Atlanta Career Transition
INTERVIEWING (November 2006)
Lie: "I am articulate. I am comfortable speaking with people and I can ace the interview without formal interview practice. Interview practice is too expensive."
Truth: Along with your promotional materials (cover letter and "Kick-A" resume), the way you handle your interview presence and your interview answers is critical to being hired.
Success Story:
I began working with Ken, a referral, in the Spring of 2006. He had been a business owner, sold his printing business and was ready to embark on something new. When he took the Myers-Briggs Assessment he was immediately drawn to a career suggestion, private investigator. Had Ken been watching Jack Bower?
I lined Ken up with a contact who was happily employed in the field for an information interview. Ken learned where he should take his courses, salary expectations, and that he needed to update his computer skills. He enrolled in a private investigator certification course and also took Word, Excel and Spanish. He made such a positive impression on his professor that he was given several leads.
Ken called me in September to complete the resume and to do his interview practice. I sent him questions in advance to prepare answers. He walked into the Ravinia Club in a nice sport coat, new glasses and au courant haircut. He seemed younger and more energetic than our first meeting. I could hear Carley Simon playing in the background, "You’re so vain…" (Just kidding.) Ken and I covered the tough and age related interview questions for an hour or so including
- Tell me about yourself.
- Don’t you feel like you’re over-qualified?
- What are your salary expectations?
I taught him how to close the interview with sales closing techniques.
Ken was coachable throughout the entire career transition process and he never lost focus of his career objective. He interviewed skillfully and accepted the private investigator position at a major fraud investigation firm. He called me after his first "ride-a-long" to thank me. I don’t know who was more excited me or Ken. My true joy is seeing others succeed.
If you are in career transition and feel that is going on too long it may be that you need help with your career choice, resume development development or interview practice. I am here to help. I give leads throughout the process and have been known to accompany my clients to their first networking event. Happy Thanksgiving!
Gail Geary, JD, CMC at 770-804-8449 or gail@atlantacareertransition.com www.atlantacareertransition.com, author of Over-40 Job Search Guide