Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Executive Job Search Etiquette

A recent entry on U.S. News & World Report’s Careers Blog provides some excellent tips on how to enhance your reputation and professional image while conducting a job search, through some basic etiquette rules.

No matter how powerful your executive resume and no matter how eminently qualified you may be for a potential executive opportunity, putting forth a less-than-totally professional or rude impression will reduce or even possibly eliminate your chances of winning the job offer.

As a successful executive, you wouldn’t likely have risen to this level in your career without a professional and courteous demeanor, but some of these strategies are well worth a reminder:

* Being courteous to everyone, everywhere, ALL the time: We all witnessed the news stories in just the last month about the interviewee who insulted the interviewer in the subway on the way to his job interview!

* Avoiding becoming a pest: Following up is OK; following up to excess is not.

* Listen CAREFULLY to what your interviewer tells you about the position or the company, to avoid looking like a rude fool when you ask a question that reveals you were not paying attention.

* Send a note of appreciation following all interviews. My advice is a dual approach on this: Send an email thank-you the same or following day, and SNAIL MAIL a short, handwritten note as well. The anecdotes about hiring managers and executives for whom the handwritten thank-you note tipped the scales in a candidate’s favor are numerous.

For the complete list of job search etiquette tips, see:
7 Key Etiquette Tips for Your Job Search

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