Tag Archives: hiring manager

By Heather R. Huhman

A strong cover letter could be your ticket to moving a step further in getting a new job. This relatively concise piece of information has the ability to place you steps ahead of other candidates, highlight your achievements, and showcase your personality – but no one ever said creating one would be an easy task. Writing a knockout cover letter might even be one of the most challenging parts of the hiring process.

It’s hard to nail down just one challenge that accompanies writing cover letters. Unfortunately, many poor cover letters have allowed outstanding candidates to be passed over by hiring managers. While writing your cover letter might be a scary task, doing it successfully is essential to getting hired.

Don’t let your next cover letter be a flop; consider these 10 mistakes before you hit send:

1. It’s Riddled with Errors. There are many things the errors on your cover letter will express to a hiring manager: lack of attention to detail, carelessness, and even disinterest in the position. Your cover letter deserves to be triple checked for poor grammar, punctuation, and overall structure. Pass it along to your mentor or friends to ensure you haven’t missed anything. 

2. It Lacks Focus. What are you attempting to convey to the hiring manager? Writing about your professional experiences can be challenging, and it often causes job seekers to create unfocused cover letters. To write a more direct cover letter, consider creating a layout encompassing your main points.

3. It’s Too Long. Respect the busy schedule of a hiring manager by utilizing brevity in every cover letter you create. Write short and succinct paragraphs to allow for a more easily read document. Sift through unnecessary details and only present the most beneficial information for the job at hand.

4. It Doesn’t Set You Apart. Your cover letter is your chance to leave your mark on a hiring manager. Rather than reiterating what they can read on your resume, use this as an opportunity to share why you’re better for the job than any other candidate. Use a strong, purposeful statement of what you can bring to the position, and how you can positively benefit the company as a whole.

5. It Fails to Highlight Your Skills. While you certainly don’t need to highlight every single job you’ve had during your career, your cover letter should talk about your skills and experiences most beneficial to the company. Your cover letter isn’t for sharing your personal life or specific needs.

6. It’s Missing Information. Job listings often require certain information from applicants. By failing to share the necessary information in your cover letter, you’re essentially removing yourself from the hiring process. Why would a hiring manager choose you over a candidate who went above and beyond to provide the correct details? Double check the qualifications needed for the position prior to sending it.

7. Your Tone is Off. While a cover letter is a professional document, it also gives your potential employer insight into your personality. Don’t rub a hiring manager the wrong way with long-winded bragging. Be sure to leave out arrogance, unprofessional information, and keep the company’s culture in mind.

8. It’s Generic. Customization is key in every part of the hiring process. Submitting a generic cover letter presents you as an average candidate. Your cover letter is an opportunity to stand out and truly speak to a hiring manager – don’t settle for generic.

9. You’re Not Qualified. No matter how you twist and stretch your skills and experiences, you might not be the right candidate for the position. Applying to a position you’re under qualified for is an all-too-common part of the job search. Keep in mind this not only wastes the time of the hiring manager, it also uses up the time and energy you could be spending on applying to position you’re more accurately matched.

10. You Don’t Have One. Just because a cover letter wasn’t mentioned in the job listing, doesn’t mean it’s OK to skip it – they’re never optional. Your cover letter is an important opportunity to convey points you can’t in your resume. Omitting this document leaves you at a fault.

Creating a strong cover letter may be a challenge, but it’s worth the time and energy. Leave a positive first impression on hiring managers by going out of your way to create a concise, focused, and customized document.

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Heather R. Huhman is a Glassdoor career and workplace expert, experienced hiring manager, and founder & president of Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for job search and human resources technologies. She is also the instructor of Find Me A Job: How To Score A Job Before Your Friends, author of Lies, Damned Lies & Internships (2011) and #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for numerous outlets.

By The Glassdoor Team

You applied for the job. Then, a hiring manager contacts you for an interview – fantastic! After jumping for joy for a few moments, you quickly stop and think, “Wait a second… How do I prepare for the big interview and land the job?”

Here are seven tips to prepare for any job interview from the career and workplace experts at Glassdoor, the leading social jobs and career community:

1. Research the Job

First, read the job description and its requirements over and over. Then, when you think you know it inside and out, read it one more time. By truly understanding what a hiring manager is looking for, you can use the details provided in the job description to speak to your strengths and accomplishments that match these specific areas. For example, does the job description call out that the employer is looking for a person that is “Energetic, a self-starter and a resourceful problem solver”, if so, think through your recent experiences and identify a time when you demonstrated these strengths.

2. Research the Company

Knowledge really is power, so make yourself memorable to a hiring manager by knowing as much about their department, and the company as possible. Visit the company’s website and get familiar with its history and mission statement, corporate values, the CEO and other senior leaders. Don’t forget to read up on the latest company news, specifically any headlines that are relevant to the company and area where you are looking to work. In addition, check out company reviews on Glassdoor to find out how other employees at the company have rated and reviewed their experience on the job. Company reviews are a useful way to find out what it’s like to walk the halls of a company, what employees like best about working there, and what they feel are some of the downsides.

3. Talk to Anyone Who Works There

Make it a mission of yours to talk with anyone that works or has worked at the company to get even more personal advice on what the company wants in its employees, and insights on what happens during the interview process. Ask anyone and everyone you know, from your personal friends, to your Facebook friends, to family members, even acquaintances.

4. Practice Your Responses to Interview Questions

With each response, the key is to keep in mind that you want to show a hiring manager your value and how you can help solve their challenges. It’s NOT all about what you want, so you may want to avoid asking about compensation and benefits during your first interview. With a friend or family member, practice responses to common interview questions, such as:

• Why are you interested in working here?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What days are you available to work? Not available?

In addition, be aware that many companies these days are asking oddball interview questions. For example, a Trader Joe’s candidate was asked: “What do you think of garden gnomes?” Why? It’s a way for a hiring manager to test a job candidate’s creativity and critical thinking skills and find out who may be a good cultural fit for the company.

5. Be Prepared to Ask Questions

To further show your interest, make sure you engage in the conversation and ask a few questions related to the specific job, the company or potential team members. A few questions might include:

• What else might the job require?
• What’s the work environment like?
• Do you give feedback on performance?
• Are there career growth opportunities available?

6. Dress to Impress

First impressions do matter, so dress as professional as possible to go along with your professional attitude. This doesn’t always mean a suit and tie for men, or skirt suit and hosiery for women (which is recommended for many jobs), but the key is to review your wardrobe beforehand, and select your favorite professional look that’s appropriate for the company you’re interviewing at. If you’re not sure, ask family and friends for their input. But don’t wait until the last minute – you want to ensure the clothes you select are clean and wrinkle-free.

7. Take Care to Put Your Best Foot Forward

To put “the very best you” before any interviewer, make sure you feel good inside and out. Make sure you get plenty of sleep the night before, eat healthy foods the day of your interview (and foods that agree with you), brush your teeth (no coffee breath) and comb your hair. Plus, don’t show up late in a sweat or in a panic, so take time the day before to map out how you’ll get to the interview (doing a test run is best if you can). If it’s a phone interview, make sure you’re in a quiet room where no one will disturb you.

By following these tips from Glassdoor, you’ll be on your way to impressing those that matter most during your interview, and hopefully, landing the job.

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The Glassdoor Team is a small yet seasoned group of individuals looking to provide greater transparency into one of the most important aspects of our lives – our jobs. Contributions to the blog are designed to present a unique perspective on current events, offer commentary on the inside workings on specific jobs at a multitude of companies, and provide details on the latest happenings from within Glassdoor.

By Rob Kelly

On the next interview  you go on, I recommend that you take some control.   Don’t let the hiring manager ask all the questions; ask your own!  A good hiring manager will welcome your curiosity.

Here are some examples of useful questions to ask the interviewer:

1) Would you please describe purpose/mission statement & set of values?

2) What are the company’s greatest challenges (or priorities) your company faces right now?

3) Who would I report to and how does our team fit within the rest of the company structure?

3) Who are the shareholders/owners of the company?

4) What is the path to earning more responsibilities?

5) How are priorities set?

6) How does feedback work…how often will I receive feedback on performance?

7) How does compensation work? Is salary the only component, or are their equity or bonus/commission programs? What opportunities are there for me to grow your compensation?

When searching for a good job, it’s even more important to get your questions answered than just answer the employer’s questions.

Rob Kelly is a globally recognized CEO, advisor and writer. He has served as CEO of Ongig, Hot Topic Media and Mojam and held executive positions at Topica and CMP Media. Before that, Rob was a journalist for Information Week Magazine where he interviewed Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and other business leaders. Rob began his love of business early, attending his first shareholder/board meeting when he was 16 years old. More on Rob can be found at http://robdkelly.com.

The Glassdoor Team is a small yet seasoned group of individuals looking to provide greater transparency into one of the most important aspects of our lives – our jobs. Contributions to the blog are designed to present a unique perspective on current events, offer commentary on the inside workings on specific jobs at a multitude of companies, and provide details on the latest happenings from within Glassdoor.