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...

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...

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...

Just finished opening week for the major league baseball season. My hometown team, the Cleveland Indians, has thus far won three games and lost three. They've done some things very well and others…let’s just hope the poor play in the losses was the result of “jitters” and can be corrected quickly. As a fan, I was encouraged by how much better the team played last season than the previous year, but there is always room for improvement. Every player, no matter how well they perform, can always improve on part of their game. And thus it is the same with employees – we can always be working to sharpen up/improve some part of our skill set, no matter how wonderful we think we are. With still so many people submitting resumes for job openings (several hiring managers in my network have recently advised that they continue to receive “hundreds” of resumes for any one job posting), interviewers need some questions that will help them screen out candidates from consideration. ...

Recently I was interviewed for an Internet radio program on LocalJobNetwork.com and asked how hiring managers want candidates to answer questions related to why they should be selected over other applicants.  I believe that this remains one of those questions that candidates really dislike tackling and struggle with because there seems to be no real right or wrong answer. What I suggested to the interviewer and program host, Tim Muma, were some paths to take, which might have a much higher chance of impressing the person asking the question: Do not focus on the negative – Hiring managers don’t want you to bash other candidates – about whom you most likely have little to no knowledge. What interviewers really want to hear is the “WHY” - those specific reasons why you are such a great fit for the position, their team/group and the organization. The quality of your answer in this regard will be the result of how well you can “connect the dots” from your skill set to the...

There is a popular exercise program that has been out on DVD for a while called P90X, that displays the words, “Bring it” at the beginning of the first disk of the set.  This is done to establish the tone for what the instructor, Tony Horton, is going to put you through as you perform each of the suggested exercises.  And, the key is not so much the exercise itself, but the energy that Horton tells the listener they need to bring to really make the program produce the desired results. Understanding human nature the trainers promoting such programs quickly disclose that, “individual results may vary”, with the knowledge that only a small percentage of those who start the process will have the commitment and energy necessary to accomplish something meaningful. How true…not only for exercise or diet programs, but also for the many challenges that come out of searching for and landing a new job. In just the last few months, I've run across an increasing number of ...

Recently, I attended the NFL game between my Cleveland Browns and the Buffalo Bills.  There were 71,000+ people in attendance and the majority of those fans were wearing something (hat, jacket, jersey) with the team’s colors (brown and orange).  Let’s say that someone that knew me was also at the game and decided to text to advise, “Hey, Mike…heard you were at the game…I’m here too”.  I would text them back to ask, “Great, where are you?”  If they responded with something like, “I’m wearing a brown hat”, that does not really help me find/see them…since probably 70% of the fans might also be wearing brown hats.  If they add, “Oh, also…I’m standing up”, that bit of additional information does help, but I still have little chance of finding my friend among  the 40,000 or so people who are standing up and wearing brown hats.  If my friend adds, “I’m eight rows up, on the 50-yard line, north side of the field, and next to the Browns’ mascot, who is walki...

A couple of weeks ago I witnessed an “interview implosion”, which was painful to watch.  Yet, this squandered opportunity could have turned out very differently, had the candidate just put in some prep time prior to that discussion. Because I happened to arrive fairly early for a breakfast meeting, I wound up being one of only five people in this particular restaurant thus, overhearing the discussion (which turned out to be a job interview) from one table over was inevitable. As it turned out, I had a front row seat for an interview regarding a Research/Analyst position at a local venture capital group. The interviewer was in his mid-to-late 40’s, while the candidate was no more than early 30-something.  Both were dressed in shirt and tie, with the interviewer being very professional in his appearance and the candidate…well, that is where the problems began.  The candidate’s dark tie was sticking out from underneath the collar of his white shirt and was...