Monthly Archives: February 2018

How to Show Enthusiasm in a Job Interview

Landing a job interview can be exciting – but it can also be stressful. There are so many things to remember throughout the course of an interview, and “career gurus” offer so many conflicting suggestions about how to conduct yourself, that it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the entire process.

One of the most important things to remember when you’re sitting face to face with a hiring manager is to demonstrate your enthusiasm. You may feel nervous, stressed or even scared, but you should do your best to let your enthusiasm for the position and your chosen field shine through.

Be Enthusiastic About Yourself

It’s important to show enthusiasm for the job, but many candidates forget to show just as much enthusiasm for themselves. Some people shy away from this, assuming that it can come off one of two ways: desperation or arrogance. Abandon both ideas. Remember, you’re there to sell yourself to the employer, and if you don’t demonstrate that you believe in yourself and your abilities, you’ll never be able to convince a stranger that you deserve the job.

Before an interview, prepare a list of stories from your career that showcase your skills and achievements. Talk about times in which you felt pride in overcoming obstacles. Frame everything as a story and an illustration of a real-life situation, so that you don’t feel as though you’re bragging for bragging’s sake. The interviewer can draw his or her own conclusion from your examples.

Don’t Beat Around the Bush

If the idea of working for an employer thrills you to your core, don’t hide it. Be direct and tell the hiring manager that working for the company would mean achieving a very specific goal. If their company is your first choice, say so. Let them know that you are interviewing at other companies, but if they were to offer you a position, you’d accept.

Ask Thoughtful Questions

As a job seeker, you know how important it is to ask questions during your interview, but you want to be sure you are asking thoughtful questions. Avoid talk of raises, job security, benefits, and turnover in your first interview. Those subjects can be discussed later on in the process.
Another great technique is to ask questions naturally, as topics come up in conversation rather than holding all of your questions until the end. This shows that you’re paying close attention to the flow of the interview and helps the interaction take on a more conversational tone.

Ask What the Next Step in the Process Will Be

At the end of the interview, do not forget to ask about the next step in the process. Ignoring this step can lead the hiring manager to believe you aren’t interested in moving on. You can also ask the interviewer how you stack up to the other candidates they have seen, and if there is anything about the interview that would prevent them from calling you back for the next round.

Don’t Forget the Thank You Note

Follow up after an interview should never be ignored. As soon as you get home, sit down and craft a thoughtful, enthusiastic thank you letter that reminds the interviewer of your relevant experience and expresses your continued interest in the position.

If you are a professional in sales, marketing, engineering, IT or operations actively seeking new and exciting career opportunities, contact The Prevalent Group today. Our team of executive recruiters can help match you with a position that aligns with your long-term career goals, and we can work with you to help perfect your interviewing skills to ensure that you feel confident exhibiting your enthusiasm with each interaction.

How To Ace Your Next Phone Interview

Telephone interviews are easy to gloss over. They aren’t as formal as in-person interviews, and you can get away with participating in your pajamas. However, phone interviews are a critical step in the process, as they give both employers and candidates a chance to evaluate fit. Acing a phone interview all comes down to preparation. With the right amount of advanced work, you can enter each telephone interview with confidence and poise.

Revisit Your Research

You likely spent time researching the potential employer before you applied for the position, but as you gear up for your phone interview, you should revisit that research, and spend some time digging a little deeper to get a better understanding of the company’s history, structure, and current position in the market. Spend some time researching the people you may be interacting with, as well. LinkedIn can be an invaluable research tool for phone interview preparation.

Prepare Questions

Your interviewer will ask you if you have any questions. It’s important to have some thoughtful questions prepared to show the interviewer that you are truly interested in the positon. Good questions may cover topics such as training and onboarding processes, career development opportunities, and the steps involved in the hiring process itself. Be sure that your questions are open-ended, rather than yes or no style questions. Always, always, always remember to ask the interviewer about the next steps.

Let Your Enthusiasm Shine

Even if your interview is scheduled first thing in the morning, be sure that your tone of voice is cheerful and enthusiastic. Take advantage of the fact that you’re on the phone – it’s far less intimidating than face-to-face interviews, and you can sit in a position that is most comfortable for you. If you are extremely nervous, a great tip is to smile while you speak. After a while, your “fake” smile will become a real smile and you will start to relax.

Don’t Forget to Say Thank You

At the end of the call, be sure to thank the interviewer for his or her time. If you are still interested in the position, be clear about that interest and get a firm confirmation of the next steps. Make a note of the interviewer’s timeline so that you can follow up if you do not hear back.

Partner With A Recruiter

An excellent way to brush up on your interviewing skills is to work with a professional recruiting firm. Recruiters know their client companies inside and out, and they can help adequately prepare you for each step of the process.

If you are looking to work with an effective recruiter, contact The Prevalent Group today. We are a nationally recognized management and executive placement and recruitment agency that works with experienced managers and executives in sales, marketing, engineering, technology and more. We can help you locate job opportunities that align with your long-term personal and professional goals, and we can help you perfect your interviewing skills so that you ace both phone and in-person meetings with hiring managers.

How to Connect With an Interviewer

When preparing for an interview, it is very easy to get mired down in the details of the process: research, preparing answers, developing a list of references, etc. Given all of the advanced preparation needed for an interview, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, interviewers will be drawn to the candidates that they genuinely like. That means that you have to be able to make a connection with each interviewer. This can be easy when you are sitting across from an open, friendly hiring manager, but it can be difficult when you’re sitting face to face with a serious interviewer, or a hiring manager that might be having a bad day at work.

So how can you make a connection with an interviewer, no matter what their personality or demeanor? You can’t expect to click with every hiring manager you meet, but these tips can help you develop rapport with most interviewers you encounter in your job search.

Remember That First Impressions Matter

We are taught at a young age not to make snap judgments about people, but it is human nature to make assumptions about new people within the first few seconds of meeting them. Hiring managers are no exception.

Be sure that you are dressed professionally, regardless of the company’s dress code. Style your hair neatly, and keep jewelry to a minimum. Smile warmly, make good eye contact, and be sure to extend your hand for a firm and welcoming handshake.

Learn the Art of Mirroring

Mirroring, the conversational art of imitating the behaviors of the person you are talking to, is an excellent strategy for making a connection with an interviewer. So, if you are faced with a high-energy interviewer who smiles and laughs frequently, match your energy level to hers. However, if the interviewer is serious and no-nonsense, tone your energy level down.

Mirroring is a solid strategy for the early stages of your interview. As you relax and get into the conversations, allow your own personality to shine through. It’s important to be yourself so that you and the interviewer can determine whether or not you are a cultural match for the organization.

Don’t Save Questions Until the End

Interviews can be stressful for a number of reasons, but at their core, these conversations are unlike any that you have in real life. A regular conversation flows freely, with questions, replies, comments, etc. If you want to create a more natural feel for the interview and develop a connection with the interviewer, don’t wait until the end to ask your questions. Instead, ask them naturally, as they arise.

For example, if your interviewer asks where you see yourself in five years, and you lay out your desired career path, follow up your answer by asking about the company’s internal career and leadership development opportunities. Asking questions throughout the natural course of the interview will help establish rapport, and can lead to some interesting exchanges with the hiring manager.

If you are on the hunt for new and exciting opportunities to grow your career, contact The Prevalent Group today. As a nationally recognized management and executive placement and recruitment agency based in Northern Illinois, we work with experienced managers and executives in sales, marketing, engineering, technology and more. We match our talent with opportunities that can help them rise to new challenges, and we will work closely with you to help you perfect your interviewing skills to make a lasting, positive impression on hiring managers.

Should You Accept a Counteroffer?

You’ve done it: after a long journey in the job market, you’ve landed a position. You’ve negotiated a great salary, you’re poised to take on more responsibility, and your start date is just two weeks away. But out of the blue, your boss surprises you with a counteroffer. Suddenly, you’re conflicted and you aren’t sure what to do next.

Counteroffers are extremely flattering, but they require serious consideration, because they are not always all they are cracked up to be.

Two Types of Counteroffers

Counteroffers typically come in two forms. The first type of counteroffer is financial, which provides you with an increase in salary. Your boss will either ballpark a guess at your new salary, or sit you down and ask how much your new position pays and then match or exceed that offer.

The second type of offer is emotional. This one is designed to play upon your sense of loyalty. Your boss may not present you with a written offer, but rather a verbal offer of more responsibility, a raise down the line, or some other intangible benefit. It is likely that the verbal offer will come with a lot of talk about your value to the organization, or they may tell you that they really need you on board to launch or finalize a critical project.

Things to Consider Before Accepting a Counteroffer

Counteroffers will make you take pause. Staying in place is much easier than making a change, and if your employer is making big promises (or a big financial offer), it can seem like a no-brainer to stay where you are. Before you accept a counteroffer, however, always consider a few points:

Why Give You a Raise Now? If you’ve been at your position for quite some time and you’ve never received a significant raise, why are the bosses so willing to cough up the money now? The truth of the matter is that it’s cheaper to raise your salary than to conduct a job search for a replacement. If they really wanted you to stay, you’d have received a raise long before submitting your letter of resignation.
You are, in Fact, Replaceable. Every employee is replaceable. If your boss tries to paint a picture that you are indispensable to the company, why were you not recognized before with promotions, raises, leadership training or five-star performance reviews?
Your Leaving Reflects Poorly on Your Boss. Turnover is an indication of a problem in a department, and your boss’s sudden interest in your career may be more of an attempt to cover himself to his bosses than to make you happy.
Counteroffer or Stall Tactic? Data suggests that 80% of all employees who accept a counteroffer are gone after one year. Many managers use counteroffers as a way to buy time to replace employees.
Things Will Never Be the Same. Resigning will place a strain on your relationship with your boss. He may begin to reflect on the time off you took in recent weeks, which you’ve now exposed as time spent looking for a new job. Your coworkers may not trust you anymore either, knowing that you have one foot out the door. Nothing will go back to the way it was before you turned in your notice.

It’s always important to remember that your career is about you, not your manager, not your company, not your projects, and not your teammates. If a counteroffer seems appealing, take a step back and remember the reasons why you started looking for a job in the first place. Will the counteroffer really change things?

If you are a professional in engineering, information technology, operations, sales, or marketing, and you are looking for new and exciting career opportunities, contact The Prevalent Group today. We are a nationally recognized management and executive placement and recruitment agency that works with innovative organizations in Northern Illinois and beyond. We can help you locate exciting job opportunities that align with your long-term personal career goals.