by Fabianna Mueti | May 18, 2020 | Career Happiness, Job Applications, Job hunting, Job Search
The world has certainly changed for many of us, and as always, we continue to hope that we’ll see an end to this sooner rather than later. For organizations that are still hiring, assessing candidates virtually is now the new norm, and passing the phone interview is a key step to making a good impression as a job seeker and hopefully proceeding to the next stages of the selection process.
Usually, the phone interview stage is where candidates are pre-screened by the employer to make sure their experience, skills and knowledge are aligned with the needs of the organization. So how do you make sure you excel and proceed to the next steps?
Below are a few tips you can use;
- Review the JD – Before the phone interview, review the JD to familiarize yourself with the skills and qualifications required of the position you applied for, and note down how your competencies align to the same. During the conversation, you need to be able to articulate why you should be considered for the position, thus having the information at the tip of your fingertips is critical.
- Research the organization – This will always be a pertinent requirement. Make sure you understand the services/products offered by the organization, their vision, history, etc. Having this knowledge will help you customize your responses and tie the value you would add to the aspirations they have as an organization, come up questions you can ask for anything that may be unclear and also assess if you would fit into the organization culture. Here’s a guide you can use.
- Prepare answers for possible questions – Usually, the first phone interview can be fairly brief, so you want to make sure you’re being very concise and are answering questions as asked. Because it’s a phone interview, research potential questions on the internet and draft up your responses so that you’re not struggling or taking too long to answer the questions. Make sure your motivation to join the organization, your list of accomplishments, skills, and the value you would bring to the organization are noted down and are clear and persuasive.
- Find a distraction free environment – Considering most of us are at home right now, not all of us live alone. Therefore, if you’re living with others. please inform them early in advance and right before your interview that you’ll be on a call and they should not destruct you. Even if you live alone, make sure you find a place where there is minimal to no noise coming from outside that would hinder you from having a peaceful conversation with the interviewer, remember, first impressions are everything.
- Have a list of questions for the interviewer(s) – It’s important to keep in mind that the ending of the interview matters as much as your responses to the questions asked. This is an opportunity to blow away the interviewer and make them shortlist you for the next stage, so your questions have to be brilliant, and not having any questions is a potential dis qualifier. We recently highlighted 3 questions you should ask after every job interview in an article, have a read. You can, of course, find many more questions on google 🙂 so don’t be afraid to utilize it.
Other tips include:
– Confirm the interview date and time and put it into your calendar to avoid any confusion.
– Find out who you you will be talking to. You can research them on the organization website or on LinkedIn to learn more about them and their role in the organization, do NOT request them on Facebook :), too soon.
– Ask about the next possible steps after the interview. Although you won’t find out whether you were shortlisted immediately, it’s good to tentatively plan and know when you can expect to hear from the employer.
What other tips have helped you excel in a phone interview?
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by Fabianna Mueti | May 18, 2020 | Career Happiness, Self discovery, Succeeding where you are
If you’ve experienced a performance review, then you know how daunting it can be. This is especially exacerbated if the review does not go as well as you had hoped. Ever been told that your performance did not meet the expectations set for you at your job? It’s not a great feeling, is it?
However, it does not have to be the end of the world. There are certain things you can do to make sure you don’t end up losing your job, which is the worst-case scenario. So how do you work your way back to getting a glowing performance review?
1. Understand your blind spots – Take time to reflect on the feedback, don’t let your first reaction be defensiveness. Pay attention to the feedback and take time to internalize it without hurrying to point a finger to other factors. Then, ask for clarifications where need be, understand how your shortcomings may have affected expected outcomes and the impact they may have caused to your department or organization. This can all feel very uncomfortable, however, it’s a critical step that will feed into how you can work on improving your performance.
2. Create SMART goals – Once you have understood what past behaviors led to a bad performance review, it’s time to come up with clear goals that will meet set expectations, to improve. This should be a collaborative process, and so you should work with your supervisor to draft them, leaving no room for assumption. Ideally, you should take the initiative in coming up with these goals because this would make you feel in charge of your development plan, and also shows that you understand what areas you need to work on. Here is a guide to creating SMART goals you can use, which is also applicable to managers/supervisors, for any of you reading this.
3. Have your own Personal Improvement Plan (PIP) – What is a PIP? It’s a tool designed to help you work towards achieving specific goals. It’s a clear plan/strategy for how determined goals will be achieved; what resources will be needed, support required and from whom, expected performance outcomes (KPIs) and timelines, and should have an agreement on when reviews to track progress can be done. You can find multiple templates here. It’s important to point out that PIPs can also be used in other cases, such as when you’re transitioning into a new role, or you just began working in a new organization. In fact, we recommend you try this because it’s a good way of documenting your progress and assessing your performance on your own, in case this is not a standard practice where you work.
4. Put in the work – This simply means that you need to be intentional in the steps you take towards achieving expected goals. This could include but is not limited to; taking up online courses to improve on particular skills and setting aside time to do so, asking a peer to help you learn more about a certain area that you’re weak in, or even shadowing them in certain tasks, etc. If there are any resources that your supervisor should provide you with, make sure you ask of them early in advance, preferably, as soon as you have your PIP created and approved.
5. Ask for feedback periodically – Ideally, the onus is on you to request for feedback from your supervisor(s). Markup days on your calendar (informed by timelines on PIP) where you can talk to them about their views on your progress thus far. This will let you know whether you are on the right track, or if there needs to be a revision of set expectations. You can also request feedback from your peers, who may be helping you in this journey.
Ever received a not so stellar performance review? How did things go?
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Interested in working with a career coach? Contact us today; happycareers@edgeperformance.co.ke!
by Fabianna Mueti | Mar 27, 2020 | Career Happiness, Job Applications, Job hunting, Job Search
Has a recruiter approached you before on LinkedIn? If you answered yes, this means you’re probably doing LinkedIn right. If not, and you’re currently job hunting, you’re in luck today.
Here’s a cheat sheet you can use to up your game and have recruiters approach you.Â
1. Your profile picture – This goes without saying. A professional profile picture is the equivalent of “first impressions matter” and determines whether or not a recruiter will approach you. While a cute family picture may look cute on Facebook, the same should not apply on LinkedIn seeing as it’s a professional platform mostly centered around career-related content and information.
2. Headline – Recruiters use diverse headlines to filter out profiles or industries they’re hiring for. It’s critical that your headline depict the kind of career path or industry you’re in so that you come up in the search results. Avoid using complicated terms or jargon to not hurt your chances of being discovered.
3. Summary – This feature lets you highlight and sum up your career experiences, accomplishments and qualifications, and possibly, what you’re looking to do next. Don’t know how to create a good eye-catching summary? Here’s an article with 5 templates you can use to update your summary if you haven’t already.
4. Career experiences – This includes; your position titles, description of your responsibilities as well as accomplishments and how long you’ve been/were there. Just having your position titles and period of time you were there is not enough. A recruiter wants to get the full list of your work experiences so that they can make an informed decision of how to approach you, or if they need to.
Other things recruiters look for on your profile are:
– Your location; determines how a recruiter should approach you depending on the location of the job they’re hiring for
– Listed skills, endorsements and recommendations from people who have worked with you in the past
– Education and any professional certifications, including any affiliations to professional bodies
– Whether you’re open to new opportunities
Currently, job hunting and wondering how you can utilize LinkedIn to land your next job? Read our blog for 5 tips you can use to possibly get your dream job.
by Fabianna Mueti | Mar 17, 2020 | Career Happiness, Job Applications, Job hunting, Job Search
Asking questions in an interview has always been a skeptical approach for most job seekers we interact with. Many are actually surprised that we encourage them to come for interviews with questions about the role and the organization. It’s not a trick, we just love to engage with our candidates, and ensure they fully understand what they are setting themselves up for! It’s an equal win for both the employer and the employee. And while we’ve shared a couple of linked articles in the past on this topic, today, we’re sharing with you our top 3 favorite questions that we hope more job applicants would ask us and why they’re important.
1. What will be expected of me in the first 60 days?It’s critical that you anticipate and mentally prepare for the role’s expectations, especially during the first few weeks or probation period. This is usually a period where your abilities and contribution to the organization are still being assessed. Therefore, asking this question may prevent you from taking on a role whose expectations you can’t meet within a given timeline. It also shows that you’re enthusiastic about the position and are likely to hit the ground running.
2. What does success look like for this position and how will it be measured? Asking this question makes you aware of the position’s milestones and enables you to re-assess your ability to take on the position, and whether they are aligned to your career goals. Further, this question also shows the recruiter/hiring manager that you’re prepared to be accountable for the positions’ milestones and are not afraid of achieving them. It can also be an opportunity for the hiring manager to re-evaluate the clarity of the role during this conversation and identify any missing pieces.
3. What aspects of this job will be the most challenging? Receiving this information feeds into your decision-making process because it gives you an understanding of the roadblocks you’re likely to encounter and enables you to envision if you’ll be a good fit for the organization. Additionally, this can also be an opportunity for you to communicate your past experiences dealing with similar challenges, further proving your capability to succeed in the position.
Preparing for a job interview? Read our article about getting ready to succeed in an interview and nail your next interview!
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by Fabianna Mueti | Mar 2, 2020 | Career Happiness, Succeeding where you are
What comes to mind when you hear the words; self-care? A spa date? Expensive dinner? Vacation on the beach? All these examples include spending money and that can quickly distract us from taking any action. Luckily, not everything pertaining to self-care needs to be commodified. You can easily take care of yourself by taking up simple zero cost habits that can have a significant impact on your overall well-being. Given we spend most of our lives at work, it makes sense to weave in self-care habits and practices that make our lives easier.Â
We’ve thus put together a few habits you can pick up, that can boost your overall wellness at work.
1. Establishing boundaries – A major way of doing this, is ensuring you’re not letting work spill over into your personal life, at least not to the extent where 99% of your life is work. As much as you can, don’t be pressured to respond to work emails or answer work phone calls when you’re taking time off for yourself. There’ll of course always be the super urgent moments, but it’s important to ensure that this does not become a constant in your life. If it’s absolutely urgent that you work outside working hours, set aside a time slot where you can do everything expected of you. If this is something you’d prefer not doing at all, it’s important that you communicate it to your supervisor, peers or clients as early on as possible.Â
2. Take small breaks – Most of us are expected to work 40 or so hours a week, which means we’re required to be productive for at least 8 hours a day. Maintaining a constant state of productivity for 8 hours straight can be difficult, which is why we advocate that you take periodic breaks. If you feel like you’ve been doing something for too long and you’re starting to become unproductive, taking a 10-15 minute break may help rejuvenate your energy and concentration level. You can also decide to switch tasks after the break unless you’re on a really tight deadline.Â
3. Acknowledge your wins – Patting yourself on the back whenever you achieve something is a form of self-care. Recognizing that your contributions add value and that you matter in the large scheme of things can affirm your sense of self and worth. So don’t be afraid to congratulate yourself, even for the small wins. We encourage you to check in with yourself every once in a while and evaluate your successes.Â
If you’re reading this as a manager, here is an article we wrote last year highlighting the importance of prioritizing your employee’s mental health and how you can create a conducive culture that ensures their well-being.Â
What other ways have you practiced self-care at work? Share with us on our social media pages: Â Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
