Interview Tips for Jobs: Why Should We Hire You? The Great Answer

Here's a video created by one of my LinkedIn buddies, Katherine Moody. Katherine is a Job Search Consultant and Recruiter. In this video she demonstrates how to ace a job interview by answering one question: "Why should we hire you?" Katherine offers a step-by-step plan to craft a succinct and memorable positioning statement that will make you stand out from other job candidates.

About the Author
Katherine Moody is a networking guru and job search coach. For more tips on navigating the hidden job market go to Katherine Moody's website HiddenJobMarketSecrets.com. Follow Katherine on Twitter @justathought99.



Further Reading:

• Build an e-Resume/Portfolio Site with WordPress
• IT Resume Template: Optimize Your Resume for Job Boards and Recruiters
• How to Get a Recruiter to Open Your Resume
• 10 Job Networking Strategies to Consider if You're a Newcomer to Canada
• 3 Resume Publishing Tools to Pump Up Your Job Market Value

What Would You Do To Get a Job?

I just read Steve Schimmel’s story of going from handing out resumes on the street to becoming the 13th employee of Google. His story brings up so many questions about what it takes to forge a great career. Was it luck that propelled Schimmel to meet the right people? Or was it Schimmel’s persistence and creativity that propelled him to success?

Even from his humble beginnings, Schimmel graduated Magna Cum Laude and Dean’s List from university in Business. Armed with his degree, Schimmel set out to get his first job. After searching for over a year in San Francisco and not getting anything he started to get desperate.

One day he noticed a panhandler, and a person with a giant placard that said “REPENT” looked him straight in the eye. Something clicked. The next day he put on his best thrift store suit and took the 5am bus to the financial district in San Francisco. While wearing a sandwich board asking for help with his job search, he handed out resumes on the street. This was one of the most humbling moments of his life. He says his faith in people was renewed that day and, amazingly, this lead to him getting a job as an associate equity analyst.

Schimmel eventually left that job to run his own business but ran out of money. He found himself back on the job market. He started by calling CEO’s of the companies that were advertising jobs. He eventually connected with one CEO who was so impressed with his drive, that he referred him to a little startup called Netscape. When Netscape was purchased by AOL in 1999, Schimmel and many other employees moved on.

He took a job with a little search engine company that had just been founded by two Computer Science Ph.D. candidates at Stanford. Schimmel joined them as lucky employee 13. At the time they only had a few thousand searches performed each day, mostly by academics, and no revenues. But, as you already guessed, this little company grew into Google, the world leader in search technology which now brings in billions in revenue each quarter. Steve negotiated Google’s first 100k deal and their first 1M deal. He was on the original design team for Adwords.

In his own words, people gave him a “shot” and he was able to evolve from poor kid to successful businessman to retired by 32 years old.

Schimmel talks about doing things you can be proud of. I love the motto that he and his friends live by, “Don’t be evil.” He says, “It is a philosophy of doing what’s right and letting the money follow.”

One of the lessons that I learned from Schimmel’s story is that you must be persistent, creative and willing to take risks in your job search.

My personal motto is “what goes around comes around”. I believe that if you help others, you will be helped by either the people you help, people they know or internally by the satisfaction that you receive from helping somebody else.

Have you ever used an unconventional method to land a job? What is your personal motto? Share a story about how you made yourself standout?

Related Articles:

Steve Story - Googler 13

How to Sparkle in a Room Full of Diamonds
Build and e-Resume Portfolio Site with WordPress

10 Job Networking Strategies to Consider if You're a Newcomer

The Hidden Job Market: How Tim Got In

Tim Collins

President and Owner, Stafflink Solutions

Stafflink.ca

timc@stafflink.ca

www.twitter.com/stafflinks

www.linkedin.com/in/timrcollins

How to Sparkle in a Room Full of Diamonds

Phones are ringing, calendars’ are booked and recruiters are drinking more coffee -- it can only mean one thing… job openings! The good news? The job market is turning around. The bad news? The competition is fierce.

The amount of well qualified candidates looking for new opportunities is tremendous. So how do you stand out in a group of front runners? How do you make your mark? More specifically, how do you prove to prospective employers, that you are the one worth investing in? When the competition is close and many applicants fit the position, the best thing you can do is find a way to shine.

Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to stand outside an employer’s office with a stereo above your head singing a song to the hiring team. I am simply asking you to put in that extra effort.Not sure where to start? Not a problem. I’ve started a list of some creative ideas that will help you make your mark. Test a few out and see what you can add.

1) Watch Your Manners: Reaching out for a handshake, remembering names and saying thank you can go a long way. Manners not only demonstrate your professionalism but they make employers feel valued.

2) Find Shared Interests: Look around the employer’s office – what is hanging on the walls? You can tell a lot about a person’s interest by their office environment. If you see a fishing picture, strike up a conversation about your last fishing trip. Maybe everyone can do the job but not everyone can listen to someone talk about their eight hour fishing expedition.

3) Promote Yourself: If you look through your office, chances are you have a few promotional items from various companies. Why do they do this? So you remember them! Whether it is creating your own portfolio, blog/website or handing out a personal business card – find a way to promote your personal brand.

4) Snail Mail: In today’s fast-paced environment, an email may seem like the most appropriate form of communication to send a thank you letter. It’s fast, quick and convenient. However, if you want the job – convenience should not matter. Yes, it is true that most employers will want to receive a thank you letter within 48 hours of your interview. So why not express post a hand written thank you letter? Snail mail (that isn’t a bill) always catches my attention.

5) Sizzle in Style: One of our very own Stafflink employee’s used this trick. He wore a baby pink dress shirt to stand out among the sea of black suits. Whether it’s wearing your favourite red dress or sporting that bright bold tie, find something in your closet that helps give you that extra punch. Some people might be taken back if you show up in a bright orange suit, but a bright purple tie just might make you the perfect amount of memorable.

Not every idea will suit everyone. Pick something that feels comfortable and honest. The point is to find a way to show your personality, passion and drive to prospective employers. If you are truly passionate about a position, demonstrate that passion and there will be no stopping you. As a wise philosopher once said, “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius.

Do you have any tips for standing out in the crowd while you're searching for a job? Please share your strategies in the comments.

Related Articles:
What Should I Wear to an Interview for a Job?
10 Job Networking Strategies to Consider if You're a Newcomer to Canada
Build an e-Resume Portfolio Site with WordPress
How to Land a Job in 7 Seconds
What's Your Superpower?


Written by: Michelle De Rubeis, Technical Recruiter, StaffLink Solutions Ltd.
Website: http://www.stafflink.ca/
Email: michelle@stafflink.ca
Twitter: Twitter.com/stafflink1
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/mmderubeis

Welcome to Toronto, Silicon Valley North

A tech revolution is taking off right here right now in Toronto. What does that mean for you and me? It means exciting work opportunities and fierce competition for creative technical talent.

Why are companies such as EA, Apple, Microsoft, RIM, Disney, Facebook, Twitter and Google partnering with and buying Toronto tech companies?

1. Excellent People – Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook says it best, "We have not once bought a company for the company. We buy companies to get excellent people."
2. Great Schools – Toronto has access to a wealth of talent being produced in schools like Waterloo (Masters Program in Technology Entrepreneurship), University of Toronto, Sheridan College, Queens University, and many others which have world renowned Technology and Engineering programs.
3. Community – Toronto has a community of young tech entrepreneurs who are building word class companies and networking at camps, informal meetings and through social media sites like Sprouter.
4. Government Tax Credits – SR & ED (Scientific Research and Experimental Development). “SHRED” gives millions in stimulus dollars to small and medium sized businesses. CEO of Polar Mobile, Kunal Gupta, says he “briefly looked at outsourcing to India or China but between the talent and the tax credits, we realized it was cheaper to do it in Toronto.”
5. Extreme Labs creates an environment for developers to build companies and follow their dreams. They run a very cool training program for young entrepreneurs who are given $5000 and during a 12 week session create products that are presented to a group of VC’s and investors (Dragon’s Den Style). The three companies that were successful last year raised 1.5M.
6. Funding – Money is becoming more available to entrepreneurs. Companies such as Tech Capital, RBC Ventures, Blackberry Partners Fund, Extreme Venture Partners and Growthworks are investing millions in technology startups.
7. New Devices – This tech trend has staying power. Smart phones are selling more rapidly than PC’s. Tablets will gain market share as the price point comes down over the next 6 months. Apps are driving sales of these devices.

Let’s look at some of the recent amazing success stories of Toronto companies:

• Polar Mobile – 6 million downloads of their apps – Sports Illustrated, Time, Food Networks, CNN, CBS, NCAA Sports, and 500 new apps to come for Microsoft
• Five Mobile – custom apps for Rogers, Disney and Sony Pictures – one of their apps for the The Score has over 6 million downloads
• Rypple – just raised 7M – their software integrates smartphones and office email
• Extreme Ventures – invested in 14 tech start ups – 250 staff – one of their companies BumpTop recently sold for a rumoured 35M to Google
• Sysomos – allows corporate clients to analyze Twitter and Facebook conversations – sold last summer for 35M
• Endloop – fantastic app called iMockups that gives developers a template for developing apps on an iPad – all object oriented

Toronto is an exciting place to be right now if you have an entrepreneurial spirit and you’re interested in app development. We are fortunate to have a number of these companies as our clients.

Action Points

• Talk to us about the possibility of working for one of these companies. Email us at cooljobs@stafflink.ca.
• Join the conversation and network with entrepreneurs. Join Sprouter, a Twitter-like community for startups and entrepreneurs, and answer the question “What are you working on?”
• Read more about the tech revolution in this November 2010 Toronto Life Feature Article "Download My App" posted by Kunal Gupta of Polar Mobile:

Tech Kings - Toronto Life Article

   

Related Articles

Top 10 IT Skills in Demand in 2010
Canada's Summer Job Market is Sizzling
10 Job Networking Strategies to Consider if You're a Newcomer to Canada
The Job Market Longtail

Written by Tim Collins Stafflink.ca
timc@stafflink.ca
www.twitter.com/stafflinks
www.linkedin.com/in/timrcollins

3 Resume Publishing Tools to Pump Up Your Job Market Value

We avoid printing paper resumes. It's not only about saving trees. An online resume or portfolio is so much more engaging and revealing. It's searchable, it doesn't pile up on your desk and it's easy to share. Plus, a well-designed online CV or portfolio gives us a window into your work ethic, professionalism and abilities. It's like staging a house before you put it on the market. If it's done well it increases your market value and creates demand for your work. The potential employer will be excited to meet you.

You can make your professional profile sing - literally. Show off your technical skills and work experience with photos, video and slide shows. Showcase projects you've been involved with. Best of all, you can share your resume/portfolio through email, job boards and social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Here are three tools that might help you land that next job or contract:

My Resume by Elegant Themes

Nick Roach's designs are polished and elegant. He offers a cost-effective shortcut to a professionally designed personal website or online portfolio. Set up can be time consuming but it's worth it because you get access to the endless possibilities of the Wordpress platform with Nick Roach's beautiful designs. I'm amazed a the value you get for a yearly fee of $39 - a catalog of premium designs including several portfolio designs plus an online business card template. Potential employers will be impressed. http://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/myresume/

Cons: Set up may be time consuming depending on your level of technical skills.

Difficulty: ElegantThemes works on top of Wordpress - a free, open source publishing platform available at Wordpress.org. You need to register a domain name, sign up with a web host and install Wordpress to take advantage of the ElegantThemes designs. Basic web development skills (HTML, CSS, FTP, image editing) make set up easier. FAQs and an active members forum are available if you need help.

JobSpice Resume Builder

Easy to use, cost-effective and fast to set up. Over 30 professionally-designed styles are available to format your resume. Recommended by PCWorld, Fast Company and Mashable. Basic access is free. For $20/year you can export your resume to PDF, publish it at your own personal URL and add privacy controls. http://www.jobspice.com/

Cons: You can't include images, slide shows, video or hyperlinks so the end result looks like a nicely formatted traditional paper resume.

Difficulty: Easy - if you can use a word processing program you'll be fine.

VisualCV Online Multimedia Resume

Enables you to set up an Internet-based multimedia resume including work samples, charts, video and images. Your VisualCV will have a unique website address. It's free to set up a basic VisualCV. For $59.95 you can customize the URL and create multiple CVs plus some other features. http://www.visualcv.com/

Cons: The formatting is a bit cookie-cutter but it's customizable and the final result is impressive.

Difficulty: To quote VisualCV: "Rest assured that you don't have to be a Web guru to create and share your own VisualCV. In fact, the VisualCV editor makes it a snap to tweak text, add multimedia elements, and rearrange pieces of your VisualCV. And sharing your VisualCV is as easy as clicking a link and telling us who you want to share with."

Bottom Line

I'm a Wordpress fanatic so ElegantThemes.com is my favourite option. But ElegantThemes involves a steep learning curve unless you have web development experience. VisualCV is a great option if you want to rock your resume with multimedia elements but you're not ready to set up a Wordpress site. JobSpice is good choice if you want to get your resume up in a hurry and you don't need all the multimedia bell and whistles. A JobSpice Resume might be a good interim solution while you set up a fancier site.

Please let me know if you have another online resume publishing solution to recommend, or if you have experience with any of the options I mentioned.

Stayed tuned...a tutorial to help you get started with the ElegantThemes "My Resume" option is in the works!

Written by Laura Upcott
http://stafflink.ca/
laurau@stafflink.ca
http://www.twitter.com/lauraupcott
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/lauraupcott


Suggestions fo Further Reading
Build an e-Resume Portfolio Site with WordPress
IT Resume Template: Optimize Your Resume for Job Boards and Recruiters
Your Resume Isn't Only About You, It's About the Reader Too
Resume Tips From A Guy Who's Placed 1000 People
Kawasaki's “1 Page Resume” Rule Revisited

The Hidden Job Market: How Tim Got In!

Here's an excerpt from Katherine Moody's interview with Tim Collins:

Tim Collins is founder and President of Toronto-based Stafflink Solutions, a full service permanent and contract IT recruiting firm. I’m delighted to have had a chance to talk to Tim Collins recently about how he got 4 jobs through the hidden job market mechanism. And how networking has helped his company, Stafflink Solutions, have its best year ever! Continue...

Listen to the interview
See a transcript of the interview

About the Author
Katherine Moody is a networking guru and job search coach. For more tips on navigating the hidden job market I highly recommend Katherine Moody's blog HRJobSecrets.com. Follow Katherine on Twitter @justathought99.