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Browse published articles attributed to Peggy McKee, with full-archive search.
Here’s a common scenario (and complaint) for job seekers: “I spend all day long applying to jobs online through Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, or niche job boards—and I never get a response. Have I lost the understanding of how this job search works?”
It seems that there’s always been a stigma attached to being unemployed, and even in this economy, when so many people are without a job for a lengthy stretch, it still causes candidates to be uncomfortable and nervous about telling people that they’re unemployed. They don’t quite know how to handle the situation in the job search or in the interview.
As a career coach, I talk to job seekers in difficult circumstances all the time. One of the biggest problems that job seekers can face is that at some point, they were fired--for fault. It wasn't downsizing. It wasn't the economy. They did something that caused the company to let them go. If you were fired, you might think that your career is over--but chances are, it isn't.
A 30/60/90-day plan is a detailed outline of what you intend to do on the job in your first 3 months as an employee. It’s an overall strategy for success laid out in a step-by-step fashion that is specific to that company and that job. The more specific it is to that company, the better off you are, because you want the hiring manager to be able to visualize you working for him and being successful in the job. As you might guess, it’s not easy to just whip one of these up.
Never underestimate how important thank you notes are to the impression you make on the company in your job interview process. But the most critical factor of all is speed. For that reason, every thank you note should be a thank you email...sent within 24 hours of your interview. Why? Because hiring decisions can be made quickly, and you don't want to miss your chance to influence it. It's that simple.
Everyone looking for a dream sales job wants a “secret weapon”—the edge that will make potential employers eager to hire him or her, and willing to bestow high salaries, benefits, and bonuses! In many cases, that weapon is the 30/60/90-day sales plan. What is it? It’s a written plan that explains to the hiring manager how you’ll spend your time in the first 3 months you work for the company, in detailed steps that demonstrate exactly how you’ll be an asset to the company.
There are plenty of people who think that a LinkedIn account replaces traditional methods of job-hunting. While this might work for a few, this is not really the concept that propels the existence of this professional networking site. The purpose of LinkedIn is to provide a means of connecting with other people in the context of career opportunities…that’s why there are groups to join, Q&A sections, testimonials, and more. LinkedIn can be a valuable tool even when a resume is already in place.
The best-prepared candidate is often the one who gets the offer. And the hands-down, very best way to ensure that YOU are the best-prepared candidate is to construct a 30/60/90-day plan.
Even though we all know that most adults change careers at some point in their lives (many more than once!), it can still feel like an overwhelming task—but it isn’t. What does it take? A great resume. Write a killer resume that highlights your transferable skills, using the keywords for your new industry as much as possible. Emphasize your accomplishments with quantitative evidence (numbers, percentages, dollar amounts, time saved, growth, etc.) Great networking.
If you want to build your personal brand, establish an online presence, and be in the right place at the right time for your job search, then you have to utilize social media. The big 3 social media sites are LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. While LinkedIn is focused more fully on business, and Facebook leans toward the social, Twitter lands somewhere in the middle. Nearly 75 million people visited Twitter in January 2010.
You’ve seen them: the Domino’s commercials talking up their new pizza recipe. Have you tried it? Well, lots of folks have, and it’s changed everything for Domino’s, according to an article in USA Today– New Pizza Recipe Did Wonders For Domino’s Sales. Domino’s was not doing well. They had a poor reputation and were at the bottom of an already shrinking pizza market in the middle of a recession–not a recipe for success. So what did they do?
Are you willing to relocate? Are you willing to move for your job? In many companies, this is a typical job interview question. Sometimes it's a deal-breaker, sometimes it isn't. Even if this particular job doesn't require it, many companies Will you relocate for the job?want that flexibility in their employees for long-term growth potential. The knee-jerk answer that most people give ("I'd consider it for the right opportunity.") is not your best answer.
The medical sales arena is the top-tier of sales positions in the workforce. Because the area is so varied, exciting, and lucrative, many, many candidates are vying for those jobs. So, if you want to land a job in medical sales, you’re going to have to bring your “A” game.
Being laid off can feel so awkward to a job seeker that it paralyzes them in an interview situation and undermines their candidacy--but it doesn't have to. I'm going to show you how to change the language you use and the perspective you have about your layoff to boost your confidence and calm the concerns of a potential new employer. So: How do you address a layoff? First things first
You might be thinking: “I have to ask questions? I thought I was supposed to ANSWER questions at an interview.” You do have to ask questions if you want the job. But which questions? While there are many questions you want to ask, there are two questions you must ask at every interview, every single time:
Don’t get me wrong…there are many questions you must ask the interviewer in order to land the job. Asking questions in the interview demonstrates your intelligence, drive, enthusiasm, and preparation. It turns the interview into a conversation between professionals, putting you in a better psychological position, interview-wise. You’ll also find out if you really want to work there. You’ll find out, for instance, if the environment is a good fit, if you can work with this manager, and if it’s a place where you can advance your career.
How can you apply your specific skills to help the organization achieve sustainable growth and generate revenue? To answer this question, it’s very important that you understand the role you’re applying to fill.
Many people find that there are roadblocks they can’t get past when trying to break into medical sales, medical devices, laboratory sales, or other health care sales–but it can be done. The biggest one is the lack of a medical background. But here are 4 ways you can overcome that:
Are you asking the right question in your job interview? Lots of job seekers don't even realize they should be asking questions in the interview. If they do, they limit themselves to information-gathering about the job. Information-gathering is great (as long as you don't ask about salary!), but there's one question that can either seal the deal on you getting the job, or even rescue an offer you're already losing. It’s “Do you see any reason why you wouldn’t hire me for this job?”
What do you do if you’re currently unemployed (like so many others are in this economy), and you go to a networking function and are asked “What do you do?”
Medical sales has a well-deserved reputation for being extremely competitive. The path to get into the field is littered with job seeker casualties: “not enough sales experience,” “not the right kind of experience,” “no experience in the medical field,” and so on. But there are ways to get your foot in the door even if you have no experience at all. You’re going to have to work for it, but it is possible, and it’s very worth it. So here’s a few offbeat ideas for you to get into medical sales:
Job shadowing is common among students, less so among adults who have been out in the work force for a while. But if you're transitioning to a new job or career field, it can be a huge boost to your credibility and your performance in the interview. But you've got to ask the right questions to get the kind of information you're going to need to stand out.
Why haven't you been promoted?
One of the best aspects of LinkedIn is that it allows people to connect with other professionals in specific areas of interest. LinkedIn Groups is a place for communities to form based on a common experience, goal, or any other characteristic. The idea is to provide a venue where collaboration and support can be encouraged. There are plenty of LinkedIn groups to choose from…so many that it can be overwhelming to see which groups you should join. To make the task less daunting, a good practice is to see if the group you are interested in is in line with your goals.
Candidates always want to know the ONE thing they can do in the job interview that’s going to be the most impressive to the hiring manager. And there really is one answer. There are a lot of other pieces that go into a successful job interview, but the number one thing you can do in the interview to make a great impression is to ask questions. When you ask questions, you demonstrate your knowledge of the job through those questions.
Occasionally, candidates will get to the final interview and discover that the company has hired a third party to conduct the interview. Understandably, these interview situations make candidates a little more nervous….but I have a job interview strategy for you to handle this situation. To successfully navigate a 3rd party interview, you need to uncover the goals of the interviewer. What’s the most important piece of advice that will help you be successful in this situation?
Describe yourself to me in one word. Sometimes job interviewers try to get inside your head. Why? Hiring you feels like a gamble to them and they don’t like it. The person who hires you has a big stake in you doing well on the job.
LinkedIn, a social networking site for professionals, is a large community of over 40 million users from all over the world. It allows people to interact with other individuals and maintain profile pages that contain their career-oriented information and contact details. The advantage of LinkedIn is that it prevents personal details from being stored in the same place as business information—which means, you can publish your business information without worrying about who’s going to read it. In fact, the more people who have access to your business information, the better.
Having survived the interview, you would be dead wrong to think your mission is now to just sit and wait. While it can be said that good things come to those that wait, when it comes to job searches, being bold has even greater rewards. The most common mistake job candidates make is not following up the interview with a Thank You email. This often overlooked courtesy is too great an opportunity to sell yourself for the job one more time and stand out from your competition. Format:
Have you ever wondered if it carries more weight to have a written reference letter, or if it makes a better impression to have your reference speak directly to the hiring manager on the phone? The answer is: both. Written references and verbal references serve different purposes in your job search and your interview, and so you need both types. The written reference letter is often used as a “hook” to get the attention of the hiring manager. It’s good enough to get an interview, but often not quite enough to cement the offer.
Don't be fooled by people who tell you that resume objective statements are optional, or that you shouldn't have one at all. Their reasoning is usually that they fence you in and limit your job-seeking focus. I'm here to tell you that you need an objective statement on your resume. Why? * An objective statement tells me why I should keep reading the rest of your resume. An objective statement is advertising, basically. It's the teaser that will draw me in to reading the rest of your resume. The cover letter won't do it.
You’ve always known that networking is a necessary part of any career path, and it’s even more important when you’re searching for a job. But you don’t want to waste your time and effort on meaningful contact with everyone you know or come across in your search, because you don't want to apply for just any company with a job opening. For your best results, you want to focus your efforts on a few individuals at a few great companies. It’s a precision strategy to land the job you really want. How to find the best people to contact
Career coaching is sometimes thought of as a counseling session for “what do you want to be when you grow up?” That has its place, for sure, but career counseling is not career coaching. Career coaching works a lot like athletic coaching—it’s an experienced trainer standing behind you, helping you get past your weak spots and improving your game so that you can win—in this case, that means getting the job offer you want. Job seekers can get help with overcoming the hurdles they face, like: • transitioning from one company to another • transitioning from one industry to anotherr
What you say about your references can kill your job search. Many candidates are so focused on the resume and interview preparation that they forget about their references—but they are a critical piece of your job-getting effort. When you are asked who would be your references, and what would they say about you, don’t ever say, “I think…” As in, “I think my reference will be ___________” or “I hope he will say ________.” That doesn’t sound confident, and it doesn’t even sound like you’ve asked that person. It certainly doesn’t sound like you know what he will say about you.
If you've been in the job search for even half a second, you've heard of the hidden job market. But what is it? Does it even exist? And if it does, how are you supposed to apply for, and win a job you can't even find? The hidden job market does exist. It is made up of those jobs that are waiting to be filled, but you can't find the postings. The most common reaction to the very idea of a hidden job market is this: Why wouldn't it be posted so everyone could see it?
There’s no right or wrong answer, but if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? Let’s see….Lake Tahoe, lying on the beach holding a fruity drink with an umbrella in it, riding my horse through the mountains, at the bank counting the millions of dollars I just won in the lottery…all those sound like great places to me.
If you were a tree, what kind of a tree would you be? This is definitely a wacky question. Sometimes it’s “what animal would you be?” or even “What fruit would you be?” You might think it’s ridiculous, but you still have to play along, or you’ll upset the interviewer.
The Old Job Search: Not too long ago, if you were in the job hunt, you’d see an ad, or maybe hear about a job opening from someone you know, and you’d turn in your resume or fill out an application to 15 or 20 companies total, get 3-4 interviews, get 1-2 offers, you’d take one, and it would all be over. Today’s Job Search:
If you’re not experiencing the success you want in your job search, you’re not alone. This is a tough economy, and combined with the rise of internet job postings, today’s job search is like no other. But: you can absolutely take steps to jumpstart your job search. There’s no reason for you to wait for success. What should you do to kick your job search into high gear? Do something drastically different than you’re doing now. Here are some ideas for you:
Dear Career Coach: I’ve been out of work for a while, and it seems that it’s getting harder to get an interview. I keep applying for every job I can find, but I’m not getting any response. I think that my unemployment is hurting my chances, and it’s getting worse the longer it goes. What can I do? Signed, Job Seeker Joe Dear Joe,
Want to be organized for your phone interview? Leave nothing to chance? Give yourself the best possible outcome? Then create a phone interview checklist like this one so you won’t forget any vital detail. Pick a good time and place – The first thing you have to do when setting up a phone interview is to choose a good time for you, when you will be at your best (most alert), and then choose where to have this very important conversation. It must be somewhere quiet, where you will not be distracted. No pets, kids, or chatty people at the next table. Quiet.
If we hire you, what will we know about you a year down the road? Some candidates might wander off the path they should be on with this question (as many do with “Tell me about yourself”) and start talking about how they’ll know you like football, that you make a mean cheese dip, or that you never take sick days.
A 30-60-90-day plan is an outline of what you intend to do in your first 3 months on the job. It’s a goal-setting document that shows you understand the job and you know what it takes to be successful at it. It covers everything from your training to your initial efforts to grow the business. It’s very impressive for hiring managers because it shows that you’ve put a lot of thought into what you can do for the company, and it takes a lot of the “risk” out of hiring you. It can be overwhelming to create a plan, since it must be specific to the company to be the most effective.
As an interview coach, I always recommend that my clients bring a 30/60/90-day plan to their job interviews. This plan is a written outline for what they intend to do and achieve within the first 3 months on the job. It takes research and strategic thinking to put one together, and it’s a lot of work, but it produces fantastic results. It “shows” the hiring manager what life will look like with you on the job and helps him to see you in it, which gives you a big advantage over other candidates.
I can't emphasize enough how important it is for everyone to have a network and keep in contact with the people in it, but many people don't know how to do this well. Networks aren't something that you build by handing out business cards to everyone you meet. Networks are relationships. Not deep, BFF (best friends forever) relationships that are going to take all your time, but at least something that will ensure they remember who you are when you call.
Preceptorships, also known as job shadowing, are a great solution for people who want to transition into a new industry or career (and for new graduates, too). They are fantastically enriching experiences that make you a stronger candidate in the job search, plus they give you a legitimate way to include industry-specific keywords on your resume—which will get it noticed. They’re a valuable stepping-stone toward your new career. How do you get one?
If you research “resume writing tips” online, chances are great that you will discover that your resume should be 1-2 pages. But what if you’ve been working for 20 years or so and in order for you to get all the relevant experience included, it takes you 3-4 pages? Sorry, you’re going to have to learn to edit. Some of it just won’t be relevant. Unless you’re at the highest levels (CEO, CIO, CFO, etc.), you must keep your resume down to 1-2 pages. What should you consider cutting?
I have heard some bad voicemail greetings in my lifetime…ones that make me listen to that person’s favorite song before I can leave my message, ones that were recorded by charming but difficult-to-understand 3-year-olds, and even some that tried to be funny but weren’t, like “How do you leave an idiot in suspense? Leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”
Are you looking to transition into a new career? Whether you are being forced to move on because of the current economic situation, or whether you’re one of the millions of adults switching careers just because you’re ready for a change, consider job shadowing to give yourself a boost.
Getting a job in this competitive market requires that you up your game. You have to come at the most basic interview elements, the questions and answers, with a thoughtful strategy for success. With that in mind, I have for you two things you should always ask to have a job-winning conversation, and two responses to typical questions that will knock their socks off. What you should always ask: What does your ideal candidate look like?