Thank you but no

If you are looking for a job for a while now you probably heard this a lot then : “Dear…. Your skills and qualifications are so great, you are definitely number one. However, you most certainly don’t suit this position. We will let you know if any openings will arise in future…”, and they never come back.

It is very hard to stay positive at most of the times while looking for a job when redundant, specially, when all you hear is constant and loud “thank you, but NO”. Continuous anticipation of rejection can lead to the false believing that there is something wrong with you or your personality. Be sure it is not true! There is nothing wrong with you or with your personality. There 100 mil small details that may or may not influence your interview or CV screen check such as: today mood of HR persons, weather, or something as complicated as your nails or your knowledge in comparison to theirs.

I would like to share with you few examples from my personal or stories that I heard:

1) I passed successfully 3 stages of very difficult interview to big corporation. However, something went wrong and I was rejected on the fourth stage. I called HR asking to find our more details. That is what she said: “You are very good for the job. You have strong profile, etc. However, manager of this particular department feel you would not suit this job in his department. Again, you are very good for the job, but not for this department…” The only way I could interpret this – it was something personal that lady, who was interviewing me didn’t like. In fact HR called me later to ask me to go through interview to the same company, same job, but different department.

2) My friend was looking for new person along with his boss to his team. There were official requirements to the job, however, manager of the department had his own extra criteria that candidate had to match. It was need to be a man (because there were all girls in the department, so boss wanted to mix the crowd) and he need to support manager’s favorite football team. In fact new person was not as strongly skilled as some (females and males) candidates; however, boss is a boss.

3) One of the lad, who passed interview very successfully was on his way out from the office. When secretary asked him “which of the jackets is yours” he said “the one that is the best one”. Of course, guy was just joking. Unfortunately, potential employer didn’t share his scenes of humor and rejected him.

4) I passed one interview to the company of my dream, and thought I was getting closer…. However, they didn’t call me back again. As I found out later they decided don’t hire new person and just transferred work to different country.

Looking for a job it is hard process weather you have been made redundant, or simply can’t find job you like. Don’t get disappointed in yourself when you start to receive all those NO from potential employers. Because you never know all reasons for rejection, there is no point to blame yourself. Being rejected at interview or on CV screen it is just part of the process. The more you send CV the higher chance you have to win lotto called “new job”.

Please share how are you facing NO.

The hardest interview in my life

I have experience of being interviewed as well as interviewing. Usually the process is straight forward – there is set of standard questions that normally asked, you simply prepare the best possible answers and make sure to cover it all in interview. Of course, there are some tricky questions as “what is your biggest disadvantage? Or why do you think we should hire you?” Answers for those questions should be found in the job description itself. Basically your task is to show your potential employer that you suit job perfectly. At the final stage of interview process it will all come down to weather you have established connection with your potential employer or not.

However, my last interview to one of the IT Company was the most difficult interview in my life. The difficulty was that employer built up questions from my answers and was looking for more and more details on every statement I was making. At the end of the day I didn’t get a job, I am not sure what the reason was exactly. Nevertheless, there are few key points that I picked up from that experience:

1) Be prepared! Even though I did my homework before interview there were some tricky questions like: what you want to do in 5 years? Why you want to do it? What do you think this job will involve? What expectation you will have from that job?....
2) When you are answering question make sure that you are answering true and you would be able to explain any detail of your answer. For example: I did training on one of the sales techniques and the question was please describe what this technique all about. Because training was nearly 4 years ago, I barely remember about it. In this case it is up to you weather you want to go along and try to remember and explain or just simply say – Sorry it was so long time ago, I simply don’t remember- which is also good option.
3) Don’t say too much, simply answer the question. If you will go in too broader answer you are risking ending up with too many questions that could be difficult to answer.
4) Try answering in sort of directive/navigate way – to make sure you are asked questions you want to answer. This is very hard to do on practice, however with lots of preparation possible. For example: I was doing training on one of the sales techniques few years ago and remember perfectly what it was about. Even more, I finished it with distinction. It is a good time to mention that I finished training and end result was marked. Be sure, question – what was your grade will follow, that will give you extra opportunity to shine!

I absolutely encourage you t o share your interview experience! Just write me...

The best interview tip

Ability test as part of interview process

While passing interview to one of the multinational or financial companies you may find yourself at the stage of interview that would be conduct in the form of ability test. This test is designed to test your initial ability to comprehend information and basic of logical thinking. Usually it consists from two- three parts.

Part number one is verbal test. You are given information in the short texts which follows by set of true/falls/not given questions. Sometimes it is very tricky, because questions that are by logic needs to be true or falls simply not given in the text. To answer correctly it requires careful reading. Although when I was passing this test it was 30 min for 60 questions, which is 15 texts to read. The best advice would be – try to read as much as possible and fill in answers even if you haven’t finish reading.

Part two is numerical test. Don’t be scared since only basic understanding of graphs and tables problems would be required. Again time would be too short, so don’t try to solve all problems. Those which require a lot of calculations or thinking can be solved at the end.

Third part is logical test. It will test your ability to logically see consequence and dependency between figures shown. I didn’t had this part of the exam, but it is always better to be prepared to everything.

The best web site that I found in order to prepare to the ability test is:

http://www.getsmartfirst.com/Numerical_Reasoning_Test.html

Remember for different positions they have different minimum pass score. Although taking this test without preparation may be difficult. Most of the questions and problems in proportional tests and real ones are alike. Knowing how to solve problems will give you required speed so you can perform better.

Four tips for thank you cover letter

Thank you: Start your letter from thanking for interview, their time, or possibility to be considered for this job.

Express Your Interest: Convey your interest in and enthusiasm for the company and the position for which you interviewed. Try to be specific about why you are interested and how you are a good fit for the team.

Address Unresolved Points: If during the interview you had feeling that some of the issues were not resolved or interviewer was questioning a lot about one subject. Letter is a good time to address those questions that you feel you did not fully answer. This letter is your last chance to make a positive impression on the interviewer.

Reiterate Your Expertise: If the company communicated its specific needs, issues or challenges, use your thank-you letter to demonstrate how you can meet those needs. Or you may simply talk through one more time about your key skills and key successes at previous job that relate to the new position.

Six Rules to Follow When Asking for Feedback

1. Be sure to relay your disappointment in not getting the offer and say that you would be interested in interviewing if anything opens up. Emphasize that this company is still your top choice.

2. Politely ask if there is any feedback that would help you improve your chances in your next interview. Was there anything in particular that could have helped your chances of winning the job offer?

3. Listen carefully to any advice and take notes. Do not argue or defend yourself. You are asking for feedback, not a chance for a rebuttal.

4. Keep your discussion short. Ask one or two follow-up questions, and then end the conversation.

5. Thank your interviewer for the feedback and the chance to improve your skills. Reiterate that if another opening comes up, you would be interested in interviewing.

6. Take the advice given and think about changing some of your techniques to improve your next interview.

If you can't get feedback, try rating your own performance. If you feel you could improve your skills or style, prepare and practice so you can go into your next interview with renewed confidence. Remember, you can learn and improve from every interview experience, whether or not you receive feedback.

10 Interview rules

In the current job market, you'd better have your act together, or you won't stand a chance against the competition. Check yourself on these 10 basic points before you go on that all-important interview.

Look Sharp.
Before the interview, select your outfit. Depending on the industry and position, get out your best duds and check them over for spots and wrinkles. Even if the company has a casual environment, you don't want to look like you slept in your clothes. Above all, dress for confidence. If you feel good, others will respond to you accordingly.

Be on Time. Never arrive late to an interview. Allow extra time to arrive early in the vicinity, allowing for factors like getting lost. Enter the building 10 to 15 minutes before the interview.

Do Your Research.
Researching the company before the interview and learning as much as possible about its services, products, customers and competition will give you an edge in understanding and addressing the company's needs. The more you know about the company and what it stands for, the better chance you have of selling yourself. You also should find out about the company's culture to gain insight into your potential happiness on the job.

Be Prepared.
Bring along a folder containing extra copies of your resume, a copy of your references and paper to take notes. You should also have questions prepared to ask at the end of the interview.

Show Enthusiasm.
A firm handshake and plenty of eye contact demonstrate confidence. Speak distinctly in a confident voice, even though you may feel shaky

Listen.
One of the most neglected interviewing skills is listening. Make sure you are not only listening, but also reading between the lines. Sometimes what is not said is just as important as what is said.

Answer the Question Asked.
Candidates often don't think about whether or not they actually are answering the questions asked by their interviewers. Make sure you understand what is being asked, and get further clarification if you are unsure.

Give Specific Examples.
One specific example of your background is worth 50 vague stories. Prepare your stories before the interview. Give examples that highlight your successes and uniqueness. Your past behavior can indicate your future performance.

Ask Questions.
Many interviewees don't ask questions and miss the opportunity to find out valuable information. Your questions indicate your interest in the company or job.

Follow Up.
Whether it's through email or regular mail, the follow-up is one more chance to remind the interviewer of all the valuable traits you bring to the job and company. You don't want to miss this last chance to market yourself.

It is important to appear confident and cool for the interview. One way to do that is to be prepared to the best of your ability. There is no way to predict what an interview holds, but by following these important rules you will feel less anxious and will be ready to positively present yourself. Good luck

Avoid at interview

There are some things you want to avoid while going through interview:

- answers that are too short (they want to hear that you are fantastic person, the best candidate... don’t be shy, talk about beloved you)

- answers that goes like: hmmmm, hm, let me see, hm... (just be prepared)

- being negative (the best way to be positive, even when you don’t feel like is to smile)

- providing more details or information than is required (sometimes it is better to shut up instead of saying something not appropriate)

-becoming frustrated or uneasy when asked stressful questions (come down, nobody is going to beat you. if you are not getting this job, there is next one for you)

- making derogatory or negative statements about former employer or positions (if you talk bad about your last company, you may talk bad about this company... so you would want to be positive. If your previous company didn’t pay you all your money, you may want to say - you had contradictions in the money issue)

- discussing salary information or benefits (you want to show that you respect company's policies, even if you no longer work there)

- misrepresenting your skills, experience or educational background (don’t talk about what you don’t have, they can check it)

Getting interviewed

Going to interview does not mean receiving a job. I remember myself going through experience of rejecting when deal was almost in my hands. Competitions is very high at the moment and having two identical candidates for the same position company may choose the one who was in blue shirt, just because lady, who was interviewing, likes blue. It does not mean that you have to prepare less for the interview or try to wear always only blue shirt. The more options you have to choose from the better it is for you.

If you have only one potential employer in mind and doing all possible to get that job, you still may be lucky at the end of the day (since you put a lot of effort there), but more usually you have great risk to be rejected. Maybe because your almost desperate strong desire to get exactly this job can look a little bit suspicious. Or simply someone else will have more experience in this sphere then you do. The best advice in this case will be just keep on sending you CV everywhere, even if you have scheduled two interviews for this week. Numbers will play its game. What is more important - you will feel more confident knowing that even if you will be rejected for this job, you are about to go to other interview where you might have a bit more luck.

Going through the interview

1) The better you are prepared to the exact company interview process the better it is. It does not take long time to answer possible interview questions with as many life examples of your past work experience as possible. Take your time answering main questions listed above, so that you know what to answer and don’t panic while interview.

2) Have a lsmall talk before starting interview. Ask few general questions, or state a comment, like: The weather is nice/bad today. You have a nice office (it is better don’t say anything if you don’t like the office), or it was easy to find you, good location. Avoid too personal questions or talking about too personal information, like boyfriend, when was the last time they did exercise, or you look lovely. It may scare a little bit people you are talking first time with. You want to look professional. This small conversation is the way of establishing relationships. And it is very important since during interview people will feel more relaxed, friendly, and interested to listen to you.

3) Make sure that you are clear about your own interests and goals. It is important to talk through interview about your strength and ideas to support your interest in this particular job and its particular job tasks.

4) Know your Cv and be prepared to cite specific examples that verify the information listed. In case you have adapted your CV to specific job descriptions, be sure that you talk about the same CV during interview.

5) Talking about your past experience mention details, such as: your last company name, name of the certificates, particular examples, etc.

6) I bet there is no need of talking about the way of dressing. Remember that first impression is the strongest one. In 5first min/seconds people get impression about you and then it is almost impossible to change it.

Interview questions

There are a lot of typical interview questions you may find in the internet, but they all separate in groups:

1) Questions about your potential employer (It is easy to get company information by simply typing name of the company in google and then “About us”. You do not need to know smallest details of the company’s history, just some basic stuff – what is their main business, their values, resent news. Remember you don’t want to know more about company than person who interviews you, but you are expected to know some common things.)

2) Questions about your past experience (Here you want to be more specific in giving examples from your past work life. There are many types of questions about you, but mainly they ask – what is your biggest failure/mistake , and what is your biggest success/and how you achieved it. Be careful talking about your mistakes. It is understandable that everybody has his/her failures, what really matters is what you learned from it and how you managed situation/resolved problem created by mistake. Try to think about your working experience when you converted negative into positive. E.g. I lost tender. I learned = I should listen to the client more. I did = continued to keep in touch with client and we won a part of the deal after all.)


3) Questions about job (Usually they sounds like “why we should hire you? Why you think your skills suits the job?... Here you would want to study job description and answer questions based on that. For example job says – every day task is customer support. And then you say – I love working with people, helping them to solve problems. You also may want to think about example to support your answer, like I used to work with that client and she came back because of good relationships we had. Think about your specific strengths that are correspond to the job description. Or if company you are passing interview is big, they may want to ask specific examples from your past work/life experience where you showed similar characteristics as they set for themselves as company’s mission or values. E.g. describe using innovative way to solve problem? How you motivate yourself?)


4) Strange questions (Those questions are designed to see how you react under stress. It does not matter how strange your answer is, as long as it is sounds logical and you can state your point clearly. Examples of those questions are: Why hatch cover is square shape?)

5) Questions to the company (It’s important not only answer the questions but also ask questions. This way you show that you interested in company and job generally. Don’t ask how much you are going to pay me? Maybe more appropriate would be: would I be paid? (I am joking). Seriously the questions would be: what is the structure of the department? What is the biggest challenge of my department?...and etc.



Here are list of link where you can find more quistions to prepare to the interview:

http://www.bradleycvs.co.uk/interview/list-of-interview-questions.htm

http://www.job-interview.net/

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interviewquestionsanswers/a/interviewquest.htm

http://www.cvtips.com/job_interview_questions_and_answers.html

Ways to look for a job

1) Well there is one good way to look for a job – use Internet. Today there are a lot of local and international web sites that would offer you good services. You may check monsters, cvjobs, job..... Every country has its own set of the web facilities. Due to increased demand on job openings (sometimes it is getting up to horrible numbers like for 50 jobs around 4000 CV) you may want to apply every day or at least regularly. It will be around 200 CV you send before getting any respond that would look like invitation to the interview.

2) Volunteering. At first it may sounds weird, but it is actually a great chance to start working, or continue getting experience. You may choose volunteering job for the big companies who are often doing so called “internship” programs, or being volunteer for some charity organization doing office based tasks, that would be under your qualification or close. In this way you will get new experience, keep yourself busy, and meet new people.

3) Attending sport classes. One of the great ways to find a new job is to ask your friend about it. Not every company is hiring, but those who are would rather prefer taking somebody who they may potentially trust (e.g. recommended person from the favourite employee). So you may want to consider be outside of home as much time as possible. You never know where you can meet new friend at the bus or at metro? Attending sport classes (or basically any classes) help to establish friendly relationship with new people even more easier (since you are together in a small room and it is so nice to talk just about everything). New friends, old friends, you may want to let them all know about your situation. Of course they are not going to do your job, but at least may help with directions.

4) Cold calling. This means direct approach to the companies. Not everybody can do that. But it includes calling to the HR managers directly asking for job. Don’t be scared to hear “no, or she/he cannot answer your call, send a message” Probably those poor HR who are still employed continue to receive so many calls every day.... The other way to do it is to print your CV and come directly to the company asking to see HR manager. He/She probably would not meet with you, but at least you will have direct email and tel number and next time could reach him/her personally.

5) Walking. I was very surprised to find that some of the shops puts “Help wanted” at their doors. Who knows, maybe your favourite shop would offer you a job.

6) Art and craft. This is one of the way to find at least part time job for yourself if you are good at art and craft. There are always people who want to have something special for themselves, it is good if you can provide it.

The list may go on... Be sure that you put your CV to as many places as possible (to your local gym, hospital, kinder garden...) you never know who may hire next time but you would want to make sure they consider your application.