Are Employers Trying to Trick You In the Interview? Helpful Answer to a Popular Difficult Question

Are Employers Trying to Trick You In the Interview? Helpful Answer to a Popular Difficult Question

 

There is a lot of advice about how to ace the job interview.  The book, How to Reinvent Your Career, lists many helpful tools, site links and examples to help with this.

One of the main things that employers want to find out is if you are a positive person that has the ability to overcome challenges.  Jobs.AOL.com had an interesting article about how to answer questions about your greatest weakness.  Some may look at these questions as tricks in order to get you to say something negative about yourself.  Others may look at these types of questions and answers as a sort of game.

Jobs.AOL did give some good advice about how to handle these types of questions. They suggested that it might not be a good idea to say your greatest weakness is that you work too hard.  They also thought it is not a good idea to say you don’t have any weaknesses.  So how do you answer this without looking weak?  They suggest, “Pick a real weakness from your occupational tool set that you know has no bearing on the job you are interviewing for. The interviewer will acknowledge that you were honest with them, and will likely consider your “greatest weakness” to be meaningless to him. You should also mention that you are studying or taking a class to improve in this area. For example, a computer programmer might say that she wishes to improve her public speaking skills and is attending Toastmasters for training. By including your plan for overcoming this “weakness,” you have actually turned your answer into a pseudo-strength: You recognize your faults and set a plan for self-improvement. A very good quality.”

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Career Mistakes: Are They Really Mistakes?

 

When considering a career move, people often find themselves paralyzed, worrying about making a mistake, causing career-suicide.  Most of us have probably made some choices that may not have worked out the way we intended.  However, looking back, much of what we learn through our mistakes actually may be excellent learning experiences that help us with our next job.

In Ross Hamilton’s 1951 book For Humans Only, he wrote the following line:  We extract from life just what we give it . . . so with each mistake replace the divot.  You don’t have to be a golfer to grasp his point.  If we make mistakes in our life, we need to make amends and move forward.  In case you hadn’t guessed, this line came from my father.  He felt that we shouldn’t dwell too much on past mistakes.

You can’t change decisions you’ve made previously but you can do your best to take what you have learned and grow from those experiences.  Even if you have a job that doesn’t last very long, you might make some excellent contacts that could help you with the next position.  Those contacts may open doors that you may not have even considered.

If you over-analyze every decision you’ve ever made, you’ll drive yourself crazy.  It may be best to look at disappointing career choices as learning experiences and realize that they may very well lead to something better down the road.  Lamenting over the past or over things which you have no control, is a time waster.

Instead, look forward to the choices you have now.  It can be helpful to write down the foreseeable pros and cons of any choice.  This will help you visualize opportunities and threats associated with each alternative.

If you feel trapped in a career that you chose when you were young, it may be time to change.  Perhaps the degree you were interested in when you were in your 20s no longer fits with your passion.  You may need to consider going back to school to update your skills.  It’s OK to admit that your interests have changed.

With the new year around the corner, many people are thinking about making a fresh start with their careers and their lives.  What can you do differently to make this year better than last year?  To truly be successful, having goals is important.  I often recommend that people do a personal SWOT analysis to help them realize what they have to offer and what they need to work on.  If you have never look at your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, I suggest doing so as part of your plan to improve your new year.  To find out more about a personal SWOT, click here.

Additional Resources:

10 Ways to Market Yourself as a Product to Get the Job

 

The following is from Anne McCauley’s article  for CareerConnectors.net.  To see the whole article and the 10 step process that was discussed at this meeting, go to the article by clicking here.

Do you feel overlooked by prospective employers?  Maybe you are and could consider Marketing Yourself as a Product.  This week at the Gilbertevent Dr. DianeHamiltonspoke to more than 100 job seekers about ten ways to market yourself to get the job.  Dr. DianeHamiltonis the author of several books including How to Reinvent Your Career and It’s Not You, It’s Not You It’s Your Personality.  If you missed her presentation, borrow copies of her books from the local library; her presentation was based in part on her books.

Click here for the information from Dr. Diane Hamilton’s talk.

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Have you Googled Yourself Lately? Why LinkedIn and Google are Important for Your Job Search

If you are looking for a job, you probably have looked at getting on LinkedIn and some other social networking sites.  If you have created a LinkedIn profile, it should show up on Google’s search engine. 

In some recent talks I gave to job-seekers, I asked my audience if they had Googled themselves.  Surprisingly, not as many people as you may think have done this.   In my book, How to Reinvent Your Career, I discuss the importance of Googling your name to see what it displays.   You can be sure that employers will do this.

It is nice that search engines like Google can help people find you.  One way to help improve being found is to be on LinkedIn.  There are other benefits to being on LinkedIn. According to a recent article in WSJ.com, “One of the least recognized aspects of LinkedIn, says founder Reid Hoffman, is the fact that it allows people to help other people.” I personally like the Q&A feature of LinkedIn for this reason.  Not only can you ask a question, but you can offer your expertise and help others. 

According to Hoffman, Linkedin is an important part of the career search.  I agree.  He also asked an important question: “There are millions of other people out there. What do you do to put yourself in the right place for people to find you?”

I often give advice for things you can do to be found.  LinkedIn is high on my list.  However, if you are interested in finding out more ways to be found, check out some of my career videos. 

How to Get a Job by Understanding  Emotional Intelligence

How to Get a Job by Utilizing a SWOT Analysis

How to Get a Job by Utilizing Camtasia and Powerpoint

How to Market Yourself by Using Social Media

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Be Your Own “Dream Career” Advocate, Reinvent Your Social Network

Phoenix AZ—November 11, 2010— Guidance is a powerful thing and an important thing to seek from all sources when considering career change.  In her new book, How to Reinvent Your Career, Dr. Diane Hamilton does just that. She guides her readers through the process of self-promotion, something truly essential for landing that “dream” job.

Dr.  Hamilton has been advising her students regarding career opportunities for 5 years. She wants them to be marketable, relevant to the times and ultimately successful.  However, this isn’t any job hunt. This is a reinvention. Readers are using Diane’s tools to find complete job satisfaction.  The number one rule is when interviewing for a dream job is to understand the ability of how to show prospective employers   the benefits (not to be confused with features) that you offer.

Dr. Hamilton points out that Linked-in.com can be thought of as the Facebook for professionals. It is a way to get “connected” or “linked-in” with people online.   New users can create a profile showcasing their unique abilities and strengths. Some may see it as an online resume but it is so much more than that, as it can be tailored to emphasize your strengths and assets and be used to interact with potential connections.

“Networking is not contrived cocktail parties anymore,” says Hamilton, “The future is online—and that should not be a scary place. To stay current, you have to create your ‘brand,’ the heart of your profile, online.”

Once the profile is complete, it’s time to connect!  It must be continually updated to obtain the maximum benefit.  Just joining is not enough.  You must actively participate for optimal success.  Anytime a user gathers someone’s business card, it is crucial to connect with him or her the next day.  Linked-in is a way to keep a database of people who could be mutually beneficial contacts for the duration of the user’s entire career.

For job seekers Linked-in is partially about staying current, but most importantly a way to show not only skills but benefits: the total package. When changing careers it is vital to self-promote, showing that you are more than a set of skills but an asset to the team at that “dream job.”

“Link-in” with Dr. Diane Hamilton: www.linkedin.com/in/drdianehamilton

PR Contact:
Rebecca Crowley, RTC Publicity
646-619-1178
rebecca@rtcpublicity.com


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