Career Tips & Curated Facts

• (S) Situation: Explain the background of the situation. What was your job?
• (T) Task: What was the particular task you had to perform? If there was a particular problem you were addressing, explain what it was.
• (A) Action: What action did you take (or what skills did you use) to complete the task or solve the problem?
• (R) Result: What was the outcome of the situation? Did you complete the task well? Did you solve the problem?

It involves using personal, professional, academic or familial contacts to assist with a job search, achieve career goals, or learn more about your field, or another field you'd like to work in. 

1. Include the right people: anyone who can assist you with a career move
2. Know what your career network can do for you
3. Keep in touch - work your network: People are more willing to help when they know who you are
4. Give to get - what can you do for your career network
5. Keep track of your network: 

   make sure you know who is who, where they work, and how to get in touch.

6. Network online
7. Attend networking events.

After considering

• The general landscape
• Specific careers
• Where your Starting point is (based on your current skills, resources, and connections relevant to that field)
• Your Success point/End point
• Your estimate of your pace of improvement
• Your level of persistence

you are able to plot your career path forward.

• Will I enjoy doing my hobby on a deadline?
• Will I enjoy doing this with constant financial pressure to perform?
• Is this hobby my outlet for relaxation? Because, if it is, you're going to have to find something else to do to unwind.
• Am I up for a challenge? It can be deeply fulfilling, but it definitely won't be easy.
• Am I willing to sell myself? Be prepared to sell. It's a skill you will have to learn. 

Don't run from your career because you've broken down in it. Running away will not solve your problems – they’ll just be repeated in the next career.

Make your situation better by repairing broken relationships, finding your voice, growing out skills, and becoming more competent. Then, when you do leave, you’ll be able to achieve the next level of success.

... that will support your transition.

Do solid research and explore your desired change with your accountant and financial consultant and experts in that career, to understand clearly, without emotion, the financial requirements necessary to support you through what can be years of transition. If there’s no money available, wait until you can access some.

In deciding to make career change, you must first identify the “essence” of what you want. Questions you need to answer are:

• What skills and talents do I want to utilize?
• What business outcomes do I want to support?
• What type of people, environments and cultures do I thrive best with/in?
• What types of challenges do I want to face in my work?
• What financial compensation and benefits are non-negotiable for me?

You have to find the right “form” of work that fits you, your lifestyle and your needs.  

Do as much research and exploration as you can to determine what you want from this career change. 

Perhaps you don’t want a different career at all, but long to bring forward new aspects of yourself, your talents and skills. The question is: What professional identity will make you the happiest?

Failed career changes often involve throwing in the towel too quickly.

You can’t make life or career change without significant effort, time, commitment, and usually some substantial money.

Look at the bottom end of the average salaries of the career you are interested in and ask yourself whether you'd be able to survive on that if you got one of those jobs.

Similarly, look around other, similar jobs, and make sure you're not looking at a job title that's middle-career when you should be looking at something more entry level.

• Research What's In Demand. Your first stop should be the boards and company websites that post the jobs you're interested in.
• Beef Up Your Resume. Don't neglect the experience you already bring to the table. Soft skills you may have learned (management skills, organizational skills, etc) may be a huge benefit, so don't write them off completely. 
• Go Back to School to pick up those new languages, skills, and techniques required to be competitive in your chosen field. 
• Build Your Network. Get acquainted not just with the people you want to emulate, but other people who are doing what you do now.

• Use Your Skills for Personal or Pet Projects.
• Intern or Volunteer.
• Freelance or Start a Side Gig.

If you're aiming at the same job as someone with years of experience in the field and more developed skills, you probably won't beat them out for the same gig. Aim strategically and choose opportunities that you know you can excel in. 

Keep a journal of your daily reactions to your job situation and look for recurring themes. 

Which aspects of your current job do you like and dislike? Are your dissatisfactions related to the content of your work, your company culture or the people with whom you work? 

Review past successful roles, volunteer work, projects and jobs to identify preferred activities and skills. 

Determine whether your core values and skills are addressed through your current career. 

Brainstorm ideas for career alternatives by researching career options, and discussing your core values and skills with friends, family, and networking contacts. 

If you’re having difficulty coming up with ideas, consider meeting with a career counselor for professional advice.

Conduct a preliminary comparative evaluation of several fields to identify a few targets for in-depth research. You can find a wealth of information online simply by Googling the jobs that interest you.

Look for ways to develop new skills in your current job which would pave the way for a change.

If your company offers in-house training, sign up for as many classes as you can.

They are now fading, giving way to portfolio careers, hybrid roles, gigs, and virtual arrangements.

This is causing frustration for job seekers who are pursuing unconventional job changes, while following conventional job search steps, such as applying online and waiting for a company to respond

In this ever-changing marketplace, chances are you’ll never feel 100% prepared. 

If your next step is unclear, the best way to find clarity is to move forward. Your view of the situation and potential solutions will be clearer when you're in the middle of it rather than when you’re on the outside looking in.

Pay attention to those activities that feel scary - they're usually your next stretch goal waiting to be tackled.

You might make mistakes, but your other option is to do nothing and remain stagnant.

Your most valuable resource is time. Yet, most spend their time working on other people's goals.

Use your time wisely by daily improving your skills, learning new things and building relationships. Then you will always have something to fall back on.

Most people never make a conscious decision about their careers and end up at a certain place, due to external factors and present opportunities. Their career path wasn't carved out or planned.

Creating your career is something that most people don't think of at an early stage when they are not sure about themselves and the world around them.

Here are Five Steps that can create your career:

1. Analyzing yourself.

2. Identify your industry

3. Improve your basic, universal skills

4. Start from Scratch

5. Continuous Self-Development

Pursue a career at a place that fits your strengths and makes you shine.

Do what you love and you will see that even a hobby can turn into a career.

Just knowing your job is not enough, you also need some universal skills like:

• Leadership
• Good writing ability
• Personal effectiveness
• Persuasion

Be patient and start from the bottom; avoid going for quick fixes and unrealistic expectations, and keep learning as you go up the right way.

Successful people keep learning and developing themselves. This way they are never stuck in a dead-end job, or in their own comfort zone.

Focus on you first as the foundation. Your beliefs, attitude, and energy will determine your success. Spend time building up your confidence. 

• Jot down your competencies, character traits, core strengths.
• Craft a narrative about your future ambitions and repeat them daily.

Your resume is a marketing document, not an autobiography that details every past role and responsibility. Your objective it trying to prompt a purchase decision, which is to invite you in for an interview.

Delve into job boards and companies' careers pages. Pull a few postings, and find what theme or criteria keep coming up. For instance, if you continually find that they need someone who can solve complex problems and navigate ambiguity, and you can do that, then put it in your resume.

Online job boards are only a small percentage of the available market. Hiring managers are flooded with resumes from online job boards and might not look at every one.

Instead, spend more time networking with friends, second-degree connections, or keep an ear open for positions before they're posted. Hiring managers will naturally start with candidates who've already been vetted.

A big mistake many people make in their careers is to treat work as a means to an end, be it money, power, or prestige.

When a career is just a means to an end, the payoff will be unsatisfying. With the right goals - earning your success and serving others - you can make the work itself your reward.

There are two basic types of speeches from commencement speakers: One is to “Go find your purpose.” The other is “Find work you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Scholars refer to two kinds of happiness as hedonic and eudaemonia. Hedonic is about feeling good; eudaemonia is about living a purpose-filled life.

But hedonic alone results in empty pleasure and eudaemonia by itself can become dry. In reality, we need a balance of enjoyable and meaningful. If you find something that genuinely interests you, it will lead to being intensely pleasurable.

There are four basic career patterns:

1. Linear careers, which climb steadily upward, such as the "corporate ladder" or the billionaire entrepreneur.
2. Steady-state careers involve staying at one job and growing in expertise.
3. Transitory careers are ones in which people jump from job to job or field to field, looking for new challenges.
4. Spiral careers are like a series of mini careers. People spend many years developing in a profession, then shift fields seeking work that builds on the skills of their previous mini careers.

• An unhealthy passion is an obsessive passion, characterised by intense interest, negative mood and low concentration during the activity, and unhappiness when not engaged in the activity.
• Conversely, a healthy passion, also called "harmonious passion", is characterised by happiness, good concentration and a "flow state" while doing it.

While looking for something in which you are intensely interested, go further and ask "Does this job or career bring out the best in me?"

I’ve never met a successful person who did not build a career on their strengths. It simply does not exist.

No one can perform well by doing something they are bad at.

Sure, you can improve your weaknesses. But it’s not an effective strategy.

So figure out how you perform. Identify your strengths. Then, go to the next step.

This is a tough one. On one side, I believe that we should pursue a career we are passionate about. But on the other side, I think we should NOT do something we’re bad at.

So what should you do if you love something but suck at it? My opinion is to not pursue a career in that field. Treat it like a hobby instead. A lot of people love to make music, but they are not good enough to earn a living. But does that mean you should stop making music? Hell no! Go and jam with your friends — in your spare time.

• The bottom line is this: Only pursue a career that fits your strengths.

I know this is somewhat of a limited view. Some people even call it pessimistic. But I see it as realism.

Skills like writing, leadership, personal effectiveness, and persuasion are helpful to all professionals. Whether you are a coder or carpenter, you want to provide value to others. To keep doing that, you need those universal skills.

The earlier you start improving your universal skills, the more likely it is that you will be ready when you get an opportunity.

You might not see any benefits during the first few years. It’s a hard concept to grasp. Because you also don’t want to waste your time.

• No, you still have to be smart. If you don’t see any results, be hard on yourself. But always be willing to start at the bottom.
• Forget about your ego.
• No one is good enough to do certain things. And at some level, we’re all students.

Just look at all the kids with rich parents who give them everything. Those kids often don’t understand the value of hard work and how hard it is to make a living. There’s no honor in getting a free pass.

There’s nothing more exciting than the rush you get when you get new ideas or when you daydream about the future.

At the same time, when you have no outlook on the future at all, you feel stuck and depressed. Am I right?

• Every day, we must learn and develop ourselves.

and before you go out and say it, I will: “That’s hard!”

You and I both know that a fulfilling career doesn’t come for free. The price is hard work and effort.

• Several copies of your resume. You may meet more employees that you originally expected to, says Rachel Loock, a career coach at the University of Maryland.
• Business cards. Providing a business card allows you to establish yourself as a professional.
• Portfolio/work samples. This is a must in creative fields like advertising, journalism, graphic design, architecture, or fashion.
• References. If the interview goes well, the hiring manager may ask you for them on the spot.
• Pen and notepad. Taking notes shows you’re actively listening to the interviewer and engaged in the conversation.
• Photo ID. You may need to provide identification to enter the building.

Landing your dream job can come with downsides, especially if your passions involve jobs with routine day-to-day tasks that you are less passionate about.

For example, you may expect to create fascinating algorithms in artificial intelligence jobs that will solve big problems but end up doing routine data collection and cleaning tasks.

"Glossy work" comes at a cost to employers as they have to manage discontent and staff turnover.

How employers can stop the "glossy work" cycle:

• Showing a fair balance of the exciting and mundane aspects of the job.
• Assembling tasks so that the less pleasant tasks are spread across employees and jobs.
• Openness to employee efforts to tweak their jobs.
• Taking caution when listing passion as a job requirement, then providing work that doesn't fit that passion.

A multi-hyphenate career is a career path that is on the rise for many people today.

These days, being a generalist has its perks. It’s the role of the multi-hyphenate. The slash career. The polymath. The talent stack. The multi-path career. The gig economy. Whatever you want to call it, it’s here.

In order to thrive as a multi-hyphenate the most important thing you need to learn is to know a variety of different skills, the more unconventional the combination, the more recognized you'll be as a multi-hyphenate.

Learning is a part of living an interesting life and although a multi-hyphenate career is completely different from a conventional career path, by finding the right balance, having patience, and the courage to push through will get you far in life.

In-person networking helps to create an emotional connection. Hustlers who learn how to network in person learn the art of selling themselves to strangers.

• The workplace should be the first place you build your professional network. Schedule networking lunch dates, coffee chats, and office conversations.
• Professional events. You can meet remarkable people at professional workshops, conferences and job fairs.
• Personal/social events. These events are more relaxed and can help you to be more transparent about your career needs.
• Educational institutions. Connect with deans and professors.

Nothing is more impressive than arriving at an interview and being prepared and well informed about the company - its values, goals, history, current events, and who you might be meeting with.

Todd Davis, the CPO of FranklinCovey, commented on one particular interview he did. The candidate was well prepared and knew and understood more about the company than many of the existing employees. Davis was so impressed that he directly took the candidate to the CEO's office.

Create an effective presentation of who you are and what you offer. Focus on your actual skills that go beyond your resumé.

Listing what is already on your resumé can narrow your chances. The hiring manager will evaluate your last job title against the position they're hiring for and may assume you're not the right fit if it doesn't align properly.

Both the interviewer and the candidate should feel fully in the moment to bring out the best dialogue.

This means listening to what is being said instead of thinking about what to say next.

Two questions often seem to pop up.

• "What is your biggest weakness?" Answering the typical "I'm too much of a perfectionist" is not going to help you stand out. Instead, identify a weakness that has nothing to do with the job for which you're interviewing.
• "What has been your biggest failure?" Quickly address the failure, then direct the attention to what you've learned from the experience, ensuring you emphasise other positive traits.

• "You have two teleportation devices—where do you place them and why?" is an entertaining question that helps to understand how a candidate thinks logically and imaginatively.
• "If you were on an island and could only bring three things, what would you bring?" This question examines a candidates ingenuity.
• "How many windows are there in NYC?" tests the ability to problem-solve.

Instead of answering, get them to talk first by asking what the range is for the job.

If the range for the job is $70,000 to $80,000 and you answer lower, they will give you the lower amount. But if you expect more than their range, you can negotiate after you've received an offer.

• Come prepared with questions and ensure you ask them. Failure to do so could cost you the job.
• From when you arrive at your interview to when you leave is potentially part of the interview. Make every moment count.
• Don't panic if you can't answer a question. Interviewers are more interested in seeing how a candidate responds to questions outside their knowledge base.

• Sifting through career options is a task with near-limitless possibilities, so have fun with your job search. Be open to different options. Keeping an open mind open mind when it comes to your job position or job title will help you find a suitable fit easier.
• Don’t box your options into one category. You might be qualified for jobs that you didn’t even know about.
• Having experience in more than one spectrum makes you invaluable to employers, so a career change could result in making substantially larger amounts of money.

Asking for advice from knowledgeable sources is possibly the best way to form a career plan. 

• Rely on the advice of people who have done it before. This could be someone internal in your organization or someone outside of it. 
• Professional networking groups can be a great tool in syncing you up with others in your industry. However, don’t just rely on those. Surfing around LinkedIn can also be a great way to get in touch with the right people.
• If you applied for a job and didn’t get it, try to ask for advice and look for reasons why they didn’t hire you. This can give you direction on what to work on for the next time around.

Make goals, and crush them. Goal setting is key in successfully planning your career.

If you’re not ready for that dream job now, then what do you need to do to get there? Determine what skills you need, what projects might help you build your resume. If you’re considering a career change, how will you get that experience? Do you need a formal training program? Your goals may change over time, but having something set will ensure you’re moving in the right direction.

• Job shadowing: Just like buying a car, trying out a job before taking it is always a great idea. What if you love the clean environment of working at an accounting firm, but you lack the necessity of being able to stand up and walk outside when necessary? Many organizations may allow you to do some job shadowing as part of your role, especially if you express interest in furthering your career with them. However, even if your organization doesn’t permit it, then consider looking for other places to get the skills.
• Education: If you don’t quite have the skills you need to reach your career goals, then formal education may be a benefit. Do you need a degree? Would a Masters help? Sometimes just a class, certification, or other training might be all you need.
• Take on new projects: If you’re on the right path but short a few skills, there may be room within your current job to get there. Look at what new projects and responsibilities you can take on that will help you advance your career.

If you’re ready to look for new jobs, here are some suggested steps:

1. Build an impressive portfolio/resume. Impress employers by showing them what you’re capable of.
2. Add your portfolio to online job marketplaces. Your portfolio isn’t any good if it doesn’t reach the eyes of employers. While sometimes sites like this can be spammy, they can also be a good way to find leads on jobs that you may not have considered on your own.
3. Apply to as many jobs as possible. With today’s technology, you have no excuse for applying as many job applications as possible.That means you could potentially apply for hundreds of jobs in one day. However, it can also be smart to customize your resume and cover letter for individual jobs, so don’t skimp out on effort here!
4. Be prepared for responding to job offers. Shooting at a wide range of targets means you could get a lot of responses. Be sure to respond quickly, keep an eye out for follow-ups, and be attentive. You should be prepared for multiple interview stages, have examples of your work to provide, and be prepared for the long haul — finding jobs can take a long time.

We all go through different phases in each of our careers. Your Season has profound implications for the jobs you look for and even the way you search for your job. 

At different points in our lives, we want different kinds of jobs:

• Growth: When we prioritize learning and earning more — and we’re willing to put in the time
• Lifestyle: When we want to prioritize our time outside work, such as taking care of family
• Reinvention: When we want to completely reinvent ourselves, including the role and even industry we work in.

At different points in our lives, we want different kinds of jobs:

• Growth point: When we prioritize learning and earning more — and we’re willing to put in the time
• Lifestyle point: When we want to prioritize our time outside work, such as taking care of family
• Reinvention pointWhen we want to completely reinvent ourselves, including the role and even industry we work in

But, then, as well as now, if these people ask for help with how to reach their Dream Jobs, the common answers are all the same:

“Just follow your passion!”

“Just be thankful you have a job!”

“Just do good work and you’ll be rewarded eventually.”

(Have you noticed how so much bad advice starts with “just”?)

Our career goals aren’t generic and one-size-fits-all. So why is all career advice generic and one-size-fits-all? Why are the tactics we use — like surfing job boards and shotgunning out resumes — so generic?

We all go through different phases in each of our careers. Some of us are early in our careers, looking to grow and soak up knowledge. Sometimes we want to downshift, or prioritize family. And sometimes we want to reinvent ourselves entirely.

Ramit Sethi calls these different phases “Career Seasons.” 

Just like the seasons throughout the year, they’re natural. They change over time. And you may cycle through them more than once.

“Your Season has profound implications for the jobs you look for and even the way you search for your job.

Fixing grammar and spelling mistakes is a small part of an editor's work. Editors plan, coordinate, revise, correct and format content for publication.

Editors responsibilities:

• Revising text for content, structure, length, tone, and voice issues.
• Editing text for paragraph and sentence-level,
• Giving feedback and supporting writers.
• Developing ideas and assigning them to writers.
• Communicating and coordinating with writers.
• Managing budgets.
• Setting and coordinating deadlines.
• Tracking performance.

• Strong writing skills. You need to know how writing conveys messages and information and how different choices may affect how your piece is read.
• Good communications skills
• Knowledge of grammar and other language rules
• Knowledge of story and/or article structure
• Style guides and how to stick to them
• Interpersonal skills
• Organisational skills
• Time management skills
• Project management skills
• Giving and receiving constructive feedback
• Creativity
• Adaptability
• Ability to work under pressure

• Read the medium you want to edit as hiring managers want to see that you're engaging with the industry.
• Study the companies where you apply to. Look at their publications and websites.
• Don't skip the cover letter. That is the first chance you have to show off your writing and editing skills.
• Proofread all application materials.
• Prepare for an editing test.

We will consult specialists to plan our finances or trainers to help us get fit, but most people don't use that kind of strategy for their careers, causing them to be caught in a miserable situation they've carved out for themselves.

Coaching used to be preserved for upper management, but there's a growing recognition that everyone can benefit from coaching programmes and advice. A coach can see patterns and behaviours and question the status quo. They can help you to see new possibilities.

Identifying the right coach is vital as coaching is deeply personal.

• Ask around for personal recommendations.
• Talk to two or three coaches to see if you connect.
• Explore a coach's social media account.
• See if they belong to a professional organisation: It means they have a specific amount of training, have committed to a code of ethics, and regularly update their knowledge base.

The manifesto includes three steps:

• Evaluate: find job opportunities that match your needs and goals.
• Engage: take action and start reaching out to people in your network.
• Execute:  work with the contacts you have made in the step above to identify a few opportunities that are a good fit for you and the next stage of your career. 

Consider the six categories below:

• Environment: What kinds of environments, management styles, and ways of working do you thrive in?
• Role: What kind of roles and prospects for growth are you looking for?
• Compensation: What’s the minimum compensation you will accept and what’s your ideal range?
• Skills Acquisition: What skills and competencies does your resume currently demonstrate?
• Career Narrative: How does your resume position you in the hiring market?
• On the Horizon: Is there a meaningful and realistic step you can take within the next 18 months based on your answers?

The matrix has four quadrants of priority:

• Focus Here: Opportunities in this quadrant are your “dream jobs.” They meet the two most important criteria you have identified so you should invest the most time pursuing these.
• Waste of Time: Opportunities in this quadrant rank low for your most important criteria. They may not even be worth applying to
• Be Mindful of Time Invested: These roles match your most important criteria but not the second.
• Distractions: You’ll come across interesting opportunities that do not satisfy your most important criteria. Try not to spend time applying to them.

Bullies are in every area of the workplace, be it a difficult boss, a malicious coworker, or a disrespectful client. Bullying is classified are repeated and purposeful harassing, offending, excluding, or spitefully disrupting someone's tasks. It can be job-related or person-related.

Early career professionals are more prone to bullying than their senior colleagues. If not addressed, bullying can damage a person's well-being and increase job turnover.

Bees work hard and provide value to their environment, but you risk getting stung if you try to hurt them.

Find a visible way to defend yourself from bullying behaviour.

• Play by the book. It can give you a sense of security and help you stay on track when you don't yet know how things work in your organisation.
• Build a strong network, including with senior employees or influential people. It helps to influence people and form alliances within your workplace.
• Stay on good terms with the rest of your colleagues, regardless of their level in the chain of command.

Rather than lashing out or letting your emotions get the better of you, pause before acting. It will help to detach emotionally.

If you feel safe enough to approach your colleague, respectfully initiate a candid discussion with the bully. If the bully responds, listen instead of getting defensive. You may discover that there is room for reconciliation. However, if the bullying continues, it may be good to approach HR or your manager.

A last approach before approaching a higher authority is to “Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.”

When you realize you are getting in an office battle zone, start gathering evidence to block all exits besides the one you consider fair. Instead of directly confronting a bully, present the facts and explain how these errors seriously threaten his or her employment in the long term. Then present the solution you want them to get to.

People who are open are motivated to check out and embrace new opportunities, while those who are closed find reasons to avoid new approaches.

When you and your boss differ a lot in openness, then one of you is probably pushing the other to think about things in a new way, while the other is resisting this urge.

When your boss is less open than you are, it is valuable to inform your boss about new approaches or opportunities well in advance of when you need a decision in order to give your boss a chance to get comfortable with the novelty of the situation before having to evaluate it.

You might be considering your career. You may be wondering if you should change jobs or careers or take advantage of new opportunities. Then read on! I'll explain how people view their careers and why they work in certain situations. Perhaps one fits your future plans.

Marathons are long and hard, but they’re rewarding. You have to train for many months (maybe years) before running one, then cross over 26 miles of ground in a single day. It’s not an easy feat by any means, but the end result is an accomplishment you can be proud of. If you’ve ever run a marathon or wanted to run one someday, chances are good that this analogy resonates with you — it just doesn’t make sense to start training without knowing what motivates you!

Your career is a business, which is important to remember. You're the CEO, owner, and employee, all at once.

As CEO, you're responsible for making your team and customers want to work with you and buy your products/services. This means setting and achieving goals.

Owner, If someone else owns a business like yours, they can control how much money they make if they stay competitive in "the market." As the owner, it's your job to come up with ideas and implement them so people will want what it provides or find it convenient when buying something similar or related.

You're the gardener, responsible for your career's growth. It's your job to plant good seeds. You can't control everything (like the weather), but you can water and fertilise them. Investing time and energy in your career will pay off.

To be successful, plan your career strategically. People often make career decisions when they're young or old, but there are some common threads that can help you get started. If you're wondering what your next step should be or just want to know how people think about their careers, here are some tips.

1. Why did you decide to apply to this role?
2. What experience do you have that would be relevant to this role?
3. Tell me about your experience in …
4. What did you like most about the job description?
5. Why are you leaving your current job? / Why did you leave your previous job?
6. What do you know about our company’s product/services?
7. Tell me about this gap in your resume.
8. Describe the workplace where you’ll be most happy and productive.
9. What are your salary expectations?
10. Do you have any questions?

This question aims to evaluate the candidate’s interest in the role.

Are they really motivated to get hired for this specific job or do they just mass-apply to every job ad under the sun? Candidates should show that this application was a conscious decision on their part.

With this question, recruiters can assess whether candidates have truly understood the role’s requirements and whether they think they can do the job.

The best candidates will readily explain how their previous experience relates to the job ad.

While similar to the previous question, this question proactively asks about the most important aspects of the role.

For example, if a company is hiring a copywriter, they’ll certainly ask about the candidate’s experience in different types of writing or editing.

This is one of the best HR interview questions to ask to start a conversation on requirements and responsibilities.

It’s useful to assess how much the candidate has understood the role.

The best candidates will cite good reasons for moving on from their previous roles. Being negative or badmouthing their employer is a red flag. Of course, there’s a balance – honest candidates will often give an honest answer, and sometimes, their previous employer really is at fault for the end of their employment relationship. 

Attitude is what matters in these HR interview questions. For example, it’d be reasonable if a candidate mentioned they left their previous job because their employer wasn’t paying their workers the fair market rate.

The purpose of these types of HR questions is clear: the HR professional wants to ensure that the candidate has researched the company and understands what they’re applying to.

Candidates don’t need to show deep knowledge of the company and its products, but they should certainly know everything that can be discovered via a simple online search – of course, if they have already used the company’s products/services or they know someone who works there, that’s a plus.

This is one of several very common HR interview questions that may refer to anything “out of the ordinary” or interesting in a candidate’s resume, such as a job that lasted for only a few months or that was seemingly unrelated to the candidate’s background, or an outright gap in the candidate’s employment history.

The purpose of these HR interview questions is to clarify these points and make sure there aren’t any red flags.

This can take other forms, too, such as “What can we do to keep you happy if you were hired?” or “What do you like about your current job that you’d like to find here as well?”

These are examples of culture fit interview questions that aim to assess the candidate’s suitability as an employee of the company. Usually, there’s no right or wrong answer. It all depends on whether each candidate is a fit for each individual company.

Similar HR questions to this have to do with various “technical” aspects of the job, such as willingness to travel or relocate, or ability to follow a shift schedule.

HR professionals use this question to ensure they’re not speaking to a candidate who has excessively high salary expectations (or who is generally unable to meet the demands of the job).

Candidates shouldn’t be asked to divulge their salary history or current salary – in fact, it’s downright illegal to do so in some jurisdictions – but expectations are a good way to make sure both parties are in sync.

Regardless of the stage in the hiring process, candidates should always have the opportunity to ask questions themselves so they can decide if the job is a good fit for them.

The other reason that HR uses this question is to find out if candidates are truly interested in knowing more. They should ask smart questions about the company, and preferably, questions related to the role, too.

What questions should your HR department ask during interviews?

• Should include what interested the candidate in the role and clarify their experience and past responsibilities to determine if they are a good fit for the role.

Why are HR interview questions important

• HR department interviews help screen candidates based on their qualifications and if they would be a good fit for the company, not just the hiring role.

What questions should your HR department NOT ask?

• Asking a candidate about their family life, medical issues, or even what they do with their free time could land you in hot water.

I have been following your company’s successes for some time now and I know you have a great software development team. I checked your careers page regularly and when I saw this job, I was thinking this would be the best environment for me to apply the skills I acquired during my internship & Master’s degree.

I have experience in web development and I’m really interested in the projects you’re mentioning in the job – in fact, one of them was the subject of my thesis.

I really think I’m a good fit for the job & can grow even more in your workplace.

So, you want a writing career…

You have your reasons. You’ve long loved to write, and people have told you you have a way with words.

But how do you know the time is right or whether you have what it takes?

I urge you to immerse yourself in the craft. If you really want to make a career of it, make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Full-time writing is not a hobby, a diversion, an avocation. It means discipline. It’s a job.