Ready, Set, Go: Preparing For a Job Interview

Are you getting ready for a job interview? Here are helpful job interview preparation tips to help you land your dream career.

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Take time to review the job posting. Do you have the required skills for the job? The job posting states what the company is looking for a candidate. Have a list of your knowledge, skills, and qualities to see if you are fit to do the job. 

Research about the company. Not all companies are the same. Some are big corporations, others are startups, and there are also nonprofits. Knowing what the company does can help you manage your expectations. It can also help you answer critical questions during the interview. 

Practice running through interview questions. Where do you see yourself professionally five years from now? How can you be an asset to the company? These questions are commonly asked in job interviews. Practicing these questions can help you be more confident during the actual interview. These can also help you reflect on what you really want to do in the long run. 

Find the appropriate attire for your interview. First impressions do last. One of the many ways you can stand out in the job interview is by choosing the right clothes to wear. Dress accordingly. If you’re eyeing a professional position, get your business attire ready. If you’re applying for a job in a casual, relaxed environment, make sure your clothes are still tidy and well-groomed. 

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Larry Polhill is a retired career consultant. Visit this blog for more tips on how to land your dream job.

Numbers Talk: Quantifying Accomplishments In Your Resume

If you think that the only numbers that should be included in a resume are your contact numbers, then it is time to have a change of mindset. Numbers can highlight your accomplishments by providing a metric for them, which enhances the resume and leaves a greater impact on hiring managers.

For instance, if you put yourself in a hiring manager’s shoes and see these two accomplishments:

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• Wrote blog articles daily

• Wrote 40-50 blog articles within a week under daily deadlines

Which do you think is more impressive? The second statement carries more weight because it quantifies the achievement and provides a picture of the responsibilities of the job applicant and how much productive they were. Hiring managers tend to notice and hone in on digits, especially since metrics is the language of business nowadays.

There are many ways to include metrics in writing down your accomplishments. As seen in the example above, the amount of production can be included in the resume, instead of merely pluralizing your accomplishments.

Another way is to describe achievements and responsibilities in terms of money – how much was earned, saved, or managed in your previous job, internship, or extracurricular activities. This can showcase your aptitude in dealing with money and how instrumental you can be in affecting the company’s bottom line.

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Time-oriented entries should also appear in the accomplishments section because it can highlight your ability to meet deadlines and manage your time.

Follow me, Larry Polhill, on Twitter for more tips on writing a resume.

Resume Or Curriculum Vitae: Which To Use And When

While both the curriculum vitae (CV) and the resume reflect a person’s skills and experience, they are different documents. Let’s look at the distinctions and what’s more appropriate to submit in a given situation.

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Resumes are much shorter, typically just one to two pages long. Keeping your resume brief and concise means that you’ve to omit older positions and details from time to time. CVs keep these data and add new ones in your career as they are meant to be comprehensive. A typical CV may grow in pages upwards of a dozen, depending on one’s experience.

Resumes often allow management to look at one’s qualifications at a glance, so they require the use of short phrases and often come in a bullet-point format that highlights select accomplishments. CVs are deliberately more in-depth and are studied closely by a company’s HR department.

CVS usually begin with a listing of degrees earned, followed by academic interests and thesis and dissertation titles. These are followed by former work positions, published work, and any grant, award, or honor received. The last entry is usually a list of references.

It is in a job seeker's best interest to have both these documents ready, as they serve different purposes. While resumes are more common for applying for most jobs in the U.S., research work, positions in the academia and grant applications often require CVs.

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Arizona-based retired career consultant Larry Polhill believes that clean and well-written resumes and CVs will help the job applicant stand out. For more insights for jobseekers, visit this blog.