Get References

If your resume isn't great or doesn't paint a very positive picture of your career background, look for other things which can bolster impression you can create with potential employers. An ideal situation would be to get references from employers you left early. This is where helping these former employers can help you -- they'll be more inclined to write a good reference for you if you help them out. It also helps if you had made a positive contribution at former employer before you left. It would be great if you could get a reference in writing (i.e. a reference letter) which you could bring with you to interviews.

One way to ease process of getting reference letters is to offer to write letter for reference, and to ask them to simply sign their name to it. Of course, they will only agree to do something like that if you have a positive relationship with them. See this article on references for more information: http://www.jobsearchinfo.com/refs.htm

Even if you don't get a reference letter, there's a chance recruiter might know someone there or might call for a reference. If company has positive things to say about you, you'll be better off.

Get Inside Help

In addition to getting references from former employers, references from prospective employer can also be powerful. This can help to illustrate that you really want to work for company, and it can be helpful to have someone on inside vouch for you. You can network thru friends/associates to find someone who works there. Career expert Jerry Crispin goes as far as to recommend people go out to parking lot of a company where they want to work and offer someone who works there $20 to use their name when applying (i.e. I was referred by Joe Smith).

Hit Ground Running

Employers are generally concerned about someone leaving a job early if they have to invest time in training you up front. If you already have all skills needed to do job and understand company and industry BEFORE you start working there, that can help alleviate that concern.

You can visit JobSearchInfo Education and Training page for resources to help with raising your skill level: http://www.jobsearchinfo.com/degrees.htm

Optimizing your Resume Presentation

Professional resume writers deal with presenting peoples' career histories in best possible light every day. You may want to consider hiring one if your situation is especially tricky to present.

EITHER/OR QUESTIONS

A specific area to watch out for in interviews is "either/or" question. If a recruiter asks you to compare your strength in one area versus another, there is a good chance they are trying to put you into one of two categories. Our natural reaction to this kind of question is to sell strength we're most proud of. For example, if a recruiter for a sales position asks you to discuss your strengths in report preparation compared with your strengths in cold calling, you might feel more compelled to talk in detail about your report preparation skills because you're proud of how quickly you learned a certain computer software package. It takes willpower to resist that temptation and to instead emphasize skill interviewer feels is most important. Again, if you're not sure which is more important, ask recruiter to clarify role each skill will play in job.

SKILLS THAT THREATEN THE INTERVIEWER

Most people don't like being interviewed. You feel like you're being judged and evaluated. Most people would rather have a conversation on equal footing with another person. It can be especially difficult if person interviewing you is younger or seems less experienced than you are. You may feel like you want to show interviewer you're smarter or more qualified than they are just out of a sense of pride. However, it's better to check your ego at door and resist urge to prove to interviewer that you're smart enough to be their boss. It might make you feel good temporarily, but most interviewers are not confident enough to hire someone who could threaten their job. This is another reason why it's important to keep discussion focused on what skills you have that are pertinent to interviewer's needs and to steer clear of creating impression that you're smart enough or qualified enough to take over interviewer's job.