Question: The Job Search

Thanks for sending me your questions about job search. Here’s just a sample of what you’re asking:

“I’m a career changer having a tough time finding a job in my new field of interest. Do you think that a headhunter will be willing to work with me?”

Headhunters (more politely known as recruiters) will not work with career changers. They will work with individuals who have a proven track record of success in a specific field or area of expertise who want to move up their career ladder. They know what they want, why they want it, and stand a pretty good chance of getting it. They’re articulate, appropriate, grounded, self -aware individuals who are open to opportunities that further their career. They’re realistic about salary, benefits, are willing to relocate, and are highly competitive in their field. Above all, they are persuasive in their ability to describe their feature-benefits to the recruiter, as well as to the company’s hiring authority.

Headhunters aren’t apt to benefit career changers or job hunters who need help in positioning themselves, describing their strengths and abilities, and identifying the appropriate direction for career satisfaction. That’s the work of career coaches and counselors.

“Are employers still checking references?”

Prior to September 11^th you’d be correct if you noticed that fewer employers were checking references. It took considerable time and money to get employment history from former employers who had gotten skittish about providing it. Since the events of September you can expect that background checks will be conducted like never before. Here’s what that means to the average job seeker: Tell the truth, whether it’s on an application, resume, or in an interview. Omission or fabrication, even if discovered after a hire, could result in termination.

“I’m responding to want ads on the ‘net. Should I attach a cover letter along with my resume?”

A cover letter enables you to sell yourself to a prospective employer. You can promote your strengths, skill sets and describe your enthusiasm for doing a specific job for a specific company; information that’s inappropriate if included in the resume. Should you attach it? Absolutely.

“How should I allocate my search time? I’m spending most of my time on the ‘net, checking out Monster and responding to ads. I’m not getting the responses that I want and need. What am I missing? Help!”

Most of your search time should be dedicated to networking. Here’s why: In good times and particularly in bad, the majority of available positions are found through the “hidden” market.

Here’s why: Key positions open when people with critical skills leave their companies without warning. Other positions open when, after a major layoff, more people leave than expected, creating a critical need that must immediately be filled. These employers would rather not advertise openings for reasons that are probably apparent. Instead, they ask key insiders to quickly and discretely find the right people to get the job done.

That’s where your networking strategy comes into play. The greater the number of people you contact, the greater the likelihood that someone you meet will know directly or indirectly of an opening that matches your skills and abilities.

You need to work smart. It takes a considerable investment in time and focus to be an effective net-worker. Meeting dozens of people at back slapping and card swapping gatherings may satisfy your extroverted needs but it won’t leave a lasting impression.

Here’s a method that works: List people you know and respect who know people who hire people. Meet briefly with each person to outline your search and establish your value as a candidate with a proven track record. Describe your strengths and skill sets in ways the listener can understand (no insider tech-talk, jargon, and acronyms) and ask for help in generating additional names of people to contact to further your search. You’re not asking for jobs or special favors. You are asking for assistance because you (honestly) value their insight and intelligence.

What goes around comes around. Please be there if a neighbor, friend, or a former colleague calls for your career advice. That’s just part of what it takes to be a “community.”

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Preparing for an Interview

What are three things you should know before heading out to an interview?

Know about the company.  Know why you want to interview them.  Know why they ought to interview you.

Let’s get down to basics. Do your homework before interviewing. If you’re short on time, check the prospective employer’s web site. If you have the luxury of more time and the company’s track record is good enough to merit space in business journals, go there. Read for information that describes their core business and business strategy; where they’re going and how they intend to get there. The company’s providing you the information you need to interview intelligently by asking good, relevant questions.

Why interview with them? Where’s the match? What can they offer you that reinforces your strengths and furthers your professional goals?

Why should they interview you? Find out what they need and why they need it. Make your case by linking your experience and expertise to the challenge they present and the direction they are taking. Organize your presentation around a proven track record of accomplishment.

What are three rules that every good resume writer should follow?

On average, a company representative takes about twenty seconds to review your resume. Therefore, keep it brief and on point, saying as much as you can in as few words as possible.

Outline the essentials without elaboration. Start with your current position and go back in time. If you did it before 1985, summarize it. Include three accomplishments for each key position you’ve held.

What are three common mistakes that interviewees make?

Talking too much, coming on too strong, saying too little.

Think through what you want to say, in advance of saying it. That’s called practice and verbose candidates aren’t apt to do it. Coming on strong typically results in over-promising and under-delivering. Saying too little leaves too much to the imagination, none of it helpful or productive.

What are three things the applicant wants to achieve by the interview’s close?

You want to have understood the challenges the company faces and how you can make a difference for them, going forward. You want to have made your case, presenting your track record of accomplishments as they relate to the position you seek. You want to have learned how working for the company can advance your career goals and objectives.

What are three things the interviewer wants to achieve?

You want to have conducted a fair interview; having given the applicant the same time, questions, and opportunity to present as you provided others. You want to have learned more about the applicant’s work history, track record, and potential to contribute than the application and resume combined would otherwise have told you. You want to have described your company, the position opening, and the challenges of both in a fair and balanced manner.

What are three mistakes that both interviewers and interviewees commonly make?

They don’t listen as much as they should, they don’t probe as much as they could, and they don’t create a safe environment that encourages a healthy exchange of information necessary to determine if there would appear to be a fit between the applicant and position being discussed.

Good interviewers are able to strike a balance between intimacy and formality. They know what to say, what to ask, and what combination is necessary to do the job right. They build in sufficient interview time to probe the unexpected response and respond to the unanticipated question. They realize that human beings are unique in presentation style even while sharing common skills and strengths. They value the differences by withholding premature judgment or award until they’ve had time to fully evaluate the individual relative to the competencies desired.

What are three reasons that applicants and organizations benefit from networking?

Each has opportunity to learn more about the other without jumping too quickly or rejecting an opportunity prematurely. Each begins with a level playing field, putting more emphasis on the job challenge and what it takes to meet it than looking for individual differences and exceptions. Each can present and respond with greater candor and less concern of rejection.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Question: What do I need to do in an interview?

Thanks for your calls and emails requesting information about the following topics related to job interviews.

What are the best questions to ask on an interview?

The ones that net the information you need to make a good decision. They’re the probing, open-ended questions that ask how, what, where, when, and why? They find what you ought to know and not always what you want to hear. They’re tough to ask and challenging to answer:

“Describe the employees who have been your most successful; and those who didn’t make it.” “Tell me about the boss’s management style and the people who respond best to it.” “How do you measure success in this company and who does the measuring?”  “Who’s going to tell me how I’m doing and how and when will I find out?”

What are three ruts to avoid while on an interview?

Being too eager, being too aloof, and being too sloppy. Over eager applicants talk too much, try too hard, and keep the spotlight on themselves instead of the positions they seek. They seldom ask questions and turn every question they’re asked into a soapbox for their candidacy.

Under eager applicants call themselves “laid back”. They say too little, slump too much, and generally project an “I could care less” attitude into the proceedings. There are too many “I could care more” candidates out there to take any time on this one.

Too sloppy applicants arrive late, act clueless, and look like yesterday’s lunch. They sit in the wrong chair, call the boss, “pal”, and answer their cell phones in mid interview.

What can you do about age discrimination if you’re in a job market that’s tossing people out who are half your age?

You can’t control an economy that’s firing more people than its hiring; or control an aging process that giveth more wrinkles than it taketh away. You can control how you respond to what’s happening, and like it or not, you’re measured by your reactions to the things you cannot change.  Pay attention to what employers want. They look for employees who are positive and optimistic.

They want problem solvers, not problem makers. They need people who can do more with less, who can streamline, expedite, deal with change and change at will. They need people who know that team players do more than just show up and that respect for diversity is more than a slogan. Being part of this work force is more than looking the part; you have to play the part, every day.

And that’s true if you fifteen or fifty-five.

What are some basics for good salary negotiation?

Knowing the lowest salary you can accept before you set foot in your first interview. That keeps you from taking a job that pays less than you can afford. “But they want me!” won’t pay the rent . “They promised me a big increase in 90 days” won’t put food on the table.

Once you land an interview, defer talk of pay and benefits until you’ve had ample opportunity to understand the challenges the company and your prospective department faces. Match your strengths to their needs, providing appropriate anecdotal examples that describe how you will add value to their business.

What should I emphasize when preparing my resume?

Brevity. Clarity. Truth. A resume is a fact filled summary of your work experience. It’s an outline of duties and responsibilities with an emphasis on significant accomplishments in terms that are quantifiable and measurable.

Organize your resume in reverse chronological order, reaching back 15 years. List those jobs that you held earlier (prior to 1986) without elaborating upon them. Select 24 lb. paper that’s white, off white, or gray; 12 pt. type, in easy to read font. The person screening your resume dedicates about 30 seconds to its review, so edit, then edit some more.

Go heavy on the action verbs (accomplished; established; leveraged) and easy on the adjectives (loyal, trustworthy, hardworking). Keep the emphasis on what you did and how you did it. A resume isn’t an advertisement or a marketing piece; it’s an objective presentation of your work history.

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Yes! You may use this article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts conducted seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Guide for Boomerang Parents Receives Review

The slow to no-growth economy and high unemployment rates have kids of all ages returning to their parents’ homes as they transition from college to work or from lost job to new job. Co-authors Joyce Richman and Barbara Demarest have been getting some attention for their guidebook, Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job, which they wrote to help parents deal with these times of transition in their children’s lives. Steve Sumerford recently reviewed the book in the Greensboro News & Record the title is Tips for dealing with kids who say, ‘I’m coming back’ and we’ve republished it here:

Tips for dealing with kids who say, ‘I’m coming back’

People all over the country are finding solace, encouragement and a passel of practical tips from a small paperback written by two Greensboro authors, Joyce Richman and Barbara Demarest. With decades of executive and career coaching between them, the pair teamed up to address a very timely topic, “boomerang kids,” a term coined a few years ago to describe adults, who, for a variety of reasons, have to move back in with their parents.
A recent CNN Money story reported that 85 percent of last year’s college graduates say they would move back home with their parents if they couldn’t find a job.

Question from a reader: What do I do if I’m left hanging?

Q: It is very frustrating and unprofessional to keep someone “hanging” after an interview and not inform them if they have the job or not. People want to work and want to know if they should continue their search. Over the past year I’ve been on at least two dozen interviews and several firms never informed me as to the status of their selection process. What’s your take on this?

A. Unless you’ve experienced both sides of the interviewer’s table, it’s hard to know what job applicants or hiring managers face when conducting a job search.

Companies can be flooded by responses to advertised positions. Many applicants produce work histories that have no obvious connection to the position posted. That doesn’t mean that people applying couldn’t do the job, but that their resumes don’t make their case for them. So, they are eliminated, often without a company representative writing or calling to say that they will not be considered. Like it or not, that is customary and acceptable.

This reader has gotten through the resume-screening portion of the search. He has landed interviews and has not received status reports from his interviewers. He should have. When a company representative invites an applicant to become a bonafide candidate there is an unwritten but professional expectation that each party will keep the other informed as to the level of interest one has in the other. That’s how it ought to be, but what do you do if the company hasn’t bought, ought?

Candidates who are interested in the job are proactive in advancing their candidacy.

What can they do to get the information they need?

Here are a few strategies that take the offensive without being offensive:

“Mr. Jones, this is Sam Ram. I interviewed with you on June 11th for the position of Senior Accountant. I am very interested in that position and would like an opportunity to speak to you at greater length. I am available Tuesday or Wednesday mornings of next week, at either 7:30 or 8:30 a.m. Which would be the better time for you?”

You stated your interest in the position and your availability for a second interview. There are no guarantees that Mr. Jones will agree to see you but you will get one of a variety of responses: 
“Sam, I’m glad you called. Right after you left our office the boss’s son stopped by and we offered him the job. You know how it goes. Sorry, Sam.”
“Sam, we put that job on hold. Didn’t anyone call you? Our sales aren’t what we hoped for and we’ve frozen all openings for the next quarter.”
“Sam, glad you called. Next Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. works for me. See you then.

What if Mr. Jones won’t take or return your calls? You’ve tried all times of the day and night and after several weeks and more than a dozen attempts later you decide to try something different. You send a self addressed stamped postcard with three requests for action: 
Sam, call us to set your next interview.
Sam, we’d like to hire you. Call us to talk specifics.
Sam, you’re a good man but we’re no longer interested in your candidacy.

Ask Mr. Jones or his representative to check the appropriate statement and return the card to you.

Manners, time crunch, and professionalism aside, most employers don’t follow up on interviews for two reasons: 1) they don’t have good news and 2) the recipient isn’t apt to like bad news. If hiring authorities are willing to take applicants’ time and energy to interview, they have an obligation to return the favor with the truth when they know it, straight up and without hesitation.

Candidates: if several weeks pass without response to your interview or follow-up calls, assume that the opportunity no longer exists. Their silence says more about how they do business than you ever wanted to know. Let it go and find something better.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada andEurope. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Taking Another Look at Relocation

Job Insecurity

Feeling insecure at work? Want some fear insurance? Make a plan. Everyone needs a strategy that’s ready to launch when necessary so that there’s no need to be afraid.

“What if I’m laid off? Who will take care of me? Who will help me?”

We get downright childlike when the “I don’t want to think about it” actually happens. It’s the grown up version of “I want my mommy!”

It’s understandable that employers and employees are spooked. Click on the news and there’s a story about cutbacks. Some unsuspecting folks learned of their imminent demise when reading the morning paper.

If the best defense is a great offense here’s a sound strategy that incorporates three initiatives

1. Figure out what you do best.
2. Write a resume based on a positive track record.
3. Network

Of the three, most people find that networking is their greatest challenge. They think networking means glad handing strangers and asking for jobs. That’s not what it is.

Targeted networking is meeting with like-minded people you know personally, who do work that is similar to what you do or want to do, and brainstorming ways and places there are opportunities for you to do the same.

During the course of the conversation your contact will ask you to clarify your career goals and to describe the kind of assistance you’re seeking. (If you’re not sure, you’re not ready to network). State outright that you’re not asking for a job or for them to find you a job. Say that you value their opinion (you shouldn’t be talking to them if you don’t) and are looking for ideas and suggestions of people to talk to or companies to contact. Then pay attention, take notes, and probe for more information when you hear something you don’t understand. Take it to the next level by making the calls your networking contact recommends. Repeat the process.

At the close of each meeting, ask for a business card and suggest a follow up conversation. Send a thank you note that highlights the gist of the conversation. “I appreciated your advice regarding _________ and will act on that immediately.” The more contacts you develop the greater likelihood that you will find the right job. Next initiative: resumes.

A resume writer, program, or internet site is only as good as the information you enter. You’ll need names and dates of colleges and universities attended and degrees completed; start and end dates of places of employment; names, addresses, and telephone numbers of places you’ve worked; job titles and responsibilities for each position you’ve held; and three accomplishments for each of those positions. I figured I’d get your attention with that last one.

Accomplishments: that’s where the rubber meets the road.  What did you do that advanced the company’s market share, introduced new products, streamlined processes, improved distribution, saved time or money? Bullet point, validate, quantify.

Shun the resume that ‘s overwritten, overblown, or overwrought. It doesn’t matter if a resume service or computer program cranked it out; your name is at the top. You, not spell-check, are accountable for how it looks and what it says.  Edit. Then give to someone else to edit.  Then edit it again. Next initiative: what do you do best?

“Tell me about yourself” is a popular question that causes otherwise articulate people to babble. They don’t know what they’re supposed to say or where they ought to begin.  Rewind. The questioner is really asking, “What do you do best?”

What you do best is what you most enjoy doing and want to do more. It’s when you’re most effective, it’s knowing where you want to go next and what you want to achieve as a result of having gone there.

Practice weaving your comments into an answer that takes no more than a minute or two to complete. Your reaction to that probing question opens the door to a purposeful exchange between two intelligent and informed people.

Now that you have a strategy you can listen to the news, read the paper, and get back to work.

Impression Preparedness

Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Interviews

We’re getting calls and emails from readers who have questions and concerns about layoffs. Here’s a sampling:

“With all this talk about layoffs, I’m so worried I can’t concentrate on my job. What can I do?”

The last thing you want to do is worry yourself out of a job. Change your unrealized fear from something you can’t control to something you can. Put together an employment emergency kit. Fill it with a financial plan, an updated resume, lists of contacts, and a personal inventory of strengths and work accomplishments. Then get back to work. That’s what your employer is paying you to do.

“What’s the difference between a merger and an acquisition? Am I safe in one and in jeopardy with the other?”

In business parlance a merger implies the coming together of equals. An acquisition suggests that the stronger (by whatever definition) has taken over the weaker. The true meaning and the outcome intended are in the minds of the players who cut the deal. Employees who are affected seldom know what that is. When are you safe? When you proactively direct and advance your own career.

“We’ve been laid off. None of us saw it coming and a bunch of us are angry and upset. If we interview now we’re going to blow it. We’ve got to find work, what can we do?”

Take advantage of your shared frustration and release your emotions with each other. The more you get out of your system, with safe people in safe places, the less apt you are to blow up where it’s not and when it isn’t. After you’ve finished venting (that can take a while) contact job seeker support groups in the area, where you can reframe your frustration into positive job search strategies.

“What three things do I need to know before I interview?”

There are more than three, but if I had to choose, they’d be:

Know what you do best and examples of when you’ve done it.

Know what you don’t do well, so that you won’t do it again.

Know what you’re looking for in a job (besides the money).

“What’s the difference between a strength and a skill? Which is more important?”

A strength is innate, a given, you have it without trying. You enhance your strengths by recognizing them (they’re not always as obvious as you might think) and expanding upon them. A skill is acquired. You learn it by study and repeated application. Strengths are immediately transferable, no waiting. Skills transfer, but may not be applicable. You need a combination of both. Proven success combines skills, strengths, and experience.

“How can you network if you don’t get out and meet anyone? I tend to be on the shy side and have never been a joiner. Help!”

You may not be a natural at networking, but you can learn the skills necessary for organizing one: Get together with like minded individuals (they like what you like and they’d go where you’d go, if you went anywhere). You’ve indicated that you don’t like to get out much. If you did, where would your interests take you? For example: If you were a reader, you would hang out in book stores, libraries, museums, and galleries. You would attend book reviews; book signings and book sales. You’d meet the people who attend, talk about mutual interests, and learn what they do, professionally. By describing your current job search you’d ask for suggestions of people you should meet and places you should go.

When you network with people who share your interests they send you looking in the right places.

“I’m over fifty! Who’s going to hire me?”

If you are emotionally and physically healthy, with a positive, energetic outlook, what’s not to like (or hire)? Companies are always in the market for stable, mature, nonjudgmental employees who know how to contribute to the workplace and come ready to work. What you may have given up in physical agility you’ve (hopefully) gained in wisdom and insight. As long as you don’t sign on as a contortionist in the circus, you’re a good bet as a new hire.

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Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, article in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

Deer in the headlights

Q: “I’m in my mid-forties. By now you’d think I’d have figured out how to get a job, but I’m still a deer in the headlights when it comes to interviewing. I review study guides, memorize websites, and I practice. I practice in front of the mirror, when I’m walking my dog, even on my commute to work. I think I’m ready, I go on the interview, and I feel like I did when I was in high school; frozen stiff while staring numbly at an expectant teacher, five essay questions, and 10 empty blue books. How can I get better at this?

A: We could dig deep for the root cause of your test taking terrors or focus forward and come up with a better way for you to prepare and present. I’m all for going forward, so here’s the good news: you’re older now and wiser. You’ve had plenty of life and work experience. You’ve been in jams and gotten out of them. You’ve succeeded and failed and succeeded again. You know that when you’re at your best you focus on what’s do best and enjoy most. That’s what you should bring to the employer’s table.

Employers aren’t grading you based upon what they know. They’re evaluating your fitness for their position based upon what you tell them you know. They want a match between what they need and what you provide. They’ll ask you questions about what you do and how you think; questions that ask you to respond in ways that are candid, decisive, and descriptive for you, not them. There are no right or wrong answers. Answer them as you are, not as you wish you were or as others wish you to be.

Practice for real, not for pretend. Employers won’t ask you to interview in a mirror, while walking a dog, or driving a car, so don’t rehearse that way. Practice with people willing to ask you questions and give you honest feedback. They don’t have to be professional interviewers; they just need to ask open-ended questions that cause you to think before responding. Here are some examples: Tell me about yourself. Why are you interested in working for us? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Why do you think you’re qualified for this job? How does this job fit into your career goals?

After each role-play, ask for candid feedback: What am I doing well and what might I do differently? When did my answers make sense and when did I go off track? When did I seem most confident and when did I lose my stride? Why would you offer me the job and why wouldn’t you?

Then make the necessary changes and adjustments in your reactions and responses, and do it again. Practice with a new partner, ask for feedback, adjust, and do it again. You’ll know when you’re ready for prime time.

Q: “I’m a real good talker. I’m not getting any job offers and my wife says it’s because I talk more than I listen. I hate to admit it but she’s probably right. Here’s my problem: I know what I’m talking about which is why I need to talk about it. If I don’t, how can I convince the interviewer I’m right for the job?”

A: Interviewers want to know what you think after they’ve had an opportunity to tell you what they want you to know. If you don’t listen to them and you don’t integrate their message into your response, they’ll think you can’t or you won’t. Manage your exuberance, exercise patience, pay attention to what they’re saying so when you do talk, they’ll listen.

* * * *

Yes! You may use this article by Executive and Career Coach, Joyce Richman, in your blog, newsletter or website as long as you include the following bio box:

Joyce Richman (www.richmanresources.com) has been specializing in executive and career coaching since she started her own practice in 1982. She works in a variety of environments including: higher education, manufacturing, sales, marketing, media, technology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, banking and finance, service, IT, and non-profit sectors. A member of the adjunct faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership, Joyce is certified to administer a number of feedback and psychological instruments. Joyce is a weekly guest on WFMY-TV and the career columnist for The Greensboro News & Record. She is the author of Roads, Routes and Ruts: A Guidebook to Career Success and co-author of Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job. A popular speaker, Richman conducts seminars and workshops throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Her coaching profile can be found at TheCoachingAssociation.com.

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