The most common feedback I get across the board - from outplacement, career management or presentation skills clients - is, "I had no idea how much preparation it took to get this good."
Ask anyone who hires other human beings and they will tell you that the number one failing of job-hunters is underpreparedness. And yet, once again, we see a survey indicating that job-hunters, even in these straitened times, simply don't get it:
Was there any vestige of reality intruding on the consciousness of these job-hunters? Some:
Allow me to share two thoughts I constantly reiterate in talks and seminars. First, how much is this interview worth to you? How much of a change can it effect in your life? If you're pitching for a job that pays €5,000 a year more than you are currently on, then over five years, with zero pay rises, you are looking at a return on time and effort invested of €25,000. Surely that is worth more than a couple of hours' work? If you are about to be, or if you have just been, downsized then the numbers get a lot bigger: a €40,000 a year job is worth €200,000 over five years with no promotions, bonuses or pay rises factored in. Have you got anything else going on in your life right now that is going to drop that sort of return in your lap?
Second, you have to remember that for every job to which you apply, there is another applicant for whom this is the dream job. He or she has been waiting for this opportunity for months, or years. He/she has all the background research completed, knows all the ins and outs of the company and of the sector, has built a dossier on each of the interviewers and is fully cognisant of their leanings and disposition, and knows the politics of the company inside and out. Do you seriously think you can compete with this Terminator of a candidate on the basis of a couple of hours of desultory Googling?
Time to get real folks. You simply cannot be overprepared for a modern job interview; I wrote about the degree of control each side exerts here. Besides which, what are you going to do with the hours you save by not preparing – cure cancer maybe?
Related Posts:
Job-hunting in a recession
Elevator sales pitch interview
Counting down to an interview
Amateurs VS Professionals - the difference
Ask anyone who hires other human beings and they will tell you that the number one failing of job-hunters is underpreparedness. And yet, once again, we see a survey indicating that job-hunters, even in these straitened times, simply don't get it:
- 1 in 4 spend less than an hour preparing for an interview.
- Just over half spend two hours or less.
- A quarter of respondents thought a few drinks the night before an interview was not a problem, as long as they hit the sack "at a reasonable hour."
Was there any vestige of reality intruding on the consciousness of these job-hunters? Some:
- 40% of employers reported seeing and improved level of effort being made by job seekers (although 23% said they had seen no visible difference).
- 58% of job-hunters said they had increased the amount of effort they were putting into their preparation.
Allow me to share two thoughts I constantly reiterate in talks and seminars. First, how much is this interview worth to you? How much of a change can it effect in your life? If you're pitching for a job that pays €5,000 a year more than you are currently on, then over five years, with zero pay rises, you are looking at a return on time and effort invested of €25,000. Surely that is worth more than a couple of hours' work? If you are about to be, or if you have just been, downsized then the numbers get a lot bigger: a €40,000 a year job is worth €200,000 over five years with no promotions, bonuses or pay rises factored in. Have you got anything else going on in your life right now that is going to drop that sort of return in your lap?
Second, you have to remember that for every job to which you apply, there is another applicant for whom this is the dream job. He or she has been waiting for this opportunity for months, or years. He/she has all the background research completed, knows all the ins and outs of the company and of the sector, has built a dossier on each of the interviewers and is fully cognisant of their leanings and disposition, and knows the politics of the company inside and out. Do you seriously think you can compete with this Terminator of a candidate on the basis of a couple of hours of desultory Googling?
Listen, and understand. That terminator is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.
Related Posts:
Job-hunting in a recession
Elevator sales pitch interview
Counting down to an interview
Amateurs VS Professionals - the difference
1 comments:
Bring it on......Sell yourself, nobody else will, if you don't tell people stuff how are they going to know. In saying that I saw the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, with Will Smith on the weekend, and my first thought was what an insightful group of interviewers to look beyond the actual and see the potential in the person, and we thought our lives were tough, aim for the stars.......That reminds me I thought it might be worth reading the book.
Post a Comment