7 Interview 'Don't Do's' from The Office

Steve Carell is leaving The Office, the hilarious mockumentary comedy series, resulting in an opening for a Regional Manager. Last week's episode, as usual, a fly-on-the-wall depiction of a day in Scranton Pennsylvania offices of the fictional paper company, Dunder Nifflin, centred on the recruitment of the new manager. It was a great lesson in what not to do if you want to ace the interview and win the job. Perhaps it should be required watching for every graduating college student or any person looking for a new job.


1. The first applicant told the interview panel that he had a great three part plan to turn the company around but refused to share it unless they hired him. He gave hints but balked at revealing all the details and giving away his ideas. It might seem ludicrous but believe it or not, I’ve seen that exact same behaviour in real life interviews. The reality is, in more and more recruitments nowadays, you’ll be asked to complete an assignment and they are often based on real life situations. Give them your ideas and make it good. Do you really think that the hiring manager will want to sign you up just to find out what your great idea was? No!


2. The second applicant, played with great finesse by James Spader, was an arrogant, manipulative person who was dressed overly casually, slouched in his seat, rambled nonsensically—actually a trait shared by several applicants—and insulted the interviewers. He even said in response to one question, “Don’t be a fool.” Obviously he hasn’t read How to Win Friends and Influence People. He then topped it off by bad-mounting the company and the employees in hearing of Dwight. There are so many lessons from this applicant, but it all comes down to be yourself and if yourself is an arrogant, demeaning person who has poor verbal and non-verbal communication skills, then you probably won’t get the job.


3. There were several internal candidates. They all thought it was ‘different’ for them, and well, it was, but this is a sitcom, not real life. In real life, when you are interviewed by people you know and who know you, pretend you are strangers. Don’t assume anything. Answer fully and explain your experience as though they know nothing about you. On the other hand, don’t oversell because, remember, they do know you.


4. One applicant was a self-sabotager and did everything he could to eliminate himself from the competition. He asked and even argued about salary and benefits, asked inappropriate questions and even had a snack. A bit extreme but it doesn’t take much to turn people off.


5. Ricky Gervais, the star of the original BBC series, had a long-distance online interview. Verbal and non-verbal communication is even more important when not in person. Gervais’ character rambled endlessly while the listeners just sat and stared at the computer screen.


6. A woman played by Catherine Tate, demonstrated the importance of doing your research on the company so that you can make sure your answers and ideas reflect the actual culture. She had extreme ideas and then when challenged, went to the other extreme. She talked rapidly, making no sense and taking every opportunity to make it clear that she was completely unsuitable for the job. Lesson learned: do your research, listen to the questions and think before you answer.


7. Jim Carrey had a cameo appearance. We didn’t see him in the interview but apparently he was just plain weird, with an obsession with making sure they knew he needed two weeks off as soon as he started.


At one point, Jim, played by John Kraskinski, commented that they all the interviews blended together. So true. You need to stand out, but not in a weird way as most of these characters did. On the other hand, if you don’t want the job, like the self-sabotager, perhaps you can try some of these tricks. At least you’d be entertaining.

Should I go for my dream job? Or be practical?

My dream job is related to my educational degree and it would be an honor to work in that field. But thinking about family and my obligations, should I redirect my job search towards high paying jobs that's are not related to my degree and are not my dream job. Would it be smarter to go for the high paying job that might be boring but would allow me to pursue other dreams like saving up for the future; travel to other beautiful countries, and prepare for emergencies, ike a health issue.  I'm confused.  I mean priorities change and we have to decide wisely on an opportunity. What are the things that I should consider?

This is a life size question.  Making career decisions has the potential to change the course of your life.  You make one career choice and betore you know it your have other opportunities based on that and 20 years later you are firmly embedded in a career that you made, sometimes on the spur of the moment, sometimes based on things that just seemed important at the time.

While I am a firm believer in going for your dreams, I also realize that reality steps in and messes up our dreams sometimes. If you have a family, kids, a mortgage, sick people to take care of, then it's a little harder to just focus solely on getting the job you love. You have tough decisions to make.

But here's the other side of the coin. The reality is, you are more likely to win a job you are enthusiastic about and really want. You are more likely to be good at and succeed in the career you love than in one that's just a job. It's true! I just wrote a couple of articles for Examiner that address this very issue.

It sounds like you've also already invested in an education in your dream field.  Not only have you invested money, you've invested  your time and effort.
Here is the other reason for going for your dream job: think about doing something you hate, with people you don't like, in a place you're unhappy. Imagine doing that for one hour. How do you feel when you're in that situation? Now imagine doing it for 11,000 days or 88,000 hours.

Life is TOO SHORT. When I do workshops for kids in high school about career planning I always try to get them to think in that way. A job isn't just a job - it's a third of your life. Don't spend it doing something you don't like.

I don't think they are hiring - should I even apply?

Jackie:

There is a company that I would love to work for and it is related to my education.  But I'm not even sure if they are hiring at this time.  I am hoping that I will make the point that I want to be part of their company.  Would it be considered odd to apply for a job that might not even be available?

Not odd at all.  Actually most jobs - abiout 85% of them - are not advertised. It's called the hidden job market.


I would suggest that you use these steps:

Prepare a brief resume that highlights your skills as they relate to that type of work.

Prepare a simple cover letter that states your request. You can say that you are very interested in working for their company and would like to meet with them briefly to find out what they look for when they are hiring. Make sure you call first to find out the name of the person you should address the letter to. Don't get into a telephone interview at that time though, just ask for the name, get the spelling and the title right and say thanks. Also you don't want HR. You want the name of the person who would be managing you if you got the job.

Finish your letter by saying that you'll call them in a week to arrange a brief meeting.

I know that sounds pushy but believe me, this job search strategy works. Hundreds and thousands of people send unsolicited resumes and no one follows up. This will make you stand out and demonstrate your ability to plan and follow through and to communicate effectively.

Then a week later you call and ask for a brief meeting. If they say they aren't hiring, you say yes that's fine but that you are really interested in working for them or for a similar company and you are doing your research.

You may not get an interview, but my clients get them a surprisingly high number of times and often end up with a job.

When you go in for the interview, have good smart questions ready because you've asked for this interview. Don't waste their time. Finish up by asking for their advice. Ask them, "If you were hiring, do I have the qualifications you're looking for?" and "What do you suggest I do to prepare myself for any future opportunities?"

Then send a thank you letter and down the road, as you follow up on their advice, send an updated resume.

This is the job search strategy that I coach client through.  But I also provide it in an ecourse format that takes you through each step in a lot more detail.  Go to my website and sign up for my newsletter to find out more.

Who Should I Ask to be a Reference?

This is a very common question.  You'll need three references and in certain situations, coming up with three people who can speak to your value as an employee can be difficult.  For example, if you are a new graduate with little or no work experience-who can you ask?  Or you might have been self employed for years and now want to apply for a job-who can you ask?  Or if you just plain didn't get along with your last boss or were fired-then what?  Or perhaps you are employed but don't want to ask your current employer to be a reference because you don't want her to know that you're looking for another job-then who do you ask?

Let's address each of these separately.

New graduate or no work experience

Even though employers want to have references from people who can talk about your work habits and skills, if you don't have them, well you can't make them up.  But in that situation, I'm assuming that you're applying for an entry level job where that is to some extent to be expected.  In that case, you can ask teachers or professors, or perhaps people who know you from some volunteer work you were involved in. 

Self employed for years

This one is actually pretty easy.  I suggest a three way approach.  Ask a client who can speak to your ability to meet their needs and deliver on what you promise. Then choose a colleague, perhaps a supplier, someone who can speak to your character and reliability.  The third reference can be an employee, someone who can talk about what kind of leader you are. 

Fired or just didn't get along with your boss

This one is tough.  You will be expected to give a work reference, and most likely they'll want one from your last employer.  First of all, if you didn't work there that long, leave that job out if you were fired.  Some basic formatting of the resume can minimize the damage on that.  If you have to put it in, did you have a previous boss before the one you didn't get along with?  How about a colleague who would give you a good reference?  Definitely ask the individual before you put them down as a reference - that's a rule that you should always follow - and if you don't know what they'll say, ask them outright what they will say about your performance.  Tell them that you are concerned and want to make sure that the reference doesn't prevent you from moving on.

Don't want to use your current employer

If you're looking for work but don't want your current employer to know, don't put their name down until you have to.  Find three other references first.  Then if the potential new employer asks specifically for your current employer, say something like, "I'd be happy to give you the contact information for my current employer but I would prefer that he not be contacted unless I am being seriously considered and will have a job offer if the reference is satisfactory."

A few basic rules:

• Always ask someone before you put their name down as a reference
• The focus should be on people who know you in a professional capacity, friend and character references are virtually useless
• Only list your references on your resume if you are at entry level; anything above that be ready to provide them when asked
• If the job posting requests references, include them

If you have some questions related to your career planning, resumes, interviews, or job search, please contact me and I'll try to address your issue in a future blog.  Or consider one on one coaching.

How long should my resume be?

There's a common belief that a resume should be two pages - no less and certainly no more.  But is it true?  The answer is..........well, maybe. 

There are some situations where a resume should never exceed the magic maximum of two pages.  If a company or organization has a rule that a resume submitted for a job posting should be no more than two pages, then keep it to two.  If you exceed two pages in that case, your resume could either be rejected outright or only the first two pages read.  For example, the local school board in this town has a two page limit.  For new graduates of the Faculty of Education, who have worked so hard to gather relevant volunteer and work history, it might be a challenge to keep it short.  But keep it short you must if you want it to be read.

However, most of the time, you don't have those kind of official rigid rules.  But that doesn't mean you can go wild, include everything you've ever done, all your hobbies and favorite movies, and a page listing all your courses and your marks. 

When it comes to length of your resume, here's the short answer.  Your resume should be as long as it needs to be to sell you and no longer.  In other words, keep it concise and focused.  Either leave out old or irrelevant jobs and courses or use creative layout techniques to minimize the space they take up.   For example, if you have recent jobs that are related to your employment objective, along with some that are part-time or perhaps interim jobs that are not related, try this.  Have one section titled 'Relevant Experience' or something similar and list the important jobs there, along with responsibilities and achievements if you are using a chronological or combination resume.  Then have another section called something like 'Previous Employment' where you just list the irrelevant jobs with no duties.  That will be the section you delete as soon as you can, when you are firmly planted in your chosen career field.

Don't make the mistake of making narrow margins or squishing everything together to make your resume appear shorter.  You want it to have whitespace and be easy to scan and read.  An employer spends only a few seconds scanning a resume when they first look at it. Of course, if you pass that first scan and warrant a second look, he'll spend a bit more time, but first you have to grab his attention in that first few seconds. 

So here are my top three tips for making sure your resume is just the right length:

take out old or irrelevant information;

focus on the attention grabbing details like achievements and don't just copy your job description;

order it by importance and make sure your key skills are right up front where they will be read.

If you're hitting a roadblock in your job search, read my free article to figure out whether your resume is the problem.  It's available here.

Exactly half way through 2010

It's July 1st 2010, Canada Day,and exactly half way through 2010.  Time to review the goals and resolutions set at the beginning of the year, evaluate my progress and adjust, if necessary, to achieve them by December 31st, 2010.

I've been very busy this year and am on track with many of my goals.  Several of them are focused on my business:  get my website back up, start a business focused blog, finish the Get That Job book, start and finish and self-publish Future Pull, and get a newspaper column.  The website is half done, I'm still working on Get That Job but the first draft of Future Pull is almost done.  I wasn't able to get a 'real' newspaper column - at least not one on paper -but I am now the Toronto Career Coach Examiner on http://www.examiner.com/ and have two articles live as of today:  http://www.examiner.com/x-56569-Toronto-Career-Coach-Examiner

And this is the blog.  This blog, as the name implies, is dedicated primarily to answering questions related to anything career related.  They could be about how to make a career decision, how to plan your career, whether to take a particular job over a different one, how to apply for a job, how to get a job in another city, what should go into a resume and what shouldn't, whether you should apply online or not, how to write a cover letter, how to deal with sticky questions in an interview, who to give as a reference when you don't have any references.  The list is potentially endless because every question leads to another.

After so many years and so many clients I have answered thousands of questions, simple and complex.  Because so many of them are the same ones over and over and over again, I've come to the conclusion that it would be helpful to just publish them and get them out there for anyone who wonders to get an answer.

If you are reading this, and you obviously are, I hope you'll submit a question.  But in the meantime, I have a lot of them saved up and I won't be running out for some time.  Stay tuned.