Interviewing Archives - Page 13 of 18

Readers’ Forum: What do I owe the headhunter?

On October 19, 2009

A reader’s problem:

Five years ago a headhunter convinced me to interview with Company A. I wasn’t offered a job after the interview, but the experience motivated me to find a job with another company, B. After a few months, Company A offered me a job (through the headhunter), but I had to decline since I had already started working at Company B.

Now that 5 years have passed, I’d like to pursue a job at Company A. Am I obligated to work through the headhunter? Or is it fine to contact the hiring manager at Company A directly?

Forum: Does this reader owe the headhunter a call? What’s the best way to handle this? Post your comments and I’ll add mine later! (If you have a copy of How to Work with Headhunters, you can handle this one with your eyes closed… and you also know why the reader should have stayed closer to that headhunter!)

Turn down the volume

On October 16, 2009

When I give a presentation, the first thing I tell the audience — whether they’re job hunters or hiring managers — is, “Everything you know about job hunting (or hiring) is wrong.” Shoulders relax. People giggle nervously. They are so relieved to hear they’re not crazy. They know the conventional wisdom is wrong.

Then I tell them that a mistake everyone makes when job hunting or hiring is volume. We are all taught that it’s a numbers game. You have to wake up every morning and get 50 resumes out before breakfast. Apply to as many jobs online as you can. Then you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something before lunchtime! Or if you work in HR, keep your pipeline full of candidates so you’ll have a lot to choose from.

Bunk.

Let me give you a specific counter-example that blows the fallacy of “volume” out of the water.

I had lunch with John, a client, to discuss a position he wanted me to fill. It was a $125,000 marketing job. We spent two hours talking. For the next two weeks, I talked to several people who worked for John, and to others at his company who knew him. John had no idea I was doing this. I learned a lot about what his operation was like and about how his staff worked.

Then I talked to a handful of people around the country — a handful — who are experts in marketing and who work with experts in marketing. I didn’t run any ads. I didn’t solicit any resumes. I conducted no in-person interviews. I called John back and gave him a name and a phone number. I told him to call Joe, the guy who could do the job.

John and Joe talked and scheduled a face-to-face meeting. In the meantime, I put together a very simple resume on Joe using information he had given me and information I gathered from his references. I sent it to John so he’d have some background on Joe, to fill in the blanks.

They met. John offered Joe a job and Joe accepted it.

One job, one meeting, one candidate.

How to Say It: Informational (gag!) Interviews

On October 12, 2009

Informational interviews — gag me with a spoon. They call it an informational “interview” because… it’s a veiled job interview. The challenge is how to get the information you need in the right setting. And an interview ain’t it.

In the October 13, 2009 Ask The Headhunter Newsletter, a reader questions advice she was given by a career counselor about informational interviews. Lucky she asked.

I know that I’m supposed to call the people I know in decision-making positions in my field to set up appointments for “informational interviews.” A career counselor I’m working with suggests that I should say, “I was wondering what unmet needs you have now or anticipate down the road.” But it just doesn’t sound natural or productive to me. I bet you have a better idea.

Gimme a break and fire your career counselor, who is telling you to go embarrass yourself by asking for a job with a wink and a nod. Imagine asking that exact same question in an attempt to get a date with someone… Urrrrgh.

Why is every interaction between a job hunter and an employer assumed to be some kind of interview? Why can’t we just have a little talk? You know — talk shop. Discuss business. Share information and insight. Everything doesn’t have to be a dad-blasted interview.

This means you have to shake loose from talking about “the job,” “a job,” “an opening,” “an unmet need,” (Jeeze, I wouldn’t touch that one even with a lawyer in tow…) or anything having to do with getting hired.

And that means talking to the manager in a different setting. What industry associations does she belong to? Where does she take professional development courses? Does she volunteer somewhere? Find out where you can run into her, then do it. Assuming you really want to learn something new, here’s How to Say It:

“Hi, nice to meet you. I know you work for ABC Company. I’ve always admired ABC’s stature in its field. Could I ask you something? What’s your opinion of this industry and where it’s going? What do you think are the hurdles and opportunities coming down the pike?”

This can easily turn into a talk about her company and even about her department. And that’s the beginning of your “informational” discussion, if that’s what you really want.

If what you really want is an excuse for a job interview, I can’t help you. Don’t mix up job hunting with a peer-to-peer discussion with someone in your field. It’s rude.

Am I wrong? What’s the best way to say it, and in what setting?

I think it’s legit (and smart) to learn all you can about an industry, a company and a job. But is the “informational interview” a legit way to do it? I don’t think so. (I discussed this topic in another post, Informational (heh-heh) Interviews over a year ago. But don’t look at that til you’ve posted your comments here!)

Congress to Employers: You’re not proctologists

On October 9, 2009

I once applied for a job with a big-time, international consulting firm. I signed off on a background check that included letting them interview everyone back to my kindergarten teacher. I had to get a physical and pee in a cup. They did a credit check. Who knows what they found, because they didn’t hire me. (I have no idea what they found because they wouldn’t share it with me.)

That was lucky, because letting people I didn’t know intrude into areas of my life that were none of their business gnawed at me… and I decided not to accept an offer even if they made it. Go suck rocks. Who wants to turn their life over to goons? And besides, I wanted to know — but no one at the company would tell me — what does the CEO’s credit record look like? Why don’t employers publish their officers’ full records like Subway publishes calorie counts on all its sandwiches?

Why do companies want to know it all? To avoid hiring someone who might go postal some day? Nah, it’s to cover their asses. Personnel jockeys and lawyers apply every available “verification” process just because they can. Because who wants to make a decision and be held accountable for it if there’s one more source of data we can check…? Who wants to hire somebody who missed her last car payment and is struggling to find a job so she can make the next one?

What many people don’t realize is, you can say NO. You are under no obligation to micturate on demand, expose your kindergarten teacher to embarrassing questions, or to take a probe up your credit report or up your ass. You might not get the interview, but all the details of your life are not any employer’s business unless you choose to make them so. (If you consent, consider that what an employer finds may not even be accurate. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group says that about a third of credit reports contain serious errors.)

Many Ask The Headhunter readers tell me they say NO. I learned to say no after I looked at myself in the mirror following the investigation into my life many years ago. I was ashamed of myself. I gave up everything about myself to information goons.

On July 9, 2009 Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee introduced H.R.3149, a bill “to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer credit checks against prospective and current employees for the purposes of making adverse employment decisions.”

Cohen says, “At a time when people are struggling to find jobs, credit checks should not be used as a basis to deny employment to otherwise qualified candidates.” The bill has 36 co-sponsors and it is long overdue. It’s time to draw this line.

Nonetheless, the bill “makes exceptions to such prohibition for employment: (1) which requires a national security or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) clearance; (2) with a state or local government agency which otherwise requires use of a consumer report; or (3) in a supervisory, managerial, professional, or executive position at a financial institution.

You should be aware of these exceptions because this is the best we’re likely to get. Much as I would like to put kindergarten teachers off limits.

Checking people out before you hire them is a smart thing to do. So talk to people that job candidates have worked with and ask smart questions. Check references. Do your diligence. But you’re not an information proctologist. There are places where your hands don’t belong because you don’t acquire rights to anyone’s privacy when you hire them. And it’s time Congress put that in writing.

Kudos to Rep. Steve Cohen. H.R. 3149 has been referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. I’m contacting my legislators and telling them to vote for the bill. I encourage you to do the same.

Readers’ Forum: Am I digging my own grave?

On October 5, 2009

Jumpin’ Jehosophat! First there’s a job opportunity, then there is none. Then there’s a custom-made job… but to get it, this reader has to crawl down in the hole… From this week’s Readers’ Forum in the Ask The Headhunter Newsletter:

I came in second — didn’t get the job. But the company interviewed me again for a unique new position based on my unusual set of skills. They want to create a job for me, but prior to interviewing with the company president, I’ve been asked to write up the job description. I think this is genuine, but my research on the president indicates some issues. I’m worried he’ll use my job description to create the job and then make me compete for it with others. How can I structure the document to protect myself?

For the Forum: Is this job candidate digging her own grave, or planting the seeds of success? What should she do next?

How to Say It: Don’t say it (yet)

On October 5, 2009

In this week’s Ask The Headhunter Newsletter, a job hunter tries to deal with a roadblock that hasn’t even materialized. This is a roadblock that should not be tackled until a job offer is extended.

I have a potental roadblock in a job search. I have eldercare responsibilities that limit my workday to standard work hours (not more than 8 hours, weekdays and daytime only) and cannot travel. Do I disclose any of this to a potential employer, or do I wait until after I get the offer in hand and invoke FMLA and the Small Necessities Leave Act?

I think the best way to say it is not to say it — yet. Wait until after an offer is made. But don’t threaten. (If you want to invoke the law, go for it, but be ready to go to court.) “Thanks for your offer. I’m eager to come to work. I know I’m not required to do this, but I feel it’s proper to disclose that I care for my [mother, father, whoever] when I’m not at work. I am ready to work hard during a regular 40-hour work week, but after an 8-hour day I must attend to my eldercare responsibilities. I wanted to discuss this prior to accepting your offer. I will organize my work day to ensure I get the job done in 40 hours. Is that acceptable?”

How and when would you say it? I think an employer has a right to know you can’t work overtime. But I would wait until after the employer has made a commitment, so you can both try to work it out. Bring it up too soon, and you jeopardize an offer — and you’ll never know whether you were rejected because of this issue. Once the offer is made, the employer has more motivation to work it out with you.

What’s your take on this?

How to Say It: Why I left

On September 28, 2009

In the Top 10 Stupid Interview Questions category… the new Ask The Headhunter Newsletter includes this query from a reader about How to Say It:

This question is asked by almost every employer: Why did you leave your last job? Frankly, I’m tired of it, but it just keeps coming. It’s like they’re asking me whether I’m a good-for-nothing bum because I left a job. I’ve got nothing to hide — I left because my boss was a jerk and I got tired of being abused. What does that have to do with whether I can be a good worker? I’ve been totally honest with some and I’ve been clever with others. Nothing seems to feel right because I can never tell how they take my answer. How do I answer honestly without screwing myself out of a job?

This ranks right up there with, “What’s your greatest weakness?” (Answer: Uh, my last job?) There are tons of clever responses, if you can afford all the career books they’re stored in.

I’m not gonna touch this one because the best approach will be squeezed out of all the dialogue I expect it will stimulate… So let’s have at it.

How would you explain in an interview why you left a crummy boss?

Readers’ Forum: How do we identify the good guys?

On September 21, 2009

From the September 22, 2009 Ask The Headhunter Newsletter (sign up, get your own!):

A manager’s question: How difficult is it to gauge character and personality in the typical job interview? No doubt this accounts for many of the pointless questions that are asked. Of course, the more manipulative a person is, the more likely they are to score the best answers to trick questions that reveal honesty and character. How do managers and job candidates deal with accurately assessing character?

Forum: Managers, how do you check a candidate’s personality? Her honesty? Candidates, what methods have you been exposed to? What do you do in the interview to demonstrate what a fine person you are?

How to Say It: I’m gonna prove it to you

On September 21, 2009

In the September 22, 2009 Ask The Headhunter Newsletter, a reader has the right idea to impress a manager but needs a nudge:

I agree with your advice to do a demonstration in the job interview to show what you can do. But I seem to lock up during the part where I am telling the hiring manager how I will do the job. How do I explain to the manager what I’m about to do so he won’t be thrown for a loop?

How to Say It: For many people it’s easier to answer a question than to launch a presentation. So get the manager to cue up your answer! At some point during the meeting, say this:

“I’d like to make our meeting as profitable as possible for you. I don’t expect you to hire me unless you have evidence that I can do the job. In that spirit, would you lay out a live task or problem you’d want me to handle if you hired me? I’d like to show you how I’d tackle it as best I can right here in the interview, by explaining the plan I would use.”

That gets some very interesting discussions going, and if the manager is really focused on getting a job done, he will welcome a motivated candidate who wants to get specific. Is this risky? Yah, of course. But so is sitting there waiting for the next interview question…

How would you cue up your effort to impress the manager?

How to Say It: Pest, or manager’s dream?

On September 7, 2009

In the September 8, 2009 Ask The Headhunter Newsletter we’re discussing follow-up phone calls to managers. You know — that call you’re supposed to make after you submit a resume and application form.

In the newsletter, a reader worries that such calls can turn the job hunter into a pest. What manager wants to be bothered with that?

I explain that you should make the call, but make it without sending a resume and without filling out any applications. Make the call first. Then I challenge you to figure out what you’re going to say on that call. (Want to know more? You would, if you subscribed to the newsletter. Sign up now (it’s free), and you’ll be ahead of the game next week.)

To plan what you should say to a manager, put yourself in the manager’s shoes. If you were a manager, what would you want to hear from a caller who wants to work for you? As the job hunter, What does it mean to talk shop to that manager? Think. Are you gonna be a pest, or the manager’s dream?

Upon introducing yourself (on the phone) to a manager who knows nothing about you and who has never seen your resume, what could you say to make the manager want to hire you?

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