The Career Success Doctor

The Career Success Doctor guides talented professional women to career success

Preparing For Job Interviews: 6 Secrets You Should Know About

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preparing for job interviewsAre you preparing for job interviews? Whether it is due to New Year resolutions and making plans, or because in January people are extremely motivated to achieve success in every aspect of their lives (including their career), or just that a New Year means a change and a new beginning for lots of people, the fact is that January is certainly one of the months that job hunting thrives.

If you’re looking for a change and are currently searching for a new job, you will soon need to start preparing for job interviews. You might even have some scheduled already. If that’s the case, you will surely find this article in Careerealism to be really helpful. The author, Anna Johnson, shares 6 secrets “for crushing job interviews“.

Although it is mentioned in the article (of course!), I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to do your homework! The more information you have about the company and its employees, the better you can prepare yourself and ace your interview.

However, you should keep in mind that this is a two-way road. You will get ‘googled’ too! That is why it’s so important to keep your social profiles, and any online information about you, always ‘clean’. Maybe having your Facebook photos from the New Year’s Eve crazy party viewable publicly is not really a good idea.

“Interviews are like spending the holidays with the in-laws – a necessary evil that’s never as bad (ok, rarely) as you’ve worked it up to be in your mind. I swear, I used to get hives at the thought of an interview until, by some twist of fate, the roles were reversed and I actually became an interviewer myself (bwahaha – insert evil grin here!).

However, I’ve come to learn that, contrary to popular belief, the interviewer isn’t out to set you up for failure… who knew? So, as a show of good faith, I’ll give you some of my best learned secrets from the other side of the curtain. Here are six secrets for crushing job interviews”

Read the whole article here: “6 Secrets For Crushing Job Interviews”

Another source that you might find useful is this “Interview Cheat Sheet” from The Daily Muse. You can print it and have it with you, in order that you won’t forget anything.

So, give yourself enough time for preparing for job interviews, have faith in yourself and your capabilities, be confident, calm yourself and, as Anna Johnson beautifully closed her article, “Que sera, sera!”…

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Why You Should Keep Your Knowledge Up-to-Date

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When you are applying for a new job, it’s really important that you can demonstrate that you keep your knowledge up-to-date.  With some professions, it’s mandatory.  Most professional bodies make annual training a condition of membership, and offer a range of courses to help you.

But what if you aren’t a member of a professional membership organisation?  Why should you bother?  Isn’t that your employer’s responsibility?

Well, firstly, it’s your employer’s responsibility to ensure you have the knowledge you need to do the job you are doing.  Usually they do this by sending you on training courses, or giving you a mentor, or getting you to work alongside someone who knows what they are doing.  They may have you do the work, which someone then checks until they feel you are fully competent (often known as ‘on-the-job training’).  It’s in the employer’s interests that you have the skills and knowledge you need in order to do your job well.

Many employers understand the benefit of expanding the skills and knowledge of their employees, so they will invest in career development, whether it’s sending you on a training course, or paying for a course you want to go on, or allowing you to ‘shadow’ someone doing a more senior job, or a different job from yours.

The problem comes when you want to get promoted, or to find a new job some where else, and you don’t have the skills and knowledge required.  In the case of promotion within the organisation, your boss might be persuaded to provide the training you need.  If you are looking outside the organisation, then it is down to you.

The most successful people tend to be those who are willing to pay for their own career development if they can’t get help from their employer.  It’s one of the keys to landing your dream job or dream career.  They may pay with time – for instance taking on a volunteer role where they can develop a missing skill-set.  One client of mine wanted to develop her finance skills, so, after reading some books on the subject, she volunteered to help the treasurer at her local church to give her some practical experience.

Other people pay with money. For example, when I knew I wanted to have my own business, I took holiday and paid for my own NLP training.  It wasn’t cheap, but it certainly paid off over the long term.  Most of my private clients pay for coaching out of their own pocket, because they understand how it can help them get where they want to be more quickly.

If you’re about to go job-hunting, look at the adverts to see what skills and knowledge employers are wanting in the field you are interested in.  Take some time to assess yourself honestly.  If you haven’t got the right mix of skills and knowledge, or they are out-of-date, think about how you can upgrade them.  Be willing to be really creative in thinking about how you can get access to the training and/or experience you need.