High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 6 Secrets to Preventing Procrastination

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!

• 6 Secrets to Preventing Procrastination: "The hardest part of any project is often taking that first step. Once I’ve gotten started, it’s usually easy enough to keep going."

• The One Skill That Makes You More Employable: "Whether you’re communicating with partners, customers, or coworkers, the way you write influences how people view both you and your company. Clear communication builds confidence and creates more productive relationships."

• Top 8 Interview Questions & How to Answer Them: "The following are LinkedIn's most commonly asked interview questions, along with my take on the best way to answer them."

• How Smart Women Successfully Make a Career Pivot: "For anyone considering a career change or radically relaunching a career, here are a few things I’ve learned along the way that may help you get started."
• 6 Words You Need to Eliminate from Your Professional Vocabulary:"To ensure you’re being perceived in the way you want, begin eliminating these words from your professional vocabulary."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: The Importance of Moving Past Adversity

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!

• The Importance of Moving Past Adversity: "The future is yet to be determined and can be influenced by what you do today. Today is the only day that really matters."

• 5 Creative Interview Questions to Ask Job Applicants: "But how can you use the interview process to ensure your company hires the absolute best person for the job? Specifically, are you asking the right questions, and how do you know if you're hearing the right answers?"

• The Best Advice for Leaders in the New Year: "We learn through the stories of those who experience something firsthand. Real stories, recollections, have an unvarnished transparency. They tend to be chock full of great examples of how to do or not do something."

• The Simple Way to Turn a Stressful Job Interview into a Relaxed Conversation: "Getting a hiring manager feeling comfortable talking to you must be part of that plan if you want to stand out and get the job."
• When Burnout is a Sign You Should Leave Your Job: "When the conditions and demands you encounter at work — like workload, level of autonomy, and norms of interpersonal behavior — exceed your capacity to handle them, you’re at risk of burning out."

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.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Answer the 10 Most Common Interview Questions

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 Answer the 10 Most Common Interview Questions: "We talked to six hiring experts to find out which questions trip up most job candidates, and the better answers that could win you the job."
• 15 Steps to Successfully Reinvent Yourself After Losing Everything: "Whether if it’s reading or attending a workshop or webinar, find ways to enhance your knowledge. It will make you a more well-rounded individual and help you grow both personally and professionally."
• 9 Skills Bosses See Lacking in New Graduates: "An online benefits and compensation information company unveiled which hard skills managers find lacking in new grads. Here are the results of the survey."
• How to Build New Leaders: "For any business that lasts, it’s incumbent upon current leaders to build a deep farm system of developing leaders. Mentorship programs are one answer."
• How to Ask Your Boss for a Raise: "However, it's important to keep in mind that it's okay to ask, even if the execution feels uncomfortable and comes across as awkward. Your delivery will improve over time."

5 Questions to Ask at Your Next Job Interview

While preparing for a job interview it is also important to consider the questions you will ask, in addition to the questions you might answer. The job interview is a way for you to decide if this job or employer is the right fit for you.

The five questions below are just some of the questions you might ask at your next job interview:

1. How would you describe the company culture? Understanding the company culture will help you determine if this is the right place for you.

2. What qualities do your most successful employees share? This will help you determine if your strengths are a good fit and if they will be put to good use.

3. What sets this company apart from its competitors? It's useful to know how the company distinguishes itself from its competition.

4. What opportunities are offered for me to develop and improve my skills and knowledge? You want to be in a company that offers you opportunities to grow and develop.

5. How will my performance be evaluated? This will provide some clues about who will judge your performance and what opportunities there are to advance.

For more questions to consider at your job interview check out this article at Forbes.

Why Should I Hire You? How to Answer One of the Most Important Interview Questions

This popular interview question is often one of the last questions asked by your interviewer. It is often your last chance to make your sales pitch and to the employer. It is you opportunity to demonstrate that you have done your research, you know the company's need and goals, and that you have a solid idea of how you can be of assistance to the organization.

There is really no one right way to answer this question. However, I would like to give you some do's and don'ts as you prepare yourself for what just may be one of the most important questions you will face.

• DON'T ever try to be flippant or funny with your answer. By saying something to the effect of "Because I am the best chocolate chip cookie baker you will meet, so potlucks will be amazing." is not how you will best take advantage of this opportunity to sell yourself.

• DO your research in advance. Find out what the company needs, what is going on in their "world," and discover the reasons or motivation behind why they are hiring for this position. Formulate your answer based on this research to give one final pitch that you are the solution to their problems.

• DON'T sound desperate. Probably the worst answer to this question is "Because I need a job!" The employer is not looking for the employee with the greatest need. Instead they are looking for the one who brings the most value.

• DO have a solid idea of what skills and abilities make you a cost-effective employee. Sell the benefits you can bring to the employer and offer a few solid examples in your answer.

• DON'T be vague or speak using platitudes or generalities. You will not stand out from the crowd by offering the employer the same generic answer as most people: "I am a hard worker and a team player." Set yourself apart from the crowd by stating your skills and clarifying how those skills will benefit your potential employer.

• DO tie together your entire interview with your response to this question. Refer back to previous answers where you offered examples and told stories that demonstrated how you have used these skills to benefit previous employers. Telling stores and offering evidence makes the statements much more believable. 

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

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

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• 5 Things You Didn't Know Could Hurt Your Career: "You might think that loyalty to an employer would be valued, and it is, but there's also a point where staying too long at one company can raise questions for future prospective employers about how you'll adapt to new environments."

• The 1 Thing You Must Do In Every Job Interview: "The most important thing you must do in every interview is to ask great questions."                                                       
• Internships Are Increasingly the Route to Winning a Job: "Companies report that 69% of summer interns who applied for full-time positions received offers, according to a recent survey from the Graduate Management Admission Council."


• Work-Life "Balance" Isn't the Point: "Even in the busiest of schedules, the most practical and effective way we can live is by aligning our personal priorities of work, family, health, and well-being. Such realignment can bring huge gains in emotional and physical energy, not to mention greater clarity and focus at work."


• 12 Things You Should Do If You Hate Your Summer Job: "Keep in mind that the two main goals of having a summer job or internship are getting valuable work experience and getting a great recommendation from your supervisor." 

The Dangers of Memorizing Interview Answers

I often hear from people who are getting ready to start interviewing for jobs. Their first instinct is to gather interview questions and memorize their answers to these questions. I often caution people that memorization of interview answers is not the most effective preparation method. Here are some of the dangers you face if you take this preparation tactic.

You will sound like a robot
Have you ever heard those "testimonials" on the radio where it is obvious that the person is reading directly from a script? I discount those ads as disingenuous. The same will happen to you if you come across in an interview as though you are reciting your lines from a script. It is preferable to sound human, carry on a conversation, and speak naturally to the interviewer.

You will be unprepared for other questions
What happens if you have only prepared for traditional interview questions and you walk into a behavioral interview where they want you to tell stories or give examples? There is no way to memorize an effective answer to every interview question in existence.

You will not be able to effectively sell yourself
Remember, employers hire because they have a problem to solve or a need to fulfill. Your goal in an interview is to demonstrate how you can meet the specific employer's needs. By only memorizing your "lines" you will not always be able to sell the benefits you can bring to the organization.

You will not be yourself
An interview is often compared to a chemistry test. The employer already knows you have the skills and qualifications they are looking for because they read your resume. The interview is their chance to determine if you fit into the organization or the team and to determine if they think they can work effectively with you. I once hired someone who was a completely different person their first week on the job than they were in the interview. Needless to say, that working relationship was not long-lived because I hired the person they pretended to be in the interview - not the "real" them.


Instead of memorizing your answers, memorize your selling points and the benefits you can offer the organization or team. Walk into every interview knowing how you can solve that company's problems or meet their needs. Prepare your interview "talking points" so that no matter what questions you are asked and no matter what order in which they ask the questions, you are ready to discuss what makes you a cost-effective employee.

Why do Employers Ask Bizarre Interview Questions

Glass door recently published its top 25 oddball interview questions. You can see the full list here, but here are some of the highlights.

• What song best describes your work ethic? - asked by Dell 
• What do you think about when you are alone in your car? - asked by Gallup 
• How many windows are in New York? - asked by Bain & Company 
• What two celebrities would you pick to be your parents? - asked by Urban Outfitters 

This menagerie of off-the-wall questions is quite entertaining, but more importantly you need to know why companies ask these types of questions. Unless the interviewer is inexperienced, unprepared, and just "winging it" by asking random questions, the motivation behind the oddball interview question usually fits into one of these three categories.

They are evaluating how well you can "think on your feet." Interviews are already pressure-filled situations. Add in the extra stress of an odd question and many people believe the candidate's true colors come out. They don't really want to know what kind of animal you would like to be, they simply want to see how quickly you can formulate an intelligent response.

They are assessing your problem solving skills. Microsoft was one of the pioneers of the "puzzle" questions. These questions are designed not to elicit the true answer to the original question (i.e. how many windows are there in New York) but are asked to assess the logical process through which you can solve a problem.

They want to know if you fit into the company's culture. The question asked by Urban Outfitters about celebrity parents is a very strategically asked question. Urban Outfitters is a hip and trendy retailer that wants to hire people that it into its culture. If your answer is that you would want Mike Brady (from the Brady Bunch) instead of Tom Brady (the quarterback married to a supermodel) you probably will not fit into their company! By researching your potential employer's culture and values before you go into the interview you should be able to show that you will fit in nicely.

How to Navigate Potential Interview Minefields - Part 2

Last week, in Part 1 of this blog post, I discussed some of the most commonly asked interview questions that are also commonly answered incorrectly. Here are two more questions that you should prepare your "answer map" so that you can avoid self-destructing your interview process!

"Why should we hire you?"
The absolute worst way to answer this question is one I actually heard from a candidate in an interview. When asked this question, he answered "Because I need a job!" As a rule, the employer really does not want to talk about what they can do for you. The employer is looking for the most cost-effective employee that meets their unique needs. They are most definitely not looking for the candidate who is most in need, and they are especially not looking for the most desperate candidate!

Research the company to find out what they need and what issues they are going through. Use this opportunity to demonstrate that you have taken the necessary steps to research the company and discover their needs. Once you know the company's issues, you can convey how you can benefit their company and achieve results for their organization.

"What are your ideas on salary?"
This could truly be the most dangerous minefield of them all! Answer too high and you price yourself out of their range. Answer too low and you don't optimize your annual salary. The rule rule of thumb is that the person who names a number first loses, so it is best to try to avoid naming an exact salary.

Be aware that this question is often being asked before the interview, as early as when they call for the interview appointment. Therefore, preparation is once again the key to effectively answering the question about salary. Research average salaries for your job title in your geographic area on websites such as www.salary.com or www.payscale.com. The best way to answer the question is to quote your source of choice and provide a range of pay. Always ask the interviewer how that range compares to what their company is paying in order to ensure you have not priced yourself out of their range.

High Five Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

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

1. 8 Steps to Build Relationships after a Networking Event
"These eight steps should be started and worked through immediately. The timeliness of follow-up is critical. You will want to get back to people while you are both fresh in each other’s minds."

2. Step Up to Advance Your Career
"Go after those projects that are valued by company leaders where you can flex your muscles, showcase your strengths, and demonstrate that you’re the right person for the job."

3. 18 Proven Ways to Help Recruiters Find You on LinkedIn
"LinkedIn is an excellent resource for improving a job search by allowing job hunters to make new contacts with recruiters and companies that might not have found them otherwise."

4.  Beware the "Tell Me About Yourself" Job Interview Question  
" The 'tell me about yourself' question is certainly not a request for a brief personal biography! Your answer to the question definitely should be laser-focused on the specific task at hand."

5. In the Job Search, Your Comfort Zone is the Danger Zone!
"Trying to accomplish what needs to be done while only doing those things that are easy and comfortable for you is a recipe for mediocrity or failure!"


AND one Bonus for the week!


6. 10 High-Risk Sci-Fi/Fantasy Careers
"Explore the galaxy, meet interesting people, and capture them for cash money! There's never been a better time to get into bounty hunting."