Candidates: How It Is Done

Candidate strategies before interviewing -

• Have you clearly defined what you want to accomplish in your career move?
• Is  this the right time to make a move?
• What are the reasons for making this move? (Are you still challenged, rewarded and satisfied with your current position?)
• What research have you conducted about the industry you want to move into?
• Have you applied directly to a client company? If so Executive Search companies cannot help you because you have "given" your resume to the client company already. This is so even if the recruiter has the job you already applied directly for.

Resume Tips

Your resume represents you in many ways.

• It is a communication tool to get a client company to consider you as a valid candidate.
• It is a broad marketing tool.
• It conveys the pertinent message you want about your past work experience.
• It creates a story about your career progression and your successes.
• It reveals your attention to detail and accuracy because you have spell and grammar checked the document numerous times.
• It indicates your ability to interest the reader.
• It conveys an air of professionalism and self assurance.
• It shows your level of business acumen.
• It enables you to quantify your career successes.
• It shows you have insight.
• It signifies you are serious about your career.
• It shows you are able to convey your success without the need for "creative" use of fonts, underlining, bolding, segment breaks or pictures.

Sales Resume Example Click Here

Resume Mistakes Click Here

First Interview Tips Click Here

Strategies During the Interview

You have at least 4-5 copies of your resume and a copy of your documentation in a professional looking binder (WilsonJones view tab presentation kit).

Discussing your career - be clear, concise, confident and compelling

• Be able to articulate why you did what you did relative to your career path and that each move represented a step toward advancement.
• Practice your responses - be able to make a statement, support it and get to the next subject.
• Be clear on your skills and relate them to the interviewers needs.
• Learn to read the interviewers style and adjust your responses accordingly.
• Understand what an interviewer is asking before you respond. A contemplative pause is alright.
• Be prepared with business type questions that show you have knowledge of the company and that you have given thought to their product offerings.
• Demonstrate a business vision.
• Find out what the manager needs accomplished. Relate back how you can help them do that.

The interview is another sales call except the product you are selling is yourself. How you represent yourself to them is how you will represent their company to clients. There is both a dress code and demeanor code for interviews. Men must wear a suit and tie, be clean shaven and have polished your shoes. Women must wear a skirt suite with hose. Both men and women must not wear any distracting jewelry.  Regardless of the language used by the interviewer you must never use anything but professional language even if the interviewer attempts to lull you into using street language or profanity.

• You must close your interviewer.
• You must ask what is the next step in the interview process for you.
• You must ask for a business card or an email address at a minimum.

 Strategies After the Interview

Send a follow up thank you email as soon as possible thanking them for the interview, expressing your continued interest and why you would be a "great" candidate for the position. Ask to be included in the next step in the interview process.

You may be asked to go on a ride along, ask you recruiter what this involves. You may be asked to create a business plan, your recruiter should have a copy for your review. You should have a list of business references with complete names, companies worked, titles and telephone numbers which you can present if asked.