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Here are some of our recent articles From the Recruiter's Desk:
August, 2007, IT'S NOT YOUR FATHER'S JOB MARKET
May, 2007, POLYGRAPH CLEARANCES
April, 2007, WHO IS HIRING?
March, 2007, CLEARED OR CLEARABLE?
February, 2007, HOW COMPANIES HIRE January, 2007, A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION
December, 2006, COVER LETTERS
December, 2006, ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
November, 2006, MEASURING WHAT MATTERS
October, 2006, LOOKING FOR DINOSAURS
October, 2006, THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
October, 2006, RECIPE FOR RETENTION
September, 2006, BLOOPERS, WHOPPERS, AND OTHER SHOW STOPPERS
August, 2006, FORBIDDEN QUESTIONS
July, 2006, THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE
July, 2006, NETWORKING TO YOUR NEXT JOB
June, 2006, WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY RESUME?
December, 2005, SIX SIGNALS THAT MIGHT INDICATE ITS TIME TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER JOB
January, 2005, KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR
October, 2004, DEBUNKING A FEW MYTHS
September, 2004, SPEAKING OF WEAKNESSES
August, 2004, COOL TOOLS
July, 2004, SALARIES - TO POST OR NOT TO POST
June, 2004, A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE
May, 2004, FIVE EASY QUESTIONS
April, 2004, READY - FIRE - AIM
March, 2004, REQUIREMENTS VERSUS PREFERENCES
February, 2004, RETENTION - KEEPING YOUR KEEPERS
January, 2004, ARE YOU LISTENING?
December, 2003, LESSONS LEARNED
November, 2003, WALK IN THE SHOES OF AN APPLICANT
October, 2003, HIT OR MISS?
September, 2003, COMPROMISING STANDARDS
August, 2003, THE VALUE OF RIMS
July, 2003, KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM
June, 2003, THE PAINLESS EMPLOYMENT PROCESS
May, 2003, CHARACTER STILL COUNTS
April, 2003, NOT JUST WHAT, BUT HOW
March, 2003, FIRST IMPRESSIONS
February, 2003, DOES YOUR RESUME NEED A TUNE UP?
January, 2003, INTERVIEW QUESTIONS - WHAT'S IN AND OUT FOR 2003
December, 2002, IN PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT CANDIDATE
November, 2002, TRADING PLACES
October, 2002, WHY DOES RECRUITING TAKE SO LONG
IT'S NOT YOUR FATHER'S JOB MARKET
When many of us were growing up in the seventies and eighties, we probably didn’t understand what effect the economy had on our parents. During that period, inflation was seemingly out of control. For those who thought they could afford them, home mortgage rates between 8 and 10 % were the norm. Layoffs were a common practice for businesses to control costs. Then, particularly during the eighties, mergers and acquisitions became fashionable and led many companies to right-size, down-size, and outplace many of their employees.
Back then, newspaper advertisements, job fairs, college recruiting, and the so-called “old boy network” were the primary means by which most job seekers found their jobs. These traditional sources held their own until the mid-nineties when the first job boards came on the scene. The Online Career Center was first in 1992, which merged with the Monster Board in the late nineties. NetStart was launched in 1995 and became CareerBuilder a couple of years later. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Before the Internet Revolution, employers would trek to college campuses a couple of times a year to “hang out the shingle” in hopes of attracting some of the better students to their firms upon graduation. Competition was stiff. Students often had to bid for the opportunity to interview with companies that captured their interest. For students and employers alike there was no guarantee that they would ever get to meet. Today, although some colleges still offer this process, more and more students are using the Internet to research employers and then apply directly to those they find most attractive. Employers and students are now able to market directly to one another without the otherwise valuable services of the campus career center.
Before the Internet, newspapers were the first place a job seeker would look to find a job. By 1998, the major job boards had gained popularity (remember the Super Bowl ads?) and people were rapidly adopting the Internet as a personal, as well as a business, research and communications tool. Today, of course, almost everyone, skilled or unskilled, turns to the Internet first when looking for employment.
The “old-boy network” of yesterday hasn’t necessarily gone away. But it has changed. It used to be a network of an individual’s friends and family and those business contacts found in his or her Rolodex. Thanks to the speed and global reach of the Internet, social networking has become the new means of connecting with people, known and unknown, around the world. Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and other Internet-based networks allow introductions to occur at light speed. Increasingly, the referrals and recommendations that emanate from these connections often result in successful employment engagements.
The Internet is not quite done changing the job market. While employers have always felt the need to meet and interview applicants in person, globalization and business economics are leading many employers to employ video-conferencing to conduct the once sacrosanct in-person interview. Now that’s revolutionary! What will be next?
August, 2007
In our March article about clearances, we discussed the various types of clearances and the requirements for obtaining them. Due to the nature of the information handled by many government executives and contractors working on matters of national security, only those individuals deemed to be trustworthy and unlikely to compromise sensitive plans and information are allowed to have access to such information. Therefore, the higher level clearances required in the defense and intelligence communities often require the individual worker to complete a polygraph test as part of the clearance process.
Among the federal government agencies requiring applicants to undergo a polygraph examination as part of the clearance process are the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, National Geospatial Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office. However, it should be noted that these agencies may vary the scope, method, or procedures used in the conduct of these polygraph tests.
What is the government’s policy regarding polygraphs?
With the National Security Act of 1947 as a cornerstone, various regulations and presidential executive orders have been issued to lead us to where we are today. Key among them are the Executive Order 12829, which created the National Industrial Security Program, and the Department of Defense Directive 5210.48 and DoD Regulation 5320.48R.
These regulations and orders make the polygraph a mandatory condition for employment by, or assignment to, most Defense or Intelligence components dealing with sensitive national security programs. While an individual is free to refuse to take the polygraph examination, doing so will prevent that individual from working on special access programs (SAP) or with special compartmentalized information (SCI). In all cases, the polygraph examination is a supplement to, not a substitute for, a thorough background investigation.
The objective of the DoD policy is to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of information that could reasonably be expected to jeopardize human life or safety, or result in the loss of unique or uniquely productive intelligence sources or methods vital to U.S. security, or compromise technologies, plans, or procedures vital to the strategic advantage of the United States.
What are my rights if asked to sit for a polygraph examination?
The DoD policy regarding the administration of polygraph examinations provides safeguards to protect the rights and privacy of individuals. Although individuals have the right to obtain and consult with legal counsel during the polygraph, most job seekers are either unaware of this right or choose not to do so in fear of being perceived as uncooperative or deceptive.
At the time of the polygraph examination, individuals are advised of their privilege against self-incrimination. As such, the person being questioned may terminate the polygraph at any time. For example, a person questioned about a matter that, if discussed, might reveal some previously undisclosed criminal or illegal activity, may choose not to answer and immediately terminate the examination. Such information, if disclosed, is required to be turned over to the Department of Justice for further investigation. However, no action can be taken against an individual for refusal to take or complete the polygraph examination when such incriminating information has not been disclosed.
The DoD policy also requires all questions asked during the examination must be reviewed with the applicant before the examination and have special relevance to the subject of the inquiry. Specifically prohibited from use in this examination are those questions which are not directly relevant to the investigation such as inquiries about one’s political affiliation, religious beliefs, or opinions about racial matters. Similarly, polygraph examiners are advised to avoid asking embarrassing, degrading, or unnecessarily intrusive questions.What to expect.
While there may be variations in the process from one agency to another, candidates are provided advance notice of the time and place for the polygraph examination. The candidate will be informed of his/her rights and then must give written consent to proceed with the examination.
The examination room will usually have a desk or table for the examiner upon which a computer utilized during the examination will be located. The examiner and subject will each have a chair and a chair will be available for legal counsel, if attending. For most employment candidates, this option is seldom utilized. Normally, there is an observation room adjacent to the examination room with a one-way mirror and recording equipment. This permits the observation of the examination by another investigator, if warranted by the investigating body.
Initially, there may be certain questions asked to calibrate the equipment and to allow the examiner to establish a baseline from which the validity of a person’s responses can be judged. Then, all relevant questions will be reviewed with the subject before they are asked as part of the examination. The examination often takes two or more hours to complete.
A second examination may be required if the information disclosed provides inconclusive results or the candidate was incapable of completing the first exam. Also, if the examiner suspects the candidate of intentional deception, a further examination may also be required.
The results of the polygraph are not provided to the candidate. The examiner’s report is forwarded to the final adjudicator who reviews it in conjunction with all the other data compiled from the background investigation, interviews, tests, etc. At the conclusion of this review, the candidate will be advised whether or not the clearance has been granted. However, due to the volume of people under review, this process may take several months to complete.
Truth or Consequences
Despite the ever-present debate about the accuracy of the polygraph examination, it must be understood that examiners are extremely well-trained and, as such, are often capable of eliciting information the polygraph machine cannot. Therefore, candidates seeking employment where these higher level clearances are required should carefully consider their own private histories before consenting to the polygraph examination. If the truth could prove to be detrimental, pursuing a clearance with a polygraph requirement is strongly discouraged.
May, 2007
And Do They Have a Job for Me?
The simple answer is – everybody. In case you haven’t heard, there is a serious labor shortage. Both skilled and unskilled workers are in short supply. Unemployment is falling and the economy is showing continuing strength in almost every sector except residential housing. Here in Washington, we have what many see as a recession-proof economy because of the federal government and all the support it requires from contractors and services.
An annual survey just completed by Project SAVE, a network of about 400 Washington area employers, revealed companies are experiencing higher vacancy rates. Currently, these employers report the number of open positions they have is 8.48% of their total workforce. This also reflects the increasing demand, and difficulty companies are having in satisfying it, as compared to previous years. In 2006, the vacancy rate was 8.16%, and in 2005, just 7.1%.
As a job seeker, it would appear that you are in the driver’s seat. As many have found, though, posting your job on Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, or any of the many other job boards can bring a ton of unwanted employers to your email box. Perhaps a better, more manageable way to identify the employers you want to hear from is to do your own research via the Internet. I would suggest you try a few (not just one) of these search engines to find the jobs that you would be interested in pursuing – Google, Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com, Hot Jobs, and JobCentral.com. These search engines serve as job aggregators, pulling postings from a myriad of other web sites, thus reducing the amount of time you have to spend in your search.
Here is an example. Let us say you are an accounting professional looking to move to the Richmond area. You can go to Google and submit a simple search using these words – accountant Richmond VA send OR apply. Wow! That will identify over a million hits! From this, you can get more specific by adding another term, such as insurance or banking, and so on.
Using Indeed and entering accountant as a title and Richmond, VA as the location, you will get about 500 hits. Again, as you see the responses, you can modify your search terms and get a more specific response. Several of these search engines also offer advanced search options to help narrow your search criteria. It is always wise to start broad, and then narrow down so you don’t overlook some related and perhaps extraordinary opportunities.Of course, if you are not looking to leave the Washington area, you can use the same concepts to identify appropriate jobs in the local market. On Yahoo/HotJobs, for example, you can simply choose a job category from a pull down menu and provide a zip code, such as 20006 for DC, or 22102 for Northern Virginia, to generate an extensive listing of opportunities throughout the region.
Should you be interested in pursuing a job in the non-profit sector, I would refer you to the American Society of Association Executives’ web site at http://asaenet.jobcenter.com. There are thousands of associations headquartered in the Washington area and they, too, have a considerable number of needs, both full- and part-time.
Take control of your job search and use the technology available to anyone with access to the Internet.
April, 2007
For anyone seeking employment with the federal government, military, or a government contractor, this is the $64,000 question. Even though there are more than 1.5 million workers in the government contracting world with clearances, there are thousands of jobs in the Washington area and across the country begging for cleared or clearable people to fill them.
Why are they so important?
Due to the sensitive nature of the information handled by many government workers and contractors, only those individuals who have proven throughout their personal and professional lives that they are trustworthy and unlikely to compromise secrets should be allowed to have access to information relating to matters of national security. The secret or sensitive information a person may be asked to handle could be as complex as a world-wide military communications network or as basic as knowing the identity of another government worker covertly assigned overseas. Either way, the disclosure of such information, whether intentional or accidental, could have a significant adverse effect upon the security of our nation and our citizens.
Many federal government agencies require some sort of security clearance. Most obvious among these are the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the various agencies and organizations that make up the Intelligence Community. But there are other, less obvious government agencies which also require at least a background check or personal security investigation. Individuals who work for State, Energy, Customs or Border Protection, Treasury or the IRS may also be subject to this same level of scrutiny.
Since the risks may differ from one agency to another, it is not uncommon for each agency to have its own set of security requirements that must be satisfied in order for an individual to be cleared to work in their environment. For example, a person working with international financial transactions will need to pass a credit check. A person working in the Intelligence Community will be carefully examined about close contacts or relatives living overseas.
Depending upon the nature of the information to which a person will have access, there are several levels of clearances:
- The Confidential security clearance deals with material, if improperly disclosed, that could be reasonably expected to cause some measurable damage to national security. Military personnel have the largest number of this type of clearance. Individuals possessing this clearance require reinvestigation every fifteen years.
- Secret clearances are required for individuals who have access to sensitive information for which unauthorized disclosure could exceptionally grave danger to our national security. Reinvestigations are required every ten years for this level of clearance.
- Top Secret information is deemed to be so sensitive that unauthorized disclosure could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to our national security. People with this level of clearance are reinvestigated every five years.How do I get a clearance?
No one can apply for a clearance on their own. The first step is to apply to work for a federal agency or government contractor. If the employer wants you to apply your skills on a government contract which requires a security clearance, the employer’s security representative will work with you to initiate the security process. This can be a very long process -sometimes a year or more - so you should not expect instant gratification. And, it is the government, not your employer, who will decide if, and when, to issue that clearance.
The process usually begins with the completion of a lengthy questionnaire commonly referred to as the SF-86. Fortunately, the paper version has been replaced with an electronic version that can be downloaded on your home computer. For Confidential and Secret clearances, this usually encompasses the last seven years of the applicants life. For Top Secret clearances, the last ten years is closely examined.
The next phase of the process involves the actual investigation of your background by a federal investigator with the necessary credentials to gain access to former employers, references, neighbors, etc. This individual will conduct an extensive personal interview with you as well.
For positions requiring access to highly sensitive information, a polygraph (lie detector test) may be required.
The final phase of the process is referred to as the adjudication. All of the data collected throughout the investigation are evaluated to determine loyalty, character, trustworthiness, and reliability, among other factors noted below. Complete and total honesty is essential throughout this process. Any suspicion of deception or dishonesty will delay, if not derail, the process.
What factors are considered?For starters, if you don’t have a clean record, you shouldn’t even think about applying for a job requiring a clearance. Depending on the type of security clearance involved, items to be considered may include: verification of U.S. citizenship, search of federal records, criminal record checks with local law enforcement agencies, fingerprinting, credit checks, employer references, interviews with neighbors, and a personal interview. At higher levels, a medical and psychological exam and polygraph test may be required.
People who have a criminal record, a history of substance abuse, a bad credit record or personal bankruptcy, or a checkered employment record are generally considered to be at risk of blackmail or subject to compromise by foreign agents or people who wish to undermine the United States government.
There are a few “show-stoppers” that will prevent an individual from ever being granted a clearance. They include:
- A conviction for a crime leading to a sentence of one or more years of imprisonment regardless of actual time served;
- Evidence of current/recent use of or addiction to controlled substances (illegal or prescribed drugs);
- Mental incompetence as determined by a mental health professional;
- A dishonorable discharge from U. S. military service.Individuals who have one or more of these significant factors or other derogatory information in their background are well-advised not to seek positions requiring a clearance. When an individual is denied a clearance, he or she may attempt to appeal the reason for denial in hopes of being reconsidered. However, even if this appeal process is successful, there may a one- or two-year waiting period before reapplication will be permitted.
Why does it take so long?
Primarily, due to the buildups of Homeland Security, Intelligence, and Defense, there are well over a half million people in process for clearances. Despite the fact that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Defense Security Service (DSS), and a number of sub-contractors have been called into action, the sheer volume guarantees that for most people the process will be many months in duration.
Obviously, the less extensive background checks for Confidential and Secret clearances may only take a few months. For the more sensitive positions, it will not be uncommon for the process to take a year or more.
Individuals who are submitted for clearance processing should understand that there are a number of factors that can prolong an investigation. Some of the more common circumstances are:
- Having lived or worked in several different geographic locations or overseas
- Travel outside of the United States
- Relatives who live overseas
- Background information that is difficult to obtain or verifyWhat’s in it for me?
Most recruiting experts believe that a person with a security clearance can command a salary of $5000 to $15,000 more than others in the same career field who do not possess a clearance. More importantly, due to the nearly recession-proof job market in the federal and government contracting arenas, an active security clearance almost guarantees an interview whenever a cleared individual decides to change employers.
Transferring a clearance from one employer to another usually requires only a few weeks. Employers, of course, know this and can benefit significantly if they can put a person to work on a government project immediately. That is why they always prefer to hire the cleared, rather than the clearable, candidate.March, 2007
It was just a little more than a decade ago when the classified employment section of your Sunday newspaper seemed to be the primary means by which employers connected with potential job seekers. But then along came the Internet with its job boards, corporate web sites, and world-wide access. Now, most job seekers believe they can have almost immediate access to any publicly-posted job vacancy in any company anywhere. As wonderful as this may sound, it’s not quite as simple as that.
Long before the industrial revolution, humans were building communities, cooperatives, and business concerns. Our ancestors found comfort in living and working with people they knew and trusted. This innately human characteristic certainly contributed greatly to what we once called “the old-boy network.” Today, whether we call it social networking or a friend-of-a-friend, that concept is still alive and thriving. For most companies, employee referrals continue to be the most valued resource of new workers.
There are some companies who, due to their widely-known brand and visibility, have little difficulty attracting interested job seekers to their doorsteps. Most employers, however, struggle to build a recognizable and desirable employment brand. They find they have to reach out to job seekers through a variety of means in order to win the new talent needed to sustain their businesses. This was true during the dot.com boom, when the demand for workers exceeded the available supply, and it is also true today.
Over the last decade, I conducted several surveys of Washington area employers to identify their most productive recruiting methods. In 2006, 94% of the companies responding to this survey reported that they used Internet-based job boards to locate new employees, and 88% said they also relied upon their corporate career sites to capture interested candidates. Not surprisingly, however, 100% of the respondents indicated that they relied upon employee referrals for a considerable portion of their applicant flow.
For the active job seeker, it is important to note that the other ways by which employers connect with new workers include job fairs, open house events, newspaper and radio advertising, college and alumni referrals, rehires, and networking through professional associations. For some, hiring through temporary staffing firms or contractors is a good way to “test drive” a potential new employee before making a longer-term commitment.
If you are, or soon become, a job seeker, the important reality I offer is this. Your chances of winning your dream job are far greater if you present yourself in person to or through a company employee than if you simply submit your resume electronically.
Be seen, become active in a number of networking groups, attend job fairs and open houses. Interact and develop relationships with people who will remember you when they have or hear about an opportunity matching your talents. Talk to people wherever you go and ask them for introductions to others in your field of interest.
And, please remember, although technological advancements may have given us world-wide reach, most of us still prefer to hire and work with the people we know.
February, 2007
Every year, many of us start out with the best of intentions. We pledge or plan to improve our individual lot in life. We may vow to work harder to earn a promotion, or maybe try to negotiate a larger pay raise. There are many among us who are no longer satisfied with the jobs we have, so we commit ourselves to finding a new one. But will it really be better than the one we have now?
In today’s hot economy, a better job is most certainly out there for practically every one of us. Finding the right job though is the challenge. Sure, there are a gazillion jobs on the job boards and another half of a gazillion in the help wanted ads, but if you don’t start looking with a specific set of goals in mind, you are likely to end up with just another job much like the one you can’t wait to leave.
Some of us work to live; others live to work. Wouldn’t it be nice to find a job that you love so much that you couldn’t wait to get to work every day?
If you want to find a job you really love, you need to figure out what your passion is. Yes, your passion. Is there something you love to do so much (as a vocation) that you loose track of time when you do it? This is most likely something you have done before, rather than an unrealized life-long dream or desire. It is something you did particularly well. You may not have enjoyed every minute of it, but you probably had a very strong feeling of pride or accomplishment when you completed it, whatever it was. If you were lucky, you got to do this thing, or something like it, several more times with the same positive feelings. If so, this may be your passion.
Now that you know what you are really good at and truly enjoy doing, you are ready to go looking for the job that will allow you to do it again and again. Finding that job will not be quick or easy. Companies don’t advertise their jobs in the way most of us describe our talents and passions. It will require a lot of research, exploratory interviews, trial and error, and maybe a little luck.
When you find a job that interests you, be prepared to ask your own versions of the following questions to help you determine if this job is the right job for you.
- What will you expect me to do each day?
- Will I get to do what I do best on a regular, if not daily, basis?
- Are there any special conditions or rules which might limit my ability to do what I do best?
- How will I be supervised, and how will my performance be measured?
Depending on the answers you receive and the honesty with which they are delivered, you may be well on your way to turning your New Year’s resolution into reality.
Happy Hunting!January, 2007
As more and more companies ask job seekers to apply for employment consideration via the Internet, it is not surprising to hear job seekers ask if the cover letter is necessary or expected any longer. We asked our recruiting peers to tell us what they like and dislike about the cover letters they often receive with applicants' resumes. It comes as no surprise that there are opinions ranging from love to hate, and from “I read every one of them,” to “I don’t bother reading them because there is never anything of value in them.”
In the past, (before the Internet), many recruiters admitted that, upon receipt of a hard-copy resume submitted with a cover letter, the first thing they did was remove the cover letter so they could get to the resume. The rationale they offered for this practice was they almost always found it easier to find the important information on the resume because it usually offered headings or logically delineated sections. Cover letters, on the other hand, were much harder to read because they were usually written in free form and provided a very brief summary of the information contained in the resume.
Today, whether applying on-line or via snail-mail, the cover letter continues to be a controversial tool. Clearly, recruiters are still in one camp or the other. They either value it, or they debunk it. For those recruiters who claim to still read most cover letters, here are the things they find beneficial:* Many recruiters depend upon the cover letter to identify the recruitment source and the specific job for which the applicant is applying. Without it, it can be very difficult to discern the specific job interest the applicant wishes to pursue.
* Sometimes applicants will include their salary histories or expectations, location preferences, or other pertinent job requirements in the cover letter, thus allowing the reader to determine the appropriateness for further consideration.
* Some recruiters value the cover letter as an indicator of the applicant's writing abilities. Typographical errors and bad grammar are often used as immediate disqualifiers, being viewed as a lack of attention to important details.
The best cover letters are those which tell the reader what he or she wants to hear. That is, a succinct indication of the job applied for, the source of referral, and a straight-forward delineation of the requirements and qualifications presented in corresponding columns on a single page, usually addressing the four or five most critical requirements. This approach makes it easier for the person who has to read hundreds of resumes and cover letters to quickly sort the few hits from the many misses.
My advice to job seekers in today’s job market is to decide whether or not you have any valuable information to convey that has no logical place in your resume. If you choose to include a cover letter with such information, it should be uniquely tailored to the job and the employer – never a standard, “one-size-fits-all” cover letter. And, if the employer you are interested in has a web site that asks you to respond to a number of pre-qualifying questions, such as salary expectations, location preferences, availability, etc., you might find your cover letter is redundant and, as such, useless.
Finally, please understand that cover letters today serve neither as an expected courtesy nor as a letter of transmittal. If your cover letter does not add value – does not sell your candidacy for the position in a very clear and direct manner – you should not bother to include it.
December, 2006
Every recruiter knows that in order to get the right answers, you must ask the right questions. Some recruiters are pretty good at this, but there are many others that have fallen into the trap of asking the same few questions of every candidate, expecting the better candidates to distinguish themselves by their responses.
In reality, everybody is the unique sum of his or her own life experiences, environmental circumstances, and values. Anyone who assumes some answers are more right than others is, for all intents and purposes, exhibiting his or her personal bias. To fairly judge others, we must take great care to learn what specific actions or behaviors the candidate demonstrated, as well as the circumstances under which the actions were taken, and the specific outcomes of each. Otherwise, we are likely to fill in the blanks with our own values and experiences which, more often than not, do not accurately represent those of the candidate.
Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Behavior, then, is not an act, but a habit." Built on this premise, we can assume with relative assuredness that people will behave or perform similarly in like situations. Asking the right questions about a person's past performance should yield meaningful and relevant data with which future performance can be predicted.
Asking a candidate if she has ever worked on a project team before will usually generate a brief, non-specific response. However, if you ask the candidate, "Describe for me a recent project team or group you worked with, the problems you encountered, and how you resolved them," then you will usually generate a more fully detailed story from which you can gain a comfortable sense of style and behavior. Based upon what is shared in response to these questions, it then becomes obvious what questions need to be asked to fully understand the why’s, what’s, and the outcomes.
Certainly, specific examples of past behavior are more believable than most "stock" or general responses. Rather than offering unsubstantiated claims of competence, detailed examples of actual past behavior serve as credible proof statements of performance. Rather than looking for talent indicated by credentials, we should be focused upon obtaining relevant and repeatable examples of performance to give us confidence that the individual can perform to the level of our expectations.
A good interviewer asking the right questions can quickly learn not only what a person knows, but how they apply it, and how effective they have been doing it. For example:
Instead of asking "Why do you want to work for our company?"
Try: "What are you considering a job change at this time?" "What aspects of your last job would you like to avoid in your next job?"Instead of asking "How did you get along with your last supervisor?"
Try: "Tell me about a time when you didn't agree with your supervisor. What were the circumstances and how did you deal with them?" or, "We all have times when we have had to work with a difficult person. Tell me about a time when this has happened to you."Instead of asking "How do you solve problems?"
Try: "Tell me about a particularly difficult job-related problem you faced recently. How did you handle it? What did you learn from that experience? What have you handled similar problems since then?"Good interviews are conversations where information is exchanged openly and freely by both parties. Asking the right questions and being a good listener are the keys to being a successful conversationalist and a good interviewer.
December, 2006
In many companies around the Beltway, recruitment and staffing functions have suddenly found themselves in the spotlight due to a thriving job market and diminishing labor supplies. While this attention may be a welcome change for most recruiting professionals, it has also brought demands for greater accountability from us.
A decade ago, most of us could have managed our recruiting departments by reporting the number of jobs we opened and the number we filled each month. But today, with attrition rates in the double digits and vacancy rates running ever higher, business survival is at stake. Now we are expected to provide real-time metrics in categories that say far more than how busy we are. We are expected to show what our efforts are contributing to the bottom line.
The metrics that meet these expectations fall, for the most part, into one of these six categories: Quality, Utilization, Activity, Retention, Time and $ (costs). Q-U-A-R-T-$ provide the type of metrics chief operating officers and chief financial officers value most. They relate to business strategies, expenses, return on investments, and results. This is how most businesses measure success.
Quality is most easily measured by customer satisfaction. If the new employee is performing well and producing results within or beyond expectations, the client will be happy. While manager satisfaction with the fit-to-specs can be captured upon hire, the more meaningful measure is actual job performance. This, of course, can take 6 to 12 months to fairly evaluate.
Successful recruiting managers carefully track the sources of the people they hire. This allows them to assess the return on investment of specific recruitment strategies. When a particular sourcing technique shows diminishing returns, a change of strategy can be easily justified. This happened throughout the industry in the late 1990’s when the Internet job boards became the primary means for finding new jobs. For a fraction of the cost of a newspaper advertisement, the Internet provided significantly higher applicant flow than the traditional newspaper ad.
Activity measures may not directly affect the bottom line, but certainly play an important role in determining how we staff our recruitment functions. The volume of recruitment needs will dictate the number of recruiters required to satisfy them on a timely basis. Recruiters can manage only a certain number of open requirements. Exceed that number and the law of diminishing returns takes effect.
Retention is critical for many reasons. The duration or tenure of employment measured by function, department, location or source of recruitment can speak volumes about quality, culture, leadership, competitiveness and return on investment. While the recruiter cannot be held solely accountable for early attrition, the first element of retention is an open, honest, and accurate recruitment.
For many, time has become the key metric. Time to fill is often deemed more critical than cost per hire because how long a position is vacant equates to considerable losses in revenues, production, and, perhaps, customer satisfaction. In a very competitive job market, employers cannot expect to win the talent war if they don’t act quickly when good candidates present themselves.
Finally, costs per hire, costs of turnover, and costs of recruitment strategies will always capture the attention of management and provide valuable measures for planning future recruitment strategies.
November, 2006
The rapidly changing job market has brought with it a shift of applicant expectations. No longer are applicants looking for the paternalistic corporation that will nurture them and protect them until they retire. Today, the typical applicant is looking for a meaningful project or assignment that will look good on his or her resume when it's time to look for the next meaningful assignment. Companies who seek applicants who won't be "job-hoppers" are looking for dinosaurs.
Career development professionals have been telling us for more than two decades that Generation Xers typically will have between seven and ten different jobs or careers in their lifetimes. Recent college graduates are prone to explore two, three or more jobs in their first few years in the working world before they find their true calling. So why is it that so many of today's managers still think they can find someone who has the same values (read as "loyalty") that they have? We know that kind of loyalty went out the window with the mergers, acquisitions, right-sizings and down- sizings of the late '90s and during the post-9/11 economic downturn. What remains today is employability - - translated, that's marketability of one's life's experiences. And, the more and varied experiences one has, the more employable one will be.
The message obviously has not reached the majority of “old-school” hiring managers we recruiters attempt to serve. They refuse to interview well-qualified and interested candidates because "they change jobs so frequently.” Perhaps no one has told them that today’s average technical professional spends only 18 to 24 months with an employer before moving on. In our task-oriented businesses today, the "fun stuff" - design, development, implementation - is usually done in that time. Then, it becomes dull and repetitive maintenance work - - work which the top people don't want to get stuck doing.
If you want to make a significant impact on your organization, perhaps you should re-educate your management team about the realities of today's job market and the expectations of applicants. Help them select someone who can meet their immediate tasking requirements, then try to retain them (turn them into a dinosaur) by offering them new and exciting "careers" within your own organization. Isn't that one of the primary roles of management? Shouldn't we have been doing this all along?
October, 2006
As a result of sitting in the recruiter’s chair during the last four decades, I think I have identified the critical traits that will impress almost every hiring manager. Beyond the traditional advice career advisors have offered for years emphasizing first impressions and confidence, these particular traits reveal key attributes that employers expect of their best employees.
The first and most obvious thing every employer looks for is Professional or Technical Knowledge in your career field. While some may be enamored by educational achievements or your years of experience, the stories that really impress them are those examples from your past where your knowledge was successfully and appropriately applied. It is, after all, not just what you know, but what you do with that knowledge.
For some employers, just knowing your stuff may be enough, but in reality, the best employees bring far more to the game. Employers value those employees who frequently exhibit Initiative. That is, they seek an individual who, without prodding or encouragement, does much more than is expected in his or her job. These are also the people with whom coworkers love to work. Why? They share the work load making the job easier for everyone.
In the working world today, the most valued attribute is the ability to work well with teams. Effective team players demonstrate both Adaptability and Flexibility. Employees who can adapt to changing roles, assignments, and priorities are more likely to succeed in team environments than those who resist change. Teammates also respect coworkers who are flexible in their approach to issues and problems and are open to, and willing to try, different solutions. On the contrary, individuals who think their own ideas are the only good ideas do not survive very long in the team environment.
There are other obvious attributes recognized in an ideal candidate. Successful employees must be able to demonstrate good Planning and Organizational skills. These are the people who can budget their time, manage priorities, and effectively allocate the resources available to them, including their fellow team members. Working well with others also calls for the ability to build and maintain positive working relationships. This is often referred to as good Interpersonal Skills. Another important aspect of these skills is the ability to show support and consideration for others. On the other hand, employers will try to avoid self-absorbed individuals who frequently act without regard for the feelings and needs of coworkers or customers.
The final, and perhaps most influential attribute, is often referred to as effective Communications skills. More accurately, employers really are looking for effective Persuasion skills. They value employees who can clearly, concisely, and convincingly communicate their ideas and plans to others. Whether this is selling concepts or products, or leading others to a common plan or course of action, this is what makes organizations work.
Before you go out on your next interview, take a close look at what you have done in your career to demonstrate your skills in these key areas. If you are able to tell several stories from your past experiences that reveal these attributes in a positive way, then you may be seen as the ideal candidate they want on their team.
Good Luck!
October, 2006
Lately, I find my peers in Human Resources throughout the Washington metropolitan area are all buzzing about the current job market and its effects upon our ability to retain the talented people we’ve worked so hard to attract to our companies. Across the board, in all industry segments, everyone is experiencing increased competition for the better qualified candidates and a disconcerting up tick in turnover rates. Although this happens every time we face a hot job market, we never stop hoping that somehow, somewhere, we will find the holy grail of employee retention.
I believe retention begins with the recruitment process. While recruiting new people to your organization, be sure to take the time to carefully select individuals whose skills and interests fit the job and whose style matches the existing culture. Force fitting round pegs into square holes doesn’t work, and neither does hiring warm and/or willing bodies. Such hires require unreasonable amounts of management time and can have a demoralizing effect on the rest of the team. Listen to the veterans who have learned this lesson the hard way – don’t rush to judgment; hire carefully.
Those of who serve as human resource professionals work tirelessly trying to educate line managers about job market realities and the needs and expectations of today’s employees. We all have to recognize that employees are not common stock items, but rather individuals with ever-changing needs including the need to be heard and to be recognized for our ideas and efforts.
So here is my simple yet effective recipe for retention:
Talk to them often.
Let your people know where they fit in, how valued their personal contributions are, and what is expected of them. Do this as often as possible - - daily is great, weekly is acceptable, monthly is too little, yearly is too late.Compensate competitively.
Stay abreast of what the competition is paying for similar skills, and what they are offering in perquisites and benefits. And don’t assume that your employees don’t compare salaries with one another.Reward results, not tenure.
Recognize people for what they do, not for their longevity. Give special awards for special contributions when they happen, not at the end of the year.Offer T-L-C (Training, learning and career coaching)
Workers get bored when they stop learning. Invest in all of the people you hope to retain and you will reap the return.Reveal growth opportunities.
Workers lose interest whenever they feel stymied in their careers. Show them what jobs they can aspire to and how to prepare themselves.Identify your stars and worship them.
If it seems you are always loosing the wrong people, perhaps you have forgotten to let your super stars know just how important they are to the organization. Wine, dine, recognize and reward them in every way you can.In today’s service-oriented economy, companies will rise or fall based almost entirely upon their ability to recruit and retain talented people. Shouldn’t employee retention be a top priority at your firm?
October, 2006
BLOOPERS, WHOPPERS, AND OTHER SHOW STOPPERS
When recruiters gather together, invariably they try to top one another with real-life stories about the most unusual or bizarre experiences they have encountered in their everyday dealings with job seekers. There are far too many stories to tell in this column, but here are a few sad-but-true examples of mistakes and missteps others have made and you should avoid repeating.
Things to avoid when providing contact information on your resume:
- Having your telephone answering machine play 45 seconds of your favorite rap music followed by your voice saying “Wazzup?”
- Using a less-than-professional email address such as midnight_hustler@hotmail.com.
- Including too much detail about your availability date – “Please do not contact me for interviews until after October 31st when I expect to be released from prison.”Things you should NOT include in your resume:
- An irrelevant headline to attract attention. For example, “I am a dynamite employee. Let me explode for you.”
- Personal information that may not impress many recruiters, such as “Over 65 but still ticking!”
- Highly controversial or inflammatory information – Former member of the Ku Klux Klan.
- Stringent, personal limitations or conditions such as “Cannot work before 930 am due to sleep disorder.”By all means, if your software program has spell-check, use it.
- One lady professed to have over twenty years of experience as an administrator noting particular strength in attention to detail. However, she showed her last six job titles as “Secratary.”
- But remember, spell-check will not catch homophones (same sound, but different spellings). So, if you worked in Naval Intelligence and had the rank of Seaman First Class, please use the appropriate spelling for Naval and Seaman. Otherwise, your resume will be the laugh-of-the-day.During the interview, while honesty is appreciated, too much of it can be a show stopper.
- Telling the interviewer, “I am sorry I am late. I couldn’t find my teeth.”
- When the recruiter asks you if you will accept an offer of employment if one is extended, don’t say, “Sure, but if I get an offer from IBM, I’m out of here!”
- When given the chance to reveal some examples of your best work, it shouldn’t be the documents you used to sue your last three employers!Of course, it always pays to plan ahead.
- One candidate brought her 2-year old to the interview claiming her baby-sitter failed to show up. The child then proceeded to pull everything off the recruiter’s desk and book shelves while the mother completely ignored him.
- A candidate from Fort Washington, Maryland, was invited to interview in the Tysons Corner area of Virginia. When she was 15 minutes late, she called from Manassas asking for further directions. Then, after another hour and half, she called from Fredericksburg . . .And, in the category of what-were-they-thinking:
- A candidate for a receptionist’s position showed up in a pink taffeta party dress because she wanted to wear her best dress to impress the interviewer.
- A thirty-something-year-old man answered a cell phone call from his mother during the interview and proceeded to argue with her over what he wanted for dinner that evening.
- One overly confident candidate leaned back in his chair, put his feet on the recruiter’s desk, and pulled a stiletto out of his boot and began cleaning his fingernails while casually answering the recruiter’s questions.My thanks go out to my peers in the recruiting and staffing world for sharing these and many other real-life stories. Obviously, our lives are far from dull and boring.
September, 2006
Have you ever gone to an interview and been asked a forbidden question?
“How old are you?”
“Are you married?”
“How many kids do you have?”
“Planning to have any more (children)?”
“Where were you born?”
“What does your husband (or wife) do for work?”
“What will you do if your spouse gets transferred to another city?”Perhaps the term “forbidden” is an overstatement; ill-advised may be more accurate. All of these questions may be well-intentioned, but if you answer them, how will you know whether or not the information you revealed was used to rule you out from further consideration? Because of this risk, employers are advised not to ask these and other similarly personal, possibly discriminatory, questions.
There are a myriad of federal and state laws, regulations, and executive orders that are intended to protect individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of age, race, sex, religion, marital status, national origin, sexual preference, etc. Unfortunately, not everyone who interviews knows this and may, intentionally or not, ask some of these inappropriate and irrelevant questions and fully expect you to answer them. What are you supposed to do?
Refusing to answer a question, any question, is probably not a good tactic. However, without telling the interviewer that he is out-of-bounds, you might answer the question with a question. “That’s an interesting question – why do you ask?” Or, you might try “I’d be happy to answer that question if you can help me understand how it relates to my consideration for this position.” Sometimes, these challenges force the unknowing interviewer to rethink his question.
I have heard from some job seekers who have encountered similarly invasive questions. One person shared that she was asked, “Do you have any children?” She chose to answer this in a manner that dispelled the underlying concern by saying, “Yes, but I am fortunate to have very reliable childcare so you need not worry about my ability to be here every day as required.” Another woman chose to deflect the question “Are you married?” in this manner - - “Yes, to a very understanding spouse who has always given me his full support as I have dedicated myself to my career. May I tell you about some of my relevant accomplishments?”
To be a successful interviewee, you must be prepared for any question, fair or unfair. Conjuring up a witty response on the spur of the moment may not be wise or effective. Think about the questions I listed above. Practice your responses. As the saying goes - - practice makes perfect.
August, 2006
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE
In this age of the Internet, resume databases, and applicant tracking systems, I frequently hear job seekers lament about their resumes ending up lost in the Bermuda Triangle of employment. Despite following all the instructions a company may give about how to submit your resume for “immediate consideration”, once you hit the Submit button, it is not unusual to get the feeling that you have just sent it on a mission over the Bermuda Triangle. You find yourself asking, “Will I ever hear from it again?”
First of all, we need to realize that most publicly posted job openings attract anywhere from 20 to 100+ applicants. In most cases, less than 20% of those applicants possess all the basic requirements for the position. Furthermore, in order to efficiently use their time, employers often limit the number of candidates interviewed to 3 to 5 candidates who appear to be most closely matched to the requirements. If we look at it strictly from a numbers standpoint, which most employers do, more than 80% of applicants for any given position will not be contacted for further consideration.
In Corporate America today, many firms have implemented computer systems to accept, manage, and track electronic resumes submitted by the hundreds or thousands of people who apply for employment at their firms every day. These systems use basic artificial intelligence to match the skill sets you reveal in your resume with the job requirements identified in their open staffing requisitions. Unfortunately, there is no perfect system. The words you choose to describe yourself in your resume may not exactly match the words the company uses to describe their jobs.
As a job seeker, you really just want to know, “Did you get my resume?” and, “Are you interested in me for any of your current job opportunities?” Some, but unfortunately not all, companies do send an acknowledgement of receipt to applicants via either email or snail mail. Employers then focus all of their attention on the 20% or so that they are interested in interviewing in the immediate future. Everyone else is left in the resume database – the Bermuda Triangle – until and unless another more appropriate job opportunity arises for reconsideration.
The silver lining in all of this is that companies have recognized that not every applicant is in the right place at the right time. By maintaining a talent pool of interested candidates in their resume databases, it makes locating qualified applicants at the right time far easier than starting over each time a new position opens.
As a job seeker, you could assume that no response to your application means the company has no interest. If you are only concerned about the particular job you applied for last week or last month, that may be true. However, if you are truly interested in working for that company any time in the future, you shouldn’t give up hope. In fact, you should look for ways to connect with recruiters or managers within the company to establish a relationship that will help them think of you when the right opportunity does come along. It is possible to survive the Bermuda Triangle.
July, 2006
As long as humans have worked in groups or organizations, the prevalent way people have found work has been through networking. Despite all of the buzz about the Internet and job-hunting services like Monster and Careerbuilder, the process of winning a job is still the same. People still need to connect with one another on a personal level to find a working relationship that will be both comfortable and effective. The Internet may speed up “introductions”, but the job can only be won after the two parties meet and come to an agreement.
In many companies, staffing requisitions and job postings provide the targets for the talents that are needed within the organization. Unfortunately, these are usually limited to descriptions of the credentials, skills, and experiences the likely candidates might bring to the jobs. In reality, more often than not, it is the style and personality of the candidate that wins the day.
In my many years of recruiting, I have become convinced that a job seeker is at least three times more likely to get interviewed if he or she meets the potential employer before providing a resume. The vast majority of recruiters and hiring managers I have known use the resume to screen people out, not in. However, when you are there, in person, to explain yourself and interact with the employer/recruiter, the issues that may not have been included in their job posting or your resume can be discussed, eliminating many of the reasons for denying you further consideration. On the other hand, if the resume gets there first, you will not have the opportunity to overcome their objections or correct their misinterpretations.
I have often seen this process at work at job fairs. When hiring managers attend job fairs, they get to talk to lots of job seekers, many of whom they would not have selected had they received only their resumes to consider. But very often, the first impression or “chemistry” a job seeker imparts may convince the hiring manager to take a chance on a candidate who might not have the perfect resume.
Networking is a simple as talking to people. Anybody and everybody you know and meet can be a potential networking contact. They may not be a hiring manager or even employed by a company you are interested in, but they may know someone who is. I have known people who connected with employers in the checkout line at the grocery store, at the beauty parlor, during coffee hour after church, at a professional seminar, on the beach, and in bars and restaurants. The idea is to get the people you meet to refer you to others who might be helpful in connecting you with the folks who might have jobs in your career field.
If you don’t know how to start a networking conversation, try your own variation of this. “Hi. Lots of people here today, huh? Do you come here often? Where do you work? Oh, really! What do you do? I happen to be looking for a new position in (mention your career field). Do you know anyone I might speak with about this type of work?”
If you can talk about yourself, you can network.
July, 2006
All job seekers quickly learn that the road to new employment is fraught with frequent rejection. Getting your resume to the right employer at the right time is often simply a matter of luck. However, in those instances when you are absolutely certain that you are ideally suited for the job but the employer won’t even acknowledge receiving and reading your resume, it is perfectly normal to ask, “What’s wrong with my resume?”You may not take much comfort in knowing that there are a variety of circumstances within the employer’s realm that you have no control over. Sometimes the posted position has already been filled and the responsible recruiter has not yet taken down the posting. Also, employers often post a job to the public, as well as to their existing employees, hoping to fill it internally while hedging their bets by looking externally at the same time. And, sometimes business needs change and the position just goes away.
Unfortunately, most employers do not have the time or resources to tell you this.But what about those instances when none of the above apply and the employer is actively recruiting external job applicants? Why is it that your resume is not being picked from among many others for immediate consideration? Here are some of the common reasons my recruiting peers have shared with me:
“I didn’t pick (that one) because it didn’t tell me what the applicant wanted to do.” Too often, resumes are written as generic documents, in a one-size-fits-all manner, leaving the recruiter to discern what it is the applicant is best at and wants to do next.
Remedy: Revise your resume to identify the specific job you are applying for each time you send it. If the employer is looking for a Technical Project Coordinator, under your name and address on your resume insert a Job Objective: Technical Project Coordinator.“The resume was too general – a jack-of-all trades, master-of-none.”
Many resumes are written as autobiographies, containing a life history of experiences, both relevant and irrelevant.
Remedy: If you know the specific job you are applying for, tailor your resume to highlight the skills and experiences you have had that show that you can perform knowledgeably and successfully in that role. Take out anything else that doesn’t relate to the desired skills.“The resume was too long and too hard to read.”
Your resume should be thought of as an advertisement. It should tell the reader enough to generate interest, but not include every last detail. And, it should be presented in an easy to read format.
Remedy: Condense your resume to a maximum of two pages. Use wide margins – at least an inch on each side. Break down long paragraphs into to or three of the most important points, then use “bullets” and white space between them to make them stand out.The key lesson here is to stop using one standard resume for every job you apply for. Write your resume uniquely and specifically for each job that interests you. You can’t change who you are, but you can package yourself differently for what you would like to become. Write for the reader and you are more likely to get the calls you have been waiting for.
June, 2006
SIX SIGNALS THAT MIGHT INDICATE THAT IT MIGHT BE TIME TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER JOB
1. Loss of Passion - You are no longer excited about the work you do.
2. Loss of Commitment - You are no longer included / informed / engaged in the meaningful work of the business.
3. Loss of Learning - You find the work has become repetitive, even boring, offering no opportunities for you to grow, stretch, or learn.
4. Loss of Value - No one at work seems to appreciate you nor do they recognize the contributions you are making.
5. Loss of Respect - Your immediate supervisor is a tyrant who treats you like dirt and is totally insensitive to your needs.
6. Loss of Security - The organization for which you work is floundering or failing with no discernible leadership to save it.
While there may be justification for putting up with one of these circumstances, any combination of two or more should be a clear signal that it is time to do more than just make a New Year's resoultion to start looking for a better job.
Now that the job market is "hot" again, there is no need to put up with a less than ideal job. Go for it!
December, 2006
I would presume that almost all of us have heard the saying, “If you don’t know what you are looking for, you probably won’t find it.” Unfortunately, there are many of us who forget to heed that advice when we start looking for a new employee.As recruiters, some of us jump into action whenever a manager says, “Find me a new systems engineer.” And, managers too often assume that everyone involved in the search knows exactly what they are supposed to be looking for. In reality, without discussion and clarification, the selection criteria are open to wide interpretation based upon the perspective of each person involved. The result, then, is usually one without consensus. We recruiters often refer to this as the ever-evolving spec, changing after every interview until the right candidate is finally found.
Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we started the process of recruiting and selecting a new employee with a common idea of the credentials that employee is expected to possess and the skills he or she should be able to demonstrate in order to perform the job successfully?
With that in mind, I would like to offer a basic selection profile from which a more specific set of criteria might evolve. The whole purpose of this profile is to focus on an appropriate “fit” for the position, rather than just hoping to find a likeable personality.
The Standard Selection Profile
There are four important areas we all need to know about every candidate:
Interest – in the nature and the level of the work; in the company; in the location
Availability – to start when needed; to be able to work the required hours or shifts
Preparation – education and training; knowledge of company/industry
Relevant Expertise – demonstrated, effective, past performance in similar work roles. This may include other factors specific to the position, such as leadership, staff development, decisiveness, persuasiveness, planning and organization, etc.Differentiators
During the screening and selection interview process, each candidate should also be evaluated on these characteristics, which I refer to as the “Seven C’s”:Comfort (interpersonal style, rapport-building)
Confidence (self-awareness, attitude)
Credibility (honesty, integrity)
Clear - Concise - Convincing CommunicationsBy identifying and agreeing to these as targets before interviews begin, you can eliminate almost all other presumptive criteria. This allows all those involved in the selection decision to be comfortable and confident in their assessment of each candidate under consideration. The goal, of course, is to find someone who meets (or exceeds) all reasonable expectations in each of these categories.
While perfection may be the goal, it is rarely, if ever, attainable. Therefore, you must be willing to compromise in some areas. While it is true that interest may be developed, and availability may be negotiated, and even preparation may be improved via post-hire training, one’s style, integrity, and personal behavior is not likely to change from past patterns. We must be careful, however, not to accept promises of future behavior or performance without proof which has been demonstrated in past behavior or performance.
Starting the selection process with a commonly shared profile will not only save time, but also ensure a proper and successful “fit”.
January, 2005
There are numerous myths and urban legends circulating among job-hunting clubs, support groups, and even a few bloggers that need to be dispelled. There is no need to make job hunting any harder than it has to be. Let me set the record straight on three of the most prevalent myths.
MYTH #1 – When I send my resume to a company that has an automated resume database, I might as well be sending it into the Bermuda Triangle.
Corporate recruiters are not purposefully ignoring you or your repeated attempts to submit your resume for employment consideration. Hopefully, most of them are at least sending you an e-mail or postcard acknowledgement that your resume has been received. An electronic resume filed in a resume database may actually increase your chances of getting a call about a job opportunity at some future date because of the automated matching capabilities many of these databases have.
To improve your chances of immediate consideration, I would highly recommend you do these three things: 1) apply for a specific, existing job vacancy for which you are completely qualified (meaning you meet all the listed requirements); 2) make the title of the desired position your sole objective on your resume and in your cover letter; and 3) in a brief cover letter, tell how your qualifications meet the four or five key requirements for the position. By doing this, you will have simplified the recruiter’s task of qualifying you for further consideration. Without this, you will have to hope the recruiter can read between the lines.
MYTH #2 – When I apply to a company online, I can just sit back and wait for them to match my resume to a current or future job vacancy.
To some extent this is true, particularly for people with skills and experiences that are in very high demand. On the other hand, because resumes do not always portray a person’s skills and capabilities in the manner a company may choose to describe them, automated resume matching systems often miss the resume of an individual who might otherwise be a great fit for a given job.
Current hiring trends show that nearly 40% of successful job applicants have used more than one means of connecting with their employers of choice. For example, a person may send a resume through the company’s Web site and then attend a job fair to meet company recruiters. If those efforts don’t pan out, then the person might contact a friend who works in the company and ask for a personal referral to the responsible hiring manager. If at first you don’t succeed, try another approach.
MYTH #3 – When a company says “thanks but no thanks,” you can forget about them.
First and most importantly, please remember that no one has a crystal ball that sees clearly into the future. Companies’ needs change for all kinds of reasons. Acquisitions, mergers, unexpected quits, new product launches, etc. often create needs that no one could have anticipated. So, when a company says “No,” it usually means “Not right now.”
Recruiters can be favorably inclined towards applicants who have done their homework on the company, know what job they are interested in and qualified for, and make sincere efforts over time to make a connection with that company. If you can build a relationship with a recruiter or manager within the organization you hope to work for, they may think of you first when the appropriate opportunity arises.
Let me know if you have heard other myths you would like to see addressed in this column in the future.
October, 2004
As much as we all wish interviewers would show more originality in their interview questions, the unfortunate reality is that many of them are still using the same, old questions that have been asked of job applicants for years. The one which inevitably arises in most interviews is, “What are your greatest strengths and most obvious weaknesses?” Since it is likely to be asked, you would be wise to be prepared to respond.
Interviewers are not fooled by the negative-turned-positive response that many of us try to use when asked about weaknesses. More important than the weaknesses revealed, interviewers are assessing your preparedness, honesty, and self-awareness. These are qualities that are critical to effective working relationships; therefore, they deserve both the interviewer’s focus and your careful forethought and presentation.
In the past, career coaches would advise job seekers to pick some relatively innocuous “weakness,” such as, “People say I am too much of a perfectionist.” An answer such as this will trigger a follow-up question from most interviewers, “So, how was this a problem in your last position?” If you keep spinning the weakness as a positive, you run the risk of being perceived as arrogant or deceitful.
No interviewer expects you to reveal a “fatal flaw” that both of you know would end your consideration for the position in question. However, they do expect to hear about some relevant learning experiences, or a special effort you are making to improve or develop your skills or performance. You might approach this by speaking of a significant plan or proposal you have made that was not adopted or accepted. Or, perhaps you could talk about a current challenge you are facing and the difficulties you have encountered and overcome, emphasizing the lessons you have learned as a result.
Not all interviewers will use the standard strengths-and-weaknesses question. Sometimes, they will ask you:
- “Tell me about your biggest disappointment. What did you learn from that experience?” or,
- “Tell me about a time when you were not pleased with your own performance. What did you learn and what have you done differently since then?” or,
- “Under what circumstances have you done your best work, and in contrast, when, or under what circumstances, have you been least effective?”
Each of these questions beg for honesty, but without some advance thought and practice on your part, the answers can sound less than credible.In the selection of new workers, employers do try to find people who have exhibited the critical strengths needed to perform the job successfully. Similarly, they will try hard to identify any obvious shortcomings in these requisite skills to avoid making a hiring mistake. Similarly, if you can’t do it, don’t like to do it, or don’t want to ever have to do it again, you shouldn’t be trying to win a job that requires it! Hiding those things from the interviewer will most likely lead to disappointment, embarrassment, and/or failure later on.
September, 2004
In today’s recruiting marketplace, it is very difficult to competitively recruit new talent without the aid of some new, “cool,” recruiting-oriented technologies on the individual recruiter’s desktop. The good old days, when an e-mail account, a telephone, and a good memory were all a recruiter needed, are long gone. Now, almost all but the very smallest companies need to have corporate web sites, automated job postings, applicant tracking systems, resume databases, and partnerships with a myriad of sources and services to expedite the recruitment process.
In the late 1980s, Restrac and Resumix became the first major players in the recruitment software arena by offering resume scanning and tracking to high-volume recruiting organizations. In the early 1990s, many additional vendors entered this marketplace, each claiming to have “a better mousetrap.” Then the Internet emerged as a new means of reaching job seekers. Job boards such as Careerbuilder, Monster, Headhunter, and NetTemps proliferated. Suddenly, everything became web-based, and even more tools became available.
In 2004, successful recruiters have come to realize that winning talent requires global reach, an attractive brand, automated yet personalized communications, and speed. These things can only be accomplished by using the Internet and the latest desktop recruiting tools. In addition to tools that access resumes of both active and passive seekers, recruiters and applicants alike now can gain instant access to salary surveys, background checking services, and practically every other recruiting-related service known to man.
There are so many tools available today that it is becoming increasingly difficult for recruiting professionals to know which products and services to employ. For employers doing business in the greater Washington DC area, it may prove timely to attend the September 22 event, “Cool Tools for HR and Recruiting” to be held in Reston, Virginia. The Washington Technical Professional Forum is hosting this one-day event to allow participants to see several of these new technologies demonstrated. On-line registration is available through their web site (www.wtpf.org).
Speaking at the WTPF event will be two nationally renowned proponents of recruiting technology. Dr. John Sullivan, professor of management at San Francisco State University, is a visionary in the recruitment world and one of the world’s leading consultants and educators in the field of Human Resources. Also speaking will be Ed Newman, a prolific author and frequent presenter who specializes in the selection and implementation of recruiting software and technology.
The primary function of a recruiter is to establish a workable relationship between two people. Satisfying both the hiring authority and the applicant still requires a considerable amount of human interaction. However, in today’s fast-paced, highly competitive world, finding, attracting, qualifying, and landing the right people cannot be done efficiently, nor effectively, without the aid of some of these “cool tools” on your computer desktop.
What’s on your desktop?
August, 2004
SALARIES - TO POST OR NOT TO POST
I am often asked why companies rarely include salary information in their recruiting advertisements and job postings. From the applicant’s perspective, sharing information about the pay range certainly would make it easier to decide whether or not to apply for the position. So, what’s the big secret?
There have been times when some employers felt it was advantageous to reveal the starting salary for some of their positions. This most often occurred when a very specific, non-negotiable salary existed for the vacant position. Some non-profit organizations have publicized their salaries just to make sure job applicants didn’t come in with unrealistic salary expectations. Also, some service sector employers, such as restaurants, retailers, print shops, etc., have been known to advertise the pay scale for their jobs. They might have sounded something like this - - “Starting pay in the $15 to $18 per hour range, based upon experience.”
In the current Washington market, most employers of professional and managerial salaried employees do not advertise salaries for their open positions. Increasingly, however, many employers are asking applicants to identify their desired salary range as part of the online application process. This reverse mentality is purported to be a means “to ensure that we don’t waste the applicant’s time,” says one veteran corporate recruiter.
The rationale used by many employers for not posting salary information usually includes one or more of the following:
? Based upon the information about educational and experiential requirements provided in the job announcement, most applicants can determine whether or not they are qualified. There are a multitude of salary surveys available to job seekers on the Internet, so there is no excuse for not knowing one’s worth.
? Many companies will insist that their “total package” is what is important, not just the monthly or annual salary. And, because these packages are often tailored to the individual, only a face-to-face dialogue can adequately explain it.
? Applicants motivated primarily by salary are perceived to be more likely to leave “for a few dollars more” and, therefore, harder to keep on board.
? Many companies have very broad salary ranges to allow maximum flexibility to the company to employ qualified people but with varied backgrounds. By publicizing these ranges, it is feared that too many people will see themselves at the upper end of the range, even when their skill levels or qualifications may not warrant it. Companies want to avoid these high expectations.There are a number of companies that choose not to publicize their salaries because they want all interested applicants to apply. If a highly qualified candidate chooses not to apply because he believes the salary for the position is below par, that candidate may never have the opportunity to sell his talents to the company and garner a salary worthy of his level of expertise. As a recruiter, I have, on occasion, responded to some applicants’ telephonic inquiries and provided them with salary ranges, but not a specific salary. The key point here is that we both had an opportunity to exchange information and put these numbers into a meaningful context. I would not have offered it without this live discussion.
I like to think of recruiting and dating as similar processes. Just as it is inappropriate to require the signing of a pre-nuptial agreement before the first date, it is also inappropriate for employers and applicants to talk about salaries until mutual interest has been established.
July, 2004
Have you ever encountered someone who, despite all the information you might share with them, refuses to see your point of view? You may recognize this person as someone who constantly tells you that he can do your job better than you can. Or you may have seen this person as the know-it-all who dominates meetings, refusing to listen, and insisting that his ideas are the only ones worth considering. Still others may be recognizable by their over-powering egos that shout “Me” to everyone they meet. No matter where, when or how we may have encountered such persons, I am sure we can all agree that, given the choice, we would prefer not to have to work with any of them.
I have known far too many people who, despite their knowledge and intelligence, have failed to hold on to the jobs for which they were hired due to their inability to recognize and accept views contrary to their own. One acquaintance of mine actually said to her boss, “You hired me because of my expertise in this field, so you have to do (it) my way.” Even if she was right, that was the wrong way to gain acceptance, particularly from her boss.
Those of us who work within the human resources profession recognize the importance of being able to see the other person’s point of view. In every employee relations matter, here are always two sides the story. Making sense of it often depends upon our ability to help each party adequately share and understand the other’s perspective. Too often, one party assumes that the other understands what the issues are or what is expected of them. Understanding and resolution can only occur when both perspectives are fully and openly communicated.
In recruiting new employees to an organization, many managers purposefully seek individuals who are open-minded and able to work effectively within teams. Therefore, to be viewed favorably, a candidate must have previously demonstrated behavior that exemplifies his or her adaptability, flexibility, and openness to compromise. Self-proclamations alone are not enough. Most employers will make a special effort to discuss these attributes with previous employers and character references. Being perceived as an inflexible person is almost certainly a disqualifier in any organization.To assess these attributes, I encourage managers to evaluate a candidate’s past behavior to look for signs of adaptability. How effective has this person dealt with changing priorities, tasks, teammates, etc? Also, in terms of flexibility, has this person demonstrated the ability to modify his or her behavior to achieve a goal? When and how often has this person changed his or her opinion or course of action based upon input from others? Does this person demonstrate good listening skills? Questions such as these often reveal much about the true character of the person you may be considering as a new member of your team.
If these attributes or not evident, please don’t think you can bring them to bear through training. Skills can be trained; attributes cannot. For many of us, these attributes were ingrained in us in our youth by our parents and the others who nurtured us. For others, sometime in the course of our maturation, a significant life experience may lead us to realize that the world does not exist for our sole benefit.
Although I believe I have been blessed with the ability to see the other person’s point of view and empathize with his or her situation, it is still hard for me to understand why others don’t have this same ability. It is a gift – a talent not everyone has been given in equal shares. But wouldn’t the world be a much kinder and gentler place if we all had this talent?
June, 2004
As the long-awaited rebound of the job market picks up steam, the easy pickings from the talent pool will begin to fade away, and competition, again, will become the order of the day. Active job seekers will become increasingly harder to find. Finding and recruiting people with the appropriate skills to perform the work of the new economy will test even the most seasoned of recruiters. Winning the talent away from other employers, however, will depend upon how well the recruiting organization responds to each and every applicant’s five easy questions.
The foremost question in the mind of every job candidate is, “What work will you have me do?” It may seem ridiculously obvious, but employee motivation, productivity, and retention are all directly related to job satisfaction. Believe it or not, there are companies that really don’t care if the individual likes or wants to do the work. They just want to fill the chair.
Matching the interests of the individual to the demands of the job is fundamental. Selling the candidate on the nature and scope of the work, and the level of expected performance, will either excite and engage the candidate, or disappoint and deter him. Similarly, a position that has been misrepresented or over-sold in the recruitment process is almost assuredly a ticket to rapid turnover.
Questions numbered two through five will rank differently in the minds of each individual job seeker, but are usually on their lists of critical decision factors.
“Where will I do this work?” This is not just about geographic relocation; it is also about daily commuting and the work environment. Certainly, if a candidate is being asked to relocate from Topeka to Washington, there will be a myriad of questions to be asked and answered. But in this era of increasing opportunities, talented individuals can be more discerning about commuting distances and telecommuting, private offices, and free parking, and many other personal preferences.
And then there’s the inevitable “Who will I work with and for?” question. We all have heard that people don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses. So, is it any wonder that they will very carefully check out the new supervisor and their likely teammates before taking the leap? Just as important as job fit is culture fit. An effective recruitment process will allow a candidate to get an adequate sense of the work environment and culture.
Of course, there is always the question that asks, “What’s in it for me?” How the question is asked and the importance given to it by the candidate should dictate how it should be answered. Like dating, the recruitment process does not begin here, but it should be openly and honestly discussed before a lasting commitment can be made by both parties. Assumptions must be avoided at all costs.
This last question is, perhaps, a sign of the times. “Will I have time for a life outside of work?” This is not being asked just by candidates of the X Generation. Increasingly, quality of work life is becoming important to almost everyone. Vacation time, flex time, minimal overtime, community service time, family-friendly cultures and benefits, etc., are among the long list of discriminators that can either make an employer attractive, or just ordinary.
The perennial measures of success -- customer satisfaction and customer loyalty -- are as relevant in recruitment and retention as they are in retailing. In recruiting, answering these five easy questions is practically all it takes to satisfy the customer. We just have to remember to see the candidate as our customer.
May, 2004
“Why is it so hard to land a new job?” This question is the common cry of the modern day job seeker. I know this because I have several friends and family members who serve as my “secret shoppers” by telling me their horror stories after each of their interviewing experiences. These stories would make great fodder for a reality television series. It could be the counterpoint to “The Apprentice” where Mr. Trump gets to say “You’re Fired!” but, in this case, the suspense-filled punch line we would all wait to hear would be “You’re Hired!”Actually, we don’t need a reality television show to know how poorly many companies manage their interviewing and selection processes. Most of us have experienced it firsthand. We consider ourselves lucky when we get invited by a company for an interview. However, when we get there, we encounter a series of interviews with a number of different people who, in many cases, seem to have totally unrelated agendas. We silently ask ourselves, “Do these people even know what job I am applying for?” or, “Why does everybody ask me the exact same questions?” or, “Is this some kind of endurance test?” Then, we leave, exhausted, and wait for days, or even weeks, hoping that we’ll finally hear those magic two words – “You’re Hired!” But, since there can be only one winner, too often we are told “Thanks, but we don’t have an appropriate opportunity for you at this time.” Gee, isn’t that special?
One of my secret shoppers told me recently that she had been advised by another, experienced job seeker to “avoid being the first one interviewed --- at all costs.” Sadly, there is some sound logic behind this advice. Managers who interview without a complete, well-defined profile of the skills and competencies required of a successful candidate will probably need the experience of interviewing a candidate or two to help them calibrate their thinking.
All too typically, many interviewing processes can be described as Ready-Fire-Aim. In these organizations, the manager who has a vacancy to fill asks his HR person to provide him with resumes of candidates who possess a very general set of educational and experiential qualifications. As soon as resumes are provided, the interviews begin.
This common problem is simply a failure to define what it is needed in a new worker so all those who serve as interviewers will be able to identify a qualified candidate when they meet one. Otherwise, the natural tendency