Liberal arts degree: Asset or albatross?

On August 15, 2022
Liberal arts degree: Asset or albatross?

Question

In your experience, is a broad liberal arts background an asset or an albatross? (I know, I know, I’m grossly glossing over differences in markets, technologies, regional employment issues, etc.) For the purposes of this discussion, let’s assume that our guinea pig has a liberal arts degree from a solid institution. Is the pig gonna succeed in business?

Nick’s Reply

liberal artsAbout 3 out of 4 employers say they want job candidates with strong writing skills. Far too many people in America, especially in the worlds of business and technology, can’t write to save their lives. And that’s because they spent most of their time in school studying one subject so they could become very smart specialists. But a liberal arts education almost always teaches people how to think critically, communicate effectively and how to write well.

And guess what? There’s no such thing any more as a single career. You need to be able to grasp all sorts of knowledge and thinking styles to tackle the rapidly changing kinds of work that need to be done. That’s why the traditional job is dying. And that’s why a liberal arts degree can be a very valuable asset today.

Liberal arts and business jobs

It’s not my intent to start a “jobs war” between liberal arts folks and other professionals like scientists, engineers, lawyers or anyone else. My intent is to help people with liberal arts backgrounds see they have options.

I think liberal arts types are among the most valuable workers in business. They tend to have well-honed critical skills and a flexible perspective that can accommodate just about any business discipline. They need time to master a new domain, and that can require a serious investment! But people with technical, finance or specialist degrees face a complementary challenge if they lack the breadth of knowledge one typically acquires in the liberal arts.

Liberal arts grads often often allow their degree to turn into an albatross. If they can stop torpedoing themselves, their broad skills can make them successful almost anywhere. Lots of liberal arts-ers (L.A.’s) seem to disdain the business world. I’ve never been able to figure that out. It’s a hurdle to overcome. Everything is a business, even non-profit organizations that nuke whales, save oil and grow eco-friendly pomegranates. L.A.’s need to realize — even while they’re in college — that having a job will likely mean working in business.

The disdain often manifests itself as defensiveness. You know the attitude: “I don’t really want to be in business. It’s beneath me. Business is for making money, not for satisfying my need to do something important. I come from the ivory tower of academe. And you guys in business scare the pants off me because… how do you do all that stuff you do?”

That attitude hurts a lot of talented people who need a foot in the door.

Liberal arts: Ability to change

But if L.A.’s suffer from naïve career preconceptions, they can be great learners — heck, I’m living proof. I spent my time in college taking courses in everything from Astronomy to Comparative Literature, Biology to Creative Writing, Art History to Economics, and from Psychology to Approaches to The Renaissance (Man, that was one killer double-credit course). I’m not so smart about anything in particular, but my L.A. background has made me fearless. It’s made me a fool for learning new stuff.

I didn’t study programming or coding, but I spent a couple of years designing and writing business software. I have no project management education, but I spent another year salvaging an inventory management project that went off the rails because programmers and sales people (at a major corporation) couldn’t understand one another.

Learning quickly on the job again and again gave me the confidence to believe I can learn to do anything well, because as an L.A. type in college, I jumped from subject to subject. That became a skill in itself. And I believe that skill makes any liberal arts-er a potentially fine business person. I got religion when I realized business is just the work someone does. It’s all business.

Liberal arts can be your asset

I believe that almost any L.A.-er who’s serious about it can land a good job — or change careers — by applying the ability to write and communicate effectively. That’s the sign of a trained and disciplined mind. That’s one of the first things I look for when I evaluate a business person. Having said that, I also expect a clear demonstration that the job candidate has applied their liberal arts training to learn about my business and the job I’m trying to fill!

There are lots of specialists out there that an L.A.-er could run circles around — just because L.A.-ers can speak and write well. The challenge to the L.A.-er is to study the business you want to work in, gain enough of a grasp to hold your own, and to show how you will apply your skills to it. In some fields, of course, you may need some serious additional education to compete with the specialists, but I think you will find the skills you already possess will often make you a uniquely qualified candidate for some surprising jobs.

So yes, our guinea pig can succeed. If you have a liberal arts degree and want to work in business, technology, finance or any other field, you’ve got to do more homework. Lucky you, that’s what you’re good at. Then choose your target and go tackle the world.

Is a liberal arts education useful in your line of work? Why or why not? If you work in a specialized field, have you encountered (or hired) people with liberal arts degrees? Are liberal arts credentials an asset or an albatross?

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I really want this job!

On August 8, 2022
I really want this job!

Question

How long should I wait before checking in on a late-stage interview process that’s gone silent? I’m interviewing for a top software engineering management role after being asked to apply by the CTO. I really want this job.

The role would report to the CTO, with whom I interviewed twice, and then once with the engineering team. That last interview was three weeks ago, and I haven’t heard anything since. They didn’t tell me what kind of timeline to expect. I really want this job, and I’m going crazy waiting to know what happens next. Will checking in to soothe my anxiety damage the relationship? Do I have to wait some more weeks in limbo? Thank you so much for your help.

Nick’s Reply

I really want this jobThis may be hard to hear, but the worst thing you can do is “really want this job.” The truth is, most interview processes go south. The only way to plan around that is to focus your next opportunity.

If you sit and wait for that CTO to make a decision while you’re on pins and needles, it’s going to hurt you. Get out – go date some other companies pronto!

Then, if this goes south, you’ll feel a lot better for having “live” options.

Keep this in mind: You have NO control over that employer and you will never have any idea what transpired if they don’t hire you. The only thing you control is what I refer to as “On to the next!”

If you really want this job, ask now

Having said all that, I’d send a very casual, very informal note to the CTO. There is no need to wait longer.

How to Say It

“How are we doing on that position? I’m still interested. Are you?”

Don’t get all formal and wordy. (Avoid saying you really want this job!) If he says yes, then ask for a timetable.

How to Say It

“I’m talking with other companies. You’re my first choice. I want to work with you. But I certainly understand if you haven’t made a decision. I hope you understand I have a timetable of my own, and I don’t want you to think I’ve lost interest. Can you tell me when you expect to make a decision?”

By the way, never use the exact words I suggest. Bend “how to say it,” shape it so it fits your style and makes you comfortable, and always use your own best judgment.

It is possible they’ve got other fish to fry. Sometimes it can take a long time. But after this much time a CTO owes you some information.

On to the next!

If he says there will be no offer, there’s little you can do. If he says he’s got no info for you, then you to focus on “On to the next!” and let this guy simmer on low. If he comes back, great. If not, make sure you have alternatives.

Three weeks is a long time. Has his silence “damaged the relationship?” Ask him what’s up as offhandedly as you can, with a friendly come-hither tone. Expect a useful answer, then get on with it.

I hope you get the job. Like I said, this could just be a matter of the company being occupied with other tasks. But by letting a candidate stew, they risk not being able to fill a key job. Letting them know you may be gone by the time they get their act together will relieve your stress and also maybe help you find the job where they really do want you.

Waiting on one lottery ticket to pay off never paid anyone’s mortgage. Get back in the game now!

This may help: I’m still waiting for the job offer. If you feel you need one-on-one help, check Talk to Nick.

How long do you wait to ask for a hiring decision? Have you ever put your job search on pause while waiting on a job you “really want,” only to realize you’re left empty-handed? How would you advise this reader?

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How to make a tough job or career choice

On August 1, 2022
How to make a tough job or career choice

Question

I really can’t decide between two good job offers that require a career choice. Each would take me deep into a career dramatically different from the other. I’ve done lists of pros and cons and still cannot figure this out! Got any suggestions?

(NOTE: This is an old question that I’ve never published because I didn’t have an answer for it — until now. Strap in, because some might think I’m going a bit “out there” on this! – Nick)

Nick’s Reply

career choiceSometimes you’ve got to make a choice between two job offers, or you’ve got to decide “Do I stay, or do I go?” Much of the time you can pretty easily judge the evidence supporting one choice or the other. But sometimes you can’t — because “I” gets in the way.

Does “I” cause confusion when making a career choice?

I is who talks to you when you stop living and start “paying attention.” Really, there is never a need to “pay attention.” We do that automatically. It’s how our senses and our brains work. As long as your eyes are open, when that swerving car comes toward you unexpectedly, your brain makes your body jump out of the way — you don’t need to “pay attention.”

Likewise, when you have job choices that seem confusing, it’s often illuminating to merely stop thinking about it. Stop I.

A lesson from the Buddha

A Buddhist friend suggests we don’t need I. In fact, I gets in the way of knowing all we need to know. And that includes knowing which choice in virtually any situation is the best choice for us.

Stopping I is hard. It’s why the Buddha spent years in contemplation — to stop his I. Well, not to stop it. Rather, to experience the knowledge that there is no I. Everything —  everything — is connected, is one, is Unity, so I is just an artifact of a brain that doesn’t know how to be still. There is no need for I when a person can sit quietly and see, hear, feel, smell and even taste what is before them.

This, the Buddha tells us, is knowing.

No, I’m not going religious on you. I’m not proselytizing or suggesting you give up your power of choice to a 2,500-year-old holy man. Many religions offer ways to know ourselves better. The point is to have a method to be still and know yourself; a way to turn off that distracting internal voice that can make your head spin with indecision.

One way to make a tough job or career choice

I’m telling you this because I’d like to help you make choices that seem daunting. We don’t encounter these all the time. Usually, we know exactly what to do. But when we don’t, I steps in and over-analyzes, over-rationalizes, argues too much and drives us into confusion.

So, how do we get rid of I so that we can just know what we really want?

A special edition of the Stanford alumni magazine is devoted to stories about chance and randomness. There’s interesting stuff throughout: some fun, provocative stories, as well as some college-magazine tripe.

But the best story in that edition is on the very last page. Perhaps an editor got loose from their I and saw the naked wisdom about what’s chance, what’s random, and how the chaotic universe will lead us to knowledge about ourselves without any need to think.

Make the choice you know is right

In Mary Poindexter McLaughlin’s “Keep the Change,” a seemingly random flip of a coin leads the author away from conscious thought — away from the I that talks to us — so she can see that she already knows the answer to her problem.

McLaughlin wasn’t choosing between two offers — but you might be. She had to choose between two careers. One career (as a university administrator) came with a job offer; the other (acting in theater) included no firm offer and required a big move.

With the flip of a coin, McLaughlin made a life-changing choice, but not because the outcome of the flip made the choice for her. The real outcome was that she easily and effortlessly made her own choice when the coin flip removed her I and revealed her knowledge of herself.

Flip off the switch and see the light

You cannot know what I’m talking about without reading McLaughlin’s very short article. Please check it out. If I didn’t think it worth your while, I wouldn’t recommend it. Maybe it’s a bit out there, but it set off bright lights for me. It made me realize sometimes I think too much and pay so much attention that I entirely miss what I already know.

Sometime, when you have a seemingly impossible choice to make, like a tough job or career choice, try what McLaughlin did —- flip a coin that flips the switch off on your I. I bet you’ll see better for just long enough to realize you don’t need to think to make a choice.

You just know.

I’m not suggesting you ignore your critical faculties. But, take a pause when you’re unsure — take a moment to know yourself.

(See also Don’t subcontract your job choices.)

Have I gone off my rocker? What is this Buddhism stuff? When faced with a tough decision, do you ever feel like you (“I”) are in your own way? How would you make a decision like this, if both options seem equally attractive? Do you find any wisdom in McLaughlin’s story?

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Open Mic: What’s your job search problem?

On July 25, 2022
Open Mic: What’s your job search problem?

job search problemSpecial Edition

I started Ask The Headhunter many years ago as an “open mic” and invited anyone with a job search problem (as well as managers, HR, and recruiters with hiring problems) to post their questions. At that time, I was answering 20-30 questions per day on a massive, free-flowing discussion board. (Yah, my fingers hurt and the letters wore off my keyboard.)

Since then, I’ve answered over 50,000 questions — I really have heard it all! Nowadays I pick the best questions readers submit via e-mail, and I publish one per week along with my advice here on Ask The Headhunter and in my free weekly newsletter.

Periodically I like to open things up and let the questions fly. So, in this special edition, the mic is open to everyone —  job seekers and employers and recruiters. We’re going to tackle a lot of questions. (Yes, we.) 

Open Mic: You’re on!

The open mic idea stems from webinars and live conferences I do for professionals where I make a brief presentation, then we open it up. Anyone may ask any question about a job search problem or about hiring and recruiting (or about work), and I do my best to provide useful advice on the spot.

I love doing these events because I don’t have to prepare! In fact, I can’t prepare. I have no idea what anyone will ask. I also enjoy doing it because it tests me — how much value can I deliver, to someone with a job search problem, in the space of a few minutes? (Yes, sometimes it gets messy and I sometimes get egg on my face…)

We haven’t done an open mic in quite a while. But, hey — this is called Ask The Headhunter for a reason, right?? With the economy, the job market and our daily lives almost totally upended, I know a lot of people are facing unusual situations – so let’s try to help!

SUMMER SPECIAL!

Take a hot 50% OFF your entire purchase of any Ask The Headhunter PDF books — including all the Fearless Job Hunting books! This week only! Click here to order and use discount code HOTDAYS at checkout. Limited time offer subject to change without notice.

What’s your job search problem?

I will do my best to answer any and all questions you post in the comments section below this column on the website.

  • Lost your job and don’t know how to start hunting for a new one?
  • You’ve got an offer but now the company is “on hold.” What do you do?
  • Wondering how to deal with a headhunter who just called you?
  • They want your salary history, but you don’t want to share it?
  • Your company posted a job and you got 5,000 applicants. What now?

What’s your problem? Please post it and we’ll tackle it. (To get an idea of how I view job search and hiring overall, please check The Basics.)

Two suggestions

  1. Please try to summarize your situation — about 100 words or so. Too much detail can be confusing. Try to boil it down as best you can. Help us understand the real issues so we can focus and offer useful responses.
  2. Please remember to ask in the form of a question. This helps crystallize the problem so we can address it effectively.

Please pile on!

I expect (and invite!) everyone to chime in and offer advice. The more suggestions and discussion, the better. Your advice is often better and more insightful than mine, so please share it!

What’s your question? What job search problem or challenge are you facing? Employers are welcome to post questions about their recruiting, hiring and HR problems, too.

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Should I use a job offer to get a raise?

On July 18, 2022
Should I use a job offer to get a raise?

Question

Can I use a job offer to get a raise out of my employer? After 22 years of military service, I’ve been working the last 14 months for a company (A) as a government contractor. The pay’s okay. Last month, out of the blue, I received an unofficial job offer from another company (B), to do basically the same work. The job description is similar to what I’m doing now, but the benefits are much better and the pay is about 25% more.

I’m not going to do anything until B actually makes me an offer in writing, but assuming that they do (in the next month), my question is: Should I sit down with my supervisor and tell him I’ve had another offer, and see if he can match the pay that B is offering? If he matched their pay I’d be inclined to stay. But would that sour our relationship (which is pretty good now)?

This is completely foreign to what military supervisors (at all levels) have to deal with.

Nick’s Reply

use a job offer to get a raiseMy compliments for not taking any action until you receive a bona fide, written offer from company B. Don’t risk your current job. And don’t let this blow up in your face!

What’s really motivating you?

You must first decide, Why are you interested in taking this new job? If it’s the money only, that’s fine. But, don’t confuse money with the quality of the job and company. These are two separate issues, and you must do yourself justice on both.

If it’s more money that you want, you should first try to get it from your current employer. Ask your boss for a raise, but don’t hang the new offer in front of his face. Such a threat — and it is a threat, no matter how you couch it — could blow up on you.

What’s in a raise?

Your boss might usher you right out the door, or, if he concedes on the salary, he may view you differently. That salary increase might be paid for out of your next review. That is, you may see less of a raise later. Or, you may be viewed as “less than loyal” and if cuts are made, you may be among the first to be let go. Only you can judge this.

A threat is no reason for your boss to give you a raise. You must earn the raise based on your abilities and on the value you deliver to the company. If your boss won’t give you what you want based on that, then why would you stay for any amount of money? So, make your case and ask for the raise without bringing up the other offer. It’s a great test of your relationship with your current employer.

Don’t use a job offer to get a raise

Now let’s talk about the second issue. If you want to leave because the new job and employer are better, then why would you stay where you are for more money? Just go.

Settle the money question in your mind first. Then decide which is the better workplace. This article will help: Should I stay at my current company?

Your sense is right: Threatening to leave and dangling an offer in front of your boss is not good. As we’ve discussed, it can backfire on you. Decide what you want to do and do it. Either negotiate a new salary based on your value, or leave for a better employer and job. Either way, make sure you are choosing to work with good people who recognize your value.

If and when you decide to move on, please refer to “Resign Yourself to Resigning Right,” in the PDF book Parting Company: How to leave your job.

I wish you the best!

Did you ever use a job offer to get a raise? How did it work out? What’s your take on this method of getting ahead? Have any wisdom or cautions to offer other readers?

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4 answers about signing bonuses

On July 11, 2022
4 answers about signing bonuses

Question

When it rains, it pours! Two of my friends got new jobs and both were offered signing bonuses. Is this common now? I have a few questions about signing bonuses.

  1. What is a signing bonus?
  2. Is there a “gotcha” I need to know about?
  3. When is a signing bonus typically paid out?
  4. Is a signing bonus taxable? If yes, at what rate?

Thanks for your answers.

Nick’s Reply

signing bonusYes, I’m seeing more signing, or “starting,” bonuses nowadays. Let’s answer your questions in the order you asked them.

1. A signing bonus is a one-shot deal

In a competitive job market, companies do all they can to attract the right kinds of people. If a company really wants to hire you but fears a competitor might snatch you up first (or that you’ll stay with your current job), they’ll pony up a bonus to get you to sign on. Or, they may offer a one-time bonus to compensate for something you’ll be forced to leave behind at your old job — like an imminent raise or sales commission.

That’s what a signing bonus is: a one-time inducement (though it may be in multiple payments) to get you to take the job.

2. Some signing bonus gotchas

Any bonus is a good thing, as long as you understand the terms. Here are some gotchas that may surprise some people.

Be aware that the bonus probably won’t affect your salary, or a review and raise, or the basis for any life insurance coverage, or your 401(k) program. That is, if you accept a salary of $100,000 and a signing bonus of $20,000, and you’re given a 5% raise next year, your new salary will be $105,000 — not 5% X $120,000.

Any benefits you get that are based on salary will not be affected by that bonus, because it’s usually not considered salary.

Companies love that, because it’s a short-term, one-time expense to them. Don’t let anyone convince you that a $100K salary plus a signing bonus of $10K is the same as a $110,00K salary without a bonus. Long term, there can be big differences because there’s nothing long-term about a one-time bonus.

Here’s a particularly sneaky gotcha. An employer hired a hotshot sales person and made the signing bonus contingent on the new hire turning over their book of business to a more senior sales person in the company. It was a nasty surprise because the new hire didn’t read the agreement carefully.

3. A signing bonus may not be paid all at once

Signing bonuses can be paid out any way the company wants (and you agree). It’s likely to be paid out over time. That’s because your new employer wants you to stick around. After all, you could accept the job, pocket the entire bonus, and quit six months later.

They’re probably going to spread the payments out, or make you sign an agreement saying the bonus is recoverable if you leave the job in less than, say, a year.

In some cases, they won’t make any payment on the bonus until you’ve been on board for an agreed-upon period of time. Read the fine print, and negotiate.

4. Tax consequences

I don’t give tax or legal advice, so you should check with a CPA and perhaps a lawyer about your specific situation.

Generally, a signing bonus is typically taxable as income. It’s considered part of your total earnings, and whatever your income tax rate is, that’s what you’ll pay on the bonus. The only way around this expense is if the company factors it up to cover the tax on the payment — but you still pay the tax. (Factoring up makes an interesting negotiating gambit.)

At executive levels complex deals can be struck using financial tools and techniques we mortals are not likely to have access to.

Settle it before accepting an offer

You should get all your questions about a signing bonus — and all aspects of your compensation — answered before you accept a job offer. If what you’re told is not reflected in the written offer or agreement, insist that it be added.

The terms of signing bonuses vary from situation to situation. If an employer offers a signing bonus, settle all the details in advance.

Negotiate.

Finally, remember that a signing bonus is just as negotiable as any other part of an offer. In fact, if no signing bonus is suggested as part of your job offer, you can ask for it.

If the employer absolutely won’t budge on salary, and you won’t accept what’s offered, suggest that a one-time signing bonus could close the deal without breaking their salary rules and scales. Of course, keep in mind that this won’t have the effect of a higher basis for raises and other benefits — but it’s still more money for you.

Have you been enticed to take a job because they offered a signing (or “starting”) bonus? How was this bonus structured? Were you able to negotiate it? When is it smart to accept such a bonus, and when might it not be so smart?

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Do this before accepting a job offer!

On June 27, 2022
Do this before accepting a job offer!

Question

It’s always a relief when I get a job offer, but that’s also when I think I’m most vulnerable to accepting a job that maybe I should not. Face it, after 7, 8 or 9 interviews (common today), you just want to get it over with and start the job! You have said people often quit their jobs or get fired because “they took the wrong job to begin with.” I understand, but how do we avoid a mistake like that? Is there a strategy or a reminder I should write on my hand?

Nick’s Reply

before accepting a job offerYou can do something pretty obvious to avoid going to work for a questionable company or accepting the wrong job: meet everyone that will affect your success. It’s not really a strategy. It’s more of a tactic that will help you confirm a really good opportunity and keep you from getting a walk-on role in a nightmare. You shouldn’t write on your hand, but if you insist, write these two words: upstream and downstream.

Look around the company

In a classic New York Times article, “How to Become a C.E.O.? The Quickest Path Is a Winding One” Guy Berger, a LinkedIn economist, says that to make it into a CEO job,  “…you need to understand how the different parts of a company work and how they interact with each other and understand how other people do their job, even if it’s something you don’t know well enough to do yourself.”

That may seem obvious, but job candidates rarely take time to look around a company once they’re holding a brand new job offer. They’re understandably in a hurry to accept. While Irwin discusses a career strategy for becoming a CEO, I’m more concerned with the tactics necessary to be successful in any job — and that requires slowing down.

Before accepting a job offer

While I think job success is possible only when you pick the right company and job, what happens if you devote tons of time and effort to get a job offer, only to realize it’s wrong?

I teach all my job candidates to pause the hiring process when they receive an offer, and to re-start it on a new vector — one they’d never be able to insist on until they actually have an offer. For the sake of illustration, let’s say you’ve been offered a marketing job. Always, before accepting a job offer, take control politely but firmly and say this to the hiring manager:

“Before accepting your offer to start this job, I’d like to come back and meet three people who are upstream and downstream from the job you’ve offered: managers who run Sales, Product Development, and Manufacturing.”

(The actual departments will depend on the job you are considering.)

What’s upstream and downstream?

If you don’t get those meetings, you are likely to accept a wrong job, or to walk blindly into uncharted waters. Some companies will just refuse your request. Others will scratch their heads and ask why you want the meetings.

Here’s how to explain it:

“Those managers are upstream and downstream from the work I’ll be doing, and they will affect how successfully I can do my marketing job. Manufacturing is upstream from Marketing: They make what I must promote. Sales is downstream from me: They must rely on how I position our brand. Product Development is upstream — it creates features I have to communicate to the world. The upstream and downstream partnerships with Marketing affect how successful all of us can be. To make the commitment I’d like to make to you, I need to know who I’ll be working with, how they work, and what they expect from me. So I’d like to meet them now.”

An employer is more likely to consent to these meetings after it has made the commitment of a job offer to you.

Interview the employer

I know a sales manager who didn’t accept the job until he spent time in the warehouse — a downstream department whose work would determine customer satisfaction. He wanted to learn how orders were picked, packaged and delivered. He’d had bad experiences at another company where, no matter how much his sales reps sold, customers didn’t re-order because shipments arrived late and damaged. He also wanted to meet the accounting manager — another downstream job — who was responsible for receivables, because sales commissions aren’t paid until customers payments arrive.

So he interviewed the employer after he had their offer in hand.

Managers in other departments may have interviewed you during the hiring process, but did you interview them? Did you drill down into their business, meet their teams and perhaps spend half a day in working meetings with them?

No? Would you buy a company without doing exactly that — assessing its talent and management in a hands-on way? Then why would you accept a job without this kind of due diligence?

Your job success depends on others

Other people upstream and downstream from you will affect your job success dramatically — just as you will affect theirs. Meeting them and understanding what they do, and how, will help you decide whether to accept a job, and to avoid stepping into disaster and having to change jobs again soon.

This tactic also helps when you’re interviewing job candidates yourself — send them up- and downstream to other managers before you hire them. Is everyone convinced they can paddle in the right direction?

See also: How can I optimize my first day on the job?

Do you do anything special before accepting a job offer, to make sure it’s really right for you? Have you rushed into a job without due diligence only to find trouble waiting? What happened? What are some effective ways to help ensure you’ll enjoy success on a new job?

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9 Rules for Employers: Respect job candidates

On June 20, 2022
9 Rules for Employers: Respect job candidates

Question

Okay, Mr. Smarty-pants. You criticize how HR and hiring managers treat applicants. You say we don’t respect job candidates. You seem to think we’re here to baby them and show them a good time. Let me remind you that we have to deal with hundreds or even thousands of applicants for every job. (No matter what anybody says, we get too many applications, not too few!) You don’t like what you refer to as the impersonal nature of it all. So go ahead — tell us the “right” way to handle them. I can’t wait.

Nick’s Reply

respect job candidatesIt’s hard enough to identify top job candidates and entice them into an interview, and even harder to hire them. The last thing you want to do is alienate a potential hire by subjecting them to an unpleasant, disrespectful interviewing process.

In many years as a headhunter, I’ve seen companies conduct interviews that drive away the best people. I’ve also seen companies conduct interviews that leave candidates panting for a job offer. If you want your company to be the kind that candidates are eager to join, here are a few DOs and DON’Ts about how to treat people you hope to hire.

1. DO give the candidate an agenda.

Job applicants come to conduct business and to derive some benefit. Respect job candidates as you would a prospective customer meeting you for the first time. Before any interview, provide an agenda that will inform, please and stimulate them. More than a job description, this demonstrates you know what you’re doing and what they must do to get a job offer. It tells the candidate this is a business call, not an awkward interrogation or, worse, a waste of time. If you can’t produce a solid agenda, you have no business conducting a job interview. (This is why 5 or 7 or 9 interviews are never justified, no matter how you rationalize them. It reveals you don’t know what you’re doing.)

2. DON’T set a negative tone.

As the host, you set the tone. A first interview is not a place for personnel jockeys to screen applicants whose work they don’t understand. (If you haven’t already screened the person, why are you even meeting them?) The candidate comes to meet the manager they will be working with, and to get an impression of your company’s acumen. A respectful meeting with a job candidate should be a challenging but appropriate engagement of two professionals. It’s not the time for filling out forms, and it’s not for asking presumptuous questions. (For example, “Why are you interested in this job?” — when you recruited them.) Set a positive tone: talk shop.

3. DO state your business clearly.

You’re the host. You asked for this meeting. So take the lead. What does your company do? What are the deliverables for this job, at 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months? What are the immediate challenges? The problems you’re facing? What’s your interest in the candidate? Then invite the candidate to show how they’d apply their skills and abilities to the work. The tone, substance and outcome of an interview are largely determined by the subject of the interview. (That’s why a written agenda is crucial.) Make sure everyone on your end is clear about what the interview is for. “Getting a feel for the candidate” is a poor excuse for taking up anyone’s time.

4. DON’T be presumptuous.

Don’t ask candidates to open their kimonos until you’ve opened yours. Don’t poke and prod too soon. Imagine going on a first date and asking a person you barely know about the facts and figures of their life: Who are your parents? How were you raised? Why are you attracted to me? How much do you earn? How many kids do you want to have? Don’t laugh. The analogy is very apt. Nothing upsets a job candidate like a presumptuous interviewer. Show some respect. For example, tell them the salary range in advance. They’ll tell you whether it’s enough.

5. DO put your best foot forward.

A personnel jockey or an A.I. or video bot is not your best introduction. It tells the applicant you think their time is less valuable than yours. Never allow anyone but the hiring manager to make first contact with the candidate. (Do job applicants send proxies to meet you?) Then introduce candidates to their peers immediately — the people they will be working with. (Remember what HR loves to proclaim: People are our most important asset! So show off your people!) Your goal is to assess the candidate, but it is also to establish your team’s credibility. You cannot recruit effectively if you cannot impress the candidate at the first step.

6. DON’T schedule irrelevant interviews.

Your interviewers should be of a such caliber that they could win this job if they were interviewing for it. A personnel clerk who isn’t expert in the work of your department is not the person you want to represent your company to the candidate. Likewise, when you schedule those 3 interviews, why would you let a junior team member whose acumen isn’t a match question the candidate? Why let a clerk quiz a programmer about their long-term career goals? If the manager is not technically savvy enough, then find someone who is and include that person in the meeting.

7. DO cut to the chase.

If you want to show a candidate true professional respect, don’t interview them. Instead, roll up your sleeves and have a working meeting. Your discussion shouldn’t be about the candidate or where they see themselves in 5 years. A manager’s first contact with a candidate should be to lay out a live problem and to present the work as concretely as possible because that’s the first deal-breaker. If there’s not a match, you’ll both know right away. This discussion opens up all the other hidden doors to a candidate’s personality, character, work ethic, experience and background — and to the manager’s too.

8. DON’T conduct a psychological strip search.

Having recruited and enticed a desirable job candidate to come visit, many companies administer a battery of personality and aptitude tests — before the candidate gets to see the manager who’s supposedly interested in meeting them. Many qualified candidates simply walk away when confronted with this kind of intrusive questioning. Always give candidates solid reasons to consent to detailed assessments — like a chance to confirm there is serious mutual interest in working together before investing more of their valuable time.

9. DO show respect to all candidates.

Interviewers are not excused from professional courtesies and responsibilities. No matter what HR says, recruiting and interviewing are not an administrative process, and job applicants are not supplicants to abuse — even when you must reject them. Recruiting and interviewing are a highly social art: the art of tactful influence. You’re guiding professionals into your fold. You want them to fall in love with you. Do it gently. Do it responsibly. Make sure when they depart they’ll say good things about you to their professional community because lack of respect on your part will damage further attempts to recruit from that community.

A few more ways to respect job candidates

I’m repeating some of the same ideas, but I like this short list for stimulating discussion. Share it with your team and let them fill in the details.

  • Don’t make the candidate wait.
  • Don’t send a clerk to meet a professional.
  • Don’t run candidates through a gauntlet of lackeys.
  • Do be glad to see the candidate.
  • Do welcome the candidate as a valued guest.
  • Do personally escort them into your office.
  • Do thank the candidate for accepting your invitation and taking time to visit.
  • Do stimulate the candidate’s professional interests and goals immediately.
  • And do offer your candid, honest opinion of the prospects of working together each time you’re done talking with them.

It doesn’t take much to make job candidates feel your respect, if you just remember how much you need them.

Which rule is most important to you if you’re a job seeker? If you’re an employer? What rules would you add that I’ve missed? Which of these rules do most employers seem to follow, and which do they commonly disregard?

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Give resignation, or get a raise?

On June 13, 2022
Give resignation, or get a raise?

Question

I haven’t yet joined the “great resignation” but I’m tempted because it’s a good way to get a raise nowadays. I like my job, my boss and my team, but I don’t know how to get the money I think I’m worth by staying put. My performance review is coming up but I suspect a job interview will pay off better! Before I make a mistake, can I get a raise rather than give my resignation?

Nick’s Reply

give resignationThere’s way to help your employer give you a raise before you give your resignation. Who wants to go on job interviews when a well-managed performance review might get you what you want? You can make a performance review pay off better than a job interview, if you seize it. That means you must trigger the review even before it’s scheduled. With many employers worried about losing workers, I’m going to suggest a way to pull this off.

Get a raise: Call your own performance review

Someone once described the annual review as “an exercise in corporate kabuki theater,” and I agree. Formal, rote review meetings should be pitched out the window, and replaced with a roll-up-your-sleeves work session with your boss.

The main problem with performance reviews is that by the time you walk in to do one, your fate has already been sealed. The human resources department and your boss have likely already done all the talking. They’ve filled out the forms and they found you a nice place for next year — on the fat middle of the company’s salary curve. All that’s left is the formality of running through a list of canned questions with you.

I see these reviews a different way. Your challenge is to subvert the process. If your performance review is coming up, great — use it. If it’s not, do your employer a favor and call your own performance review. Subvert the review process by taking the initiative to show why you are on the leading edge of that salary curve — and perhaps off the curve altogether. You’re the exceptional producer who deserves the kind of raise you’d get if you changed companies.

Don’t give your resignation yet: Get a raise

Resigning and getting a new job is indeed a way to get a good raise nowadays. But as you note, some people like their jobs and the people they work with. They’d rather be part of “the great stay-cation” than the great resignation — if they can get the raise they want.

You may not need to give your resignation and change employers to get the raise you want. Here are three suggestions for how to avoid a resignation and trigger a raise. Maybe if more people would take the lead in their performance reviews with their bosses, something could actually change for the better.

3 steps to a raise

  • Don’t wait for your formal review. If you’re not in a hurry, lay the groundwork. Start meeting with your boss casually all year long – do it once a week, or once a month. Just explain you want to talk briefly “to make sure we’re both on the same page.” Then recount three ways your work is paying off for the company and how it’s making your boss look good. These meetings are crucial because it’s how you establish that your boss’s expectations and your work are in synch all the time. It’s how you train your boss to recognize your performance. (If your goal is to hide your performance, then stop reading. I can’t help you.)
  • Think and talk profit. If you’re itchy for a raise and can’t wait, create a reason for a review. Tell your boss, “Look, I know the CFO doesn’t measure how profitable my work is. But I’d like to try to figure it out, using any terms we can. When you assign me a project, I’d like to figure out how to do it so it either helps to increase the company’s revenues or decreases its costs. Are you game?” Then outline three ways you can make incremental improvements in the way you do your job.
  • Look back and look forward – all the time. Every worker should do this all year long. Show your boss the money! Create opportunities for casual meetings to discuss how the work you’ve been doing pays off – or how it didn’t. Be candid and be honest. “I realize that if I had done this rather than that… it would have benefitted the company more. What do you think?” Listen for input. Then take this tack: “Learning from that, do you think I should tweak the way I’m doing this new project to be more efficient?”

I won’t resign if you hire me all over again!

What’s subversive about this? You’re showing your employer why they should hire you all over again, rather than replace you at a much higher salary in today’s market. You are showing your boss why you’re worth more, and that it’s easier to “retain” you!

But you’re also demonstrating that you’re always thinking about your performance in terms of the company’s objectives — and its profits. No other employee will talk like this. You will stand out. You may reveal that you are one employee worth the bigger salaries the company is paying to snag new talent.

Make the case to get a raise

You might need to quit and move. But, rather than resign, first consider whether you can motivate a good raise. Offer your boss a short written report. You must help your boss make the case that you’re worth more than you’re being paid. It can be as simple as this:

  • Outline three key things you’ve done in the past year that positively affected the department’s success and the company’s profitability.
  • Then show three things you’re going to do in the coming year – and discuss your projected outcomes. How will these three things boost profitability and success?

If you’ve played your cards right, these are all items you and your boss have already been discussing. End the report with, “What do you think? How would you suggest I modify my plan to make it a reality?”

A good raise could cost your boss less than your resignation

By the time your boss meets with HR to talk about you, everyone will have a clear grasp of your value to the company. They should also realize what a catch you would be to another company willing to pay you what you’re really worth. And that replacing you will likely cost them a lot more anyway.

Does this seem like a lot of work? Well, it is. But so is going job hunting.

If you cannot show your value like this, or your manager can’t see it, then the next best thing could be to join the Great Resignation. (But don’t do that without reading Parting Company: How to leave your job.) However, in either case, you must be ready to demonstrate your value to this employer or to a new one.

If your company eliminated performance reviews altogether, and if it were up to you to demonstrate your worth each year, how would you do it? If you think you can command a good raise elsewhere, how could you pull it off where you work now — rather than give your resignation?

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Edition #900: The single best interview question (and answer)

On June 6, 2022
Edition #900: The single best interview question (and answer)

Ask The Headhunter online began publication a long time ago. The newsletter launched soon after. This Q&A column marks the 900th edition of the newsletter — that’s 900 weeks of free advice inspired by the best questions asked by the Ask The Headhunter community. To mark the occasion, I’m reprinting a column from 2003 about the best interview question ever. It has withstood the test of time, and it could not be more relevant or applicable today. I hope you find it as helpful as many others have.

Question

What is the single best interview question ever — and the best answer?

Nick’s Reply

best interview questionThere used to be a book titled something like 2,800 Interview Questions & Answers. Even today, you can find books that will automate your job interviews with canned repartee. These books feature 701 interview questions (and “best answers), or 201, or 189, 101 — or, How many interview questions you got???

All the interview questions

I’ve always had a fantasy about these books. You walk into the interviewer’s office. You smile broadly and shake hands:

“Glad to meet you! Let’s get down to business and have an interview!”

Then you slide one of those babies across the desk.

“Here are all the questions you’re going to ask me… and the answers! Now you know what they are, and I know what they are, and we don’t need to waste our time. So we can do something useful, and talk about the work you need to have done!”

Instead of teaching job candidates and hiring managers to talk shop —  that is, about the job — career experts outdo themselves regurgitating job-interview scripts.

The silly answers they offer are rehashed and marinated in expired creative juices, and about as satisfying as a bolus coughed up by the last person who interviewed with the manager.

One Interview Question

Then there’s the “one, the only, the best interview question” designed to be so clever that you must think it’s also smart. The trouble is, these click-bait offerings have nothing to do with the job you’re interviewing for!

Lately, these include (on LinkedIn) Lou Adler’s “What single project or task would you consider the most significant accomplishment in your career so far? and (on Inc.com) economist Tyler Cowen’s “What are the open tabs in your browser right now?” (We won’t even get into the perennial “What’s your greatest weakness?” or ” How many golf balls would fit in the Empire State Building?”)

In 2003, the editors of Fast Company magazine put together a cover story titled, “All The Right Moves: A guide for the perplexed exec.” It was a collection of 21 Q&As for managers covering everything from how to be a star at work, how to be an effective leader and how to dress for success.

Editor Bill Breen asked me to write a “memo” to managers about Question #16: What is the single best interview question ever — and the best answer?

The best interview question

Here’s the memo I sent to Breen as it appeared in the July 2003 edition of Fast Company. Almost 20 years later, I’ll still put this question up against any list of interview questions (whether it includes 50, 200, or 2,800), or against any other “best, most important question” anyone has ever come up with. I think proof of its power is that job candidates can — and should — raise the question themselves and answer it to prove they’re worth hiring.

Memo From: Nick Corcodilos
To: Hiring managers everywhere
Re: Reinventing the job interview

The purpose of any interview is simple: to determine whether the candidate can do the job profitably. A smart interview is not an interrogation. It’s not a series of canned questions or a set of scripted tests that have been ginned up by HR. An interview should be a roll-up-your-sleeves, hands-on meeting between you and the candidate, where all of the focus is on the job.

Think of the interview as the candidate’s first day at work, with the only question that matters being this:

“What’s your business plan for doing this job?”

To successfully answer that, the candidate must first demonstrate an understanding of the company’s problems, challenges, and goals — not an easy thing to do. But since you desperately want to make a great hire and get back to work, why don’t you help the best candidate succeed? Two weeks before the interview, call up the candidate and say the following:

“We want you to show us how you’re going to do this job. That’s going to take a lot of homework. I suggest that you read through these 10 pages on our Web site, review these publications from our marketing and investor-relations departments, and speak with these three people on my team. When you’re done, you should have something useful to tell us.”

This will eliminate 9 out of 10 candidates. Only those who really want the job will put in the effort to research the job.

At the interview, you should expect (or hope) to hear the most compelling question that any candidate can ask:

“Would you like me to show how your company will profit from hiring me?”

The candidate should be prepared to do the job in the interview. That means walking up to the whiteboard and outlining the steps that he or she would take to solve your company’s problems. The numbers don’t have to be right, but the candidate should be able to defend them intelligently. If the candidate demonstrates an understanding of your culture and competitors — and lays out a plan of attack for solving your problems and adding something to your bottom line — you have some awfully compelling reasons to make the hire.

But if you trust only a candidate’s past accomplishments, references, credentials, or test results, you still won’t know whether the candidate can do the job.

Recruiting is still — and always has been — about finding the best candidates. But the best candidate isn’t just the one who can answer that question. The best candidate is the person who brings it up and volunteers to answer it — and is ready to show you how they will do the job profitably.

Do the job in the interview

If you cannot do the job to win the job, then it doesn’t matter what tabs are open on your browser, what animal you’d be if you could be any animal, what your greatest accomplishment was, or where you see yourself in five years. There is certainly more to do in a job interview, and we can have a lot of fun with clever questions and rejoinders. But, if you cannot demonstrate, right there in the meeting, your business plan for how you will do the work, then you will not stand out — and you have no business in that job interview.

How Can I Change Careers? picks up where that Fast Company column leaves off. And it’s not just for career changers. It’s for anyone who wants to stand out in the job interview. The book explains why this “single best interview question ever” for hiring managers is also the single best question for candidates to bring up in the interview — and how to do it. (Fast Company says it’s “chock full of tips for the thorniest of job-hunting problems.”)

You be the judge of what counts in your job interviews: Does anything matter more than showing you can do the job? What are the best and worst questions you’ve asked or been asked?

Thanks to all in the Ask The Headhunter community for assembling here every week, and especially to those who have contributed questions and comments over the years! This website and the newsletter are successful because of the quality of discourse you bring every week! How long have you been a subscriber? If you don’t get the free weekly newsletter, please sign up for edition #901 and share this link with friends!

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