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How To Shine During an Interview

The biggest mistakes that you can make in an interview are lying and not being yourself. Yes, your qualifications matter. But they don’t matter near as much as your authenticity. If you want to shine during an interview, you need to know and do these things.

Research:

We’ve said it before, and we will say it until the end of time. Do your research before you go into an interview. Research the company, its history, purpose, management, etc. Look up recent news articles about them and any press releases. Knowing your facts and being able to showcase that in the interview will give you so much confidence and help you put your best foot forward.

Practice

There are several common interview questions that you need to be prepared to answer. Those include things like “Tell me about yourself,” “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” and “Why do you want to work here?”

Practice your answers to these questions so that you aren’t spending the entire interview trying to think of answers. Just be careful not to over practice so that you sound like you’re reading from a script.

Be honest

While an interview is meant for you and the recruiter to get to know each other better, the recruiter did their research on you just like you did on the company. They performed reference checks and reviewed your resume. If they haven’t done that before your interview, you can bet they will after, so don’t lie. Don’t embellish your work experience or qualifications. They will find out and it will not be good for you.

Be yourself

You were called to the interview because the recruiter wants to get to know YOU. Not the person you think they want to see. The most important thing you can do to shine during an interview is to be yourself.

Do you have any more tips on how to shine during an interview? Drop them in the comments!

The Key to a Successful Interview: Leave Something Behind

Lisa Yannett Interview Tips,Uncategorized 1 Comment

You probably go into an interview with very little in your hands. Your phone is in the car, keys in your pocket, and your resume is tucked inside a notebook you will use to take notes during the interview. What if I told you that you’ve forgotten something? Not sure what it is? Let me help you. You need a leave-behind.

What is a leave-behind? I can hear your panicked voice already. You’ve been preparing for this interview, and you want it to be as successful as possible. That’s why you want to put together a folder with content that you plan to leave with the interviewer at the end of the interview.

You more than likely submitted samples of your work when you applied, but the interviewers may not have seen them or might not remember what was your work. For that reason, you want to pick some of your best samples. Showcase your writing skills or graphic design experience. If you’ve managed social media, bring some analytics that highlights your talent to reach an audience. All of these should be found in your online portfolio, but it is much more convenient for the interviewer if you have physical copies to show them and discuss during the interview.

Here are some key things you should include in your leave-behind.

Folder – Don’t ever leave a stack of loose papers. Head over to Walmart and get yourself a cheap folder with prongs and a pack of plastic paper cover dividers. You won’t impress them by buying the most expensive folder and professionally laminating each paper. Something cheap will do.
Resume – ALWAYS have a copy of your resume. ALWAYS. When you go into the interview, they will likely have a copy of your resume already. Bring several copies anyways. Some interviews are conducted with panels, and nothing is more inconveniencing than having several people lean over one sheet of paper. Print several copies, and put them in the front pouch of the folder.
References – As you know, your references should not be on your resume, so print out your references and put them as the first page in your leave-behind.
Writing samples – If you have a lot of experience writing, or the position you’re applying for requires a skilled writer, you NEED to provide proof of your writing skills. Pick 2-3 of your best writing samples, and include them in your leave-behind.
Graphic Design – Graphic design is a sought after skill these days. Many positions require applicants to have some knowledge of graphic design programs like Photoshop and InDesign. Show the interviewer that you have the skills they’re looking for by including 3-4 samples of graphic design work that you have done.
Analytics – Creating compelling social media posts is impressive, but to impress, even more, provide analytics of social media accounts you’ve managed. Include the following and engagement when you started compared to when you left.

What NOT to include in your leave-behind

Your selfie – You may think that having your picture in your leave-behind will help the recruiters remember you, but it can cause more harm than good. Including your image can open up the door for the interviewers to make a decision based on bias. You want them to call you back because of your qualifications, not your face, so focus on your skills and experience instead of your appearance.
Your address – No interviewer on the earth needs to know your full home address. While it’s fine to provide the area that you live in to assure the interviewer that you can make the commute to the office, they don’t need to know exactly where you rest your head at night.
Bad samples – Your goal is to impress the interviewer. Providing samples with grammatical errors or poor design will only guarantee that you don’t get a callback.
Plagiarized work – While it may impress them in the interview, the truth will come out, and let me just tell you – recruiters talk with other recruiters.
Group work without attribution – This falls under plagiarism, technically, but it needs to be stated separately. If you were not the sole author or creator of a piece of work, you need to attribute it to all contributors to the project. It is okay to provide group work in your leave-behind, but make sure you highlight the portions that you worked on the most.

Do you include something in your leave-behind that didn’t make our list? Put it in the comments below!

Most Common Resume Mistakes

Lisa Yannett Resumes Comments Off

Your resume is the first impression a potential employer has of you and making one of the resume mistakes we talk about can be an instant disqualifier. Some employers admit to discarding a resume if they find even one grammatical or spelling error. A recruiter starts with a massive stack of applicants and resumes to go through which means their starting focus is on rejecting applicants. To make their job easier, the recruiter will look for the smallest mistake or reason to disqualify you. Help your chances and avoid these common resume mistakes.

Spelling and Grammar

The number one disqualifier for any resume is the presence of spelling or grammatical errors. A resume with incorrect spelling or grammar tells a recruiter that you lack attention to detail and the ability to proof-read. These are key skills for any employer, which is why if an applicant shows they don’t possess them, it is an instant ‘no’ for the recruiter.

Personal Pronouns – One very common mistake seen on resumes is the use of personal pronouns. Your resume should never include the words “I,” “you,” “she,” or “he.”
Incorrect Tense – This should go without saying, but when you describe a past position, make sure you use past tense. As well, when you describe a current position, be sure to use the present tense. Recruiters pay attention to details like that, and incorrect use of tenses can put you in the fast lane to rejection.

Format

The layout and format of your resume need to be clear, clean, and concise. The recruiter needs to be able to quickly skim over your resume and identify your strengths, experience, and the type of position you would be a good fit for. There are several mistakes you can make when formatting your resume.

1. Too much text

I get it, your resume is the only tool you have to impress the recruiter and land the first interview, so you want to put as much information about yourself as possible to paint the biggest picture for the recruiter. However, putting too much text on your resume can result in the opposite. By decreasing the margins and text size and crunching as many words as you can onto the page, you might overwhelm the recruiter and land your resume instantly in the ‘no’ pile. The recruiter is only going to spend about 30 seconds looking at your resume. They want to be able to glance through it and be able to identify the key points.

2. Too many bullets

On the other side of the spectrum, you can use too few sentences and too many bullets. An overuse of bullets causes the recruiter’s eyes to glaze over the same as long paragraphs of text. Bullets are meant to be used for important information, so if everything is bulleted, then everything is important, and if everything is important, then nothing really stands out. Use bullets to highlight your responsibilities at previous positions and important skills you want the recruiter to notice.

3. No keywords

Every job posting will have keywords about the job requirements and skills the applicant needs to have. Recruiters are looking for those specific words when they are scanning your resume. If they don’t see any correlation or overlap between your resume and their job description, they are moving on. People tend to think they can send the same resume on every application, but that is a huge misconception. You should rewrite your resume for every job you apply for. Reword your experience and skills to include keywords from the job description. Recruiters want to know that you have the specific experience and skills they are looking for and doing this will make sure you stand out.

4. Hard to read font

This is one of the easiest resume mistakes to fix. Stay away from cursive and italic fonts. Choose something simple and easy to read, not just printed by digitally. Many resumes are reviewed online now, and some fonts are more difficult to read online than they are when they are printed. Test out different fonts to find one that you like but also works printed and digitally.

Professionalism

Your resume should show that you are a qualified professional and you take your career seriously. There are two ways that you can unintentionally tell the recruiter something different.

Unprofessional email address – The email address you provide on your resume is a large indicator of your professionalism. We all have our first email address, but that doesn’t have to be the one on your resume. If your email is LadyKiller@hotmail.com or iheartjustinbieber77@gmail.com, then it is time for an update. I recommend having an email address that is your name. You can add numbers if just your name is not available, but make sure they are not inappropriate. The good news is, making a new email is completely free.
Irrelevant social media URLs – In some positions, it would be beneficial to include links to your social media profiles. However, your social media is not relevant to all positions. Unless you are applying to a position where you will be required to write, manage social media, or be in the public’s eye as a representative of the company, there is little need for a link to your Facebook page. If your accounts are full of inappropriate or offensive content, it will do more harm to include your URLs.

If you want more resume help, we hosted a Facebook Live Resume Workshop. Watch the video here.

How to Win During Your Virtual Interview

Lisa Yannett Interview Tips Comments Off

To keep in line with social distancing protocols, many companies that are still hiring employees have switched to a new interview process – virtual interviews. Platforms like Zoom, Skype and Google Hangouts allow companies to interview potential employees without being in the same room. Even though you are interviewing from the comfort of your home, it is still an interview and you should treat it with the same importance. All interviews can be nerve-wracking, but the changes that come with a virtual interview can make it especially overwhelming. Though the essence of the interview won’t change, many aspects of it will require you to prepare differently. That’s why we want to give you the do’s and don’t’s of virtual interviews. If you take our advice, you’re sure to win during your virtual interview!

Do

Practice interview questions – typical interview questions include “Tell me about yourself,” “What are your strengths and weaknesses,” and “Tell us about a time you overcame an obstacle in the workplace.” Practicing answers to these kinds of questions will help ease your nerves and confidence during your interview.
Wear a professional outfit – Even though you won’t be in the office with your interviewers, you still need to dress the part. You may think that because you will be sitting and the interviewers will only be able to see your top half, you still need to wear a complete professional outfit. So, yes, you have to wear pants.
Print your resume – Your interviewer will most likely have a copy of your resume on hand, but you need one too. During your interview, you may want to make references to your resume, and having your own hard copy will show your preparedness and only help you during your interview.
Make sure your computer is updated – Imagine this: your interview is scheduled at 2 p.m. You power up your laptop at 1:30 p.m. to find out you have a hefty update required before you can log on. The day before your interview, check your laptop for any needed updates and get those taken care of.
Do a trial run – practice using the app, website or software that you will be using for your virtual interview. Have a friend pretend to be the interviewer and practice the interview, from start to finish to get all the kinks out before the real-deal.

Don’t

Wing it – This is still an interview, so you need to treat it with the same significance you would if you were driving to an office to interview.
Wear stripes or loud patterns – Camera don’t like patterns or stripes. They create weird images on your interviewers screen, so stick to solid colors that look good on camera.
Chew gum – This goes for in-person interviews also. You might think ti will keep your breath fresh during your interview or help you focus, but really it can be a horrible distraction for your interviewers. Plus no one wants to see you smacking on gum while you’re talking to them.
Go to a public place – Unless you absolutely have to, don’t go to a public place for the interview. Instead, find a quiet area in your house. Make sure the decor behind you isn’t too distracting.
Panic – No matter what, keep calm. Your interviewer is most likely conducting virtual interviews for the first time. They have their own struggles and nerves coming into the interview. Keep your cool and you will do great!