I recently completed an online application, and when I got to the part of the application that asked me to self-identify, I was not unable to uncheck the box for “Vietnam Era Veteran.” I am not a veteran, and I wanted to check the appropriate box, but the software wouldn’t allow me to do so. After about ten minutes, I gave up, and just clicked “submit.”Yesterday I received a call from a recruiter at the company. I immediate...
I’ve been interviewing with a nonprofit whose work I really admire. They recently told me that I am a finalist for the position, and as part of their vetting process, they want to conduct a reference and background check. I had no problem with that at all, until they told me that they needed a reference from my current employer! I told them in no uncertain terms that they could not contact my current employer, as they do no...
The other day, I was reading an article on LinkedIn about gender equality at the executive level. It was written by a female executive who noted that there are very few female C-level executives in any size company and that diversity only helps companies to succeed. The article was in no way inflammatory, and it was very well written. However, a quick scan of the comment section was horrifying.I am alternately amazed and d...
The other day, I was reading an article on LinkedIn about gender equality at the executive level. It was written by a female executive who noted that there are very few female C-level executives in any size company and that diversity only helps companies to succeed. The article was in no way inflammatory, and it was very well written. However, a quick scan of the comment section was horrifying.I am alternately amazed and d...
Interview preparation is hard work. You need to practice your STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) responses. You have to vet out possible behavioral questions and craft compelling responses to them. You must ensure that your image reflects your professionalism—your shirt must be ironed, and your shoes must be polished!Be sure that you are focusing your efforts in the right area, by narrowing in on what the interviewer i...
I recently interviewed four candidates for an entry-level position on my team. One thing that is absolutely clear at the end of this experience is that college career centers are giving their students bad, outdated advice! All four of these young people had objective statements on their resumes, and presented themselves in the same bland manner. They talked about their academic achievements, and how great they were, but the...
I field many questions about professional references, and there is an abundance of both misunderstanding and erroneous information out there. I want to dispel the many myths that there are, so here are the top four things you should know about references.•They can say anything: Many people tell me that their former employer will only verify dates of employment and previous titles. That may very well be the employer’s forma...
Having a personal brand is not optional. Perhaps you think you don’t have a personal brand, but you do. And if you don’t know what your brand is, your brand is neither strong nor polished. Having a strong personal brand is critical to managing your career, and you want to be sure that you are in control of what your brand is. If you are passive about your brand, others will craft it for you. In order to create and to build...
I get questions all the time about what exactly is a personal brand, and what it is to have a personal brand. There is certainly a lot of confusion out there about this, so this week’s blog is devoted to bringing about not only a better understanding of what personal branding is but why you must have one in order to stand out in the highly competitive digital marketplace.First and foremost, as with corporate branding, perso...
After my last blog post, I was flooded with comments and emails bemoaning the current state of interviewing. Many people reached out to me to point out that there is just as much, if not more, bad behavior on the part of the interviewers as there is on the part of those being interviewed. In the spirit of fairness, this week’s post will focus on Bad Interviewer Behavior.I have a client who recently went for a face to face i...