TIPS FOR GETTING THROUGH YOUR NEXT INTERVIEW and

FEELING GOOD ABOUT IT ON THE OTHER END

 

PART IV – FINISHING UP  +

THE COMPENSATION DISCUSSION &

TWO VERY IMPORTANT THOUGHTS FOR

INTERVIEWING IN 2020

 

FINISHING UP

 

Don’t forget to collect business cards so that you have correct job titles and accurate email addresses for your Thank You Notes. 

REMINDER:  Your Thank You Note will be an important tool for reminding the interviewers about your interview performance (hopefully that’s a good thing) and jog their memories about your qualifications and what you could do for the company and a department.

 

At the close of the interview be sure to get answers to the following:

  • What will next steps be?
  • When do you expect to make a decision?
  • How will I be notified?

 

THE COMPENSATION DISCUSSION

 

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The unfortunate truth is that going into a recession or any other time when the supply & demand for labor is skewed in one direction or the other, compensation levels also become skewed.   As we emerge from the Covid19 Shutdown, we don’t yet know if the recovery will be a V Shaped (quick recovery) OR a slow gradual recovery and we don’t know how the labor market will respond.  Hiring has typically been considered a lagging indicator of economic growth/health.  Meaning hiring accelerates well into a recovery, BUT the Covid19 economic downturn was anything but typical and so it wouldn’t be surprising if the recovery isn’t a typical recovery either.

During economic downturns with high unemployment, compensation levels will typically take a hit.  Hiring is a supply vs. demand activity.  Compensation will reflect labor market demand.  A V Shaped recovery will see unemployment drop rapidly and the demand for labor will return compensation levels to where they were before the Covid19 Shutdown and the converse is true.  Time will tell which we’ll get.

Regardless of how the 2020/2021 Recovery proceeds, it’s important to be aware of the demand in the local job market for your skills and experience and monitor salaries being offered.  Networking will be helpful in getting insights as will scanning job boards for the volume of recruiting activity for specific jobs.

This site provides the demand info for specific jobs in your area of the country as well as compensation levels.  But do understand the near future is still an uncertainty for everyone.  It’s still worth checking out.  Information is still power.   https://www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/careers/occupations/occupation-profile.aspx

Part III of this series – Asking Questions  provides suggestions for getting information to help you to evaluate the company and the job vs. your professional needs and goals

As we start recovery after shutdown, we have moved away from an employees’ market to a job market tilted in favor of the employer – what we don’t know is how long will it stay in that mode. 

REMEMBER, Immediately prior to shutdown companies were dealing with “skills” shortages and shortages in general of employees to fill the jobs available.  

 

READ ON – TWO THOUGHTS for INTERVIEWING IN ANY JOB MARKET

 

ADDED FOLLOWING CONVERSATIONS

WITH THOSE I’VE COACHED THROUGH JOB SEARCHES………….

 

Next To Last Thought – Connect the dots for them!

 

That means, YOU make the link between your skills and experience and the requirements of the job.   BECOME the square peg that fits the square hole or a close facsimile

Success and Failure Road Sign with dramatic clouds and sky.

Don’t expect or wait for the people doing the search to figure out how you are a potential fit for a job’s requirements and can be successful in that job.  They won’t, they’ll move on to another candidate who’s easier to figure out, so carefully connect the dots for them. 

Keep this uppermost in your mind, people seeking to fill positions are pressed for time with the demands of their own jobs combined with the need to review multiple resumes, and then carryon interviews (many of them).  It is very important for a candidate to *connect the dots for recruiters, HR, and managers.  You cannot wait for the people who are hiring to do it.  They are going to go after the candidate who is easy to figure out – the square peg who appears to fill the square whole.

Further, focus on industries, departments or job functions or activities where you have a track record and a story you can tell that will resonate with those involved in the hiring process.  Read job specs carefully to see if you can glean from them where they are hurting.

*Get more info about the company’s & a department’s needs or some specific skills and experience they are focused on in filling the position.  A recruiter should be tuned in to this.  The listing might give you a clue as well.    NOW – when you talk to someone involved in the recruiting process or write a cover letter – you connect the dots for them.  

Create the links amongst your past job titles or individual responsibilities, job successes, and skills.  BECOME the square peg that fits the square hole or a close facsimile – close enough to get to the next step.

You will not always be successful – that’s part of the process, just keep these concepts in mind when you are connecting with people.  Also, remember, your search and being placed in a job may be among the most important things you are currently involved in.  The same sense of urgency does not exist for your cause by the people who are conducting the search.   You need to make it easy for them to decide they want to contact you.

 

Last thought:  Career change is always difficult.   Ask yourself, is this the correct time (in your life – in the current job market) to do a career change!

Many of those in a difficult job search – meaning they are not “landing” – decide the problem is their career path.  That may not be the problem.  The problem may be the way they interview and their failure to “connect the dots” for the interviewer.   Changing career paths and the jobs for which you interview is certainly not going to fix those kinds of issues.  Maybe it’s time to have someone review your resume and get some interview coaching.   

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If career change is something you really want to do, but are out of work and really need to find a job – expend 75% of your effort focused on finding a job in your current career path and the rest on making that career change including doing seminars and coursework toward that goal – for the future.

In pursuing your career change do try to link aspects of your past work experience with the new job options you are exploring when talking to a recruiter or hiring managers,  reference the previous section “Connect the dots for them.”

When the job market tightens, making that career change will become less challenging…….as companies struggle to fill open positions.

……..assuming you’ve set yourself up to be viewed as a viable candidate with some training, relevant course work, maybe an internship, and a difficult to dismiss “Can do Attitude.”

Good luck – next step for you, becoming an ENGAGED, CONTENT, HIGHLY VALUED & PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYEE

Next step for me, back to providing managers and companies with insight and tools to promote employee engagement!

PART I – Preparing for the ‪Interview‬‬‬‬‬‬.

PART II – Now On To The Interview.

PART III, You Ask Questions Now & Get the Info You Need.