Stand Out In Your Interview

Being great at an interview is almost an art form. There's a methodology to it all, but it all comes with a bit of individual flair to stand out and snag the job.

The #1 thing to note is that they already like you on paper. Now you have to bring the personality and charm to the table. In 2010, I did over 50 interviews (meaning with over 50 different individuals) at 25 different companies.  I can often tell within the first 10 minutes of the interview whether or not it's going to work out or not. I have been bored, excited, awkward-ed out, comfortable, and scared sh*tless at interviews. The full spectrum of emotions, but I always knew one thing, they already liked me on paper, so I knew I just had to mesh well and back-up the statements on my resume.

In a Harvard Business Review blog post titled "Stand Out in Your Interview," there were 3 key takeaways that I wanted to emphasize:

Preparation
The article mentions preparation in 2 ways - doing your research to figure out what the job entails and then preparing yourself for the tough questions when they came up. I cannot stress the importance of researching the company and the actual position before you head into that room. Plus, practicing what you will say when the tough questions come up will ease those "pregnant pauses" and make you appear more polished. This doesn't mean canned responses though, it means to at minimum know which direction you'll take your response. 

Go in with a strategy
Think about what key things you want the interviewer to take away from the conversation. Whether or not it's that you offer something outside the box, or connect on a cultural level, think about what will rank most importantly in conversation. AND also know what strategy to take if the conversation goes south. What will you do to keep yourself afloat.

Emphasize your potential
Emphasize what you can do for them. Not what they can do for you. Oftentimes people go into an interview thinking "this job offers me room to grow" or "this job will give me the money I deserve/need" but not thinking that the reason they want to hire you is for what you can do for them. Keep that message front and center. If you were a salesperson, the interview is the client. Sell them.

If you diligently arm yourself with the tools you need before you step into a room with an interviewer, you will already be ready to shine and stand out.

In addition, something that wasn't emphasized was appearance. The first thing I will judge a person on in the interview is based on looks. As rough as that sounds, I am positive a majority of other people will do the same.

In a sea of black suits, men and woman alike, it's hard to be that stand-out candidate. For me, I utilize the "peacock" method. What does this mean? I literally wear something that stands out a bit in comparison to the other candidates. I've worn brightly colored shirts (but still conservative) to interviews. I've found that when I interview, I forget which face goes to what resume, and I usually refer to something in their personality or outfit. For instance, "pink shirt girl" or "fun tie guy." It's weird, but when you're meeting with a lot of people who are all wearing the same tie and suit, it's hard to remember who is who.

Beyond the 3 takeaways, you should be flexible enough to change your strategy if you're not doing well at your first rounds of interviews. If you're at least getting a second round, it usually comes down to whether or not you're the right fit or if there's another candidate. BUT if you're not getting beyond the first round, you should talk it out with someone who is experienced as both an interviewee and interviewer. This will help to identify potential weaknesses.

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How To Be Happier (10 Things You Can Do Right Now)

I always contributed my happiness to the fact that I've often set my expectations low (which is inherently pessimistic), but I'm always pleasantly surprised by the results. Reality is, it may be a combination of being a overtly happy person (if you want to wipe that chipper smile off my face sometimes, I understand) and my ability to keep my emotional side in check (for the most part).

Today Inc brings us "Be Happier: 10 Things to Stop Doing Right Now." We often focus on what we should be doing that would make us happier, but we also need to stop doing a lot of things. In the workplace it means getting your "emotional" side under control. Essentially, we need to stop blaming, trying to impress, clinging onto, interrupting, whining to, controlling, criticizing, preaching to, dwelling on, and fearing others.

Do you think you can take these "steps" toward being happier?

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Finding Your Passion(s)

This one goes beyond career, but it's very important to have a good work-life balance.

I had a quarter-life crisis a few weeks ago that essentially got me thinking about my current passions. (Which eventually culminated in purchasing very expensive sailing lessons.)

Needless to say, I'm still discovering what I'm passionate about every day and my passions are constantly changing. When I left Time Inc in 2010, I was ready to conquer the world. I half considered moving to Europe and working on communal farms for a year (this did not happen, thankfully). During my quest to conquer the world, I got to thinking about what I loved to do and how to go about doing it. The problem was, while I identified things that I was interested in, I actually never set out to do any of those things.

I tried to work on previous interests and try new things - photography, yoga, reading business books. Reality was, passions are not easy to find. Often times you can try to choose them, but they choose you just as much.

I started a new career in 2011 in the ad tech industry, and it forever changed the way I look at what I do. Instead of a job, I now have a CAREER. It's something that I absolutely love doing and I'm incredibly fortunate to be doing it. I tell myself everyday that I'm very lucky. But the story of what I do is for another day. The point is (phew, it only took 4 paragraphs to get here), I'm very passionate about my job, but a few weeks ago, I realized... I need passions outside of work. I work too much.

So I literally plugged into Google "finding your passions."

There is a MULTITUDE of articles about this. But I think finding your passions boils down to a few things:

1. Think about when you are most happy, can you identify what you're doing as a passion?  For me, I find that I am most happy when I'm with friends at a restaurant or when I'm traveling to a new place.
2. What activities do you lose track of time doing? I lose track of time when I'm reading, eating something delicious, or mentoring someone. I devote a lot of time to finding new novels, finding new restaurants to check out, and joining mentoring programs (and finding mentees).
3. What gets you excited? I think because my interests are so varied, when I'm trying something new I'm really excited. This is probably why I have very ill-defined passions, but at the same time, it gives me a multitude of things to be at least semi-passionate about.
4. Eliminate excuses. Just go out there and do something or try something, if you're not taking action, you aren't getting any closer to discovering what you're passionate about.
5. Never quit trying. Finding your passion isn't easy, but be patient and you'll stumble upon it.

I try to follow these steps to discovering my passions, but it's easy to hit a roadblock when you don't have time to look for and develop anything. Luckily, there's always sailing.

Self-Compassion = Success?

I have long felt that high self-esteem equated to long-term success, but I'm not surprised that the Harvard Business Review has hit the target straight on again by reporting on self-compassion. But what is self-compassion? According to the article, self-compassion is

"a willingness to look at your own mistakes and shortcomings with kindness and understanding — it's embracing the fact that to err is indeed human."

This definition makes me feel a bit warm and fuzzy inside as I strongly believe that making errors can become a lesson learned and long-term success is dependent not only on learning from your errors, but also identifying your weaknesses and wanting to improve.

Take a look at the article and decide for yourself if you need a little self-compassion in your life.

(via the Harvard Business Review)

I'm back! Also, Jobs in Ad Tech

It has been awhile since I last posted (2010!) and now it's closing in on 2012. 3 jobs later, my focus for this blog will be mainly in start-ups and technology, of course, in addition to all the other topics that I wrote about before.

What does it mean to find a job in ad tech? Well first, we must answer what is ad tech. The #1 thing to know is that it's booming. Traditional media (print, OOH, even television) is dying. So what does that leave? The limitless world of the web.

Year after year, article after article comes out touting that digital advertising is vastly outgrowing traditional. In fact, eMarketer predicts that digital ad spending will hit about $40 billion this year.

Fast growth has put online ahead of some traditional media, especially print newspapers and magazines. This year, US online ad spending will exceed the total spent on print magazines and newspapers for the first time, at $39.5 billion vs. $33.8 billion. And as online shoots up, the print total will continue to inch downward. -eMarketer, January 19, 2012

This insane growth in digital advertising is big opportunity, particularly with the massive research initiatives around proving its effectiveness, understanding Big Data, and seeking new insights into how to best reach consumers.

So what positions are in demand for ad tech? The #1 field of expertise needed is in BIG DATA. Back in 2011 (last year), we kept saying "2011 is the year of Big Data," but 2012 has seen an explosion of the Big Data trend including a multitude of research, news articles, and editorial pieces.

So where do you go to find hot jobs in ad tech?  Good question. Look for companies in the display, rich media, video, interactive spaces. But in addition, third-party data providers/platforms, ad networks, analytics providers, etc.

Resources to learn more about ad tech:

• AdExchanger Resources A great list of must-read articles for anyone in ad tech or interested in ad tech. 
• ClickZ Marketing News and Expert Advice 
• Digiday 
• Adweek 
• Ad Age 
• All Things Digital The best gossip rag for digital media 
• Lies, Damned Lies Dated, but still useful 101's on Ad Tech

Related articles:

• Landing a Job at an Ad Tech Start-Up (via)
• The 100 Question Test You Have to Pass to Work in Sales at One Ad Tech Company (via)

Interview Skills

I'm back and ready to write some more articles on topics that I've been speaking to lately.

Unfortunately, a lot of my friends have been laid off recently and are searching for a job in this terrible economy. I've picked up a lot of tips and tricks just from chatting with them and I'll write about them in several articles.

Today one of the topics I discussed with a recently laid off friend was "interview skills." She was interviewing for a job in which she found that the highest salary budgeted was $5k lower than her previous salary. Due to this, the interviewer was concerned with how she felt about this (she had worked in the same company before).

What's the correct response to "the position's salary grade is less than your salary range?"

Well, firstly, there isn't a "correct-correct" response, but there is definitely a very very incorrect way to go about it.

Possible scenarios:
A) You want to assure the interviewer that you are willing to accept this positioning. Afterall, "your job comes before salary" right?
B) You tell the interviewer that you understand, but hope they will reconsider due to what you can bring to the position.
C) You express major concern over this salary difference.

Scenario Explanations:
A) The most cautious response. You want the job - yes - but you don't want the interviewer to know that the salary decrease bothers you.
B) This is the "honest" route with a side of caution. Yes, the salary thing bothers you, but because you like the position, you hope that your skills will make them reconsider their budgeted salary.
C) Probably the worst way to respond. You're letting them know money is more important than the job.

I think this was a pretty obvious exercise, but what I should let you know is... IF and ONCE you get a job offer THEN you can NEGOTIATE. It's important to know that when an offer is given, yay, they like you! Yay you're qualified and YAY you have a bargaining chip. You can negotiate with them on salary most of the time and because you already know that you're qualified and they like you, you have a good chance of getting at least some of what you want (even if it may not be 100% of what you want).

Recent Articles on Interviewing:

• Avoiding Appearing Out of Touch in Interviews by Emphasizing the New (via)
• 50 Common Interview Q&A (via)
• Seven Great Questions to Ask at a Job Interview (via)
  

What Are the Demographics of the Recession?

Good article from the NY Times giving the facts on what the general demographics of the Recession of 2008 looks like.

Here are two interesting facts:

• The recession is hurting more men than women
• More Latinos than any other ethnic group are out of work

States that have seen high unemployment before are seeing even higher numbers now. The article suggests that the only thing that could possibly help bring us out of recession successfully is for young people to become more educated. Yet I feel like that's very post Great Depression logic. There is already a large portion of highly educated individuals in the United States and many of them are out of a job (it's not just manufacturing jobs anymore!).

(via)