Celebrate the Holidays With a Job-Winning Interview

Whether you light a pine tree for Christmas, a Menorah for Hanukkah, or kinara candles for Kwanzaa, the holiday season for each of us can be a bit overwhelming. Shopping, decorating, gift-wrapping, cooking, baking, and entertaining consume our time and thoughts.
This year, however, you may want to consider taking the following three steps to achieve a happy and restful season:

Slow down. You don't have to do it all yourself. Enlist the help of family and friends with cooking, gift-wrapping, and mailing.

Simplify. Let go of some of the time-consuming rituals so you can relax and enjoy the celebrations. Order gifts online. Set up a potluck. Pay a teen to clean up.

Stop! Take a breather—and while you're resting, make a list (and check it twice!) of where you are now and where you want to be a year from now.

If being employed in a new position is on that list, remember that every great job starts with a terrific interview. Start thinking about what you'll bring to this meeting: your appearance, your ability to speak with confidence, and your skills and work experience that will grab a hiring manager's attention. Use some of the spare time you have during the holidays to make a plan so that when you're called for an interview you'll be ready.

Take Charge

Keep in mind that today's hiring manager is more interested in who you are as a person than who you are as a professional. Behavior-based interviewing is now the norm. Employers are looking at a candidate's previous performance as an indicator of future behavior. They're not only interested in your resume, but also in the way you interact with others and how you respond when part of a team. They want to know what they can expect if they hire you and how you'll handle tricky situations that call for calm and confident leadership. It will be up to you to convince them that you're the one for this job.

Tell the Truth

Following are some of the hard-edged questions and directives you could face in a behavior-based interview. Answer each one honestly to the best of your ability.
1. Tell me about a time you took charge of a situation that was out of control.
2. Give an example of a goal you set at work and how you achieved it.
3. Have you performed beyond the requirement of the job you held? If so, how?
4. If you made a mistake in judgment how would you handle it with management?
5. How have you dealt with difficult co-workers or customers?
Be prepared to provide details, dialogue, and a description of what occurred and how you resolved it.

Trust in Yourself—A Three-Point Review

1. Recognize your good qualities and review them often in your mind.
2. Jot down a few experiences that illustrate situations and times when you successfully resolved conflict, stood up for the truth despite criticism, or used your creativity to negotiate a challenging relationship.
3. Take your emotional pulse. If you're smiling and feeling comfortable and well suited to the job in question, go for it. If you feel stressful, confused, or overwhelmed, consider setting this opportunity aside and looking for a job more appropriate to your skills and experience.

Once you're clear in your mind that this is the job you want, you'll be able to walk into any interview and establish a good rapport with the hiring manager. Following that,
all that's left is the question only you can ask and answer for yourself. "Is this the job for me?"

Happy holidays! May you land the interview that will lead to the job you really want.

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Jimmy Sweeney is the president of CareerJimmy and author of the brand new "Secret Career Document" job landing system. Jimmy is also the author of several career related books and writes a monthly article titled, "Job Search Secrets."

Visit our friends at Job Interview "Secret" and discover Jimmy Sweeney's breakthrough strategy that will have you standing out from the competition like a Harvard graduate at a local job fair… DURING your next job interview.

AMAZING Cover Letter for the Holidays

Give Yourself an AMAZING Cover Letter for the Holidays

Do you look forward to the holidays––and dread them at the same time? November and December often blur together as we move from Thanksgiving to the December Holidays. And the next thing you know it's time to celebrate the next twelve months on New Year's Eve!

If this sounds familiar, you, like many people, may be caught in a holi-daze. Cooking, shopping, entertaining, cleaning, and organizing take over. If you're in the market for a new job you may be tempted to put off writing that cover letter till all the celebrations are over.

Don't Give In

Tempting as it might be to glide through the next month, avoid it if you can. The holiday season is actually a great time to keep moving along with your job-search goal. You'll get a jump on all the job seekers who are waiting until January.

While the kids are playing with their holiday toys and games, and visitors are resting or sightseeing, sneak off to another room and spend time drafting a brand new cover letter. Set your sights on what is ahead. Look forward to all the good that will come your way in 2012.

A well-written job-search cover letter is a gift to give yourself—one that will give back to you all through the new year.

Such a letter will:
• Put you in touch with hiring managers
• Plant your name in the mind of those who read your cover letter
• Place you in the running for an interview for a specific job
• Promote your work experience and skills to decision-makers

Get Started Now

Here are four steps you can take immediately to write the kind of cover letter that will capture a hiring manager's attention, one that will compel him or her to contact you for a job interview by phone or in person.

Step 1. Meet the hiring manager's needs. Show him or her how you, the job seeker, can benefit his or her company––if you're hired to fill the open position.

Example:
I'm aware through my friend Rich Lewis, your company CPA,
that you're interested in hiring someone to expand your sales
territory in the southwest . . . I'd like to accept this challenge.
I have a master's degree in Sales and Marketing . . . I opened six
new accounts in less than six months while employed by Fenwick
and Bolton Textile Company in North Carolina.

Step 2. Ask for what you want.

Example:
May we get together in person to talk about how your expectations
for the person you hire and my job expertise can benefit your company.

Step 3. State your goal.

Example:
I'll phone you by the end of the week to schedule an appoint-
ment that works for you. If you prefer to speak before
then, please call or email me using the contact info above.

Step 4. Show your appreciation.

Example:
Thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself. I'm
enthusiastic about meeting in person to see how I might help
fill the opening and enhance the vision of your company.

Keep in mind that hiring managers need you to do their job. They must hire people to fill the available positions. Make them look good by showing the benefits you can bring.

Let your cover letter work for you, not against you. Focus on the hiring manager's needs and in turn, he or she will give you what you want—an interview for the job of your dreams.


Article source:  Jimmy Sweeney.  Jimmy is the president of CareerJimmy and author of the brand new, "Amazing Cover Letter Creator." Jimmy is also the author of several career related books and writes a monthly article titled, "Job Search Secrets."