Microsoft Office 2010 Key blog even-more-interview

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As promised (and also to remain accurate to custom), I now bestow upon you my thoughts on the interview round of Martha’s The Apprentice. Woo-hoo! But seriously, could they edit that segment to make it more unpleasant to watch? This is an "interview process" … let us see some interviews. But anyway … Martha did do one thing right, and that was to recruit members of her own executive staff for the interview loop, instead of relying on executives from other companies,Office 2010 Sale, as The Donald tends to do. It just makes more sense to have MSLO people on the loop. I mean, when was the last time you saw an AOL Engineer on a Microsoft interview loop? Real life doesn’t work that way. Ok, my thoughts … Jim and his no regrets: When Susan, the CEO of MSLO, asked Jim if he had any regrets so far in the "interview process," Jim said no. And then we saw Susan write, "NO REGRETS" in her notebook. Bad, bad,Office 2010 Home And Business, bad,Office Pro Plus, Jim. When asked questions like "What could you have done differently?" or "What lessons did you learn?" or, well, "Do you have any regrets?," think of something! Anything! The interviewer is trying to hone in on your ability to learn from past experiences, your self-evaluation skills, and your commitment to self-improvement. There is always something you could have done better. (And I admit it, asking about "regrets" is a poor way to phrase the question … but the intent of the question is still the same.) Dawna – pat or polished? The question was raised amongst the interviewers … Did Dawna’s well-thought out, well-crafted interview answers demonstrate her professionalism and business maturity … or did it demonstrate her ability to regurgitate standard answers to standard questions? I don’t know, but what I do know is that it raises the issue of how over-preparing for interviews can sometimes work against you. Interviewers want to get to know YOU. They want to see how YOU solve problems. They want to understand what YOU think about issues. Dawna’s standard responses, while on target, restricted her personality from shining through (and maybe it’s because she doesn’t have much of a personality … who knows). This experience reminded me of a recent conversation Ryan, Tejas, and I had on the dangers of over-preparing for Microsoft interviews. Bethenny and her scrappiness: The point above brings me to Bethenny. Now, admittedly, nothing they showed of Bethenny’s interview "wowed" me … but the interviewers did have a good point … Bethenny came across as passionate, determined, and "scrappy." She delivered good answers …. And she made those answers her own. Yeah, it was a little difficult to hear her answer the question "How would you describe the Martha Stewart brand?" with, "Clean … I don’t know … I just love it." (Or something to that affect.) But her answer did come across as genuine and passionate. We got to see the real her … even if it was a little dopey. (By the way, the interviewers liked Bethenny best.) Ok, one more for Jim … Jim and previous reputation: Back to Jim and CEO Susan. Here’s the problem. Susan met Jim in an earlier episode, and when he didn’t think he was being evaluated, he came across a bit more brazen and unprofessional than he probably would have acted in an interview setting. And apparently,Microsoft Office 2010 Key, Susan didn’t like what she saw. That one meeting colored her impression of Jim, and by the time the interview round got here, she had already made up her mind about him. Now,Office Pro 2007 Key, you can argue that Jim demonstrated the real "him" when he met Susan the first time, so if she didn’t like him then, she was never going to like him. Probably true. But he also carried in needless baggage and obstacles to the interview round that the other candidates didn’t have. So the lesson here would be to be self-aware whenever you are in a professional setting. Networking for a job is a great thing to do, but even if the situation feels very casual, remember that you are trying to project the "you" a company should hire. Let your genuine drive and passion shine through, but remember not to completely let loose. Strike a sensible balance. Sounds like Martha has got some interesting opportunists … um, I mean … applicants on her hands! I hope we can all learn from their mistakes. gretchen