Interview Preparation Coach in McKinney

Interviews are nerve wracking for most of us. Part of the reason for this is the fact that interviews are unnatural in the first place. Think about it. How often do you walk up to a person in the street, a perfect stranger at that, and they ask “so, tell me about yourself?” Many of us are quite uncomfortable boasting about or selling ourselves, and once you add on behavioral questions to the mix, well, forget about it.

Happy First Week of MLB Baseball! Before you read this post, I would like to preface it and emphasize networking is about connecting with people. One of the best ways to connect with people, especially when you are first trying to meet them, is to find and speak to commonalities. What, in essence, do both of you have in common? Whether your went to the same school, grew up in the same city, have a similar contact in common, watch the same sports, or enjoy the same hobbies, it’s easier to speak to someone about a topic, issue, or activity of similar interest. With that in mind, your initial focus should be speaking to a commonality, then the relationship will grow from there.

I’m sure you are a wonderful person and you would bring great value to our newly minted relationship. You have a lovely profile and I can see you’ve established yourself quite well in the LinkedIn community….

“You say pot-A-to, and I say pot-AH-to.  You say Tom-A-to, and I say Tom-AH-to.” – Louie Armstrong, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off

There they are again…those clichéd words in ALL their glory. Yep, it’s almost a guarantee…centered somewhere underneath work experience on 80% of the 10,000 resumes you receive per job posting is some version of the keyword “leadership.” And on the other side of the resume is someone trying to convince you their fancy title in some student organization, their contributions to their work, or their efforts in a professional association is, by dictionary terms, the definition of “leadership.” And some of them use impressive words and action-oriented statements to convince you to give them a chance by dedicating even more of your time in an interview.

Most of LinkedIn is easy to set up. You can cut and paste your resume into the Education and Experience sections. You can even attach videos, presentations, documents, and website links to the various settings to further showcase your work beyond mere words.

There is nothing I would like more than for all of us to have the Happiest of 2018.  It seems year in and year out there is much to be discouraged about as we reflect on each year, and the truth is to create a truly Happy New Year, we often have to start with ourselves.  In 2017, I was honored to have coached many clients, and noticed common practices that created and maintained happiness in their lives.  I also researched many articles, books, and videos on best practices towards meaning and purpose, and believe if—instead of sticking to New Years resolutions we rarely keep—we incorporate any one (or more) of the following practices into our life, we will be more satisfied and fulfilled.

There is nothing I would like more than for all of us to have the Happiest of 2018.  It seems year in and year out there is much to be discouraged about as we reflect on each year, and the truth is to create a truly Happy New Year, we often have to start with ourselves.  In 2017, I was honored to have coached many clients, and noticed common practices that created and maintained happiness in their lives.  I also researched many articles, books, and videos on best practices towards meaning and purpose, and believe if—instead of sticking to New Years resolutions we rarely keep—we incorporate any one (or more) of the following practices into our life, we will be more satisfied and fulfilled.

This is the third and last blog in 3-part series titled “Stop Giving Me Answers and Start Telling Me Stories,” which discusses storytelling in the interview. The first blog on Tell Me About Yourself can be found here. The second, on “What is Your Greatest Strength/Weakness,” is here.

This is a second in 3-part blog series on storytelling in the interview and how telling stories, instead of giving answers, to increase connection between interviewer and interviewee, which could culminate in a greater likelihood of an offer.  To read the first blog, click here.  

I love entertainment.  It doesn’t matter what kind–movie, theater, TV, streaming, music, or book. Part of the joy, for me, is the shared experience.  Whether you are laughing at the same jokes in a theater or discussing the show you just binge watched on Netflix, there is a commonality with others that unify you, even if for a brief moment in time.

At the core of this entertainment is a story.  It could be grandiose and multifaceted, specific to a distinct moment in a person’s life, or a character study.  In whichever form, we often connect to a main character in the story.  Whether we cheer or jeer for them has a lot to do with how we relate to them, and we relate more to these performers when their emotions, background, or experience aligns with our own.  For example, most of us connected to Riley, the main character in Inside Out, because we went through growing pains and lost a little of our childhood in the process, just as much as we relate to Red, the Morgan Freedman character in Shawshank Redemption, because we have been at the point of giving up before being given a new reason to hope.

Another reason we feel connected to these characters is they have strengths and flaws we recognize as our own.

All these forms of entertainment are filled with multiple storylines.  These stories either maintain our interest or make us hit the delete button.  It keeps our interest when it brings a new perspective or freshness to a common theme.  It loses our attention when we’ve seen or heard the story before.

For this same reason, it’s important to be sincere in your answer to “what is your greatest strength.”  If you try to give an answer based on what you want the employer to hear, versus what is true and authentic, you will end up telling the interviewer something they have heard a thousand time before.

So much for standing out.

The same goes for “what is your greatest weakness.”  Everyone knows the formula.  You provide an example of a quality or characteristic you have had to work on, tell the interviewer how you improved it, and conclude with how you have applied it since.  

This is a tried and true strategy to answering these questions, but it still needs a face lift.  The face lift comes from you and the story you are able to weave. 

So, tell a story.  Don’t just tell me what your strength or weakness is, but tell me when you used it and give me the evidence.  Make me relive it with you from beginning to end.  

For example, for the strength question, instead of simply mentioning strong active listening skills, I have told some version of the below:

No one said job searching was easy. When we actively look for new opportunities, experts say it can take up to six months to secure a position, ESPECIALLY when we know what we want to do. In fact, people are more likely to get a new job or career when they are not looking (mostly through established networks and relationship management skills) than when they are physically searching. This becomes more and more common the more mature we get in life, where jobs are found through others instead of on job boards.

There they are again…those clichéd words in ALL their glory. Yep, it’s almost a guarantee…centered somewhere underneath work experience on 80% of the 10,000 resumes you receive per job posting is the heading “Leadership Activities.” And on the other side of the resume is someone trying to convince you their fancy title in some student organization, their contributions to their work, or their efforts in a professional association is, by dictionary terms, the definition of “leadership.” And some of them use impressive words and action-oriented statements to convince you to give them a chance by dedicating even more of your time in an interview.

Career Coach in Dallas, Most recruiters find the objective brings little value to your resume and can often hinder your chances for an interview.

Free coaching advice on leadership, careers, interviews, business best practices, job search and more through the Career Renovation blog.

There tends to be a correlation between higher morale and happiness in the workforce with greater productivity and dedication to the company. The problem is many organizations think feeding employees meals or putting a ping pong table into a common room will make them want to work longer hours and be more committed. These quick trick “fixes” rarely resolve underlying issues. If you don’t speak to your staffs’ values, it won’t take long before you lose them, whether physically to another company or emotionally/mentally in the form of effort they are willing to put forth for you.

Even though it’s been more than a 15 years since I worked in the entertainment industry, I still have an affinity for movies. Every year, as a hobby, I try to catch all the movies that received academy award nominations in the top categories of Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress.

Today alone, between a one-on-one meeting, two coaching sessions, a Katy Perry interview, and friendly work banter, I heard “The Word” (I am calling it “The Word” in this blog) over 300 times… 

As you very well may know, thank you notes are an incredibly important part of the application and interview process.  Yet, still only 25% of candidates send a thank you.  Worse yet, most people who send thank yous do so in a quick email.

“I hate my job.”

Some of you may be fortunate enough to never have thought or recited these words.  Many others of you think or say it way too much.

What may or may not be shocking is the job itself is rarely the cause for concern.  The everyday tasks and duties, the money you make (no matter how much you make), along with increasing responsibilities, even as the professionally gets better skilled at it, are not at the core of why people complain.  Many people, in fact, enjoy the work they do.

However, upon reflection, and exit interview after exit interview at company after company, three things continue to pop up as reasons why people are unhappy in their job.  They are:

The Boss
If you don’t like your supervisor, chances are you aren’t going to like your job.  Whether he or she is narcissistic, micro-managing, elusive, credit-stealing, or harassing, an uncaring or ineffective leader can be detrimental not only to your professional growth, but to your morale at an organization as well.

For me, that defines the ideal lifestyle.  And I’m not talking about throwing the scalding coffee down my throat as I rush out the door or downing the glass of wine because I need a reprieve from another stressful day.