Jeff

Now is the Time to Leverage Your Rolodex

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Yesterday, I was speaking with a senior manager who was referred to me by someone for a position. Although he did not fit the role, as often happens, we got to talking about a broad spectrum of things and then evolved our conversation to his job search.

“Right now,” I said, is the key time for you in your search for this year.

“Why is that?”

“Because your old friends are creating their budgets for next year and they can carve out a place for you. More than anything for a senior professional, the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth are the key times in their search when they can leverage some of their contacts and really make something happen.”

If you wait until December, budgets are already in place for the next year and it’s too late for them to be creative.

Instead, get on the phone and/or get together with as many former colleagues as you can who are in leadership roles with their firms or joining new organizations in leadership roles. See if there is space for you or can be space for you in their new budget. If not, see if they can point you to someone who they hear may need someone like you.

Use your time wisely now. If you do and are fortunate you can bank your severance and land in a new role with a halo around your head.

 

 

 

© 2009, 2011 All rights reserved Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Be Passionate on Your Job Interviews

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Whether you are doing a phone interview or being interviewed in person, one of the most engaging qualities a job applicant can display is passion.

In the context I am using the word, passion can be described as:

a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: a passion for music. *

Passion displayed for your work usually expresses itself as excitement or eagerness which when contrasted with “coolness” which can be interpreted as antipathy or indifference makes passion a more desireable behavioral characteristic to express.

Now to be clear, I am not asking you to say, “Oh! I am passionate about what I do!” I am inviting you to be passionate as you speak about what you do and have done.

Being excited, being passionate is fun. It;s certainly more fun than being bored.

As Richard Nelson Bolles, author of “What Color is Your Parachute?”, maintains, landing a job once you get to the dreaded interview table is all about being enthusiastic and showing that to a prospective employer.

As he wrote:

“Why is enthusiasm so important during the job interview?

“You better be darn well interested in the interviewer and company. It’s deadly when you go to interview at a place, (and) you really don’t care if you get the job there or not.

“The key is enthusiasm. Let’s say you’re somebody who is over 50, a baby boomer. What employers are looking for is they want to see energy. That comes from being fascinated by what you’re doing. You can hardly wait to get to work and have at it.

“Lean forward in your chair, ask intelligent questions about the place and interview in places where you think you would love the work.

 

* Source http://dictionary.reference.com

© 2010 all rights reserved.

 

Posting Your Resume on Job Boards

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A few weeks ago, I got a call from a client telling me that they wanted me to keep an eye out for three senior technology managers with particular skills.

“Expansion,” I asked.

“Nah, ” we spotted their resumes on Monster. Look up these three people and you’ll have the job description.”

True story.

If you are currently working, why are you revealing your identity when you post your resume on the major job boards? If you work for a large company that is trying to hire staff and is advertising for staff, they may have also purchased a license to search the resume data base to search for new staff.

How do you think your employer will respond when HR calls them and says, “Sharon is looking for a job.”

Too often, I see people put their jobs at risk by posting their resume with full contact information on the large job boards. Blind your name and make your dissatisfaction harder to identify.

 

© 2006 all rights reserved.

OMG! My Resume Was Submitted for the Same Job By Two Different Recruiters!

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A friend of mine sent an email recently and said he wanted to speak with me. He has been looking for a job for a few weeks. I called him and asked what was wrong.

“My resume was submitted by two different recruiters for the same job!”

“And what do you think the problem is with that?”

“They will think that, uh, they don’t know what I am doing. They don’t like receiving multiple resume.” The he said my favorite.

“It makes me look bad!”

I have asked this question for many years as a recruiter because, frankly, I’m curious to know if there is a new reason someone will give me to explain the problem. Let me give you some historical context.

I started as a recruiter in March of 1972. At that time when you wanted to present the credentials of a candidate to a client, there were only three ways to do it:

You mailed the resume

If the client was local, you had a mesenger pick it up and deliver it or

You pleaded for permission to have what was called in the business “a phone send out.” That is the ability to reserve the rights to a candidate pending the receipt of the resume that confirmed what you told the client about the candidate’s background. Once the resume arrived, it was manually date and time stamped in HR and that stamp confirmed the receipt of the resume and was the determining factor as to who “owned the rights to that candidate” if there was a disagreement between agencies.

Pretty primitive, huh? As a result, many large firms decided that they would not accept a referral of a candidate that they received from more than one source in order to avoid being sued for the fee.

Let’s fast forward past the age of fax machines to now.

Companies spend a lot of time evaluating and assessing their recruiting vendors to insure that they are competent anbd ethical. They really want to partner with us. Every emailed resume is automatically date and time stamped by the firm’s systems. Those systems are networked so, unless someone is willing to go to the trouble of changing the time on the server (which they aren’t), they can always send a screen shot to the complaining recruiter to show when they received each resume. Law suits about candidate submissions have almost been completely eliminated!

Those two vendors have been interviewed and contracts signed. The company likes them and now you are going to disqualify someone who two of your prime vendors thinks is qualified and appropriate?

No.

These days, it is seen as a testimonial, not a problem. So, I told him not to worry, to make the company fall in love with him and not to worry.

Oh! I also told him that if he is asked questions by them, tell the truth.

© 2010 all rights reserved.

Laughable Advice

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Let me start off by saying that having been in recruiting for more than 40 years, most job hunters still do the same things in their job search that did not work for them when they graduated from college. Writing one resume and sending it out over and over again is like the holy grail for most job hunters. To me, it is like the story of the broken watch–it is right twice a day but does not work the rest of the time.

Knowing this, I have developed some compassion for job hunters who still send out “their resume” to every job. Often when I receive a resume that does not seem to fit a job, I send off a response to them:

“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how competitive the market can be. When firms are looking at people and their experience, resumes need to spell out the ‘fit’ for the role and frankly, yours doesn’t do a good enough job in doing so.”

“This isn’t to say that you don’t have the experience; it is saying that your resume needs to be improved to make it obvious that you fit what the institution is looking for. Once you send me a revised resume that demonstrates the fit, I would be happy to speak with you and represent you for this role.”

I think this is a polite way of explaining that they have sent a resume that is nothing more to me than spam (a waste of time) and asking them to do their homework and re-send a resume that tells me how they fit the requirements of the job.

Imagine my surprise, to receive a response like this

” Firms that look for an exact skill fit are exactly the kinds of places that need a leader like myself to bring in the changes they need to gear up for the 21st century.

“I request you to forward my detailed resume to the top executives in the Firm who are tasked with turning the Firm’s processes, organizations around and with reducing expenditure on software maintenance and upkeep of legacy system.

“My resume is perfectly suited and consistent with my stated objective and it matches some of the expected responsibilities associated with this job. I have been in similar situations enough number of times to be fairly sure of when a position fits and requires my skills and unique expertise and this is one of them.

A firm like this is a bunch of idiots (and you, too, by the way) that knows nothing about how the world works in this century. I, on the other hand, do even though I don’t know who it is or almost anything about them. My resume is perfect just the way it is. Send it.

Ridiculous.

Outplacement firms and newspapers teach tactics like this. When you de-construct them, the response is insulting and laughable. After, you know very little of what is being sought, nothing about the employer or its corporate culture but you are DEFINITELY the right person even though you are told you aren’t.

Sure.

© 2010, 2013 all rights reserved.

Job Search Radio – Help is NOT a Four Letter Word

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Let’s face it. People find it hard to ask for help and we all know we need to do so. In job search, not asking for help can be damaging because statistics show that 70% of jobs are found through networking and 70% of those 70% came about through someone you didn’t know at the beginning of your search.

My guest, Peggy Collins, is the author of “Help Is Not a Four Letter Word: When Doing It All Is Doing You In” and she ties this message home very effectively about networking and offers easy to follow ways to improve your networking skills

Listen to the Show

Do you have questions for me? You can call, email or IM your questions through PrestoExperts

Is your job search going nowhere? Are you unsure about what to do? You may be doing critical things wrong or a lot of small things wrong that are costing you opportunities. Schedule a job search makeover with me. It’s an intense detailed coaching session where we go through EVERYTHING.

You can listen to, watch or read more of Jeff’s job search, hiring and recruiting content at TheBigGameHunter.us

Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn

Also available in iTunes, Stitcher, Spreaker, Player.fm, The Blackberry Store and other podcast networks

Resumes That Work: 3 Steps to More Interviews

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All of us involved with helping you get a new job, whether as third party recruiters or as representatives of a company evaluating you for employment of all receiving hundreds of emailed resumes a day. Having done professional search work for more than thirty years, I have seen both resumes change and how they are delivered change. The change in delivery means that how you think of your resume being seen needs to change too.

1. Few people are really looking at resumes in the traditional sense of pieces of paper. They are looking at screen shots of approximately 1/4 -1/3 of a page per shot and attempting to make decisions based upon a few quick Page-Downs (or PgDn on your keyboard). For this reason you need to think of your resume in a different way than you may have before. Critically examine your resume each time you scroll down. Where does your eye fall? Does it convey meaningful information about your experience for that particular position?

2. Generic resumes are less effective than targeted ones. Only use a generic resume if you are sending out a mass email or mass mail. Where you have a job description to work from, revise your resume to include information about your experience relevant to the particular job. Don’t assume that someone will read your resume in detail, think about nuances and call you to inquire whether you have the relevant experience. Few people have the time to email or call you to find out whether their interpretation of your experience is correct. Make it simple and put it in your resume!

3. For years, if people were going to attempt to forward a resume to an employer directly, I would encourage them to write a three paragraph cover letter. The first paragraph would explain why they were writing (I’m forwarding my resume in response to your ad in . . . for a Java Developer); the second would include several relevant points about their experience that pertain to the job (I believe my 5 years of experience with Java including 2 years of J2EE experience, coupled with my experience with your industry would allow me to be a productive performer within your organization). The third paragraph would extend a hope that they contact you for an interview or might indicate that you’ll be calling with an eye to meeting with them (I look forward to hearing from you about joining your firm . . . I’ll be calling you in the few days about our meeting to discuss my experience and the opportunity you have).

Today, I receive attachments of cover-letters. I never open them and few people I know open them because we don’t have time. Instead of attaching a cover letter, use the message to which you are attaching your resume as a place to write a commercial that pertains to the position.

We encourage people to copy and paste position descriptions into the message area of the email and go point by point and describe their relevant experience so that it is obvious. Sure takes the guesswork out of whether some is qualified, doesn’t it? 🙂

And that is really what you need to do–take the guesswork out of communicating whether you are qualified for a position. It’s one thing to not get an interview because you’re not qualified or because you are asking for too much money; it’s another to fail to get an interview because your resume doesn’t communicate that you have the experience that’s being sought.

Use these tips and watch your interviews grow.

© 2004, 2011 all rights reserved.

Phone Interviews: Prepare to Ace Them!

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Almost all companies are saving time and effort by doing initial telephone interviews before committing themselves to hours of time assessing and evaluating applicants. They are doing this because, frankly, it’s a good way to save a team’s time from interviewing obviously unqualified people. From your standpoint, this means that you need to develop an additional interview skill.

One of the disadvantages of doing a phone interview is that they can’t see how well you look or what a great suit you’re wearing to the interview or that you own terrific ties. It also means that you can sit in the comfort of your home, rather than trudging to their site. With this opportunity, comes problem. The major problem is that they can’t see how well you look or what great clothes you own. All they can do is listen to your voice and the energy that you convey and listen to the answers to your questions; you, on the other hand, can’t see when you’ve lost their attention or when you’ve bored them. There are no visual cues for either of you.

But with preparation, you can do a fabulous job and get in the door. Here’s a few pointers.

1. For any interview, go to the company’s website and learn about the firm. Also, if you can read a job specification on their site (or elsewhere) do so. After all the spec is the road map to what they are going to assess your abilities for.

2. Take some notes to remind yourself of points that you may want to make or about things that you might forget. Sometimes people get nervous, just like they do in person. Have a few notes nearby about your role, responsibilities and accomplishments as helpful reminders. Support your statements with detailed examples of accomplishments when possible. Remember, they can’t see if you have a manual open to something you might be a little rusty in! They can’t see that you have your resume in front of you!

3. Rehearse. Have someone call you and listen to your voice on the phone. Maybe your cordless phone makes your voice sound tinny. Maybe you speak too softly, mumble or speak too quickly to be understood by others. Ask someone you trust to critique you.

4. Pick out a place in your house where the kids won’t interrupt you or the tv won’t make noise in the background. I hate interviewing people who have the stereo playing in the background (it happens more often than you can imagine).

5. Write down their questions so that you can stay on purpose. Too often, people forget the original question and go rambling about something far a field. Stay on target.

6. Your voice is your only sales tool. Don’t allow yourself to sound tired or blasé over the phone. Sounds energetic and excited, even if they’ve asked you the same questions that every other interviewer has for the last six months!

7. At the time of the phone interview, log off your computer (If you can’t definitely get off of instant messengers and other services that chime. These may sabotage your concentration just when you need it most.

8. Rehearse. Rehearse. Rehearse. I can’t emphasize enough that you need to practice phone interviews, just as you have in person one.

9. Don’t use your cell phone if you can avoid it. Cell phones rarely allow your voice to sound as clear as a standard land line. Try to avoid using it for interviews.

10. Be courteous and try not to speak over the interviewer or cut them off. If you do, apologize and let the interviewer continue.

11. Do not hang up until the interviewer has hung up.

Follow these pointers and I’m sure you’ll do better on your interviews.

 

 

© 2004, 2011 all rights reserved.

Listen More. Talk Less: 7 Steps to Avoiding Obvious Mistakes

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There was an interesting survey I read that, I think, came from Korn-Ferry, the international search firm. The survey said that the primary reason why people are rejected on interviews is NOT for lack of skills competency, but that almost 40% are rejected because they talk too much. Approximately 20% are rejected because they behave arrogantly on the interview.

So, what does this say to you in how you should behave on an interview?

Keep your answers to the point of the question

Where possible, keep your answers to 30 – 45 seconds in length. For in-depth questions, you can speak for a minute.

One of things you need to do in answering questions is to keep an eye out for rapport with the interviewer. If you sense you are “losing them,” ask a question that draws them back in.

Always remember that your voice AND body language are sales tools when you interviewer. You want to demonstrate confidence but not arrogance when answering questions.

Listen carefully to what is asked of you and what may be absent from what is asked of you. If the absent item might be critical to the answer, politely ask if they would like you to expand your answer to include it.
If you are in a technical discipline and asked a question for which a technical answer or overview (plain-English) answer could be given, ask which they would prefer . . . or whether they would like a blended answer
(Would you like me to give you an overview, go into detail or blend my answer for you?)

Speak to the person who is interviewing you as though they are someone with a problem and that they are trying to figure out if you are capable of solving it. Never “talk down” to them.

Following these seven recommendations will go a long way toward avoiding rejection for arrogance and over-talking.

© 2006 All rights reserved Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

I Hate Applications!

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One of the most common complaints that job seekers have is, “Why do I have to fill out a (*#!*!!#$) application? Everything they need to know is on the resume!”


Several years ago, a banking client hired someone a well-qualified person for a difficult to fill software engineering job. About a week after the person started, they discovered the person had lied about whether they had a college degree. Security met this person at their desk with a shoebox of their personal possessions as they returned to work from lunch on the Friday of their first week of employment.


Employment applications are a legal document; resumes are not. If you look on most applications, the potential employer provides a caution or warning that says something to the affect of “Lying on an application is grounds for dismissal.” Since most background and reference checks are completed after you have started your new job, an application notifies a potential employee of a risk.


They also provide a simple snapshot of a person’s writing skills (and penmanship for that matter) and attention to detail that a resume cannot.

All applications are somewhat similar so to create the best impression you can, as well as to save time when filling them out, create your own master employment application. List former jobs, making sure you have the correct addresses, telephone numbers, and the dates of your employment. Use this as your “sample form” when filling out a real application.

If you are unsure about a specific month that you started a job several years ago or a salary that you were paid, DON’T JUST GUESS! Add the phrase “approx” for approximately next to the item. This tells the interviewer that you are not sure of the exact month or salary and that you don’t want to lie when filling out the form.

Don’t leave questions blank. insert a dash or a N/A (for not applicable) if it doesn’t pertain to you. Proofread. Proofread.. Proofread. One of the advantages of having a master form is that if you spelling is not perfect, you have a place where you have written the word down previously and have spelled it correctly.

Try to write neatly. It’s not that great penmanship will get you the job but exquisite and poor handwriting is noticed.

Lavender may be a nice scent for the bathtub but a poor choice of ink colors when filling out a form. Stick with blue or black ink when completing forms. Some firms scan answers into systems tat won’t recognize any other color.

DON’T LIE!

In good or bad employment markets, nothing is worth having to explain to your friends and family why, after telling them so much about your job hunting journeys, after telling them you (finally) have a job, after telling people that you were enjoying the new job, after finally feeling comfortable, there is no worse moment than seeing security at your desk.