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Why you need to prep for the personal questions in a job interview

12/14/2018

When it comes to job interview prep, you’ve probably been focused on rehearsing answers to questions about your work history -- strengths, weaknesses, why you want a new job, what you bring to the table. If you get a few personal questions thrown in, you'll just wing it. After all, you can’t get those wrong, right? Not necessarily. A lot of job candidates spend so much time planning for traditional interview questions that they stammer or ramble when personal questions are asked, and it throws off the flow of the interview. Don't let this happen to you!

The good news is that prepping for personal questions is pretty easy. You just need to take stock of some basic facts about yourself and get comfortable saying them confidently. Think about the aspects of your life that naturally lead into a conversation and showcase why you’d be good for the team. You may not be able to predict the specific personal questions that could come up, but here are a few to get you thinking:

Where are you from?
What do you like about LA, and how does it compare to your hometown?
How do you spend your time outside of work?
Why/how did you choose your college or major?
What are some of your favorite TV shows and movies?
What’s the last great book you read?
Where would you most like to travel/what’s the best place you’ve traveled to?
Tell me about your family.
What should I know about you that’s not on your resume?
What is a surprising thing you learned in school that has helped you in your career?

Remember, there are no wrong answers to these questions. But there are stronger, more appropriate answers to some of them. For example, if you hate LA and want to move back home someday, you probably shouldn’t say that -- most companies want to hire someone who plans to stick around. Plus, employers want someone who thinks positively. Consider something you truly find great about this city, even if it’s something that reminds you of home. Try to put a positive spin on any question you're asked.

Some of the questions are larger in scope -- there’s a lot about you that’s not on yourresume, for instance. How boring would you be if your whole self was able to be described on one page?! Think about something personal that reflects how you’d be as an employee, like your summer living abroad where you learned how to adapt to new circumstances and communicate with people from different backgrounds. Don’t mention something completely out of left field, like the fact that you make the world’s best chocolate chip cookies, or something that's TMI and could come off the wrong way. And if there's something interesting that you know you'd like to bring up in an interview before you ever walk into the room, you can add some personal interests to your resume -- this will often prompt an employer to ask about them.

The best thing about prepping for these questions is that you’ll get a confidence boost from the self reflection. By articulating why you’ve come to make the decisions you’ve made and how full your life is outside of work, you’ll own those things more fully, and that confidence will come across in an interview.

--Angela Silak & Cindy Kaplan

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Should you ever take a pay cut?

12/7/2018

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Often, when you’re applying for jobs, you can get desperate. If you’ve been looking for a while -- whether you’re unemployed or just plain bored -- you might start considering sacrificing some elements of your dream career just to find something now. You may even be considering a job that would require you to take a pay cut. But is that really a good idea? Before you say yes, you need to CAREFULLY consider the following:

Have you tried negotiating? You should always negotiate your salary when you’re looking for a new job -- understand that prospective employers expect that you will counter an initial offer. If the company suggests a rate that’s below what you’re currently making, be sure to let them know, and fight for them to at least match your current salary. Reiterate your current worth as well as market value for the job. If it’s a large company, they should have the budget to match your salary -- and if they can’t, run away from the offer. By not meeting your ask, the company is indicating it doesn’t value its employees, and you're likely to encounter this problem again if you take the job and try to grow within the organization. If it’s a smaller company that may not have the budget to match your previous salary, see if you can negotiate other benefits, like extra vacation, flex time, or stock options. You may be able to make up some of the lost paycheck value in other ways. If the gap is small and the company agrees to your terms, great. If they won’t budge, you should probably walk away. Not caving at all during a negotiation, especially when a candidate isn’t asking for more than they’re worth, is a huge red flag.
How will this affect you down the line? If you’re transitioning from another career to entertainment, you may have to start at the bottom, and that will likely mean a pay cut. You can’t expect the salary from your consulting job to carry over to an agency assistant position. If you truly want to start over, a pay cut may be inevitable. But do your best to negotiate a slightly higher wage than the standard pay -- your previous professional experience makes you more valuable than someone straight out of college. However, if you’re staying in the same career path -- one side of entertainment to another, or simply a company transition, your salary history should follow you. If you low-ball yourself now, you’ll have a hard time justifying a larger pay increase down the line. Remember that most raises are determined by a percentage increase. If your salary drops from $60k to $50k, a performance raise of 10% wouldn’t even get you back up to the scale you started at. Consider if the opportunity is really worth the long-term sacrifice.
Are there other positives of this new job? If the new job requires a pay cut, it absolutely needs to make up for it in other ways. Maybe it’s in another city where the cost-of-living is lower, and you’ll be able to afford to buy a home even in a lower income bracket. Maybe you’re tapped out of growth in your current line of work and a pay cut for a new job will set you up for a long-term career where you can thrive. Maybe your personal circumstances have changed, and you need something part-time or less intense so you can manage other aspects of your life, like health or parenthood. You’re the only one who can determine if a pay cut will create new opportunities. Just be sure that you’re thinking with your logical brain and not your desperate brain. It may help to sit down with a trusted partner or friend and weigh the pros and cons -- someone who isn’t desperate for a new job may be able to think more rationally and assess if your reasons/positives are real or excuses.

Unless you're making a career transition into a new field that requires you starting from the bottom, we're pretty firmly against taking a pay cut. It’s almost never worth it, and you don’t want to kick yourself five years from now when you’re a slower earner than you anticipated. But it’s up to you to do your due diligence. The decision to take a pay cut can have serious implications, so consider your options carefully.

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Why you need to prep for the personal questions in a job interview

--Angela Silak & Cindy Kaplan

Should you ever take a pay cut?

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