I’ve written a lot about The Great Job Hunt from the hunter’s perspective. How to target the job and shoot true are vital components to bagging a job because one never wants to go on The Great Job Hunt without being armed and ready. But, let’s look at The Great Job Hunt from a different perspective, from the perspective of the game, in this case known as, “The Employer.”
What do prospective employers see when faced with a multitude of faceless job hunter resumes? How does The Employer decide which great hunter will score an interview? What kinds of questions do employers ask when the hunter sits across the desk, all locked and loaded ready to snag the job?
Every now and then, I come across books that really deliver value. Recently, I discovered a wonderful book that gives job hunters an inside look at the thought processes of prospective employers and what motivates them to, “Pick me!” In the book, This is How to Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want, author Andrea Kay interviewed hiring managers and asked them one question: “Why didn’t you hire the last ten people you interviewed?”
The answers were unexpected. The overarching answer wasn’t that the applicants were lacking in skills or experience, but hiring managers based their decisions upon how applicants seemed during the interview. If an applicant told too many personal things, it seemed like the applicant would talk too much on the job.
I talk a lot when I’m nervous. Oops.
Typos on a resume make you seem careless. Being late for an interview makes you seem unreliable. Kay writes, “Before you walk into the interview room, think about how you’d like to be remembered after you walk out.” Applicant behaviors before, during, and after an interview absolutely affect job offers.
I had one very qualified job applicant not get a job because of her behavior after the interview. After the interview, my candidate did not realize she was standing outside the open window of the hiring manager while she talked on her cell phone in the parking lot. Her use of off-colorful language made her seem like she’d be rude to the company’s clients.
An interview is an evaluation process and everything about you is fair game, from your appearance to the very way you speak. This is How to Get Your Next Job actually helps to put the right words in your mouth. For instance, instead of saying you have good people skills, say instead, “I put people at ease,” or, “I speak and write in a way that makes it easy for customers to understand what I mean.” That’s an awesome replacement for, “I provide excellent customer service.” Don’t you think? I’m going to use that!
There are several great components to This is How to Get Your Next Job, including a “Would You Hire You” test, and “20 Things You Should Never Do.” Number nine is saying, “I won’t do that!”
I’ll make sure not to do that!
Job-hunting is just that—it’s a hunt, and it can be scary out there. The outcome will be determined by preparedness, awareness, and tenacity. Remember, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. So, load your hunting arsenal, wipe on the bug repellent and let The Great Job Hunt begin! What’s your best job hunting strategy?
