So you want to take time off...

You've got a great career going. Excellent job progression and track record of accomplishments. Bam! You get laid off. It's nothing to do with your skills--just a money thing. But all is not lost. Your company is going to come through with a GREAT severance package. So, finally. Time to travel, time to do something for just you. Sounds, great, doesn't it?

In reality, you should take a hard look at hitting the beach for any extended length of time. The longer you are out of work, the harder it will be to re-enter. In recruiting for pharmaceutical and medical device industries we know hiring managers are a suspicious bunch. Nothing against them, it's their job to find the best, so suspicion is naturally a part of the hiring process. Take a couple of weeks, not a couple of months. Regroup. Reach out to anyone and everyone who thinks highly of you. Work industry related networking websites. Connect with a couple of top recruiters specific to your field. Your new job is to FIND a job.

Interesting article that applies to doing a video job interview

How Not to Do a TV Interview

Posted by Marsha Friedman

4 “Don’ts” to Keep In Mind to Ensure You Don’t Blow It

Sometimes I feel bad for on-air TV personalities, because if you’re on television regularly for any length of time, you’re going to screw up. It’s inevitable. It’s the law of averages, and when you do, YouTube will be sure to archive it for future generations.

The Internet is stockpiled with videos of show hosts forgetting the camera was on, dropping four-letter words and losing it when heckled by onlookers off camera. The same is true with public relations, because we’re not immune to gaffs, and neither are our clients. One of my staff likes to tell the story of a New York politician who was caught not paying taxes in the middle of a re-election campaign, and so his PR rep wanted to shield him from too many questions. To combat that, he scheduled an outdoor press conference in the dead of the afternoon on the hottest day of the year, hoping the heat would shorten the length of the press conference and thin the crowd of reporters because they didn’t want to be outside. The press conference went off as planned in the sweltering afternoon sun, and 10 minutes into it, his candidate passed out from heat stroke.

So, when you’re thinking of doing TV interviews, here are some basic, and not so basic dos and don’ts to help you through the rough patches:

1. Don’t look at the monitor – If you’ve never done TV before, the first thing you’ll notice in a guest segment is that when you sit down at the set, there are tons of distractions – monitors showing all the camera angles, cameramen rolling the cameras to different positions, and producers who like to move around the set. Forget them. Look at the person interviewing you, as if you were just having a cup of coffee with them at the local Starbucks.
2. Don’t Let a Stumble Stop the Interview – Most interviews are either live, or what they call “live to tape,” meaning they are taped segments, but they are not edited. That means whatever happens during the segment, mistakes and all, is what they run. So, if you stumble over your words or cough or accidentally spit out the gum in your mouth (that you should have spit out before the interview), you just have to keep going. No matter what, in most cases you’ll have one take, and whatever happens, well, happens. Don’t stop and say “Cut, can we do this again please?” because that is what will air.
3. Don’t Do Your “Elevator Pitch” – When being interviewed, you should answer the host’s questions directly, and not go into your stock company pitch right off the bat. That will only annoy the host, and make them ask the question again (which will make you look foolish). If you are concerned, try to talk to the producer in advance about what questions you’ll be asked. If the producer is vague, or doesn’t give you the exact questions, then simply be ready for whatever they throw at you.
4. Don’t Move in a Distracting Way – A news segment is not “Dancing with the Stars,” so don’t move too much when you’re being interviewed. If you naturally gesture when you talk, then gesture, but don’t go overboard. Sweeping hand gestures are distracting. If you’re standing during the interview, try to stand still. Place your feet at shoulder width to maintain balance, and don’t bounce around. Bobbing, weaving, pacing or any other kind of nervous movement will be distracting. Moreover, if you are sitting, don’t do the nervous knee bounce that many people are used to doing under the table in the board room. There is no table, and the camera will pick it up. Remember, being stationary and relaxed will help you exude confidence on camera.

“Let Go” is WAAAYYY Different than “Laid Off”

When you have left a company, you need to carefully present the reasons you left your last job. “Let go” implies you were fired. If you were in fact, “let go” you need to be careful about how you present that information. Don’t lie, but offer solid reasons, backed up by references inside the company who you can count on to support you. Given the current economic times, “laid off” is much more acceptable. Did you take a buy out package offered to reduce your company’s headcount? That’s ok, but don’t spend too much time on the beach. The longer you are out of work,, the harder it will be to convince hiring managers to consider you.

OMG! No texting during an interview

Add this to the LONG list of ways to deep six your chances for that new job. Turn off your phone! Don’t put it on vibrate and struggle with the urge to “just check it.” Resist the urge to respond to your mother, brother or bookie. We just had a candidate summarily dumped when he texted under the table during a lunch interview. We’d LOL if it wasn’t so totally DUMB : )