I have a love-hate thing going on with Halloween. I love the idea of dressing up, playing someone else and finding a clever if not tastefully hot costume but most of the time costumes ends up being expensive, borderline stripper, or just unrecognizable. And let’s not forget the racist offensive costumes (boo).

My worst costume:
Age 9: Trying to be white Barbie with a plastic mask and my winter coat.
Best Costume:
Age 23:Going the Disney route and being Jasmin from Aladdin. It helped that my fiancé did look a lot like Aladdin.

Sadly, I’m not really proud of either of those costumes. Being Barbie clearly wasn’t working for the little brown nine year old that I was and Jasmin was nice and easy but felt too easy (I found the clothes and jewelry in my bedroom).

With the impending economic doom and stress at work I have decided to come up with a fool proof, cute and clever Halloween costume and have vowed not to spend more than two weeks thinking about it or planning it. I pull inspiration from some of the best, cheap and fun costumes I’ve seen in my year:

1. Pumpkin – My friend Peter bought a children’s extra large children’s size pumpkin costume. It was funny, obvious and easy to dance in. Tip: Never underestimate the children’s section of Target!
2. Twister Board Game – An old coworker sewed a Twister game board into a dress and carried around the spinner. She looked adorable and flirty. Tip: Inanimate objects are in!
3. Mummy – My cousin dressed up as a mummy and just wrapped and taped himself in toilet paper from head to toe. I didn’t know who he was the entire night. Tip: No need to spend the big bucks, give yourself the 99 cent store challenge!
4. Nerd – This was the best costume because it also gave my friend wearing it the opportunity to wear and play the part all night. Tip: Acting like your character gets more fun as you get  more tipsy.

What will you be this year?

~Mo

So you are finally done with school and ready to get paid… or you work long hours for little pay and want to step it up… or you love your career, but just want to poke around and see what else is out there. Whatever the case may be, the following paragraphs could be helpful to any SASSY woman that is interviewing for an internship, graduate program or career upgrade.

Each March I receive over 250 applications for a competitive summer internship at my organization. The summer internship attracts many passionate and over-achieving college students. This week alone I interviewed about twenty Ivy league-ers and the outcome was less than fierce (think Christian from Project Runway). These soon to be professionals touted 3.7 GPAs from Brown, resumes that listed references from the District Attorney’s Office, and their application essays were flawless. What they lacked was some serious interviewing prep. Come on everyone, we prep for the SATs, for prom, for the dentist (you know you floss double time a week before your appointment); it’s time to put in the A for effort when it comes to preparing for your next interview.

Step 1: Make the cover letter good.

I am really tired of skimming stock cover letters. The cover letter is a candidate’s chance to say, “Hey, pick me!” Instead, most letters have typos, are very vague, and are even geared towards unrelated careers. The best cover letter I’ve ever read was written by my boss. When she applied to be the new executive director, she got straight to the point. Her cover letter had bullet points, folks. Each bullet point had a clever little headline that showed the readers exactly what she wanted them to take away from what they were reading. She then broke down the bullet point with clear instances in her career that illustrated her point and then ended with a basic, “so now you know why I am the shiiit” closing paragraph. Sounds simple but you wouldn’t believe how many of us don’t do this. Point is: cover letters should be full of action statements that you can back up, they should be well written and most of all they should be specific to the job you are applying to. When job hunting you must accept that you will write several excellent cover letters without using cut and paste.

No Brainer Tip #1: As for resumes, all I can say is, “down with the ‘Objective: To gain entry level experience’ line.”

Step 2: Enter stage right with confidence.

Every September I help prepare 30 bright 8^th graders to enter and thrive in the top high schools across the country. Students write several drafts of their application essays, put together portfolios of their best work and most importantly, undergo mock interviews with school admissions teams. This interview practice has proven to be the cornerstone of our successful admissions acceptance rates. My students have been able to talk their way into full-ride scholarships, gain acceptances to schools that are outside of their given district/school zone and forge relationships with key admissions stakeholders. I realize that some of the lessons my students learn need to be taught to an older crowd too. It all starts with a solid hand shake. A good handshake is firm, strong and no shorter than two Mississippi’s, no longer that four Mississippi’s. The handshake should be coupled with direct eye contact and your most genuine smile. The handshake-eye-contact-grin is a winning combination that exudes confidence and warmth.

No Brainer Tip #2: Don’t try to get away with mismatched H&M gear for the interview. Go classic and invest in a well fitting dress suit.

Step 3: Reflect on your past experiences before the big day.

I recently read an article about the strong correlation between interview questions that asked candidates to reflect on past work experience and later employee success rate. The article prompted me to revamp all of my interview questions from the previous “What if” types to the “How did you react when” types. The difference was stark. Candidates spent more time thinking between questions, they often said “That’s a good question” and the answers offered true insight as to how people may act and perform in the future. Although all this was great, there were also several times candidates were just so caught off guard that they said nothing. They would ask me to rephrase the question and sit silently for more than 3 minutes. Shame, they were unprepared.

As more employers begin to use this experience based line of questioning, potential employees need to come ready! Reflect on your past professional experiences prior to your interview. When applying to business schools, my fiancé took this advice to the next level and created a list of commonly asked interview questions and wrote answers for each. Before his interviews he would review his answers and add additional questions post interviews. I am attaching his list of questions so you can check them out too.

No Brainer Tip #3: Try your best to use professional examples (like work, internships or school) when reflecting on your past experience. In a recent interview, one candidate kept using interactions with her best friend as examples of her character. I found this to be unprofessional and it didn’t help me assess what she is like in a work environment.

Step 4: Go out with a bang! (or, at least a couple questions)

Every interviewer will end with the same question, “Do you have any questions for me?” You should always have something to ask at this point, and it needs to be something that cannot be found on the website, or answered with a yes or no. This is really your chance to flip the script on your interviewer. The best questions I have been asked similarly force me to reflect on my experiences at the organization. You can also use these questions as a plug for any strengths you didn’t get to talk about in the interview. For example, “I really thrive in a collaborative environment. Can you tell me about the culture and the level of teamwork at this organization/company/school?” Point is: make sure your interviewer knows you have thought through why this place is right for you, and not just why you are right for them.

Well, that’s all folks. Follow the steps above and truly become fierce for that next interview.

-Mo

Manuel’s Pre-Interview Prep Questions

• Why do you want this degree/career/internship? Why now?

• What will you bring to X school/company?

• If you were admitted/hired, how do you think you would get involved in this community aside from work/class?

• Tell me about a time you led an individual at work. What style did you use?

• What motivates you? Where did you get it from?

• Tell me about a leadership experience that’s not in your essays.

• Tell me about a time when you led a team – one time at work, and another time outside of work

• Is there anything else you wish I had asked?

• Tell me about a time you failed, or a decision that you regret

• Tell me about a conflict you had to deal with

• Tell me about a conflict that wasn’t resolved the way you wanted

• What role do you typically play on a team?

• What do you think will be most difficult for you at XX school/company?

• What makes you unique?

• What makes you different from other candidates?

• Tell me about a professional setback, and how you dealt with the frustration

• What are your professional strengths and weaknesses?

• Tell me about your typical responsibilities at work

• Why don’t you walk me through your resume? Tell me about your career choices, and why you made them

• 20 years from now, what book would you write about yourself? What will the title be?

• How has your leadership style changed?

• What is your dream job?

• Which of your accomplishments is most special to you? Why?

• What is a common misperception of you?

• What decision would you change if you were in the past?

• What improvements do you need to make on your leadership style?

• How do you motivate others in XX organization/company?

• What book have you read most recently? Did you like it? Why?

• Who do you admire? Why?

• A CEO, aside from your employer, that you admire?

• Why have you been successful at XX job?