[pantlesspenguin]

Hey all. I'm a bit bummed right now. I got passed over for a promotion yet again. I work as a conference call facilitator & I had applied to be an assistant trainer. I have some experience in training & a Master's degree in Organizational Development that my company mostly paid for. I've been with this company for 4.5 years & I've applied for verious training & HR positions only to be passed over every time. Every time I hear the same thing - I don't have ENOUGH experience. How the heck can I gain more experience if I'm never given a chance????? I'm 30 years old, & I feel that my career opportunities are already becoming limited. I already volunteer for side projects to serve as resume boosters, but what more can I do? I have a feeling I don't interview very well, but I don't really know how I can improve on that, save for knowing the interview questions ahead of time & really giving thought out & detailed answers. I try to guess at some of the questions & I try to rehearse my answers out loud, as well. What else am I missing??? I don't know when the next opportunity will come around, but I feel I need to do SOMETHING in the meantime to try to give myself an edge.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[KillYouWithMyMind]

I feel for you man, I recently got passed up for a promotion at my job for some very stupid reasons but I'll spare you the story.

I don't really know what advice to give you except keep trying (if you're set on working for that company) or quit. If you're not valuable enough to the company to keep you happy in some respect, you should leave. I understand that's not the easiest thing to do but you gotta look out for #1 above all else.

Good luck with your future endeavours.

[_StephenBB81]

Break down what you do in an Interview

How do you Dress.
also how do you Dress as work, do you always present yourself well, trying to gain within a company can be hard because of your day to day look.

Don't over dress for day to day, but step it up, be noticed as a clean / presentable employee.

because you are trying to grow from the inside, you do have some small advantages. Bosses, or good bosses at least are either the first, to arrive, or last to leave every day, some both, you can become a recognised employee be early leave late, you don't need to be an hour early, just show up 5 minutes early and stay 5 minutes late.


During your interview, are you asking questions? or just answering questions. have you asked what they are looking for out of you?

I interview well, if I get an interview, I have always gotten the job.
I go in dressed well, shake hands firmly but not too strong, 2-3 good pumps that is it, make eye contact, and smile,
Sit up right, be engaged in the conversation, and don't look around the room too much, BUT be aware of pictures on desks, and apparent hobbies, if you can strike up a conversation about something you mutually share an interest in, that puts you ahead of your competition as being memorable.

Having all the answers isn't necessary, but being honest about what you know, and interested in finding out the answers that you don't, if you don't know something ASK.

I'm sure others will give some great pointers

[tennislvr8]

Hey all. I'm a bit bummed right now. I got passed over for a promotion yet again. I work as a conference call facilitator & I had applied to be an assistant trainer. I have some experience in training & a Master's degree in Organizational Development that my company mostly paid for. I've been with this company for 4.5 years & I've applied for verious training & HR positions only to be passed over every time. Every time I hear the same thing - I don't have ENOUGH experience. How the heck can I gain more experience if I'm never given a chance????? I'm 30 years old, & I feel that my career opportunities are already becoming limited. I already volunteer for side projects to serve as resume boosters, but what more can I do? I have a feeling I don't interview very well, but I don't really know how I can improve on that, save for knowing the interview questions ahead of time & really giving thought out & detailed answers. I try to guess at some of the questions & I try to rehearse my answers out loud, as well. What else am I missing??? I don't know when the next opportunity will come around, but I feel I need to do SOMETHING in the meantime to try to give myself an edge.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

One bit of advice. Perhaps practicing the potential questions ahead of time is not wise. When a person is nervous, as it sounds like you may be during interviews, you will revert back to the questions you practiced. They may not be the questions they are asking. Answers can also sound rehersed. The best thing to do is: review your experience, think of how what you have done can be described to show preparation for the job you want. Perhaps you can look for experience training adults outside of your organization: teach a class at a night school, teach at a community class--be creative.

Having said that, what is a conference call facilitator?

[pantlesspenguin]

Thanks so much for the replies so far.

Robot - I don't feel that leaving my company right now is an option. The job market is still weak, & my job is stable.

deRusset - I typically do everything you've outlined. We have a casual dress code, & I typically wear jeans & sweaters, whereas many people come to work in sweats. When I interview, I do professional dress. I arrive early to work every day & volunteer to stay late if there is a call to be covered that may run past my scheduled time to leave. I ask questions during interviews, usually stuff like what a typical day in that role would entail, why the position is open, etc. I do all the things a good interviewee does in terms of mannerisms - eye contact, smile, firm handshake, no fidgeting, etc.

For what it's worth, my current supervisors love me. I'm an exceptional employee. I volunteer for overtime when needed, I rarely make mistakes - and when I do my supervisors always come to me & ask if everything's ok. I'm very reliable in my work, & when that starts to slip even a little bit they take notice.

Envied - The answers I rehearse mostly deal w/ my past experience. I've done a lot of side-project training & I try to remember every single detail of those projects even though some of them were done a few years ago. I can see how I can over-rehearse that. Perhaps it sounds like I'm reading off a list instead of being more conversational about it & letting them ask me more questions. I like your suggestion about teaching classes. I'd love to teach seminars, too. I did teach a class when I was a senior in college, but that's been several years ago now. It would be a good idea to brush up on my classroom teaching. Thanks for that.

Have you ever called in to hear a company's earnings release conference? You hear someone kick off the call w/ something like "Welcome to today's Company X 3rd Quarter 2009 Earnings conference. Today's call is being recorded, and a playback will be available. At this time I would like to turn the call over to John Doe for opening remarks and introductions. Mr. Doe, please go ahead." That's what I do. Our clients call in, tell us how they want their calls run, & I typically do the recordings, opening, & handling the question & answer session. We do several types of conference calls, but earnings releases & software training sessions are our most common.

[ShiPanda]

Hey all. I'm a bit bummed right now. I got passed over for a promotion yet again. I work as a conference call facilitator & I had applied to be an assistant trainer. I have some experience in training & a Master's degree in Organizational Development that my company mostly paid for. I've been with this company for 4.5 years & I've applied for verious training & HR positions only to be passed over every time. Every time I hear the same thing - I don't have ENOUGH experience. How the heck can I gain more experience if I'm never given a chance????? I'm 30 years old, & I feel that my career opportunities are already becoming limited. I already volunteer for side projects to serve as resume boosters, but what more can I do? I have a feeling I don't interview very well, but I don't really know how I can improve on that, save for knowing the interview questions ahead of time & really giving thought out & detailed answers. I try to guess at some of the questions & I try to rehearse my answers out loud, as well. What else am I missing??? I don't know when the next opportunity will come around, but I feel I need to do SOMETHING in the meantime to try to give myself an edge.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

OMG! I LOVE your screen name! lol