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May 4th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

How to Format a Cover Letter

By Miriam Salpeter

Once job seekers compose a strong, targeted resume, the next important step is to write a cover letter to help enhance their chances to land an interview. Sometimes, it’s difficult to know exactly what to include in the cover letter, or if it should be excessively formal or focus on connecting personally with the reader. The best tips: be sure the cover letter addresses the hiring manager’s needs (as detailed in the job description) and doesn’t include any mistakes to cause the reader to question your ability to do the job—for example, if you say you are detail oriented, but have misspellings in your letter.

It’s important to craft a well-written note, but never rely on the cover letter alone to tell your story. Be sure to include all pertinent information in the resume, including why you are well-qualified, and any discrepancies, including short job stints, job hopping, etc. The cover letter supports your resume, but the resume needs to do all of the heavy lifting, since many hiring managers will only look at you cover letter if they believe your resume makes the cut.

Quint Careers reports, “Studies over the past several years suggest that somewhere between a third and half of hiring decision-makers do not read the letters.” Despite this statistic, hiring managers who expect a cover letter will penalize you for not including it, so your best bet is to write a strong letter to accompany your resume.

What should you include in your cover letter? It’s important to be clear about the job of interest, but it’s boring and a little old-fashioned to start a letter, “I’m writing to apply for the XYZ job, as advertised on ABC.” Start your letter with a “hook” to show a little personality and enthusiasm for the job. This could include a sentence or two to help demonstrate a connection between the organization and you. For example, if applying to Home Depot, “Every weekend when I was growing up, my dad and I donned orange aprons and planned out our Home Depot runs to get materials for our home improvement projects. As a life-long customer, it’s exciting to think about using my finance and accounting skills to work at Home Depot as a Finance Analyst.”

Your letter’s content should not simply repeat the information in your resume; use this as an opportunity to briefly share details an employer might want to know about you. Quint Careers’s research includes an employer “wish list” for cover letters. They want to know (succinctly):

  • How did you find this position? Did someone refer you (always include this information), or did you meet the hiring manager at an event?
  • Why are you applying? Why are you qualified?
  • What do you know about the company? If you’ve done research about the company or organization, demonstrate it in the cover letter.

Other important aspects to incorporate:

  • Strong writing skills; your cover letter is a de facto writing sample.
  • Easy-to-read formatting, including bullet points and white space, and keep it to one page. When you apply by email, your cover letter is the body of the email with your resume attached.
  • Details from the job description; make a direct connection between your skills and their needs.
  • Tailored content; make sure the letter does not seem generic or as if it was written for any audience.

Format your cover letter with the following information:

  • An introduction, including the “hook” or story mentioned above and the name of the job you’re applying for.
  • Several paragraphs outlining your qualifications. Consider pulling out three main points (umbrella topics) from the job description and use each one as the basis of a paragraph describing your qualifications. Make a point to indicate anything unique or special about you that would help make you most qualified for the job.
  • A concluding paragraph indicating when you plan to follow up and suggesting your availability. For example, if you are an out-of-town candidate, you may add, “I will be in the Boston area early next month, and hope to have an opportunity to meet you then. I will be in touch the week of ___________ to follow up if I don’t hear from you sooner.”

A strong cover letter may make the difference. Don’t underestimate this important job-search step.

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May 4th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

What Makes a Good Cover Letter?

By Alison Green

At a time when most job seekers are wondering how to stand out in a crowded field of applicants, too many are overlooking one of the most effective ways to grab an employer’s attention: the cover letter.

Cover letters customized for the job are a powerful opportunity to make a compelling case for yourself as a candidate, totally aside from what’s in your resume. That because for most jobs, picking the best candidate is rarely solely about skills and experience. Those obviously take center stage, but if that’s all that mattered, there would be no point in interviews; employers would make a hire based off of resumes alone. But in the real world, other factors matter too—people skills, intellect, communication abilities, enthusiasm for the job, and your personality. A good cover letter effectively conveys those qualities.

A good cover letter also does the following:

  • It shows personal interest in working for a particular organization and in a particular job, which makes it both more believable and more compelling. People respond when they feel a personal interest from you.
  • It engages the reader in a conversational tone; it’s not stiff or overly formal.
  • Perhaps most importantly, it provides information about the writer that will never be available from a resume—personal traits and work habits.

What a good cover letter doesn’t do is simply summarize the resume that follows. After all, with such limited initial contact, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you squander a whole page of your application on repeating the contents of the other pages. Instead, a great cover letter will provide a whole different type of information. For instance, if you’re applying for a secretarial job that requires top-notch organizational skills, and you’re so neurotically organized that you alphabetize your spices and color-code your bills every month, most hiring managers would love to know that about you. And that’s not something you’d ever put in your resume, but the cover letter is a perfect place for it.

Approaching your cover letter in this way practically guarantees that you’ll stand out from your competition because only a tiny fraction of candidates tailor their cover letters like this. After all, imagine screening resumes and having 200 basically qualified candidates, with little to differentiate them from one another. Wouldn’t you give an extra look at the one person who expressed a genuine enthusiasm for your company and didn’t just send you a generic form letter?

This approach does take longer than sending out the same form letter over and over, but a well-written cover letter that’s individualized to a specific opening is going to open doors when your resume alone might not have. These account for such a tiny fraction of applications that you’ll stand out and immediately go to the top of many hiring managers’ piles. Because of that, it’s likely you’ll find that five truly personalized, well-tailored applications will get you better results than 30 generic applications.

Now, there are certainly some hiring managers out there who will tell you that they don’t care that much about cover letters. But there are so many who do, so it’s well worth your effort to stand out in a crowded field.

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April 11th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

Today’s Resume: What You Need to Know

By Louise Kursmark

If you’re looking for a job in 2012, you still need a resume. Despite online applications, online profiles, and online social networks connecting you to your next opportunity, the resume remains essential.

But that doesn’t mean the resume hasn’t changed with the times. Here’s what you need to know about today’s resume:

  • It’s shorter. Keep it to one or two pages maximum, no matter how much experience you have. Students and new grads most often will have a one-page resume, although two pages is not out of the question if you have that much relevant material.
  • It’s crisper. Think more white space, shorter paragraphs, less density. It needs to be written and designed so that it can be quickly skimmed for pertinent information.
  • It’s well organized, with clearly labeled sections pointing out relevant information. Add to the “skimmability” factor of your resume by segmenting the information into logical sections and labeling each with a heading—Experience and Education sections, of course, but other sections as well—perhaps Technical Skills, International Experiences, Travel and Languages, Core Skills, and others that are pertinent to you and your qualifications.
  • It’s less fluff, more facts. Don’t take up space telling readers how “excellent” your communication skills are or about your “business acumen.” Focus on the things that will help them decide if you are a viable candidate: Who are you? What do you know and what can you do? Where have you been and what have you accomplished? Your personal attributes become important later in the interview process.
  • It might point to richer, more detailed information. If you have a LinkedIn profile (and you should), insert the link at the top of your resume with your other contact information. Similarly, if you have a personal website, an online portfolio, a blog, or other information that expands on who you are for potential employers, by all means, add the links to your resume. Make it easy for employers to find out more—if they want to.
  • It includes one email address and one phone number. Gone are the days when it was standard form to include home, work, and cell numbers on your resume and perhaps two different email addresses. Make it easy for employers to contact you by listing just one number (for most people, a cell number) and one email address. Then be certain to read and listen to all messages and respond promptly when contacted.
  • It is customized to every job application. In many cases, you’ll be submitting your resume in response to online postings. To rise to the top of a crowded field, your resume must include all the right keywords for a particular position, so carefully review and edit your resume as necessary to match as many keywords as you legitimately can. Without the right keywords and keyword phrases, your resume will never be selected.

Yes, your resume is essential! In combination with a targeted job search with networking as a core strategy, your resume is a centerpiece for making your next career move. Make sure yours is current with the times and positions you to beat out the competition.

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April 11th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

Publishing Your Resume

By Wendy S. Enelow

Publishing your resume so it’s visible to hundreds, even thousands, of prospective employers and recruiters is just as important to the success of your job search as the actual process of writing the resume. Once it’s written, formatted, and proofread, you’re ready to upload, post, store, track, send, and otherwise distribute it in as many ways as possible to reach your target market.

To help with that challenge, here are some insider secrets about resumes, resume publishing, and job search. This is important information if you want to capture the attention of hiring managers in today’s remarkably competitive online employment market.

Starting with the basics, appreciate that there are two sides of resume publishing—online and offline—each with unique requirements. Believe it or not, there are people who still print and distribute hard copies of their resumes. Why? Because face-to-face networking and job search is still the most effective tactic and should continue to be part of your overall search strategy.

When publishing your offline resume, be certain that it is sharp, conservatively distinctive, and designed to stand out from the crowd. With paper resumes, you can use a distinctive font and add lines, charts, graphics, and other visual characteristics that give your resume depth and character. Publish a resume that doesn’t look like everyone else’s and you’ll give yourself an instantly competitive advantage.

Now let’s discuss the online resume that can take several forms. First, you’ll have the document version that is basically the same as your offline resume. The only difference might be how it looks on someone else’s computer or in a database. You have no control over that, other than to make sure you use a universal font (e.g., Arial, Arial Narrow, Bookman, Garamond, Georgia, Tahoma, Verdana) that translates well from one system to another and hope that your graphic elements come through as intended.

This is one of the reasons why .pdf files are great for resume publishing. Once you’ve saved your document as a .pdf, you’ve ensured that the integrity of the design, style, and format will remain intact. The only downside is that most recruiters and hiring managers will want your resume in either a Microsoft Word or text file so it can be easily uploaded into their candidate database for keyword searches using their applicant tracking system (ATS).

Unfortunately, the vast majority of your online resumes will be in text files that you upload into employment databases and post on job boards. I say unfortunately because those unadorned text files do nothing to give one candidate a visually competitive edge over another. At that point, you must rely 100% on the content—and keywords—in your resume because those are the primary criteria used for candidate selection. If you are called in for an interview, bring in a hard copy of your styled resume that the employer will remember.

With each passing day, the technology underlying resume databases is becoming more sophisticated and flexible. It won’t be long before the majority of companies will allow you to upload published Word resumes, giving you the best of both worlds—the vast online resume publishing and resume distribution options, and the sharp, distinctive visual presentation of a well-designed and well-formatted resume.

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March 7th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

Job Fairs: 8 Steps to Make Them Worthwhile

By Louise Kursmark

Job seekers flock to career fairs like bees to a hive—and why not? They are a central source of potential employment and networking opportunities. So while you’re job hunting, make it a point to look for and attend job fairs, and follow these tips to make the event a worthwhile investment of your time.

1. Do your homework. Contact the organization running the job fair and ask for a list of companies that will be attending. Research those companies and choose 5 to 8 as your prime targets for the job fair. Be aware, though, that the advance list is not the final—some of your target companies might not be present and others that you haven’t researched will be. So be prepared to change your plan of attack once you are on site.

Great advice and resources for company research:

2. Get your resume ready. Job fair recruiters will look at literally hundreds of resumes in a day. Try to make yours visually distinctive while remaining professional, and write interesting and unique content. Proofread your resume very carefully and have someone else read it as well. Bring several dozen copies with you to the job fair, encased in a portfolio so they stay fresh all day.

3. Dress for success. Wear the same clothing you would for an important interview. Your goal is to present a great image and impress the recruiters with your professionalism.

4. Start with your target companies. When you arrive at the job fair, review the attendee list (remember, it probably won’t exactly match the original). Highlight the locations of your target companies and approach them right away. Then you can pursue other companies—secondary targets, new targets, or any other company that sounds interesting.

If your target companies are very popular, be prepared to wait or circle back when the booth is less busy.

5. Be ready with your introduction. Do you have a 2- or 3-sentence introduction of who you are, what you’re looking for, and why you’re valuable? If not, you’ll feel tongue-tied and awkward at the job fair, you’ll look unprepared, and you’ll waste an opportunity to make a great first impression.

6. Use your company research. As the final sentence of your introduction, add something that relates to what you learned about the company from your research, or something you know or have surmised. For example, “I was reading that XYZ plans to expand into Russia. That sounds interesting and a fit with my interests—I was a Russian minor in college and have studied Russian history extensively.” Companies like to know that you are targeting them specifically and that you know something about them, so use your knowledge to your advantage.

7. Prepare for the next step. It’s unlikely that you’ll have an in-depth interview at the job fair. Your goal is to make a good impression, establish potential interest, leave your resume, and capture contact information. Get the business card of each recruiter or write down their names, job titles, phone numbers, and email addresses.

8. Follow up. Of course it would be great if you started getting phone calls right after the job fair! But don’t sit around waiting. Reach out to every person you spoke with. Send a professional email with details about positions you’re interested in. Personalize your note by saying something positive about the company. Attach another copy of your resume. Keep track of all of your contacts and conversations, and follow each one through to the final stage—whether it’s a “not interested” message or, ultimately, a job offer!

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March 7th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

Successful Networking to Land Your Next Job

By Miriam Salpeter

It’s tough out there for job seekers. While there are jobs available, it is more and more difficult for employers to connect with the right employees, and vice versa. In a recent TIME Business article, “Why the Job Search is Like Throwing Paper Airplanes into the Galaxy,” Jerry Crispin, principal and co-founder of CareerXroads, a technology and staffing consulting firm, cited surveys to learn why companies selected one candidate instead of another. The article notes, “This past year . . . at least 28% of all hires came from employee referrals, although (Crispin) suggests the number may be even higher. If a job applicant has someone in the company who is referring him or her, ‘that is huge. It’s a game changer.’”

Career coaches typically attribute 70–80% of jobs found to networking. There’s no question that engaging with a community of people who may either refer you for positions or hire you is key for job-search success.

How can you tap into this effective way of landing opportunities? Here are five ways to increase your networking effectiveness

1. Learn to introduce yourself. You’ve heard of the “elevator pitch,” so named because you’re supposed to be able to introduce yourself to an influential decision-maker you casually meet in an elevator. The key to a successful elevator pitch is being succinct. You’re not typically riding up the tallest building in the world—you only have a few seconds to make an impression. Make sure your pitch includes answers to all of these questions:

  • What is your goal/objective?
  • What do you want to do? (Consider your audience’s needs.)
  • What impact do you have?

For example:

As a project manager and senior adviser in environmental energy [target audience], I bridge the gap between the technical community and management’s interests [problem you solve/goals]. At Company X, I developed and led a green IT project, which saved $65,000 per year [impact/results].

2. Plan to succeed at social events. One way to successfully network at in-person events is to plan ahead of time to share information, advice, stories, and resources with people you meet. Think about how you can be a “go-giver”—people love talking to contacts who make an effort to help them. What can you plan to discuss? Consider having some anecdotes about the following in mind. Then, when you meet new people, steer the conversation to some of these topics:

  • food
  • sports
  • where to get tickets for events
  • vacation spots
  • great Websites and online resources

Another important tip for networking well at social events: Try to learn something personal about people you meet. Not their deep, dark secrets, but what they enjoy, their hobbies, or their families. You’ll learn why this is important in the Always follow up tip below.

3. Prepare for job fairs. The most important advice for success at job fairs is to do your research ahead of time. Don’t expect to drop a resume and run. Plan to impress the recruiter with your knowledge of the company and hone in on how your skills and accomplishments match the organization’s needs. There is nothing more impressive to a recruiter than a candidate who clearly explains the match between jobs available at the firm and what he or she offers.

4. Network online. Networking opportunities exponentially increased with the power of social media. Don’t ignore these tools to connect with people who may be impressed by your expertise and credentials. For example, learn about Glassdoor’s tool called “Inside Connections;” it helps you discover Facebook friends at companies where you want to work. New tools for job seekers become available all the time. Consider any network where you can engage with new people online a potential career booster.

5. Always follow up. When you meet, take note if the person loves gardening, the White Sox, or enjoys ballroom dancing. Then, make a point to find a news article or blog post about the topic, and forward it to the new contact with a nice note. You may be surprised by how positively people will respond when you are thoughtful, share resources unrelated to your job search needs, and demonstrate you were listening carefully when you met each other.

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February 9th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

How to Turn Your Internship or Temp Job into Full-Time Employment

By Heather Huhman

In a tough job market, internships and temporary positions can be the necessary foot in the door you need to land a full-time gig. In fact, in a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers reported that 39% of their entry-level hires came from their own internship programs. Internships are also a vital way to build experience and eliminate resume gaps while on the hunt for a full-time job in your industry.

Yes, an internship or temporary job is probably not your ultimate career goal, but it can be that stepping stone you need to land a full-time job. So what are some ways to ensure you make an impression as an intern or temp?

Be proactive. Sit down with your supervisor (or mentor, if your internship program provides one for you) and identify goals you’d like to accomplish during your time at the organization. What do you want to get out of this experience? Setting expectations upfront can help keep you on track during your time there. Taking control is key.

Do your job to the best of your ability. Show your boss and co-workers that you can complete tasks efficiently and correctly. Meet deadlines or turn in assignments early. Always strive to do your best work no matter how menial you feel the task is.

Dress a step above your current position. The best way to be viewed as more than an intern or temporary worker is to dress like it. Don’t come to work dressed too casually just because other interns or temp workers do. Remember . . . you want to stand out among these folks!

Go above and beyond. If your supervisor asks for three ideas, provide five. If you see a process that could be improved, present your suggestions to your boss or colleague. Treat this job as you would a full-time one.

Communicate often with your supervisor. Unsure about an assignment? Have a question about how you should handle something? Talk to your supervisor to clarify anything you are uncertain about. It’s better to know if you’re on the right track before you start, rather than after.

Start a dialogue about coming on full-time. Sometimes, all it takes is bringing up the subject to land a full-time job at the company where you’re interning or temping. Before your time with the company ends, remind them that you’re really interested in working there full-time. Ask, “How can we get me to work at this organization? I’ve really enjoyed my time here.”

Keep in contact with co-workers and managers. Think of this internship or temporary job as a network booster. Hopefully, you’ll make some connections that can help you land a job in the future, whether it’s with the company you currently work for or not. Add colleagues on LinkedIn, ask for recommendations from your supervisor, offer to volunteer at a company event, do anything to keep in touch with your supervisors and coworker to show that you are dedicated to your field.

Has one of your internships or temp jobs ever turned into a full-time job? Why do you think you ended up getting hired as a full-time employee?

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February 9th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

How Much Weight Does Having an MBA Carry in Today’s Market?

By Andrea Santiago

Will an MBA help your career? Does having “MBA” on your resume help you earn more, get promoted, or have more opportunities?

There is no simple, one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The value of an MBA education to your future career advancement depends on a number of factors, such as your career goals, financial situation, current experience level, and more. Below are a few tips and resources to help you decide if an MBA is right for you.

1) What is your objective for obtaining an MBA?  Consider your career goals. If your desired career path is one which requires an MBA degree, then obviously you will need to complete your degree to get where you want. How do you know if an MBA is required for your future career?  If you are interested in being an upper-level business executive, an MBA will most likely be necessary. To learn more, you can search job ads for your desired position to see if an MBA is required. Also, you can take a cue from people you know who have the role you want—if they have an MBA, most likely you’ll need one too. However, if you’re not sure what career you want, or where you want to be five or ten years from now, it might be best to figure that out before investing tens of thousands of dollars in an MBA program.

2) Is it worth the money? If you are considering an MBA solely to earn more money, then you may want to do some research to determine if an MBA is worth the investment. According to bnet.com (CBS Business Network), the time it takes to get a return on investment for an MBA ranges from four to ten years, on average. Some analyses show that the top-tier business schools actually take longer to recoup the tuition costs with a post-MBA salary than do lower-tier business schools. This is because the tuition is so much higher at top-tier schools, and because the top-tier schools tend to attract people who are already earning a high salary, so increasing it by a higher percentage is not as likely. Be sure to factor any time away from your job if you plan to go to school full-time and leave the workforce temporarily.

To see which business schools are considered top tier, view rankings on business and news sites such as Forbes.com. Salary calculators like Payscale.com allow you to research salaries by job title and degree, so you can gauge approximately how much an MBA will increase your earning potential in your desired career. Finally, a chart on PoetsAndQuants.com compares several top-tier schools and the number of years it takes to earn back the tuition costs after completing an MBA. Check with your employer to see if tuition reimbursement is offered to help offset your expense. Tuition reimbursement often comes with a payback period of employment once you’ve completed your degree. If you leave your current job too soon after obtaining an MBA, you would have to refund your employer any tuition money they provided.

3) What about an online degree? If attending business school isn’t an option for you, you may want to consider an online MBA. However, choose your program carefully. Go online and research what the graduates of certain programs are earning. Executive recruiters know which online schools are the for-profit ones that let in everyone who can afford to pay the tuition. Therefore, if at all possible, select an online program that is affiliated with an accredited brick-and-mortar university—it will carry more credibility, even if it’s not a top-tier business school.

In sum, getting an MBA just for the sake of having “MBA” on your resume isn’t necessarily the most effective plan to advance your career, or even to earn more money, due to tuition costs increasing at a much higher pace than post-MBA salaries (per bnet.com). However, if an MBA is a required degree for your particular career plan, you should earn your MBA from the best business school you can reasonably afford.

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January 5th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

Two Great Reasons to Visit Booth 1716 at #ALAMW12

If you’re attending the ALA Midwinter Conference in Dallas, Texas, later this month, LearningExpress has two great reasons for you to stop by and visit our booth, No. 1716.

“Be One of The 50” Contest

Has LearningExpress Library or Job & Career Accelerator served as a useful resource for you, your patrons, or students? If so, great! Come visit us at ALA MidWinter!

We’re looking for ONE librarian from each of the 50 states to stop by and give us a video testimonial about their experience using Job & Career Accelerator or LearningExpress Library and discuss the impact the products have had on their library community.

In exchange for your video testimonial, you’ll get the distinction of being the librarian from your state to record a video testimonial and you’ll leave our booth with a copy of one of LearningExpress’s most popular books, Public Speaking Success in 20 Minutes a Day, that you can share with your library patrons.

The only thing you need to do to get your copy of Public Speaking Success in 20 Minutes a Day is to:

  • Be the FIRST librarian from your state to arrive at our booth, No. 1716
  • Fill out and sign a release form
  • Give us your recorded video testimonial

 Amazon Kindle Fire Raffle

The Amazon Kindle Fire was one of the most-wished-for items on Amazon this past holiday season, and now YOU get a chance to win one!

All you have to do in order to enter the Kindle Fire Raffle is to:

  • Solve the puzzle on the Kindle Raffle Game Card and fill out the game card completely. You can get a copy of the game card at our booth, or look for an email from LearningExpress with a copy of the game card to print at your convenience.
  • Give the completed Kindle Raffle Game Card to one of our booth representatives.

The winner will be notified via phone and email after the ALA conference.

We’re looking forward to seeing you at our booth, No. 1716, during the ALA Midwinter Conference in Dallas, Texas!

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January 5th, 2012 by JobAndCareerAcceleratorTeam

Mastering the Phone Interview

By: Alison Green

More and more employers are using phone interviews as screening mechanisms to narrow down their applicant pool before deciding whom to interview in person. Phone interviews can range from short and perfunctory, to long and in-depth, but they’re generally intended to obtain some basic background information about you and to get a better sense of who you are.

The keys to acing a phone interview are being professional, prepared, and enthusiastic. Here are 10 ways to ensure you are.

1. Be prepared. You want to go into the call understanding who the employer is, so before the interview, go to its website and read enough to get a good feel for its clients, work, and general approach. Don’t leave the site until you can answer these questions: What does this organization do? What is it all about? What makes it different from the competition?

2. Know the job description. There’s nothing worse than a phone interview where the candidate doesn’t seem to grasp what the job is all about and why it would be a good fit. So as part of your advance preparation, go through the job description line by line and think about how your experience and skills fit with each line. Don’t be alarmed if you’re not a perfect fit; people get hired all the time without being a line-for-line match. The idea is simply to have thought through how you are a match, so that those thoughts are easily retrievable and can be turned into answers on the phone.

3. Think about the questions that you’re likely to be asked, and write out your answers to each of them. At a minimum, cover these basics: Why are you thinking about leaving your current job? What interests you about this opening? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What experience do you have doing ___? (Fill in each of the major responsibilities of the job.)

4. Think about how you’ll answer questions about salary history or expectations, so you’re prepared with an answer and not caught off-guard if this common topic comes up.

5. Come up with several questions of your own, because at the end of the conversation you’ll likely be asked what questions you have. Good questions at this stage are about the role itself and open-ended inquiries about the office culture. Make sure to end by asking what the next steps are and what the timeline is for getting back to you.

6. Pay attention to your tone of voice. On the phone interview, the interviewer can’t see your body language or gestures, so tone of voice matters more than ever. Your goal is to sound upbeat, interested, and engaged, not sluggish, distracted, or unenthused. And let your personality come through; after all, a major reason for the phone interview is to get a sense of what you’re all about.

7. While you shouldn’t sound stiff, don’t have an overly casual manner either. While the interviewer wants a sense of your personality, a phone interview is still an interview, not an informal phone call with a friend. I’ve phone-screened candidates who I’m pretty sure were lounging on the couch, watching the game with the sound down, and snacking while we talked. That’s not the impression you want to make!

8. Remember that a great benefit of phone interviews is that you can have notes in front of you. Take those answers you wrote down in step #3 and keep them in front of you. Just make sure you don’t sound like you’re reading a script.

9. Keep your answers to-the-point. One thing employers look for in phone interviews is the ability to answer questions directly and concisely, because they want to hire people who can organize their thoughts and convey needed information quickly. So keep your answers fairly concise. Of course, if there’s more to tell after your short answer, you can certainly ask, “Does that give you what you’re looking for, or would you like me to go more in depth about this?”

 10. Don’t do a phone interview while you’re driving. You won’t be able to fully concentrate, and if the interviewer realizes you’re driving, it will come across very poorly—because of safety and because it looks like you’re not treating the conversation as a priority.

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