The Interview Edge

If You Were the Hiring Manager, Would You Hire You?

Seriously!

Take off your candidate’s cap and put yourself in the role of hiring manager.

Start with your submission materials – your cover letter and resume. Try to look at them objectively – as if you’re seeing them for the first time. As if you are unfamiliar with the candidate.

Is the person you’re describing someone you’d want to interview?

Do you sound interesting? Unique?

Are your materials full of empty statements, or do you back up what you’ve written with quantifiable information? Do you tell a complete story, or are chunks of it missing?

Interview Regrets: That’s Not What I Meant to Say!

Sometimes interviews don’t go as well as you’d like. Your nerves get the better of you – or you’re fatigued, or a little under the weather. You slip up. We’ve all been there at one time or another.

• Your mind goes blank for a minute and you fumble an answer.
• You’re not as articulate as you should be – and therefore fail to make an important point you wanted to convey.
• You inadvertently make a misstatement or omit information.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. A mis-step does not necessarily mean all is lost. Remember, it was one aspect of an entire conversation. And even if it was a crucial point, it doesn’t mean you can’t come up with a “save.”

(Whatever you do, don't dwell on the fumble while you're interviewing. Maintain focus. Move on. )

Jobs Report: The Song Remains the Same

According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data, the economy lost 20,000 more jobs during the month of January.

The unemployment rate dipped slightly to 9.7% - which you might think was a good thing. Unfortunately, though, that was due to a shrinking labor force (the number of people who have given up looking for work increased sharply).

The bigger headline was the significant downward revision of the number of jobs lost since the recession began, plunging from an already dismal 7.2 million to 8.4 million.

Ouch.

The number of people who have been unemployed six months or longer increased to 6.3 million.

Bottom line: a whole lot of jobs have to be created – and there’s not much hiring going on right now.

Led Zeppelin had it right: The song remains the same.

Jobs are Number One

The President was here in New Hampshire Tuesday speaking at a town hall meeting; he reiterated the theme unveiled a few weeks ago that jobs “will be our number one focus in 2010.” I don't know about you but I'm wondering why it took so long to come around to that point of view.

Refreshingly, he did mention small business – which we know is an important driver of the economy. However, the proposals being floated in the so-called jobs bill aren’t likely to have much impact. Worse, the spending ultimately may do more harm than good.

For example: $30 billion intended for banks to lend to small businesses. Most agree that lack of capital at the banks isn’t the issue…rather, it’s a dearth of creditworthy borrowers, along with the fact that businesses are spooked and don’t want to bite off loans just now.