Category: Job Search

Let’s talk about compensation…

Many people will tell you “the one who mentions compensation first loses.” This assumes that pay is a zero sum game. Personally, I think it is up to the company to mention pay first. It may not mean that they tell you what the position pays first but they should bring it up and it should be brought up early. I talk about compensation in the first interview.

Yes, I have paid two people differently for doing the same job. Same pay for the same work sounds nice but rarely are two people contributing the exact same to the company. What if one person is not at work for 1/4 of the year off while the other person works for an entire year? Should they be paid the same? Or how about if one person is liked by all and raises everyone’s spirits while the other person is like having Eeyore around? To me compensation is more about your overall contribution to the company and not just your “work.” Not to mention the discussions about high performing and high potential. Sometimes a person with higher potential is paid more than someone who is performing better.

In the interview process discussing compensation often times makes people uneasy. As a candidate you need to know what your bottom line is. If you have a number that is your “must have” number then make it at or near the bottom of the range you give. You don’t just give them ONE number when they ask about pay do you? If someone asks about pay and you don’t know what the company’s pay range is for the position then give them a range. Say something like “I need to be between $45k and $60k depending on benefits, vacation time, bonuses, etc….” You better believe that “benefits” play a big part of the package for most people. I am not just talking about medical and dental…

Here are some of the areas you should consider as “benefits:”

Commute

How long will your commute be? I drive 20 miles and it takes me about 30 minutes. I actually like the “me” time of the commute and I get to make some personal calls so I see some value in the time but it does cost me in real dollars. Here are two articles about how much the commute costs you from Reuters and Lifehacker. Keep in mind that today the IRS standard mileage rate is $.575 per mile. It can add up not to mention the time you are “spending” in your commute.

Time off

Take your salary divide it by 52 and that is what each week of vacation is worth to you in real dollars. If the company only offers you three weeks of vacation and you want four, ask if they can bump your base by the weekly amount and let you take a week unpaid if you need it. I encourage doing this because any future raises will be based on you salary, not your vacation. Plus, you may not need the extra time off.

Work from home

If you work from home you save a TON of money. Here is an article from About.com to help you think of the TOTAL cost of working. If you work from home you save on the commute AND your wardrobe. I am not saying that you should fold clothes while you are on a conference call but multi-tasking is an option.

Flexibility

How about when little Timmy has basketball practice at 5:30 two days a week? Will you boss allow you to leave early those days? You don’t want to ask that directly in the first interview but you can find these things out in the interview process.

Culture

Working in a bad environment costs you your happiness. How much is that worth to you? Keep in mind that YOU contribute to the environment you work in. The other day a person was being a Mr/Ms grumpy pants complaining about their job and how other people don’t work as hard as they do. I told them that I had a stack of people at my desk that they could complain to if they want because these people had no job at all. Like I say, if the problem is not with you , then you cannot fix it.

We all need to pay bills so before you start the job search take a look at your expenses and come up with what you need to make. But be sure that you know what your TRUE costs are in case you need to negotiate.

Al

If all of my problems are first world problems, I don’t have problems.
Al

Use your future memory in your job search

When I first heard the term “future memory” I as immediately attracted to it as it seems to be an oxymoron. How can you remember the future? Another term for this is “prospective memory” or “automacity.” Many people might also hear it called “muscle memory.” We are constantly training ourselves to do things in the future without taking the time to think about them. The problem is that we are rarely intentional about developing our future memory.

How do you get future memory? Practice. You must practice if you want to perform well. This is especially true of interviews. No, you cannot rehearse an entire interview but you can prepare and practice a few things:

Non-verbals: Ask people for feedback on your non verbals. Do you make effective eye contact? How is your handshake? Do you have good posture? The list goes on. Be sure to tell people why you want the feedback and that you want honest feedback. Your livelihood may depend on it.

Interview responses: Anyone who is not prepared for one of the following questions should not pass go and will not collect $200… Tell me about yourself. Why are you interested in this position and our company? What is your biggest weakness and/or strength? Why did you leave your last job?

Making small talk: This is where being a jack of all trades helps but anyone can do this. One way is to listen to or read some recent news stories from NPR or the BBC. Sorry, those are truly the most fair and balanced news agencies out there. I also highly recommend listening to a few podcasts that are on the top of the charts or just check out some TED Talks. If you do not or have not watched / listened to TED Talks then you are REALLY missing out.

So stop remembering the past and get started building your future memory.

The future depends on what we do in the present.
Mahatma Gandhi

What are you feeding your brain and your soul?

I feel that you can learn a lot about people by finding out what they listen to and read. The other night at a company dinner I overheard our CEO mention he listens to podcasts during his morning workout. I asked him what his favorite podcasts are. I have now added Spartan Up! and The Unconventionals to my list of podcasts.

What we take in affects what we do, how we view things and how we view ourselves. How others view you starts with how you view yourself. I don’t mean that people love someone who is a narcissist but if you do not believe in yourself , why should others? This is especially true in the interview process. An interviewer is not going to tell you how great you are.

Think of the media we consume as brain and soul food. Many of us are concerned with what goes in our mouths but why do we take the same care with the media we devour each day? We must become intentional with what we feed our minds. If you don’t pay attention to what you fuel your mind with it will be bound up by the garbage we have fed it. Just like if you eat junk food then need to run a race, no bueno.

Take a minute and list out all the stuff you read or listen to on a daily basis. Then next to it put a plus if it helps you, gives you productive ideas and is uplifting or positive. Put a negative sign if it gets you down or makes you doubt yourself. Make an effort to do more of the pluses and less of the negatives, you’ll thank me for it.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
Socrates

You need a kinetic job search

The word kinetic first came up in science class when talking about kinetic energy. But then it came up again in news reports about battles in Afghanistan and Iraq as a “kinetic military action” or a “kinetic battle.” It hit me… that is what people need… a kinetic job search. Most of us sit back in the job search and don’t push it forward.

What is a kinetic job search?

You need to go on the offensive. Don’t wait for a company to post a position. Lots of people have written about the benefits of networking and making friends. But to do that you need to get outside of your comfort zone. You need to start making things happen.

How do you start a kinetic job search?

Start with small goals. Make one new contact your first week, two the second, four the third week and so on. If you are not currently working treat you job search like a job. Take breaks, go out for lunch, etc… Ask others to help hold you accountable for your goals.

Even the military takes a strategic pause.

If it has been a while and you are not getting anywhere in your job search maybe it is time to pause and refocus your efforts. Ask others for assistance. Take stock in what you have done, what has worked and what didn’t. Then re-boot and launch your search again.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
Sun Tzu

So what…

What is the right response to people when they tell you about a problem they are having or may have in the future? There is an argument that “so what” may be the best response. Not the demeaning “So What?!” that we have heard throughout our lives but the caring “so what” that spurs people on to make decisions and not wallow in their situation. We need to learn to do the same thing to ourselves.

Yes, there is a season for everything but guess what… seasons change. We need to lovingly ask others and ourselves “so what” when negative self-defeating thoughts enter our minds. TED Radio Hour’s Headspace talks about this. There is another Podcast that is a shining example of how expectations shape us: How to Become Batman. It seems that blind people can’t “see” because of everyone’s expectations of them, not because their eyes don’t work. You see, when people told Daniel Kish and his mother that he was blind they said… so what.

I tell you this because you might be down in the dumps right now. You just spent 30 minutes working on your resume to submit it for a job posting and no one may ever see it. So what. You need to make things happen. You need a kinetic job search, not a passive one. I will talk about that more tomorrow.

Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.
Mark Victor Hansen

Break out of the Tick Tock of your job search

You keep doing the same think in your job search and yet you are surprised when you get the same results. This is because we are stuck in the Tick Tock of the job search. We do what we find comfortable, not what gets results. Joseph De Sena in his book and podcast Spartan Up! talks about how doing what makes us uncomfortable makes us stronger.

Spartan does this through people pushing their physical and mental limits but we can use this in our job search. I have been guilty of this in the past also. It is easiest to sit at home and look the job boards then submit your stale-old resume to jobs again and again only to get the same results.

We also do this in the interview process. I see it all the time. People do not follow instructions. They choose the easy route. I ask them to schedule a day and time to talk to me through Acuity Scheduling (awesome tool) and they choose the easy way of just emailing back saying “I am available anytime.” You need to do the things that will make you stand out the right way.

Very few people do what I see as the minimum in their job search and only the top 1% go the extra mile. Be the 1%.

You can either go to bed satisfied with your efforts today or stressed with what you left for tomorrow. You can either work hard to take on the hill or never know what it is that people see at the top.
Joe De Sena

Why you should ALWAYS follow up.

I had a great example yesterday of why you should ALWAYS follow-up. I recently started recruiting for an inside sales position. I had an employee tell me “I have a great person for that position. I will have them get in touch with you.” GREAT! But that just so happened to be on the same day I was working a half day and I had nine new people starting. The results? My inbox blew-up and the great candidate’s email got buried.

This is usually no big deal. I get out the shovel and work through the emails but when I came in early the next morning to catch up on emails I realized I had two projects due to colleagues and few fires to put out. So rather than digging in, I started piling on.

Late in the day that great candidate emailed me to confirm that I had received their resume. I immediately stopped what I was doing and set up a phone interview with them after searching my inbox for their resume. Would I have gotten to their email? Probably. Could it have been a week later, yes.

But be sure to follow-up with humility and assume that the person you are reaching out to has the best of intentions, they usually do. Think if the roles were reversed. Which email would you rather get?:

Thank you again for applying for our inside sales position.  I am following up to make sure your received my email yesterday with some more information and an invitation to set up a day and time to talk about our opportunity.

I emailed you yesterday to set up a phone interview.  Are you not interested?

Yes, I do receive terse emails similar to the second one WAY too often. No bueno for them.

Success comes from taking the initiative and following up… persisting… eloquently expressing the depth of your love. What simple action could you take today to produce a new momentum toward success in your life?
Tony Robbins

Professional communications, are times changing?

Lee Desser recently wrote a blog post: Are Happy Faces in Professional Communication So Bad? Lee brings up a good point… know your audience.

Places a 🙂 would be no bueno

Cover Letter: You want to be professional. It is much better to be a little too formal with someone than too informal. I find it better if someone says “you can call me Al” (yes, I have heard that song) vs. “I would prefer it if you would call me Mr. Pollard.” It is always easier to become more casual.

Resume: You are stating facts, not getting cute. Be sure you are putting your best foot forward. You never know who is looking at your resume. Better safe than sorry.

Introduction Correspondence: If you are reaching out to someone for the first time, start off more formal. Don’t assume a connection between you two that is not there yet.

Places a 🙂 may be OK or even help

Only someone with whom you have a relationship. But keep in mind, that relationship must be felt by the person on the receiving end. It can especially be helpful in continuing a more casual conversational tone.

Let’s say that during your on-site interviews a manager that you seemed to hit it off with jokes that he takes the closest parking spot because he is first in the office. When you write the thank you email to that manager you could say something like “I hope to have the chance to work with you. Don’t worry, I’ll still let you have the closest spot if I get there first :)”

But use a 🙂 incorrectly and it can be no bueno for you. Personally I would avoid them unless you are 100% sure it will work. It is like sarcasm… when it works, it really works. But when it doesn’t, it pisses everyone off 🙂

Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
Peter Drucker

References, why they matter

Yes, it is true. You can now leave “References available upon request” off of your resume. But you might still need references in case an employer requests them. Many people in HR don’t call references anymore because you usually get name, date and serial number but there still are some and some hiring managers who like them.

I mention this now because I do not think people are taking much care in preparing their references these days. When it was more common nothing was usually gained by calling a reference. But recently I have had some friends in the recruiting field get some interesting feedback from references that their candidate’s provided. My first thought was “what idiot sends a company the name and number of someone without vetting them first?”

So here is the process I would follow….

Identify people who you think would be a good professional reference for you. Ideally they have managed you, been managed by you or they were your customer. Personal references are OK but we want the goods on your work history, not how you acted in Church or at family reunions.

Contact your potential references. Shoot them an email then follow-up with a phone call. This is a great time to renew those old networking contacts. Start with something like “I am pursuing other employment opportunities and would like to know if you would be comfortable being a professional reference for me?” Then when you follow up by phone you could ask them “what would you say is my biggest weakness?” You want to know before a company hears it. You might even decide to not put them on your list.

Contact them again when you actually send their information to a company as a reference. It is usually helpful if they know what position you are applying for so they can tailor their responses accordingly.

Lastly, keep them informed about your job search, especially when it ends. Even if you don’t need or use them be sure to thank them for being willing. Also, stay in touch with these people, odds are you will need them again.

True friends say good things behind your back and bad things to your face.
Unknown

Why you no write so good? Resume spelling errors

Many companies and people believe spelling counts in the interview process:

If you make a spelling error on your resume, cover letter or emails you are NOT:

Detail oriented
Very interested in the position.
All of the above

The answer in most companies is #3, all of the above. While I do not agree with this much of the time consider a Wikipedia entry on the question. If enough people believe it to be true then it is true. The ultimate truth does not matter, perception rules. So if most employers kick you out of contention or at the very least ding you for having a spelling error then you need to do your best to avoid such an error.

This is a very important truth (perception) to keep in mind. Let’s say you are applying for a recruiter position. You have is all: the skills they want, the right education and you have a rock solid work history. Unfortunately this is one of the bullet points on you resume:

Asses talent based on KSAs and work history to determine job fit.

Notice that the first word is the plural of ass and NOT the correct word, assess? Most companies do. I know what you are thinking… so what? This is just one error. Who doesn’t make mistakes? I agree but let’s test this with the dating analogy… How about if you are on a first date and your date is rude and demeaning to the waitstaff? Do you REALLY think they are a nice person just because they are nice to you? Nope. But the truth may be that your date had a very frustrating day and they are not being themselves today. No matter, there will probably not be a second date.

So be sure to take your time. Double and triple check your work. Have others critique it. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Most people make mistakes because they are in a hurry. Don’t rush, the stakes are too high.

A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.
John C. Maxwell

Places a 🙂 would be no bueno

Places a 🙂 may be OK or even help

If you make a spelling error on your resume, cover letter or emails you are NOT:

Detail oriented

Very interested in the position.

All of the above

Asses talent based on KSAs and work history to determine job fit.