Shyness/Introversion in the Workplace

In some industries, it's commonly believed that remaining silent during business meetings is career suicide. The Wall Street Journal explored Why People Don't Speak Up in Groups to help us understand this phenomenon. It turns out that not speaking up is more common in women and surprisingly, those with higher IQs, according to the study cited in the article.
I'll add a few of my own tips for those hesitant to speak up in meetings. In my experience, speaking up early in the meeting is key. It breaks the ice for you and sets the tone for you to be a contributor in the meeting. The longer you sit there without saying anything, the harder it will become. Before the start of the meeting, chat with the other attendees. Ask them questions about themselves, their opinions, etc. You don't want to overshare, but let people know you a little too. Finally, if the meeting concerns a subject matter that you don't have much expertise in, you can participate by asking thoughtful questions. Yes, questions are once again your friends.

Research shows that more people talk when the size of the group is small. The larger the group size, the smaller the ratio of participants. So if you want to practice being more active in meetings, speaking in a smaller group can be much less daunting. Remember, people probably want to hear your thoughts and questions. You are there to add value. Like everything else in life, the more you practice, the easier it'll get.

On a related note, check out the Harvard Business Review's blog for The Introvert's Guide to Networking, if you need some encouragement in this arena.

Do you view networking in a negative light?

If so, this article will help you see things differently. We've all heard that in this day and age, the best way to find a new job is by networking. In a nutshell: “It’s not about what you need, it’s about what you can contribute.” So go find the people who can benefit from your talents.

Seven Interview Questions That Kill Careers

Here are some common interview questions that could be asked in a wide variety of fields. Some are open ended enough that people commonly trip themselves up or say the wrong thing. This article guides the types of answers you should give.

You Can Do Everything Right and Still Not Get the Job

The title sounds discouraging but this article is intended to be encouraging. Interviewers are only human, and are therefore subjective. Do your very best to prepare for your interview, give it your all, and then let whatever happens, happen. This way you can't beat yourself up after the fact, saying things would have been different if only I had done [fill in the blank].

Tips for Video Job Interviews

Companies are doing more video interviewing as a time/cost-saving measure and it actually is a different animal than an in-person interview. There's the old advice of wear your full suit (vs. just the top part of your suit over pajama pants, incase they ask you to stand up). Here's what else you should know.

Power vs. Influence: Interview with Bing Gordon of Kleiner Perkins

Here's a great interview with the former chief creative officer at Electronic Arts, now a VC, on leadership and why he prefers influence over power. I found it interesting on its own merits, and it's also related to job hunting in that if you're good at influencing people, you will stand out and convince anyone to hire you.

Some tips from Forbes.com for moms looking to go back to work

This article is a couple of years old, but the advice is still relevant, such as...

A good way to get yourself back into working is by volunteering or looking for part-time or project work. You get the benefits of networking, as well as bolstering your resume with recent experience.

"Before you reach out to anyone, have a brief elevator pitch ready--a 30-second spiel that sums up what kind of work you're looking for and what your experience is. End the pitch by asking, Do you know of anyone I should talk to? Never ask if they have a job to offer themselves. People will know what you want, and if they feel comfortable telling you about an opening they know of, they will."

Before you begin your job search in earnest, make sure you have the support you need, such as childcare incase you are invited to interview.

Never apologize for having taken time away from your career to raise children. If asked about it, answer succinctly and move on.

Get together with others who are in the same situation and practice interviewing.

Read the full article here.

How to get people to act on your emails

This list was originally intended for work emails, but these tips would work just as well when you're making contact with people for informational interviews and job leads. In addition to being clear about what you're asking for, use questions in the right places to maximize the chances of people responding to you.

From my own experience as an email marketer, people will decide whether or not to open your message based on your subject line, so choose your words well.

Resume Overview: The Basics

This is the intro to perfecting your resume. The most common type is the standard chronological resume. The basic sections are, in order:

Overview (optional) – If you can briefly summarize your pertinent experience, e.g., “Project Manager with 8 years of experience in X, Y and Z, then it’s ok to have this section. Don’t include an Objective section that details what type of job you’re looking for. Recruiters don’t care what you want, they only care if you match the position they’re trying to fill. Make it easy for them to find the skills and experience they’re looking for.

Work Experience – in reverse chronological order. Include company names, locations, job titles, dates (month/year), and key accomplishments/highlights. Unless you’re just getting started in your career and don’t have a lot of work experience, this section should be the meat of your resume and will be covered in more detail in a later post.

Education – if you’ll be graduating from school soon, put Education before Experience, especially if it’s a degree that’s highly relevant to your job.

Additional Information – certifications, activities, interests, talking points to build rapport with your interviewers. Don’t give a huge list, only the most important or interesting ones. No one reads long lists.

This is so basic, but proofread! It’s all about first impressions and a typo or grammatical error signifies someone without attention to detail. Some companies will throw out a resume based on these details. Remember they’re going to make snap judgments about you unless you have someone on the inside who can vouch for you.

Key words – many companies nowadays scan through resume submissions with key word searches. Make sure the relevant ones for the job you want are sprinkled throughout your resume. The Overview section is a good place to do this, if the necessary key words don’t appear elsewhere.

Do interviews make you nervous?

I’ll be posting a lot of info/tools to help you prepare for interviews, but if the thought of an interview gives you sweaty palms, think of it this way. Unless you desperately need a job immediately to put food on the table, it’s a mutual interview.

Sure, you want to make a good impression, sell your qualifications and show your eagerness and enthusiasm for the job. But it needs to be a good fit for you too: you’re also interviewing them to see if it’s the right place for you. You don’t want to get into a bad situation and hate your job. In my experience, having a good boss is a huge predictor of what kind of experience you will have. You can work for a great company with a great culture but if you work directly under a tyrant, life will be hard.

Questions Are Your Friends.

In networking, meeting new people, interviewing, or participating in meetings, the ability to ask good, thought-provoking questions is a skill that will serve you well. Say you meet a honcho at a company you dream of working for. Asking interesting questions instead of the standard ones people always ask will make you memorable.

So, how do you ask good questions?

Ask open ended questions. So instead of, Do you like xyz?, ask, What are your thoughts on xyz?

On that note, ask for people’s opinions. We all have them and many of us are happy to share. Example: What do you think it takes to be successful in [industry]?

If you’re at a networking event or social function and don’t know who people are, a good, safe, all-purpose starter is always: How do you spend most of your time? That way, whether the person is a high-powered executive or a SAHM, it’s worded so it doesn’t diminish their contributions. So what do you do? sounds like you’re only interested in what kind of job that person has, which may or may not be true. When you ask how people spend their time, they can also respond in a variety of ways, and if you happen to have a shared interest, you're more likely to find out about it this way.

In an interview, you’ll almost always be given the opportunity to ask questions, typically at the end. ALWAYS have questions for your interviewer. Not having any shows lack of interest or lack of preparation. Remember, don’t ask anything that can be easily answered on the company website.

If you need to make small talk, you can always ask someone where they're from, or read the news and bring up current events or an interesting article you read.

The Basic Guide to Networking

Besides official networking events, at the core of networking is the informational interview. You can't realistically contact someone you barely know and ask for a job outright. Instead what you should do is simply ask for information. It sounds much more palatable to people and it’s much easier to get someone to just talk to you than to hand over a job.

You might have heard about those fabled MBA alumni networks that hook you up with a great job. Well, it’s part truth, part myth. Those who don’t get jobs through on-campus recruiting do their job search by contacting alums for informational interviews. If you make a good impression, the person just might pass you onto someone else or, best case scenario, if the company happens to be hiring, they’ll put your resume in the hands of a hiring decision maker.

Where to start?

Research your industry and develop a list of target companies. Then look for your contacts who work in those industries or companies.

Who do you know?

• The obvious: friends, family, acquaintances and everyone they know. Ask around.
• Old co-workers. It’s a small world in some industries.
• Alumni from your schools – most colleges, grad schools, and even some high schools keep records of alumni including current industry and company info. Many people expect to have fellow alums contact them. Some schools keep lists of alums by industry who’ve agreed to make themselves available.
• Contacts from social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Many alumni networks have groups on these sites.
• Members of any industry/trade organizations you belong to. If you’re not a member, look into joining one. Many of these groups are also on LinkedIn.