Apologies for the rant, but I’ve worked very hard over the last few months to get David, a candidate that I have been working with, a new position. David was made redundant a while ago, and has been having a difficult time getting interviews.
Most of the candidates that I directly work with are great candidates that simply don’t know how to market themselves to find a job. Generally their CV’s are very bland, with little or no achievements, and their job search strategy consists of applying to job online, which is this world is almost useless.
In David’s case, I was also very concerned with the positions he was applying to, and the type of companies he wanted to work in. David’s experience is mostly technology sales, and as a result, I felt there no point in applying to anything other than a technology company.
In all honesty, I actually made the decision early on for David not to apply to another job online and focus his attention to my CAG-Job Search program.
CAG-Direct Job Search
Rather than applying to job board adverts, we used my CAG-Direct job search, where we built a list of potential hiring managers, and send David’s CV directly to each, with an introductory email.
This job search strategy works so well, because your getting direct contact with the hiring manager. Not only will they be able to give you an answer on the spot as weather you’re suitable, but they will also consider you for roles that are not being advertised. This hidden part of the job market is where 75% of all roles are located, and this method gives you a great opportunity to tap this market.
The short version, the results were amazing and in a short time, David had two final interviews. So why am I so annoyed? He made a mess of both of them. Worse still, he made a mess of both interviews, at the final stage.
David’s final interview was the typical meeting with the division head, but he was also ask to do a presentation, given part of his role was presenting data to senior management. Needless to say, he failed miserably. It wasn’t because he could not present to groups, he didn’t even get nervous and fall apart during the presentation, it was because he could not put together a decent power-point presentation.
The end result, David failed two interviews, because he did not know how to use Microsoft PowerPoint.
Microsoft Power Point
Microsoft PowerPoint is probably the best known presentation program used in businesses across the world. I cannot think of a company that I have worked with over the last 20 years, that has not used PowerPoint in one form, or another.
Importantly, its not just during interviews that you’re likely to need to build a presentation. Its used across the business. On a personal note, I regularly had to build a presentation to be able to present HR figures to senior management. Sales professional will use during business development and even IT professionals will use it to present the best ways to move IT-systems forwards.
The latest version of PowerPoint is PowerPoint 2016 for Windows. Its used in both Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365. The 2016 version has some revolutionary features that has made this program effortless to work with.
Microsoft says that over 500 million people around the world use PowerPoint to get their job done. Professionals of every rank depend on this visual tool to present their thoughts and establish their message.
PowerPoint Course
If you cannot build a great PowerPoint presentation using, well-designed, impactful slides and know exactly how to use PowerPoint designer and ideas, this is a great course that you need to take. The Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 Beginner to Advanced will teach you all the aspects for making the best presentation.
In this course, you will learn about the interface of the PowerPoint. After that, you will get accustomed on developing a PowerPoint Presentation, Performing advanced text editing, adding graphical elements to your presentation, modify objects, adding tables and charts and preparing to deliver your presentation.
Advanced topics include customizing design templates and slide shows, working with media and animations, collaborating, securing and distributing a presentation. These skills will help you get most of the software.
There are over 81 Units with over 30 hours of videos, quizzes and practice tests. The end result is you will be required to sit for an online MCQ test and receive an Accredited Certificate of Achievement.
Best for, this course has been reduced from its usual £299, to £21, click here to find out more.
Final Thoughts
Make no mistake, failing a job interview is a not a disaster. It happens, but not learning from the experience is a mistake. In this situation, what really drives me crazy, is that David knew he wasn’t good a building presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint and did nothing about it.
On a personal note, I’m not amazing at building and designing PowerPoint presentations and therefore I really enjoy the course. My biggest problem with power-point, I have the design skills of a donut and find it very difficult to put together a professional presentation.
I also knew very little about some of the core features including powerpoint designer, morph, the ability to work with my colleagues on one presentation at the same time, adding pictures and even adding youtube videos to my presentation.
Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 Beginner to Advanced
Nick Jones
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