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Hope you never have a job interview like Rachel Dotson’s. A  graduating senior hoping to land a job with Teach For America, she had made it to the final screening round when disaster struck.

Enroute, she got lost, pulled over by a (fortunately  sympathetic) cop, had no change for the meter, turned up 15 minutes late, and, after getting a flat tire at lunch, had to walk back through slushy Michigan streets, getting drenched when a car plowed through a puddle.

Her first question during the interview after lunch was: “Tell me about a time when you had trouble achieving a goal.” Read the rest of this entry »

It’s easy to laugh at the interview mistakes candidates make. But what about the faux pas made by hiring managers? A hiring manager isn’t likely to be dressed inappropriately, since how they dress is how the company as a whole does. And taking a call during an interview, though rude, isn’t in the same league as when a candidate answers their cell phone. But there are plenty of less obvious mistakes hiring managers make that can lose them a great prospect. Here are 10 of the most common ones. FordyceLetter.com

In the December issue of the American Sociological Review, Northwestern professor Lauren Rivera concludes that companies are making hiring decisions “in a manner more closely resembling the choice of friends or romantic partners.” Rivera found that apparently off-topic questions have become central to the hiring process. “Whether someone rock climbs, plays the cello, or enjoys film noir may seem trivial,” she wrote, “but these leisure pursuits were crucial for assessing someone as a cultural fit.” As a result, Rivera argues, “employers don’t necessarily hire the most skilled candidates.” Bloomberg Businessweek

Preparing for a job interview involves all sorts of things: research about the company, some background about the hiring manager and a good understanding of the job, what you’ll wear, what time to get there, and so on. But don’t overlook your body language practice. If you’re a percher, someone who sits at the edge of a chair, practice changing position. If you lean back, slouching in your seat, practice leaning forward, your hands on the armrest or gesturing (just don’t overdo it). The Definitive Book Of Body Language will tell you all there is to know about our nonverbal communication. For quick tips, read Miriam Salpeter’s article. The job search and social media consultant, career coach, author, and speaker, explains that much of what we communicate comes from our actions and attitude, not just what we say. USNews

Dress a cut better than what’s standard at the company where you’ll be interviewing. Bring extra copies of your resume. Arrive a few minutes early. Be prepared to ask relevant questions. Research the company.

These are all such basic interview tips that by now, every candidate heading into an interview shouldn’t have to be told. (Remarkably, there are still plenty of examples of candidates who ignore them or just don’t care enough.)

Beyond these basics, there’s a whole other set of what you might call subjective influencers that can make or break an interview. Unlike the instructions you can find on any job board or career site these other interview ingredients aren’t so quantifiable or so easily explained. They are, what many, if not most hiring managers like to call chemistry. And they aren’t using it in the scientific sense. Instead, more like the chemistry of love: A feeling, not a formula. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s an unexpected finding about job interviews that makes sense once it’s explained. Narcissists do better in interviews than the rest of us.

How can it be that a trait most of us consider obnoxious can actually improve the chances of someone acing an interview?

Simple, says Peter Harms, assistant professor of management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a co-author of a study being published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success.

Jack Welch said that. He headed GE for 20 years, making mistakes all along as he built the company into one of the most valuable in the world. His words are a good reminder of that aphorism about learning from your mistakes.

But what do you do when no one believes in you? When you fail when no one expected you to succeed anyway? Ted Turner has been there: ”All my life, people have said that I wasn’t going to make it.” Today, there’s no doubt that he’s made it, and like Welch, helped transform an industry.

How many successful “failures” get hired is anyone’s guess. Recruiters look for them; try to separate a winner from the others with interview questions like that classic, if overused, “Tell me about a time when you failed and what you learned.” Read the rest of this entry »

Mashable, the news and information sites for all things digital, offered its readers nine tips for acing technical interviews. One can quibble (as some of the readers did) about how much influence dressing for tech success will have when recruiters consider how well a candidate knows their stuff.  However, the points raised in the article are a good reminder for tech recruiters to focus on the skills a candidate has, and where they may be rusty. Think of this list from Mashable as a reminder checklist of what to look for in the interview.

Have you ever been asked — or maybe you did the asking — what kind of tree you would be, if you were a tree?

Barbara Walters once asked Katherine Hepburn that very question and forever after has been lampooned for it. Recruiters, however, have asked far more peculiar questions, judging from what candidates say. Read the rest of this entry »