Tell us about a time you took on a leadership role

You might be thinking “Hey, if I’m interviewing for an internship why would they care if I’ve been in a leadership role before? Aren’t interns the low man on the totem pole?”, and you’d be right. But your interviewer still wants to know what kinds of leadership experience and capabilities you have, especially if your internship has the opportunity to become a full-time position. Companies want employees who can take the lead and seize the moment, but who also know how to work well with others.

Describe a time when you faced a challenge, and how you overcame it

This question is crucial to making a good impression with your interviewer, and it gives you the chance to stand out from the pack. By describing a time when you overcame a challenge, you are giving the recruiter an insight into how you approach obstacles and your problem solving process. It also helps them understand how well you can work while under pressure, and how you adapt to stressful situations; all of which is crucial as a new member of a team.

Tell us about an achievement you’re proud of

This is your time to shine! You honestly can’t go wrong answering this question. Just keep in mind, its better to mention an accomplishment you achieved in the work place. Maybe your team won an award, or you were employee of the month, or you finished a big project. Tell your recruiter all about it, and how you made it happen!

Tell us about a time you tried to learn a new skill

While interviewing, you may come across this question as a way for the recruiter to gauge how quickly you pick up new skills and how effectively you can use that new skill in a professional environment. Every business has different ways they conduct business, and you may be walking into a workplace that has different operations than any other you’ve worked in before. You want to try to provide an example that expresses your ability to adapt to new situations and the ways in which you have successfully used the skills you learned.

Describe a time when you failed at something

We know that you’d rather talk about literally ANYTHING else with an interviewer, but describing a time when you failed is not the horribly embarrassing experience you think it will be. In fact, its the perfect opportunity to showcase your problem solving abilities. When you describe a time when you failed, focus on how you learned from the experience and how it helped you in projects or tasks that followed. Your recruiter wants to know how well you can handle failure and how you learn from times things didn’t go your way.

BONUS: Do you have any questions for us?

We’ve discussed this several times in previous blog posts, and I’m sure you’re getting sick of hearing it. But the truth is, asking questions is the best way to show your interviewer that you’re not only interested in the position, but that you were paying attention as well. If you ask valid and well thought out questions, it displays your ability to not only take in information but to analyze it and problem solve. Good communication is key to any team, and you cannot be afraid to ask questions if you need to in any working environment.

–Tyler Geeve, Staff Source Marketing/Recruiting Assistant

You lacked energy

One of the quickest ways to put off an interviewer is to approach the interview with a lack of enthusiasm. If you’re not excited to be there, then chances are your recruiter isn’t excited to talk to you. You don’t need to break down the door dancing around, shaking everyone’s hand, and singing about how you’re going to rock this interview (do that in your head); but you should at the very least have a positive demeanor when you walk in. Your interviewer will pick up on whatever kind of energy you come into the interview with, and walking in with a negative attitude will get your interview rolling downhill fast.

You didn’t provide examples

This is most often the reason why an interview doesn’t go as well as you had hoped. Everyone goes into an interview excited to talk about their skills, but its important to make sure you back those skills up with relevant experience. Its one thing to say “I have great organizational and leadership skills”, and its another to say “I have experience managing a team that completed __________ task in a timely and streamlined manner”. You don’t want to just list off your skills, instead you want your work experience to exemplify what professional skills you have demonstrated in the past.

You weren’t conversational

While you want to remain professional in your interview, you also want to let your personality shine as well. If you speak like a business robot the entire time, you aren’t going to leave much of an impression with your recruiter. When speaking, don’t just give a direct answer like “yes” or “no”. Instead, elaborate and engage your recruiter to offer their thoughts or advice on your answer. Remember that your interviewer isn’t just trying to find out if you’ll be able to do the job, but that you’ll be a good addition to their company. Be yourself, but remember to be respectful and professional as well.

You said what the recruiter wanted to hear

Confusing, right? Isn’t the whole point of an interview saying what the recruiter wants to hear? Well, yes and no. You want to make sure you provide good answers to any questions you’re asked, but you want to also make sure that they are REAL answers. Don’t respond in a certain way just because you know that’s what the interviewer wants to hear. Your recruiter will be able to pick up on canned answers, and they will not be very impressed. Don’t just recite a pre-planned speech about why you want to work there that reads like the company’s mission statement. Instead, highlight the experiences, skills, and aspects of your personality that align with the company’s values while also explaining what drew you to the company in the first place. A genuine answer that gives insight into who you are and why you want to work for the company, that may not tick every “perfect answer” box, is much better than one that is completely unoriginal and does.

–Tyler Geeve, Staff Source Marketing/Recruiting Assistant

When we’re looking for work we all want to put our best foot forward during interviews and on our resumes. However, you don’t want to cross into bragging territory, and there are definitely some words and phrases you want to avoid using to make sure you don’t come across as arrogant. When writing your resume or discussing your skills in an interview, be sure to steer clear of these descriptions.

Intelligent

Everyone thinks they are intelligent, and many many people are. However, it is also important to acknowledge the fact that intelligence is a subjective characteristic and is judged on a wide spectrum. It’s the reason why we can call both Albert Einstein and Tom Brady smart. They are both intelligent, but in different ways. The point here is that you shouldn’t say you’re intelligent because intelligence means different things to different people. It’s a characteristic you want people to say about you rather than something you say about yourself.

Perfectionist

Stop it. You’re not a perfectionist: no one is. Most people say this without really knowing what the word actually means. They will say “I’m a perfectionist” trying to convey that they take their work seriously and pay attention to details. What a perfectionist actually is is a person who is so obsessed with achieving perfection that they refuse to accept anything short of it. Perfectionists would never get anything done because they would spend their entire work day making sure that ONE of their tasks was done absolutely perfectly. Would you want to tell your interviewer “I can only do one thing a day, but I’ll do that thing really well”? You probably wouldn’t. Try using words like “detail oriented” or “focused” to communicate that you are dedicated to your job and stay away from perfectionist.

Humble

Nothing says “I’m not humble” like saying you’re humble. This a rare situation where talking more about a personal characteristic shows that you don’t actually have it. Expressing a humble nature is not something you do through words, in fact it’s quite the opposite. Let your actions do the talking, and sometimes the best course of action is not talking at all. Let your experience and accomplishments speak for themselves. Focus solely on the results and not on the emotion attached to them. Think about it like this: if your retelling of events and accomplishments include you complimenting yourself, you’re probably not being humble.

Successful

Never ever ever describe yourself as successful in a general sense. Everyone has had moments of failure and that includes you. Not to mention, this comes across as very arrogant: like you’re somehow above the position you’re applying for. Would you go into an interview bragging about how great your life is? Probably not. Rather than saying you’re successful in a general sense, talk about specific tasks or situations where you came out with a successful result. You want to get across that you are good at what you do, but saying that you are just generally successful in life is a little ridiculous.

Likable

The general theme of this blog post is “Stay away from subjective words to describe yourself”, and likable is no different. Likability is not an accurate measure of a candidates potential. Who says you are likable? Your friends? Family? What about the people who DON’T like you? What would they have to say? The point is there are people who will say you are likable and people who will say that you aren’t. It’s an opinion, not a fact; and you want to stick to the facts when talking about your potential as a new employee.

–Tyler Geeve, Staff Source Marketing/Recruiting Assistant

Read the Entire Job Post

A common error that we see in our office when interviewing new applicants is that many come in without having read the entire job post. We frequently have positions come available that people call in interested about because its a job they’ve always wanted or it has a pay-rate that’s pretty enticing. Whatever the reason, the interested candidate comes into the office ready to accept the position, only to realize the shift doesn’t work with their schedule or they aren’t comfortable traveling to the location. Always, always, ALWAYS read the entire job post to make sure you know when, where, and for what pay-rate you will be working to limit any confusion.

Polish Your Interview Essentials

Before you submit any job application, you need to make sure you are ready for the interview to follow. Your resume should be neat and up to date, you should have a good idea of the skills and experience you want to highlight, and your interview outfit should be at the ready. If you’re in the market for a new job, it’s best to have all of your interview materials ready BEFORE you even submit your application. That way you won’t have to postpone scheduling your interview to make a resume or get a new interview outfit, it will already be ready.

Clean-up Your Social Accounts

Everyone parties, everyone has embarrassing moments, and everyone doesn’t make the best decisions all the time. Unfortunately for us, we live in a digital age, which means your recruiter might see pictures from that wild weekend in Vegas. You know the one… that 3 day weekend you didn’t quite remember until you started to see the photos? Well, chances are your interviewer will find those same pictures if you’re not careful. Always be sure to keep it clean on social media, or have security filters setup that keep your posts private.

Create Relevant Work Examples

Along with your interview essentials, you will also want to compile a few work examples for the interview. Putting together a portfolio of your previous work is a great way to provide your interviewer with real world examples of your abilities. Even if you worked a position where you wouldn’t be able to “hold” your results, you can still have a printed off document or other means of displaying how you made an impact at your previous jobs. Have something on hand that you can provide the recruiter to show your effectiveness as an employee.

Identify Your Motivations

This one is a little deeper. Before you apply for a job, you need to figure out WHY you’re applying for it. Sure, you want/need a job, but why are choosing to apply for this one in particular? Was it the pay-rate? The company culture? Is it a step along your career path? Whatever your reason, you should identify it and discuss it during the interview. Recruiters like to know why you applied for their position, it helps them gauge the type of employee you will be and the amount of passion you put into your work.

–Tyler Geeve, Staff Source Marketing/Recruiting Assistant

Be Certain of the Details

One aspect of phone interviews that can make them trickier than in-person ones is that they are reliant on you remembering you have them without having a specific place to go. Whenever you have a phone interview set-up, ALWAYS make sure you confirm the details: When the call will take place, what position the call is for, the name of the person you will be speaking with, and what you should have with you to reference while on the call. Its also a good idea to get the number that the company  will be reaching out to you from. Many people ignore calls from numbers they don’t recognize, so be sure to get their number in your phone if you can.

Make a Cheat Sheet

One BIG plus to having a phone interview is that you can make a cheat sheet! The interviewer can’t see you during the interview, so you can have anything on hand you need to make the interview easier for you. You’ll want your resume of course, but you could also have the job description, a note pad, and some company info at the ready as well. Take advantage of every opportunity you can, phone interviews are typically the only ones that allow you to have a safety net like this.

Pack a Charger

The last thing you want to have happen while you’re on your interview call is for your phone to die. You may be thinking that you’d be good with the battery life you have left, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Phone interviews last about as long as a standard face-to-face one, but because the nature of phone interviews is a little more informal, there is often more small talk so they can run longer than expected. Always have a charger on standby to avoid any battery related panic attacks. It’s also a good idea to bring a pair of headphones so you can hear well if you end up taking your call in a public place like a cafe or coffee shop.

Limit Distractions

Just like with a face-to-face interview, you want to give the recruiter your full attention and focus. On a phone call, however, it’s very easy to get distracted by things going on around you. It’s often best to have take your phone interview at home, but away from distractions like tablets, TV, and anything else that will take your attention away from the call.

Check Your Signal

Just as important as making sure you’re battery is charged is making sure your cell signal is strong. Dropped calls can be a big road block to get around during your interview. They essentially end the interview and then you start thinking “should I call them back?.. Or maybe they’re gonna call ME back?”. Always make sure wherever you are taking your call either has good cell service or has access to a land line phone to ensure you don’t get cut off mid-interview by a dropped call.

Bonus:   Set a Friendly Voicemail

One thing many people don’t consider when they schedule a phone interview is what happens if they miss the call. Some may brush this off, but it’s important to remember that if you miss the call it will likely be sent to your voicemail. At this point some of you may be sweating trying to remember what your outgoing message says, or if you ever even set one up. It’s a good idea before a phone interview to record a new voicemail message that is friendly, clear, and energetic. This way if you miss the call, your recruiter can still get a feel for the personality traits that will make you a great new hire. As soon as you see you have a missed call or voicemail, return the call and apologize for the mistake and take the next steps for setting up a new interview.

–Tyler Geeve, Staff Source Marketing/Recruiting Assistant

Communication

Almost no skill is more important than good communication. You can be a great problem solver and have amazing initiative, but none of that matters if you can’t effectively express your thoughts and ideas. Communication isn’t just in what you say, its in how you say it and how you hold yourself. Try to develop these skills by making oral presentations, getting involved in any local organizations or clubs, being aware of your body language, practicing your writing skills, and even by engaging more on social media. Once you develop good communication, job searching and work in general becomes more streamlined. In the new digital age of work, communication skills are becoming invaluable as most people are communicating long distance or via email.

Self-Management

This skill can be boiled down to developing discipline. Employers want employees who don’t need to be micromanaged and who can be trusted to complete their tasks without having to be checked on. There is no job where good self-management isn’t important. Everything from running a company to flipping burgers takes a level of discipline, and each position you work should be approached with the intent to stay focused on the task at hand. You can foster this skill by creating a schedule for your day and sticking to it, asking for new responsibilities at the job you currently have, and even something as simple as keeping your room tidy.

Initiative

Initiative is a well sought after skill in the workplace, and it is the practice of seeing something that needs to be done and doing it without be asked to. Employers want to see their workers contributing to the company as a whole and picking up any slack that they notice. It not only demonstrates a high level of character, but it helps the business stay afloat and fix small problems before they become big ones. In short: if you see a need, fill it. Developing this skill can be done by examining a group or company you work with for any issues and seeking to resolve them, and by going out of your way to help others or do tasks that normally aren’t yours to do. This will quickly be noticed by the leaders of your business.

Time Management

Time management is critical to being an effective member of any team, let alone an employee of a business. If your job is part of a chain, with someone else’s work being dependent on yours, then you HAVE to make sure that you complete your tasks in a timely manner. Time management can be difficult, especially in fast paced environments, and it takes a good deal of discipline. You may find it helpful to make yourself reminders, set alarms, and keep a daily planner handy to make sure you organize your tasks in the most time-effective manner.

Problem Solving

Some of us are born problem solvers, others have to put more work into it, but everyone has the ability to develop this skill. All of us will encounter problems, both professionally and personally, and the processes we use to solve those problems are crucial to being an effective employee. Many people think they have to be especially creative or intelligent to be good problem solvers, but often the best problem solvers are those who can stand back and look at the whole picture. Unfortunately, the best way to be a better problem solver is to experience and solve more problems; though some studies have shown that doing activities like word searches, cross-word and Sudoku puzzles can help you foster this skill.

Self-Confidence

There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and it’s important not to let yourself cross that line. Good self-confidence is crucial to maintaining effective work performance, as second-guessing yourself can lead to added stress and contribute to slower work schedules. However, you don’t want to become so self-confident that you think you can do no wrong and dismiss the constructive criticisms of colleagues. Arrogance and teamwork don’t typically mix well. Practice humility and always remain open to the suggestions of others, but also foster your own abilities to maintain a good level of confidence in the workplace.

Teamwork

This is where we take everything you’ve read so far and roll them into one. Good teamwork is about every member combining all of the skills we’ve listed in order to complete a task. While some may say good teamwork is built around complimentary personalities, in reality, any team can be effective if each member practices good communication, self-management, initiative, time-management, and confidence in their abilities. It’s all about understanding that the team is dependent on each other and that they should play to each other’s strengths and compensate for each other’s weaknesses. At the end of the day, you all put your name on the work you complete and you should finish each task with a sense of pride.

Job searching isn’t what it used to be, and it can be hard to stay on top of the hiring trends. Luckily for you, we’ve made it easy! We have put together a short list of the most impactful hiring trends for today’s job-seeker.

Testing

Anyone who graduated from school and thought their testing days were behind them will be disappointed to hear this first bit of info: employers are moving to a “Test First” method of hiring. This means that some companies are opting to have candidates complete testing for the position they have applied for BEFORE their interview for the job. Companies want to make sure that they are getting qualified new hires, and the best way to vet candidates is to have them test their knowledge before they sit down to discuss previous experience.

More Distance

Gone are the days where companies would have you come in for multiple face-to-face interviews. Now, many companies are utilizing digital, online video or phone interviews in their initial interaction with prospective candidates. Anyone in the market for a new job needs to be ready for the possibility of distanced interview techniques and will want to brush up on their phone interview etiquette. At the very least you should be ready for a screening attempt, usually made via phone call.

Increasing Competition

With the unemployment rate remaining low, companies are having difficulty filling their positions. Simply put, there are more jobs available than there are people to fill them. In many industries, such as trucking, they are actually seeing many open positions going unfilled. This is leading to increased competition between businesses for YOU. New hires are getting harder to come by, so many employers are utilizing both financial (signing bonuses or higher pay) and non-financial incentives (skills training, company culture, and mentorship opportunities) to get candidates interested in working with them.

Tech Knowledge is a Must

No matter what industry or job you are going into, you will want to familiarize yourself with the newest workplace technology. Almost every job involves technology to some degree, and its involvement is only going to increase. Staying up to date with the tech that is being utilized in your industry is the best way to stay competitive in today’s job market.

Degrees are Less Important

Having relevant education is great, and having a degree is definitely something that can help round out your resume. However, despite what you may have heard about needing a degree to get a job, this may not necessarily be the case. In reality, employers are becoming more interested in a candidates potential. Competency-based testing and training is increasing, which allows for candidates who may not have had the experience of getting a college degree to develop and maintain new skills through their employer.

Social Media is the Hiring Tool of the Future

We all know about LinkedIn’s use in the professional world as a networking and hiring tool for companies and individuals. However, more social media outlets are developing job board services and are being used by companies to source new candidates. Facebook now has job features that allow you to apply online directly through the site itself. With almost every other aspect of our lives on social media, job seeking is making headway as the next lifestyle feature available to users.

-Tyler Geeve, Staff Source Marketing/Recruiting Assistant