How to Ace Questions When Relaunching Careers

How to Ace Questions When Relaunching Careers By Carroll Welch - Originally posted on iRelaunchNo matter how its worded or where you hear it, if youre relaunching, youll be asked by someone to tell about yourself. It may be at a barbecue, an informational interview, a college reunion, a screening interview or a conference. Depending on the context, this question could be asked as What should I know about you?Whats your background?How can I help you today?Do you work outside the home?Tell me in your own words, who is your name?Tell me about yourself.Whether formally or casually asked, Tell me about yourself is an opportunity. When you have an articulate, confidently delivered response that takes into account what the listener wants to know, you can distinguish yourself and make a positive impression. Here are three points to help you prepare. (For convenience sake, all forms of Tell Me About Yourself will be referred to as TMAY.) BE A POWERTOFLY VIP V irtual talks for women by women to give you the edge you need to elevate your career. Includes discounts to our bootcamp parteners, invites to events and more. Subscribe 1. Prepare. Dont wing this. Your response to TMAY is an important part of how you market yourself, just as your resume and Linked In profile are. Its hard to come up with a good response to this deceptively difficult question on the fly. By preparing bullet points in advance that youve committed to memory and can tweak and integrate into conversations as appropriate, youll be ready.2. Consider Your Audience. What a prospective employer wants to know about you is not the same as what your best friends spouse wants to know at the neighborhood holiday party. Dont reflexively tell the person what you want to tell them. Instead, think about what they might want to know and make it part of your response.Strengths. For job interviews, make sure that the beginning of your response includes 2-3 key fea tures about you that would be compelling to that employer. Heres an exampleQ. Tell me about yourself. A. Im a career relauncher and project manager with 10 years of experience in pharmaceutical marketing. Ive always loved project management work because I can use my excellent organizational and technological skills to make sure that all the moving parts of a project sync. During my 7 year career break, I became a trustee for my local public library and chaired our technology committee so Ive been able to continue to use and hone those skills. Also, I was a four year DI college athlete, and when I worked at Rose Whitney as a project manager, I was consistently recognized for my strong gruppe orientation, and how I coordinated and communicated well with all team members, regardless of seniority.Relauncher Status. It may be okay in some circumstances to explain that youre exploring, researching or considering more than one relaunch career path. Usually, this will likely be in a social or casual situation or in informational interviews, but not in job interviews. An example of how to explain your undecided status as part of a TMAY response to a networking or social contact who might be able to help you isIm a relauncher and before my 10 year career break, I practiced as a health law attorney at a large law firm for 5 years. Im planning to return to work as a practicing attorney. Im currently exploring either a path to a hospital legal department position or practicing elder law at a small firm. Ive always been interested in health care and was pre-med in college. I became interested in elder law when I helped my parents navigate some challenging long term care, Medicare and estate planning issues. No Chronologies. Your response to TMAY should never be a chronological story that starts with where you were born or what you did after klasse school. Instead, it should highlight who you are now and what your strengths, value adds and/or career relaunch plans are.Mind the Time. Your TMAY response should be between 30 seconds and 90 seconds long -- at the most. Youll lose your listeners interest and attention after that.Fluid Not Static. Your TMAY response will change over time, as your goals and targets do. Check in on your TMAY response periodically to be sure that its still doing the job of conveying an accurate picture of you. 3. Practice Delivering with Confidence. Your listener in some cases may remember how you delivered your TMAY response more than what youve actually said Practice with a friend, in front of a mirror and/or with the recording feature on your phone. If youre not feeling particularly confident about your TMAY response at first, pretend With repeated delivery, youll get better.Many job searchers and relaunchers flounder when asked to tell about themselves. By nailing this question and making it a positive part of how you market yourself, youll become more memorable and compelling as a relaunch candidate.This article originall y appeared on the iRelaunch blog. iRelaunch is the pioneering company in the career re-entry space with a global community of over 65,000 individuals who are in all stages of returning to work after a career break. We also work directly with more than 55 blue chip companies to create career re-entry programs. Sign up to learn more about how we can help you return to a rewarding career. From Your Site Articles PowerToFly Blog - how-to-ace-questions-when-relaunching-careers Interview Questions Answered Related Articles Around the Web 25 Common Interview Questions with Pass or Fail Answers Top Job Interview Questions Monster.com 50 Most Common Interview Questions - Glassdoor Blog 31 Common Interview Questions and Answers - The Muse Aki Merced One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity pro vides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this era of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joinin g the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent business strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard Business Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the wertmiger zuwachs of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which found that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated General Contractors of America/a, more than 80% o f contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positions in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a construction career a prime choice for women looking fo r a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and industrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a skyscraper and say I helped build that?pThe constru ction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.