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Does it feel like your last interview was during the Reagan administration? You are not alone. If it’s been a long time since your last interview, here are some tips for starting off on the right foot.

1. Create an interview strategy. Prepare for interviews by going through the following exercise to reflect on past work accomplishments: Ask yourself what challenges you have faced in each of your positions, what actions you took to address those challenges, and what the corresponding results were. Use past performance reviews, letters of recommendation, and LinkedIn endorsements, and have conversations with colleagues, vendors, and past supervisors to flesh out your unique value proposition. If you are returning to the workforce after being a stay-at-home parent, also do this exercise for any volunteer activities you may have been part of.
2. Practice. Proper interview strategy is not something you are born with-practice will help you crystallize your message and calm pre-interview jitters. Call your voicemail and leave answers to tough interview questions and then playback the message to review the quality of your responses and make appropriate edits. Or ask a friend or colleague to videotape a mock interview to help you prepare for the real thing.
3. Audit your wardrobe and update your interview attire, particularly if you previously worked in a business casual environment.
4. Update your computer skills if you feel you may be lacking in this area or have become rusty on these skills following a stint at home. This doesn’t require a large financial investment. A student can often help you quickly beef up your skills.
5. Get out and meet people. Join professional organizations for your industry and/or job function and leverage online business networking tools such as LinkedIn to find people in your field.
6. Benchmark your salary. If you have been out of the market for some time, your last salary may not represent competitive market value. And if you have been out of the workforce for some time, your past salary will provide few clues to your current earning power. Talk to professionals in your industry and recruiters to uncover information on salary ranges in your field and supplement this information by reviewing salary benchmarking sites such as Salary.com and Payscale.
7. Anticipate obstacles. Hiring managers may be resistant to a candidate who has been with the same company for 20 years or has been out of the workforce for 10 years. Have stories of success ready that show that while you were with one company for a long time, you held different roles, worked for many different people, or went through business process changes that required you to be flexible and manage change. If you are returning to work, focus on the skills acquired during your time away from corporate America that have allowed you to grow and are important to a prospective employer’s current business needs.

This week I was awarded the Breiger Award from the Human Resources Association of New York, HR/NY, the country’s largest chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, SHRM. The award honors exceptional service to the chapter and the HR community and I was recognized for my efforts to help build the chapter’s membership. And while I’m thrilled that the HR community thought enough of my service to recognize my contribution, the benefits to me have been equally valuable and my role as a volunteer has offered me countless opportunities both personally and professionally. Helping out a community or cause that you are passionate about helps you build new skills and visibility that can enhance your professional credibility and open doors that can accelerate a career or a job search. Here are just a few of the fringe benefits that come with volunteer service.

• Community. Volunteering in a professional organization or other association that you care about brings you together with people who share similar interests or values. This common bond helps build relationships and trust. People are much more willing to share information with people who are part of their community because their is already a connection to that person.
• Leadership. Taking on a leadership role in an organization allows you to showcase your ability to direct others and think strategically about a process or project. If you can successfully lead a team or project in a volunteer environment, people in that community will notice and will act as advocates for you when other opportunities to lead surface.
• Skill Development. Through volunteer opportunities you can begin to hone skills that may not be part of you current area of expertise but could be important to your future professional development. Skills acquired through a volunteer opportunity are no less valuable than those acquired through a paid opportunity and the skills you build through a volunteer experience could help position you for a paid opportunity down the road.
• Networking. Informal conversations about companies and job leads go on all the time in volunteer-based personal and professional organizations and affinity groups. Some of the best assignments are routinely communicated through people, not job boards or search firms.

Like any other type of relationship you build, approach volunteer relationships with a “give to give” rather than a “give to get” attitude. You will be helping others and generating some good karma, but in the long run you will probably be quite pleased with the “return on investment” of your volunteer efforts.

Last week I was invited to be part of a panel discussion for a presentation called Overcoming the Fear: Career Strategies for Success in Today’s Economy hosted by the Human Resources Association of New York.

For many, when they first embark on a job search, they go into the process looking to find a position similar to the one they had last. But the problem with that strategy is that the world is a different place than it was when you accepted that last position. It’s no longer enough to identify yourself by your profession. It doesn’t really matter if you are a recruiter,  an investment banker, a mortgage broker, a realtor, or a lawyer. The real question is what skills do you have that today’s employers are buying?  Before you jump into your search, review these questions.

1. What do you do that you are good at and enjoy doing?
2. What are you good at but don’t enjoy doing?
3. What skills do you have an interest in and aptitude for but need to develop further?
4. Where is the intersection between what you like to do and what current business needs dictate?

To gain a better understanding of employers’ needs start asking these questions at networking events, professional association meetings, and informational interviews.

1. What is the most pressing problem your organization or industry is facing?
2. What skills are in the greatest demand in your current environment?
3. What areas do you wish to build efficiencies in?

Through introspection and conversation you can begin to reshape your role and increase the likelihood of  marketing yourself as a candidate that is the solution to an employer’s needs.

To read the thoughts of my colleague and fellow panelist, Jennifer Loftus of Astron Solutions on this topic, check out her  blog post on personal branding and its role in helping you formulate a career direction. The content is geared towards HR practitioners but has relevance to all professions.

Probably the biggest complaint I hear from job seekers about networking tools like Facebook and Twitter is that most people write about nothing. And following someone who writes about nothing is a waste of time. But is a conversation about nothing really nothing or can it sometimes turn into something?

Real conversations are not always about something. No one is deep and profound 24/7. People have conversations to be connected and interact with those around them. They use conversations to engage. Small talk about the weather, a new coffee house, a great sale, or a silly thing your kid just did are all part of the rhythm of a conversation. That’s how relationships are built. So why do we assume that an online conversation isn’t worth having unless someone says something meaningful?

Tweets and Facebook status updates are touch points. They are a window into how a person is feeling and how their day is going. They keep you top of mind with people in your life and can even interest people who don’t know you well. 

Here are a few silly, meaningless status updates from my Facebook page that recently sparked conversations:

1. Helped my son clean out his locker at school today…let’s just say I wish I had been wearing gloves.
2. Two kids, 6 finals, 3 days, infinite drama
3. wishing I could outsource my inbox
4. So now I know why Delta charges $15 to check your bag-so that when they put it on the wrong flight, they have the funds to UPS it to your house the next day. Sheesh!

Different people chimed in on different posts for different reasons. Some were friends, others were colleagues, and others were clients. It didn’t really matter how we were originally connected. For each message there was someone out there that could relate to what I was posting and chose to respond. And that give and take, that sharing of information, that reciprocity, and that ability to empathize with another person is what builds a relationship. And relationships built on shared experiences build trust. And people share information with people they trust. All types of information…including job leads. No interaction is meaningless if it helps support the relationship.

Of course I’m not advocating that all your posts should be about nothing and it’s equally important to give useful information to your network. I’m just saying that the posts about nothing may mean something to someone and might be the springboard for a great relationship.

Today while facilitating a monthly Netshare meeting in New York City, one of the participants mentioned the fact that one of the difficulties in job search is that there is often no way to gage daily success and job seekers often wonder if they are being productive and conducting their search in the most efficient manner.

In order to feel productive and not wonder if you are simply “spinning your wheels” I recommend setting daily and weekly goals for your campaign. These goals will help you remain focused and motivated and will help you realize the small successes that can eventually lead to a larger success in conjunction with your job search. Here are some examples of weekly goals.

1. Set up at least 2 networking meetings
2. Research 10 target companies
3. Follow up on 10 cold calls made the week before
4. Search for and follow up on 10 potential contacts on LinkedIn 
5. Offer at least one hour of your time in a volunteer capacity
6. Attend at least one professional networking event
7. Attend at least one social networking event
8. Spend one hour per week monitoring aggregate and niche job boards
9. Complete one marketing document (i.e. resume, bio, personal marketing plan)
10. Do at least one non job search activity that is just for you

Keep track of daily and weekly progress either by keeping a journal or using a job search contact and information management tool such as Jibber Jobber. This strategy will help you monitor progress on each activity, make decisions about what is working and what is not, and uncover where you need to spend more or less time.

View looking for your job as your full time job for now and plan to spend 35 hours per week working your search. Stay focused on your activity list and hold yourself accountable for its completion. Partner with someone else in search if you think you need someone to keep you on track and give you a gentle nudge.

If you are consistently incorporating these types of tasks into your search campaign, you are making progress towards your end goal. It is the consistency of the activities that often leads to the opened door, finding the needle in the haystack job spec, or reconnecting with the colleague you thought you would never hear from again. And if you need affirmation that you are on the right track, find a local job search support group to hear what others are doing and share new ideas and best practices.

Earlier this week I presented a workshop on creating compelling resumes to members of NSHMBA and during the presentation I spoke about what I call resume “bling”.

Most resumes I read are as flat as the piece of paper they were written on. Many are created using templates that probably came out with a Microsoft Word package released more than a decade ago and very few use any design elements to draw attention to the most relevant content.

Everyone thinks there are certain rules around resumes…rules that dictate conformity…conformity in content, length, and even font size. But the truth is that conformity has no place in a job search. The goal is to stand out and this is particularly true of resumes.

Now, I’m not suggesting that a novel design format will mask poor content; accomplishment focused, metrics driven information about the impact you have had on an organization will generally trump design, but design elements that help the reader focus on your core competencies and achievements will better market you than a drab resume any day. Here are some design tips that will help improve the professional presentation and readability and add “bling” to the document to keep your reader engaged.

1. Bolding. This technique can help accentuate key facts, numbers, company names, job titles, or competencies.
2. Shading. Shaded areas tend to be looked at first. Consider putting a success story, key client list, or glowing testimonial in a shaded box for added impact.
3. Charts and Graphs. Want to show an increase in sales or a decrease in time spent on a particular task? Try using a simple table, pie chart, or bar graph to illustrate your point.
4. Images. Are you in a creative field where an image might best convey the value you could add to an organization? Don’t wait until they ask to see your portfolio. Consider putting a “teaser” in the resume to strut your stuff. 
5. Color. Subtle color can be used to add some flair to a document, improve readability, and capture the reader’s attention.

Last week I presented a seminar called Career Branding: Building Your Brand Online and Offline to members of the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA). During the presentation, a member of the audience asked “Why do I really need to have an online presence?” I get asked this question quite often and I can appreciate the skepticism many have towards putting information about themselves online. But the reality is that many recruiters and hiring authorities are searching for candidates online and many are making screening decisions based on the information they do (or do not) find.  According to a 2009 Execunet survey, 86% of recruiters surveyed do a “Google” search on candidates and reject 44% of candidates based on what they find out about them online. So doesn’t it make sense to take control of your online identity and manage your electronic footprint? Here are 4 questions that every person interested in managing their career should ask themselves.

1. Do I exist online? 
2. Is my identity possibly being confused with others who have the same name?
3. Is the information about me online relevant to my professional identity and is it accurate?
4. Is there anything damaging about me online that a hiring manager could uncover?

Take a few minutes to perform an online identity checkup by putting your name in quotes into a major search engine. If your online presence is next to nothing, confusing, irrelevant, or detrimental to your career, consider branding or re-branding yourself using tools such as LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, and GoogleMe to improve your career brand and better represent your unique value proposition.

This week in my series on career dressing, I talked with Ilona Vanderwoude of Career Branches about tips for helping men find the right interview and career outfits. Ilona recommends investment dressing; having a few high quality pieces in your wardrobe, but cautions that price is often not a good indicator of quality. She suggests that men have at least one suit, three white shirts, three ties, one pair of black shoes, one watch, and a portfolio to start and build their wardrobe from there. Here are some things to keep in mind when you shop.

• Bring a white dress shirt, dress socks, and the shoes you will be wearing with your suit to the store.
• Realize that clothing sizes are arbitrary. Sizes on tags mean little since the actual sizes vary immensely between designers and different clothing lines.
• Don’t expect everything you buy, even if it is the right size, to fit you like a glove. Buying off the rack means you will probably have to have a few things altered to ensure the best fit.
• Look for width before length. If you are going to have to alter your clothing, it is almost always easier to shorten than it is to change the width. The part that matters in your pants is the waist and hips, since this is the area that people with be noticing and it also is important to feeling comfortable. For shirts and jackets, the shoulders and chest are the important parts.
• Don’t be blind-sided by a specific designer, unless this designer’s clothes fit you very well and the items are within your budget. Different designers have different “fits.” A suit is not just a suit. Some are wider in the shoulders across the entire collection, so always judge a suit for how it actually looks on you.
• When trying items on, check yourself out front and back, preferably in a 3-way mirror. And move around in it. Sit in it. Does it bulge in the back?

In addition, Ilona recommends going to an upscale department store to try on a few high-end suits so you know what true quality looks and feels like. Then, armed with this information, shop for quality rather than name-brand suits at the less expensive racks. Look specifically for the quality of the fabric, the workmanship, and the cut. If you can only purchase one suit, go for a medium weight wool navy suit.

Still confused? Consider hiring an image consultant in your area to go shopping with you. Or contact Ilona at image@careerbranches.com for information about her upcoming teleseminar on career dressing.

I just finished reading a YahooHotJobs article on recruiter pet peeves about job seekers. Yves Lemusi, CEO of Checkster makes an excellent point regarding the way job seekers tackle questions about mistakes or weaknesses. He says “people who are so insecure to admit their shortcomings or even their mistakes make me feel that they lack good emotional intelligence.”

Hiring managers aren’t looking for perfect candidates and many need to understand the mistakes you have made in the past so they can understand how the lesson you learned from a previous mistake made you better at what you do and how that experience will help shape the way you make decisions at your next company. In addition to the perception that people who can’t discuss past mistakes may lack emotional intelligence, many hiring managers will infer that the person who can’t admit to mistakes is either dishonest, very green in their job function, extremely risk adverse, or someone who has never been stretched in previous roles.

In order to build trust and rapport with a hiring manager, your interview stories need to be credible. And establishing credibility often includes discussing your past mistakes and areas for improvement. These are hard stories to convey and preparing quality answers requires introspection and practice. Focus on stories that prove how a mistake had a long-term positive result that could only be achieved because the mistake was made. You will score more points with the hiring manager for being authentic than you will for being perfect.

A recent post on recruiter Stephanie A. Lloyd’s blog, Radiant Verocity, lists 75 reasons why a job seeker may not get the job. The point? The interview process can be extremely subjective. You can’t make people like you or force them to think you are the best fit for the job. Some aspects of interviewing and landing a job just aren’t in your control. Stephanie recommends “rather than second guessing yourself or feeling defeated” examine your interview strategy and make note of what could be improved in the future.

While you can’t control every aspect of the interview, you certainly can control the way you prepare for an interview. And by being prepared and ready to showcase strong stories of success and a compelling value proposition, there is a greater likelihood that you will be seen as a strong fit and someone who could quickly contribute to the organization.

One of the best ways to prepare for an interview is to write down all your stories of success in your current and past jobs. Next look for the common themes within these stories of success and identify stories that demonstrate your impact on the business…particularly how you have helped the companies you have supported make money, save money, save time, grow the business, keep the business, or create new product. Next match these stories to potential interview questions and make decisions on which stories you could showcase to prove you have the particular competency the hiring authority is asking about in the interview question.

Remember, when you walk into an interview, you are often an unknown. The hiring manager needs to feel confident that there is little risk in hiring you and that you will be able to get up to speed and perform the job successfully quickly. Strong stories of success help mitigate the risk and make hiring managers feel confident in you and your abilities. Strong stories of success also help strengthen rapport with the hiring manager and increase your “likeablility.”

Take charge of the parts of the hiring process you can control and don’t sweat the things you can’t. There will be times when the job is filled internally or the chemistry between you and the hiring manager just isn’t there. It happens to everyone. Accept it and move on. Invest your energy in honing your interview skills, creating and maintaining an impeccable online identity campaign, and targeting companies with cultures that are in synch with what is important to you. This combination of research and preparation may help increase the chances of being seen as the perfect fit during your next interview.