Tag Archives: Interviews

Questions to Avoid at Interviews…Who Gets Raises … Job Search Apps

Questions NOT to Ask at Interviews

shutterstock_151958963At the end of an interview, job candidates should have questions to pose to a future employer. However, here are a few categories of queries that should not make that list.

Questions with obvious answers. If you ask the interviewer to tell you about the company or about the job description, it just shows you haven’t done your homework.

Questions about salary, benefits, or upward movement. Slow down! These answers will come eventually, but from the interviewer. If you push, you send up a red flag that you are looking at the position for the wrong reasons.

Questions about policies that show you in a negative light. Inquiries about Internet usage policy, for example, just might tip off the interviewer that you plan to check social media or shop during work hours. If you ask about drug testing, you’ve raised attention to an issue that may not even be relevant to the hiring process.                                                –from PayScale

Do People Who Ask for Raises Get Them?

Although 43 percent of workers have asked for a raise in the last year, only 44 percent of those received the amount they wanted, according to new research. Twenty-five percent who asked for raises received none at all. Over one-fourth of those surveyed said they were too uncomfortable to ask for raises. This group tended to be at the lower end of the salary scale.                                                                                                                –from The Atlantic

Job Search Apps for Students

Yes, there is an app for that! Here are a few apps to help college students find jobs.

  1. Hidden Jobs App: Tracks hiring announcements to jobs that may never be posted.
  2. Indeed Job-Search App: Offers free access to company websites and job boards via powerful search engine.
  3. iPQ Career Planner: Helps identify the ideal job.                              –from Quintcareers

 

Interviewers Pick Fits in 5 Minutes…Are Business Cards Dead?…Personal Mission Statements

interviewInterviewers Pick Good Fits in 5 Minutes

Nearly half of employers surveyed by CareerBuilder said they knew whether a potential employee would be a good fit within the first five minutes of an interview. Close to 90 percent said they knew within 15 minutes. The survey measured responses of 2,201 hiring managers across all company sizes and industries.

Are Business Cards Dead?

business cardMany Silicon Valley execs won’t “waste” paper by using business cards. Yet despite the trend to exchange contact information using smart phones, many people continue to hand out cards. Even actor Daymon Wayans, who is marketing an app that claims to eliminate the need for business cards altogether, had to gather cards at world’s largest mobile phone conference in Barcelona last month. Still, he only gave out his own card to a few people he really wanted to connect with.

Enhance Career with Personal Mission and Career Vision Statements

Creating a personal mission statement can help provide young people entering the work force with important insights. A personal mission statement describes an individual’s essence in a nutshell and can help define the person’s core beliefs. By defining those values, job seekers can look for employers who share them.

A career vision statement defines what an individual wants from a career. Creating a career vision should take a big picture view of where the job seeker would like to be in the future.

The career Website quintcareers.com offers excellent articles on how to create both types of statements.