Strategies for the Second Interview

A good friend of mine in the recruiting world recently published an article for TheLadders.com, entitled "Round Two Interview - The Difference Maker". Dean Tracy, a professional recruiter and Career Coach out on the West Coast, advises his candidates to capitalize on this second opportunity to close the deal with a potential employer. This involves understanding the organization's business model and demonstrating what immediate benefit you could provide to the problems and pain your potential employer is feeling. I know you will find the article insightful and beneficial, especially for the next time you are out interviewing!

Enjoy today's posting and thanks again to Dean for sharing his knowledge and insight.


Round Two Interview - "The Difference Maker"
Dean Tracy 09/10/08


As I coach candidates on job search and interview tactics globally, I admit that there is a bit of a science to nailing the second round interview. If you have the proper formula, you may be the only candidate to make a lasting impression that the company will not soon forget!

Chances are good that if you’re being invited back for a second round of interviews, then you’ve made a good initial impression and have something that they want. That said, besides charisma and all of the right answers to their questions, what will you bring to the interview that will impress them enough to use your interview as the standard against which to grade all other candidates?

Answer: Your 60/90-Day Strategic Plan.
During your first interview, you probably heard all about the pain-points that are driving the hiring manager crazy. This includes project deadlines, technology initiatives, budgets, client visits (if you’re in Sales), revenue goals and so on. Additionally, you may have noticed that they never seem to have enough people on staff!

If you’ve asked the right questions in your first round of interviews, and you are truly excited about this potential opportunity, then you should have a pretty good idea as to what you will do to be successful in this role. You should be able to identify at least a 60/90-day strategic plan, based upon your knowledge of the role as it is today.

If used carefully and properly, your strategic plan can be “The Difference Maker” for you in your second round of the interview process.

Three of the primary factors that demonstrate your value proposition, and will drive your success in this new potential role are as follows: having a vision / overview for the job, establishing trust with clients and colleagues, and being able to identify and set goals and objectives. Let’s go into each of these in depth.

Vision / Overview
Based upon what you have heard in the interview, you should know the vision / overview of the department or company. What impact will you make within your first 60/90 days that can be tied back to the company reaching its goals?

Consider the following when drafting your plan:
Know the ProductEstablish a working knowledge of products or services to create long-term value in your employment.

Be Credible Become a leader among your peers by spearheading initiatives, collaborating with the leadership team, or presenting to your department.

Establishing Trust with Clients and Colleagues
Establishing trust is essential for success in any role. What will you do to establish a high degree of trust within your piece of the company or amongst your peers?

Consider the following when drafting your plan:
Make IntroductionsMeet with key stakeholders in the company or department. This is beneficial on all fronts. It offers an opportunity for you to demonstrate your skills, but also allows you to get their perspectives on the company and projects.

Share Expectations Understand the leadership team's expectations. This is paramount to your success. Investigate revenue objectives, if possible, to set your personal goals. Think about setting “best practices” that may be beneficial to the company and your role. This will include understanding client needs and identifying what may have been learned from any mistakes along the way.

Create Buy-In and Set Priorities Identify how you will partner with the leadership team to create attainable goals for success. Fully understand the company mission statement and be able to share it with others. This represents a degree of commitment and clarity on the corporate goals.

Goals and Objectives
Setting goals and objectives is simply good business practice. You need to fully understand your new role in order to be successful, and you must approach it as a business. In doing so, it’s critical that you identify your personal goals and objectives for success in this new capacity.

Consider the following when drafting your plan:
Determine the Objectives Educate yourself daily on a new aspect of the company, the expectations or the job. Establish product expertise within the first 30 days of employment. Build cross-departmental relationships with departments that are responsible for supporting your success.

Shape a Methodology Identify the steps that you will take to accomplish your objectives. For every objective that is listed, you should have a supporting methodology for the accomplishment.

Reflect on Success Identify how you will evaluate or measure the success of your contributions.

Setting yourself apart from the rest of the candidates is mission critical to having a lasting impact on the person or team that is interviewing you.No doubt, you’ve heard the phrase “raise the bar.”

My perspective is that the candidate before and after you can raise the bar all they want. By entering into the second round interview prepared with a 60/90-Day Strategic Plan, you are sure to launch yourself over any bar that is set before you!

Dean Tracy is a Professional Recruiter, Public Speaker and Career Coach based in Northern California with an emphasis on placing and coaching professionals at a national level. He also serves on the Leadership Team for Job Connections, which is recognized as one of Northern California's largest and most reputable Professional Networking Groups.

Frequent Fliers Beware

A recent article on CNN.com highlighted that those frequent flier miles you have accumulated may not be as valuable as you once thought. As is typical with airlines these days, they will not only charge you for luggage, but now there is a fee to use your frequent flier miles. Details below....

Frequent fliers: No more free ride
As fuel prices shoot up, more airlines are adding fees to cash in your miles.

By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: September 8, 2008: 5:33 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The old adage - Nothing is life is free - is the new reality for frequent fliers.

As a struggling airline industry looks for new ways to alleviate high fuel costs, it is becoming increasingly difficult for passengers to cash in miles and expect them to cover the cost of a ticket.

On Sept. 15, Northwest Airlines (NWA, Fortune 500) is set to impose fuel surcharges on its WorldPerks frequent flier program, including fees of $25 within North America, $50 for trans-Atlantic flights, $100 for trans-Pacific, $75 for flights within Asia and the South Pacific, and $50 for "all other itineraries."

Delta Air Lines (DAL, Fortune 500), the carrier that's in the process of acquiring Northwest, has already added fuel surcharges for frequent fliers. On Aug. 15, Delta imposed $25 fuel surcharges for its SkyMiles frequent flier program within the U.S. and Canada, and a $50 surcharge for international travel beyond Canada.

When Northwest announced the impending fees back in July, Chief Executive Doug Steenland said in a press release that it was "a temporary service fee to partially offset our fuel costs. As fuel comes down we will re-visit this decision."

That was two days before oil prices hit their record high of $147.27 a barrel. Fuel prices have dropped significantly since then, with oil trading at about $106 a barrel on Friday.

Tim Winship, editor of the travel advice site SmarterTravel.com, said that as fuel prices continue to fall "any new fuel surcharge is likely to be met with skepticism and anger by travelers.
Presumably the airlines know that."

But the industry group Air Transport Authority still expects the airlines' fuel costs to total $61.2 billion this year, up nearly 50% from $41.2 billion in 2007.

"It's just another way that airlines are trying to recoup their increased fuel costs," said Raymond Neidl, airline analyst for Calyon Securities. "I'm expecting that other airlines will follow suit."

Who's next?
Travel gurus point to UAL Corp.'s (UAUA, Fortune 500) United Airlines. "United is next most likely, simply because they're always ready to follow other carriers' lead in such matters," said Winship.

Rick Seaney, chief executive of the air travel information site Farecompare.com, agreed that United is next in line "because at the moment they don't have a fuel surcharge or redemption fee other than [for] last-minute [fees] and they have not been bashful firing out airfare hikes this year."

Other fees for frequent fliers
Other airlines have added processing fees, which are paid when frequent flier redeem miles, with larger fees for reclaiming miles after canceling a flight. US Airways (LCC, Fortune 500) has added a processing fee of up to $50 for its frequent fliers, as well as fees for reissuing or redepositing miles of $150 for domestic flights and $250 for international.

"Re-deposit and change fees are there to try to dissuade members from switching their itineraries," said US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder. "When this happens, the ability of other members to obtain an award seat is negatively impacted."

Continental Airlines (CAL, Fortune 500) also charges $150 to frequent fliers who re-deposit miles from canceled flights. AMR Corp.'s (AMR, Fortune 500) American Airlines also has processing fees for its frequent fliers and has added upgrade fees of $30 minimum.

These are similar to the fees applied for changing flights. Delta charges fees of $75 to $150 to changes within 20 days of departure for frequent fliers, with the highest fees paid for changes made within three days. Northwest charges a $50 fee for frequent fliers who change or cancel their reservations. American Airlines also charges a $50 fee for changing reservations within 20 days, or $100 for within six days.

Seaney of Farecompare.com said that as time goes on and the fees pile up, frequent flier programs are bound to become less popular, but he's not predicting their demise.

"I don't believe that frequent flier miles will go extinct," he said in an email to CNNMoney.com. "I do, however, believe that loyal frequent fliers will continue to realize that frenzied
accumulation of miles isn't worth the effort."

First Published: September 8, 2008: 5:26 AM EDT

More Job Losses

While perusing CNN.com today, I saw this article on job losses and thought it valuable to share with you. As a recruiter, we have definitely seen this trend over the last few months; but here is some concrete data to support it.

Companies hack away at jobs
Businesses announce 88,736 job cuts in August, 14% below July, but cuts from May though August hit highest level in 6 years.

By Kenneth Musante, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: September 3, 2008: 8:14 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of summer job cut anouncements reached its highest level since 2002, according to a report released Wednesday.

From May through August, employers said they would cut 377,325 jobs, according to employment consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. That's nearly 30% more than during the first four months of the year.

The number of job cut announcements usually dips during those particular months as business slows down over the summer, Jim Pedderson, a Challenger spokesman, said.

During the summer of 2002, in the wake of the 2001 recession, companies said they would cut 378,777 positions, according to the report.

Businesses tried to cut jobs this summer as they were hit by "the double whammy of limited access to credit and the high price of oil," said chief executive John Challenger.

Downsizing relief
Despite the summer climb, plans to reduce labor forces tapered off last month from July as oil prices fell from their highs.

The number of announced job cuts fell to 88,736 in August compared with 103,312 in July, but remained more than 12% higher than the same period last year, the report said.

Planned job cuts in the financial sector, which has been suffering from mortgage and credit market losses, also declined.

The number of announced layoffs in the financial sector fell to their lowest level since July 2007, totaling 2,182, down from 14,396 job cuts averaged over the previous seven months, according to the report.

"It might suggest that [credit] conditions are beginning to relent," John Challenger noted. But don't look for significant relief anytime soon, he said.

"It is too early to say that the decline in financial job cuts last month marks the start of a turnaround for the industry," he remarked in a press release. "Many firms are still experiencing major losses in earnings and could make more workforce reductions as 2008 comes to a close."
First Published: September 3, 2008: 7:30 AM EDT

Mileage Reimbursement Increase

IRS Announces Increased Standard Mileage Rates Effective July 1, 2008

In response to increased fuel costs, on June 23, 2008, the IRS announced that it is increasing the optional standard mileage rates used for computing deductible automobile costs for business and other purposes, including moving.The announcement took affect on July 1, 2008, with the new rates being 58.5 cents per mile for business use (up from 50.5 cents) and 27 cents per mile for moving expenses (up from 19 cents). The IRS ordinarily adjusts the mileage rates once per year, but opted to do so in mid-year because the costs of fuel have escalated dramatically in recent months.