Career Chinwags for the 21st Century with Catherine Cunningham

The number of interview questions that can be asked by Human Resources, the hiring manager, and other interviewers is limitless.

Imagine your horror (and resultant poor performance) when their first question is one of those hoary old questions you thought were as dead as a dodo.

In this p0odcast Episode, Catherine covers practical tips to help you deliver confident, genuine and authentic responses to these common interview questions. She offers example answers along the way that will hopefully help you to win the job.

Are you on the hiring end of the recruitment process?  If so, you really need to hone in on your recruitment practices if you want to find the top candidates.

Candidates may be left with a bitter taste in their mouth if they encounter any obstacles with the application process.

How would you rate your career happiness? Do you enjoy going to work each day, or do you dread getting out of bed knowing what’s ahead?

Christmas time...end of year celebrations...there is always so much happening in December. It’s important though, to take some time out to consider your career happiness. Are you actually happy with your job?

In Episode 13 of Career Chinwags for the 21st Century, Catherine talks through 3 ‘brickbats’ that could be holding you back from finding happiness in your job. She then moves onto the ‘bouquets’, providing 3 examples of how doing it right can lead you to your dream job.

Interviews are a tough gig! You have to get every aspect right to be in with a winning chance.

In this podcast Episode, Catherine introduces Carl Jung’s assessment tool ‘I speak your language’ and the 4 basic communication styles related to this. She goes into depth about each of the 4 styles, and how you can win the interview by changing your style to match the interviewer's. This technique requires high skill, but nailing it could be the difference between winning and losing the job.

If you're having trouble making it through to the interview stage when applying for jobs, you need to go back and look at why the employer is not wanting to meet you. It's likely your Cover Letter isn't doing the job it's meant to do.

Statistics reveal that 40% of employers think that a Cover Letter is more important than the résumé. And, 76% will reject a candidate due to poor grammar or a spelling mistake! 

Are you in your fifties or early sixties and have the desire to keep working, but not the confidence or belief that you'll be able to do so? You might feel as though the market place has written you off?

As Baby Boomers retire and the power moves decisively to younger generations, you may need to work a bit harder to pick up that next role if you are an older worker.

In Episiode 10, Catherine covers 4 specific techniques that older workers should adopt to win their next job.   

Do you get at least one phone call a year from someone asking you to come work for them?

We all know and probably envy people who regularly get poached from their current role by another employer.  What these people are doing is reaping the reward for their ongoing Career Mastery. Perhaps without realising it, they behave as if they are a business – in career terms, it’s called “Me Ltd”.

In this Podcast Episode, Catherine introduces this concept of ‘Me Ltd”. She covers 2 areas – how to excel in the workplace and how to create a persuasive career marketing kit.

On any day at work, you are likely to speak more than 60% of the time - persuading, instructing, influencing, explaining, motivating or counselling others. Sometimes the words and phrases you use may damage your interactions with work mates, or even worse, they may affect your job prospects at interviews!

In this Podcast Episode (and upcoming episodes), Catherine takes a break from the Managing your Career during the Corona Virus Season. Instead she will discuss various career issues. The issue of damaging words, is an important one, especially in a job interview when you only get short time to impress your potential employer. 

Episode 8 covers 10 words and phrases that you should try to avoid at work AND in a job interview.

How do you feel about your current job? Are you happy…bored…or are you just feeling a little lost in your career and not sure where to go from here?

In Episode 7 of Managing your Career during the Corona Virus Season Catherine covers 4 tips to help you find the ideal job. She talks about the important self-assessment tools used to determine what a 'perfect' career might look like. 

- Myers Briggs Type Indicator

- Career Values

-  Career Skills and Interests

- Assessing Workmates and Work Environment