Yearly archive for 2025

All year long I take your questions. At the year’s end it’s good to summarize — so here’s the “Short Course” on landing a job! (For more, please read The Basics.)

The Short Course

Anyone who’s been around Ask The Headhunter for a while knows there are no secrets! The ATH strategy is spread across this website, in the free weekly e-mail newsletter, and in my PDF books. But I’ll try to summarize by sharing some of my tips, in the form of reprints straight from the books.

I’ve selected sections that should be helpful by themselves, and I hope they get you off on the right foot. If you’d like more details that are beyond the scope of this column, please check the links.

Here’s Ask The Headhunter in a nutshell:

You want secrets? Find the right job!

1. The best way to find a good job opportunity is to go hang out with people who do the work you want to do — people who are very good at it. Insiders are the first to know about good opportunities, but they only tell other insiders.

To get into an inside circle of people, you must earn your way. It takes time. You can’t fake it, and that’s good, because who wants to promote (or hire) the unknown? Here’s how the distinction works.

From How Can I Change Careers?, pp. 27-28, “A Good Network Is A Circle of Friends”:

Don’t speculate for a job
The way most people network for a job smacks of day trading in the stock market. The networker has no interest in the people or companies she’s “investing” in. She just wants a quick profit. She skims the surface of an industry or profession, trying to find easy contacts that might pay off quickly.

When you encounter an opportunistic networker, you’ll find that she listens carefully to the useful information you give her, but once you’re done helping, she’s not interested in you any more. She might drop some tidbits your way, but don’t expect her to remember you next week.

Invest in relationships
Contrast this to someone who reads about your company and calls to discuss how you applied new methods to produce new results. She’s interested in your work and stays in touch with you, perhaps sending an article about a related topic after you’ve talked. She’s investing in a potentially valuable relationship.

This initial contact might prompt you one day to call your newfound friend for advice, or to visit her company’s booth at the next trade show and introduce yourself. Maybe it never goes beyond that or maybe one day you’ll work together. The point is, after a time you become familiar to one another. You become members of one another’s circle. You’ll help one another because you’re friends, not “because it will pay off later.”

The methods in How Can I Change Careers? are not just for career changers — they are for anyone changing jobs that wants to stand out to a hiring manager as the profitable hire.

Get the interview… but there are no secrets!

2. The best way to get a job interview is to be referred by someone the manager trusts. Between 40-70% of jobs are filled that way. Yet people and employers fail to capitalize on this simple employment channel. They pretend there’s some better system — like job boards (or secrets). That’s bunk. There is nothing more powerful than a respected peer putting her good name on the line to recommend you. Deals close faster when the quality of information is high and the source of information is trusted. That’s why it takes forever to get a response when you apply “blind” to a job posting.

How can you get interviews via the insiders who have the power to recommend you? I once gave some advice to a U.S. Army veteran who had just returned home from overseas duty and wanted to start a career in the home building industry. This method works in virtually any line of work.

From Fearless Job Hunting – Book 3: Get In The Door (way ahead of your competition), pp. 15-16, “How to make great personal contacts”:

Pick the two or three best builders in your area; ones you’d really like to work for. They may not be the biggest, but they should be the ones you have a real affinity for. Find out who finances their projects. This is pretty easy — the name of the bank is often posted at the work site.

Then go visit the bank. Ask which vice president handles the relationship with your target company. Then sit down and explain that you are evaluating various companies in your town because you want to make a career investment… After you make your brief statement, let the banker talk. You will get a picture of the entire building industry in your area. Your goal, at the end of the meeting, is to make a judgment about which companies are the best. Ask the banker if he could recommend someone for you to talk with at each company. Then, ask permission to use his name when you contact them. This is how you pursue companies rather than just jobs.

So, don’t just send a resume. Figure out who the company’s customers, vendors, consultants and bankers are — and talk to them. It’s how smart business people do smart business with a company: by talking to people that the company trusts.

Stand and deliver

3. The best way to do well in an interview is to walk in and demonstrate to the manager how you will do the job profitably for him and for you. Everything else is stuff, nonsense and a bureaucratic waste of time. Don’t believe me? Ask any good manager, “Would you rather talk to 10 job applicants, or meet just one person who explains how she will boost your company’s profitability?” I have no doubt what the answer is.

The idea of showing how you’ll pay off to an employer intimidates some people. But it’s really simple, once you get out of the mindset of the job applicant and start thinking like a business person.

From Fearless Job Hunting – Book 6: The Interview: Be The Profitable Hire,
pp. 8-9, “How can I demonstrate my value?”

Estimate your impact to the bottom line If the work you do is overhead and mostly affects costs: Do you shave two minutes off each customer service call you handle? Have you figured out a way to get projects done 20% faster? Multiply this by the hourly wage or by the salary. The savings are just one part of the profit you contribute. Get the idea? I’m simplifying, but few of your competitors will offer any estimates at all. This gives you a good, honest story to tell the employer about how you will contribute to the success of the business. It gives you an edge.

If the job affects revenue, try to quantify the impact. Your estimate may not be accurate, simply because you don’t have all the relevant information at your fingertips, but you must be able to defend your calculations. Run it by someone you trust who knows the business, then present it to your boss or to your prospective boss. You can even present your estimates in the interview, and ask the employer how you might make them more accurate. This can be a very effective ice breaker.

If you can’t demonstrate how you will contribute to the bottom line, then be honest with yourself: Why should the employer hire you? Or, why should your employer keep you?

Employers don’t pay for interview skills. They pay for your work skills. The rare job candidate is ready to discuss how he or she will do the job profitably. That’s who stands out, and it’s who gets hired.

Profit from headhunters

4. The best way to get a headhunter’s help is to manage your interaction for mutual profit from the start. Hang up on the unsavory charlatans and work only with headhunters who treat you with respect from the start.

If you’re not sure how to qualify a headhunter, when the headhunter calls you, here’s how to say it:

From How to Work with Headhunters… and how to make headhunters work for you, p. 30, one of 34 How to Say It tips:

How to Say It
“If we work together, you will check my references and learn a lot about me so you can judge me. But likewise, I need to know about you, too. I’d be putting my career in your hands. Would you please share a few references? I will of course keep the names you provide confidential, just as I expect you will keep the names I give you.”

Don’t waste time with headhunters who don’t demonstrate high standards of behavior. Sharing references is test #1.

Then, instead of “pitching” yourself to the headhunter, be still and listen patiently to understand the headhunter’s objective. Proceed only if you really believe you’re a match. Then show why you’re the headhunter’s #1 candidate by outlining how you will do the job profitably for his client. Headhunters adopt candidates who make the headhunter’s job easier, and who help the headhunter fill the assignment quickly. (Coda: If you follow suggestions 1-3 carefully, you won’t need to rely on a headhunter. But if you’re lucky enough to be recruited, you need to know How to Work with Headhunters.)

That’s Ask The Headhunter in a nutshell.

Why ATH works

What is the main difference between ATH and the traditional approach? It’s pretty simple. The traditional approach is “shotgun.” You blast away at companies with your resume and wait to hear from someone you don’t know who doesn’t know you. Lotsa luck. (ATH regulars know that I never actually wish anyone luck, because I don’t believe in it. I believe in doing the hard work required to succeed.)

ATH is a carefully targeted approach. You must select the companies and jobs you want. It takes a lot of preparation to accomplish the simple task in item (3).

Please read my lips:

• There are no shortcuts.
• No one can do it for you. (Nope, not even headhunters, not even job boards, not even algorithms created by database jockeys.)
• If you aren’t prepared to do it right, then you have no business applying for the job, and the manager would be a fool to hire you.

How to be the stand-out candidate

I’ll leave you with a scenario that illustrates why the traditional methods don’t work well. You walk up to a manager. You hand her your resume — your credentials, your experience, your accomplishments, your keywords, your carefully crafted “marketing piece.” Now, what are you really saying to that manager?

“Here. Read this. Then you go figure out what the heck to do with me.”

Managers stink at figuring that out. You have to explain it to them, if you expect to stand out and to get hired. Do you really expect someone to decipher your resume and figure out what to do with you? America’s entire employment system fails you every day because it’s based on that passive mindset.

The job candidate who uses the Ask The Headhunter approach keeps the resume in his pocket and says to the manager, “Let me show you what I’m going to do to make your business more successful and more profitable.” Then he outlines his plan — without giving away too much.

That’s who you’re competing with, whether he learned this approach from me or whether it’s just his common sense. Long-time ATH subscriber Ray Stoddard puts it like this:

“The great news about your recommendations is that they work. The good news for those of us who use them is that few people are really willing to implement what you recommend, giving those of us who do an edge.”

HOLIDAY DEAL

Order any Ask The Headhunter e-books during the winter holidays and get 50% off your entire purchase. Enter discount code=HOLLY2025 at checkout. ORDER NOW! This offer is good on purchases of:

Fearless Job Hunting • Parting Company: How to leave your job • How to Work With Headhunters • Keep Your Salary Under Wraps • How Can I Change Careers

Makes a great gift for that job-hunting someone you’d like to help!

Limited time offer. ORDER NOW! Happy Holidays!

How have you used the ATH methods to land the job you want, or to hire exceptional employees? What other methods of your own have worked well for you? (Did anything you did shock, awe or surprise an employer?) Please join us in the Comments section below!

NOTE: I wish you all a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate! I’m taking a winter holiday so the next edition will be January 13, 2026! Have a Happy New Year!

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Question

I just got rejected at the end of a job interview. I don’t know what hit me harder, that the manager made a decision on the spot or that he told me! I admit it — I was flustered and couldn’t think of one thing to say except thank you, it was nice to meet you. What a dope! I never thought about this before. The manager asked me, “Is there anything else?” I mean, what could I have said?

Nick’s Reply

I have a simple rule when job hunting, no matter where in the process you are. You goal is to never walk away empty-handed. If you don’t get the job, your goal is to get at least one other name from the employer you’re talking with: a referral to another manager, another chance at a job.

It doesn’t matter whether a manager rejects you on the spot, or sometime after your interview.

Your time is worth a referral

Just because an interview does not lead to a job does not mean the interviewer does not know of a job for you. You have to judge whether the interviewer sees value in your skills even if you’re not the right hire. If you think the answer is yes, then ask for a referral. More specifically, ask one or more of the following questions:

• Does the interviewer think you might be able to help the company in some other department or division?
• Are there any other managers the manager would suggest you talk with?
• What are the company’s growth plans? Is there a future place for you?
• When would new positions likely open up? With what managers?

If this seems an awkward conversation at the end of a job interview, please get over it. Interviews don’t need to end with thank you and goodbye. You’re allowed to break the interview script and ask for the courtesy of a referral or recommendation. And you can do it even days after the interview.

HOLIDAY DEAL

Order any Ask The Headhunter e-books during the winter holidays and get 50% off your entire purchase. Enter discount code=HOLLY2025 at checkout. ORDER NOW! This offer is good on purchases of:

Fearless Job Hunting • Parting Company: How to leave your job • How to Work With Headhunters • Keep Your Salary Under Wraps • How Can I Change Careers

Makes a great gift for that job-hunting someone you’d like to help!

Limited time offer. ORDER NOW! Happy Holidays!

Same company, another department?

If there is another department you are particularly interested in, this is the time to do some of the research you’ll need. Ask about that department.

• What kinds of challenges is the department facing?
• What kinds of help does it need?
• Who manages it?
• If your interview took place in actual offices, would the interviewer be kind enough to introduce you to the manager on your way out? (If it’s not a good time for an introduction, don’t fret. You now have a reference when you call that manager later; you were referred by the interviewer you just met. The first manager might even be willing to recommend you.)

Another manager at another company?

No matter what business the interviewer is in, they likely know other people in the same or related businesses. This kind of referral often carries the greatest weight.

• Can the interviewer recommend another good company that might benefit from your skills? How about a specific manager?
• Is there someone the manager respects at another company who might be able to advise you?
• Which industry associations does the interviewer think are best? Is there a committee chairperson who might be able to provide you with good insights on the industry?

This all probably seems obvious, but few people do it. Few job seekers suggest to an interviewer that their time is worth a referral, especially if a good interview didn’t lead to a job offer.

It’s important for you to obtain names of people you can call on. It will help greatly if the manager gives you permission to use their name. Shake the interviewer’s hand, and say, “Thank you. Your comments and your advice mean a lot to me. If there’s ever anything I can do to help you or (the company), please call me.” Look the manager straight in the eye when you say this.

Walk away with a referral and possibly a new friend.

If you were to try this, how would you do it? What would you say? Can you think of any other out-of-the-box tactics to make even a rejection worth your time? How about contacting the hiring manager later on — to recommend a good possible candidate for the job you got rejected for?

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Question

Despite all the online job application tools, most employers still want my resume. (Though I’m not sure they read the applications or the resumes!) You’ve written a lot about resumes. I agree it’s a poor way to hire or look for a job and making personal contacts and getting referred is the way to go. But when a company wants something to read about you, what then? I’m fine doing a routine resume because all the sections required are defined. And I’m fine in interviews because I speak better than I write! But when I have to submit something in writing, how do I present the best “me?” How do I make it sing?

Nick’s Reply

The best “you” is not on your resume. Not by a long-shot. As you note, a resume is so overly defined that it’s virtually impossible to make “you” stand out.

I’m not a fan of resumes as a tool to get a job, or even to get an interview. The odds are just against you. By merely using a resume, you consign yourself to an ocean of competition — and the feeding frenzy is usually fatal. So I don’t understand why people even bother.

Yah, I know the response to that: Employers make us submit resumes! Without resumes, they won’t consider us!

Try something no one else is doing

Bunk. As I’ve pointed out before, employers hire people all the time without starting with a resume. Your resume should be nothing more than a document that helps “fill in the blanks” about your background — after the employer has gotten to know you. But to use it to introduce yourself? Why submit something that 10,000 other people have submitted, too?

If you are determined to “submit something in writing,” even before you’ve made substantive contact with a hiring manager (through a friend, a professional contact, an employee of the company — you know, through someone who actually influences the manager), then try something different.

In other articles, I’ve discussed giving the manager a business plan that shows how you’ll contribute to the bottom line. But there are other ways you can get the manager’s attention, too.

Don’t be one of “the same candidates”

The zillions of “resume books” and “cover letter books” are just going to teach you how to do what everyone else is doing. Your resume and letter will just be more chum on the waters. Silicon Valley venture capitalist Gilman Louie explains it this way:

“Because of the competition for talent, employers are unfortunately using those typical HR filtering systems to put resumes in the right piles and to line up the interviews. The problem with that is, whether you’re an established company or a start-up, everybody has the same algorithm…You can’t go through 2,000 candidates! HR processes 2,000 candidates! They don’t look through 2,000 candidates! And at the end of the process, what they get is the same candidate that everybody else running PeopleSoft gets! So where’s your competitive advantage if everybody turns up with the same candidates?”

Geniuses don’t need the resume algorithm

When I recommend books to help job hunters, I avoid career books because they all provide the same algorithm. I try to suggest books that will give people an edge, by applying good ideas from other domains to job hunting.

Here’s a book I’ll recommend that will set your head spinning — and throw off ideas that no resume book will give you. Accidental Genius: Using writing to generate your best ideas, insight and content by Mark Levy, shows you how to find the most powerful ideas about your work — from deep within your brain. Almost painlessly. But you have to invest some time to do it.

Mark Levy is a marketing guru. He wrote Accidental Genius to teach people how to lasso their best ideas and write them down — freely and without self-censorship.

Find your value

You’re not sure what your most valuable “accomplishments” are? The section, “Open up your words” shows you how to find the value in your experience, by writing freely about it. Finish up, and I’ll bet you’ll have the one or two sentences you need to demonstrate the value you’ve created in your work.

HOLIDAY DEAL

Order any Ask The Headhunter e-books during the winter holidays and get 50% off your entire purchase. Enter discount code=HOLLY2025 at checkout. ORDER NOW! This offer is good on purchases of:

Fearless Job Hunting • Parting Company: How to leave your job • How to Work With Headhunters • Keep Your Salary Under Wraps • How Can I Change Careers

Makes a great gift for that job-hunting someone you’d like to help!

Limited time offer. ORDER NOW! Happy Holidays!

Deliver commitments

Don’t know how to tell someone that you have ideas that will benefit their business — so that they’ll believe you? The section, “Sharing your unfinished thoughts” shows how to turn your ideas into commitments you can deliver on.

Find what motivates you

Don’t know what you really want to do for a next job? “Drop your mind on paper” turns off your internal editor and critic, and lets you “talk to yourself” honestly. And that’s where your motivation will come from, to go after the job you want.

Be a genius that sings

You can send a resume like everyone else does, or you can send your best ideas in a format that makes a manager want to meet you. It’s not a cover letter, and it’s not a resume. Levy calls it “free writing,” and I know it works — because I’ve used it in my own work. The good news: The book costs less than hiring a resume writer to do your resume. The best news: It’ll turn you into a better interviewee.

So practice free writing to reveal the “accidental genius” you really are. Give that hiring manager a version of you that sings.

How do you make your resume — and credentials — “sing”? Do employers even care? What’s the best resume-writing advice you’ve been given? Was it enough to make you stand out? How do you determine what makes you a candidate that “sings”?

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Question

How about some smart tips for the hiring managers out here? I have a Ph.D. in Physics but there doesn’t seem to be a calculation for selecting the best job candidates and, believe it or not, even though we use A.I. in our work, that doesn’t suffice, either. So what’s the secret?

Nick’s Reply

Making good hiring decisions may not be as challenging as doing Physics, but it is just as easy to make a serious hiring mistake as it is to err in a complex mathematical calculation.

Unfortunately, managers forget that hiring employees succeeds only when basic rules and techniques are followed.

Here are the basic rules of smarter hiring that I teach managers to help them pick the best candidates for any job any time.

How to define the job you want to fill

Good managers know the work that must be done and the goals and targets being aimed at. That’s why the best job descriptions are written by department managers.

Job descriptions done by human resources departments tend to be drawn up to attract large numbers of candidates rather than a few highly qualified candidates.

Rule: Let the manager for whom the new hire will be working write the job description and do the screening and hiring.

How to find the person

Many companies look in the wrong places. When you run a job posting, you are inviting anyone with an Internet connection to send in a resume. Valuable time is wasted reading through all of them even if you use A.I. to sort the pile, simply because an online job description is not a good filter. More is not better.

Rule: Act like a professional headhunter. Don’t advertise and solicit anyone that’s willing to apply. Hunt for the right person

• Examine the best companies in the business. Learn what types of people are making those businesses successful.
• Ask experts in your field about the best people they come in contact with.
• Ask your customers and vendors the same questions. After all, they not only know your company; they work with other companies in your field.
• Review trade journals to learn about star performers who are attracting industry-wide attention.

Rule: Ask appropriate colleagues to run through the same exercises to generate additional strong candidates.

How to evaluate a resume

No resume tells enough on its own to give a clear indication of whether or not you want that person working for you. Even though few job seekers still use a cover letter, it sometimes reveals more about a candidate’s true qualities than even the most impressive resume.

Use the resume only for background information to “fill in the blanks” about a person. The historical information is practically useless because what someone did for another employer in the past can’t tell much about what they can do for you in the future.

Rule: Pay more attention to what the candidate says in an e-mail or phone call about your company and how they can serve as an important asset. What you really want is not a list of past accomplishments, but evidence that the candidate has done some homework about your company and your industry. Look for evidence that the candidate understands the company’s needs and problems and has a handle on how to help.

How to conduct the perfect job interview

Give all candidates a short list of the problems and challenges that your department and your company face. Ask them to be prepared to present strategies and solutions when they come to an interview.

That turns a routine interview into an active working meeting in which candidates must demonstrate how they would work if they were hired by the company.

Rule: Start with a one-on-one session between candidate and working manager. Then, open it up into a group interview. Invite your staff and managers of related departments with whom the candidate would come into contact if hired.

Caution: The interview should not be a grilling. It should be an informative exchange of ideas. The more you can observe the candidate interact with people inside the company the less you will have to rely on psychological profiles and other largely useless tools to judge whether they will fit into your business.

(See also: The single best interview question.)

How to evaluate past experience

A candidate’s past experience is useful only to the extent that it might predict how they will perform in the job being filled.

Trap: All jobs evolve and change. The job being filled today may not be the same job in just two or three months.

What to look for: Whether the candidate can demonstrate that they can not only do the work you want done, but can also ride a fast learning curve without falling off.

Look for evidence that the person can learn quickly, that they display intense curiosity as well as a willingness and an ability to accept and adapt to change.

How to check references

Check the references the candidate provides. Avoid contacting the current employer unless you have obtained specific permission from the candidate to do so.

What to ask: When the reference is a former boss or supervisor, ask these two crucial questions.

• If you could take Joe aside today, what advice would you give him about being a more successful employee? That will indicate whether the candidate has flaws that really matter.
• If you could re-hire Sarah today, would you do it? If there is any hesitation, it could mean the candidate has drawbacks that aren’t readily apparent.

How to know if someone is fibbing

Watch for the job candidate who talks too fast, who can’t quite make eye contact, who answers even short questions with long-winded answers. All could be indications the candidate is stretching the truth… or lying.

Fabrication is common in job interviews — especially if the interview is intense and fast-paced. You must decide for yourself how much weight to place on suspected or even obvious untruthfulness.

Candidates are most apt to lie about their previous salary, claiming to have earned more than they did. (They may factor in non-salary payments such as potential bonuses, expected future raises, estimated value of stock options, for example.) But even as a prospective boss, there is not much to gain by asking about previous salary. The salary you pay should be based on the candidate’s value to you, not on what someone else thought they were worth.

The hiring issues and tips I’ve offered are far from exhaustive. What are your suggestions for how to improve the hiring process (which I think is very broken today)? What are the best questions hiring managers have asked you? If you’re a hiring manager, what hiring techniques have led to the worst hiring mistakes?

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Question

Have you ever seen a situation where a person takes an offer for a new job at another company and someone at his old company tries to block the hire? I mean, they call the new employer and spread negative or untrue things about the candidate to make the new employer cancel the new job offer. Does this really happen? Isn’t it illegal?

Nick’s Reply

Yes, it really happens. I’m not a lawyer but trying to sabotage a job offer may constitute tortious interference with your job search. It could even be a case of defamation. Depending on the circumstances, you may want to consult an attorney that specializes in employment law.

Honest but negative feedback (“she was often late”) is usually legal, even if it hurts the candidate’s chances. But sometimes a call made to a person’s new employer is malign retaliation (anger over the employee leaving), or it’s about fear of losing talent, or even industry competitiveness. While not every negative comment is illegal, false or malicious statements can cross into defamation or unlawful interference with “prospective economic advantage.”

A great new job

I once placed a Vice President of Engineering from Florida in a great job in San Jose. The offer was considerably more money but the VP’s teen-aged kids were still in school and Mom was hesitant. So the new company flew the couple in so they could look at homes — and added a very generous relocation that included buying their Florida home, paying points and closing costs on a new San Jose home, and payment of mortgage interest for the first five years. The company really wanted the candidate. The entire family agreed to move over 3,000 miles and to change their lives. The once skeptical wife became my biggest fan and the candidate was elated.

He was so elated that he ignored my stern warning not to disclose to anyone where he was going. His ego got the best of him and he bragged to his industry friends before he left Florida. “Someone” called the CEO of the new company days before the candidate moved his entire family, and left a message saying, “The guy has certain connections you should be very worried about.”

The risks and costs of bragging

The concerned CEO called me asking what it was all about. “I expect you to get to the bottom of this, or I’m going to have to withdraw the offer!”

I spent two days playing detective. The candidate worked for a company in what was then referred to as “the spook industry.” That is, these were companies that manufactured very sophisticated surveillance and intelligence gathering equipment for government agencies. (The new employer was not involved in such cloak-and-dagger electronics.) I learned there was a small, tightly knit enclave of these companies in Florida that didn’t want him to leave. The “someone” that made the call regarded my candidate as disloyal to their insular little industry.

The candidate had a very awkward talk with the CEO and the deal went through. Everything worked out, otherwise he (and I) would have been screwed.

Play it safe: don’t disclose your new job

I always warn candidates: Tell no one where you’re going until you are firmly and safely settled in your new job.

How to Say It
“My headhunter will not let me disclose where I’m going, but I value our friendship, so I’ll be in touch soon after I’m settled.”

Having the rug pulled out from under you like this is rare. Very rare. But you are nonetheless wise to worry about it. Here’s why. My rule to never, ever, ever tell anyone where you’re going to work next is based on a bigger, more general rule:

When the likelihood of a very bad event is tiny, but the potential consequences are colossal — don’t take the risk.

You posed your question as an hypothetical. I hope you didn’t lose a good new job because you casually told your old employer where you were going. Even if the chances are very small that someone is going to try to harm you, it’s not worth it. Even if nuking your new job is illegal, the costs of trying to recover the losses can be colossal, too. Be careful, folks!

For more surprising tips about how to stay out of trouble when leaving a job, see The 6 Gotchas of Goodbye.

Have you ever lost a hard-won new job because someone you bragged to scuttled it? Is my rule worth following? What else can happen that might result in the unfortunate loss of a new job opportunity?

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Question

You’re very firm about not disclosing your salary when applying or interviewing for a job. But let’s just say, for whatever reason, you’re forced to give the company something up front, like a pay stub, and you don’t want it to get contentious. And now they know you make $95,000. So you get the offer, and they offer you $105,000 because they think you’ll be thrilled with that, even though maybe the actual range is much broader than that. Once you’ve spilled the beans about your current salary, do you have any leverage when the job offer is too low?

Nick’s Reply

Let’s reel it back to the point where you felt forced to disclose your current salary and you gave it to them. At that point, to avoid contending with a job offer that’s too low, you really need to say something like this to them.

How to avoid a job offer too low

How to Say It
“Okay, I’ve told you what I make. Now in return please tell me what the salary range on the job is before we start this interview, so we make sure we’re both on the same page.”

Once they disclose or decline, you know what you have to work with and you can decide whether or not to continue the interviews. If they disclose the salary range, I caution you: Believe them. Don’t expect any offer at or above the top.

The second thing you can do is bring up your salary requirements.

How to Say It
“I’ve told you my current salary, but I also want to tell you what my desired range is. And unless we can talk seriously in that range, we really shouldn’t proceed.”

This is how to avoid getting involved in a process where the outcome will be a job offer that’s too low. Now you’re setting a groundwork for a potentially higher number, assuming they agree to your desired range.

Set ground rules for salary immediately

This is where most job seekers crumble. If there’s no agreement on the range, they’re willing to proceed anyway hoping “I can talk them higher later.” These are the same folks who, after investing a lot of time and energy, get an inadequate offer and complain the employer wasted their time.

Both these suggestions require, of course, that you establish ground rules about salary before the interviews begin. While I believe this approach is preferable, all is not lost if you’re suddenly faced with a job offer — an inadequate job offer.

You often (not always) have a different kind of leverage if an offer is tendered. They’ve now invested a lot of time and they’re facing sunk costs if you reject it. They’re not so likely to dismiss your request to negotiate.

Let’s say they’re offering you $105,000 ($10,000 more than you’re making). If you’re happy with that, good enough — accept it. Don’t attempt to negotiate just because “people say you should always ask for more.”

Ask for as much as you can justify

The real question to ask yourself is, are you happy with the number? If you are, don’t risk the offer over a few extra bucks. But if you are going to press farther, you need to take a step back and say something like this.

How to Say It
“Thanks for the offer. It looks like a good offer, but I think I’m worth $110,000, and I want to explain why… If I can’t justify what I’m asking for, then you should not hire me.”

If the employer is willing to follow you down that path, say thank you and engage them in discussion — don’t give some kind of authoritative speech! Ask for their input and comments. Make it a two-way attempt to explore what value you can add — and respect their viewpoint.

One of the biggest negotiating mistakes people make is they think that their task is to ask for more and see what the other guy says. That’s not it.

Your objective, your task, your responsibility is to be able to explain why you’re worth as much more as you’re asking, and to demonstrate how you’re going to bring additional value, success or profitability to the company that justifies your higher number. Through friendly, cooperative dialogue, this can lead to a win-win outcome.

You need to work this out in advance. Never just blurt out, “Well, I think your offer should be $5,000 higher. What do you think?”

You must be able to justify your request. But that’s another discussion. Please see The ONLY way to ask for a higher job offer.

While it’s best to establish a mutually agreeable salary range prior to the job interview, all is not lost if you find yourself facing an offer that’s less than you’re worth. You can still negotiate if you can show why you’re worth it. Just remember: Negotiating can also mean walking away.

Have you ever accepted a low job offer? Why? What could you have done to make it higher? We know employers control the purse strings. But what kinds of leverage does the job applicant have anyway?

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Question

I bombed an interview for an engineering job I know I’m qualified for. I was well-prepared but after the first few minutes it all went south. The hiring manager was asking questions he must have gotten from HR or something and they had nothing to do with the job or engineering. Then he talked about problems he is having finding qualified candidates. He’s the boss. Is there anything I could have done without seeming rude?

Nick’s Reply

You know you have a problem when an interview isn’t about the work. Instead, you and the manager are talking too much about peripheral things and very broad topics. Or, your skills are being discussed only in very general terms, instead of how they will specifically apply to the job at hand.

Poor interviewers & bombed interviews

The naïve candidate is often relieved when this happens, because the questions are easier to answer and you can more or less “fake it.” The experienced engineer realizes that an unfocused interview will lead to trouble because the manager is not getting the detailed information they need to make a hiring judgment.

In my experience, managers are typically not very good interviewers. They will stray into areas that don’t really help them evaluate a candidate’s ability to do the job. This gaffe may not be yours, but the manager’s. Still, it’s up to you to correct it if you believe you may have bombed an interview.

Turn the interview toward the work

Guide the interview in a way that reveals how you will actually do the work. Even a poor interviewer will start to “get it,” and the interview will turn into a working meeting. If you can pull that off, the manager will never forget you — you will truly stand out.

No matter what the manager and the candidate think at the time, an interview that isn’t focused on the actual work isn’t going well. Once the candidate is gone, the manager will not have enough information to make a hiring decision — and that’s to the candidate’s disadvantage. So, watch out for interviews that don’t focus on the work itself.

If you don’t like that answer, try this question

To paraphrase a famous Carl Sandburg poem, “Beware your answers: you can’t call them back.”

You can’t go back and “fix” an answer. But, if you flub an answer, you can guide the interview in a more positive direction. The point is not to distract the interviewer (though you may be tempted), but to focus them on something more important than the answer you flubbed.

Sometimes, the best answer is a new question.

How to Say It

For example:

“At some point during our interview, I’d like to show you how I’d do this job. Can you lay out a live problem you’re facing — something you’d want your new hire to handle — so I can show you how I’d tackle it?”

Now, this is a risky approach, because it requires that you really know your stuff. But, it’s also the most powerful thing you can do in an interview, especially right after you’ve bombed a question. (If you aren’t ready to tackle a live problem, what are you doing in the interview to begin with?) It gives the manager something to sink their teeth into, and it gives you a chance to do what you’re good at — engineering (as opposed to interviewing).

Have you ever bombed an interview? Was it your fault or the interviewer’s? Did it end there or did you try to fix it? How?

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Question

I have heard some recruiters are pulling back on job boards usage because of the number of candidates they are getting, AND fake candidates. They would rather post solely on their career page.

Note from Nick: This week’s question is actually a insightful, cautionary comment posted on Hannah Morgan’s LinkedIn page by Shelley Piedmont. It drew this response from David Hannan:

Job boards have their place, but they rely on hope more than anything. “I’ve applied to 500 jobs and got nothing” is heartbreaking to read on here every week.

These two comments raise a big question.

Nick’s Reply

Do you still use the job boards to look for a job, or to recruit if you’re an employer?

For goodness sake, Why?

(You’ll get a chance to answer in a moment.)

The distressing observations on Hannah’s LinkedIn post should make every CEO, HR manager, U.S. legislator, the FTC commissioner, economist, journalist, job seeker and employer (I know I missed lots of others) break into a cold sweat.

Job boards: Have they changed since 2012?

Here’s how I responded to Shelley and David:

“You prompted me to go back and look at a 2012 news segment I did with Paul Solman on NewsHour… Note the particular problems people cite with job boards and automated job applications.”

That was 13 years ago — about 4 eons in technology time. Everything “tech” in the world has changed!

Has anything changed about your experiences today with job boards like LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter and Indeed, to cite just a few?

Are the job boards better or worse now?

I’m serious. Hating the job boards is easy because there’s so much to hate — fake job listings, misuse of your personal information, an over-abundance of AI and robo-assessments and interviews, ghosting applicants…

(If you haven’t taken a few minutes to watch the NewsHour segment I referred to above, please consider doing so. It’s an astonishing reality check that reveals why your job search is circling down the drain. Click here.)

I’m known to be merciless critic of the job boards. 13 years after what I said on that NewsHour segment about applying for jobs online, the toilet that was the job boards has become a steaming cesspool. But I’m not out there looking for a job in a down job market in a very precarious economy.

You are.

So let’s have it: Is your experience with job boards better or worse? Details, please. Feel free to name names.

1. What has improved in your experience with job boards?
2. What has made the job boards worse?
3. Is there a truly productive way to use the boards?
4. Which ones are best?
5. Which are the worst?
6. Why do you believe the job boards still dominate recruiting?
7. What should be done to improve your experience of job hunting and recruiting and who should do it?

If you’re a recruiter, are you “pulling back on job board usage?”

If you’re looking for a job, have you “applied to 500 jobs and got nothing?”

Is our jobs economy now a festering cesspool of job boards?

Why?

If you still use the job boards, Why?

I believe relying on job boards in any way is like buying a lottery ticket — fun if you win, but don’t play if you need to win to pay your mortgage. I suggest identifying specific managers and communicating with them directly.

Job boards: Comparing them from 2012 to today, what’s the reality?

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A discouraged college student

I have a soft spot for college students because no matter what school they attend they get precious little career advice that’s worth a hoot. Life is scary when you’re on the edge of jumping into the job market and your first career. It’s especially worrisome right now. Hiring is down, big layoffs are up, and entry-level jobs are especially hard to get. There are no easy answers and there’s not much useful advice for new grads except to start pounding the job boards.

And if you’re a regular reader here, you know what I think about job hunting via job postings!

The successful college student

About a year ago I met a junior at the University of Pennsylvania. We were each recruited to volunteer on a project by a mutual acquaintance. After working together a few months via Zoom, our part of the project ended. But we stayed in touch and I’ve done my best to offer some mentoring as she starts her job search.

She recently completed a demanding summer-long internship with a good company. She has worked hard all through school and found the internship very challenging. Long days, weekends and constant pressure. But she got through it successfully. She’s already gone through a couple of dozen online job interviews and this has left her discouraged and shaken her confidence.

A worried college student

I’ve watched her work, and I get a kick out of how smart, curious and focused she is. She’s a dual major in two demanding academic programs.

But I’ve also noticed how concerned she’s become as graduation nears. This confident, outgoing, successful student is questioning her ability to cope with the future. I think most students are.

She didn’t ask me for advice. But I realized I know something she doesn’t, and that it could make a difference. So I volunteered a bit of simple guidance. Later, her reply made me realize it’s probably the best advice I’ve ever given a student or new grad.

Here’s what I told her

Always remember, now that you have demonstrated you can do hard work and succeed at whatever you choose to do, you should never worry about anything. Even failure now and then is okay if you learn from it.

You will almost always be able to figure anything out simply because you’ve learned something crucial about yourself: You know how to figure things out. You know how to get things done.

You figured out how to get into a good school, you performed well in your courses, you met every challenge put to you, you just did a great job on a tough internship and you will soon have a dual degree that you earned.

You know what to do to be successful at almost anything you choose to do.

And that’s the point: Being able to learn so you can do what you want. I refer to this as being able to ride a fast learning curve without falling off. I think it’s the most important skill any of us has. Trouble is, it’s one of the hardest things to convey to an employer when applying for a job!

(You don’t need to attend an Ivy League school to learn how to be successful at whatever you do.)

The Student’s Reply

Hi Nick!

Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been reading your message over and over. It really had an impact on me. What you said about never needing to worry because I’ve already demonstrated I can do hard work and succeed at whatever I choose to do: that’s something I really needed to hear!

I’m going to remind myself of that when I start doubting myself.

Thank you for always being such a thoughtful sounding board and for all the great advice!

Have you mentored a student or any young person just starting their career? What‘s your best advice to young people about landing a first job? What’s the best advice anyone gave you as you launched your career? Do you think my advice is too simplistic?

Check these related Q&A articles

It’s a tough job market. How can new college grads get in the door?

Help this college kid get a job

Your First Job: 20 pointers for new graduates

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Question

While looking for a job, I started a consulting project for a company that wanted to launch a new European operation. The company had just one person in Europe, and that’s who I reported to. It’s no exaggeration that I set up the entire business for my client. I brought in key contacts, developed the business strategy and the public relations plan, and set up the brand.

The manager took credit for everything. He even took over the relationships with the contacts I brought in. While he regularly said he hoped I’d consider a full-time position at some point, he never offered it. Now that the business is up and running, the manager has hired lower-cost staff and has delegated my projects to them.

I know this is what consulting is about, but it’s put me in a tough spot. A headhunter explained to me that I never took ownership. Although I did all this good stuff, the product won’t launch until next year, so there’s no evidence of revenue gains and I can’t demonstrate achievements to prospective employers.

Where did I go wrong? How can I use what I achieved to find a job? I got so involved in this new venture that I feel almost as if I’ve been fired.

Nick’s Reply

Welcome to the world of consulting, where you get paid and the client gets all the credit. This is normal.

Consulting doesn’t mean leaving success behind

However, it doesn’t mean your resume is bare. It’s up to you to demonstrate your success in terms that are meaningful. It seems you’re more concerned that your client took credit than about your next job. Of course he took credit — he’s in charge. A consultant is brought in to do “work for hire,” not to take ownership of the outcome. (Consultants who have worked on doomed projects will quickly note that they get blamed when things don’t go well. They are relieved of their duties, too.)

But don’t let this deter you from using your success to get your next job. Consulting doesn’t mean leaving your successes behind. First of all, understand that your client did not “take” the contacts you brought to the company. Contacts don’t get used up. You still have access to them. All those contacts are potential referrals to new jobs. You must never disparage your client, but you can easily talk with those contacts about your success in launching this business. That can yield excellent references and even personal referrals to new opportunities.

The brag book: Use your client to get your next job

A very successful consultant I know makes a factual list of his accomplishments when he’s done with an assignment. He shows these “reminders” to his satisfied client and asks if he may add the client to his “brag book” — and shows  the client a portfolio of laudatory letters from other clients. “I’d love to add you to my brag book!” Because his work is truly exceptional, no client has ever declined. They use the other brags he shows them — and the “reminder” list he provides — to quickly create an endorsement letter.

Do not discount this path to a new job. Please read How to Say It: Asking for a personal referral. And, when you land your next gig, remember to protect yourself with a sound agreement. Employment Contracts: Everyone needs promise protection will give you some surprising pointers even if it’s not possible to get a contract at your level.

What you did and how you did it

Second, as you pursue new prospects, you can easily explain that, “I did A, B, and C to successfully launch this operation.” When revenues are established, that’s a measure of your success, too. Add it to your resume. It’s up to you to honestly, candidly and effectively describe the work you did. If there are no results from your efforts, enumerate the projected results. It’s all about starting a discussion. Nothing stops you from describing your role and success with a potential new employer. Usually, what matters most is not just what you did, but how you did it.

Please consider a discussion with your client. Ask whether he needs you to stay on in any capacity. “Otherwise, I will consider my task done — and I’ve loved every minute of it!” Ask if he will provide references. Don’t be afraid to ask what he will say about you. This should be helpful: Control what your professional references will say. Bringing out your portfolio of brags (if you have one) can make this very easy.

Your client’s success is your resume

Do not put your client in a position where you depart with any bad feelings between you. You did your job, but the credit goes to him. That’s how he will move ahead with the business. If he fails without you, that’s his problem. But don’t hold a grudge — that’s not what consulting is about. It’s about helping the client succeed and making him look good. Take that angle when describing what you did. Consulting companies around the world operate this way, and they promote their ability to make their clients successful. You ensured your client’s success. If a headhunter doesn’t understand that, don’t let it deter you.

I don’t think you went wrong at all, except that your ego is a bit bruised because you seem to expect that a consulting gig should turn into a full-time job. That’s not how it usually works. Congratulate yourself. You made your client successful! Move on to the next consulting project — or your next job — with confidence!

Is this reader’s experience the norm when consulting? Can you take your success on a consulting gig with you? Or does a consulting client “steal” it? If you’ve worked as a consultant, how do you parlay your good  work into your next assignment — or into a regular job? On the other hand, did you ever get really screwed on a consulting job? What happened? What did you do?

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