In the Business of You

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...

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...

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. ...

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...

Over the past several weeks, I've had one-on-one meetings with dozens of job seekers in regard to their resumes. I often ask, “Why are you here today to meet with me? What do you wish to take away from our meeting?” Most often the response is something such as, “I am not getting many interviews or being eliminated early in the interview process and want to figure out where is, for me, the weak link in that chain.” What I continue to find is one of the most common issues/problems with candidates…They are providing me/the hiring manager (in the resume or during an interview) with a lot more information than is relevant for the position, or spending all of their resume space or interview time relating what they DID vs. what they ACCOMPLISHED, and that is not how to communicate the “wow” factor and why they may be my ideal candidate. What you DID relates to tasks, your ACCOMPLISHMENTS tell me about what outcomes were produced as a result of your actions. And, hiring ma...

If a company tells you that they brew the best beer in the world, but have minimal sales and no awards to show for their efforts, how believable is their claim of having an outstanding product? We can all say whatever we wish about our abilities and achievements, but, as the saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding”. And thus is the challenge for today’s job seekers…making believers out of skeptical hiring managers. This is actually not that difficult to accomplish, but it does take a significant investment of a candidate’s time, which is something that the vast majority of job seekers are still NOT willing to do. This means that those candidates who do elect to put in the time and effort necessary to develop a truly “killer” resume and memorable interview discussions, can very quickly distance themselves from a large percentage of those competing for the same job opening. Here are some tips that should help your actions (accomplishments) speak for themselves: • Telling me wh...

Sometime over the next couple of weeks, I will be a first-time grandfather. Can’t wait, as I hear from other “new” grandparents how wonderful is the experience and how different it is than when we were new parents (way back when). I remember when we brought our first child home from the hospital. My bride put him into a bassinet in the family room of our small house and we looked at each other and said, “Well, what do we do now?” The two of us realized that we must have left the “What to do With Your First Baby” manual at the hospital. As my parents have often reminded me about my first born, “he survived, despite you two”. Pretty funny, Mom & Dad..! But, I readily admit that I’m a believer in the “it takes a village to raise a child” concept. Looking at the job search process, there are a lot of similarities. When I was laid off in early 2001, after 25 years with the same company, I felt some of that same, “what do I do now” nervousness and sense of being a bit lost. ...