Tough Interview Questions

Here’s a question that just makes my eyes and head pound. Anyone have any suggestions on how to answer this question? Please provide at least two examples of experience researching methods, procedures, and practices in order to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of administrative processes related to human resources, travel, correspondence, or budget.

I would assume that question is looking less for the answer for the question, and more looking at how resourceful you are in finding new information. It would take a quick and well organized response, but they want to know how quickly you can react to new problems/questions and how you can relay that information to managers/etc.

One way to answer would be to quickly create an action list/check list. "First I would research ___, then I would find reliable resources, then I would do a price and implementation comparison, etc."

Here's the situation: Boss, "Hey Little Bird, can you find out what it takes to fly our 12 employees to a conference in ___ in two months without breaking covid restrictions?"

Bad employee: "Sure....how do I do that? Do you mean style in a hotel"

Good employee: "Give me three hours...looking at our state and ___ state, our restrictions are the same. Our employee manual states ___ we are covered. Group flights cost XXX, hotels are available XXX miles from the conference center. We cover all training and travel costs"

Cover Letter Length

How important is the length of cover letters? Will recruiters turn away from longer ones and give it no chance? Also, does adding color to a black & white resume improve it or make it stand out more?

I don't see cover letters as necessary, but nothing wrong if you want to make one.

For your cover letter, the shorter the better. I mean that to the extreme. 1-3 sentences would be great. I've seen plenty that short and I'm more likely to read that than the single-spaced full page manifesto I get.

In my experience, the longer the cover letter, the weirder they get.

I like seeing a little color in resumes. I often advise people to use Maroon on the headings of their resume.

What to Use as Professional Reference on Resume

“So I just graduated college and the job that I am applying to asks for three profession reference letters... I have two from an internship I did but was wondering does a manager/owner of the restaurant I currently work at count as a “professional” reference?”

Yes, I think that will work great. While you are earlier in your career, there is nothing wrong with using a neighbor, pastor, coach, etc. as a reference. The standing of that person and what they know about you is more important than the professionalism. A manager/owner will work great.

If you are applying for a CEO position, a Restaurant Owner isn't going to be your top pick. If you are earlier in your career, it's great. Working at a restaurant is hard work (I know, I worked at one through HS, college) and I see it as great experience. Down to the nitty-gritty with customers, physical work, stress, etc. Wear your restaurant experience with pride!

How to Negotiate Severance Package?

What’s the best way to negotiate a severance package? Should I just list the items I’m looking for? Usually in a salary negotiation you tell the company why you’re valued at a higher rate. What would be my best option in terms of getting what I want in this situation?

Severance is really tricky. I'm sorry that you're in a situation that you have to deal with this.

My first question would be, is the company offering severance packages, or are you hoping to get one? I personally love negotiating, but with severance, it's not something that the employer has to do in the first place. So in my view, it's not something that you can push too hard with.

If your employer has offered you a severance package and you aren't happy with it, you can try phrasing such as "To be in line with what my research indicates is industry standard, and to arrive at a place where I believe we can both go separate ways in a healthy, mutually beneficial way, I believe that ____ and ____ best aligns with our shared interests".

I hope that helps. My experience with HR Paperwork/Severance Packages is limited. My strongpoint and focus in the corporate world has been high-growth, fast paced hiring and quickly growing companies.

“I appreciate the template format you provided, that is extremely helpful! I was offered a severance and was hoping to email back with a long list of requests. Do you think sending a list of 15-20 items is a bit much?

If you don't mind my asking, what's your pay range or seniority level? Your time at the company and position will make a difference.

From my perspective, if I saw 15-20 items I might think that someone is trying to drag things out or get as much as possible. Can you combine items/categories and get them down to 5-10?

“I am one of the senior management folks at my location. Pay range is 55k - 65k. I was at the company for 4 years.

Between you and me, I am trying to get as much as possible haha. Just revisiting my list, I can get it down to at least 8-10 items.

f you want my personal opinion, it doesn't hurt to ask, and the worst they can say is "no". Organizing your list down will help - it might reposition you from "pain in the ass" to "this guy wants to play ball and is being reasonable."

Since you are senior management, that will certainly help. I think that positioning your interactions as "you desiring to help make this smooth and easy" helps, along with being as friendly as possible.

I don't blame you for wanting to come out of this as whole and taken care of. Is there anything else I can help with? I apologize that Severance is not my expertise.

Cold Calling to Apply for Positions

“If you have to cold call apply for positions, what can you do to hedge your bets? Are unprompted emails to anyone beneficial? And if yes, to who? (For Software Engineering or Machine Learning positions in the US)”

If you do some research on a company website, you can likely find the right contact email addresses. It doesn't hurt to follow up via email after 2-3 weeks.

I've had people reach out to me via Linkedin after applying and I actually liked that. I could instantly put a face to a name and have another level of reference.

I would recommend that you NOT call anyone on the phone. It's a bit confrontational and asking for an answer to something that's hard to reply to. It's basically putting someone on the spot asking, "why haven't you contacted me yet?". Don't expect anything but a boiler-plate response to that.

If you do email someone or Linkedin message, don't just inquire on your status. Write 1-2 sentences to help sell your candidacy.

Who? You could reach out to whatever HR or Recruiter you find. If you want to take a little more of a risk and get creative, try and find out who you think runs that department/is the manager. You might naturally have more rapport with this person as they share some skillsets/interests with you. Don't put any pressure on this person, just state your skills and how you can help.