10 Toxic Words you Must not Say in a Job Interview

There’s plenty advice out there to rehearse what you’re going to say in a job interview: research questions the interviewer might ask, practice your answers, come up with salient questions of your own…

But what about rehearsing what you’re not going to say?

I put together a list below of some words you’ll want to try to avoid at your next job interview, because even though they seem like just ordinary words, they could be major red flags for an interviewer or recruiter.

No.

First of all, if asked even a simple question, you don’t want to give a single word answer (yes or no). But when the answer is no, definitely don’t leave it there! For example, if asked if you know a particular computer program, and you don’t, you could say, “I haven't yet had a chance to learn it but would be interested to do so,” rather than simply saying “No.”

Er… Um…

That old saying, “If you don’t have anything to say, don’t say anything at all,” applies here a big. Rather than hemming and hawing while you try to think up an answer, just be silent and think. Saying er or um too much could make you seem unprepared or as though you’re not paying attention.

Whatever, OMG, bae… groovy?

Lose the slang when talking to an interviewer. You want to come across as polished and professional, and you don’t want them to have to dig out their urban dictionary to understand you.

Sure, cool, kinda…

These kinds of words are just too casual, even in a casual workplace. You should be presenting the best version of yourself, not the sloppy, casual version.

We

This one seems innocuous at first, but if you use it a lot when discussing job duties and accomplishments, the interviewer might start to wonder if it was you or your team that was responsible. Try to use “I” as much as possible.

Dedicated, motivated, team player...

Lose the resume speech and jargon. Besides the fact that these words are incredibly overused in interview situations, they’re also better demonstrated than just stated. If you want to convey your dedication or motivation, share an example from your past work experience; examples will go much further to making your claims believable.

Leverage, synergy, ideation…

I’d avoid using too much business jargon. The chances that you’ll come off sounding like an idiot are just too high. Too much business buzzwords or jargon tends to make people sound pretentious, or worse, downright stupid.

“Hit the ground running,” “Circle back…”

These kinds of cliches have little to no meaning, they’re just verbal fluff, and they don’t add anything to what you’re saying. So leave them out.

Hate

I can’t think of a single instance when saying you “hate” something in a job interview is appropriate, but it’s exceptionally inappropriate to say anything about hating your former job, co-workers, boss, etc.

Perfectionist

It’s become almost a cliche in and of itself to answer a question like, “What’s your biggest flaw?” with a positive flaw like, “I’m a perfectionist.” Any good interviewer will see right through that, so just don’t do it.

5 Reasons to Quit a Job You Love

I felt like I was on the top of my game: I had a great boss, loved my team, was getting high profile projects, and visibility with senior leadership. So I did what any sensible person would do: I quit. That's what you would do right? After I put in my notice I started doubting myself and asking if I was crazy. Who leaves a job they love? Especially in a society of people who don't like their jobs? I do. And perhaps you should to. So when do you leave a job you love? Here are a few thoughts:

When the job no longer fits the vision you have for your career. Everything you do is either moving you closer or further away from your vision. While a position may have started out with the right alignment, you may have gained what you needed from that position. Understand the end game and think about what will take you there. Look at your target position and understand what makes a person successful in that position. It won't be a one-size-fits-all but most likely you will see some key traits and skills you should be proficient at. Maybe you need to lead a bigger team, or do a rotation in finance. Keep in mind, the road to your goal may not be a straight shot. Detours can be valuable for your career as well. Focus on making them strategic detours.

When you identify a gap in your toolkit that can't be filled where you are. As briefly mentioned above, if you identify a key trait you need to build, understand what options are out there for you. I have heard many people in the C-Suite mention doing time in sales or finance has helped make them successful in their positions. Understand the experiences that will help you round out your leadership and decision making and focus on finding a position that will support that.

When you are no longer growing or your job is so easy you are becoming complacent. If you aren't growing the probability of becoming complacent is high. While it's nice having an easy job for awhile, it's important to be developing and doing things that stretch you as a leader. You may be able to achieve this in your current position by asking for new responsibilities - perhaps even taking some of your boss' workload. However, if growth opportunities aren't sufficient enough you may need to consider a different job. Whatever you do, don't let complacency creep in because eventually someone will come in and outperform you and it will be a struggle to catch back up.

When you and the company no longer have value alignment. Companies change. This can especially be true when a new leader comes on board. Your job may still be great, but you may not have value alignment. This ultimately means you won't be as passionate about initiatives the company tackles. Some values speak to us and some don't. Cigna Health Care came out with a brand of "go you". The premise was "why aren't you living your dream today? Just go for it." That really spoke to me. Recently, I noticed their branding changed to "together we win." That does nothing for me, but obviously does for others. Does your company inspire you? Do you get excited about the work they are doing?

When you've outgrown your company. You may be a big fish in a small pond. Isn't that a wonderful feeling? You're the expert! People are dependent on you and you are highly regarded. BUT, you are no longer surrounded by people or challenges that are going to propel you forward as a leader. Or, you may have a vision that is bigger than what the company can support. If you have great ideas but the company doesn't have the infrastructure or willingness to implement, it's probably time to take your ideas to a company that aligns more with your vision.

If you read this list and feel like it's you, don't go in tomorrow and quit your job. Leaving a job should be strategic. Now you see the gap, it's time to define where you are going and understand which move will get you there. You want to avoid leaving a job on a whim and being a victim of impulsiveness. Justify your decision to leave, map out your plan and don't leave until you have found a good fit. While I still look back on my departure with a bit of bittersweet feelings, I can tell you leaving has challenged my thinking, expanded my skill-set and opened new doors of opportunity.

If You Lose Your Job, Avoid These 3 Things

Back in 2008, right at the exact time the economy collapsed, my career collapsed. I found myself without a job…no warning, no severance, and quite frankly, no good reason.

As clearly as if it happened 5 minutes ago, I remember sitting there with my mouth gaping open, staring at the messenger of this news, not knowing what to do…I was literally paralyzed while my life flashed before my eyes.

This was the first time in my professional career anything like this had ever happened to me. It was so startling to me! What made it even more bizarre was that I was actually crushing all the goals that had been given to me in the job. How could this happen to me?!?! 

Over the next few weeks, after telling my wife and kids what happened and realizing how bad our financial situation was about to get, I went through a rollercoaster of emotions. From shock, terror and sadness, to just downright pissed off! Not only was this a terrible thing, but it was at a time in our economy when no jobs were even available.

If you are, or ever have been in this position, your anger is totally normal. If you haven’t ever been through this, be prepared for it anyway.

Here are 3 things you need to avoid after you are fired or “laid off”:

• Never Let Them See You Sweat (or even turn red) – Each day I would wake up at 5am and start scouring the internet for jobs. I applied for everything that could possibly work and then some. My goal was to get at least get 3 interviews per week, but some weeks I was lucky to have any. The prime window after you lose your job is the first 2 months. You will have many jobs you can apply for, and thus a greater chance for interviews. After several weeks of applying and interviewing, I still didn’t have a job offer and I found out why. I was on the phone with a recruiter one day. She was talking with me about a position with a company she represented. After speaking with me for about 30 minutes she said, “Paul, let me tell you something. First, I want you to know that although I am a recruiter, I do not work on behalf of the candidates...rather, I work for the employer. Thus, I have to protect the employer from bad candidates. While I like you and see a very solid resume here, I can’t recommend that they talk with you. The reason is that when you told me about this last position you were in, I could hear all kinds of anger in your voice. My advice to you, Paul, is that if you want a job, you had better deal with that anger and get past it. No one will hire you if you cannot let it go.” This advice from her was solid and she was right. Employers do not want angry employees and they can smell anger a mile away. When you badly need a job, you have to consider that each time you get an interview, you are being granted a chance to get your life back on track. Do not blow any of those chances, by talking about how you were wronged. Instead, talk about how you learned from the experiences you had there and how it made you grow (while smiling the entire time). It’s not easy, but it will make a world of a difference. Yes, you were wronged! Yes, it is horribly painful. No, you cannot show it at all if you want a job. Life goes on, C’est la vie…let it go, my friend.

• Don't Try to Control The Weather - There are things in this world that you can control, such as what time you get up, how many phone calls you make or job applications you fill out, and even which outfit you wear to an interview. On the other hand, there are many things you cannot control and you have to stop trying to do it anyway. Years ago I figured this stress reduction trick out. You see, I was walking around in a world of complete and total anxiety. I was a walking bundle of nerves. My brain wouldn’t stop thinking about all of these things I wanted to have happen in a specific way and at a specific time. One day, after feeling extremely worn out, it dawned on me…I said to myself, “Paul, you are going to die a young man if you keep thinking about so many stressful things…focus on those things that you have direct control over and let the rest go!”. Yes, it would be awesome if the employer you just interviewed with yesterday would make you a job offer today. It’s likely not going to happen and more importantly, it’s outside your powers. Sure, it would be best if the lady with 50 items in her grocery basket wasn’t checking out in the “10 Items or Less” line, but it’s too late, she is. Dwelling on things that you cannot control in this world will make your hair fall out five times faster (trust me, I have a receding hairline to prove it) and it will do you no good. Put your energy and mental focus only into those things which you can directly impact. That should be enough to worry about.

• Don't Judge Yourself by Your Job! (aka,Your Career Is Not What’s in the Mirror) - Many years ago there was a great skit on Saturday Night Live, that I still use for therapy to this day. Al Franken played the part of Stuart Smalley. His character was the main character in a fake TV show called “Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley”. In his self-help show, and he was always starting the show by looking in the mirror and saying, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me”. After losing your job, you will go through many times where you feel alone and small. If you have go and stand in the unemployment line, it will be a very humbling experience, to say the least. There will likely be many jobs that you are not offered. With all of this in play, it is quite common to feel like you have lost your mojo. You really are good enough and smart enough! You need to make sure that you never mix who you are with what you do for a living. When you think of yourself, taking your career out of the mix completely, you will see that you are a good person who is very talented and capable. Losing your job never changed that. Take a minute to remind yourself of all that you have accomplished and all that you can do, each and every day. If you smile and give yourself this pep talk each day, you will find that your interviews will go better and that job you are looking for will be right around the corner. By the way, when you are feeling low, you should sing a little song I wrote, called “Focus on the Finish Line”.

NOTE: In a previous article I wrote, “Empathize With the Unemployed”, I spoke about some of these emotions and stressors that the unemployed folks go through. It’s so important for us all to be aware of how to cope with things like this, which can be so debilitating. If you know anyone who is unemployed, I hope this article gave you some perspective and that you will offer a pat on the back and maybe an opportunity to help them get back on their feet.

The Secrets of a Waiting Room Jedi

It happens all the time. It’s happened to us, and it’s happened to you. More than once, guaranteed. It goes like this:

You’ve finally scheduled a meeting with that prospective client you’ve been after (or maybe a first meeting with a new client—where you’ll set the tone for your relationship).

And you’re ready.

You’ve done your research, both online and off. You’ve consulted with your analysts and your colleagues back at the shop. You’ve thought about what you can offer that your prospect might value. You’ve refined and rehearsed a short script or two. You’ve got your initial questions lined up. You’ve left yourself ample travel time to compensate for unexpected traffic. You’ve even used the facilities by the elevators, just in case.

You arrive at reception, you give your name, and you’re told by the employee behind the desk that unfortunately your meeting will be delayed because Ms. Bizzee is still on a previous call.

So far, not unusual. The question is, what do you do next?

If you’re like 99% of your competitors, you take a seat and do one or more of the following:

• Review your notes for the meeting
• Flip through a waiting room magazine
• Pull out your smart phone and check your emails
• Check your mobile contact manager
• Listen to your voice mails
• Check Facebook
• Make a call
• Complete your half-finished Sudoku puzzle
• Check your email again

Hey, you’ve got some time to kill. Why not kill it?

Really?

One of most important sales skills we address in our book Never Be Closing is art and science of discovering what’s useful to your client. In our experience, your potential usefulness is the most important thing you can communicate—and the thing that will most likely win you the sale.

But the concept of usefulness goes way beyond your conversation with your client. It’s threaded through everything you do in the sales process. In fact, we suggest asking the simple question, ‘Is this useful?’ about every aspect of your own sales or business behavior. If your answer is ‘no’, ‘maybe’, or ‘not sure’, we suggest you seriously consider deleting that behavior from your repertoire.

Behavior Testing

Let’s use this simple test on the list of behaviors above.

Reviewing your notes for the meeting could be useful, but if you’re not familiar enough with them by this point, another few minutes probably won’t do you much good.

Flipping through a two-month-old waiting room magazine is decidedly unuseful. The exception here might be the possibility of finding a relevant article in a recent industry or corporate publication.

Checking your emails, your contact manager, or your voice mails? Psychologists would call these conditioned responses to having time on your hands. But useful? Who are we kidding?

Checking Facebook? Ditto.

Making a phone call? Maybe, but chances are you’ll have to say a quick good-bye, so is it really worth it?

And re-checking all of the above is about as useful as finishing that Sudoku puzzle. In other words—not.

So if none of these behaviors are particularly useful, the next question becomes, what could you do that would be useful?

Seeing with Jedi Eyes

Your clients’ offices—including reception and common areas—are their habitats, filled with clues about the company, its culture, the people you’ll be meeting. Sure, you’ve done research online and with your colleagues, but where better to begin to truly understand the people you’ll meet than where they spend the majority of their working—and waking—lives?

Being in your clients’ territory affords you the best possible opportunity to get to know who you’ll be meeting. You’re exposed to information and resources that simply aren’t available in company reports or on the internet. That’s pretty special, considering all your competitors have access to that same internet information.

Once you appreciate the value of spending time in your clients’ space, you’re ready to practice the art of the Waiting Room Jedi.

The first thing a Jedi needs to understand is the power of the Force. And in business, the Force is Connection. Anything and everything you can do to increase the connection between you and your potential client is a step in the right direction—a step toward the sale.

Finding Hidden Connections

If you had a first appointment with an important potential client and a friendly leprechaun offered you the opportunity to meet someone who knew your prospect, and who might be able to give you some useful information about them, you’d be delighted, wouldn’t you?

Well, today’s your lucky day. Because have the opportunity to do just that—every time you arrive early for a client meeting and every time your client is late.

Introduce yourself to the receptionist. We mean really introduce yourself. There’s a good chance the receptionist knows your prospect. If they’ve been with the company a while, receptionists can be a great source of useful information. They know who comes and goes. They know the culture of the organization. They know if times are good or times are bad. They know if executives and managers are part of the team or if they ride above it. They know when it’s an up day or a down day. Furthermore, receptions are often invisible in the waiting room, treated as just another piece of furniture. If they’re not too busy, they may really appreciate a chance to talk. Imagine standing face to face with a resource like that and deciding to check your email instead of talking to them!

How do you probe for information from the receptionist? Just ask. Clearly, your chances of getting under the sheets are limited (nor do we suggest you try; you risk coming off as inappropriately nosey, and even sleazy), but you can open the tent.

Here’s a list of simple starter questions that most receptionists should be able (and often happy) to answer:

• How long has the company been at this location (or on this floor)? What was the reason for the move?
• How many people work here? What kinds of jobs do they do? This can often lead to great follow-up conversations. If the location has both engineering and marketing in it for example, you can observe that that’s an unusual combination. Any reason for that?
• What’s the biggest department or division in this location?
• Is everyone always this (relaxed, friendly, energized, busy) around here, or is something special going on today?
• What do you like best about working here?
• Are the principals usually around, or mostly on the road? Do you get to see or talk to them much?

These are the kinds of questions you can work into almost any conversation and which can provide you with useful ways to make connections later in your meeting.

Imagine in your meeting with your prospective client being able to say something like, “I understand you’ve only been in this location for 18 months and you’re already bursting at the seams. Sounds like things are going well. Must be challenging to manage that kind of growth.”

Searching for Other Threads

Aside from these general starter questions, there are clues to the personalities of the company and its employees literally littering the walls. The artwork, the trophy case, the plaque, the photo of the ribbon cutting, the mission statement, the free (or maybe not free) soda machine, even the building itself if it’s company owned. All of these are data about the founders, the principals, the charities, the activities, the culture of the office and the organization. Each is a conversation starter with the receptionist or others you may meet. And each is a thread of a possible connection to your client. The more threads you discover, the better your chances of weaving them together into the beginning of a relationship.

Curiosity Killed the Can’t

The skill of being a Waiting Room Jedi is to transform a series of waiting room habits—checking email, posting on Facebook, and flipping through magazines—into a deliberate process of exploration and discovery.

More than anything else, being a Waiting Room Jedi is about being curious. The more genuinely curious you are, the more you learn, and the more you learn, the more likely you’ll be able to make connections with your client.

The attitude and skill the Waiting Room Jedi is one of a series of interlocking steps that form what we call the Productive Selling process. It starts with knowing who you are and why you’re selling. Then moves into finding, making, and developing connections. The next step is earning the credibility required for your clients to feel comfortable answering the tough, probing questions you’ll need to ask so that you can understand their situation. Once you truly understand your clients’ issues, itches, and challenges, the next step is to demonstrate your usefulness. Once you’ve done that, you can start developing a productive business relationship.

And after all, isn’t that what the best selling is all about?

A jobless man applied for the position of 'office boy' at Microsoft.

A jobless man applied for the position of 'office boy' at Microsoft.

The HR manager interviewed him, then gave him a test: clean the floor. The man passed the test with flying colors.

"You are hired," HR manager informed the applicant, "give me your e-mail address, and I'll send you the application for employment, as well as the date you should report for work.

The man replied " I don't have a computer, or an email!"

"I'm sorry," said the HR manager. "If you don't have an email, that means you do not exist. And we cannot hire persons who do not exist."

The man was very disappointed.

He didn't know what to do. He only had $10 with him. Once that is spent, he won't have any money to buy any food.He went to the supermarket and bought a crate of tomatoes with his $10.He went from door to door and sold the tomatoes in less than two hours. He doubled his money.He repeated the operation three times, and returned home with $60. He realized that he can survivethis way. He started to go everyday earlier, and return late.He doubled or tripled his money every day. Soon, he bought a cart, then a truck. In a very short time, he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles.

Five years later, the man became one of the biggest food retailers in the U. S. He started to plan his family's future, and decided to have a life insurance.He called an insurance broker, and chose a protection plan.At the end of the conversation, the broker asked him for his email address.The man replied: ' I don't have an email.'The broker was dumbfounded. "You don't have an email, and yet have succeeded in building an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an email?," he exclaimed.The man thought for a while, and replied, "an office boy at Microsoft!"If you just lost your Job or Just failed an Interview Don't worry be Optimistic..... Good days are on the way and something better is reserved for you.

How to Spot a Bad Boss Before you start a new job

If you’ve been in the workforce long enough, you know the feeling of having a bad boss. You stay up late, refusing to surrender to sleep because it means going to work the next day. You wake up dreading going to work, hitting the snooze button multiple times before dragging yourself out of bed. You feel an uncomfortable sense of almost magnetic repulsion as you approach your office door. At work, you’re on edge, and can’t shake the sense of imminent catastrophe. Everyone is walking around on eggshells. Weekends become a refuge where put your mind as far away from work as possible and you shudder at the thought of Monday.

Bad bosses are terrible for your career. They’re terrible for companies. They’re terrible for the economy and, in a wider sense, they’re terrible for society. We’ve all encountered bosses who project their own insecurities onto other people by carving out small fiefdoms and ruling them with an iron fist. These bosses are hypocritical in what they demand of their employees verses what they themselves accomplish. They issue orders instead of leading. They micromanage. And they refuse to take accountability.

When you start a new role, it sometimes takes weeks or more before realizing you’re stuck with a bad boss. But is it possible to spot a bad boss before you start a new job? Are there any signs in an interview that can tip you off that you should run in the other direction?

Here are 5 questions you should ask yourself during an interview to help determine whether you’ve got a good or bad boss on your hands:

1. How do the other employees seem when you come in for the interview?

When you go into a new office, observe the body language of other employees in the workspace. If they avoid eye contact, or seem sullen or disengaged, dissatisfaction with the supervisor might be the culprit. If it’s for a more senior-level role, does the hiring manager let you interview with peers? A good boss will be conscientious of building a thriving ecosystem, and he or she will want buy-in from other members of the team before adding to it. A boss who’s overly controlling will isolate the members of the team they supervise. So pay attention to interactions with current employees, or lack thereof.

2. Does the supervisor speak overly negatively of previous employees?

Recruiters and career experts often give candidates the piece of advice that you should never speak negatively about a previous role in an interview. It makes sense. You don’t want the employer to think that you’re going to badmouth this job if and/or when you move on. But hiring is a two-way street, and candidates need to be just as mindful of similar behaviour in hiring managers. A boss who speaks overly negatively about previous employees might have unrealistic standards of behaviour, or they might be overly willing to throw their team under the bus for their own failings.

3. Are they distracted in the interview or overly pushy?

You should have a certain tolerance for outside interruptions during an interview, especially if it’s a fast-paced workplace. But an effective leader will be fully engaged during an interview and won’t be consistently taking calls, answering emails, checking their phone or (we’ve heard this one surprisingly often) leaving the room. This type of behaviour shows a lack of focus at best, and a tactic to seem important at worst. Likewise, does the interviewer let you speak without interruption, and do you feel like you’re being heard? These are questions you should ask yourself as the interview progresses.

4. Have you looked up the company culture online?

When you’re interviewing, it’s important to look at a new opportunity the same way you would look at a major purchase. There’s a huge wealth of information online. So you want to do your homework. Not just in terms of understanding a company and its culture so that you can nail the interview, but also so that you can determine whether it’s going to be a rewarding place to work. You can use sites like glassdoor.com which provide employee feedback about various companies. You can also check out the role on LinkedIn. Run a search for the job and evaluate whether there’s been lots of turnover. Are there tons of people with the same role who were there only for a short while? That could be an indicator of a bad boss.

5. Have you asked them what kind of boss they are?

Sometimes, instead of trying to ascertain a boss’s method of leadership indirectly, it’s helpful to just come out and ask a prospective supervisor about their leadership style to see if it jives with the way you like to work.

It’s certainly the case that not everyone is in a position to pick and choose who they want to work for. But a bad boss can be such a drag on your career that it’s worth considering these questions before you go in for a role.

We love all the discussion this post has generated. Tell us your stories of bad bosses on Twitter using the hashtag #BadBoss!

The Perfect Job Interview In 6 Simple Steps

When interviewing for a new position, we want to do everything possible to ensure it goes well. Breath mints? Check. Resumes? Check. Firm handshake? Check.

But a great job interview starts days before you ever arrive at the office. Follow these simple steps to prepare yourself to have your best job interview ever:

1. Research the company

Make sure you know as much as possible about the company before you go into any interview. Start with the company’s website and read their mission statement, goals, and values and think about how those apply to the position you’re applying for. What key words could you use during the interview that would resonate? Look at any news or press pages to see what’s news and noteworthy for the company recently, and use that information to form intelligent questions to ask. You can also check LinkedIn for any connections you may have within the company who might be able to put in a good word or advise you. Finally, you can usually get a feel for the company culture from their website, which can influence how you dress.

2. Research the job

Once you’ve got the interview, make absolutely sure you know everything you can about the position and what the job is all about. This kind of research can help you pinpoint places your skills and personality will set you apart from the crowd. Carefully reread the qualifications in the job listing and think about how your experience fits in. Understanding what the average salary range for the position is can help with that dreaded question, “What kind of salary are you looking for?”

3. Prepare answers that highlight your skills and experience

This question can have many forms, but being able to demonstrate with your answers and anecdotes that you understand the key skills, expertise and experience required for the job and that you possess them will go a very long way to a winning interview.

4. Prepare answers that show your enthusiasm and interest

Often, when recruiters are faced with choosing between equally qualified candidates, the candidate who exhibited the most enthusiasm and interest in the job will win out. A perfect way to do this is to think about how your personal goals and ambitions tie into the success of the company.

5. Prepare answers that show how you will fit in with the company culture

Because you did your research in step 1, you will understand something about the company culture and be able to demonstrate how you will fit in. For example, if you know the company has strong ties with charity or values of giving back, you could mention your own volunteer work during the interview. When you get asked seemingly random questions like, “If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?” think about your answer in terms of the kind of animal the company needs or wants.

6. Plan your journey so you arrive stress free and on time

The stress of unexpected traffic, getting lost, and other delays can derail an otherwise promising interview, so take steps to ensure that you don’t have to stress. Prepare your outfit the night before to look for rips, stains, the right shoes, etc. Print extra copies of your resume ahead of time. Research your route to the interview, and practice it if you have time to account for any map errors. Check the traffic early and have alternate routes in mind. And give yourself some extra time; even if you arrive early and end up sitting in your car or the lobby for a few minutes, you will be less stressed than if you arrive late.

It may seem like common sense, but taking the time to do your research, prepare your answers, and plan your journey will have a huge impact on how well you perform at your next interview.

I hope these six simple steps make sense? Do you have any successful tips for great job interviews that you would add to this list? As always, I would love to hear about your ideas and thoughts in the comments below.

7 Signs it is Time to Quit your Job

A while back, I wrote an article titled, "7 Management Traits that Will Make All Your Employees Quit." The article produced an amazing conversation surrounding the traits of both effective and ineffective managers that is now 1800 comments deep. Many people were very gracious to share their personal experiences and stories from their careers. In that article, I described a brutal management style that led to all the employees in the regional office to either quit or get fired. In case you missed it here is the link: 7 Management Traits That Will Make All Your Employees Quit

Today, I am going to share with you the story of the day I quit, and provide a few of the signs I experienced that told me it was time to get out of there. When I left this company, for the first time in my life I didn't give two weeks notice. Nor did I type up a thoughtful resignation letter thanking them for the opportunity like I had with other companies I left in the past. When I got to the office on the day I quit I was both nervous and anxious, because my boss was very unpredictable. He had shown violent tendencies in the office, as well as, told stories about his violent past. I think the crazy and violent stories he told us were designed to intimidate us, and it worked. I had no idea how he was going react to the news that I was quitting. I made sure to get to the office before he did so I could have all my stuff packed up and ready to go. When he got there I told him right away. He became very upset and irrational. He threw out some major verbal insults my way. However, at least I got out of there without him inflicting any physical violence on me!

Yes, I know that leaving without giving two weeks notice is very unprofessional. However, the company had shown me no respect, and degraded me to the point that I honestly could not stay there a second longer. The day I quit that job was one of the most liberating experiences in my life. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. As I was leaving, when I got to the lobby area I had a quick decision to make, take the elevator or the stairs. I quickly decided to take the stairs as I could hit them running. I didn't want to wait for the elevator! The feeling I got once I made it to my car and started to drive away was amazing. I truly felt a sense of freedom like I had never felt before!

I had decided to pick up my daughter from daycare, and take her up to Horsetooth Reservoir (pictured here) to go swimming! The next few days were spent relaxing with my family and preparing to move on professionally. This is important, If you quit your job make sure to schedule some time to relax and spend time with your loved ones before starting the new job. If you need help with transitioning or finding a new job check out Mae Chapman's plan.

I'm not advocating quitting your job. However, if you are experiencing some or all of the symptoms I have listed below, it might be time to weigh your options:

1) You can't sleep at night due to the stress and thought of having to go into work the next day. The stress and lack of sleep really began to negatively affect my health.

2) The stress from the job makes you irritable and cranky around your family and friends. I was no fun to be around during this time. This job was so stressful that it started tonegatively affect the relationships with my loved ones.

3) The job has zapped all the life out of you. You are tired all the time and lack the motivation you once had. This can happen when your company has no policy or no intention of ever implementing a work/life balance program for employees.

4) You don't agree with the corporate culture or the direction the company is headed. In my case, the culture was a turn and burn environment. They had a high pressure environment, and we lived in constant fear of losing our jobs. There was no value placed in sales professionals, and the place was a revolving door.

5) Your ideas are not being heard, and your work is not valued. Many companies do a very poor job of recognizing their employees for their hard work and accomplishments. They don't have any concept of the value in saying thank you.

6) The "good old boys club" at the top has made it impossible for advancement. Nobody likes to work in a situation when they know where there is no chance that they can advance within the company. If you see a pattern of upper management hiring their friends over more qualified candidates this is a sign that your company has a "good old boys club."

7) You are the victim of verbal abuse, sexual harassment, or other types of illegal behavior. At the job I quit, I was bullied and verbally abused by my old boss. HR was no help and upper management turned a blind eye to it. DO NOT put up with this!

For me quitting that poisonous job was the one of the best decisions I ever made. Today, I'm in a much better place professionally at Skybeam . I am far less grouchy and stressed. Additionally, I am sleeping much better, and my family likes me a lot more these days. Why did you quit your last job? Was it because of any of the scenarios I described above? Has the grass been greener at your new job or do you regret your decision to leave?

Please note: The company I quit and described in this article and the "7 Management Traits" article, is not listed on my profile. I was only there a short time and have chosen not to include them in my professional highlights. As you can tell by the article the experience with this company was a "low light" to put it mildly.