Access Executive Search

Let’s pretend that you are working on a half a million deal; and you were given 30 to 45 minutes to do a thorough presentation to convince a client to go with your company.  

Would you wing it?

Would you spend time delineating the strength of your product offering and create a convincing argument that would make the client say yes to you?

LET’S FACE THE REALITY

Well, how come when it comes to your own interview for a position that potentially pays $100,000; you refuse to sit down and prepare a proper game plan that would ensure a cohesive, relevant and convincing message, which could increase your chance of getting the job?

Think about it? A job that is $100,000 a year, times a span of 5 years plus benefits is equivalent to over half a million compensation package. And yet, the sad reality is that as candidates, we all wing it.

The difference between an average candidate versus a Rockstar is the preparation and practice!

What can you do differently? 

Here are some ideas you can apply to improve your chances of getting the right job:

1).  Take the time to summarize the top 3 – 5 accomplishments for each position you held in the past. What was the project or responsibility about?  Why did you find it challenging? What were the results of your hard labor?  Create a story that your interviewer would enjoy hearing from you.

2) Practice with a trusted friend or colleague on common interview questions.  Use your friends as mirrors by asking them their honest opinion on how you came across?  Was your answer clear or does it have substance in the story line? Were you engaging or captivating toward your audience?

3).  Do not underestimate the power of differentiation.  You can successfully differentiate yourself from other candidates by giving specific examples of your accomplishments or positive traits relevant to the role you are pursuing. 

Another way to prepare for this is to ask yourself on what your trusted bosses or colleagues in the pasts would say about your work ethics, experiences, and accomplishments.  Call them and ask them what made you different from the other employees who were successful in the same role.

4).  Ask yourself, if you were the interviewer, what’s important to you when you are looking for the right individual? Be conscious that the right individual could be subjective depending on the skill sets and personality needs of the hiring manager.

List your answers and make sure you have a clear, detailed, but concise examples from your previous jobs. The goal is to match the needs of the hiring manager by giving quantifiable examples.

5).  Make sure your responses are not overly simplified and rehearsed that you are inadvertently giving a generic answer that the interviewer has heard a thousand times prior to interviewing you. 

Avoid the generic “world peace” answer to every interview question. For instance, “As a manager, I like to have an open-door policy when it come to my employees.” Here’s another over simplified answer, “I make sure I finished the task no matter how long it takes to get the job done.” Full Stop. Do you know how many times interviewers heard that exact answer?

6). Research on what’s going on with the company you are pursuing.  Are they expanding? Are they in an acquisition mode?

Who are their competitors and how do they measure up? How about their competitor, are they looking as well? What recent events that took place that could influence the trajectory of the company’s future? 

Prove and learn as much as you can about the organization, so you have something to talk about with the interviewer.

7) Remember that interviews are two-way communication. It is a conversation between two professional individuals. The old model or perspective that an interview is a one-sided, question-answer meeting does not work in our fast-paced business environment. 

Show interests and asks questions back. Pretend that the person in front of you is truly interesting and there’s more to discover about the company who is looking for talent.

The goal is to send a message that you are interested in the position, and you are willing to be transparent without letting your guards down. After all you are still being assessed and judged based on your interview performance and answers. 

Keep in mind that the interviewer is buying, and you are selling: Figure out what’s important to the interviewer and give examples of your skillset and past accomplishments that would make them say yes to you as a candidate.

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COPYRIGHT © 2022 Access Executives, LLC All rights reserved.  The statements, posts and pages in this website are copyrighted and cannot be used in part or whole without permission.  The ideas, views, opinions, and statements were created by the principals of Access Executives, LLC and Access Executive Search.

Does this sound familiar?

You submitted over 100 resumes via LinkedIn, indeed, and other professional job boards. Out of that effort, you received 10 pre-screened phone interviews and ZERO second interview.

Your immediate emotional or mental reactions were: “what’s wrong with me?” “Have I lost my touch?” “Am I good enough?”

Out of frustration, you silently questioned and expressed: “I know I have a lot to offer, but I do not know how to convey or present my skills during an interview.”

On the other hand, if you’re confident about your skills, you probably have thought of this: “How come the interviewer was not able to see that I am the right person for the position?”

Although the reasons are not limited to the following, but nevertheless these are possible reasons that you can own as a candidate: (Disclaimer: Part II, We will discussed when its not you, but the reason lies with the hiring manager.)

1).  You failed to convey or describe your skill set that made significant contributions or difference in your previous roles. Many candidates do not realize that recruiters or interviewers love to hear you describe your past roles rather than them reading it on paper. It allows them to create opinions or judgements about you as a viable candidate.

2).  You made assumptions that the interviewer read your resume and is fully aware of the things that you have done.   You quickly decided before your interview that there is no need to reiterate what’s already on your resume. You confidently justified: “Besides, it’s the interviewer’s responsibility to read and dissect my resume, why bother saying what they should already know!”

3).  You failed to engage the interviewer either because your interest or energy level is subpar.  You were probably nervous, so you came across as someone who is lacking confidence and unintentionally demonstrated poor communication skills.

4).  You didn’t do your homework about the company’s product or service offerings. Worst, you failed to research the latest news that can help you demonstrate your industry know-how or special skills in alleviating day-day challenges unique to the field you are pursuing.

5). What the interviewer is reading on your resume and what you are describing during the meeting are simply not matching. In other words, you underdelivered during the interview.

When you submit your resume, it is inevitable that the potential hiring manager would create an opinion before an interview. Your responsibility is to meet that expectations formulated via your resume, and when your performance is simply not good enough, you would be out of the running. The lesson? Make sure you do not exaggerate on your resume and “defend” by describing your work experience articulately.

6). Keep in mind that the hiring manager is buying and you are selling. Many candidates are under the impression that they are also interviewing the company as much as they are being interviewed.

Well, that’s half truth and if it’s misused, it can be detrimental to your chances of getting the job. In fact, many candidates have lost opportunities, because of that mind-set, which consequently made them come across as being arrogant.

They simply jump the gun too quickly. It’s like when you’re on a date and the other person is already talking about “potential marriage and how many children they should have.” It is simply a turn off.

Think of it this way, “who has the status quo?” At the beginning of the interview, the hiring company definitely has the status quo. The way you can change that status quo is to sell them on what you can offer the company. Once you have achieved that many companies would be willing to accommodate your “wish-list”. Wait until you here this, “What would it take for you to join our company?” At that point, you know that the status quo has changed hands, but even then, be humble because it’s still a possibility that they is a very closed 2nd candidate and they are simply having a hard time deciding.

7). You have past unresolved emotional trauma. These could be “shadow beliefs” that would surface before or during interviews. Your altered emotional state would take over your entire logical state no matter how much preparation you did the night before.

These “shadow beliefs” or “trauma” could totally be unrelated to what goes on in an actual interview. The emotional trauma should be addressed and discussed with professional experts that can help you overcome these emotional states, which hinder you from getting that positions you deserve.

Our past candidates have shared and explained the following:

“They felt being judged during the interview.”

“They blamed themselves for being laid-off or fired and the humiliation of that experience would creep in during the interview.”

“Certain words are emotional triggers that have nothing to do with what is being discussed.”

“They are afraid that the interviewer would uncover that they ‘faked it until they made it’ with their past positions.”

“They are not good enough for the position they are pursuing because they were promoted by default, which caused their nervousness.”

SEEK HELP FROM EXPERTS

The most important thing is to recognize the reasons and seek help from expert professionals who can assist you in overcoming the things that are stopping you from getting the position you truly deserved.

Allow experts to focus on what they are good at, so you as a candidate can have a fighting chance to pursue that roles best suited to your experience and personality.

SELF MARKETING

In the world of self-promotion through social media, one would think that many of us in the professional world are well-versed in personal marketing.

Well, this might be true if you are in entertainment, public relations, sales, and marketing industries in which you are trained to always present a strong cohesive message that your audience could easily relate.

However, as professionals in other fields, where social media platforms are not utilized, our natural inclination is to focus primarily on the needs of the companies we serve and solve problems by applying our unique technical skills. 

Simply put, we are out of practice. 

Thing about it, “how many times did you really interview or change jobs in the span of your entire career?”

As employed individuals, we rarely would stop and truly assess our professional accomplishments.  Let alone create a message that we can successfully convey in an interview.

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COPYRIGHT © 2022 Access Executives, LLC All rights reserved.  The statements, posts and pages in this website are copyrighted and cannot be used in part or whole without permission.  The ideas, views, opinions, and statements were created by the principals of Access Executives, LLC and Access Executive Search.

Resume is a document that creates an image or impression of your professional background. Inevitably, preconceive notions are formulated based on the information you put on paper even before anyone would be interested in speaking with you.

What should be in a resume?

A professional resume contains summarized descriptions of your work history and experience. It also contains detailed information regarding your academic background, professional accomplishments, technical experience and areas of expertise.

PUT ON YOUR PROFESSIONAL HAT

Look at your resume, and ask yourself the following questions:

A). Does my resume give me the professional image or impression that I deserve?

b). Does my resume detail my capabilities and skill set relevant to the roles that I’m pursuing?

c). If my resume is compared to others, would it stand out? Would my resume get the attention and priority?

AVOIDABLE MISTAKE

It is definitely a significant, but avoidable mistake when candidates do not spend the time to improve and critique their own resumes. 

Professional resumes can influence the target audience in developing perception and opinion. Whether it is accurate or not, the interviewers’ preconceived notion guides them to select potential candidates.

YOU VS THE OTHER CANDIDATES

We have met candidates who have missed out on executive opportunities because their resumes simply showed summary of responsibilities versus their competition who have detailed synopsis of accomplishments in addition to the well-defined responsibilities. 

Below are suggestions on how you could improve your resumes:

• Bullet points under each company should demonstrate your capabilities and relevant skill sets. Does it create a mental picture?
• Specify the top 3 to 7 responsibilities and explain how you added value to the organization
• Include industry key words unique to the role you are pursuing. Did you know recruiters would search using industry key words out of thousands of resumes? This potentially could be a reason why you are not getting a call.

Relevance:  Titles and descriptions from one organization to another do not portray or give out the same message or definition. Making an assumption that your target audience understands your past positions is a basic mistake.

ANOTHER SUGGESTION:

• Consider adding an accomplishment section by detailing projects and work performances that made a difference to your employers. Yes, it is o.k. to brag in a humble way.

Relevance:  It shows your creativity and problem solving skills that a simple general description is not able to convey.  The accomplishment section could also be a basis of conversations during the interview and can be used by the hiring manager during the deliberation process.

• Go back to each company you have worked for and recall ad hoc projects such as streamlining processes, software conversions, cost-cutting analysis, vendor evaluations, supply chain analysis, capital negotiation, expansion exploration, margin improvements initiatives, etc.
• Explain how those projects or activities help improved past performances, enhanced efficiencies, and/or contributed to the bottom line
• Make it quantifiable on paper that could help the interviewer create a positive mental impression of your experience

Relevance:  Do not be surprised if those projects are currently being spearheaded by the hiring manager. Hence, your experience and input could be the missing component that could streamline and expedite the projects. At the very least, the skill set you developed from the past projects may crossover to other potential roles.

• Create a section that would list your “Areas of Expertise.”

Relevance: Here’s a well known secret: Recruiters or Talent Sourcers would use this section to scan relevant expertise. Out of the thousands of resumes in the database, this section could make your resume appear on the preliminary list of potential candidates.

Imagine if you do not complete this section, which lists all the relevant industry terms unique to your position; potentially, you have been “disqualified” even before the entire interview process has begun.

Here’s the sad reality: Sometimes the people who do the preliminary review of resumes do not have the background to make the proper assumptions of your experience.

• Avoid assuming that your target audience is familiar with the past companies you worked for.  Put a quick description of the company’s industry and main business offering.  

Importance:  It helps readers associate it with the companies they are representing.

To learn more on how to improve your resume, please call us at 702.589.4655 and speak with one of our specialists.

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COPYRIGHT © 2022 Access Executives, LLC All rights reserved.  The statements, posts and pages in this website are copyrighted and cannot be used in part or whole without permission.  The ideas, views, opinions, and statements were created by the principals of Access Executives, LLC and Access Executive Search.