The Formal Recruitment Process - Does it work for you?

Signs that the normal recruitment process doesn't work for you:

• Your job search last longer than 3 months.
• You haven't received any requests for interviews in over a month.
• You get automated rejection emails before the job posting has even closed.
• You actually think that someone is going to call you 30 days after you submitted your application.

I could write more signs but I think you get the point. The point is that the formal recruitment process isn't for everyone. It is a process that has a specific recipe for success. Some people learn the recipe by working with a seasoned career coach. Others learn the recipe through trial and error. And still, others just have that "it factor" and are blessed to have the skills to communicate it in a way that put their resume at the front of the pile.

So what do you do if the formal recruitment process doesn't work for you? Seek help from a competent career coach asap! You can't appreciate the value of a career coach until you have wasted months on a dead-end job search. And those months have a cost because each month that you remain unemployed or underemployed is costing you money. It is much better to carefully evaluate the opportunity cost of not paying for the services of a career coach. The money you lose by pursuing a recruitment process that is not working for you far outweighs the investment you would pay a career coach.

There are many reasons why the formal recruitment process isn't working for you. But clearly you don't know those reasons or you wouldn't still be job searching after 6 months. So do the smart thing and pay the career coach their worth! As they say in the legal field, "he who represents himself has a fool for a client".

There's Value in the Rejections - Part 1

If you have ever had a prolonged job search, then you know all too well that rejections are part of the game. You can't go into the recruitment game without preparing for rejection. Recruitment and Rejections are the Yin and Yang of the job search nexus. If someone is recruited, then it stands to reason that a whole lot of someones had to be rejected. So what should you do? Do you get gun shy and stop applying to jobs? Or do you stop reaching out to contacts in hopes of getting a job referral?

Well, to put a spin on a popular commercial from Priceline, "Failure, is just success that hasn't happened yet." I say that to emphasize the fact that you gain a lot of value from the rejections you receive in your job search. Each rejection is like a Master Class in what you need to do in order to improve your odds at success on your next application or interview.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." - Lao Tzu
 

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before." - Jacob Riis

Think of any job search that doesn't result in the outcome you desire as practice and training on how to improve each successive application. It's like a ball player working to perfect his shot, or a golf player working to perfect his swing. Make your own definitions for success in how you measure your job search outcomes. Is getting an offer the only measure for success? Celebrate the small things too! What if you get a response to your application and are contacted for a phone screen? Even if you don't go any further in the job search process, you still have something that you can build upon. If you continue to work hard at your craft and find ways to reinvent how you communicate your brand, you will eventually get the outcome you desire in your job search.

This is Part 1 of the Value in the Rejection. More to come soon!

What's Your Career IQ?

Being smart about your career aspirations will help you to conduct an effective and efficient job search campaign. Your objective as a student should be to constantly seek ways to increase your Career IQ in parallel with your Academic IQ. As a student, you will always have academic evaluations in the form of test scores, peer evaluations, and professor ratings. But who is responsible for evaluating and testing your career education? How will you measure your career-readiness and preparation? The first step is to recognize what you know, and what you don’t know:

1.     Know which companies hire students/graduates with your academic background.

2.     Know your KSA’s (knowledge, skills, and abilities) that are relevant to the companies/industries/jobs/countries you desire.

3.     Know what resources are available to assist you in achieving your career goals.

Achieving A High Career IQ

Research. Learn. Do. That is the secret to obtaining a high Career IQ. There is no other substitute. Out-read your job seeking competition. Research yourself. Research companies of interest. Research job descriptions. Research industries. Research target countries. Learn how to get the skills you need to be competitive. Learn who you need to speak with to get career information. Learn how to effectively communicate your value proposition during an interview or informal conversation. Do the things that will set you apart from the competition. Do the internships. Do the exchange programs. Do the thesis with business value. Do the case competition.

Who will judge your Career IQ? Recruiters and Hiring Managers for starters. What metrics will be used to measure and evaluate it? Below is a short-list of ways you can monitor the growth of your Career IQ:

1.     X number of Networking Contacts that refer you to a Hiring Manager at your target companies.

2.     X number of Hours per day/week spent reading about your target companies/industries/job functions/countries.

3.     X number of Hours per day/week spent meeting new contacts that can aid your job search.

4.     X number of Hours per day/week spent practicing interview strategies and project pitches.

5.     X number of Career/Professional Development Workshops attended as a student/graduate.

6.     X number of relevant Contacts and Professional Groups on your LinkedIn profile.

7.     X number of followers on your Blog/Twitter feeds for content you produce/share that is related to your professional interests.

8.     X number of Job Interviews obtained from jobs to which you apply.

9.     X number of Job Interviews converted into job offers.

10. X amount of Salary/Compensation you negotiate for a fulltime job.

More Problems, Fewer Solutions!

We live in a world full of problems and maladies that are just itching for a solution. However, we also live in a world where more people are trained (and encouraged) to be "job-seeking" employees versus "solutions-providing" entrepreneurs. You don't always have to be one or the other, but rather, something of a hybrid: be the entrepreneur within a company! Don't search for jobs, search for problems for which you can provide solutions. 

Traditional job searching is soooo 1990's. It's an exercise in futility for the majority of people and basically is no different than walking the cyber streets of the world wide web with a big sign on your forehead saying, "Please Hire Me". The error of the traditional job searcher is to wait until an employer posts a proverbial "Help Wanted" sign. But what most job searchers don't realize is that it is not always their help that is wanted! Even though companies are working with skeleton crews and overloading their staff, many job seekers still can't seem to catch a break.

Each day a new swarm of job seekers hits the job boards looking for companies to post their problems. But that is the wrong approach. In effect, they are waiting for the employers to come to them, rather than the other way around. Most companies would go out of business if they just sat around waiting for customers. Why do you think companies spend so much on advertising? They are constantly in your face with a range of solutions to solve a range of your problems. Shouldn't you be the virtual door-to-door salesman knocking at your target companies' doors? Shouldn't you pitch solutions to problems you know they have instead of waiting for them to publish a job posting that you may or may not fit? 

What are you waiting for? Get out there and solve some problems! 

The Jobless Graduate

If a job seeking student graduates and is unable to secure paid employment within 3 months of an active search, who is to blame? Is it the University that bestowed said graduate with a stamp of approval (also known as a degree)? Or is it the fault of the student due to his/her own personal or professional failings? It's the million dollar question that academics and career pundits spend countless hours debating.

In reality, there must be some blame assigned. So let's look at the major stakeholders in the "Jobless Graduate's" career aspirations and see if we can spread some of the blame around:

The University

The Jobless Graduate was not promised a job by the University. The University merely offered an environment in which said graduate could pursue his/her academic goals. Students are rewarded for their ability to earn a good grade, instead of their ability to earn a good living. Better stated, universities give more weight to a student's ability to learn, rather than their ability to earn. The average university graduate is dependent on being hired by someone else, versus being able to create a job for themselves. 

The Employer

The Jobless Graduate was not promised a job by any Employer for merely being a degree-holding graduate. Employers will post jobs online and visit university career centers, but that will not translate into an employment offer for most. With few exceptions, employers don't hire the degree, they hire the person. And employers are not in the business of fulfilling the career needs of jobless graduates. Employers are not socially responsible institutions charged with making charitable hires in order to reduce the unemployment rate. And most employers have very "obscure" hiring practices that make it virtually impossible for most graduates to even get a foot in the door.

The Jobless Graduate

Woe be unto the Jobless Graduate who spent the majority of his/her university years studying cases and cramming for exams, instead of networking with professionals and creating employable value. In a perfect world, there would not exist any jobless graduates. Why? Because  universities would not allow students to graduate unless they can demonstrate that they are able to earn money using applied academics and professional practice. It is up to the jobless graduate to decide if being jobless in the pursuit of finding a job is worth more than creating a job for himself.

Can You Afford To Lose Your Job?

That is the question. So what's your answer? It's probably no, unless you're the offspring of a wealthy magnate or the beneficiary of a trust fund. Yet, while you can't afford to lose your job, what are you doing to mitigate the risk? The longer you work, the greater the probability that you will experience job loss whether it is voluntary or involuntary. But no one wants to think of this eventuality. It's much easier to assume that "your" office space belongs to you, and that you will decide the length of your employment tenure. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we no longer live in that world.

Being an employee in today's world means you have to think strategically about your income sources. Every employee should be an expert in risk management because it is essential to protecting your livelihood. Sadly, most employees wait for the axe to fall before they are forced to take action. Not a wise move. Why would you wait until you are fired before you start seeking another source of income? That's like a company waiting until customers stop buying its products before it designs new ones. In this new economic order of job loss and job gain, it's everyone for himself. There will be no bailout fund to help you transition through your economic crisis should you find yourself unexpectedly jobless.

What should you do? Start looking for a job today! See how long it takes for you to get an interview. See how long it takes for you to get extended an employment offer. You might be surprised to find how much has changed in the job search process and how long it takes to get even an initial interview. Do you really think it's wise to get fired first, and then start a job search based on desperation? You don't want to go down that road. Nobody is saying that you have to leave your current job; however, you should at least have some viable backups in the pipeline. And nothing is stopping you from working an extra part-time job (unless you really can afford to lose  your job).

Don't Be The Job Search "Fool"

In some parts of the world, the first day of April is considered April Fool's Day. Some of your closest friends will undoubtedly pull a prank or two on you. And of course, you might just pull a few yourself. Of course, someone always takes a joke too far, but usually it's just harmless fun. While you prepare to fool your unsuspecting friends today, let me remind you that every day is April Fool's Day for the average job seeker who dutifully applies online.

If you want to stop being a job search fool who is constantly being fooled by corporate recruiters, then I suggest you learn how the game is really played - the corporate recruitment game.

My new book, "The Corporate Recruitment Game" is now available!
e-Book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006HASVEE
Paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3725722

Is A Fulltime Job Always Worth It?

Well, it depends on who you are working for, the security of your total compensation package, and how you are valued by your employer. Many employed professionals often find themselves in adverse employment situations that don't allow them to advance their careers, or compensation!

 Take the VJS Job Security Test below and rate yourself:

1. Are you able to use at least 75% of the knowledge, skills, and abilities YOU most desire to use?
2. Are you building valued added skills desired by multiple employers, or just YOUR employer? 
3. Are you left with sufficient time each week to pursue personal hobbies or additional income earning activities?
4. Does working for your company make you dumber each day (i.e. the company doesn't invest in new technologies, still uses antiquated business practices, etc.)?
5. Are you being properly compensated for the value you bring to the company (this assumes you know your career brand's value in the market)?  

So how many "yes", "no", "maybe", and "I don't know" responses did you give? There is no numerical score or secret calculation that will sum your results! The answers to those test questions are equal to how you feel right now after having asked and answered them. If you were able to confidently answer each one and feel good about your response then you are doing fine. If you were a little shaky on some or not feeling too good about others, then that is cause for concern.

It may sound like a no-brainer to have a fulltime job: but not if that job is insecure or does not allow you to do work that is valued by other employers and, more importantly, yourself. Many people who find themselves unemployed for an extended period of time are suffering because their skills were tied to one employer and only valuable for that specific employer's needs: until, of course, that employer decided they were no longer needed.

So take a pause and think about what you would do if you lost your job today. Do you have skills that are in demand and that would allow you to easily find a new job? Do you already have a side job that provides you some additional income? Do you know the latest job search strategies and tactics? Do you have a strong network to tap? Do you believe that you could be self-employed and sell your skills to clients?

For more tips and advice, visit us at www.voiceofthejobseeker.com.

Does Mark Zuckerberg Need A Résumé?: Part 2

Of course he doesn't! I continue to be amazed at how talented individuals follow the herd of job seekers rushing to get their résumés in front of the eyes of a recruiter. They spend hours on end trying to create the perfect résumé or they pay someone to do it for them. Either way, the end result is that they are just copying everyone else who is vying for the same job posting. Whatever happened to the Jack Welch philosophy: "At GE, “strong” meant a business was #1 or #2 in its market. If it wasn’t, the managers had to fix it, sell it, or as a last resort, close it."? Shouldn't job seekers apply that philosophy to themselves when deciding on whether they should apply to a job? Sadly, the majority of job seekers spend more time modifying their résumés to fit the myriad job descriptions they find instead of investing that time into building their expertise (if they have one to begin with).

In reality, applying to jobs is old school for the talented and high-performing individuals. It's only for the individuals who desire to be employees - not service providers. If you're providing a service to a company that will add to its bottom line, then you don't need a strong résumé - you need a strong pitch! Why? Because you will need to speak directly to a Decision Maker - not a recruiter. When Mark Zuckerberg was 22 years old, he would have robbed the business world of his genius had he simply applied for a job. Any company he worked for would have stifled and smothered his creative juices and entrepreneurial spirit. So now, instead of writing résumés and applying online to jobs, he creates jobs that other people have to apply to. The lesson to be learned is that if you are only relying on a résumé to communicate your employment value, then you'll just be stuck in the middle of the pack with the rest of the job seeker herd. Service providers don't need résumés because they can show real-time business metrics of the value gained by the users of their services. While résumés focus on your past accomplishments, service providers make pitches to address solutions for the current and future challenges facing a company.

Talent needs no résumé, it only needs to be recognized and appreciated. Therefore, it needs only to seek out the individuals who can properly assess and value it. Sadly, that won't happen for many talented job seekers caught in the throes of the corporate recruitment process...

Would Mark Zuckerberg Apply For A Job Online?

I think we all know the answer to that question. Can any of the top global companies state without any doubt that their formal recruitment processes would have selected Mark Zuckerberg back in 2004 before he launched Facebook?

For someone so talented, it is a shame that the average large company would have probably screened him out with their automated selection tools and standard recruitment methods. It could be the résume that doesn't contain enough buzz words or the interview that goes wrong or the less-than-ideal test results of the aptitude test. There are as many ways for companies to prevent talent from entering their organizations as there are to select talent. Oftentimes this is a blessing in disguise because most large companies destroy an individual's creativity and innovation. Of course, they don't intend to do this but one has to realize that a company hires people for specific tasks and duties in order to produce consistent and reliable results. More often than not, companies want to hire more "doers" than "thinkers".

Do you think any company that would have hired Mark Zuckerberg 7 years ago would have allowed him to be as creative and innovative as he is? Probably not. Most large companies are still stuck in the old "seniority rules" model. Meaning that young employees will rarely have a major voice within the company - let alone the confidence of the senior leaders who make the business decisions. They will expect new employees to "pay their dues" and then after 5-10 years (assuming the new employees have played the corporate game successfully) they might be in a position to show some creativity and innovation. The only problem is that after playing the corporate game for so many years, employees tend to become good at doing the wrong thing righter. Those once creative employees are usually transformed into the average employees who seek to continue their mobility within the company by following the rules of the existing game versus breaking the rules altogether.

Let's all be thankful that Mark Zuckerberg decided to break the rules and become an Entrepreneur - not an Employee! 

Are Employees Assets or Liabilities?

If you look at your company's Annual Report you'll find that the workforce is listed as a liability. That's the message that's sent to the company's largest shareholders. Of course internally, they tell you that all employees are an asset, and without you, the company could not go on. Sounds good in theory, but it's not true in practice. If you were a professional athlete or musician under contract then you could be viewed as an asset since a company can trade or sell you for the value of your services. But in the average company, employees are viewed as a cost to be managed versus an asset to be developed. You can be sure that someone at the top of the company is always looking for ways to reduce employee numbers while growing the business. Why do you think outsourcing, downsizing, and right-sizing are so popular? In truth, whether or not employees are viewed as assets or liabilities really depends on the philosophy of the Corporate Board and Executive Managers.

As an employee, should you be angry if you happen to be viewed as a liability? No!! You knew the deal when you took the job. And if you didn't, now you do. If your job is one that a company can put on the chopping block then it's up to you to take action to protect your professional livelihood. Don't blame the company - blame yourself! Since you didn't start the company, you really have no say in the high-level decisions that are made regarding your career. If the company's founders, board, management, and investors view employees as a cost, then you will be branded as a liability unless you get to the upper ranks of the company with a nice contract.


If your company views employees as an asset then you can expect to have great opportunities as long as you continue to bring value to the company. You'll get the necessary training, mentoring, and opportunities to do your job as well as advance your career if you so desire. The company will also use innovative and creative ways to ensure minimal job loss during tough economic times. So you rarely have to worry about unexpected unemployment. In the best case, the company will give you a great severance package and send you on your way. In the worse case, the company will temporarily freeze (or reduce) your salary for a specific time period until business conditions improve.

So which are you - asset or liability?

Do You Have A Lifetime Employment Contract? - Part 3 (The Finale)

The modern world is all about backup, contingency plans, and loss prevention. Without a backup (or parallel) income source you're basically at the mercy of your employer's unpredictable personnel decisions. It's one thing to be in the rat race, but entirely different to be a rat hanging on by a thread!

Yet you seem to believe that you can take on all the transactions of life with only one source of income. I guess your motto is, "one job, one employer". And that motto would be fine if you had a contract to support it. But since you probably don't, I believe you need to start planning for ways to minimize your risks of unexpected unemployment. In most of the developed world, the average employee lives beyond his means by debt-financing the lifestyle s/he desires to have. When there are shocks to the financial system followed by the inevitable disruptions in household incomes, the average employee who only has a single source of income will be the one to suffer the most. I continue to be amazed at how the average employee wades through life without any type of strategic safety net for their professional livelihood. Maybe being a trapeze artist isn't so risky after all.

Unless your strategy for sudden job loss is to have a fire-sale of all your household goods (and home if you're a buyer) and move back in with your parents, relatives, or friends; then I suggest you develop a sound contingency plan. If you want to escape the eventual fate of the masses without employment contracts, then you have three options:

1. Play the corporate game and get to the executive levels as quickly as possible.
2. Stay at your same employee level and get a side job.
3. Become a freelancer or consultant and get paid by the hour or by deliverable.
   

You will choose the option that best fits you depending on your personality, values, and abilities. However, there are other things to take into consideration like your civil status - legally recognized or not. Whether you are single, married, or in a domestic partnership (roommates or more); there are four strategies you can use to ensure a minimal disruption to your lifestyle in the event of a disruption to your single source of income.  

1. One Single-Source Income Earner needs to find a second source of income. Say goodbye to your couch potato lifestyle and get a second job or create income from your hobbies. Whatever you decide to do, you'd better do it quickly. Be sure not to give in to the temptation of spending your extra money instead of saving it.
2. Two Single-Source Income Earners need to become domestic partners or married. Two incomes are better than one and provide an in-house backup to one person's temporary income disruption. If one of you becomes unemployed, just be careful not to take too long in landing a new job because you were probably both living beyond your means. Nobody wants to pay your bills forever!
3. Two Married (or Domestic Partners) Single-Source Income Earners need to have one spouse with a second source of income. Somebody has to have a normal day, so whoever draws the short stick can plan on working an extra 15-20 hours a week at the side gig. This scenario provides you the ability to save the vaunted "rainy day fund". The downside is that if your side gig is crap, you'll be more stressed out than the extra security is worth. So earn money from something you really enjoy!
4. Two Married Single-Source Income Earners need to have both spouses with a second source of income. This is the maximum protection you can provide for yourself - though it comes at a high price due to the time you and your spouse have to spend working. Mitigate this by ensuring that both you and your partner take alternating breaks from your side gigs. Even though you'll have extra work on top of your primary job, it's far better to be a little stressed than unemployed without a backup. The peace of mind you'll have will more than compensate for missing your television shows now and then.

If all of this is just too much for you to stomach, then consider the risks of inaction. At the very least you should pay for short-term and long-term disability insurance through your employer's benefits package (assuming your employer offers that!). While it's convenient to only think of losing your source of income, it is more important to protect your ability to earn any income at all. It won't matter if you have a second source of income if your ability to work becomes impaired due to a debilitating illness or accident.

Doing nothing is NOT a solution. Ignoring the problem is NOT a solution. Hoping to keep your single source of income is NOT a solution. Companies diversify their product and service offerings for a reason - to mitigate risks and maximize opportunities. How many grocery stores have you seen that only sale one item? Don't pay the high cost for being a well-trained, obedient employee who blindly relies on the patronage of his employer. I highly doubt that your employer was founded with the sole purpose of providing you with long-term employment.

Do You Have A Lifetime Employment Contract? - Part 2

We can all agree that having a single source of income (a.k.a. "one employer", "one client", or "one anything" for that matter!) is probably not the best way to mitigate the risk of unexpected unemployment. Furthermore, I highly doubt that anyone has a written lifetime employment contract. And if they do, how enforceable and reliable is it if the company goes bankrupt or gets bought out altogether? The same holds true for the self-employed who solely rely on a single client for their income. I doubt that any client will sign a contract to be the lifetime purchaser of your goods and services.

If you've followed my blogs then you know I am a proponent of the "do as the leading companies do" model. That means you need to manage your career like a company manages its business. Virtually all major companies have signed and legally enforceable contracts with their suppliers, vendors, and distributors. Can you imagine a grocery store owner having to lose sleep each night worrying whether the supplier of milk and eggs will deliver the goods the next day? Can you imagine an automobile manufacturer not having defined-length contracts with its parts suppliers? Companies are keen on having contracts with all the entities that affect their ability to generate income. If they won't risk their sources of income on the whims of those upon which they rely, then why do you?

In America, if you are an "at-will employee", then your source of income is at risk each and everyday. Are you comfortable living like that? You may say to yourself that you've been served well by this model of employment and have suffered no adverse effects thus far. But that's like a race car driver saying he's never crashed out of a race. Or a homeowner saying he's never been burglarized. The fact that it hasn't happened yet is no excuse for you not to be worried or take precautions. According to the legal definitions of at-will employment you'll see that the only employees who have protection from unexpected job loss are union members and company executives. If you're not one of them, you're one of the masses who goes to work each day like an automated drone blindly believing that your office space is actually yours.

A.  At-Will Defined
At-will means that an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason, except an illegal one, or for no reason without incurring legal liability.  Likewise, an employee is free to leave a job at any time for any or no reason with no adverse legal consequences.

At-will also means that an employer can change the terms of the employment relationship with no notice and no consequences.  For example, an employer can alter wages, terminate benefits, or reduce paid time off.  In its unadulterated form, the U.S. at-will rule leaves employees vulnerable to arbitrary and sudden dismissal, a limited or on-call work schedule depending on the employer’s needs, and unannounced cuts in pay and benefits.  

B.  Modification by Contract
The at-will presumption is a default rule that can be modified by contract.  For example, a contract may provide for a specific term of employment or allow termination for cause only.  Typically, U.S. companies negotiate individual employment agreements only with high-level employees.  Collective bargaining agreements usually provide that represented employees may only be terminated for cause.

Cause generally includes reasons such as poor employee performance, employee misconduct, or economic necessity.  An employment contract may specifically outline the situations or employee actions that would lead to termination for cause.

Do You Have A Lifetime Employment Contract?

The mindset of the average employee is truly a case study in blind faith. In fact, if I google the words "blind faith" I fully expect to see YOUR picture at the top of the search page! Maybe you really do believe in the "Job Fairy" and the "Make A Wish Foundation". Maybe you do believe that lifetime employment with one company is a badge of honor. Or maybe you believe that it is your duty to stay with a company long after the relationship is over. Whatever the case, there is a name for you and your ilk - Professional Gamblers.

 

Forget having a lifetime employment contract - do you even have any type of signed contract stating the length of your employment and the conditions upon which you can be terminated? Does that contract have a buyout clause should you be terminated prematurely? If not, then I'm really concerned about you and would like to refer you to the nearest psychiatric ward! Because clearly you are living in a make-believe world of stable employment, trustworthy companies, and little green men flying around in spaceships.

But hey, what do I know. I'm just another blogger in cyberspace spreading the career management gospel. Who am I to try to unplug your mind from the Matrix feeding pod? Perhaps your mind is not ready for the real world. Perhaps you are fine with having a single source of income. Perhaps you are fine with having blind faith in your employer. Perhaps you were raised during a time when companies served as surrogate parents and were always there for you on your birthday and Christmas. You have every right to be a loyal subject unto your King Employer. And maybe, just maybe, the Employer will fulfill its unspoken (and unwritten!) promise to grant you lifetime employment. Imagine, such a gracious employer to allow you to stay among their ranks until YOU decide to call it a career. I tell you, they just don't make them like that anymore. Seriously, they don't!

Don't you find it odd that you mitigate risks in all other parts of your life except your employment? I mean, you have car insurance. You have medical insurance. You have home insurance. You have memory sticks to back up your work files. You have servers to back up your desktop files. You even carry two credit cards in  your wallet! Would you put your money in a bank that had no deposit insurance? Probably not. How secure would you feel on an airplane with only one pilot? The higher the stakes, the greater the precautions people take to mitigate risks. For some reason, that line of reasoning doesn't translate to the average employee. But I guess you, with your ONE employer and lifetime employment contract, know something the rest of the world doesn't. Maybe we should all just ride around on unicycles.

 

Introducing...The Mobile Job Seeker!

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog entry about career management. I’m currently on sabbatical and replenishing my energies through the pursuit of my personal hobbies and passions. I will continue to update this blog but I also invite you to follow me on twitter and read my new comic strip, “The Mobile Job Seeker”. In this strip, I give a humorous take on the challenges faced by job seekers, recruiters, and employees. I tweet new episodes 2-3 times a month so stay tuned and “retweet” the stories you like!

Twitter account: www.twitter.com/lewisrod

This Week’s episode of The Mobile Job Seeker: http://Pixton.com/ic:1mcb1zql

Below you will find an excerpt from the book I am currently writing on the corporate recruitment process. This book represents my 1­5+ years experience as a job seeker, employee, career consultant, and recruiter. It will be a few months before it is completed but I promise it will be worth the wait!

Only Dummies Apply Online: The Rants, Raves, and Ramblings of Job Searching (book excerpt)

"I think it’s safe to say that blindly sending résumés to online job postings is an exercise in futility – or foolishness. And though you see all the advertisements from online job sites like Career Builder and Monster begging  you to find your “dream job” on their sites, the actual number of people who get jobs using those sites is quite small in comparison to the number of people who apply. If you’re one of the lucky few to actually make it past the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that companies have ubiquitously deployed for the express purpose of “bagging and tagging” your résumé, then it probably means any one of the following:

1. The Job Seeker applied to a high turnover position.
2. The Job Seeker submitted the perfect résumé and application.
3. The Job Seeker applied to a job for which there were few applicants.

If you don’t want to play the "shell game" of job searching then I suggest you stop the mindless customization of your résumé and cover letter (assuming you were even doing that!) and the filling out of “standard template” application fields. Free your mind from the ATS-induced stupor it is under and use the internet for “people searches” instead of “job searches”. Remember, people hire people – software does not. Let's be clear on one thing – you should NEVER blindly apply to jobs online! If the intent of a job application is to secure an interview, then why would you let a software program affect your chances? You don’t see army-trained snipers using machine guns, do you? They are trained to research, analyze, and study specific targets before they take the kill shot with a high-powered rifle. Be a Sniper! Aim your résumé at the head of the department in which you want to work! Anything less is uncivilized."

NET-working vs. NOT-working

If you are not networking to find a job or networking in your current job, then you are NOT-working! Unless you are so good and so well-known that the world beats a path to your doorstep, you will need to have a healthy online and face-to-face networking strategy. No matter your career stage, YOU MUST establish an online identity and commit to building your brand so that you are found by employers as well as those seeking advice and referrals. Networking is to the Job Seeker what Business Development is to the Company. For a short introduction on setting up your job search strategy on the popular social media sites, click here.

There is so much free information online about how to use social media tools to advance your career on the job as well as in your job search. Job seekers today are expected to be able to educate themselves on the latest career tools. This means that employers will expect you to follow them on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube, as well as other social media. Companies have invested so much time and money in using these tools to connect to current employees, customers, clients, and potential employees. If it's important to them then it should be to you. Using these tools will show your career management savvy and ability to get ahead of your competition.

You should constantly be communicating with key people in your network who can contribute to your professional success. Otherwise, you are NOT-working. How long would Mckinsey & Company stay in business if they stopped doing business development? Even with their status, could they really afford to stop talking to potential clients and engaging existing ones? If they can't do it, then what makes you think that you can? Is your current job so secure and guaranteed that you don't have to continue building and engaging your professional network? Is your job search so easy that you don't have to ask for advice or assistance from your network - let alone invest in building your network?

I personally don't know of any business that can survive without some form of business development. Consumer tastes change much too rapidly and are a factor of not only local factors, but increasingly global factors. You think the little Mom & Pop store doesn't think about how to retain its loyal customers in the shadow of global behemoths like Wal-Mart and Carrefour? So remember, the next time you are just sitting around with nothing to do, try engaging someone in your network. Especially if you are job seeking! There really is no excuse for a job seeker to not be in constant communications with their existing network. And as a job seeker, you should not solely focus on what you can take from your networking activities but on what you can give - professional organizations, clubs, conferences, volunteer activities, etc.

"More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject."

-- Peter Drucker 

 

"Networking is simply the cultivating of mutually beneficial, give and take, win-win relationships. It works best, however, when emphasizing the 'give' part."
-- Bob Burg, Author and Speaker

"The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work."
-- Robert T. Kiyosaki

I HATE (bad) Recruiters!!

Did I grab your attention? I sure hope so because I really do hate bad recruiters! And you should too! Bad recruiters are the wolfsbane of talent acquisition. We really should call them talent prevention agents because that's what most seem to specialize in. Instead of trying to develop practices to "screen" talent in, they tend to relish in the art of "screening" talent out! And a company entrusts these bad recruiters to source their future talent?? Would a music company trust someone who has no experience in the music industry to go out and screen new talented singers? NO! Would a theater trust someone who has no experience in the performing arts to go out and screen new talented actors? NO!

Finding talented people is one thing, but screening them for consideration in your company is a totally different proposition. And that is the problem with bad recruiters! They know where to find talent but they are terrible at screening that talent for the company's benefit. Why? Because many of them don't have a clue of how the company's business is run. They are just purely focused on the process of recruiting versus the purpose of recruiting - which is to find the candidate who can bring the best value to the firm both personally and professionally.

Bad recruiters don't look at your résumé and cover letter and try to visualize how someone with your experience could be a real addition to the company. They solely rely on key word searches to find your résumé in their database or they rely on the résumé that most closely matches the job description. Well, I can assure you that a well-written résumé does not always equal a good candidate! Most companies with the best advertising campaigns have the worst products! Plenty of cool commercials and even more crappier products.

Bad recruiters ask dumb questions that have nothing to do with the job you would be performing. Their intention is to screen you out before anyone of substance can talk to you. They enjoy being the Gatekeepers and in their minds they truly believe that they are adding value to their company. So below I've listed the top 3 questions that bad recruiters utilize most to improve their performance at talent prevention.

Talent Prevention Question #1 - Bad Recruiter: Please tell me your salary history? Applicant Response: Uh, no! What does that have to do with whether or not I'm the right person for the job? So your perception of what I was paid in the past is a predictor of my success in the future? I didn't know that was a behavioral interview question. How about you just be transparent and tell me what the salary range is for the job. Or are you hoping to low-ball me if my current/prior salary is significantly lower than the bottom of the salary range you have budgeted for the job? Or are you just asking for my salary history as a cheap way to do a salary benchmark on applicants for the job? Mmm, I think I'll pass on that question. Next!

Talent Prevention Question #2 - Bad Recruiter: What are your salary expectations? Applicant Response: Uh, is this the game where if I pick the right number then I'm still in the running and if I pick the wrong number I'm either low-balled or eliminated from the process? Sorry, I don't like this game. How about you just forward me along to the hiring manager and she and I can have a real discussion about my fit on the team and the value I'd bring. If our salary expectations are not aligned then I'd much rather be talking to the hiring manager so that we could both discuss how to reach some common ground on a total compensation package. I want to work for the hiring manager, not you - Mr. Bad Recruiter!

Talent Prevention Question #3 - Bad Recruiter: How long would you stay with our company? Applicant Response: Uh, you mean you're handing out lifelong employment contracts? Or is this the game where your company has a crystal ball and can foresee the future? Mr. Bad Recruiter, I'll stay with your company for as long as we are both mutually benefiting from each other. Do you really want me to say that I'd stay with your company my entire professional career? That would assume we both had crystal balls! Or do you expect me to hang myself by saying that I'm only planning to stay for a year until I pay off some long overdue debts? Shame on you for asking me that question, Mr. Bad Recruiter!

To all the job seekers who are both employed and unemployed, please beware the Bad Recruiters because they are indeed the Talent Prevention Agents! To paraphrase a quote from Morpheus in the movie, The Matrix, "They are the gatekeepers. They are guarding all the doors, they are holding all the keys. Which means that sooner or later, someone is going to have to fight them."

Confessions of a Recruiter - Part 1

Some time ago I attempted to shed a little light on what goes on in the murky world of recruitment. In talking with job seekers - both employed and unemployed - I realize that many are frustrated and angry at a number of things involving the opaqueness of the recruitment process. More often than not, these cases are limited to people who spend the majority of their time applying to jobs online. The main frustrations I hear are:

1. Why didn't the company acknowledge receipt of my application materials?
2. Why didn't the company respond quickly to tell me if I'll be interviewed or not?
3. Why didn't the company contact me for an interview?

All very valid questions. And in a perfect world we would all receive prompt replies to our job applications with a box of chocolates hand delivered to us the next day. But let's be clear on one thing. The recruitment process was not designed to build your self-esteem or quench your ego's thirst. It was designed by the company to hire the best (or most available) applicant. Of course, one could argue (and rightfully so), that a company's recruitment process should be designed to make sure that even rejected applicants are treated with a modicum of dignity and respect. After all, one could argue that rejected candidates are still viable consumers of the company's products or services; as well as potential brand advocates.

Confession #1: Recruiters DO NOT care about your job-search anxiety.

A harsh, but true confession. But if you really think about it, why should they care? They don't even know you! It's like asking Mick Jaggger to personally answer your fanmail. Sorry, not gonna happen. You'll be lucky to receive a copy of an autographed photo of him if he has a good public relations office. And your average company definitely doesn't treat their job applicants like rockstar fans. Your average company does not place any value on contacting every applicant that applies to a job. They only place a value on contacting the ones they want to interview! Your job-search is on your own timetable, not the company's. They didn't open a recruitment process just for you.

One of the reasons for the disappointment job-seekers feel is that many don't understand what the recruitment process is about. Let's break down what "recruitment" is - and what it isn't. According to businessdictionary.com, recruitment is the process of identifying and hiring the best-qualified candidate (from within or outside of an organization) for a job vacancy, in a most timely and cost effective manner. Definitions for recruitment will vary but from my own personal experience in recruiting and from talking with other recruiters this definition is very accurate.

Now, let's talk about what "recruitment" is not. Recruitment is not a hard science. Nor is it a liberal art. To my knowledge, there is no Newton's Law of Recruitment. There is no formula that exists where you can plug in the characteristics of a potential employee and predict their work success with 100% accuracy. Universities don't offer Bachelors or Master's degrees in Recruitment. So I'm pretty sure you won't meet anyone who tells you that he has just completed his Doctoral degree in Recruitment. And you definitely don't need a professional license to be a recruiter. In reality, the recruiter can be anyone, and no one.

What does all this mean? Well, it means that there is a lot of variance in recruitment practices from person to person, company to company, industry to industry, country to country, etc. Some people have extensive training and experience in recruitment while others don't. Some people involved in the recruitment process have various university degrees and work experience while others hold no degrees or special training at all. Some companies have dedicated recruiters and defined processes while many others have no recruiters at all - not to mention processes! When you submit your résumé online to a job posting or send an unsolicited résumé by email, then there is no way for you to verify who is going to actually read it - if anyone!

Confession #2: Recruiters DO NOT read every résumé they receive.

But surely you already knew that, right? Surely you didn't think a recruiter's favorite hobby was to kick back in his favorite chair and read your résumé line by line like a best-selling novel. I know it's harsh, but believe me it is true. What recruiters like to do is "scan" résumés in as little time as possible to see if anything is there worth following up on. Recruiters are in constant search for "The One" - the candidate whose résumé is the proverbial needle in a haystack. Every recruiter has his own "scanning" style but I can guarantee you that for the experienced recruiters it's less than 20 seconds! So if you have a poorly written résumé, you actually would be better off if a non-experienced recruiter received it.

In this three-part blog series, I promise to reveal the hidden - and often misunderstood - lifestyle of the professional recruiter. It's not as glamorous as lifestyles of the rich and famous and you won't envy the recruiter's professional lifestyle in any way. Hopefully after reading the entire series of confessions you will be better prepared to conduct your job search campaign. But before I write the next blog in this series, I'll leave you with one more little confession...

Confession #3: Recruiters' lives DO NOT revolve around the job posting you applied to.

Beyond the Glory...of Your Last Job!

There was a popular series in the USA called Beyond the Glory that chronicled the lives of legendary sports superstars. Many of these athletes made significant contributions to their respective sports. But at the same time, some stayed in the game well past their prime. Some of the best athletes in the world knew when to leave the game and adapt their skills and experiences to a new career. While others stayed in too long and suffered irreparable damage to their bodies...and personal brand.

How is this relevant for Job Seekers? Whether you are currently employed or not, you need to know when to leave the game. Always doing what made you successful is not a formula for continued success. The world changes too quickly to simply try to "copy and paste" your skills into a new job. You'll need much more flexibility than that my dear job seekers. It can be a humbling experience to know that the very skills you built your career on are no longer valued by the market. But don't despair! Adapt!! Who says you have to be a dinosaur? At a minimum, follow the three easy steps below to get yourself back on the road to success.

Step 1: Go back to the drawing board and realign your passions and know-how with the new realities of the job market. This may require some additional formal training but oftentimes it only requires that you "self-educate" by joining professional associations, reading industry/skill-specific materials, and spending some time discussing your career options with trusted friends/family. Notice, I said realign your "passions" and not "experiences". Sometimes you can't realign your work experiences to the market but passion have no such boundaries. Discover your true passion and find out how to channel that energy into your career choice. Understand the motivating factors behind your passion and the feelings they give you. And then look for ways that you can use the skills that motivate you and ignite your passion to meet job market demands."Know thyself" first and you'll have a much easier time in getting others to know how you can be an asset to them.

Step 2: Target the customers/clients (employers) who are most likely to value someone with your unique abilities. This will definitely require some work but it is worth it! Think about extending the personal brand you've built in your past experiences into other venues. Companies do this all the time. Apple didn't start out as a mobile phone company. But they sure are making a lot of money in that business! They were able to extend the brand they built over the years as an innovative company into multiple areas. How do you do this? Market research. You have to get out there and find people similar to you who have repositioned themselves into new careers. This can be done very easily via LinkedIn or any social networking website that allows you to do keyword searches on their members. Once you find people with backgrounds similar to yours who have repositioned their careers, reach out to them and learn from them. And then you can start building your own path.

Step 3:  Give it away, give it away, give it away now! Like the popular song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers says. But in this third step, I mean for you to give away your passion for free. That's right, I said free! Think of it as the free product/service samples that companies give to prospective consumers. Sometimes people need a little taste of the goods before they commit to a purchase. Don't be afraid to offer your services for "free" BEFORE you can offer them for a "fee". Volunteering your time and services to an organization that will put you in front of prospective clients/employers would be very smart and will pay dividends down the road. Many professionals get their lucky break when doing something for free. Just make sure that your volunteer work is aligned with your passion so that it is truly a part of your core. People will quickly take notice and you'll find that many doors will be opened to your new career path!

So there you have it. Three steps to put you on your career path beyond the glory. So what are you waiting for? Get started today! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Beware Job Complacency! - Introduction

My dear job seekers and employed professionals, your career is but one important part of your life. And that part of your life should be in harmony with the other important aspects of your life. The goal is, and should always be, to constantly seek sustainable ways to integrate these aspects so that each one gives strength and momentum to the other. But all too often, we sometimes find ourselves stuck in an incongruous loop of complacency. There is the complacency of success, the complacency of failure, and the complacency of mediocrity. And in the stories that follow in this series, I will delve deeply into each form of complacency and how it relates to your career.

The corporate world was divided up quite nicely back in the early 1980's - in the US anyway. There were, I shall call them, Imperial Companies who ruled the roost. And each of them ruled over their corresponding fiefdoms. They controlled everything from supply to distribution to point of sale! And even resale sometimes! In the US market, AT&T ruled over all that was voice telecommunications. IBM ruled over all that was computing and hardware. And Nintendo ruled over all that was videogame consoles and game software.

Nintendo is a company that I admire greatly and have followed since I was 14 years old - as a customer and aficionado. It's a company that represents well the message I want to share with you in this series. While I could speak all day to anyone who would listen about my connection to Nintendo, I'd much rather talk to you about the corporate mindset of Nintendo and how it had to rise from the ashes like the mythical Phoenix. In the gaming industry, life is short and the rewards are fleeting for companies who are not quick and nimble enough to respond to the ever-changing advances in technology and consumer desires.

Videogame console and software companies such as Atari, Commodore, Coleco, Sega, and, of course, the great video arcade rooms themselves; were no match for Nintendo when it made its US debut in 1985. I should digress a bit and tell you that the most tragic corporate story in the gaming industry is Atari. Don't worry, I'll tell you more about them later as they truly represent everything in life you don't want to be! But in the 1980's, Nintendo was a cut above the rest in every way that you could possibly think of. Imagine a company that sat atop the heap of videogame consoles and gaming software companies without a major competitive threat in sight! In fact, you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone who did not possess (or want) the Nintendo Entertainment System. Yes folks, Nintendo was just that good and popular. So much so that they became the de facto standard for videogame consoles. Indeed, Nintendo was the Google of its day!

Do you know what you're good at? Do other people know what you're good at? Do you know the reason why people call you? Do you know the reason why people don't call you? Do people come to you when they need an answer or opinion for something of substance? These are quite humbling questions for individuals because oftentimes you find that you don't have clear, or readily available, answers. And so you begin to look inside yourself and delve deep into the abyss of your mind; probing your past experiences, education, activities, and recollected conversations with friends/family/co-workers/acquaintances, etc. For some, the answers come quick...for others, they come slowly...if at all.

Average companies rarely, if at all, ask themselves these questions. The good companies do it on a somewhat scheduled basis - and ad-hoc even! But the great ones have it systematized throughout their corporate DNA, thus compelling each individual employee to constantly ask themselves probing questions about the value of their jobs and contributions to the overall corporate vision and mission. This concept is captured very well in Jim Collins' classic book, "Good to Great". If you have not read it I implore you to do so before I publish my next post in this series. It is one of those rare books that really induces a mental-shift within its readers. What does all of this have to do with Job Complacency you ask? Stay tuned for Part 1 of this series...