Mark Hirschfeld

For a time I had a “hitch” in my speech. I said “you know” waaaay too much.

I didn’t realize it, but my frequently saying “you know” was distracting to others. The “you know” thing tended to get worse when I was nervous… like in a job interview.

Do you have a “hitch”?

You’ll never be able to replicate this perfectly, but practicing a job interview with someone may reveal a problem that could be distracting to an interviewer. Ideally, you would push “video” on your phone so could review the interview.

By the way, this advice is NOT directed to folks who have a disability that affects their speech which, sadly, will frequently be a bias they will have to overcome in securing a job.

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I’ve been told by job seekers that prospective employers are doing less reference checking, but if you are asked to provide references there is an approach that can best advance your search:

People who offer to give references have your best interests in mind, but it’s often helpful to provide them information about your job search and the company that is asking for your reference.

You can do that by sending your reference information about the job for which you are applying. It’s also helpful to send the reference a copy of your resume and highlight the experiences or successes you think might be particularly valuable for the reference to discuss with a potential employer.

This communication can be particularly helpful for someone who hasn’t worked with you for a time and isn’t as familiar with your recent activities.

As a person who has given references, it is always a relief if I receive this kind of information. I’m in a much better position to provide truthful and helpful information to the potential employer.

There is often a feeling that as job seekers we don’t have a lot of control, and that’s true. This is something you can have some control over—help your references to best tell your story.

My mentor and friend Don Clifton told a story about a neighbor who made his living as a master woodworker. One day Don went to his shop. He watched him mitering the corners of a picture frame, which came out perfect and looked beautiful.

When the job was done Don’s friend looked at him and said: “Don, you got to get a kick out of it every time it fits like that.”

There is some work for which we find tremendous joy and satisfaction, and then there is work that we may do well but is life-draining. Don’s friend had been a woodworker for many years, but still enjoyed when he did the task well.

If you can, find work for which you get a kick, that provides that same kind of feeling. If you don’t know what that might be, step back and reflect on your past work and think about times when your work, even modest tasks, provided that satisfaction.

You’ll probably be asked a question like “what do you find most satisfying in your work?” You’ll have an answer, and a savvy employer will want you if what you enjoy fits with the work they are offering.

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I was conducting a workshop with a group of people who had lost their jobs because of a plant closure. They all knew and worked with each other. I had given the group an exercise for each person to think about their successes at work, which can provide insights into strengths.

One gentleman couldn’t think of any. His colleagues all jumped in to remind him of several successes he had. He told the group he “just thought that was what he was supposed to do in his job.” Although that may have been true, his friends reminded him he did those things very well!

You may have done some things for so long that you don’t realize how special that ability could be to another employer:

~ Think about your successes, where you received recognition from others, won a contest or had a “personal best”.

~Take time to get feedback from others about your successes. Have them look at your resume to determine if there’s something missing that would be valuable to another employer.

What you’ve achieved in your prior work could be the exact kind of work another employer is looking for, so spend time thinking about your successes, even those you may consider modest.

My friend Leigh and I have written a book that has a chapter devoted just to this topic. A link to the book is in my bio.

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A friend of mine was looking at a job posting that had a “preferred skill” of using a certain software application. She didn’t have experience with that application but had used two others that she thought were similar.

She contacted a friend who had worked with both applications. He told my friend that if she knew the one application that she was 90% of the way to knowing the other. She also went online and found screen shots of the application, which gave her confidence that she was well prepared to learn the new solution.

She listed her experience with the other application, and when asked in the interview told the hiring manager she had reached to someone about how easy it would be for her to learn the new technology.

The hiring manager was impressed she had taken the time to learn about their preferred technology, and told her that “in your case I think you’ve shown you are a great candidate”.

None of us will meet every requirement for a job, but we can make the effort to show prospective employers that some of our gaps can be managed and, in doing so, showcase our candidacy.

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You’ve gotten yourself an interview for a job you’re excited about, but you get a sense you might not be their “ideal” candidate. You may have a skill gap, or perhaps you don’t have experience in the industry.

Here’s an idea—address their potential concern head on.

If you go through the interview and they haven’t asked about “the elephant”, you might want to say something like: “You may have concerns about me being a candidate for this job. What are your concerns about me as a candidate for this job?”

And, of course, you will have practiced the answer to the elephant question, acknowledging you may be a different candidate but have the skills and experience that can make you a great fit.

I’m not the kind of person who likes to let an elephant get too comfortable in the living room. Address the potential concern head on, tell your story, and put your best foot forward.

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Mark Twain tells a story about a man who in life was a cobbler, but if he were a general would have been the greatest general of all time.

There’s nothing wrong with being a cobbler, but what if your dream is to be something else?

Your dream job may be out there.

Think you can’t find your dream job? Sue Lemm posted a wonderful story of an employer that heard the dreams of a candidate and CREATED A JOB based on those dreams: https://lnkd.in/gWvTZJSZ

You may need to spend time thinking about the elements of your dream job—your interests, your strengths, ideal work culture, ideal manager, salary and benefits— do this work.

Look, not everyone is going to find their dream job, but you’ll never find something you don’t search for.

Look for your dream job—it might be out there.

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I always wanted to be Indiana Jones, but like him I don’t much like snakes.

I liked that those movies delivered a happy ending, and as a job seeker you’ll need to tell stories with happy endings to prospective employers.

You’ll be often asked to tell those stories when they ask you a question that starts like “tell me about a time when…”

Those happy stories will need to have four parts:

1. What was the problem or challenge you faced?

2. What did you do?

3. What were the results you achieved?

4. What did you learn that you could apply here?

To get ready, write every story down, then learn them and practice telling them. You’ll need several, because maybe an interviewer wants the Star Wars story and not Indy Jones.

People like stories. Give them Indy and Yoda and snakes and light sabers and all.

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I recently corresponded with a friend who heard a colleague of mine talk at job fair about a concept back in the 1990’s that was important if you wanted to make a career change, a concept that is just as important today.

That concept is called “transferrable skills”.

Transferrable skills are those you have acquired in your current and prior work that could be applied, or transferred, to a new employer and/or industry.

A friend of mine had just finished a graduate management program. She also had been involved in coaching. Although those two experiences, at first glance, might not tell a story, I saw an opportunity for her to combine those experiences to tell a prospective employer about her leadership training and experiences. She showed them how those experiences made her a strong candidate.

She got the job.

You too may have a story to tell, where you can show an employer how seemingly unrelated experiences or skills can be just what an employer would value.

P.S. Having trouble articulating your transferrable skills? Drop your resume into your favorite AI tool and prompt!

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You walk into a company for your job interview. You see a poster, often nicely framed, in the lobby. The poster presents the “mission and values” of the organization—the investments they are supposedly making in their employees.

Although they are generally well-intended, I’m often surprised at how little these statements represent what it is like to work there. There is a gap between what they present and what they actually deliver.

That might feel like expensive wallpaper.

As you are considering a potential employer, find out if there’s something more to the place than nice wallpaper. There are numerous online sources, but also talk to former employees, to current vendors or providers of other services to the employer.

No employer is perfect, but if what they are representing as behaviors they value and what they actually deliver to employees is so glaringly different you will want to take that into consideration.

A colleague of mine has a term for this—he calls it propaganda.

Do your homework.

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