Getting a New Job -- Strategies for Job Hunting

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Getting a New Job -- Strategies for Job Hunting  

• Presented by
• Bao-Jun Jiang

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AGENDA

• Introduction to Job Search
• Two Mock Interview Acts
• Presentation on Interviews
• QA and Panel discussion

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Job Search Action Plan

• Assess yourself
• Develop a self-marketing strategy
• Execute your plan

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1. Assess yourself

• Define your values, missions, goals
• Research your career goals
• Learn about yourself

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2. Develop marketing strategy

• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Place

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3. Execute your plan

• Preparation
• Find channels (job fair, network, web)
• Write resume, cover letter,
• Practice interviews
• Execution and adaptation

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INTERVIEWS

• Informational, phone, on-site
• Behavioral, Technical, Case

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Interview Preparation(1)

• Research the company
• Its website, leaders, culture
• News release
• Its competitors and allies
• Friends/alumni
• Web, magazines, major publications

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Interview Preparation (2)

• Research the position
• Job description
• Compensation
• Career progression

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Interview Preparation (3)

• Tailor your resume/cover letter
• Emphasize what skills
• Brush up some skills
• Seek advice from people in your network

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Interview Preparation (4)

• Review your own goals
• Overall career plan
• Salary/compensation
• Nature of work
• Work environment

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Interview Preparation (5)

• Practice sample questions
• HR
• Technical
• Case
• Behavioral
• Do real ones as practice

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Phone Interview (1)

• Plan in advance, be ready and wait by the phone
• Find convenient time
• Have your resume in front of you
• Have job description
• Note cards (listing strengths etc)
• A list of questions to ask the interviewer

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Phone Interview (2)

• Remember and use interviewer name
• Ask the questions be repeated if unclear
• Listen actively (detect interviewers state)
• Adjust your answers according to feedback
• Jot down notes of the interview
• Speak with a smile and be natural
• Sit straight or stand up

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Face-to-face Interviews (1)

• Same preparation
• Review earlier phone interviews

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Face-to-face Interviews (2)

• Non-verbal cues (bi-directional)
• Dress
• Handshake
• Posture
• Eye contact
• Hands
• Tone/mood

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Face-to-face Interviews (3)

• Answer the questions
• ANSWER the question and be brief
• Be honest
• Be positive about your response
• Present yourself positively without bragging
• Do NOT blame others/previous employer
• Be attentive and observant
• Be humorous and smile (examples?)

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Hard Interview Questions

• Illegal Questions
• Are you married or in a relationship?
• Whats your religious background?
• But personal questions may indicate good rapport
• Difficult questions
• Testing your behavior and personality

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Examples of Difficult Questions

• TREWHITT Mr. President you already are the
  oldest President in history, and some of your
  staff say you were tired after your most recent
  encounter with Mr. Mondale. President Kennedy
  had to go for days on end with very little
  sleep during the Cuba missile crisis. Is there
  any doubt in your mind that you would be able to
  function in such circumstances?

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Examples of Difficult Questions

• REAGAN Not at all, Mr. Trewhitt and I want you
  to know that also I will not make age an issue of
  this campaign. I am not going to exploit for
  political purposes my opponents youth and
  inexperience. I might add that it was Seneca
  or it was Cicero, I dont know which, that said
  if it was not for the elders correcting the
  mistakes of the young, there would be no state.

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Examples of Difficult Questions

• Your resume shows that youve done a lot of
  volunteer work with your local church. If we hire
  you, will you try and convert your coworkers to
  your religion?

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Examples of Difficult Questions

• No, I dont and wont do that. My religion is
  important to me because it gives me an
  opportunity to serve other people. I think
  service helps build a persons character, and
  when we help/serve others, we learn to love and
  accept them for who they are. In fact, because
  of the volunteer work experience, Ive become
  more responsive to, and more patient with my
  coworkers. I respect others choice of religion.

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Behavioral Interviews

• Designed to elicit info about past
  behavior/performance
• Use standardized questions to assess proficiency
  in job-related competencies
• Problem solving, leadership, initiative,
  teamwork, communication,

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How to answer Behavioral questions?

• Describe the context
• Articulate actions taken
• Explain results
• Prepare one response for each competency
• or resume bullet

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Case Interviews

• Analyze a hypothetical business problem and come
  up with solutions
• Designed to test your ability to think
  analytically under stress
• Rarely have just one right answer

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How to handle case interviews?

• Use some framework
• Speak out your thought process
• Challenge assumptions
• Give conditional answers
• Develop a plan of actions
• Dont sweat over them

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Example

• A client just came into your office and said,
  Our earnings were very bad for the last two
  quarters. What can and should we do?

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Ask Questions You Prepared

• To show your knowledge
• To demonstrate your interests
• To request further actions

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Post Interview

• Send Thank you note
• Review your own performance
• What went well?
• What went not so well?
• Review your checklist (non-verbal, verbal)
• Summary/notes for future reference/improvements

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QA and Panel Discussion