A friend of mine, we'll call him Joe, desperately wanted out of his current job. He began applying for jobs and dusted off his resume. He prepared his list of references and off he went.

The interviews came and went. Most of the time, he made it to Round Two and then, as is often the case, things went dark. A week would go by and then two. No word from the hiring company.

And so it goes- apparently "best practices" are seldom known or practiced in the hiring process of most companies.

So here's a trick for Joe and for you and me- when you finish one interview, take a note of which one or two things you want to improve on for next time.

Then, when you get that next round, you'll be sure to mention those things. You may even want to practice (mirror time!) how you'll emphasize those points.

That's a simple approach that you can try for your next interview. I'll even mention it to Joe.