Interviewing is difficult for every single job-seeker going through the process- it can make even the most confident candidate feel nervous and stressed.  Part of my job as a recruiter is to ensure candidates are completely prepared for their interview, in order to eliminate some of those negative feelings associated with the process.  Part of our coaching at The Execu|Search Group includes going through the toughest interview questions and the best way to go about answering them.  I think two questions that pop up really tend to cause the most trouble, but they are actually the easiest to prepare for!
 
The first is not really a question, but more of a request- “Tell me about yourself.”  It’s so open-ended that it often leads to candidates providing the wrong information or giving long-winded answers.  It’s actually a pretty simple thing to handle if you take some time to prepare.  The interviewer is not looking for information regarding wherre you grew up, what your hobbies are, etc.- they want information regarding to you as a candidate for this job.  They also want to see how well you communicate.  Job-seekers should prepare a two-minute synopsis of their educational and professional background.  Basically, it’s an oral summary of your resume that allows you to explain your experiences more thoroughly, while demonstrating your personality and communication abilitities. You can use the opportunity to highlight occasions where you really excelled or when you overcame a challenge, solved a conflict, etc.  Just remember to stay on-track and be yourself while answering.   A little bit of practice with a friend beforehand could really help!

The second question that seems to stump candidates is “What is your biggest weakness?”   Interviewers do not want to hear the usual answers of “I’m such a hard-worker, I border on being a workaholic” or “I tend to take on too much work and struggle with saying no.”  These are not true weaknesses and may sound contrived.  They also do not need to know that you procrastinate, tend to run late or have a messy desk.  These are actual weaknesses that can put you out of the running very quickly.  The answer to this question should be based on something that is obvious from your resume.  The interviewer has already seen your resume and has probably already decided what your weakness is relative to other candidates.  So you should use this opportunity to turn your relative weakness into a strength.  Don’t have a Master’s degree in a profession where it’s pretty common-place?  Tell the interviewer about your quick climb up the ladder due to your natural ability, dedication and experience.  Jumped around a lot from job to job?  Use this opportunity to acknowledge that and explain the reasons why you did move around and emphasize how you are looking for a company where you can stay for years to come.

 
Interviewing can be intimidating, but there is nothing that you can’t prepare for!  Take the time to plan out and think about your answers and practice them out loud, and you will be ready to nail any interview!

  Katie Niekrash
  Director- Healthcare

“It’s not what you achieve, it’s what you overcome. That’s what defines your career.” – Carlton Fisk

The Career Quote of the Week comes from Carlton Fisk- a former Major League Baseball catcher who played for 24 years with both the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999. 

We believe that his quote applies to all occupations- not just to athletes. The unemployed should also find motivation from this quote, knowing that overcoming rough patches is what eventually distinguishes a career.

We’ve already told you that Execu|Search is on Twitter- but now you have a way to follow all of our Tweets at once! We have created a “Twitter List” that aggregates all of our Twitter accounts:

    http://twitter.com/ExecuSearch/execu-search-tweets

As a recruiter, I am often asked for interviewing tips.  While there are many factors that are out of our control in a job search, I truly believe that a positive attitude is the key to success.  Having an optimistic outlook will help you find the job you want!

Every day I meet and speak with new people and the ones that I remember are not always the people with the most impressive background, but rather the people with the most impressive attitudes.  Your experience and your qualifications are not something that you can change, but your personality and your demeanor are factors that you can control!  Think about it, who wouldn’t want to work with someone with a great personality who is going to get along well with everyone at the company and make a positive contribution there?

While I am a very positive person myself, I know that this does not come as easily for most people.  So these are my suggestions on what you can do to take control of your attitude and get the job you want now!

• Smile. Smiling not only makes you feel better, but smiling on an interview can make your interviewer feel good as well. It can hide those nerves and as they say smiles are contagious!
• Dress the part.  When you look good, you feel better.  Wearing a suit is always best for interviews, not matter who you are meeting with it is always better to be overdressed than underdressed.  Pick out a special outfit for your interview!  Lay it out the night before and be prepared.  You don’t want to be unhappy with your appearance because it’ll definitely affect your mood. 
• Get excited Channel your nervous energy into excitement.  View every new situation as an opportunity!  You never know who you are going to meet or what is going to happen in the future. When people are excited about interviews they tend to do better.
• Be enthusiastic. It is important to be and stay enthusiastic throughout the whole interview, even if you hear something you don’t like it is always better to get an offer and turn it down than to leave with a bad impression.
• Stay Positive. It is inevitable that you will not be successful in every interview.  Even if your job search takes longer than planned, do not give up!  If you become bitter it is not going to hurt anyone but yourself.  It is imperative to believe that you will find the right job! After all, like they say “seeing is believing.” No matter what, do not give in to negativity.

The right job is out there and eventually you will find your perfect match. While many of these tips may seem obvious, you will be amazed what can happen if you actually put these into practice how much better you will feel and as a result how much better you will do!

    Becky Garson
    Executive Recruiter – Healthcare

Whether you are looking for work or you are back to the daily grind at the office- organizing your tasks and work space can help you efficiently achieve your daily goals. 

FACTS:

• 

  The average American wastes almost an hour a day (12 weeks/year) looking for things they know they own but can’t find, reported – Newsweek Magazine
• The desk of the average white collar worker holds 36 hours of uncompleted work. That desk’s occupant spends 3  hours per week sorting piles to find and organize the project/s being worked upon. -The Overload Syndrome, by Richard Swenson
• Sales reps in a survey were most productive when they assigned themselves only three tasks per day. It gave them a greater sense of accomplishment when they were able to cross off those tasks. – Accountemps
• Being more organized can also save you time and money and helps to prevent stress.

Tips to Getting Started

1. Make a to-do list. It may sound elementary, but this basic form of organizing thoughts and tasks can help you stay focused and achieve more over time. Everyone has different ways of creating a to-do list- so whether you write it all down, keep it on your phone, or create a list on an organizational site such as Evernote, it doesn’t matter- just get your goals organized in priority order! According to MindTools.com, if you use To-Do Lists, you will ensure that:

• You remember to carry out all necessary tasks
• You tackle the most important jobs first, and do not waste time on trivial tasks.
• You do not get stressed by a large number of unimportant jobs.

2. Sort and Separate. Have a bunch of papers or books or items that just keep piling up? Sort and separate them into groups based on how you would mentally label them- whether your labels are “Home, Work, School;”  “Budget Sheets, Best Practice Guides, and communication;” or anything else- just make sure that the groups make sense to you. Now either file or compile these items in separate containers, so that you can easily find what you are looking for.

3. Organize your computer. Try to get files off the desktop—they are visual clutter. Reserve your desktop for the files you access every day. Create folders in your Documents folder to encompass a range of files: Recipes, Events, etcetera. Create categories and subcategories that make sense to you. Set up files for your e-mail inbox and sort e-mails after the first time you read them- this way you won’t waste time reading the same e-mail over and over again just to remember what it was about.

4. Think Long Term. The best way to keep track of longer term goals, projects, and future events, is to have a calendar that is frequently updated and easily accessible to you. Your to-do list may include items that will take you longer than a week or two- so make sure those “due dates” are on your calendar, as well. We suggest using Google Calendar (see these great Google Calendar organizational tips on Mashable), a calendar that you can access on your phone at all times, or a daily planner that can function as your to-do list and calendar all in one.

5. Throw it out! Clutter buster Mia Lotringer gave the following advice on WebMd.com:“Go through your items quickly and make snap judgments—that first inclination is generally a good one. Then repeat the process. Often, you will find more items that you can live without. If you are holding onto something in case you ‘might’ need it in the far off future, get rid of it! You can always buy whatever it is when you actually need it. (If you are a business, throw out all tax papers older than 11 years; individuals can safely throw out all financial papers older than seven years. Do keep birth and marriage certificates, social security cards, driver’s licenses and passports, along with the deed/title to your home, homeowner’s insurance in a safety deposit box or in a fireproof lock box and/or with copies with the family lawyer/financial advisor.)”

It only gets easier over time

Fortunately, according to the National Association of Professional Organizers, “once you learn good systems, habits, and tools, change becomes easier, as does bouncing back from an unexpected detour or period of feeling overwhelmed.”

New York, October 2009- The Execu|Search Group has established itself on various social media sites in order to connect with job seekers in the City of New York and Tri-State Area. Adding to a 20+ year track record of innovation and excellence, The Execu|Search Group is one of the first regional recruitment firms to launch a social media initiative to assist job seekers.

Utilizing multiple Twitter accounts, a Facebook fan page, LinkedIn, and a company blog (blog.execu-search.com), The Execu|Search Group interacts with job seekers and career people alike, sharing the latest career-related news, job seeker tips, and up-to-the-minute job opportunities. The Execu|Search Group believes that staying on the cutting edge of technology is necessary to success in the recruitment industry.

“With more job seekers turning to the internet each day for networking and job opportunities, we are pleased with our online presence- particularly on social networking sites,” said Edward Fleischman, CEO of The Execu|Search Group. “It allows us to interact and assist them with their job search in ways that were not possible just a couple of years ago.”

Social media is just one part of the innovative online resources The Execu|Search Group offers job seekers. Earlier this year, The Execu|Search Group website was listed as one of “The 20 Best Job Search Web Sites” by PCMag, one of the world’s best-known publishers of leading technology-based digital content products. Links to all of the company’s social media profiles can be found on the company’s website by visiting www.execu-search.com/socialmedia.

The Execu|Search Group has been one of the City of New York and the Tri-State Area’s leading recruitment, temporary/consulting, and retained search firms. Since opening its doors in 1985, the firm has grown to service several practice areas. Headquartered in New York City with branch offices in Purchase, NY and Bridgewater, NJ, recruiters at the Execu|Search Group specialize in practice areas including: Accounting/Finance; Architecture & Engineering; Financial Services including Front Office; Graphics; Health Services: Allied Health, Healthcare, Physicians; Human Resources; Information Technology, and Office Support.

For more information regarding The Execu|Search Group’s website and social media efforts, please contact Stephanie Urban at (212) 204-5123, or via e-mail at surban@execu-search.com.

Charmin toilet paper is seeking 5 highly motivated “Charmin Ambassadors” to work the public toilets of Times Square this November & December. The ambassador will be greeting people in the public restrooms and encouraging the bathroom-users to “enjoy the go” by using Charmin toilet paper. Job duties include using Twitter, Facebook, blogging and other social media to get the word out about Charmin how the NYC bathroom-visitors react to their Charmin toilet paper.

This may not sound like the best holiday job to some (considering the working atmosphere), but The Proctor & Gamble brand is offering each Ambassador $10,000 for their time and their Tweets over the course of a month!

Applicants must apply in person, explaining why they “enjoy the go” more than anyone else. Visit:

Would you consider applying? Why or why not?

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle

Today, MSNBC covered a story on slackers using Swine Flu as an excuse to get out of work. The poll that they linked to, “Would you consider faking swine flu symptoms to get out of something?” has yielded the following results so far:

• 70 out of 1274 respondants admitted to already using Swine flu as an excuse!
• 232 admitted to considering it in the future
• The majority, 76%, consider it a serious issue

Where do you stand? Would you ever use Swine Flu as an excuse to get out of work?

Yesterday Barack Obama was asked a very interesting question by a young boy: “Why do people hate you?” This is how the president responded:

Whether or not you are one of the “haters” that this young boy was referring to, there are some career lessons for to take away from President Obama’s response:

1. “You’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. Some of it is just…politics.” Almost everyone has to deal with some sort of office politics. The best way to do so, is by staying level-headed and not letting it effect your work.

2. “You get some of the credit when things go good, and when things are going tough, then…you’re going to get some of the blame- but that’s part of the job.” This does not only apply to the President’s position. When you take on more responsibility at work, you will be responsible for dealing with both the positive and negative outcomes of your efforts. Learning to deal with criticism is essential to making improvements to your work.

3. Being able to think on your feet is a priceless job skill. President Obama took a tough question and was able to answer it honestly without coming off overly defensive. Whether you are on a job interview, or you are in the work place, being able to think under pressure will get you far.