September is the busiest recruitment month of the year. Are you ready?

September historically marks the highest hiring season of the year. Make sure you are positioned to get hired! You will have to be prepared to answer the dreaded, ‘tell me about yourself?’ question. Over the years, many of the people I work with deliver their ‘elevator pitch’ in a flat, unmemorable way. Here are three quick tips to help you punch up your approach and make sure you stand out to anyone you meet in upcoming interviews or networking events.

1.     Read the mission statement! ‘Tell me about yourself’ does not mean someone wants to hear your life story. They are looking for any potential connections or parallels between you and what they need. Before meeting with someone or going to an event, be sure to visit their website and read the mission statement of that organization. Make sure you use their language, so that “I have worked on user experience product development” becomes “I’m really passionate about UX, and how it influences software development and web design”.

2.     Don’t summarize your resume! Don’t just rattle off all of your past positions; focus on where you are heading or what you would like to do next. Make sure your response is interesting and conveys a passion that is relevant to the job or company.  

3.     Address the curiosity upfront! If there is a characteristic about your background that often comes up when you meet people, quickly address it so that it does not distract from the objective at hand. My current assistant is a recent graduate looking for full-time work. She has a unique name and distinctive look and it often elicits inquiries from my clients about her background, and she finds it to be a distraction from her pitch. My advice to her has been to address the curiosity head on, so that she can move the conversation along to her skills and qualifications.  Plus it does not hurt to have a unique feature about you that people will remember, so use it to your advantage!

Rather than dreading the question, see it as an opportunity to make a memorable impression on someone. You won’t get that first 10 seconds back, so use it wisely!

gerberg & co. is offering a second workshop this month to help you get ready. Learn how to answer the dreaded "Tell me about yourself" question in a concise, interesting, and compelling manner.

Monday, August 25^th

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

gerberg & co. offices

Register by Wednesday, August 20^th for the special early bird price of $95! Call 212-315-2322 or email judith@gerberg.com

What If?...

What if you think losing your job is the worst thing that can happen to you?

But what if a career counselor shows you that a layoff due to a corporate takeover can lead to a better job? Here is my example of what career counseling can do to make a job search successful.

Feeling panic over losing his job and anxious about the pressure of finding a new one quickly, George contacted me on the Career Counselors Consortium website. His stated need was help in writing a new resume.

Learning as much as possible about my client, I identified George’s USP, an advertising term for “unique selling proposition,” which set him apart from his competition. I recognized possibilities that add value but that George took for granted. These included his unique skills, accomplishments, personality, passions and work style. But as Vice-President of Administration for 15 years George said, “I’ve just been doing my job.”

In counseling George to highlight accomplishments in his new resume, I was enormously impressed by his outstanding contributions. First, he had introduced a new cost-saving computer system. Second, he had hired high-performing Purchasing and Quality Control Managers. Third, he had organized and managed the weekend move of 200 employees to new offices in another building with everyone ready for business by Monday morning.

Half-heartedly, he started his job search. But he loved working at his firm, and wished he could remain even under the takeover management. Hearing this, I suggested: what if he could save his job? Would he have the courage to meet with the new CEO to present the benefits of continuing his work?

“What if he turns me down?” George asked. “Getting a ‘no’ is not the worst thing,” I said. “At least you will feel good that you presented your value, and can do that elsewhere.” We practiced a role-play of his presentation. I played the part of the CEO, and after many rehearsals George felt comfortable to schedule the meeting.

George showed the new CEO his resume with its accomplishments, and explained the results in detail. He stressed the contributions he had made to the company, and said, “I don’t want to leave. After 15 years I know where the bodies are buried, so to speak. And I know how to run an efficient operation that reduces costs and gets optimal performance from staff.”

The outcome? The new CEO rehired George with a raise of $6,000. What started as resume writing coaching became a career counseling intervention that saved my client’s job.

RUTH SHAPIRO, M.A., LMC, Former CCC Vice-President of the Career Counselors Consortium, and current Board Member