Job Seekers: Stop Working So Hard!
Julie Pentis

I had someone apply for 15 of our job openings the other day. Fifteen! And all the job openings called for completely different skill requirements. Before even opening this person’s resume I’m thinking: What a waste of my time. Just seeing those 15 messages in my inbox, I was completely turned off. I didn’t even want to look at his resume, but I did. Sure enough, this was not a candidate I could market or present to any of my job openings. His resume bared no resemblance to any of my postings. What was he thinking?

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International engineering and project management company AMEC bought Alpharetta, Ga.-based engineering and environmental services company MACTEC Inc. for $280 million.

Read the full article: AMEC buys MACTEC for $280 million | Atlanta Business Chronicle

You’ve research the company, dressed to impress, and arrived early. You wait patiently, shoot a friendly smile and nod to passing employees. Finally, you make it to the office of your interviewer. You shake hands, exchange pleasantries, have a seat and then they ask…“Tell me about yourself?”

This question always seems to put people in a bad place. What would your answer be? The interviewer is not trying to throw you off your game; they just want to know a little about you. What is the answer to this horrid question? It’s really simple!

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know about me. Where do you want me to start?”

What this does for you, the interviewee, is help you understand what is important to your interviewer. What do they want to know about first? Your work history or maybe even your family? It would go something like this:

Interviewer: “Tell me about yourself?”
You: “Sure, I’ll tell you everything you need to know. Where would you like me to start?”
Interviewer: “Tell me a little about your family.”
You: “Ok, well I’m…”
Interviewer: “Great. Tell me about your last 10 years of work history”
You: “I started at… What else would you like to know?”

How easy is that answer? Interviewees usually have no idea where to begin and they end up starting with what they are currently doing. What you do now is not as important as how you got there. It is all about how you have gotten to where you are today.

Research the Company – Research the employer and be prepared with a “good” level of knowledge. You don’t need to know gross margins in the South-western region for the past 8 years, but you should know enough to show the interviewer that you respect the opportunity and you respect her or his time.

Practice – Practice responses to commonly asked questions. This will keep you from stumbling through your answers.

Be on Time – This may sound simple (after all, this is “101”), but you would be surprised how many people do not leave early in order to arrive early. Arrive unflustered, with a clean, well-presented copy of your resume. Arriving late can be a sign of a lack of respect, organization, professionalism, and interest. Remember, 10 minutes early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable!

Dress the part – First impressions are everything. The first thing a potential employer will notice about you is the way you are dressed. It’s always important to dress business-like and professional, no matter how groovy the company is. You can take advantage of casual Fridays when you’re hired!

Be kind to every employee you meet – Be courteous to everyone you come in contact with, the receptionist, the parking lot attendant, the janitor, the intern…everyone. You know, Southwest Airlines used to have the flight attendants on flights anonymously assess the candidates they were flying in for interviews – it just goes to show that you need to mind your manners all the time.

Think of JFK – Ask not what the company can do for you, but what you can do for the company.

Don’t give your life story – This is not a filming of “Biography” on the A&E Channel; it is a presentation in which you are selling your capabilities to do a job for the company. Stick, mostly, to the business side of things and how you can solve problems. Don’t go into a half-hour long dissertation on the relative merits of Mozart and Beethoven, the reason you love/hate the Yankees, or the intricacies of your college rivalries. The interviewer does not want your life story; they want to know your business capabilities.

Don’t trash talk – “Bad mouth thee, bad mouth me.” Whenever you trash-talk your former or current employer, guess what the interviewer thinks? “Oh boy, if we hire this guy, I’m next on his firing line!” Never, ever, say bad, mean, unkind, or even true things if it makes you look like a prospective ingrate, gossip, or ne’er-do’ well.

Money – Save the money talk for last. Focus on the job, your ability to contribute, and all the great things you can provide before reminding your future boss how much of the hiring budget you’re going to soak up. At the end of the day, if they like you and you like them, the money will work itself out.

Say Thank-you – Thank the interviewer for their time and ask questions – again, this shows interest, good manners and good sense.

Follow up – Send a follow-up e-mail to thank the interviewer again and reiterate (very briefly) what you discussed and how you can contribute to the company. This gives the interviewer a good memory jog of your conversation and reminds them of what you can do for them.

Remember to remain calm, smile, be polite, and remain eye contact. BREATHE…you’ll do great!

How do we do it, you ask? With over fifty years of experience, a methodology based on Integrity, Consistency, Vision and Purpose, our firm has guided and placed hundreds of talented professionals with dynamic, established and performing companies seeking leading professionals in the field. Our firm is committed to providing the highest level of service with accountability within our organization to guarantee that we provide you with a positive future.

We are constantly uncovering talented individuals, at all levels, through our extensive referral network. We locate and evaluate hundreds of candidates each month. Through screening this magnitude of professionals, we have developed an extensive process to identify the candidates that clearly stand out from their peers. Hours of work go into the location process and even more into the evaluation of the professional. Our team receives ongoing training to capture industry leaders, build trust and rapport and pursue only those individuals who are competent and confident. Individuals who can walk into an organization with a true positive attitude for helping that company be the best of the best. Our team is able to place these individuals, who make an immediate bottom-line impact, by using our thorough understanding of our markets and our combined experience in recruiting.

Who makes up this awesome team with a knack for finding the diamond-in-the-rough? You can check them out here, and learn a little about the more personal side of EDT.

EDT has started blogging to bring you news about our company and the A/E/C industry. You can check back to find out information about exciting new candidates and positions we have available, as well as anything we have going on that may be of interest to our followers. Blogging is new to us, so if there is something you would like to know more about, don’t be afraid to ask! You can email us at info@edt-ae.com or comment below, we welcome your feedback!