Both job seekers and recruiters know that over the course of the last few years, the job market has gone from a buyer’s market to a seller’s one. The talent shortage is intensifying. Employers are finding it more and more difficult to fill open positions with top candidates. Time-to-fill rates are getting higher. Line managers are putting more pressure on recruiters to get the talent the company needs to reach i...

Job interview preparation is critical - if you hope to have a positive outcome for interviews. And why else would you be pursuing interviews? Very few people in this world, from entry-level to senior executive, can afford to blow off interview preparation as if they’re somehow “above” it and don’t need to pay attention to it. I’ve never met anyone who could legitimately make that claim&ndash...

If you have a career of any kind, you need an elevator pitch (some call it an elevator speech or a value proposition). An elevator pitch is a roughly 30-second sound bite - a response to the question, 'Tell me about yourself' or 'What do you do?' Has anyone ever actually used the elevator pitch in an elevator? While I doubt you will actually use it in an elevator, you will most definitely use it at BBQ's, confe...

Are you aware of the nonverbal signals you send? Do you know how to interpret the body language of colleagues and clients? We both send and receive conscious and subconscious nonverbal messages. Experts say that 70 to 90 percent of communication is nonverbal. Gain a competitive edge in the business world. Attend to nonverbal messages. What you say as well as how you say it give you advantages during interviews, prese...

Gimmicks—video resumes, sending cookies to your interviewer, etc.—will not get you hired. But what about those situations in which the candidate is subjected to gimmicks, and is asked to perform parlor tricks for the interviewer? Yet another symptom of the lack of interview training on the part of managers, these types of questions are highly effective—at screening out top talent. My client Jeff has 20...

One of our recent interview coaching clients expressed to us how she believes ageism was preventing her from landing a job. So, she hired us to help her beat ageism in her interviews. She wanted to outshine the millennials (aka beat the kids). Okay! I'm game.... We learned that she was reaching out to her vast network, all on her own, to find people at companies where she wanted to work. She had been land...

Dear Deb: I’m extremely frustrated. Over the last three weeks, I had a series of very successful interviews with a company that is a major player in my industry. They even flew me out to the west coast to meet the development team I would be working with. Before traveling out to the west coast, the hiring manager coached me on each of the people I’d be meeting with, gave me some intel into the key issues the...

Read the original post on Lindsey's blog. “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” It’s one of the most clichéd pieces of advice. That’s because it’s true — especially if you are job hunting. Research shows that recruiters typically only give your resume a six-second glance, and some people say the first seven seconds of meeting someone are the...

Strong GPA. Check. Impressive internship. Check. The right technical certifications. Check. Seems like you’ve found the perfect candidate. But before you make an offer, there’s one more area to assess that can make or break job performance — soft skills. According to a LinkedIn survey, more than 60 percent of hiring managers say these can be challenging to screen for. Here are some tips t...

In the job interview process, getting the offer may seem like 'the easy part. But mishandling this big moment can cost you thousands in lost salary – or even the job. It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. – Tony Robbins This post is based on chapter 17 of my book, Get That Job! The Quick and Complete Guide to a Winning Interview. The Big Moment: Getting the Jo...