Two reasons your cover letter sucks: 1. It doesn’t exist. You just send your resume. Adding a three-sentence note in the email doesn’t count. 2. It exists, but it might as well not, because it just repeats the same info that’s on your resume. Think about this for a minute: Why would an employer want […]
Read the full article →You know when you see a job posting and it lists an application deadline? And then you figure you have until that deadline to apply? Well, you might not. Here’s why: A lot of job sites require the employer to list a deadline or closing date when submitting a post. There’s often no option for […]
Read the full article →I’m not sure why anyone would do a pre-scheduled phone interview while they were driving, but since I’ve recently discovered that some people do in fact engage in this behavior, please consider this a formal suggestion not to. It baffles me that this happens, because: 1. First of all, you can’t focus fully. Why, why, […]
Read the full article →A reader writes: I really appreciate your blog and your candor, and I have used your advice many times during my job search. In fact, the interview chapter from your e-book made a huge difference on my last interview and I really felt like I was on equal footing with my interviewer. It resulted in […]
Read the full article →A reader writes: I have recently been offered a job with a company locally and have accepted it. However the hiring process a extensive background investigation is needed and will not be able to start this position until the January of 2011. I have more recently been offered a another job a couple of hours […]
Read the full article →Should you work for free? I want to know what you think. But wait, it’s not that simple. Here are six separate scenarios. Would you work for free in any of these situations? Why or why not? 1. Doing some work for free, for a limited time period, in order to get experience in a field […]
Read the full article →A reader writes: I follow your blog religiously and I love it, although I’m a lurker and don’t comment (yet). I just wanted to send you a quick note to say that I have sent out your interview guide twice to friends of mine who have had upcoming job interviews. They both told me that […]
Read the full article →This has become my new favorite question to ask job candidates: Tell me about something you achieved that you think someone else in your same job would not have gotten done. It’s basically the flip side of what I tell job-seekers to do on their resumes. It’s an awesome question, because you can immediately see […]
Read the full article →This post is for anyone who has ever said or secretly thought that reference-checking is a waste of time. Not long ago, I had a job candidate on the verge of being hired. He had wowed everyone in the interview and clearly had the skills to the do the job well. Something was strange about his […]
Read the full article →My friend Kat, who’s doing some I.T. recruiting, offers up this PSA about a common mistake people make when posting confidential resumes on online job boards: The omission of people’s city, state and zip in a confidential resume means that they are not searchable once entered into a database. I understand that people like to post […]
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