How to Handle Surprises on the First Day at a New Job

It's the first day on your job, and surprise -- your new employer wants you to do something else. In fact, you might even have a different job title. You feel cheated because it's not what you were promised during the recruiting process. What should you do? That's the topic of an interesting post over on the "Ask A Manager" blog.

This happens more often than most people think. I agree with the author; you should discuss this with your boss immediately.

But here's one additional thought: back in college, there was an old saying -- select classes based on the professor, not the subject. In the workplace, the same applies. Your relationship with your immediate supervisor is the most important aspect of job satisfaction.  

Having a good boss should be one of your top requirements when choosing between multiple offers. A good boss can make a difficult or mundane job seem exciting. And of course, good bosses can come and go. They may leave the company, or your division may have a reorganization. So look at your boss' peers and make sure that you are comfortable working with them. They might become your boss one day.

Lastly, if you find yourself in an unexpected role, it doesn't mean that you have to leave the company. Most employees have the opportunity to do an internal job transfer after a couple of months. So if you love the company, but don't like the position -- who knows, your patience may be rewarded.

Interview Tip: How to Handle a Lunch Interview

Alison Doyle, About.com's Job Searching Guide, offers some tips on how to handle lunch interviews. Lunch (or dinner) interviews are tough. The old saying is true, you shouldn't talk and eat at the same time. But unfortunately, job candidates rarely have a choice, so here are my tips on how to do your best in a tough situation:

• Don't expect to eat anything at lunch. Sure, you'll order lunch and have a few bites here and there. However, you don't want to give your interviewer the impression that you'd rather eat than answer his "What's your biggest weakness?" question. The corporate cafeteria calzone may look delicious, but resist the temptation! You're at the interview to get a job.
• Choose a quiet location. Let the interviewer choose the lunch location but request that it be a quiet location. It'd be a shame if the rowdy rugby fans at local pub silenced your perfect answer to the "Tell me about yourself" question.
• Bring water and snacks. Don't let an empty stomach ruin your post-lunch interviews. Bring your own food and water; nibble and replenish in between interviews.

JPMorgan to Cut 12,000 Jobs

JPMorgan announced that they will save $1.35 billion this year by cutting 12,000 jobs as part of integration with Washington Mutual.

Job Search Support Groups

MSNBC.com discusses a growing trend among job seekers -- joining a local job search support group. These groups offers networking, advice, and a sense that "we're in this together."  The New York Times also recently covered the topic of job support groups.   

Let me know if you're part of job search support group, especially in the greater Seattle area.  I'll feature your group in a future blog post.

Wall Street Journal: How to Get Past the First Job Interview

The Wall Street Journal posted an article that offers tips on how to get past the first interview. Here are the three suggestions mentioned by the career coaches and recruiters featured in the article:

1. Practice your interview skills with a friend and get feedback.
2. Volunteer to increase your experience and build your resume.
3. Pursue a temporary project or internship to also help enhance your experience.

Interview Tip: Get More Interviews by Sending it Twice (aka "Double-Hitting")

Liz Wolgemuth over at the US News' The Inside Job reports an interesting tactic, "double-hitting" first mentioned by a recent New York Times article titled, "A Cover Letter is Not Expendable."

The idea behind "double-hitting" is to send your cover letter and resume in e-mail and then following up shortly with a hard copy of your cover letter and resume. Apparently the tactic works.  Wendy Enlow, author of "Cover Letter Magic," said, "I’ve had clients double their rate of interviews simply from doing that."

I can see how the a job seeker's persistence (from sending their resume twice) can pay off. Perhaps the paper copy helped the resume standout from a sea of resumes. Or as the article notes, the second resume made it's way to a hiring manager who didn't see the resume the first time around.  Or maybe sending the resume in hard copy format shows that you really, really want the job.

Whatever the reason, this a nice reminder to all job seekers that there is more than one path to get the job you want, so don't hesitate to use a little extra effort and creativity in your job search.

Job Interview Tips: How to Handle Rejection

It's tough handling interview rejections, and I can't blame anyone who's been in that position.  You spend hours preparing for the interview.  After the interview, you think you got your dream job.    But then you find out that you didn't get the job.  At that point, you ask, what went wrong?  Here are my top tips on how to cope after an interview rejection:

• Don't take it personally.  There could be a thousand reasons why you didn't get the job, and many of them may have nothing to do with your interview performance.  They could range from the practical to the absurd.  For example, they may have decided to cancel the job position due to a bad economy, or they are looking for someone with an MBA.  Or maybe the hiring manager was having a bad day.  Even if the hiring manager or recruiter tells you specifically why they didn't give you a job offer, there could be 10 other reasons why they choose someone else.  So don't torture yourself.  Maybe the interviewer's dog ate your resume.  Whatever the actual reason may be -- stop guessing.
  
• Be professional.  If you get a chance to talk to the recruiter or hiring manager about the rejection, do it professionally.  Politely ask for feedback.  Keep in mind that it's difficult to give bad news, so don't get upset if you don't get a straight answer.  If they do give you honest feedback, don't react negatively.  You can ask nicely if there's anything you can do to address your weaknesses.  If you get a "yes," it's a green light to present more evidence.  If it's a "no," then resist the temptation to prove yourself.  You want to keep the conversation as professional as possible.  Who knows?  You could be their backup candidate, so don't jeopardize your chances of being the first person they call if their #1 candidate declines the job offer.
  
• Learn.  Log.  Let Go.  Interviewstuff.com offers an excellent technique called Learn-Log-Let Go to 1) learn from the experience and 2) move on.  By jotting down the lessons you learned from the experience, it helps move those thoughts and feelings out of your head.  You can always refer back to the experience, but there's no need to carry it around.  Once you put that behind you, you can move on.   And the sooner you move on, the sooner you can prepare for the next job interview and get the job.

Practice Job Interview Questions on Your Apple iPhone

I bought the new Apple iPhone 3G when it first came out, and I've been hooked ever since.  My favorite iPhone applications include Yelp, Facebook, Pandora, Shazam, and FS5 Hockey.

Interestingly enough, MacWorld wrote a review on a new iPhone app called Interview Questions 1.1.  Written by Martin Reddy, the app allows you to browse popular job interview questions and offer tips on how to answer them.  

I haven't tried it myself, but I may have to give it a whirl.  The first comment in the article is my favorite: "This has potential, but there's still no replacement for a human."  I'm glad others agree; the iPhone won't put my interview coaching practice out of business.

Yahoo! HotJobs Publishes its Top 100 Hiring Companies List

Yahoo! HotJobs released its list of top 100 hiring companies this quarter.  Kaiser Permanente is at the top of the list with 2,251 job openings (as of now), followed by the Army National Guard with 2000 jobs.  Seattle area favorite, T-Mobile, is #8 on the list with 851 jobs.

Yahoo! notes that the top categories among the "HotJobs 100" companies are:

1. Health care
   
2. Retail
   
3. Sales
   
4. Technology
   
5. Telecommunications
   

The top five cities to look for a job include:

1. Houston
2. Atlanta
3. New York
4. Los Angeles
5. Oakland

Unfortunately, Seattle doesn't crack the top 20.  California appears to be the big winner here; it has a whopping 8 out of the 20 slots.

Interview Tips on Answering "What's Your Biggest Failure?" - How Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey Approach It

Barack Obama's first 100 days in office hit a speed bump: Tom Daschle, Obama's nominee for secretary of health and human services, withdrew his nomination after failing to report income on his tax returns.

After reading the news, I wondered: what's the best way for Obama to address the failure?  Or perhaps to word this in a context more relevant to our readers, how would Obama answer the popular job interview question, "What's your biggest failure?"

Coincidentally, I read Oprah Winfrey's 2008 commencement speech to Stanford graduates earlier today, and she gives us some inspiration on how to tackle this challenging question:

Many of you know that, as President Hennessy said, I started this school in Africa. And I founded the school, where I'm trying to give South African girls a shot at a future like yours—Stanford. And I spent five years making sure that school would be as beautiful as the students. I wanted every girl to feel her worth reflected in her surroundings. So, I checked every blueprint, I picked every pillow. I was looking at the grout in between the bricks. I knew every thread count of the sheets. I chose every girl from the villages, from nine provinces. And yet, last fall, I was faced with a crisis I had never anticipated. I was told that one of the dorm matrons was suspected of sexual abuse.

That was, as you can imagine, devastating news. First, I cried—actually, I sobbed—for about half an hour. And then I said, let's get to it; that's all you get, a half an hour. You need to focus on the now, what you need to do now. So, I contacted a child trauma specialist. I put together a team of investigators. I made sure the girls had counseling and support. And Gayle and I got on a plane and flew to South Africa.

And the whole time I kept asking that question: What is this here to teach me? And, as difficult as that experience has been, I got a lot of lessons. I understand now the mistakes I made, because I had been paying attention to all of the wrong things. I'd built that school from the outside in, when what really mattered was the inside out.

So, it's a lesson that applies to all of our lives as a whole. What matters most is what's inside. What matters most is the sense of integrity, of quality and beauty. I got that lesson. And what I know is that the girls came away with something, too. They have emerged from this more resilient and knowing that their voices have power.

When it comes to address one's failures, Oprah's response is as perfect as it gets.  I mentioned the springboard technique in a previous post, and Oprah uses it very well here.  The focus here is not what happened in South Africa.  Instead, the main takeaway message is that she is a strong, capable leader.  She makes mistakes like we do, and when faced with mistakes, you can fully expect her to:

1. Be honest and acknowledge the situation.
   
2. Demonstrate empathy to those who have been hurt.
   
3. Take action and fix the problem, giving others confidence that this is unlikely to happen again.
   

Coming back to Obama, how did he do?  Did he address his failure with flying colors, just like Oprah?

ABC News discussed the tax evasion issue with Obama, and it shows us how Obama responded:

CHARLES GIBSON: Mr. President, has this been an embarrassing day for the administration?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I think it has. I mean, I think that any time one of your nominees pulls out, that's an issue. And, you know, as I've said publicly, you know, ultimately, I take responsibility for the situation that we're in.

Further along in the interview, Obama says,

PRESIDENT OBAMA: We can't afford glitches because, right now, what I should be spending time talking to you about is how we're going to put three to four million people back to work. And so this is a self-induced injury that I'm angry about, and we're going to make sure we get it fixed.

Like Oprah's response, Obama acknowledges and takes responsibility for what happened.  And he commits to fixing the problem.  But contrast this response with Oprah's, and you see that by providing specific details (and empathy) Oprah's response increased her leadership stature whereas Obama's response simply minimized damage to his.

And perhaps this is one of the biggest takeaways: the three-step framework will get you halfway to answering "What's your biggest failure?" interview question.  But if you want your answer to be credible, sincere, and engaging -- then vivid details are the way to go.

During Job Interviews, Be Specific About Your Achievements

The Careers Group Library Blog has a wonderful blog post on how to answer difficult job interview questions.  Elaborating on tip #5, many candidates discuss their achievements in the language of "we" not "I."  For instance, job interview candidates often explain, "we discussed our options, we decided this by vote, we did this."

Given today's team-oriented environments, it's natural to speak in "we" language.  But as a hiring manager, I want to know a person's specific contribution to a project:

• Were they the leader or follower in the project?  
• Did the phenomenal results come from a new process the candidate invented?  
• Are the results simply an output of a process perfected by someone else?

Don't be modest.  It's your job interview, and take individual credit where credit is due.