Careers Answering standard questions in an interview; some more wise career advice; and our book review

Ask PQ’s agony aunt Karen Young when you need expert advice. Email your dilemma to graham@pqmagazine.com, and he will pass on the best ones to Karen

THE QUESTION The Christmas break led me to realise that I want to invest more into my professional development. Do you have any suggestions for how I can progress my career outside of my day job?

KAREN’S RESPONSE There’s more to professional development than what your organisation offers. Online learning of every description is exploding right now and, as a result, there is no excuse for you not to continue to learn, grow, and hone your skills to help you prepare for your next job. That said, you shouldn’t ignore the immense benefits that both old-school organic networking and online networking can have on your career progression.

Have a look at some professional finance organisations or groups that you can join. You can then stay up-to-date with conversations that the members are having and what journals are being published. Signing up to LinkedIn groups can also allow you to join in with these conversations.

You may take this networking a step further and look to take on a leadership role on a committee or for a local organisation, to showcase the skills you use both inside and outside of your day job. You could also use this role as a tool to target your professional association to raise your visibility among colleagues and those you are in contact with on LinkedIn – so network whenever you can! • Karen Young is a director at Hays. She is passionate about helping people to find the right job, and companies to find the right person

Interview question time

You know they are coming, so why aren’t you ready for them? Here are some of the common ones and ideas about what to reply…

Q: Tell me about yourself. The interviewer wants to hear a short summary of your qualifications, career history and skills, in particular what you will bring to the new role. Q: Why are you looking to leave your current position? Be careful not to be negative. Try to focus on the positive reasons, such as a new challenge with more responsibility, or the need for change if you have been in your current role for a long time. Q: What do you enjoy about your current job? Try to focus on things that will be part of the job for which you are applying. Make your interests sound varied and diverse. Q: What have been your achievements so far? Think about recent work achievements, for example projects you have been involved in, what the results were, how they impacted on the business, etc. Q: What are your strengths? A common question, so prepare your answer. Think about three or four of your main strengths and how they would benefit your new employer. Examples include technical proficiency, flexible and positive attitude. You may also be asked about weaknesses; everyone has some. A weakness is not always negative. Try to briefly explain what you do to overcome it.

In brief

Pap Typeface matters

Good design can bring real benefits to a business by helping it communicate more effectively. The font you use on your CV is equally as important. There are thousands of fonts to choose from; however two – Times New Roman and Arial – are the still the go-to fonts for students looking to give their CV a professional polish. In a recent survey Times New Roman was voted the ‘most trustworthy’ font (36%), followed by Arial (26%). A whopping 88.5% of those surveyed believe that prospective employers pay attention to the fonts used on CVs, hence the use of Times New Roman – although many said it was ‘serious but bland’.

Pap Video calls are bad!

They may have kept many businesses afloat during the pandemic, but video calls have been bad for our wellbeing, says an international study. The researchers found that video calls and messaging apps had

an adverse effect on mental health as people were unable to meet in person – and this was particularly the case for younger people. Dr Matha Newson said: “We don’t groom each other anymore but we laugh and we joke and we hug. While we try to do these things online, nothing trumps face-to-face contact.”

Pap Back to the office

Employers can reject claims that a fear of catching coronavirus allows staff to refuse to return to work, using the philosophical belief argument. In a recent case an employment law judge ruled that health and safety concerns do not qualify under equality legislation as a ‘belief,’ and therefore workers can be docked pay if they refuse requests to return to their workplace. The ruling is likely to give bosses more confidence when encouraging staff back to the office in the coming months.

The PQ Book Club: books you should read

Provoke: How leaders shape the future by overcoming fatal human flaws, by Geoff Tuff and Steven Goldbach (Wiley £21.99) This book is about looking forward and working through the natural human instincts that keep people frozen in place. It is about gathering the will to act in the face of deepening uncertainty – and to do something!

Both authors work at Deloitte, and while they look at how executives take action in the corporate world, we really loved the profiles of provocateurs (part 3). One comes from the world of non-profits, one from the civic sector, and one from the public and private finance sector. There is a connective thread that binds them – all three stories revolve around the world’s continuing mandate to build organisations and societies that are more diverse, equitable and inclusive and that, says Tuff and Goldbach, enablse more positive human connections.

After all the serious stuff the authors also stress the ‘importance of fun’ in business. There is an awful lot of seriousness out there and, in their opinion not enough levity. Almost all companies have a reputation to uphold, and take themselves at least a little too seriously. Of course, many are doing (very) important work. But they stress there is no law that says that doing important work has to be done by people who aren’t having fun doing it or that the work can’t be made to be more fun in some way. When was the last time you smiled at work? PQ rating: 4/5 We liked being provoked!