Tag Archives: Job search

What to Do On Your First Day of Work

The first day on a new job is exciting and terrifying all at the same time. No matter what you may be feeling inside, however, you want to make sure that you make a great impression on your first day.

Plan Your Outfit The Night Before

Plan your “first day” outfit the night before and make sure to have one backup in case you spill coffee on yourself right before you walk out the door. Make sure you are clear on the office dress code. Remember “business casual” at one company could mean something completely different at another.

Leave Home Early

You should have already planned your driving route to work, which means you should know how long it is going to take you to get there. Leave much earlier than you think you will need to, just to avoid any potential rush-hour traffic snags.

Get Your Shaking Hand Ready

You’re going to meet a lot of new people over your first few days on the job. Be prepared to introduce yourself over and over again. Try to say more than, “My name is Susan.” What do you want them to remember you for? Engage in conversation, make eye contact with everyone, smile pleasantly, and offer a firm handshake.

Make a Serious Effort to Remember Names

When meeting someone new, always repeat their name out loud. “Very nice to meet you, Bob.” If you did not catch a person’s name or you are unsure of the pronunciation, ask the person to repeat the name, and then make a concerted effort to remember it.

Accept a Lunch Invitation

If your colleagues invite you to lunch, accept the invitation, even if you’ve packed yourself a healthy, balanced meal. Saying no could offend your team members. During your first few weeks, you should accept all lunch invitations to get to know your co-workers and to help build camaraderie. Once you’ve settled in, you can go back to your regular lunch routine.

Take Notes

Take a notepad and pen with you everywhere you travel on your first day. Write things down so that you don’t have to ask the same questions over and over again. Taking notes shows that you’re paying attention to what’s going on around you and that you are interested in learning.

Don’t Bolt at 5:00

Don’t watch the clock in your early days. Try to stick around a few minutes after the close of business to show that you’re interested in getting the job done.

If you are looking for job search guidance, contact The Prevalent Group today. We are a nationally recognized management and executive placement firm that works with experienced professionals in sales, marketing, engineering, technology and more. We look forward to working with you.

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.

Following Up With a Thank You Email After An Interview

If you leave an interview knowing in your heart that you want the job, and that you’re the right person for that job, your very next step must be to sit down and craft a thank you letter. When your future is on the line, you want to make sure you take every chance you can to make a positive impression on the hiring team. Once the field has been narrowed to the final few candidates, the team will look closely at the way each candidate performed throughout each step of the process. You won’t want to be the only person on the short list who didn’t send a thank you letter.

Thank You Letter Basics

Some career gurus will tell you to write a handwritten note, but there is nothing wrong with sending an email. Cards and letters can make an impression, but timing is also important when it comes to thanking your interviewers for meeting with you. When it comes to a thank you letter, the message is far more important than the medium.

Use your thank you letter as a way to reinforce the fact that your skills and experience are a great match for the position. You can also use your thank you letter to include something you may have forgotten to mention in the interview.

Send the letter as soon as possible, and try not to let more than 24 hours pass after the interview. Some candidates keep thank you notes in the car, and write them as soon as they leave the interview, while others make it a point to sit down and craft an email as soon as they get home. Whatever you do, remember that time is of the essence. If you wait too long, it shows a lack of interest in the position, and your letter will seem like an afterthought.

Sample Thank You Letter

Every thank you letter you send should be original, but if you’re looking for a starting point, here is a guide to get you started:

Your Name

Your Address

Your City, State, Zip Code

Your Phone Number

Your Email

Date

Interviewer’s Full Name

Title

Organization

Address

City, State, Zip Code

Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:

Use the first paragraph to sincerely thank the interviewer for his or her time. Reinforce your interest in the job and express your enthusiasm for the position and the organization.

The second paragraph should remind the interviewer of the unique qualifications that make you an ideal candidate. Be sure to list specific skills that are relevant to the position.

The third paragraph can be a good place to mention anything you may have forgotten to say in the interview. Keep it brief, however.

In your closing, thank the interviewer once again for their consideration and let them know you are looking forward to hearing from him or her.

Sincerely,

Your Name

If you a job seeker looking to take the next step in your career, the recruiting team at The Prevalent Group would love to talk to you. We are always seeking relationships with experienced professionals who have the skills and the ability to deliver results for our diverse group of client companies. As a nationally recognized management and executive placement recruitment company, we place executives in sales, marketing, engineering, technology and more. If you are looking for new opportunities in these fields, visit our job board to scan our current openings, and then contact us to learn more. We look forward to connecting you with your next job.

5 Soft Skills To Remember In An Interview

More and more, employers are putting an emphasis on hiring candidates with the right soft skills to be successful. It will be important, however, to remember to showcase those soft skills in your interview.

Here are some of the common soft skills that employers are looking for and some helpful tips on how to convey those skills to your interviewer.

Presenting Yourself as a Professional

Like it or not, an interviewer will make a snap judgment about you within the first few moments of meeting you. This is just human nature. Be sure to show that you are a consummate professional by dressing the part. Look professional, and don’t load on the perfume or cologne. Stand and sit with good posture, watch your hand gestures and tone of voice. Use a firm, but not overbearing handshake, look your interviewer in the eye, and smile genuinely. Try to make a connection quickly with some small talk, even if it’s just about the weather. Projecting a professional image shows that you care about yourself, your work, and the way people see you.

Preparation

If you’re unprepared for an interview, the hiring manager will assume that you’ll be unprepared for your job. Be sure to do your homework and learn everything you can about the company: its history, its current focus, its mission and vision, and other relevant facts. Go over the job posting and description one more time, and review any correspondence you’ve had thus far with the hiring manager. A little bit of preparation can help make a big statement about your work ethic.

Personality

Employers want to hire friendly, positive, high-energy people. If you are nervous or naturally reserved, you’ll have to work to overcome this. Good preparation and interview practice can help build your confidence. If need be, do what professional athletes do before a game and listen to music that will pump you up and get positive feelings flowing. Show true passion for your profession and your career. If you really love what you do, your interviewer will be able to pick up on it quickly.

Willingness to Learn and Grow With the Company

Interviewers know that there is no such thing as a perfect candidate. Not everybody will have all of the skills and requirements they are looking for. They will overlook some of those shortcomings if a candidate shows a real willingness to learn and develop on the job. Showcase the ways and times in which you conducted your own development, and have stories ready that illustrate your willingness to learn new skills.

Flexibility

Job duties and requirements can change quickly, especially in technical fields. You may want to focus on one project, but circumstances may draw you to another. Employers want people who will be able to accept change and adapt quickly. Be sure to have examples ready that show times when you had to remain flexible on the job.

If you are an information technology professional or engineer seeking new opportunities for career growth in Northern Illinois, contact The Prevalent Group today. Our recruiters can connect you with tech jobs in northern Illinois that align with your skills and qualifications, and we can work with you to help you develop your interviewing style to ensure your soft skills shine through.

How To Develop A Strong And Beneficial Relationship With A Recruiter

Recruiters can be a powerful tool in your job search. They can act as a cheerleader, a guide, a salesperson, and a coach. In order to get all of these benefits from a recruiter, however, you have to establish a strong and beneficial relationship.

One: Be Sure of Your Search

Don’t contact a recruiter as a knee-jerk reaction to a bad experience at work. Be sure that you’re truly ready to move on. Recruiters are busy and they invest a lot of time in their candidates, so be respectful and only work with a recruiter if you’re absolutely sure it’s the right time to make a change.

Two: Be Specific About Your Needs and Goals

If you know in your heart that you will not uproot your family to move for a job no matter how much it pays, do not tell your recruiter you’d consider relocating. If you absolutely must be home at 5:00 pm in order to care for your aging parent, be honest about this. While your personal needs and requirements may make your opportunities a little thinner, your recruiter won’t waste time sending you on interviews for jobs that don’t match those requirements.

Three: Give and Receive Feedback Like a Pro

When you go on interviews, your recruiter will speak with the hiring manager to get feedback on how you did. They will then relay that feedback to you. This process helps you to become a better interviewee. Accept the feedback and act on it. At the same time, if a recruiter offers you an interview for a job that isn’t right for you, say no – but explain why you are turning it down. This feedback will help the recruiter know what types of jobs you are truly interested in. Always give and receive feedback with respect.

Four: Be an Active Participant

Your recruiter can only do so much – as a job seeker, you have to pull some of the weight, as well. Share the names of companies you have previously interviewed with so that the recruiter knows not to contact them. Provide references and all necessary paperwork in a timely fashion. Return calls and emails promptly. Check in occasionally – don’t make the recruiter call you all the time. When you’re actively involved in the process, you’ll feel more invested in it, and you’ll build a great relationship with your recruiter.

It May be Halloween, But Applying For a Job Shouldn’t be Scary

October is a time for scary things: vampires, werewolves, monsters, and witches. If you are a job seeker, you might be tempted to add “hiring managers” to that list. All too often, a job hunt can snap a person of confidence. Rejections can feel personal, and if your search drags on longer than you anticipated, it can have a serious effect on your self-esteem. Here are five tips to help you tackle your job search with confidence this Halloween season:

One: It All Starts With Your Resume

Your resume will either open doors for new opportunities, or it won’t. In order to make it work for you, it must be concise, accurate, and appealing. It should cover the scope of each position you’ve held in your career as well as the impact of the results you produced for your employers. When you’ve got a rock-star resume, your confidence will skyrocket.

Two: Have a Plan and Work That Plan

When you’re applying to random jobs here and there, or to every job you see on a job board, it can have a negative effect on your energy and your confidence. You must have a plan of attack for your job search. Choose the job boards you will use, decide how much time each week you’ll devote to those boards as well as how much time you will devote to LinkedIn, personal networking, cold emailing, etc. Know what types of organizations you want to target, as well as the specific job titles you’re qualified for, and apply only to positions that align with that criteria. When you have a plan of attack, it can reduce stress and boost your confidence.

Three: Develop an Elevator Pitch

Throughout your job search, you’re going to leave a lot of voice messages and you’ll meet lots of new people at networking events. You must be able to state your purpose and your personal value proposition quickly and effectively. Once you’ve got your pitch, practice it every time you find yourself alone: in the shower, in the car, while walking the dog, after the kids go to bed, etc. The more you practice your pitch, the more confidently you can deliver it in front of others.

Four: Take Breaks

If you’ve been pounding the pavement for weeks with little return, cut yourself some slack and take a break for a week or even two. Stepping away from your search can help you recharge your batteries and return to the market feeling renewed and confident.

Five: Work With a Professional Recruiter

Working with a professional recruiter can help you attack your job search with confidence. Recruiters not only have a line on job openings for which you are well suited and well qualified, but they can work with you to create a strong resume and improve your interviewing techniques. When they recommend you to their clients, they have a vested interest in your success. It’s like having your own personal coach and cheering section encouraging you to succeed.

The Prevalent Group is a nationally recognized management and executive placement and recruitment company. We place executives in sales, marketing, engineering, technology and more. If you are looking for new opportunities in these fields, contact us today.

Do Not be Too Closed Off Nor Too Open in an Interview

Landing a job interview can lead to feelings of excitement and anticipation, but it can also lead to feelings of nervousness. That nervousness can lead people to act very differently in an interview than they would act in a typical professional setting. Some people are too closed off, while other people are too open in an interview. Either situation can not only cause embarrassment, but it can quickly knock you out of the running for a position.

The Danger of Oversharing

When you’re nervous, it’s easy to overshare. Your mind may be going a mile a minute, but being too open can backfire on you. For example, if an employer asks you what your biggest failure is and you answer by telling her about the time you cheated on your fiancé in Cabo, you’ll probably destroy your chances of getting hired. Not because you made a bad personal choice, but because personal information has no place in a professional job interview.

Oversharing isn’t limited to exposing your deepest personal secrets. It is possible to be too open about information relating to your work history and experience, as well. When the interviewer asks you why you’re seeking new opportunities, avoid the temptation to tell her what a jerk your current boss is or how backwards your current company’s processes are. Speaking poorly of former bosses will quickly eliminate you from consideration.

The Danger of Clamming Up

While some people tend to overshare when they are nervous, other people will freeze. That scenario might look something like this:

Q: What is your biggest strength?
A: I am an excellent communicator.
Q: Great! Can you give me an example?
A: I like talking to people.
Q: Ok, and what else?
A: I’m an excellent communicator.

Giving terse answers to questions, or failing to elaborate and provide examples of your successes can make you seem disinterested in the position, knocking you out of the running for a follow-up interview. Even though you may be nervous, try your best to always offer examples that support your answers.

Practice Makes Perfect

The only way to avoid being too closed off or too open in an interview is to practice, practice again, and then practice some more. Study common interview questions and prepare yourself for the interview by pulling examples from your work history. Don’t memorize answers, however. You’ll come off as robotic, and if you panic and forget your “lines,” you’ll wind up stuck, searching for words. Instead, take inventory of your work history: what are your biggest accomplishments? What are you most proud of in your career? What are some weaknesses that you have overcome in the past? Go over those things with a partner, so that you will know what to say in your interview.

Work With A Professional Recruiter

If you want to perfect your interviewing techniques, it can be very useful to partner with a professional recruiter. Not only can they connect you with new job opportunities, but they can help you prepare for interviews so that you’ll be comfortable and far less likely to overshare or undershare.

If you are an information technology professional or engineer in northern Illinois who is seeking new opportunities for career growth, contact The Prevalent Group today. Our team of recruiters can help you locate tech jobs in northern Illinois that align with your skills, qualifications, and your long-term career goals. We will work with you to help perfect your interviewing technique to ensure you’ll always interview to impress.

Why a Unique and Personalized Application Does Wonders

When you’re on the hunt for a new job and you aren’t getting calls for interviews, discouragement is sure to set in. The problem might not be with your work history or experience. Instead, the problem may rest with the way you present your resume and cover letter. Most job seekers, in an effort to save time, send out form cover letters and the same exact resume for each position. Customizing your documents for each job is one of the most important steps that you can take to make yourself stand out among the crowd.

Not all job requirements are the same, even though you may be applying for the same type of job with each of your target companies. Job responsibilities vary from organization to organization, so you can’t possibly expect to meet each employer’s requirements if you’re sending the same documents to everyone. If you hope to grab a hiring manager’s attention from the very beginning, you’ve got to give them something different.

Before responding to a job posting, review the description carefully to determine exactly which credentials are important. Once you are able to identify those qualifications, you can customize your resume and cover letter to meet those needs.

You don’t have to create a brand new resume and cover letter from scratch each and every time, however. You can create a master copy of each document and then tweak them to match the specific job opportunity. Here’s how:

1. Open up a copy of your master resume and immediately save it as a new document with a unique title. This will ensure that you don’t permanently alter your master resume.
2. Edit your objective to be specific to the job title and the company. For example, “To become a lead front-end developer for XYZ Corporation’s Web Services Group.”
3. Review the employer’s qualifications closely and be sure that your career summary matches those requirements. It can help to rearrange your previous work history to highlight the most relevant experience first, instead of listing everything in chronological order. This allows the hiring manager to spot those relevant qualifications quickly, rather than forcing them to scan the entire document to find matches.
4. Review your individual job descriptions and modify your duties and achievements to make them relevant to the job opening. Do not lie or exaggerate, but highlight those tasks and responsibilities that align with the new job.
5. Once your resume has been customized, you can follow the same process for your cover letter.

Sending unique applications to each employer may seem like a lot of additional work, but it is worth the effort. Hiring managers see hundreds of form letters and resumes each day, and they will notice that you took the time to personalize your application. Customizing your documents shows a genuine interest in the position as well, and identifies you as someone who is not simply applying to any job they can find.

If you’re a job seeker looking to take the next step in your career, we’d love to talk to you. At The Prevalent Group, we are always seeking relationships with experienced professionals who have the skills and the ability to deliver results. As a nationally recognized management and executive placement recruitment company, we place executives in sales, marketing, engineering, technology and more. If you are looking for new opportunities in these fields, visit our job board to scan our current openings, and then contact us to learn more. We look forward to connecting you with your next job.

How to Successfully Highlight Your Resume in a Digital Scanner

Digital scanners are a new trend in human resources software. Also called applicant tracking systems (ATS), these computer programs scan all incoming resumes for a specific set of predetermined keywords, scoring each resume based upon the number of keyword matches it finds. Resumes that don’t include enough keywords will be automatically kicked out of the system, while those that have many matches are sent on for personal review.

Digital ATS systems are designed to make life easier for HR departments, which are often stretched to the limit. However, qualified candidates who submit a resume that is not optimized can be eliminated before human eyes ever have a chance to see their resume.

In order to have the best chance of passing the scan, here are some tips to follow:

Create a master keyword list – You will notice throughout your job search that the same keywords show up in postings again and again. Keep a list of those keywords, especially those that are specific to your field. Be sure that your resume includes all of these recurring terms.
Read each job posting carefully – While you will spot trends in job postings, each listing is unique. Be sure that your resume includes keywords from the individual posting that seem important. Words that show up more than once in a list of desired skills and qualifications should definitely be included in your resume.
Don’t lie – Though the object is to match your resume to the posting as closely as possible, lying will only hurt you in the long run. Hiring managers understand that not every qualified candidate will have all of their desired skills, so do your best to match your resume to the posting, but don’t falsify your qualifications.
Beef up your first page – Many hiring managers save time by setting parameters in their ATS to scan just the first page of a resume. Focus most of your attention here.
State the company name in your objective – Some hiring managers will award “bonus” points in the scoring system for resumes that include the name of the organization.
Create two versions of your resume – It might be useful to create a resume that is designed specifically for the digital scanner, and keep a longer version that you can send to the hiring team if you’re contacted for an interview. The objective of optimizing your resume for an ATS is to get to that first point of contact. From there, you can utilize your meatier resume to help make your case throughout the hiring process.

Another way to ensure your resume passes the ATS test is to partner with a professional recruiter. They have established long-standing relationships with hiring managers over time, and they will know whether or not those companies use digital scanning systems. If a particular organization to which you are applying does automate their resume screening process, your recruiter can help you tailor your resume to help you pass with flying colors.

If you are on the hunt for new job opportunities, and you’re having trouble standing out in the impersonal ATS environment, contact The Prevalent Group today. We are a nationally recognized management and executive placement and recruitment company that works with experienced managers and executives in sales, marketing, engineering, technology and more. We can help you stand out from the pack and land a job that aligns with your personal and professional goals.