Dear Coach,

How do I find a career I am passionate about?

-Stephen in Victoria

Hi Stephen,

Congratulations, for someone starting a career, you are asking the right question. As the saying goes: Follow your passion and the money will follow. You feel passionate about what you do when it satisfies your beliefs and values. So, to find a career that you feel passionately about, you need to make an inventory of these. If you are not sure what your beliefs and values are there are resources available on my website (see the address at the end of this column.)

Dear Coach,

How many versions of my résumé should I have?

– Brenda in Toronto

Brenda,

If you are serious about getting an interview, tailor your résumé to fit each job. Even if you are applying for only one type of job, every position has a slightly different set of skills and experience requirements. This is why looking closely at job requirements is critical to your success. Write down the requirements and compare the list to your résumé. Do you meet all the criteria? If not, see if you can demonstrate how your work experience and strengths meet the requirements. After all,this is what the recruiter is going to do when your résumé lands on his or her desk. If you don’t satisfy every requirement, chances are your résumé will end up in a place you don’t want it to go. Good luck!

Dear Coach,

Why do some employers ask strange questions during
interviews? How should I handle them?

-Grace in Winnipeg

Hi Grace,

Employers ask questions for a number of reasons – sometimes they are based on uncovering your personality, other times it is to see how you behave under pressure. You have the option of declining to answer any question you deem to be too personal or invasive.

Unethical employers may ask questions that are inappropriate and violate your privacy. Questions like that should make you consider whether you even want to work for that employer. But when it comes to questions that are just plain tricky, the best thing is to be as genuine as possible.

Consider the question carefully and if you need a few moments to think, then don’t be afraid to ask for more time. Even that is a response, because it shows you are taking the question seriously. And it gives you a bit of breathing room, as well as telling the employer that you say what you think and you are honest.

After all, that might have been the whole point of the question – to see whether you react honestly when put on the spot.

(Ed: It’s important to distinguish here between inappropriate questions and behavioural questions, which are questions interviewers ask in order to find out how you handle a given
situation. For more on how to handle behavioural questions, see our Say what? monthly feature.)