Foremost Consulting

If you are searching online for interview advice, you’ll find it all right and no shortage of it -- perhaps that’s how you found this blog. But, as we all know, there’s a lot of info online, some is good and some is not worthy of your time. For example: anyone suggesting simple and formulaic solutions applied to interviewing doesn’t know what they are talking about. And frankly speaking I rather hope you rolled your eyes with a sigh when you read the title of this blog entry. What, do you think all you have to do is have a few practiced lines ready for the right questions and “POW!” you’ll hit’em between the eyes with the right answers, and they’ll be stunned no, impressed enough to offer you the job – “yea!” ?  But it must be true, right,

I would suggest that the majority of people looking for a job, at one time or another, rely more upon luck than putting stock into their own abilities to find a job. That’s right, most people are playing the lottery, hoping their ticket – in this case their resume, will be chosen. In their minds it’s just a numbers game and they’re playin’ the odds. Come on, tell me I am wrong. But this kind of thinking is defeatist and by nature not a serious approach. Furthermore, I speak with people who believe a university degree for which they paid so much is an automatic door opener, a golden ticket for success; in past decades it may have been, although it is becoming painfully obvious that is increasingly no longer the case. The new normal (since 2008) requires more than simply

Perhaps you’ve heard of the term Soft Skills but, like a lot of terminologies floating around out there, they are subjective in nature and so most people don’t pay much attention unless or until it becomes a buzz-word, which suddenly gains importance when the boss or management makes it so. However, I know and I can tell you that Soft Skills are a big dealand in addition to being a qualified job seeker, if you possess them or seek to develop them, you’ll have a clear advantage in the current market. Sadly, a growing number of people, especially those under the age of 35, are more likely to be lacking in this area at a time when senior company managers have rightly begun to recognize this deficit with respect to their hiring processes. After more than 20 years of recruiting and

Outplacement services, generally speaking, are services provided to those who are outward bound, for whatever reason, from a company or organization. These services are meant to soften the transition and help those affected to find new jobs and move ahead with their lives. Stereotypically, it encompasses some pep talks with the primary component of resume-writing assistance; perhaps a job fair where you can meet and shake hands with company representatives, get some business cards and a few brochures and perhaps even be added to a database and then – you are on your own, good luck! Sorry, but if the goal is to help people to make a transition then I am not shy about suggesting what people are being provided with is a bad joke. I know what it takes to get the job, I know the ritual well. Job

At first glance, that appears to be a cynical question, doesn’t it? And, perhaps, one that makes some people nervous if you don’t have an answer. However, it’s a question for which you should have an answer. The reason is obvious: it is precisely the question in the mind of every hiring manager with whom you interview, every time. When I meet with people, whom I may or may not represent, I often ask them during the very first meeting, “Why should anyone hire you?” Then I stop talking and listen to what they have to say next. Often I wait a long time and, more often than you may think, they stutter and stammer trying to come up with an answer. Have you considered what your answer might be, within the first few minutes of an interview, because it can

(Cont’d.) In reality, as a headhunter with over 20 years of experience on two continents, working with those who populate every level of employment and position, from the ground floor to the board room, let me tell you, your resume represents two things. It is a calling card with your contact info and your marketing brochure (representing you, the product) and that’s all! All it is meant to do is to help you get a foot in the door by providing information about you; it’s just a door opener as well as to provide a preview of your experience to a potential employer, but once that has been accomplished, then what? Completely lost in the minds of too many people are the critical interview skills that most people have lost or, if you’re under 40 – you have never learned. As a

Look around and what do you find as the pinnacle of advice for job seekers? It’s the resume that’s held up as the key and primary tool. It’s your passport to success, your Golden Ticket of sorts and, without a good resume, you have no hope. You must have a good resume! Perhaps you can already sense a little sarcasm. Well, isn’t this the perception and, as is often the case, that unless or until questioned and shot down, perception becomes reality? So what then happens; we spend hours and hours, days in some cases, to create a resume that is justright. I meet people who cling to it like a security blanket, or they’re so proud to show and present to you their resume, as if trumpets will begin to sound from the heavens and confetti will fall from

Although I am a headhunter, a direct-search recruiter for many years, I am at heart a sales guy. As such I try to demonstrate to job seekers that when you are interviewing you are selling; you are selling the concept that you, as an individual, are a solution to the needs of a company that is considering you for a job. Your resume is your product marketing brochure and you are the product and for the company seeking to hire, just like a purchaser of goods and services, their goal is to find the best deal possible. This is part of what human resources, on behalf of the hiring managers, seeks to accomplish; to hire the best solution (person) at the best lowest price (salary). Demonstrating to them why you, as a job seeker, are the solution to their need

As a part of any interview, you’ll be asked to answer questions about the details of your experience, accomplishments and suitability for whatever position you are seeking consideration, along with evidence with which to validate claims as stated on your resume or CV. Although, no matter how well you might prepare, inevitably there will be a circumstance during which you won’t have an answer or at that moment lack the proper information to back up your claim. How you handle this kind of situation is very instructive to the interviewer, who might later become your boss. Incidentally, this same situation when turned around can also be useful to you as an applicant, when considering the suitability of a person interviewing you, as your future employer or boss; they too have an obligation to be forthcoming and provide you with the

Periodically updating and having a resume ready or nearly ready to use at any given circumstance is a good idea in the current economic climate. My own thinking is that people should always be at least passively looking for a job regardless of their situation; and by passive, I mean simply keeping your ears open, being receptive to consider opportunities – that’s all, no big deal. I’ve written other blog entries that discuss it more fully but, even then, it’s simply a short blog entry, my book provides more detail. The same goes for references, don’t wait to be asked for them before you start scrambling one step behind where you should be; that’s what the zombies do, reacting with no forethought – and as is their nature, zombies don’t take my advice because it means having to think one