More Preparation Ideas to Help You Ace Your Interview

By Sandy Prock M.Ed., JCTC, Co-Owner of www.ExpertResume.com

Borrowing from leadership articles I found some promising ideas for you.  Author Melissa Rafonni discovered four characteristics of unsuccessful leaders. This list can serve as a list of ideas to keep in the back of your mind as you look for an environment with “successful” leadership. It is good to know what doesn’t work as well as what does work. You can also borrow some ideas for your own interview process. Look at what successful leaders do and see how you have led yourself or others in similar ways. You may not be looking for a leadership position; however, positive leadership characteristics can benefit anyone in any position. Create stories from your experiences and show how you solved issues like these in yourself, with a subordinate or with your team.

Below is the list of the four traits of unsuccessful leaders:

• Unsuccessful leaders mismanaged their time.

• Successful leaders instead spent time prioritizing, broke down their job into categories, and thought about how to best allocate their time to increase leverage. Think about the essentials of the job. Eliminate wasteful habits.

• Unsuccessful leaders did not delegate.

• Successful leaders learn to let go and delegate. This is particularly important in 2010.

• Unsuccessful leaders don’t listen well.

• Successful leaders learn to listen. They gain insights from everyone, including customers, peers, and employees.

• Unsuccessful leaders lacked the courage to try new things.  “Nothing ventured - nothing gained” is very true.

Ask yourself these questions and be prepared to answer with stories of how you have done this or plan to do these things in the future.

• What one thing could you bring to this job? What would it be and how would you make it happen?

• If there was one thing you wanted to improve in your performance, what would it be and how would you make it happen?

• What one thing did you learn from your last position? How do you plan to continue to learn and grow this next year?

These are some ideas to ponder as you think about how you will answer questions in your interviews. Be prepared and work it and it will work for you. Create stories you can tell showing how you met and solved problems. Brainstorm any other ideas, problems and solutions you have experienced and create stories showing how you solved these issues.

In addition, remember that at some point you may want to ask your potential employer a few questions. This is a two way street. Your new environment and leadership does effect you. Be your personal best and find the best for yourself. Consider asking these questions:

• How do you decide what is essential to a job?

• How do you manage and delegate?

• What new ideas have you implanted?

• What was the most important lesson you learned from a colleague, peer or upper management?

• What time-saving technique did you implement. What were the results?

• What wasteful habits did you eliminate in yourself, or your team?

• What is the turnover rate among your employees and those under your leadership? What were the reasons they left?

Remember to make sure your resume, cover letter and other job search documents stand up to the competition. Shine and land your best position yet.

Bob and I wish you the best in your job search. If you have any questions about your resume, cover letter, or other job search documents feel free to call Bob.

Sandy Prock M.Ed. (Masters in Education – Vocational Guidance and Counseling), JCTC (Job and Career Transition Coach), Co-Owner of  www.ExpertResume.com