
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A picture of little Jack taking a nap

We often read so much about how to prepare for the actual back and forth discussion part of our job interview that we don't actually get any advice about how to prepare for the logistics of going to a job interview. When I say logistics, I mean all of the details surrounding the interview itself. If you don't get these details right, they can seriously hamper your efforts to nail down that job. And in this economy, you can't afford to let the details keep you from getting a steady paycheck.

Anyhow, when you get ready to go off to your interview, take a moment to track down some of these logistical details. These may seem obvious and common sense, but you'd be surprised at how many people might forget these in the nervous rush of thinking about the interview. And, of course, good luck!

Plan Your Route

Before you leave for the interview, plan out the route you will drive to get there. Keep in mind an alternate route as well so that you can adjust where you go in case there is a traffic jam. Also, use a traffic monitoring system, such as the one on your GPS, or use the radio to get traffic updates.

Figure Out the Parking Situation

Next, you should try to figure out the parking situation at the place where you are interviewing. Some places have easy parking, while others will require you to get your parking ticket validated. Simply check with whomever helped you set up the interview for more information.

Where Will You Meet?

This is a pretty basic step, but it's still one that needs to be taken so that you can avoid some anxiety once you arrive at the office. Simply establish where you will wait or how you will meet with whomever is going to interview you. Should you wait in the lobby? Will someone come and get you? Do you take the elevator up? Establish the process here to save yourself some trouble the morning of the interview.

Know Your Interviewers

This is very important, as it will help you determine how to prepare for the interview. Know exactly who will interview you, and if you aren't sure, don't worry about asking. You should be able to look up your interviewers on the company website and learn about them and what they do and how you will fit into their vision for the company. Knowing whom you are about to speak to in an interview will help you feel less surprised; even though you'll just be meeting them for the first time, by knowing who they are and having some information about them, they will be a little more familiar to you.

Save an Emergency Contact Number

Finally, make sure you save the company contact number in your phone before you leave for the interview. If you have an emergency, you need to be able to tell them about what's happening so that you can reschedule. It's better to let them know that you're lost before the fact, rather than call afterwards to apologize and reschedule.

The last part of our links clean out is upon us...let's check out the links:

First from the New York Times was a very depressing article from May that talks about the new poor and that some jobs from our economy are never coming back: "Millions of workers who have already been unemployed for months, if not years, will most likely remain that way even as the overall job market continues to improve, economists say. The occupations they worked in, and the skills they currently possess, are never coming back in style. And the demand for new types of skills moves a lot more quickly than workers — especially older and less mobile workers — are able to retrain and gain those skills. There is no easy policy solution for helping the people left behind. The usual unemployment measures — like jobless benefits and food stamps — can serve as temporary palliatives, but they cannot make workers’ skills relevant again."

Also from the New York Times, an article about a service charging $400 per hour to get 20-somethings off their couch to be coached in finding jobs.

Next from the Boston Globe is some advice for the job seeker on trimming down a resume that is too long. It's something that makes looking at a candidates resume a lot easier.

Lastly, from howtonailaninterview.com is advice on, well, how to nail a job interview.

We start out on this Monday morning with 18 common e-mail mistakes from US News and World Report via Yahoo! Finance (H/T Sarah). I can tell you from the experience of receiving e-mails (in both my professional and personal life) that people hit reply all way too often when they just mean to hit plain ole reply.

Next, from FINS we have Goldman Sachs updating their interview tips via a nifty little video (H/T Wendy). The most important advice, in my opinion, is the last point: "At the End. Ask two or three questions about the company or about the interviewer's view of broad industry trends. Don't ask about salary and benefits. You'll have plenty of time for that once you get an offer. And, of course, e-mail a thank you note. It's a classy touch."

ABC News is next with some things not to do during an interview such as, well, bringing mom. Some of these are priceless.

Next, from USA Photos Pictures Blog is a list of the top ten worst jobs in the United States...with pictures of each.

Lastly, from SIFMA, a list of what the positions really mean in simpledetails.

Hope that everyone who was off yesterday had a nice day off and everyone who had to work didn't have too bad of a Monday. As we all exercise our ability to be part of this workforce, we can thank people like Martin Luther King Jr. and others who made this opportunity possible for us. Even those who are out of work can certainly take a day to reflect and that's the important part of holidays like yesterday.

HR.BLR takes it one step further and says that MLK Day should be an opportunity for workplaces to celebrate diversity and instead of talking about how we're all the same, talk about the unique ways in which we are different. Everyone brings something to the workplace and having diverse backgrounds is one way to help build a successful organization.

The New York Times has a story about some Starbucks workers in New York City who took the holiday to celebrate...and then to protest. If you're trying to argue for some sort of equality, MLK Day seems like a good occasion to do so, even for baristas.

Lastly, from the Boston Globe JobDoc, some advice on handling a canceled interview. Although this information is for the candidate, a lot of advice can be extracted for the interviewer in how they handle their interview cancellations.

Winter Cleaning! I have tons of great links to share with everyone that I will post here at the Astron Solutions blog over the next few days:

The first is from way back in May from ResumeBear and, with the national spotlight on the healthcare, they have a list of the healthiest companies in America.

From back in December about how young entrepreneurs are making their own jobs in this bad job market instead of waiting around to find one from the New York Times.

Then on to ABC News which has tips for interviewing and 5 tips that no one mentions. These are helpful hints not only for the job applier but for Human Resources as well.

Next, from this past week, some advice from TLNT on how you can avoid a people management fiasco at your company like the Juan Williams/NPR case.

Lastly, from FINS we have an article which states there's actually a science behind your employees blowing their bonuses.

Not exactly in the park, but it is a beautiful Saturday to be there and if you want some great links while you're lounging in the sun.

From ben's blog, some advice about the right way to lay off an employee. The steps? Get your head right, don't delay, be clear in your own mind about why you are laying people off, train your managers, be visible and be present. "After seeing their friends laid off, employees were no longer willing to make the requisite sacrifices needed to build a company. He said that although it was possible to survive an isolated layoff, it was hugely unlikely that a company would experience great success."

From ESPN New York, an interesting conflict between the New York Jets and a female reporter. The interesting part of this story has been the response from other female journalists who have been less than supportive of Ines Sainz, the woman who filed the complaint of discrimination and harassment.

Interview Tips has 20 ways to nail an interview with some hilarious videos of people who didn't come close to doing so (H/T Wendy). Number 16 may be the worst.

There are job reports out there, but finally there is The Hidden Job Report.

And lastly, some advice about what a company blog should look like from The New York Enterprise Report (H/T Jennifer)

Some good links on a HOT Wednesday for the resume and the interview:

The New York Times from back in February had some advice on writing a resume that shouts "hire me". Good advice at a time when so many resumes are being received--and they all look the same.

AOL's Barbara Safani (also of Career Solvers) wants to know if you're lying on your resume saying "it is critical that all information reported on the document is accurate and something you can back up with facts if questioned."

We go back to AOL and Safani for the toughest job interview question out there (what is your weakness?) as well as a few other tough questions and the best ways to answer them

The Staffing Advisor asks how you got all that from reading a resume and tells the story of a church committee rejecting Jesus Christ as a candidate

Lastly, FINS has some advice on making a good first impression and nailing your finance interview

Sorry we've missed you for a few days here at the Astron blog. In the middle of moving and that has been no fun. But I have some fun links for you to read over the weekend. Here's how to know it when you see it.

The first is from Career Solvers and is good advice for the job seeker on how to spot a job scam.

Next comes from The Recruiters Lounge and it's advice for a the interviewer of how to know if you're being lied to in a job interview...and how to counter it.

From Grub Street New York, word that the Gristedes supermarket chain's gender discrimination lawsuit is becoming a class action lawsuit--if only people knew what to spot beforehand..

Lastly, from the Examier, a very off-color way to answer weird interview questions. Not exactly PC, but shows how dumb some of the questions are when you see how you can answer them.

assertTrue( ) has a list of 9 question to ask during an interview on their website but I figured it would be a good idea to expand on their list of questions not to ask from the candidate and the interviewer. Here are 5 for each:

For the candidate:

1. Don't ask about time off. If you have a vacation planned after you're supposed to start the new position, there's a time and a place about it. But don't start your relationship with a hiring manager or human resource professional by talking about how much time you won't be spending in the office

2. Be careful about how you talk about your last/current employer. There are good reasons why you want to leave your job and then there are reasons that will send up huge red flags at your new company. Don't hide anything from them that they need to know...but don't start by talking about the body odor of your current boss.

3. Don't ask any question about the company you can find out on the website. There is a fine line between being interested about a company and finding out more and being lazy and just not searching the company's website before the interview. Actually, it isn't a fine line. Do your research before you step into the office.

4. Leave something non-essential off the resume. I feel that some question will come up that's best described by something that's not essential to be on the resume, but something which will describe you well. If you were president of an organization but that was years ago, you can talk about the initiative you took to climb up the ranks without having it as one line in a resume. Also, if there's something on your resume just to pad it, it may look like you're confused about your career path and/or using a generic resume. Don't do that.

5. Don't go in without any knowledge of who you'll be speaking with. Not everyone has a bio up on the website, but if they do, give it a little study. If they don't, ask the person who sets up the interview to tell you a little bit about who you'll be interviewing with. Eventually you'll get a chance to ask a question and you don't want to be totally stumped/totally unoriginal. If you've done the research into them, it'll pay off.


For the HR Professional/Hiring Manager

1. Don't be nervous. I guarantee the person sitting across from you is 100x more nervous that you are. If you're nervous, it'll make them nervous and make for a very awkward interview. Some people hate operating in this type of setting but you need to find a way to feel comfortable doing this.

2. Force the interviewee to go off script. Basically, don't ask only generic questions. Ask them something they will have to think about for a few seconds and show some creativity/problem solving skills in thinking. Maybe talk about a problem and see how they would solve it or ask them how they feel about something in current events relating to the job (or to something else). In one of my interviews for my current role, I spent more than half the time speaking about A-Rod opting out of his contract with the Yankees. It had nothing to do with the role, but it allowed me to show how I spoke, how I solved problems and my creative side. But most importantly, it forced me to go off script.

3. Read the resume before the interview. I've had way too many interviews where I could tell the person interviewing me had no clue anything about me. If you're expecting the candidate to be prepared and do research on the company, you should provide the same courtesy and do the minimal amount of research required to read their resume. It can also help you frame questions for #2.

4. Keep the interview moving. You're like the producer of a radio show. If the host or callers get off topic for too long, you're job is to move it along to the next step. Don't cut anyone off, but you can't allow an interviewer to just ramble. Part of any job is fitting what you need to say within a timeframe and this is great practice for it. Also, you don't want the interviewee veering into too many personal details, so keep it on track.

5. Know what the position requires. This seems like it should be above for "candidates" but I think this is just as important for interviewers. I had an interview where the job description, HR representative and hiring manager all gave me a different shpeel about what the position required. There's no easier way to confuse a candidate than not being all on the same page. I was asked about certain licenses that had nothing to do with the job and the HR rep thought I was wholly unqualified by the time she got done speaking with me, when, in fact, I had all the requirements listed on the job description. It's not considerate to the person being interviewed.

Hope those are some good hints. I figured it was a few non-obvious Dos and Do Nots for the interviewer and the interviewee.

About six months back, I had to do my first interview for my new company. One of the things that I was surprised about was the rigidity in which I was supposed to do this. The candidates would only be meeting with me for an hour of one-on-one time before I passed them off through the three other interviews they had set up for them. Not only that, Human Resources instructed me to come up with certain questions that I had to use for every candidate.

That didn't quite sit well with me. All my best interviews that I've either been the interviewer or the interviewee have been free-flowing conversations that allow the candidate to show their true self. I've spent hours interviewing at times. The Astron interview certainly comes to mind here. Jennifer and I spoke for what seemed like hours. It allowed both her to learn more about me and me to learn more about her and the company. One interview for my current job, I walked in and the interviewer, having read my resume and realizing I was a sports fan, had an article on his screen about Alex Rodriguez from the Wall Street Journal, pointed at it and asked me what I thought about the situation. Later he told me the point was just to see how I communicated and presented myself. But he allowed me to get into a comfortable zone by starting the interview off like that. We still got to the important/mandatory/obligatory questions, but we started out on the right foot.

My feeling is that when you have rigidity in interviews, you make people answer questions they've already prepared for. Surprise them. One of my co-workers had to interview potential managers to be his boss. He would ask all of the potential managers during the interview: "what if I wanted to come in late every day?" One interview I was in I was asked to tell a joke. Another, I had to shout something at the top of my lungs in a crowded room of interviewers. The point is not to embarrass people but to see their creativity, their ability to think on the spot, and also to avoid getting answers they've practiced in front of the mirror many times and don't reveal their true self.

I'm not saying don't ask: "what is your greatest weakness?" but be willing to follow up on that. If someone goes "I'm a perfectionist, to a fault" make them elaborate and give examples. If the interviewer asks where you want to see yourself in five years, give an answer and then turn it around and ask them where the want to be in five years or if they ended up where they thought they'd be five years before. Engage. Be willing to push from both sides of the interview. Ask the other person "if you weren't working here but could be doing anything else in the world, what would you want to do/where would you be?"

I know, I know...to seem fair and that you're not discriminating between candidates, you can't deviate too much from interview to interview. But the last thing you want to do is judge each candidate based on a set of canned questions. Make them open up. Even just a little. You will have to work with this person if you hire them; it would be a good idea to see a little of who they really are.

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And with that, I'm out of here for two weeks. I'm heading to the Land Down Under. I will try to get some blog posts in from down there, but can't promise anything. In the meantime, Jennifer and the rest of the Astron crew should be taking over for me here. So, trust me, you're in good hands :)