Needle, Meet Haystack

During the summer between my Junior and Senior years of high school, I decided to apply for a job at a local mega-store.  Up until that point, my only work experience had been working for my dad.  Somehow, this negated my potential candidacy for restocking shelves of blenders and toaster ovens, folding shirts, or ringing up DVD and CD purchases.  Why?  The manager himself told me: I was overqualified.

Now that companies have more options when it comes to hiring better employees and jobs are growing more scarce, highly qualified individuals find themselves scraping the bottom of the barrel just to get by.  They might take whatever they can get as they try to wait out the employment drought.  And they may find themselves blocked by the worst backhanded compliment of them all: overqualification.

It makes sense that a company would be concerned with hiring someone who is several rungs higher on the corporate ladder for a low-level job.  The most pervasive fear is that these employees will show little loyalty to the company, and will leave as soon as they find a better option.  Another fear is that these overqualified employees may not be so willing to adapt to a new way of doing things, preferring the methods they’ve used for years.  And then, there’s always the threat of the overqualified employee demanding more money and faster promotions than the company can handle.

In some cases, this may be true.  A person who knows that they’re overqualified may be more apt to use it to their advantage in the workplace.  But if the candidate wants the job for financial stability, professional growth, and all those other reasons that most people want jobs, they’re faced with the difficult task of convincing the employer to hire them.

Much in the same way that a new graduate can find the advantage in being hired over a more seasoned employee, an overqualified candidate can show the benefit of their employment over that of a regularly-qualified individual.

An overqualified employee has a wealth of experience and knowledge to draw from, which makes for less time spent training and micromanaging the employee in the early stages of their employment.  Additionally, they may have built up a large stable of industry contacts who can help the company grow and develop.  Not to mention that their advanced skill set means that they can be given more responsibilities and advanced projects to work on more quickly than a greener employee, increasing office productivity and output.

Still, the business may remain wary of hiring an overqualified employee.  The best that the candidate can do is push the advantages of their being hired over a “normally qualified” individual, and reassure the company that they will not jump ship at the first sign of a better offer.

And if someone does throw the term at you, take it as a compliment.  It means that you are more qualified than most to be doing the job – and isn’t that a good thing?

Click the link to read the original post about interviews from the interviewer’s perspective.

Yesterday, I gave an interview of a different sort: for a freelance (re: temporary) position.  Since the criteria, competencies and job itself are different from a more permanent position (that was discussed in part 1), this post is to serve as a reference point for those wondering what their interviewers may be thinking during an interview for a contract job.  Here are a series of tips based on what I found out during the interviews:

• Asking more questions is a good thing, but don’t steer the conversation.  Since the position is time-sensitive and there are a lot of details that you need to know about quickly, it’s all right to start asking questions almost immediately.  But if you start trying to steer the conversation, it might go in a direction that you don’t want it to.
• You can bring up money on the first interview, but back up your numbers.  If you are pitching for a job of a certain type and ask how much the competition is charging, your interviewer may give you a large range (ours had a difference of over $100,000 from lowest to highest bids) that won’t really help you determine how much to ask for.  But if you are throwing out a number, use facts, previous projects, client testimonials and any materials at your disposal to show that you are worth your asking price, or else you may come across as cocky and overpriced.
• Be prepared to get an offer for something you didn’t come to meet about.  My company has several projects in the pipeline, and we found that one of our candidates was better-suited to working on a different project than the one he came to interview about.  Despite changing the conversation to reflect the other position, he kept clinging to the first project, and lost out on actually getting the job we could have hired him for.
• Don’t make assumptions about your employer’s business, especially if you haven’t done your research.  The same interviewee had not bothered to look up any information about our company, and jumped right into his assessment of a project that we were showing him – but that project was completed months ago, and was actually quite successful.  He put his foot in his mouth so severely that it left a bad taste on the rest of the interview.
• Speaking of that, make sure to do your research.  It helps if you know what a company does, has done, what its competencies are, what its limits are, and so on.  This way, you can tailor your approach (and payment figure) to the specifications that will make you seem more attractive, qualified and employable to interviewers.
• Speaking “business” is not as essential, but make sure you sound socially competent.  A number of interviewees for the position are technical workers, and as such, did not understand much business jargon or many of the results-driven terms that were used during the interview.  But that’s okay – it’s almost like speaking another language.  However, being able to understand what your interviewer is asking you (and what they want the person they eventually hire to do) is critical, so ask for clarification if you need it.
• Don’t make your knowledge gaps apparent.  If you start trying to lead the conversation, the interviewer may touch on certain points that expose weaknesses in your experience or knowledge.  If asked if you know something, or about it, at least show more interest or learning potential than saying “no.”  That makes you seem unpleasant and unwilling to compromise.
• Leave a great last impression.  I was one of two interviewers yesterday, and although I did not do the majority of the talking (the other interviewer did, as he understands technical stuff better), my assessment is still a part of determining if someone is hired.  When one candidate left, they forgot to acknowledge me or shake my hand, doing so only with the other interviewer.  As a result, I was less impressed with this candidate.

If you’re going to enter the freelancer’s world, make sure that you are armed with the right knowledge to get the best results from your interviews as possible.  The tactics that work when applying for full-time positions don’t necessarily apply.

There are a number of reasons that you might not get called in for an interview.  This list highlights six of the main reasons that you might not be getting a callback.  So if you want the job, make sure you read the job description carefully, make a resume tailored to the position, show persistence when contacting your potential employer, and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

6 Reasons They Didn’t Call You Back (via Yahoo! HotJobs)

Let’s get this out of the way early: I HATE the idea of commission-based jobs, specifically those where one’s livelihood is determined on personal sales.

In this situation, the employer takes full advantage of the employee, taking in no risk, financially or otherwise, to have them on board.  In many cases, the new employee has to pay their own way for training and certifications.  Hundreds of hours can be wasted without a penny earned, and benefits covering health, retirement or otherwise, are non-existent.  It’s a cutthroat model that pits co-workers against each other, and often leads to no-win situations of price undercutting, shady tactics, and outright libel and slander.  And during this time, management sits back to relax and collect their commissions from people who did all the work for them.

So yeah, I’m not a fan.

That being said, commission-based jobs are an ever-increasing segment of the available job market.  Hell, I’ve interviewed with several commission-structured companies.  They’re the most cost-effective in a down economy, and with fewer and fewer options, more and more people will be gravitating towards them.

For as much talk about team-building and synergy and the company and the group from the higher-ups, the structure in these businesses is the exact opposite.  Regardless of employee jurisdictions, industry separations or client longevity, competition is the name of the game.

Which leads me to the one question that you MUST ask even if, after all the reasons I’ve given you (which might still not balance with the reason to do it – MONEY!), you decide to go for the job:

With employees working individually to gain customers and sales, and given that they are working to generate personal commissions, how do you foster a team-based environment within the company?

Or words to that effect.

This question, in several forms, has stopped even the most grandiloquent manager in their tracks.  I’ve received everything from filibusters on other topics to a half-hearted attempt at using buzzwords in the hopes of getting me so confused that I would forget what I asked.  This is a key indicator that the job you’re about to get accepted for (because they never turn down free workers and more money coming in) is baloney.

But ah!  What if you get the rare breed of interviewer who is able to cite employees having their own regions, particular customer types (legal, medical, etc), or a strong stance against client sniping?  Although you might get this response 0.0005% of the time, I’ve prepared a follow-up question for you.  And because this falls under a rare exception to the first question, I don’t count it separately.

I’ve both read and heard of situations where competing employees will subvert these rules, or in some cases, the company will reduce industry pools/jurisdictions/client bases to compensate for new hires or to boost up other employees.  What kind of guarantee can you give me that this won’t happen?

If you are not offered this guarantee (if any) in writing (which you won’t) and get a copy of it for yourself (which you can’t) and you still take the job, you’d better watch your back.  And your front.

Because in the world of commission-based jobs, it’s everyone for themselves.

We’ve all been there: something so exciting, so emotionally gratifying, so absolutely nerve-wrackingly terrific happens, and all common sense goes out the window.  Or at least gets shoved into the storage shed in the backyard.  And at no time will you have more occasions to misplace your logical brain than when you’re looking for or getting work.  Here’s a few lessons that I remembered a bit too late:

1. Remember your interviewer’s name. I suppose I could blame it on the receptionist’s thick accent when the interview was set up over the phone, but I didn’t bother to check with her, and on the day of the interview, his name was nowhere to be found!  Not on the door to his office, not on his desk…if not for subjective personal pronouns, I would have been in trouble!  However, one of his employees popped in and mentioned his name several times during a quick conversation.
2. Ask if there’s a dress code. After three rounds of interviews and getting the job, I thought that I had asked all there was to ask about the position.  But after a month in the office, my boss finally took me aside and said, “You do know that you can wear jeans and sneakers, right?”  Even though over dressing can be fine in some situations, it was making some of my co-workers a bit uncomfortable.
3. Take care of personal business before you go in for an interview. Living in the southwestern US means that summers can be especially brutal, so I tend to drink plenty of water to stay well-hydrated.  Although I was early for my interview, I ignored the warning signs from my bladder, and by the time I decided to go, I was called in.  After 30 of the most uncomfortable minutes of my life, the interview had ended (it was a preliminary one) and I was finally able to escape.
4. Have questions for your interviewers ready. “So, do you have any questions for me?” the manager asked.  I blanked.  I had no idea what to say, so I blurted out the first question that came to my mind.  ”What kind of toppings do you like on your pizza?”  I began.  ”Because, I, um, read something about how that reflects…personality type?”  Amazingly, this tactic stalled him for a couple of minutes while I was able to come up with some real questions to ask him.
5. Make sure you get important stuff in writing. After being hired on a Friday, I started work on Monday.  I continued at that job for a few months, but when the paychecks started coming later and later at improperly low levels and the work assignments moved farther away from what I was hired to do, I decided to consult my contract.  Until I realized that there had never been an official employment contract.  Soon after, I quit, only to be fired by my boss seconds later.

Of course, these aren’t the only boneheaded mistakes I made.  But more on that tomorrow.

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I gave an interview.  Having previously only been on the receiving end of the relentless barrage of questions, I discovered a number of things about the experience that I had never noticed before.

• You become a lot more aware of body language.  When you’re the interviewee, you might be so anxious that you don’t pay much attention to your nonverbal signals.  But when you’re the interviewer, you’re more relaxed and notice the changes in others.
• If you take notes, it freaks people out.  Note-taking during an interview seems like an innocuous task, but when you’re writing on a pad that the responder can’t see, they get a bit nervous.
• People are better at answering specific questions than general ones.  We were interviewing for interns with a high degree of technical knowledge, and although they answered those questions accurately, they seemed to have trouble with more generic questions, like those from this list.
• It can be just as stressful for the employers as the potential employees.  Since all you have to go on is a resume and some emails or calls arranging a meeting, you really don’t know about the character, motivations, qualifications or honesty of the person you’re meeting with.   It’s difficult to determine these things about a person, especially during an interview.
• You might not be sure of what kind of dispersion of the  four factors you really want.  Although you should have a model employee type in mind, meeting someone who you think might be as good or better than you predicted can make other assessments more difficult, as well as rationalizing your choices to your superiors.
• While the interviewee can talk in declarative and affirmative statements, you have to keep things more vague and noncommittal.  As the hiring decision is not usually a split second decision, it can be tricky to figure out how to phrase sentences or ask questions, without raising false hopes.

So the next time you’re going in for an interview, it might help to remember that your interviewer may have some of the same stresses as you do.

You know, I thought we’d had enough discussion about fashion, but you asked it, so I’m gonna answer it!

Dear Andrew,

I’ve got a job interview coming up, and I’m not sure what to wear!  During my phone interview, I was told that it’s a more casual and relaxed environment, and they don’t wear suits.  So how should I dress?  (I’m a guy, by the way)

Short answer: Suit up anyway

Longer answer: Look at it this way: it’s always better to be over-dressed than under-dressed.  While you might not blend in with the employees in terms of fashion, you’ll be projecting an image of professionalism and will show through your attire that you take the job seriously.

Also, the term “casual” can have many different meanings: dress shirt and slacks, golf shirt and khakis, t-shirt and jeans, and so on.  At the very least, you should go with a dress shirt and slacks (tie optional, but preferred).  And while some may say that this goes in the face of what the interviewer told you (and that it could be a test or something), you really shouldn’t lose any points for making sure you have a professional appearance.

And if you go with a suit, it’s easier for your interviewer to focus on your qualifications than your attire – I was at a conference where everyone I met was in professional attire, and as a result, we treated each other more as equals.  On the last day, when we were in casual clothes, I realized that I would have had preconceived notions about many of the people who I met had I met them in their less formal-wear on the first day.

Interviews might seem like the most daunting part of the job application process, but if you know how to interview well, you will almost always get an offer.  Here are 10 things that I do in every interview that have helped me get the job (or at least an offer) every time.

1. Go in with a game plan. I treat the interview more like a performance review than a job application.  In this way, I am more comfortable talking about myself and the company, and am less likely to lose focus.  Also, I try to plan out how the conversation will go (more on this in steps 7 and 8).
2. Talk to the receptionist. As I’ve said before, the receptionist (or “gatekeeper”) can give you more insight into how the company works than almost anyone else.  However, you should avoid this step if they are busy (and I mean actually busy, not playing Minesweeper).
3. Shake hands properly. I can’t stress how easy it is to mess this one up.  Practice with a friend or family member if you have to, but this one is critical.
4. Make good eye contact. Most people are bad at this one too.  Remember the focus points and that you should only be making eye contact 60% of the time.  I go into more detail about eye contact in this post.
5. Practice active listening. Always have a follow-up question to whatever your are asking or have been asked that can’t be answered in less than two sentences.  Getting your interviewer talking will make them more comfortable with you.
6. Take notes. This shows you’re organized and are paying attention to the conversation.  I write only a few major points in shorthand for later reference and so I’m not staring at my writing pad all the time.
7. Show the benefit. You should already have a plan as to what you can say would be the way in which you would benefit the organization.  Make as many points as you can to show this throughout the interview.  In addition to upping your value to the company, this also is a way to deflect the “Why should you work for us?” question.  There are some good tips on how to brag without bragging here and here.
8. Cycle back. I like to have specific stories or examples that I mention several times during interviews to illustrate the points that I’m making about my experience, how I can benefit the company, and so on.  By seeding these conversational tidbits throughout the interview, it’s easier to call back to them and remind the interviewer about what else you’ve said you can do.
9. Ask questions. NEVER go to an interview without having a few questions ready.  You can make up your own, or even flip around some questions that they might ask you, like the ones listed here.
10. Leave with a schedule. If I haven’t received a job offer due to a mandatory multi-step interview process, I make sure to set an appointment with the interviewer, and then double-check it with the secretary.  Don’t let them say “we’ll call you” or “come in next week.”  Get a specific date and time.

Interviewing might seem like going through a construction zone on the road to a job, but if you take the time to make a plan and stick to it, you’ll be cruising on the employment highway in no time!

You may have heard of this body language technique, as it’s one of the most well-known and easiest to use tactics in an effective body language arsenal.  However, it’s also one of the most misused.  Mirroring, if done right, will create a more comfortable environment, fostering a greater trust and deeper connection between two people.  If done incorrectly, however, it can lead to disaster.

Do you remember when you were a kid, and someone would repeat everything you just said?  They would copy you until you yelled, “Quit copying me!” and they would yell back “Quit copying me!” and things would either settle down or someone would wind up being stuck on the monkey bars for the rest of recess.  It was pretty annoying, right?  The copying part, I mean.

That’s exactly how mirroring can go wrong.

The easiest way to mirror (or reflect someone’s movements and vocal tone) is to use it sparingly.  Watch what actions they make when talking passionately, or when showing interest.  Notice what words they put emphasis on, and how their facial features change when talking about different aspects of a topic.  That’s all you need to say back or do in response.  Showing that you are like them while still being your own person is better than appearing to be a parrot.

So remember: pick out the key movements and phrases, and use those.  Because if you use everything, you’ll wind up stuck on the monkey bars for the rest of recess.  And you won’t have a job to show for it.

So I usually do pretty well at interviews.  Usually.

But every once in a while, you hit the question that trips you up.  You start rambling, get off-topic, and move so far away from the job and original question that you’re talking about your second grade girlfriend or your fancy dinner party last week or your love of monocles.

Okay, maybe those weren’t the best examples.

And sometimes, you’ll get flustered and flummoxed to the degree that you stutter and babble an incoherent string of words that barely makes any sense.  Oh no! You think.  What will I do?

After trying everything from making a bad joke to cover my butt to going on a long-winded metaphor that relates what I said to what I “really” meant to sitting through two of the most painful moments of my life, I’ve tried a lot of things.  But the best one?

Fess up.

It’s natural to be nervous during an interview.  Your heart is pounding, your palms are sweating (like that Eminem song!), and you just want things to be over with.  You’re not comfortable.

So admit it.

You can attempt to diffuse the situation with humor, but a better bet is to say something slightly vulnerable while answering the question in a more satisfactory manner.  But the best way to prevent this from happening is to relax and take your time.  If the question trips you up, take longer pauses between words, but don’t stretch them out while you think of an answer.  Repeating the question in sentence form is a good idea also.  If done right, it makes you look thoughtful.  Not to mention that answering right away might give off a signal that you don’t give much consideration for what you say or how you go about saying it.  Take this old chestnut (complete with stage notes!):

INTERVIEWER: So, why do you think you’re right for this position?

Interviewee panics a bit, but then calms down and takes a brief pause.

INTERVIEWEE: Well, (pause) I am right for this position because (whatever reason goes here, taking occasional short pauses between points)

You don’t need to rush through an interview, and it’s better not to.  Take your time, try to relax, and if you start tasting your shoe, calm down and reconsider your approach.