Stevie Puckett

Tag: talent

  • Before the Job Hunt

    Often people get it backward. They arrive at a time when they need a new job, then the first thing they do is look for job openings. It may seem logical, but it is not the most beneficial way to go about it. Many of those jobs are not a good match for one reason or another. If they are not a match, then they are just distractions.

    Instead, flip the process around and begin with yourself. Engage in some pre-job hunt career research. Career research is a process of getting in-depth knowledge of yourself and how your skills and interests best fit the career landscape. The purpose of career research is to develop a career strategy and job hunt plan. So the process looks like this instead:

    1. Begin with self-awareness
    2. Study occupations
    3. Then industry trends
    4. Then company culture and job openings.

    There are substantial advantages to working a job hunt from this angle. The first is that you will get a better understanding of your personal brand along the way. You will be able to strategically network with others, knowing what you want them to remember about you. You also gain a deep understanding of what makes your heart sing and will be able to zoom in on opportunities that are more likely to work optimally for you. Lastly, you will come from a position of passion in job interviews and be more convincing and more likely to win the offer.

    An excellent place to start is with this career aptitude test based on the Holland Codes. It’s good, it’s quick, and it’s free. The results are useful and insightful. The same website also has some excellent career research resources. I love the way the information on each job title is presented. It’s easy to read, short and sweet, and particularly relevant. Of course, O*Net is a very good resource for career research as well.

  • Advance Your Image

    I received a complimentary copy of Advance Your Image: Putting your best foot forward never goes out of style. 2nd Edition by Lori Bumgarner for review and wanted to share it with you because it is a good find and a timely topic. I received no other compensation for this review.

    Lori is on a mission to help people by building poise and self-confidence. She strives to bring the beauty within each person out in the best possible light. As a career advisor to college students turned image consultant to musicians, Lori has an excellent take on the big picture for how personal image plays into career development planning.

    In this book, she points out the nuances of why and how to strategically manage your image for the desired result of connecting with the audience, be it a potential employer or your network of supporters. Lori has advice for what you can do to improve your image. She sees image improvement as a fast-track to healthy self-confidence, which then leads to making better first impressions and being received better by others…a win-win!

    Lori also weaves together your in-person appearance with your job search marketing materials and online presence in a practical and easy to understand way. She outlines a helpful rule that I had never heard before called the Rule of 12 within her powerful strategies for making an excellent first impression.

    Learn more about Lori on her website, paNASHstyle.com.

  • On Interviewing, Part 1

    We typically don’t practice interviewing very often, yet each interview we do have is pretty important. Here are three quick tips for interview preparation.

    Tip 1 – It’s best to think of an interview as a two-way discussion. Yes, often a stressful discussion but remember not only are they checking you out, but you are also checking them out. One of the most critical actions you can take to prepare for an upcoming interview is to research the company. It’s easier than ever to get on the internet, enter a search word and come up with relevant information. Most companies have a web page of their own where you can read up on company history and recent press releases. Be thinking about questions you can ask during the interview as well. Make relevant observations about what is going on with the company, and ask your interviewer to comment. You may also want to consider asking some questions like the following.

    • Is this a newly created position?
    • What do you think is the most important thing for a new hire to understand about this position? This company? Or this department?
    • Why did the previous person leave this position?
    • What do you think will be the biggest challenge for the new hire?

    Tip 2 – Another good way to prepare for the interview is to put together 3-5 power stories and a couple of lessons learned stories. Power stories are your stories about times you solved problems or positively impacted your work. Keep your power stories in a notebook in Evernote and save them forever. These stories are essential to think about before the interview for potential responses to behavioral interviewing questions often used by skilled interviewers. Behavioral interview questions are ones that ask you to describe times in the past when you solved this or that type of problem.

    A suitable format for the stories you give as a reply to the question is to describe the problem, describe the action you took, then tell the result. This is called the PAR technique for Problem, Action, Result. Once you write these stories out, list in the margin the characteristics these stories demonstrate. Then you have ready answers for some questions like “Tell me about a time when _____?” or “What is your biggest strength and why?” Don’t forget to rehearse your answers out loud. It is best to have someone ask you the questions to practice most effectively or do a selfie video to critique yourself. At a minimum, record your answers in your voice recorder or leave a message on your phone so you can hear yourself and adjust as needed.

    Tip 3 – One often overlooked key to good interviewing to have clear starts and stops to your questions and answers. This helps to set a good rhythm for the discussion. It also demonstrates your ability to be concise and listen to others. Don’t be afraid of a few seconds of silence after you finish your answer. A good interviewer will use silence as a tool to get you to rattle on about stuff you did not intend to reveal. Also, silence is an essential tool for you to learn to use as well, especially come negotiation time.

    To learn even more about job interviewing strategies, I recommend the books by Carole Martin, The Interview Coach. A great one to start with is Boost Your Interview IQ.

    On Interviewing: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5