The job search process can be grueling and often disappointing. You suit up, prepare and practice your answers, and feel you’ve done well—until you’re informed that another candidate was chosen.

What happened? It’s possible that the selected candidate went one step further by preparing and asking a list of questions which impressed the employer enough to generate a job offer. And you can, too.

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

Prior to the interview, start learning as much as you can about the company and anything relates to the position you’re being considered for. For example, if you’re going for a sales position, try to find out anything you can about the company’s growth history and future targets.

Develop your interview questions from the information you find and also from what you couldn’t find and want to know. Unless you have an incredible memory, write the questions down before the interview and leave space if you want to jot down the answers. You can also add any questions that come up during the interview.

Become The Interviewer

Most interviewers will welcome your questions, expect them, and will be impressed that you want to know as much as you can about the job, the company’s status, the corporate culture—and whether the job is a good match from your side of the table.

“Not only are you getting more information about the job, you’re showing the interviewer that you genuinely care about the position, the company, and your role should you get hired,” say The Interview Guys in a recent article.

So if an interviewer asks if you have any questions, pull out your list and start asking. If they don’t offer that opportunity, step up and tell them, “I do have a few questions I’d like to ask you. Do you have a few minutes to answer them?” That way you’re being respectful of the interviewer’s time, which is also a plus.

Ask The Right Questions Of The Right People

In all cases, make sure your questions are relevant and specific to the particular interviewer. As The Interview Guys note, “When you ask tailored questions, you’re showing the hiring manager that you’re willing to do what it takes to get the job.”

The information you get from this “reverse interview” should help you make the decision to accept, reject, or negotiate an offer and ensure your new job won’t end up being significantly different than you expected.

In my next blog post, I’ll provide examples of good questions to ask and why they’re relevant.

Looking for a fresh dose of motivation to inspire and challenge you every week? Sign up here to access my Weekly Bold Move. Best of all, it’s completely free!

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This June, I’m excited to be participating in Alexa Bigwarfe’s Write, Publish, Sell online summit where I’ll give my insight on how you can develop confidence and be BOLD in your business (see below for details!).

Confidence is a popular topic in today’s media, and for good reason. It’s also a subject I write a lot about, so today, I thought I’d share some stats that demonstrate why confidence is a key topic we should all be talking about.

Confidence issues affect all areas and phases of a woman’s life, including:

Self-Image:

• Dove®’s latest research found that just 4% of women worldwide consider themselves “beautiful”.
• Over half of women agree that they’re their own worst beauty critic.
• By the time girls reach the tender age of 17, 78% will be “unhappy with their bodies.”
• The Dove Self-Esteem Project found 47% of girls aged 11-14 refuse to take part in activities that might show their bodies in any way.

In the Workplace:

• Women’s confidence actually declines (yes, declines) with experience: 27% of new female employees are confident they can reach top management; this drops to a mere 13% in experienced female employees.
• In a KPMG Women’s Leadership study, 67% of women said they needed more support building confidence to feel like they can be leaders.
• Further, women lacked the confidence to: pursue a job opportunity beyond their experience (73%); ask for a promotion (65%); request a raise (61%), or request a new role or position (56%).
• HP once found that male employees were likely to apply for promotions when they felt they met 60% of the qualifications listed, while its female employees stayed away unless they believed they met 100% of the job qualifications.

Women make up 50.8% of the US population, they’ve outnumbered men on college campuses since 1988, and they control 80% of consumer spending in the US.

Yet, consider these stats:

• % of female Fortune 500 CEOs: 4.6
• % of females holding F500 board seats: 16.9
• # of female CEOs in financial services industry: 0
• # of female CEOs in health care and social assistance: 0
• % of female creative directors in advertising: 3

The statistics are shocking – after all, this is 2016. While there is no single approach to improving confidence, at least one thing is true: self-confidence starts with you. If confidence has been a struggle for you, I have a great free e-series to help jumpstart your journey.

While it’s important to build up your own confidence so you can make BOLD moves in your life and your career, don’t forget to reach out and encourage young women around you to develop their confidence, too!

I’d love to have you join me for

WRITEPUBLISHSELL: Grow A Business Beyond Your Blog

45 EXPERTS share ADVICE & TOOLS for FEMALE business owners in the DIGITAL realm

When: June 13th – 19th, 2016 – 100% ONLINE! View at your own pace.

CLAIM YOUR SPOT

Alexa is focusing on the business side of blogging and writing, providing useful information so you can take your unique area of expertise beyond blogging to launch a profitable career, build your brand, grow a targeted audience, AND effectively market to that audience.

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Not long ago, I shared that introverts can be just as effective in leadership roles as extroverts. I’ve now discovered that about two-thirds of us are neither true introverts or extroverts. We’re actually ambiverts, which means we have aspects of both traits at our disposal.

When circumstances require it, an ambivert personality can be the outgoing extrovert or the quietly self-reflective introvert. The secret is knowing our dominant tendencies and how to apply them for success.

Think Continuum, Not Category

Picture a line with an arrow at each end. One arrow is labeled “Introvert” and the other “Extrovert.” Ambiverts can fall anywhere along that continuum, meaning they don’t fit specifically into one particular category.

While that might seem like a negative, the bonus is that you’re not bound by either category and can thrive in environments that might scare an introvert or bore an extrovert. That can be a huge advantage in any situation, business or personal.

As a recent Lifehack.com article describes it, “Being aware of which environments you flourish in can help you improve your relationships with others, choose a satisfying career and search for the right life partner.”

Understand The Pros And Cons

Despite the positives described above, it can also be difficult to have this hybrid personality type.

For example, an ambivert’s flexible nature makes it easy to adapt to new situations. You can be introverted, extroverted, or someone in-between. Sometimes, however, ambiverts can have “analysis paralysis” because they’re not sure which personality to present in a particular situation. There are so many options that it becomes overwhelming.

Knowing the downsides of this or any personality trait means you can handle them more effectively when they happen.

Discover Your Truth

It can take a little work to find where you fall on the personality spectrum. There are now as many online tests (try this one) to determine whether you’re an ambivert as there are assessments to reveal introvert or extrovert personalities. You can also sit down with a professional who specializes in this type of work.

Once you know more precisely whether you lean toward the introvert or extrovert side, you can use that understanding to create positive outcomes in every aspect of your life.

Looking for a fresh dose of motivation to inspire and challenge you every week? Sign up here to access my Weekly Bold Move. Best of all, it’s completely free!

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Poor little No—the word we associate with disappointment, with not getting what we want, with negative reactions. But used appropriately, this tiny word has the power to create large amounts of business and personal success over and over again.

The key is learning when to say no, and how to make it stick.

Shift Your Perspective

Most humans get a good feeling from making others happy, which generally results from giving them what they desire. But what about our own wants and needs? These are also important, and it can require a change of mindset to remember that we are allowed to be good to ourselves—which sometimes translates into saying no.

What we turn down can have as much impact on our future as what we accept, whether we’re building our own business, deciding our next career move, or even choosing what projects to take on within our work team. Rejecting one thing gives us the opportunity to say yes to something that we really want or that we know is more suited to our strengths.

In a recent interview with Business Insider, actor Tom Hanks shared that turning down roles is what put him on the road to his mega-star status. “Saying yes, then you just work,” said Hanks. “But saying no means you made the choice of the type of story you wanted to tell and the type of character you want to play.”

Choose Your Battles

Over time, saying yes to things we don’t want will diminish our own perceived value and in turn lessen any help we could offer to others, so we have to get comfortable with making people aware of our intentions and desires.

Stephen Key, author of the One Simple Idea Series, discussed this in a recent Entreprenuer.com article titled “The Positive Power of Saying No.”

“What if you hurt someone’s feelings? What if this business opportunity never comes along again? Who are you to think you deserve more? But the truth is, when we stretch ourselves thin, we’re not helping anyone. I’ve discovered that when we’re willing to say no, we create an opportunity for a frank, open discussion of what we do want. And the only way to get what you want is to let it be known.”

Claim The Power Of No

If we have a sense that saying yes to something will ultimately be the wrong decision, we have the right to say no. We are entitled to choose the things that keep us growing personally and professionally, even if others don’t like it.

Saying no requires a choice, but the power of that choice can be the difference between living with joy and purpose versus never finding that which really fulfills us.

Looking for a fresh dose of motivation to inspire and challenge you every week? Sign up here to access my Weekly Bold Move. Best of all, it’s completely free!

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