Do’s and Don’ts for Difficult Interview Questions

Do’s and Don’ts for Difficult Interview Questions

by | Feb 10, 2015 | Career

The interview is arguably the most important part of applying for a job. And the most difficult. Here are the do’s and don’ts for some of the tricky interview questions you may have to answer.

“Can you tell me a little about yourself?”

  • DON’T give your entire life story.
  • DON’T regurgitate what is on your resume.
  • DO give a brief history about prior training or experience.
  • DO share 2-3 specific accomplishments that relate to your professional career, and be concise.

“What was your experience like at your previous position?”

  • DON’T speak negatively about your previous employer/company.
  • DON’T just use a vague phrase as your answer, like ‘great learning experience’.
  • DO give specific examples of your experience that lead to successful outcomes or that relate to the position for which you are interviewing.
  • DO include how your previous position or company differ from that for which you are interviewing.

“What are your greatest professional strengths and weaknesses?”

  • DON’T answer based on what you think the interviewer wants to hear; for both strengths and weaknesses, be honest.
  • DON’T give generic answers like ‘I work too hard’ or ‘I’m a team player”.
  • DO provide a specific example of a situation in which your strength served you well.
  • DO explain what you are doing to overcome your weaknesses after you share what they are.

“Why are you interested in this position?”

  • DON’T only talk about what is in it for you, such as great perks, more money, etc.
  • DON’T solely focus on the past, and why you are leaving your current position.
  • DO discuss the company, and how you and your [insert trait here] will be a perfect fit.
  • DO talk about the company’s bottom line, the future, and how you can make it a bright one for yourself AND the company.

“What is your super power, spirit animal, etc.?”

  • DON’T just give your go-to answer. Employers will appreciate an answer tailored to the job, company, or industry as it shows a certain level of dedication.
  • DON’T hold back, as this question is supposed to break the ice and meant to showcase a bit of your personality.
  • DO think outside of the box, but still make sure it relates to the company’s ethos.
  • DO take pause, or use a filler such as ‘that is a great question…’, if you do not have an answer right away.

“Do you have any questions for us?”

  • DON’T SAY NO!
  • DON’T let yourself get caught without a question because it has already been discussed. Think of a few less-common questions just in case.
  • DO ask questions that show you have researched the position and company. Questions about ongoing projects are always a good go-to.
  • DO ask about relevant subjects. Asking if you can wear jeans to work is not relevant.

DOs for Any and All Questions

Be honest. Do your homework. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

Do you have more do’s and don’ts for these questions? Or need do’s and don’ts for other tough interview questions? Let us know @gosirvo

Organizing the Brain in the ‘Age of Information Overload’

by | Feb 9, 2015 | Career

Have you ever opened too many programs on your computer, causing it to first slow down, then eventually freeze and crash? Well that is essentially what is happening to our brains when we ‘multitask’, according to Daniel Levitin, cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, and best-selling author. However, there are easy tricks to use in order to maintain productive in what Levitin refers to as the ‘age of information overload’.

The Multitasking Myth

According to cognitive psychologist and bestselling author Daniel Levitin, “multitasking is a myth”. What is actually occurring is “sequential tasking”, during which the brain rapidly shifts from one thing to the next every 3-5 seconds, only the transitions are so seamless that we are duped into believing we are truly thinking of multiple things at once. Levitin explains that engaging in sequential tasking, or attention-demanding tasks, depletes the brain of its fuel. In fact, every decision we make, big or small, requires the same amount of energy, meaning the fairly simple decision to have cereal for breakfast burns as much brain fuel as your carefully thought out investment choices.With the forever increasing amount of information available, and the fast paced lifestyle of this day and age, it’s no wonder so many of us struggle to remember where we put the car keys, or if we locked the front door. There is just too much to do, and constantly attempting to do everything at once drains our brains of the resources required to function at its optimal level.

All About Organization

In his newest book, “The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in an Age of Information Overload”, Daniel Levitin provides strategies to implement in everyday life that can help us use our brains more efficiently. Here are a few, as described by Levitin himself.

  • Write stuff down. “The number of things that you can keep track of at once is limited to about four. So, what experts recommend and what the neuroscience says, very strongly, is that if you can get stuff out of your brain and out there into the world — something called externalizing your memory — it frees up your brain to be uncluttered and to think about the things your really want to think about. You get all that stuff out of your brain and then you can concentrate on work and leisure activities more fully.”
  • Try to be more conscientious. “This comes from personality and individual differences psychology. Of the thousands of ways that humans differ from one another, turns out there’s this one cluster of traits called conscientiousness that predict a whole host of positive life outcomes, such as longevity over our health, life satisfaction…it predicts that you won’t end up in prison. And conscientiousness includes things like doing what you say you’ll do, being dependable, being organized.”
  • Dedicate certain spots to certain objects. “What a lot of people say is that they lose their car keys, house keys, they lose their reading glasses or their passport…We have exquisite place memory in a beautiful structure in the brain called the hippocampus. We share this with all mammals. It’s the part of the brain that tells a squirrel where it buried its nuts. So, we can exploit this. The problem is, if you put your keys down just anywhere in your apartment or your home, they can be just anywhere and your brain can’t keep track of it…So the trick is, you put a little hook by the front door, you have a decorative ball on a console table. That becomes the designated spot for your keys or your reading glasses and because you always put them there they’re always where you expect to find them.”
  • Don’t spend more time on a decision than it’s worth. “You’ve got something in your hand and there’s probably a perfect place for it in your home and you could spend a long time thinking about the perfect cubby hole or closet or drawer, but what you’re saying is, ‘I’m going to put it here in the family bookshelf because it’s not worth investing anymore time in and all these things that are linked together by some common thread all go there and everybody knows that they’re there.’”
  • Take breaks at work. “Many of us feel as though we are overloaded and overwhelmed by all the things that are happening and we can’t stop work for even five minutes or we’ll fall behind. There’s a mode of our brain that is responsible for most of our creativity. It’s called the default mode network, or the daydreaming mode. And it’s the part of your brain that effectively hits the reset button in your brain when you’ve gotten overstressed or you’ve run into a brick wall in your work. So, one of the biggest things we can do in the workplace is to give ourselves an opportunity to enter that daydreaming mode every couple of hours or so. You do that by reading literature, by listening to music, looking out the window. According to many studies, people who take regular breaks and even naps — 10 or 15 minute naps — have been more productive at the end of the day and more creative in their work, more than making up for the amount of time they take off.”

For more from Daniel Levitin, check out his google talk on youtube. And remember, Sirvo is here to help you manage your service industry-related needs.

Join the Clean Plate Club Today, Save the World Tomorrow

Join the Clean Plate Club Today, Save the World Tomorrow

by | Jan 28, 2015 | IndiNews

An astonishing 1.3 billion tons of food, totaling nearly $1 trillion at retail prices, is wasted annually worldwide, either because it is spoiled in transit or thrown out by consumers. This global issue is not only hurting our bank accounts, but also costing us precious natural resources. So, what can be done?

Non-Trivial Trivia

How much of the U.S. energy budget is used to get food from farms to tables nationwide?

  • 10 percent, equaling almost $3 billion in 2014, was spent on producing, harvesting, transporting, and packaging our food.

How much U.S. land and fresh water is used for providing food to consumers?

How much has food waste increased over the last 40 years?

What is the cost of our wasted food as a country?

  • More than a third of all food produced goes uneaten, as approximately 20 percent is spoiled or ruined and 10 percent is thrown away, costing an estimated $165 billion per year.

The numbers are pretty staggering, aren’t they? And that’s just a few facts regarding short term effects, but what about long-term consequences?

Back to the Future

Much of our wasted food ends up rotting in landfills where it accounts for a considerable portion of methane emissions that contribute to global warming. Worldwide, the energy that goes into the production, harvesting, transporting, and packaging of wasted food generates more than 3.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas responsible for raising Earth’s temperature. In fact, if food waste was a country, it would be the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report ‘Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources’.

As a call to action, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva stated, “We simply cannot allow one-third of all the food we produce to go to waste or be lost because of inappropriate practices, when 870 million people go hungry every day.” So, what can be done to curb the amount of food wasted?

Take ‘Initiative’

Reduction of food waste as a movement has gained speed, and as such there is now demand for food waste solutions, from consumers and corporations alike. Initiatives aimed at making it easier to avoid waste are growing in number, and in application.

Take for example CrobMobster, which enables communities in-need and local farmers, producers, and food purveyors with surpluss to connect within a food gleaning and supply-sharing platform. To date, CropMobster has helped save over 1 million pounds, more than 2 million servings, of local food from going to waste in Sonoma and Marin Counties, California.

In order to reduce waste in the home, use Fresh Paper, which is simply a piece of paper infused with organic spices that keep fruits and vegetables fresh for 2-4 times longer. Fresh paper is available at grocery store chains such as Whole Foods and Wegmans. Another handy tool for using leftover food items is Food Rescue, an app launched by Google and Sainsbury’s, a British supermarket chain, which generates recipes based on up to nine ingredients dictated by the user.

Even rotten food is now a commodity. Harvest Power takes food waste, along with leaves and yard trimmings, and through anaerobic digestion and composting, transform them into renewable energy to power homes.

Healthy Habits

It is great that there are now products available to help us waste less food, but there are also ways to do so by incorporating a few simple habits into your daily lifestyle.

  • Plan ahead. Before going to the grocery store, take inventory of what you already have available. If you know what you’ll be cooking, and for whom, buy only enough necessary to feed the crew. Also, take note of expiration dates when shopping so you have an idea of how long items will last.
  • Remember to rotate. When loading groceries into your refrigerator and pantry, use the ‘first in first out’ method. Place new items in the back, and move older or already opened foods to the front. This way, food is less likely to go unused.
  • Save leftovers. If you’re in the habit of tossing leftover food at the end of the meal, consider packing it up and taking it to work or school for lunch the next day, or even save it for a second dinner. This can not only reduce wasted food, but also save you a few extra dollars.
  • Go trayless. Many of us frequent cafeterias where trays are available for carrying food, but next time, consider going trayless. By being unable to purchase as much food at once, you can reduce the amount of food that ends up in the trash. At the end of the meal, if you’re still hungry, you can always get back in line!
  • Donate. If you find yourself with a surplus of food, why not donate it. Millions of people go hungry everyday, and if you can even help feed one more person, you’re making a big difference. Find out how to donate here.

With the fast paced world of today, it can be easy to forget that wasting food is easy to avoid, and that it has dire consequences as well. However, if we all make a bit of effort, we can pave the way for responsible eating, for our health, wallets, and planet.

Share your food saving tips with us @gosirvo!

Job Security: How to Get It, and Keep It

Job Security: How to Get It, and Keep It

by | Jan 26, 2015 | Career

As the national economy continues to improve, jobs are becoming less and less capricious. However, as is the nature of the service industry, employee turnover among hospitality positions remains high, so what can you do to keep the checks coming? Actually, quite a lot!Climbing the ladder

Many consider positions within the service industry to be temporary, whether it is because, for a considerable portion of the workforce, it is either a first job or placeholder or because the average lifetime of a service industry business is shorter than most. However, this is misleading because, since the perception of service industry jobs is as provisional as it gets, there can be no career advancement or long-term career planning in general. But, this is not the case. According to National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation research, 97% of restaurant managers and 94% of shift or crew supervisors no longer in their first restaurant job have advanced to higher-paying positions in the restaurant industry, meaning that if you stick it out, the rewards will be worth the wait.

Lose the ‘tude…or just change it

So, now that you know that it is possible to turn an entry-level position into a well-paying career, how do you keep the job you have in order to ascend the ladder? It starts with the attitude you maintain while in the workplace. Positivity, as well as negativity, is readily noticed and oftentimes contagious. If excitement and enthusiasm are on your mind, not only will your colleagues be thankful, but your supervisors will be as well, not to mention you’ll have a much easier time accomplishing the next tip.

Go the extra mile

Employees that do their jobs well are the ones that are kept on the payroll, and the first to be promoted. So, go above and beyond your normal responsibilities. Be as helpful as possible in your place of employment, even if that means taking extra shifts or unpopular duties. Demonstrate your commitment to the company, and initiative in getting what needs to be done, done.

Learning is fun

When money is tight, getting the most bang for your buck becomes the most important thing. For employees, this means being as productive as possible, in as many areas as possible. Take the time to learn new tasks, skills, and specialties because when push comes to shove, you won’t be the one going overboard, plus you’ll be demonstrating your potential as well as aptitude.

Build roots

One of the most important, and beneficial, aspects of today’s professional world is networking. Be sure to make connections and build relationships with colleagues and supervisors in departments beyond yours. The deeper your roots are in the organization, the less likely it is that you’ll be cut loose when the storm hits. And even if you are, who knows which acquaintance or friend will be your saving grace.

Just in case

Last but not least, have a back-up plan in case the worst happens. Stay up-to-date on available positions in your area, as well as nationwide because you never know when that dream job will arise. Also, continuing to invest in your education is always a safe bet as the most valuable professionals are those that know their craft intimately. And, don’t be afraid to make a change if it is in your best interest.

We’re here to help at Sirvo!

The Golden Rule: The Customer is Always Right

The Golden Rule: The Customer is Always Right

by | Jan 21, 2015 | Management

For professionals in the business of serving food and drink, trained in the art of creating a successful dining experience, it may be difficult to stomach critiques from customers. After all, what do they know? Well, it turns out they know absolutely everything even if they know nothing.

Who knows best

According to Peter Nolan, chief brand officer for Roti Mediterranean Grill, “the customer who comes in twice a week, or 100 times a year, makes him or her an expert on the brand, and [it] would be foolish not to take his or her opinion into account.” Nolan firmly believes restaurateurs should listen to customers in order to “connect their insights into what the brand is trying to accomplish.”

So, sure, a customer may be commenting on an expertly prepared plate of food, but if it does not satisfy, then does it really matter if it is textbook perfect? The overarching goal of any eating establishment is to provide customers with something that will get them back in the door for a second, third, or hundredth time, so why not take a second to learn what that something may be.

Getting the dirt

Peter Nolan provides a list of tips to obtain valuable customer feedback:

  • Take the time to actually listen to your customers. Most importantly, hear what they have to say and respect their opinions, even if they are not a food professional.
  • Engage in casual conversations with customers. Be the most curious person in the room, and talk to anyone, and everyone, about the highs as well as lows of their experience.
  • Speak like your customers. If you want to understand customers’ insights, then you not only have to speak to them, but they must also speak to you. Using their language goes a long way to ensure this happens.
  • Know what you want to know. It is possible to obtain valuable information from a conversation initiated with no direction in mind, however asking about specifics will grant you access to much more understanding.
  • Don’t be afraid to poll. Not all customers will complete a formal survey, but some will, and those are a great way to incorporate customer feedback.

What matters most

Customers are the life force driving every successful business and, as Nolan explains, “integrating customer insights into your company’s innovation efforts can have a huge impact on a brand’s success.” By aligning vision and expertise with the desires of the customers, unforgettable dining experiences can abound.

At the end of the day, as Nolan puts it, “If you love and respect your customers and treat them well, they will come back again and again.”

How does your company find out what the customers are saying? Let us know @gosirvo.