On Inevitable Job Interview Question - Why Did You Leave?

On Inevitable Job Interview Question - Why Did You Leave?
The Inevitable Job Interview Question: "Why Did You Leave
(Are Planning To Leave) Your Last Position?" and How to
Deal With It.

This is a question that you can almost count on being asked
at your next interview What the interviewer wants to know
is, "Why are you available?"

The answer you give could set the tone for the rest of the
interview. For instance, if you were to indicate that you
were bored or burned out at your last job, the interviewer
would quickly become concerned about your performance at
this company. The question can be especially tricky if
you've had less than favorable conditions regarding your
departure from a company. Regardless of the circumstances
that have caused you to move, or are causing you to think
about moving, you should be prepared to answer this
question.

Below are examples of possible answers to this critical
question. After reading them try to determine which is the
strongest answer.

(A) The company had a re-organization, and my department
was eliminated. The work had begun to dwindle so it was not
a complete surprise. I liked my job and the people I was
working with so I had been hoping that it wouldn't affect
us but unfortunately we were all let go. I would like to
find a job similar to the one I lost.

(B) I am looking for a new challenge. I have been with my
current company for two years now and don't find the work
as interesting as I once did. I am looking for a company
where I can take on new challenges and grow. My current job
is dead-ended for me.

(C) Since there are no advancement opportunities within the
company, I have decided it would be a good time for me to
look outside. I have set some career goals for myself that
I could not achieve at that company. What I am looking for
is a job with a bigger company where I can contribute, but
also move on a career path that has more responsibility.

Have you selected the strongest answer? See if you agree
with the advice below.

The Strongest Answer

(A) This is the strongest answer, not because of the lay
off, but because it has an upbeat tone to it. You liked
what you did and were hoping it wouldn't happen. In other
words, if it hadn't been for something out of your control
you would still be there. The answer indicates a good
attitude about an unfortunate incident.

The Mediocre Answer

(C) This is an ok answer. It is natural to want to take on
more responsibility. It is also acceptable to quit a job. A
skilled interviewer would follow up with a question about
your career goals and why you think you can achieve them at
this company.

Would you have an answer prepared for that follow-up
question?

The Weakest Answer

(B) This is the weaker answer because it is trite. One of
the most common answers to this question is that you are
"looking for a challenge." An interviewer might be
concerned that if you were bored at your last job, you
might find this job boring as well, or at least not
"challenging" enough.

There are no "right" or "wrong" answers to this type of
question, but there are ways of saying the same thing in a
way that will make a stronger impression. Before you head
out to your next interview consider preparing for this and
other difficult questions. A little time spent preparing
and scripting of your answers before the interview will
make a huge difference in the way you answer the question
during the interview. (Excerpts taken from "Boost Your
Interview IQ" – Carole Martin – McGraw-Hill
2004)

----------------------------------------------------
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

First Sales Contact: 8 Steps to Establishing Your Credibility

First Sales Contact: 8 Steps to Establishing Your Credibility
One of my favorite sci-fi movies is the prolific Star Trek
- First Contact film. The Borg, perhaps the greatest threat
to humanity ever conceived, travel back in time to prevent
first contact, the day where the Vulcans, an advanced
society, decide to pay a visit to Earth. Entertaining? You
bet! Most of our sales first contacts however, are far less
dramatic, although no less important, at least to the
development of our business base.

Our first contact with a prospective customer is our first
impression. It is both our personal and company
introduction. It may be the first exposure of our brand to
this prospect. First contact is our opportunity to
establish our credibility and set the stage for the future.
If handled properly, the sales door is opened and the
beginnings of a successful, long-term relationship have
been established. If handled poorly, that same door may be
closed forever.

Is first contact that important? Can this initial
impression carry that much weight? Yes and yes. Our
prospect must perceive us as a valuable asset, one that
they need to have on their side. This perception must begin
with that very first contact, as we may not get a second
chance to establish our worth to them.

First contact must establish us as both a valuable and
necessary asset, a great find. Our prospects must see
enough value to warrant additional visits, leading to our
opportunity to provide real solutions, culminating in new
sales opportunities. If handled well, our new customer will
become a source of referrals, providing many additional
first contact opportunities in the future.

The following are eight basic steps to establish early
credibility with your new prospect:

1. Do your homework. Know some basics about your prospect.

2. Understand their industry and general issues.

3. Associate your experience with this new opportunity.

4. Ask open-ended questions.

5. Use their industry terms and vocabulary in conversation.

6. Pinpoint a pressing issue that you can address on your
next visit.

7. Set an appointment for that specific purpose.

8. Arrive at your next visit fully prepared to provide the
solution.

This early attention to establishing your credibility and
authority in your field will pay huge dividends as your
fledgling relationship develops into a new customer. Never
under-estimate the importance of your credibility and the
early perception of confidence in your innate abilities to
provide solutions for your new customer.

Customers buy solutions from suppliers they have faith in
and trust to do the job right.

----------------------------------------------------
Daniel Sitter, author of both Learning For Profit, and
Superior Selling Skills Mastery, has garnered extensive
experience in sales, training, marketing and personal
development spanning a successful 25 year career.
Experience his blog at http://www.idea-sellers.com

How to Measure ROI on People Development

How to Measure ROI on People Development
People development has become a key concern for
organisations - employees expect high quality development
as part of their contract and are often what will attract
an individual to one particular organisation over another.
The positive impact of people development through better
communication, greater motivation and lower turnover, has
been documented. But how do you measure the financial gain
from developing people? Return on Investment (ROI) is
something that organisations expect from their people
development programmes yet few know what it looks like, how
to measure it or how to achieve it.

There are many benefits to measuring ROI: * To uncover what
works and what doesn't * To track the impact of people
development on desired goals * To justify the investment in
people development

Perhaps one of the most important reasons though, is to
raise HR's profile and standing in the business community
as a function which is more than just an overhead cost but
one that delivers real financial benefits to the business.

How do you define it?

ROI is the added value created from an investment in terms
of cost saving, cost avoidance or income generation created
from an investment. Of course there are other benefits to
training and development beyond these financial measures
but when we talk about financial ROI we are really talking
about the financial benefits delivered to an organisation
as a result of the training or development intervention.
The ROI percentage is obtained by calculating the benefits
minus cost, divided by cost, multiplied by 100.

Kirkpatrick's Model (1959) highlights 4 levels of 'payback'
on development: Level 1 - Reaction - participants'
reactions to a development event Level 2 - Learning - the
degree to which learning occurs as a result of the project
Level 3 - Behavioural Change - the transfer of learning to
impact on job behaviour Level 4 - Organisational
Performance - the impact learning has on the organisation

Whilst feedback on training and development is often
gathered at level 1 and sometimes even at levels 2 and 3,
financial ROI, which really impacts at level 4 -
organisational performance - is rarely measured. The
reason given is that it is just too difficult to calculate
'true' financial ROI for many HR professionals.

In a recent survey by consultancy, Lane 4, other criteria
for measuring return were considered to be more relevant
than financial ROI measures. Whether this is because these
are easier to link directly to training or whether, as HR
professionals, we are more comfortable talking 'behaviours
and people' rather than 'numbers and figures', is anyone's
guess.

Certainly, there is a considerable volume of research
linking different aspects of people development to
behaviour change and performance. For example, the
development of transformational leadership is associated
with a number of positive outcomes at both the
organisational and individual level, such as lower levels
of work stress, increased employee motivation and customer
satisfaction. The development of improved communication
skills has been shown to result in greater team innovation.
The challenge for the HR professional is to take this one
step further and link these performance indicators (such as
motivation, customer satisfaction) to cost savings, cost
avoidance or income generation in order to measure
financial ROI.

The best return on training and development results when an
intervention is designed specifically to develop those
performance indicators which are linked to achieving an
organisation's strategic objectives. For instance, if a
company identifies that retaining customers delivers better
profit (because it reduces the need for direct selling and
marketing) training and development interventions aimed at
customer handling skills and relationship management will
deliver the greatest return on investment.

In summary, to be respected by our colleagues for
delivering a real, tangible contribution to the business,
we must be seen to be linking each and every training
intervention to a hard measure: cost saving, cost
avoidance or income generation. It's not easy and takes
practice but the simplest way is to design each training
intervention with a key performance indicator in mind and
link that performance indicator to a hard measure.

----------------------------------------------------
Pam Kennett is Founder and Director of Chiswick Consulting
Limited a management consultancy which provides advice and
direction to clients in marketing and human resources. Pam
has more than 20 years experience working with CEOs to
deliver more through better people management practices.
Contact her at pam@chiswickconsulting.com or visit
http://www.chiswickconsulting.com .

How to Start a Niche Affiliate Marketing Program

How to Start a Niche Affiliate Marketing Program
Niche affiliate marketing programs are big business
nowadays but it takes some time to get your business going.
First of all you need to find something that you are really
interested in or something that you can see is generating a
lot of interest online. Find the one that interests you
most and that is paying a good commission rate before you
sign up. There are some really good niche affiliate
marketing programs out there that offer comprehensive
training to affiliates.

Once you have signed up for a product and uploaded the
banners etc you should test the product that is being
offered, often this will be a digital information product.
If you test the product yourself then you will do a much
better job of recommending it to people who visit your
website. You will of course have made sure that you
optimize your website for the search engines and that you
add good content and reviews of the product on a regular
basis.

A good niche affiliate marketing program will teach you to
be up to date in your niche by joining forums on the
subject and getting involved in online discussions in your
field. A good niche affiliate marketing program will tell
you that immersion in the subject will help to make your
sales letters and articles better. You will be giving your
customers what they want because they will be enthused by
your passion for the subject.

A niche affiliate marketing program is much more successful
if you have a great sales letter that you can send out to
your clients. You should offer your visitors a free e-book
or ezine if they sign up for your news letter. A good opt
in program will make use of one of the auto responder
accounts out there which allow you to send solo ad
messages. By using an opt in message system you are
building a list of potential customers without spamming by
sending unsolicited messages.

Another weapon in your campaign to have the best niche
affiliate marketing program is to use ezine. There are
plenty of affiliates out there who have found that
submitting articles on there subject to ezines can help to
generate more traffic and more signups for your emails and
products. If you are going to do well in niche affiliate
marketing then you have to be one step ahead of your
competitors.

You need to do all you can to drive more traffic to your
website because this is the only way to get more sign ups
and more repeat sales. Any emails that you send out should
have a link to your website in the signature line and a
short but effective product description. These are the keys
to launching a successful niche affiliate marketing program
and to building yourself extra income.

----------------------------------------------------
Find out how you can profit with your own niche affiliate
marketing program in my free e-course "List Building in a
Niche Market". http://www.cyber-marketing411.com/niche11

Stop "Moving Your Own Piano" (You'll Then Attract More Clients While Making More)

Stop "Moving Your Own Piano" (You'll Then Attract More Clients While Making More)
Quote: " Invest three percent of your income in yourself
(self-development) in order to guarantee your future." -
Brian Tracy

Sometimes, the signs that it's time to invest in taking
your business to go to the next BIG level show up without
notice. Take this past summer, for example. The second call
of my Preview Teleseminar Series for my workshop was
scheduled and I was set to interview two inspiring and
motivating solopreneurs on how they use the Client
Attraction systems daily to make well into the 6-figures.
We had close to a thousand entrepreneurs registered for the
call and I was excited to host it.

Then, the unthinkable happened. As instructed, hundreds of
people starting showing up 10 minutes early to make sure
they would make it onto the line before it was maxed out.
As I was greeting them, I kept asking if my two featured
guests were on the line. My heart kept sinking further and
further into my stomach as I realized neither of them could
actually get on the line as moderators.

Call it a systems glitch, call it a disaster, there was
nothing I could do. Emails were going back and forth, with
my special guests telling me they were indeed on the line
but no one could hear either of them. Meanwhile, nearly a
thousand people were waiting patiently for us to figure out
what was going on.

At that moment, I would have paid ANYTHING to be able to
get an operator on the line to fix it for me. Anything.

I was crumbling inside, unsure of what to do. Have the call
WITHOUT my two featured guests or reschedule it entirely? I
chose to go on (perseverance) and asked everyone to hang up
and dial in again, and was then able to get ONE of my
guests on the moderator line. I interviewed her and it went
great. Then, as she hung up to let the other guest onto the
moderator line, I got cut off of my OWN call! I tried
several times to get back onto the line and was blocked out
for several minutes. (I found out later that Mercury was in
retrograde.)

The whole thing unfolded like that scene from the movie
Swingers when he leaves those messages, one after the
other, sinking deeper and deeper into trouble. Have you
seen it? Finally, I got on as a "regular" participant and
had to keep the line un-muted for the rest of the call.

As I mentioned, I would have done (and paid) ANYTHING to be
able to press a button and get an operator to help me.
Throughout this episode, my intuition kept nudging at me
saying, "Fabienne, you should have invested in your
business and gotten the help you needed BEFORE this
happened." But after years of frugally using basic
services, I'd gotten too lazy and perhaps too complacent to
spring for that PAID bridge line the million-dollar
marketers are using.

The good news is, the call ended up being a huge hit.
People wrote me to tell me how inspiring it was, how
motivated they got as a result and ironically, no one
mentioned the technical difficulties. Several people signed
up for the workshop as a direct result of that call, and I
was thrilled that no one even brought up the snafus. But I
learned three MAJOR lessons that day:

1. Persevere. No situation is ever as bad as YOU think it
is. You may be crumbling inside, but in other people's
perceptions, it's just another day at the office. Keep
going. It will always work itself out.

2. Let others take care of details for you so that you can
focus on your "genius work", the stuff that actually makes
you mo.ney. You see, Sinatra didn't move his own piano each
time he sang at a gig. He had a team in place to handle
those details so that he could focus on two things: Singing
and Getting More Gigs. And that's what you should be
focusing on too: Working With Clients and Getting More
Clients. Everything else can be delegated.

3. Sometimes, it's time to put the frugal part of you
behind and REALLY invest in your business. No more holding
back. When it's time to grow, it's also time to take out
your wallet and INVEST in making mo.re. That's what all the
millionaire marketers do. My experience has been that, when
I do invest in my business, it always comes back to me at
least 4 to 10 times over. And although "money" is usually
the excuse I've used in the past for not doing something
(and I'm not the only one, you have too!), I've found that
if I really look at a situation, I almost always have the
resources to invest or can find a way to get them.

Just for the purpose of today's article, I'm adjusting
Brian Tracy's quote from above:

"Invest three percent of your income in yourself [and your
business] in order to guarantee your future."

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

How will YOU invest in your business this week? Notice what
you have NOT taken advantage of because you're using the
excuse of "not having enough money." Using that excuse is
an insidious form of self-sabotage. It's a mindset that
keeps you playing small and limits your growth. Time to
stop being frugal and take action. The money will naturally
show up to help you pay for it (it always does.)

Like many others, you might be wondering what to do to take
action in your business. Perhaps you're missing the how-to.
Then it's time to invest in a step-by-step marketing system
that will feel easy and authentic to you.

----------------------------------------------------
The Client Attraction Home Study System avoids all the
unnecessary stuff and instead gives you the most important
things to do to set up simple, solid systems, so that you
consistently fill your pipeline and continually get new
clients. It's all step-by-step, not a big mishmash of
things. So, you do step one of the system, and when your
done with that, you move on to step two and so on. You can
get it at http://www.TheClientAttractionSystem.com

A New Year's Resolution: Simplify Your Life

A New Year's Resolution: Simplify Your Life
Time is something of which none of us seems to have enough.
We live in a fast-paced world of new technologies designed
to keep us moving faster and faster. Such things as
microwave ovens, cell phones and high-speed internet allow
us to accomplish our tasks in less time, but instead of
enjoying this savings, most of us just add more
responsibilities to our day.

Far too many entrepreneurs are too busy trying to become
successful and are not enjoying their lives in the present.
The thought that one day they will achieve their goal of
owning that big house or earning that huge salary drives
people to work for the future and in the mean time, their
life in the present suffers. The truth is, working long
hours won't make you a success, and is more likely to
result in burn-out. Experts agree that the majority of
successful people aren't workaholics; they are individuals
that are simply more efficient. In other words, they work
smarter, not harder. The following are a few simple steps
that will not only allow you to simplify your life, but
will allow you to live a more accomplished life as well.

Step 1 - Set your priorities and live by them. For many,
family and friends are their main priorities, and yet they
spend far too much time working overtime in the hopes that
one day, they will be successful and have the time to spend
with their family. Make your priorities your focus for
today, not only for tomorrow. Make it a point to spend
more quality time doing the things that are important to
you now.

Step 2 - Change your vision of success. Success is not
about owning fancy cars, having a big corner office or
earning a massive salary, it's about being happy in both
work and family life. You can be filthy rich and your
family life can be a failure. Finding the balance in your
life that allows you to feel accomplished and rewarded at
the office, and yet, still leaves significant time to spend
with family and friends will make you feel like a success.

Step 3 - Acknowledge that how others view success isn't
your vision of success. If you are doing a job that you
absolutely love, and that gives you the time you need to
spend with your family, then it shouldn't matter what
others think. If others are judging your success based on
the size of your house or wallet, let them judge and
disregard their opinions. Focus on what is important to
you. If you feel happy and accomplished, then you are a
success.

Step 4 - Learn to delegate. According to the AOL Jobs
website, successful people are efficient people. They are
more efficient because they have learned how to prioritize
and delegate. Learn to let go of some of the tasks you
enjoy least, and if possible, delegate them to an employee.
If you don't have employees, then consider outsourcing.
There are very few tasks that cannot be outsourced today.
If you don't like bookkeeping or invoicing, contract that
work to a bookkeeper, if it is administrative work or
updating web sites that you dislike, outsource to a Virtual
Assistant or Web Designer. If these are not feasible for
you, there are other ways to simplify your life by
delegating. Assign chores at home by getting the kids
involved, many grocery stores will deliver groceries saving
you an hour or more per week. There are also many
time-saving programs that will help you to become more
efficient, such as autoresponders and accounting software.

Step 5 - Organize everything. One of the main keys to
efficiency is organization. Work will get finished faster
and be of better quality if you are organized. Put
everything in its place, file everyday and organize your
computer files, desktop icons and bookmarks. Being able to
find something when you need it will allow you to save a
great deal of time and will undoubtedly simplify your life
and allow you more time for your priorities.

There are countless ways that you can simplify your life
while still achieving your goals. Slowing down your fast
paced life doesn't mean you are giving up your work-related
ambitions. Focusing on being more efficient by working
smarter, not longer and harder, will allow you to succeed
in all areas of your life.

----------------------------------------------------
Kelly Sims is a Virtual Assistant and Owner of Virtually
There VA Services. To find out more about how using a
Virtual Assistant can simplify your life, visit her website
at => http://www.virtuallythereva.com . While you're
there, don't forget to sign up for her free monthly
newsletter providing useful information that enhances and
simplifies the lives of busy entrepreneurs.

Why Aren't Women Making The Big Bucks?

Why Aren't Women Making The Big Bucks?
Women continue to open businesses in the U.S. at twice the
rate of men. So why don't they have million dollar bank
accounts that reflect their hard work? According to the
Center for Women's Business Research, there are 10.4
million women-owned U.S. businesses. What people aren't
talking about is that women-owned businesses aren't doing
all that well. According to the Women Presidents'
Organization (comprised of women whose businesses annually
gross over $2 million):

* About 43% of all women-owned businesses have revenue of
$10,000 or less per year.
* Over 70% have revenue of less than $50,000.
* Only 3% have revenue of over $1 million (compared with 6%
of men-owned firms).

Today's entrepreneurial woman wants control over whom she
works for, what she does, how she spends her time, and how
much money she makes. Most of all, she wants to know that
what she is doing is making a difference in the world. So
why aren't women-owned businesses more successful? Often
the barriers to business success for women are self-imposed.

What Women Do Wrong

1. They dismiss their intuition. They dismiss their inner
knowing. They don't take their intuition seriously. That's
not hard to do when today's business culture scoffs at
women's intuition, makes fun of their intuitive knowing,
and pooh-poohs intuitive insight. Intuition is not a hunch,
a suspicion, or a guess. Intuitive knowing is deep, sure,
and trustworthy. Know this!
2. They wait for approval and permission. Women have the
hardest time with this. Instead of making a decision for
themselves, they look to others for approval and permission
before making business decisions. Wake up! You do not need
anyone's permission to do anything. Men know this much
better than women do.
3. They think something is wrong with them. When something
goes wrong in their businesses, men focus on the business
itself, looking for things they can change, correct, and
fix. For women, however, it's just the opposite. When
something goes wrong in their businesses, women look for
things they can change about themselves. 4. They think
other people know best. Often their inner voice—what
I like to call a woman's Inner Samurai—is giving them
a clear indication of what is for their highest good and
greatest well-being. Yet, because that inner voice
conflicts with the advice and information they are getting
from the outer world (often from those around them), they
discount their inner voice in favor of another's voice.

What You Can Do Right

1. Look outward for support. Look inward for guidance.
Surround yourself with those who support your business
vision and daily business activities. Go inward for
guidance. Tap into your Inner Samurai. Understand that no
one knows you as well as you know yourself. What other
people think is best for you and your business is only an
opinion—perhaps a well-informed opinion, but an
opinion, nonetheless.
2. Say yes. This is one of the hardest words for women to
say. Women like to keep their options open, check
everything out, and test the waters before taking action.
Stop hesitating. Say yes. Move ahead. You don't have to
know how something is going to turn out before saying yes.
Just say yes. You can handle whatever comes up. You can
even change your mind.
3. Stop with all the positive thoughts and affirmations.
Being positive and saying affirmations are not enough. You
have to back those positive thoughts with focused,
definitive action in the direction of what you most want to
be, do, and have in your business. Fortune favors the bold.
4. Cultivate relationships. Women are naturals at building
relationships and connecting to others. Connect, certainly,
with other businessmen. However, be intentional about
cultivating relationships with other businesswomen. Forget
what they say about women being catty. Sure, some are. Most
aren't. Those are the ones you will intuitively be drawn
to. Connect with them to build strong, mutually beneficial
business relationships.

Women have been opening businesses at twice the rate of men
for many years now. However, they have not been as
successful at bringing in the big bucks as men. That's
because they try to run their businesses the same way that
their male counterparts do — from the head down.

Women, on the other-hand, do better when they build and run
their businesses from the inside out and from the heart up,
firmly connected to their Inner Samurai. Running your
business this way means that you are in control of your
financial future, you can have the life you've always
dreamed of, and you can be in the best place of
all—making a real difference in the world.

----------------------------------------------------
Susan L. Reid, DMA, Small Business Start Up Coach &
Consultant, is the author of Discovering Your Inner
Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business
Success. Hailed as The Secret for business, Susan is known
for taking the fear out of small business start-ups for
entrepreneurial women. For intuitive small business
solutions, powerful attraction marketing tools, inspiration
and direction, visit http://SuccessfulSmallBizOwners.com