Employers want to know about more than just your skills and experience–they want to know how you’ll get along day-to-day.  How will you react in stressful situations?  What will you do when a customer gets cranky, or there’s some issue with the product? 

One way for hiring managers to get to that information is to use behavioral interview questions, sometimes known as the STAR technique. 

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Here’s another great article for you from Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter.  They’re great sales tips for you to use when contacting customers over the phone, but I want you to also look at these as great tips you can use in phone interviews for medical sales, laboratory sales, pharmaceutical sales, imaging sales, biotech sales, medical device sales, or any health care sales job.  Think of your job interview the same as you would a sales call–only here, the product you’re selling is you.  You want the customer (the hiring manager) to buy your product (hire you).  Keeping this kind of perspective is extremely effective.

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Think about the kind of impression you want to convey to your interviewer or hiring manager:  experience, ability, and confidence.  If you’ve been paying attention to me, you’ve got the experience and ability portions down:  a winning resume, a brag book, a 30/60/90-day plan, and high-quality references.  Your confidence comes out in your physical presentation, your body language, and what you say and how you say it.

Good communication skills are essential.  Sounding even remotely uncertain of your ability to do the job you’re interviewing for (and do it well) is an interview killer.  No employer is going to hire someone who isn’t even sure himself if he is capable, or who promises to bring inferior communication skills to the job–especially in medical sales.  What phrases convey uncertainty?

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What a difference a space makes. LinkedIn is vastly different from Linked In, which implies that it is something that you just plug into.  That’s definitely not what LinkedIn is all about.  Instead, this particular site is a powerful networking tool that allows people to get in touch with other professionals from around the world.  It necessitates a proactive stance rather than a passive one.

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If you’re a college senior, you’ll be a jobseeker soon. 

Students traditionally use on-campus job interviews as a way to get their first post-college job, but according to one article, less than 1/3 of college students find jobs from companies that hire through career services. 

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I can’t emphasize enough just how important your LinkedIn profile is to your career.  Your LinkedIn profile is the primary thing other people (all 40 million of them on the network) will see about you.  It is the online world’s equivalent of a first impression, so it should be utilized well.  Even the simplest errors on a profile page can have dire effects.  Here’s a list of common errors to watch out for:

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Are you ready for your next phone interview?

Phone interviews are usually the first step in the interview process.  It’s always my first step (besides evaluating the resume) in selecting a candidate to present to my clients as a recruiter.  If you want a chance to get your smiling face, winning personality, and 30/60/90-day plan in front of the hiring manager, you better do the phone interview very well. 

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Many people think that LinkedIn, a professional networking site, is only for those who are searching for jobs.  So if you are someone who already has a job, there’s no use in posting resumes and recommendations, right?  Wrong.

It’s a misconception that LinkedIn is only for those who are actively looking for employment.  The true purpose of this site is not just to function as a resume depository–it is, above all else, a place for people to network. Networking is a valuable tool, regardless of employment.

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Mark Hunter, “the Sales Hunter,” is an expert on increasing profitibility and success in sales, and has written a great article on maximizing your sales success by being confident in yourself and what you sell.  I’ve posted the whole thing here for you.  I’d like for you to think about it with this perspective:  what about in the job search? As a job candidate, are you sure that you’re sold on the product?  (That’s you.)  If you aren’t, how can you expect the buyer (hiring manager) to be?

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A few tips for choosing a career mentor

There’s an article on EmploymentDigest.net that you should see.  It’s about how finding a mentor can help you advance your career, but it also has several important points about how to choose a career mentor, keeping in mind that your manager, recruiter, or your friend might not be the best choices for you.  A manager, for instance, might present a conflict of interest in certain situations, and they probably won’t have the time to help you.  A recruiter just won’t do it–a recruiter’s primary concern is to please their clients (the hiring company) and he or she won’t have time, either.  A friend might be unable to give you any constructive criticism out of a desire to remain your friend!

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