Thanks to Joshua Muir, Regional General Manager at Lenscrafters (BC) for this great reminder to our Retail Executives as well as Category Managers as well as other Operations Personnel. This is something we all know but boy, we really need to keep reminding ourselves of this his nifty ‘Advice to the Career Seeker from the Hiring Manager’ – “Know the companies you are applying to… inside and out…. be genuine in your reasons for applying. If you truly admire that organization and can articulate that with enthusiasm you’ll have a clear edge on a short list. If it’s between you and the other person, I’ll always move towards the one I know wants to be there because they BELIEVE in the organization and its potential.”

Yes Joshua so very true, you can’t beat enthusiasm and passion in the interview process. We constantly drill our candidates that preparedness going into an interview is what it’s all about. In this competitive world where the stakes are high to get one of fewer jobs where companies are raising the bar by seeking out those higher potential gems, the onus is on the interviewee to know as much as possible about who they are interviewing with. That means knowing the company as well as the person conducting the interview (LinkedIn and Jigsaw are great places to get info on the interviewer). Understand what the philosophy is of the company, their positioning in the marketplace, any information about their financials if they are publicly traded and so on. All these things along with being armed with some good questions will give you a strong advantage. Interviewers love at least one good thought provoking question – it leaves them with a good, very high impression.

Looking for a new job can be grueling no matter what your level so we understand the predicament; of job hunting it’s hard to keep up the effervescence when you’re in the trenches. Compartmentatise each interview string and have a confident coach to debrief with to keep your morale high and work with someone who can critique you honestly.

Over and Out