Avoid These Interview Killers

By DIANA MIDDLETON

With so much competition for every job listing out there—there are more than 6.1 job seekers for every job opening, according to the latest job-opening and turnover data from the U.S. Department of Labor—wowing a recruiter during a job interview is even more crucial. According to a new survey of nearly 500 human-resources professionals released by the Society for Human Resource Management, there are plenty of ways to derail a job interview—and some of them may surprise you.

The basic don'ts: arriving late to an interview or trashing a previous employer. But some hiring managers say even experienced professionals have made other slip-ups.
Often, job candidates speak in a too-familiar way with hiring managers—a major problem, according to 20% of survey respondents. Mary Willoughby, director of human resources at the Center for Disability Rights in Rochester, N.Y., once interviewed someone who was so comfortable, he commented on a sty she had near her eye.

"My mind was made up at that point," she says. The candidate was not hired.

For 67% of hiring managers who responded to the survey, dressing provocatively is a major deal breaker—even more significant than having a typo in your application materials (58% found this to be an interview killer). Chantal Verbeek, head of enterprise talent at ING U.S. Financial Services, says she'll forgive a typo if the applicant's skills are extraordinary, but revealing or sloppy apparel equals an instant rejection. "You'd think that'd be obvious," she says.
Job seekers have also been blasting HR managers with questions about benefits, vacation time and schedule flexibility much too soon in the interview process, according to the survey. (Thirty percent of hiring managers say it's okay for applicants to inquire about salary in post-interview follow-up conversations.) Some 39% of hiring managers surveyed said applicants shouldn't bring up salary at all—unless the interviewer brings it up first.

"I've had candidates ask if they can work part-time from home right off the bat," Ms. Willoughby says. "Let's figure out if you're the right person for this job before we discuss how little you want to be in the office."

Using clichés like "This is my dream job" are also major turnoffs for hiring managers. Instead of telling an interviewer you think outside the box, actually do it. Ms. Willoughby recalls a job candidate for an IT programmer position who gently pointed out that the Center for Disability Rights' Web site had several programming errors. "He handled it in a way that didn't make us feel ridiculed or demeaned," she says. "It showed that he was really serious about the job."
Shawn Desgrosellier, president of Vitality Group Executive Search, coaches job candidates to go into an interview with something—anything—in their hands. The step maintains focus. (He suggested a pen, a notepad or your résumé.) "It's just awkward going into an interview with nothing," he says.

There's also some good news for people with numerous public profiles online: Although social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are rife with clues about job candidates' private lives, 75% of HR managers surveyed don't bother to check them.
And the formal thank-you letter after the interview? More than 60% of HR managers who responded say skipping the step is not a big deal. A brief email will suffice—cards and balloons are all overboard.

Write to Diana Middleton at diana.middleton@wsj.com

The Successful Team Leader

A team leader requires a unique set of leadership skills and attitudes. Unlike his or her counterpart in other corporate or business structures, a team leader manages a highly talented group of like-minded professionals who know what to do but need leadership to stay motivated and focused. Much like the trainer of a group of thoroughbred horses, a team leader's job is to motivate team members to run a winning race.

Three distinct mindsets are necessary to become a team leader:
1. Have your game perfected.
2. Have a strong desire and willingness to focus on other people and their success.
3. Use team or practice leadership skills consistent with a “let me help” attitude rather than a “follow me” attitude.

Perfecting your game since your job as team leader is motivational development of others; you need to ensure that your energy and enthusiasm are contagious. Spreading your “energy virus” to your team is the first step for professional talent development.

Tip: Answer these questions: Are you excited about what you do every day? Do you look forward to your work? Are you clear on the talents you bring that influence your success?

Focus on others’ success Many team leaders find it challenging to shift from creating their own success to recognizing success through the results of others. An individual contributor has a direct impact on revenue and profitability. A team leader achieves revenue and profitability by managing other people’s drive, energy, enthusiasm, passion, and ambition. This means you no longer have direct impact on the results.

Tip: Once you understand your team’s passion and focus, you need to understand each team member’s talent, passion, and focus. Do you have the technical people skills to do so? How do you know?

Lead by having a “let me help” attitude versus a “follow me” attitude. This requires the skills to influence others without domineering. The army sergeant approach will only alienate and de-motivate the typical professional. And, trust me; nothing is worse than a thoroughbred that refuses to perform?

Tip: Which is your natural leadership style “Let me help” leaders need to enhance their performance management skills to succeed. “Follow me” leaders need to learn coaching skills to direct their team to more effective results.

Meetings are a Whip! How to get the most out of a meeting

When it comes to meetings, they are notorious for being ineffective and time wasters. Here are a few strategies that will make you more effective when conducting and facilitating meetings of all kinds.

Why have meetings?
Only call meetings when you have good reasons to do so.

There are three types of meetings:
Problem solving
Decision making
Informational (try to avoid these unless necessary to build energy around a subject)

Create an agenda:
Open the meeting with authority.
Review the agenda. Get input on agenda and find out if there is anything else the group may want to discuss.
Introduce matters you have deemed important to discuss.
Establish ground rules.
Start on time. End on time.
It should take approximately 30 minutes to cover each subject. Think “flow”.
Agree who can contribute.
Follow the agenda.
Stay on task.

Have a purpose for calling the meeting:
Examples are: Brainstorming, informing, elicit ideas, fix a problem, determine a course of action or clarify roles and responsibilities on a team.
Do not just have a meeting for the sake of feeling like the group is one-big family.
Do not have people attend that do not need to be there-- ask yourself who and why they need to be in the meeting.

Assign roles and responsibilities to members:
Leader-May or may not run meeting but clarifies purpose, objectives, scope of authority and constraints. Takes responsibility for follow up.
Facilitator-Guides the group through discussions.
Scribe-Someone to take notes for future distribution.
Contributor-Participates actively by offering ideas and keeping the discussion on track.
Expert-Contributes expert knowledge on issues AS REQUESTED

Be realistic:
Things will interrupt/disrupt your meeting so be realistic and expect thing like:
People that arrive late or leave early (ask them questions to make sure they are catching up with the group since they missed part of the meeting).
People who whisper or disturb the meeting.
One participant who dominates the meeting and infuriate everyone else.
A group that gets stuck or confused, focusing on only one small point of the issue/meeting and repeats the same point over and over again.
A group that runs out of energy or just falls silent.
A group that commandeers the meeting and begins to focus on items that are off-topic.

Be prepared:
Use active listening and observation to see where your audience is.
If someone is leaning forward, they may have something to say or are actively listening.
If their arms are crossed and they are leaning back in their chair, it is a good sign that they are disengaged in the meeting.

If a participant dominates the discussion:
If you are standing, walk closer to the person. This draws the audience’s attention TO you and AWAY from that person.
Thank him for his input and call on someone else.
Limit/eliminate interruptions.
If he finishes other people’s sentences, encourage him to let them finish what they had to say.
Ask the group to change roles so those that have been quiet take a more active role and the one’s who have been doing all of the talking can take a back-seat.

If someone disturbs the meeting by whispering, talking or interrupting:
Ask a question and then ask the person talking for the answer.

Boomerang:
Return a question to the person who had asked it in order to let the group know that the leader is not the only one responsible for answering questions.

Break into sub-groups:
Break up into smaller groups to elicit more feedback from all members of the meeting.

Ending and ending on time:
When you end on time you gain the trust and appreciation of all participants.
Have someone keep time.
Make sure all points of view are heard.
Periodically remind the group of the items left to discuss and the time left to do so.
Prioritize or postpone agenda items if time is running out.
If you have everything done, end the meeting. Time is too short to keep a large group of people in a meeting in order to fulfill an allotted time for meetings.
Restate and summarize what has been accomplished.
Clarify what comes next.

Get feedback on items missed or that may be important for future meetings.
Ask the group for an evaluation of the meeting. Either in person or via email.

Send out the proposed to do list moving forward.