High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Traits of a Championship Mindset

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 5 Traits of a Championship Mindset: "Commitment should not be just about setting a goal, but living by a standard. A goal is a something you reach. A standard is something you live by."

• Why More Women Need to Say Yes to Top Leadership Positions: "There are other biases that women face in the workplace, but the number one bias that all women face is about family and career."

• How to "Sell" Yourself in a Job Interview: "You’ll be perceived as someone who is keenly interested in what the interviewer has to say and what the company can offer."

• How to Improve Mental Health at the Office: "Many individuals with psychiatric disability can and do work effectively. How the condition impacts work life varies considerably."
• 3 Tips for Making Collaboration Fun and Productive:"Keeping teammates in the dark can stall a project. By sharing the same information with every member of the team, it shows each person that they are essential to decision making and gives team members the ability to execute on their own."

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. 

Self-Advocating and Selling Your Ideas

Whether you currently have a job or you’re job hunting, when it comes to your career you’ll do well to get comfortable with self-advocating—in other words, promoting yourself. If talking about yourself seems in poor taste or if you are an introvert, being your own advocate may seem difficult at first. However, it’s an important step in furthering your career, landing a job or promotion, or even just selling ideas to management or clients. 

The best way to get comfortable with self-advocating is through preparation and practice. For example, if you’re interviewing for a job, research the job and company to understand how your skills and experience match the job requirements.  Practice delivering your elevator pitch and get comfortable sharing examples of your achievements, such as how you solved a problem that resulted in a savings for an employer. 

When promoting your ideas, know your audience and what is important to them professionally.  State your purpose up front, and be succinct and specific in sharing key points and benefits.  Use logic to appeal to your audience and frame things in terms of “what’s in it for them.”  Additionally, anticipate and identify ways to productively counter your audience’s objections, if necessary. 

In addition to promoting yourself, the following are also good rules of thumb to follow for a successful career:

• Maintain a professional reputation for being dependable and trustworthy
• Establish and continue to grow your professional network
• Seek opportunities for professional development and learning
• Actively participate at meetings
• Be a team player

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Networking, Selling Yourself & Encore Careers

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. 5 Ways You're Ruining Your Job Search
"It is the following five mistakes that have an even bigger impact on the outcome of your search."

2. 5 'Musts' to Network Effectively & Land the Job 
"How do you network more effectively and more consistently? First, you need to make it a priority, and schedule it into your week."

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3. The Surprising Secret to Selling Yourself
"People are much more impressed, whether they realize it or not, by your potential than by your track record. It would be wise to start focusing your pitch on your future, as an individual or as a company, rather than on your past — even if that past is very impressive indeed."

4. 14 Things You Should Do at the End of Every Work Day
"How you end the day is critical, as it has much to do with how you start the next day."

5. How to Launch an Encore Career  
"Now that we’re living into our 80s, the thought of ending our careers in our mid-60s isn’t financially realistic."

How to Sell Yourself Without Bragging

I attended my niece's 8th grade graduation this week. She goes to a small school, only 15 kids in her graduating class, so each student gives a 3 to 5 minute speech at graduation. Some of the kids were sweet and shy, some funny.

However, one student stood out with the way he spoke of himself. I believe he used terms such as "smartest kid my baseball coach ever met," "stellar athlete," and "handsome young man" to describe himself. His speech made me wonder, at what point do we cross the line into bragging and arrogance.

If you follow my blogs, you know I am a proponent of selling yourself - both in the resume and the interview.  However, if you come across as bragging or arrogant, you will turn off most all employers. Here are some tips to help you sell yourself without sounding like a jerk!

• Try to be confident as opposed to cocky. Arrogant and cocky people can not admit their flaws - they don't think they have any! Self-confident people can admit their weaknesses and demonstrate that they now how to compensate for and overcome them.
• Limit your use of the word "I" in your conversation. Instead of saying "I am the best computer programmer my company ever had." try "My previous supervisor consistently complimented me on my creativity and resourcefulness in computer programming. He once told me I had some of the best programming skills he had ever seen."
• Stick to "just the facts." Bragging turns into selling yourself in the job search when you can back up your assertions with statistics, numbers, and examples. 
• Be willing to give others credit and offer up compliments freely. Arrogant people often come across as thinking they are better than others. By sincerely complimenting those around you, giving credit where it is due, and being willing to take the focus off you once in a while, you come across as confident and a team player.