[Jobs] Learn what damage you do in interviews

[Albert Yoo]

>From: "ANTONIO GUIMARAES" <amguima at verizon.net>
>Reply-To: Jobs for the Blind <jobs at nfbnet.org>
>To: "Jobs (E-mail)" <Jobs at nfbnet.org>
>Subject: [Jobs] Learn what damage you do in interviews
>Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 21:31:35 -0400
>
>To Win an Offer, Learn What
>Damage You Do in Interviews
>
>By Joann S. Lublin
>
>From
>The Wall Street Journal Online
>
>William Olson has switched employers seven times in 25 years, usually
>because a search firm pursued him. His success stems in part from his
>refusal to cooperate
>unless the recruiter promises to give him frank feedback about his
>performance during interviews.
>
>He became a regional manager at Guinness Brewing North America, for 
>example,
>after a recruiter recommended he tone down his aggressive manner. He rose 
>to
>the top post there five years later. "With good feedback, you can adapt
>during the recruitment process," says Mr. Olson, now president and chief
>executive
>officer of MRINetwork, a Philadelphia search firm.
>
>That's one way to solve a persistent problem. Most job seekers never
>recognize the shortcomings that kept them from a job -- and so go on to
>repeat them.
>The fix: Persuade key players that you will all benefit from an honest
>reaction.
>
>Lacking a strong rapport with a recruiter, you may never learn about
>mistakes made. "It's not my job to tell candidates why they didn't get the
>job," especially
>if they were a poor fit, treated the receptionist rudely or looked
>disheveled, says Dora Vell, managing partner of Vell & Associates, a
>high-tech search
>boutique in Waltham, Mass.
>
>Yet sometimes, Ms. Vell does help contenders who help her. She recalls one
>IBM general manager who lost his bid to run a division of a major
>business-services
>company last summer. He talked excessively about his lengthy finance
>experience during the job interviews. "He spoke like a CFO," she says.
>
>When the manager met Ms. Vell for coffee months later, he casually inquired
>about his failed candidacy. She divulged his blunder because he had opened
>doors
>for other Vell clients keen to do business with IBM. "I would definitely
>present him again for a general manager's position," she says.
>
>Try to solicit criticism from recruiters without sounding defensive. "Some
>of my best clients are former candidates I have coached through more than
>one
>search" because they showed willingness to hear constructive feedback,
>reports Jordan Hadelman, chairman and CEO of Witt/Kieffer, an Oak Brook,
>Ill., firm
>specializing in health-care hunts.
>
>Well-prepared, neutral questions "can distill out a pretty accurate 
>picture"
>after a turndown, says Gary Ambrosino, chief executive of Sensicast 
>Systems.
>The Needham, Mass., manufacturer represents his ninth start-up. He suggests
>asking a recruiter, "Was there anything that made me less competitive?"
>Another
>nonthreatening query: "Tell me about the person who got the job."
>
>However, outside recruiters don't always know the real reason that 
>employers
>reject prospects. And hiring managers rarely cooperate. "They are too 
>busy,"
>a 52-year-old merchandising director frets. Though she has interviewed with
>nine companies since her August layoff, only one hiring manager provided
>feedback.
>
>When you request a hiring manager's reaction, emphasize your continued
>interest in working there. The best time "is at the end of your interview,"
>advises
>Jeff Kaye, CEO of recruiters Kaye/Bassman International in Plano, Texas.
>"You may reignite interest in a dead deal." He has hired people he 
>initially
>rejected
>because they dug hard to understand why or pledged to fix deficiencies he
>cited -- such as repeating "you know" 64 times within 15 minutes.
>
>A Kaye/Bassman managing partner interviewed dot-com business manager Andrea
>Chamberlain last spring for a recruiter's spot. As their session concluded,
>he told the curious applicant that she was unqualified.
>
>She reiterated her strengths. "I may not have the recruiting experience
>you're looking for," Ms. Chamberlain remembers saying. "But I have the
>energy, I'm
>motivated and I want to work for your company."
>
>Kaye/Bassman subsequently invited her to interview with a different 
>managing
>partner. He hired her the day they met.
>
>You might find other ways to learn why you didn't get picked. Mr. Ambrosino
>says his most accurate assessments of his turndowns have come from board
>members
>and investors he already knows.
>
>With knowledge comes the power to repair correctable flaws. A Dallas
>high-tech executive unsuccessfully sought to become chief operating officer
>of a small
>concern in late 2005. The outside recruiter informed him that he had acted 
>a
>little nervous and lacked skills needed to take a company public. The
>executive
>quickly changed tactics, and got a job offer elsewhere.
>
>"Simply being told that you presented as 'nervous' or 'weak' doesn't 
>provide
>any concrete, usable feedback," remarks Donna Schwarz, a partner at
>ImpactCommunicationExecutive,
>a New York communication-coaching firm. She suggests a good coach could 
>help
>polish your inadequate interviewing skills through techniques tailored to
>your personality.
>
>Can't afford a coach? Conduct mock job interviews with friends. "Or, listen
>to your enemies," Ms. Vell proposes. "Maybe they have a point. Hear what 
>you
>don't want to hear."
>
>Email your comments to
>joann.lublin at wsj.com.
>
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Interesting stuff! Do you know of any jobs that are available in the 
Washington D.C. area? I've contacted the Columbia Lite House for the Blind 
and the lady said that she didn't know of any jobs that were hiring now.  
I'm looking for a summer job. if anyone else could give feedback, it would 
help alot.
Thank you. Albert Yoo

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