Keep on Looking
Don't stop lining up interviews or interviewing until you have a job. The more offers you can generate the better off you will be. There's no rational explanation, but conducting a job search is often like letting a snowball go down a hill. It was hard work pushing it to the top; but once it's over the top, it gains momentum, and there's no stopping it.
Job search is a numbers game. The more qualified "no's" you get, the closer you get to receive a "yes." You must generate constant activity to be able to reach the position whereby active interviewing and simultaneous job offers occur. Combine positive morale, persistence, and knowledge and you have the formula for a high octane fuel that can power a job search to undreamed of heights.
Information Interviews
Most job seekers are familiar with information interviewing. Persons with degrees in one area but who for whatever reason, are trying to break into a different area, should definitely prospect for information interviews.
Unfortunately, too many people have used the information interview as an excuse to get into a company to try to talk their way into a job. For this reason, information interviewing has a bad reputation. If you intend to try to arrange some information inter views, be prepared for an occasionally rude reception.
If the prospective interviewer has the slightest suspicion you're using this as an entry to a possible job opening you will be rebuked, and rightly so. But if you really do need some career advice and direction, by all means go ahead and try it, just be prepared to overcome possible rejection.
Use the telephone technique to prospect for information interviews. Call the right person and ask if you could possibly get together because you need the advice of an expert in the field. If you can drop a name or two, great!
Prepare a Notebook
When you do meet with your resource person you must show him or her you are serious about what you're doing; that you're not just another job seeker.
Tell the person you recognize how valuable his time is and you appreciate his meeting with you. Ask the interviewer if he minds if you refer to your notebook so you won't miss asking questions for which you need answers.
Have a separate page for each person with whom you interview. The more pages you have filled out, the more impressed the person will be with your preparation and organization. Jot down the important parts of answers you receive. Maintain as much eye contact as you can.
Each individual's page or pages should have a spot at the top for the usual contact information. Then it should list eight or ten questions with room following each one to record his answers.
When you do have an information interview, treat it just as you would a job interview. Before you go to the interview, find out all that you can about the company, its products or services, and the person with whom you will be meeting. Be ready to answer all the usual questions. Be prepared to ask intelligent, probing questions concerning the subject matter under discussion.
Try to bring along some "Show and Tell" materials relating to the company, industry, or person you are meeting with. Do some homework. Show the interviewer how organized and efficient you are. Show her you really appreciate her taking the time to meet with you. Make her wish she had more people like you on her staff.
Suppose you are qualified for the position you're investigating. Suppose that you got along with the interviewer and made a good impression. It is possible that you might be considered for employment with the company. In any event, you will have gathered some vital information, engaged in some excellent interviewing experience, and secured a few new names for future leads.
Make Things Happen
All too often, the interview will end with the traditional, "Don't call us, we'll call you" routine. The problem you then face is that of deciding, as objectively as possible, what your chances are of being called back. You could go home, sit by the telephone, and watch for the postal carrier. But the best thing to do is to wait a few days beyond the time stated and then call the interviewer to remind him or her of:
- His or her promise (if he or she promised to call).
- Your impressive qualifications.
- Your burning desire to become part of "the team." Your keen, continued, interest in the position.
In most instances, you will have a pretty good feel for how well the interview went-good, bad, or indifferent. Don't be overcritical of your performance. Don't be too eager to write it off as a lost cause just because you weren't hired the minute you walked in the door.
Have patience. Maintain belief in yourself. If you don't land a position and you believe you've done everything right, you're probably not the right person for the position, nor it for you.
Summary
Whatever your decision, no matter which position you accept, here is a little philosophical offering to keep in mind. As you know, the world of work is rapidly changing. Not too long ago, one was stigmatized as a "job-hopper" if he or she changed companies more than once or twice during a lifetime. Today, the average American changes companies seven times. Today, more and more Americans are not only changing jobs and companies but careers.
Given today's job market, it is likely the person doing the interviewing has himself conducted a job search fairly recently. He or she may have transitioned from one industry into another. This is important information to know, particularly if you're seeking to change fields. Not only is there the possibility of discovering and building upon this mutual bridge, but he is certainly in no position to tell you that you can't possibly make such a change.
Employers want to know what you can do for them, not what they can do for you. Sure, they'll ask you what happened on your last job, and, if you were let go, why. But that isn't because they want to hear a sob story. And it certainly isn't because they are anxious to hear you moan and groan and reminisce about the way things used to be. They ask because this is how they judge what you could do for them.
Be positive. Never confess. Never complain. Be specific. Be results oriented. Use SOAR statements. Be alert to what you might do for the employer and for the person interviewing you. Try not to discuss money early in the interview. Ask intelligent and probing questions. Use information you have accumulated. Play "Show and Tell." Never walk away from an interview not knowing what you can, or cannot, expect to happen next. Don't play the "waiting for the good news by mail game." If the employer is interested in you, he or she will give you a call. Be certain to send a thank-you note. This will place you a step up on virtually all of your competitors.
