None of these answers to interview questions are acceptable, though we appreciate your ability to cut the bull.

That LinkedIn link on your resume? No bueno.

There's a trend I've been seeing lately and I've got an opinion on it. People are adding a link to their LinkedIn profile on their resumes and I don't like it, 99% of the time. Do. Not. Like.

I think about the resume as real estate and space is at a premium. If you put something on there, there has to be a reason and you need to focus on what your audience wants and what best positions you - everything else is just taking up space. I guess LinkedIn is kind of the de facto online profile, so folks think it's logical to put a link along with contact info but it's rarely a good idea. Here's why:

1) Usually, the resume is a more detailed version of a person's background than LinkedIn. Unless there's additional biographical info on LinkedIn that isn't on the resume, what is the point? The one exception I could think of is if you have a white paper or something on your LinkedIn profile. But even then, it would make sense to just link to the document.

2) Resumes generally get scanned into databases and lose hyperlinks. Searching their internal resume databases is how many recruiters will come across your info. So if you hyperlinked text in your resume to your LinkedIn profile, it won't work in the scanned version and if you paste the full url (especially if you haven't customized your url), it just looks messy. Recruiters are experts at searching and they will have no problem finding you on LinkedIn if they have a burning question about the size of your network or what recommendations you solicited from people you work with (which are all viewed with a grain of salt anyway).

3) The biggest reason not to add your LinkedIn profile to your resume has to do with stickiness, a concept from web content development. When a website is sticky, it is so engaging that it keeps the user on the site. In general, that attention is thought to increase the likelihood of additional clicks and/or conversion - it makes good things happen for you. Essentially, it keeps the users attention on the site because once you send them off it, you lose control of the content that is being served up. Now if you think similarly about your resume; you want to recruiter or hiring manager to spend time reading your resume. Once you send them somewhere else (like LinkedIn), you are inviting competition for their attention. LinkedIn throws a whole bunch of distraction at them. The reader might come back to your resume or they might click on links they see under "Similar Profiles" or "People Also Viewed" or they may think "hmm, maybe it's a good time to do some searches on LinkedIn" or "I wonder what my ex-boyfriend is doing for work these days" or "who is looking at my profile?".

So I generally advocate for leaving the LinkedIn link off the resume, unless your job is writing LinkedIn profiles.

The real interview question disguised as a softball question

In my previous life as a recruiter, I spent many hours interviewing candidates. And I prided myself on the fact that I actually interviewed candidates.No BS HR screen for me. I mean, yeah, tell me about what you did and what you're looking for, but that's just the beginning of the conversation. My role in that part of the conversation was just transcriptionist. I wasn't adding value until you made me think. Also, up until that point I was kind of bored.

The last thing I ever wanted to do was waste peoples' time with unnecessary interviews. I thought of the hiring teams and the candidates as my clients and I only moved people through the process when I felt confident they would perform well in an interview. When they didn't, I thought back on my conversations with them to figure out if there was something I missed. My goal was to get the hiring teams to forego the second phone interview and bring candidates in for interviews based on my recommendation.

So anyway, I think softball questions are fine as a warm-up, but they're kind of like first date chit-chat; if we can't get past it, this isn't going anywhere. And these questions generally do little to help candidates get their heads in the interview game - another thing I think that recruiters should be helping with. On the other hand, sometimes actual, valuable interview questions come disguised as softballs. Like they're baseballs in softball clothing or something. Metaphors are hard. Or maybe, depending on the quality of the recruiter asking the question, they are intended to be softballs but they give you an opportunity to shine like the badass you are.

One of these questions is "Why are you interested in this company?" Simple, right? I mean, like borderline fluffy. But for me, this question was an important one and chances are, if you are talking to good recruiters while you interview, it's important to them too. Here's why...

First, as a recruiter, I want to gauge how serious you are about your interviewing. If you haven't really given this some thought and/or done some research, I'm not convinced that you are serious. And putting you into an interview situation under those circumstances is risky.

Second, the best candidates are in demand and they have criteria. They apply those criteria against the many opportunities that they may be considering. So having criteria suggests to the recruiter that you are one of those awesome and in-demand folks.

Third, and most importantly, I want to know how you think. Making a job change is a big deal, worthy of lots of careful consideration. I'm interested in what the candidate says their reason is but I want to understand how they go there.

So let me give you an example. I'm consulting with Amazon right now so they are kind of top-of mind for me. If I were to interview here for a job here and was asked what about Amazon interests me, I'd say something like this: "I'm looking to work at a company with a vision I believe in. I'm very serious about my next career move; it's important to me to work for a company I feel confident will make good decisions over the long term because I'd plan on being here for a while. I'm a loyal customer of Amazon and appreciate how obsessed the company is with creating a good customer experience. I think that earning the trust they do with customers is what brings customers along as they start to change the way people buy things online - this is the vision I see Amazon pursuing. For example, when Amazon introduced Prime, it changed the way I thought about shopping; the things I would normally run out to the drug store to get, I'd buy online. It wasn't about Amazon getting a bigger piece of the pie, it was about making a bigger pie because it encouraged people to buy things they normally would only buy in person. I really appreciate this kind of thinking. It makes Amazon an eCommerce game-changer, not just a competitor. And I want to work for a game-changer."

See how that answer packs a punch? Much better than "Well, I'm looking to work in marketing and Amazon has a good marketing department and is close to my house."

So as you prepare for conversations with recruiters and hiring teams, think about what is appealing about each company and how you can use the answer to position yourself. Practice on your SO and your friends. Smack that softball.

Do you have an elevator pitch?

Today, I was touring some office space when the guide said "tell me about yourself." Ugh. OK, first of all, I hate that question because I feel like there's something that the person would really like to know but they aren't asking it (or they are totally disinterested and/or verbally lazy). We were actually stepping into an elevator too. It was like the perfect set-up for an elevator pitch and I totally whiffed it: "I'm a marketing consultant and I live in South Lake Union and I need a quiet place to get some work done." So I guess I was telling her what she needed to know (she was outrageously perky and I was immediately thrown into reactive introvert mode. I was thinking "I'm the client. Let's talk less; I'll start." Bad, Heather.). But it would have been a perfect opportunity to practice my marketing.

Since I am a consultant, my company brand and my personal brand are intertwined. So being able to answer one of these mushy, vague questions is good for business. Because you are a job candidate, your personal brand and being able to answer one of these dumb questions is also important, because you'll be interviewing and networking. You are most definitely going to be asked to tell the other person about yourself, probably many times.  If you have a go-to pitch that isn't over-the-top obnoxious but reflects positively on you, that would be super, mmkay?

You're also likely to be asked what you do, which indeed requires a different response than the request: "tell me about yourself." Where "tell me about yourself" is your elevator pitch opportunity, "what do you do?" begs for something a little more punchy.

Today, I decided to write down an elevator pitch for myself to use as an example. I write elevator pitches all the time. But they are a little like porn, I know a good one when I see it but it's hard to define. Wait a minute, I don't think that's exactly how the analogy goes. But you catch my drift, right?

Here's what I came up with:

I'm a marketing consultant who helps companies do a better job of connecting with important audiences online. My interest in this space began during my previous career in recruiting where I was drawn to work that engaged external audiences in an honest and authentic way to enhance Microsoft's brand as an employer.

The last three years, I've worked with companies that need to understand who their audiences are and what they value, develop branding and messaging strategies that appeal to and engage those audiences, and deliver their messaging through digital media.

I really enjoy the combination of creative and analytical skills that my work requires and also that I get to watch my clients start to think differently about what they do. I also like the variety of the work I do. It includes company naming, audience analysis, messaging framework development, creating and branding websites, social media strategy, content development and ghost-writing, and marketing advisory services.

I work with clients that don't have big marketing departments to do this type of work. My approach is scrappy and I bring a lot of energy and momentum which helps clients execute quickly.

I might be a fast-talker but I just delivered that pitch verbally in 40 second. Ta-dah!

And for the personal brand statement (the answer to "what do you do"), I've got this one etched in my brain: I help companies connect with audiences important to their success online through digital marketing and social media strategy. I don't love the grammar but when I say this, people get it. And they usually ask me questions about it, which is exactly what I want.

If you dissect a good personal elevator pitch, there are a couple of elements that I think make it compelling:

1. A statement of what you do (marketing consultant)
2. Values common to you and your audience (honest and authentic online engagement, passion around thinking about things differently, appreciation of scrappiness)
3. What you're good at (combining creative and analytical skills)
4. How your audience would experience you at work (energy, momentum, new thinking, honesty)
5. What you enjoy (seeing clients think differently, merging the creative and analytical, being real online)

This isn't an exhaustive list, but definitely some things that help the person on the receiving end of your pitch really get you; not just what you do but who you are as a person, specifically as it relates to your work. The most important thing you can do in crafting your pitch is put yourself in the shoes of the other person. In my case, generally people want to know what I offer, what impact it would have to their business and what it would be like working with me. I feel like the elevator pitch I crafted communicates those things pretty clearly.

What's missing from my pitch is the personal deets. I don't like sharing that kind of stuff at the beginning of an interaction. In my opinion, in an interview setting, if they want to know what you do outside of work, they'll ask. I find that telling people I do trapeze or that I have a motorcycle totally reinforces my personal brand (especially if I want to position myself as a fearless badass who actually steps away from the computer on a regular basis), but it also gets the conversation off-track. I think it's a judgment call whether you want to include this kind of thing in your pitch. Back in ye olde days, when I was a recruiter, I assumed that people had hobbies and I also assumed they were none of my beeswax. I always felt like including hobbies in a description of yourself felt a little too much like a dating site profile. But I'm sure many other recruiters would disagree. Either way, not a deal breaker. 

Here are a couple blog posts I found that might also be helpful, but there are so many others you can find:

How to Create Your Memorable Elevator Pitch
How to Craft Your Personal Brand Statement
How to Build Personal Brand Pitches

Mistakes you might be making in your job search

If you can get past the guy's screen name (and all I can say about that is: reddit), you'll find some great advice from a recruiter.

"The best thing to do is to put yourself in the recruiter's shoes. Look at the job description. If you needed to hire this person, where would you look? What type of person would you look for? What would you want to see on a resume? You need to emulate that person. Know the company, know the job, provide examples of how your experiences meet those qualifications."

(hat tip: Lora)

Demonstrating what a badass you are with dragon-slaying stories

A friend of mine shared Liz Ryan's article with me and it includes dragons and you showing the full extent of your badassery in an interview. Both of these things are happy-making, in my opinion. Liz suggests that in an interview, you find ways to weave in dragon-slaying stories; these are the stories where you talk about how you saved the day. My buddy goes through his resume and makes sure he's got one of these stories for each skill or position on his resume. I like this kind of preparation - kind of anticipating the interview conversation. It's especially helpful if you're an introvert like me. I can come up with the perfect answer to any interview question...the day after the interview.

So yeah, developing these stories ahead of time is a great idea. As Liz explains, there are three elements to a successful dragon-slaying story: the problem statement ("what was the challenge?"), your actions ("how did you react to it?") and the impact ("so what?"). The thing is, in an interview, the person on the other side of the table probably isn't going to tee it up for you perfectly, so you are going to have to find ways to insert your stories into the conversation without it being as awkward as an eighth grade dance.

If you're in the tech space, there's a decent chance you are going to get some behavioral interview questions. In preparation for an interview, head on over to Glassdoor to look at feedback from people who have interviewed at your target company (my opinion on what to make of the rest of the info you see on Glassdoor here). This will most likely give you a good idea of the types of questions you will be asked. Or you can do some broader online research. Google or Bing: COMPANY AND interview AND question* AND (job* OR position). Lots to see.

Aside: I don't hate the behavioral interview questions as much as Liz. I actually think they can be quite helpful in teasing out competencies, especially in people whose experience is related but not exactly the same as the open position or folks with limited experience to begin with. "Tell me about a time you had to build consensus for an idea." is perfectly acceptable in an interview if you are talking to someone who was in a Program Manager role and is interviewing for a Tech Evangelist role. It strips away the interviewers perception around how TEs at their company go about consensus building; it keeps the interviewer open to new approaches that have been successful in a different context. And it gives the interviewee the opportunity to demonstrate their style, versus trying to guess exactly how the company would want them to do it. Yeah, so it might be very 1980s but lots of awesome stuff came out of the '80s. There is nothing better than a good Flashdance sweatshirt. I have never wavered in that opinion despite the passage of time.

Anyway, as you are thinking about your dragon-slaying stories, you might want to make note of the skills or competencies you feel each exhibit. As you identify jobs and companies, figure out what competencies are important to interviewers (you can tell by reading careers pages, job descriptions and searching for info on a company's culture online...some companies like Amazon publish competencies on their sites) and have the stories related to those competencies ready to go for an interview. Because these are the competencies that will likely come up in the interview. Same with skills and experiences.

I'll be coming up with some more interview prep tips for you later this week. In the meantime, if you have any questions you want me to answer or topics I should cover, feel free to drop me an email!

Guest post: Your Resume Isn’t Your Life Raft

I'm excited to introduce guest-blogger Lora Poepping. Lora and I worked together at Microsoft (and both small-business owners now). Today, she is founder of Plum Job Search Strategies, where she assists job-seekers with advice and support during their search . Love this quote from her bio: "What gives Lora tremendous joy is empowering others to find their ideal job. The difference in Lora’s methodology: coming at the search from the employer’s perspective." 

It’s understandable.  After the news is delivered and you’ve cleared out your desk, headed home and shared the news with your partner or spouse that your days at Microsoft are over, you naturally begin to dig up the resume.

If you could just accurately describe what you’ve been doing these past months or years, you’re certain that it will make a significant difference in moving on.  A resume is such a tangible part of the search.  People spend hours and hours trying to craft their story – the document that will make you stand out.

But, what you don’t know is that the document that people fret and fuss about isn’t the most important part of your search.

It isn’t…really.  Your resume is NOT your search.

A resume is a tool in your search toolkit, just like your LinkedIn profile (that’s another blog post entirely).  Sure, your resume needs to be carefully and thoughtfully created to describe your successes, but a resume supports what you say about yourself when you are connecting with others.

Please allow me to repeat this: your resume is not your search.  80% of all jobs are secured through non-traditional means.  Translated: you don’t get a job by hitting the APPLY button and submitting a resume.

Jobs are found in a variety of ways but the most valuable to you right now is leveraging connections that are invested in your wellbeing.  These are people who want to assist you with connecting you to their connections.  Your resume assists these connections in passing along your story in an accurate, thoughtful way.

The most important thing you can do right now in support of your search: understand what the marketplace wants and craft a message that is in-service to the marketplace.  Job search is not about what you want.  It’s about what the job marketplace wants.  Your resume should tell your story – sure.  But, it also needs to “map” to the roles that truly exist.

I’m not saying to give up on that resume.  Rather, do your homework first.  Set of calls with connections and be clear about what you’ve done and what specific type of role you want, and then back up your request with a resume that talks to your successes.

(BTW: a resume should not be a laundry list of what you did in your former role, but a showcase of your accomplishments – Why did it matter that you were part of the team?  When you read your resume, ask yourself: does this showcase my accomplishments and give the hiring manager a clear picture of who I am?)


A resume may seem like your life raft right now.  But, it really isn’t.  So, get off those water wings and swim towards lifeguards that really can help you swim for shore: connections/friends/former colleagues who know and are invested in you.