Career and Jobs Tips » Assumptions http://ponto-eussino.com The Blog about Careers and Jobs tips, Education, And Self Improvement for you. Sun, 20 May 2012 17:31:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 That Have Nothing to Do With You http://ponto-eussino.com/that-have-nothing-to-do-with-you http://ponto-eussino.com/that-have-nothing-to-do-with-you#comments Tue, 28 Dec 2010 09:01:32 +0000 admin http://ponto-eussino.com/?p=434 If you never got a definitive answer from them, then you have no way of speculating as to why you didn’t get a callback. All you know for sure is what they or the recruiter told you. That’s it. Any sort of speculation or assumptions on your part are just that, assumptions. You don’t work at that company, you do not know why you haven’t received a call. You have absolutely nothing to lose by just checking in with them to see what the status is.

Here’s a list of potential reasons why you wouldn’t get a callback from a job interview:

1. Position lost funding.
2. Hiring manager was reassigned.
3. Hiring manager left the company.
4. Company or division was hit with layoffs/hiring freeze.
5. A key decision maker has been traveling.
6. Hiring manager had to be unexpectedly out due to a family/personal crisis.
7. They reassessed the job requirements after talking to a few candidates and realized that they needed to hire for a different type of skillset/level of experience.
8. You are qualified for the job, and they are pretty sure you could do the job, but don’t think you’d be a good fit with the company. And THIS is the one everyone hates. Ever go on a blind date with someone who is perfectly nice and charming, but there’s just something about them that you wouldn’t enjoy spending a lot of time with them. The likability factor. You can’t control it, and there’s not too much you can do about it in a job interview.

If they lost their funding or decided to hire for a different position, or even if all the decision makers at the company went on vacation before they could get everyone to reconvene, those are all things that have absolutely nothing to do with you. It’s them. And knowing jobseekers as I do, you’ll have the tendency to blame yourself for not getting the job, or blame the company for being a bunch of jerks when in truth, the situation was completely out of your control.

Which is another thing to keep in mind. It’s completely unrealistic to expect that you’re going to:

1. Get every job you apply for.
2. Want every job you interview for.

]]> http://ponto-eussino.com/that-have-nothing-to-do-with-you/feed 0 Blow a Job Interview http://ponto-eussino.com/blow-a-job-interview http://ponto-eussino.com/blow-a-job-interview#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:52:03 +0000 admin http://ponto-eussino.com/?p=314 You showed up fifteen minutes early. Awesome for you, unfortunately not all employers feel the same way. It can be annoying for an employer to have an interview show up while they are still trying to finish up the interview before you. It’s good to be punctual, and even early in most cases. Five minutes early is acceptable. If you show up earlier than that, just sit in your car for a few minutes. Listen to the radio and meditate on why you are the best candidate for the job. Then five minutes before your scheduled interview, head on in.

Next, let’s cover your interview attire. Your hair is neat and combed; you put on your best shirt and favorite “nice” jeans. O.K….. Let’s talk about the “nice jeans”. I hate to break this to so many of you, but jeans are almost never acceptable for an interview. It almost rules you out before you even get a chance to say anything. Yes if you are applying for a job as a cowboy or related field it’s appropriate. For almost every other job on the planet it’s not. At the very least pull out a pair of khaki’s for the interview. Employer’s look at your appearance as a reflection of how you might dress on the job or represent the company. You don’t want to come across as too casual or sloppy. Even if you know the office is generally casual and the person interviewing you is wearing jeans, you don’t want to make any assumptions about expectations for the interview process. After you have the job offer, ask what the appropriate dress is for the business. As a tip, it’s good to have a “go to” interview outfit and try to make it something that you feel comfortable in.

Now let’s move on to the interview chit chatting. It is always a good idea to find something to relate to the interviewer about. This shows the interviewer that you would fit in with the office. It’s not a good idea to engage in overly long discussions that are unrelated to the position available. You only have a short time to impress someone enough to be offered the job. Try not to waste too much time discussing items that are not going to get you the job. While they may “like” you, the job will end up going to someone else that is more “qualified”. Let’s discuss the rules of interview chit chat. No politics, religion, or any type of a private story that is best left for happy hour with your friends.

Now that you have these easy to follow rules for your next interview, get working on your resume, pull your interview outfit together and practice for your next interview. Good luck on the job hunt.

]]> http://ponto-eussino.com/blow-a-job-interview/feed 0