For some reason (and we all have different questions that might trigger a nervous reaction) he found it difficult to answer. First of all,  the question likely has more to do with a situation at the company, perhaps with a staff member in the very division to which you've applied, and less likely anything to do with you. Truly unlikely that they have already noted that you got your back up about a critical remark (and if you did, there's an issue for you to dispense with before it stumps your career growth completely). It's probable that one of their staff won't accept suggestions with grace and good humour.

And secondly, an honest response is the best. That's why canned answers sourced from a "100 Answers to Typical Interview Questions" type of book won't work as well as an honest and authentic response.

If you actually ask for feedback on a regular basis, say so. If you embrace the chance to serve clients better, or deliver services more effectively and thus like to hear honest appraisals, say so. And if you don't mind it, and listen politely to evaluate in private, say so. It's not the answer in particular that's going to make Candidate A better than Candidate B, it's simply about answering the question with honesty. (Of course if you get your back up you are advised to get help in conquering this reaction.)

And don't go on and on, justifying, explaning, twisting and turning and piquing the interview team's collective "liar meter" antenna! A short and sweet honest answer is all that's needed. It's just a simple question.

As my husband put it "Let's go get the process started."

Thankfully we have 90 days to make this change as we both have to get additional documents from Ontario. Apparently an existing license, birth certificate, etc. are not adequate! Well, I understand the need for verification and security and will happily comply.

But it leads me to think of documentation when writing a resume. Some folks approach the gathering of information with a less-than-dedicated zeal. I don't get that - jobs impact one's earnings, happiness, satisfaction ... why wouldn't you put less than full-out effort into gathering all the related info that you possibly can?

What documents do you need? Glad you asked, and here are a few:

• although I wouldn't want you to copy your Position Description, it's a great document to have on hand to provide you with language and jog your memory. We soon forget what we did in our previous job and likely have days where we barely remember what the heck we're supposed to be doing today!
• it's really helpful to have Performance Evaluations on hand. These often have great detail of that special project you contributed to two years ago, the team effort you volunteered for last year, and the goals you had for this year.
• emails of thanks and congratulations are valuable. Knowing what others thought of your work validates your abilities. If you don't have any, start keeping these.
• a brag file, me file, or accomplishment file belongs in each person's career management tool-kit. Along with all the above, it could keep your own notes on those special projects, ad-hoc opportunities, committee work, courses and workshops - all kinds of goodies!

Now that you know what's needed, start collecting! New Leaf Resumes is ready and eager to write strategic, interview-generating resumes. If you would rather delegate the writing of your resume to an expert, send me an email (newleafresumes@gmail.com) or pick up the phone and call (855-550-5627 toll free). Working to your career success, Stephanie

"Pressure is mounting on Yahoo Inc.'s YHOO -1.62% board after revelations that the Internet company's recently hired chief executive's academic record was misstated."

So begins a May 5th, 2012 article from The Wall Street Journal headlined "Resume Trips Up New Yahoo Chief." Its topic, of a discrepancy between the CEO's actual academic record and the one cited in his resume, begs the question "Is it ever okay to lie on your resume?"

My unequivocal answer, with no possible "ifs," and not even one "but," is a resounding and firm NO.

I have had the odd client whose resume contained a half-truth, for example, a cited degree that the client admitted was incomplete. Some had three years out of four complete, but others had just a course or two towards the degree. As soon as something like this comes to light, I amend it to reflect the actual, not the fantasy version.

And, I had one client who had been fired and who insisted that she must lie in interviews to land her next job. Try as I might, I could not get her to change her mind. I shared my own story of being fired (not for cause) from a job, and going on to land the best job I had ever held - and one I held for the longest of any job I've ever had, a full seven years. Being fired turned into good luck - more pay, great benefits and the best of all - I met my husband of 12 years at that job!

There are strategies to overcome these "perceived obstacles." Do the strategies work 100% of the time? No - who could claim that anything works without fail in all circumstances? An impossibility. But these strategies have a good success rate, and are much better than lying.

And much, much better than having to suffer the scrutiny of the fellow above, whose resume claims he has a degree in computer technology when his university says they didn't even have that degree back then. Ouch.

There are certainly barriers to employment, but there are also many people with perceived barriers who work. Older folk, those who have been in jail, those without high school education and those whose childhood was so dismal that many would have given up hope and relied on welfare or handouts.

Why does one person work, and the other not, even when both can claim identical "barriers"?

I agree with other responders who have cited "self-imposed limitations" as the biggest obstacle. Someone once said something to the effect of "If you think you can't, you won't, and if you think you can, you will." 

Sonny Bono of Sonny and Cher admitted that he was not "qualified" to be a song writer, or a successful businessman, nor a mayor, and yet he performed all three with great acclaim. 

Just yesterday I watched a video that brought tears to my eyes of a young fellow without limbs who hasn't allowed that disability to disable his approach to living. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOlTdkYXuzE) Our own minds can be our worst enemies if we allow a negative, limiting, self-deprecating internal dialogue to flourish.

How do we as career practitioners help people overcome perceived barriers? Some are beyond our means to help and would benefit from therapy or counselling, but many  benefit from seeing their resume transformed from a ho-hum generic document, to one that reveals the actual, the authentic, the on-the-job value they brought to past employers.

I can honestly say that the comment I enjoy hearing the most from my clients is along the lines of "I had to read my new resume twice, but yes, I did those things and I have so much more confidence now. Thank you so much." Sweet words that sustain me when my days are long!

The trained writer in me knows that using a statement that shares an objective begins on the wrong note. Why? Simply because if you fill out that Objective Statement into a sentence, you would say "My objective is..." and as you've likely heard, it's not about you, it's about what you offer that the employer needs. Significant, if subtle distinction. (The trained writer in me knows that your resume must answer the "what's in it for me" marketing mantra.)

Allow me to clarify - do you need an objective? Yes, of course - you need to know your objective. Without a goal, you don't know where you're going and you won't likely get there! You need to have an end goal in mind.

But your resume's goal is to land an interview and its focus is on proving that yes, you can do a specific job.

A focused, targeted, highly specific resume lands more interviews, far more interviews, than a wishy-washy, non-specific, "I can do anything" sort of resume. You know you can't do "everything," and so does the recruiter. The recruiter is trained to look for resumes that fit a specific profile for a specific job with specific skills, knowledge, training, personal attributes etc.

How, you ask, do you write such a resume?

Rather than beginning your resume with an objective, begin it with a headline, i.e. the job title applied to. And now, with each line you type, make sure that its content is in some way proving you have the skills, knowledge and personal attributes needed in that role. Simple, yes; easy, not always. Takes training to do. And yes, you can train yourself with lots of self-study, or many courses. Not your cup of tea? That's where I come in! This is my cup of tea and I love what I do. Call me when you're serious about making a change. Working to your career success, Stephanie

I always use strategy when writing resumes, otherwise I am not confident of its effectiveness in attracting attention. Can I explain the use of strategy easily? No. But, I can provide an example!

A potential client came to me today, asking for help with a resume geared to acceptance into a post-graduate HR Management course. (Community colleges don't always accept an unlimited number of course applicants; they pick and choose according to specific criteria.)

This applicant's existing resume was pretty standard. A summary of qualifications that listed mainly soft skills, which are not terribly effective, and a list of typical job-related bullets. "Practiced costumer (sic) service skills by greeting, seating and serving guests," "Maintained cleanliness of a restaurant environment." But how would these statements prove she will be effective in HR? Why would the college consider this applicant?

I suggested that this applicant must revamp her resume to focus on skills related to a typical HR role. Some of these would be a healthy respect for policies and procedures, for managing people-related issues, for interpreting policies and figuring out how to apply them in unusual situation. Other related info could include working in (and thus familiarity with) a unionized environment, conducting training in Point of Sale or other technology as well as in workplace expectations.

That's how you apply strategy to a resume's content. Now, if she wanted to run a restaurant, then yes, she could talk about serving guests.

How about you? Are you struggling with how to align your resume with your dream job's requirements? New Leaf Resume is available to help. Working to your career success, Stephanie

One of her HR colleagues admitted that she didn't always follow hiring protocols. Yes, she posts a job opening, but if she is pressed for time, she calls her industry contacts to see if they have someone good to recommend. Apparently she cannot find the time to review 200 resumes, most of which are tedious to read, and few of which excite her HR perspective! Anyways, one of these forwarded the resume of a candidate who had interviewed for a recent job opening, and although he ultimately lost out to a competitor with more qualifications, he had impressed her so much - with excellent interview skills and great relationship building skills - that she wanted to help him.

You see, it seems that after the interview, and even finding out that he was second choice, he stayed in touch. He sent a "thank you for a great interview, please keep me in mind and please feel free to share my resume with colleagues" email, to which he subsequently added another email with an industry related article and his thoughts on the article ... leaving a very fine impression, a growing reputation for someone who is passionate, engaged and serious about his chosen career.

Once you've established rapport, use it to your advantage! By the way, if you need one of those perception-enhancing, obstacle-busting resumes, give me a call. I love my work. :-) Stephanie

I may indeed be a devoted and enthusiastic resume writer, but tech-savvy? Not at all.

If you're visiting, tell me what you think of this style. Maybe I'll just keep it. :-) Thanks all!

This digital approach may never impact the majority of job seekers, but the key message here is that employers want you to provide them with insight into you as a person!

Now, I've always maintained that the resume and cover letter should reveal a person's personality, passion and purpose. Employers are not simply hiring skills. No, they are also hiring abiding interest that leads to a desire to expend energy. And, they know it's also important to hire someone who fits in with the existing team. Because I know this, I have injected a fair amount of personality into my clients' self-marketing documents.

Here are a few phrases that demonstrate how to add some flair. Note that each one "fits" a particular client's character and communication style.

"My colleagues have remarked that I am easy to get along with, which is great because as a coordinator I interact with seven divisions pretty much daily. I know they mean what they say as I see people smiling as they see me coming!"

"I am known for meticulous attention to detail, a trait that isn't always appreciated by those who are requested to address a lack of detail; however, this skill, applied with purpose and supported with growing credentials, led to my quick career progression to the executive level."

"A bundle of energy, I am also a self-described 'Queen of Communication'! All about clear, honest, and straightforward messaging, this talent has been the key element, I believe, in my consistently reaching top sales numbers, leaving each month's set quota behind in my wake!"

Don't be afraid to be yourself! Own your style, talents, skills and accomplishments. State them in a unique-to-you language and see what happens ... give the employer what he or she wants: the ability to see who you are as a person.

Seven Truths About You
By Brian Tracy and Christina Tracy Stein,
Authors of Kiss That Frog: 12 Great Ways to Turn Negatives into Positives in Your Life and Work

Your natural state is to be happy, peaceful, joyous, and full of excitement at being alive. In this natural state you wake up each morning eager to start the day. You feel wonderful about yourself and your relationships with the people in your life. You enjoy your work and derive a great sense of satisfaction from making a contribution that makes a difference. Your primary goal should be to organize your life in such a way that this is how you feel most of the time.

As a fully functioning, fully mature adult, you should be doing things every day that move you toward the fulfillment of your potential. You should feel grateful for all your blessings in every area. If you are unhappy or dissatisfied in any part of your life, something is not right in your thoughts, feelings, or actions, and it needs to be corrected.

The starting point in unlocking your full potential is to realize that you already are a prince or princess, deep down inside.

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. -- Abraham Lincoln

No matter where you are today, or what you have done or not done in the past, you need to accept seven essential truths about you as a person:

1. You are a thoroughly good and excellent person; valuable and worthwhile beyond measure. No one is better than you or more gifted than you.

Only when you doubt your essential goodness and value do you begin to question yourself. The inability to accept that you are a good person lies at the root of much of your discontent.

2. You are important, in many, many ways. To start with, you are important to yourself. Your personal universe revolves around you as an individual. You give meaning to everything that you see or hear. Nothing in your world has any significance except for the significance that you attribute to it.

You are also important to your parents. Your birth was a significant moment in their lives, and as you grew up, almost everything you did was meaningful to them.

You are important to your own family, to your partner or spouse, your children, and the other members of your social circle. Some of the things you do or say have an enormous impact on them.

You are important to your company, your customers, your coworkers, and your community. The things you do or don't do can have a tremendous effect on the lives and work of others.

How important you feel largely determines the quality of your life. Happy, successful people feel important and valuable. Because they feel and act this way, it becomes true for them.

Unhappy, frustrated people feel unimportant and of little value. They feel frustrated and unworthy. They feel "I'm not good enough," and as a result they lash out at the world and engage in behaviors that hurt themselves and others.

They don't realize that they could be a prince or princess inside.

3. You have unlimited potential and the ability to create your life and your world as you desire. You could not use your entire potential if you lived one hundred lifetimes.

No matter what you have accomplished up to now, it is merely a hint of what is truly possible for you. And the more of your natural talents and abilities you develop in the present, the more of your potential you can develop in the future.

Your belief in your almost unlimited potential is the key to becoming everything you are truly capable of becoming.

4. You create your world in every respect by the way you think and the depth of your convictions. Your beliefs actually create your realities, and every belief you have about yourself you learned, starting in infancy. The amazing thing is that most of the negative or self-limiting beliefs and doubts that interfere with your happiness and success are not based on fact or reality at all.

When you begin to question your self-limiting beliefs and develop beliefs consistent with the incredible person you really are, your life will begin to change almost immediately.

5. You are always free to choose the content of your thoughts and the direction of your life. The one thing over which you have complete control is your inner life and your thinking. You can decide to think happy, fulfilling, uplifting thoughts that lead to positive actions and results. Or you can, by default, end up choosing negative, selflimiting thoughts that trip you up and hold you back.

Your mind is like a garden: if you do not deliberately cultivate flowers, weeds will grow automatically without any effort on your part. If you do not deliberately plant and cultivate positive thoughts, negative thoughts will grow in their place.

This simple metaphor about the garden explains why so many people are unhappy and don't know why.

6. You are put on this earth with a great destiny: you are meant to do something wonderful with your life. You have a unique combination of talents, abilities, ideas, insights, and experiences that make you different from anyone who has ever lived. You are designed for success and engineered for greatness.

Your acceptance or nonacceptance of this point largely determines the size of the goals you set, your power of persistence in the face of adversity, the height of your achievements, and the whole direction of your life.

7. There are no limits to what you can do, be, or have except the limits you place on your own thinking and your own imagination. The biggest enemies you will ever face are your own doubts and fears. These are usually negative beliefs, not necessarily based on fact, that you have accepted over the years until you no longer question them.

As Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest, "What's past is prologue." Everything that has happened to you in the past has been a preparation for the wonderful life that lies ahead of you in the future.

Remember the rule: It doesn't matter where you're coming from; all that really matters is where you're going.

The above is an excerpt from the book Kiss That Frog: 12 Great Ways to Turn Negatives into Positives in Your Life and Work by Brian Tracy and Christina Tracy Stein. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Re-printed from the book "Kiss That Frog!" with the permission of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2012 www.bkconnection.com

Author Bios
Brian Tracy, co-author of Kiss That Frog: 12 Great Ways to Turn Negatives into Positives in Your Life and Work, is chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International. As a keynote speaker and seminar leader, he addresses more than 250,000 people each year. He is the bestselling author of more than fifty books that have been translated into dozens of languages.

Christina Tracy Stein, co-author of Kiss That Frog: 12 Great Ways to Turn Negatives into Positives in Your Life and Work, is a psychotherapist in private practice. She collaborates with her clients to help them create more fulfilling relationships, develop ways to handle stress and anxiety, and find greater enjoyment and satisfaction in their lives. She also works as a personal and professional development coach where she more directly facilitates her clients' growth.