Tag Archive for: job satisfaction

Job Interview Mistakes to Avoid

The interview process can be scary and nerve-wracking. Making yourself familiar with the following mistakes can help you prepare for your own interview! At Esquire, we interview people daily, so we know how daunting interviews may be! No matter how many interviews you have gone on, there is always room to improve your skills. What mistakes should you avoid during an interview? Continue reading below to find out!

You Don’t Make Eye Contact

In the midst of your nervousness, you might forget to make eye contact with your interviewer. Try your best to avoid this! Making eye contact with them during the course of your interview shows that you are engaged. Eye contact is an easy way to show you are present and being an active listener. Maintaining eye contact, especially during the hard questions, shows your confidence!

You Don’t Have a Good Attitude

Are you too enthusiastic or too monotone? It’s important to find a balance between those two extremes. Being overly enthusiastic can give the interviewer vibes that you are putting on a show. You might not seem sincere if you overcompensate. Avoid being monotone during the interview as well. This can show that you might not be interested in the job or company, which will be a red flag for the interviewer.

You Avoid Tricky Questions

There are so many aspects to interview questions. Make sure you don’t dodge the tricky questions. Answering the hard questions thoroughly can show that you are adaptable and will be able to problem solve. Also, don’t forget to ask the interviewer some questions! If you ask them questions, they will know you care about the position and company, and you will look prepared and be taken seriously.

You Don’t Show Your Personality

Be yourself! While there are many things that aren’t appropriate to say or do, it is important that you show the interviewer who you are. The interviewer needs to know what you are like so they can imagine if you are a good fit for their company or team. Be confident and don’t fidget.

Familiarize yourself with these common mistakes so you don’t make them! Interviews can get easier if you feel prepared and confident.

Searching for a new position? Check out our open jobs list!

What should you do if you’re late to an interview? Find out here!

How To Rebrand Your LinkedIn Profile To Get Hired

1.Determine Your Job Seeking Objectives and Goal

In one of our earlier blog post, 7 Questions to Help You Set Your Career Goals in 2018, we spoke about determining your goals and objectives for the new year. If you’re looking to secure a new job in 2018, those goals should be front of mind always. These goals play a huge role in determining your job seeking objections. What are you looking for in your new job? How are you hoping/planning on using LinkedIn and your other social profiles to find it?

2. Check, Check and Double Check Grammar and Spelling

Nothing is a larger red flag to an employer that you do not take yourself professionally than having blatantly spelling and grammar errors on your profile. Remember, this is the profile that is visible to the entire internet. Meaning the hiring manager of your dreams has access to this just as much as anyone else. But your best foot forward by triple checking your spelling and grammar and by reaching out to a professional to admire to check as well.

3. What’s your pitch?

The summary box under your profile is where you can distinguish yourself and create a memorable and enticing personal pitch targeted towards hiring managers and recruiters. Your pitch needs to exemplify your experiences, expertise and value you bring to your organization while showing your personality.

4. Connect and Reconnect

You should be leveraging your existing connections and taking this time to reconnect with connections that you may have lost touch with. Make connections with multiple connections at a company you are interested in and make sure your connections are genuine and thoughtful.

5. Get Some Recommendations

As awkward as it may be, taking the time to ask your clients, colleagues or bosses to take the time to recommend you on LinkedIn can help differentiate you from your competition. Recommendations build trust and an additional layer of reassurance besides your work experience that you are a great candidate.

6. Make it consistent

Consistency helps create a stronger personal branding message for recruiters and shows pride and integrity in your work. Make sure the messages on your website, Twitter biography, Facebook page and other online sites you maintain a profile on are all consistent. Consistency helps you create a stronger personal and professional brand. For example, you should use the same picture and tagline for every profile. Recruiters will be sure to check you are consistent on all platforms before reaching out to you.

7. Show Your Expertise and Stay Active

Position yourself as a thought leader in your industry by sharing articles, company updates, industry news, and professional opinions. Your followers will grow to value your expertise and turn to you for industry news and updates. Additionally, recruiters always want to hire the best and brightest for their clients. Showing your knowledge of the industry will help you develop and grow in your career.

Furthermore, don’t just talk about updates your company has, or what your company is doing, but share how you are contributing to your company’s success and how your company is benefitting by having you working for them. Make sure you are demonstrating clearly how you are contributing to your company’s bottom line.

8. Help Recruiters Find You

Quite possibly the most important tip is making sure you are able to be found by recruiters. Make sure you contact settings are set to include, career opportunities, consulting offers, new ventures, job inquiries, reference requests. Additionally, make sure your profile is public, and customize your public profile URL so that it contains your name.

What Millennials Should NOT Do During A Job Interview

A Millennial Job Interview

Make eye contact. Sit up straight. Give clear concise answers. These are just a few of the tips we are told to do during a job interview. But what about what not to do? Well, of course, there are a million and one things not to do. Do not chew gum, do not arrive late, do not interrupt the interviewee, just to name a few. While these all may seem quite obvious, some millennials are still missing the mark when it comes to their interviewing etiquette. According to an article by Forbes, Millennials are often misjudged and misunderstood in their job interviews.

A “Typical” Millennial in a Job Interview

Here is the typical notion of how a millennial behaves during a job interview: A Millenial Job Interview 

How far off it is really? While this is obviously a hilarious parody, there may be some subtle truth to these behaviors exemplified in this video. Millennials are known to get a bad rap in the workplace from older generations. This could be due to older generations being unfamiliar with the way and upbringings of the millennial generation. Videos such as these are also not helping the millennials case, and if anything, amplifying the wrong message that millennials are entitled and not hard working. That generalization could have a negative impact on a millennials chances of landing a job, despite how well he or she performed in the job interview. But, it is equally as important for millennials to stand up to these generalizations by proving them to be complete fallacies.

What NOT To Do

Here is a list of what NOT to do during a job interview that may be a little less obvious for Millennials:

  • Stop saying “I”: While yes, a job interview is used to talk about your past experiences and skills, but that is not all. A job interview is used to see what attributes and skills you could bring to the company. Make sure you illustrate how you can contribute to the companies success and not just your past accomplishments.
  • Not setting goals for your career: Employers want to know you see a future at their company. Millennials are known for jumping from one job to the next, which causes a strain for their company. Make it explicitly clear that you have goals to move up in their company and that you see a future there.
  • Not being a team player: Back to the first point. Acknowledge your accomplishments as part of a team effect, and not a solo mission. Employers want to know you can work well with others.

Millennials are an amazing generation, who are eager to make a difference in the workplace. Older generations, with more experience, need to continue to teach and guide this generation, instead of labeling them.

How to Hire and Retain Millennials

Like it or not, millennials are flooding the job market with strong resumes and great experience. The perfect candidate from this demographic is easier than ever to find—yet harder to sign and retain. A Gallup poll  from 2016 showed millennials are 10% more likely than the older generation to seek another job. This dissatisfaction may be worsened by the disparity between what young people want and what managers think they want. If you want to hire and retain millennials, you need to know what really motivates them– even if it’s as simple as examining their responses to  “why do you want to work here?”

Millennial Mentorship

One of the biggest misconceptions concerns mentorship opportunities: 26% of millennials named it their top priority in the job search, yet recruiters estimated that only half of one percent would. Acknowledging and marketing to this desire can increase a millennial’s willingness to accept and maintain a job position. A fix as simple as highlighting employee guidance programs during interviews can make a job much more appealing. Even creating a new mentorship system altogether represents a cheaper alternative to improving the other underestimated priority for millennials: compensation.

Motivation

Hire and Retain Millennials

Entice younger employees with community engagement endeavors.

A whopping 71% of millennials lack engagement in the workplace- a value that recruiters underestimated by 25 percent. Think interest affects productivity more than retention? Think again. According to the Harvard Business Review, active disengagement among millennials almost tripled their odds of quitting within the year. Provide current and potential employees with a greater sense of purpose by taking on the occasional pro-bono client or organizing weekend volunteering opportunities. These measures will improve your ability to hire and retain millennials– not to mention your PR.

If this generation’s job-hopping habits and different priorities have you reconsidering your young recruits, remember this: they also place a relatively low value on work-life balance. Given an engaging job with the right resources, they can make dedicated and successful team members. If many of your best candidates are millennials, it might be time to refurbish your hiring process and workplace programs.