5 Questions You Should Never Ask in a Job Interview

Could these words be costing you your dream job?

By Catherine Conlan, Monster Contributing Writer

Hiring managers and HR pros will often close out a job interview by asking an applicant if he or she has any questions themselves. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the job and the company's expectations, but you can't forget that the interviewer hasn't stopped judging YOU. Here are 5 questions that can make a bad impression on your interviewer, scuttling your chances for getting the job.

1. "When will I be promoted?:This is one of the most common questions that applicants come up with, and it should be avoided, says Rebecca Woods, Vice President of Human Resources at Doherty Employer Services in Minneapolis. "It's inappropriate because it puts the cart before the horse."  Instead of asking when the promotion will occur, Woods says a better approach is to ask what you would need to do to get a promotion.

2. "What's the salary for this position?"Asking about salary and benefits in the first interview "always turns me off," says Norma Beasant, founder of Talento Human Resources Consulting and an HR consultant at the University of Minnesota. "I'm always disappointed when they ask this, especially in the first interview." Beasant says the first interview is more about selling yourself to the interviewer, and that questions about salary and benefits should really wait until a later interview.

3. "When can I expect a raise?"Talking about compensation can be difficult, but asking about raises is not the way to go about it, Woods says. So many companies have frozen salaries and raises that it makes more sense to ask about the process to follow or what can be done to work up to higher compensation level. Talking about "expecting" a raise, Woods says, "shows a person is out of touch with reality."

4. "What sort of flextime options do you have?"This kind of question can make it sound like you're interested in getting out of the office as much as possible. "When I hear this question, I'm wondering, are you interested in the job?" Beasant says. Many companies have many options for scheduling, but asking about it in the first interview is "not appropriate," Beasant says.

5. Any question that shows you haven't been listening. Woods said she interviewed an applicant for a position that was 60 miles from the person's home. Woods told the applicant that the company was flexible about many things, but it did not offer telecommuting. "At the end of the interview, she asked if she would be able to work from home," Woods says. "Was she even listening? So some 'bad questions' can be more situational to the interview itself."

With the economy the way it is, employers are much more choosy and picky, Beasant says. Knowing the questions to avoid in an interview can help you stand out -- in a good way.

Kate's Key to Managing Time

8 Tips to Increase Rent for New and Renewed Leases

Originally Presented by Kate Good
8/25/2011

Our friends at Vaultware have been tracking rents and report that rents are increasing in each region of the country when compared to rates last year. It seems everyone is doing it! Are you raising rents? Don't let your apartment community get left behind and leave money on the table. Here are 8 tips to help you increase rents. (Click on this link for the Vaultware Rent Increase Study http://kategoodblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/vaultware-says-raise-rentseveryone-is.html)

1. Set yourself up for success. You can't pull a rent increase out of thin air because people are going to want to know why rent is increasing when it seems the country is still in an economic crisis. In this email you will see charts tracking rent increases across our country. The apartment industry is recovering faster than other sectors of the real estate industry. Be prepared for this conversation as there is certain to be pushback from the renter who, based on sluggish economy reports, is not expecting a rent increase. In fact, they may be looking for a concession!

2. Prepare your team for this question "Why are rents going up?". Have a response that everyone understands and is comfortable delivering. Educate your team as to why rents are increasing and prepare them for this conversation with residents. Remember, every member of your team should understand this strategy and what to say to a resident. Your service team spends more time with residents compared to us. Do they know why rents are increasing and how to discuss this with customers?

3. If you are nervous about raising rents, get over it. This is a business and although we love our customers and want to help them, we still have a fiduciary responsibility to make this apartment community profitable. Deliver your rent rates with confidence. I know there are customers you consider friends and you are aware of their personal plight. Pushing a rent increase may be difficult but you have to take your emotions out of this part of your job and meet the properties economic potenial.

4. Flat rate pricing makes it very difficult to increase rents. Get the highest rent you can by understanding what makes each individual apartment unique and valuable. Some are worth more than others to the renters and should be priced accordingly. In addition, when you have everyone paying the same price, everyone is going to expect the same deal upon renewal because let's face it, residents talk to their neighbors. This is a difficult pattern to break until you create price differential.

5. If you are hearing "no" find out why. Understand what the market is telling you. Make adjustments.

6. Monthly market studies are worthless. You have to study your market each week if not each day! This market intelligence will help you find your optimal rent rates. Check out Vaultware's market survey product and get instant alerts when your competition is adjusting rents. Now that will make you smarter!

7. Apartment All Star, Michael Benton, reminds us that competitors don't steal happy residents. Great point! Above everything, a good customer service program should be part of your rent increase strategy.

8. Invest in Yield Management software. Having a tool like this will help you maximize rents on a daily basis taking a lot of the work and emotion out of the process. YieldStar or Rainmaker will be on the job even when you need a day off! Look into this. This is a solid investment that pays for itself.

Spring Office Cleaning

How many of you have more responsibilities today than you did a year ago? A virtual show of hands proves the answer is everyone! While I can't do much about that, I can help you set yourself up for success when it comes to getting it all done. We're all busy, but if you commit to set aside one day to organize your work space and put some effective systems in place for keeping it organized, you will spend less time digging and more time accomplishing your goals.

Reduce Clutter
Small and infrequently used items such as paper clips should go in your desk drawer. The top of your desk should be for things you are working on that day. Nothing else. Otherwise you become distracted and fall off your schedule for accomplishing the day's priorities. Move bulky items such as inbox trays, file folders and printers onto bookshelves.

Do you have that pile of cords on your floor and or draping off your desk? This looks messy and in turn sends a message of disorganization to your customers and coworkers. Control your cords! You can buy a fairly inexpensive cord holder that will keep everything together and out of the way.

Paper is a Fashion Don't
Keep in mind that 80% of paper you file, is never looked at again. Today, technology is allowing us to create digital storage and by creating a good back up system, we are more comfortable going paperless in our leasing offices. Often times, digital storage is faster to access saving you time in your day for other things, like figuring out what to do with the fax machine you have not used in 5 months.

Every desk will inevitably still have some paper. Don't let it take over your desk. Keep hanging files with these four categories: action, project, reference, and cluster. The cluster file may be new for you. It is one of my favorite time management techniques. When you know you have a big project coming up like writing your marketing plan, keep a file that contains notes, ideas, resources and gems. Now, when you sit down to embark on the project you will have an amazing jump start on getting your project underway. Clustering is also a good cure for procrastination.

Now that you are on your way to a solid spring cleaning, maintain order by instituting this three fold approach to staying organized:
1. Daily - every night, clean up your desk. Organize papers, files and projects so when you come in tomorrow your desk is ready for immediate action.

2. Quarterly - take and hour or so to see what systems need re-engineering and organizing. If everything is not working the way you would like it to, stop wasting time with inefficiencies and make necessary adjustments.

3. Yearly - between December and February is the time when you should annually purge old papers and files from your work area. Do it in these slower months so that when leasing picks up in March you are working in tip top shape.

Hello Albuquerque! The Apartment All Stars Event is in Your City On Wednesday, September 29th. Register NOW!!

No Matter Who Signs Your Paycheck, You Are Self Employed

While traveling this week I overheard a conversation where two people were discussing their disappointment that someone got promoted over one of the ladies in the conversation. They were clearly unhappy and found a number of reasons why their company had failed them. I overheard excuses such as the promoted person had an easier property to manage, the president wanted a man in the position and she had not received enough training. And so I started thinking.....

While we are employees and someone signs our paycheck, we are really in charge of our own career. If you want something, ask for it. If you are told you are not ready for the next step in your career, find out why and change it. There are few victims when it comes to business. However, there are a whole lot of lazy people.

On the day that I was promoted into the coveted position as Director of Training, I was told that I was probably too young for the job (ahhhh, to be 24 years old again) but that I had the skills and the talent. The president also expressed to me that the most important quality I had going for me was that I took charge of my career and planned out the steps I needed to get the job I wanted. He called that ambition. I agree. I was the youngest person out of a sea of 27 more tenured people than me that applied for that internal promotion. Ambition pays off!

What can you do today to prepare you for the next step in your career? Email me at kate@KateGood.com if I can ever help you with your career goals.

Will Atlanta or Houston Have a Bigger Turn Out for Apartment All Stars this Month?

Trend: Be Your Own Director of Training

Gone are the days of sitting in a classroom for 8 hours expecting a return on investment of time. Managers and business professionals do not have the time for multi day event based training. Selling is a process therefore sales training will alter to a more succinct process. Since learning is a day to day activity, it is imperative that a leasing pro step up to find and create their own learning opportunities. Empower team members to direct their own learning by attending webinars, reading blogs and attending public seminars to take ownership of their profession.

Trend: Getting Prepared

The last five years have provided significant tools and technology for sales professionals. Customers have access to as much information as their leasing professional. Know what your customer is reading.

How do you rate in the blogs and opinion sites?

Has your sales team checked out your complete Internet presence, including web pages on the Internet Listing Services?

A prepared leasing professional has a greater chance of closing the lease because it shows the customer that they are important to this team member.

No Matter Who Signs Your Paycheck, You Are Self Employed

While traveling this week I overheard a conversation where two people were discussing their disappointment that someone got promoted over one of the ladies in the conversation. They were clearly unhappy and found a number of reasons why their company had failed them. I overheard excuses such as the promoted person had an easier property to manage, the president wanted a man in the position and she had not received enough training. And so I started thinking.....

While we are employees and someone signs our paycheck, we are really in charge of our own career. If you want something, ask for it. If you are told you are not ready for the next step in your career, find out why and change it. There are few victims when it comes to business. However, there are a whole lot of lazy people.

On the day that I was promoted into the coveted position as Director of Training, I was told that I was probably too young for the job (ahhhh, to be 24 years old again) but that I had the skills and the talent. The president also expressed to me that the most important quality I had going for me was that I took charge of my career and planned out the steps I needed to get the job I wanted. He called that ambition. I agree. I was the youngest person out of a sea of 27 more tenured people than me that applied for that internal promotion. Ambition pays off!

What can you do today to prepare you for the next step in your career? Email me at kate@KateGood.com if I can ever help you with your career goals.

What Madonna Taught Me

My Marketing Mentor: Madonna

In my consulting practice, the economic crisis of 2009 has brought about the need to change, retool and reinvent everything we do in the leasing and marketing of multifamily rental assets. What worked as little as two years ago will simply not cut the mustard today. In fact, it won’t even be close to the results those efforts created 24 months ago. My experience has taught me that this is the time to be at the top of my game so that I can rise to this challenge.

Like everyone else, I need someone I can learn from. This is why I have chosen Madonna as my marketing mentor. For me, Madonna came on to the music scene while I was in my first few years of high school. Even though we wore uniforms, we would try to put a lace band in our hair that would match our lace socks. Every girl running around Fisher Catholic High School wore not less than 6 – 10 black rubber bracelets on her arm and risk detention for a uniform violation infraction. I have to admit, I was influenced by Madonna.

As the years rolled on, Madonna sprinted into a provocative direction and defined herself with her extremely open sexuality. She stared in her movie called “Truth or Dare.” She shifted that X rated image and was nominated for her performance in musical movie Evita. Then in yet another grand process to change her ever evolving image, today, she is writing children’s books. Do you remember the last book she wrote prior to her children’s books? It was sold with a paper cover at the bookstore because of its cover! How does a woman go from pop artist to sexual icon to movie star to author of children’s books? She does it by constantly reinventing herself. She can retool her image to fit her business needs. This is a person who is a marketing genius. She has a unique ability to change her image and position in the spotlight year after year.

If we take a lesson from the marketing manual lived by Madonna. Any apartment community, no matter when it was built, can survived and thrive as Madonna has. I am excited to be working on some projects which are being rehabbed. The “before and after” photos of the apartments are astonishing. To follow suit the marketing needs to be rejuvenated often with a new name, logo and market position. However, you don’t have to redevelop your buildings to conduct a marketing rehab. And, there is no better time than now to reintroduce your apartment community to the market with a fresh look. This is what it takes to get the attention of today’s consumer.

I think Denny’s should receive an award for their effort to get America back to their dining rooms. The Tuesday following Superbowl Sunday, Denny’s offered a free Grand Slam breakfast to everyone who visited. Including the Superbowl ad to launch the campaign, Denny’s spent six million dollars on ads, food and staffing. 200,000 American’s waited in line for up to two hours for a free breakfast valued at $5.99. Not only did Denny’s receive over 100 million dollars in free advertising due to the fact that every media outlet covered the event, they also got old customers and future customers acquainted with the value they offer on a plate.

I drive past apartment communities in every city I visit and many have invested in a rejuvenation effort in years. Their signs have not changed, the landscaping is overgrown, and their exterior colors are out of date. When I open the apartment rental magazines I still see ads with the same old photos and tired words that have not been freshened since the 90’s. If Madonna was your marketing director, she would jump on this need to refresh, renew and reposition. The styles we use for new logo’s has changed. For just $180, the online designers at www.CrowdSpring.com will send you a minimum of 25 entries for new logo options. This small investment is a great start to kicking your image into the current day.

The Three Things Rule

I was once asked by my very first property manager, Glenn Rand, to make a list of “100 great reasons to live at The Hamptons.” I will admit it now, when I got to around #54 I started to repeat. Honestly, was anyone even going to read all 100 reasons? I had better things to do with my time like eat some frozen Otis Spunkmyer cookie dough! There are many great things about your apartment community. We have all been trained to successfully demonstrate all the features and benefits. But the truth is, the customer only remembers what is important to their own personal needs. A wise leasing consultant knows that when people’s needs are met, the buying decision is made. Isn’t that what we want? Yes, people to make their buying decision while standing in our model or vacant apartment. Then we slide in the application conveniently located in the kitchen drawer or our leasing kit.

Getting to the buying decision is not so hard when you take the time to discover what the potential resident’s needs and wants are. To do this we have to ask open ended questions that get the customer talking about themselves. In their answers, listen for what might be a deal breaker and what will be a deal maker. I have found that most people have three things they need and want. If you meet these three things you are a sale maker.

Once you have heard what the customer is looking for, successfully demonstrate the apartment by using their needs and wants and link them to the features and benefits of your apartment community. By doing this you are personalizing your tour to custom deliver the information this individual customer needs to make a decision.
So what happens if they don’t lease right away? Use those three things that were most important to the customer and talk about them in your follow up notes, phone messages and emails. If you become really good at drawing out their three things and linking them to your apartments, you show the customer that apartments are not one size fits all and this apartment was made for your customer.

You've Got Feedback!

Yes, I still use AOL. I know it is for tweens and gmail is quickly taking their market share, but AOL is just easy! I use this box for my personal mail and for my Mother so that I can be her technical support department. One of the things I love about AOL is that when I log in I hear the ever familiar "You've Got Mail." LOVE IT! And, it makes me think of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks checking their email for love notes from each other...top 10 movie but of course I'm a sucker for a romantic comedy that includes a wonderful dog!

Last night my team sent out another installment of my newsletter which means when I log in a few hours later I will hear "You've Got Feedback" (well, it rings in my head when I read my email). Today, I found feedback and confirmation. If you look at the previous post on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 "Fewer folks popping bottle tops as champagne sales fizzle" you will see I was writing about things we can do to step ahead of our competition in difficult market. Scott Knauer, Principal and Chief Investment Officer with Orion Residential, shared with me some thoughts to support my 2009 strategies.

Scott agrees with me that the name of the game is to get our unfair share of the leases. To do so people need to spend more on advertising, marketing and training and they need to spend it cost effectively.

Next, he reminded me of a strategy that Jack Welch follows about our people productivity. Mr. Welch believes that there are people out there who are deserving of a great job with a great company but they do not work for him. He lives by the concept that it is important to trim the dead wood, this means that the bottom 10% of team members either need to meet your expectations or move on because there are better people out there that need jobs. Does this make you shake in your designer shoes a bit? Me too. But I think I agree. Embrace your fear as it is a key ingredient to success. That which we are afraid of we overcome by facing head on and conquering. This always makes us stronger and smarter.

Last year I worked with Scott Knauer consulting for one of his portfolios. He reminded me to calculate breakeven occupancy, what is the level of occupancy that the property needs to cover debt service and then determine the number of leases needed to achieve break-even. This is how we determined our goals. I am passionate about goals. They must be realistic, measurable and active.

I want to say thank you to Scott for his feedback and invite you to do the same. My father taught me to never stop learning. So, I may be the teacher when I turn on my microphone but I earn the right to teach by always being a student.