Dr. Robert Cialdini: How to persuade employers to hire you

On January 23, 2020
Dr. Robert Cialdini: How to persuade employers to hire you

Robert CialdiniDr. Robert Cialdini: The Psychology Powering Influence and Persuasion

Source: Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People Podcast

Bob Cialdini is the “godfather of influence.” He is to changing people’s minds what Martha Stewart is to changing people’s lifestyle.

 

Nick’s take

Bob Cialdini has spent his life studying the parameters of compliance — how we get others to do what we want. And that’s exactly what you need to know to get an employer to hire you.

If you don’t listen to another podcast this year, listen to Dr. Robert Cialdini’s clear, compelling conversation with Guy Kawasaki about how to ethically influence other people to “come in your direction.” Gene Webb, my mentor at the Stanford Business School, gave me Cialdini’s book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, while I was a graduate student. I’ve since given the book to my own kids and to many friends.

Robert Cialdini is professor emeritus at Arizona State University and one of the world’s leading researchers in social psychology. He’s probably also the most widely read psychologist in the sphere of sales. But don’t let any of that put you off. This isn’t armchair psychology or cheesy sales training. It’s must-hear information for any job seeker, employer or business person. (Do yourself a favor: Don’t read the transcript. Listen to the audio.)

What’s your take?

Did you find a tip in Cialdini’s podcast that you can put to use immediately? Did you learn something you didn’t know? How do you influence or convince employers to hire you?


 

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The real jobs shortage

On January 17, 2020
The real jobs shortage

 

Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

Source: Brookings Institution

jobs shortage

Each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Employment Situation report (better known as the “jobs report”) to outline the latest state of the nation’s economy. And with it, of late, have been plenty of positive headlines. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story. Are these jobs any good? How much do they pay? Do workers make enough to live on? Here, the story is less rosy.

In a recent analysis, we found that 53 million workers ages 18 to 64—or 44% of all workers—earn barely enough to live on. Their median earnings are $10.22 per hour, and about $18,000 per year. Other research suggests that there are not enough decent-paying jobs for people without bachelor’s degrees. This matters—workers without bachelor’s degrees make up not just the majority of the low-wage workforce but the majority of the labor force as a whole, so the shortage of such jobs has wide-ranging consequences. Even with sunny job statistics, the nation’s economy is simply not working well for tens of millions of people.

 

Jobs Shortage: Nick’s take

While the feds and the media cheer “the great jobs numbers,” the dirty little secret is wages. Brookings scrapes the lipstick off the pig, and all that’s left is a pig. There’s no talent shortage; there’s a good-paying jobs shortage. Brookings focuses on the 44% of all workers who make barely enough to live on — and that’s troubling enough. What Brookings misses is more highly educated workers who are earning less than they used to.

Which one are you?

What’s your take?

Are you earning as much as you used to? What category in the Brookings report do you fall into? Are there really more good-paying jobs than there is talent to fill them? How many lower-paying jobs would you need to have at once, to earn what you once earned?

See also B.S. on the jobs numbers euphoria.


 

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Warren Buffett: It’s the people, Stupid

On January 9, 2020
Warren Buffett: It’s the people, Stupid

Warren Buffett

 

Money is important, but not the most important thing.

Source: Inc.

Warren Buffett

In a 1998 lecture to University of Florida MBA students, business magnate Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, fielded a host of questions on investments and valuations before a thoughtful student asked, “What would you do to live a happier life if you could live over again?” According to the Oracle of Omaha, “The way to do it is to play out the game and do something you enjoy all your life and be associated with people you like. I work only with people I like.”

 

Nick’s take

This article quoting Warren Buffett has an extremely high ratio of wisdom to words:

  • “I work only with people I like” (See also Never work with jerks.)
  • “you will move in the direction of the people that you associate with”
  • “associate with people who are better than yourself”
  • “you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with”
  • “not having close friends is just as bad for your health as smoking”
  • “if you’re still putting up with people you don’t like just for a paycheck, it’s time to make a change”

What’s your take?

Do you agree? Do you walk Buffett’s talk? Or is this easier said than done?

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Why aren’t you making more money?

On December 4, 2019
Why aren’t you making more money?

 

Trade war, weaker economy are among reasons

Source: USA Today

more money

By all rights, U.S. wage growth should be kicking into a higher gear amid falling unemployment and intensifying worker shortages…“Wage growth has hit a wall,” Joseph Song, senior economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, wrote in a report. Economists blame myriad factors, including President Donald Trump’s trade war with China and a slowing U.S. economy, weak productivity growth and meager inflation.

 

Nick’s take

I love this topic. Washington crows about low unemployment, but nobody in government seems to worry that your wage growth sucks. “Explanations” get tossed around like dry leaves whipped up by a forest fire: It’s the trade war, productivity, low inflation. I’ve got a simpler answer: Successful companies don’t share the wealth with their employees because it just feels better to keep the money. Job candidates need to push back harder. Can’t negotiate a higher salary? Ask for more money.

What do  you say?

  • Why are wages not going up meaningfully?
  • How can you get more money for your work?

 

 

 

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Do you want a job, or higher pay?

On November 13, 2019
Do you want a job, or higher pay?

pay

 

No sign of a recession, but wage growth is flatlining.

Source: The New York Times

pay

The first story: Jobs are plentiful and unemployment low. Most everyone who wants a job can find one…The second story: Wage growth is flatlining. For most of the last few years, pay to American workers has been rising at steadily increasing rates…But that rate of increase now seems to have leveled off or decreased. The year-over-year rate of growth in wages peaked at 3.4 percent in February and has receded to 3 percent in October, according to the latest numbers…

So most people can find a job and more people are working, but employers are not having to increase compensation much to recruit and retain people. This isn’t what economic models suggest should happen.

 

Nick’s take

Do you want a job, or higher pay? Because the U.S. Department of Labor says you can’t have both. News articles focus on big growth in new jobs but then can’t explain essentially flat pay in a market with high demand for labor. Meanwhile, companies are spending less and pocketing more: “compensation in private industry rose 3 percent in 2018, and only 2.7 percent in the 12 months ended in September.” Nothing’s changed. (See B.S. on the jobs numbers.)

What’s your take?

  • Are you making more money?
  • How much does your CEO make as a ratio compared to you?
  • Why don’t the Department of Labor numbers make sense?
  • When will job applicants wise up?

 

 

 

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HireVue: Selling AI snake oil to gullible HR

On October 23, 2019
HireVue: Selling AI snake oil to gullible HR

AI

 

A face-scanning algorithm increasingly decides whether you deserve the job

HireVue claims it uses artificial intelligence to decide who’s best for a job. Outside experts call it ‘profoundly disturbing.’

Source: The Washington Post

AI

An artificial intelligence [AI] hiring system has become a powerful gatekeeper for some of America’s most prominent employers. Designed by the recruiting-technology firm HireVue, the system uses candidates’ computer or cellphone cameras to analyze their facial movements, word choice and speaking voice before ranking them against other applicants.

More than 100 employers now use the system, including Hilton, Unilever and Goldman Sachs, and more than a million job seekers have been analyzed. But some AI researchers argue the system is digital snake oil — an unfounded blend of superficial measurements and arbitrary number-crunching that is not rooted in scientific fact.

 

Nick’s take

Human Resources executives have always been suckers for HR technology. “It’s AI”! But real AI experts say now HR has jumped the shark. Er, snake. Ever willing to swallow the venture-funded concoctions of database jockeys masquerading as recruiting experts, HR doesn’t give a hoot about science — or common sense when hiring. So bring in those candidates, scrub ’em up and get ’em ready! The venture investors behind HireVue are delivering digital snake oil, and HR is holding the funnel. Are you ready to swallow it? We’ve covered this before, but the story keeps, uh, coming up.

What’s your take?

  • What do you think of AI in the recruiting and hiring process?
  • Have you ever sat for a cognitive facial scan with a straight face?
  • If you’re an employer, would you feed this stuff to your job applicants?

 

 

 

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Want a signing bonus?

On October 3, 2019
Want a signing bonus?

 

How a Signing Bonus Can Take Your Recruitment Efforts to the Next Level

Source: Anthem: The Benefits Guide

signing bonus

The majority of companies — 74 percent, to be exact — give bonuses to at least some of their new hires, but amounts vary widely depending on the field. Signing bonuses usually come in the form of a lump sum given at the start of a new job. Unlike a relocation payment, there are no strings attached to how the employee may use the money. A bonus isn’t a magic recruitment wand, and it’s not meant for every circumstance.

Here are three situations, however, where a well-placed bonus can help bring in a new hire.

 

Nick’s take

My good buddy Suzanne Lucas (the infamous TheEvilHRLady) offers a good primer about signing bonuses. Written for employers — it’s an insider’s view! — this article explains what a signing bonus is, what it isn’t, and why companies grant them to job candidates. Signing bonuses aren’t just for executive-level jobs. Don’t try to negotiate your next job offer without understanding how you might score a lump-sum signing bonus!

What’s your take?

  • Have you ever gotten a signing bonus in your job offer? How much?
  • Did you ever have to return a signing bonus because you quit too soon?
  • If you’re an employer, when and why do you give signing bonuses?

 

 

 

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What brilliant interview questions should you ask employers?

On September 20, 2019
What brilliant interview questions should you ask employers?

Impress a Potential Employer In an Interview With These 3 Unexpected Yet Brilliant Questions

Source: inc.com

Although most candidates fear off-beat interview questions… they help interviewers better understand how candidates think and help assess for cultural fit… Here are three nontraditional questions that you should ask before signing on the dotted line:

1. How important is the company mission statement?

interview questionsWhen we don’t understand our company’s greater purpose, we view work as an item on a to-do list–a means to an end — and don’t feel motivated.

2. What are the best-run meetings here?

If your interviewer is able to describe meetings that have a clear sense of purpose… it’s a sign of a healthy meeting culture and that meetings serve a greater purpose than as a time sink.

3. Can you describe your relationship with the custodial staff here?

Asking your interview to describe his/her relationship with custodial staff can be a powerful and subtle means by which to assess overall levels of organizational justice.

 

Nick’s take

The problem with these “brilliant” interview questions is that they are indirect and too clever. They don’t get to the truth you need to judge an employer. I like Inc.’s #2 question, but I think the best questions you can ask in job interviews are about the work, the people, and the money.

  1. What’s the problem or challenge you’d like me to tackle if you hire me? I’ll show you how I’ll do it.
  2. Can I meet people upstream and downstream from this job, so I can see the quality of their work and cooperation?
  3. So, what’s the pay like? (Ask early. Save time.)

I like questions that prove you can do the work and help you decide whether you want the job — or further discussions.

What’s your take?

  • How do you rate the Inc. interview questions?
  • What are the dumbest questions that have been recommended to you?
  • What are the best questions you ask employers during your interviews?

 

 

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Will new CA law kill your job and Gig Economy?

On September 11, 2019
Will new CA law kill your job and Gig Economy?

A controversial new law in California is widely referred to as protection for Uber and Lyft drivers in the “Gig Economy,” but it makes no references to ride-sharing services — and certainly isn’t limited to one industry.

 

California’s controversial labor bill has passed. Experts forecast more worker rights, higher prices for services

Source: usatoday.com

Gig Economy

A controversial piece of legislation passed the California Legislature late Tuesday evening, codifying and clarify a landmark state Supreme Court decision that limits whether companies can classify their workers as independent contractors.

Expected to have wide-reaching implications that resonate across the country — including posing an existential crisis for businesses built with independent, on-demand labor — the bill is now on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

“This is one of the few times in recent history when so many people will be impacted by a single decision,” said Ryan Vet, an entrepreneur, and gig-economy expert who founded Boon, an on-demand health care platform. He said he sees positives and negatives in the new law, that is “good for the workers, but will also implode the gig economy as we know it today” with increased costs.

 

California Assembly Bill AB-5 will certainly trigger similar laws nationwide. The emphasis seems to be on the ride-sharing industry, but it affects everyone working as an “independent contractor” in any part of our economy.

What’s your take?

  • What jobs will AB-5 really affect?
  • How will it affect employers and consumers?
  • Is AB-5 a gift to third-party “contracting firms” that hire and rent Gig Economy workers to employers?
  • If this law is cloned in your state, how will it affect you?

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Tell A.I. robo-interviewer where to stick it

On August 26, 2019
Tell A.I. robo-interviewer where to stick it

robo-interviewerDoes an employer’s chat-bot want you to do a video interview with an AI-based robo-interviewer that will interpret the results with “intelligent” facial recognition and predictive analytics — so an algorithm can “decide” whether you qualify for a real interview with a personnel jockey who knows nothing about the work you do?

Gizmodo’s Brian Merchant reports that Applying for Your Next Job May Be an Automated Nightmare. And he gives you everything you need to tell that employer where to stick it and why.

News I want you to use

Companies like Citibank, l’Oreal, Danone, and PricewaterhouseCoopers are using VCV, a digital recruiting AI bot, to abuse job applicants without the overhead of a personnel jockey’s time. Urban Outfitters, Intel, Honeywell, and Unilever use another bot: HireVue. Those two “AI” firms have $1.7 million and $93 million in venture backing. Another recruiting bot vendor, AllyO, has $19 million in backing.

And they’re all ready to interview you in absentia. And you should consider whether it’s worth wasting your time.

HR explains robo-interviewer hiring

Wonder why HR departments are so screwed up? Because HR consultants tell them they’re in business to save money. Gizmodo reports why HR managers want you to talk to a robo-interviewer:

“’AI in human resources is cost-effective and better for business overall,’ Barbara Van Pay, the CEO of SmartHR Consultancy, writes in Entrepreneur Magazine. Van Pay points to a 2016 Society of Human Resource Management survey that found the average cost-per-hire was $4,129. AI, she reasons, could whittle that figure away. ‘With many of the AI recruitment and Human Resources programs available offering tailor-made packages on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly subscription basis, it’s not hard to see that you can save a pretty hefty penny by transitioning to AI technology solutions.’”

The article gives no indication that Van Pay is human.

“Shitty automation”

Gizmodo explains why HR really uses that robo-interviewer, quoting Aaron Rieke, Managing Director of Upturn, a Washington, DC think tank that promotes equity and justice in the design, governance, and use of digital technology:

“But these startups [HireVue, VCV, AllyO, among others] risk offering a prime example of shitty automation—an automated product adopted in the name of saving money, that risks, in the end, just making everybody’s lives worse. In this case, the automation is designed to benefit one side of the equation almost exclusively: the employer.”

This seems to be the latest explanation about Why cattle-call interviewing doesn’t work.

How you can use this news

If an employer suggests you should subject yourself to abuse by its AI HR bots, you can cite Reike — when you tell the employer where to stick it. Just send over a link to Rieke’s stunning expose of automated, AI-based hiring.

He shared some of his concerns with Gizmodo:

“Human biases have long plagued hiring, and any claim that machine learning algorithms alone can fix that is bogus… It has been reported that VCV uses facial recognition to identify candidates’ ‘mood’ and ‘behavior patterns’ to help recruiters assess ‘cultural fit.’ This raises all kind of red flags… Facial recognition technology is often less accurate for women and darker-skinned people. Even assuming companies like VCV can evaluate ‘mood’ or ‘behavior,’ it’s not clear how that should help a recruiter assess candidates… We need a lot more information about how systems like these are designed and tested. Until that happens, I’m extremely skeptical. The hype is way ahead of the facts.”

Just because a top VC firm like Sequoia funds it, and just because HR saves a “hefty penny” using it, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell an employer where to stick it.

Read more in Gizmodo. To see how the robo-interview shoe might fit on the other foot, see Interview ON: How to interview for 1,500 jobs.

Have you been subjected to robo-interviews? How’d it go?

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