Monthly archive for March 2025

Question

I have not been back to your forum in about a year or more, since you advised me to move on after I lost my job as a manager with a utility company after over 17 years. At that time I was very unhappy, depressed, and told you I wanted to go back. (They had offered me a job in the same company doing things I did ten years before.) You said, “Move on. Take your skills and give them to people who care.”

Well, I went to work for a general contracting company as a project manager. At that time I could not see past my own self-pity and thought I had made the worst move of my life. I must say it was the best move I ever made.

When I started, I knew nothing. But if you believe in yourself you can accomplish great things. Now I run multi-million dollar projects and I am a player within the group, providing advice and input. What I am saying is that this small company appreciates my efforts more than any large corporation would. I make more money then I ever did (40% more) and enjoy the true meaning of the free enterprise system (what it takes to make a dollar and hold onto it).

One final thing I would like to say to people is, believe in yourself. There are great small companies out there that will appreciate you more than a corporation. Don’t be afraid. Risks take people to new levels of who they are and what they can do and learn. Complacency breeds death in a person.

(People in my old company are still dying — it’s the golden handcuffs that keep them there). No matter who you work for, set realistic goals for what you want to accomplish. Evaluate the time you’ve spent and money you’ve earned. And if your employer can’t see your drive or contributions, then someone else will.

Thanks again, Nick! Life is great again, as it should be, for it’s too short.

Nick’s Reply

You just made my day. I love success stories, and yours is a special one. It’s the kind that teaches others they can change their lives, even when they’ve reached the end of their rope. I hope others take heart from your experience, and that they pause to remember that change requires risk.

Change is difficult, and the first step seems impossibly high, especially when you’ve got 17 years of history with a company tied around your ankles. It’s hard to move. I congratulate you, and I am very happy for you. You’re welcome. If anything I said helped you make the change you needed to, I’m glad.

Your story comprises both the Q and the A in this column. All I’d like to add is a little more perspective, in the form of two sage quotations that help keep me sane. I keep them taped to my computer display. One is from Marcus Aurelius: “The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.”

The other is from Henri Amiel: “To be always ready, a man must be able to cut a knot, for everything cannot be untied.”

See the truth, and act. We all learn it from someone. If I can ask you for a favor in return, it’s this: When you next encounter someone who is down and out and needs encouragement and support, do what you can to help. Because the help only goes around when people make it go around.

I wish you all the best and I thank you for sharing your story.

NOTE: I frequently receive questions from people who’ve been fired and who have trouble moving on. Sometimes what’s better than my advice is a real-life story from someone that experienced it. This column is reprinted from Parting Company: How to leave your job (pp. 36-37).

How have you coped with getting fired? Did your career recover, or did you thrive as a result of the change forced on you? What advice (or cautions) can you offer others who’ve been fired? (Or has your problem been the opposite: shackled to your job with “golden handcuffs?”)

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Question

In my LinkedIn profile, I have listed that I manage Windows servers, file servers, mail servers, database servers, and web servers, specializing in Microsoft Server software and technology.

So why would LinkedIn send me the profile of a server at a local restaurant when we’re looking for people with IT skills and experience? Is this just bad keyword matching? Like you have said, they really are not that useful in a job search.

The person’s profile is very clear: “Experienced server with a demonstrated history of working in the restaurant industry. Skilled in pleasing customers through great customer service, a positive attitude, proven multi-tasking abilities, and a never-quit-until-it’s-done perspective.”

Experience includes: “Talking with the guests; bringing around food, beverage and sauce samples; running the TV tower and changing channels so the guests can watch the games they like near them, celebrating birthdays, and other fun things.”

It seems LinkedIn’s A.I.-based algorithms “saw” and matched on nothing but the keyword “server!” How do they get away with this?

Nick’s Reply

If LinkedIn can’t distinguish a restaurant server from a computer network server, WTF is LinkedIn selling to corporate HR departments?

Stories about job boards and A.I. failing to deliver are so abundant that users have become numb to the marketing campaigns telling them that No, no, the technology really, really is intelligent! — even if it’s apparently doing nothing but trivial database character-string matching.

Why do you think they call it artificial intelligence? (For a stunning expose of A.I. in recruiting, read about Hilke Schellmann’s excellent book, Algorithm, here.)

Is it all just LinkedIn marketing?

We frequently discuss the backdrop of phony claims about recruiting technology, but the marketing is evolving and becoming more complex than what it’s advertising! So I’ve lost interest in what the technology is. What I’m interested in is the state-of-the-art marketing of LinkedIn recruiting snake oil!

So before we get into this, my goal with this column is to ask you, dear Readers:

3 LINKEDIN QUESTIONS

• How often do you get bad matches from LinkedIn?
• What wild new promises have you encountered about how LinkedIn A.I. technology is going to match people to jobs?
• And, what are the latest and most shocking experiences you’ve had with this paragon of A.I. — LinkedIn?

Is it all really just marketing?

Wait, wait! How stupid is this?

LinkedIn has been at the networking business since 2003. It claims to use A.I. to “connect” people and to match people and jobs. It claims to use “semantic processing algorithms” and “context” to “understand” your professional background, industry, skills, and network to suggest relevant job openings, connections, and content.

Gee, they’ve been at it 20 years and LinkedIn’s technology still cannot tell the difference between a waitperson that serves diners and an IT person that manages servers — even when LinkedIn turns on the “understanding” feature of its A.I. How stupid is this?

New LinkedIn A.I. or old, old database technology?

Please stop and think about it. Your example is a very, very simple case of a humiliating matching error. No A.I. is required for such errors. If it were, it would “understand” that, in context, you and the waiter are no match at all. (That’s why I printed all the “context” details of the person you received as a match. The context is clear!) To me, this error reveals LinkedIn is merely matching character strings — old, old database technology.

Please take no offense, but the mistake LinkedIn made with you is nothing compared to the shocking numbers and kinds of mistakes LinkedIn makes while collecting billions of dollars from HR departments every day.

That’s why recruiters that stare at LinkedIn all day contact you about so many jobs that are so laughably wrong for you.

This is after LinkedIn has been working at it for 20 years.

The price of artificial recruiting

The cost of a standard LinkedIn Recruiter “seat” for a single recruiter that hopes to find the right candidates is approximately $12,960 per year. A typical larger organization with extensive hiring demands could have dozens or even hundreds of recruiters. Do the math. A big company with 200 recruiters sends LinkedIn over $2.5 million every year to find waiters and waitresses to work in their computer server rooms.

LinkedIn’s estimated revenue last year from Premium subscriptions including recruiter seats was $6.44 billion. Is that the price to find servers or servers?

Vulse reports that “The [LinkedIn Premium] platform’s search now includes semantic matching, meaning it understands the context and intent behind queries, not just the keywords. Semantic search is an advanced search technology that enables search engines to understand the meaning behind words and phrases. Instead of simply matching keywords, semantic search returns content that aligns with the overall intent of the query, leading to more accurate and relevant results.” [All emphases added.]

What would your servers like (to swallow) for lunch?

You asked a question that haunts hiring managers and job seekers every time they dream about matching jobs and applicants: Why all the errors? Why the simplest, most obvious, most embarrassing errors?

How much can everybody swallow? Is somebody lying big-time about whether LinkedIn really, really works? Why did it match you with a server?

So what’s the point? If all of LinkedIn’s “A.I. technology,” “semantic processing,” “understanding context” and “understanding meaning” can’t tell the difference between a restaurant server and a computer server — what’s everybody paying for?

Somebody could make out like a bandit.

Please read the 3 QUESTIONS I posed above. I’d really like an update on your experiences with LinkedIn, especially its new, improved A.I.! I’m sure everyone would be interested! How often do you get bad matches from LinkedIn? Thanks!

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Question

Your advice is very, very upper management biased. Presenting a “business plan” in a job interview just isn’t possible in most non-management jobs! I’m trying to picture a waiter doing an executive interview. Not everyone can be the boss. Will you acknowledge this?

Nick’s Reply

How is a waiter like a CEO? That’s really what you’re asking.

The answer was obvious 100 years ago, and probably 200 years ago: both jobs affect a company’s profits. Why is it so hard to grasp? Why is that simple idea so lost in American business today?

A waiter’s executive interview

Every job used to be assessed on how well it paid off — that is, on the success of its “business plan.” Today that’s obvious for a CEO’s job. But, when it comes to lower-level jobs, suggests Wharton labor expert Peter Cappelli in Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs, “the internal accounting systems that give companies guidance on what to do are, on one hand, pretty sophisticated when it comes to cost. On the other hand, they are really unsophisticated when it comes to benefits.”

So HR and the waiter’s boss “can tell you to the penny what it costs to fill a job and what the labor costs are.” But modern corporate accounting systems don’t reveal the “benefits” or value produced by a specific job — unless it’s a management or executive job.

However, waiters that grasp and can communicate the benefits of their work to their employer stand apart whether the modern employer measures those benefits or not. Those waiters are more worth hiring. The waiter that shows up with a business plan has an executive interview.

The executive interview is about profit

Long before corporations became so complex, and jobs so narrowly defined, virtually all employees grasped that their performance — even at blue-collar jobs — directly affected their employer’s bottom line. But today, you can hardly find a manager — even a CEO — that can tell you how a specific job (or employee) contributes to a company’s success. This is because jobs are now fully characterized by how much they cost a company, not by how much they profit the company.

Rather than address your hypothetical waiter example, I’ll tell you about a real example to illustrate my larger point that every worker “can be the boss” who must be able to explain how they profit their employer by doing the equivalent of an executive interview.

The lab technician’s executive interview

There used to be a radio talk-show host in Philadelphia named Irv Homer. Irv was an institution in Philly. He was crotchety, insanely smart, blunt and focused on educating his listeners. I was his radio guest many times. As you might guess, we did live Q&A during his broadcasts. We took unscripted questions from listeners about how to land a job.

One caller wanted to share his success story about getting a job. He was a blood lab technician and he’d recently been rejected for a job. But, using advice he’d heard me give on an earlier Irv Homer program, he called the manager who had rejected him to ask for a second chance and he knew how to say it.

How to Say It

“I know I blew it when you recently interviewed me for a job in your lab. Since then I’ve thought about your operation. If you’ll give me 15 more minutes of your time, I’ll show you how I think I can speed up processing time of blood samples by about 10% with no loss of accuracy. If you’re not satisfied, I’ll leave and never bother you again.”

The manager took him up on it. The guy showed up, went into the lab with the manager (no interview this time), looked it over, and showed how, by shifting the work space around, he could speed up the work process and boost efficiency significantly. He got the job.

I have no idea how much faster the lab was able to process samples. The technician basically created a business plan for the job, and then executed it in his second meeting with the boss.

I believe this works for any job. If a person can’t do what this technician realized he had to do, then they have no business asking for the job. Any job.

This works in an executive interview, too

Not long after I met the blood lab technician on Irv Homer’s show, I did a workshop in another part of Philadelphia — for the Wharton School of Management’s Executive MBA students. I taught them substantially what we’re discussing here. Afterwards, one of the executives reached out about how he used the “business plan” approach in a job interview:

“Your two biggest lessons (at least for me) at work in the flesh: (1) Never divulge my current salary, and (2) Talk about what I will do, not what I’ve done. The hiring manager more or less offered me the position on the spot and indicated a salary range that is roughly 40-50% more than I make now.”

Every job is a business in itself and deserves to be treated as one. Every job needs a plan for success and profitability at its own level — not just executive jobs. Every employee is the manager of their own job, and their #1 priority is to do the job profitably.

Why do we seem to have lost track of this fundamental idea?

See also Employment In America: WTF is going on?

Do you agree with the O.P.? Or are the jobs of CEOs, waiters, technicians and managers all really businesses unto themselves that require planning and profitable execution? What’s the difference between interviewing for a job and showing how you will run the job as a business? Do you believe you just don’t get paid enough to worry about your job’s profitability? Is it even possible to calculate the profitability of a single job?

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Question

I am now working at a company that is loosely affiliated with a large university that happens to have a prominent think tank. I have the right education for a job there. My plan is to leverage my boss’s university connections to get me an internship (or job) at the think tank. How do I go about asking for a personal referral or recommendation?

Nick’s Reply

It sounds like you’re fortunate enough to have a boss who is willing to help you with your next job. Good for you for using a contact to get introduced. While your competition will just be submitting applications, you will be the person who “got hired because they had an inside track.”

I like your approach — go for it. But remember that career change is challenging. Just because a person has the right education and qualifications doesn’t mean they are useful to the employer. You must be able to explain and prove it.

However, I would not ask your boss for a personal referral just yet, because many people are hesitant about giving out names of personal contacts. After all, giving you a thumbs-up to a colleague means putting their reputation on the line.

How to request a personal referral

First, set the stage by demonstrating that it’s about more than just “getting a name.” I’d start by asking your boss for “advice and insight” about the think tank. People often hesitate to make an introduction, but they love to share their thoughts, so start there.

How to Say It

For example, ask your boss about the organization before asking for a favor.

• “Where do the big thinkers at the think tank come from?”
• “Do employees at the think tank all have the same kind of background, or does the think tank hire more broadly?”
• “What skills and education does the think tank look for?”

Then be silent and let your boss talk. Let the discussion evolve and center on how the think tank operates, what skills its people have, and so on. Gradually, your boss will get the idea and the topic will shift to a referral.

The key is motivation

My guess is your boss will interpret your interest and your good questions as evidence of your motivation. When someone looks to me for a professional introduction, I know they’re looking for a job. But what I’m looking for is their enthusiasm and motivation; their level of true interest in the work and in the person or company I’m going to refer them to. If all they want is a job, they’re not going to impress my contact. I want them to impress — that will make me look good. So, take the time to demonstrate real professional curiosity.

If your boss does you the courtesy of introducing you to someone at the think tank, once again, don’t be pushy. Don’t jump in and ask your new think tank contact for information about jobs.

How to Say It

Start by talking shop with the person to establish a professional rapport.

• “What kinds of projects are you working on?”
• “What are you reading nowadays that influences your work?”
• “Which organizations do you think are pushing the state of the art?”

How to Say It

Express your interest on specific, relevant topics, and ask for recommendations about how to educate yourself further. Then follow up with:

• “If I were interested in working for the think tank, what would you suggest I do to prepare myself to be a good candidate?”

(Of course, you should phrase the suggested questions so you’re comfortable with them. Come up with more of your own!)

Step into a professional relationship to get a personal referral

This creates the opportunity to talk to the person again later, after you’ve followed the advice offered and after studying the recommended materials. Cultivate dialogue step by step. By building a professional contact inside the think tank, you will stand a better chance of getting referred for a job. Remember that it’s best to cultivate a relationship first, and to ask for favors later.

Finally, don’t rely only on your boss for those introductions. Check this brief article for tips on making new contacts of your own: Meet The Right People.

How do you ask for a personal referral? How can a colleague or employee successfully request a referral from you? My suggestions are just a start. What would you recommend to this reader?

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Question

I have a client who has a stained record, both in regard to work experience and some run-ins with the law. She keeps getting fired when employers eventually find out. What do you suggest?

Nick’s Reply

It seems you are a career counselor or a lawyer or a recruiter. Some might think your question is a joke, but I’ve encountered a number of people who can’t get or keep jobs due to serious problems in their history.

What you must ascertain is whether your client is truly ready to straighten out her life. When a person is serious about cleaning up their act, they can help themselves by taking a few common sense steps. If they expect they can keep playing games with their reputations, then neither you nor I can help them.

You don’t say what, exactly, this stained record is, so I’m going to assume it doesn’t involve violent behavior or anything that could put an employer or other employees at bodily risk. (Of course, there may be other risks.) But you will have to judge whether this person is redeemable and safe to work around.

I’ll offer some tough-love advice I’ve given to ex-convicts, alcoholics and addicts, people who’ve been fired for cause, and worse. It’s painful, and it’s not easy, but it can work if a person is diligent and sincere. Here’s what I’d tell her.

1. Fess up.

If you have a stained record, you must disclose to the employer your past problems, though you need not do it until you have a job offer. But under no circumstances should you accept a job without coming clean. Failure to disclose is what gets you fired, and every time you’re fired you go deeper into the abyss. The law may not require disclosure, but you asked my advice — this is what I would do to demonstrate I have integrity.

2. Get recommended.

Face it: An employer is right to be worried your problem will become their problem. It takes a powerful personal recommendation to help an employer get over that fear. This means you must cultivate good recommendations — people who will put their names on the line to endorse you.

I said this wasn’t easy. But you must find one or two people whose word the employer will trust. Then have them call the employer to recommend you — don’t wait for the employer to make that call. If you don’t have such references, take a low-level job and perform well, until you’ve made your boss and your co-workers believers who will speak up for you. Then, don’t make your references regret sticking their necks out to help you overcome your stained record.

3. Ask for guidance.

When you disclose your problem to the employer, you must also ask them to tell you what you must do to help them trust you. As long as it’s not illegal, unethical, or injurious to you or others, do it. Your mistakes are costing you. Pay the price and move on. Taking such guidance from the employer makes you partners. Be ready to be judged. Don’t let the employer down.

4. Make a commitment.

Once it’s clear what the job is and what the employer expects of you, look them in the eye and say, “I will make a commitment to you to do X, Y, Z [whatever the job and the employer require], and I will not fail you. If you’re not happy with me or my performance at any time, I will leave without you needing to fire me. But that will not happen. I will make sure you are happy with me and my work. That’s my promise.” Again, the law may not require such a commitment, but it’s what I’d do.

Since your client will also have to explain why she got fired, I suggest she read this article: How much should I say about getting fired? The comments from my readers are even better than the article.

Break with your stained record

There’s nothing magic, fun, or easy about cleaning up a stained record. Your client must take her lumps, be honest, cooperate with an employer, and then deliver on her promises. I wish her the best. My compliments to you for trying to help her.

Some may take issue with the “take your lumps” suggestions I offer. Some might view this as too risky for the employer, or unfair to the job seeker. I believe it’s worth considering helping anyone willing to try to fix their lives, but no one should do anything they think they shouldn’t, even if I suggest it. Use your best judgment.

Have you ever had to recover from a bad reputation, whether you earned it or not? What did it take? Ever take a chance on a person with a troubled past? What did they say or do that convinced you? How did it turn out? What further advice would you offer in this case?

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