Salary Negotiation Advice from a Senior Headhunter

by

This is the second post in a series of three based on my interview with Steve Meyers, a Senior Headhunter with 20+ years of experience in executive search. To see my first post on general Job Search Advice from a Senior Headhunter, click here.

I want to write about salary separately since it’s such a sensitive and important topic in the job search effort.

Q: When company asks for salary history, can you refuse to provide?
Steve: I recommend every one of my candidate to leave it blank in the application and only provide it when the company insists. Many company do not insist on this information. ...  read more

How to Be a Good Interviewer

by

Being able to interview job candidates well is an important soft skill to develop as you advance in your career.   Once you need to make hiring choices for your company, it is worth to invest time to develop the ability to identify the right candidates that has the right skills and culture fit for a job opening.   This is because any bad hiring mistakes cost the company money and time and could also affect your reputation. ...  read more

Job Search Advice from a Senior Headhunter

by

In addition to writing from my own experience, I also want to share career advice from experts in the field. Last week, I spent 90 minutes chatting with one such expert – Steve Meyers, a senior recruiter in executive searches. I met Steve a few years ago at a Wharton MBA alumni networking lunch. ...  read more

15 Interview Preparation Tips

by

An interview can be the gateway to a great job. The key to acing an interview lies in interview preparation. No one is naturally ready for an interview, even if you know all your experiences by heart. You need to prepare for every interview so that you can show:

  • You have done research on the company, and understand current news surrounding it.
  • You know why you are a good candidate for that particular position, and are prepared to tell credible stories about how your experiences support your candidacy.
  • You have prepared meaningful questions to find out more about the company.
  • You are prepared to answer unexpected questions with calm and clarity.

With that said, here is a checklist of interview preparation tips you should follow: ...  read more

How to show confidence when answering an unexpected interview question?

by

Another great question from my friend’s job search networking group. Even after all the preparation and practice for interviews, there still bound to be some questions you don’t expect and may not be prepared to answer in an interview. There are two types of questions that can fall in this category – behavioral questions and case questions. Behavioral questions usually start with “tell me a time when you …..” and there is no right or wrong answer. Case questions could be “Please estimate the size of the iPhone marketing in CA” and interviewers who give case questions usually are looking for specific things in your answer. ...  read more

Tips on How to “Cold Call” a Distance Contact

by

“Cold Calling” anyone is never easy. I had to learn it early in my career. A year after college, while working for McKinsey, I had to “cold call” competitors of our client to find out about their expansion plans in China. I was shocked when I first got the assignment. I remember thinking “how am I going to pull this off? I have to call complete strangers. I can’t tell them the name of my client, but I have to be honest and tell them that my client is their competitor.” ...  read more

4 Ways to Make an Outstanding Resume

by

How to makes your resume outstanding? First, I think a resume must have the basics to just stay in the competition. See my post on top 10 effective resume tips first. Assuming you have done that already on your resume, then an outstanding resume is one that is TAILORED t to the job you are applying. Yes, to stand out, you have to tailor your rsume for every type of job you are applying for and preferrably every single position if time permits. ...  read more