This Is How to Get Your Next Job An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # andrea kay foreword by richard n. bolles AmericAn mAnAgement AssociAtion . . . . new York Atlanta Brussels chicago mexico city . . . . san Francisco shanghai tokyo toronto Washington, D.c. American Management Association • www.amanet.org NEXTJOB.FINAL.ebookREV.indd 1 2/19/13 2:24 PM Bulk discounts available. For details visit: www.amacombooks.org/go/specialsales Or contact special sales: Phone: 800-250-5308 E-mail: [email protected] View all the AMACOM titles at: www.amacombooks.org American Management Association: www.amanet.org This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in ren- dering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kay, Andrea, 1954- This is how to get your next job : an inside look at what employers really want / Andrea Kay; foreword by Richard N. Bolles. pages cm Includes index. ISBN 978-0-8144-3221-1 (pbk.) -- ISBN 0-8144-3221-2 (pbk.) 1. Job hunting. 2. Employment interviewing. 3. Career development. I. Title. HF5382.7.K39 2013 650.14--dc23 2012051814 Portions of this work were previously published in slightly different form in the author’s syn- dicated columns. © 2013 Andrea Kay All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. 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Our mission is to support the goals of individuals and organizations through a complete range of products and services, including class- room and virtual seminars, webcasts, webinars, podcasts, conferences, corporate and government solutions, business books, and research. AMA’s approach to improving performance combines experiential learning—learning through doing—with opportunities for ongoing professional growth at every step of one’s career journey. Printing number 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 American Management Association • www.amanet.org NEXTJOB.FINAL.ebookREV.indd 2 2/19/13 2:24 PM In memory of my father, who gave me my first job when I was five and taught me how to be the best pen- cil sharpener the world would ever know. And in honor of my mother, who has supported me in everything I’ve ever done. American Management Association • www.amanet.org NEXTJOB.FINAL.ebookREV.indd 3 2/19/13 2:24 PM This page intentionally left blank contents Foreword by Richard N. Bolles ....................................... vii Introduction: Why I Had to Write This Book ........................... 1 1 You Are What You Seem ......................................... 5 2 Tell and Show ................................................. 34 3 15 Things You Should Never Do................................. 64 4 15 Things You Should Never Talk About or Say.................. 125 5 10 Things You Should Never Wear.............................. 181 6 15 Things You Should Never Do Once You Get a Job or in Your Career—Ever .............................. 198 Conclusion: How to Make It in This Wild and Crazy Time............. 237 Acknowledgments ................................................. 239 Index............................................................. 241 About the Author.................................................. 246 American Management Association • www.amanet.org NEXTJOB.FINAL.ebookREV.indd 5 2/19/13 2:24 PM This page intentionally left blank foreword If you are looking for a job, I recommend you read this book. But before we talk about why, I want you to think about what a strange practice this is: One author recommending the books of another author. It happens all the time. Why do authors recommend other authors, particularly those writing in the same field? You don’t find that happening in other arenas of the marketplace. Does Coca-Cola recommend Pepsi? Nope, it does not. In commerce, you don’t rec- ommend a competitor’s product. And why? There is a simple rule operating here: Consumers only have a finite amount of money. If they spend it on a competing product, they have less to spend on you. Therefore, isn’t it mildly insane for authors to recommend that people spend their money on other authors’ books, rather than their own? Well, I can really only speak from my own experience. But for me it makes perfect sense. For three reasons. First, overwhelm. The Book of Ecclesiastes, in the Old Testa- ment, enunciated the problem: “Be warned, my son. . . . Of the mak- ing many books, there is no end. . . .” To illustrate this sentence, as of August 2010, according to Google, there were 129,864,880 books in existence. Now, I have no idea how many of these books are in the American Management Association • www.amanet.org NEXTJOB.FINAL.ebookREV.indd 7 2/19/13 2:24 PM viii foreword careers or job-hunting field, but after writing in this field for liter- ally decades, I can tell you it is a mind-boggling number. You want to read something? You want to read something helpful? One hardly knows where to begin. There are so many choices. I like to help by calling attention to those books—this one in particular—that stand out above the rest of the crowd. Second, voice. I am the author of a book that has sold over 10 million copies and has for 40 years been the best-selling job-hunting book in the world. But, as with all books, there are a number of peo- ple who cannot hear my voice. The reasons don’t matter. They just can’t. They need another voice, even if it is conveying basically the same message, a voice that speaks to their heart, as mine does not and never will. Andrea’s book speaks truths that I have emphasized for years, but here they are in a different voice. A lovely and knowl- edgeable voice. What truths, you ask? That you have to enter into the world and the mind of employers, if you are job hunting. That you have to have found out as much as you can about a company or organization before you go to interview there. That job interviews are more like dating than they are like selling a used car. That you, as much as the employer, are trying to use the job interview to gather information, and then make a decision. That self-knowledge precedes market knowledge, in priority and importance. If you are hunting for new work or a new career, it is crucial to know these things. And to choose the voice that will help you hear them best. And, finally, depth. Andrea writes about the job interview with far greater depth than I did in my book—or most other books on this subject. She writes with authority. She has interviewed count- less employers and asked them a question I never asked: Why didn’t you hire the last ten people you interviewed? Out of their answers, Andrea has constructed a thoughtful, effective series of strategies that will benefit every job hunter who reads this book. I think this American Management Association • www.amanet.org NEXTJOB.FINAL.ebookREV.indd 8 2/19/13 2:24 PM foreword ix kind of depth was always needed on the subject of the job interview, but now more so than ever, in today’s tough economy. This book is a gift. So, buy it. Read it. Use it. Please. Richard N. Bolles, author What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers 2013 edition; rewritten annually American Management Association • www.amanet.org NEXTJOB.FINAL.ebookREV.indd 9 2/19/13 2:24 PM