After reading last week's post, you asked people you used your network, joined a professional organization and used new technologies to land a job interview (my, you work fast). This means that your work is done. You already did the hard part right? 
Wrong. Whatever you do, please don't be one of those people who confuse a job interview with a job offer. Landing an interview is only half the battle. There is still a lot of work that needs to get done. So what can you do to better prepare yourself for the all important interview?
Research
Hopefully you did some of this before you even applied but if you're like some other job seekers who can't even remember where the sent their résumé, but either way it's important that you do some more digging. The best way to prepare for an interview is to learn more about the company
The first place you might want to start at is the company's website. Take time to check out their mission statement and press releases in their press room. Knowing the company's most recent news and goals will help you better communicate how your skills fit in with the company.
But the company website isn't the only place to go to get information about a company. Hoover's Online provides information on annual sales, number of employees and competitors for thousands of companies. You can also check out trade journals, industry directories, and of course, Google the company to see if there is anything you might have missed. Researching the organization will help you not only learn about the company's missions and goals, but it will also help you gauge how well you would fit in with the organization. It also comes in handy when it comes time to answering and asking interview questions.
Anticipate
A great way to prepare for your interview is to not only be able to anticipate some possible questions, but also some answers. JobInterviewQuestions.com has a huge bank of not only the different type of interviews there are, but also the types of questions that are typically asked during each of them. It also deciphers what the interviewer is really asking.
It's great to have an idea of how you plan to answer a few questions, but don't regurgitate an answer like a robot. Listen to what they are asking you and be conversational. When interviewers ask questions, they're looking for more than just an answer to that particular question, your response can help them gauge a lot more about you than your biggest weakness (speaking of which, PLEASE don't answer that question with "I'm a perfectionist" unless it truly is your biggest set back. Be honest and finish up with what you're doing to fix that problem, it's much more genuine and shows that you not only know your downfalls but that you're also a problem solver.)
Question
That moment toward the end of the interview when you're asked "Do you have any questions for me?" is your time to shine. Asking questions about the company is the best way to show interest. It can also be the most difficult part of the interview. If you aren't good at coming up with well thought out questions on the fly, write some down.
Try some of these:
- What is the first task the person hired must attend to?
- Are there any opportunities for professional growth? (Classes, additional training, promotions, etc)
- What happened to the person who previously held this position? (Tells you more about job expectations)
- What are the some of the day-to-day tasks involved?
- What are the company's 5-year sales and profit projections?
These are just a few of the many questions you can ask the interviewer and their answers my spark some more question for you to ask. Even is the interview doesn't result in a job offer, you can use it as on opportunity to hone your skills. After all, every experience is a learning experience.
Before we part ways for the holiday, we have one last bit of interview advice for you...
DON'T BE LIKE THESE GUYS! (length 3:49)
Happy Thanksgiving from DataCraft!
305,701,541
6.5
1,987,060
Do those numbers mean anything to you? Probably not when you see them standing alone, but put them into context and meaning starts to take shape. 305,701,541 is the United States population. 6.5 is the percentage of Americans who are unemployed. 1,987,060 is the actual number of people who are without jobs. With those staggering numbers, it's easy to see why finding a job is harder than ever before. Sometimes finding a job can become a full time job itself. But don't let the numbers get you down. It doesn't mean that you won't be able to find a job; it just means that you'll have to become more aggressive in your search.
Here are just a few tips on how you can modify your job search to help you stay above the competition:
Use your network. Expand your job search past the newspaper. Don't be afraid to let people know that you are look for a job. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most job opening go unadvertised and are filled up through a series of professional or personal connections. Don't be afraid to let people know that you are looking for a job. It's important that you stay connected with the people you meet along the way. It might be time consuming but you never know when it could really pay off. (Please recognize that networking is much more than staying connected with other for your own personal or professional gain, it's about creating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships, but will discuss that more in a later post.)
Join a professional organization. Joining a professional organization in an industry you're interested in can really help improve your job search. Not only is it a way to get to your name out there and get to know people, but most professional organizations have listings of the latest job openings and information to keep you up to date about what's happening within the industry. Keep in contact with people in the industry even
Last but DEFINITELY not least: Don't be afraid of technology. There are a lot of great places on the web to go when you're looking for a job. Job search engines like Monster and Career Builder are good places to start, but they're just the tip of the iceberg. Go directly to company websites. Even if they don't have any job openings posted, there is usually a wealth of information about the company and contact information. Don't be afraid to join social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or event creating or posting on blogs. Marketing Strategist David Meerman Scott of Web Ink Now makes a good point:
"When looking at candidates for a job, which do you think gets more attention from board members: A resume? Or a well-written blog, or ebook?"
Publishing posts or commenting on other blogs will give employers more insight into not only your job skills, but who you are as a person. Just remember that what you post on the web is out there for everyone including potential employers- to see.
The job market is changing and your job search should follow suit.
In our quest to help you perform your business evaluation better, Datacraft has another installment of our accounting basics. 
This time around we're going to focus on the "Basic Accounting Equation". It's a simple equation that is easy to use and important to understand
Basic Accounting Equation
Here's what it looks like:
Assets = Liabilities + Equity
(Owned) = (Owed) + (Net worth)
The accounting equation helps you to better understand how your assets were financed. It shows whether the assets were financed by borrowing money (liabilities) or contributed by the company (equity).
Here's a quick and easy example:
Daisy May decides that she wants to start up her own company called May, Inc.
Transaction 1: Daisy May invests $10,000 into Daisy May Inc. :
| Transaction |
Assets
(owned) |
= |
Liabilities
(owed) |
+ |
Owner's Equity
(net worth) |
| 1 |
$10,000 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
$10,000 |
| Total |
$10,000 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
$10,000 |
Daisy invested $10,000 of her own money into May, Inc., this transaction only effects the assets and equity because Daisy invested her own money to start the company. Since she didn't rely on a lender, May, Inc.'s liability remains at "0"
Transaction 2: Daisy withdrawals $150 from business accounts to pay for supplies:
| Transaction |
Assets
(owned) |
= |
Liabilities
(owed) |
+ |
Owner's Equity
(net worth) |
| 1 |
$10,000 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
$10,000 |
| 2 |
-$150 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
-$150 |
| Total |
$9,850 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
$9,850 |
Daisy used May Inc.'s money to order business supplies. Again, because she did not borrow from a lender the liability remains at "0" while both the equity and assets are affected.
Transaction 3: May Inc. borrows $3,000 from the bank to help pay for new computers:
| Transaction |
Assets
(owned) |
= |
Liabilities
(owed) |
+ |
Owner's Equity
(net worth) |
| 1 |
$10,000 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
$10,000 |
| 2 |
-$150 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
-$150 |
| 3 |
$3,000 |
= |
$3,000 |
+ |
$0 |
| Total |
$12,850 |
= |
$3,000 |
+ |
$9,850 |
This time, liabilities were affected because she is borrowing from a lender. The $3,000 given to May, Inc. is liability because the company doesn't own that money and has to pay it back to its lenders.
Transaction 4: May, Inc. sells $545 worth of goods to a customer:
| Transaction |
Assets
(owned) |
= |
Liabilities
(owed) |
+ |
Owner's Equity
(net worth) |
| 1 |
$10,000 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
$10,000 |
| 2 |
-$150 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
-$150 |
| 3 |
$3,000 |
= |
$3,000 |
+ |
$0 |
| 4 |
$545 |
= |
$0 |
+ |
$545 |
| Total |
$13,395 |
= |
$3,000 |
+ |
$10,395 |
Assets and equity were effected this time because May, Inc. sold goods to a customer. Once again, liabilities were not affected because the money coming in was not from a lender.
We could go on all day but we're pretty sure that you have the hang of it
May, Inc.'s assets equal $13,395 and there are two places where that money came from; liabilities and equity. May, Inc. has $3,000 in liabilities, which is the money borrowed from the bank (also considered the lenders money), and $10,395 that the company contributed through either investments made by Daisy or by selling goods.
Even though this is a fairly simple example, it can be put to practice for any business no matter how large or small.
We promised it would be easy didn't we? That's why they named it the Basic Accounting Equation.
