It’s not just what you say but how you say it.  Curious – - listen now!

How you appear in an interview is more than just what you wear.   You can wear that Armani suit or Oscar de la Renta dress with a Louis Vuitton bag but your body language will send a much stronger message than your label does.  Want to learn more?  Listen to our podcast.

I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free, and I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me and I’ll proudly stand next to him to defend her still today, ‘cuz there ain’t no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA. -Lee Greenwood

May we always honor those who have fought for our freedom and those who continue to fight today. I especially want to thank my nephew, Brad Karnitz, who is with the United States Marine Corp and just recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan. I can’t wait to see you Monday!

TWITA 

(okay for those of you who aren’t up on your text speak that means “that”s what I am talking about”).  Communication skills today are important whether you are applying for a job, interviewing for a job, or even communicating in your job amongst your peers.  Are you using proper ediquette?

What’s the one thing that will get you noticed  in both your next interview and in life?  Listen here and find out.

In addition to how you appear in an interview, you also now need to be concerned about your “public image”.  More and more employers are checking social websites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and FaceBook on perspective employees. 

What will they find when they Google your name?

Do you network?  The most successful people in your community do!

Listen now to learn more

Professional training audio series.  Please click on the play button below.

A few weeks ago I read in our local paper that a good friend of mine who is a professional trainer, Kay Stellpflug, was doing a program for our local Chamber of Commerce on Elevator Speeches. As I read the article, I thought how appropriate the subject was in light of my recent “Tell Me About Yourself” scenario that I described in my last blog.

Needless to say, Kay has agreed to put together a number of podcasts relating to your job search. You will begin to see them appearing on our website over the next few weeks. I hope you will find them informative yet fun at the same time.

I would love to hear your comments regarding this latest addition to our site or if you have any suggestions for future topics either for the podcasts or our blog. Please feel free to contact me at any time. My email address is suec@prirecruit.com.

Once again the month has gotten away from me. Where did January go? I will tell you that hiring activity with our clients has exceeded our expectations for the month. We hope this means that we may finally be coming out of one of the worst recessions in some time.

I had planned to write my blog about Interviewing Tips and had pulled a number of articles that I saved over the years to put together what I felt would be the ultimate list of tips but as I read through these and also checked out a Google search on the topic, there were so many other sites out there I just wasn’t sure what new information I could provide that many of these other career sites didn’t. If you are reading this and struggling with interviews, contact me directly. I would be happy to work with you one-on-one.

I do have to tell you about a situation that happened to me recently. I was phone interviewing an experienced plant manager. Often I start my interviews by asking the age old question “Tell me a little about yourself”. Well this candidate went through every detail about his life – - both personal and his work history. Twenty-four minutes later (yes, 24 – - I have a timer on my phone as it records our call) he finally finished his answer to my first question. I was stunned. I have heard many things from candidates when I have asked that question in the past but never that long.

While occasionally you might run into an interviewer who is looking for personal information about you, chances are they are seeing if you can summarize your professional experience. This summary should take maybe a minute or two – - definitely not 24 minutes.

So, before you go on your next interview, take a few minutes to write out how you would answer that question. Rehearse it over and over so when you are asked that question, you can answer it appropriately. You will then be amazed at how confidently you will handle the remainder of the interview.