Career Musings

When my son was in high school I often told him that if he went away to college, I would be moving next door. He hasn’t moved away, so I have no need to do that. That said, most of us as parents are very protective of our children and sometimes we go way overboard and become known as ‘helicopter parents’ – always hovering around! Of course, this can sometimes have a negative impact on the children, especially when they are in their early adult years.

In a recent survey of Executives by Officeteam, they witnessed some unusual parental behaviours:

• “One parent wanted to sit in during the interview.”
• “A parent called a politician to push me to hire his son.”
• “A mother submitted her daughter’s resume on her behalf.”
• “Someone stopped an employer at a grocery store to ask that person to hire her child.”
• “A parent called to ask about a job applicant’s work schedule and salary.”
• “A parent called during the interview to try to push me to hire her daughter.”
• “I received a call from a father asking about the status of his son’s application.”
• “A parent came by my desk and told me that he expected his daughter to get preference for a position since he was a manager at the company.”
• “A mother called to ask how her child did in the job interview.”
• “A parent called to find out why we did not hire her son and why we felt he was not qualified.”

Whether you are a helicopter parent or not, these five tips from Officeteam will equip you to help your son or daughter navigate the job search maze:

1. Branch out. Networking is still one of the best ways to find a job. Your friends and colleagues can help set up introductory meetings with employers and alert your job-seeking child to opportunities.

2. Give it another look. Review their resume and cover letter. Most times you can spot typos and other errors and make sure the most valuable information is included.

3. Do a test run. Offer to conduct mock interviews with them to practice responses to common questions. Give them constructive feedback on their answers and delivery.

4. Weigh the options. Offer to be their sounding board about potential opportunities. You can provide a different perspective and bring up points they could consider in their decision.

5. Offer encouragement. Looking for a job can be difficult, and it’s important to remain positive. Offer your parental advice and support throughout the process to keep them on track.

Read the full Officeteam article here

Whether we are career coaches, professional resume writers or job seekers, we want to know what’s current and what’s out-of-date when it comes to resumes and interviews. Here is an opportunity for recruiters and hiring managers from across Canada to have their say and let us know what they look for in resumes; whether they bother to read cover letters, and what are their pet peeves.

Please complete this short survey at Canadian Resume & Interview Trends, and pass it along to others in your network.

Thanks. I will be sharing the results in the next few weeks.

As career professionals, we can learn a lot from our clients. They come to us because of their perceived belief that we have all the answers. They believe we have the expertise to help them when they are seeking a professional resume to distinguish themselves from other candidates, or when they are looking for interview coaching to help them tell their stories and get hired.  Little do they know how much they also bring to the coaching relationship and how much we learn from them.

I am coaching a young man who is interviewing for a position in law enforcement. His contact at the agency suggested he retains a Career Coach to help him prepare for the interview. After our first session and I had given him his homework assignment, he sent a note to say someone in his network heard of an E.A.S.Y. way to practice for this particular type of interview. I was intrigued! After all, I had coached other law enforcement clients before and always used the S.T.A.R. or C.A.R. interview technique. Was this something new?

When I reviewed the concept, I found out it operates on the same premise as the C.A.R. technique we had agreed to practice. Now, we wouldn’t have to ditch our original plan, except that we would now be working with a different acronym – E.A.S.Y. – Event, Action, Step taken and Yield (or Outcome). Once we got that straightened out, it was easy to get back on track to prepare for the next session.

If you are a job seeker and would like to ace your next interview, or you are a career coach and would like to incorporate another acronym into your interview coaching toolkit, it’s E.A.S.Y. :

E – Event:                           What event did you face?

A – Action:                         What did you do?

S – Step taken:                  What steps were involved?

Y – Yield:                            What did you get? What was the outcome?

So, Miss or Mr. Job-Seeker, the next time you are preparing for your interview, suggest to your coach that you use the E.A.S.Y. way to tell your success stories and get hired.

What are your thoughts? Please leave your comments below.