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Archive for the ‘Careers Employment’ Category
Time to Panic? Tips for Last Minute Job Interview Preparation
Be careful what you wish for… you’ve just discovered that you have a last minute job interview, and don’t have your usual time to prepare. What should your priorities be, and how can you make sure you make a good impression with hardly any time to prepare? Gail Kenny, the managing director of a company specialising in jobs in travel, offers some tips for last minute interviews…
Time to Panic? Tips for Last Minute Job Interview Preparation
Working with candidates for jobs in travel quite closely, one question comes up time and time again: So, let’s say you’ve been waiting for months for the perfect job interview to come along, and suddenly you have one, with one small catch. They’re exceptionally keen (or pressed for time) and can only give you a last minute job interview? Less than 24 hours to prepare – is this time to panic?
Relax, this is what you wanted isn’t it? And besides, 24 hours is ample time to get ready if you break the job interview preparation process down into its essential segments. Plus, if they’re giving you just a day to prepare yourself, the chances are they will be more generous with their expectations when you arrive – and if they’re not, then perhaps they’re not the great company they first appeared!
But enough of the speculation – what are the key stages you NEED to ensure are done before you set foot into that office for the last minute job interview?
The first step of last second preparation for an interview is learning what it is you’re actually applying for! If you know nothing about the company, head straight to the company’s website, and look up any press releases they might have created. Take a good look around their website, and try to get an idea of the bigger picture: how does your position fit in with the company as a whole?
Next, have a good read of the job listing you applied for, and look at all the skills and experience it requires. Think of examples that demonstrate your perfect match for each one of those that can be rattled off in the interview scenario – bear in mind that although the aim here is to paint yourself as the ideal candidate, you won’t gain any points for being unnecessarily verbose, so within your job interview preparation, work on keeping all your tales and examples to under two minutes.
Have a couple of questions lined up, to show your genuine interest in the role – some people really struggle with this one, but the truth is that you don’t need to give yourself a headache thinking up a suitable question. What was the previous holder of this job like? Where does the department fit into the company? What are the department’s current projects? These all work for jobs in travel, and there’s no reason why they should not extend outside my expertise.
No preparation for an interview would be complete without readying some answers for the standard questions. Come up with effective answers to questions of why you’re leaving your last job, where you see yourself in 5 years time, examples of your experience and skills and why you should be hired. This obviously isn’t all the questions they can ask, but it gives you a good grounding for some of the more factual and less small-talk interview situations.
On top of this groundwork, you also must be absolutely prepared for making the best possible first impression. You can have the best preparation for an interview in the world, but if you turn up for it 20 minutes late, looking like you get dressed in the dark, then you will get nowhere. Prepare your clothes in advance and familiarise yourself with the company’s location. Time permitting; it never hurts to head to the office before the day of the interview to ensure you know the route and how long it should take you to get there.
That last minute preparation for an interview call can be scary, but remember that they’ve called because they think you could be the person they’re looking to hire, and they know as well as you do that it’s short notice. Given that, follow these last minute interview tips, then they’ll have another couple of skills to file you under: superb under pressure, and exceptional with deadlines.
Gail Kenny is the managing director of Gail Kenny Executive Search, an executive travel recruitment agency specialising in jobs in travel. The site caters exclusively to talented individuals with skills and experience to succeed in the travel management, and businesses looking for such candidates.
Top 5 Celebrities Exposed for Having Fake Qualifications
Hundreds of people embellish and exaggerate their qualifications and lie on their CVs everyday, but most of us don’t go as far as to invent qualifications. Gail Kenny, the managing director of senior travel recruitment company Gail Kenny Executive Search, discovers there are some high profile people and celebrities who have tried to make themselves look that little bit better…
Top 5 Celebrities Exposed for Having Fake Qualifications
There’s a reason that inventing fake qualifications is advised against. Aside from the obvious ethical issues, if you’re caught, you’re in real trouble and could face sacking and a reputation of lying that will never pass. My experience of this is all from senior travel recruitment though, and it would be far worse if you were in the public eye. All the following have faced the accusation of lying on a CV to reach their celebrity position…
5. Paul McKenna – Celebrity Hypnotist
Paul McKenna, the former radio DJ and TV hypnotist now runs a self help empire with an estimated £10,000,000 is somewhat unique in this list as he was completely unaware of the fake qualification he held. He took legal action against the Mirror for their comments that the entry requirement for his doctorate at La Selle University, Louisiana, was answering the question “Do you have $2,615, sir?” and won, with the judge accepting that McKenna was unaware that the degree was a scam, and had not tried to deceive the public with his fake qualifications.
The worth of the case is questionable though, with McKenna racking up £1,500,000 legal fees for a settlement believed to be between £20,000 and £50,000 – as well as highlighting his qualifications as bogus. McKenna has since earned what he calls a “proper” doctorate from a UK business school, which will pass the scrutiny of any qualification checks.
4. Marilee Jones – Author and Former Dean of Admissions at MIT
Marilee Jones was the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and co-wrote ‘Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admissions and Beyond’ before it emerged that she herself had cheated the admission process in getting a job at MIT in the first place. In 2007, it became public knowledge that she had lied on her CV with fake qualifications when she first joined MIT in 1979 as an entry-level admissions officer.
When she resigned her position with a statement on the college’s website, she wrote: “I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago, and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since.” It just goes to show that lying on your CV can catch you up at any time – in this case, nearly 3 decades later.
3. Robert Irvine – Celebrity Chef
It’s surprising that this British chef was better known in America than the UK, but perhaps his lies would have been easily picked up over here. After working on the hugely popular ‘Dinner Impossible’ programme on America’s Food Network, the St. Petersburg Times exposed a series of tall tales he had spread both anecdotally and by lying on his CV. Amongst the most damning was the claim he had a degree in food and nutrition from the University of Leeds, refuted by the academic establishment after a qualifications check. He also claimed he worked on the wedding cake for Princess Diana and Prince Charles – which turned out to be a massive exaggeration: “They made the cake at the school where I was.” Irvine’s involvement? “Picking fruit and things like that.”
All this came to light in late 2007, and by New Year, the Food Network had announced that they would not be renewing the contract of the chef, but would continue to show re-runs and the new series which had already been filmed.
2. Gillian McKeith – Celebrity Dietician
Gillian McKeith had a wildly popular television show in which she forced overweight people to reassess their lifestyles and diet. She also has a multi-million pound selection of health products and books, but after an expose by various websites, and a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority, she is no longer allowed to call herself “Doctor” on any of her promotional materials, thanks to obtaining the doctorate via a correspondence course from a non-accredited American college, according to The Guardian’s Bad Science section.
1. Claire Verity – Celebrity Nanny
The celebrity nanny on ‘Bringing up Baby’ – Channel 4’s childcare programme was found to have methods 100 years out of date, no children of her own and a series of fake qualifications, following an investigation by The Times. Her controversial childcare tips included leaving babies to cry, limiting cuddling time to 10 minutes a day, and leaving babies outside to air – advice the NSPCC have stated is “outdated and potentially harmful.” Her advice that babies sleep alone in separate rooms is also said to contradict guidance on preventing cot death.
With this advice dismissed as damaging from so many sources, it’s no surprise to learn that the professional bodies she claimed to have obtained qualifications from were keen to wash their hands of her. ASET, where she claimed to have diplomas in child daycare and preschool practice said there was no trace of her in their database, Goal who supposedly provided her diploma in childcare denied any knowledge of her and her agent admitted she had not taken the postnatal depression or care of multiple baby qualifications that Channel 4 had said she had. Maternity Nurse Training – where she claimed to have certificates in maternity practice, sleep training and paediatrics stated she was never enrolled with them, and went as far as to comment that they “do not in any way endorse the methods employed by Ms Verity in her work.”
After asking her to prove her qualifications, and none forthcoming 12 weeks after the claims were made, Channel 4 announced it assumed Verity had lied on her CV and would no longer be working with her, but claimed that only one series of the show was ever planned anyway.
So for God’s sake if you insist on using fake qualifications, just make sure you don’t get famous! Lying on your CV will always catch up with you, even if the initial qualification checks are lax, whether you’re looking for travel recruitment or if you’re a world famous TV personality…
Gail Kenny is the managing director of Gail Kenny Executive Search, a headhunting recruitment agency specialising in senior travel recruitment. The site caters exclusively to talented individuals with skills and experience to succeed in the travel management, and businesses looking for such candidates.
Online Travel Jobs – Securing Your Future in Online Marketing
With all the positive spin recently about the end being in sight for the recession, tomorrow’s graduates are looking towards industry speculation for their best chances of securing a job. While IT always features prominently on a ‘what’s hot’ list, online travel jobs, and more specifically Search Engine Optimisation, is being increasingly mentioned as an up and coming career choice for the next generation of workaholics. SEO covers a wide spectrum, and the opportunities to join this burgeoning industry can be as varied as writing and marketing, to web development and account executives.
Article Writer – Professor Shakespeare?
The process of writing viral link articles as a part of an integrated SEO link building programme has become a vital component of online travel jobs that, if done properly, can mean the difference between the success and failure of an online marketing strategy. As well as being engaging and informative, a link article needs to be topical for each particular client’s needs. Qualities needed for a good article writer are attention to detail; grammatical competence; excellent research skills; and of course, a talent for writing goes without saying.
Pay Per Click Specialist – Einstein in Armour?
If you have a head for figures, a knack for problem solving, initiative in abundance and a passion to learn, the competitive role as a PPC Specialist may be just where you’re headed in your quest for travel jobs. Positions in paid search are notoriously hard to fill with competent candidates, and the market is awash with fly-by-nighters claiming to be the next big thing in PPC. The truth is that it takes not only a quick mind but a resilient spirit to tackle this job, and successful PPC Specialists need to be on a continual learning curve to keep up with the fast-moving trends of the industry. You need to be able to think on your feet, as well as come up with innovative new ways to do things and follow them to fruition. One last thing; PPC is not for the faint-hearted. Dealing with massive budgets that could make or break a company can be a stressful part of the job.
Social Media Specialist – SEO Socialite?
If you’re a quick witted, quick thinking, social networker extraordinaire, then you’re already part way to what could possibly be your dream career! Social networking is becoming a large part of the online travel jobs sector, and the skills needed could easily evolve from an already existing interest (or preferably, obsession) in the commonplace tools of today’s Social Media. Facebook, Twitter, blogging and forums form the basis of how the online world communicates. Research has shown a trend towards this more personal approach to humanising online marketing and the clever SEO expert knows that, for the moment at least, it is definitely the way of the future. Travel jobs in Social Media will require you to lead the way in building online communities that not only inspire and nurture participation, but that continue to grow exponentially. No technophobes need apply because you will need to keep abreast of the latest trends in Social Media and jump in at the deep end. The advent of Social Media is changing the way people are using the internet and if you think it’s for you, “joining in the conversation” could take on a whole new meaning for your career.
Gail Kenny is the managing director of Puregenie, an online travel jobs website. The site deals with jobs in the ever growing travel sector and offers a wide selection online travel jobs. Although the site is mainly travel focused, it also displays vacancies in the hospitality and leisure industries.