A Few Tips on Interview Preparation

If you read my last post you know that I completed the hiring process back in June for a marketing coordinator. I was fired up throughout the process because of the disappointing applications.  Maybe I am an old-fashioned Gen X-er but I wanted to hire a rock star and an A player (which I did!) so my standards are high. I have been busy onboarding my new person, so this post is tardy.

I wanted to share my tips on how to prepare for an interview and give you a peak at my actual interview questions.

The Background

A quick recap:  

• The job posting on LinkedIn asked for a cover letter and resume.
• 3 out of 150+ applicants sent both a resume and cover letter.
• Less than half sent a resume.
• Most just sent their LinkedIn profile.

The Process

I typically work independently of HR throughout the hiring process in evaluating resumes and conducting the phone interviews. Since I had been mentoring one of the applicants I wanted HR to be involved all along the way to be fair.   We both reviewed resumes.  I chose the candidates for the first round and she handled all of the communications.  I asked my her to handle the phone interviews. I gave her a couple of questions to ask in addition to hers and I was in the room to hear the applicants.  The two of us decided who to interview in person.

I sigh as I continue writing this.  My shock and fired up-ness continued through the phone interviews.  I could not believe the lack of interview preparation, the poor verbal skills and the absence of enthusiasm.  

• One person used the word “like” 17 times before I stopped counting.
• Another rotated “like, um, you know”
• Another leaned on “ and, what not” as their crutch.

We conducted ten phone interviews although we had invited several more that never replied. Overall they were lackluster and disappointing.  The candidate we hired crushed everyone!

The Questions

I want to share a few of the interview questions we asked and let you judge if our expectations were too high.  The candidates were a mix of recent college graduates and some with one to three years of experience.

Each conversation had its own rhythm based on the candidate and where they took the conversation. Usually, the first question was “Why did you apply?  What did you find interesting about the job or ej4?”  This is a softball question! Of course, we want to know why you are interested! This is your first chance to dazzle us with your enthusiasm and link your background to our job description. This is also your first chance to underwhelm us which most did. If they didn’t go into enough detail about ej4, we asked. It was obvious that most of the candidates spent just a few minutes scanning our site.

If they were just graduating from college, we would ask how they selected their school. Another softball.  We wanted the candidates to feel comfortable so we ask about something that they should be excited to talk about. We could tell some people were nervous and this question was designed to help them to relax.

If they were working, we ask why they were looking for a new position. We weren’t looking for gossip about their current employer. This is another way for them to link our job to the job they are seeking. We also ask what their favorite thing about their current job is. Again, link to our job!  One candidate said writing and designing even though neither were mentioned in the posting. Naturally, we concluded they would not be happy in this position since we have freelance writers and an internal creative director for design.

I believe the toughest question was “Why are you interested in B2B marketing?” This is where the tap shoes came out because everyone danced through their response. One candidate rambled for about 30 seconds and ended with “it’s different.” Which it is, so I guess they deserve a point for that!

Other questions address any past professional experience or relevant school projects. We are simply looking for intelligent, thoughtful answers that sell us on why their background is a good fit for our position.

The final question asks “What sets you apart from the other candidates?  What would you bring to ej4?” Again, giving them an opportunity link their skills to our position.  

The Advice

I want to share my tips for interview preparation but you should know they may sound a bit nerdy.

• Google “tough interview questions”, go to the library or buy a book of interview questions.
• Pick the 10-15 hardest questions that you hate to answer in interviews. Spend some time thinking about your experience and what examples might be the best answer for each question.  
• Write your answers. Open a Google or Word doc and type up your answers. Use your best vocabulary and sentence structure.   This will now be your cheat sheet for future interviews.  
• Include:  “So tell me about yourself.” This is what busy interviewers use when they aren’t prepared and need to get you talking while they think of other questions.
• Go through the job description with a fine-toothed comb.  Compare your experience to the job description. Many interviewers just go line-by-line through the job description and ask you about those things.  The job description is having the test questions in advance.
• Research the company. Be prepared if they ask you, “So what do you know about our company?” Google “I hate x company” and “I love x company.” Find their social media accounts.
• Research the people. Look up the people you’re interviewing with on Linked In, FB and Twitter, Google them.  See if you’re linked to them. Look up senior management the same way. Maybe you have some connection or a common interest.
• Make your own list of questions for the interviewers. Google these too if you can’t think of any of your own. Don’t just ask about culture. Most of these candidates asked about culture. Ours is pretty obvious if you click around our site. So their question about culture showed us they didn’t do much research on our site!

The Conclusion

My advice is simple:  prepare.  Think about your background and how it relates to the job.  Write your answers down. Read and re-read.  The more prepared you are the fewer “like, um, you knows.” These are verbal crutches while you think of your answer. They don’t represent your best interviewing self.

There was a bullet point in the job posting:  “Passion for social media and marketing in general.” I was listening for passion and enthusiasm in the phone interviews.  Don’t confuse this with being an extrovert.  There is an energy that can be conveyed in your responses. Being prepared is also a demonstration of that passion.  Most of the candidates lacked passion and preparation. We hired the one who exuded both.

How to Successfully Apply for a Job on LinkedIn.

I recently went through the hiring process for a new, entry-level marketing position.  It’s a meaty position for a new marketer to gain a breadth of real experience. This is not a gopher position making copies and getting coffee.  Our environment is the stereotype of what the millennials say they are looking for:  entrepreneurial spirit, casual (in wardrobe and atmosphere), freedom to work from home, free lunch twice a month, coffee with all the fixins, sweet and savory snacks, beer and soda fridge, shuffleboard and ping pong. And I also bring my dog to work on occasion!

I was shocked and frustrated by the laziness of the candidates. LinkedIn has an “apply now” button that enables the lazy candidates to fill my inbox.  So, before I share the details, I should say this is solely my opinion as the Gen X hiring manager. I am sure there are other people out there who are willing to accept the lazies.   

In the posting on LinkedIn I stated, “Interested candidates please submit a cover letter and resume.” I think that is clear: a cover letter and resume.  The cover letter shows me a preview of your writing skills and gives you a chance to share things about you that are not on your resume.  It also shows that you can read and follow directions. Here are the results:

No resume

We received over 150 applicants from Linked-In.  More than half did not send a resume.  They immediately went into the virtual ‘no’ pile.

• Some of these were worthy candidates with great experience. A great cover letter would have gotten them a phone interview.
• Some had related skills in non-marketing positions. The cover letter could have sold me on why they were switching fields, why they were interested in marketing and why they were interested in this position.
• Some only had company name and title with no detail.  I don’t know why these people even bothered!  They just showed me they won’t even do the bare minimum!

Resume no cover letter

• Many of these candidates appeared to want to shift careers from HR or Sales to marketing. With no cover letter to explain their goals or transferrable skills, these also quickly go to the 'no' pile.
• Some of these people had 10-20 years of experience. Again, with no cover letter, I don’t understand why they bother. The job posting asks for three years of experience so you can imagine the salary would be in line.  Thanks to LinkedIn, clicking the ‘apply now’ button takes just a second.  So why not?
• Many had typos, misspellings, random underscore and spacing issues. One person said they went to St. Loius University.  Another self-described as a millennial merketer.
• One resume had a bubble design in the background. Another had a floral letterhead.  I found this distracting. If I had been hiring a designer, it might have been more appropriate.

Resume, no cover letter 2^nd chance

• These candidates showed me they will follow some of the directions.  They also made me lower my standards.  I begrudgingly gave them a second chance and asked them via LinkedIn to send a cover letter.
• Several wrote good cover letters and moved on to the phone interview round.
• Over 10 wrote good cover letters and were asked for a phone interview but they never responded. 
• Some never responded with a cover letter. It’s a shame because they all had potential. Maybe they are not interested in the position or company. Maybe they have not checked their Linked-In messaging. Who knows!
• Several wrote horrible cover letters that showed me they have poor writing skills. They were moved to the ‘no’ pile.
• One person must have just reused an old cover letter because they focused on their desire to work in market research, an aspect of marketing not mentioned in the posting.
• One person must have copied and pasted a letter together. In the middle of a paragraph, the font size changed.  If you can’t proof your own marketing materials, I can’t expect you to be successful proofing our materials.
• One candidate declined our request because we had used the word ‘disappointed’ in our message back to them when referring to not receiving the cover letter.  They said it did not reflect well on us.  If I had asked this person to plan social media posts for Twitter and LinkedIn for the next month and this person only finished Twitter, I would be more than disappointed.

Resume and cover letter

• Three people provided both. 3 out of 150+.
• One happened to be someone I had been mentoring for the last few months. This position opened unexpectedly and I thought they were a potential match.  I like to think this candidate would have sent a cover letter before meeting me and on any application, even if it was not requested. They were immediately included in the phone interview round.
• One candidate wrote a poor cover letter and did not have the right skill set.
• The third was included in the phone interview round.

Again, I reiterate, this blog is solely my opinion. I am one hiring manager. Many of these candidates are currently working. They were successful going through the interview process somewhere else.

In answer to my title “How to Successfully Apply for a Job on LinkedIn” I have these tips:

• Create a resume.  Proof it. Have other people proof it. Proof it again. Read it forward for context and backward to find more misspellings.
• Customize your resume to the job description as much as possible. Link your skills to the job post. You don’t need to rewrite the entire thing.
• Write a cover letter.  You can create a template with a standard open and close.  Customize the middle and tie your experience and education to the job description.  It’s ok to show some personality and energy.  Tell me something that is not on your resume that you think might benefit me.  Hiring managers can see through a stock cover letter. That puts you in the ‘bare minimum’ pile but at least you sent a cover letter!
• If you have writer's block, Google it! And then make it your own.
• Proof your cover letter. Proof it again.
• LinkedIn only has the option to upload one Word or PDF document. Make your cover letter page 1 of the document.
• Include a cover letter even if they don’t ask for it.

When you get the phone interview, please prepare and think about your answers ahead of time. My next post will give you my nerdy interview preparation tips.

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8 Reasons Why You Should Use ej4 for Your Employee Training

Yes, this is a blatantly promotional post for my new employer, ej4. I have been here for three months and I love it! I think all employees should have the chance to improve their skills, find new talents and develop new competencies that will help them advance in their career and help their employer be more successful.

Throughout my career I have had many, opportunities for training in a variety of settings:  one-day, instructor led classes, lunch and learns, new manager series and multi-day marketing conferences on brand, lead management, SEO etc. Most of these required at least a full day away from my day-to-day responsibilities and some even required the added expense of travel. I have never worked for a company that had video training available for all employees like ej4 offers. 

So here are the 8 reasons why you should use ej4 or add ej4 to your corporate training program:

On-Demand Videos

Day one all employees have access to the full library of courses.  They don’t have to wait for the quarterly scheduled class or wait until next Thursday.  They can watch and re-watch as needed.  For fun, someone watches a series on ‘presentations.’ Then when they are asked to present at the quarterly meeting they re-watch the series to prepare.  (How often have you ever referred back to the big binder you received from a training class?)

Short-Form, Videos

Our videos average 5-7 minutes so employees can fit them into their schedule individually, not on a schedule determined by a class.  We take a complex topic and break it into 5-6 short videos that are easier to digest than one boring, long video.  In corporate America, many employees spend their days moving from meeting to meeting.  When you have 15 minutes in between, how do you spend your time?  Check email? Chit chat about Survivor?  Now you can watch a quick video on creativity or negotiating or any number of helpful topics! Check out a few free videos on our site.

Creative, Engaging Content

Imaginative graphics, comical sound effects, upbeat music and live hosts make our videos more fun and engaging than the stereotypical corporate training video with local actors in awkward role playing situations! Creative and entertaining videos will keep your employees engaged while the sound instructional design will ensure they are learning the information that will make them more successful and help your company grow.

Fresh, New videos Every Month

We are constantly recording new content to add to our course libraries. (We have studios in St. Louis and Kansas City!) We release new content each month and continue to add value to our clients. From what I’ve seen, we are the only vendor who continuously adds new content at no additional cost.

Videos Accessible on Any Device 24/7/365

Not all your employees sit at a computer all day.  Our platform makes the videos available on any device so your warehouse employees can stay in the warehouse while they watch the safety videos on a tablet or your sales employees can re-watch sales skills videos on their phone in the car before they meet their prospect. Speaking of our platform…

Thinkzoom, our learning management system, is included if you don’t already have one!  This makes the pricing even more appealing.  If you have your own LMS, our videos are Scorm and AICC compliant.

Sales People Who are Not Pushy or Creepy

I sit with the sales reps in an open work environment so I hear them on the phone all the time.  They are patient and persistent in their approach but never cheesy or pushy like timeshare sales people.  We have an awesome product so once you get on the phone with them, they don’t have to be aggressive, they just walk you through the features and benefits and answer your questions. Very often I hear them laughing and joking with prospects, asking for details about their vacation or their kids’ birthday!

Learning Consultants to Hold Your Hand

I sit across the hall from this team so I hear them on the phone sometimes too.  From implementation to daily support you have a dedicated, live human being to email or call with questions as opposed to submitting a ticket to a giant call center and getting a new person each time. They will help you enroll employees, create groups and curriculums, create custom reports etc. They are super nice and have an endless supply of patience.  

Potpourri of Other Reasons

English and Spanish closed-captioning on many videos, comprehensive reporting, video creation tool so you can create your own video content specific to your own needs, training reinforcement quizzes, marketing tool kit to help you promote to your employees and much more!  Sign up for a free trial! (No cc# required)  (Yes, I said this was going to be blatantly promotional1)

So, you can see why I am so happy to be with ej4 and you would be too!  These videos can help employees at all levels including executives. I’ve watched people make a career of not making decisions or managers who are control freaks and don’t know how to empower their employees.  A few simple videos can help them make changes that make a big impact on a company’s bottom line. Your bottom line.

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