If you are here, then you are most likely already using the internet to help you find a job. The internet can be a real time saver when it comes to assisting you in your search for a new/different job.

The problem is that the internet is also fraught with misinformation and can, in some cases, actually hurt your chances of landing that new job, instead of helping you. The fact that you can do an online job search and be sending your resume to lots and lots of prospective employers can be really appealing. And that is NOT necessarily a good thing!

It kind of reminds me of the first time I went quail hunting with my father. I would see a group of birds on flight and swing my shotgun up and shoot away. After about 4 hours (and getting more and more frustrated every time) the only thing I had to show for my efforts was a really sore shoulder. My Dad quietly watched my frustrations all morning long and never said a word.

We went in for lunch and I tried to explain my frustrations to my Dad. I said “I don’t know what’s going on, I’m aiming right in the middle of the flock and I never hit anything.” At this point I guess my Dad decided that I was ready to listen to some advice. Now that I’m older I realize that he knew that if he had offered any advice before I had tried it my way, I wouldn’t have listened anyway. After all, at that age I knew everything.

He said “You have to aim at a target”. And before I could explain that I WAS aiming at a target he said “I know you THINK you are aiming at a target, that being the middle of the flock but that is not a target. You see son, a target is a very specific thing. So what you need to do is to aim at a specific bird, not at the flock, just a single bird. Assess your situation, and then select your target, take aim and pull the trigger”.

That afternoon it was amazing how much better I was. We both had a great time and yes we did eat the birds that we shot. Bacon wrapped quail breasts are great but that’s another subject entirely.

Later in life I was playing golf with a friend of mine whose handicap is a negative number and he regularly attempts to qualify for the U.S. Open. For you non-golfers out there, what I’m saying here is that he is a great golfer. After a few holes, while on the tee box of a left dogleg par 5, I asked him what his target line was and he said “You see that oak tree past the dogleg there.” I confirmed that I did see the tree because I had figured that would be my target line. Then he continued, “You see that third branch from the left on the very top?” Yep I saw it. He continued “I’m aiming for the second twig sticking out from the left on that branch.”

Well, at just that moment I remembered my father telling me that “A target is a very specific thing.” Bird hunting, golf, it doesn’t matter. A target is a very specific thing. Today anytime I establish a goal for myself, I try to remember that a “Target is a specific thing”. And as a side note, my golf game got a lot better after learning to narrow my focus to a very specific target. Again, that’s another subject….

I know this is a website to help you find a job and I coming to the point here…….

Too many people say “I need a job”, or “I’m looking for a new job”. Maybe you say or have said the same thing. When your aim is that general, the odds of you hitting your target are not very good.

I know it would seem that the larger the target, the easier it is to hit it, but that’s not how our brains work. If you really want to accomplish a goal or hit a target then you have to give your brain a very specific target to shoot at. Given a specific target, the subconscious will take over and assist you in reaching that goal or hitting the target.

I watched an interview with a famous wide receiver in the NFL and the person conducting the interview was asking him how he made some of the remarkable catches in his career. The interviewer said “With the defender in your face, how do you keep your eye on the ball?” His answer reminded me of my fathers advice, he said “I don’t keep my eye on the ball, I keep my eye on the point of the ball.”

You see, the ball was just too big a target, he narrowed it down to just the point on the ball.

So if your job search seems to be going nowhere then there’s a really good possibility that your target is too big. Narrow your focus!

At joboodles.com, that’s what we do. We help you aim for a specific target. You don’t want a job, you want the best job, with the best company that will give you the best possible return for your efforts. That’s what we want too.

And the flip side is that if you are an employer looking for employees, you don’t want just an employee, you want the very best employee, who can make an immediate impact and will work best in the environment and with his co-workers and his supervisors. Well that’s what we want too.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting some of the most common questions asked during a job interview along with some tips on why that particular question is being asked along with some pointers on how to prepare for that question as well as the best response.

The objective is not to give you word for word answers but to show you how you can vary the answers to show off your experience and strengths.

So let’s get started with one of the most common questions asked during a job interview……..

“How long have your been looking for a job?”

The reason that question is asked is to try to uncover a few things about the person being interviewed. Things like internal motivation and to perhaps pick up on potential problems too.

It’s not uncommon to have been looking for a job for a long time during the current recession.

The interviewer is looking for reasons why other potential employers have not hired you. Be careful when answering this question because if you say you have had lots and lots of interviews then the interviewer will begin to wonder why those other companies did not hire you. Lots of interviews and no job offer is a red light for them.

You should always be honest in your answers and to give you a little food for thought, think about this response:
“Until recently I have not been aggressively searching for a postion. Since I left my last job I have taken the opportunity to re-examine my career and where I am in my life versus where I want to be in the future. With that in mind I have been very selective about the postions I apply for. This position and your company are a good match and I am very interested.”

Of course you shouldn’t use that response verbatim but a response like the above removes the ‘perceived problem’ and with the last part of the response, turns the interview back over to the interviewer on a positive note reinforcing the fact that you are very interested in the open position.

This is one of a series of posts that will be covering the most common job interview questions.