In the Business of You

Just a few months ago, I’m betting that the conversations around your holiday dinner table did not at all include a serious pandemic or the global economy taking a gut punch as a result of pretty much everyone on the planet being told to “stay home”. Well…here we are, watching unemployment claims being filed at a pace well beyond anything in history, duct taped “X’s” on the floors of grocery & drug stores to help ensure we don’t get too close to each other, cancellation of basically every imaginable event, including church services, along with the delay or cancellation of the seasons for all professional and amateur sports. Some experts are predicting that unemployment might go as high as 32%, which is nearly ten times what it was in January…just three months ago. If your employer isn’t included on the list of essential businesses, you’ve most likely been furloughed. Although none of that news breeds much confidence, it’s not time to throw your hands up in the ...

Source: Fotolia The job of an interviewer is to find that “needle in a haystack” candidate that clearly differentiates him/herself from what can be a large pool of applicants. It’s the job of the candidate to use the tools available to present a strong case as to why he/she is that special hire, the game-changer. Unfortunately, even with the overabundance of information that is easily accessible to today’s job seekers, the majority do not put in the time and effort necessary to create a “wow” experience for the interviewers and hiring manager. It takes a lot of work to find and ultimately be offered a great job! Out of what continues to be dozens or hundreds of applicants vying for each open position, often only a half-dozen or so will actually get the opportunity for a face-to-face interview. And, only a few of those will be asked back to continue the interview process. So, how does a candidate become one of those few and then “knock it out of the park” during the int...

I’ve been a hiring manager now for nearly 40 years. During that time I’ve seen the majority of employees make the same mistake – they don’t invest in themselves from a career perspective. And, not doing so can significantly extend the amount of time it takes to find a new job, whether you are currently employed and looking, or in a job transition. The best time, of course, to make this critical investment in your career is while you are employed. Seems like common sense, doesn’t it? Yet, the VAST majority of employees fail to do so. The result of NOT investing in yourself while you are employed is that your resume may contain lots of bullet points about what you did, but little to nothing about what you actually accomplished and substantiation regarding why these accomplishments were considered to be outstanding in the eyes of the employer. There are two main premises regarding how employers/hiring managers look at existing/potential new employees: Why do I look/am I...

Over the last three months, there has been an uptick in the number of people attending my presentations at various job seekers groups. That may be good news for professional resume writers and outplacement firms, but not so much for the general workforce.  Where there were 6 to 8 people in attendance during the majority of programs I presented in 2014 and 2015, my audiences this year thus far have numbered between 10 and 15 to close to 50. Another disturbing trend I’ve seen is that many of these people seem stunned that they were laid off/lost their jobs.  Really?  Having an “it can’t/won’t happen to me” attitude is unrealistic and has been so for the last three decades. What is stunning to most job seekers, who have not had to look for employment for the last 15 – 20+ years, is just how dramatically the job search landscape has changed. New job seekers are discovering a significant amount of tools, which they can use – most of which are related to tech...

Photo Source: Fotolia We just had over 70 people attend one of our job seekers' networking events during which I observed candidates “working the room”, but doing so with no real objective or purpose. Unfortunately, I see this happen more often than not and feel that it is representative of one of the biggest mistakes people make in regard to their networking activities; feeling compelled to meet everyone in the room/at the event. This is not a good strategy for a number of reasons, but mainly because a candidate may meet “everyone”, but he/she comes away having a lot of conversations of little value. The main purpose of any networking event is to get to know a few other people well enough to have them consider referring the individual to a decision maker within a targeted employer. Or, at a minimum, to feel comfortable enough to agree to a one-on-one follow up meeting. Thus, if you attend a networking event with 20 people or 70, set your sights on having quality conv...

It is still a “buyer’s market” in the employment arena. Employers continue to receive sometimes hundreds of resumes per job opening (with many hundreds more being sent for no specific job, but with the hope that someone will notice how terrific is the sender). Thus, hiring managers and HR departments can and continue to be very selective regarding with whom they spend time speaking. Whether a candidate is a passive job seeker (currently working, but looking to make a move/switch employer) or in transition, he/she needs to significantly distance themselves from the competition. Jack Welch, legendary Chairman and CEO of General Electric, wrote in a June 4, 2013 post on LinkedIn: Avoiding These 3 Hiring Mistakes “Every smart idea matters. Every ounce of passion makes a difference. You cannot have a black hole in your organization where a star should be.” Most of us have, unfortunately, had the opportunity to work with/near some of those “black holes” (co-workers wh...

(Photo source: Fotolia) I learned a very long time ago that the vast majority of people do business with people, not companies. In most organizations, the degree of success obtained can often be directly linked back to the strength of the relationships developed between provider and client. Remember that old saying, “Price is only an issue in the perceived absence of value”? I’ll often go to my local hardware store vs. a big box home improvement retailer because ALL of the employees of the neighborhood establishment seem to know “everything about everything” and are very willing to take all of the time necessary to explain how to use a specific tool or walk a customer, step-by-step, through the process of making a repair (using the part or tool being purchased). The large DIY stores advertise they have this same expertise, but often the actual delivery falls short of that claim. Job seekers frequently make this same mistake. For example, I've reviewed thousands of resu...

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be turning 60 years old. People around me are having a lot of fun with that, at my expense of course. My standard reply when someone asks, “How do you feel about turning sixty” is, “Sixty is the new thirty”. That usually results in at least a few smiles, but that is really how I feel and how I act. Ask anyone who knows me…they’ll agree, because that is who I am – that is a part of my personal brand. It is not words that define me/my brand, it is my actions that do so. The other evening, at our monthly Ohio CareerConnect networking event for people in a job transition, I reviewed resumes for five individuals, all of whom had varying degrees of gray hair. I always put on my hiring manager’s “hat” when I’m assisting people with their resumes or overall job search strategies, thus my feedback is provided from that perspective. In regard to those five people, I saw their value – how they could potentially make me “look like a genius” for hiring them and h...

Communication…it can be your greatest ally or most formidable enemy. As a job seeker, you are the CEO of your own job search, along with being the director of marketing and communications. This means that you are responsible for developing your search’s strategic plan along with being in charge of its implementation. You are managing this project. It’s a multi-step, time-intensive task and, unfortunately, many candidates struggle to do it well. Communication of your “story” (i.e., why a hiring manager should give you serious consideration as a candidate) is inclusive of all things written, verbalized and put into the digital world by you along with everything written, spoken and put into the digital world by others about you. All of this must be consistent with the message that you wish to deliver/be received by others. For example, it is not uncommon for someone’s resume and LinkedIn profile to look like they are describing two different people! This same thing also happens frequentl...

Just returned from a trip to Florida and had the opportunity to meet a number of people who used to live elsewhere, but now call the Sunshine State their home. The vast majority of those folks moved to be with or take care of parents or just became tired of six months of snow and cold weather every year. One thing that each had in common was that they had found a job that was a great fit for their personality and skill set. Not coincidentally, each of these people seemed very happy with their job and demonstrated an above average level of customer service. Funny how that works! Whether you are passively or actively seeking a new place of employment, one of the most critical factors that cannot be ignored is being a great fit for an organization’s culture. Culture is not just a bunch of words in a mission statement or some slick poster on a bulletin board in the break room; it is the day-to-day energy that truly drives a company toward greatness. If you don’t fit well into a ...

Everyone who has experienced a forced job transition knows that there are a host of emotions to deal with during that period, many of which are not very pleasant. For the majority of the people with whom I do job search coaching, the most powerful of the “not too pleasant” variety are a lack of self-confidence and growing sense of self-doubt . Both of these emotions can stop a job search in its tracks. A good interviewer/hiring manager can quickly detect self-doubt or a lack of self-confidence in a candidate through tone of voice, body language, lack of eye contact, lack of passion in the delivery of answers/exchange of dialog and weak resume or LinkedIn profile. That said, the real question for candidates then becomes, “OK, then how can I overcome these negative feelings?” Start by embracing what we've all heard so many times over the years that we control our own destiny. Try thinking of that concept in this manner, “ E+R=O ”. What this short equation really means i...