News International closing down the News of The World after the various scandals that’s gripped it has probably left a majority of staff wondering what their future is. Even though the majority will be entirely innocent of any wrongdoing there will be the fear that future employers will view with scepticism those that have “The News of The World” on their CV.

There is a future
Assuming that one is innocent of any wrongdoing then there is a future. The thing to consider that in the past there have been many other people who have worked for discredited companies that have gone on to greater career success.

Think of the thousands of innocent staff who worked for BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce) who suffered the Banks closure and yet who moved on to find other jobs.

Confusion, anger and a sense of betrayal
Naturally, as with many redundancies, there will be confusion and anger and a sense of betrayal directed at the Directors and management. There is, however, little point in brooding on it. It’s happened. If you’re good at your job and can show a good track record then most future employers will make a judgement on the facts and the earlier one considers the areas of work that will “look good” and include them on the CV the better.

What’s next
Apart from thinking through how to construct the CV it’s worth ensuring that previous connections and maintained with other employees and anyone who can provide a reference. Keep copies of work that can be shown to future employers and make contact with new people as soon as possible and network hard. Most people leave this part far too late!

Over this past month or so a number of people in my network have approached me to discuss how they can manage a personal brand image.

I guess it’s because one of the first things I discuss with an executive that moves into a new job is the “image” that they want within their new workplace. We start out by developing a plan of action to construct and manage a positive image within the first few days and weeks.

However, it’s been long understood that head-hunters, future employers as well as future employees will search the internet for clues as to the reputation, management style and expertise of any future boss. This makes having a positive on-line reputation one that’s worth considering ahead of any change of job.

As for being self-employed, well the benefits of a strong on-line brand image is obvious.

In this first video I discuss how to create an plan for a personal brand image on-line as well as to discuss creating an “elevator pitch” that covers the three rules of “Credibility, Clarity and believability”

How to create a brand image

Over the past few days I’ve had lots of people ask me about the Equality Act (UK) and specifically the type of questions that can and can’t be asked at an interview.

This video clip may help to identify some of the questions you shouldn’t be asking at an interview. The Act rightly identifies the reason that it’s the candidate’s qualifications, experiences and ability to be able to perform a job satisfactorily is what’s relevant and not aspects of home life, age, gender, sexual preference and so on.

Equality Act (UK) interview questions you must NOT ask

The Act covers many areas of discrimination at work, not covered in this video clip, and there is a huge amount of information on the web. We always always advise that you ask your professional advisor for help if needed and in preparing to hire talent.

I’ve had so many comments on the first sales job interview film clip that I’ve decided to make another that includes some of the questions I’ve been asked to include. The popularity of the first film probably means that sales is an area that I should explore more in future video clips.

Thanks to Paul, Derek, and Sarah, thanks for supplying the questions:

“Do you enjoy working with people?”
“What is it about sales that you like?”
“How do you manage with different types of buying styles?”
“What’s your approach to selling?

Best wishes and contact me if you want a specific interview question answered.

If you are looking for tips on “Interviewing” visit my YouTube channel at stephenharvarddavis

More Sales Job Interview questions

A number of people in my network have complained that I am forgetting those that tend to interview people as opposed to being interviewed.

They also, correctly say that, unless you are interviewing regularly the skills and techniques are often lost through lack of practice and would I upload some advice on “How to interview”

So here goes

Interviewer’s mistakes

This is an answer I made to a question on Linkedin today about the failure of leaders to sack under- performing people. I thought it worthwhile also posting my answer onto my blog so that more of my network could read it.

I believer that business is going through a revolution.

In past credit squeezes firms and Governments would shed talent to reduce costs (the UK Government is about to do this again by reducing civil service personnel by up to 25%). The result was that essential knowledge and skills were lost and recovery took longer as a result.
So, this time round, firms have attempted to retain their talent, even those less productive, as leaders hope for a quick upturn. The problem is that the upturn is slow in the west.

Further problems are that with coming food inflation and possible grain shortages, extended insecurity as the credit crunch continues and Government policy that increases tax whilst reduces spending businesses are now being forced to start to look to their staff costs. This means that some of the “good” people will be shed as well as the “bad” and that the trend is to hire part-time employees.

I suspect that the result is that the “business revolution” will generate a significant percentage of the working population having a number of part-time jobs as opposed to a single full time position. (including professional firms such as lawyers, accountants and financiers)

There is security in this position for employees who may be “shed or fired” in that income is not reliant on one employer and totally and immediately lost on redundancy whilst the employer has a capability of expanding and contracting a workforce more easily.

So, in my opinion, it’s not “under-performers being hired or fired” it’s that we may be witnessing a change in the way employment may work in the future.

Another difficult question at the interview is the one on salary.

“What are you expecting as a salary” is difficult because if you pitch your answer too low then that’s what you get and if it’s too high you might lose the job.

This clip looks at what you could say if salary is mentioned by the interviewer.

Also remember that there’s a book on “negotiating for what you want” on the website at www.assimilating-talent.com that includes a section on negotiating for a salary increase.

I’ve just had the pleasure of reviewing an advance copy of the book “How To Get a Job You’ll Love”  by John Lees and suggest that you buy it when it is published in a few days time.

My review is as follows:

In this clip I look at some mistakes that are made at interviews and also some howlers and one story where the candidate showed great humour but lost the job.
Enjoy

Interview Howlers & Mistakes

A number of people in my network manage sales teams or are salespeople and I’ve been asked to include some questions asked at sales job interviews.

So here’s the clip first with questions:

“What’s your attitude to a challenge?”
How do you handle rejection?”
and
Describe a difficult sale you’ve made”

and there will be more to follow

Sales and Marketing interview questions