Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter's Blog
Coaching People to Job Search, Hiring and Business Life Success
Jeff A short video about networking and what works and what doesn’t.
Visit www.TheBigGameHunter.us; there’s a lot more there
Want to ask me a question via email, chat or phone? Reach me via PrestoExperts or Clarity.fm
Subscribe to TheBigGameHunterTV on YouTube
A short video about how to avoid a basic mistake with your online resume.
Visit www.TheBigGameHunter.us; there’s a lot more there
Want to ask me a question via email, chat or phone? Reach me via PrestoExperts or Clarity.fm
Subscribe to TheBigGameHunterTV on YouTube
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter offers two brainteasers that used a technique called deflection in order to trick you.
———————————————————————————————————————————-
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a recruiter for more than 40 years.
Follow him at the Big Game Hunter, Inc. on LinkedIn for more articles, videos and podcasts than what are offered here and jobs he is recruiting for.
Pay what you want for his books and guides to job hunting.
Sign up for a complimentary subscription to No B.S. Job Search Advice at TheBigGameHunter.us.
Trying to hire someone? Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us.
Subscribe to TheBigGameHunterTV on YouTube for advice about job hunting and hiring. Like videos, share and comment.
Listen to Job Search Radio, No B. S. Job Search Advice Radio and No B. S. Hiring Advice Radio in iTunes and other podcast directories and apps.
Do you need more in-depth coaching? Join my Coaching program.
Want to ask me a question via email, chat or phone ? Reach me via PrestoExperts or Clarity.fm
This is a simulcast of No B. S. Job Search Advice Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com
On this Hangout, Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter uses the example of the Yankee “Core Four” to illustrate career lessons people in the workforce can take into their own careers.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a recruiter for more than 40 years.
Follow him at The Big Game Hunter, Inc. on LinkedIn for more articles, videos and podcasts than what are offered here and jobs he is recruiting for.
Visit www.TheBigGameHunter.us. There’s a lot more advice there.
Pay what you want for my books about job search
Trying to hire someone? Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us
Do you need more in-depth coaching? Join my Coaching program.
Want to ask me a question via email, chat or phone ? Reach me via PrestoExperts or Clarity.fm
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter encourages you to look beyond LinkedIn with your networking efforts.
——————————————————————————————————————–
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a recruiter for more than 40 years.
Follow him at the Big Game Hunter, Inc. on LinkedIn for more articles, videos and podcasts than what are offered here and jobs he is recruiting for.
Pay what you want for his books and guides to job hunting.
Sign up for a complimentary subscription to No B.S. Job Search Advice at TheBigGameHunter.us.
Trying to hire someone? Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us.
Subscribe to TheBigGameHunterTV on YouTube for advice about job hunting and hiring. Like videos, share and comment.
Listen to Job Search Radio, No B. S. Job Search Advice Radio and No B. S. Hiring Advice Radio in iTunes and other podcast directories and apps.
Do you need more in-depth coaching? Join my Job Search Coaching program.
Want to ask me a question via email, chat or phone ? Reach me via PrestoExperts or Clarity.fm
In this video, Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses a policy change LinkedIn is made regarding inMails.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a recruiter for more than 40 years.
Follow him at The Big Game Hunter, Inc. on LinkedIn for more articles, videos and podcasts than what are offered here and jobs he is recruiting for.
Visit www.TheBigGameHunter.us. There’s a lot more advice there.
Pay what you want for my books about job search
Trying to hire someone? Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us
Do you need more in-depth coaching? Join my Coaching program.
Want to ask me a question via email, chat or phone ? Reach me via PrestoExperts or Clarity.fm
For the longest time, employers would do simple background checks. They have a potential employee complete a job application where they were asked for three professional references. Before the employee was hired, the three would receive a telephone call and tell the potential employer that the job applicant was a wonderful individual who would do incredible things for them, just as they had done before.
For a while, polygraphs or lie detectors became part of the standard arsenal of checking until, fortunately, legislation was passed in many states eliminating it as a tool (they were notoriously inaccurate).
In a recent poll, 77% of employers surveyed were searching the web for information about new hires and 35% had eliminated a candidate based upon something they found there.
A few years ago, a manager I was working with at a hedge fund Googled the name of a job applicant for a technical position and found a posting where they had written that they were still working in technology only because they had suffered large trading losses and wanted to join a company where they could learn what they did wrong–in other words, learn how my client traded and steal the model. Suffice it to say, the candidate was rejected.
Companies are examining listings on Facebook, Twitter and Google+to determine whether the job applicant might have done something inappropriate.
And, as they have for years, many more are doing background checks including checks of your financial responsibility (credit checks).
So, remember that picture in the belly shirt with the beer in your hand toasting the photographer you posted on Facebook five years ago? And guy, remember that picture that was taken of you streaking through the frat house when you were 19 that’s still on your webpage?
Take this stuff down before it takes you down.
I’ve been a recruiter since 1972 and have checked many references.
I have never heard a former employer say, “Jeff, you would be doing a disservice to your client if you referred this person.”
or
“Jeff, tell your client to run, not walk, to the next candidate. This one is a human waste.”
No, everyone says nice polite things about their former colleague or subordinate. Once in a while, an employer will say, “Sorry, our firm has a policy against our giving references for all former employees.”
I’ll test that by trying to reference check someone else and invariably it is a company-wide prohibition.
So why do companies check references?
They are hoping for the one occasion where it is not a company-wide ban and they find the needle in a haystack who either gives them the name of someone who will say awful things about them (very unlikely to occur) or they find the one company that where someone whispers to them not to hire someone.
Since most people in management learn that if they do this, they open their company to law suits and themeselves to dismissal that isn’t likely to happen either.
This opens up an opportunity to you as a job hunter to coach your former employer or colleague into saying certain theings about you. Reminding them of stories where you went “above and beyond” your colleagues, where you won the contract or saved the firm money.
But remember, employers are trying to find out something wrong so surprising them with valuable and detailed information about how fabulous you are.
Don’t miss the opportunity.
After all, it will help you distinguish yourself from your competitors (remember, references are often used to narrow the field) and can afford you an opportunity to gain a negotiating edge during salary discussions.
What will employers ask about?
Confirming what your job responsibilities were
Outstanding strengths
Developmental needs
Ability to work under pressure
How well you work with management, colleagues, subordinates, people whose services your work affects
Self-motivation
Work ethic
Written communications capabilities
Personality
Reliability and Flexibility
Whether they might want to re-hire you
So stack your references with people who will take to some coaching from you about what to say.
It should go without saying that having good references prepared to give to a perspective employer are an important part of the job search process. The employer who is evaluating you has only met you on a few occasions and seems that you have the skills required but your references are people who have worked with you regularly and who know your work first hand.
Ideally, your references should be former managers; peers are definitely second choices, particularly for non-manager level job hunters.
So what’s the biggest mistake that job hunters make with their references?
They don’t have the references checked to hear what is said about them!
(The second biggest mistake is presenting inaccurate contact information to the employer and then having to correct it.)
Recently, someone I was representing for a senior position with a major firm took “the lazy man’s approach” of turning over unchecked references to a prospective employer.
They were given at the time of the first meeting on the employment application.
Three interviews later, the employer called them and heard one of them offer what can only be described as a “candid assessment” of the individual and their (lack of) success.
It was impossible to fix.
For less experienced people, the reference may not be skillful at describing their successes, contributions and experience, presenting information in a “lukewarm” manner that is interpreted as ambivalence or neutrality, rather than the lack of experience the reference provider may have.
Make sure your references will speak in glowing terms about:
Skills competence
Character
Personal leadership
Work ethic
Ability to work with Superiors, peers, subordinates and others you may interact with
Self-Motivation
Personality
Ability to work independently
Ability to work with a team
Your ability to work under pressure
Not preparing your references may result in your candidacy crashing and burning.
Preparing them well, can give you that extra inch that puts you over the top . . . and pays you better!
You’ve been on three interviews and are about to obtain an offer of employment from the company. Hopefully, the offer will be for far more money, prestige and opportunity than you wanted.
And it may not be.
What should you do BEFORE you receive the offer?
Review the factors that went into your decision to leave. What was wrong with the job? With the people? What was the wound that finally brought you to the decision to change jobs? I believe it is important to do this in order to be sure that the factors that went into the decision to leave are resolved. You may never know with certainty but you can know that they are addressed to your satisfaction.
For example, would it be wise to take a job next door to your current employer if your sole reason for changing jobs is to reduce your commute? How about accepting an offer from a company that requires extensive travel and hours if your number one reason for change is to spend more time at home?
You may decide that it is worth your while to accept an offer like this IF (and that’s a big IF) you learn reasons to do that overwhelm the reason why you shouldn’t.
Decide what you must have in the offer without being unreasonable or ridiculous. Donald Trump says, “The first step is to know exactly what you want. You have to be clear about your own goals.” What must you absolutely have or walk away? Are you willing to be a little flexible about that? Yes, then what is it you really must have it isn’t the first answer?
A while ago, I was representing someone for a senior position with a client. Everything was going well until we got to the negotiation when the applicant gave me a clue that he wasn’t sure what he wanted. I told him, “Cancel your schedule for a day and sit down and figure out what you absolutely must have and what your second tier of requirements are. Otherwise, you will never be sure that you are taking the right job and getting what you want from it.”
So, if you haven’t already done so, sit down and take some notes about why you are looking for another position and save it on your system so that you can look at it later.
And when the negotiation starts, review what you MUST get from it so that you can be sure that you’ve met your objectives.