How To Use Humor In A Job Interview

Posted on by September 28, 2015

When you are one of the lucky few that get called into a job interview, you may wonder how much of your personality that you should allow to shine through. The goal is for you to put your future employer at ease and for you to not come off as unprofessional.

You do want to use humor but only as a driving point of your professionalism. For example, you can say, “I stayed late working on a project and realized that the client had gone home for the day!” This will let the hiring manager know that you are dedicated to getting results. You should not use personal humor, the key is to keep it work related.

Nervous energy? The first thing that will help with your nervousness is to be prepared. Research the company as well as the job title that you are interviewing to fill. You obviously have the skills needed to perform well in this position or you would not have gotten the interview in the first place!

Not a humorous person? Now is not the time to be a stand-up comedian! It is OK if you are more of a straight shooter. Just be yourself; remember that this is a professional situation.

Some additional tips outside of using humor to help prepare you for your interview are below. Since this is a professional setting that will hopefully lead to a job offer, I would be remiss in not sharing some tips to help prepare you for the actual interview.

Be prepared to ask the hiring manager some questions of your own. You want them to see you as an engaged and witty member of the team. Some of these questions could include:

  • Is this a new role and if not, how long has this position been in place and how has it grown since its creation?
  • What are some of the biggest hurdles that the team member that last held this position faced?
  • What are your expectations of a successful year in this position?

When you have questions of your own, this lets the hiring manager know that you have put some serious thought into what it would be like to be a member of the team.

Did you remember to research the company? If not, at the very least, you need to quickly pull the company’s web-site up on your Smartphone in the parking lot! A candidate not knowing a thing about the company that they supposedly want to work for is a nail in the coffin and you might as well save the hiring manager some time and cancel your interview. Did I get your attention? This is the most important step before going into an interview. Now that you have reviewed the company’s web-site, some questions that you should be prepared to ask are as follows:

  • I reviewed the company’s web-site and it looks like a great product/service. Can you tell me a little of the owner’s vision when they first started the company? 
  • What are some of the plans for future growth of the company? 
  • What is most exciting to you about the product/service that the company utilizes?

Most of all, you don’t want to work for a company where the vision does not excite you. You want a job that you can be passionate about as this will help you grow into a successful member of the team that any employer would be lucky to have! Engaged individuals always get the best results and your hard work will pay off financially and emotionally for you in the long run.

You can also follow our interview tips and opt into our email course for advice and guidance. Be sure to follow us on Pinterest and “Like” us on Facebook!

Written By: Carrie Thomas

Investing in a Lifetime of Success,

Angela Roberts
www.craresources.com
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Are you considering a career change? We are niche clinical research associate recruiters! Sign up for our Job Seeker email course which provides valuable insight into how to become more competitive in the marketplace.

E-Recruitment Tips: Using the Web for Effective Recruiting

Posted on by September 16, 2015

The introduction of the internet and World Wide Web has changed the landscape of recruiting and its approach drastically. Today, information and communication are available in seconds and those who learn how to utilize the web to their advantage can have great success in using it as an effective recruiting tool. Here are a few recruitment tips on how to employ the web as a useful ally:

  1. Posting ads on commercial sites, such as Monster.com and Yahoo! Hot Jobs, can aid in the driving traffic of candidates towards one’s company. Major sites have thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of people searching for jobs and can immediately be influenced by an ad pertaining to a recruiting firm in their particular field of interest. Sites like those above also offer services, such as keyword and location filters, for those companies posting ads. While the price of ads can vary, ones on major commercial websites can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending upon the desired length of the ad, physical specs, and other factors.
  2. Possibly the most valuable recruiting tip for the web is to network. The internet takes networking to multiple levels; no longer are companies constrained by geography or other barriers. Social networking sites are a great place to not only search for possible candidates, but also to create company pages and profiles in order to project a firm’s brand and image onto people. Professional social networking sites like LinkedIn also offer a great opportunity to start topic discussions that can be tailored to one’s industry and help shed light on thought processes and characteristics of potential candidates. Furthermore, email allows for the facilitation of easy communication and tracking of said candidates.
  3. Another great option, especially for younger talent with great potential that may go overlooked, is the use of college and university alumni career services websites. All colleges and universities have special relationships with a select few companies when it comes to careers, and building inroads into an alumni organization of a college or university that has a reputation for producing noted talent in one’s industry could end up paying large dividends. Not only has the firm established a relationship with an alumni organization and institution of higher learning, but could potentially allow for a steady pipeline of top candidates as the relationship matures. Institution’s career services websites also allow a unique opportunity to establish relationships not only with the institution, but also with the students. Posting positions on these sites can help generate buzz among friends and other students about postings and experiences one has with that company.

The web is a valuable asset for recruiting as it truly has limitless capabilities. Some of the best recruiting tips for utilizing the web successfully and effectively are to post ads on commercial job-search websites, generate and influence on social networking sites, and to take advantage of opportunities with universities and colleges and the potential organizations and sites in affiliation with them. The next step is to go out there and make it happen!

Written By: Ryan Miller

Investing in a Lifetime of Success,

Angela Roberts
www.craresources.com
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Are you considering a career change? We are niche clinical research associate recruiters! Sign up for our Job Seeker email course which provides valuable insight into how to become more competitive in the marketplace.

Determine Your Brand Prior To The Job Search

Posted on by September 16, 2015

In this day and age, it is easy to imagine that you are invisible as you shoot off your resume into the unknown. However, your resume is part of your brand and you need to be careful of how you are branding yourself before you potentially hurt your career. I have compiled a list of top ways to appropriately sell your brand.

To begin, the first introduction that future employers have of you is your resume. Be consistent – if your resume falls into the same hands more than once, your resume will stand out as the hiring manager has viewed your resume before. Hiring managers go through hundreds of resumes a day so you need to stand out to make an impression. Other things to remember when creating your resume include the following:

  • The most important thing to remember is clarity. Hiring managers need to tell at a glance if you have the skills that they are looking for. Have a short section at the top that hits your highlights and skills. You will want to bullet each sentence, wordy paragraphs are skimmed and do not register your skills with the hiring manager
  • Keep the same font throughout your resume. The easiest that I have found to read is Arial 11, with my name and contact information centered at the top of the first page at Arial 14 bold.  I also capitalize and bold, (still Arial 11), the different sections
  • Be very clear in your employment experience of company name, title, and dates of employment. Employers are looking for longevity and not short tenures so you want the hiring manager to clearly see this section. If you are a contractor, listing your clients is a must as this will show you were actually an employed contractor. If left to the imagination, hiring managers will fear the worst, in every case

Secondly, remember that you are a brand. You need to decide what you are selling and stand behind that. This is for who you are on social media, on your resume, on job boards, blogs, etc. If you change your product from platform to platform, then you are not building a strong brand. Hiring managers review these different platforms as part of the interview process. If you are a chameleon, you will forget what you are selling, which will hurt your brand and your chances at that employment.

Another element that you need to consider is to make sure you are competitive in the salary that you are advertising. This is important whether too high or too low; too low and you are underselling your value, too high and you are overlooked. You need to know the price of your product. Glassdoor.com is a great place to investigate what your salary should be – you will just plug in your title and location to get the average salaries for your respective field.

Lastly, if you do not have a LinkedIn profile, you must do this right away. This site is advertising your professional merits at no charge. Take care to build an error free, (especially grammar errors!), fully complete profile. Take care to ensure you are using the correct title for the industry you are looking to advance your career in. For example, if you are a CRA, (Clinical Research Associate), make sure this title is clear in your profile, you don’t want to just say President or Independent Consultant if you are a contract CRA. If a hiring manager is confused by what you are offering, they may not use one of the free inmails that LinkedIn offers. You shouldn’t make your personal email address visible here but if you wanted to create a separate email account for hiring managers to reach you, then now is a great time so you can make that email address visible on LinkedIn, so it is easy to contact you. LinkedIn is a great place to connect with future employers.

Focus your career on where you are trying to go and take it step by step and before you know it, you will be on the top. Your brand, your business – stay consistent and be fruitful! With these tips, you are on your way to success!

You can also follow our job search tips and opt into our email course for advice and guidance. Be sure to follow us on Pinterest and “Like” us on Facebook!

Written By: Carrie Thomas

Investing in a Lifetime of Success,

Angela Roberts
www.craresources.com
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Are you considering a career change? We are niche clinical research associate recruiters! Sign up for our Job Seeker email course which provides valuable insight into how to become more competitive in the marketplace.

How To Stay Organized During Your Job Search

Posted on by November 26, 2015

As a job seeker, are you dedicated to finding that perfect job?  Are you organized in your efforts?  If not, there are a few things that you can do that will help you to keep your job search organized.

Part of that organization includes you knowing who you applied to and when you applied to a specific company, as well as to when you should do a follow up with the company.  If you can make or develop a specific system that works for you and that you can stick with, you will be on your way to staying on top of your job search and landing the job you want.

If you are wondering how to become a top-notch job seeker, please read our article 5 Tactics to Toughen You Up and follow our job seeker tips to help you improve your job search and organizational skills.  Also, be sure to opt into our email courses to guide you.

You can also follow us on Pinterest and “Like” us on Facebook!

Found on comerecommended. com

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Investing in a Lifetime of Success,

Angela Roberts
www.craresources.com
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Are you considering a career change? If so, sign up for our Job Seeker email course which provides valuable insight into how to become more competitive in the marketplace. Check out our Blog for additional interview tips