Checking your Market Value and Keeping yourself sharp!

Recently I read an article over the way that one should use should ask for a raise.
The biggest problem is that we do not know our worth.
It is an essential element needed for your negotiation.

A good way to check your worth is via Internet tools which show statistical information from people who entered their salary, experience, sector in which they are working on and education level.
Another way, the one which I suggest to you since I think it keeps people sharp, is to quietly look for open jobs, similar to yours and have interviews. It shall give you a better idea of what you worth, it will increase your negotiation skills, it will expand your network and it will create 'open doors' in case things go wrong during your raise negotiations..

Also, you must be able to present the situation in case you would not be there.. In other words, what is the added value of having you at the position you are now and how do you make profit or add value to the department/company? Why should you get a raise? Why you and not somebody else?

Technical Interview / Technical Assessment

Technical interviews or technical assessments are interviews in which the candidate is tested for his skills and knowledge.
They are usually done by knowledgeable or very experienced employees to

• young graduates, whose universities are not well known
• engineers who are coming from other countries and they have different way or working techniques
• engineers who are trying to do a big career step or change

How to prepare for a technical assessment
The assessment might be done with one of the two following ways

1. Assessment on CV skills: in that case you have to review all skills mentioned at your CV and to be able to back them up during the interview. Review old projects and study notes.
2. Assessment based on a generic assignment that will be part of your future job: you have to carefully review the tasks and responsibilities which are written at the job description and based on those to get prepared accordingly. For example, if you have to do C# coding then you might get asked to design a simple program (depends on the job experience level) and if you have to design electronic systems for a specific industry then you might get asked to design something based on given requirements.

SKYPE interviews

Skype interviews are the preferred interviews for candidates who leave in other countries than the location of the employer. They are very popular as first interviews because they can save both time and money.

The fact that you are not getting outside your house it does not mean that you do not have to get dressed properly for an interview. The requiter asked you to have a Skype interview because he/she wants to see you. So make sure that you look presentable.

Do not forget that a Skype interview is supposed to be the same as a face-to-face interview. So all interview rules about body language, eye contact (try to look at the camera as much as possible, increase the distance between you and the camera if needed) apply here, too.

Make sure that your internet connection is working properly, including your hardware.
Make a test call a day before the interview at about the time of the interview. That will indicate you how the background looks, whether the lighting is enough and if there is any noise you sound take care of (if you leave with other people in the same house, notify them at about the time of the interview to be quite). It looks really bad when there are technical problems which you cannot solve fast and efficiently... especially when you are interviewed for an engineering job!

Tips: include your Skype address at your CV. If you do not want to give your personal Skype address, then make a new one with a neat naming and picture.

Nine Things Never to Say in a Job Interview | Monster.com

This is a re-post of Monster.com original post.

When you're searching for a job, landing an interview can feel like a huge success -- and it is, but for most open positions, the interview is only one step in a long hiring process. For some jobs, dozens of people may be interviewed, and the competition will be fierce. Don't take yourself out of the competition by saying one of these job-interview killers:

1. What sort of perks do you offer? 
Save talk about benefits and perks for the negotiation stage -- that is, after you've gotten a job offer -- or until the interviewer raises the issue. (A recruiter for a large computer manufacturer relates that many interviewees ask about "how many free products" they’ll get after they’re hired. But if you ask this question, you'll never get hired.)

2. What does your company do? 
Believe it or not, recruiters and hiring managers say they get asked this question all the time. Before you go into your job interview, research what the company does, and come up with some specific ways you can help it do whatever it does better.

3. My last boss was a real %$#*!
Complaining about your last job only reflects badly on you. Even if you're telling the truth, it makes you look like a complainer and poor sport (exactly the type of person no one wants to work with). It's great to talk about challenges you faced, but the focus should be on the positive results you achieved.

4. I love your glasses.
Never compliment interviewers on their physical appearance -- doing so can come off as inappropriate or just plain creepy. Paying compliments is fine, but they should be related to the professional realm. For instance, you might want to praise a recent success the company or interviewer has had.

5. My feet are killing me!
Complaining about physical discomfort will be perceived as negativity -- or as you making excuses for not performing well in the interview. (An HR manager in Silicon Valley tells of a candidate who complained of a headache caused by "partying too hard last night." Needless to say, this candidate didn't get the job.)

6. I got fired from my last position. 
You never want to lie in a job interview -- but there are more graceful ways to explain that you were fired. "My boss and I had very different ideas about what our department should be focusing on, and it soon became clear that I'd be happier in a new role -- like this one." Keep the focus on what you learned from the past, and bring the focus back to why the job you're interviewing for is the right one for you.

7. I just want a job -- any job! 
This may very well be true, but desperation is not appealing. The interviewer needs to know that you want the particular job you're interviewing for -- and that you're a great fit for it.

8. I don't know.
If you really don't know the answer to an interview question about you or your background, try "I'll find out and get back to you by the end of the day." But if the question is about what you'd do in a hypothetical workplace situation -- or is an off-the-wall or brainteaser question such as "How many golf balls would it take to fill this room?" -- your response should show your thought process. Go ahead and think aloud: "First, I'd have to determine the volume of the room. Then I'd have to subtract the volume of the furniture.…" And so on.

9. My biggest weakness is that I work too hard.
Your interviewer knows this answer is a bunch of malarkey. So how do you answer the "what's your biggest weakness" question? Choose something not directly related to the role you're applying for that you've made positive efforts to improve. For example, you could say, "I can be nervous about speaking in front of large groups -- so I enrolled in Toastmasters and then volunteered to present some seminars at my former employer. So that's becoming less and less of a problem for me."

Getting a job in English...

Globalization! Isn’t it great? That’s one of the reasons that people do not have to learn the local language before getting a job abroad. In the past, it was a must to know the local language, today it is an asset at your CV.

Most of the international companies are using English as the official communication language within the company. Doing so, there is no miscommunication among there branches located in other countries and easier to approach the international market.

Learning the local language is needed if you want to survive and to get a social life in the local community. Keep in mind that even though a company’s policy is to speak English in meetings and other cases, this is not valid during launch or coffee breaks.

Bottom line is:

-         include in your immediate plans (after getting a job) to learn the local language

-         during the job interview mention that you are going to start language lessons as soon as possible

-         ask your future employer if he is going to support you for having a language course, by paying for the lessons and/or being flexible with your working hours