More than anything else I want to thank my husband, all of my good friends, and my previous coworkers who supported me during the last 11 months of my job search. You kept a roof over my head. You introduced me to hiring companies and helped me get interviews. You convinced me not to sell myself short and to hold out for a position that I really want. You told me to focus on what I am best at. You took me out for a beer and a burger or a nice lunch when I was down (Now I owe YOU lunch/dinner! You know who you are!)

Words just can’t express how thankful I am!

Linda’s back….

First off, this is a position that I really, really want. Since I’ve been interviewing it is one of only a very few that I have been very excited about. This isn’t pretend excited, this is chomping at the bit to get started excited. I was beginning to wonder if such a job exists or not… well, it does.

The reason for this post is because I learned something completely new and different. I’ve done a lot of interviewing. I mean a LOT. I’ve probably personally interviewed well over 100 people. I’ve asked technical questions, I’ve asked behavioral question, I’ve made people really squirm. On the other side of the interview table, I’ve learned to answer questions with stories about my past rather than general feel good statements. This week I learned an interview technique that applies extremely well when you are interviewing for a role that has many different interpretations. Ask the interviewee to present what the role means to them in 10 minutes or less. SO Simple. Duh! I should have thought of this!

Actually, it’s a little more than that:

• Describe what you think that this role is
• Describe how you’d approach this particular role in this company
• Describe what makes you uniquely qualified for this role

So simple. But yet, so effective. I put together 8 slides and presented them to a panel of interviewers who then asked me questions about my background and my presentation. It was a quick, effective way to get to understand how a person would approach a job. I’m going to remember this for when I am interviewing to fill positions again.

So, you’re probably wondering… how did my interview go? I’m cautiously optimistic. My one regret is that I wasn’t able to sit down with everyone individually. It is much harder for me to make a connection with people when I am talking to a roomful. I don’t know how much that hurt me.

Some argue that the loss in happiness due to unemployment is actually worse than that due to divorce. It can lead to passivity – a lot of television watching – and alcohol consumption. Even in countries like Holland and Sweden, which give the unemployed good financial support, there is still a drop in happiness, health, and mental health. And you don’t get used to it, even after two years; and when you go back to work, there is a scar, some permanent damage to our capacity to enjoy our work.

wow.

I’m not going to deny it, being unemployed is tough. There are days where I have what I call “household ADD”. I find myself wandering from room to room doing little things here and there but not really finishing anything. It is weird, especially for me because I am usually pretty focused. Some days are worse, there are times where I feel more than a little hopeless. But, that’s ok. I wallow in it for an hour or two, and then I get over it.

However, it hasn’t been all bad. I have a great network and a lot of good friends who have done their best to help me in my search, but the economy isn’t really cooperating. That’s not their fault, nor my own. Thankfully my family can live on one salary for an extended period of time. And even more thankfully, my husband is still gainfully employed.

I’ve also done a few things to maintain a schedule and to help provide a daily purpose. I usually do not turn on the TV until after my husband comes home from work. I don’t need it to keep me company – during the day it is just a bunch of mindless junk anyway. Occasionally I’ll watch “Cash Cab” while I’m on the Stairmaster because I find it fun to play along. Every morning I eat a healthy breakfast to start my day. I always workout for about an hour in the morning. There is nothing that lifts my spirits more than a good workout. I have days where I don’t want to do it, but I find that if I drag myself into the exercise room and just “do a little something” that I’ll complete a full workout and feel much better afterwards. I’ve also come to love my local library. Reading is a great way to expand my mind and I’m in the habit of reading about a book a week now. Best of all, it’s FREE! I hope that I can continue this once I start working again.

Having all this extra time has allowed for a lot of reflection as well. There have been times in my life where I’ve been on that hedonic treadmill, pure and simple. I wanted a new car, some nicer clothes, a better house and so on. I’m not a big “shopper” in the usual sense, but when it comes to some of the bigger wants I’ve had them all. I’ve come to realize that they never make me happy – they typically add more stress. New car? Don’t get it dinged in the parking lot! Bigger house – how much are my taxes?!?!! Come to find out I don’t need a lot of stuff to be happy. You know what I felt most grateful for yesterday? Here are the top 3 (and there are many more):

1. Napping on the floor in the sun with a really warm purring black cat
2. Eating eggs benedict and steamed broccoli with hollandaise sauce for dinner
3. Feeling the satisfaction of having a clean house

What is missing here? Everything to do with money, career, and possessions. I’m a driven person. I’m not patient. I’ve been told that I can be too competitive. When I look at my life and who I am, those parts of me aren’t really the highlights. They’ve made me appear successful on the outside. What makes me really successful – and what will make me survive this period in my life – is all about who I am on the inside.

If you want to get a feel for what this book is like – check out an adaptation from the book on his website. How Do You Know If Your Dream is Obtainable?

I’ve never read any of his books before and I just happened upon this one in the library while I was in the throes of navel gazing about my own future. These last 9 months (nine!! where does the time go?) of job searching and soul searching have been both good and bad. At first I really needed the time off but more recently I’ve determined that it is time for me to *DO* something productive. The question has been: “what?” Do I want to keep doing what I had been doing? Or do I want to try doing something completely different with a huge learning curve and a higher likelihood of failure? I’ve gone back and forth from one day to the next. I’ve been on interviews that seriously felt like my soul was being sucked out of my body… and then I’ve regretted not being more enthusiastic about the position! Well, maybe my gut was trying to tell me something. I think that it is time for a change. I am always happiest when I am learning something new. The bigger the learning curve and the more support I have while learning, the better off I am.

This book really helped me put my dreams about the future into better focus. I think that my favorite question is “The Ownership Question: Is my dream really my dream?” Who hasn’t said that they want to do something because it’s what they are “supposed” to do? Clearly that’s not your dream. Or maybe you are doing something for someone else… that too, not yours. Sorry. How about you want to keep working on something because you’ve been doing it for all of your career but it isn’t fun anymore? hmmm. Sounds like that isn’t your dream anymore either.

I’m all for leveraging strengths and I know what mine are. I connect with people and I like to think that I bring out their best. I don’t lose sight of the big picture. I am extremely organized and I can be detailed oriented when necessary. I can run a complicated project like no ones business. I just need to apply all that to something a little different than what I have been doing.

I leave you with this final thought:

“Think of your comfort zone as a prison you live in – a largely self-created prison. It consists of a collection of cants, musts, must nots and other unfounded beliefs formed from all the negative thoughts and decisions you have accumulated and reinforced during your lifetime.” Jack Canfield

When I was younger my teacher once asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. Over the years there were a lot of different answers, but this one I distinctly remember. I told her that I wanted to have enough money to build a community where people who weren’t as fortune could live and get educated so that they could break the cycle of poverty. I haven’t done that – it takes far more money than I will ever have. I know there are many issues with that plan, but I think that it speaks to my ideal of “doing good”. Who wouldn’t want to do good daily in their job?

I don’t think that I could live with being the person who created the atomic bomb – no matter how amazing that discovery was. I’d rather be the person that made nursing homes just a little safer for seniors, or maybe someone who found a way to make green technology really affordable on a mass produced scale. What would be better than saving the planet one kilowatt at a time?

I don’t need to be famous in the good I do, I just want it to matter to someone even if it is in the littlest way. I believe that if enough people are doing good it provides a mechanism for all of the little things overcome the bad. I expect the best from strangers and treat them with kindness (still working on occasional bouts of road rage, but hey, I’m only human!). I’ve recycled since I was a child – before it was fashionable. I’ve carried reusable shopping bags for more than 10 years – who needs plastic. I buy produce, meats, cheeses, and bread from local farmers and bakers. I never buy pets, I always adopt from no kill shelters. If you come to my house in the winter – better bring a sweater… In the summer prepare for a heatwave. I do these things in my personal life, and I want to do them in my professional life as well.

I’m still searching for my next opportunity and I prefer it to be a “good” one.

Don’t you?

I have a few things that I like to do before I interview with a company. Depending on the company and the information that is out there, this can be quite a bit of work – and a lot of times I can’t quite get to it all. Most of this is common sense I hope, but I thought I would write it down for others to think about.

I’ll start at the point where you’ve done enough looking into a company and a position to know that you want to send your resume in for consideration. At this point you should know a bit about the industry, the company and its publicly available financial information. You’ve made it through the resume screening process – and you’ve been contacted for an interview.

First off – ask a lot of questions when the recruiter or HR representative calls you. Find out exactly which group you are interviewing with. This will help you determine what product(s) they are responsible for. Many times the job description will not clearly state this. Don’t forget to ask for the interview schedule and names of the people you will be speaking with during your interview and what their roles are. Knowing if someone will be a peer, a superior or a subordinate and knowing if their role is technical or administrative can help you figure out what to expect when you talk to them.

Next go to the website. Many companies have an entire section devoted to “working at the company”. READ IT! if you haven’t already. You’ll want to concentrate on anything related to corporate culture to understand how you could fit in. Company blogs are great for this. Some sites even have hints about what your interview will be like. You’d be foolish not to pay attention to this information. One company that I talked to required a technical presentation to executives and senior management as part of their process. I knew about this far in advance of my interview day so I could plan for it carefully beforehand.

While you are on the website read as much as you can. If it is a large company with a huge amount of information on the web, concentrate on the appropriate line of business. What I mean by this is to read about the products that the group you are interviewing with is working on. Read the last 6 months worth of press releases from the company to learn about any interesting acquisitions, product releases or corporate sponsorships. Read the company’s most recent report to shareholders. If the company is not publicly traded, do some research on any investors that they mention. Expand your search from there if you have the time.

Once you feel like you’ve hit the important areas on the corporate website, start to branch out. Take the company name and search for the competition. Go to wikipedia and look up the company and its history. Go to yahoo finance or another finance site that you have access to and learn about the company’s recent performance if they are publicly traded.

Take those product names and search for the competition online. Search for product reviews online. Read them.

Ok – that’s a good start regarding the company. Now, the people. This is the fun part. Don’t think of this as stalking – think of this as market research. Keep in mind that the company probably has already done these types of searches before talking to you. This will help level the playing field. Google everyone on your interview list. See what you can learn about their industry involvement, where they’ve been quoted in the press, and maybe even what their personal hobbies are. Read their blogs if you can find them. Look them up on Facebook. A lot of people have public profiles.

My favorite is to look them up on LinkedIn. You’ll find out where they’ve worked and where they went to school. Sometimes you’ll find that they have worked the same place you have, or they have worked with a friend or old coworker. Once you have that kind of information you can learn more about their personality by talking to your contacts. You can also use this to form a bridge – knowing the same people – provided they are people that you both like and respect can help you develop a relationship with your interviewer.

Obviously all of this research won’t help you if you’re not qualified to do the job you are interviewing for. What it will do is make you more comfortable with the company and the people you will be talking to. This will help you come across as more confident and knowledgeable.

Oh – and don’t forget to make sure that you are prepared for skills and knowledge based questioning. Know your resume inside and out!

Back when I worked at Nortel Networks we made a point of using behavioral interviews for positions at all levels in our group. Frankly, I am surprised by how few organizations do this. As an interviewer you can get a much better view into how people really are, and how they will fit into your culture when you ask them to describe specific events in their career. It is crystal clear when people aren’t actually speaking from experience but are merely trying to spoon feed you what they think you want to hear. Personal and specific experiences are sometimes very difficult to talk about. Candidates who talk about them honestly come across with integrity.

Some of my favorite behavioral interview questions include:

• Tell me about the biggest disappointment that you have had in your career.
• Tell me about a time when you had to work with an unproductive person. How did you handle it?
• Tell me about a time when you had to put an employee on a performance improvement plan or had to terminate them.(for managers)
• Tell me about the project that you are most proud of. What do you consider your biggest career success?

It’s always great idea to ask followup questions. Some of mine are:

• What was the most important thing you learned from the situation?
• Were you happy with the result?
• If you had another chance, what would you have done differently?

As an interviewee I’ve found that even when your interviewer is not using the behavioral style of interviewing you can use behavioral responses to your advantage. Telling a story about your actual experiences allows the interview to better get to know you and how you actually work. It also allows them to see how you learn both from your successes and from your mistakes. Personally I have learned a lot more from my mistakes than I have from any successes that came easily.

One thing that has never changed for me is that it is always so hard to say goodbye to the good folks that will be sorely missed. Once someone isn’t a coworker anymore I tend to lose my “game face” and my emotions leak out. It’s hard not to feel sad when I get a big hug from someone I really liked seeing every day. When I leave I always try and say goodbye to every person I worked with. Every single one. It is a taxing day, and this time I didn’t quite manage it. There were a few folks (and some of you read this blog) that I missed. It wasn’t intentional, our timing was just off. Goodbye – it’s been fun – best wishes – may we meet again.

There are people from each and every company that I’ve worked at that I wish I could still work with. They are all different. Some are quiet. Some are loud. Some are always serious and business-like. Some are always looking at the funny side of work. Some really pushed my buttons but they made me a better person in times of confrontation. Some are sensitive and helped me to realize when I might be stepping on toes. I’ve tried to keep in touch with most of the people I developed a connection with. Sometimes it is difficult because work was the only common interest. Other times old coworker became lifetime friends. And, one of my favorites is when old coworkers become new coworkers under different circumstances. It’s so nice to see a friendly face that I know I can trust.

When my old coworkers and friends found out that I lost my job, I received a huge outpouring of support. Frankly, I was shocked. I got notes and phone calls from people all through the span of my career. I heard from people in CT at UTC where I worked fresh out of college, I heard from IBMers from 15 years ago that I haven’t seen since, I got great support from ex-Nortelers, those that went through the Caspian days, and of course from some ex-coworkers from my recent position. Thank you everyone – I hope to see you all again in another company someday!

Your previous experience just doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is how you perform today and if the skills that you have are directly relevant to the company that you work for. Close enough isn’t good enough. Sometimes there just won’t be a role for you going forward even if your performance is good. Just because you were successful at something before doesn’t mean that the organization hasn’t changed around you.

Right now I am struggling to absorb this. In the 23 years my career has lasted, I have never found myself involuntarily out of a job until now. Looking back at that – considering I have changed companies a number of times – preferring small and underfunded ones – I have weathered the dotcom bust while working in a startup – it is quite an amazing statistic. It’s an interesting place to be and it surely will change the perspective of this blog somewhat. I’m a little angry, a little sad, but a lot hopeful. I’ve been looking for the proverbial kick-in-the-pants to motivate me to do something different – and here it is. In a few short days I will no longer have a desk to go to and an identity that can be defined by my position.

I am so fortunate compared to many others who are in my predicament. I am not living paycheck to paycheck. I will still have good health insurance through my husband’s employer. I received the news during my favorite time of year – May/June – before it gets too hot and after the days have gotten longer and the cold is gone. Hope springs eternal when my garden is blooming.

I have the time to decide what I want to do and when I want to do it. Right now I think that the opportunities are only bounded by my imagination. I have a list of projects a mile long that I want to accomplish. I want to dive into some of my hobbies full speed as well. I am actually worried that I won’t get to everything that I want to do. Imagine that! I think I will be too busy!

Korn/Ferry’s Career Playbook: Winning Strategies in Today’s Job Market

In early 2009, The Korn/Ferry Institute launched a new thought leadership series called “Korn/Ferry’s Career Playbook: Winning Strategies in Today’s Job Market” to address executive job seekers’ most frequent and pressing questions.

The first article in the series explores the best ways for an executive to ensure a positive outcome to their job search, and is based on insights from a number of seasoned Korn/Ferry consultants who were interviewed for the piece.

Article