The interview is the culmination of many hours and sometimes weeks or months of effort. This process began with developing and sending out resumes, networking with large numbers of people, applying to positions on line, working with executive recruiters and eventually securing phone screens. Now that you’ve made it to the interview, this suggests that you are someone the organization is interested in considering for a posi...

Follow up is critical in business. Most meaningful business issues, agreements and/or transactions are not completed in an hour. They usually require more than one contact point for completion.Advancing typical projects and relationships occur over time. To reach your goals, there needs to be follow up. This is a proven approach to keep projects moving forward in a thorough and high quality manner. The same holds true for d...

In a recent survey of senior leaders, 90% indicated that they had not designated a leadership role specifically for diverse candidates. Yet the survey did indicate that there is significant interest in qualified, diverse candidates in leadership ranks. In fact, for outside hires, the respondents were very interested in seeing a diverse slate of candidates. Half of the respondents want to see diverse candidates on every s...

To secure your next opportunity it is important to win each interaction with the hiring organization. This begins with a strong, effective resume, through to a professional negotiation of an offer. Candidates should take advantage of support, professional or otherwise to increase the likelihood of success.As an executive recruiter and an executive coach, I see multiple sides of the organization/candidate interactions. Durin...

It’s been said that half of the job is “showing up.” And that is certainly true. However, the more important half is what you do when you get there. Thriving in your workplace goes beyond attendance and basic job competency. Your goal should be exceptional delivery of your work product.Here are three techniques you can use that will help focus and improve your output. Longer term, adherence to these action steps will l...

In a recent survey of senior leaders, learning their culture was deemed one of the most important factors for selecting retained executive recruiters. Leveraging this knowledge should lead to identifying leaders who will "fit".The survey was conducted by Gundersen Partners among 220 senior leaders across industries. Most respondents were line leaders in general management (51%), followed by marketing roles (35%). Additional...

The resume is the hardest working item in your tool kit to secure a new opportunity. In most instances, this document will touch more people than you will speak to and certainly more than you will interview, during your job search.This 2 dimensional document has a challenging job. It must effectively represent a person, and help the reader understand "why you" should be considered for the opportunity. Additionally, the resu...

A cover note is a helpful tool to share your resume. More importantly, executives expect a cover note with a resume. In a recent survey of executives done by USA Today, 84% of executives polled expected to have a cover note accompany the resume.If your resume is the “meat and potatoes” of who you are and why you’re the best candidate for the job, your cover letter is the appetizer. It’s the brief CUSTOMIZED introduction o...

In a soft economy, with fewer opportunities, there is a greater tendency to take a conservative position. This conservative position applies to the approach organizations take when using resources-capital and human-and the attitudes of many employees. While trying to "play it safe" may feel good, it is not the path to greater personal growth.Personal and professional growth comes from stretching and taking risks. In this ca...

The resume is the hardest working item in your tool kit to secure a new opportunity. In most instances, this document will touch more people than you will speak to and certainly more than you will interview, during your search.Additionally, the resume, a 2 dimensional document has to represent a person. It has to help the reader understand "why you". The resume has to help separate you from other talented candidates. This i...