How to ace an interview!

A very brief and simple guide to acing an interview.

If you've been provided with a JobSpec you will already have a list of the competencies that are required to be successful in the role. If you don't have a jobspec, write one!

All you need to do now is prepare two examples for every competency and be ready to explain each using before, during and after. Or I prefer;

Situation: What was happening Behaviour: What did you do to change it Outcome: How did your actions positively change the situation

e.g.

Competency = Delegation of tasks

Situation:

Prior to my joining the department each manager was responsible for various projects and was extremely hands on, jack of all trades, master of none

Behaviour:

I ascertained which staff members had specific strengths in certain areas and targeted them specifically with the delivery of these tasks within pre agreed timeframes

Outcome:

Happier staff with more responsibility, more time to drive projects forwards and achieving quicker delivery.

Etc.

Know the competencies required (jobspec provided or that you write) Prepare two examples for each

Situation Behaviour Outcome

Tell the interviewer!

How to deal with Redundancy in the Job Hunting Process

When an employee's position has been made redundant it's natural for confidence to be low and when entering the job market (albeit reluctantly), confidence is important.

Also, before we get into the meat of this discussion, please note, remember and live and breathe the fact that your position within the company has been made redundant, not you!

If this has happened to your position, it happened to your position. You could be the best employee of all time, and if the company folds, it folds. You have not been made redundant, your position has.

Regarding how to bring up the topic of the redundancy of your position, it should be in the cover letter/email or phone call. Not mentioning it will make prospective employers think you've something to hide and it will be the first thing on the interviewer's mind. "Why is this candidate on the market?"

At the interview, it should be mentioned by the interviewer, as in, small talk to address it early on, but there are certain things that you can do to turn it to your advantage.

The interviewer will use past performance (and in particular, longevity) to suggest future performance. If it's a permanent role, they'll be investing heavily in you, so they need to feel comfortable that you're in it for the long haul.

So, the line to take is very sad that the company could not make it through the recession (or for whatever reason) and that you would have been very happy to stay as their product/service offering was exciting, and you yourself had been instrumental in putting the team together and invested a lot of emotional energy into the project. You have many close friends there, and enjoyed the time with your previous employer.

This means to them, that you're a good employee, passionate about the company, a company man, if you will. Rather than, "well, I hated the place anyway!!!"

But also, to try to look on it as a positive, what lessons did you learn from the company in terms of mistakes? Did they go too far too soon? You need to be comfortable (tell them this) that the next company you work for has a strong and robust business plan and is capable of growth even now, this kind line of conversation, which puts the onus of sales back onto the interviewer.

They'll go right off topic selling the company, how wonderful it is. If they don't, if they shrug and say "erm....", you may not want to work there if this is the attitude of the interviewer, who is after all, effectively an ambassador for your prospective employer.

So remember, your position being made redundant is nothing to be ashamed of and not a reflection on you personally, so try not to take it personally. Some of the smartest people you know have been made redundant recently or definitely in the past, so try to accept it and get into a positive frame of mind. Employers want to see how prospective employees deal with negatives and set backs, so use this one as an opportunity to show your strength of character. Don't play the blame game, and attribute your situation to bad management or work practices, even politicians. You are where you are, and you'll get back in the game soon. Just keep the faith.

Learn about MyNewCV.ie and EnigmaSearch.com Learn how Twitter can be used for research And listen to Ruadhri's prediction on the future

Death of Recruitment Agencies?

Perhaps I'm totally upside down on this whole thing, but it seems to me, from my nosebleed inducing Ivory Tower in Dublin, that Recruitment Agencies are in a world of pain. Various boards and forums (fora?) seem to point towards on the one hand, very few responses to ads, and on the other a definite move away, deliberately, from Recruitment Agencies. That is to say, fewer companies are using their services, and sure weren't they a necessary evil anyway? Makes me think of scores being settled during wars, you know. So is the industry paying the price for allowing quality of service die in a race to the bottom scenario? From what I can gather, this race is happening now, but more from the point of view of % rates falling rapidly. A job that would be filled at 25% of basic salary, or an across the board exclusive agreement of 22% don't exist and an agreement for 15% of basic is considered very good, whereas once upon a time, that was absolute bottom dollar and would have to have been paid up front! Or is it a case of the industry reaping what they sow, or an evolution, a cull if you will so that when the Recruitment market picks up and demand rises, last men standing will be the talented ones? But, what's a definition of a talented recruiter? One who can hold onto their job is one, bring in money. There are some genuinely brilliant, caring and passionate recruiters out there, but there are some more, perceived as the majority, who are evil dirt. But of course, this is based on the perception of the jobseeker, who, if not right for a role, is seen by a recruiter as a "time burglar" and not worthy of a response. To paraphrase Cool Hand Luke, what we have here is a failure to communicate. A strong representative body for Recruiters should address this failure and use this recession as an opportunity to improve their public relations. I fear it may be too late... The future Recruitment is an important industry, and hiring companies save time and money by being smart about it. Partnering with Agencies, the right ones that is. But, if a company throws a jobspec to the four winds at a low rate, it should then waive the right to be annoyed if their message is diluted and eventually employees get a bad impression of them. So, it will be back but it will never be the same again. Hirers, agents and candidates all need to learn new rules for this game. Hopefully % rates will remain reasonable in the future so this perception spiral does not repeat itself. (but it will!).

The new rules to IT JobHunting

The new rules to IT JobHunting – Ruadhri McGarry – www.mynewcv.ie You’ve finally decided that you are moving jobs. Whether you have just had enough, you have hit a ceiling or for reasons beyond your control, you are back on the market. How can you make sure that you secure the best IT role that you can? Firstly, make sure you know what you want. Is it a contract or a permanent role, do you know the sector and physical location? Once you have these choices made, how will you go about it? If you are sending your CV to an IT Recruiter, or to a busy Human Resources Department, or indeed you’re posting your CV to a jobsite or even uploading to your own site, you need to make sure that you’ll be found. You cannot guarantee that the person viewing your CV will recognise what’s second nature to you, sometimes your CV will be in front of someone who’s empowered but not qualified to say yes or no. Keywords To get around this you must be aware of keywords, in the same way that search engines rate webpages, you must play this game to win. Ensure you have all keywords on your CV. The best way around this is to have a skills matrix at the end of your CV, including all training you’ve done in any technology. Irrespective of whether the searcher is an experienced Recruiter, a junior Human Resources Administrator, or a Managing Director of a small company searching online, applying keyword techniques to your document will get it found. Value Adds If you can think like the hiring manager, you’ll have to ensure that once your CV is found, it stands out. Can you demonstrate all “value adds” that you’ve brought to all of your positions? If you just list facts of what you have done and where, it can be boring. If you can say that your work enabled a quicker time to launch for a given product etc., that’s value and ultimately a cost saving. Also recommended is that you use a Word document rather than an Adobe PDF. PDFs print better but it’s an image and tricky to search. Most recruitment machinery is based on keyword searching using Word. Also use Rich Text Formatting as this will help with keeping any formatting you’ve done. Potential Negatives Spellcheck is good to an extent, however, I recommend that you type “IT Manger” into a search engine, and you’ll be amazed how often this typo escapes conventional spellchecking technology. Read your CV and better still have a third party read it for you! Don’t use photographs of yourself, don’t use logos of companies you’ve worked for or courses you’ve done. It takes up processing space and can lead to formatting nightmares. Finally, as social networking takes off more and more, I strongly suggest you run a “vanity search” online. Type your name into a search engine and ensure that nothing embarrassing comes up on a networking site. Almost every candidate being offered a role will be “googled” so make sure that there’s no reason online for you not to be hired. In conclusion;

• Use a skills matrix with keywords
• Demonstrate Value
• CVs should be in Word (Rich Text Formats)
• Don’t use Logos/Photos
• Register with online databases (let employers find you)
• If possible, create your own website and upload your
• CVHave someone else read your CV, don’t just press F7
• Vanity Search

To learn more about CV and Jobsearching advice visit www.mynewcv.ie or contact sales@mynewcv.ie.