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Have you ever been confident in how things went in an interview, sure that you’d get a call back, but never did? Read this great article by Dana Manciagli about seven habits that kill your chances at getting a second interview.

So many of my clients and readers say, “I aced the interview, but I don’t know why I didn’t get a call for the next round.” Well, I guess you didn’t ace the interview, did you?

Sometimes you do well but they go with another candidate for a variety of other reasons. But having said that, it is also possible that you made some interview bloopers.

When you’re aiming to nail the big job interview, how you speak is as important as how you look. You’ve got the impressive résumé, solid references, and a professional outfit. But careless language could jeopardize your chance of landing that plum job.

Interview expert Darlene Price offers some insight about the seven common habits that can keep you from truly acing that interview:

1. Too much information

Avoid talking too much during the interview. In the business world, time is money. Bosses value employees who speak in a clear, concise manner. By all means, be interesting and use a personable enthusiastic voice, but avoid rambling. Get to the bottom line quickly.

As a general rule, keep your answers under two minutes. This habit not only shows you’re well prepared and succinct, it also allows time for the interviewer to ask more questions and get to know you better. …

Click here to read more.

Welcome to the SBAadvisors Blog!

Jul.

16^th

Does your resume have what it takes to get you hired, Part V

By Tim Terry | Leave a Comment

Today we are wrapping up our series on resume writing. The past five posts we have discussed common ways resumes can easily work for or against you. We’ve covered everything from formatting, verbiage and keywords, to providing evidence of success and relocation. There is enough covered to ensure that the 15 seconds that a hiring manager spends reading your resume is enough to get you an interview.

Here are the last tips for this series that we have to offer you.

Leave out unnecessary details.

This is a very important part of editing and updating your resume. Focus on professional essentials that pertain to the position for which you are applying. Do not include hobbies, religious affiliation, and other unrelated personal facts on your resume. It’s essential to eliminate potential for pre-interview discrimination as well as maintain a high level of relevancy to the position and the organization.

It’s safe to assume that in applying for a high-level job you do not need to include entry- or low-level skills. A hiring manager would expect that a candidate would have considerable experience with Excel or Outlook, where as proficiency with field-specific software is much more significant and important.

Give enough information.

Your resume is intended to be a summary, not an entire life history. We mentioned in previous posts it should be a good outline for your interview and a marketing tool to promote you and your valuable skills. Allow room for discussion in your interview. Give enough information to qualify you, but not so much that there aren’t any questions when you meet. If your resume reads like a job description and can apply to anyone, it’s important to give more information about your history as it relates to you. Eliminate the generic details.

Thank you again for reading and keeping up with us. Continue checking in here, LinkedIn and on Twitter for updates and new blogs and series.

Welcome to the SBAadvisors Blog!

Jun.

11^th

Does your resume have what it takes to get you hired?, Part III

By Tim Terry | Leave a Comment

In our last couple of blog posts, we have been discussing ways to make your resume work on your behalf. If you have been keeping up with the series, we would love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you might have. Feel free to comment on our blogs or e-mail us!

Today we are continuing the series on successful resume writing and covering relocation and leadership experience.

Relocation

If you are open to relocating, mention it in your summary, along with the cities or areas you are considering. This can help prevent your resume from being overlooked simply because of your current address. As mentioned in the last post, always provide your current and up to date contact information; it should not be hard to reach you.

Highlight leadership.

Showcasing your leadership experience, especially when in consideration for a management role, is vital to your resume helping you get an interview. Questions to think about when you’re summarizing your leadership in a particular position: How do you lead a team? What is your leadership style? How many people have you supervised? What success and growth has your leadership promoted? Have you served in upper-management roles?

Hiring managers want to know that you can successfully lead a team. Simply stating that you were credit manager isn’t enough. What have you done that sets you apart from other credit managers applying for the same position? How does your leadership experience align with the organization’s job description? If the hiring manager can pull useful information like this from your history in a quick scan of your resume, it is highly likely that the company will want to know more about you.

Stay Tuned!

Thank you for reading and keeping up with this series! We’ll be back next week with two more tips for using your resume to get you hired. We are here to help, so if you have any questions feel free to e-mail us or leave a comment below.

Welcome to the SBAadvisors Blog!

Jun.

02^nd

Does your resume have what it takes to get you hired?, Part II

By Tim Terry | Leave a Comment

In our first blog post of this series, “Does your resume have what it takes to get you hired?, we provided some tips that will make your resume work for you and keep you from getting overlooked. Your resume is often the first thing that human resources or hiring managers will see of you. It is often the easiest way to qualify or disqualify you in moving forward with the interview process. You can read the first installment of our resume series by clicking here.

Prove it.

Give information that provides evidence about your success. Give examples, be specific and steer clear from general, broad statements. For example, rather than stating that you are “goal-oriented”, mention that you contributed to a 20% increase in sales last year. It’s also important to address your leadership style and other major accomplishments in your work history. These are things that can put you ahead in the event that you aren’t the only candidate in consideration.

Providing testimonials is another great way to “prove it”. While reference calls are inevitable, quotes provided by your direct supervisors and colleagues can add a lot of value to your resume. Remember to keep it concise and neat; recommendations don’t have to be long or elaborate.

Provide accurate information.

Make sure your contact information is up to date and complete. It’s important that the hiring manager or human resources can reach you. If you are applying for a position out of state or long-distance, provide your current address and note that you’re open to relocating in your resume’s summary.

Don’t “dress up” your work history or responsibilities. These things will be found out one way or another and will end your resume in the “no” pile. As always, honesty is the best policy when it comes to your experience and skills. Interviews are meant to assess your potential for success at an organization- fibbing can cost you valuable time and opportunity. If there are gaps in your history, note why and include relevant volunteer or consulting work.

Thank you for reading and following us! We at SBA Advisors are here to help you and are available if you have any questions. Go to LinkedIn and Twitter to follow us for regular updates.

Welcome to the SBAadvisors Blog!

Apr.

29^th

Does your resume have what it takes to get you hired?, Part I

By Tim Terry | Leave a Comment

A professional resume is something that we all assume to have. We have listed our job history, a summary of accomplishments, and demonstrated growth in promotions and leadership positions. And yet, somehow great candidates can be overlooked simply because of their resumes. Do you know that the average time that a hiring manager spends first reading your resume is just 15 seconds? So it begs the question,

“Does your resume have what it takes to get you hired?”

Here are some tips direct from our 22 years of experience:

Make it easy to read.

Stay away from pre-formatted resume templates and use a font that is simple and traditional at least at a 12 font size. Highly stylized fonts can be difficult to read. Make good use of bullets, various font sizes for headings. If your list of achievements and responsibilities gets too long, use headings and bullet points to help organize them. Make sure it looks good digitally and printed.

Be concise by keeping paragraphs short, trying not to add unnecessary details. A one-page resume without any white space is difficult to read, as is a three-page resume without any substantial evidence of success. Don’t feel the need to keep your resume to one page, especially if you are a mid- to late-career professional. Your resume is meant to be a marketing tool, not a comprehensive career biography, and to give the hiring manager talking points to discuss with you in an interview.

Use their verbiage.

If the job description states that the company is looking for specific qualities or experience in candidates, work key words into your summary and history in context to confirm that you meet the qualifications required for the position.

Your resume should be in plain English but must also engage the reader to want to ask questions about you and how you might be a good fit. Tailor your resume to the position so that rhetoric doesn’t become a key reason why you aren’t considered for a position. Does your resume tell the hiring manager that you meet the skills and qualifications they need, or is it generic and uninspired?

Check back with us next week as we continue this series on resume writing. In the meantime, if you have any questions about how SBAadvisors can help you, feel free to contact us!

Additional Resources:

Korkki, P. “Write a Resume That Shouts ‘Hire Me’”. JobSeeker Weekly, June 18, 2013.

Krumrie, M. “Best Executive Resumes: An executive recruiter shares the secrets to success”. examiner.com, April 5, 2013, http://www.examiner.com/article/best-executive-resumes-an-executive-recruiter-shares-the-secrets-to-success

Goodman, D. “4 Quick Ways To Improve Your Executive Resume”. careerealism.com, http://www.careerealism.com/executive-resume-tips-quick/

Welcome to the SBAadvisors Blog!

Mar.

26^th

Are you overusing “buzzwords” on your resume?

By Tim Terry | 11 Comments

Some of the “power” words used on resumes have lost their power. Your resume can work on your behalf and in your favor or it can set you back. Check out this excerpt from an article in the Dallas Business Journal and see if you need to revamp your resume.

“Job seekers are overusing buzzwords and tired descriptors in the hope that they will magically get the attention of their audience.

I see them on résumés, hear them in networking meetings and interviews, and spot them in the all-important summary section on LinkedIn.

Career clichés are boring, uninspiring, and a turn-off.

Have you used any of the words on this list lately?

Team player
Results-driven
Fire-in-the-belly
Excellent leadership skills
Great organizational skills
Works well autonomously
Self-starter
Ability to prioritize
Customer focused

The words themselves are not the problem — the problem is that they have no value when used alone. Comments like these in résumés are empty. They have no meaning, no credibility.

I have seen as many as 20 or more of these kinds of words listed at the top of a resume — in a candidate’s executive summary. It’s a waste of real estate on the page and can quickly get you tossed into the “no” pile.”

You can read the full article here: Career Mojo: Stop using these words on your resume!

Welcome to the SBAadvisors Blog!

Jan.

15^th

Keep up with SBA News

By Tim Terry | 1 Comment

You, our clients and candidates, are the reason we at SBA Advisors do what we do. We want to make a difference and have an impact on your growth and success. We are committed to being available to you and assisting you in whatever ways we can. You can count on us to be your one-stop resource, regardless if you’re looking for the next step in your career, are looking to hire exceptional talent, or are wanting to build an SBA program and implement a custom SBA marketing strategy. We are your source for creative SBA solutions.

SBA Advisors and Social Media

Now that 2014 is well under way, SBA Advisors is excited to regularly update you with SBA news, SBA job openings, and job search tips. In addition to changing and updating our brand identity and web presence, SBA Advisors has added Twitter, Facebook, and a LinkedIn company page to the ways you can connect with us. This is a great way to get job alerts, SBA news and updates right to your social media feeds. You can find our social media handles at the end of this blog.

SBA News Blog

SBA Advisors will work toward providing current and essential information to you by means of our Advisors blog. Our blog has categories of information and resources based on the different ways in which our clients and candidates will need us. Keep checking in with us- we have so much to share! We will also be sure to post links to the blog on all of our social media outlets to make certain you are the first to find out about any new content.

Stay in touch

Throughout our website you will find contact forms, as well as the ability to sign up for SBA news and job alerts. We would love to hear from you if you have questions or would like to know more about what we can do to help you. Consulting is part of what we do and we are eager to talk with you and hear where we can assist you. Feel free to call us for a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your department and staffing needs.

[Any information you provide us, whether it be your contact information or your resume, will remain strictly confidential. We do not disclose personal information that is provided to us without consent, and we never sell or give away personal information. We hold those we work with in the highest regard and strive to build and maintain an atmosphere of trust and respect.]

SBA Jobs

If you are looking to take the next step in your career, continue checking in with us and keep an eye out for new job openings posted to our website. Just in the last two days we have added three new opportunities with great organizations. Feel free to share the job listing if you know of someone that might fit the position. Each opportunity posted to our website has a link that allows you to send to a friend.

As always, the SBA Advisors team is available to answer questions and is eager to hear from you. We are grateful for your continued support and look forward to serving you in 2014!

Twitter: twitter.com/sbaadvisors

Facebook: facebook.com/sbaadvisors

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/sba-advisors

Welcome to the SBAadvisors Blog!

Jan.

13^th

Interviewing

By Tim Terry | Leave a Comment

Interviews have the power to solidify or rule you out as a candidate. You can have the perfect resume and a wonderful phone interview, but a have a less than successful face-to-face interview. Nerves, coupled with the inevitably intrusive questions that beg for difficult answers, can make us ramble, fumble over our words, and hope the interviewer sees the potential underneath the less than accurate representation of ourselves. But we’re here to help you. Here are some tips for presenting your best self in an interview.

Develop & tailor your story.

Your story- how got into SBA lending, what you’ve learned from your supervisors, your achievements and failings, your personal goals and dreams- is unique to you and learning to tell it well gives you a distinct advantage. It helps the interviewer understand you better and will help them to see how you might fit into an established SBA program or be an asset in a new program.

Effectively tailoring your story to the position for which you are applying is a powerful and effective interviewing skill. It’s important to focus on leadership if you’re interviewing for an SBA credit manager position, for example. Similarly, sharing your success stories and how you’ve helped your department grow is vital for an experienced SBA BDO. Telling of your accomplishments in similar positions gives your interviewer confidence that you can be successful in the one you are interviewing for.

Be prepared.

Do your research on the company and the position for which you are applying. Find out about their SBA program and important people that lead their department. Learn about your interviewer if you can; what you learn about your interviewer (for instance, their specialties) can be fundamental in choosing your questions. Be sure to practice interviewing and be aware of your body language; record your interviews to evaluate later or have someone sit in to observe and take notes. It’s also important to plan ahead. Deciding what you are going to wear, planning your route and travel time to the location, and a having a neat copy of your resume can be done in advance to save you from unnecessary and avoidable stress.

Ask effective questions and answer proficiently.

It’s important that you know enough about the organization you’re interviewing with to know and be clear about what you want and what you offer them as a potential employee. By the time you get to meet with someone face-to-face you should have a basic understanding of what they want in an employee. Asking questions allows you the opportunity to clarify and determine whether it’s a good fit for both parties. Be thoughtful and focused in your inquiries.

Behavioral questions are very likely in first interviews. In fact, there are probably several that you have been asked in every interview you’ve attended. Anticipating those questions and preparing good, clear answers will allow you the confidence and clarity of thought that is often lacking when you have to think on your feet. Another contributing factor to answering questions well is reviewing your research on the company and position requirements.

The SBA Advisors team is here to help you in your job search. We work diligently on behalf of our clients to find candidates that most suit the SBA jobs available. If you have questions about what we do or are interested in utilizing our staffing services, please contact us. We would love to hear from you!