Do job interviews make you feel “dragged over hot coals?”
When preparing for an interview, it’s important to approach every question critically, and read between the lines. In “The Grill,” Higher Ed Career Coach Sean Cook and co-host John Mayo, Jr., Area Coordinator for Traditional Housing at Western New England College, will discuss the “questions behind the questions,” and help job-seekers plan their approach to common questions.
In today’s premiere episode of “the Grill” on the Higher Ed Career Coach show, Sean and John discuss the ever-popular first question: “Tell Me About Yourself.”
As we deconstruct this week’s question, we’ll talk about:
The Question (What they ask.)
What the interviewer really means or wants to know.
Ways that you can answer (that are probably wrong.)
Ways you might answer (that are better)
We’ll also take call-ins from listeners who want to take a stab at this week’s question. If you are still out there looking for your next step, call (347) 989-0055 around 11:30 a.m. Friday and we’ll listen to your answer, give you a critique, and help you refine your approach. Maybe you’ll even get heard by your next employer!
Do you like this article? If so…
Have new items from this blog delivered to your inbox, so you won’t miss anything! Plus, get special subscriber-only content, special offers and discounts. Click here to subscribe
Every once in a while, you meet someone who has a definite impact on you. It could be because they are kind and encouraging. It could be because they are damn smart. In the case of Ann Marie Klotz, it’s both.
I had a great opportunity last week to interview Ann Marie, a doctoral student from DePaul University (and Director of Residential Education at that institution) about her thoughts on a couple of great topics. The first topic, “Trusting the Job Search Process” was the subject of last week’s podcast, and it was well-received by listeners and came well-recommended by several other higher ed aficionados, including Eric Stoller.
Our conversation covered a lot of ground, and I was able to ask her about another article on her blog, annmarieklotz.wordpress.com, related to her doctoral dissertation research, which examines roadblocks that women commonly experience in climbing the ranks toward a university presidency. “Understanding Our Impact” delved into ways that higher education professionals can reflect on the ways our influence stays with students well beyond their college years, and is based on Klotz’s reading about the reflections of female university presidents on their college experiences, and the role of mentors in supporting or discouraging their achievements.
Yesterday, we talked about ways that candidates can prepare for interviews by anticipating questions and preparing their answers. As mentioned in that article, questions and answers can be seen as the “currency” of interview. This may have left some of you asking “Where’s the Bank?”
Good news! We’re opening a “question bank” at HigherEdCareerCoach.Com and the Cook Coaching Facebook page. We’ll post links to past episodes of “the Grill” and their associated blog posts, and open up discussions on Facebook on questions and how to approach them.
To get started with the question bank, I’m soliciting submissions from other student affairs professionals, career coaches and human resource professionals. On today’s BlogTalkRadio show, I’ll be talking to our first contributor, Meghan Harr, who shared her list of questions to ask the interviewers. So many candidates overlook the value of asking good questions, but doing so can differentiate you from others in the process. This segment was pre-recorded, due to some professional travel I have scheduled for today. It will air at 11 am Eastern Time and be available for download to iTunes and for streaming afterward.
In my discussion with Meghan, we had a great, free-ranging talk about how she assembled the questions, how she used certain questions to understand not only the position, but the institutional culture, work environment, and her possible “fit” in different positions. You’ll gain some valuable insight that should help you in upcoming interviews.
Meghan also shared a little with me about her involvement in the #saGrow mentor program and how being a mentor has helped her grow as a professional. Please listen to the show by clicking the BlogTalkRadio icon below, and download a .pdf of her questions here. If you’d like to receive other resources like this, directly to your inbox, sign up for my e-mail list by using the Hello Bar link at top, or the pop-up form. You’ll get this information, regular blog updates, newsletters, special list-member-only offers, and my promise that your information will never be sold or shared without your permission.
Contacts from a particularly persistent publicist about getting me to interview someone from Devry about their new Career Advisory Board and career services they are offering their students and alumni.
We’ve covered other issues related to For-Profit Higher Education before, and honestly, I’ve learned a lot. Here are some takeaways I’ve drawn from the above:
From the LinkedIn group discussion:
There are vested interests on both sides, and very strong feelings about the worth of degrees from for-profit schools. For those who have chosen the for-profit route, they come down to improving themselves without sacrificing their families, or fitting further education into their busy lives. For those on the Brick-and-Mortar: defending the perceived differences in the quality of scholarship between online and B & M programs.
There are legitimate concerns on both sides. For on-line pr iogram graduates, a desire to be taken seriously, and to have access to opportunities to contribute to discussions, associations and even teaching opportunities. For B & M graduates, a desire to protect the legitimacy of their scholarship and their degrees, by insisting that programs meet existing standards and accreditation models.
From the USC Report:
The demand for degrees and for an educated workforce is high, and public institutions are increasingly unable to meet this demand, in the face of funding cuts.
There is an emerging public interest in creating common standards about basic courses that would ensure their transferability between institutions, regardless of their public/private status.
Online education will increasingly be a part of the picture, especially for introductory courses.
From my interactions with the publicist and the interview that resulted:
There are for-profit institutions that are trying to serve their students and graduates and make sure their investment results in good jobs that will provide a good return on their investment.
There are some really nice people in the for-profit world, and despite the controversies surrounding for-profit education, their intentions are good, and should not be discounted out of hand, by people who are just more comfortable with the way things have always been.
I share a few more thoughts in today’s BlogTalkRadio podcast, which was pre-recorded, and think that Devry is making efforts worth noting. Please listen and share your comments.
RescueTime is a great tool to help you get a handle on how you spend your time. If you are interested, sign up for the free acount through my referral link and I’ll earn two weeks of free RescueTime. Sign up for a paid account, and you’ll help me extend my account by 30 days. This is also a great way for you to get to use this tool, since referrals earn you free time. I’m sure that many of you will be interested after watching my tutorial video.
Also, if you are entrepreneurial at heart but struggle with marketing yourself, learning how to run business, or you just want to be immersed in social media and have the opportunity to learn first-hand from some great business minds, check out Third Tribe. They have an affiliate program, too, so if you sign up through my link, I will earn a commission.I have found the advice I get there to be worth several times the membership cost, and I can safely say that if I have to trim back on expenses, this will be among the last to go. The community there is awesome, and it goes way beyond the founders (Brian Clark, Darren Rowse, Chris Brogan and Sonia Simone).
I hope you found this tour of RescueTime interesting and that you’ll give it a spin. It’s really been helping me, and I think it could help you, too. My best wishes to you as you find ways to rescue time and find more life in your work/life balance.
Work with Sean. I help higher ed professionals take control of their careers with tailored services including resume and CV development, LinkedIn profile optimization and networking strategy, interview coaching, and one-on-one career guidance.
Do job interviews make you feel “dragged over hot coals?”
Every once in a while, you meet someone who has a definite impact on you. It could be because they are kind and encouraging. It could be because they are damn smart. In the case of Ann Marie Klotz, it’s both.
Yesterday, we talked about ways that candidates can prepare for interviews by anticipating questions and preparing their answers. As mentioned in that article, questions and answers can be seen as the “currency” of interview. This may have left some of you asking “Where’s the Bank?”
