Tight Job Market - all the more need for emotional intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is in the news more all the time. Those of us who were early adopters know why. With the economy in the shape it's in, there is more stress for everyone AND there is more competition for the jobs that are available. As we've said all along, if two people have equal intelligence, skills, and experience, which one is going to get hired?

The answer: The one YOU would want to work with.

Which means the one with the higher emotional intelligence.

Let me help you improve yours. Here are some of the complaints that HR people have when they interview candidates:

** They act like a robot.
** She got hysterical just in an interview session.
** She got so nervous when I asked her questions, I wondered how she would make it through the interview.
** Even with simple questions, he got defensive. I couldn't imagine asking our employees to work with him.
** He was abrasive. I would not ask one of our managers to have him in their department.
** Looked good on paper. In person she was just plain out annoying.

Email me for coaching at sdunn@susandunn.cc and let's get started. This tight market means you need help with stress AND with interview techniques. Let's say personality, and emotional intelligence.

EQ- and the Job Interview

LET ME GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE FOG

Interviewing for jobs? Looking for a new job? Just moved to a new location?

Of course you know to prepare. Yes, be able to answer "What's a problem that happened on the job and what how did you handle it?" and "Tell me about yourself."

We all know those pretty well by now!

But considering that most people form their impression of you in the first 30 SECONDS, there's another little bit of homework you need to do.

Especially if you're new to an area ... and you can really consider any new job environment a "new area."

One of the most important areas you could research is to find out how the people dress.

FROM TODAY'S MAILBAG:

Susan, I just moved to the Dallas Fort Worth area. I didn't know
there was a rivalry between the two. I started out working at a firm in
Dallas, but the commute (4 hours a day) was too long. So I tried Fort
Worth. When I walked in for my interview, dressed like I did in Dallas, the woman said, "We don't dress like that here." It seems in Fort Worth you wear some color, and in Dallas, black is fine.

Later I had a temp job. The receptionist told me they liked most
temps, but they did get rid of one. "We just couldn't stand the way she
dressed."

The next interview in Fort Worth I thought I'd done better but it turned out long hair is also "out". The man interviewing me looked at me, then turned to the other woman in the room, who had that shaved hair cut, and said, "I like your hair." That was a slam.

What do I do???? I need a job and I'm stuck between these two cities.

Do your research in this area. It's best to "fit in" as well as you can. Look up the place on the Internet and check out the dress code. Talk to people you know who might know. Go for the middle of the road, neutral look.

You might even go so far as to keep some things in your purse - a set of plain pearl earrings and then gold loops. You will usually have some time between your entrance and the time you meet with the interviewer to get the lay of the land. Like when you sit in the receptionist area. Use this time wisely, to look around and see how things are. Adjust accordingly.

For coaching, call me at 817-741-7223. I'm here to help.

Also ask for me ebook, "Acing the NEW Job Interview." Email me to order.

The New Job Interview - It's about Personality and EQ

Bosses Try New Ways to Skip Misfit Hires: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

You've got to have emotional intelligence to ace the new interview.
From the article -- as bosses try to find the right kind of people to work for them:

With the national unemployment rate low, at 4.7 percent, and the Baby Boom
generation heading into retirement, employers from Microsoft Corp. to rural
hospitals are worrying about finding enough workers. But companies like
Rackspace Managed Hosting are bucking that trend, working hard to find reasons
to turn people away.

Rackspace CEO Lanham Napier said, "We'd rather miss a good one than hire a bad one."
The 1,900-person computer server hosting company is divided into 18- to 20-person teams. One team is so close, the whole group shows up to help when one member moves into a new home, Napier said. Job interviews at the San Antonio-based company last all day, as interviewers try to rub away fake pleasantness.

"They're here for nine or 10 hours," Napier said. "We're very cordial about it. We're not aggressive, but we haven't met a human being yet who has the stamina to BS us all day."

There's a possible downside, however. In a Harvard Business Review article titled "Fool vs. Jerk: Whom Would You Hire?" Tiziana Casciaro of Harvard and Miguel Sousa Lobo of Duke University point out that people generally like people who are similar to them, so hiring for congeniality can limit diversity of opinions. One venture capitalist told the authors that a capable manager he worked with built a team that "had a great time going out for a beer, but the quality of their work was seriously compromised."

To learn more about your emotional intelligence, take THE EQ COURSE. It will increase your EQ and also give you an idea what the new employers are interviewing FOR.

This course is also excellent for ANGER MANAGEMENT.