Last week I wrote an article that will conclude today on what employers look for in job seekers. I decided to write about the job search process because every single day of my working life I meet job seekers desperate for jobs but with no idea whatsoever where they will start from. In addition the concern also comes from those who possess the qualifications and experience and yet when they respond to job adverts, they are never invited for interviews. Last week I wrote about the need for job seekers to sharpen their CV’s, take a keen interest in the way they groom themselves and dress, their communication and analytical skills as well as flexibility, these are key areas that employers are interested in. I have met many job seekers who have not attended interviews in over 5 years, it is important to note that the way interviews are conducted, assessment methods being used have changed. No longer will you find only one person on an interviewing panel you must expect to find three, four or even five senior executives in the interview room. No longer is an interview adequate, even after you pass an oral interview you will find yourself being sent for a psychometric test and undergo personality profiling to verify and determine your behavior in the work place. Interviews are no longer a walk in the park, the job search process is not as easy as it used to be but you can excel if you prepare and have adequate information on what employers look for in job seekers.

Attitude and personality play a key role in determining whether the panel of interviewers will recommend you or not. From the time you arrive at the reception, the way you greet the receptionist and introduce yourself, your personality and attitude starts to show. When you walk into the interview room do you carry the sunshine in the room with you? or when you arrive the panel feels like a cloud has overshadowed them. It is amazing some of the experiences I have had interviewing people especially Senior Executives, the whole 45 minutes to an hour that they are being interviewed you never get to see their teeth, they simply will not smile at all. The panel begins to worry about how the candidate will relate to junior staff if they have a cold and unpleasant personality. I am not saying that you must overdo it, I am simply saying that you must show that panel that you have a pleasant personality and an attitude that says I am willing to go above and beyong my call of duty. You must have excellent interpersonal skills, not average or mediocre but excellent interpersonal skills. There are so many highly qualified and experience job seekers, the reality is that the job market does not have room for those job seekers that are not of top quality this may sound cruel but it is the reality. Interpersonal skills are simply those abilities that allow a person to relate to co-workers as well inspire others to participate and work within a team environment.

Leadership and management skills are critical in impressing an interviewing panel. You must always remember that these skills do not only relate to senior positions but junior positions as well. This is simply because when a person is being interviewed, the panel does not only focus on the candidates ability to perform the required tasks at that moment but for the future as well, they select candidates that they feel will be the managers of the future and therefore while there is some debate about whether leadership is something people are born with, these skills deal with your ability to take charge and manage your co-workers. As you are aware we have a huge number of International organizations not only already operating from Zambia but many on the way to set up here. This simply means that the international organizations and some local are looking for people who are able to work within a multi-cultural environment. And therefore in any interview you will be asked to provide examples of your ability to work in a multicultural environment. I find it very interesting every time I complete carrying out a personality profile of a candidate how the profile analysis is able to provide information about a person’s behavior in the work place. While a candidate will say in theory that they are able to work under pressure the result of the profile assessment may say something different. The advantage of personal profile analysis is that it has the ability to give you an idea of a person’s behavior in the workplace and generate interview questions that can be personalized to a particular individual. One area that employers are keen on seeing in a potential employee is the ability to plan and be organized. If you state that you posses these abilities the panel will simply ask you to give examples of when you were involved in planning, what challenges you faced and how you dealt with the challenges. Planning and organizing simply deals with one’s ability to develop, plan, organize, and implement projects and tasks within an allotted timeframe, the panel simply wants to hear convincingly that you are and driven achiever who focuses on achieving results even when there are limited resource.

I often find that many job seekers fail to convince a panel that they have the ability to solve problems, when asked to provide examples many people fail to do so. One thing you must know is that as in a written exam one only scores high marks when they use examples to explain a question, similarly in an interview the more examples you provide the higher you chances of convincing the panel that you know what you are talking about. I must not forget to share with you critical values that employers look for in job seekers. We all know that most organizations besides have a mission and vision they have values that they live by. Every organizations looks for honesty and integrity in potential job seekers, that is why they go as far as carrying out reference checks to see what your track record has been with previous employers. No employer will recruit you if you do not show that you have good work ethics, that you are hard working and that you are willing to go above and beyond you call of duty even when you are not getting paid anything extra for it. You must have confidence, be self motivated as well as have the ability to motivate others in the work environment. When employers are identifying potential candidates they want job seekers who are loyal. That is why when asked where you see yourself in 5 years time you must never say that you see yourself starting your own business, the employer expects that you will still be working for them in five years time. For more on how to find a job in a jobless market I invite you to join me in my first job search workshop scheduled for 29 January 2010, there is space for only 25 participants. Call or email me for further information.