ripe

Interview Don'ts

Time to think about what NOT to do in an interview.  Here’s a few Interview Don’ts to think about – when preparing for your dream job interview...

Don’t:

* Bad mouth a previous company
* Be late
* Make any assumptions about the company/job, etc.  If you don’t know, ask…don’t guess.
* Share job search frustrations – exhibit a negative attitude
* Be vague about what you are looking for – if you think you can do everything (are qualified for every job), you won’t get anything. 
* Dress provocatively.
* Be overly casual during the interview.  Everything you do is being analyzed and judged.
* Talk about the need for flexible work hours or your next vacation.  These can be addressed later…if there’s mutual interest.
* Give the impression you are only interested in salary, job location, or “stability”
* Chew gum

For more information on interviewing, check out the Outdoor Industries Women's Coalition (OIWC) professional development resources.  If you aren’t a member already, consider it!  Not only are you immediately tapped in to an “instant network” of career minded women, but you get access to all of the great OIWC professional development resources.

Interview Do's

As you may know, the Outdoor Industries Women's Coalition (OIWC) recently presented a webinar on Interviewing Skills by Lori of plum.  Here’s a list of “Interview Do’s” to think about while preparing for your “dream job” interview.

Do:

• Research – company, function, product, consumer, people you will interview with (LinkedIn), etc.
• Practice/role play your answers before you go in for interview - especially for areas you might be nervous about (compensation, gaps in resume, why you were released from a job, etc.)
• Know as much as you can about the function you are going to be working in before you get there (this can be researched online, in the store, through your contacts, etc.)
• Answer questions concisely – drawing in pertinent experience where possible
• Have a solid handshake to go with the smile
• Bring extra copies of your resume
• Be yourself
• Be prepared with anecdotal stories that illustrate your strengths.
• Ask thoughtful questions
• Have a positive attitude
• Ask about the next step – so that you have a clear expectation of when/how you might move forward (or when to follow up)
• Collect cards from people at the interview (for direct contact follow up)
• Turn off your cell phone (or don’t bring it at all!)
• Know where your experience intersects with the new job requirements – and be prepared to give detailed examples (your answers could be different when interviewing for different companies)
• Take your phone interview in a quiet space where you can concentrate (not while driving in the car, walking down the street, etc.)
• Show respect for all players in the interview process (from admin to CEO)
• Do your best to understand culture – ask your recruiter for dress code prior to interview
• Listen and adapt to style cues from the interviewer
• Express interest in the job…when appropriate, ask for it!

If you are interested in hearing more about honing your interviewing skills, check out the OIWC professional development resources on their website.  As a member, you have access to all of the great OIWC resources, including a recent webinar presented by Lori at plum.

Stay tuned for some interview Don’ts…

Make Us (or any recruiter) Want to Read Your Resume

We read every resume – it’s our job.  However, sometimes an email [cover letter] gets us so jazzed that we can’t wait to read your resume.

Amazing cover letters are rare.  What makes certain cover letters stand out?

• Make a connection.  We want to connect with people; and want people to connect with us.   I love when someone writes an email that says: “I see that you are a member of OIWC, I am too!” You mention that common denominator – and tell me why you are reaching out to me, and I’m hooked.  Now, I’m excited to read your resume.  Mention our alma maters – Penn State/Bemidji State, and we’re stoked!
• Be creative. Our business name is plum.  Tag line: Fresh talent. Juicy careers.  If you play on our tag line, or company name, we LOVE it.  We had someone write: “Hey! I’m looking to be ‘picked’ for a plum job!”  And another that closed her email with: “If plum needs another fruit--one with experience in the Outdoor and Ski Industries, and with social media, writing, advertising, and PR savvy--I'd love to be part of the bunch.”  Needless to say, we are friends with both of those people. 
• Tell us YOUR story.  There is nothing less inspiring than something like: “Hi plum, I am writing to apply for the Marketing Manager position.  Thank you, Cher”   This tells us NOTHING about her, other than she might be a Marketing Manager.  Tell us why you are interested.  Tell us why your experience works for this position.  Connect the dots for us.  Help us to understand YOU. 

For more information on how to write a cover letter to a recruiter/hiring manager, that elicits a response, check out this article from Career Rocketeer -“Keys to a Great Email in Your Job Search!”

Happy Thursday!

Interviewing Advice: Don't Get Cut Off!

Have you ever been in an interview, and you want to give an example of how your experience is a perfect fit for the job, but you don’t feel you have the opportunity to share that example?

If you think there is something that applies to the job that you are interviewing for, that doesn’t come out in the conversation or the interviewer’s questioning, be sure to let them know!

The conversation can go like this: “If you don’t mind, can I add a couple of things that might be specifically applicable?  I have start-up experience; my years at ___ directly correlate to this position because ____, and ___.” 

We always ask, “Is there anything that I haven’t asked – that you’d like to share about your experience – that you think I should know?”  If the interviewer doesn’t ask…make sure you get a chance to say what you need to say.  If you don’t – you’re missing an opportunity to sell yourself.

Know the job you are applying for (as much as you can)…and make sure you highlight your strengths and why you are a fit for the position!

plum: Team Wins!

As you know, plum loves sports!  And, we especially love it when kids are involved in play, sports...anything outdoors!  So, this year, we sponsored a baseball team in a competitive 12 year old league, the Bear Creek Sox.

Right out of the gates, they won their first tournament in Pueblo last week.  What a team!  Of course, we'd still love them, win or lose, but it’s fun to get a win!

Stay tuned for pics of their new plum logo tees.
 

Go Sox!

How do you have your contact settings set on LinkedIn? Are you open to receiving inMails from people in and out of your network?

LinkedIn is a "go to" tool for recruiters. We use LinkedIn to meet new people and grow our network. We are constantly connecting with people who work for sport, outdoor and lifestyle brands, and also those who work in similar industries, as we want to have a broad network to call upon when needed.

So, we ask: Are you keeping your options open? Or, do you think if you're in a great job, you shouldn't be considering (or hearing about) others?

Change Your Mindset from Managing...to Coaching

We are fascinated with the concept of coaching vs. managing (we love sports, you know).  So, we asked our friend and coaching guru, Garry Watanabe of Performance Coaching, how to change the manager's mindset from managing to coaching.  

Here is his response:

"The key is to examine the mindset that you take into the interactions that you have with your people.  In my experience, coaches take a mindset characterized by three factors.

The first is a strong developmental perspective, an overall intent or purpose to help the performer grow, develop, overcome challenges, or be more successful.

The second is they are biased in favor of personal contact, leveraging the awesome power of personal or eyeball to eyeball attention so that it becomes a very ‘human’ encounter.  When given the option, coaches will generally try to close the distance, particularly if the message is more complex or they can expect some resistance from the coachee.

Third, the interaction is driven by caring.  If you think back to high school and the teachers who were the very best at getting the more challenging kids to learn difficult material, how did they do it? It had everything to do with the fact that everyone knew that these teachers truly cared about the students and communicated that message in a thousand different little ways that you just can’t fake.  And that’s what created the trust that enabled those teachers to reach those students.

Without the right mindset, the skills and process of good coaching can be experienced as manipulation. With the right mindset, the skills and processes become very powerful tools to build commitment in people."

All our favorite managers have been coaches not managers.  The idea of being managed gets our hackles up.  But, the idea of being coached?!  Put us in, coach!  Let's win this!

Have you been coached or managed?  What is the predominant style at your company?  We'd love to hear.

Scrap the Objective

Do you know how many times we’ve received a resume with an objective that doesn’t match the type of job for which a candidate applying? A LOT!

So, we recommend you scrap the “Objective” portion of your resume altogether.
We find that the objective tends to weed candidates OUT instead of IN. 

For instance, if you apply to our “Outside Sales Rep” position and your objective reads, “Qualified Inside Sales representative looking to grow with an Outdoor Industry Organization” this would automatically disqualify you from a position you actually might have the skills to do. 

We suggest you skip the objective and instead properly compose your cover letter to explain why our particular job is right for you.

Look to Your Successes - For the Answers!

In a recent Fast Company book excerpt called “Switch, How to Change Things When Change is Hard” I was excited by their approach to problem solving.  The author contends that our initial reaction is to always focus on the problem.  However, by focusing on the problem – and all the reasons why something isn’t working, you can become stymied by the size and scope of the issue.  Instead, the author suggests, consider taking the approach to finding out what is working – and clone that.  This approach can be taken not only when applied to problem solving, but also to staffing your teams.  You can look at it from a variety of ways, but here are a couple:

• Who are the most successful members of your team?  What is it about them that makes them successful at your company?  (the answers could include: culture fit, education, previous background, particular training, a consumer focus, ) Find what’s working for your team – and next time you hire, clone it!
• Look at your team from a key strength perspective.  What are Joe’s, Susie’s or Ann’s key skills?  Is Joe spending time struggling with a particular detail oriented project/assignment, etc.?  Perhaps Susie is strong in this area – and Joe can be relieved of this burden to focus on areas where he has strengths (and Susie can feel empowered/appreciated/strong for the chance to do more of what she’s good at).  Identifying these opportunities to help your current team shine, reassigning work to strengths, and hiring for “the missing pieces” will go a long way toward helping you develop the job description/spec for your next hire.

I love the idea that we can solve problems by looking to the positive when creating a path forward for our team, organization or world.  Having the mindset to work on scaling successes – rather than focusing on failures – is an exciting way to foster change. 

Whipping Your Job Search into Shape

It’s the second week of February.  How is your new year? Are you in the middle of a job search? If yes, did you read this article Getting Back in Shape for the Job Chase - from the NY Times?  It was published the first week of January, but we think it’s something to think about at the beginning of every month, not just the start of the New Year.  

In this article, Phyllis Korkki reminds you to:

• Update your resume – and create a few versions for different types of positions.
  
• Confirm your references – call them, check in, make sure they are still viable.
  
• Cover letters – be sure to gear yours to the specific job for which you are applying, not something generic.
• Wardrobe – do you have the right clothes for an interview?
  
• Online Presence – Think about how employers will read your LinkedIn and facebook profiles.
  
• Networking – Stay connected to the outside world.
  
• Applying – Job sites aren’t the best way to find a job, but they are a fine way to learn about job openings!
  
• Follow up – after applying for job, use LinkedIn to find the hiring manager and contact that person directly.
  
• Interviews – if you have first interviews, but not second interviews, think about an interview coach.
  
• Support Systems – rely on your family, friends, and your network to keep you in a positive mind set.

Keep your job search fresh with these tips and you'll be sure to find your next opportunity sooner rather than later.