There’s no wrong answer to many of these seemingly odd questions, but, she explains, “they clearly demonstrate quick thinking, poise, creativity, and even a sense of humor.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I think there are far better ways to understand a person’s ability to be creative or ability to think on their feet than to ask bizarre, nonsensical questions.  I would much rather know your creativity or ability to think quickly by having you give me an example of a time when you actually used that skill on the job.  Unfortunately, there are others out there who don’t agree and will ask some unusual question to “understand” these abilities.  Just so you are prepared, here are the questions from the article:

• If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?
• If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see play the lead role as you?
• If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
• If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?
• If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs—such as food and water—were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?
• If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with the time?
• In the news story of your life, what would the headline say?

CareerBuilder SYSTEM UPDATE:

CareerBuilder offers the ability to sign in using Microsoft Windows Live ID Certification service, which provides authentication for online sign in.

Please click on the Setup Wizard and install this addon.

It then provided the link for me to install the add-on.  I found it interesting, but I wasn’t interested in adding that feature so I just deleted the email.  This weekend as I was popping around CareerBuilder I remembered that they had a link for Fraud on their toolbar at the bottom of their page so decided to check out to see if  my email was legit or not.  At the top of the page was a malware alert about system update emails.  Clicking on the link I found about 20 different subject lines that this malware is using, mine being 1 of the 20 known so far.

So why am I posting on it?  From reading the alert it looks as though job seekers are being hit harder than employers.  SO I wanted to make sure to let you know about the malicious software scam that is making it’s way around email.  My recommendation is that if you receive any email form any job board, check out their site first to make sure it is legit.

1. Failing to have a life plan - All very successful people have a clear life plan, whether memorized or actually written down. They create it, massage it, and refer to it often.
2. Not keeping your skill set current - The business landscape is ever-changing and there is more demand for jobs than supply. Not staying on par with colleagues and those vying for your job will be a death knell.
3. Failing to deliver results - Winners in business know that it’s all about accountability. Those who harbor a sense of entitlement for simply having put forth effort, irrespective of the results of those efforts, are guaranteed to fall by the wayside.
4. Confusing efficiency with effectiveness - Those who think that communicating via e-mail replaces the need to actually talk with people around them fail to recognize the importance of personally connecting with others in today’s highly automated and technological environment. Communicating in person whenever possible is imperative for success-seekers.
5. Believing that you are irreplaceable - There is no room for “divas” in the workplace. As soon as you convince yourself that you and only you can do the job “right”, your star will surely start to fall.
6. Knowing all the answers - The old adage remains true: knowledge is power. Professing to know it all can readily stagnate a career. Winners remain unceasingly interested in learning new ideas and approaches.
7. Surrounding your self with “brown-nosers” - Losers like having people tell them how smart they are, whether or not it’s true, while successful managers and other professionals accept and encourage intelligence and creativity in others.
8. Forgetting to give credit to others - Losers inappropriately take full credit for positive events despite the help or input received by others, while Winners give credit where credit is due. Losers inevitably reap what they sow.
9. Failing to self promote - Bragging is one thing, but letting colleagues throughout your industry know of your success through case studies, promotion bulletins, or other such tools is quite another. Losers often fail to recognize the importance of letting others know about their successes, or go about it in entirely the wrong way.
10. Losing perspective - Intuitive business people recognize that, despite their best attempts to do everything right, sometimes they approach roadblocks and need the advice and perspective of a respected friend, colleague or even a business coach. Those who fail to recognize their shortcomings are destined for the unemployment line.

Here is a list of questions they categorize as dumb, out-of-touch or off-beat.  If you have been out there interviewing much, I’m sure that you have some questions you can add to this list.

• Can you use a computer?
• What does Ph.D. mean?
• How would you deal with someone from Nigeria?
• What is the current price of gold?
• Tell me about sales opportunities on the west coast (in a non-sales position).
• I’ve see you have been at a number of places that have closed - why is that?
• Tell me how you would act on a basketball court.
• Do you have a degree?
• What percent of your time do you spend looking for jobs?

• Join Jigsaw; Leverage LinkedIn through Jigsaw by email strings for every company; then using emails in place of LinkedIn InMail
• Utilize LinkedIn applications out on Facebook
• Explore Xobni for Outlook email users
• Download Outlook toolbar; Send invitations to people you are not 1st connections with
• Download web browser toolbar for IE or Firefox
• Get noticed on search engines: change your public profile name to include your actual name
• Place your email address in top of Summary in profile; Let other people know you are open to connect
• State clear ways you want to connect out on LinkedIn in your profile summary
• Be very descriptive and add as much detail as possible in each section: Experience down through Additional Information; Key words will get you more profile views, and in turn will get you found and produce more invitations that you should accept
• Join the maximum number (50) of Groups in LinkedIn; Introduce yourself to each group as an open networker; Get involved in discussions & activities
• Specifically check out LinkedIn LIONS, MyVirtualPowerForum and TopLinked
• Join the OpenLink Network on LinkedIn
• Create your own group on LinkedIn, Yahoo Groups or Ning
• Read profiles carefully: Look for clues to contact such as email addresses or phone numbers listed in name, summary or contact settings
• Dig into LinkedIn Answers; Ask and answer questions; Search past discussions for leads

1. Kaiser Permanente
2. Tenet Healthcare Corp.
3. AT&T
4. Cisco Systems
5. T-Mobile
6. Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings
7. Johnson & Johnson
8. Unitedhealth Group
9. Macy’s
10. Coca-Cola Enterprises

They also give the top job categories and top locations. The top job categories are: Healthcare, Retail, Sales, Technology and Accounting & Finance (emphasis is mine).  The top locations are: New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Houston and Atlanta.  With Hurricane Ike just going through Houston, that will change the market at least some level.

The first tip is to look for triggering events. This is always a good catalyst for starting the process while being a great way to build some credibility as a partner.  We all know there a several types of event’s, but the article has a great list of them as a refresher or reminder:

1. A conflict. Due to a conflict with another client, your competitor may find itself unable to execute a piece of work. This can most commonly occur with investment banks and law firms, but similar situations can arise with other types of advisors.
2. Executive changes. The individual who has a strong relationship with your competitor may leave or be reassigned elsewhere.
3. Reorganizations. This may cause the client to rethink how it distributes its business among outside firms.
4. Economic events or shocks. Sometimes, a profit crunch or loss of market share will trigger a company to rethink its use of advisors (e.g., clients will often change advertising agencies for these reasons).
5. Turnover or retirements at the competition. If a lead partner or key relationship manager retires, for example, this may be an opportunity to press your case and invest in trying to capture some share of wallet.
6. A service or quality failure on the part of your competition.

Points 3 and 5 are great ways to stay on top of job opportunities. They can be used as a trigger event with the hiring manager before a job posting ever gets posted.  Also look for press releases for staff additions - there may be an opportunity at the company that person left.

Another tip in the article is to stay in touch so you are there when your number comes up.  You like the company, but you finish as the #2 candidate.  It’s kind of like winning the silver medal in the Olympics; you did well, but you just didn’t get the gold.  Remember you never know when the company may have a similar need or the person who got the position just doesn’t work out.  Stay in touch from time to time and let them know you still have an interest in their company…you never know when your time will come.