Prepare Yourself For The Offbeat Interview Question | CAREEREALISM

Doing well in an interview is the result of many things, ranging from the first impressions you make with your physical appearance (body language) to how well you communicate and respond to the interview questions.

There are the predictable questions, such as “What are your greatest strengths/weaknesses?” and then there are the offbeat questions that may make your nerves rattle and leave you dazed as to how to respond diplomatically and professionally.

The fact is, there isn’t going to be a correct answer to offbeat questions, only a correct response. Such questions are usually asked to help the employer understand how well you handle tough situations and how you think through solutions. Are you one to get rattled and break down in communication when stumped with an odd question, or do you stay calm, cool and collected, maintaining confidence and a positive attitude?

There’s no real way to prepare for the oddball questions because they are “offbeat,” but what you can do is ensure your communication and responses to such questions leave a positive message that helps the employer develop the best possible impression of you.

Here are a few tips to help you maintain positive communication and composure during job interviews regardless of what questions are asked:

Think Positive And Keep Your Tone And Responses Positive

Your mission is to make yourself desirable to the employer based on your experience, talent and skills. If you focus on what you have to offer and express confidence and a positive tone, the employer will develop a much better impression in your favor than if you touch on negative points that may make you less favorable of a candidate.

Even when questions are asked about your weaknesses, your mission is to address the question directly and immediately turn it to a more positive note such as how you would work through the problem and address it.

Don’t Restate The Negative

Just because an employer positions a question a specific way that may connote the negative, do not follow that lead in your response. For instance, avoid stating “My greatest weakness is… ” Instead, respond by jumping right into what you have done to address the issue and how it has helped you succeed. This approach helps you avoid jumping around the question but puts the focus of the key message on an area that is an advantage for you.

Turn To Your Creative Side And Humor

Not all questions in an interview require a serious response. Offbeat questions are often times asked by employers to test your creativity and humor. Demonstrate your ability to think on your feet. Also, find ways in which you can relate it back to the job. The important thing is to not let these types of questions stump you, and the best way to do that is to take in the question with a bit of humor and respond in the same manner.

Never Say, “I Don’t Know.”

Such a response implies to an employer that you are unprepared and give up easily to challenges, which isn’t the ideal impression you want to make. Take a moment to process the question and analyze how you can respond back in a way to further express your character while possibly tying it back to your capabilities for the job.

In such situations, it may also help to think out loud. Such an approach helps you walk the employer through your thinking process rather than have dead silence in the air for too long.

The key to doing well in a job interview as it relates to communication and your response to questions is to remain poised and self-assured. While the question may appear to be an approach by the employer to knock you off of your feet, remain positive and calm in your response.

Also, always give a response that ties back to how you are the most fit for the job.

 

via Prepare Yourself For The Offbeat Interview Question | CAREEREALISM.

Prepare Yourself For The Offbeat Interview Question | CAREEREALISM

Google had one hour to make counter offers to prevent Facebook poaching talent

Google instigated a policy in 2007 that saw the search giant make generous counter-offers to employees being courted by rival Facebook within one hour, court documents show.

The policy was revealed by a leaked Eric Schmidt email, who was Google’s chief executive at the time. It was put into force in November 2007 by Schmidt in an attempt to prevent the rapidly growing Facebook from stealing personnel.

Facebook had just raised $240m from Microsoft at the time, shunning investment from Google.

The policy was described as “disturbing” by Vijay Gill, a manager within Google’s key engineering organisation. Gill questioned the policy saying it “appears to contravene our equal pay for equal performance policy” and that “it appears to reward folks applying to Facebook”, as reported by Quartz.

At the time, Schmidt confirmed the policy and said that Google “should be embarrassed and disgusted by the leak”.

Tech talent fight

Facebook was not included in the no-hiring pact that existed between the big Silicon Valley tech companies, including Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe. The war with Facebook for software engineering talent was so fierce that Google considered having its cofounders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, personally court Facebook workers.

The documents detailing the internal dealings were released as part of the $3bn case sought by technology workers against Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe. The four technology companies are accused of conspiring to fix wages and not recruit other’s technology talent by 64,000 tech workers.

Google and Apple have offered a settlement of $324m, which has yet to approved by US District Judge Lucy Koh who is presiding over the case.

Google declined to comment on the ongoing court case.

Google had one hour to make counter offers to prevent Facebook poaching talent

What Silicon Valley refuses to learn from Steve Jobs

Just about every tech leader in Silicon Valley says they admire Steve Jobs, but when it comes to following his lead, where’s the love?

Visit any hacker hangout, tech firm, or investment company in Silicon Valley, and you’re sure to hear people say how much they admire Steve Jobs. They’ll say that he was the most effective CEO, the best innovator, the strongest motivator, the most ruthless negotiator, and the person with the clearest vision in the valley of where tech is going. Sure, he stepped on people’s toes, and sometimes was unfair to coworkers, but what counts is how successful he was, right?

I first met Steve in a humanities seminar at Reed College. We were discussing the Parthenon frieze, and Steve told me my opinion was full of shit. This seventeen-year-old with the shock of scruffy hair, who looked like he had been sleeping on a couch (which he probably was), told me that if I wanted to understand art, I needed to get out in the world. He was shaming me to reject received ideas and to think for myself, and he seemed willing to kick my ass to get me to do it.

It is this attitude that Jobs turned into a creed and brand at Apple, epitomized by the “To the crazy ones” commercial and the famous 1984 launch ad for the Macintosh. It is easy to admire and pay lip service to Steve Jobs’ rebel image, but why do so few in the valley today follow Steve’s lead, and why are his most important lessons largely ignored by the people who claim to admire him?

Lesson #1 — Creating great products requires patience

Steve was known to chasten product teams with instructions to chuck everything and start over. The cost was high to Apple, but the result was that Apple succeeded when others failed. Microsoft had tablet hardware and software years before Apple, but it took Apple’s iPad to make the category mainstream. Other companies may offer more features in their products, and release them sooner, but user satisfaction studies show that consumers often prefer Apple’s solutions.

In an era when most follow the lean doctrine of releasing a product early, and letting the market dictate product direction, Steve spent time refining the product internally until he felt it was ready to release. That requires time that most companies don’t want, or can’t afford to invest. Steve’s approach took vision—and yes, arrogance— to think he knew better than others, plus the willingness to look beyond the horizon and envision products that customers did not know they needed yet.

Lesson #2 —  Think big

What would Steve think of today’s timorous innovators creating the umpteenth find-your-friends app, social sharing site, or cloud storage solution? For every Elon Musk who makes tackling three big, crazy ideas before breakfast seem easy, there are thousands of others who come to the valley to launch any project that an investor will put money into, worthwhile or not. Steve dared to shake things up, and thinking small was not part of his character.

Lesson #3 — Focus on your strengths

Many admire how successfully Steve cut projects and saved Apple when he returned as interim CEO in 1997. Steve learned a few things while he was exiled from Apple, and when he returned he focused the company on what Apple was good at and would attract customers back to the company. That required knowing his own and his company’s strengths and weaknesses, and understanding Apple’s customers. Yet, we still see companies squander energy and resources in too many directions. They should revisit 1997 and learn from Steve’s example.

Lesson #4 — Think different

When it comes to people per square mile trying to profit from others’ success, Silicon Valley rivals the heydays of the California Gold Rush. You can’t throw a USB flash drive in the Valley without hitting someone who wants to advise you, mentor you, teach you to code or pitch, or tighten up your growth hacking skills. Steve would tell you that listening to others is the route to mediocrity. You can’t “think different” when you’re taking your lead from the same people as everyone else.

Lesson #5 — Technology by itself is not enough

This is where we in Silicon Valley most fail Steve. Steve was a college dropout, but he valued learning and culture, and applied what he knew of music, calligraphy, design, and architecture to projects at Apple.

Today, young programmers and entrepreneurs in the valley are encouraged to drop out of college, or not pursue higher education at all, so they can focus all their attention on writing code or learning how to run a company. What value is Shakespeare, Beethoven, or Manet to someone who spends twenty hours a day on a computer? Apple’s products are beautiful to many because they are not only useful, but strive for something transcendent in their design and concept. The products might not always achieve that, but the effort reminds people of their own dreams.

As Steve said at the iPad 2 launch in March of 2011, “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough. It’s technology, married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing.”

If Steve were around today, he’d kick our ass.

What Silicon Valley refuses to learn from Steve Jobs | VentureBeat | Business | by Rod Bauer, Bauer Group.

What Silicon Valley refuses to learn from Steve Jobs

10 Tips to Master LinkedIn in a Way You Never Imagined

LinkedIn is quickly becoming the new resume.

In fact, I believe that in the next 5 years, the humble resume will fade away into the dustbin of history, to join the iPod, Internet chat rooms and (hopefully) the Kardashians.

This means that LinkedIn will become your primary job search tool and mastering the platform should become one of your top priorities. Here are 10 ways you can get a head start on your competition.

1. Fill out your profile completely.

Sounds very basic, doesn’t it? Yet, you’d be surprised how many profiles I see which are missing critical sections.

Pay particular attention to your summary, title and employment history—they’re the first items which a potential employer will look at.

2. Highlight your expertise.

What differentiates you from everybody else on the job market? Who are your ideal customers / employees? Your summary is the perfect place for this information. Back up your claim with examples of concrete achievements.

For example, “I’m a digital marketing manager for startups. I specialize in scaling $100K businesses into $1M territory” is an excellent, succinct way to define what you do and what you don’t.

3. Create a call to action.

Most people will contact you by either sending you an InMail or a connection request.

However, you can guide the right people to find out more about you by providing a link to your website, other social media assets and content you’ve created on 3rd party websites.

4. Include a photo.

It’s no longer the 1990s, when having a photo of yourself online was a reason to be worried about privacy.

As far as today’s employers are concerned, a photo on your LinkedIn profile is not a “nice to have” option—it’s a must. Don’t give recruiters and hiring managers the reason to think “Why is there no photo—does she have something to hide?”

5. Optimize your profile for search.

To improve your profile’s visibility in LinkedIn search results, ensure that your LinkedIn profile contains relevant keywords throughout.

For example, if you’re interested in job opportunities as a corporate lawyer, then your job title is the obvious keyword to include in your main job description, summary, job titles and descriptions of your job history.

However, recruiters won’t always search for you purely by your role. That’s why you need to think outside the box when constructing your LinkedIn profile. For example, if you were the project manager above, you could include keywords such as:

litigation

financial services law

mergers & acquisitions

IPO

oil & gas industry

6. Post consistently.

LinkedIn is not Facebook, so your updates can’t be photos of your breakfast.

Think carefully before you post and make sure that everything you say is consistent with your personal brand.

I suggest you get into the habit of setting aside some time a few times per week to curate and read interesting content from the Internet. This will allow you to post interesting content as status updates.

Don’t forget to put your own spin on the topic. For example, if you post “check out the latest article about the financial sector New York Times,” you’ll sound just like everybody else.

However, an update such as “The New York Times just predicted that finance industry is dying. What do you believe?” is likely to spark debate and create more exposure for your profile.

7. Create and participate in LinkedIn groups.

Which aspect of your career are you most passionate about? Chances are, there’s a lively discussion happening right now in one of LinkedIn’s groups on that topic.

The best thing is, being part of a group allows you to bypass LinkedIn’s standard requirement to be connected to someone in order to reach out to them. If you and another professional are part of the same group, you can communicate without limitations.

8. Be savvy about who you connect with.

It’s great to have 500+ connections; however, not all connections are created equal.

Engagement with your network is far more important than its size.

Requesting connections with people you don’t know and can’t find common ground with has little benefit—it only robs you of your most precious asset: time.

9. Make your messages personal.

How many times a week do you receive the stock standard “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” message?

Most influencers, heads of departments and business owners receive hundreds of such requests.

To rise above the noise you must personalize your connection requests.

Remember that LinkedIn is primarily a relationship-building platform. Not many great relationships start with sending a cold, pre-formatted template.

10. Dive deep with content trending tools.

It’s no secret that producing original content is one of the best ways to build your personal brand.

However, creating blog posts and videos is just half of the story. The trick to getting the most out of your content is to make it shareable.

How do you know which topics are shared often and which aren’t? LinkedIn’s new Content Marketing & Trending Tools allow you to do just that. There’s no more need to fly blind.

Simply research what content is popular amongst your audience right now, create it, then monitor its performance in real time.

via 10 Tips to Master LinkedIn in a Way You Never Imagined..

10 Tips to Master LinkedIn in a Way You Never Imagined

How To Be The Master Of LinkedIn in A Jedi Way

 

How To Be The Master Of LinkedIn in A Jedi Way.

How To Be The Master Of LinkedIn in A Jedi Way

17 Ridiculous Questions Google Has Stopped Asking During Interviews

Sometimes the hiring practices of even the biggest and most successful companies can be outright ridiculous.

There can be bizarre interview questions that seemingly have no answers. There can be standards — like not hiring anyone who attended a college outside of the Ivy League — that will knock candidates out of the race before they even approach the starting line.

Google used to be the shining example of these practices. It had high standards and asked silly questions.

The questions were so nuts that they were eventually banned from being asked. That’s right, banned.

In 2009, Seattle job coach Lewis Lin put together a list of 140 questions his clients were asked by Google. We’ve picked out some of the wildest and added a link to the whole list at the end.

Future Google employees should be grateful these questions are no longer on the table.

1. How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?

2. Why are manhole covers round?

3. You need to check that your friend Bob has your correct phone number, but you cannot ask him directly …

You must write the question on a card and give it to Eve who will take the card to Bob and return the answer to you. What must you write on the card, besides the question, to ensure that Bob can encode the message so that Eve cannot read your phone number?

4. How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?

5. Every man in a village of 100 married couples has cheated on his wife …

Every wife in the village instantly knows when a man other than her husband has cheated but does not know when her own husband has. The village has a law that does not allow for adultery. Any wife who can prove that her husband is unfaithful must kill him that very day. The women of the village would never disobey this law. One day, the queen of the village visits and announces that at least one husband has been unfaithful. What happens?

6. A man pushed his car to a hotel and lost his fortune. What happened?

7. How many times a day does a clock’s hands overlap?

8. How many vacuums are made per year in USA?

9. Design an evacuation plan for San Francisco.

10. Explain the significance of “dead beef.”

11. If a person dials a sequence of numbers on the telephone, what possible words/strings can be formed from the letters associated with those numbers?

12. You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?

13. How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?

14. You have two eggs and get access to a 100-story building …

Eggs can be very hard or very fragile, which means they may break if dropped from the first floor or may not even break if dropped from 100th floor. Both eggs are identical. You need to figure out the highest floor of a 100-story building an egg can be dropped without breaking. The question is how many drops you need to make. You are allowed to break two eggs in the process.

15. You have to get from point A to point B. You don’t know if you can get there. What would you do?

16. You are at a party with a friend and 10 people are present (including you and the friend) …

Your friend makes you a wager that for every person you find who has the same birthday as you, you get $1; for every person he finds who does not have the same birthday as you, he gets $2. Would you accept the wager?

17. Explain a database in three sentences to your 8-year-old nephew.

 

17 Ridiculous Questions Google Has Stopped Asking During Interviews | Entrepreneur.com.

17 Ridiculous Questions Google Has Stopped Asking During Interviews

Are the people you work with more important than the pay?

A study out today by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) has found that relationships with colleagues, self-worth and the nature of the job itself outweigh the pay.

Eighty per cent of the 2000 people polled said they would turn down a salary increase, if it meant working with people they disliked or an environment they loathed.

Three-quarters of respondents said they would struggle to accept a job that gave them more money if they knew it would be a lot more stressful.

This stress can come from any number of sources. An excessive commute, a dysfunctional workplace, a sociopathic boss, doing the work of two or more people … yep, we all know a typical career is likely to experience at least one of these situations along the way.

The study’s results showed that when it comes to work happiness, money is not the key driver for most of us.

With apologies to Meatloaf I can sum it up: “I would do anything for work… but I won’t do that!”

So, do you think it’s important that your job enhances you both professionally and personally? Do you need to feel valued to keep showing up every day, or does earning a big salary cushion you from the pain?

A former boss of mine observed: “Employees work hard enough not to be fired, and bosses pay just enough so that they won’t quit.”

Is this the balance we should be striving for?

via Are the people you work with more important than the pay? | LinkedIn.

Are the people you work with more important than the pay?