How to Tell a Job Interviewer "About Yourself"

Job interviews can be stressful to prepare for as you anticipate what questions you'll be asked  and how you'll strategically answer them in order to demonstrate that you're the best candidate for the job.

You think through the job posting and work out various scenarios for the interview and then when you get there you've forgotten to prepare for the most basic question.

"So, can you start by telling me a little about yourself?"

Here are four tips to help prepare your answer to this question.

1. Start simply with some factual information about yourself. For example, "I'm the oldest of three children, I have two younger brothers and I'm very close to them. My family grew up near Lake Michigan and I love spending time in the water."

2. Describe a defining characteristic. Perhaps you are known to be fiercely independent, or your family and friends have always noted how loyal you are. Mention this trait, but don't stop there.

3. Give an example of an experience that shows you demonstrating that trait. Describe the time your youngest brother was being picked on and you stood up for him, or that morning one summer you independently decided it was time to get a summer job and your parents were shocked.

4. Provide the interviewer with an understanding of how that trait can benefit your prospective employer. Maybe you've always wanted to work at this company and it's the only company you've imagined working at or your independent nature will ensure you work hard with little supervision necessary.

Following these simple tips can help you answer in a relaxed manner and get the interview off to a good start.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Build Your Social Media Following

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below from Entrepreneur, Michelle Held provides suggestions for building your social media following; advice particularly useful for entrepreneurs and individuals wanting to build their personal brand.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to (Positively) Think Your Way to Success

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to (Positively) Think Your Way to Success: "They’re always there and they always have an effect on you. But thoughts can be appraised in a very simple way: Do they strengthen you or weaken you?"
• 6 Ways to Stay Productive After 3:00 PM: "Go for a walk, either outside or just around your office. You’ll be in a better mood when you return to the task at hand, and you'll be better equipped to actually tackle it."
• 9 Questions to Ask Yourself in Order to Move Past Challenges With Grace: "Deciding what I’m committed to and how I plan to make that commitment happen is my top focus as I enter a challenging situation."
• How to Succeed at Work When Your Boss Doesn't Respect You: "Work closely with a mentor. In my interviews, I have also found that a close relationship with a mentor is closely correlated with thriving."
• 5 Lessons from Angelina Jolie on How to Make a Career Change: "Follow her playbook and be confident in your potential to reinvent your career. Yes, it's possible! Here's how."

3 Things a Good Mentor Will Do For You

A mentor can help you at any stage in your career but not all mentors are created equal. You don't want a mentor that simply listens to you complain about your job, or your supervisor, or the dream job that got away. You could, after all, simply see a counselor if you just want someone to listen to you talk.

An effective and useful mentor will do the following:

1. Make you uncomfortable. Your mentor will inspire and challenge you to move outside of your comfort zone and do something you might find difficult, such as accept that public speaking request or taking on that assignment you feel unqualified for. A good mentor knows that doing the thing you fear will produce incredible growth in you as a person and will bring great benefits to your career.

2. Challenge you to act. An insightful mentor will allow you to share the things that are bothering you or frustrating you about your work and career. However, your mentor will move you to take some course of action rather than being immobilized by fear or anxiety. Simply taking one step can go a long way toward becoming unstuck in a difficult situation.

3. Encourage you to think differently. Not only will your mentor encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and do something, he or she will also help you disrupt unhelpful or harmful ways of thinking and challenge you to consider things from a new perspective.

A mentor who can help you challenge you in the above three ways is definitely one worth keeping, or seeking out.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Start Your Work Day

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Business Insider provides suggestions for the first 10 minutes of your work day, starting with taking a few minutes to plan the day.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Evaluate, Manage, and Strengthen Your Resilience

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to Evaluate, Manage, and Strengthen Your Resilience: "Maintaining a positive outlook and regularly expressing gratitude are the bullion bars that have real value in backstopping and building resilience."
• 5 Ways the Rules of Success Have Changed: "Technology has made it possible for you to create the essential elements of business out of thin air. For the very first time, individuals can disrupt entire industries by themselves."
• How to Be More Confident at Work: "One of the best ways to build confidence is to get clear on your strengths and find ways to integrate those strengths into what you do every day."
• The Best Ways to Block Out Office Negativity: "While you may not be able to immediately change the challenging situations around you, it's possible that with a little practice, you can learn to recognize particular patterns of thinking that are keeping you feeling bad at work for longer than necessary."
• Are You a Terrible Boss?: "As an employee, it’s really hard to get anything done if your boss is constantly stepping in and trying to hold your hand when you really don’t need it."

3 Things To Do When You've Been Passed Over For a Promotion

Several years ago I was passed over for a promotion I had been expecting and preparing for over the previous few years. My supervisor had made it clear that she intended for me to replace her.

However, after she left, and I went through the interview process a surprising thing happened. I did not get the promotion.

Unfortunately, my response to getting passed over was not helpful and soon after I left the company for a new position. It turned out to be a bad career and personal decision.

So here are three things you can do differently if you are passed over for a job promotion:

1. Allow yourself to feel ... angry, frustrated, sad, and any other emotion you experience. However, only allow yourself to focus on these feelings for a limited period of time, say 48 hours, and then move on. Dwelling on those feelings will have you experiencing bitterness and make it more difficult for you to make a good decision about the future of your work.

2. Ask, listen, and fully understand. Seek out a meeting with the manager who made the decision about the promotion. Do your best to go into the meeting with an attitude of curiosity and a genuine desire to understand why you did not get the promotion. Listen carefully and say very little. Do not attempt to persuade the manager that he or she made a mistake. Do not attempt to defend yourself against any shortcomings the manager identifies. Leave the meeting on good terms with the manager.

3. Humbly apply what you've learned. If the manager provided you with some specific and concrete ways to improve your performance and develop skills to make you more qualified for a promotion develop a plan to meet the objection identified. If you take a serious approach to dealing with any shortcomings identified you will likely find that another opportunity for a promotion will make itself available.

And then you will be ready for it.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Successful Women on Breaking the Rules

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

In the video below from Forbes four self-made women provide advice to aspiring entrepreneurs about breaking rules.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Fake it When You're Not Feeling Confident

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to Fake it When You're Not Feeling Confident: "One surefire way to come across as self-confident when you’re feeling insecure is to use 'body language that makes you feel bold and victorious'."
• 5 Things That Affect You and Your Life: "We’re affected by whatever we know or don’t know. Here’s a good phrase to jot down: Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is tragedy. Ignorance is devastation. Ignorance creates lack."
• 3 Things Every Company Must Do To Hire Right Now: "Offer a mobile portal that is responsive, fast, and functional — it can’t not do certain functions, it really should function on a par with desktop or you’ll look like you’ve still got one foot in the dinosaur age."
• The One Word That Can Transform Your Negotiating Skills: "As a negotiator, you should strive for a reputation of being fair. Your reputation precedes you. Let it precede you in a way that paves success."
• Breaking These 13 Habits Will Make You Happier: "We can’t control our genes, and we can’t control all of our circumstances, but we can rid ourselves of habits that serve no purpose other than to make us miserable."

5 Tips When Asking for a Raise

You've earned it, that much is clear, and yet you find yourself impatiently waiting on your manager or supervisor to approach you about a raise.

It's time to take the initiative and manage your career by engaging your boss in this discussion. Though it can be intimidating to bring up money with your manager here are five tips to help the process.

1. Understand your value. Do some research so you know where you fit in with the current salary range in your field, and also within your company. This will give you an indication of what you can expect from a raise.

2. Document your accomplishments. Be sure you have clear documentation for the work you've accomplished, along with your specific successes. If there is a way to tie it to the financial success of your company that can help your chances for a raise.

3. Be specific. Determine exactly what it is you are looking for and know what your target number will be when you ask for a raise.

4. Practice will make confident. Take some time to practice what you will say to your manager and how you will state your case for a raise. The more comfortable you are with your presentation the more confident you will appear when asking for your raise, and your manager will appreciate and respect your confidence.

5. Schedule a meeting. This is obvious but until you actually schedule a meeting with your manager to ask for a raise all your preparation is useless. In fact, go ahead and schedule that meeting with your manager today. Give yourself a week to prepare steps 1-4 and go into the meeting with confidence that you're prepared to state your case well.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 5 Tips to Become More Positive

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

It's been shown that having a better outlook on life can lead to more success and in the video below from Entrepreneur you'll discover 5 tips to become more positive.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 10 Ways to Get Back Your Work-Life Balance

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 10 Ways to Get Back Your Work-Life Balance: "Have lunch with a co-worker you don’t know very well. Get to know more than his or her name. Commit to doing this once a month."
• 8 Ways to Measure Job Search Success: "You want to make the extra effort and do everything possible to make live contact with the hiring manager, not human resources. The hiring manager has the power to hire you, so you want your qualifications and interest to come across."
• 10 Ways to Cultivate Credibility: "To be credible never shift responsibility for mistakes onto others. Live from an internal locus of control and trust you have the power to shape your life through your own decisions and actions."
• When It's A Better Career Move To Turn Down A Big Assignment From Your Boss: "If a stretch assignment isn’t going to push you out of your comfort zone and spark some passion, it’s probably worth passing."
• What to Expect from Job Interviews and How to Prepare: "The interviewer usually wants to get a sense of how you will fit into the company, but may also ask questions to confirm that the phone screener did their job in assessing your skills and qualifications."

4 Practices to Network Your Way to Success

A lot is written about the importance of networking for your career success and much of it is good, solid advice. However, rather than complicate things there are four practices that, if implemented, will help you gain deeper connections that ultimately provide you with lasting resources to support you through all phases of your career--the good, the bad, and everything in between.

The following are four practices to network effectively for lasting and meaningful success:  

1. Be social. This is obvious but is also difficult for those who identify as introverts (up to half the population). The easiest way to be social is to be present: attend the party, the conference, the networking event. Develop a set of introductory questions or statements to break the ice with someone new and show interest in the other person. You don't have to be at a formal networking event to practice being social. You can be social in the work cafeteria or at the coffee shop. You never know when you might develop a last relationship with someone. After all, every one of your friends was a stranger at some point.

2. Be kind. Yes, kindness and compassion win out. Kindness is attractive and others will be drawn to you. But you must make it genuine. Speak words of kindness and encouragement to others and you will find that you are also encouraged and in a better mood, and likely to be more social.

3. Be curious. Take an interest in others and desire to learn what you can about their work, their interests, and their lives. Ask questions. Listen well. Not only will you develop deeper relationships but you'll gain more knowledge, making you a more skilled and valuable employee or entrepreneur.

4. Be a connector. When you meet someone find a way to connect them with someone you know who might be of interest or service to them. For example, if you meet someone who talks of the need to update their web site let them know about the graphic designer friend you have. Or perhaps you meet someone interested in learning more about film-making, introduce them to your friend who directs commercials for TV. When you become a connector others will seek out your advice and suggestions and they will also connect you to the people in their lives who might of interest or service to you.