Why Lying at a Job Interview is NEVER a Good Idea

Why Lying at a Job Interview is NEVER a Good Idea Ever considered lying at a job interview? Well, don’t! Sure, a career making-or-breaking interview may be the one occasion when you need to hard-sell your skills and experience, but there is a big difference between positive exaggeration and unscrupulous embellishment. If anything, lying at a job interview is a sure way to court disaster: Just positive portrayal? At job interviews, absolutely everybody gives an overly idealized view of themselves. After all, you are talking to your potential new boss. Consequently, interviewees have to carefully present themselves in a good light, but without telling outright porkies. We’ve all said those silly lines at job interview, haven’t we? How we exaggerate It’s funny how in a job interview suddenly your worst personality trait is “working too hard”, or the meeting you chaired a few times made you a “project driver”. And remember the time when you sat in for your boss for a few hours? Naturally, that occasion gave you “important leadership experience”! But in comparison with outright lies, you really have done the overtime, chaired a few meetings and substituted your boss for half a day, so at least these scenarios are not just figments of imagination. WANTED: Liars And yes, some companies are hives of deceit and deception. In some company cultures or certain job roles, knowing how to creatively bend the truth is actually considered a necessity and a good thing. Some sales jobs unfortunately tend to have this reputation and we have all probably met the real estate agent who told us that we’d better put down a deposit today, because there were two other people interested in buying the property we were looking at. But, unless you are going to work in a “boiler room” type situation, you really need to be conscious of the negative consequences of being caught out on a lie. Dismissal for gross misconduct, or being sued, is not an end result unheard of. Selling yourself vs. telling porky pies Selling yourself at a job interview is a delicate balancing act. You must come across as a confident person, who understands his or her own skills sets and experience, and knows how to explain it to a potential employer. At the same time, this needs to be done in a way that is not overly haughty or arrogant and not an obvious exaggeration that couldn’t possibly be all true. Typical lies people tell For example, you might be tempted to tell an interviewer that you know how to use Photoshop, thinking that you’ll just do a bit of practicing at home or a quick course on the subject, if you get offered the job. The problem is, that if you really don’t know how to Photoshop, this will be painfully obvious to your employers when you begin the new job. Equally, your own peace of mind and feelings of anxiety at the thought of being found out will probably make the bigger paycheck not worthwhile… Imagine having to spend every night at home practice your computer skills, just to be prepared for a task the next day at work. It’s just not worth it. Worse case scenarios Human Resources professionals world over, will tell you about cases where employees have been sacked or sued for dishonesty.Most companies these days have HR departments, recruitment policies, employee rule handbooks, personnel guidelines and disciplinary procedures. HR recruiters and hiring executives or managers are also quite experienced at getting information out of you and if something you say does not match your CV or a statement you made earlier, you could be in trouble. Getting caught out on a lie at a job interview will not only damage your reputation with that company, but possibly also other potential employers, as your recruiter networks with other people in your industry. Getting sacked for lying If a company hires you because they value a particular experience or skill they think you have, and then find out it wasn’t true, they can terminate your contract and dismiss you. The gravity of the lie will dictate the outcome, of course. So a doctor, a lawyer or an architect who has forged their degree diploma, could get into criminal trouble, and additionally get sued for damages, whereas a secretary exaggerating her Microsoft Word skills would probably get off much more lightly. Not all your fault Employers do have a responsibility too: they need to check out your references and verify your skills. For example, secretaries usually get tested for their typing speed and accountants are given a numerical task to complete in a certain time frame. Even though it may sound surprising, some employees who have been sacked for small lies on their CV’s or during their interviews, have been able to bring a successful counterclaim for employer negligence â€" for not checking your background diligently enough. This is rare, however. Just be you! The old adage is true: you, as yourself, really are good enough. Trust in your skills and your experience. If you have been called for an interview, then a company is potentially interested in you, for a reason. Do prepare for your interview and make sure you have real life examples of achievements stored up your sleeve, ready to tell your recruiting manager. When landed with curve balls, practiced answers mean that you won’t have to resort to lying. And in the end, if you don’t get picked for the job, don’t worry, just move on. If they didn’t like you, the chances are that you probably would not have enjoyed your time at the company anyway. Author: Johanna Bergstrom is a journalist of 10 years and originally hails from Helsinki, but now lives in Southern Spain with her husband Jose and son Felix. She has a special interest in writing about finance and money management and is currently associated with http://go-aagp.org/.

Volunteer Role in Resume

Volunteer Role in ResumeWriting a good volunteer role in resume is a very essential element of the job application process. Not only does a volunteer role show you're really interested in the work and willingness to work for free, but it shows your integrity and commitment to the project as well. In this case, I will share some helpful tips on how to write a good volunteer role in resume.Name the Volunteer - Before you begin writing a volunteer role in resume, make sure you name the project first. Also, let the volunteers know who the project coordinator is. This is an important detail. After you have named the project, make sure the volunteers are aware of who's assigned to their specific project.Give Information On Your Experience - Write what you've done on your resume on a single page of paper, using one column. However, don't use the 'attachments' page. Put only your experience on the 'business' page of your resume. Give only a brief description about your experience on this pag e and always include your contact information (email, cell phone, etc.)Provide As Much Information As Possible - If you've been working in the field for several years and you need to provide information on your volunteer role in resume, don't worry about it too much. If you're new in the field or don't have any experience, be truthful. Be open to suggestions and do what you can to answer questions, while still giving your real experience.Keep In Mind The Purpose Of Your Volunteer Role - If you want to apply for the volunteer position and it's a new position that you're applying for, don't list your experience on your resume yet. That means that it's just a get-the-job-done task. You'll need to wait until you have some more experience before you can show thatto the employer. Do not include any experience that is unspecific.Write the Volunteer Role on a single page - If you've been volunteering for several years already, you can just include it in the resume. But if you're just starti ng out, write it on a single page of paper, only using one column. When you're writing your volunteer project in resume, always include only one experience type in one column.Give the Employer and Volunteer Lead Feedback - If you get a job offer after listing your volunteer role in resume, be sure to write back with what you learned. Share your findings with the lead and make sure they know what you found valuable in the experience. In addition, share your feedback with the hiring manager. Take part in the recruitment process and let them know how the volunteer work has helped you become a better person.No matter what type of volunteer role you're applying for, if you follow these simple steps, it will increase your chances of getting hired and will show that you truly are interested in the project. This volunteer role in resume tips may seem simple, but having great ones will increase your chances of success.

Recruiter Partnership

5 Tips to Create a Great Hiring Manager / Recruiter Partnership This article is sponsored by Dropbox, see their  open positions here  (including some great roles on their Global Recruiting Team). There are few more important relationships in an in-house recruiter’s life than the ones shared with their hiring managers.  Like any meaningful relationship, there will be ups, downs and everything in between. Your partnerships with hiring managers won’t always feel like a joyful moonlit walk on a beach, but nor should it ever feel like hand-to-hand combat. Here are 5 top tips for developing the partnership of your dreams, which will hopefully translate to building the team and culture of your dreams, too. 1. Develop genuine expertise As an in-house recruiter, your job is to help the business grow, not just to fill open roles blindly. You’re searching for your future colleagues, with whom you’ll build working relationships and forge genuine bonds. Ultimately, the success of the entire business hinges on the people that you and your hiring managers bring in. So, you’d better start learning your business inside and out. Whether you work in tech, FMCG, manufacturing, e-commerce or any other industry, the message is the same: an in-house recruiter should act as a business partner to hiring managers, not simply as a staffing resource.  It’s up to you as the recruiter to research your company’s business model, the competitive landscape, and the nuances of the team for which you’re hiring. Gaining a genuine understanding of why you’re trying to hire a specific profile for a certain role will make you twice as credible to external candidates and internal hiring managers alike. This extends to your expertise on the talent pool from which you’re trying to hire. As the in-house expert, it’s your job to arm yourself with relevant data about the external talent market, in order to provide your hiring managers and interview teams with valuable insights from the first to the last days of a search. Leverage the power of LinkedIn data, use your extended network, conduct qualitative critical research on your talent competitors…don’t stop until you feel like the credible expert you should be. 2. Communicate, communicate, then communicate some more Over-communication really isn’t a thing when it comes to your partnerships with hiring managers, especially if you’re both in different geographical locations.  While a hiring manager may think they know each and every little thing that recruiters do, the chances are that they really don’t understand the full nuanced process of kicking off a complex search and selection process.  Now, this isn’t your opportunity to try and gain sympathy or complain about how tough a role is to fill: you’re not leaning on them as a therapist, after all. However, it is your duty to inform your hiring manager of the steps you’re taking, the effort you’re making and what you expect from them and their interviewing team. Give regular progress updates (once per week is usually sufficient, but have the conversation with your hiring manager and gauge their preferences) and ensure that you’re managing expectations appropriately. Remember, you’re the hiring manager’s business partner, not just the hired help, so don’t be afraid to be honest and push back when appropriate. 3. Understand your numbers The majority of hiring managers with whom you’ll work won’t have been recruiters in past lives, so there’ll be a limit to the level of depth they’ll want you to go into regarding the philosophy underpinning your hiring approach.  One thing that will resonate with hiring managers from all backgrounds is an accurate numerical approach to reporting your results. While we all know that modern recruiting is not simply a ‘numbers game’, having a firm grasp of your pipeline and the numbers within it is vital to gain trust and respect. Think of it simply as a funnel: how many qualified candidates do you have at each stage of the interview process? Once you’ve compiled a meaningful report,  you can start diving deeper into how you’re going to increase those numbers and (more importantly) how you’re going to augment the conversion rates from each stage to the next, in order to hone the overall hiring process. After the initial couple of meetings using this framework, you’ll be able to adapt and tailor your approach to one that’s mutually suitable for you and your hiring manager (this is a two-way partnership, after all!).  Bottom line: know your numbers. Hiring managers will love you for it. 4. Be worthy of trust Nobody wants to be lied to, do they?  Our roles as in-house recruiters are incredibly multifaceted. We are guardians of the company culture and work cross-functionally with internal and external stakeholders of all levels of seniority on a daily basis. To do all of this successfully, there’s one thing that we need to be: worthy of trust. It goes without saying that being trustworthy is a key facet of the job externally (i.e. having confidential conversations with people looking for the next step in their careers), but it’s equally important to build partnerships and credibility internally.  Hiring managers want to build mutually trusting, honest, and open partnerships with their recruiters. Ultimately, hiring managers need to feel as though they have their finger on the pulse of the staffing needs of their department and thus they don’t want to be lied to! Learning to manage the expectations of your hiring managers is a key skill for any in-house recruiter master. We all know that the pressure is on to fill roles whenever there is open headcount, but if a role is not going to close next week, then don’t tell your hiring manager that it will! There’s nothing worse than having to back-peddle and come up with lame excuses when you’ve been disingenuous: behaviour like this will erode trust quicker than you can say, “it’ll close next week, I promise!”.  Be organised and report to your hiring managers in an accurate, timely fashion: it’s the only way to build and maintain a trusting partnership. 5. Provide every candidate with a best-in-class  experience One thing that will strengthen your partnership with your hiring managers is having them really respect the way that you work. Again, differentiating yourself from the archaic stereotype of recruiters being staffing agents with no significant business value other than providing CVs on a weekly basis, is key to the success of your partnership. You need to demonstrate that you go the extra mile and that you’re equally adept at generating excitement in candidates as you are at screening them for role-related suitability. Having well-informed, enthusiastic, and well-qualified candidates moving forward in the interview process after their initial conversations with you is the most powerful thing you can do to up your credibility levels. If your hiring managers see the effort you make to provide best-in-class service to each and every candidate (regardless if the candidate is hired), then they’ll have no choice but to respect you as a true business partner and a skilled professional. In short, as with any partnership, your relationship with your hiring managers won’t become perfect overnight. However, hopefully some of the above points will help you to build the hiring manager/recruiter partnership and the high performing team culture of your dreams! About the author: Alex Duell  is on  Dropbox’s European Recruiting team.

How To Make A Business Presentation Interesting

How To Make A Business Presentation Interesting Every great business presentation has the same element: an entertaining, well-informed speaker. It’s the speaker that can make or break a presentation, regardless of the topic. Speakers set the tone for the presentation through not only their delivery, but also their preparation because an audience won’t take them seriously if it appears that they don’t have a deep understanding of the topic. Most people know what they’re talking about, and their presentations are full of a lot of good information. Unfortunately, that’s where it ends because they don’t take it a step further to make the presentation engaging and enjoyable. But, if you build a reputation for giving awesome business presentations, people will be excited to attend them. Below are some tips to help you level up your business presentations to keep people interested.  Be Organized No one will take you seriously if you don’t appear to have it together. Be sure to show up at least 15 minutes early to make sure everything you need is ready to go. This includes any audio or visual equipment and slide presentations. Check Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, too. Depending on the venue at which you are speaking, consider stopping by the day before to practice your presentation and get an idea of the layout of the room. Don’t hand out a stack of loose papers. Create information packets to supplement your presentation, using custom tab folders. The tabs will allow them to refer back to the information easily after they’ve filed it away. Make sure everything is set up and ready to go when people start arriving, so you aren’t too busy to greet them.  Be Interactive The best way to keep people’s attention is to include them in the presentation. Don’t stand in front of the room and just read a slide show presentation word for word, unless you’re trying to put the audience to sleep. Instead, talk to the audience, not at them. Get animated, make eye contact, and ask questions. Consider kicking off your presentation with a game or ice breaker to get the audience excited about your speech. Then, think of your presentation as a story and tell it. Create a presentation in which you would want to engage. Offer Treats For many people, attending a business presentation is another thing getting in the way of their work. That feeling will melt away when they walk into your presentation and smell a delicious treat. Not only will it change their mood to set a better tone for the meeting, but it will also make them associate good feelings with you and your presentations. Consider offering energy-boosting foods such as bananas, apples, oranges or dark chocolate. This will wake up your attendees, so they’ll pay closer attention to what you have to say. Break it up It’s important to not bog down people with too much information at once. Be concise. Create an outline for your presentation and follow it. Stick to the standard format of an introduction, main points and conclusion. Don’t forget to introduce yourself before you start, including a summary about yourself to help people understand why you are the best person to speak on the topic. This also can help build rapport with your audience. Pick three main points that you want to emphasize and build around them. If you are using a slide show, break up the text with bold, attention-grabbing images, charts or graphs. A good rule of thumb is to insert a visual aid every 10 to 15 minutes to make sure your audience doesn’t get bored. This also helps illustrate your points and make them easier to understand. Create a flow that makes sense and includes natural breaks for possible questions or comments from your audience. Be Natural Many people are stressed out at the thought of giving a presentation, but you can overcome the fear of public speaking. Take a deep breath. Be mindful of your body language. Step away from the podium (if there is one), stand up straight, don’t cross your arms and don’t forget to smile. Practice your speech ahead of the big day so that you’ll be comfortable and confident when presenting. Record yourself and review it for ways to improve, or consider downloading an app that allows you to brush up on your public speaking skills by providing voice analysis and interactive training courses. This will allow you to maintain a conversational tone without speaking too fast and limit the number of fillers used such as like or um. Don’t be afraid to throw in a joke or two, also, it allows you to better connect with the audience. Sum it up End your presentation with a figurative bang because it is the last thing your audience will remember about you. Reiterate the key points of your presentation with a poignant example or story. Use the connection you’ve built with your audience to let them know why what they’ve heard is important and why they should remember it. This is also the best time to include any call to actions and remind your audience of the next steps. Leave time for questions, too. When creating your presentation, think of possible questions people could ask and have answers ready. This will build your confidence and show your audience how knowledgeable you are on the material. Don’t forget to include your contact information at the end in case attendees think of questions later or need to follow up.

Writing Work Experience on Your Resume

Writing Work Experience on Your ResumeIn writing work experience it should be the latest for resume. The resume should be up to date and should show you are going places. You need to update your resume periodically so that your resume is updated and your experience should be seen in a new light. Let's talk about some of the most common reasons why people don't update their resume.Some people don't write work experience on their resume because they are scared they may have to answer a question about something they wrote in their work history. As long as you make sure that it matches up with what you wrote on your resume it should be fine. In writing work experience it should be the latest for resume.The reason for this is because some people might think they might have something on their resume that will work against them in some cases. Maybe they have information that was not on their resume. This might be true, but there are many employers who do not see these types of things on a r esume. If you are unsure you should put a little extra effort into the fact you have been there and done that in your field.Another reason why some people don't write work experience on their resume is that they don't know where to put it. It might be buried in the middle of their other information. It is possible to write on your resume a work experience in the wrong area or you could have something important that should be on your resume in one place. A good idea is to start out with what you know and get things in order.If you are someone who has been working in a field for more than five years then you should write the most recent in writing work experience on your resume. It doesn't matter if you have been working in a field for seven years, you can still put it on your resume. Your job search skills will be good if you use the recent for resume. Also remember that if you have been working for a company you can still put your previous job details on your resume.If you have been an employee and you didn't keep current on all of your information that was in your file then you need to write up a list of the things you know now and should be in writing work experience on your resume. This includes the titles, dates, names of people involved, dates of meetings, job duties, and more. The last thing you want to do is forget anything. If you have an updated list you should put them on your resume.One thing you can do is to add this information to your cover letter. If you have to put it in writing work experience on your resume you will want to put it in writing and be bold. You don't want to write something like; 'Do you want to know what I have accomplished since I started working for X Company?' You should write it in writing like 'I am excited to begin this opportunity with your company.' You can be sure your employer will remember your enthusiasm.You should also know how to write writing work experience on your resume. When you write information it should be one way only. When you write resumes they are only going to view one way so be sure you put them in writing the way you know how.

Top tips to help you start a career in oil and gas industry - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

Top tips to help you start a career in oil and gas industry Starting a management, sales, or marketing career in the oil and gas industry? Here’s what you need to know: Getting a career in the oil and gas industry can be very rewarding. There’s a lot of work in it, since oil is an important commodity that runs businesses around the world. Competition in the oil and gas industry is very competitive, what with potential employees coming from all corners of the world. If you have aspirations of entering the aforementioned industries, keep these tips in mind. The basics Before you begin with your job hunting, make sure your credentials are presentable. Keep your resume up to date. Also, make sure to sound formal in your resume and avoid using colloquial words like “Lemme (Let me)” and “Coz (Because).” If you want your employer to contact you via Email, don’t use cartoonish or humorous email address names. Be professional and spell out your name like John_Wilson@email.com or JohnWilson1989@mail.com. Looking and sounding professional is the first step in getting hired. Do your research If you want to be above all other applicants, make sure to be knowledgeable in the oil and gas industry. You don’t need to know everything there is to know. Just keep yourself updated with the important events. Research companies and understand what is new and changing. What country exported the most crude oil last year? Is it true that Israel recently struck oil in one of its cities? Which company is doing the most effort in exploring potential oil sites in Africa? Knowing these important facts will allow you to assess where the oil and gas industry is currently heading and what sector you want to work in. If your employer sees that you’re very much interested in the industry, your chances of getting hired will skyrocket. Read the news and attend events that feature talks about the industry. There are several organizations that pit together students and professionals from the oil business. Through these events, you can broaden your web of contacts and eventually find a company what you want to work for. Keep an open mind and always be willing to learn new things Being a company intern is the fastest way to build your career in a good company. You don’t have to go abroad to be an intern since the oil and gas sector operates on a wide scale. Unaoil, one of the biggest International oil and gas companies in the world, offers a diverse range of services in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. If you live anywhere in the aforementioned places, chances are, you will be able to find a job in the company. If you’re willing to work hard and take every opportunity to learn, you will be exposed to a lot of functions, products, and services that a company offers. The oil and gas industry is so diverse that you will discover a lot of things no matter what your degree or background is. If you have a lot of free time in your job, ask for extra, light tasks that you can do. Determination to learn new things paves the way to a quick promotion. A word of advice: if a company is good, don’t leave it immediately just because you’ve found a firm that pays higher. Remember, stability is always better than a higher pay grade. Always choose the stable ones from upstarts that entice workers with a higher salary.

The easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy way to update your resume - Sterling Career Concepts

The easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy way to update your resume The easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy way to update your resume So were almost two months in to the new year, and new years resolutions are beginning to falter. How many of you made a mental note to keep your resume better updated this year? Or to not put off updating your resume until the last minute? For some, easier said than done.Rather thanpost another entry full of reminders of why its important to update your resume every six months or once a year, I thought Id share a real-world suggestion for how to streamline and implement those bi-annual updates. Setting yourself the goal of updating your resume every year isnt going to be effective if, when the day comes, youre staring at ablank page trying to recall the events ofthe past year. So make updating your resume a part of every day, week, andmonth. Set up a file folder in your desk and create a new folder in your email account so that when something comes across your desk or through your emails, you can file it away immediately into a keep pile. If you dont want to forget about a particular project or outcome, email yourself notes on it and then file that email in your update folder along with testimonials andwords of appreciation from colleagues, clients, and managers, performance reviews, project specs,or c ompany newsletters and flyershighlighting strong performing products,divisions,and teams. You get the idea. This way, everything is one place when the time comes, and youor your professional resume writer willbe able sort through, prioritize, and thenbegin updating your resume with your most recent accomplishments. See? Easy peasy lemon squeezy!