Accelerate Your Search™ Now

April is bringing me a very unique adventure — more to follow on that soon!  Part of my adventure includes spending fun time with amazing people and, as such, I asked a few of them to guest post on this blog and share their thoughts on interviewing, building great teams and other relevant topics.

The April guest posts focus on  “The B’s of Interviewing” — tried and true tips to ace your interview.

Let’s get at some tips to help you prepare for a knockout performance in your interview.  The tips are compiled from my experience on both sides of the table.  I do want to confess that I’ve never particularly liked interviews, but once I began to view them as simple conversations the whole process changed for me.

Let’s prepare you for your conversations.  My first “B” tip is:

Be on time.  I know, I know.  Still happens, though — candidates fail to account for weather, traffic, poor directions, etc.  My conversations with late candidates are very brief.  I confirm the time of our appointment, then tell them that being on time is a non-negotiable expectation on my team.  I tell them it’s not a fit as I escort them to the door.  If you aren’t able to get to the interview on time, what makes me think you’ll show up to work on time?  Besides, being early has its advantages.  You have an opportunity to talk to the receptionist, the administrative assistant or the VP you met in the elevator.  You have time to mentally go over last minute preparations or fine tune your questions.  There’s zero downside to being early.

So, “B” on time next week when I share with you the next B of Interviewing!

-Mark Key is a retail professional known for driving results in diverse and challenging retail segments.  Mark’s interviewing insights come from companies big and small — having worked with organizations with just a few employees to Fortune 100 companies.

“Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together.“~ Earl Nightingale

Have you ever experienced one of those phone calls when you hear someone’s voice and immediately sense danger or distress?

I’ve had those calls.  Often they begin with a simple request like, “Hi, I need some help . . . ”  I feel the distress or danger and my thoughts begin to race.  What’s the danger?  Where is this person? And so on.  The distress in their voice and the energy on those calls can be very intense.  Luckily, I usually know within a few seconds that no one is physical danger and no on was injured.

When I reflect back on the calls, the quote above almost always comes to mind and is a reminder that the line between danger and opportunity is very thin.

Preparation and awareness are the key to creating the best outcomes — to turning danger into opportunity.  And, in business and our careers in particular, we often turn those “thin” moments into unique situations — presenting us with better than envisioned outcomes, connections and profitable opportunities.  Applying this preparation and awareness to our knowledge creates focus and the successful outcomes others may view simply as luck.

For a long time I sought the awareness I saw in others — awareness I thought was just easy luck.  Then I discovered I had the awareness I needed, yet too often I ignored it or simply forgot to pay attention to it.  The impact?  Loads of missed opportunities right at my fingertips, ripe for the taking.

My first coach helped me discover why I ignored the great stuff.  It turned out to be a simple issue, though one I could not have seen without help.  Now, my nutrition coach is helping me tackle why I ‘forget’ self care — hydration, rest and better nourishment.  Their coaching makes me better prepared, creating the focus and awareness I once thought was simply luck.

Recently, a client, whose goals were to create focus and successful outcomes, opened with the distress call, “Hi, I need some help . . .”  Through our interaction he tapped into his internal awareness and built into his search what he called a “lifeline call” to help him deal with the thin points.  Using his lifeline, he turned an unexpected question about relocation into an opportunity, then a second interview and through a continued conversation, a great offer.

Are you aware of the opportunities around you?  Are you tapping into them?

 Are you ignoring or overlooking opportunities because you only see danger?

 Are you creating your own “luck” or just hoping for the best?

 Have you built a support network so you can place the “lifeline” call if you need to ?

“There are only 3 colors, 10 digits, and 7 notes; it’s what we do with them that’s important.” ~ Ruth Ross

AMBITION: The eager or strong desire to achieve something.

Does your job search reflect your ambition?

Would you be convicted by clear and compelling evidence of your ambition to land the job you want?

Or is there only the slimmest evidence available to demonstrate your intent?  Think about it!

If others were ask to share what you do, how you do it, and the job you want to land, could they share it?

Do you project the end result?  Do you clearly state your end goal or do others need to guess what you do, what value you might add, or if you really could get much of anything done?

What stories are you telling?  What evidence are you presenting?

What are you doing with 3 colors, 10 digits, or 7 notes?

What are you doing with your skills, talent, ability and experience?

Is there evidence of your ambition to land the job you want?

Focus is critical for many tasks and activities.  Your job search is one of those activities where shifting your attention, zig-zagging and shifting your attention from one thing to another without full engagement not only does not net the fastest results it can be deadly to your career.

On the highway recently I was reminded just how deadly just a little shift in focus can be, when I shifted my focus to my directions, then a map and away from the traffic around me.  I did avoid a mishap, yet those seconds of lost focus cost me hours and could have been deadly.  Just as engagement is critical to driving, it is also critical to prevent the slow death of your career.

According to productivity experts it can take 4 to 15 minutes to recover and refocus depending on the complexity of the task and other variables such as your mindset, etc.  That consistent recovery and refocus in time within your job search is inefficient and ineffective.  It may also be the reason you miss or overlook the opportunity right in front of you. 

The impact of lack of focus may be frustration, feeling lost or disappointed.  Those emotions may then create other distractions.

There are three steps to providing CPR to your job search, gaining focus and avoiding the slow costly death of your career.  Those steps are: 1) assess where you are and decide where you want to be, 2) plan how to get there and 3) execute the tasks, activities needed to get where you want to be. 

Continued shifting of focus, zig-zagging, doing too much or diffusing attention during your job search may not just be costing you time, and causing stress, it could also be deadly to your career.  Stale skills are viewed as less valuable in the market; time and stress take other tolls on your mindset and your body.  Lack of focus has been the cause of death of more than one career; will it cause the death of yours?   

Where are you today?

Where do you want to be next week and next year?

What are you willing to do to be more focused in your job search?

The hundred days of summer is just around the corner.  It is the time of year, when interesting and focused conversations with VPs, regional managers, area managers, managers and front line associates are often about the detailed plans and prep for the ”100 Days of Summer”. 

The hundred days or so between Memorial Day to Labor Day for many is a critical business season. Profits and success during the “100 days of Summer” can make or break the success of a business unit not just for the season but for the year.  Having, knowing and executing your plan is not hard but does take good communication, energy and thought.

Last week speaking to an executive looking for his next career opportunity I ask him, “What is your personal career plan for the “100 Days of Summer”, he looked at me and smiled, then said “I don’t have a plan, but I think I need one.”  Then he asked for a few suggestions as to how to develop his plan and we agreed to talk in a couple of days to discuss his plan in detail.

Here are some of the key things I suggest you think about and pull together for your “100 day” plan.  Assess where you are now, think about your value in the marketplace, your reputation, your niche, the  opportunities you want to target, clarify your vision, your career goal, and then create a plan for the next 100 days.

Don’t wing your job search and don’t overlook the critical 100 days ahead.

If you need help creating a plan, get it.

Think about your plan.  Summarize your plan in one page – that’s right – a one-page executive summary.

Want more information about completing your own “100 Day Plan” to land the job you want by Labor Day? 

Sign up and join me on the next Q & A call, ask your question and get an answer. 

If you are interested in taking action and moving forward and yet you have a question about your career, career transition or search, you can set up a 20 minute chat with me to get your question answered.

“What you have to give is enough – if you give it with all your heart.”~ Chieko N. Okazaki

The quote above was shared with me by one of my mentors and I wanted to share it with you.  Enjoy it.

Every week, sometimes hundreds of times a week, I hear the questions Should I … or Do I need to … followed by: post my resume online, go back to school, retire, take less money, do a different job, change industries, change careers, quit my job, fire my boss, network with others, network online, and the list could go on and on.  Are you asking these questions?

What do you think my most common reply would be if you asked me one of these questions?  My reply would likely be to ask you the question – “What’s important to you?”

Yes, I know by the look on your face, you might be annoyed by my responding to your question with a question.  However usually that is the best place to start if you are asking yourself or someone else these types of questions about your job search or career transition.

First of all, may I remind you that unless, you lost your last job due to misconduct, or lack of your willingness to correct your work performance to meet your employer’s employment requirements, or your lack of willingness or ability to acquire a specific skill or skills your employer required, you were successful in your prior job.   Your experience, skills, knowledge and abilities are probably solid enough for you to be highly marketable and successful again in today’s job market.

Therefore, if you will spend a little time to reflect on your skills, experience and what is important to you before you jump in to a full blown marketing campaign and job search you will know what is important to you and you will be better prepared to accelerate your success.  If you test the market and determine that you do need help or are missing a skill to do what is important to you, you will be prepared to take the best action.

Be careful about using unanswered questions or other conditions as your excuse for inaction.  Are you using the economy, or not defining what’s important to you as an excuse not to move your job search forward?  You must get out into the job market in a BIG WAY!

Excuses, whatever they are can be a deep dark pit!  A costly pit and a pit filled with fear.    A job search can be scary.  You may feel hesitant as you first start to market yourself.  You may fear rejection, and you may fear making mistakes.  I get that – and by the way, you will be rejected and you will make mistakes!

Job searching has a learn-as-you-go component to it, the market place changes, things change, business needs change, and you change over time.  Get busy, get over having to learn everything before you start your job search, and marketing yourself for your next job.

Be willing to learn-as-you-go, to change what you are doing, or to stop doing the things that are not working for you.  Market YOU.  Get out there with who you are, what you have to offer, what makes you unique and different in the marketplace.

Stop using “Should I” or “Do I need to” questions as excuses.  Clarify what is important to you, stop making excuses, and communicate your value to the marketplace.

Excuses stop you dead in your tracks.  Stop making excuses.  Know what is important to you; communicate what you can do and how you are different.   You do have enough to give.

Will you give it with all your heart?