Archive for personal brand

Answering the Question: What Makes You More Qualified Than the Other Candidates?

November 16th, 2017

Answering the Question: What Makes You More Qualified Than the Other Candidates?

 

This is a common question my clients are regularly asked in an interview.  There is worth to the question, despite what you read online, and I do understand the logic behind it.  So, here is how you handle it:

First, tell them you don’t know the other candidates’ qualifications, nor do you have their resume, so all you can speak to is your own qualifications for the position.  Not only is this true, but you avoid saying anything negative about the other candidates – this is one of the reasons an interviewer asks the question.  Be careful to address this at the beginning of your answer, as you don’t want the interviewer to feel as if you ignored a portion of the question.

Second, before you ever walk into that interview, fashion an answer.  Being perceived as caught off guard by an inquiry that is commonly used will certainly be a negative.  This is essentially another way of asking “what makes you qualified for the position.”  It doesn’t matter which of these questions you get, the answer will be primarily the same except for what I provided in the “first” part of the answer.

Speak concisely about how your skills, education and experience, with a couple of pertinent examples, relate to the job the interviewer is hiring for specifically.  Keep the answer to less than 90 seconds, so you have enough time to share some details, and connect them to the job, but not so much you bore the interviewer(s).

Use your biggest and best skills and experience, and only relevant education (if used at all) in the answer.  This is not the time to talk about your phone prowess as an IT Director, or how you helped your frat organize a “party” for an entry level bank teller job (or any job for that matter).

What is the organization truly looking for in this position regarding experience and skillset?  What will your typical tasks be day-in, day-out?  What unique capabilities, education, certifications, or experience are they desiring that you already possess?  Depending on the level of, and detail provided about the position, you can offer quite a customized answer to the interviewer(s).

Keep a cheat sheet on hand of this answer in your notebook or portfolio for the interview.  Now you will be prepared, and have a great answer that truly offers value, while setting yourself apart from the competition in a professional and likeable way.

 

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 30-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Interviews, Job Search, Personal Branding
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11 Interview Tips Experts Say Will Make You Stand Out

October 26th, 2017

11 Interview Tips Experts Say Will Make You Stand Out

I was honored to recently participate in a colleague’s article interviewing 11 experts on how to “stand out from the crowd” while in an interview.  Below is my tip for jobseekers, and a link to the full article.

“Craft answers to Behavioral Interview questions prior to the interview.  I take every one of my clients through an exercise to develop these before walking in an interviewer’s door.  Go through performance reviews, your own resume examples of success, think about projects you have worked on, documentation you have created, how you contributed to cost savings or profit and revenue development, and how you increased customer service.  Write these in a format of Challenge, Action and (successful) Result and take them with you in a career portfolio to the interview.  Now you will have an arsenal of perhaps 20 or more examples to refer to if necessary.  You can write them in a brief synopsis (three sentences will be sufficient) but can share and expand on during your interview session.

Since nearly every interview has Behavioral Interview questions, this exercise will pay huge dividends in your success.  Don’t be stuck trying to think of an answer for every interview question that comes your way, prepare ahead and reduce your stress while you impress.”

To see the full article, please go to the following link: https://www.offtheclockresumes.com/blog/11-interview-tips-experts-say-will-make-you-stand-out

 

Categories Career Management, Interviews, Job Search, Personal Branding
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Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?

July 12th, 2016

 

Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?

People, including experts, make networking so tough, and such a formalized process.  We write entire books on how to network.  It’s really quite simple – have a conversation, and remember that networking isn’t about you in a job search or a business interaction; it’s about you talking with another human being.  Just talking, we can do that, right?

We have so many opportunities to network in our daily lives.  Parties, weddings, funerals (not during the ceremonies mind you), church or other religious institution gatherings, and of course, networking events.  We should start promoting networking as a state of mind, not a process or methodology, or something only done on special occasions.

Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?I recently had a business person in my Your Business Plan:  The Entrepreneurs Compass six-week program say the following “I attend networking events all the time and I can’t seem to get any leads.  I go there with the intent of getting business and just never get any decent contacts.”  My answer:  Stop going with the intent of getting a client, and start going with the intent of helping someone else.  I would tell a jobseeker the same thing.  Stop going to a networking event and trying to “get” something out of it, and start giving to others.  My course attendee was needless to say stunned at my comment and then the lightbulb went off.  She realized the entire strategy of going to an event to “acquire” a contact or new business was too much pressure on her and the other networker.  I explained that when our focus is on what we want, we communicate it in body language, our voice, and very likely the verbiage we use.  All we are saying to a potential contact is we want, want, want.  Not the most attractive communication approach.

When you take your eye off of yourself in a networking situation, and offer a fellow networker a tip, pointer, referral, potential contact, job or business lead, or just give someone a little guidance, that kindness will always come back to you in a positive way.  I’m not talking about getting the crystals out and singing “Kum-Ba-Yah” here, but when you give you truly receive.  Not only do you receive the knowledge that you helped someone else, that help to another always seems to return to you as help when you need it.  Remember the “practice random acts of kindness” idea – it works!

Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?The other two tips I offered to the business person in my seminar were more for people who tend to be on the shy side.  First, take someone with you to an event, and even better, someone who is outgoing and let them do some of the work.  Trust me, those of us who aren’t shy will be glad to help, and you may be assisting another jobseeker or business owner network too.  Second, if you are alone, don’t feel as if you must go make a formal introduction to anyone initially.  Instead walk up close to a person on the outskirts of the event that like you is probably shy, and say the following:  Wow, there are more people here than I expected, or… there are fewer people here than I expected.  If they talk back to you in a friendly way, CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE NETWORKING.  Now introduce yourself and start a real conversation.

Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?This isn’t rocket science, we don’t need more books on networking, but instead we need to as career and/or business coaches to show our clients how simple and empowering it can be once they step slightly outside their comfort zone.  In particular, we must emphasize this is an ongoing process with people you know, people you need to reconnect with, and people you have yet to meet, and can happen in most any social situation.  Putting people first makes you a better person, and I have found once my clients get a taste of that success in building relationships they want to continue the pursuit.  Who knows where that can lead?

 

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses.  After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm.  Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals.  She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 50-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area.  She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Business Coaching, Job Search, Networking, Personal Branding
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