March 2013

I know very well that a person can have a most impressive, best-written resume packed with information, accomplishments and what appears a guaranteed success – on paper. Yet, when the person is face-to-face, it is a disaster. Likewise, some of the best qualified and most suitable applicants have the worst-looking resumes. Assuming yours is decent enough to get you an interview, it is what happens when you are face-to-face that counts; that’s what they’ll remember and not your resume. It’s all about the moment you shake hands and the interaction with those you meet that will determine if the resume confirms you are as you’ve presented yourself, or if it was just a lot of nicely-arranged fluffy words, or 90% smoke and 10% horsepower, as I like to say. Regardless of whether you take the initiative, or timidly wait for

(Con’t) Okay, so let’s wrap this up. If you already know it all and know more than me, good for you, but if you find yourself nodding your head with me in agreement, let’s start small. To begin, here’s a simple suggestion and one so crazy and radical I may find myself on a watch list as someone fomenting discontent. Don’t so easily take “no” for an answer. Instead of accepting limitations and illegitimate rules imposed on you by bureaucratic lumps, indeed do your preliminary online research, and then peel yourself from your comfy chair, clear the cobwebs and reboot your creativity and burn up a little shoe leather; go out and speak to real people. Knocking on doors, shaking hands or actually speaking to hiring officials will do a lot more for you than emailing resumes. You get what you

(Cont’d) I grow tired when I suggest to someone they should do a little research, determine the identity and contact information for a particular manager, who might be in charge of a segment or department in a company, and then initiate direct contact. I suggest they introduce themselves, having prepared to be able to introduce, present and suggest how their experience can be a benefit to that manager and the company. On more than one occasional the person I am trying to help will reply forcefully. “No, I just can’t see myself doing that.” Oh really, and why not? Everyone wants the nice shiny ring but most people are unwilling to invest in the prep time, effort and sweat equity necessary. How about you? Don’t kill the messenger, but the truth is that most people are barely making any effort and,

I hear it all the time - people explain to me why they fail to make progress finding a good job or get ahead, prevented from finding success. They go to great pains, telling me all the reasons why they can’t seem to get ahead. I understand it’s difficult out there and for the last few years it seems as if there are more hoops to jump through and, increasingly it seems you need permission to do anything because there are people everywhere telling you what you can or can’t accomplish. The act of searching for a new job has always been a task but it was always an exercise in which, if you made the efforts, used your head and applied a measure of innovation here and there whenever possible, you would eventually meet with some success. Now it

(Con’t) Employing the Take-Away is simply being honest and you’re doing what they, for whatever reason, are not; you’re just letting them move on as you inform them you’ve decided to move forward in another direction. I think it is a matter of professional self respect. But a word of caution, use a Take-Away only when you mean it. Faking it or using it as a ploy almost never helps. We all know the Take-Away Close; we’ve either used it or have been on the receiving end of it in our personal lives. Using personal relationships as a good analogy, some people get tired of being ignored, treated poorly or unappreciated and, as a result, they reach a point at which they’ll say, “enough, I’m done; I’m outa’ here”. What makes it powerful is they mean it, it’s not an attempt to

Sometimes, when hiring processes drag out and seem endless, perhaps their priorities or circumstances have changed. Perhaps it was never really a priority or there never was an opportunity - not really. Among the recruiters I know there is a cliché, which states time kills all deals. Meaning the longer the processes drag out, interest on one or both sides subsides. Some situations occasionally resurrect themselves, but when you’re waiting on the receiving end,  stuck in a stagnated process that is going nowhere, what can you do? Suppose you’ve already had at least one interview of some kind and, after a lengthy period of time, everything just stopped and you’re waiting and waiting and have heard nothing. At some point you are going to reach a level of frustration and think, “Enough is enough; I don’t care what the decision is

Loyalty to one’s employer is a commendable attribute and a worthy character trait. Loyalty has value but I would note it should never be given freely unless it is earned and, even then, it requires ongoing maintenance regardless of whether it concerns you personally or professionally. The workplace has changed a lot over the last few decades and company loyalty was something that was often assumed mutually between employers and employees. Our grandparents worked hard and, in exchange for their hard work, they received good pensions and plans that would see them through their retirement years. There was back then a basis for such allegiance and devotion to company. It seems as if it was a long time ago, doesn’t it? Since then I would suggest it isn’t the employees who’ve broken that bond but rather the other way around.