August 2008
Mastering Open-ended Job Interview Questions
Count on being asked open-ended questions at job interviews to not only
evaluate your skills, but predict your future behavior, abilities, and (most important) whether you’re a “fit” with the work culture of your prospective employer. An openended question has no definite answer. An example might be, “Can you please describe a situation when you took a
risk professionally and its outcome?” Preparing for openended questions isn’t easy, but you can think beforehand about the most important subjects of these types of questions. They include willingness to take risks, persuasion skills, teamwork, ability to learn from mistakes, communication skills, awareness of strengths and weaknesses, conflict
resolution skills, demonstrating creativity, handling stress, goal achievement, confronting obstacles to goals, personal work ethic, and work-life balance.
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Studies show that a short 20-minute snooze can stimulate/turn on the right side of your brain. This is the creative, emotion-laden, and more abstract thinking part of your brain. This can be a great way to kick-start outside-the-box thinking, especially for those who are more left-brain dominant. Are you a “left brainer”? Left-dominant people tend to be more analytical,
structured, linear in their thinking, mathematical, and likely to view things sequentially to understand the whole.
Stalking is a crime of harassment. It’s not a “personal problem”
that you should keep quiet about. If you fear someone is stalking
you, find out what the law in your state says about stalking and then
talk with your EAP and/or human resources representative about
the situation. Some organizations include steps for addressing stalking within their workplace violence policies and procedures. Your safety may also require letting the police, coworkers, and workplace security staff know about the threat.
Couples Counseling: When Only One Will Go
In marriage, it takes two to tango, but when problems within the relationship require professional counseling, don’t be afraid to go solo if your spouse chooses to sit out. Attending marital counseling alone doesn’t mean admitting that you’re “the problem.” Even without your spouse, a professional counselor can provide tools and strategies that you can use within your relationship. It’s also a good way to discover your own inner
workings and learn to be happier. Just because your partner balks at counseling today doesn’t mean he or she won’t join you in the future. In the meantime, why not take some positive steps right now?
Negotiation Skills for Everyone
The ability to negotiate is an important life skill, but you may be surprised to learn that you don’t have to be aggressive or pushy to be good at it. Effective negotiation leaves both parties feeling satisfied with the result. Try your hand at negotiating with a simple technique called “reframing.” Reframing involves two people placing their focus on what they are trying to accomplish (the need) rather than their “positions” (the demand). For example, let’s say that a wife wants her husband to stay home for the evening, but her husband wants to spend time playing cards with his
friends. These positions tell you nothing about the true source of the conflict between the husband and wife. Reframing the issue may reveal that the wife needs companionship because she’s felt unusually lonely that week, while the husband may be looking for some downtime to blow off steam accumulated from a stressful work project (or vice versa.) By addressing the needs instead of the positions, a new range of solutions becomes possible. When you are faced with conflict, try zeroing in on the other person’s needs by asking effective questions. Listen carefully without interruption, and follow up by restating the answer back to the other person to make sure that you understood correctly. By reframing, you have shifted from being combatants to partners in finding a solution that satisfies both parties’ needs.
Lazy Ways to Improve Creativity
Creativity is the ability to imagine new ideas, possibilities, and solutions. Put simply, it’s the ability to think and act in new ways. If you don’t think that you are naturally creative, you may not be giving yourself permission to be inventive. Try these lazy ways of turning on your inner innovator:
1) Daydream: Your teacher may have scolded you for it, but letting your mind wander freely will allow it to leave the beaten path and explore
new territory.
2) Brainstorm: Take an idea and bounce it around with several coworkers. Don’t worry about getting off topic. Have fun and relax.
3) Play: Toss a ball around; grab some LEGO bricks and build a castle.
4) Sit quietly and try meditation. Reflect and contemplate the problem needing a creative solution in total silence.
Be an “Entrepreneur” for Your Employer
Take an entrepreneurial approach to your job by looking for ways to
spearhead the creation of new products, systems, processes, or technology. Keep your eyes open for opportunities, but start with small projects first. Always start by outlining your ideas in a written format. Your initial document should identify all the arguments for or against a proposal. There is no guarantee your employer will accept an innovation, but know this: The missing aspect of most proposals offered by employees involves a lack of details. Including them will advance
the possibility of their acceptance. Never let “ no” kill your entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurialism is a state of mind. View your potential value to
your employer in terms of how you can improve and add value to the organization’s mission. This is called “ enhancement,” and people and organizations are drawn to those who know how to offer it.
Squeezing Work Time: Parkinson’s Law
If you took too long to do an unpleasant work task you knew was not time-consuming, you were probably a victim of something called Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law states, “Work expands to fill the time available to do it.” The phenomenon combines procrastination and busywork (or distractions) to avoid an unpleasant task until a deadline
forces you to finally complete it. The more time you have, the more likely it is that you will substitute unimportant and sometimes unnecessary tasks for those that are undesirable. Here’s how to conquer this:
1) Tackle unpleasant work first.
2) Compress time by promising completion of tasks to others sooner.
3) Try using a kitchen timer and break tasks down into 45 minutes segments. Work intensely without distraction. Then break for 15 minutes. Repeat with 45 minute work segments and breaks until finished.
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