Career Coach
Issue 5
Dear Juliet,
Welcome to this weeks edition of Career Coach,
your fortnightly burst of tips and advice putting you
in control of your career.
This is the 5th issue and so far the subscription has
more than trebled. I would like to thank you all for
your interest shown and encourage you to forward
on the ezine to friends and family if you feel they
would also find it useful.
The articles so far have all been related, so if you
would like a FREE copy of any back issues you may
have missed email me here listing which of
the back issues 1-4 you require.
In this weeks issue:
- Interview Skills Preparation - Think about
potential questions
- Setting Career Goals - Part 4
- Feedback
Juliet Sidney
Changing Your Career
Interview Skills Preparation - think about potential questions
In previous weeks we have looked at reviewing your
CV and application, the job specification and job
advert and researching the organisation. This was all
in preparation for the types of questions you might
be asked.
There are many good sources of potential interview
questions, career websites, career guidance books
and career specialists to name but a few. As well as
researching common interview questions you should
try to anticipate likely questions you might be
asked. This is not as difficult as you might think.
Most of us will be able to have a realistic idea of
what skills and experience will be required to carry
out a certain job.
If you were applying for a role as a call centre
advisor, and you were thinking of the likely skills
required to do the job you might think of the
following:
- Good communication skills
- Strong customer care skills
- Ability to work under pressure
- Ability to work to targets
You simply need to put yourself in the employers
shoes and think what skills would the person need to
do the job well - You get the idea.
Once you have drafted likely interview questions you
need to think about how you will answer them.
Always write your answers down as you are more
likely to recall them from memory at interview. Write
out exactly how you would want to answer each
question first of all. In order to make a positive
impact during the actual interview always include real
examples that demonstrate your skills and expertise.
At first when you ask yourself the questions refer to
your written down answers. Then try answering
without looking. This form of rehearsal is highly
successful. It always helps if you practise your
answers in a safe environment, you can tweak your
answers as required and really build your confidence
for the interview.
The best form of interview rehearsal is a mock
interview, ask a family member, friend or consider
using a career coach to provide you with invaluable
feedback for the big day.
If you have an interview coming up that you want to
be successful - click here
Career Habits
Setting Career Goals - Part 4
Last issue I discussed talking your goals through with
your manager. This week I will talk you through
SMART Goals and why they are important to you.
A reminder SMART stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Timely
Specific - such a goal allows you to
understand what exactly you are trying to achieve
and also helps you to be more focused. E.g. If I said
my goal was to improve my communication skills, this
is pretty vague, how would I know I have achieved.
If however I state my goals is to run team meetings.
This is clearer and allows me to be more focused.
Measurable - this simply means the goal
needs to be capable of measurement. In the
example above this could be further improved by
starting how many team meetings would be run. If I
said the goal was to run 4 team meetings it is clearer
when the goal is achieved i.e. after running 4 team
meetings.
Achievable - you need to bear in mind that
any goals that are set are realistic. If for example
team meetings are run monthly and over 3 months
you were asked to run 4 this would be impossible to
achieve. By setting realistic goals you have every
chance of achieving them and this builds confidence
and self esteem and ensure you are motivated in
your career.
Relevant - any goal you set needs to be
relevant to you. Using the same example if you had
no opportunity to run a team meeting or your goal
was that someone else in the team runs a team
meeting then since you have no control over the
outcome it is not a goal that should be set.
Timely - This is equally as important as the
other principals of good goal setting. Without
including any timescales there is no focus. If I say
the goal is to run 4 team meetings, when should I
start, when do I need to complete. By saying to run
4 team meetings by June 2006, there is a clearer
definition of the goal and a greater expectation on
when I should start and finish by. This makes
completion of the goal more focused.
Using the example above our SMART goal would be -
Run 4 team meetings by June 2006.
This satisfies all criteria and means all parties
understand what is exactly expected and by when.
This is a good model for goal setting and one I would
encourage you and your manager to work with.
If you want to make the most out of your career -
click here
Your Say
Feedback
Let me know what you think of this issue and
previous issues of Career Coach. Without your
valuable feedback I am not able to discuss the
career issues that matter to you.
Thanks to all those that have contributed so far.
Email me your suggestions here
