Career Advice Podcasts & Job Seeker Network
Quick Tip - Interview for Jobs You Don't Want
If you are like me, you reacted with surprise at this advice I received at a critical point in my recent job search. A very smart career and organizational coach caught me off guard just when I needed it most.
You see, I was a very cautious job seeker at the beginning of my search process. I was careful to seek only those jobs that fit the specific criteria I established earlier. Made sense to me.
Her advice, get out and interview. Roll around in the mud a little bit. Get dirty.
Are you waiting for that perfect position to appear? Are you only applying and interviewing for a job when it hits a "10" on your ego-meter? If so, you will risk showing up a that important first interview unprepared.
Your shoes will be a bit too shiny, your shirt over-pressed and you may even still have a tag hanging off your new business suit.
Get out and interview - even if it is not your dream job - you'll be glad you did.
You see, I was a very cautious job seeker at the beginning of my search process. I was careful to seek only those jobs that fit the specific criteria I established earlier. Made sense to me.
Her advice, get out and interview. Roll around in the mud a little bit. Get dirty.
Are you waiting for that perfect position to appear? Are you only applying and interviewing for a job when it hits a "10" on your ego-meter? If so, you will risk showing up a that important first interview unprepared.
Your shoes will be a bit too shiny, your shirt over-pressed and you may even still have a tag hanging off your new business suit.
Get out and interview - even if it is not your dream job - you'll be glad you did.
Comment
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Comment by Tim Tyrell-Smith on October 8, 2008 at 9:44am - Good point, Gary. There are cases where a recruiter will push a candidate to hop on a plane. Either because the employer really needs a good second candidate for comparative purposes or the recruiter sees something that you don't. Regardless, your advice is sound and the responsibility rests with the job seeker to do the right thing. Thanks for the addition.
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Comment by Gary W Capone on October 8, 2008 at 8:57am -
Practicing your interview skills is great advice. You can't wait for the perfect opportunity and only interview for jobs that match it. It's also impossible to judge a position purely on a short job description. The interview process is also an opportunity for you to assess the position. So, going on interviews that aren't an ideal fit can be beneficial to you interview skills and might uncover a good opportunity you wouldn't have considered.
The one exception to this advice is when interview is far away. I've known several people that have gone on interviews that required the company to spend in excess of a thousand dollars in travel expenses when the candidate knew there was no chance they would accept the position. The worst example of this was a person that told me they were interviewing for a position in another city when he knew there was no chance he could relocate due to family reasons. I view this as stealing - and ceased to work with the candidate the day he told me what he was doing.
Gary W. Capone
http://www.palladiancr.com
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