Ultimate Career
Career Worth Living For!
Interview Who?
Oct 13th
My wife and I just applied for a place in a kindergarten next year for my son who is just over 2 years old.
After submitting all the necessary documents, we were handed an acknowledgement slip which stated an interview date for my son 3 months from now.
Interview? A two year-old?
Interesting enough, just last month, I heard from a friend who brought her son to be interviewed at a kindergarten about her “ordeal.”
It was her son (2+ years old) who was supposed to be interviewed but it was her who was completely stressed out.
In fact, she got so upset with the interviewer she almost cried when he said, “Most children at this age should be able to follow my instructions without problems. But it seems that your son couldn’t.”
Such experiences are very real today. Competition is so keen that schools, even kindergartens, must institute a selection process.
But they beg the question, “What are schools for?”
In my mind, the mission of schools is to educate. This means that the a school would best serve its reason for existence when it manages to turn an “uneducated” student into one who is “educated.”
However, with all these selection and filtering processes, schools are taking in only “the best.” These are already the better lot and so, how much more education do they need to be excellent?
Look at it this way: It is a matter of “INPUT > PROCESS > OUTPUT.”
If a school can produce excellent output no matter what input it is given, then that is THE ONLY VALID indicator of the quality of the school.
Just like many parents are busy trying to impress the schools just so that their children can get in, most job-hunters will go to interviews thinking it is a one-way street – That is, employers are choosing them.
I beg to differ.
As I have always taught, an interview is a two-way street. They choose you and you choose them. There are so many employers out there, why should you work for this particular one?
My point is this: You should not be there to beg for a job. If you are, then you are putting control into their hands.
Remember that an interview is a business meeting to discuss a business problem. No business will hire if they don’t have a problem.
As such, you are there to provide value to help solve a business problem. Thus, employment, when it occurs, is a fair exchange.
This is one key reason why you MUST have questions to ask in any interview.
Coming back to the school topic, I’m sending my son to a school to be educated, not to be judged.
You can be sure that when I bring my son for his interview, I will have loads of questions for the teachers as well.
Are you crazy??
Jul 7th
Alright! Here’s the deal.
If you did a quick search on the Internet, you will find that
professional resume-writers in Hong Kong, Singapore and the USA
charge the following fee range for students and freshgraduates
(i.e. 0 to 1 year experience):
1. Resume Review US$129 (HK$1,000) onwards.
2. Resume Writing US$128 (HK$1,000) onwards.
3. Cover-letter Writing US$79 (HK616) onwards.
4. Interview Preparation US$179 (HK1,400) onwards.
And these fees do not include “express” (within 48 hours) and
“rush” (within 36 hours) service.
I think this is the reason why I received several emails after
sending out our resume-writing Summer Special over the past 2 weeks
all of which said something to the effect of:
“Are you crazy??!”
“Don’t you have to eat?!?”
I guess I am crazy to be offering such a low rate. But I do want to
help as many students as we can get a good start in their
job-hunting and career. This is our mission.
Incidentally, I did get emails from one lady repeatedly asking me
WHY do we charge for our resume-writing service.
Well, my answer is simple: If my team and I are dead (no fee = no
income = no pay = no food = dead), we can no longer provide any
benefit to you or anyone!
We do need to survive in order to continue with our work and that’s
why we charge. Much like why you pay school fees, doctor’s fees,
bus fare, hostel fees, etc.
So, here it is (with more stuff)!
“Resume + Interview Coaching” Special!
To upgrade your resume, simply email your current resume (with the
industries and jobs that you are interested in as well as your
strengths and interests/hobbies) to the Career Architects resume
dropbox resume@careerarchitects.com.
It will be reviewed and we will revert to you within 36 hours.
Using the Career Architects resume-writing service, your resume
will be RE-WRITTEN by one of our Certified Professional Career
Coaches or Certified Employment Professionals.
Our usual fee for students is HK$250.
Summer special HK$150 (i.e. 40% off)
Our usual fee for freshgraduates is HK$300.
Summer special HK$150 (i.e. 50% off)
Our usual fee for Interview Coaching: HK$880.
Summer Resume + Interview Coaching package HK$680
Send in your resume to resume@careerarchitects.com. Indicate
“resume + interview” in the email if you’d like to be receive
personal coaching on job interview preparation.
Offer ends 31 July 2009.
Gaps in your resume
Feb 3rd
While shortlisting potential candidates for my business, I often come across applicants with gaps in their employment history. These are periods during which they are not engaged in any work, business or employment and such periods always draw attention.
It draws attention because the employers will be thinking: “Were you fired?”, “Why didn’t you line up a job after quiting?”, “Why is it that you can’t land a job quickly?”, “Will your skills remain up-to-date and sharp?”, “Will you need more time to pick up work again?”, “Did you not get along with your team?”
When it draws my attention, I will certainly ask the candidate what he/she did during that period in an interview. Interestingly, the most common answer till date has been, “Oh, my mother was unwell during that period in time and I quit my job to look after her. Now that she is well, I decided to look for a job again.” The answer is usually given with a variation of a direct relative, usually father or mother.
While I do not doubt the truthfulness of such an answer, it lacks a punch. To turn your explanation of a gap in your employment history into an advantage, my suggestion is to make your answer more compelling by completing your answer with, “During this time, I remained connected to the industry and field of work. I kept up-to-date with industry (or professional) development via industry journals, books, associations, events, etc. and did freelance/part-time work in my field.”
To put the interviewer’s attention back to your suitability and away from the gap, always express, very proactively, your keenness to get back into the job circuit. Reiterate how you fit the job and company inspite of the gap and highlight the value that you will bring to the organisation and your readiness to contribution.
How would you interview?
Dec 29th
I have been discussing interviewing from the perspective of the interviewee (i.e. the job-hunter) so far. While preparing from this side of the interview equation is useful, it, alone, will not be complete.
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To interview flawlessly, consider what issues the interviewer in the particular company has when hiring and seek to address them. To do this, look at the job description and job requirements for a particular job you are applying to and put yourself in the position of the hiring manager (i.e. the decision-maker).
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As the hiring manager, wow would you interview the candidates?
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What would you want to know about the candidate?
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How would you decide which candidate is the right one?
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These are key issues that an interviewer will be concerned with:
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1. Can you do the work that I want done well?
2. Can you fit into my team and company culture?
3. Do I like you?
4. Can I afford you?
5. How can I motivate you?
6. Are you truly interested in this work in my company or are you simply trying your luck (and thus, wasting my time)?
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With these in mind, there are a whole lot of questions that the interviewer can ask or situations to put you through. For example:
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1. If you are a fresh-graduate, what activities did you participate in during your internship and/or summer? (this will show whether you are proactive or passive in personal development and community engagement)
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2. Do you have prior experience doing the work I want done? If so, how well did you do them? (Further questions may be asked to check and verify this)
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3. What accomplishments do you have in your previous job(s)? (Remember that employers will always look at past performance to predict future performance)
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4. What are your problem-solving and decision-making strategies? (these can be asked through situational questions or case studies)
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5. What questions do you have about the job and our business? (The questions that you ask will show your level of interest, your initiative and your understanding of the business. Many people claim to have initiative – but these same people usually don’t even know enough to ask the interviewer good questions!)
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6. You may be interviewed in several time in different locations.
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7. You may be interviewed several times by different people in the company (and they may vote on you).
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8. Why do you want to work in this company instead of the others? (Again, how sure are you? Or are you simply trying your luck?)
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I recently ran an job ad looking for Marketing Associates. I went to the extent of specifying that I’m looking for someone who is creative and thus would apply to the job in a creative way. I also took the trouble to say that I want resumes with a maximum of 2 pages. Still, I was disappointed and guess what? The most creative application I received was one with a very colourful resume.
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Think about it. How much does it take to standout from the crowd?Â
Why did I apply for this job?
Oct 27th
So, how did you answer the last question “Why did you apply for this job?”
I hope you have at least drafted some concrete answers that will speak of how you will be bringing value and contribution to the job and the company.
Elaborate on how well you know the business (products and services, customers, suppliers, target market, organsiation structure, culture, etc.) and the role (meaning what the person is required to do and the skills the person should have) and that your skills, passion, experiences fit in very nicely.
Talk about how you have decided on doing this kind of work.
Talk about why this particular company when there are many others in the market that you can choose from.
Talk about why this line of work is what you have passion and keen interest in and give a glimpse of what you hope to achieve in it for the company and yourself. Do mention your personal mission and motivation if it adds value to the conversation.
Of course, you can talk about how you wish to personally benefit from being part of the company and team but always put this last.
The key is: Always put the interests of the company or hiring manager first and your own interests last.
So, how about another very commonly asked question: Tell me what you know about this industry?