Tag Archives: Professional Recruiters

4 Soft Skills to Remember in An Interview

During the course of a job interview, you’re probably focused on demonstrating your skills and experience. However, your skills and experience alone will not land you the job. Cultural fit is more important than ever before, as employers are starting to understand that they can retain candidates longer if their work style and personalities are a strong fit. While each company culture is unique, there are some universal soft skills that most every employer looks for throughout the hiring process. Therefore, it will be important to remember these soft skills in your next interview:

A Strong Work Ethic

As you answer questions, be sure to include examples of ways in which you go the extra mile to reach your goals and help your team succeed. Many hiring managers look at past performance as an indicator of future results. Be specific. Have stories on hand that showcase the ways you consistently go above and beyond, and be sure to explain your motivations for doing so.

A Positive Attitude

Showcase examples of times that you helped to boost team morale. Was a project in danger of coming in late or over budget? Was your team faced with a string of 12 hour days, extreme pressure, and poor results? What did you do to keep everyone on task and focused on improving the end result? It is also important to demonstrate a positive attitude at all times, even under pressure.  Be aware that if you are naturally laid-back, it might come across as disinterest in an interview. Try to be upbeat to show the hiring manager that even under pressure, you keep your spirits high.

Time Management

Ever since The Great Recession, employees have been asked to do more with less. There seems to always be too much to do, and not enough time to get it done. Be ready so show examples of the ways in which you prioritize tasks, delegate to others, and make sure that your most important projects are always completed on time.

Confidence and Self-Assuredness

Nowhere is confidence more important than an interview. If you can walk into a room of strangers and sell yourself without appearing nervous or stressed out, it shows that you handle yourself well under pressure. Be sure that your confidence doesn’t come off as arrogance, however.  You show confidence in the way you dress, your eye contact, what you do with your hands, how succinctly you answer questions, and whether or not you appear prepared for the interview. At the close of the interview, be sure to express your continued interest in the position, and ask the interviewer when you can expect to hear back from them.

If you are a professional in sales, marketing, engineering, IT or operations looking for new 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 are putting your best foot forward at all times.

How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions

Now more than ever before, hiring managers are integrating behavioral questions into their interviews. These questions are designed to help the interviewer determine whether or not an applicant possesses the qualities, skills, and traits to be successful on the job.  It is essential to prepare for these questions so that you aren’t caught off guard during an interview.

What Are Behavioral Interview Questions?

Behavioral interview questions are designed to give the interviewer a look at how you’ve handled yourself in the past. Traditional interviews rely on hypothetical questions like, “How would you handle it if your boss asks you X?” “What would you do if a customer presented you with Y problem?” It’s relatively easy to craft answers to these questions, whether or not you’d actually handle yourself in the manner you describe. Therefore, hypothetical questions actually provide very little insight for employers.

Behavioral questions, on the other hand, ask you for examples of how you handled specific situations in the past. They often begin with phrases like, “Tell me about a time when X.” They may include questions such as:

  • Tell me about a time when you had to take initiative to solve a difficult problem.
  • Give me an example of a time when you had to complete a project when you did not have all of the information you needed in order to get started.
  • Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a particularly difficult customer.
  • Give me an example of a challenge you faced in your current job and how you solved it.
  • Tell me about a time when you had to solve a problem by tackling tasks outside of your job description.

Assessing how you’ve handled specific situations in the past can help the interviewer determine how you will handle those types of situations in the future.

How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions

Preparation is the key to successfully answering behavioral interview questions. While there is no way to determine just which questions you will be asked, there are some steps you can take to determine the types of questions that might be likely:

  1. Read through the job description. What are the responsibilities of the role? What challenges might that person face?
  2. For each of those responsibilities and challenges, generate examples from your career that illustrate how you would excel on the job.
  3. For each example, write an outline of an answer that addresses the problem, your response, and the outcome.
  4. Practice your answers with a friend, family member, or with a professional recruiter. Don’t memorize your answers. Simply practice telling your stories out loud in a concise manner.

As a job seeker, it’s important not to fear behavioral interview questions. Instead, look at them as an opportunity to showcase examples of how you rise to challenges and overcome them. If you are a professional in sales, marketing, engineering, IT or operations looking for new 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 enter each interview with poise and confidence.

Tell Me About Yourself: How to Develop an Elevator Pitch

Many interviews open with the same question, “Tell me about yourself.”  Many interviewees see this as an invitation to tell their personal life story, but this is not what hiring managers want to hear. “Tell me about yourself,” is an invitation to provide an overview of your career background, your achievements, and where you see yourself in the future. The answer to this question is often a great place to utilize your elevator pitch.

What is an Elevator Pitch?

Elevator pitches are named for a challenge: How would you express your value as an employee if you found yourself on an elevator with your dream employer and you had to describe yourself to that person in the time it took you to reach your floor?

Your elevator pitch should be concise, illustrating who you are and how you can help the listener. It is a sales pitch about yourself that you deliver verbally, which means it takes focus and practice in order to deliver it with confidence. To be effective, an elevator pitch should be compelling and memorable, and it should clearly illustrate your value to the employer.

How to Create Your Elevator Pitch

Developing an effective elevator pitch takes some time. Though it is short, it carries a lot of weight, and determines the tone of the rest of the interview. Here are some tips to help you craft a compelling elevator pitch:

  1. Set aside time to sit down and create a career inventory.

    Write down the things you would want potential employers to know about your skills, achievements, and relevant experience.

  2. Edit, edit, edit.

    Once you’ve got a nice, long list written down, it’s time to edit. Delete anything that is not absolutely critical to your elevator pitch. You want to be left with just a few bullet points. Remember, the elevator pitch is not your life or career story, it is more of a highlight reel of your “top hits” that should leave the interviewer wanting to learn more about you.

  3. Format the pitch.

    Now that you’ve got a list to work with, you can begin to craft your pitch. A solid elevator pitch will answer the questions: Who are you? What do you do well? What are you looking for from your career?

  4. Tailor your pitch to your audience.

    Remember that you are giving a sales pitch, and the listener only wants to know what’s in it for them. Therefore, the message should focus on your benefits as an employee. Instead of saying, “I am an HR professional with 12 years of experience in the finance industry,” it would be much more powerful to say, “I am an HR professional with a track record in successfully recruiting top-level management.”

  5. Practice, practice, practice.

    After you’ve got a solid draft in place, practice your pitch out loud with friends, family, or your professional recruiter. They can help you make any edits that might be necessary, and the more you practice delivering your pitch, the more confident you will be in your delivery.

Professional recruiters can be an invaluable resource when it comes to perfecting your elevator pitch and your entire interviewing technique. 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 job opportunities that align with your long-term personal and professional goals.

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.

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.

Four Tips To Leaving A Positive Impression During An Engineering Interview

When you land an engineering interview, it’s clear that your resume made a great first impression. In order to land the job, however, you must make a lasting positive impression on your interviewer. So what can you do to help increase your chances of getting a call back?

Be On Time

If you’re late to the interview, the hiring manager will remember it after you leave. Leave much earlier than you think you need to – you never know if you’ll hit traffic. If you arrive more than ten minutes early, sit in your car and go over your notes about the employer. Be sure to enter the building and check in ten minutes before the interview is scheduled to begin.

Be Prepared

An unprepared interviewee will always leave a bad impression. Do your homework and learn as much as you can about the company you’re interviewing with. You should also do some practice interviews ahead of time so that you’re prepared with answers to questions that require specific examples of your successes.

Exude Confidence

You may be as nervous as a cat in a dog pound, but don’t let it show. Good preparation can go a long way in helping you feel confident. Remember, this is not the time to downplay your career achievements. This is your time to shine. Where else but an interview will you get to boast about yourself to someone who will actually listen?

Be sure that your appearance shows confidence, as well. Break out your best power suit – even if you know the work environment is casual.  Career experts tell you to dress for the job you want, and nowhere is that more important than the interview.

Always Behave Professionally

You never, ever know what type of relationship your interviewer has with others in the industry. Do not speak ill of your supervisors, coworkers, or your employers. Even if the interviewer doesn’t personally know the people you’re talking about, speaking poorly about past employers makes you look bad. Always be respectful when asked about previous employers, no matter how tempting it may be to take the low road.

Friendly will always win you points over standoffishness. Be warm and positive, and engage in a bit of small talk before the interview starts. Do not ask inappropriate personal questions of the interviewer, however. Remember, you are in a professional interview, not a cocktail party.

Bonus Tip: Say Thank you and Follow Up

Always end the interview by asking about next steps. If you fail to ask about those steps, it shows disinterest. Keep thank you notes and stamps in the car. Write a thank you card immediately and drop it in the mail on your way home. Many people choose to send thank you emails, and while there is nothing wrong with that, a handwritten note will make a bigger impression than a digital correspondence.  Be sure to keep in touch with the hiring manager, but do not be a pest. Badgering will leave a negative impression.

In order to leave an interview with a positive impression, you have to do more than just show up and answer questions. Look the part, arrive on time, be prepared, and conduct yourself in a professional manner, and you’ll be sure to leave a lasting, positive mark.

If you are an engineer in the Northern Illinois area seeking new career opportunities, contact The Prevalent Group today. Our team of recruiters can help you locate  engineering jobs in Illinois that align with your long-term career goals, and we can work with you to help perfect your interviewing skills to ensure that you always leave a positive impression on hiring managers.

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.

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.

What You Should And Shouldn’t Ask As You Start Your Job

The first days and weeks on a job are the most critical when it comes to establishing a positive perception, learning the ropes, and building trust among your colleagues.  It will be important to ask questions along the way, but it’s equally important to know what not to say as you start your new job.

Questions for Your Boss

In order to have a good working relationship with your new supervisor, you’ll need to get a feel for the type of manager you’re working with. It is also essential to be clear about your exact responsibilities on the job.  It is appropriate to ask your new boss questions like:

  • How often do you prefer to receive project updates?
  • Do you like those updates to be made via email, telephone, or face-to-face?
  • What are your goals for my first month?
  • How will you measure my success in that first month?
  • How does this position fit into the “big picture” of the organization?
  • If I get stuck, who on the team is easily approachable for help?

Questions for Co-workers

Current employees can be wary of a new team member. They may wonder if you will upset the rhythm of the office, if you’ll get along with everyone, or even if you’ll upstage them. You’ll want to get to know your new colleagues and build a rapport by asking questions that show genuine interest in who they are and what they do. You might ask:

  • Tell me about your experience working on (project that you are assigned to).
  • What types of projects do you head up?
  • Do my responsibilities overlap with yours? In what ways?
  • What types of qualities do you like to see in your teammates?
  • What can I do to assist you and the team in achieving our goals?

What Not to Say

While it is important to ask questions as a new employee, you don’t want to be seen as needy or slow to learn. Asking too many questions, or asking the wrong types of questions can start you off on the wrong foot with your new colleagues. Avoid the following:

  • Don’t ask the same person the same question more than once. Keep a notebook and write things down.
  • Don’t bother people if they look extremely busy, unless it’s an absolute emergency.
  • Don’t ask your co-workers what happened to the person who held your job before.
  • Don’t ask how often you get to leave early, or if your boss cares if you show up late. It shows a lack of motivation.
  • Don’t ask anyone out on a date.
  • Don’t ask anyone how much they are paid.
  • Don’t turn down lunch invitations in your first few weeks. Be approachable and friendly at all times.

Always remember that your first few days and weeks on the job are going to be stressful. You will probably make some mistakes. Don’t be hard on yourself if you hit a few snags along the way.  Prepare yourself, ask questions, and do your best. There is always the next day to start over and get it right.

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