About Andy Expertise I can help prepare candidates for job interviews; assist in discussing problems with your supervisors or peers; help in creating a resume that gets results; answer general work related questions.
Experience I have been in a management leadership role for the past 30 years. I have extensive knowledge re: the interview process, problem solving, team building, communcation with executive management, company mergers, downsizing, outsourcing of jobs, project management, disaster recovery, office politics, management consulting, business ethics,career changes, job relocation to another part of the country & becoming an agent for change within a corporation.
I'm 19, fresh out of highschool. My job experience includes babysitting pets and the occasional human child.
I can not find a job. I've been looking for over a year.
I've been to several interviews, but after "We'll call you," I never receive that call.
What am I doing wrong?? I know you can't answer that directly because you haven't been there with me.
I try not to be stiff and mono tonal. I answer their questions with what they are asking without volunteering information. I try to smile and laugh when necessary, yes ma'am, no sir, if there's something I can't answer I tell them. Every interview I've left has always been with a smile from both parties.
*sad*
I've been to petshops, to restaurants, to retail stores.
I don't know where else to look or what else to do.
It's making me so depressed.
Can you help..at all?
Answer Hi Kayla,
OK, I’ve got some ideas for you to consider.
Kayla, we all have certain talents & one of the tricks in life is to capitalize on those talents. We also have qualities that make up the composition of who we are. Talents are things that you can do; qualities are traits of who you are. So what we need to do is create a list that will help inform the interviewer what you can do as well as giving them a little insight into who you are. For example, some talents may be communication skills both written & verbal; technical skills such as internet skills where you research information; customer service skills where you solve customer problems; analysis skills where you can look at a problem, understand the problem & think of a creative solution. Some traits may be honesty, dedicated, confident, eagerness to learn, thorough, dependable, friendly etc. We all have some of these traits & this is what you need to get across to the interviewer so that they come away with a good idea of who Kayla really is. Just answering the interviewers question without offering up examples to prove your answer is not telling the interviewer enough about you.
There is something that I’ve recommended before & which I’ll recommend to you. Make yourself a mental “30 second commercial” of yourself. By that I mean, take 30 seconds to tell the interviewer why Kayla should be chosen for the position & practice your Kayla commercial in front of a mirror & in front of friends. The practice is so that you’ll know it by heart & believe it or not so that it doesn’t sound rehearsed but just normal conversation. Something like this…. “Hi I’m Kayla & I recently graduated from XXX. I am dependable, honest, detail oriented & possess excellent customer service skills. I am a fast learner who would be an excellent addition to your organization.” How does that sound?
Skilled interviewers know when someone is not being totally truthful or making up answers as they go along. If your interview is lasting less than 30 minutes, that could be one of the issues that needs to be corrected. Kayla, if you are asked a question & you do not know the answer, it is OK to say “Sorry, but I don’t know the answer to that question. However, I’ve learned excellent research skills while in school & I learn quickly.” In this way, you turn a negative into a positive. Trying “to think of an answer” is shown in your body language & facial expressions. Immediately the interviewer can tell you are searching for an answer & sometimes you make a bad situation worse.
Your “20 second commercial” will help you break the ice” in a warm friendly manner which will help set the tone for the rest of the interview. Now Kayla, remember something very important. You are being interviewed because something in your education or work history sparked an interest in the interviewer. They want you as much as you may want them. This is very important to remember during the whole interview process. Keep this in mind as well Kayla, any interviewer that acts like a jerk during the interview isn’t someone you want to work with anyway.
Looking for a job is a job in itself. It takes a lot of research, networking & involves highs & lows. It sounds like right now you are experiencing some of the lows. That’s normal & so is the frustration. So let’s do this…..put together your list of skills, quality traits, likes/dislikes & send them to me so I can get a better feel for who Kayla is. From there I can help identify some job possibilities that match your skills. I’m willing to help you land the job of your dreams but you have to do this legwork first for us to move forward.
Kayla, if you decide to do what I’ve stated above I’m willing to help you. If you decide not to, I wish you all the best in your career search. When time permits, please fill out the allexperts.com questionnaire. Best of luck to you.
