A lot of us have been forced to learn the ins and outs of video calling over the past couple of weeks!  Whether it be video interviews, video meetings or online video sessions, there are a few things you need to be aware of. 

As some of you may know, we here at Forge Recruitment operate remotely.  So, we do a lot of team meetings, interviews and workshops via video.  Here are some of the important things we think you should keep in mind before your video call.   

First, make sure that you test your equipment in advance.  There is nothing worse than having a video interview scheduled and having your laptop’s camera or sound not working.  Be sure to test all of your equipment in advance.  Make a practice call to a friend if you need to. 

While you're making sure that your video equipment works prepare a back-up plan just in case.  For example, if your computer fails you, can you make your video call on your phone?  Download the video app you are using to your phone and sign in to your account just in case. 

Second, make sure you find the right place for your call.  A quiet, well-lit spot will be the best.  You also want to ensure that you are in a room or place where you will not be distracted.  Further, you want to ensure that you don’t have anything distracting or even controversial behind you.  Be aware of your surroundings when preparing for a video call. 

Third, you will want to dress appropriately.  If you are doing a video interview, dress just as you would for an in-person interview.  Take it seriously and dress professionally. 

Fourth, during the video call, make sure your face is in the center of the camera.  You will want to look the person in the eyes, but depending on your camera lay-out, this may mean looking at your computer’s camera – so be aware.  Be sure to speak clearly, don’t shout, and don’t interrupt the other person.

A few additional points:

These are some of our video interview and meeting tips.  I hope you found this helpful.  Thanks for reading! If you have any questions around this or any other job searching or interview topics, be sure to contact us.

Happy Job Hunting and Good Luck!

Have you ever been in an interview and asked by the interviewer, “How do you handle stress?”.  If you have, how did you answer it?  Did you stumble? Were you happy with your answer?  If not, not to worry!  Today we’ll be talking about the best way to answer the “How do you handle stress?” interview question!

First, understand why you are being asked the question.  When asking this question, the interviewer wants to know a few things.  One, they want to see what you consider to be stressful. Two, they want to see how you react in stressful situations.  Three, if the role you are interviewing for has a higher than normal level of stress, they want to know if you will be able to succeed in the role. 

So, let’s look at the best way to answer the question.  When answering the question, you will want to provide an example that shows you handling and succeeding in a stressful situation. Keep this example work related. Focus on how you managed the stressful situation.   Don’t focus on the emotions you were feeling in the situation.  Rather, address what the situation was and what steps you took to overcome it.  Be sure to highlight the successful result.   For example, you can talk about juggling competing priorities within a specific deadline.  How did you decide what you did first, second, third?  What was the result?

A few additional tips.  When talking about how you handle stressful situations, be sure not to provide an example where you were the one that created the stressful situation.  For example, if you forgot to mail something out or follow up with a client on an important matter. Don’t say you never experience stress – it sounds fake. And, don’t emphasize the level of stress you felt – acknowledge that you felt stressed and then focus on how you addressed it.

So, these are our tips on how to best answer the stress question during an interview.  Thanks for reading!  If you have any questions around this or any other interview or job searching topics, be sure to contact us. 

Happy Job Hunting and Good Luck!

Talking about your strengths during a job interview seems like an easy thing to do.  Of course, you know all of the things you are good at! Obviously. 

But, are you answering the question properly? 

With this, today we will go over our tips on the best way to approach the Strength question in an interview. 

Often, we hear things like “I’m a hard-worker” or “I’m dedicated”.  These are buzz words that are often overused and only saying that about yourself will be too vague.   

Rather, when you are in an interview and asked to talk about your greatest strength or to talk about one thing you do really well, you need to be addressing a strength of yours that matches up with what is required for in the job you are interviewing for.  For example, if you are interviewing for a busy, high-volume, fast-paced litigation legal assistant role, answering this question with, “I get along with everybody” is not the best answer.  Rather, you would want to focus on multi-tasking skills, working with a sense of urgency and being highly efficient. 

Once you have a strength that aligns with the job, you need to get specific.  You will want to focus your strength and anchor it to a specific example.  If you have not yet seen our video on using examples, you can watch it to get a better understanding of how to best frame your example.  But essentially, your example is unique to you and will help illustrate your strength in action.  The example will provide as evidence to your claim.

Now, do you think of these strengths on the spot?  You can, but I suggest you prepare before your interview.  The best way to approach this is to sit down before your interview and write a list of your skills that match the job description or are needed in the job.  Then narrow down the list to your top 3-5 skills.  For each skill, write a brief example of you putting that skill into action. 

Thanks for reading!  If you would like to discuss further how to best answer the strengths question in an interview, feel free to contact us!

Happy Job Hunting and Good Luck!

The beginning of a new year tends to see a lot of job movement! December was a busy month, people had planned vacations, company holiday parties were going on, and some people were waiting for their year-end bonuses.  Others come back from the holidays and make it their New Year's resolution to find a new job.  Whatever the reason, the reality is that there will be a lot of hiring and job movement going on to start the year which means a lot of opportunities will be available if you are looking to make a change. 

With this, here are some of our tips to ensure that you are starting your job search off on the right foot to start the new year!

  1. Reflect and get a better understanding of what you want and don’t want in a new job.  Don’t get caught up in all of the excitement of a new year and want to change jobs for the sake of changing jobs.  Take a step back and think about what you want and where you want your career to go.  Figure out what steps you need to take to get there. What moves make sense?  Will you need to make any sacrifices to get there (i.e. taking a pay cut or flexing on the size of the company or location)?
  2. Stay on top of what is happening in the market.  Explore job boards and speak with industry professionals to know what skills and jobs are in demand.  What do current salaries and opportunities look like?  How does this affect what you are looking to do?  You need to stay plugged in and keep your figure on the pulse. 
  3. Focus more on networking.  Get involved in industry associations and make an effort to get out to as many events as you can. If you cannot get out to events, look at networking on social media.  Look at LinkedIn.  Don’t just have an account and think you are done with it.  Connect with others in your industry, join industry groups and engage with relevant content. The aim is to meet and build relationships with new people in your industry.  Follow companies within your industry and look them up regularly to see if they are hiring.
  4. Update your Resume and LinkedIn profile.  The job market will move quickly at the start of the year.  Therefore, when you see something you like, you need to be able to move quickly and apply.  Further, you will want your LinkedIn up to date so that people looking to fill positions that match your skillset can reach out to you. 

Thanks for reading! 

If you have any questions around this or any other job searching or interview topic, be sure to contact us!

Happy Job Hunting and Good Luck!

While we do not see Exit Interviews very often, it is good to know what to expect if you do have one!

To start with, what exactly is an exit interview?  An exit interview is a meeting conducted between you and your employer (usually a Human Resources personnel) and this is done after you have already submitted your resignation.  The exit interview provides your firm with the opportunity to receive honest feedback from you before you leave.  Basically, the firm wants to know why you quit and what they can do to improve moving forward.

With this, let’s look at some of the important things to consider before you head into your exit interview. 

Preparation – plan what you will discuss.  You will want to provide the firm with constructive criticism while outlining to them what you liked about the role and organization, as well as giving them any suggestions on the best type of person to hire for your vacancy. 

Stay Positive and Be Helpful – This is important as you will want to set your emotions aside.  You want this to be a very fact-based conversation.  The firm is conducting the exit interview to learn how they can better retain and engage their staff.  Therefore, you will want to frame your opinions to demonstrate that you’re thinking about what's best for the company.  You do not want to be too candid as you may come across bitter.  I suggest being specific about the things you liked and then a bit more general when discussing some of the things you did not prefer. 

Expect the conversation to focus on some of the following questions:

When answering these questions, keep in mind the points we made earlier, about staying positive and being helpful.  And make sure to prepare your responses around them. 

Remember, the reason you are having your exit interview is because you already quit!  What’s the worst that could happen during it?  You need to think of it as more of an opportunity to provide valuable information to the firm you spent your time with so that they can get better and improve their staff retention. 

Thanks for reading!

If you have any questions about the best way to approach your exit interview, contact us. 

Happy Job Hunting and Good Luck!

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