That Is One Possible Interpretation!

We woke up today to the first real snow of the season.  The trees were covered in light outlines of white and the snow lay about an inch and a half deep throughout the neighborhood.

As my family progressed through the morning, we each had a very different reaction to the weather.  It reminded of one of the most useful phrases I’ve ever learned:  That is one possible interpretation.

We all know that many people can view a single event or fact and come away with radically different interpretations.  Here’s what happened in our house on this particular morning.

The GirlChild rolled out of bed, saw the snow, launched into song about how wonderful snow is, and  wrote a letter to a friend in another city extolling the virtues of having snow even if it wasn’t a snow day because it was already the weekend. She spent the rest of the day composing various songs and skits in tribute to the winter weather.

The BoyChild leaped out of bed with hitherto unseen enthusiasm and announced, “I am DEFINITELY going snowboarding with (Best Friend) today.” Snow depth and accumulation were secondary to the possibility of vigorously attacking the golf course in best teenage-boy fashion.

My Husband glanced out the window, muttered, “Huh. Not enough to worry about shoveling.” And promptly returned to coffee and the newspaper.

On his walk, Puppy sank down into the snow to armpit depth (which isn’t all that far considering he’s part dachshund) and bounded around like, well, like a puppy.  Joy, without any further goals attached.

 I had several different reactions to the snow. My first was “Look how gorgeous the trees are; I’m so glad I don’t have to go anywhere and can sit here and enjoy the beauty.” My second was, “Better get some towels to the laundry room—we’re going to have some wet people today.” And my third was, “Marshmallows! Do we have enough marshmallows for hot chocolate?”

As I think about these reactions, it is so easy to see that none were “Right” or “Wrong,” none were “Good” or “Bad.” They simply were different interpretations of the same event. Undoubtedly other people had additional reactions.

Fortunately in this case everyone was happy to enjoy their own interpretation and didn’t spend time trying to convert anyone else to their view. All too often however people insist that their vantage point is the only appropriate one.  While explaining and sharing a viewpoint is wonderful, it’s important to remember that other people’s perceptions can be equally valid.

One fact: snow.  Many different reactions. And the phrase “That is one possible interpretation.”

The Secret to Reading Resumes—Five Tips to Choosing the Right Candidates to Interview

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a Huge Secret to reading resumes?  One that would let you get through that huge stack on your desk more quickly and that would give you more confidence that you were selecting the right people?

Unfortunately, there is no secret to reading resumes properly (sorry for the misleading title). Just as resumes differ, so do the jobs they target and so do the resume readers.  So while I can’t give you one secret to reading resumes well, I can point out some things that might help you do a better job of winnowing down the number of people you plan to bring in for interviews.

Tip #1.  Before you ever read a resume, before you ever request a resume, before you ever post a position, spend time developing the job description so that you really understand what you are looking for.  This is the most often overlooked part of the job search.  All too often, hiring managers pull out an old job description, change the title and posting date, and breathe a sigh of relief. They’ve done their part—see, on paper, here it is, a job description. The problem is that while recycling is a laudable process in many areas, it’s not always a great idea for job descriptions.  After all, are you looking for the person who would have been right for the job 5 years ago?

Tip #2.  Create a list of attributes, skills, education, experiences, etc. you are looking for. Use this list as you review resumes to look for those specific skills. While it can be tempting to want to bring in the guy who won the long jump national title in 1999, if he doesn’t have the rest of the skills you need you are just wasting your time.

Tip #3.  Skim the resume for obvious red flags.  If the job calls for organization and the resume is chaotic, you might not choose to continue with that candidate.  Look for misspellings and grammatical errors.  Read the cover letter to see if any gaps or changes in career direction are well explained.

Tip #4.  Do a phone prescreen. Whether you call or have someone else place the calls is not as important as taking a few minutes to be sure this is someone you really want to spend your valuable time speaking with in an in-person interview.  Generally, pre-screen interview questions include reasons for leaving current/last position, salary requirements, whether the general hours fit the person’s availability, request to explain any gaps, changes in career direction, or other confusing items.

Tip #5. Read the resume more than once.  Be sure to reference it as you create an interview guide so you can be sure you’ve asked about any open issues.  Then be sure to read the resume (carefully) right before the interview.

What are your best tips for reading resumes?

Learn more at http://JGraceConsulting.net or follow Judi on twitter @JudiCogen.

Conative Testing—The Key to Better Hiring Decisions

Conation refers to the third part—the doing part—of the mind (the other two parts are cognitive and affective). Our conative actions are our natural, striving instincts—the part of our mind we use when we are solving problems in our best, most effective way. 

Because these instincts do not change over time, they are integral in how a person will fit in a new job.  Conative testing—when properly used—is 83% predictive of the success an individual will have in a job.

Conative testing allows us to measure the conative requirements of the job and the conative attributes of the candidate prior to the interview process.  By choosing to interview only the candidates with appropriate skills, education, experience, AND conative attributes, the likelihood of selecting a candidate that will be successful in the position skyrockets. Imagine all the time, effort, and money company will save!

Time and again, the approach of fine tuning the job requirements for cognitive, affective, and conative attributes, screening for these specific items, and conducting high quality interviews has proven to be the most effective method for screening candidates.

Learn more at http://JGraceConsulting.net

The Five Worst Interview Questions Ever

The Five All Time Worst Interview Questions

Unfortunately, there are all too many bad interview questions that get asked all too frequently.  Here’s my list of questions that should be retired to their own special Hall of Shame.

1. Tell me about yourself.  Here’s how any candidate will interpret this question:  ‘I didn’t have time to read your resume or if I did it wasn’t interesting enough to remember so why don’t you fill me in so I have a clue what we’re talking about.’  It’s also so vague, it leaves many candidates wondering if you’re the type of manager who expects people to read your mind.  If you must ask some form of this, at least make the effort to look professional by saying something like, “I’ve had the opportunity to review your resume, but I often find it helpful to hear people explain their own background.  Why don’t you give me a short description of your career.”
2. Where do you see yourself in five years?  Seriously? Most of us aren’t even sure where we’ll be in a month.  Also, it’s an expected question. Therefore (again) the answer is likely to be rehearsed, polished, and practically meaningless.
3. Tell me your strengths and weaknesses. Easily my least favorite question of all. First of all, everyone expects this question. If the candidate can’t answer this smoothly, they struggle with other questions so you can’t really use this to weed people out. Everyone knows to make the strength something generic enough not to be threatening, and to make the weakness something you’ve worked hard to overcome (and that wouldn’t really matter if you still suffer from—like working too hard). If you ask this question, you deserve the hogwash you’re about to be fed.
4. Do you like working in a team environment? “Nope. Pretty much hate people. Hoping for a job in which I can stare at my computer all day long and growl at anyone who asks for help or information. I figure if I do this well enough, I’ll become the next Dilbert character.” If you want to know how they will work in a team, then that’s what you need to ask.  For example, “Can you tell me about a time when you worked as part of a team to solve a big problem?” or “What role do you find yourself filling in a team setting? Is this a role you’re comfortable in? Can you give me an example of a time when you worked in a team in this kind of role?”
5. Do you work well under pressure? What do you expect someone to say? “Er, not really.”? “Can I call use a lifeline?” “No, but I bring my mom to work every day and she’s great with pressure.” There is only one possible answer to this question, so why bother asking? The days of the high pressure interviews are gone with other unfortunate trends of the 1980s, so if you want to know how the person will respond to a high pressure situation, ask for an example of when they worked under pressure in the past.  Of try something like, “Here at XYZ Diamond Cutters, we understand that cutting extremely large gemstones is an art that involves a lot of stress. What do you do to balance your environment so the stress does not become overwhelming?”

What are the worst interview questions you’ve ever heard?

To learn more about Judi Cogen and J Grace Consulting, please visit www.JGraceConsulting.net or read some of her articles on www.EzineArticles.com. You can also follow Judi on Twitter www.twitter.com/JudiCogen where you can never be quite sure what she’ll be talking about.

The Five Best Interview Questions

The Five Best Interview Questions

Here are the best questions I’ve found over the years, starting with my all-time favorite.

1. What is your colleagues’ biggest misconception about you?  In all likelihood, the candidate has never heard this question, but it is a question he should be able to answer with a little thought. Give him a little time to think—after all, that’s part of what you’re trying to uncover: how does he react when something new is thrown his way.  This question can be used at any level of the organization or in any industry.  It doesn’t require special knowledge about anything except himself—and your candidate should be an expert about himself! It does require self-awareness and willingness to think a bit differently.  One frequent answer is “Nothing—I’m a very open person—what you see is what you get.”  I generally probe a bit with that answer, but you have to judge based on the candidate’s reaction. 
2. Case study.  I love using case studies for positions where the candidate will have to make decisions with less than complete information and for positions where the candidate will be required to do analytical problem solving.  The idea is to ask him to think about something in a way they’ve never  thought about before. As long as the answer is reasonable, I don’t worry about it being “correct.” I am interested in how they think the process through and how they deal with the ambiguity of the situation.  I suggest having them think out loud so you can follow the process and answer questions they might have. (No, they cannot use the computer, their iPhone, or anything else. They just have to think the problem through.) Some examples of case studies might include: How many pianos are there in New York City? How many eggs does the local coffee shop use in a day?
3. Please tell me about a time when you changed someone’s mind. What was the situation? What did you do? What happened?  This particular behavioral-based interview question is one of my favorites.  As the ability to work in teams becomes ever more important in the workforce, influencing people and working in a collaborative manner are critical skills.
4. Please tell me about a time when you changed your own mind. What was the situation? What did you do? What happened? Closely related to the previous inquiry, this question is designed to highlight whether the candidate is open to new ideas and new ways of thinking.  Depending on the position I’m interviewing for or the answer I hear, I may ask for a second example just to be sure that she has demonstrated real  adaptive ability as opposed to changing her mind one time in a moment of weakness.
5. If you were going to convince a friend or colleague to apply for this position, what might you tell them? Assuming you’ve done the prescreening well, you can be fairly certain that the candidate has the skills for the position. Hopefully, you’ve also figured out that she has a natural fit, the instinctive modus operandi, to be a good fit for the job and for working with the hiring manager.  Now you need to know if she has desire to bring her passion for the position and the company to work every day.  This question will help you understand how much research she has done on the company as well as give you some insight as to the attitude and zeal she’ll bring to your department.

What are your favorite, most effective interview questions?

Learn more about Judi Cogen and J Grace Consulting at www.JGraceConsulting.net and you can find articles she’s written on www.EzineArticles.com . You can also follow Judi on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/JudiCogen.

Are All-Nighters the Key to Business Success?

I went to bed at 4 o’clock this morning.  Well, I didn’t so much “go to bed” as click “send” and fall over, hoping someone would have enough sense to wake me after I hit snooze for the third time.

In my opinion, no one over the age of 30 should be up past 1am without a really good reason: taking care of someone sick, running out of a burning building, watching a Top Chef marathon.

Heavy duty makeup was a requirement. As I used a used a trowel to apply cover-up under my eyes, I reflected on the circumstances that led me to spend so many hours typing and listening to the puppy snore.

Yesterday I had an 11am meeting with a client during which I thought we’d agreed on deliverables and timing for said deliverables. Through an ugly confluence of miscommunication on both sides and changing circumstances on the client side, the client let me know at 4:30pm that priorities had radically altered. The piece of the project I had committed to finishing by the end of next week now just HAD to be done by 9am.

Uh-huh.

Fact: All-nighters weren’t that much fun in college, but I was too young and dumb to know it then. I’m older and wiser now.

Of course, I did the obvious: I stayed up, drank too much caffeine, and got the work done.

But as I gently smudged mascara along my cheekbone this morning, I started wondering when the last time was that I had treated my own business as important enough to pull an all-nighter.

Er, never.

All-nighters are not a great solution.  But making your own business an unshakable priority is crucial to long-term success.

Some of my Tips for Making Your Business a Priority

• Ask someone to review your marketing plan (or strategic plan, etc.) and set a date for that review. You’ll get helpful feedback and the deadline will help keep you on track.
• Mark off “sacred time” on your calendar for Your Business related activities. Stay off Facebook, don’t check email, avoid Twitter (yeah, I know, I know!). Don’t schedule client meetings in that time; don’t let others push you to ‘give up’ that time.
• Make a list. Have a plan. Whether it’s a list of items to-do or the commitment to write for half an hour, know what you want to accomplish.
• Don’t over commit. If you have one hour and a list of 478 items to complete, you’re unlikely to feel good at the end of your hour.
• Celebrate your successes!

What are your tricks for making time to work on your business?

 

Judi Cogen is a principal at J Grace Consulting. Her expertise is as the Selection Strategist, helping companies choose the right employees for the right job–reducing the costs and time investment associated with turnover. You can frequently find her chatting on twitter. Won’t you join the conversation? 

Dabble Part II–How to Get Your Clients to Value You

The  discussion about “Dabbling” vs offering real value to clients, began with me spluttering over a cup of coffee with a new client who was undervaluing his own expertise.

Here are some specific tactics to use to help your clients value your services more.

First, you need to value your products and services before your clients will.  If you don’t believe you’re worth your fee, if you don’t believe your products offer a superior solution or better value compared to everything else on the market, if you are not positive that your clients will be worse off if they don’t engage you, why on earth are you doing what you’re doing?  You must completely believe you offer the best solution for your clients if you expect people to buy from you.

Second, practice—out loud—telling others about your exceptional program.  Think “strong and confident.” Use a strong, confident voice; strong, confident words; and strong, confident body language.

Third, evaluate your phrasing. Listen for phrases that undermine your clients belief in you. Move away from “I’ve done that once or twice” to “yes, I’m quite comfortable in that area.”  Avoid “I suppose I can figure that out” to “my clients rely on me to find solutions to their business problems.” Shun twitchy eyes and stuttering for calm, confident replies.

To grow your client base, you must believe in yourself and the product(s)/service(s) you offer.

Judi Cogen is a principal at J Grace Consulting who helps clients grow their businesses by introducing entrepreneurial principals.  You can learn more at her website http://JGraceConsulting.net. You can also follow her on Twitter at JudiCogen.

Value vs Dabble–You are Worth More than a Dabble

Sam is a new client of mine who specializes in PR for medium size businesses.  Throughout Sam’s career, he’s been fortunate to work for clients in several different industries.  “I’ve dabbled here and there,” he tells me.

Dabbled? DABBLED? I snort Starbucks out my nose as I try to squawk and swallow at the same time.

“What do you mean ’dabbled’?” I splutter as I try gracefully to recover.

“Well it’s not like I’ve spent my entire career in any one area,” he says wiping droplets of decaf mocha latte (tall) off his papers and eying me uneasily.

Regaining my composure, I begin to ask Sam about his career.  Turns out, he has a lot of experience and expertise. “But I’ve done work in so many different areas,” he protests as I try to point this out, “how can I possibly be an expert?”

How indeed.

All too often, we evaluate ourselves on a scale of what we don’t know or what we haven’t done, rather than what we do know and what we have accomplished.  Additionally, since some skills come easily to us, we don’t always recognize how valuable they are to others.

As it turns out, Sam’s best clients don’t hire him to be mediocre at things outside his skillset.  They valued him highly for his core talents.  They love his ability to convey their unique message, his dedication to helping them solve their business problems, and his wide range of knowledge.

To his clients, Sam is a gem they would never let go. But as he undervalued himself, potential clients were wary of hiring him. To grow his business, Sam needs to be able to communicate his wide range of expertise to his potential clients.  (See Part II for specific tips on how to do this.)

Dabble? No. Value? Yes.

Judi Cogen is a principal at JGraceConsulting.net.  She specializes in entrepreneurship and solving business problems.  She can also be found on twitter (http://twitter.com/JudiCogen) and LinkedIn.

Worded Wonder or How Words are the Glue that Binds and Blinds

Less than 24 hours until we are due to depart for family events in a different time zone and this is the conversation in our house.

Me:  Do you know what the dress is for the weekend?

Him:  What does it matter, all the events are at my sister’s house.

Me:  No, they aren’t, but what does that have to do with anything?

Him: Well, we’ll be at my mom’s.  Won’t she know where everything is?

Me:  What are you talking about? 

Him:  Can’t we just figure it all out once we’re there?

Me:  How—exactly—are we supposed to pack?

Him (light vaguely dawning): Oh, you said “dress” I thought you said “address” …

Me:  Right. So.  Do you know what the dress is?

Him: Um, no …

Me:  SO HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO PACK?

The conversation might have continued on like that except just then my head exploded.

The above conversation with the Hugs was a completely unintentional word scramble, but it got me thinking about other words our family has twisted or created.

Like “f-d” which is code for dessert and comes from when the BoyChild was little.  When asked “What are you eating for dessert?” he would respond by saying that the cookie was his “f’dessert.” For dessert. One word. Noun. Shorthand for parents: f-d.

Or the term “oversplode” which the GirlChild invented the day she was watching the pot on the stove and it, well, it oversploded.  Can’t argue.

Some terms stem from simple mispronunciation.  In our family, the phrase “really and truly” means you must absolutely stop teasing or obfuscating and tell the truth.  The GirlChild, to this day, pronounces the phrase “Reallyan Trulyan.” Please don’t correct her—I love it.

Then there’s “boofnana” instead of banana (which has no real origin except silliness) and shoozles for shoes (ditto) which go on toezles. 

Many misusages come from when the children were little.  Like when the GirlChild was wisely commenting on how eco-friendly we were and announced that Daddy was taking the composers out. You know, the composers are what goes in the compost bin. To compose.

Or the California city known within our home as Fran-Sa-Sisco.

Some words take on a new meaning because of a single incident.  For example, the GirlChild and I were playing Boggle and she found the word “hoax.” I hadn’t found it, and like any good parent I looked for a loophole to keep from losing the point.  I insisted that she was too young to know that word—until she defined it for me.  So now “hoax” can also mean “Child doing something very clever.”

The list goes on and on.  These are just some of my favorites.

Anybody can use the standard words listed in Webster’s. For us (with the exception of “oversplode” which should be in the dictionary), using our own words helps cement us as a family.

Reallyan trulyan.

Judi Cogen is a principal at J Grace Consulting. When not consulting or listening to her children invent new words, she can be found helping people learn how to be entrepreneurs.  You can follower her on twitter @JudiCogen. 

Accountability? Who Me?

There are lots of different accountability systems.  There is no right or wrong or perfect system.  The important thing is to find time to take care of those things that are important to our business or our life that we never get around to taking care of.

We all know that when it comes to the unforgivably big things, we find a way to “get it done.”  After all, we’re not going to miss a client meeting, forget a child’s birthday party, or miss the kickoff of the Superbowl (especially if the get-together is at your house).

But there are a host of things that we somehow manage to escape getting done.  Maybe it’s getting caught up on our expenses. Maybe it’s taking the time to write the next newsletter. Or write employee reviews. Or take the child shoe shopping. Or fix the kitchen faucet.

Whatever things you (or your friends, colleagues, or clients) are putting off, the trick is to find an accountability system that works for you so that you can get them accomplished.  The sense of relief that comes from finally “getting it done” is astonishing to many of us.  We don’t realize how much of a burden it is to not do something. But the task nags at us and drains much needed energy.

• Some people find that blocking out time on their calendar for specific tasks and treating that time as “sacred time” which cannot be interrupted or used for anything else allows them to complete their goals.
• Others find that having an accountability partner or team to which they report on a regular basis keeps them on track.  Maybe it’s a group your meet, email, or call weekly.  Maybe it’s a meeting with a coach or business advisor that keeps you focused. Maybe you are lucky enough to have a colleague, assistant, administrator, or VA who insists some of the less fun chores get done.
• Still other people find that making a list and not moving on to the next task before completing the one at hand does the trick. Perhaps you simply refuse to end the day (or the week) with a task undone.
• How about putting all the task for the day on post it notes on the wall, and only pulling them down when the task is complete. Go wild and use different colors for different topics or level of importance.

These are just some of the accountability strategies my clients use.  What are your favorites?

Judi Cogen is a principal at J Grace Consulting http://jgraceconsulting.net/. You can follow her on twitter at http://twitter.com/JudiCogenor email her at Judi@JGraceConsulting.net.