Speak no evil and then no one will think poorly of you.

Ever walked away from a job interview and had a nasty flash back. You rewind it all your head, and you hear your responses to the questions and you cringe.”OMG you say, I wish I hadn’t have said that!”

Too late now as the interviewers not only heard what you said, they have already made judgements and decisions about you that will affect your future.  What are the dangerous questions I hear you ask? here are a few questions that are TRAPS meant to catch you off guard and some are just ordinary questions that appear to be inane… but can lead you down the wrong path.

1. Tell me about your last employer.
2. Why did you leave your last job?
3. What type of management style do you work best with?
4. What are your weaknesses?
5. Describe your last place of employment
6. Have you ever had a performance review and what did you learn about yourself from the process?

What are the right responses? Here are a few bits of  wise advice 

1. Explain how your last employer was helpful in assisting you to gain valuable experience/skills and knowledge
2. You left you last job on good terms ALWAYS
3. You can work with all types of management styles and you may prefer X
4. Talk about what you think may be a weakness and how you recognize how you need to improve
5. Always talk in positive terms about ANY past jobs
6. Describe how feedback helps you to develop and grow

In summary, remain up-beat and positive.

NEVER EVER enter into negative criticism – NEVER EVER say bad things, or gossip about your last employer or workplace. Need help and coaching for that important job interview? contact our career advisor and resume writer on 0404056278

Ivana Agapiou Resume writer and career adviser

The post What potential employers don’t want to hear at the job interview appeared first on Eather Recruitment.

Marching & matching all in line, all in tune, just like a career objective, it needs to fit in to the tune of the resume.

Career objectives are tricky, but if written with the audience in mind can be powerful music to their ears!

I’m not a fan of  writing a career objective in the resume. The career objective can be a tricky statement to compose as it’s is often open to various misinterpretations and unless you intend to remain in a narrow career field, can pigeon hole you.

Sometimes these paragraphs read as  just “motherhood” statements, really broad and boring.  They are often non-specific and tell the reader NOTHING about you. The reader is left not knowing much about you, in fact, sadly,  some statements can be a complete turn off.

One example is ” I am looking to find full time employment, long term and sustainable employment” or “want to work close to home”. Well,  who doesn’t? Is this a realistic goal when so many jobs and companies are not sustainable? Does this even sound like a career objective? does it sound more like a dream, a wish, and a hope to have a job for life?

Is your career objective from your perspective and not that of the future employer?  Your potential employer does not want to disappoint nor can they guarantee  a job “forever”. The writer has missed the objective of “career objective” all together! Instead of writing what they want, they needed to inform the reader that they are highly skilled in the areas that are described in the job advert and that they have a lot to offer the role and the organisation.  What if the role they applied for was Part-time?

What if the part time role could lead to full time? Then the Career objective has just ruined an possible employment opportunity!

I certainly don’t want to employ someone because their main objective is a job for life, nor do I want someone who can’t articulate how their skills, knowledge and experience will help me and my business. Let’s face it, if I only want loyalty, then I can buy a dog.  Employers want MORE than loyalty, they want talent!

Be VERY CAREFUL writing a Career objective. It is not a place to demonstrate desperation; it is the place where you show the relevance between your skills, experience and knowledge with the advertised position.

Lastly, think and imagine the employer who will read your resume.  Sit in their chair and imagine them reading your resume. What will they want to read? What specific skill-set are they looking for? Research the company and the job job description. Mirror and match your career objectives to your research.

Just like a great marching band that dances uniformly, and with great interest, your career statement will make sense to the reader and they will see a “fit”; an attractive sequence and pattern that will all make sense.

Ivana Agapiou Resume writer and career advisor

The post Career objective, make it sing and dance to the right tune appeared first on Eather Recruitment.