We continue our discussion of job-hunting obstacles, specifically overcoming perceived obstacles in the interview. So what aspect of your work history has you hiding, hesitant and horrified at the prospect of its discovery? That you lack post-secondary or relevant education? Lack local work experience? Is your hair too grey, your shoes outdated?

Perception can be influenced. Note that I do not endorse changing your personality or appearance, or returning to school — unless you WANT to do so. Anything less than 100 per cent commitment would be folly.

What I do endorse is that you examine what you perceive to be obstacles with a critical eye, especially those that are not deal breakers like the earlier discussion of termination. (That is closer to an insurmountable problem than age, education or experience.) The solution to these lesser issues is often in your own communication — your body language, tone of voice, choice of focus. All can influence how you are assessed, and whether you are perceived to be a viable candidate for the job.

(For the purposes of this discussion, we will assume that your resume did communicate value and that you landed an interview.)

Here are a few ideas for those amongst us “of a certain age,” and the next issue will address education and experience.

For the Mature Worker

Tackle the interview team’s possible concerns proactively. To overcome the perception of being out of date, refer to industry knowledge with appropriate jargon and to current reading or studies with specifics, not generalities. To overcome the perception of not having energy, share a story of your daily jogging routine, regular workouts, or active volunteering.

For example, in response to the typical “Tell us about yourself” question, you could reply “Well, just this morning after my usual workout — I work out almost every day and I think that’s what keeps me so healthy; I only missed one day last year, which is far below the company’s average of 10 days — anyways, back to my answer — I logged on to continue a self-study program in web design. I’m passionate about web sites and constantly add to my skills and knowledge. In my current job, for example, I created user-friendly websites for our customers that incorporated the newest sales-boosting technologies. They’ve been so happy with the outcome that referral business is booming, in fact it’s up 25% over same time last year.” … all of a sudden your grey hair seems quite trendy!

If you are stepping back to a lesser role, and are asked how you will feel reporting to a younger person, explain how you are ready to turn over crises management to others, but that you’d make an outstanding support person. Add that your in-depth knowledge and experience could be useful—if needed. Layer in a recent workplace story of advice you provided to a younger-in-age, senior-in-reporting-structure co-worker — only when you were asked — and how your advice affected a positive outcome. Add in that you were happy to allow the advice-seeker enjoy the limelight, and the concern that you may wish to take over your future manager’s position has vanished.

When asked about how you’ll manage with a smaller salary, you can share how you’ve scaled back expenses since you retired, and have learned to live with a lot less, and that besides, you are only looking to augment your current income and put your excess energy and customer service skills to good use. Throw in a few of the many novels that you’re finally reading, and you’ll have convinced the interview team that you mean what you say.

It’s odd how we tend to freeze up in an interview and assume that we’re dead in the water as soon as they see us or question us, when the truth is that the outcome is equally in our hands. Or rather, in our attitude. Take charge of your behavior, develop strategic answers, hold your head high, and speak with confidence.

The truth is that it is not necessarily the most qualified applicant who lands the job offer; it is the candidate who interviews best who is offered the job.

Many job hunters have an “Achilles’ heel”; a perceived obstacle that holds them back from feeling 100 per cent confident of their candidacy. For some it’s the lack of the identified degree or certificates; for others, it is their age (too young or too old); for another it is an eclectic or job-hopping history; and for many, simply a lack of confidence!

There are all-too-real obstacles that are difficult to overcome: termination for cause or a criminal record are examples. Those require the expertise of an experienced career coach or perhaps a specialized service that assists with a re-entry into society.

But for most job applicants, these “perceived” obstacles can definitely be managed. Here are a few examples of interview scripts that can take the emphasis off the identified issue and place it where it belongs: on your value as an employee. This blog will deal with termination, and a future blog will address other perceived obstacles.

The worst aspect of being let go is the almost inevitable loss of confidence. Refocus your attention  from the reason of your termination to your skills, accomplishments, attributes—the value you offer your next employer—and you will soon be back at work.

Downsized, outsized or otherwise set free

If you’ve not been fired, but have had your position declared redundant, or you’ve fallen victim to the indulgences of new management that sees your style as incompatible with its vision, you can customize a version of the following speech.

“In my last employment I really enjoyed my job and worked with great people. However, with new management at ABC, who brought new ideas and vision for the business, I and a few other long-time employees found our positions declared unnecessary  or our styles incompatible. However, I’m proud of my work while I was with ABC Corporation. I was a very effective supervisor: I eliminated several fulltime positions by redistributing tasks; increased productivity by leveraging technology to shorten procedures; and assisted with bringing our company into ISO guidelines. One year alone I saved the company over $200,000.”

The idea is to provide a quick overview of the circumstances, and then transition to a place of strength by refocusing on your value as an employee.

Terminated

Now, this one depends on the why’s of the termination. Here’s a speech to customize if you were terminated without cause.

“While at ABC Corporation, as Administrative Assistant to the Manager of Communications, I made sure that I kept her up to date with reports, research, and replies. However, when my longtime manager left for another job, I found that the new manager and I didn’t get along. I did try, but ultimately was let go. Nonetheless, I value the five years I spent there. I learned a lot, taking courses in electronic filing, in business writing, conflict resolution; in fact, I have a full page of courses I participated in and applied in my work. Those applications resulted in great performance reviews, pay increases, added responsibilities like mentoring junior staff and more. My next employer is going to benefit from a very well qualified Administrative Assistant.”

If you were terminated with cause, i.e. you deserved it, then you will have to admit to your fault, state that you’ve learned from it, and finish off by sharing how you positively impacted the bottom line. Ideally, to overcome this more serious challenge it is critical to network.

A visitor to my SalaryNegotiations.com website asked this question:  When looking on salary.com and other websites, they don’t have the specific job I’m looking for.  How do I give them a salary range without going over or under, but still getting the highest salary they can afford?:
My answer… and I welcome others’ comments.
TWO strategies.

First, let them go first and reply by adding 25% to their offer.  It’s unlikely that will leave money on the table, and you can come down from there to what you think is your best offer.

Second:  There’s also glassdoor.com, vault.com, payscale.com, jobstar.org, and many other sites to find a competitive salary on.

Negotiating in a tough economy.  Many people ask me whether they can still negotiate when it’s an Employers’ Market.  The thought goes like this:  If I start negotiating, I’m sending my potential new employer a message:  “I don’t accept the job [yet.]“  Isn’t that dangerous?  Couldn’t they lose the job offer?

In a Job Hunter’s market is’t save because the employer has little choice.  Negotiate or lose the candidate.  In an Employer’s market it’s more like, “You don’t want the job at that salary?  NEXT!”

My coaching encourages candidates make a trade:  give up a little negotiating leverage in trade for “locking in” the offer.   They can say, “Mr. Employer, the offer you just extended is firm, right?”  After the employer assures you that’s so, the candidate says, “Thanks, because there are  a few things I’d like talk about and didn’t want to jeopardize the actual offer as it stands…”  Comments from thought leaders?

Hmm … sounds like the title of a new soap opera, but there’s no time for television as we continue to prep you for that interview!

Listing the pertinent and powerful details is in reference to the T-chart that you created that matched your existing skills, experience, and education to the position’s needs . T-chart examples may look like these that follow:

• An IT Project Manager likely listed major projects she’s worked on, and committees she chaired;
• An Administrative Assistant listed the number of staff she supports and what skills she uses to support them;
• and a Sales Account Manager has listed relationship management, major accounts, sales growth and so on.

Well then, what, you may be thinking, are these pertinent and powerful details?

The pertinent will be in relation to what you know of the scope of the position to which you’ve applied. For example,

• The IT Project Manager applying to a major corporation won’t focus on the fact that her current employer only has smallish projects, she will showcase her abilities as a chair of cross-divisional meetings, and the strategic ideas she brought forth;
• The Administrative Assistant who is aspiring to an executive assistant role will not highlight the fact that she files documents,  but she will definitely share her recreation of a dysfunctional filing system;
• And the Account Manager who is interviewing to sell RIM’s blackberries will stick to his tech-related sales, rather than focusing on the non-related sales of text books.

That’s sticking to the pertinent rather than focusing on the  less important.

And what about powerful? Another word for “powerful” is influential. And it is the influential details that you want to pull in. You must sell not simply tell. Back to our interview threesome!

• The IT Project Manager will now sell her value by explaining how she influenced key players in the meetings she chaired, and how it led to smoother rollouts; she will give specific examples of her strategic ideas and then correlate these to business by providing some context to the money these saved or earned.
• The Administrative Assistant will go on to explain how her filing system minimized the space needed and saved the cost of expanding the filing room, a capital saving of approximately $10K.
• And our Account Manager will fill out his workplace story of selling technology by adding that he was the only Account Manager of five entrusted with growing this new market on his employer’s behalf. He’ll add that this was in recognition of his advanced tech knowledge, gained through a related certificate that he pursued because of a passion for tech-related gizmos! He could complete the story by sharing how much he earned for his company in his first year of tech sales and what market share percentage that represents. He now has his interviewer SOLD on the fact that he can absolutely fit into this advanced tech company.

Show how what you did correlates to profits through performance and productivity. That’s how to sell rather than tell. Back to your T-chart, to fill it out with details both pertinent and powerful.

Early in their career most individuals don’t think they have much of an opportunity to negotiate. After all they don’t have that much experience. At every point in your career you probably have a much greater ability to negotiate than you think. You limit yourself by what you think you can do. The truth is, when it comes to negotiating, as in every aspect of your life, there are no limits except those you place on yourself. When it comes to negotiating, if someone is talking to you, it is because you have something that they value. In this case, that something is you. There are, however, right ways and wrong ways to go about negotiating.

1. It is not all about money. The most important thing that you can negotiate early on in your career is not money. It is the chance to learn new skills. What you learn in your first few jobs are the skills that will enable you to get better jobs and more money in the future. You can negotiate about whom you are going to work with, what projects you will be assigned to and what training you will receive. Sometimes if the company doesn’t have a formal tuition reimbursement program you can negotiate about getting the company to pay for additional education.

2. Be prepared. The more you know about the job market, and about your prospective employer, the better you will negotiate. Information is readily available on the Internet, at the library, from professional associations and through networking. Proper preparation enables you to know what is possible and to get what you want.  If the salary that a company offers is low you will have the information necessary to show them that they need to reconsider because they are below market. 

3. Don’t act like you are negotiating. While you want to negotiate the best possible deal, you should do so in a way that doesn’t look like you are negotiating. Remember the employer is trying to recruit you, particularly after they have decided you are the person they want to hire. Let them. Tell them what your concerns are. Ask for the things you want nicely without ever suggesting that you won’t accept the job if you don’t get them. “Would it be possible…” or “Could you…” or ‘Other companies I have been talking to have offered, is it possible….” are non threatening ways for you to ask. Throughout the process, and especially when you are asking for something, let them know how excited you are about the opportunity and how much you want the job.

Understanding these principles will allow you to effectively negotiate the best possible terms in your new job. Once you are hired, do a good job and continually seek out new challenges. As you take on added responsibilities and learn new skills, there will be lots of opportunities to negotiate further improvements.

In the early 1980s the country was in the midst of a major recession as bad as the one we are currently experiencing. Unemployment was in the double digits and so was inflation. Yet I was able to negotiate a fifty percent salary increase when I took a job with a new firm in Washington, DC. Although I would like to be able to say that my success was due to my extraordinary skill as a negotiator, it wasn’t. I was still in my twenties at the time; this was the first time I ever really had to negotiate about my own compensation and, in hindsight, I made a lot of mistakes. The things I did do right though, were to negotiate with the right employer, at the right time and I was able to convince them that I was the right candidate for the job. Then and only then did we seriously talk about money.

In a tough economy most individuals don’t think they have the ability to negotiate salary. Regardless of the state of the economy, if you are able to get a job offer you probably are in a better position to negotiate than you think. When it comes to negotiating, as in every aspect of your life, you limit yourself by what you think you can do. If someone wants to hire you, it is because you offer something that they value. As a result you are in a position to negotiate for additional money, benefits and opportunities. There are, however, right and wrong ways to go about it. Here are some tips to help you negotiate better even when the job market is weak.

1. Take the time to learn how to negotiate, Negotiating is something you can learn. Like good writing and math, negotiating skills have to be learned. Take a class, attend a seminar or read a book on the topic. The ability to negotiate effectively will help you throughout your working career, not only when are negotiating about compensation. Every day at work you negotiate about deadlines, to get resources, about time off and to get assignments that will propel your career forward and enable to earn more money. Ultimately your career success depends on your ability to effectively negotiate. Time spent learning how to negotiate is time well spent and will pay dividends throughout your career.

2. Get a potential employer to “fall in love” with you before you talk about money. The time to be asking for things is after an employer has already decided to hire you. .Focus on what is important to the employer and what you can do for them. In tough times making or saving money is always important. So is your ability to make your prospective boss look good. Employers want to hire people who bring value and they are willing to pay what is necessary to hire them. Once the employer has decided to make you an offer, then, and only then, should you start discussing the terms of employment. Until that time, whenever the subject comes up talk about the job. Be enthusiastic about wanting the job. Show that you really want to work there. Ask for the job. No one wants to hire a person who is only looking for a paycheck. If asked what you are looking for in terms of compensation, say something like “I am sure that if I am the right person for the job and the job is right for me, something that is fair will be readily worked out.” Then ask some questions about the job. You will look good to the employer and defer the conversation until a time that is more appropriate.

3 The only difference between being employed and being unemployed is your self confidence. You are same person when you are unemployed as you were when you were working. You have the same skills and same experience. The value you can bring to an employer doesn’t change just because you don’t have a job. The only difference is your confidence. If you exhibit confidence you can not only negotiate effectively, it will help also you land the job you want. Competition for your services will also make you seem more valuable in the eyes of a prospective employer. Talking with several prospective employers at the same time will not only increase your confidence but will enhance your bargaining leverage.

Once you are hired, do a good job and continually seek out new challenges. As you take on added responsibilities and learn new skills, there will be opportunities to negotiate further improvements.

As a Career Thought Leader Invited Expert I am pleased to have the opportunity to share my experience in the area of negotiating.

As this is my first blog I want to start with my view that, contrary to popular opinion, now be a good time to ask for a raise.

For many people, 2009 was not a good time to do so. Individuals who, in previous years would have sought, and been given, substantial increases were happy just to be employed. Average salary increases were the lowest they have been in more than 30 years.

While unemployment remains high, for those who have helped their companies survive the “Great Recession,” 2010 is looking to provide opportunities to get the salary increases their hard work and accomplishments merit.

Salaries are expected to begin to rise again this year, according to a recent survey by human resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates. In some cities where the economy is expected to grow faster than the national average, such as Houston, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and Des Moines, Iowa, so are salaries.

What do you have to do to get the raise you deserve? Start by understanding what will motivate your boss to want to help you get it. That could be appreciation for a job well done. But if that were the case, you would have already gotten that raise.

More likely, it will be what your boss thinks you can do for him/her and a desire to motivate you to do it. Alternatively, there is the fear that if you don’t get that raise you will leave, and your boss will have to find someone else to do whatever it is you do that is important to him/her.

Most bosses don’t recognize your accomplishments because they simply don’t know what you’ve done or perhaps even credit someone else for those successes. If you want a raise, you have to make sure your boss knows about the contributions you have made.

One way you can show your boss you deserve a raise is to learn new skills or take on greater job responsibilities. Presented properly, your boss will recognize that the new skills or additional work being done will make him/her look good. If he/she can achieve greater productivity without hiring additional staff, your boss can get you a raise and do so in a way that makes him/her feel like he/she is saving the company money.

According to Ron McMillan, co-author of “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High,” some people wrongly view seeking a raise as “asking for a favor” rather than as “conducting a business negotiation.”

In order to get a raise, your request should be based on the merits. Show how you have added value by taking on additional responsibilities or gone above and beyond what was expected and know what people doing similar work are earning elsewhere, information generally available on the internet.

You don’t simply wake up one morning and ask for a raise. You have to have a reason why you should get a raise. “I have not had a raise in a long time” is not a good reason. “I just completed my MBA.” “I am your top producer.” “I took on additional responsibilities last year.” “I have a job offer from a competitor.” Those are reasons to ask for a raise.

If you don’t have a reason to justify your request, create one. For instance, you could offer to take on additional work if you are given a raise.

If you want to get a raise, demonstrate why you deserve one, explaining how you determined that a higher salary is warranted.

Couch your request as a good business decision, not as a favor. If your boss disagrees with you, seek an explanation of his/her point of view. If possible, provide additional information that might change that opinion or ask what you need to do going forward in order for the boss to reconsider.