How Do I Get Hired With Minimal Job Experience?

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

The biggest assets you can bring to any job interview when you have little or no practical experience are your communications skills, your listening skills, your flexibility and your enthusiasm. The ability to communicate effectively, maintaining good eye-contact and asking questions concisely and in a focused manner, listening actively instead of passively, thinking ahead to what you are going to say next, and the personality and attitudes that you project to the interviewer are as important—if not more so—than a good academic resume.

At the entry-level, you are hired more on your ability to communicate effectively and the willingness to learn and accept direction with enthusiasm and flexibility.

Project Self-Confidence Through Your Voice And Body Language.

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

The word that most comes to mind to suggest to you to increase the effectiveness of your
presentation is ‘projection’. If you are naturally soft-spoken, a conscious effort to speak more forcefully will be helpful. This doesn’t mean shouting at the interviewer, rather it is about putting more energy behind your words—projecting.

You know what you can do; you have a storehouse of knowledge, the accumulated experience built over years in the industry, and if a potential customer asks you questions about how you do what you do, you have ready answers based on that foundation.

Imagine that you are going in to sell a potential, important customer on the benefits and advantages of using you, as if this is a company that you have identified as having great prospects for revenue for your current employer. You will be on your toes, ready to give it your best shot.

Sell the benefits of you: project the strength of your knowledge and abilities through your voice and body language. Employers respond to self-confidence and belief in what you can do. The best salesmen believe in the products and services that they represent.

Engage the interviewer’s imagination through holding their attention with a smoothly flowing narrative, focused on your proven track record: tell them what you have done with time-frames, results achieved and growth realized.

Facing the interviewer squarely, leaning toward the interviewer, holding their gaze, and using your hands to reinforce a point that you are making are simple techniques to put more power behind your words and the ideas you express.

If you project that confidence in who you are, why you are successful and give concrete
examples of your progress and achievements, you will go a long way toward convincing the interviewer that you are the one to hire.

Emotional Intelligence And Your Career Progress

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

Your ability to nurture strong relationships with other people up and down the reporting structure, as well as with outside parties is a key factor in your career progress. It is just as important to develop relationships, as it is to cultivate knowledge and produce results.

With mentors, someone has taken a liking to an aspiring individual, identified with them, and is motivated to see that the person succeeds in their chosen field. The best mentors challenge you to be more than what you are; to reach for new experiences, to improve your knowledge, skills, and abilities; stretching yourself to ensure that your potential is fully defined and developed.

Emotional intelligence involves the ability to empathize, discipline your emotions, and create bonds of trust with people who help you progress along your chosen career path.

It isn’t always the best educated, most experienced or most intelligent person who is chosen for promotion. The people who are promoted most often have learned the art of developing strong relationships with other people. The attitudes they display are positive, collaborative, and they attract support from people in positions of authority. Senior managers are human and are inclined to favour those with whom they’ve created a positive working relationship.

Self-Possession And Quiet Integrity Are Valuable Assets.

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

An interview is like travelling through a strange new land. You do not know the topography nor whom you can trust. What you can rely upon is simply being who you are, and expressing your values and principles. Your self-possession, sincerity and integrity will then shine through to whomever you encounter.

Your dignity and sincerity then colour your answers and questions and the interviewer will know that they are meeting someone with genuine self-confidence and be able to assess the fit without wondering if they are hearing the truth or not.

Share The Value Of Your Experience And Knowledge With Junior Colleagues.

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

Mentoring and teaching others your accumulated technical expertise and business values increases your worth and positions you for future promotion.

Your ability to develop your subordinates so that they reach their maximum potential is one of the keys to career progress.

There are people in every company that others gravitate to because they give freely of their time, assisting their colleagues and less experienced people in solving problems, finding resources, or approaching situations from a new perspective based on practical experience and wise choices.

Superiors recognize these abilities and know that these key people whom others rally around and go to for advice and guidance represent future leaders who can be groomed for higher responsibilities.

Leading others forward often involves being of service to them.

Create Buyer Interest In The Employer’s Mind.

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

Sports people, high achieving sales people and actors frequently use visualization to enhance their performance and presentations. For an employer to make a hiring decision in your favour, they need to see you working there, and to do that they must identify with what you are saying about yourself, your abilities, and your track record.

Being genuine, projecting your strengths of character, personality, and making the human connection with the employer helps create this buyer interest.

Mentally rehearse how the interview will unfold, what you will say and how you will feel in speaking about who you are and what you can bring in the way of experience, knowledge and achievement to the employer. The more vividly you can see yourself connecting with
the interviewer, the more confidence you will project. Sincere confidence founded on being who you are generates a sense of trust.

Many accomplished speakers practice their speeches in front of a mirror, or will work with a colleague, practicing and polishing their delivery. When salespeople know the features of their product or service and believe in the benefits, they are able to communicate those ideas successfully to the prospective buyer.

The same holds true in interview situations. If you know yourself and what you can do, you can create that buyer interest by being yourself, and presenting your unique features and benefits that the employer can see will bring value to their company.

How Closely Aligned Are Your Goals And The Employer’s?

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

What motivates you to join the new employer may not reflect what their motivation is to hire you.

Many times, I hear from people who are disappointed with their career progress; what they hoped for in joining a new employer did not come to pass. You may choose to accept an offer of employment because the future seems brighter there and with more chances for advancement. They, on the other hand may be hiring someone to remain static in the position to provide longer-term stability to a department. Clarify your career prospects to make an informed decision.

Ask questions to establish what the future holds:

  • “Where can I progress to within the company in the future?”
  • “What is the next step in my career path from this position down the road?”
  • “What advancement opportunities are there in the future?”

Other considerations when choosing a new employer:

  • Do you identify with what they stand for?
  • What do competitors say about them?
  • What degree of respect have they earned in their particular industry sector?
  • What do former employees have to say about them?
  • How much turnover do they have in the position you are being considered for?
  • Who among your business colleagues have dealt with them as a customer or supplier?
  • How were they treated?
  • How closely do you identify with their corporate mission statement and business philosophy?

You owe it to yourself to make sure that your career expectations are in line with the goals of the company insofar as you can. The interviewing process is like a courtship and the good feelings generated need to be balanced with an objective assessment of the company’s culture, reputation and objectives.

What’s The Difference Between Active And Passive Listening?

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

Active listening is focusing your attention on what the speaker is saying, visualizing the person behind the voice, and thinking of good follow-up questions to ask . Customer service people in many industries are trained to picture the customer on the other end of the line, to put a ‘smile’ in their voice to establish good rapport. Create the human connection through practicing active listening, and displaying interest and attention throughout your discussion.

Passive listening often involves missing key points that the speaker is trying to make, as you wait for your turn to speak. Interrupting the speaker, not allowing them to finish a sentence or asking for a question to be repeated more than once in a discussion signals a lack of attention.

Offering information that is unrelated to the question they are asking you transmits nervousness to the interviewer. Before you initiate a callback, take a few deep breaths; this creates a calmer inner state, and allows you to speak at a more moderate pace. There is no need to hurry your responses. You make a positive impression if the listener has time to absorb what you are saying.

Be Prepared When You Are Called By A Potential Employer.

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

You will quickly know if the interviewer is organized or disorganized in their approach. The better interviewers will explain why they are calling and what they want to accomplish. Disorganized interviewers dive right in without asking if you have time to speak, and sometimes they don’t have your resume. Better interviewers will want to know if you have some time to talk to them.

If you are in a noisy room, it is best to ask for the caller’s number and offer to call right back. This way, you can go to a quiet room, compose yourself, have your resume and references handy, and be better prepared to have a positive discussion.

Setting the tone when you call back

By choosing to call back, you show that you want to handle the call professionally. Display an attitude of willing cooperation to provide information for the employer to assess you. After you introduce yourself, ask an open-ended question to determine what the employer wants to accomplish.

“How would you like to proceed?”
“What would you like to know first about me?”
“How can I help you?”

These types of questions signal to the interviewer that you are both ready to give information, and that you want to make the best use of their time. Small courtesies help establish rapport with a stranger on the telephone. A little deference goes a long way to making a positive impression.

Determine What The Right Fit Is For You.

Posted on by kevin buckley, cpc

Why is one person chosen over another when both may have almost equal qualifications and experience?

Very often, a hiring decision is influenced by how the interviewer/s feel about the person that they select. After all of the testing, panel interviewing, assessment and evaluation, it can simply boil down to the decision-maker’s gut feeling. What influences that gut feeling invariably goes back to the attitudes and values that were expressed in the first and subsequent meetings – first impressions count.

Employers not only want to believe that you can do the job and have the knowledge and experience to handle the challenges that may arise; they want to believe that you will fit the team. They also want to see reflected in you those attitudes and values that they feel comfortable with. An employer wants to reduce the chance of friction between team members, and will look for people who harmonize with the work group’s ethics and team spirit. In addition, there may be a broader corporate personality or image by which a firm is perceived in the marketplace, and the hiring manager may look for attitudes and values that mirror that image in the marketplace.

How do you determine whether your own attitudes and values are in harmony with those of the potential employer? Ask what attitudes and values the interviewer feels are necessary to do the job and fit the team. If they have different expectations than what you have to offer in attitudes and values, it is best to know this at the beginning. You won’t help yourself in the long-term by pretending to be what they want, just to get the job.

5 ways to determine the right fit:

  • What are the personal qualities that the employer deems are necessary for someone to succeed in this job?
  • What is the management style of the executive hiring you?
  • How do they respond to a question about why people like to work at this company?
  • How do they describe the team dynamic?
  • What does their mission statement or corporate philosophy highlight as their approach to business?

At the end of the day, it is people working in cooperation with each other that determines the team’s cohesiveness and strengths. Take your time to explore this vital area. The synergy created when different people who respect each other join forces to work together produces impressive result