Honesty + guts works in an interview

By: Brad Remillard

Speak up and be honest

Two different situations explain why, no matter how desperate one is for a job, interviewing the same way you would if you had the best job in the world, is the difference between getting an offer and not getting one.

As the economy is slowing we were conducting a retained search for a CFO for a small company in Southern California. The company was starting to consider budget cuts. The final two candidates, in the final interview with the president/owner were both asked; “As my CFO, you will lead the cost reduction program, where will you begin?”

Candidate one answered the usual stuff, look at reducing inventory, cutting overtime, review benefits, and require an across the board reduction in the budget, etc.  A solid safe answer the president told me.

Candidate two had a more direct and to the point answer for the owner. He looked the president straight in the eye and said, “I would start with your salary and then the rest of the executive team.”

The president later told me, “any CFO that has the guts (he used different anatomical parts) to tell me that directly to my face is the kind of CFO I want.”

Second situation:

On another retained search for a Director of Human Resources, the candidate was interviewing with a large very well-known multinational company. The final interview was a panel interview. In all of the previous interviews she was kept waiting as much as 30 minutes. Prior to the panel interview it was close to 45 minutes.

She was asked in the panel interview “What would be one of the first changes you would make as the Director.” Her answer was; “The way you hire people. The process of letting candidates wait in the lobby for so long is inappropriate and turns good candidates off. In fact, I was ready to walk out just before someone came to meet me.” The panel apologized. They know she was right and had the integrity to tell it to their face.

The new Director of Human Resources later told me she was informed by those on the panel that not one other candidate brought this point up. We both found that to be amazing.

Displaying confidence is a key attribute in the interview. Too often candidates take the easy or safe answer path and miss a great opportunity.

Just be honest. If you are right, and hiring manager doesn’t want to hear it, the bigger question for you is, “Do you want to work for this person?” If they can’t accept the truth now, what will it be like once you come on board?

Download a FREE sample cover letter proven to get you noticed. CLICK HERE to download.

If you do accept the position I can almost guarantee you, you will end up in the “Circle of Transition.” As our job search workbook and blog article indicates this is not the place anybody wants to be.

If you aren’t familiar with the Circle of Transition, I strongly encourage you to download a free copy of the “Circle of Transition” by CLICKING HERE.It is FREE

I believe this is one of the most important issues for candidates to know, understand and implement in a job search.

About the Author

Brad Remillard, an executive recruiter with over 25 years of experience, has conducted over 10,000 interviews and been involved in more than 2,000 executive searches.

Brad previously served as President of CJA Executive Search, which was recognized as one of the top search firms in Southern California. In 2005 he co-founded IMPACT Hiring Solutions a retained executive search firm and best practices hiring company.

He is co-author of two books on hiring. You're NOT The Person I Hired. His second book helps candidates dramatically reduce their time in-transition is, This Is NOT The Position I Accepted

In 1999, Brad co-founded the American Association of Senior Executives (AASE), one of Southern California's largest career management and business resource organizations exclusively dedicated to VP and C-level executives. The AASE has assisted more than 1,500 corporate executives manage their careers.

Brad has personally coached many of these executives on success-based interviewing, 21st Century networking techniques, and career transition.

He is a frequent speaker on the subject of career management and executive networking.

(ArticlesBase SC #1532465)

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Working With Employment Specialists – A Cautionary Tale

As part of my recent mini-series on career management, one of my posts talked about search firms, recruiters and employment agencies and how they operate.  In that article, I described placement agencies which charge an upfront fee, and basically advised job seekers to avoid these types of companies at all costs, as well as to read any documentation that you are asked by an agency to sign.  As a timely reminder of what you might stand to lose if you do not heed these words of caution, a news report which appeared only yesterday tells the story of one unemployed woman who, despite shelling out $5,000 and verbally being promised a job, later discovered that the contract that she signed did not in fact guarantee her work at all.  The article also raised the interesting but crucial distinction between employment agencies and career consulting firms.

The placement agencies that I described in my previous post are directly in the business of matching job seekers to vacant positions.  Essentially, they justify the charges that they make to job seekers as being in exchange for arranging the whole placement process with potential employers

Get Your Skates on for Christmas Jobs

While your financial situation may very well dictate that you need more than just temporary or part-time work, if you are struggling to find anything more permanent or which is offering longer hours at the moment, then applying for a Christmas job could well be a short-term solution.  Use your time well and make yourself indispensible and you may even find that your employer is so impressed that he wants to keep you on after all the festivities and the buying orgy have died down. 

Reports suggest that between 550,000 and 650,000 people are expected to land jobs over the Christmas period and these might of course open up all kinds of opportunities to a variety of job seekers, including those who have little previous work experience and those who are looking to earn valuable experience in order to switch careers.  Some companies employ huge numbers of Christmas staff and, even at this busy time of year, they are prepared to invest in training if they are impressed by the individual’s potential.  Inexperienced workers might not be able to command more than minimum wage, but for some it is the experience that they can add to their resume which is far more valuable. 

Although we automatically tend to think of stores as the main companies to take on additional workers over the Christmas period, virtually any business which experiences higher volumes of customers, sales or transactions during this time could hold possibilities.  The mail service is one of the more obvious areas to be swamped at Christmastime, but think also about companies such as event planners, limo hire companies and, of course, Christmas tree farms.  Restaurants and bars almost invariably take on extra staff, as do hotels.  With stores needing to remain stocked up with increased volumes of goods, temporary driving jobs could also be an option.

As with summer internships or any other type of seasonal work, it is important to treat a temporary Christmas job with all the commitment and responsibility that you would give to a permanent position if you hope it to turn into something longer-term.  As I have said though, even if your employer is unable to keep you on after the New Year, you will still have acquired valuable experience for the future.

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YourWorldMyWorld

This link contains a research report relating to your health. I recommend anyone who is or has a loved one that is extremely ill, with a supposed incurable disease read through it.

Blog on steroids

I was surfing the web earlier and stumbled on this audio addon/widget/tool thingy for use on a blog or website from odiogo. This is really a fantastic service, because now all my posts on my blogs and sites will have this cool tool. If your not using this go to the link and get yours now. This is a very good free service, because you don't even have to read the posts now odiogo.com does it for you from your sites rss feed, so how lazy are we getting, so cool.

How it works, it translates the text-post to audio apparently this is supposed to be instant, and I know this worked straight away for existing posts, so the only drawbacks are - the update to audio feeds from text from any new posts you add are based on the speed of the rss service, any post won't be updated instantly but I think this is a minor issue. I also tested it in another language with the new bottom tool bar translator, but it wont work with that because, it won't read the translated post from a language unless the post is in that language; why, because it translates the text from the original rss feed only, maybe they will have to co-ordinate this so it will work like this in another way for future development, but its still fantastic to use now anyway? If they combine this tool with a toolbar like the one below, and allow translation instantly that will be a major development, and a major traffic boost to any site. If the choice of translation could be a choice of female pitch voice as well as the default male one that would also be an added bonus. Up to you odiogo.com, but anyway, awesome job with whats been created so far, well done!

Message from President Barack Obama

Below is a strong message I received. I feel the USA election shouldn't just be limited to its own zone. What the US does affects the whole World; so even if your outside the US, or a Citizen of another Country you can still support him. They are a country which if it collapses or elects the wrong person will bring the whole World crumbling down with it.

Read below and decide for yourself what and who you may support.


"Friend --

I come into this election with clear eyes.

I am proud of all we have achieved together, but I am mindful of all that remains to be done.

I know some out there are frustrated by the pace of our progress. I want you to know I'm frustrated, too.

But with so much riding on the outcome of this election, I need everyone to get in this game.

Neither one of us is here because we thought it would be easy. Making change is hard. It's what we've said from the beginning. And we've got the lumps to show for it.

The fight this fall is as critical as any this movement has taken on together. And if we are serious about change, we need to fight as hard as we ever have.

The very special interests who have stood in the way of change at every turn want to put their conservative allies in control of Congress. And they're doing it with the help of billionaires and corporate special interests underwriting shadowy campaign ads.

If they succeed, they will not stop at making our work more difficult -- they will do their best to undo what you and I fought so hard to achieve.

There is no better time for you to start fighting back -- a fellow grassroots supporter has promised to match, dollar for dollar, whatever you can chip in today.

Please donate $3 -- and see who wants you to re-commit to this movement.

I know that sometimes it feels like we've come a long way from the hope and excitement of the inauguration, with its "Hope" posters and historic crowds on the National Mall.

I will never forget it. But it was never why we picked up this fight.

I didn't run for president because I wanted to do what would make me popular. And you didn't help elect me so I could read the polls and calculate how to keep myself in office.

You and I are in this because we believe in a simple idea -- that each and every one of us, working together, has the power to move this country forward. We believed that this was the moment to solve the challenges that the country had ignored for far too long.

That change happens only from the bottom up. That change happens only because of you.

So I need you to fight for it over the next 26 days. I need your time. I need your commitment. And I need your help to get your friends and neighbors involved.

If you bring in a new donor today, your $3 donation will become $6. And our Vote 2010 campaign will have twice the resources to make important investments like putting staff on the ground, providing materials for volunteers, and turning out millions of voters come Election Day.

Please donate $3 today -- and renew your commitment today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/OctoberMatch

If we meet this test -- if you, like me, believe that change is not a spectator sport -- we will not just win this election. In the years that come, we can realize the change we are seeking -- and reclaim the American dream for this generation.

Thank you for being a part of it,

President Barack Obama"