Being human, we all make mistakes. In a job search, unfortunately, we will make mistakes. I once mailed a letter to a CFO and had the wrong name in the letter! We all do it at some point. Go ahead and get it out of your system and make the mistakes, then the key is to learn from them.  I only made that mistake once!

You only have to be 10 minutes late for your interview or have bad grammar or spelling errors in your resume to learn you will never do that again. We become quick learners when those mistakes occur. The more common mistakes we all make come when meeting with a recruiter, a phone interview, an in-person interview, follow-up correspondence, a cover letter and much more.

Chances are, and you need to know everyone makes them, it comes down to mistakes we make with personal interaction related to an interview.  Here is the good and bad news at the same time: since every person is different, every interview is different.  The bad news is no 2 people are alike and therefore it is difficult to know exactly what the hiring manager really is looking for in a candidate. The good news is when you don’t receive a call back, you get to have a fresh attempt with someone new.

There is a tendency to believe if we can just get the interview we will land the job. But too often the interview is where most people struggle. Somehow we believe that we can walk in and ace the interview almost automatically. Sure we prepare, but we still believe we can perform extremely well the first time and every time.

Yet, conducting a successful job search uses the same mindset and perspective as when attempting to achieve any new goal. Whether climbing a mountain, learning a new skill or your first attempt at bowling, no one gets it right the first time. I have had my share of mistakes through the job search process. In fact I feel like I have made most all of the ones you can make. There was one company where I had always wanted to work, and on interviewed with them on two separate occasions. Neither time was good. On one occasion the interview with the HR person lasted no more than 15 minutes – I knew something was wrong then!  This particular company had a very unique culture, and on my second attempt the position I was interviewing for was a step up for me.  I ended up being intimidated by both scenarios and hence did not do well.

After the pain of many interviews I learned the value and importance of understanding the mindset of people and human behavior.  This understanding helped me transform my job search although it took some practice.

Don’t get down on yourself because you didn’t get a call back on an interview, especially in hindsight if you can determine what you should have said or what you probably should not have said.  Share your answers with someone and get their reaction. The key is to learn from the process and not be angry or disheartened. Once I truly factored into my interview process that every person is different, I learned the keys to on how to connect with each person, especially the hiring manager.

A job interview – talking with someone, especially in person is just as much of an art as it is a science. Even if done via Skype, there is still a personal connection to be made. Having great answers to 100 questions is important, but unless you understand the “art” of the process, it will be a challenge to personally connect with the hiring manager. One of the keys I learned was that I stopped trying to be someone I wasn’t. Instead, once I understood that there was much value in just being me, I was much more relaxed, confident and able to convey my expertise and skill set in a convincing manner.

While everyone is focused on key words in their resume and profile, keep spending more time focused on the key words you use in your interview and the key words you hear from the hiring manager. Learning how to listen and learning to interpret what you hear, including reading body language as you probably are discovering, are essential to a successful interview.

View each interview as an opportunity to learn and grow and you will land that job offer because you have become a great candidate. When you become poised and confident in the interview gained from your mistakes in previous interviews you will quickly become the perfect fit for the job.

Please share a comment or question. Struggling in your job search? Click here to break through in your job search. www.garyspinell.com/40keys

When unemployed the question we all want answered is “When is it going to end?”

There is no greater experience of uncertainty as when you are unemployed. In contrast, we much rather prefer having certainty and just as important consistency in our life. Yet, when unemployed, we must deal with both uncertainty and definitely a lack of consistency in what each day, each conversation and each interview brings.

People generally don’t handle uncertainty very well because of the inability to plan and to plan our future involves belief in events occurring in a specific timeframe. Having to manage uncertainty is difficult because of not knowing the conclusion and the timing. When unemployed we not only are extremely eager to know when it will end but what the resolution will look like. This uncertainty can be extremely stressful.

When employed we can establish an end date for a project completion and work toward that goal. The key is that when we are employed we are in control of the process and can actually set the end date and how the outcome will look. Unfortunately, when we are unemployed control is elusive. As much as we can do we can’t make anyone hire us, and definitely not in a timeframe that we desire or require.

It is much easier mentally to know on what specific date an event is going to occur. We know when our birthday is, we know when holidays are celebrated, we know when our children will graduate and we know when we will finish a seminar, certification or degree.

Not knowing when something will occur puts an enormous amount of strain on someone not only mentally, but emotionally and physically. How can you plan for the conclusion of an event when you don’t know when, and if it is going to occur?

How does all of this impact us and what can we do about it? This confusion and lack of decisive information profoundly impacts our thinking, beliefs and actions. Just watch how the stock market makes traders crazy every day, and often people lose money, because they make irrational decisions totally created out of the fact they don’t know what is going to happen.

A human trait is that when we are not sure what is going to happen, we start to make assumptions, or come to conclusions on what next steps to take, mental approach to employ, and adjustment in our beliefs and subsequently what is the best course of action.

In addition, we begin making assumptions and conclusions about our own ability. All too often upon not landing the job offer, our self-confidence is eroded. We may begin to doubt our interviewing skills, our networking skills, the layout of our resume and much more. We doubt until we wonder if we will ever land a job again. Consequently, we feel compelled to change wording in our resume, seek out the latest LinkedIn technique, rehearse another 20 interview questions and work continually on our elevator speech. Yet, when flying a plane and encountering turbulence, the airplane pilot does not land the plane and consider changing the tires, changes to the wings, changes to the engines and maybe a different airplane all together. Instead the airplane pilot adjusts to the wind and storms moving around them, yet remaining focused on the final destination.

In a job search we never really have all of the information on the status of our job search. We don’t know who has seen our profile or resume online, who might have forwarded our resume to a friend, or who might have brought up our name in a conversation. Making assumptions on the depth of our ability and impact of our networking connections can only lead us astray.

Remember you have the right skills, the right expertise and experience. Placing additional pressure on you to hurry and land that job creates unneeded stress and causes additional mental confusion. You also may makes decisions on an knee-jerk reaction instead of clear thinking.  If you know what direction you are headed, trust your experience and keep headed in that direction. An airplane pilot doesn’t spend time helping build the airplane – rather he/she trusts in its ability to fly, and fly effectively. Instead the pilot focuses on continuing to head in the intended direction.

Your time will come. Your job offer is coming. Remain diligent and focused on your path. Throughout my web posts and newsletters, you have noticed I focus solely on the impact of human behavior and mindset on your job search results. Our minds can play enormous tricks on us and impact our ability to be effective in the interview and when networking.  What you believe about yourself, your ability, the job search process, the world and people in general attract to you experiences mirroring those beliefs.  These are THE key factors in what you experience in your job search.

The reason I know is that I had to change the way I viewed myself and the job search process before I landed jobs I desired.  Painstakingly I learned these lessons, and do not wish those struggles on you. When I learned these keys, my job search results changed. And I saw this with others who were greatly successful.

The 40 Keys job search program focuses heavily on how to overcome these mental obstacles while providing a unique approach to job search tactics.  Quite often it’s not your resume or profile that creates the roadblocks to achieve the job offer or achieve any goal in life; rather landing the job all comes down to what you believe about yourself, your ability and your talent. If you have any self-doubts this program will transform your thinking to regain your confidence, effectively communicate your expertise and land that next job.

I know you can do it.  Your time is coming. Believe in you.

Have a job search question? Contact me at gary@garyspinell.com

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How many times have you seen a job description for which you believed your experience and skill set matches exactly and yet never landed an interview? You submitted your resume and networked and yet never heard back, leaving you to ponder what you might have done wrong in the submission process.

You also take that a step further and begin to doubt if your experience is lacking somehow to have failed in at least obtaining a response from the company.  Was it your resume or something on your LinkedIn profile, or did you not submit your resume on the right day at the right time, or should you have called the hiring manager, or maybe your cover letter was lacking?

Most likely it was none of those reasons. A job description can have 20-30 criteria and although you can make the assumption they are listed in order of importance, often they are not. Wouldn’t it be great for job seekers if these criteria were weighted to show you just how important each requirement is to the hiring manager?  Unfortunately, there is another factor: the criteria changes over time- even during the hiring process.

All of this leaves job seekers in a quandary and most certainly a large degree of frustration. I am sure you have been on interviews only to discover even the job title does not match the listed job requirements or the perceived grade level of the job responsibilities.

With this said, the question is really “What can you do about it?” There is something you can do, and at the same time nothing you can do.  Business and people are all different and it is important to understand you will never understand their actions or decisions. At the same time this scenario screams for why it is imperative you have a powerful network. You at least need a chance to get in front of the hiring manager and discuss your experience in detail and ask questions. However, this still may not be enough, but at least you give yourself a chance.

In the end if the hiring manager decides she must have someone with extensive industry experience similar to the company, and yours is modest in that industry, then as hard as you sell yourself, it may all fall on deaf ears. But you need that chance in front of the hiring manager, and if you aren’t granted one, even with great referrals, step back and consider that was not the best fit for you.

Maybe during the entire interview process senior management pushes a project to the front and demands most resources be focused on timely completion of that project. Although you may have been in the running at one point, you may now be moved to the back of the line because someone else has more experience solely in that project completion. Networking at least gives you a chance that you might be heard.

The other challenge is that the hiring manager may not be exactly sure of what he really wants. Sure, we know every job descriptions asks for every conceivable job expertise, but which ones are really the key drivers for the hiring manager? The hiring manager often is not exactly sure what the best combination of skills and talents is for the job – almost as if he will know it when he sees it. Unfortunately, for you the job seeker, that puts you in a major dilemma – how can you possibly answer questions not really knowing what the hiring manager wants if the hiring manager is not exactly sure? This is another reason why asking questions in an interview is more important than having cute answers.

Consider the job search process from the hiring manager perspective. If you have ever been in this position, you first look around for someone internally to fill the position or ask around if anyone knows anyone.  Eventually HR and even Legal push you to write a job description and in haste you put down everything you can think of to require of a candidate. Yet if the hiring manager was going to talk first to a referral of an internal candidate for example, the hiring manager would not have this extensive list of requirements in mind, rather more focused on if the person was a good fit in a key areas.  See how crazy this is? Bottom line, you can’t really be sure if your experience and expertise is what the hiring manager really wants.

But what if you never receive an opportunity to interview and your experience aligns perfectly with the job requirements? Sure, as we know there are hundreds of other candidates with similar great experience and something in their background caught the hiring manager’s eye.  However, remember that a job search comes down to fit, and that fit has to be there from both sides. I have discovered that when I was turned down or never provided an opportunity to interview at a company that eventually not only a job offer came from another company, but the opportunity proved to be better than I had planned for.

This is not just wishful thinking. Looking back I can see that my skills and expertise would not have been fully utilized at some companies, or the company ended up years later struggling financially, or merged with another company changing their culture. At the same time the company where I landed was always the right company for me to learn, grow and excel as long as I remained focused on what I truly was looking for and desired in my next position. Most important each company set me up to take on the challenges and responsibilities of my new position.

About 10 years ago there was a company at which I interviewed and wanted to work, believing the position looked like a great fit. There was another company at which I interviewed, and yet of which I knew little about them.  As it turns out the first company got buried in the economic collapse of 2008 (they were a home builder!). I did not get the job at the first company and instead I landed at the second company and eventually was given more responsibility than anticipated and it turned out to be a perfect growth and learning opportunity.

So remain vigilant and know there is a place where you belong and where you will excel. Instead of lamenting a lost opportunity, or negative thinking on how the company made wrong decision in not hiring you, realize instead the right decision was made in not hiring you – because you belong somewhere else to achieve goals and add skills and make a difference.

Now break through in your job search by obtaining unique and powerful job keys focused on your specific job search challenges. Categories such as interviewing, working with recruiters and networking, common job search mistakes, and the power of a success mindset. http://www.garyspinell.com/40keysebooks/

FREE Job KEYS when you sign up for the FREE job search newsletter!  Questions? Contact me at gary@garyspinell.com.