You’ve applied for enough jobs to know some of most common interview questions that hiring managers ask (e.g., What are your current work duties? Why are you looking to leave your current job? What are your professional goals?).

You also know that toward the end of the interview, it’ll be your turn to ask anything you’re wondering about when it comes to the role or the company.

Some people struggle with this portion, especially if they feel like their questions have already been answered. But, that’s exactly why you should always have a few ready that are nearly impossible for the hiring manager to cover before you bring them up.

One simple strategy to making sure you have a few of those surefire options ready is to turn the spotlight back on the interviewer: Ask him the same questions he asked you.

Want to see it in action? Here you go:

1. Why Are You Interested in Working for This Organization?

The hiring manager wants to know your motivation behind applying for the job, and what you’re hoping to get out of working there. This question probes into your ability to research the organization, its history, its mission, the industry, and what sets it apart from the competition. However, it’s not just a test to see if you did your homework; it’s about learning if you’re more excited about the day-to-day tasks, changing sectors, rather than the on-site gym and free lunches. You can see how to better answer this here.

Question You Should Ask Back: What Made You Decide to Work Here?

Take the opportunity to gain a better understanding of why the interviewer came on board; and more importantly, what has influenced her to stay. You’ll want to work somewhere where people are motivated and driven by the mission. If the person who’s already at the company doesn’t seem passionate about her work, it’s a red flag.

2. Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?

The hiring manager’s seeking a better understanding of your long-term goals. While you don’t have to pledge that you’ll be at the company five years from then (and please don’t say, “In your job!”); you can ease the hiring manager’s worries of just passing time until your big break at a company you’re really excited about comes through. You can see more on answering that here.

Question You Should Ask Back: Where Do You See the Organization in the Next Five Years?

Does the hiring manager seem optimistic and discuss growth? Does he foresee any major changes in the industry? Is he sharing shifts for the department or the company as a whole? Or, does he seem pretty disconnected and stunned by your question or even somewhat unsure where the company where the company will be?

3. Can You Walk Me Through Your Typical Workday?

Hiring managers are probing for two things. First, they want to know how your current workday relates to the job you’re applying for. Second, they’re judging your ability to communicate effectively when asked for a rundown of your duties. Shine in your interview by giving a clear play-by-play, being sure to discuss any tasks you lead. This demonstrates that you’ll be a great ambassador for the prospective organization, too.

Question You Should Ask Back: How Do You Envision a Typical Day in This Role?

This is an opportunity for you to learn about daily life in the position you’re applying for. If the hiring manager rattles off the job description verbatim, it’s a sign that she might not have it all figured out yet, which could affect your first few weeks on the job.

Credit : themuse.com

Every now and again, I go to the mats with someone who insists that cover letters are pointless; that no one ever reads the things—that the entire concept is “dead.”

Baloney.

The cover letter is not dead. I’m not saying that because I earn a reasonable portion of my living writing resumes and cover letters. I’m saying it because I’ve witnessed, time and again, the sheer power of a well-written one. I’ve made decisions to contact people based solely on those paragraphs. And I’ve seen clients get favorable responses from hiring managers less than day after submitting stellar copy.

One guy? He got a reply within two hours. The subject line of the email went like this:

“Your cover letter… is amazing!”

The email went on to ask how soon my client could come in for an interview. (Even better, he was later invited to craft his own job description for that company.) So, before you go assuming that this is throwaway real estate, let’s chat.

What’s the Big Deal About Cover Letters?

Done poorly, there’s no big deal at all. Done well, a cover letter gives you the chance to speak directly to how your skills and experience line up with the specific job you’re pursuing. It also affords you an opportunity to hint to the reviewer that you’re likable, original, and likely to fit in around the place should you land the job.

Most people completely lay an egg with this step. (And by “most people,” I do mean the vast majority.) Instead of using them to their strategic advantage, they blabber on and on about what they want, toss over bland, cliché-filled clunkers that are redundant to the resume, or go off on some strange tangent in an effort to be unique.

Given this reality, imagine the leg up you’ll have if you learn how to do cover letters right.

How Do I Make This Thing Incredible From the Start?

You nail the lead.

Surely, you want to make sure what you’ve written is memorable, friendly, conversational, and hyper-relevant to the job you’re pursuing. But it’s the lead that matters the most. It sets the stage for the whole document.

Make it your mission to construct a strong opening line that draws the reader into your story and makes him or her immediately want to keep reading.

Here’s an example: I recently had a client working to land a leadership role within a nonprofit specializing in fire prevention. She had a genuine passion for this cause, which she spelled out right in her cover letter lead:

“I have a personal interest in fire prevention that dates back to my youth. As the daughter of a nurse who worked in a hospital burns unit for many years, I grew up with significant exposure to those impacted by fire. I’d spend hours thinking about my mom’s patients, wishing there were some way to better protect people from fire.”

What Specific Things Should I Showcase?

Once you’ve got the lead under wraps, you should develop three to five key points (you can put them in bullets or bold them to make them stand right out) that show you understand what the organization is looking for, and spell out how your background lines up with the position. Study the job description for hints. What’s required? What skills are mentioned high up, or more than once? These will likely be the most important deliverables. Outline your experience with your strengths in these specific things.

I typically begin this section with this line:

“What, specifically, would I bring to [company name] in this role?”

And then plug in your key points.

Building off our example above, let’s say that one of the key things the job description calls for is current experience leading a nonprofit. One of your bullet points might then be:

• Current Experience as a Nonprofit Leader. And then from here, share a brief statement about your work in this position.

Simply put, you want to spell out as directly as you can what makes you a great fit, and what you can sashay through their doors and deliver once you’re hired.

Credit : themuse.com

Heading into a big interview can be terrifying, not unlike the feeling I’d imagine you’d have if you were about to jump out of a plane for the first time ever.

Of course, there’s little risk of actual death (unless, of course, you’re improbably applying for head coach at lion-taming school), but it’s nonetheless an anxiety-producing scenario.

Summon your self-confidence and conjure your courage in five easy ways.

1. Stop the Storytelling

Your brain’s primary job is to minimize danger and maximize reward, so in a situation where there’s an unknown outcome—especially a situation where you might screw up—your mind’s going to start telling you stories designed to keep you safe, tales that will help you from feeling the crush.

I’ll never get the job, and I’m about to get called on my spectacular lack of suitability. What if the hiring manager hates me? These kinds of opportunities always go to someone on the inside or someone they already know, I have no chance.

Your brain will always spin stories when it doesn’t know what will happen, so it’s vital that you recognize what your overly analytic mind is doing in creating these works of fiction.

Notice the fear-filled worries and let yourself consider the hilarity of them for just a moment, and then get yourself back to reality stat. It’s the only way you’re going to build the confidence you need for a home-run interview.

2. Return to Your Best

Being at your best means being at the top of your game, the place where you’re buzzing, flowing, and really feeling alive. When you’re in that place, two things are happening. First off, you’re simply using everything you’ve got in the moment (all those skills, all that experience, all your smarts, all your talents, all your strengths and all that instinct) and, secondly, you’re not letting anxiety get in the way of your confidence.

In an interview, these two things combine to give you the sense that this is OK; that you’re OK. It’s sitting in that chair feeling whole and resourceful rather than incomplete and on edge.

To enlist this feeling, try this exercise: Sit and close your eyes, and dive into how it feels when you’re firing on all cylinders. Check in to see where that feeling lives in your body—maybe in your stomach or your chest or your fingertips. Imagine that place in your body being the source of this energy, this flow, this power, this ease. Then, when you need it, just focus on that place in your body, and you’ll return to your best.

Credit : themuse.com

By Perminus Wainaina

Job searching need not be a depressing time in your career, especially if you plan well. Unfortunately many of us don’t prepare. We wait for external events to happen like being retrenched or declared redundant and only then do we embark on job search. The problem with waiting for others to determine your fate is that when you embark on the search, you are never in the right frame of mind and there’s a high likelihood of making mistakes that prolong your job search. Even if you didn’t see an eventuality like losing your job, it pays to always plan for your next move.

In this article, I’ll share tips on how you can prepare yourself for your next (and hopefully better) job, and why you need to start today.

Define what you want. Do you want more money, career growth, status or a better working environment? I am sure you know of a friend who is always talking of how they’d like to change jobs but if you ask them the specific reason why or what they want, they probably don’ have a clue. It’s not enough to want a new job. You must be clear on what you want. What if it’s a case of from the frying pan into the fire?

From today start defining what you want. If it’s a salary, put a figure to it, say 30% increase. If it’s growth, is it that you want to get into a managerial position or growth in terms of learning new skills? Being specific makes you confident. You are also able to evaluate employers and think through their offers. It also raises your self esteem and you no longer appear as a desperate job seeker out to settle for any opening. Are you clear on what you want? Write it down.

Define Timeliness. Having been clear on your expectations, the next step is to determine the period it will take to achieve your objectives and when you you’d like to have made a move. And one has to be realistic here. If you’ve never been a manager but you are now looking to be one, it might mean attending many interviews as not all potential employers will believe you are a good match. If you are earning 60K and now you want 90K, ask yourself what kinds of companies pay such amounts, and start approaching them.

And remember the higher your goals, the more the likelihood it will take more time. If it’s not for money but to escape a toxic work environment, then you can get a job easily as many employers can accommodate your request. On average, it will take you six months of working hard to nail a new and better job. If you are desperate and willing to settle on anything, it is possible to get a job much faster. Good things come to those who plan and wait.

Perform a SWOT analysis. SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. You have to benchmark the requirements of whatever you are eyeing to what you have. What are your strengths? It could be your level of education, the kind of company you work for, your personality, among others. When it comes to weaknesses, I define it as a job requirement that you lack. For example if I am looking to be a manager in my next job but I have never supervised formally then lack of supervisory skills is my weakness.

Negative work habits also count as weaknesses (for example, are you often late, are you disorganized, do you have a short temper, or are you poor at handling stress)? For opportunities, it could be internal or external. Do you have situations you can take advantage of or utilize to your benefit? For example, what trends do you see in your company or industry, and how can you take advantage of them? Is there a colleague going on leave? Could you take on some of this person’s projects to gain experience?

Threats are obstacles that have the potential of preventing you from achieving your goal. A few examples: Are any of your colleagues competing with you for projects or roles? Is your job (or the demand for the things you do) changing? Does changing technology threaten your position (think of Nairobi taxis and UBER)? Could any of your weaknesses lead to threats? Performing a career SWOT analysis will help you position yourself differently.

Come Up With A Work Plan. How are you going to accomplish whatever you’ve set to do? As the name suggests, it’s a plan of action. Some of the things you should capture include reviewing and updating your CV, reaching out to your networks, polishing up your LinkedIn profile and allocating time to visit different job sites. Job search is a full time affair and should be approached strategically.

If you are lacking in an area, then this is a good time to fix any shortcomings. For example, if you are shy and don’t perform well in interviews, you can seek the services of a professional coach for interview preparation and also contact employees of the target company to get an idea of how they interview.

If there’s a key job requirement that you lack i.e. training in a specific area, then you should find time to update your skills. For example, if you’ve noticed that advanced excel is a requirement for senior finance professionals and you don’t have, then it doesn’t make sense to bury your head in the sand hoping potential employers will ignore. For those in HR, being registered with IHRM is important and the last thing you want is to miss an opportunity because of something you could have done in less than a week. A work plan helps you to prepare such that, by the time you meet a potential employer or opportunity, they find you ready.

If you are planning to travel to Mombasa from Nairobi you have to make plans if you expect a successful journey. You have to think of the mode of transport, cost, date, and how fast you want to reach your destination. All these variables have a strong influence on the kind of journey you’ll have. Job search is not any different. Ensure that you take control of the things you can. Hope has never been a good strategy.

By Selipha Kihagi

Sending applications for consideration in various open jobs has never been easier. All one is needed to do is send a CV and Cover Letter through an email address provided or upload the documents on the company recruitment portals. Some organizations will not even ask for the cover letter and are instead content with just your CV. But while the application process is getting easier, the selection process is getting tougher.

Employers and recruiters are faced with the challenge of selecting a few suitable candidates from a large sum of applicants applying for the same job. This becomes even harder when the number of graduates multiplies by size every passing year. As this becomes the case, employers and recruiters are now establishing fast and more effective methods to select suitable candidates with ease.

And these methods have one thing in common; they begin with employers looking at one particular section in the CV.

So, what CV section comes first to employers?

The experience section. When it comes to the hiring process, employers and HR professionals are more concerned with your years of experience than they are with your educational qualifications. Not to say that your Degree or Diploma is not important, it is, but it will always come secondary in the selection process.

Most employers do not want to begin on training after they are done with hiring. It will constitute to using more resources, which is one thing employers want to avoid especially with the current economy. It will also use up time that companies and organizations do not want to lose out on. This is why you will even find internship positions requiring a little bit of experience.

So, as you apply for that job today or tomorrow, remember this;

1. Your experience comes first
If you look at a job advert and confirm that you match the education and skills, don’t assume that employers will overlook the fact that you do not have the needed years of experience. Most recruiters will not even get to read your education section if your experience is nil or lower than what they are looking for.

If you can, maximize on portraying your experience in the field however insignificant you think it is. This will get them to continue reading through your CV.

2. Your duties will also matter a great deal
Having the experience needed is one thing and the duties held in each position are another thing altogether. You may have held the position advertised in a different company but your duties do not translate to the experience needed.

“When it comes to hiring, the top 5 duties are what matter to employers,” says Perminus Wainaina, Managing Partner & Head of Recruitment at Corporate Staffing Services. So, maximize on showing relevance to the current job by listing the most important duties first.

Once the employer is satisfied that your experience matches what they are looking for in the job, they then move towards vetting your other qualifications for suitability. So when applying to jobs, put focus on the experience required to avoid unnecessary rejection.

By Sera Kazungu

Have you sent multiple CVs to employers , but have never heard back? It is the most frustrating thing sending an application for a job that you feel overqualified for and yet receive no response.

Most times, the contents of your CV are what will convince the employer to either consider your CV or bin without a second thought.

“The key to a presentable CV is consistency in terms of formatting and fonts. Organization is key to an attractive CV,”says Melody Mwendwa, a career advisor and professional CV writer at corporate staffing services.

Things That Put The Employer Off With Your CV

1. Your experience and the job do not relate.

Are you an entry level job seeker applying for a managerial job? Be realistic in your applications. Avoid making thousands of applications for the jobs that you know you do not have the qualifications for. Employers find this habit annoying.

Be careful not to do this very often as with time, you will develop a bad reputation a branded a joker in the job market.

2. Poor Formatting

Is the font in your CV all over the place? Do you have a mix of calibri, aerial and times new roman for creativity? It is time to introduce your CV to consistency. Choose just one format and stick to it. Do not add color or calligraphy to your document.

3. Inappropriate Email addresses

You know that email address that you created when you were young and without a care in the world?  Employer do not like them, especially in a case where you are applying for senior management positions.  The likes of [email protected], [email protected] etc.

If you are still using these email addresses it is time to grow up, trash them and create new professional email addresses that will depict you as being professional and mature.

4. Head Shots/pictures

Has someone told you that the current CV trend is attaching your photo on the CV? This is not advisable unless the company you are applying for has specifically asked you to attach a photo.

Photos put employers in difficult positions as they put themselves up for questions about discrimination in all forms.

Stick to these simple tips and maybe your CV will receive more attention and consideration the next time you apply for a job.

Good luck in your next application.