It does not take a genius to comprehend why you should not answer your cell phone at the job interview. Answering your cell phone is rude and unprofessional, and unless you are worried that someone is going to die if you do not take the call, the call can probably wait.

Cell Phones Off, Not On Silent

Most individuals turn their cell phones on vibrate to ignore appearing unprofessional. This makes a lot of sense, since you probably do not need the interviewer to know that your ringtone is “Every Girl” by Lil Wayne.

Vibrate, although, is also bad. It might come as a surprise, but employers are not actually hard of hearing. They can hear the buzz, buzz, buzz sound coming from your pocket every time you get a phone call or text message. Your phone requires being off completely.

• When your phone is off the interviewer can’t hear it vibrate or ring.
• When the phone is off, you’ll not be distracted by the vibrations.
• When your phone is off, your pocket won’t light up because someone is calling you.

Do not just turn off your cell phone for the employer. Turn it off for you. It is hard to ignore temptation to check the cell phone when you’ve a moment because you know someone called or sent a text message, but your interview is about you and the job, not about who is texting you. Keep your cell phone off at all times, so there is no motivation to check it before, during, or after your interview.

Before You Turn the Phone Off

Cell phones have many buttons. Before you turn your cell phone off, make certain you have turned it on silent, so that if the phone comes back on by accident, it does not ring during your interview. Many interviews have been ruined by previously-turned-off cell phones turning themselves back on in the middle of the interview.

Your cell phone requires being completely silent and completely off. Only then can you make sure it does not distract you or the interviewer, and will not detract from you getting the job.

The mere thing worse than bad customer service is bad customer service that could just as simply have been good customer service. Workers require delivering the most outstanding support they can provide. The mere way to do that is to make certain you have all of the details possible and understand as much about the customer’s requirements as you can.

Behavioral Interview Query: Tell me about a time period that you were unclear about a customer’s appeal. What measures did you take to clarify things?

For this kind of behavioral interview query, workers are simply looking for two things.

1. They are searching to see if you have the courage to ask queries
2. They are searching for an awareness of what goes into providing excellent service.

It is okay to be confident with this query, but if possible be sure and drop in a tidbit or two about your customer service skills, with a detail that demonstrates you are an excellent judge of what goes into quality customer service.

Sample Answer

“I find that in any call help center, that situation happens often, particularly since the customer does not always know the terminology that we use in house. In most cases, I do not have any issue simply asking them to clarify their request, especially when the customer and I have developed a rapport. I mostly do this by confirming what Ii have understood of their request and asking them if that is correct.

The procedure is a little different for frustrated customers.  I initiated by repeating exactly what they said so they know I was listening, and then I give them with a list of problems that may be what they’re asking about. In some cases, when it’s clear the customer isn’t willing to help any further, I’ll ask queries that appear to simply be about adding necessary details, but in reality they give me clues about what they could have been discussing, such as ‘I require checking a few things before taking the next steps. Tell me, is the red light flashing or solid colored?’ Often these details are enough to figure out what they were originally trying to convey.”

You can see by this kind of answer that the best way to ask for clarification is to simply inquire for clarification. But the added detail about repeating what the customer said to show you were listening is what will actually excite the employer about your candidacy.

If you are searching for a job, possibilities are you’ve a LinkedIn profile. You might even have updated it recently, expecting that it will appeal to recruiters in your industry but it is not enough to just give your LinkedIn Profile a quick update. You’ve to make certain that your LinkedIn account makes you as hirable as possible, and if you are like most individuals, that means making a few more updates to your current profile.

Top Five Profile Updates of LinkedIn that Every Job Seeker Requires Making

The key to being a hirable applicant is to have a profile that makes you more desirable to hiring managers than other candidates who’ve applied for the same job. Remember, recruiters will be searching at multiple candidates at the similar time, and you require making sure that you are the best they see. You can do that with the following significant changes:

1. Eliminate the Cliché

Cliches, such as “hard worker,” add no value to your LinkedIn account. They are claims that anyone can make, and you require saying things that separate you from others. Replace every cliché with something of value.

2. Use Numbers/Show Evidence

You can talk about what you did, but you require going further and making certain you’ve backed that up with numbers, evidence, and more. It is the specifics that give your profile credibility, and make hiring managers remember you.

3. Make Your Profile Picture Public

We all like a little bit of privacy, and there is certain risk in a public photo because it could introduce biases (for instance, someone may not like how you look and not hire you). But in most cases it assists to have your profile photo public. This lets individuals remember you, and shows you are more than a name.

4. Lengthen Your Relevant/Shorten Your Irrelevant

You need every word of your profile to be interesting to the job you need to get. Sometimes that means adding more about your most relevant jobs. Sometimes that means taking off jobs/information that isn’t relevant, or may not impress the hiring manager.

5. Manage Your Endorsements

Endorsements are convenient to give and easy to get and they do develop an impression with employers. The issue is when a huge list of endorsements drowns out the most significant ones. Go through the endorsements you got and pick the ones that are most impressive to the employer.

These simple changes take just a few minutes of your time, and yet they assist ensure that when someone sees your profile and compares it to others, they are impressed enough to see you as a more hirable candidate.

Once your LinkedIn profile is in great shape, make certain you’re doing everything you can to promote yourself on LinkedIn.

Interviewers have a restricted amount of time to find good candidates. Sadly, the job market is dense, and as soon as a job is posted, the interviewer is bombarded with hundreds and thousands of resumes and cover letters that they require reviewing in order to find the right candidates.

Hiring managers require making their jobs simpler. So they are searching at new technologies that assist limit the candidate pool for them, instead to force them to look at every resume by hand. One such technique is using what is termed as “Semantic Job Matching Engines”

Introduction to Semantic Search

Semantic search is such as “Keyword Search 2.0.” When you search for something on Google, like “Awesome Interview Tips,” you’re going to come up with a lot of websites that have that exact phrase. You aren’t guaranteed, although, to come up with websites that have any relevance to what you are searching for. All you know is that they have the phrase. They might not have the information.

Why?

Because to a keyword search engine, keywords are nothing more than a series of words. They have no meaning to the search engine. If I searched for “Kickass Interview Tips,” I would possibly get a different website, even though the meaning of the words are the same, because the search engine does not know that “Kickass” and “Awesome” are synonymous (wink).

Searching By Meaning

Semantic search is the next step. When you utilize a semantic search engine, the search engine brings up outcomes that are tailored to what you’re searching for based on the meaning of your search, instead of the exact phrase. This, ideally, gives you much more precise results.

What This Means to the Job Seeker

Job seekers are gradually becoming more and more affected by semantic job search engines. These search engines use their algorithms to search your resume for words that imply the meaning behind the search. So if the hiring manager needs something with leadership experience, the algorithm will search resumes to find words that either straightly mean or imply that the individual has that experience. Then it brings up those candidates straightly to the hiring manager, giving them far fewer resumes to view.

Here are twenty queries to make networking small talk so much simpler. If you have ever been to a networking event before, you know how weird they can be. While some individuals seem to thrive at these events, others find them a bit less comfortable. Networking with complete strangers is tough, and can be intimidating for those that are not used to them.

Getting Prepared To Attend A Networking Event

If you are searching to attend a networking event in the near or distant future, it assists to come prepared with some queries.

Twenty Queries to Inquire at Networking Events

1. What is your name?
2. Are you presently employed or are you searching for a new role?
3. Where are you working right now? What do you like most about it?
4. Do you like your interviewer? What about your position?
5. Are you here with your colleagues or did you come alone?
6. What prompted you to come to this event?
7. Have you been to any other networking events that you found interesting?
8. Is your company doing anything unique or innovative to continue to grow?
9. Are you planning to grow with your current employer?
10. Do you find that your work does anything new or different to make it interesting for staff?
11. How did you feel about the speaker?
12. Was there something particular you were expecting to gain from the event?
13. Have you had any memorable networking experiences in the past?
14. Is this your dream job or are you in the market for a new career?
15. Have you always worked in {{city}}?
16. Do you get to travel, either with your job or on your own?
17. Do you do anything at your office to build a community with your colleagues?
18. Is your office atmosphere more cubicle style or a bit freer?
19. I have noticed many changes in the {{field}} recently. Have you seen the similar at your workplace?
20. Do you’ve a business card?

These are, of course, merely starter queries. Also, do not feel yourself limited just to questions that are about work, either. Something as simple as “have you read any good books” can be enough to initiate a great conversation at these types of networking events. These openings make it simpler to connect with individuals who prefer to talk about things besides their workplace.