Day: November 24, 2016

Can I Get Away with Using a Fake Reference? (VIDEO)

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THcBElp12QQ[/svp]
I answer a question for someone about whether they can use a fake reference and get away with it.

false-references

[spp-transcript]

I was asked the question:

Can I get away with using the fake reference?

I’m not going to give you the morality speech.  I will simply say that it is absolutely wrong and it is possible to get away with it, but harder than you think it is.

It’s possible to get away with it. If your “reference” has been properly briefed, speaks with confidence, understands the field of work that you are in, can talk in detail, not just simply about the simple work that you’ve done, but about the more nuanced work that you did for your organization.  Most people can’t pull that off.

This is 1 of the ways that people get caught.  These days there is LinkedIn.  Someone says that they work for your firm and they don’t work there.  Lo and behold, you are exposed as a liar.

They can’t speak in detail about you – – what you did and how you went about doing it. Any follow-up question other than name, rank, and serial number questions receives very thin answers and lo and behold, you are a liar.

Is that how you want to lose an opportunity? By faking it?

Let me also going one extra layer. If you have to think the reference to get the job, you’re probably not qualified to do the job will probably be fired.

Do you want to put all your blood and guts into getting a job and then, because you’re not really qualified, get fired?

Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? No.

A quick story. In days of old, someone told me about how they went so far as to send someone in for their medical exam before they were hired! When it came time to do the drug test, because the real person look different and had a different handwriting than the person who is actually taking the test for them, they put a splint on the hand of this person. They got away with it, except when the person was on board, the person was fired for drug use.

Invariably, the chickens come home to roost.  You really don’t want to do this but recognize, if you do, you are putting your career at risk yet again.  There is something you are not qualified for in this job and need to have a liar life for you.

Don’t do it.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Is It Really Easier to Find a New Job When You Have a Job? | Job Search Radio

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One of the great beliefs job hunters have is that it is easier to find a job if you already have on. On today’s podcast, I answer this question and explain why I believe what I do.

If you have a question about job hunting, email me at JobSearchRadio@gmail.com. I can’t answer every question . . . but you knew that!

unemployed

[spp-transcript]

Is it really easier to find a new job when you have a job?

Great question!  It really challenges the beliefs of the job-search system, both from an employer perspective and from a job perspective.  So let me pause and answer the question.

The answer to me is, “No.”  I know that will be a surprise for many of you because it is 1 of the great assumptions of job hunting.  Let me dissect it.

If you don’t have the skills to do a job, whether you are working or not, you are not going to be hired.  If you have the skills and aren’t working, you can find a job in the same is obviously true. If you are working. 

The real issue is around the negotiation phase.  In certain markets and in certain times, the issue may be, “Why were you fired and not the person 2 desks over from you?”  Employers start to think, “Maybe this individual was not the most productive person” versus the least political individual.  Or, the one with the least seniority.  Seniority is always the easiest way to cop to an explanation as to why you are the one chosen during particular down markets.

Employers Like a Bargain!

In average-to-good markets, the issue will come down to the negotiation phase.  Employers think they can get a “bargain” if you are out of work.  That’s because they think you are “desperate.”  That’s their thinking.  You are desperate.  You need a job.  You want a job.  You’ll take almost anything to get back to work.  The longer you are out of work, the more likely it is you are to behave that way, right?  After all, you’ve been out of work for 6 months. You been collecting unemployment insurance or whatever the social program is in the country you reside in.  They think they can get you inexpensively, which, in some respects, makes you more attractive. But, in other ways, it’s harder on you because you have to compromise more. Your ego is at stake. 

It’s hard for you to say to someone, “We want you to start this new position and we think you’re terrific.  We think you’re wonderful and we are going to pay you less than your previously earning.“

On the subconscious level for the individual, they are shocked and find it difficult to say, “Yes.”  Being out of work is a layer of complexity to the search.  You have less wiggle room on the negotiation side because firms will often make job offer, suggesting to you, “Without you making a job offer and give you 2 choices.  Leave it or take it. Your choice.  We don’t really care which one you make. Because there are another 15 people at our door who want this job if you want it.“

That’s the real issue with being out of work.  Your bargaining becomes limited.  Where you can negotiate if the numbers are off.

In other climates, it is how you are perceived as someone who has chosen to be out of work.  Why that was and they are concerned about you, as a result.

1 of the little trick questions they’ll ask him to those conditions is, “Where have you had interview so far?  Where else are you pending?“

If you say nowhere, their reaction is to say, “Okay, we can make him a low-ball offer because she doesn’t have any choices.” 

I remember, when I 1st saw it as a recruiter, I interviewed this 1 person in my 2nd week in the job and that was trained to ask the question, “Where have you been on interviews before?”  The guy read off a list of 20 places that he’s been to the have all turned them down and there was a message in that, too.

Just recognize that the impact of being laid off, the impact of being out of work can adversely affect you very easily.  If you are working, it takes away a whole layer to the situation that puts you on a more even playing field. When you are negotiating.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Please give “Job Search Radio” a great review in iTunes. It helps other people discover the show and makes me happy!

How to Change Careers Part 4

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OZ94-yTT64[/svp]
I discuss another step in your journey to change careers… This one is focused on you and the life that you want to live.

career-change

[spp-transcript]

This is part 4 in my series about changing careers. I hope some things had been percolating so far but, if not go back and dig deeper. The idea behind all of this is to get clear about some things that you are weighing about what’s going to be important to you in your career ending your life.

Your life is the next part of this because we can’t partialize or divide work and life as distinctly as some think we should. How is that working for you to make those different things? 

I think that is all part of the same thing which is the life that you live. So I’m going to invite you to look at a few different things today and, again, as always, I want you taking down notes and spending time with this.

The 1st thing I want you to look at is your health. How are you physically at this point? I said in other places that one day I woke up and, try though I might, my weight got away from me. One day I woke up and weight and saw numbers on the scale that I never seen before

I have been working on my health, working with the trainer and that’s become really important to me… To get my health in shape and be fit. As a matter of fact, this morning I had the pleasure of my wife say I look younger!

What kind of environment do I want to live in? Is it an urban area? Is it a rural area?

If it is urban, what type of neighborhood? Where is your ideal place to live in the world? After all, these days, people can do work from a lot of places in the world.

What kind of income do you need?

What you need to support yourself and your family?

What kind of goals do you have for your future?

Is your family important to you? I’m not just speaking about your immediate family. I’m speaking about your extended family. Aging parents, for example or maybe you are the aging parent and you want to be closer to your kids. How does that fit in? Do you need to have some flexibility in order to spend time with them? Do you need time to go to the kids soccer games?

What sort of personal development goals do you have? We tend to focus on work so much that we tend to forget that we can be students in our lives, too. For us to really excel, we need to learn and grow in order to master our circumstances.

These are all things you need to sit down and think about. Take at least an hour with this. Seriously. Minimally, an hour with this exercise. Learn your lessons from it and apply it to your life.

 

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you really think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn http://bit.ly/thebiggamehunter

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”