The Second Job Interview - What To Expect

The Second Job Interview - What To Expect
Good news! You've been invited back for a second interview
(or a third or fourth). But, you feel that you've already
covered everything in the first interview? How will this
interview be different from the first? How do you prepare
for the second round?

Can you do the job?

When you are asked back for a second interview it means
that you are considered a viable candidate for the position
and you are qualified to do the job.

Second interviews vary with each company. Since you are
going to meet with different people, you can expect to be
asked some of the same questions, beginning with "Tell me
about yourself, or "Walk me through your resume."

Do we like you – are you going to fit in?

They know you have the skills by now, and will be looking
to see personality and cultural fit. You will be measured
against other candidates who have applied for the same
position. It is important that you leave the interviewer
with something to make you "remembered." Think of five
strengths you have and pick the one that you feel
differentiates you from the pack. An example would be a
technical person who has great customer service skills.

A good way to let the interviewer know about you is through
other's quotes. "If you were to ask my last boss he would
tell you that I am his right hand man – or woman."

Your challenge is to set yourself apart from the pack. It
will be necessary to let the employer know that you are a
great match for the position and that you have what it
takes to do this job.

"Fit" is an important factor. Be sure to review your match
to the position description – from the company's
standpoint as well as your own.

Be prepared for other topics to surface

Other subjects may come up in this interview such as salary
requirements and benefits. Prepare by doing some research
on salary and some thinking about your benefits
requirements. You cannot negotiate a salary until you have
an offer, but you can prepare by knowing the "going rate"
for your position -- salary.com. You should also do a
budget sheet of your expenses and figure out what it costs
you to live each month - your salary needs. You should know
your "walk away" number. When you cannot afford to take the
job.

It is a competitive job market and you will have to sell
yourself whether it is a first or second interview.
Continue to congratulate yourself each time you get that
call for a second interview – you just got to the
next rung up the ladder towards that job offer.

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Carole Martin is America's #1 Interview Coach. Celebrated
author, trainer, and mentor, Carole can give you
interviewing tips like no one else can. Her workbook,
"Interview Fitness Training" has sold thousands of copies
world-wide. Sign Up to Receive Free Weekly Interview Tips
at http://www.interviewcoach.com

Document Management Software - The Essential Investment For Any Business

Document Management Software - The Essential Investment For Any Business
Document management software is an essential investment for
any business handling large numbers of documents in a
networked system.

Document management software will enable your business to
function more effectively, saving staff time and creating a
document flow that works in harmony with the machines that
you run and network in your business environment.

There are many companies that specialise in creating
document management software suitable for a range of
purposes, including the creation of digital archives,
remote web access to documents and networking support.

You will find companies creating products designed for a
single user right through to large-scale, business-wide
deployment and they are renowned for their development
work, done as part of a consultative process with their
many users.

Document management software enables you to convert your
paper archive of documents into electronic versions and
then to continually extend this electronic archive during
the day-to-day life of your business.

The benefits of converting your paper documents into
digital versions are manifold and include easier storage;
easier retrieval; accessibility across your organisation;
the networked sharing of information to improve
communication; and efficiency within your business.

Filing electronic versions of your paper documents can also
help your business by enabling easy tracking of large
stores of documents and preventing the loss of paper
copies. An electronic archive is easy to manage, with the
right software, and documents can be located quickly. One
of the most obvious and immediately beneficial advantages
to converting your paper document archive to a digital
format is that of space-saving. You will instantly gain
space in your office and the need for large-scale storing
cabinets with mass archives will be eliminated.

In order to create an electronic document archive, you will
need a scanner and some document management software. The
archive is created by the scanning of paper documents, with
your document management software then enabling you to
store these documents on a hard drive or disk, as you
prefer.

Following scanning and storage, your documents are indexed
in an archive format. Future retrieval of these documents
is easily enabled via your document management software.
Your document management software will also enable you to
set different levels of access and document editing rights
for individual users across your network, so you can
customise the security of your archive to suit your
business and employee needs.

Quality document management software allows you to grow and
extend your electronic archive well into the future and
means that you can continually add to your electronic
document archive with a modular approach. Such software
will also enable you to allow controlled access to your
document archive from within your office environment, on a
multi-location network or using online methods, for staff
working remotely. Once you have decided that your
business can really benefit from investment in document
management software and accessories, there are a number of
other factors to consider. It is a very good idea, and key
to making the right investment for your business, to take
some time to plan through how your particular needs can be
met by document management software and what your future
requirements might be.

Consider factors like the number of currently archived
paper documents that your new electronic archive will need
to store and approximately how many new documents may be
added over a 12-month period. You should also plan out
roughly how many users will need access to the system,
whether there will be public access and how much control
you will need to have over user rights and permissions.

Obviously, there are then also technical considerations,
such as the current specification of your network
capabilities and any existing scanning machinery you have.
Depending on the size of your business, it can be a good
idea to pool resources and skills to create a document
management software requirements list, as you will need to
consider administrative, technical and, possibly, legal
requirements before you go ahead and create your new
electronic archive.

----------------------------------------------------
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Work at Home Online: The Opportunities Are Growing

Work at Home Online: The Opportunities Are Growing
With the various means of online, virtual, and direct
communication available to us now, it's little wonder why
telecommuting has become such a popular work alternative.
For both employers and employees, working at home offers
considerable benefits. The flexibility of schedule, the
inherent trust involved, and an expanded employee base no
longer limited by geography are all major contributors to
the explosion of the telecommuting sector.

While a good number of companies are now offering their
on-site employees the option of part-time or full-time
telecommute work, there are also now strictly online
opportunities. These work at home online jobs do not have a
physical office location to report in to. Rather, all
communication is done online or sometimes by phone.

Such jobs are focused on results alone and measure
performance based on objectives met. Supervision is not
necessary, with many workers choosing their own hours.
Indeed, one of the primary features of a work at home
online job is the freedom it affords the worker. Time
usually spent in traffic for instance, can be spent instead
with the family, running errands, or working on a side
project.

With an online telecommuting job, since the work is
computer-based, it can be performed virtually anywhere.
Work at home online jobs are referred to as "work at home,"
but in truth, they can be done on the road, in another
city, or at a coffee house. Flexibility of time also
factors into whether the job is full-time, part-time, or
spare-time. With work at home, this is usually left up to
the contractor. Since everything is performance-based, the
pay scale simply reflects how much time the person wishes
to put into the job.

For the employer, work at home online jobs are a great way
to minimize costs. Since there isn't a central office for
the work team to report into, there's no need for an office
building to accommodate them. There's no overhead. Since
pay is based on performance, nothing is paid in excess of
what is produced. Since most of the work is by contract,
benefits such as medical or dental aren't part of the job
offer. For the employer, a virtual office could be all
that's needed to network a staff of employees from around
the world.

Many smaller Internet companies make the most of online
telecommuting. Since budget is limited for these companies,
it's more feasible to hire contract workers who can work
from home. The bulk of jobs available do rely on results to
indicate the quality of performance and determine a pay
rate. The most common work at home online jobs involve data
entry, which can be learned via online instruction or
tutorial.

A quick look at job banks finds that many of the work at
home online opportunities include coding, such as
litigation coding or medical coding. In addition, there's
medical and legal transcription, which requires the
individual to transcribe audio files word for word.
Mystery-shopping and clerical work like typing, word
processing, bookkeeping, scheduling, and claims processing,
are also common. Creative freelance work, from writing to
editing to proofreading, can also be readily found. As far
as freelance jobs, technical opportunities, like database
creation and web design, are also assignments that can be
performed from anywhere.

While technology continues to open new doors for us, it's
only right that we step through. Work at home online jobs
are a sign of the times and are certain to expand in the
coming decade. Companies are falling in line with the
benefits of telecommuting, while the online job sector is
truly taking the idea and running with it.

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My name is Tom Husnik. I live in Minnesota. My web site is
at http://www.mybestfixitbiz.com

Ten Tips for Mastering the Phone Interview

Ten Tips for Mastering the Phone Interview
Phone interviews are becoming more and more common as
companies gain greater access to candidates and as more
recruiters and hiring managers work from virtual office
locations. On the positive side, with a phone interview you
don't have to worry about having your suit pressed and you
can have your notes in front of you. On the flip side, it
is much more difficult to establish rapport and get a read
on the hiring manager during a phone conversation. Below
are some tips for getting the most out of your phone
interviews.

Schedule the meeting during a time when you won't be
distracted.

A phone interview should be scheduled like any other
interview. At the designated appointment time, make sure
the dog is in the backyard and someone else is watching the
kids. If a recruiter or hiring manager calls you without
advance notice and wants to interview you on the spot, use
caution. If the interview "conditions" are not optimal at
the time of the call, it is best to tell the interviewer
that you are very interested in the position, but need to
schedule another time to have a conversation. That time can
be as soon as ten minutes later, just make sure that you
can take the call without being distracted.

Conduct interviews from a landline.

Cell phones are a boon to modern communication, but the
quality is still not the same as that from a land line. You
don't want to frustrate the recruiter or the hiring manager
with a bad connection. Plan your interview from a reliable
phone line.

Create an office space.

Dedicate an area as your office. This could be as simple as
a card table with a phone and your documents. Conduct your
interviews from your "office". Being seated at a desk or
table allows you to create an environment similar to an
in-person interview.

Put a mirror in front of you.

This helps you focus and it anchors your conversation to
the visual representation of a person. Monitoring your
facial expressions helps you see if you are communicating
your enthusiasm to the recruiter.

Have a glass of water nearby.

If your throat is dry or you get a tickle you can take care
of it before it turns into a cough and disrupts the flow of
the interview.

Have your notes in front of you.

A phone interview is like an open book test. You can have
your company research and answers to potential interview
questions right in front of you. Try putting key
information on colored index cards and organize by category.

Vary Your Voice.

Since the other person can't see you, it is critical that
you vary the tone and cadence of your voice to communicate
interest and develop rapport.

Use pauses effectively.

Pauses in an interview situation are always difficult and
they can be especially awkward during a phone interview.
Rather than wondering what the person on the other end is
doing or if they are still there, use the silence to ask a
question. For example, if the interviewer has just asked
you about your strengths and your response is met with
silence, make that an opportunity to ask a question like
"What are the key strengths of your ideal candidate?" This
takes care of the silence and allows you to learn more
about the position.

Don't multi-task.

We have grown so accustomed to multi-tasking, however it
can be counterproductive during a phone interview. Don't
check your email or stick a casserole in the oven while you
are engaged in a phone interview. Act the same way you
would for an in-office interview and maintain your focus.

Practice.

Record some of your answers to prospective interview
questions. Play them back and critique. Are you easy to
understand? Is your presentation riddled with long pauses
and ums? Do you communicate interest and enthusiasm? If
necessary, rework your answers and your presentation.

----------------------------------------------------
Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers,
(http://www.careersolvers.com ) has over 12 years of
experience in career management, recruiting, executive
coaching, and organizational development. Ms. Safani
partners with both Fortune 100 companies and individuals to
deliver targeted programs focusing on resume development,
job search strategies, networking, interviewing, and salary
negotiation skills.