Sara discusses how body language can tell things about us that we may not want to share in an interview setting, and she gives listeners a few pointers on how to give the right impression.

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Image and body language is critical because people create their impressions and ideas of how smart, credible, and confident someone is in the first seven seconds of meeting them. It is therefore extremely important to be aware of and understand your body language and what it is saying about you. When you walk into a room, you want to project a look of confidence. The best way to do that is to keep good posture by keeping your shoulders back, approach the interviewer, give them a firm handshake, and thank them for interviewing you, all the while maintaining eye contact. Some common “ticks” that people display is that after they are seated for an interview, they may fidget with their fingers, twirl their hair, of wag their foot. All these little habits are extremely distracting for the interviewer. To stop yourself from doing this, you should bring a pad and pen to the interview and you should keep both feet on the floor, which will help stop yourself from wagging your foot, help keep good posture, and help project your voice. To stop yourself from appearing overconfident, you should be yourself, always smile, and maintain eye contact. If you are making up an answer, or lying, you usually give yourself away by opening your eyes wider, and by rubbing your nose (the pad and pen will prevent you from rubbing your nose). If the interviewer is interested in you as a candidate, they will tend to lean forward; on the other hand, if someone doesn’t like what you are saying, they will lean back and tug on their ear. When this happens, you should ask the interviewer a question; you should always go into an interview with a few questions. Sara’s final tips are (1) you must be aware of what your body ticks are, (2) you should go into the interview relaxed with your pen and pad to keep control of your hands, and (3) you must keep both feet firmly on the ground.

As an Image and Body Language Specialist, Sara Canuso, President of A Suitable Solution, empowers individuals to use non-verbal communication, image, and body language as tools to communicate effectively with others and to understand not only what others say, but to discover the unspoken messages and feelings behind their words and actions. Her insightful keynote presentations, business seminars and one-on-one coaching on the Impact of Image deliver new ideas and practical tools in the areas of creating powerful first impressions, developing a positive self image, dressing for success, and inspiring confidence. Sara is the creator of Campus to Corporate, a program held in area colleges to help students prepare to enter the workplace. She is a certified seminar leader and known for her informative and popular column in Philadelphia Maven and her Winning Look articles in the Legal Intelligencer and the Burlington County Straight Word.

sara@asuitablesolution.com

www.asuitablesolution.com

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Joy leverages her extensive corporate background to give us the Inside Scoop to help you land the job you want.

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Summary Coming Soon!

Joy J. Martin is known as the HR Insider. She has worked with the Career Changer Company and with some of the top financial services, advertising and professional services consulting companies in the world including HSBC, IBM, Bearing Point, J. Walter Thompson and others. With her background as a Corporate Recruiter and HR Manager, Joy shares the inside scoop on what it really takes to get hired. Joy is exceptionally positive, supportive and compassionate as she helps individuals uncover their life’s passion, find work they love and navigate the current challenging job market and hiring process. Are you ready to finally land that next job? Learn how to stand out in a crowded job market with our latest product by clicking on the first link below.

http://www.segaric.com/hr-insider-secrets.shtml

http://www.linkedin.com/in/hrinsiderjoymartin

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Jaime Allen gives some tips and strategies to help listeners land their dream jobs, as they prepare for their final on-site interviews.

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Jaime covers the stage of the hiring process where you have been invited to the corporate headquarters for the final round of interviews. Your resume and performance have gotten you this far, but now the company is looking for a cultural fit within the organization. Jaime urges that it is extremely important to be yourself and not what you perceive the interviewer to be looking for. Jaime personally looks for three major things. First, while it is important to talk about your performance, it is also important to showcase your personality. She looks at how you carry yourself and your attitude as you answer general questions. Her recommendation is that candidates talk about their interests outside of work to give the company a better sense of your life outside of work. A good time to do this is in those 5 minutes or so between interviews as you are escorted from one office to another. While this conversation is casual, it shows that you can balance work and life, and allows for your passions to shine through. This can help you connect with the interviewer on a more personal level. Many candidates feel they have to “suck up” to the interviewers, but this is very pretentious and disingenuous. One pitfall that people fall into is being too focused on the interview process itself and forgetting to show off their character and personality. She suggests that you talk about things that make you unique and that can help you stand out. Another possible pitfall is that people are not prepared to ask relevant and thoughtful questions, and instead tend to ask predictable questions taken off a company’s website. A good question to ask could be on what the insight was behind a new product or marketing campaign. Jaime also stresses the importance of not only talking to the directors and VPs, but being truly genuine and friendly to everyone that you meet. She ends the interview by discussing how to behave during professional dinners and includes some tips on what to wear, whether drinks are to be ordered, and overall appropriate behavior.

Jaime Allen is currently a Director of Marketing at Darden Restaurant Group in Orlando, Florida. There she leads Marketing Strategy for Promotion Pipeline, Merchandising and Local Marketing for the Olive Garden brand. Prior to joining Darden, Jaime spent 8 years at SC Johnson in Marketing working on new product development and various brands such as Scrubbing Bubbles, Edge, Skintimate and Glade. Jaime has worked briefly as a personal chef and has passed the Level 1 Master Sommelier exam. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Cornell University in 2000.

jaimeallen9@hotmail.com

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Randy Brandoff reflects upon some common misconceptions that young professionals have about the interview process, employer expectations, and general career topics.

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Randy offers his perspective on some common myths in the workplace. The first is that a student’s GPA is a prospective employer’s top priority. Randy believes that while your GPA matters, extracurricular activities are also extremely important because employers are looking for well-rounded candidates. The second belief that many students have is that the undergraduate major in college dictates what job and career they will pursue. However, Randy discusses that while there are some industries where this might be the case (architecture and engineering for example), generally he doesn’t agree. For example, there are countless liberal arts majors excelling on Wall Street. What you study in undergrad does not limit you to a specific direction; and the same applies to internships. Commonly, internships help people understand what they want and don’t want to do through gaining real life experience. The third perception is that the success in an interview comes down to whether the interviewer asks the right questions that allow you to showcase your strengths. Randy completely disagrees with this statement – a successful interview, he believes, comes down to the preparation you did, practicing before the interview, and having confidence during it. The next myth is that in an interview, the candidate needs to show how the company fits into his or her career goals. While Randy appreciates hearing how an employment opportunity fits into an applicant’s personal goals and life story, he finds it more compelling when the candidate discusses what they will bring to the company. The final general assumption is that a company will train a new employee and start them out slowly. According to Randy, this is very unique to the situation. There are some businesses that have long, formal training programs but the vast majority of companies cannot afford them. Instead new hires are quickly trained and expected to add value immediately. His final piece of advice to young professionals is to be yourself and to make who you are shine through during an interview.

Randy Brandoff is the Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer for Marquis Jet. He joined Marquis Jet, the leader in private jet cards, as the Company’s founding employee and has been active in every aspect of start-up and growth phases. As CMO, Mr. Brandoff is the primary connection between Marquis Jet and its clients, focused on creating and managing profitable growth while engendering continued high customer retention. He is responsible for the successful development and implementation of Marquis Jet’s marketing and branding strategies and accountable for revenue, margin and market share performance. Prior to joining Marquis Jet, Mr. Brandoff was an Associate at The Argentum Group, a New York-based venture capital firm. Prior to joining Argentum, Mr. Brandoff was a Business Analyst with Deloitte Consulting LLC. Mr. Brandoff received his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Marketing (“AEM”) from Cornell University. He is on the board of Young at Heart, benefiting the Babies Heart Fund at Children’s Hospital at New York Presbyterian. He and his wife Dayna reside in New York City.

You may contact him at: randy.brandoff@gmail.com

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James Connolly discusses interview tips and career advice that help young professionals “look beyond the obvious” and leverage their existing skills and abilities.

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James explains that many young professionals struggle to distinguish between obvious observations and the insights that those observations provide. For example, Nike observed many Chinese basketball players playing outside, and this is what James calls an obvious observation. But, outdoor courts are very different in the way a shoe interacts with hardwood floors in comparison to concrete, and so the insight that Nike came up with was that the Chinese players needed more durability in the outsole of their product. This insight has helped Nike establish itself as the top basketball brand within China. James then applies this idea of “looking beyond the obvious” to job searching and interviewing. For example, he suggests that students can utilize a class project for something more than just a grade. He recommends that students tailor the project to something that could be offered as business experience during an interview. He recommends that we move past the dejected feeling of not having enough work experience to utilizing all the things in our life and applying them to better ourselves in the job search process. We have to be willing to take an honest and critical look at ourselves and need people around us that will give valuable feedback. His suggestion is that these people must be a balance between people we like and people who will give us the advice that is hard to hear.

James Connolly is a product line manager for Nike’s Global Men’s Athletic Training Apparel business. He is responsible for the product creation engine that creates essential training silhouettes for athletes in american football and baseball. In addition James’ oversees both the men’s and women’s LIVESTRONG apparel assortment. This assortment has helped create more than $80,000,000 in revenue for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and its fight against cancer. Prior to Athletic Training James worked as both a Product Line Manager and Associate Product Line Manager for Nike’s women’s training apparel business. His education includes a BS from Cornell University’s Department of Applied Economics and Management. While attending Cornell James was a member of the track and field program and continues to stay involved with the running community through youth coaching.

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Debbie Marquardt provides listeners with interviewing advice and discusses how to display yourself as a good fit for a potential employer.

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Debbie’s first pointer is that preparation is very important for success. You need to work before the interview to (1) identify what the company is looking for and who will be interviewing you, and (2) to search within yourself to know what you want to communicate about yourself to the interviewer. Think about what your strengths are and how you are you uniquely qualified for the job. There are also general characteristics that every company looks for such as leadership and perseverance, and it is important to get these across as well. A resume is just a page full of statistics so you need to bring it to life in an interview. The interviewer needs to get a better idea of whether you are the right fit for the company. To determine if you are the right fit for a company, ask employees within the company what the culture is like and search the internet for articles about that company. Both can be extremely informative about the company environment so that you can decide whether this is what you want and also to help the interviewer understand how you fit into the company’s environment. The more you can learn about the company and the company learns about you in advance, the better off you will be during the interview. Debbie’s recommends that during the interview you need to answer questions in a way that communicates the facets that are unique to yourself. It is important to have stories that display the skills you want to communicate so that not only do they see you have the qualifications for the job, but they also know more about you as a person. Her final point is to be sure that you ask for the job at the end of the interview and let the interviewer know how much you want it.

Debbie Marquardt is the Global Franchise Marketing Director for Procter & Gamble Professional, the away-from-home division of Procter & Gamble that provides cleaning products and solutions for the Foodservice, Hospitality and Building Cleaning & Maintenance businesses. Debbie has worked at P&G for more than 15 years on a variety of marketing assignments on Crisco, Jif, Charmin, NA Marketing Innovation and P&G Professional. Debbie graduated from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Education and then from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern with a Masters of Business Management in Marketing and Finance.

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Jane Chin makes a return appearance to discuss two specific strategies designed to help you become a high achiever: managing your boss and developing your personal brand.

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Jane is working on a seminar series called “Overcoming Redundancy”, which targets high performance individuals and high achievers. Two of the key points from the seminar series are learning to manage your boss and creating your own personal brand. Jane urges listeners to think of they can manage their boss. One relevant question is “What is your boss’s definition of a job well done?” You need to know specifically what it is that you do that your boss views as important; it may not be what you thought. Another important question is “How does your boss view his or her own management style?” This view doesn’t have to match with how the other employees view him or her; it’s about what the boss thinks of him or herself. This is good to know because it will give you a lot of ideas on what to anticipate from your boss. Ask your boss questions like “how do you like to work with your employees”, “how do you like to communicate with them”, and “if we work together, how often do you need to hear from me?” The second key point from her seminar series, personal brand, is about how other people see you regardless of how you see yourself. You need to really think about your own strengths and how you contribute to the company. A good way to get an idea of your present personal brand is to think of what your boss or co-workers need when they call on you to do something. What situations or problems do people connect you as the solution to? The importance of having a personal brand is that in order to overcome redundancy, you want to make sure that your expertise is directly affecting at least five people in your organization. You also need to be proactive about creating your brand rather than reactive, because if you wait for feedback to come to you, it may already be too late.

Dr. Jane Chin is a microbusiness entrepreneur/coach and career transition strategist. Dr. Chin applies strategic thinking techniques to help professionals and companies identify the core nucleus of a problem and where viable solutions may reside. She integrates professional development with personal mastery, and writes about fear of success, addiction to approval, backstabbing coworkers, answering the question “what should I do with my life”, and various Achilles heel of career professionals. Jane is currently writing a book to help career professionals achieve high performance.

JaneChin.com
MicroBusinessMentor.com
LinkedIn Profile
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In this podcast, Kelli Grant offers advice on getting a great internship and leveraging it to get a full time position. Though she approaches this topic from a journalistic perspective, these common sense tips apply across all majors.

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Kelli discusses some very important aspects of being a good intern, regardless of major or career path. First, it is imperative to do what you are asked to do, and to do it with a smile. Students have high expectations of their internships but in reality, internships generally start with basic tasks such as conducting research or making photocopies. Interns need to build trust before they are able to do the more important tasks. Her second advice is to be proactive as an intern. For example, if you have free time, ask your supervisor if you can help with another task. You get noticed by asking for opportunities and taking the initiative to do more. Thirdly, it is important to be prompt. Treat the internship as a full time job; get there on time and stay as late as is needed. Finally, use your internships to network for future positions. During the internship, be nice to everyone because you never know who is going to be helpful in your job hunt down the line. Kelli also offers some internship interviewing tips: (1) Treat the interview as if going in for a full-time job, because many employers parley internships into full-time positions, and (2) emphasize what you bring to the company that no one else can, and why you are the better candidate. Her parting shot is that it is very important to have a quality internship. This professional experience is very important to get before graduating, and nothing shows an employer that you are ready to do the work than an internship where you got real world experience.

Kelli B. Grant has covered consumer finance since joining SmartMoney.com in June 2005. Her Deal of the Day column and accompanying 3 Tips video segments tell consumers how to save money and spend it wisely. Before joining SmartMoney.com, Kelli worked at MarketWatch.com as a reporter. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and anthropology from Ithaca College.
 

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In this podcast, Joni Lusty walks us through the critical interview process to help listeners get the jobs they desire.

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Joni begins by explaining that to best position yourself for the perfect job, you must first determine what that perfect job is for you. Picking the job requires looking at the entire offer, including continual education offerings, 401k, benefits, salary, location and long term potential. It is critical to think in the long term: what position do you want to hold in 5-10 years, and what type of experience do you need to achieve that. For the actual interview, she stresses that you need to heavily research the company, attend socials, talk to employees in the company, and gather specific stories and details to show the company that you are truly invested in the job. C Companies seek people who have long term goals and ambition, but they want candidates that are going to be committed to the profession for the long haul. Other than research and preparation, a spotless resume helps land a job; get opinions from many different people with different point of views to ensure than the resume will stand out. In addition, find out the type of interview you will have. Have a few stories prepared for behavioral questions; try to sound natural and sincere rather than rehearsed. Finally, at the end of the interview, make sure you ask questions to show that you are very serious about this as your career and your future. Avoid talking about salary and benefits, but ask questions around what they see the firm doing in the future, why the interviewer came to the company, and why they are still there. Joni’s last piece of advice is to have a great attitude, let your personality show through, be sincere, and have fun with the process.

Joni Lusty is a Campus Recruiter at Ernst & Young and has been with the firm for 10 years. Joni is responsible for EYs recruiting efforts for the PacificNorthwest Advisory practice. Before becoming a campus recruiter, Joni worked as Audit Manager with EY in the Salt Lake City office. She graduated with her Masters in Accounting at Brigham Young University.
Joni is very involved in a number of EYs internal initiatives include the local Professional Womens Network and Social Responsibility. Joni also serves on the board of directors for Worldwide Association of Performing Artists, a not for profit arts organization.

www.ey.com/us/careers

www.ey.com/eyinsight/index.html

EY can also be found on Facebook

 

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Russ Finkelstein discusses what it is like to work for a nonprofit organization.  He talks about having passion for what you want to do, and how to show an organization that you are the right candidate for the job.

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In the current economy, the nonprofit sector has been taking on many societal issues, and it is a great and challenging time to be involved with nonprofit enterprises. Young professionals interested in working in the nonprofit arena need to learn how to adequately prepare for an interview. Preparation is the most important issue, because often candidates feel there is a lesser standard in nonprofit organizations, which is not true. Prospective employees should ask smart, specific questions that demonstrate they have invested time and energy into this particular job. Not only should candidates show that they are qualified and have necessary skills and experiences, it is also important that they show passion for the particular issue and the specific approach that the organization uses to address it. Although nonprofits may pay less than for-profit companies, an employee can still make a very good living. Prospective employees need to prioritize and make choices about their expectations and motivation.

In this podcast, Sharon Dauk gives advice on career strategies in a tough environment from her perspective as both an executive coach and industry professional. Her unique perspective lets people see what it’s like on both sides of the interview table.

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Tough times can present opportunities, and Sharon suggests that creativity is key. First, try and figure out what you are good at. Even though the big names in investment banking may not be recruiting right now, find other companies that have similar characteristics and seek them out. Networking is very important, and you have to present your value proposition – what are your passions and what will you bring to the table. Sharon believes that hard economic times can increase entrepreneurship. She graduated during a downturn in the economy and ended up starting her own investment firm.
How can a student stand out in an interview? Sharon suggests that you should be yourself and show how you are going to dedicate yourself to making the business successful. Attitude is just as important as skills. Sharon remembers a particularly good interview with a student who asked questions about how their participation would benefit the bigger picture. People are hiring you to do a job for them and achieve something they need. Present yourself as providing a solution to that problem. From a corporate point of view, someone who seems really ready to work is more attractive than someone asking about work-life balance. From Sharon’s experience as a coach, she suggests doing more research outside of the interview to find if the work-life balance would be right for you.

Sharon Dauk gives advice on career strategies in a tough environment from her perspective as both an executive coach and industry professional. Her unique perspective lets people see what it’s like on both sides of the interview table.

To download this podcast, click here
 
Tough times can present opportunities, and Sharon suggests that creativity is key. First, try and figure out what you are good at. Even though the big names in investment banking may not be recruiting right now, find other companies that have similar characteristics and seek them out. Networking is very important, and you have to present your value proposition – what are your passions and what will you bring to the table. Sharon believes that hard economic times can increase entrepreneurship. She graduated during a downturn in the economy and ended up starting her own investment firm.
How can a student stand out in an interview? Sharon suggests that you should be yourself and show how you are going to dedicate yourself to making the business successful. Attitude is just as important as skills. Sharon remembers a particularly good interview with a student who asked questions about how their participation would benefit the bigger picture. People are hiring you to do a job for them and achieve something they need. Present yourself as providing a solution to that problem. From a corporate point of view, someone who seems really ready to work is more attractive than someone asking about work-life balance. From Sharon’s experience as a coach, she suggests doing more research outside of the interview to find if the work-life balance would be right for you.

This podcast is part 2 of Scott Goodfellow’s interview with 10GoodMinutes. He discusses strategies on how to get noticed by recruiters. He shares pre-interview tips, specific interviewing strategies, and explains what makes a candidate stand out in an interview.

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Scott says that when he is looking to hire someone for a job in finance or accounting at Proctor & Gamble, he wants to see a broad experience base beyond those two specialized areas. During an interview, recruiters are not necessarily just looking for depth of experience, but for experience in leading others and making a difference. How do you set yourself apart from other interviewees? Go to career fairs and talk to the recruiters. Make sure everything on your resume is quantifiable – not just through action verbs, but through metrics. Once you get past the initial contact and into an actual interview, the recruiter will want to know how you are going to fit into the company and if you are willing to take on leadership. If you take an hour or two to really think through your resume, you can be prepared with direct, succinct answers. Lack of preparation can be a huge downfall, especially for undergraduates, since they haven’t had the real world experience of selling themselves. Familiarity is your best friend – get to know previous interns, speak to recruiters at multiple job fairs, and learn all about the company. Quality of preparation is more important than quantity of interviews. Alumni references can help, but are not the sole decision factor in an interview. If you don’t understand a question in an interview, try rephrasing it for clarification.

Scott Goodfellow discusses strategies on how to get noticed by recruiters. He shares pre-interview tips, specific interviewing strategies, and explains what makes a candidate stand out in an interview.

To download this podcast, click here
 
Scott says that when he is looking to hire someone for a job in finance or accounting at Proctor & Gamble, he wants to see a broad experience base beyond those two specialized areas. During an interview, recruiters are not necessarily just looking for depth of experience, but for experience in leading others and making a difference. How do you set yourself apart from other interviewees? Go to career fairs and talk to the recruiters. Make sure everything on your resume is quantifiable – not just through action verbs, but through metrics. Once you get past the initial contact and into an actual interview, the recruiter will want to know how you are going to fit into the company and if you are willing to take on leadership. If you take an hour or two to really think through your resume, you can be prepared with direct, succinct answers. Lack of preparation can be a huge downfall, especially for undergraduates, since they haven’t had the real world experience of selling themselves. Familiarity is your best friend – get to know previous interns, speak to recruiters at multiple job fairs, and learn all about the company. Quality of preparation is more important than quantity of interviews. Alumni references can help, but are not the sole decision factor in an interview. If you don’t understand a question in an interview, try rephrasing it for clarification.