Getting face time with networking contacts and hiring authorities just got easier. Facebook recently announced the launch of Skype-powered video chat and I’m predicting that this will be a huge boon to job seekers and hiring managers alike.

Facebook claims collective usage of over 700 billion minutes per month and more than 700 million users and this presents a goldmine of opportunity for job seekers. With the new video chat feature, not only will you be able to find people and be found, but you willl be able to have a conversation (aka interview) quickly and easily without ever leaving your desk or your Facebook account.

Networking, sourcing, and hiring could be significantly streamlined with this new functionality and I’m excited to see where things go from here.  Right now the chat feature will only be available for one on one conversations, but I’m hoping that this evolves to group video chat which would make group interviews a snap. Google’s recently released Google+ Hangouts product currently  allows up to ten people to video chat at one time, but it would be great to see something similar offered on Facebook’s platform

Time magazine editor-at-large and MSNBC analyst Marc Halperin, botched an interview yesterday on Morning Joe when he made a derogatory remark about President Obama during a discussion about Obama’s press conference earlier this week. Halperin thought he could say what he was really thinking about the president and his speech and “take it back” at the same time because of the network’s 7 second delay. But that was not the case and Halperin’s expletives are now plastered all over television and the Internet.

I talk to many job seekers who relay stories of “interviews gone bad” and reveal statements they wish they could take back. But in real interviews (and real life) there is no 7 second delay and that first impression often sticks and plays over and over again in the interviewer’s mind.

Here are some things said in interviews that people realize afterwards would be better left unsaid.

What is your biggest weakness?

Candidates often respond by saying they are a perfectionist thinking this answer actually positions them well by showing their diligence. Not so; most hiring managers interpret the “I’m a perfectionist” response as “I can’t get stuff done.” Focus on a “forgivable” weakness that won’t be a deal breaker in the new job. Discuss a competency that was part of your last job role but won’t play a large part in the new job.

What did you accomplish in your last job that you are most proud of?

Sometimes candidates focus on a situation that was a great success but has little relevance to the role the new employer is trying to fill. Showcase an authentic success but pick one that will still resonate with the needs of the employer.

Tell me about yourself.

Job seekers often respond by telling employers they are motivated, hard working, great communicators, blah, blah, blah. They think this is what employers want to hear (and who can blame them; employers use these words ad nauseam on job specs and wonder why they can’t find the right candidate). Focus on competencies and tangible skills, not personal attributes. And for every competency you claim to have, offer an example of how you have used that competency to accomplish something for an employer.

Why did you leave your last job?

It can be so tempting to tell the whole story…the one about the unreasonable boss, the boss who you suspect let you go so he could bring in someone cheaper, the corporate politics that you had no control over. Keep your response short and sweet. If you were laid off, explain the business reasons why the position was eliminated. If you left on your own or were asked to leave, discuss a change in the direction of the department, business objectives, etc. Keep the conversation focused on the business reasons and not the personalities.

Since you will never have the luxury of a 7 second delay during a job interview, the best preparation strategy is to practice. Write out all your stories of success beforehand and make some decisions about which stories to showcase for certain types of questions. While you don’t want to sound stiff and rehearsed, having some sort of a script is a sound strategy and will help you avoid saying something that you can’t take back.

I’ve known a lot of men who were sensitive about their hair. Guys who didn’t want to part with their long locks for the sake of an office job, men who were concerned they didn’t have enough hair, and others who checked out the gray around the temples and thought about coloring it. But men rarely talk to me about their hair prior to an interview and if you think about it, that’s as good a time as any to discuss the topic.

So recently after  reading a post over on The Cynical Girl blog about professional haircuts for men, the topic came to the forefront again.  In her post, Laurie Ruettimann discusses why buzz cuts and long hair don’t work in corporate America. Her post got me thinking about all the other hair styles in between the two, so I spoke to Ann Lindsay,  image consultant and owner of Style of Success (and a strategic partner with Career Solvers) about men, hair, and work. Here are a few things she recommends men  consider.

• Go for a shorter look if your hair is thinning.
• Men in entertainment, architecture, PR, and fashion can have more creative and longer hairstyles. Stubble is also often an acceptable “look” in these industries.
• Men in insurance, investing, banking (anything that has to do with money) need short and tidy hair and little to no facial hair is recommended.
• Scrupulous tailoring of eyebrow, nose, and ear hair is a must.

Has your hair ever been an issue at work? What profession are you in and how do you wear your hair? Do you think it makes a difference? Would love to hear your thoughts.

I often tell my clients that rewriting a resume is like cleaning out a closet. It’s hard to clean out our closet because we can become emotionally attached to some of the items in it. Perhaps it’s a dress you bought a decade ago that is no longer in style or a pair of pants that no longer flatters your figure. Or maybe it’s that impulse buy that seemed so right at the time but turned out to be so wrong and has been sitting in your closet for years.

We struggle with the same issues when rewriting resumes. It may be hard to let go of  the half page dedicated to that Y2K conversion you worked so diligently on in 1999 or the extended paragraph about the direct mail campaign that was novel in 2001 but old hat in 2011. And what do we do about that dot.com venture in 2000 that only lasted 4 months and turned into a dot.bomb? Sometimes we need someone with a more objective perspective to step in and clean out our resume.

I help people let go of the clutter and the irrelevant and get them to focus on the parts of their background that will be most valuable to employers. And I cultivate a similar strategy when I help clients prepare for interviews.

Recently I started thinking about my wardrobe/resume analogy and  how integral what’s in your closet is to your overall presentation and value proposition to employers. A great resume and a great interview strategy should be complemented by a great outfit for the interview. The clothes need to be just as relevant as the message on the resume or elevator pitch.

So I’m thrilled to introduce Career Solvers’ latest service offering…image consulting through a new partnership with Style of Success image consulting for men and Vada Image Consulting for women. Career Solvers clients can now take advantage of the expertise of image consultants Ann Lindsay and Dianne Boras and purchase image consulting services and packages that include personal color and style consultations, closet clearing and wardrobe analysis and personal shopping services. You can learn more about these new services here.

In case you are wondering, I have gone through this process myself. A few weeks ago Dianne examined the contents of my closet. She helped me let go of a skirt that I’ve dubbed my Y2K skirt because it was that old and that unflattering and she convinced me to give up an impulse buy dress that never really worked and still had the price tag on it. She also helped me gain a better understanding of the best colors and styles for my shape. She removed the emotion from my closet so I could move on and remain relevant to the people seeking my professional services.

I hope you will check out this new service. After all, shouldn’t you look as good as your new resume?

You could say that Sarah Palin had a bad interview experience last week when she visited Boston and was asked about Paul Revere’s famous ride. Here are four interview tips for Palin and anyone else trying to perform better during an interview.

1. Research the company you are meeting with before the interview. You can find company information on LinkedIn, TheVault, Hoovers, Glassdoor, and AnnualReports.com. Most employers want to know that you are serious enough about them to have spent some time learning about them before the interview. Perhaps if Sarah Palin had looked at the website for the Old North Church where she was visiting she would have nailed the Paul Revere question.
2. There’s no such thing as a “gotcha” question. You can do well on interviews if you are prepared. Review your accomplishments and try to match your accomplishments to the needs of the company. Even brain teaser questions are not designed to trick you, but rather to help employers understand how you think and solve problems. There really aren’t any trick interview or “gotcha” questions as Palin suggest…Just unprepared interviewees.
3. Don’t make stuff up. If you don’t know something or don’t have an example of something  related to an employer’s question don’t make it up. Focus on how you would handle a particular situation if you were to encounter it. Palin’s responses contained inaccuracies and comments not based on fact.  And just as her inaccuracies were easy to verify, yours may be easy to verify as well.
4. If you flub an interview question move on. If something doesn’t go well during the interview, let if go and move on. Rebound by showcasing examples of your strengths and send a follow up thank you letter reminding the employer why you are a great match for the job and letting them know you continue to be interested. Don’t focus on the negatives. Palin decided to appear on FOX to explain her responses. I’m not convinced that won her any interview points.

According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, 22 percent of the 2,800 employers surveyed said they were less likely to hire a candidate who neglects to send a thank you letter. Of that 22 percent, 86 percent said it showed a lack of follow through and an additional 56 percent said that it sends the message that the candidate isn’t really interested in the job. Since you never how much of a factor the thank you letter may play in the hiring manager’s decision, it’s always best to send one. Here are some tips for crafting a thank you note that scores points with the hiring manager and keeps you on their radar.

A thank you letter creates an opportunity to reconnect with employers.

Chances are you are one of many candidates being interviewed for an open position. Writing a follow up letter allows you to build a relationship with the interviewer and develop rapport. By expressing your gratitude for the interview and recapping the highlights of the meeting, you revisit the reasons you believe there is an appropriate fit between you and the organization.

Following up keeps your candidacy “top of mind”.

Often candidates make the mistake of putting too much control in the interviewer’s hands. They believe that if they are the best candidate, the interviewer will remember them and keep them in the loop regarding the selection process. But this is often not the case. It’s critical that candidates remind prospective employers of their interest in a position and the thank you letter is the perfect vehicle for communicating this.

Written correspondence allows you to sell your strengths again.

While part of the reason for the thank you letter is to express gratitude for the meeting, the document serves a much more strategic purpose. It provides an opportunity for the candidate to repackage their skills and accomplishments into another format and market their value added to the employer.

The document enables you to address points you neglected to discuss during the interview.

Many candidates report that after they leave the interview they think of all the other things they could have said during the meeting. Rather than labeling this a liability, turn it into an asset by discussing these points in the thank you letter and remind the reader of your ability to produce similar results for their organization.

A letter helps develop rapport and increases employer’s comfort level with your candidacy.

A good strategy is to recap a part of the conversation where you and the interviewer shared similar views on a job-related topic. The thank you letter can also be a forum for demonstrating your consultative problem solving skills. By addressing current issues the employer is facing and proposing solutions, you are contributing to the company’s success even before you are on board.

Thank you letters continue to be an important component of a successful job search campaign. But the focus has shifted from a simple courtesy and show of appreciation to a targeted self-marketing tool. By creating letters that validate your candidacy, build rapport, and remind the reader of your value added, you can significantly influence potential employers and increase your chances for subsequent interviews.

Wow! My recent post on AOL Jobs on interview dress and image tips for men garnered a huge response from male readers who were happy to see some TLC for their gender and a bit of gentle guidance on interview dress.

I was lucky enough to snag an interview with Ann Lindsay of Style of Success, an image consulting firm specializing in men. Check out AOL Jobs to read Ann’s interview dress tips for men. There’s more to style than polished shoes and a clean shirt.

It’s a fair question but one that many job seekers dread. Sometimes it feels awkward to explain what you have been doing since you left your job, particularly if you left the position involuntarily. But you have probably been more active during this time than you realize and there is no reason to get tripped up by this question. Perhaps you have been consulting, taking classes, volunteering, or taking care of family. These are all legitimate topics to bring up during the interview. You can read my suggestions for answering this question here.

In honor of Halloween, this month’s Career Collective topic is scary resume and career mistakes. Here are the top ten mistakes I see job seekers make.

1. Inflate their qualifications or lie on their resume. While a resume is not a legal document, it should be an accurate representation of your experience and achievements. I advocate for showing your employment history in the best possible light, buy lying is never wise.
2. Forget to proofread their resume. One of the easiest ways to show an employer you don’t pay much attention to details is to submit a resume with a typo. Check, double-check, and triple check your document. Use spell check and ask a few different people to proof the resume before sending it to employers.
3. Send the same generic cover letter to every employer. The cover letter is the perfect opportunity to make a connection with the employer and explain how you can help solve their problems. Don’t go vanilla here. Tailor your cover letter to the employer and position you are applying to.
4. Neglect to research the company before the interview. With so much information on the Internet there is no excuse for not knowing about the company you are interviewing with. Use Vault, Glassdoor, WetFeet, Jigsaw, and LinkedIn to unearth important information about the companies and people you are interviewing with and don’t forget to take advantage of the research resources available at many public libraries.
5. Ask everyone they know for a job. Unless you want your friends and colleagues to stop returning your calls, don’t just ask everyone you know for a job. Instead ask for information about a company, a person, an industry, etc. Let your contacts know you value their knowledge and insights. Through these exploratory conversations they may be able to point you in the direction of a possible job opportunity even if they can’t help you land that job directly.
6. Neglect to send a thank you letter following an interview. It’s not just a courtesy. It is an opportunity to make a second impression on the person you just interviewed with and remain top of mind. Send the thank you letter within 24 hours of the interview. A few paragraphs with a thank you and a recap of why you are the perfect match for the job can help keep you on the hiring manager’s short list.
7. Fail to leverage their network. Some people feel that reaching out to their network for contacts means asking for favors. It doesn’t. See #5.
8. Snub social media. Imagine being able to go into the offices of everyone you know and look through their Roledex (remember them). That’s what social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter allow you to do.
9. Complain. It’s easy to blame the company or the economy for your job search frustrations. But it won’t get you a job any faster. Find a few close confidents you can vent to and don’t spread your frustration to others. Keep a journal to help you chronicle your search journey and help get your feelings out.
10. Give up. This is perhaps the scariest one of all. And there are a lot of people out there that have given up. Unemployment benefits won’t last forever. At some point you will have to get back in the game. If you have dropped out of the race for several months, getting back in is much harder. Keep at it. Plan job search activities every day. You will be scheduling meetings with friends and colleagues, doing Internet research, building your online network, working on your resume, practicing your elevator pitch, etc. There is a lot to do. Job search is a full-time job. Now’s not the time to take a vacation.

Read what my colleagues have to say about scary resume and career mistakes here.

• Where Are the Wild Things, Anyway?, @WorkWithIllness
• Is Your Job Search Making You Feel Like a Smashed Pumpkin?, @DebraWheatman
• Hiding in Plain Sight, @WalterAkana
• Don’t make these frightful resume mistakes, @LaurieBerenson
• How Not to Be a Spooky Job Seeker, @heathermundell
• A Tombstone Resume:Eulogizing Your Experience, @GayleHoward
• Oh, Job Search Isn’t Like Trick or Treating?, @careersherpa
• A Most Unfortunate Resume Mistake No One Will Tell You, @chandlee
• Oh no. Not the phone!, @DawnBugni
• Halloween Caution: Job Seeker Horror, @resumeservice
• Boo! Are you scaring away opportunities or the competition? @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes
• Your Career Brand: A Scary Trick or an Appealing Treat?, @KCCareerCoach
• How to avoid mistakes on your resume, @Keppie_Careers
• Sc-sc-scary Resume Mistakes, @erinkennedycprw
• A Flawed Resume is a Scary Prospect, @KatCareerGal
• Job Search Angst: Like Clouds Mounting Before a Storm, @ValueIntoWords
• Does Your Career Costume Fit You?, @expatcoachmegan

I recently polled recruiters and hiring managers from across the county to uncover their favorite interview questions. Some of them are standard but others may surprise you. You can learn what questions they love to ask and why here.