Wednesday, November 27, 2019

3 Tough Job Interview Questions a Remote Company Might Ask

3 Tough Job Interview Questions a Remote Company Might Ask3 Tough Job Interview Questions a Remote Company Might AskJob interviews are enough to make your palms sweaty, your knees shaky, and your mouth dry to begin with. But, when youre preparing to interview for a remote job, you likely become even more nervous (and, you didnt even think that was possible).Since working remotely is different from the more traditional jobs youve worked in the past, you can only imagine that youll be thrown some tough job interview questions that only apply to these sorts of roles.Yes, youre right- your interviewer more than likely will throw a few remote-specific questions your way. But, dont start breathing into that paper bag quite yet Youre more than capable of answering these types of questions, especially if youre adequately prepared.Here are three tough job interview questions a remote company might ask you1. What attracted you to this remote position?Having the flexibility to work from home is a dream for most people. But, with a question like this, your interviewer is really just trying to get to the bottom of whether or not youre truly excited about the company, this position, and its related responsibilities- or, if youre just giddy about being able to stay in your pajamas all day.Obviously, you want to demonstrate to your interviewer that you fall into the former category (even if you do plan on living in your favorite sweats for the majority of the workday).So? How do you do that, without completely dodging the question of what attracted you to remote work?Start your answer with something that directly relates to the employer or the role youd be taking on. Doing so will illustrate that, first and foremost, its the job that youre excited about. Then, at the end of your answer, you can add on something about the flexibility of remote work sweetening the pot even further.What this looks likeWith my background in social media management, seeing that this position will b e responsible for creating and launching an entirely new social strategy is what initially drew me to this role. I think thatd be an awesome challenge Plus, the flexibility of working remotely is definitely an added bonus.2. How will you stay motivated while working from home?Without a boss constantly breathing down their necks, remote workers need to be particularly driven and self-motivated. In order to get their work done, they need to be both efficient and effective at managing their own time and prioritizing their own tasks.Needless to say, this is something that the interviewer is going to want to get a feel for in order to avoid the embarrassment of offering you the job and then being totally disappointed in your work ethic.When answering this question, you should explicitly state exactly what you plan to do to keep yourself focused on your work- without giving into the tempting siren song of your Netflix queue.Sharing that you already have a plan in place for keeping yoursel f on track will reassure the hiring manager that you understand that this is a job, and not just a free pass to set your own schedule and shirk responsibilities.What this looks likeI already have a dedicated home office set up, where I can shut the door and eliminate any of the pesky distractions that can crop up when working from home. Additionally, Id set a predictable work schedule to stick to each day so that I can zone in totally on my work during those times, and also be more predictably available for my colleagues.3. How will you handle communicating with coworkers, without the face-to-face interaction?Working remotely is a great perk. But, it also means that youre going to miss out on those after-work happy hours or those friendly chats around the break room coffee pot. Even further, without so many face-to-face meetings and in-person discussions, its far easier for messages to be misconstrued or lost in the shuffle entirely.For this reason, your interviewer is bound to touc h on your communication skills in attempts to uncover how youd manage collaborating and communicating with your coworkers, despite the fact that you dont share a physical space.This is another one of those answers where youll want to be as specific as possible to prove that you have some real strategies in place for working with your team.What this looks likeI think that frequent communication is always important for success. But, that becomes even more important when working remotely. So, I would definitely stay in frequent contact with my fellow colleagues and my supervisor, using a variety of methods. Ive found that using a combination of instant messaging, emails, phone calls, and video chats provides enough options to find the best approach for getting your message across.Chances are, when youre interviewing for a remote job, youre bound to face some interview questions that relate specifically to remote work. But, thats no cause for panic- just preparation.zulauf through your answers to some probable questions like these, and youre that much more likely to knock theinterview out of the park

Friday, November 22, 2019

4 Easy Ways a Routine Presentation Can Kill your Career

4 Easy Ways a Routine Presentation Can Kill yur Career 4 Easy Ways a Routine Presentation Can Kill your Career Daryl welches just informed he must step in for his boss to present the quarterly update at a senior staff meeting. Hes not worried. He does it a couple of times a year when his boss is away.He knows he should prepare, but he feels he knows the content since he provided 90 percent of what went into the report. All he needs is a half hour to refresh himself on the document and anticipate any questions.He planned to do it in the morning except that the phone rang off the hook and someone put a meeting on his calendar and well, the morning got away from him. Maybe this afternoon? Oops, a little crisis and some critical emails needed his attention. Plus, that new person had a few questions. Suddenly the workday welches over and the kids needed help with homework. Daryl finally took just 10 minutes to scan the report before falling asleep, convincing himself thats probably a ll the prep he needs.Wrong.But why does Daryl think this way? He has four reasonsI already know the material.The senior staff members already know me.I just dont have time.Not much usually happens at these meetings anyway.Again, poor Daryl is wrong. This is the trap of the routine or simple assignment.Most execs wouldnt dream of showing up for a meeting with the CEO without preparing, nor would we shortchange our rehearsal before anything like a major town hall presentation. We know a big opportunity when we landsee one.But the routine stuff? We might agree with Daryl. Who has time? What difference does it make?Lets take a closer look at Daryls four reasons to justify his lack of prep and look at the unintended consequencesI already know the material. Daryl may know the contents of the report, but he spent no time thinking about what aspects are most meaningful to this audience. He neither anticipated questions, nor prepared cogent, informed answers. He missed the opportunity to sho w his unique understanding of the material and add value to a potentially stale discussion. If he had simply asked himself what was special about the information that the senior team would have found enlightening, he would have elevated his contribution from the routine to the remarkable.The senior staff members already know me. But how do they know him? Unless they have exposure to him beyond occasional meetings, they likely see him as the reliable stand-in- nothing more, nothing special. Hes known as a good placeholder until the real guy gets back. Why? Because thats what he displays every time. If all his interactions are as unremarkable as his senior staff presentations, he will be rated at the middle of the performance review scale, even if he sees himself as above average. Unless he can shine a little more brightly, hes going to be overlooked at promotion or recognition time. Daryl needs to figure out what distinguishes him from the middle of the pack and seize opportunities t o demonstrate his unique value to those who count, including his own boss.I just dont have time. Theres having the time and theres taking the time. Time is fungible. Most of us can find 45 minutes when other people make unexpected demands, but we dont or wont even give ourselves 15 minutes to think about making an impact in our everyday encounters. Consequently we find ourselves rushing from meeting to meeting, struggling mentally just to keep up with the content, but missing opportunities to read the room, strengthen relationships, or further our professional brand. If Daryl could turn back the clock, he should have dispensed with the mundane challenges and spent 30 minutes adding value to his presentation.Not much happens at these meetings anyway. Well, not for him. And why? Ultimately, its because Daryl has trained his audience not to engage (or theyve trained him) and these meetings are transaction, not a conversation. He could have shared insight that can only come from a guy w ho is a little closer to the ground and who really knows the content deeply. The executives may have learned something more relevant to them that could have impacted their strategic planning. He could have closed the data loop for them by contributing something and distinguishing himself in the process.Every interaction you have is an opportunity to engage others in the conversations that matter, as well as demonstrate your knowledge, experience and insight. Dont fall into the trap of the routine or simple assignment. With a little forethought, every interaction can contribute to your career momentum. When you see a fork, take it.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Chronological Resume The 2019 Guide to Reverse Chronological Resumes

Chronological Resume The 2019 Guide to Reverse Chronological ResumesChronological Resume The 2019 Guide to Reverse Chronological ResumesDocumenting events in a chronological buchung means recording them in the order of their occurrence.Reverse chronology, on the other hand, narrates a story with the recent plot first and flows in the reverse order of occurrence.A reverse chronological resume format holds a lot of significance as it is often adjudged to be the voreingestellt norm for all industries.So what is a chronological resume format? When is a chronological resume not advantageous and when should you use it? How to write a chronological resume?Well, this guide is going to answer all these questions and mora about the famed reverse chronological resume format.In case you want the summary, here it isList the most recent job frist and then date back to the previous ones.Write dates (in mm/yy - mm/yy) format thoughout yur resume.Helps in highlighting the professional experience sect ion.Do not use this format if you have career gaps as it will highlight that.This format is ATS compliant which helps you get through the ATS scanner.To start with, and to explain to you the importance of dates generally, read the section below.According to Silvia Rosenthal Janet Hale in their book A Guide to Documenting Learning, bloggers are often advised to put recent dates to otherwise old articles.This is done to give the readers the feeling that the post is recently written which generates enough interest in the readers mind.You can find this universally across multiple domains and industries. Newspapers and media platforms thrive on giving you the most recent updates and the same is followed in the blogging industry. Google posts recently-updated websites and articles first.The same logic applies to a resume.Recruiters are more interested in seeing your latest achievements credentials first, instead of mapping your professional journey from the start.They are specifically l ooking for what you are doing right now the question of what you did 5 years ago comes later.In our Guide on Reverse Chronological resumes, well majorly talk about the followingFormats of a ResumeThere are globally 3 formats used for a resume-Reverse Chronological Resume FormatThis format specifically highlights your professional work experience by putting this section in the middle.This is the most used format for all working professionals.Let us see a reverse chronological resume exampleYou will see that the work experience section shows a chronological order example of placing present job first and the previous job after that and so on.Chronological resume puts maximum emphasis on highlighting the points in the work experience, Achievements and Certifications sections in a reverse chronology.Dates are mentioned with confidence knowing that it would showcase solid career path without many gaps in the same.To see more reverse chronological resume templates, skip to the end of the article.Functional Resume FormatName here itself tells us that this resume is more based on functions, i.e. skills and abilities of a candidate.Functional format is all about highlighting your particular skills that match the skill set required by the recruiter.What we mean to say is that there might be a candidate with a very clear-cut career graph and solid career graph as compared to you.But if your skill set and abilities are more relevant than this candidate then you can compete with this candidate on an equal footing.In fact, you might just increase your chance of selection.Think like this.You have not been working from bebelastungung 6 months but you have a good retail sales ability and particular skills which are relevant to a particular retail job vacancy.And the other candidate though is working in retail sales presently and that also in a better brand but has not worked for this aspect of the profile.Then who would be the better choice for the recruiter looking to hire fo r this profile?Of course, the recruiter wants someone who can perform once he joins. And a showcase of those skills by you would guarantee the same.So, when is a functional resume advantageous?The answer is when you have many career gaps and not a concrete continuous work history.Functional resume format still shows the work experience section but does not mention the dates.So the absence of dates makes it safe for the candidate to avoid highlighting the gaps.A drawback of a functional resume format is that since it is not widely used, it definitely puts the recruiter off looking at an unusual flow of information.In many cases, the recruiter might even feel that there is something wrong with the career path of the candidate.For this reason, we move to a next and more safer choice.Combination Resume FormatAs the name suggests, this format is an amalgamation of chronological resume format and functional resume format.This shall be used when you want to highlight specific skill set and would also like to show work experiences stating dates of the same.For more details, please visit our Guide on Resume FormatReverse Chronological Resume - Why Should You Use It?The Reverse Chronological Resume is ATS CompliantATS is an automatic tracking system which is a machine recruiter specifically assigned to shortlist resumes before they actually reach human hands.Now the fact is, it is not only the factual content which gets tracked on ATS.It is also the format and dates and many other things.ATS is specifically designed to shortlist a chronological resume.So get ready to receive many interviews calls with this template.The Reverse Chronological Resume is Easy to DraftA chronological resume template is easy to draft as you are just talking about the tasks performed in each job with dates mentioned.Also, since there are plenty of examples of a chronological resume template available on the net, it would never be difficult for you to really authenticate the final resume.The Re verse Chronological Resume is Universally AcceptedThe best bet about a chronological resume template is that it is a globally accepted format.You would never have to keep changing the format while applying for different countries.Once you have made your chronological resume, you are done till you bestattungs a great job.The Reverse Chronological Resume is Recruiter FriendlyNeedless to say, a chronological resume template is favourite for recruiters for the ease of information flow.Such smooth flow of information proves easy to process during resume shortlisting and during the interview.Provide an Additional AdvantageA chronological resume template shows a clear trajectory of your professional journey which showcases you as a genuine and sincere candidate with no gaps.This gives you an added advantage over the candidate who has many gaps in the work history.Reverse Chronological Resume - Who should use it?Chronological resume as we saw has many advantages but that does not mean that it is suitable for all.Particularly the candidates who do not have a fixed career path and have taken many breaks in their career journey should avoid using it.Chronological resume format is good for the candidates who have a concrete and continuous career path.Chronological resume format is not good for candidates who are unemployed as of now.It is because the first thing which comes to the recruiters mind is that the candidate is sitting at home and is out of touch with work.Then again, you might just get lucky if the recruiter is in hurry of hiring and an unemployed candidate could join on immediate basis. But this happens rarely.How To Write A Chronological ResumePersonal Information in a Reverse Chronological ResumeThis section holds the top position in the resume.Needless to say, it should not consume too much space in the resume if the resume is content heavy.Refer to the image belowJob Title and Professional Summary in a Reverse Chronological ResumeRather than stating your career objective in a paragraph, it is more professional and universally acceptable to state your targeted designation and present designation as the Job Title.At the same time, just below Job title, you must give a synopsis of the entire resume to make it easier for the recruiter to understand your work in just a few lines.Refer to the reverse chronological resume example showcasing an example of Operations Manager targeting the position of Operations Head-Key Skills in a Reverse Chronological ResumeKey Skills summarize the skills gained by a professional in small phrases presented in bullets.This makes it very easy for the recruiter to scan them through.The best thing about key skills section is that it is the best tool to clear ATS for necessary keywords.Refer to the reverse chronological resume example-Professional Work Experience in a Reverse Chronological ResumeThis section plays the most important role as chronology is first defined in this section.Here, you have to put your current or recent work experience first, followed by previous work experiences placing the last experience in the end.As a general rule, keep all the information as one-liner to save space and give ample white spacing.To make it easy for the recruiter to understand your work, bucketing and bolding of the work experience would come handy.Refer to the reverse chronological resume example-Education in a Reverse Chronological Resume TemplateThis section comes immediately after the Professional Experience.Education in a reverse chronological resume places the most recent degree/course first and followed by previous courses.Refer to the reverse chronological resume example-Training Certifications in a Reverse Chronological Resume TemplateCertifications form an important part of your career journey as they increase your skills, knowledge and bargaining power.Literally speaking, a resume looks incomplete without a list of certifications due to the high increase in competition for each job. An operations manager resume is incomplete without a six-sigma certification, a digital marketing experts resume is incomplete without a social media marketing certificate, and so on.How to add certifications in a resume, please visit our Guide on Certifications in a ResumeHonestly, recruiters dont care what certification you pursued 10 years ago.We tend to forget what we learnt a few years ago.Heck, we tend to misplace the certificates too.Also, too old certifications tend to become invalid with changing times.Dont eliminate them from the resume but simple placement in the reverse chronological order will take you to your dream interviewRefer to the reverse chronological resume example-Refer to the reverse chronological resume example-Incorrect placement of CertificationsCorrect placement of CertificationsAwards Recognitions in a Reverse Chronological Resume TemplateAs seen in the image above, recent awards and accomplishments are stated first followed by the later ones.For more s ample chronological resume templates, visit our resume builder.Promoted tourism for governments of California, Florida and Texas by designing presenting contentDeveloped content across different formats like video logs, a web series and a luxury travel blogConducted extensive research pertaining to unexplored destinations ideal for travel and recreation Conceptualized and successfully developed shows based on religious places, luxury destinations and adventure toursDirectorial Support User Engagement Liaised with production houses and writers executed multiple projects simultaneously while reporting to the DirectorPlayed an instrumental role in directing The Roaster Lane, a comedy show for rap artists sponsored by VenusystemsFacilitated streaming of the show on Comedy Dudes, a YouTube DTH channel to secure 23k views and 550+ likes Oversaw preparation of scripts trained artists on dialogues to ensure fluent delivery within the stipulated time frame Coordinated with the Video Edi tor to play a critical role in video editing and production Deployed extensive musical knowledge to provide a background score of the video Rendered assistance to the Director during shoots w.r.t script and readingBrainstormed with diverse stakeholders to prepare a list of items required for the shootCoordinated with the Cinematographer to prepare notes while rendering assistance to the Production team Assisted the Director with a live shoot involving usage of drones, Jimmy Jib and multiple camera anglesCreated a live feed to enable a group of 120 professionals conceptualize and curate iconic content on John CoolidgeINTERNSHIPSIcecorps Group PR Intern Dallas, USA Feb 18 - Apr 18Brand Management Client ServicingLed market research to optimize PR processes for bolstering brand reputation of Icebergartz, Melonetworks TimberaidContributed to the team of Management Associates while reporting directly to the Account Manager of each accountDelivered30 news 40 policy updates on a day- to-day basis by deploying Cirrus to curate updated news in the last 24 hrsMarket Research Campaign ManagementIdentified market trends, scrutinized geschftliches miteinander structures and conducted competition analysis Implement campaigns across PR, Advertisements, Marketing and Sales with a special emphasis on the FMCG sectorMedia Relations Program ManagementCreated 2 coverage dossiers on a monthly basis for clients like Smarthead and Globalshack Disseminated 1 press release for Beedle 3 authored articles for Brew by liaising with spokespersons PR agentsIndependently developed 2 pitch notes a listening note for Mystic NetworksPresented pitch ideas for Apricot Life Program, a 70-year old PR campaign administered by AcousticsEDUCATIONM. Sc. Texas Tech University Lubbock, USA Sep 15 - Feb 18 B. Sc. Yale University New Haven, USA Jun 12 - Jun 15TRAINING RESEARCHGenetics Department - Oracleutions Dallas, USA, 13 Studied Decolourization of Textile effluent dyes to observe ba cterial activity in colored components in toxic dyesADDITIONAL INFORMATIONLanguages English, Spanish Vocalist and rhythm guitarist, working as a freelance musicianKeen interest in spiritual books knowledge, films, stories, art, wildlife and science, and reviewing movies art workReverse Chronological order example for HR ManagerReverse Chronological order example for Operations ManagerReverse Chronological order example for Accounting ManagerReverse Chronological order example for Finance AssociateReverse Chronological order example for Accounting AssociateReverse Chronological order example for Marketing HeadReverse Chronological order example for HR AssociateReverse Chronological order example for Operations HeadKey TakeawaysLook at more reverse chronological resume samples on our resume builder.For any comments and queries, please comment below. We would be more than happy to help.