Another AI tool that’s great for interview prep is LinkedIn’s interview prep tool. The page has a series of common interview questions that you can provide an answer for and receive immediate AI-powered feedback, or you can privately request feedback from your connections. As you work with AI to prepare for an interview it is essential that you utilize your own experiences and let your genuine personality show through when formulating responses. Interviewing is still about building a connection between you and the interviewer(s)! While AI can be very useful for some prep tasks, don’t forget about the personal element! 

This event is Part 3 of a three-part Job Search Bootcamp webinar series!

Job Search Bootcamp #3: Interviewing with Confidence 

Click here to register for the webinar!

Interviews can be stressful for even the most seasoned professionals, and they are a critical point in your job search. In this 45 minute webinar and additional time for Q&A, you will learn about:

– Interview preparation strategies to feel confident answering any question
– Interview strategies for career transitioners
– How to appear relaxed and confident in an interview

Attached is a pdf rundown of ways one could prepare for obtaining security clearance for the US government. These are good tips to keep in mind if you plan on applying for security clearance in your future and want to maintain your eligibility.

Attached are eleven questions to ask both yourself and your interviewer in order to assess the organization’s team culture and your potential place within it.

There are over 673 million users on LinkedIn, yet many job seekers wonder if the social media platform is worth their time. Is LinkedIn necessary to win a new job? Do you need a robust profile to land that new client? 

The Ivy Exec Advisory team suggests the answer is yes. 77 percent of clients, potential managers, colleagues, and others in the business world will look up your LinkedIn at one point or another. 

You might think that your LinkedIn profile already conveys a sense of who you are. True, your professional history – your degrees, where you’ve worked, and even your big “wins” – are unlikely to change often. However, maintaining a static profile for months or years means you aren’t making the most of your profile.

It’s time for an update. Consider these three tips for LinkedIn optimization from The Ivy Exec Advisory team’s recent webinar, “Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Advance.”

Create a Concise, Descriptive Headline

Every LinkedIn profile starts out with a headline. Many people think their headline should simply list their current title, but advisor Andjela Milenkovic says a headline like this one would be incomplete. 

Instead, a headline should briefly detail your accomplishments, your professional history, and your goals. 

Football star Tim Tebow’s headline is a good example of what you want to do: 

4x NYT Best-Selling Author, 2x National Champion, Heisman Trophy Winner, Co-Founder at Campus Legends, Chairman of the TTF, and ESPN Analyst

“Even if I didn’t know who he was, I’d be interested to find out more about him, contact him, follow him, and see what he has to say,” said Andjela. 

She then shares the winning formula for crafting a headline: keywords and a mini pitch. First, consider the positions you are targeting based on the keywords relevant in your field. Then include an achievement or achievements that define you for your mini pitch.

“Take this example: ‘Project manager | product development | Increasing Cross-Functional Team Productivity by 45%’. We have it all.We have keywords, we have that mini pitch, we can see right away that this isn’t just any project manager, right, but a successful one who can increase productivity by four to five percent,” Andjela mentions. 

Write an Interesting and Interactive “About” Section

Your “About” section should be a personal story about yourself that also incorporates some of the keywords you researched for your headline. Advisor Anastazija Gavrilovic shares her tips for creating a memorable About section. 

The first element is an opening sentence that hooks the audience. For instance, you could start with a question or a personal statement like “I love selling brands, I hate selling myself.”

“One of my personal favorites is having a short provocative sentence to start with. That can be very intriguing. The example that we have here, ‘I caught fire coding.’ It’s very dramatic; we’re not sure what it means,” said Anastazija.

Next, the About section should answer the following questions: 

• Who are you as a professional?

Here’s an example answer to that question: “As a visionary and entrepreneurial sales and operations leader, I have built a reputation for delivering strong and sustained contributions to revenue, margin, and productivity of startup high growth, and turn around organizations within the financial services sector.”

• What are you proud of?

“You could say in the last five years, or in the last 10 years, I’m proud to have achieved ____. Then you can give us some bullet points with your results. Or you could give us your overall career highlights,” said Anastazija.

• Why are you good at it?

Be as specific and quantifiable in this section as possible. Share some of your biggest wins. 

The final sections of the About section should include a few sentences about who you are outside of the office and conclude with a call to action. 

“What would you like for someone to do after they’ve read your summary?” Anastazija asked.

Do More Than List Your Professional History

In your Professional History section, you want to list the roles you’ve held and the results you’ve generated in those roles. 

Advisor Andrijana Milosevic notes the types of information each professional history listing should include: 

• The scope of the role, including the number of people you managed and the size of the budget you controlled. 
• Five to seven bullet points that demonstrate your results.
• Your most important accomplishments first 
• Metrics in at least two to three of the first bullets describing the role. 

Here are some things you do NOT want in your professional experience section: 

• Long paragraphs or blocks of text.
• A focus on what the company has achieved, not what you have achieved. 
• A list of your responsibilities; this portrays you as a “doer,” not as a “achiever.” 
• A long list of your skills. 

Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

Your LinkedIn profile should convey who you are outside of the confines of the limited, dry resume. How can you encapsulate your professional background in a headline? How can you summarize who you are as a professional in your About section? 

Once you can answer these questions, you’ll be able to craft a memorable and unique LinkedIn profile that details how you stand out from the crowd. Watch the complete webinar for more optimization tips and ideas about what to do – and avoid – in every section of your profile.

You’re interviewing for a leadership role, and you know that the question “what’s your management style?” is coming.

Beyond this one very specific window of opportunity, though, you’re wondering how else to position yourself as the style of leader you are, be it democratic or consultative, in the interview.

You’ll have plenty of chances to, you’re sure. You just need to know where to look for them (or how to create them).

Of course, you can always just come out and say directly what kind of leader you are. Seeding evidence of it throughout the interview, though, will only make your case that much stronger.

To that end, we polled experts about better ways to demonstrate five popular management styles during an interview. 

Demonstrating a transformational management style in an interview

To effectively position yourself as a transformational leader, Deni Ivanov, Digital Marketing Director at Royal Cleaning, recommends using the STAR method to “provide structure and more credence to your explanation of your management style.” 

“First, define transformational leadership,” he said. “Then, apply the STAR method in your response by outlining the situations (S), or the context of your story; the tasks (T) you performed to demonstrate your leadership responsibility; the specific actions (A) you performed as a transformational leader; and the results (R) you achieved through your leadership.” 

To tie it all together, Ivanov used the following example: 

“I consider myself a transformational leader since I am the type of leader who prefers to motivate instead of merely commanding my team what to do. In my previous work as a Business Development Lead, I shared my vision of expanding our client reach through digital channels. I allowed my team to share and experiment with their ideas.

Through our combined efforts, we eventually launched a mobile booking app for the services we offer successfully. I also created and implemented a rewards program with the team to improve aspects of our project and exceeded our initial app booking projections by 150% in our first year.”

Demonstrating a democratic management style in an interview

The key to demonstrating democratic, also known as participative, management styles in interviews is to take small opportunities to highlight the value and contributions of those who’ve reported to you.

You can also speak a little more generally about the value of a lateral leadership style, according to Isla Sibanda, a cybersecurity entrepreneur. 

“To demonstrate your democratic side in an interview, you have to highlight the value of the ideas that your employees have,” Sibanda said. “Discuss extensively how you think that team members should have an equal and strong voice when it comes to forming critical decisions and how this encouragement can produce better outputs for projects.

Conduct research into the benefits of providing your team members with internal motivation and giving special importance to their opinions, and prove your support for this management style with data.”

Additionally, Eva Chung, SEO Specialist at Advantis Global, says that when she interviews people with a democratic management style, what she’s really looking for is “someone who shows flexibility in almost every situation.”

“Uncovering creative solutions by connecting people in innovative ways demonstrates adaptability, knowledge of the business, and collaborative working styles,” she said.

“Indicating that you cannot always be a democratic leader but will use authoritative attributes when necessary to push the team in the right direction would also demonstrate that you are a strong advocate for your team’s overall success.”

Demonstrating a consultative management style in an interview

Arthur Worsley, Founder of The Art of Living, defined consultative management as “a style of interacting with colleagues and clients where you work collaboratively and listen carefully to understand their needs, then give advice and guidance on the correct course of action.”

 To highlight it in an interview, they advise the following:

1. Emphasize teamwork.

“Don’t be afraid to talk about times when you worked with a team or advised someone else on a project and they were successful as a result,” Worsley said.

2. Ask good questions.

“Asking good questions shows that you are interested in understanding the context behind the problem,” he said.

“Make sure you ask intelligent follow-up questions based on the answers you receive. Your questions should also show how well you understand the company’s business model.”

You could also highlight your approach to team building, including the way you balance a relationship-building mindset with the need to give feedback, Kyle Risley, CEO of Lift Vault, advised. 

“Consultative managers should really talk about how they excel at conflict resolution and how they’ve helped employees grow and develop,” he said.

“Specifically, highlighting your great team-building exercises and the secret to connecting to hard-to reach employees should be priorities in your interview.”

Demonstrating a collaborative management style in an interview

Collaborative managers, Risley said, have some of the same benefits as consultative managers, except they “tend to work more closely with employees, offering their insights and expertise as they work with team members.”

They’re very much “lead-from-the-front style managers,” he added.

To demonstrate a collaborative management style in an interview, it’s all about highlighting your willingness to roll up your sleeves and work alongside your team.

“Show how you brought a team together with your participation in an event,” he said.

“For example, call center managers can talk about how they took the phones during high-volume situations and worked with team members to de-escalate clients. They can also talk about how they use their own labor as a motivation tactic and really bring attention to their own view of management.”

As Hector Gutierrez, CEO of JOI, put it, it’s about emphasizing the work you’ve done more so than the work you’ve overseen.

“If you are a collaborative leader, give examples of team projects you’ve managed in the past,” Gutierrez said.

“Since the collaborative style is a hands-on approach, capitalize on your experience doing the work rather than simply overseeing it. Take your knowledge of the company culture you’re applying to join and explain how you plan to collaborate with the team to execute the company’s vision.”

Demonstrating a laissez-faire management style in an interview

If your leadership style is “to hire brilliant people and stay out of their way — own it!” Mary Fox, CEO of Marlow, said. 

“In an interview, you can demonstrate this by providing your process for hiring excellent team members, communicating the vision and goals, ensuring they have what they need to succeed, and then letting them take front and center,” she said.

“When your team members are highly capable and motivated, letting them do what they do best will free you up for other responsibilities.

Be prepared to communicate how you set direction, how you keep communication channels open, and how you spot problems before they spiral and take swift actions to mitigate these problems.”

Particularly for companies with fully remote or hybrid teams, this style of management may be all the better to emphasize, Josh Wright, CEO of CellPhoneDeal, said. 

“This management style is excellent in my opinion, especially when it comes to remote work,” he said.

“It creates employees who are not overly dependent on a manager to get jobs done or solve problems, meaning that the workplace can continue to be efficient even when the manager isn’t always around to provide help or advice.

So, demonstrate the importance of letting employees try to figure something out for themselves before going ahead and trying to guide them or tell them what to do.”

You may also enjoy reading: How to Describe Your Leadership Style to Make Interviewers Say Yes

Maybe you’re looking for a less-demanding role so you can spend more time with family.

Perhaps you want to start your own business and want a less all-consuming role while you plan.

Or what if you want to switch fields and know you can’t land a senior-level role in your first foray into a new sector? 

Despite these many valid reasons, candidates who are deemed overqualified for a position can sometimes raise red flags with employers. 

What does “over-qualified” mean? Employers give candidates this designation if they possess all of the required and desired skills for a role – plus more. While this could, and often should, be a boon to employers, they could fear overqualified candidates may: 

• Ask for higher salaries than other candidates. 
• Get bored quickly since the job won’t challenge them. 
• Be ready to retire (if nearing retirement age), so hiring managers use the “overqualified” moniker to hide ageism. 
• Outperform both the hiring manager and other employees in the role. 

If you’re invited to interview for a role that you worry you’re overqualified for, it’s a good idea to prove to the interviewer that you would commit to this role if offered. 

Here are four authentic ways to convince the interviewer you’re not overqualified. 

1️⃣ Don’t wait for the question to be asked; you can address the interviewer’s fears about your overqualification yourself.

You may think that if interviewers don’t ask you about your overqualification, they don’t think you’re overqualified. This isn’t necessarily the case, however. 

So, make sure you work in your response to this issue, even if you’re not asked directly about your overqualification. Also, mention what you would bring to the role, focusing on what excites you about the position. 

“It’s up to you to put an employer’s mind at ease… turn the employer’s doubts into positives by sharing how you can add value to the team. From being a great mentor to knowing how to handle conflicts and be professional in challenging situations, an experienced worker can provide an employer with plenty of benefits,” said Ronda Suder for AARP.

2️⃣ Talk about how applying for this role was an intentional next step, not an indication of “settling.”

Some interviewers assume that overqualified candidates don’t want the job they’re applying for.

They may make conjectures that you’re not able to find a position that lets you use your many skills. 

So, be transparent about why you’re applying for the role. Be honest. If the interviewer understands why you’re stepping back in your career, they’ll be less likely to associate you with negative presumptions about overqualified candidates. 

“If you don’t explain that you are truly looking for more of a work-life balance to the hiring manager, you could be passed over…The first step to overcoming the problem of being overqualified is to be truthful about your situation and let them know that the job you are currently interviewing for is the job you want and are passionate about,” said career coach Tammy Homegardner.

3️⃣ Talk about your vision for your tenure at the company.

Perhaps your situation is that you want to work at the company where you’re interviewing, but there are no roles at your level open.

In this case, answer questions about your overqualification by discussing your long-term commitment to the organization. 

There are two ways to handle this. The first is to discuss ways that you would like to expand and broaden the role you’re interviewing for, letting you use your skills and abilities they may never have considered. 

Additionally, mention how you envision your career trajectory at the organization. One of the red flags associated with overqualified candidates is that you’re still looking for roles at other companies. Detailing your commitment to the organization helps alleviate this concern for interviewers. 

“[One strategy is to talk about it as a tour of duty: you’ll offer specific expertise for a certain period of time to help the company achieve its goal with the understanding that eventually you’ll move on to a bigger and better role,” said Rebecca Knight for Harvard Business Review.

4️⃣ Mention your willingness to fit into the pay parameters set for the role or add additional benefits.

The last major concern interviewers have with overqualified candidates is that you’ll expect too much money.

You have two options here. 

The first is to mention that you’re familiar with the work-life balance benefits the organization offers, meaning that you’re willing to work within the pay expectations of the role. This implies that you were overworked in your last job and didn’t want to repeat this pattern. 

You can also highlight that you’ll solve the company’s problems in ways that candidates who are less experienced than you couldn’t. 

“The other point to be made is that a hiring manager might feel that you are going to be an expensive hire due to your experience. While you need to be prepared to take a potential pay cut from the higher-level job, if you can hit on how you can solve the company’s pain points, you will be worth much more to them. This will give you leverage to negotiate when given a job offer,” said Homegardner.

Using the Interview to Prove You’re Not Overqualified for a Job

Employers make a lot of assumptions about candidates who they make think are overqualified for a job opening.

They may think that you’re settling for the role or will be dissatisfied with the pay parameters for the position. 

Outline your interest in the position and describe what you’re excited about in the role. Rather than hoping that your interviewer will ask you a question about being overqualified for a job, address the elephant in the room by explaining your “overqualification” as soon as you have the opportunity. 

Many professionals are overwhelmed with their current positions but may worry that they would be overqualified for roles that are perceived as “stepbacks.” If this sounds like you, read our guide “How to Take a Step Back in Your Career” for insights. 

You had to tell your former boss why you were leaving.

Perhaps you had to prepare your replacement for taking over your job. 

Even more stressful, however, can be worrying about explaining why you quit hiring managers in your subsequent interviews. 

Whether or not you’re asked why you quit a job directly, it’s crucial to bring up why you left your role either way. If you don’t mention your reasons for leaving, your interviewer might believe you have something to hide. 

Why do hiring managers want to know the answer to this question? 

“An interviewer likely asks this question to assess their level of risk in taking you on as an employee. They want to know if you left your previous job for a good reason, if you left on good terms, and what your level of commitment is to your work,” said Jennifer Parris of FlexJobs. 

So, regardless of the circumstances that led you to your resignation, here’s how to put a positive spin on quitting a job.

Tell the interviewer the truth.

If you’re uncomfortable about your work history, you may be tempted to lie or avoid discussing it at all costs.

You should aim to work an explanation about your past resignation into your answers as early in the interview as possible. This way, you won’t have your worries about answering this question hanging over your head the whole time.

And, like in most scenarios, honesty is the best policy here. 

“Lying is like a forest fire; it spreads, with one lie leading to another and another. There is a chance that your potential employer will find out about the lie — and no one wants to hire a dishonest candidate,” notes Melissa Ricker for TopResume.

Explain to your interviewer that you were no longer being challenged in your last position.

One of the instances where you likely left on good terms is if you simply advanced too far for your previous position.

Perhaps you’d worked in the role for several years and had learned everything the position had to teach you. Maybe you wished you could have advanced at the company, but they had no roles open to which you could apply. 

Make sure you discuss what you learned in your previous role and how you’d like to advance in the one you’re interviewing for. Discussing how you grew in the job you quit makes you seem dedicated and motivated rather than cocky. 

Tell them that you have a personal issue you need to take care of.

Another situation that employers understand is if you quit a previous job to take care of a friend, family member, or yourself.

More and more employees take time off to care for a sick person or spend more time with their young children. 

You shouldn’t be ashamed of this decision, and if this is why you resigned, tell the interviewer. At the same time, mention the volunteer work and education you undertook during your sabbatical, making you seem active in the field while you were away rather than completely disengaged. 

Or perhaps it was you who needed time off to care for yourself in one way or another. Feel free to tell this to your interviewer, as well as mention that you feel ready to advance your career. 

Let them know that you were overworked in your last role – but don’t bash your previous workplace.

One of the trickier reasons to quit a job being overworked in a position is a common reason for employees to quit.

You can obliquely mention your reason for quitting without saying anything negative about the company. Instead, talk about how excited you are to find a position that supports a better work/life balance. 

In this scenario, how can you put a positive spin on quitting a job? 

For instance, say:

“I loved my previous position, but everyone at the company worked long hours, so I did too. After I got burnt out, I told my supervisor that I was resigning to focus on my self-care and interests outside of the office. This was also one of the reasons I was excited to interview for a position with you. I know that you have many policies that help employees maintain balance in their lives.” 

Articulate that you were looking for a workplace that better fits your values.

One of the reasons many employees quit during the Great Resignation was they felt they weren’t supporting their personal missions.

Instead, they recognized the mismatch between the company’s fundamental tenets and their own values. 

If this happened to you, explain the issue to your interviewer. This can be a particularly powerful response if you then discuss how the company you’re interviewing with does fit your values. 

For instance, you could say: 

“I learned so much in my last position. However, I am passionate about sustainable practices, which wasn’t my last organization’s priority. After I resigned from that role, I started looking for roles that would let me support my personal mission in my job. That goal led me to your organization and this position.”

Putting a Positive Spin on Quitting a Job

If you’re looking for a new job, you might worry that you won’t advance in an interview if you tell them you quit your last job.

But being honest and straightforward as quickly as possible lets you move on from your resignation to discussing other skills and qualifications. If you don’t directly address this issue, on the other hand, it might hang over your head and make you less successful in the interview. 

What if you didn’t quit, but your previous position was eliminated? Here’s what to say if asked about an eliminated position in an interview.

We often hear about how job hunting is a full-time job.

Some people do spend 40 hours a week on the process, but even if you don’t have that much time, every job search requires considerable time.

According to Zippia, it takes 21 to 80 job applications to land an offer. About half of candidates receive at least one offer after three interviews.

The number of applications necessary is likely to increase at the executive level, too, as each position at this level receives around 250 applications.

So, if you want to land that elusive job offer sooner rather than later, Indeed.com suggests applying for 15 positions each week – or two to three openings per day.

“Sending out multiple applications each week that you customize to a specific position can increase your chances of getting a job. Suppose you’re currently searching for a job. In that case, it’s important to balance submitting multiple applications with other tasks that can help you find the best employment opportunity for you,” the editorial team suggests.

The key here is ensuring you’re searching for positions you would take if offered and individualizing your application to each opening. If you’re launching application after application, you’re probably wasting your time.

Of course, it can be demoralizing searching for jobs, tailoring each, and preparing for interview after interview. You may be kindly rejected, or you might not hear anything after you complete the application.

Why do some companies ghost applicants?

“The bar for candidate selection is higher than ever. There are many more qualified candidates for far fewer positions. On top of that, people are working harder and may not have the bandwidth to respond in a meaningful way, no matter how qualified you are,” explained Columbia Business School for Ivy Exec.

If it’s taking you a while to land a job offer, you might be doing everything right but haven’t found the right fit. But some people may inadvertently hurt their chances by committing one or more of these applications or interview snafus. Do you recognize any of them?

You’re focusing too heavily on job boards, not on networking.

If you’re only applying for jobs via platforms like Monster.com or Indeed, you’re missing a key part of your job search: networking. You are much more likely to land a job if you’ve connected with someone who works there or through someone in your network that they respect.

So, the first step is determining your ideal place to work. Identify the companies, the positions at those companies, and the individuals you know who work there. Then, you can start developing the connections that help you stand out from the pack.

Target companies and positions rather than hunting through job boards.

You should only spend about a quarter of your job search online – the rest of the time should be spent networking and targeting.

“Setting up keyword alerts (like the ones you can set on Fairygodboss) and receiving daily emails can be an effective way to use job boards without going into the rabbit hole of pages and search results. A daily email will ensure you see targeted jobs as soon as they are available,” said Alyson Garrido.

You’re sending out a generic cover letter and resume.

Of course, your job search isn’t just a numbers game. You can’t just apply to any position, hoping it will increase your chances of landing an offer. If you’re sending out the same cover letter (with only the company names changed) and resume to each job posting, you’re not doing yourself any favors.

Even if you’re applying to similar jobs at various companies, make sure you’re individualizing each and every cover letter and resume you send. This means you should change your resume’s language to match how the application is worded. Most companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that screen resumes based on how closely the candidate fits the profile.

Tailor your cover letter to demonstrate your enthusiasm for this particular company. In other words, do your homework about the company’s successes and what interests you about working there over any other organization.

Struggling to convey excitement in your cover letter? Then consider how satisfied you’d be if you were offered the position.

Your online presence is lacking.

Many companies will check out your social media profiles – especially your LinkedIn – to see if you exude the same personal brand you did in the interview. So, your online presence must be consistent across multiple platforms, not to mention complete.

“How do your social media profiles look? Are they a mishmash of (public) family photos and some political point-of-view posts? One of the most important aspects of your job search is to ensure that your online presence is up to date and professional,” said Jennifer Parris.

You didn’t understand the company before the interview.

When you are invited for an interview, you should thoroughly understand the company and its values. What is their mission? How would your role fit into the larger company culture?

Failing to do your research about the company will mean that you’re not tailoring your responses to what matters most to them. If the organization prioritizes equity and inclusion, for instance, and you don’t address this in your interview responses, you’ll be less likely to impress the hiring manager.

What’s more, you’ll be less likely to ask smart questions after the interview – doubly hurting your chances.

“So not asking enough questions is a huge red flag to employers and will make them worry that you don’t care what type of job you end up with, you’re desperate and just want any job, or you’re trying to do the bare minimum to get hired,” said Biron Clark.

Streamlining Your Job Search Efforts

If you’ve been applying to jobs for several months but are not receiving the offers you expected, you may want to consider if you’re making one or more of these five cardinal job application mistakes. Remember – more applications are not always better, especially so you can apply only for positions that interest you and individualize each application.

Are your application materials free of these errors but still unsuccessful?

Consider consulting with one of Ivy Exec’s Career Coaches on a new job search strategy.

Sometimes, a second or third pair of eyes can make all the difference in your success.