Sometimes it is interesting to hear the experiences of others who are moving through the job search process, through their own words. I came across this story by an agency recruiter that was laid off. Here is a guy who helps other companies find their talent every day, and now he is on the side trying to convince companies that he is the right talent for them.
Check out his story A Story From The Job-Search Trenches. He covers all the elements of his job search process. His words speak for themselves.
Showing posts with label recruting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recruting. Show all posts
Friday, August 7, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
The Golden Bullet in the Job Search
I previously wrote about silver bullets in the job search process (see May 31, 2009 “Job Search Silver Bullets”). These are networking connections that become advocates for you and lead you to connections and jobs that you might not otherwise have had accessed without them.
Recently I had a networking lunch meeting with my former HR colleague and I observed that she was truly disengaged with her current company. She has a long history with her company of steady growth in responsibilities over the years. However, the company was recently acquired by a bigger company headquartered in a different city and the new company has a different set of values and decision making authority for employees. She no longer felt empowered to make decisions. As we talked she finally revealed that she was thinking about initiating a job search. She hadn’t yet pulled together her resume and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do next in her career. She indicated that she might look at changing industries or even moving to a different type of role in human resources. Then she said something even more significant. She thought about immediately reaching out to her former CEO to get a reference and network with him.
As we discussed things regarding this CEO connection I thought about the silver bullet concept. This was a huge and powerful connection for her. He was someone that in just one phone call could swing wide open doors for her that she normally wouldn’t have been able to crack open. That is when I shared with her that the CEO was not a silver bullet but really a golden bullet. On a few occasions we may meet a person that may be an even more significant and powerful connection than any other one.
I suggested to my friend that she take some time thinking and preparing herself first before she ever approaches the CEO. Knowing this CEO, I would fully expect him to pepper her with questions and she would want to be ready. Being unprepared could diminish the impression she was trying to make and lose some of the potential impact of the opportunities that might come from the meeting. He would be such a tremendous asset for her as a reference and advocate that she would want to do everything to make sure she was prepared. I asked her to think about the differences between the successful meetings and unsuccessful meetings she had with him when they worked together. She quickly indicated that the successful ones were where she had done her homework.
After we parted from lunch I received an email from her that evening indicating that she thought about our conversation and she was going to begin preparing for a job search. She also indicated that she wouldn’t reach out to the CEO until she answered the questions to herself that she would expect the CEO and others would ask.
While a lot of us may not have a golden bullet like my friend has, we are likely to encounter people that will provide us tremendous value and even advocacy in our job search. You may not even recognize it in that first meeting. You want to prepare yourself for each of the connections. Do the homework.
Recently I had a networking lunch meeting with my former HR colleague and I observed that she was truly disengaged with her current company. She has a long history with her company of steady growth in responsibilities over the years. However, the company was recently acquired by a bigger company headquartered in a different city and the new company has a different set of values and decision making authority for employees. She no longer felt empowered to make decisions. As we talked she finally revealed that she was thinking about initiating a job search. She hadn’t yet pulled together her resume and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do next in her career. She indicated that she might look at changing industries or even moving to a different type of role in human resources. Then she said something even more significant. She thought about immediately reaching out to her former CEO to get a reference and network with him.
As we discussed things regarding this CEO connection I thought about the silver bullet concept. This was a huge and powerful connection for her. He was someone that in just one phone call could swing wide open doors for her that she normally wouldn’t have been able to crack open. That is when I shared with her that the CEO was not a silver bullet but really a golden bullet. On a few occasions we may meet a person that may be an even more significant and powerful connection than any other one.
I suggested to my friend that she take some time thinking and preparing herself first before she ever approaches the CEO. Knowing this CEO, I would fully expect him to pepper her with questions and she would want to be ready. Being unprepared could diminish the impression she was trying to make and lose some of the potential impact of the opportunities that might come from the meeting. He would be such a tremendous asset for her as a reference and advocate that she would want to do everything to make sure she was prepared. I asked her to think about the differences between the successful meetings and unsuccessful meetings she had with him when they worked together. She quickly indicated that the successful ones were where she had done her homework.
After we parted from lunch I received an email from her that evening indicating that she thought about our conversation and she was going to begin preparing for a job search. She also indicated that she wouldn’t reach out to the CEO until she answered the questions to herself that she would expect the CEO and others would ask.
While a lot of us may not have a golden bullet like my friend has, we are likely to encounter people that will provide us tremendous value and even advocacy in our job search. You may not even recognize it in that first meeting. You want to prepare yourself for each of the connections. Do the homework.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
A Good Chuckle in the Dog Days of Summer
We are coming into those dog days of summer and every now and then we need a good laugh to lighten things up during these long hot days. This article from CNN.com/CareerBuilder.com titled: 43 Weird Things Said In Job Interviews came across my computer at the right time and made me chuckle.
The article reminded me about my own experiences as an HR professional. In my 20+ years in human resources and thousands of interviews that I have conducted over that span, I have heard some pretty bizarre responses to some very ordinary questions. Just when I thought I had heard everything over the countless number of interviews, a new interviewee will throw a response out that will make me think, did I just hear him correctly? Did he really say that out loud in this interview? I look back on them now and get a little chuckle thinking about the off-the-wall answers I have heard.
As an interviewee, I am sure I have made my fair share of dumb remarks along the way but fortunately I don’t recognize any of my responses in the answers shared in this CNN article.
Pour yourself a tall glass of lemonade and enjoy the CNN/CareerBuilder article. It will be a good little break during these long dog days of summer.
The article reminded me about my own experiences as an HR professional. In my 20+ years in human resources and thousands of interviews that I have conducted over that span, I have heard some pretty bizarre responses to some very ordinary questions. Just when I thought I had heard everything over the countless number of interviews, a new interviewee will throw a response out that will make me think, did I just hear him correctly? Did he really say that out loud in this interview? I look back on them now and get a little chuckle thinking about the off-the-wall answers I have heard.
As an interviewee, I am sure I have made my fair share of dumb remarks along the way but fortunately I don’t recognize any of my responses in the answers shared in this CNN article.
Pour yourself a tall glass of lemonade and enjoy the CNN/CareerBuilder article. It will be a good little break during these long dog days of summer.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The Human Factor in the Recruiting Process
I have had frequent discussions with job seekers who are frustrated with the impersonal feeling they are experiencing in the early stages of recruiting process. They apply online, may get an automated thank you and then never hear anything again. The proverbial black hole. As an HR insider, I have tried to share with job seekers that companies get buried with resumes when they post jobs online. A few months back I posted a part-time reception job for my company on Craig’s List and received 200 resumes in the first four hours. If I had spent just one minute to open and review each of those 200 resumes I would have spent over 3 1/3 hours. Forget about the total number of resumes I received in the first 24 hours!
Believe it or not, a majority of companies don’t have applicant tracking system (ATS) database software to handle this workload. Most companies have the resumes dropping into an email folder. It is the worst nightmare for the candidate and the company’s recruiting/HR professional. But those are the cold hard facts. As both an HR professional and a job candidate I came to terms with this fact several years ago. I am not going to get any personal or human touch when applying online. Get over it. I don’t expect and neither should you. Besides, as a candidate, you should be looking to get that human connection through the backdoor with your networking efforts into the company.
If you can get past the impersonal first stage of the process, you can gain tremendous insight into the company based on how you are handled as a candidate through the rest of their recruiting selection process. These later stages of the hiring process are where the personal and human factor should be obvious and very apparent. Is the process rigid and impersonal? Is it friendly but disorganized? Do you get to meet with your potential co-workers? How transparent do they seem? These signs can be early indicators on how they may treat their employees and how you may be treated if you are hired.
A friend of mine who is an expert in employee engagement and candidate assessment recently co-wrote an article about companies disengaging the employee even before they become an employee. The article is oriented towards companies, but it is also very applicable to job seekers as well.
http://www.recruitingtrends.com/online/thoughtleadership/1349-1.html .
As a candidate I have been through some hiring processes that have left me scratching my head. Others have completely turned me off as a candidate and I chose to excuse myself from the process. I recently completed a hiring process for a VP of HR with a company that had me take a personality assessment. I asked the recruiter how my assessment profile compared with the leadership’s team. The recruiter didn’t even know because team hadn’t taken it. Not only was it useless, but the assessment is not even validated for the hiring process. This means they should never have been using it as part of their hiring process. It definitely gave me some pause about that company.
The human factor should and needs to be there in the recruiting process. Just don’t expect it at the online stage. Like I said at the start, you should be networking into the company through the backdoor to get that human connection. Basically, take control and stop playing the victim card.
Believe it or not, a majority of companies don’t have applicant tracking system (ATS) database software to handle this workload. Most companies have the resumes dropping into an email folder. It is the worst nightmare for the candidate and the company’s recruiting/HR professional. But those are the cold hard facts. As both an HR professional and a job candidate I came to terms with this fact several years ago. I am not going to get any personal or human touch when applying online. Get over it. I don’t expect and neither should you. Besides, as a candidate, you should be looking to get that human connection through the backdoor with your networking efforts into the company.
If you can get past the impersonal first stage of the process, you can gain tremendous insight into the company based on how you are handled as a candidate through the rest of their recruiting selection process. These later stages of the hiring process are where the personal and human factor should be obvious and very apparent. Is the process rigid and impersonal? Is it friendly but disorganized? Do you get to meet with your potential co-workers? How transparent do they seem? These signs can be early indicators on how they may treat their employees and how you may be treated if you are hired.
A friend of mine who is an expert in employee engagement and candidate assessment recently co-wrote an article about companies disengaging the employee even before they become an employee. The article is oriented towards companies, but it is also very applicable to job seekers as well.
http://www.recruitingtrends.com/online/thoughtleadership/1349-1.html .
As a candidate I have been through some hiring processes that have left me scratching my head. Others have completely turned me off as a candidate and I chose to excuse myself from the process. I recently completed a hiring process for a VP of HR with a company that had me take a personality assessment. I asked the recruiter how my assessment profile compared with the leadership’s team. The recruiter didn’t even know because team hadn’t taken it. Not only was it useless, but the assessment is not even validated for the hiring process. This means they should never have been using it as part of their hiring process. It definitely gave me some pause about that company.
The human factor should and needs to be there in the recruiting process. Just don’t expect it at the online stage. Like I said at the start, you should be networking into the company through the backdoor to get that human connection. Basically, take control and stop playing the victim card.
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