This Is How to Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want

by Andrea Kay

Overview

“Why didn’t you hire the last ten people you interviewed and passed on?” Leading career expert and syndicated columnist Andrea Kay asked numerous employers that single, simple question because of what she felt seemed a glaring disconnect in the business world—millions of educated, qualified people either out of work or unhappily employed, despite an increasing number of companies with job openings they can’t seem to fill. How could that be? This Is How to Get Your Next Job is the story of her quest for answers and, more importantly, the surprising conclusions she was led to by these employers frustrated with not being able to fill these positions. The overwhelmingly common answers she received time after time were not about skills or experience but about how applicants behaved and spoke during the interview. From lack of preparation, to pushiness, to a subtly defensive attitude, these simple behaviors that prospective employees exhibited before, during, and after interviews ended up nullifying their otherwise-qualified résumé.Now, in this well-researched book based on candid insights from real-life employers, job hunters can learn how to take control of how they come across to the people in charge of giving them the exciting, rewarding opportunities they are seeking. Show them why you’re the perfect fit for their job!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814432211
Publisher:	AMACOM
Publication date:	04/17/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

ANDREA KAY is a career consultant and syndicated columnist who has helped tens of thousands of people find new jobs and take charge of their careers. She is the author of six books including Life's a Bitch and then You Change Careers, and her syndicated column, "At Work" appears weekly in over 80 newspapers and countless websites, including the online edition of USA Today. She's been interviewed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Money, Kiplinger Personal Finance, Redbook, and on radio and TV across the U.S.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction: Why I Had to Write This Book

There were two reasons.

Reason #1: I couldn’t stand listening to myself yell at the radio any longer. a don’t know about you, but I hate listening to myself yell—no matter what. But particularly when I’m alone and the point I’m yelling about will not make a lick of difference since no one but my dog and two cats can hear it.

In this case, I was getting ready for the day. Across the room I could hear the radio with a news report about jobs and unemployment.

An unemployed woman in Kansas was talking about how she sent out her resume with the same cover letter to 150 employers. “And a didn’t get a single response,” she exclaimed.

“Don’t do that!” I yelled.

The interviewer asked a man in Florida what kind of work he’d like to do. He replied, “I’m looking for something where I can use my skills with people and maybe with computers.”

“Don’t say that!” I shouted.

When asked what she wanted, a young woman who had been trying to get work for a year said, “Well, ya know, I’m like a, well, a wanna be like a English and communications major. But I can’t find a job in it.”

Yes, I yelled again: “Don’t do that!”

Reason #2: I wanted to know if my husband was crazy.

For more than six months I had watched him try to find an employee for his small business. He’d come home complaining about what potential employees were saying and doing in e-mails and during interviews he’d held at Starbucks, over lunch, in his office, and by phone.

Then one night he said, “That’s it. End of story. No more. I give up.” He was genuinely sad and discouraged about the whole thing.

Was it him? Was he right? I started talking to employers at small a medium, and large companies to find out. All over the country, they were experiencing the same thing. They had job openings, but said they couldn’t find good people to fill them. They also told me what candidates were doing that led them to that conclusion. Turns out there was a complete mismatch of priorities and expectations.

If only workers could hear this. With the job market thick with fear and so much desperation among workers and misunderstanding between them and employers, I thought, perhaps I could bridge the gap a bit.

Most job hunters tell me their goal is to “stand out” to get noticed and hired—and how hard that is. Employers agree it’s important to stand out. But, they say, it’s not that hard. It’s a matter of not doing what everybody else is doing.

Before you delve into those specifics, which are in my “don’t do that/do this” advice (Chapters 3 through 6), it’s key that you read

Chapters 1 and 2. Because to apply the Don’ts and Do’s effectively a you’ll need to understand:

- How employers think today

- How to stand out among the millions you’re competing with

- Why employers may not be hiring you

- What employers are looking for and why they’d hire you

- How you want to come across to employers

- How to show employers who you really are

- How to show employers you’ve got the skills the job calls for and are the type of person they want

- How to reinforce the impression you want to make before, during, and after an interview

That and more is what I cover in the first two chapters and will refer back to again and again in later chapters.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Foreword by Richard N. Bolles

Introduction: Why I Had to Write This Book

1 You Are What You Seem

2 Tell and Show

3 15 Things You Should Never Do

4 15 Things You Should Never Talk About or Say

5 10 Things You Should Never Wear

6 15 Things You Should Never Do Once You Get a Job or in Your Career—Ever

Conclusion: How to Make It in This Wild and Crazy Time

Acknowledgments

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

In this surprisingly insightful job-hunting book, career consultant and syndicated columnist Kay (Life's a Bitch and then You Change Careers) advises prospective employees from the perspective of the hiring agent, and provides no-nonsense advice, especially regarding what you should never do or say. There is little in positive reinforcement; rather, much of the text focuses on the negative. Kay believes that employers are "looking for 'something wrong with you' so that they can eliminate you, make their job easier, and be as efficient as possible in the process." But there is no need for concern; she follows up her don'ts with a list of corresponding do's. Most of the book covers topics dealing with the interview process, including a chapter on how to (or how not to) dress. Kay focuses on dynamics between employers and job candidates: what employers want, what they look at/for, what will cause them to not consider you, and, perhaps most important of all, how you appear to them. Kay even includes a lengthy questionnaire to help determine how employers see you and how you want to appear to them. This book should help give job seekers an edge over the competition. Agent: Linda Konner, Linda Konner Literary Agency.
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Publishers Weekly

"Job hunters will want to refer to Kay for solid guidance, particularly concering interviewing. VERDICT: A concise, handy advice guide that can help job seekers everywhere." — Library Journal

From the Publisher

Kay (syndicated columnist, "At Work"; Life's a Bitch and Then You Change Careers) offers practical advice for the job seeker based on her expertise as a career consultant. The first chapter, "You Are What You Seem," lists 17 characteristics employers look for, such as consistent, stable behavior; clear, critical thinking; and initiative. Her approach highlights multiple ways to reassess strengths and weaknesses and offers readers the opportunity to glean the employer's perspective. Balanced throughout are sections detailing things you should never do (e.g., don't act old), things you should never talk about (e.g., bad experiences with previous employers), and things you should never wear (e.g., Hawaiian shirts). She also discusses maintaining jobs. Job hunters will want to refer to Kay for solid guidance, particularly concerning interviewing. VERDICT A concise, handy advice guide that can help job seekers everywhere.—Barbara Kundanis, Longmont P.L., CO

Library Journal