Most job interviews include at least one negative interview question: What is your biggest weakness? Tell me about a project where something went wrong. What is the biggest mistake you made? The interviewer is looking for habits, qualities or skill deficiencies that might hinder your ability to do the job. In addition, the interviewer is probing for your level of self-awareness and humility about the areas you need to work on. Like any other interview question, negative interview questions help the interviewer assess whether they should hire you. Therefore, you need to shape your answer to a ..read more

To go to graduate school or not? That is a question you may face after several years on the workforce and looking for a boost in your career; or after several decades of work and looking for a major change. Given the time and expense of a graduate school education, it makes sense to weigh the decision carefully. Here are 10 questions to consider before deciding on graduate school as the next step to advance your career: 1 – Why do you want to go to graduate school? If your desire to attend graduate school is strictly for career advancement, you’ll want to confirm the net benefit to your caree ..read more

I get a lot of questions about job security, as more anxiety stems from economic disruption due to trade wars or technology disruption due to AI (artificial intelligence) and other innovations. In a previous Forbes post, I tackled the AI question, and share five strategies to thrive in the AI workplace. But whether it is AI, trade wars or some other disruption that changes your job, the best job security comes from being more valuable to your company by being there than by leaving. In a simple example, if your job can be duplicated by a cheaper resource (say, a junior employee, or even a robo ..read more

If you want to change careers, you may wonder how to introduce yourself, when a common networking introduction is simply name and current job title (i.e., the title you don’t want anymore). This anxiety on how to introduce yourself deters people from networking altogether, or might cause an aspiring career changer to mention everything but their target new field. However, if you don’t mention the change you want to make, people will not remember you in the right field or have the chance to refer you to opportunities or information that you might actually want. Networking is critical to job se ..read more

For the replay of my recent Publicity webinar, please see the bottom of this post.  Landing publicity was how the senior executive I coached broke into the C-level ranks. But before I explain why publicity is so critical, first a disclaimer: there are multiple activities you should pursue to maximize something as multifaceted as your career – for example: getting clear about what you want, establishing a strong personal brand that showcases your value, having a strong network because people hire people, knowing how to negotiate and get what you deserve, building a strong personal found ..read more

Many interviews will open with an invitation to tell your story, with questions such as ‘tell me about yourself’, ‘walk me through your resume’, or ‘walk me through your career’. Since a version of this question starts just about every interview, you’ll want to have a prepared answer. But you don’t want answer this question in the most literal sense! It isn’t a storytelling contest or a date, it’s a job interview. There is a reason the interviewer asks this question, and your answer should be sure to address the reason the question is being asked. Here are four meanings behind ‘tell me about ..read more

If you want to jump on the job opportunities that come your way, you’ll need a resume. But the prospect of pulling together all the details of your background is daunting for many job seekers, especially if you haven’t updated your resume recently. If you break down creating or updating your resume into small, distinct tasks, you can slay the resume monster in a few minutes a day. If you’ve been procrastinating on creating your resume and waiting to find that perfect time to get it done, here are five steps to writing a resume quickly and easily: 1 – Create a formatted resume template without ..read more

A resume is a factual document. In fact, it can serve as the outline to a background check. Your employer may check dates of employment, titles of previous jobs, academic degrees received and dates of school attendance as you list them on your resume. So you should assume that everything that can be verified will be verified, and take special care to be 100% accurate here. One candidate I wanted to hire for a media company had listed a bachelor’s degree, which she actually didn’t receive. She had completed all of the credits but was denied the degree due to outstanding library fines. Had she ..read more

I still emphasize the importance of writing a thank you note, even after 20+ years of teaching job search skills at an Ivy League graduate school (and I’ve taught through both boom and bust hiring markets). Thank you notes after a job interview or general networking meeting keep you front-of-mind with the people you meet. Thank you notes continue the momentum from what you discussed before. Thank you notes can even add to the momentum when you include additional thoughts and ideas. It’s not difficult or time-consuming to write good thank you notes (thank you emails count!), and as per above ..read more

If you want to jump on the job opportunities that come your way, you’ll need a resume. But the prospect of pulling together all the details of your background is daunting for many job seekers, especially if you haven’t updated your resume recently. If you break down creating or updating your resume into small, distinct tasks, you can slay the resume monster in a few minutes a day. If you’ve been procrastinating on creating your resume and waiting to find that perfect time to get it done, here are five steps to writing a resume quickly and easily: 1 – Create a formatted resume template without ..read more