High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Negativity, Returning to School, and Meaningful Work

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. The Secret of Successful Networking: The Informational Interview
"The classic and most effective way of building a business network for job hunters is to engage in the process of embarking on many informational interviews."

2. 5 Steps to Releasing Your Negativity and Improving Your Opportunities 
"I’m sorry, folks, but if you want to build a great and satisfying career, you need people to help you.  You simply can’t do this alone, sitting at your computer."

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos 

3. Tell Me a Little About Yourself
"If you have ever been on a job interview the odds are you were asked this open-ended, break-the-ice question, which is often the first one asked."

4. Should You Go Back to School for Your Career?
"If you've been thinking about getting some additional formal education for a while and wondering if it's right for you, consider the following four questions before making your final decision."

5. Wanting Meaningful Work is Not a First World Problem
"Can you fill your belly and your wallet with meaning? Isn't meaning just the ultimate first world problem, just another saccharine flavor of: hey, which color leather should I choose for my new luxury SUV to match my plush designer handbag?"

Tell Me About Yourself. What an Interviewer Does Not Want to Hear.

This is most always the first question and quite possibly the most important question in an interview. How you answer this question sets the tone to how the interview will go. Make a misstep with this first question and you may lose the interviewer's attention for the rest of the meeting. In order to set you up for success when answering this vital question, I want to address what you want to avoid.

DO NOT offer any personal information.
The question itself is misleading, the interviewer specifically asks you to tell them about yourself. However, they really don't want to know where you grew up, if you are married, how many kids, dogs, and cats you have, or what you like to do in your spare time. What they want to know (and how you should answer) is what skills, experience, and knowledge do you have for this job?

DO NOT ask them what they want to know.
You may think that by asking the interviewer what they want to know about you, you are simply trying to focus your answer. However, what the interviewer sees is someone who did not prepare. This is one of those questions that you should write down and practice until you can deliver it naturally with poise and confidence.

DO NOT "wing it."
Although most hiring managers use this question as an ice breaker to make you feel comfortable and ease into the interview, they are also making judgments based on your answer. They want to assess your communication skills, they type of impression you will make, and how you can handle an "unstructured" communication environment. Going in unprepared is simply not an option if you want to make the best first impression.

DO NOT talk to long.
Be brief, concise and succinct. Highlight a few of your strengths, but don't tell your life story. I once asked this question in an interview and the candidate talked for 15 minutes! Hard as I tried, I have to say my attention waned around the 5-minute mark. As a general rule of thumb, try not to talk for more than 2 minutes at a time in an interview.

Tell Me About Yourself – 4 steps to Preparing a Compelling Answer to This Interview Question

This question is one of the most commonly asked interview questions. When it is asked, it is usually one of the first questions. Your answer to this question can play a big role in making a positive first impression in the interview. This is one of the few interview questions that I recommend scripting out and practicing until you can say it by rote.

Keep in mind that this question is not a chance to offer your life story. The response should not include any personal information (i.e. where you grew up, how many dogs or kids you have, etc.) and should be no longer than two minutes. Here are some tips to prepare your answer to this important question.

Your background and experience
Offer an overview of how many years of experience you have to offer and your area of specialty in the field. Here is an example of how to start off the answer to the question. “I am a production manager who specializes in leading teams of up to 200 personnel to meet daily goals. I have more than 7 years of experience organizing maintenance professionals from multiple specialties. My experience includes production management in the semiconductor and microchip fields.”

Your skills
Do your research before the interview and define the company’s needs or specific problems that they hope to solve by filling the position. Identify your top two or three skills and speak about benefits these skills can bring to the company. For example, “I am a motivational leader who has the ability to gain team buy-in to new processes. I consider myself a productivity expert who is able to identify the source of inefficiencies and streamline procedures to optimize the team’s efforts.”

Your best accomplishment
Based on this same research, offer an example of your greatest accomplishment that demonstrates your ability to apply your skills such as “In fact, in my last position at XYZ Microchips, I was part of a continuous improvement team that revamped the production processes. By rearranging the production floor and streamlining the supply gathering procedures we were able to increase production by 22% while improving quality standards by 11%.”

Why you want to work for their company
As I discussed in a previous blog post, the job search process is not all about you. Never talk about what a company can offer you such as benefits, salary, or work conditions. Instead focus on the benefits you can bring the company with your skills. Make the interviewer feel as though you have chosen to work for their company – not as though you are just looking for a paycheck. For example, you could end your answer with a statement like this, “I understand that your company just started implementing Lean and 5S concepts. I have experience rolling out these programs at my previous employer and know I can be of assistance to your company during this same program implementation.”