Interviews: Don't Downplay Your Accomplishments

A job interview is supposed to be you at your best. I know YOU would never do any of these things, but there are a few REALLY bad mistakes that candidates made while I was interviewing them.

Top Five Stupid Mistakes

5. Taking a pen off my desk and clicking it throughout the interview

4. Sitting with one leg over the arm of the chair

3. Starting at birth when answering the question "Tell me about yourself"

2. Lying about or embellishing job accomplishments

1. Presenting me with homemade blueberry muffins after the interview

Of course, these seem obvious to you, but you'd be surprised with how many people mess up their one chance to make a good impression.
There are other "not so obvious" interviewing habits that you need to break.

Earlier this week, I told you about interviewing Bad Habit #1: Saying that perfectionism is your weakness

Bad Habit #2: Downplaying your accomplishments
If you're not going to "toot your own horn" in an interview, who will? The interview is your place to shine. You can be confident and assertive without being arrogant or aggressive. If you are lucky enough to make it to the interview, it's essential that you speak confidently about your previous job accomplishments and experiences. An interview is not the time to be humble. If you're confident in yourself, the Recruiting Director is more likely to be confident in hiring you.

www.jobbound.com

Interviews: Perfectionism is NOT the perfect answer

Hopefully, you've given your resume some attention, and you're on your way to a new "you" for 2006. Now, it's time to focus on Resolution #2: Quitting those bad habits! We'll leave the smoking, drinking, and gambling concerns to those great 1-800 hotlines, and we'll focus on those bad interviewing habits that could kill any job interview.

1. Don't kid yourself; being a perfectionist is NOT a valid weakness! Recruiting Directors do not fall for the old "I'm going to take a strength and disguise it as a weakness" approach. Working "too hard" or "too much" isn't going to cut it either. In fact, it just makes you look like you're trying to put one over on the interviewer.

Instead, try to talk about an actual weakness that you have in a thoughtful and insightful way. Think about the following:
-What your weakness is
-How you discovered it
-Why it's important to fix it
-How you're trying to improve upon it

That sounds a lot better than "I'm a perfectionist."
It works for pretty much any weakness you have…unless it's something like "I just don't like to be around people - I tend to get violent." But in most cases, a well thought out weakness can make you sound quite impressive. Be insightful, honest and compelling and you can't go wrong.

For more help quitting those bad interviewing habits call 1-800-979-1121 or check out www.jobbound.com.

Win a FREE Resume Service!

You've made your New Year resolutions, and you may be discovering that your pledge to "get a makeover" is a little harder than you expected. Well, everyone needs a little outside help sometimes. Asking for help with your resume is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of extreme intelligence and self-respect!
So I'm going to offer a little FREE assistance to two lucky people. The question is:

Are you the best? Are you the worst?
Either way, you can win a free JobBound service!

Take our Quiz: "How good…or bad…is your resume?"
Email your score and your resume to info@jobbound.com.

JobBound will award the misguided candidate with the lowest score with a free resume revamp! JobBound will award the brilliant candidate with the highest score a free mock interview.

Here's the chance to give your resume the makeover it deserves.

Be the best, or the worst, and win!

*Your score is not automatically computed. Remember to email your score to info@jobbound.com to qualify. Competition ends March 1, 2006.

www.jobbound.com

The Truth about Your Resume

I have a sneaky feeling not everyone could pass the quiz: "How good-or-bad-is your resume?" At the risk of using a very complex and uncommon quote, I must say, "Sometimes the truth hurts." But often, we need the truth to inspire and move us to action.
The truth is: A Recruiting Director typically spends only 15 seconds looking at a resume! The truth is: A Recruiting Director may think your current resume is best served as a lightweight basketball that she shoots into the trash can. I know it hurts to hear that, but check out the next resume makeover tip that will help you win points with any Recruiting Director.

Resume Makeover Tip #2: Drop the excess weight! Unless you have over 10 years experience, your resume should only be ONE page. Maximize your space and use a professional format to present your "15 seconds of life" on ONE page. Don't use long sentences and paragraphs. Recruiting Directors like it simple: bullets.

www.jobbound.com

Get a Makeover!

Getting a makeover just allows the true, wonderful "you" to burst out! It's all about unlocking your potential and reestablishing your confidence. So could you hand a Recruiting Director your resume right now with complete confidence that you are marketing the best you?

Surprisingly, 99% of resumes are not as good as they can be!

When it comes to something as important as landing a job, don't you want to make sure you're presenting the best? Take our resume quiz, "How good-or bad-is your resume?" and see how you measure up. If you fail, you should probably call JobBound. And you should pay attention to our tips:

Resume Makeover Tip #1: Draw attention to your best qualities! Your resume should have three sections: Education, Experience, Activities/Interests. In the Experience section, list your entries from most to least important - not necessarily in chronological order. Repeat...your resume does not have to be in chronological order!! The Recruiting Director scanning your resume starts at the top and works his way down. If you haven't caught his attention at the beginning, he won't make it to the bottom.

Next time, we'll help you whip your resume into shape with Resume Makeover Tip #2.

www.jobbound.com