April 07 Newsletter

What’s New?

This month, Tanya Wakeling joined the Beaumont Consulting team. Here is a little bit about her:

Tanya has recently joined Beaumont Consulting in the North Shore Branch after relocating from South Africa. Tanya started off her recruiting career a year and a half ago for an Owner Run Consultancy specialising in Permanent placements. After graduating from her Marketing Degree, she spent two years working in the UK before being introduced to recruitment. Tanya firmly believes that its all about relationship building and being the best you can be for both the candidate and the client!

Our new Chatswood Office will be opening next week in Help Street, Chatswood – watch this space!!

10 Clues to Decoding the Interview

By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor

Wonder whether you nailed that interview? While you won't truly know until you get "the call," there are many signs throughout the process that can help you determine whether or not you'll make the first cut. Following are questions and clues to help you decode the interview.

1. What is the interviewer doing?
"If I am interested in what a candidate is saying, I will nod my head, smile and likely jot down a few notes," says Inside Sales Manager Karen Nance. "I may also ask questions to probe further about what the applicant is talking about or share some thoughts on how this topic relates to the open position."
Watch for negative signals as well. If the interviewer seems distracted, is checking her watch, shuffling papers or looking at his Blackberry, you're probably not captivating your audience. "I'll often put down my pen if I'm not feeling good about what the candidate is saying," she adds.

2. Were you engaged in dialogue?
"An interview is going well when there is a dialogue," Kim-Phillips says. "If I don't have to refer to a list of questions, and the conversation flows smoothly, it means there's a natural exchange of information we are both interested in. This can begin from the very first question, which is usually, 'So, tell me about yourself.'"

3. Did you hear positive verbal clues?
Lynn Hazan, owner of Chicago-based recruitment firm Lynn Hazan and Associates, says some interviewers may urge you on with positive words like, "Yes, go on...," "This is good..." or even "I like what I am hearing, tell me more..." These are all clear indicators that it's going well.

4. Were you reciting a monologue?
"A turn-off for me is if I ask a question and it becomes a monologue with a five-minute answer," Kim-Phillips says.

5. Did the interviewer interrupt you?
If the interviewer interrupts you or starts to look bored, it's time to change gears. Hazan suggests that candidates stop at the first sign of disinterest from the interviewer and ask a question like, "Am I answering your question?" Or "Would you like to hear more about this or would you like another example?"

6. Did you ask questions?
As the conversation comes to a close, interviewers inevitably ask candidates if they have any questions. Kim-Phillips says that, "When I would ask, 'What questions do you have?' and there were none... that would close things out pretty quickly."

7. Were you asked about timing?
It's a good sign if you're asked about your availability. "I may start talking about time frame for making a decision, and ask 'How does this sound to you?' and 'How soon can you start?'" Kim-Phillips says.

8. Were you a good fit?
The more the interviewer talks about what is going on in their company and how you will fit in, the better. Kim-Phillips says she never quite comes right out and says, 'I don't think this is a good match,' but might say 'We're really looking for the right match for this position.'

9. Were you invited to meet others in the company?
Nance and Kim-Phillips both say that if it is going well they'll mention that there are some other people they would like you to meet. They may even introduce you on the spot.

10. How long was the interview?
Most opinions about candidates are formed within the first few minutes. The rest of the time is spent validating these opinions. If an interview is less than a half hour, it's generally not a good sign. If you reach the one hour mark and the conversation is flowing enthusiastically and evenly between you and the interviewer, you may have hit a home run! f I ask a question and it becomes a monologue with a five-minute answer," Kim-Phillips says.

Something for the ladies …

Managing Director of Beaumont Consulting, Nikki Beaumont not only is a busy lady managing a successful recruitment agency but in her spare time undertakes a variety of charity work from trekking in India providing much needed solar lighting and school supplies for small isolated communities to hand making fashion jewellery and selling it to raise funds for the Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

For Nikki this is something particularly close to her heart as her father who was recently taken ill is being looked after by the lovely staff who work in the unit so she is working hard to support them by raising money to help fund new equipment etc. So far she has raised $2000 in jewellery sales and is planning a sale in Sydney soon… we’ll email you with details.

Longer resumes now more acceptable

A new study indicates longer resumes are becoming more acceptable to hiring managers, particularly for more senior roles.

The RHI survey showed 52% of hiring managers believe a single page is the ideal length for a staff-level resume and 44% said they prefer two pages.

This is a marked change from when the same survey was done ten years ago, which showed 73% of hiring managers wanted resumes of one page and only 25% preferred two pages.

“Many employers are willing to spend a little more time reviewing application materials so they can more easily determine who is most qualified and act quickly to secure interviews with these candidates,” said RHI global CEO Max Messmer.

Our Beaumont Consulting “study” shows that we rarely get a resume of 1 page, often 2 but mostly 3 pages plus! It depends on how much information you have to put on there, 20 years experience, 8 jobs and a whole battery of great qualifications is not going to fit on to 2 pages! We suggest you use 2 – 4 pages depending on your background, 6 pages plus is probably too much and isn’t going to be read!

Restaurant Review

PJ Gallaghers - My New Irish Headquarters!

I decided to take a different slant this month and do a combined pub/restaurant review. As I was the only Irish ex-pat in a group of 10, it was my duty to organise the St Patrick's day celebrations this year.
PJ Gallagher's seemed to tick all the boxes. So, I gathered my posse of green revellers and we started our mission. We pushed through the heavy wooden door and I immediately knew that we had found the perfect spot. Busy but not insanely so, there was a steady babble of chatter, laughter and music. It was a really nice looking pub with wooden floorboards, a comfy lounge area and timber and stained glass fittings.

We headed up to the restaurant and God love the wait staff, they managed to find us a table to accommodate our group. The steak and mash pie (at a very reasonable $13.95) seemed to be the most popular request but I decided to go for the special - King Island steak served with Colcannon. Wow, I definitely made the right choice. The meat was beautifully tender and the Colcannon was creamy and fragrant (Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish, a concoction of mashed potato with cabbage or Kale, butter and pepper). I have to say, I was so impressed that despite the amount of hungry, wobbly people in the dining room, our food came quickly, was well presented and perfectly cooked and the wait staff were still smiling!

I shall be back again soon for more dancing, eating, drinking and a whole lot of "Craic"

PJ Gallagher's is located on 195 Victoria Rd (Cnr Lyons Rd) Drummoyne NSW 2047. Ph: (02) 9181 1229. Check out what live music is on and the up to date menu on www.pjgallaghers.com.au

Australia employees confident of job prospects

A recent global study sees Australian employees as among the most confident in the world of being able to quickly secure new employment if needed. It is thought that this is a reflection of the strong job market and that employers are having to move much quicker to secure talent. Good news for us!

Amusing facts

After chocolate and vanilla, orange is considered the world's most favourite flavour.
Alcoholic beverages have all 13 minerals necessary for human life.
Once a human reaches the age of 35, he/she will start losing approximately 7,000 brain cells a day. The cells will never be replaced.
Close to 3 billion movie tickets are sold in India every year.
The "naked recreation and travel" industry has grown by 233% in the past decade.
Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
Bamboo plants can grow up to 36 inches in a day.
A female ferret can die if she goes into heat and cannot find a mate.

And something to ponder...

A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said:
"If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other's cups."

"Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups.
They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it." So please, don't let the cups drive you...

Enjoy the coffee !!