Why I Won't Be Invited to Dinner Again

I just got a phone call inviting me to have dinner with President Bush up in Washington in June! Asking why, I was told because I was a "successful business person" which translated means I might be willing to shell out the thousands of dollars for my invitation for cordon bleu, sour wine and a fine speech or two. Wow. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy just thinking about it.

Do I sound cynical? Maybe just a bit. Its been that kind of week, but it did lead me to down the mental path of politicians in general: I don't know of one that is really qualified to run the most successful country in the world. Matter a fact, I would say today, if it was up to me, I would disqualify all politicians for running for office.

As a recruiter, my job is to access talent. Part of accessing that talent is looking at education, experience, values, competencies, strengths, weaknesses, etc....What candidate do we have that has run a large profitable business? Who has opened up new markets around the world and dealt with the complexities of a publicly run corporation? Am I forgetting somebody? Because nobody in the game today comes to mind.

I would love to have a candidate I could cheer for but I don't.
One day, maybe we can pick a handful of the most successful CEOs in the nation and test them the Donald way, "You are fired!"

Paranoid? Tips on how to search for a job quietly

I want to start a job search, but my current employer is pretty paranoid about people leaving. How do I conduct a good job search quietly?
Confidentiality is always a concern when you are gainfully employed. Before you start an active job search, there are a few Do’s and Don’t s that we can share to help:

DON”T:---Post your resume on job boards—I don’t care how confidential they say they are, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who is who at their company if they choose to look

---Tell your co-workers—The conversation around the water cooler can be dangerous because it often spreads. It is best to keep your mouth shut on your search around the office, even amongst friends early on.

--Wear your new suit to work and then announce you are going out to lunch or have to leave early for a dental appointment. If you need to dress for an afternoon interview, keep your clothes in the car and change somewhere along the way.

--Conduct phone interviews or send out your resume from your office. A lot of people do, but if you are trying to search quietly, you don’t need the IT department seeing your outgoing email and/or your peers walking by your office and over hearing your conversations.

--Check out of your current job mentally. Stay engaged with what you are doing because as soon as you check out, your behavior becomes suspect and worse, can end up costing you your job and/or future references goodwill.

Do’s in your job search:
--Add to your resume and any interviewing correspondence, “ Do not contact my current employer”. Although this seems obvious, some people in the interviewing process, may forget you are still employed

--Use Recruiters and trusted advisors to help you—they can be your eyes and ears while you are still being productive in your current role.

--Be careful about modifying your routine and interviewing. For instance, if you are flying out of town on an interview, tell co-workers you are flying out to see family—If you are seen at the airport (this happens quite often, by the way) no one will question it.

--Plan ahead and bank your vacation time. You want to make sure you have enough time off to really evaluate your options so invest in your future and bank some vacation days for your interviews.

Keep in mind that your employer today will need to be a reference down the road so do yourself a favor and work diligently while you look toward the future.

Firing can be a good thing!

Have you ever noticed that there are always a few dreadful workers that never get fired or laid off? Usually, their manager will get them “a better opportunity” in another department and from there, they get shuffled from manager to manager until someone has the guts to stop and say, “Whoa. NO more” and makes the difficult but real decision of terminating that employee.

Sometimes firing someone is clear cut.
I had to council a colleague today who owns a search firm to fire a person who had worked for her for ten years. This person had broken the terms of an employment agreement which directly involved the erosion of trust. Well, trust is a fragile thing in the best of circumstances, but when you have direct evidence that it has been lost in a business that is based on confidentiality such as ours, there is no time to waste.
The employee had to go. This situation is easier than the employee who just doesn’t really fit or never

Nobody enjoys firing people. Well, ok, maybe a few do, but we won’t talk about them. But as unpleasant a task termination can be, it is a necessary one. One of the few pieces of advice my father gave me that at a young age I took to heart was this: “The first time you think of firing someone is the time to do it.” Now that may seem a little cruel, but if you actually think back through the employees you have had to fire, you will usually remember you waited way too long to do it. And waiting to fire somebody does not do any favors to your other employees who are thinking “why the heck is that person still here” and “if they can do so little, so can I” -- Nor does it benefit your customers or your own ability to sleep at night.

I’m not suggesting you take an axe and wildly chop through your organizations, but the first step in “top-grading” any organization means admitting when you have someone who is not meeting expectations nor can they meet them with a little training. In fairness to that person, there is probably somewhere else that they can be –and will be—successful but it requires you to make that tough decision for them.

Done correctly, firing someone can be a good thing for everyone involved.

IS THE END NEAR?

Sounds foreboding, but hopefully the end of this downturn is near. I’m no economist and don’t pretend to be—even on TV—but I think that the governmental aids over the past year are band aids we can do without. Sure, interest rates cuts are nice, but will they
really make any long term difference? I mean, if your bank invested badly in real estate, it is going to take its licks and if you got caught in an adjustable rate mortgage, you had best adjust or refinance—the $300 or $600 “economic stimulus package” the IRS has in store for you isn’t going to save the day.

If the economy goes on and hits rock bottom then we can all say, “Ok the worst is over”. Let us pull ourselves back up and get on with it.

As recruiters, many of our clients have been hit hard by the slowdown, particularly our consumer product clients, but they will survive. They have good business plans, great brands and taking a little credit, super employees. The upside to downturns is bad companies; shaky companies tend to go under, leaving a better playing field for the rest of us. As a search firm owner in 2001, I can assure you over half of my competitors silently went away and few have returned—most are now in Corporate staffing departments.

2008 is going to be a challenging year for most businesses, but in my mind, there is no such thing as “free money” or a government bailout that works—most of the time, working smart and working hard are the only fixes that stick.

How To Nail The Phone Interview

“What can I do to improve my telephone interviewing skills?”

Excellent question. Today, usually all initial interviews are conducted over the phone. The reasons include costs to time pressures to the sheer number of applicants applying for positions. Unfortunately, for you, the potential candidate, phone interviews are largely used for screening OUT the wrong candidate vs. finding the right fit.

So, you have applied for the job, gotten the phone call to set up a phone screen. Now, how do you clear this next hurdle?

Our suggestions are based on the assumptions that most people do not spend a great deal of time on the phone—like a recruiter does-- and therefore they are not comfortable interviewing without eye to eye contact. Also, most people are not trained to have honed listening skills and therefore need to employ simple techniques to help themselves in what can be a stressful experience. Here are our tips:

1. Stand up during the phone conversation to heighten your awareness level and prevent yourself from becoming too comfortable in your favorite chair. Walking around can also help as long as it doesn’t become your primary activity.

2. Have your resume handy and pen and paper to take notes. Writing down your interviewers key points can help you remember their primary objectives and will help you remember to touch on them with examples from your own experience.

3. Employ the communication techniques you commonly use in any face-to-face dialogue; restatement to clarify, the pause for emphasis, probes to invite the interviewer back- in (i.e. “have I answered your question or would you like to know more?”) and transitional phrases to create bridges.
When asked a specific question, answer with a specific answer and be prepared to elaborate with an example. Make sure you don’t ramble…remember you don’t have any body signals to let you know if you’ve lost your audience.

4. If you normally use hand gestures when you speak, use them while on the phone. Your goal is to sound as comfortable and self-assured as possible.

5. Remember you are also on a fact finding mission, so have questions prepared to assist yourself in this objective. Use questions that convey a willingness to work, an ability to analyze and connect. Don’t ask questions about hours, vacation, benefits and compensation. There will be a time and place for those questions, but the initial interview isn’t it.

6. Finally, relax take a deep breathe, smile (yes, it comes across on the phone) and be you. A positive impression is key to landing that face to face interview—where the real matches get made.

Good luck!

Quote of the Day

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."

- Mario Andretti

Double Whamy Today

Today is not only Friday but it is also turning into a Snow Day for those of us in the MidSouth. Yep. Big Blizzard heading our way--1 to 3 inches. Thats right, folks. 3 inches.

Now those Midwestern friends of mine are probably shaking their heads and grumbling about the work ethic here in the South again.
Ok. I've heard it before. We do believe in our days off: Deer Season--manufacturing plants practically shut down; Christmas season (which starts the day after Thanksgiving) short work days--got shopping to do and Spring--well, we deserve a Spring Break too.
Oh and turkey season begins March 15th.
But today: Snow Day

We are all headed out early to go grocery shopping, pick up a movie, some wine, extra milk (FYI: Snow days require extra milk)
and headed home to stare out the window on occasion to see if the Weather Guy was right for a change.
For those of you living in areas of the country that have an array of snow plows and salt trucks, we wish you a safe day at work and the drive home tonight, white knuckled, prepared to shovel your driveway the moment you arrive at your door.

We will be toasting you as we put in another movie and stuff our face with popcorn.