How To Turn Job Interviews Into Job Offers

How To Turn Job Interviews Into Job OffersHow To Turn Job Interviews Into Job OffersThis article was updated on August 2, 2017Have you ever come out of an einstellungsgesprch thinking you nailed it only to receive a polite rejection a day or week later? Maybe your resume was the perfect fit and that call back came in lightning fast but you still didnt manage to score the position. Perhaps even your mom, coworkers and professionals friends all thought you were a shoe-in but, alas, still no job.It turns out that it isnt always the fruchtwein qualified candidate that gets the job offer. Instead, employers tend to flock towards candidates who demonstrate an in depth understanding of the common problems and obstacles facing the position, and in turn offer up solutions to overcome them.Real World ExampleThe best way to demonstrate a successful approach to turning interviews into offers is with scenario specific advice. If youre applying for a customer service management position, for examp le, you should be sure to commiserate with the interviewer the difficulties in addressing irate customers and talk about ways youve deescalated situations in the past. When applying for a compliance position, be sure to point out the push and pull between business generation and reducing risk and liability.Why This WorksWhen it comes right down to it, for any job opening there are numerous qualified applicants all vying for a single open position. Similar education, background and experience will place everyone pulled to interview on an even playing field. Qualified candidates may shine on paper, but fail to stand out from the crowd in the interview if they dont demonstrate not only knowledge of their field, but a deeper understanding of the big picture impact on their new potential employer. Identifying common issues allows you to commiserate and to show off your ability to think beyond the skills and tasks at hand.Nobody Actually Likes InterviewsWhether its the interviewer or the interviewee, no one actually enjoys sitting at a table and getting quizzed/asking questions for hours on end. Traditional interview questions can often leave both parties bored and can create an unmemorable interview experience. The less of an impact you make on the interviewer, the lower your chances of scoring that job over a candidate who managed to engage with their potential new employer.Its All in the QuestionsDemonstrating your skill set and understanding of the larger issues facing your employer isnt as difficult as it would seem. One of the best methods of showing off your understanding is by asking thoughtful and in depth questions. Identify a commonMartin Yate CPC, is theNY Timesbestselling author ofKnock em Dead The Ultimate Job Search Guide, andSecrets Strategies For Success. As Dun Bradstreet says, Hes really just about the best in the business.www.knockemdead.com

Transportation Planning Cover Letter Example

Transportation Planning Cover Letter ExampleTransportation Planning Cover Letter ExampleWhen writing a cover letter for an application for a transportation planning job, its important to emphasize your command of both the hard and soft skills that are listed in the job advertisement. In particular, transportation planning requires strongcommunicationandanalyticalskills. Be sure to highlight these skills, and provide specific examples of how youve demonstrated them in your cover letter. Including examples of your direct involvement in projects, along with tangible, quantifiable statistics, provides the hiring manager with insight into your work ethic and the impact youll make in their business. Buzz Words If the job announcement emphasizes other buzz words in its Preferred Qualifications section, try to incorporate these into your cover letter as well. Industry-specific buzz words for transportation planners include phrases such as transportation management, project management, tr ansit passenger facilities, bus stop management, interagency planning, data analysis, public administration, environmental planning, land use planning, manages complexity, and ensures accountability. Example Cover Letter Below is anexample of a cover letterfor a transportation planning job. Use this cover letter sample as a guide when writing your own, but remember to be sure that the details fit your situation and target the specific position for which you are applying. Transportation Planning Cover Letter Example Your NameYour AddressYour City, StateZip CodeYour Phone NumberYour EmailYour LinkedIn Address (optional)DateDear Hiring ManagerYour need for a Washington State Bicycle/Pedestrian Planning Specialist has come to my attention, thanks to your recent announcement on Glassdoor. I provide strong leadership, research, and attention to detail aptitudes. My ability to work well with others, my environmental science degree training, and my extensive professional background in b icycle and alternative transportation planning make for a strong foundation for this position.My experience includes 11 years of serving on the Ann Arbor Bicycle Coordinating Committee (AABCC) and the Washtenaw Biking and Walking Coalition (WBWC), and I am an American Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) member.In my current transportation planning role in Ann Arbor, I attend all planning meetings for major infrastructure projects in the City, neighborhoods, and with business associations in order to provide critique and recommendations. My particular emphasis is in addressing bicycle-pedestrian safety and legal concerns, proactively looking for ways to avoid potential future issues. I also strongly champion Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and advocacy.Other of my competencies and accomplishments includeDemonstrated accuracy in analyzing traffic counts and performing site evaluationsWell-versed in producing Bicycle/ Alt Program literature, maps, resolutions, and correspondences to engage stakeholder and community interest in new transportation optionsSuccess in getting a minimum five percent (5%) of ACT-51 funding to be appointed to non-motorized transportation in the Ann Arbor area into perpetuityStrengthened bicycle-alternative transportation program with increased bicycle and pedestrian facilities, education, and awareness.As a commuting bicyclist logging about 3,000 miles each year since the 1980s and as a regular bus system user and pedestrian, I am able to analyze the function of the alternative transportation system and its needs through daily use.I look forward to interviewing with your department. Please contact me should you desire any further information before then. Thank you, in advance, for your time and consideration.Very Sincerely,Your Signature(hard copy letter)Your Typed Name Expand Emailing Your Cover Letter If youre sending a cover letter via schmelzglas, list your name and the job title in the subject line of the email message. Include your contact information in your email signature, but dont list the employer contact information. Start your email message with an appropriate salutation. Its best to address your letter to a specific person (their name should be stated in the job announcement, but if not, you may be able to find it by calling the company or reviewing their website). When in doubt, though, its acceptable to use Dear Hiring Manager, or To whom it may concern. Use simple formatting, without fancy fonts or HTML (which may become garbled if the recipient uses a different email client than you do). Double-check your letter for spelling errors and grammatical mistakes, and then send yourself a test message to ensure the formatting is clean before sending it off to an employer.

How this senior tech exec stopped manning up and just started leading

How this senior tech exec stopped manning up and just started leadingHow this senior tech exec stopped manning up and just started leadingSeveral years ago, Kirsten Wolberg welches interviewing with a major Bay Area company when the hiring manager urged her to try for a different role than the one she welches gunning for. It was an executive technology role, and there were no other women at leadership levels at the time, Wolberg recalls even the HR manager was a man. Still, she says, I didnt get the sense in the interview process that there was a specific focus on hiring a woman. I think it was very specifically tied to the skills that I brought to the table.So when Wolberg got the job, she hit the ground running, only to halt in her tracks a few months later after receiving her first 360-degree feedback review, based on anonymous input from her coworkers.In her own words, condensed and lightly edited for clarity, Wolberg, whos now chief technology and operations officer at DocuSign (and has held tech punkts at PayPal, Salesforce, and Charles Schwab), tellsFast Companyhow unprepared she was for the criticism she receivedand for her colleagues changed attitudes after the unconscious bias training that followed.RelatedI Was The Only Woman In My Company For Two Long YearsA punch in the stomachI was pretty oblivious to a lot of what was going on. This particular company would do 360-stakeholder reviews roughly after the first hundred days on the job, just to make sure the executives were onboarding in a positive way. When I sat down with the readout of my 360, I realized that things were elend great, and in fact they were quite bad.It was the first time in my career I ever heard this kind of feedback. I had heard other women in technology tell me they were getting this kind of feedback, but it never happened to me. The things that I heard most frequently were that I was too ambitious and I was trying to position myself as a successor to my boss, which was deemed as inappropriate and too aggressive.The other thing I heard was that I really was focused on me and not the team. One of the things Ive always prided myself onand Ive always focused onis the team. So to hear that was like a punch in the stomach. And then the final criticism was just a lot of style points on abrasiveness, too brash, not listening, and talking too much.There were two individuals who were peers of mine who actively said, in every forum, that they were trying to be a successor for my bosss role, and I never expressed anything similar. It wasnt my ambition. So to hear over and over that people have this perception that this is how I was positioning myself was like, Wow It has zero truth, but what must I be saying, what must I be doing, to be giving this impression?RelatedThe One Word Men Never See In Their Performance ReviewsI really started to second-guess myself. Every time I opened my mouth I was like, How is this coming across? I wrote out bullet point by bullet point These are the things that Im going to do to address this feedback. I focused on changing my style, being a lot quieter, and being clear about what my career ambitions were.But I also started looking for a new job, because I really felt like I was in a place that didnt get me. Id just taken the job, and I was super excited about it, butif I wasnt going to be able to be myself and I had to constantly think about everything before I opened my mouth, I wasnt in the right place.I think I owe you an apologyThat was about the time when the company brought in a professional organization that has done a lot of unconscious bias training. What the organizer recommended was that instead of bringing all the women together, we should actually bring the men into this conversation and really start focusing on educating the men around these biases.My boss and my peers were part of this training, andliterally to the points that were on my 360 feedbackthe training experts said, Well, this is what a wo man will hear, and this is whats driving it, through the entire two days of the training.My boss came up to me afterward and he said, I think I owe you an apology because I think that a lot of the feedback that I gave you through this stakeholder-review process was actually more about the unconscious bias that exists and the fact that youre a woman.I felt vindicated. And also, I felt like I had permission to be my authentic selfto really show up as a woman in that space. Thats not to say that all unconscious bias went away after thatbecause it still existedbut I had my confidence back because I had reinforcement, if you will, that what I was feeling wasnt just me.RelatedI Felt Like I Was Representing Every Black And Young PersonBut even though we had the unconscious bias training, this leadership team later went on an offsite where one of the team-building activities we did was that we raced cars on a racetrack using high-performance vehicles. I got out onto the racecourse and theyr e all flying around at 160170 miles per hour, and Im driving the inside of the track at 55 miles per hour. It was clear that I wasnt enjoying it. Then, as we were getting on the bus to go back to the hotel, one of my peers said to me, Dont worry, next time well just get a mani-pedi with you. Those kinds of things just continue to happen.I do think the overwhelming majority of menwantto do the right thing andthinkthey are doing the right thing. Its not until they get the training, and see what theyre doing and how theyre doing it and how unconscious it is, that the changes can really happen.To out-man the menIve been in technology and financial services most of my career, two of the most male-dominated industries. I always felt like the only way I was going to be able to compete was to out-man the mendress like a man, swear like a man, talk like a man, shoulders back like a man, just constantly fighting like a man. It is absolutely exhausting. And over the long run, its not successfu l.It wasnt until this happened that I realized Im never going to be a man, Im never going to out-man the men. To truly be an authentic leader, I need to be a woman. I need to embrace all that. How I engage in debate is different, in the sense that its not as in-your-face as it used to be. I also show more emotion and vulnerability in the workplace than I ever did.My boss at the former company who had apologized to me turned out to be my biggest cheerleader, my biggest ally, and to this day is one of my greatest mentors. Theres a lot of space for men who can continue to help women at every level to continue to grow in their careers. And even though they could start out in a very biased place, men can turn out to be some of the greatest allies for women across the board.More from Fast CompanyWear More Lipstick What I Heard As My States First Female TreasurerI Felt Like I Was Representing Every Black And Young PersonMeet The Woman Working To Make Podcasting More DiverseVideo What You N eed To Know About Airbnbs Major New ChangesThisarticleoriginally appeared onFast Company and is reprinted with permission.