Interviewing

Your technical skills as a PhD might get you in the door for an interview or a phone screen, but it’s not enough to get you hired. To be the one candidate who gets hired, you must have a solid understanding of business. Business intelligence was on the top 20 list of in-demand skills (LinkedIn). When companies have a pool of talented job candidates, having a solid understanding of business can make you the top candidate. 41% of Chief Human Resources Officers cited business acumen as the most lacking skill when sourcing new talent (Consultancy UK). And, 65% of business…

51% of employees are looking for a new opportunity (Gallup). That means you are competing against lots of other people to get hired, so you must know how to stand out. You must understand what hiring managers are looking for in top candidates. How do you stand out from the other candidates? How do you show your value as a PhD? By thoroughly preparing for your interview. By investigating what the company is looking for in a new hire. By learning how to communicate your skills. 72% of CEOs are worried about job candidates not having key skills (Glassdoor). You…

You’ve made it to the in-person interview stage. Now is when you can really shine and show the employers why you are the best candidate, because many of the top skills employers want are difficult to convey on paper. The most sought-after transferable skills are leadership, communication, collaboration, and time management (LinkedIn). The way you perform at your in-person interview can demonstrate whether or not you possess these in-demand skills. The skill you will be able to demonstrate best during an interview is communication. Simple communication mistakes can lead to rejection, where 50% of hiring managers would not hire someone…

The biggest thing to remember is that if you have been invited for an onsite interview, then the company is seriously considering hiring you. So, you need to be seriously prepared for the interview. Only 2% of candidates are called in for an interview (Workopolis). By getting to the interview stage, you have already proven that you are a great candidate and the company has invested in you. So, in your site interview, you need to go above that — you need to impress them further so that investing in you seems like the right choice. Because, hiring is expensive.…

Now is a great time to be on the hunt for a job. According to a recent report by CNBC, for the first time in nearly 20 years, there are more job openings than people who are unemployed. There are 6.7 million job opening and 6.4 million people looking for work. Now, only a very small percentage of those 6.7 million will be competing directly against you, but that still leaves lots of competition. Most companies receive hundreds of applications for a single position, while larger companies can receive thousands. For example, Fast Company reported that in one year, Tesla…

Humans can produce more than 250,000 postures and more than 1,000 facial expressions (Axtell 1991). So, you want to make sure you are choosing postures in your interview which convey that you are the best candidate for the position because, when it comes to your body language, interviewers can be harsh. If you are slouching, fidgeting, playing with your hair, looking around or conducting any other inappropriate behavior, you can kiss the job opportunity goodbye. Poor body language is often a reason that candidates are rejected, where 67% of interviewers reported rejecting a candidate because they lacked eye contact and…

If you’ve been invited to a phone or video interview, you’ve already beat out most candidates because 98% of candidates are eliminated by the initial resume screen (Workopolis). If someone takes the time to get on a phone call with you, they are demonstrating that you are worth their time. So, you must take your preliminary or screening interview seriously, whether it’s with a hiring manager, a recruiter, or someone else at the company. You must prove that you are a candidate they want to learn more about. As soon as your screening interview begins, you must be ready to…

75% of companies are using video interviews in their hiring process (The Society For Human Resource Management). And, 56% of talent professionals and hiring managers say that new interview tools are the top trend impacting how they hire (LinkedIn). This includes video interviews — both 2-way and 1-way video interviews. Using video interviews and AI can reduce hiring time from weeks to days, and can reduce the number of pre-hire questions from hundreds to just a handful (Deloitte). Many companies are using the combination of video and AI, by using services such as HireVue, to screen candidates. Video interviews are…

Having a child to care for does not mean that you need to put your job search aside. It is also not something that you need to hide. There are companies out there who are family-friendly and will support you as a working parent. But sadly, there are also companies that are not family-friendly. 83% of respondents who had children felt some level of pressure to return to work during their leave (Indeed). But, that leaves 17% of respondents working somewhere that fully and completely supported their parental leave. That’s where you want to aim to work. That is where…

While a phone interview may not seem as important as an in-person interview, very few people actually make it to this stage. 98% of candidates are eliminated by the initial resume screen (Workopolis). If you have earned a phone interview, it means you are in the top pool of candidates. Now, it’s up to you to prove that you deserve to move on to the next step. 49% of interviewers know within 5 minutes if a candidate is a good fit, and only 8% needed longer than 30 minutes to make this judgement (Careerbuilder). So, as soon as your phone…

As a PhD, you are a leader. You are comfortable leading the way into the unknown — you did this every time you designed and executed a new experiment. The #1 in-demand soft skill, as reported by thousands of industry employers, is leadership (LinkedIn). As a PhD, you are qualified for a management-level position where you will lead. Industry needs leaders like you to take on management roles and move up the corporate ladder into C-suite positions. In North America, only 2% of CEOs have a PhD (Study.Eu). This is ridiculous. PhDs are experts, leaders, and innovators — they are…

The truth is in the numbers. PhDs need data. You need to know the facts. How else will you make a decision? This is true in the lab and in your job search. Understanding the essential job search statistics is the only way to really know how to execute a successful industry transition. You need to know statistics, such as: 80% of jobs are never advertised, it takes an average of 52 days to fill an open industry position, it can take up to 2 weeks to hear back after an interview, 56% of job offers are rejected, and not…