A personal note from Annemarie...

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 Friday, 17th August 2007

Hi,

Welcome to another edition of Career Communiqué x-Press. I hope you have had a productive and successful fortnight.

Two of my young nieces are currently travelling throughout Europe and are having a fantastic time. The entire family have been able to keep in constant contact with them through the blog they have set up, seeing the sights (through the photos) and reading all about their adventures as it happens (isn’t technology wonderful). I must admit that at their age I was not as courageous and would certainly not have dared to go on a worldwide tour. I really do admire them. This is a fantastic opportunity for them both, experiencing different cultures first hand, and being able to get up close to many of the beautiful landscapes and magnificent buildings/architecture that are pictured all over the glossy travel magazines.

Fear – that four letter word that often prevents people from stepping out of their comfort zone, and that prevented me from stepping out of my comfort zone to see and explore the world when I was some 20 years younger!

So what are you fearful of? Many of the people I speak with find the thought of changing careers quite daunting, so often remain stuck in a job they do not enjoy, which is very sad. If you or someone you know is opting to stay in a job for fear of taking that initial step to change, then our upcoming Taking the fear our of career change will certainly be beneficial to kickstart your way to a new and more satisfying job. To find out more see the Upcoming programs and workshops section below. I’d love you to join me!

Remember, we always welcome contact and feedback from our subscribers and visitors, so pop across to our Ask Annemarie site and submit your topic of interest, question or comment. Or pop across to our Career Communiqué blog. We'd love to hear from you!

Upcoming programs and workshops

Crucial research to catapult your interview performance and your career.

Have an interview lined up and want to make sure you make the best possible impression? Researching the company and the position to assist you in your preparation is vital and this fortnight’s article provides you with a number of resources you can use.

In this issue...

Coach's Corner:   Crucial research to catapult your interview performance and your career.

Ace that Interview:  Overcoming interview fears and anxiety.

Resources & Tools to Catapult Your Career

 

 Coach's Corner

Crucial research to catapult your interview performance and your career.

Millions of dollars are spent annually on marketing research by savvy companies aiming to maximise their marketing dollars when showcasing their products and services to their prospective clients. They recognise that to capture the attention of a potential customer and successfully elicit a subsequent purchase, their wares must be targeted specifically to their clients’ needs. Unprepared companies that lack thought and consideration in their marketing research and going in blindly with their promotions are often left feeling disappointed at the lack of response their advertising campaigns receive.

When it comes to your job search and ‘advertising’ campaign, which company are you most like? Do you carefully plan and perform extensive research of your potential ‘buyer’ enabling you to align your experience with their needs, or do you just go in blindly? Strategic research and revealing the needs of your potential ‘buyer’ is also crucial for a job seeker. Just like the company not paying much attention to their clients’ needs, if the company’s needs are neglected by the job seeker they too may be setting themselves up for disappointment.

If you are not currently performing any real research and are not convinced this process is vital to your job search and interview campaign, here are a few of the key reasons why you should. Researching a company and job requirements will allow you to:

1. Prepare responses with relevant examples pertinent to the job’s requirements avoiding elimination as you will be positioning yourself as a serious contender for the role;

2. Demonstrate a fit with the company culture;

3. Strengthen your understanding of the company’s structure;

4. Establish whether or not you believe this position and organisation is a good fit for you, to prevent a possible fallout down the track were you to accept the role only to realise that it was not as expected.

Your research should endeavour to pinpoint:

1. The company’s products and services;

2. The company’s target market;

3. The company’s competitors;

4. The interviewer and their role within the company. [If you gained this interview opportunity through one of your network contacts, you may be fortunate enough to gain inside information as to characteristics, mannerisms and communication style of the interviewer];

5. Special projects the company is working on (that perhaps you may have been involved in during previous employment);

6. Whether the organisation is a large or small enterprise which can impact on salary negotiation. Large and longer established companies could have a larger revenue base and may be able to offer a larger salary base compared to a smaller/start-up organisation;

7. What structure the interview will follow. Whether it will be a panel (who is sitting on the panel); a group panel, involving psychological assessments etc;

8. Allows you to develop powerful questions to ask the interviewer.

To begin your research regime you can try the following resources:

• Company website.  

• Advertising brochures and other promotional material. 

• Newspaper articles, professional journals. 

• Your contacts that may have dealt with, or are dealing with, the company including suppliers, customers, existing/former staff.  

• Business Review Websites.  

• Company Research Websites, and the list goes on.  

The information you compile will assist you in preparing relevant situations from your work experience, qualified with past performance and examples. This information should be strategically aligned to the needs of the organisation, thus positioning you as the best candidate for the job.

Not sure how to start researching for your upcoming interview? Feel free to email me, I’d be more than happy to direct you to the right resource: annemarie@annemariecross.com  All the best!

Have a great fortnight everyone!

 Ace that Interview!

Overcoming interview fears and anxiety.

Does the thought of interviewing send shivers down your spine? Are your nerves getting the better of you and preventing you from making the best possible impression during the interview? Here are 2 techniques to calm your nerves and your fears.

1. Recall situations in your career and personal life where you experienced calmness and happiness and set yourself an anchor so that you can trigger and relive these feelings of calmness when in your interview.

2. Close your eyes and visualise the entire interview (step by step) progressing perfectly. See yourself connecting with the interviewer, answering the questions appropriately and making a memorable impression. Notice what you are saying, what you are hearing, and how you are feeling. That’s right!

If you want to learn more about how to reduce your fear and anxiety grab your copy of 10 key steps to Ace that Interview! today Send me Ace that Interview today! 

Need to get your hands on 10 key steps to Ace that Interview! immediately for an unexpected interview? Get a copy of our new e-Book version delivered to your inbox today! Send me Ace that Interview today! 

Note: Want to learn more about how our laser-focused interview telecoaching sessions can drastically improve your interview performance? Click here to find out how.

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