It is 7:45 in the morning, you are still in your pajamas, and the phone rings. It’s time for an interview. This seems normal, right?Phone interviews are on the rise. Why? Quite simply, it is inexpensive, and it’s an easy way for the Recruiting Director to screen candidates efficiently. It takes more time and money – especially for out-of-towners –to interview candidates in person.If you are looking for a job, you better be...

“What are your weaknesses?”For some of you, this is the most painful interview question of all time. I have seen the flush faces. I have seen the beads of sweat. I have witnessed the stammering and stuttering as you butcher your way through an answer.Most people answer the weakness question by taking a strength and trying to disguise it as a weakness. Believe it or not, about 75% of the people I interviewed (and I intervie...

You call but hear no answer. You leave a message but get no reply. You email but receive nothing. You send a letter or even call again but you never hear back. You know they’re interested, and you know it would be a great match. So why don’t you ever hear back?Face it. Recruiting Directors just aren’t that into you. If I’ve heard one common lament from anyone looking for a job it’s this – they rarely hear back on time or at...

Let’s be honest, nobody really likes looking for a job. And although the task of finding a job may seem tough to tackle, it’s really quite simple when you compare it to one of your favorite pastimes: dating.Just like talking about your ex-boyfriend or burping out the alphabet is a sure-fire way to blow a date, there are some things you just don’t want to do when trying to find a job. If you apply these dating guidelines to...

There are things that you did in college that will get you fired in the real world. I know you’re thinking that’s a pretty obvious statement, but the business world is abuzz with the lack of etiquette in the workplace. Top CEOs are “resigning” for their inappropriate use of emails, managers are fuming about personal cell phone usage, and college women are claiming the headlines for wearing flip-flops to the White House....

It’s perceived to be one of the most difficult transitions in life: rejoining the workforce after an extended layoff. Maybe you were raising your children, maybe you were caring for a relative, or maybe you were downsized and had trouble finding a job. In any case, it’s a daunting proposition to pull out the business suit, polish up the resume and start looking for a job.To be sure, it’s not an easy task, but if you prepa...

I know exactly what your cover letter says, yet I can assure you I’m not a mind reader. Let me guess. It’s a single-spaced, full page, four paragraph letter, organized as follows.Paragraph 1: How I heard about the jobParagraph 2: Why I want the jobParagraph 3: My qualifications for the jobParagraph 4: How I’ll follow up on the jobIn addition, you’ve taken what’s already on your resume and simply rewritten it in paragr...