Given the tight economic conditions over the last five years, and the buyer’s market that this has created in terms of the employment scene, a great many job hunters have expressed frustration with how they’ve been treated by potential employers — and some of the crazy hoops they’ve had to jump through in pursuing opportunities. […]
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Cheaply, Perfectly & Immediately
November 9, 2012 
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Those of us in the 40+ age bracket may still remember the days of the Sears Wish Book, when children across the country (including myself) would start anticipating the holiday season months in advance and poring over glossy colored photos in the Sears catalog, picking out gifts to add to our Christmas list. You had […]
Read moreSkype/Video Interviewing Tips
August 13, 2012 4 Comments
Not surprisingly, I’ve had more and more people ask me in recent years “Matt, I understand some of the pointers you share about succeeding in a normal interview — but do you have any special tips to offer in regard to acing a video interview or Skype interview?” To date, my answer has been pretty […]
Read moreStand & Deliver: Interview “Presentation” Requests
June 18, 2012 6 Comments
Of all the various sundry facets of the job search process, the item that has changed the least over the years, in my opinion, is interviewing. While new job-finding tools and technologies emerge constantly, and resumes have given up a lot of ground to social media sites as of late, there just really aren’t that […]
Read moreGive Me Your Facebook Password — Or Else!
March 22, 2012 7 Comments
As much as I hate bowing to peer pressure, in this case I suppose I’d be remiss, as a career blogger, if I didn’t at least touch on the latest “big story” about employment that’s sweeping the country — which is the recent article from the Associated Press that suggests a growing number of employers […]
Read moreThe 5 Core Competencies of Self-Promotion
March 11, 2012 3 Comments
When it comes to ensuring ongoing career success, the operative word is marketability. Marketability, not talent alone, is what is separating the big winners from the big losers in today’s world of work. And along these lines, I’ve been espousing an equation for years that will likely bore the dickens out of most people, but […]
Read moreAcing the Phone Interview: Matt & Matt Weigh In
September 30, 2011 0 Comments
For whatever reason, I have a lot of people asking me for tips on phone interviewing these days. Typically, when this happens, I route them to a blog post I wrote up a few years back that provides some specific advice on gearing up for phone interviews — an article you can find here if […]
Read moreClosing Interviews: Adding a Personal Touch
August 23, 2011 1 Comment
While it’s not the first time I’ve ever written about this issue (see my “How Would Goldilocks Close An Interview?” article from last year) I’ve had a lot of people recently ask me about how to “close” an interview effectively — so I thought I’d not only remind people of the previous article above, but […]
Read moreWhen Interviewing, Don’t Focus on Getting the Job
July 18, 2011 4 Comments
Years and years ago, when I was just out of college and finishing up an internship at the Puget Sound Business Journal, I was asked to take part in “hiring” my replacement for the role. Now this wasn’t a paid position, mind you, but an internship at the Journal was still a coveted thing — […]
Read moreLeadership, Wherefore Art Thou?
June 18, 2011 1 Comment
What is leadership? What does it entail, exactly? And how is it different from the skill set of management? If you’re interviewing for a leadership position of any kind in today’s market, you can’t afford to “phone it in” when it comes to these types of questions. You need to arrive at each hiring conversation […]
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