Michael Kimsal’s Post

After 15 interviews, nobody was hired! Another acquaintance of mine tells me he can't find any talented people. In my opinion, if you conducted 15 interviews without hiring anyone, you should start staring in the mirror. Hiring managers and recruiters have an issue since they are searching for the "perfect" applicant. *NEWSFLASH!* – No candidate is "perfect". 😑 Hire someone that fits in with the team and has the necessary skill set and attitude for the job. So many competent people are still looking for work. However, I frequently observe the same jobs being advertised again and being unfilled for months at a time. On whom did they take a chance? Perhaps it's time you gave someone a chance. 🙂 🙂

Being transparent and fulfilling promised communication shows integrity and honesty.

Interviews can be quite the hurdle. For two decades, I've encountered a slew of impressive individuals who falter in interviews. Sounds familiar? Perhaps you've wished, "If only they could witness me at work!" The truth is, interviews are a significant step in securing a new role. The good news? You can improve. As with most things in life, the key is preparation and practice. Before stepping into an interview, identify the traits and value you want to spotlight, something that aligns with the company and role in question. Moreover, partnering with a recruiter can ensure splendid preparation. Considering a new role? Let's connect today. Remember, we're more than our job titles. Embrace your unique value and let it shine. As an old Texas saying goes, "It ain't bragging if it's true!" Let's make certain they see you for the talented professional you are.

As a squeaky clean veteran I’d like to share my experience regarding job interviews and I’ve had a few in the last 6 months… Firstly thou I must say at the start of my LinkedIn journey it sent my head into a very anxious & negative space. It’s a minefield full of opinionated individuals giving what they perceive to be the best advice for people searching for their perfect job role “do this, don’t do that, say this and don’t say that” blah blah blah and it was overwhelming! The transition from military to civilian is not to be downplayed, it’s huge! Not everyone in civvy street appreciates that… I’ve succeeded and failed to secure job roles , one of which I accepted and unfortunately location for me made work/life tip the scales in the wrong direction, successful for another but declined, unsuccessful for and gained invaluable feedback and a couple I didn’t hear back from at all. I’m grateful that today I accepted a role that I’m excited about… you will get there in the end! Interviews can be scary, daunting and fill one with dread! I learnt to simply relax, be myself, trust my intuition, believe that what is for me will not pass me by. I always wore something smart but really comfortable, smiled lots, and gained confidence in talking about my attributes, prepared, asked lots of questions and most importantly learnt to lose all expectation!! Every interview I had turned out to be different than what I expected…The role must be the right fit for you as well as you being the right fit for the role! If you’re a little overwhelmed and way out of your comfort zone come off LinkedIn for a while and tune in to your intuition it will not fail you ✌️#veteran #interviews #transition

A former colleague of mine shared with me today that he is scheduled for a job interview on Friday. I was ecstatic to hear this great news, to say the least! Any progress on your job application is always exciting. And since I recently was on a job hunt for my current role, he sort-of asked me how I responded to some of the usual job interview questions. One of which was on "how long do you plan to stay with the company?". He is not very sure on how to respond to this question without promising any unrealistic timeline since at this point, it's too early to say whether you'll stick around in the short term or long term. So, I shared with him how I responded to this question during my interviews. And I said... It depends. There are two things that I usually consider when deciding whether to stay or if it's time to move forward elsewhere. Firstly, I usually stay for as long as I feel that I am still needed and still adding value to the company and to my colleagues. And secondly, I'll stay for as long as I feel that I am still growing and learning in the company and with the people that I work with every single day. These two should come together, not just one or the other. While this response is not the gold standard, but this is how I genuinely convey my intentions to the company without being unrealistic. At the same time, it balances a two-way expectation -- one is something you have control of which is your intention to do well at work, while the other one emphasizes that the burden of keeping you in the company is shared with them as well which is the company's ability to keep you happy and, at the same time, challenged enough to grow and stay. It may take enough courage and confidence, but we need to bear in mind that the interview round is not just an avenue for the company to see if you're a good fit for them. It's also your opportunity to see if the company is a good fit for you. #justmytwocents #jobhuntingtips

A former colleague of mine shared with me today that he is scheduled for a job interview on Friday. I was ecstatic to hear this great news, to say the least! Any progress on your job application is always exciting. And since I recently was on a job hunt for my current role, he sort-of asked me how I responded to some of the usual job interview questions. One of which was on "how long do you plan to stay with the company?". He is not very sure on how to respond to this question without promising any unrealistic timeline since at this point, it's too early to say whether you'll stick around in the short term or long term. So, I shared with him how I responded to this question during my interviews. And I said... It depends. There are two things that I usually consider when deciding whether to stay or if it's time to move forward elsewhere. Firstly, I usually stay for as long as I feel that I am still needed and still adding value to the company and to my colleagues. And secondly, I'll stay for as long as I feel that I am still growing and learning in the company and with the people that I work with every single day. These two should come together, not just one or the other. While this response is not the gold standard, but this is how I genuinely convey my intentions to the company without being unrealistic. At the same time, it balances a two-way expectation -- one is something you have control of which is your intention to do well at work, while the other one emphasizes that the burden of keeping you in the company is shared with them as well which is the company's ability to keep you happy and, at the same time, challenged enough to grow and stay. It may take enough courage and confidence, but we need to bear in mind that the interview round is not just an avenue for the company to see if you're a good fit for them. It's also your opportunity to see if the company is a good fit for you. 😉 #justmytwocents #jobhuntingtips

Who TF goes through 10+ hours of interviews just to turn down the job when offered? 🔵 People who trust themselves to make tough calls. 🔵 People who care more about disappointing themselves than random hiring managers. 🔵 People who aren't afraid to walk away from a "good" thing, even if it's in a new industry, even if everyone else says it's great, even if...etc. I recently had a former client who did this exact thing. She sensed something about this job wasn't quite right for her, and instead of settling, she made the risky decision to decline the job offer. Now, you might be thinking, “Natalie, if she didn’t think this was the right job, why go through all 7 rounds of interviews?” Well, because she’s a former college athlete, and those folks don’t give up easily 😀 (IYKYK) She really wanted to want this job. She’s damn good at what she does – in fact, she’s damn good at damn near everything – so she knew she’d be great at it. But despite her determination to want this role, she just couldn’t convince herself that this was it. So, she said no. After 10+ hours and a competitive offer, she walked. This is a reminder that sometimes, even when others tell you it's a good job, even when the offer is solid, even when it seems like the perfect escape from a current job you no longer want, the most courageous choice is to walk away.

Update: So, I didn't get the job. After 5 rounds of interviews. The final round was an on-site panel presentation to all the people I previously interviewed with. I felt the interaction was great. Tons of great questions and discussion that made the presentation last well over the alloted period. Afterward I stayed and chatted with the hiring manager about what it would be like to physically work on as part of the team, what to expect. I loved all of it, was on on-board. The conversation felt natural and I left the office (for my 1.2 hour commute back to my house, btw) feeling energized and happy. What a difference a weekend makes. Long story short, there were two of us (candidates) competing for that role, and the other candidate pretty much just knocked it out of the park (?) by doing one thing that I didn't do (or so I was told in a feedback via the 3rd party recruiter). What a difference just a tiny thing (or the lack thereof) makes. It was a huge disappointment, but I've had some time to digest and mourn and am feeling okay. I'm fortunate I have a group of people who have been tremendously supportive throughout my job search. I'm so grateful to them for being there as my sounding board, helping me put things into perspective. All we can do is to keep moving forward. ✊ 👉 P.S. Seeing cherry blossoms makes me happy. We really ought to stop and enjoy the simple things that make us happy more often! #careers #jobsearch #interviews #keeponmoving

It's been a busy week for me here and what can I say I've learned? After conducting over a dozen interviews for the organization, I learned - to interview well requires individual commitment to succeed. There is a great deal of structure and formalities that we are required to follow, not like the Army where at a board we could ask almost any question and follow-up question we wanted. It made getting to know the candidate better in the short time we spent together but it also created a sense of subjectivity and favoritism in our scoring, "who's your favorite football team"? "Favorite war movie and why?" Point is, if you're looking for your next job/career and don't know where to start, do your homework about the position, the organization, and yourself. Search for common questions that may be asked at interviews, "tell us about a time you were on a team..., tell us about a project you were working on..., etc. In your response, BE YOURSELF but follow the method of STAR or SAO (Situation, Action, Outcome); AND practice answering each of those areas of the questions. You'll be better prepared after just doing those simple things. #jobinterviewtips #careeradvice