I went to high school in the heart of silicon valley, and many of my classmates were children of faculty at a prominent university. I was always told I could do or be anything I want to be, and it was probably true. But when it was time for me to choose a major in college, my head was spinning. I chose something that sounded cool, but without any consideration for the future. When I graduated, I was similarly paralyzed. Should I to law school? I worked at a law firm for a yea

At the end of a seemingly great interview, there is nothing more deflating than asking the candidate, "Do you have any questions for me?" and receiving nothing in response. The request for questions is not just for your benefit, it is crucial for the hiring manager as well. A candidate that has zero questions after a long interview can be seen as disinterested and unprepared. It can also give the impression that the candidate was not listening during the interview. "Do you ha

Knowing how to small talk is an art. It sounds silly, but talking about the weather is a good thing to do when you are in a job interview. There are lots of opportunities for you to prove that you are fun, easy to talk to, and have a good attitude, not only when you are sitting face-to-face with the hiring manager in a conference room. Everyone you meet will have an opinion, and everyone you meet may or may not provide input. Remember that. So, when you are being walked from

A common question during an HR phone screen is what your salary requirements are. Thus the game begins. Keep the ball in their court because whoever says a number first, loses. Why is it important to stave off these questions? Because whatever number you quote as your desired salary could do unsalvageable damage to the conversation. If you say you need a salary that is out of their range, they may move on to another candidate without even interviewing you. What if you say a n

Job search is a state of mind, not an activity. What does that mean? It means that when you are looking for a job, in the back of your mind should always be, "What if a hiring manager could see me right now?" This may seem a bit extreme, but there are countless stories of huge mistakes people have made, killing their chances right out the gate. There was a guy that I called to schedule an interview. He looked impressive and I wanted to move quickly so he wouldn't be hired els

There are a lot of reasons why you may not hear anything after you apply for online job listings. Once your documents are uploaded, it is easy to keep applying with the same material. You may have applied to 30 jobs, but your resume and cover letter may only be suitable for 10% of them. I like to call this the 'slot machine' approach. Your job search should not be a gamble. Leave your luck for the lotto! Applying online is so easy these days, and hundreds of people are doing

So you aced the final interview for your dream job, and you are on top of the world. You got the job. You just know it. At the end of the interview they told you that you would hear something by the beginning of next week. Monday comes and goes. You keep looking at your phone for missed calls. You check your e-mail every ten minutes. You call your phone to make sure it's actually working. You send a test message to make sure your e-mails aren't bouncing. Tuesday afternoon. We

So. You spent the last month looking at job posts, tailoring resumes and cover letters, and networking. Finally you got an interiew that you are really excited about. Then it hits. What if I screw up? As you probably have noticed, a common theme on this blog is preparation. Preparation is one factor of job search that you are in complete and total control of. See my posts about the elevator pitch, small talk, salary negotation and answering tough questions for some ideas. And

One of the toughest situations in an interview is getting a question like one of these: Tell me about a time when you failed What do you dislike most about your current job Tell me about the worst boss you have ever had What is your greatest weakness If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be These are dreaded questions, but you have to assume you will get at least a couple in every interview. Why do hiring managers ask these hard questions? Among other th

I know how it is. You get a party invitation and you think, "I can go to this party and eat stale crackers and dry meatballs, and talk to people I don't know. OR, I can hang out at home with my dog and watch reruns on TV." If you are above a certain age, it is probably a no brainer for you. Unless the cheese and crackers are really good. I love cheese and crackers as much as the next person, and when I am invited to a party, I often find myself standing by the food and whilin

One of the most common questions in an interview is "Tell me about yourself." Amazingly this is also one of the questions people struggle with most. There is no excuse for any hesitation when answering this question. It is usually the first question asked, and it can make you or break you. Fortunately this should be the question most easily prepared for. Why is it so hard to think of a good answer? Because we are raised not to put ourselves in the spotlight. Not to brag, not