It’s natural for you to be concerned about upcoming interviews. But when you explore the dynamics of those conversations, some of the anxiety will go away. This post helps you do just that.

When it comes to folklore about how to manage your career (and there are tons of it!), the interview often gets center stage. That maybe because of the false assumptions about the subject.

Assumption one: the interviewer is very prepared for the process.

The truth: most interviewers aren’t trained for interviewing at all. According to Adam Grant, Associate Professor of Management at the Wharton School “Many managers do no better than random chance in selecting high performers.” (October, 2011)

Assumption two: there are 10 (or is it 15?, 20?) “magic” questions I have to memorize the answers to in order to do well in the interview.

The truth: while some questions are common, it’s hard to believe anybody has gotten a buy off on the magic set of questions as they apply, unchanged, to every career field in every industry in every sector all across America.

And even if the idea is true, you’d have to not only memorize those questions (and an answer for each one), you’d have to recognize them no matter how they were expressed and respond well no matter which order they came in.

It’s no surprise if we leave the interview in the hands of the almost-always-untrained interviewer, what we get is an interrogation. But what you both want is a collaboration.

You want to know the most pressing problem they have as it relates to your career field. After all, if you don’t know what they need, you can’t tell if you can help them.

You’ve had those successful collaborations all your work life. Your boss asks you to solve a problem. You speak with her to find the basic information you need to start working on the solution. You propose ideas. She responds. Soon there is an agreement about what you are going to do, why you’re doing it, and how your work benefits the organization.

That—by definition—is an interview!

Entire books are written about the interview. My purpose was just to introduce a key idea. Make every interview into a collaboration by asking about the key problem the employer needs solved.

When you do everybody wins because the discussion is on ground comfortable to you and the person you’re speaking with.

It’s all about our favorite conversation: how you’re going to help the organization make a lot more money than it takes to recruit and retain you. You know. It’s the same conversation that made your career successful.

In my opinion, the groups feature is the best part of LinkedIn. While having a strong profile and connecting with past colleagues and classmates is important, interacting in groups is where you’ll really take targeted networking to the next level. Notice I said “interacting.” Groups are there for much more than just a logo on your profile! ... Read more

Connectiquette is not a typo or a state in New England.  It refers to a process of thoughtful deliberation.

This age of the network and personal collaboration is bringing important benefits to people around the world.  Technology has brought us all closer together, afforded the ability to create like communities, given voice to all and particularly to those who previously had no voice and enabled countless good deeds and beneficiaries.  The proliferation of social collaboration platforms is making it easy to connect with long-lost friends and family, new  friends, business colleagues and other people who have similar interests, aspirations and goals.  And these same platforms have become crucial in job search and career management.  We now have the ability and liberty to identify hiring managers and influencers that play significant roles in the hiring process. … Read more

What are some of the toughest things any executive or serious careerist battles in career transition? To find some answers I reached out to Jeff Davidson of Jeff Davidson who is "The Work-Life Balance Expert®" and has written 56 mainstream books. I wanted to talk to Jeff. His partial creds? He's considered a key authority on time management, making nearly 800 presentations since 1985 to clients such as IBM, American Express, Lufthansa, Swissotel, Re/Max, USAA, Worthington Steel, and the World Bank. He has authored 60 books including "Breathing Space," and the recent Amazon highly rated "Simpler Living." ... Read more

You’ve been a superstar, but the company has been increasingly suffering problems and another downsizing is on the horizon. For some reason, you are feeling like you are no longer in the “in crowd.” Your manager seems to be avoiding you. On top of this, you’re no longer invited to important business meetings. You’re not privy to discussions when you think you should be. Your intuition is telling you that you need to do something right away or trouble is around the corner. ... Read more

There are a myriad of web tools that allow you to keep score on your personal brand whether it is your Web site, Linkedin page, Twitter account, Facebook site, blog or even your Google presence. And I have used them all for a variety of reasons including benchmarking and continuous improvement. But what these tools really help with is perspective and insight.

Recently I came across a unique assessment tool that evaluates virtually your entire digital footprint by examining a wide swath of your brand on platforms like Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter and even your footprint on Google. The tool is www.MyWebCareer.com. MyWebCareer is the first platform I have found that simultaneously looks at multiple platforms with the goal of helping you improve your personal brand.

The site not only provides a career score but it presents a variety of data sets that help you better understand your footprint.

Here is how the firm describes its product, which by the way in its basic form is free and provides a graphical UI that is intuitive and instructive.

“At MyWebCareer we have created a free online service that enables you to uncover and evaluate your digital footprint. Our objective is to provide consumers with insight into their Professional Online Brand and to offer tools to make this data accessible, manageable, and actionable. We use sophisticated link analysis, visualization, and semantics technologies to enable you to quickly evaluate and explore data that may relate to you. Our patent-pending Career Score allows you to easily assess your Professional Online Brand and stay on top of any changes to it with our monthly monitoring service.”

One of the reasons I think this is an interesting tool for insight is the how MyCareerWeb examines the connections, links, career strata and other factoids to present a picture of your digital footprint that is intuitive, easy to read and provides great insight to your career characteristics.

You could spend several days or weeks to do the analysis yourself to achieve a similar result. But the MyCareerWeb tool is lightening fast and cuts to the chase to give you insights into industries, themes, companies, people, locations and connections that can help you focus on where you have been from a career perspective and guide you to where you may want to point yourself if you are looking for new challenges.

MyCareerWeb is really a nifty and comprehensive tool to analyze your path and your connections. The data presented is simple to understand and includes variety of ways to digest and map your contacts and career network and the many relationships that you have with people, companies and industries. If you are in a transition or just want better personal career insight, MyCareerWeb is the consummate platform to employ.

Recast Your Network for the New Year

Where do you want to go professionally in 2011?  You have a range of options:  a new role, a different industry, a promotion, self-employment, retirement, or a combination of several of these options.  As you develop your career goals for the New Year, it is critical to have the right network in place to help you plan, assess, and achieve your goals.

Re-evaluate your network:

Often, your network takes shape without much forethought or design.  You meet people and develop relationships in school, at various jobs, and through professional organizations. These accumulated relationships become your network. When you are looking for a job or making a career change, you reach out to this network for advice and support.  However, they may not be the right people to help you attain the goals you set for 2011.

To reach your goals, you need information, insights, and influence.  For example, if you want to change industries, you need assistance from people who have worked in that industry, who can tell you about the trends, opportunities, and pitfalls of that industry, and who can introduce you to people who have the potential to hire you for that industry.  Because your network developed based on relationships you had with people you knew when you worked in other industries, it may be unlikely that you have the appropriate people in your current network to help you with the transition to your target industry.

As you develop your career goals for 2011, take an inventory of your current network and identify those people who have the relevant information, insights, and influence to support your new goals. Then, begin to design a new network.

Re-align your network:

To design a network that aligns with your 2011 goals, first create the strategic framework. Start by developing profiles of the people who would be in your ideal network. For example:

What industries do these people work in?

What companies do they work for?

What roles do they hold?

Who are their managers, mentors, and colleagues?

What professional organizations do they belong to?

Who are their thought leaders?

Who are the consultants, vendors, and distributors they use?

Once you have the strategic framework for your 2011 network, next fill in the framework by identifying specific people who would belong to this network.  For example, find people who are working in your desired industry, company, or role, the hiring managers and decision makers, potential colleagues and mentors, thought leaders, and consultants, vendors, and distributors.  You can find this information by researching industry / trade publications, web sites, and blogs, company web sites, association directories, and business directories.  Once you have your networking framework populated with specific names, you have designed the ideal network to help you reach your new career goals.

Re-energize your network:

Now, your current network really can help you.  Some of them may belong in your ideal network, many may not.  However, even if they do not fit the profile of someone who should be in your ideal network, they know you, they believe in you, and they want to help you.  Leverage your current network to help build your ideal network. Show them your networking framework and the people who would ideally be a part of it.  Ask if they can provide introductions or referrals to those specific people.  If not, can they suggest other people who might be in the industries, companies, and roles you are targeting?  As you start to make connections and build new relationships, you are creating the support system to reach your new career goals.

Resolve to recast your network every year:

Your old network cannot support new career goals.  Make it a step in your annual process of setting your new career goals to re-evaluate, re-align, and re-energize the network you have to create the network you need to move forward with your career.

Most people in associations (actually, most people at ANY type of company) are frequently met with resistance when trying to do something new. Often, if you ask someone WHY they are performing a specific duty, you’ll hear, “that’s how we’ve always done it.” Obviously, there must have been a good reason at the time, and it’s very possible the task at hand is being done the best possible way. However, if you don’t stop and analyze once in awhile, how will you know?

A lot of people fall into this trap during their job search, especially if it’s been years since they’ve had to look. Traditional methods such as applying to open jobs and using recruiters should still be included (if they never worked, they wouldn’t exist!). However, your time will be better spent if you cultivate “warm leads” at the organizations you want to work for. Networking is the key, but this can be accomplished in a variety of ways such as reconnecting with former co-workers or volunteering within a professional association.

Becoming recognized as a subject-matter expert will make you the “hunted” versus the “hunter.” Posting articles, writing a blog, and speaking at industry events are all ways to stay visible. While not networking, you’ll build credibility, which will also turn countless people into “warm leads” for you.

Whatever you do, regularly take time to analyze the results you’ve been getting. When you get a hit on your resume, call from a recruiter, or invitation to interview, take note. See what has been most effective, and spend more of your time and energy on those approaches.

Coaches can play a powerful role in a candidates’ job search by being aware of their personality temperament and which job search phase they’re in. Three good assessments that measure type and temperament are as follows:

• Golden™ Personality Type Profiler
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®
• Keirsey Temperament Sorter®-II

Based on temperament, here are suggested coaching questions to use with candidates to enhance their job search success.

1. Clarifies Job/Career Objective(s)

NT (Rational)
How do these options tie to your most important values, including your family’s desires? If you set aside all your criteria, what are some other options? Which jobs are you most passionate about?

NF (Idealist)
Which of these options fits you best? What are your most important criteria to use in determining your job objective(s)? What’s your short-list of jobs to pursue now?

SJ (Guardian)
How about brainstorming more job possibilities? As you consider your most transferable skills, what other possibilities are there? Have you considered (x)? Which job(s) will be a stepping stone(s) to your ideal job?

SP (Artisan)
What are your long-term objectives? What next job(s) will get you to where you want to be 5-10 years from now?

2. Plans Job Search

NT (Rational)
What practical actions do you need to consider taking?

NF (Idealist)
What other pieces of the puzzle might there be? What else?

SJ (Guardian)
What are the broad categories of your job search? What adaptations might you need to make to ensure a successful job search?

SP (Artisan)
What structure do you need in your search to keep you moving forward?

3. Markets & Communicates about Self

NT (Rational)
Which accomplishments involved building and maintaining relationships and/or working successfully with others?

NF (Idealist)
What are your strongest technical abilities? What impact did your accomplishments have on the bottom line?

SJ (Guardian)
How could you say that more succinctly? What are the key points you want to make? How can you connect your accomplishments to other jobs?

SP (Artisan)
What are some examples of how you applied what you learned to avoid future problems?

4. Networks with Others

NT (Rational)
How can you build and nurture your relationships? What are the best ways to show appreciation toward others?

NF (Idealist)
Besides friends and other like-minded people, who else could you to reach out to? What is the desired outcome for your meetings?

SJ (Guardian)
What are the most important things to get out of each meeting? How can you open and close each meeting in a personal way?

SP (Artisan)
What are your most important goals for networking? Which people are most important to talk with first? What did you learn from your meetings?

5. Finds Jobs

NT (Rational)
What companies and job titles are in your tiers 2 & 3? How can you network to get a warm lead to the decision-makers in these companies?

NF (Idealist)
Besides friends, whom else would be important for you to reach out to? What’s most important for you to get from these contacts?

SJ (Guardian)
What steps could you could take to explore the hidden job market?

SP (Artisan)
How can you build consistency into your job search activities? Whom else could you reach out to?

6. Researches Companies

NT (Rational)
With whom could you talk to learn more about these companies? What questions could you ask them to learn more about the company’s culture?

NF (Idealist)
What are some objective ways to gather information about these companies? Who else could you talk with to learn more details?

SJ (Guardian)
With whom could you talk to learn more about the companies’ management style, brand, and culture?

SP (Artisan)
What have you learned about the company’s’ culture? Do they give people freedom to get their work done?

7. Prepares for the Job Interview

NT (Rational)
How will you answer questions about your ability to handle conflict, motivate people, and build relationships?

NF (Idealist)
How did your work contribute to the bottom-line? What are your top competencies? How can you demonstrate that you’re task-focused?

SJ (Guardian)
What have been your greatest accomplishments and what did you learn about your capabilities? How could they be transferable to the job(s)?

SP (Artisan)
How can you show the transferability of your competencies to the job duties? What trends are impacting the jobs/companies?

8. Considers Job Offers

NT (Rational)
What impact will each job have on your lifestyle, family, etc?

NF (Idealist)
What other criteria are important to consider? What’s most important to do now? What do you like most and least about the job(s)?

SJ (Guardian)
How will this position further develop you to achieve your long-term career goal? What risks do you need to take?

SP (Artisan)
What else do you need to know about this job and company? What are the best ways to gather further information? How does this position tie in with your long-term goals?

9.Negotiates Salary

NT (Rational)
How could you engage the decision-maker in your negotiations? What’s most important to them?

NF (Idealist)
What facts could you share with the decision-maker? What do you like most (and least) about the compensation package?

SJ (Guardian)
How much are you worth? What value could you bring to the company?

SP (Artisan)
What information do you need to be successful in your negotiations?

10. Starts New Job

NT (Rational)
–Coaching Questions: What relationships do you need to build to be most effective in this job?

NF (Idealist)
What are some quick wins you could have to show your competence and impact?

SJ (Guardian)
What are your most important goals for the near-term and longer-term? What trends are you seeing in your industry? Who could you delegate some of your work to?

SP (Artisan)
What’s most important for you to accomplish by the 3rd, 6th and 9th months in the job? What’s the strategic plan for your business unit?

Will you let me know how these questions work and share with me your suggestions to improve them? You may reach me at nancy@workplacecoachinstitute.com.

Copyright 2010. Nancy Branton

It’s become common knowledge that networking is how the majority of people find jobs. Statistically, this applies to executives even more than those at other levels. When associations are sourcing for the ideal person to lead their organization, they are more likely to turn to their existing networks first.

Since getting hired as a result of networking can take time, it doesn’t always make it the most appealing option for busy executives and aspiring executives. While not a quick method, there are ways that you can increase the effectiveness of your networking and shorten your job search at the same time.

The key is to spend your time connecting with people in your industry instead of casting a wider net. Of course you can let friends and family know you’re looking, as people often find opportunities in unexpected ways. However, your dedicated “networking time” – connecting on LinkedIn, Twitter, and at in-person events – will be better used if you’re focused on what you want.

For example, let’s say you are looking for a job leading an environmental association. You’ll have better luck if once a month you attend a function attended by environmental leaders, rather than going to a “general” event once a week! Optimize these gatherings even more by determining who you need to come into contact with. Identify associations that interest you, along with names (if possible) of board members, hiring managers, and human resources employees. Then, when someone asks how they can help you, you’ll be prepared to ask for introductions!

Meeting new people is only half the battle–maintaining your network is just as important. Continue building relationships with existing contacts. Schedule regular lunches, coffees, or even brief telephone conversations to stay connected. For people outside of your geographic area (and even those within it!), keep in touch through social media, and always be a “giver.” This means letting your network know of leads or contacts they may be interested in, sending articles that may appeal to them, or just calling to see what you can do to help.

Building a strong network takes time, but it’s also an investment – your relationships can lead to opportunities at all stages of your career! Whether you’re actively looking for work, choosing new board members, or sourcing for employees, you’ll have a pool of contacts that you can tap into on short notice.