Author: Michael Mayher

Yeah, I know, it sounds a bit paranoid, but many people fail to come to grips with the fact that one of the simplest ways for a company to conduct a reference check on you is a Google search and all that can be found so easily. I am not talking about your professional presence, but rather the open window into your personal world - often a bit too personal. What will they find? Most of us are online, and social networking enables us to stay in contact with friends and family, express opinions and so much more. Living on another continent, it allows me fast and direct contact. However, many people post without even a second thought. Sure, it can be very entertaining for you and your friends, but companies are watching or they have the means to check what

Whether you need a job or there is a mitigating factor causing you to find a new one, it’s a higher priority for you than for most anyone else and the process usually moves slower than you like, or need. The more urgently you need and want a job, the more lethargic the pace feels. In fact, “urgency” is the key word for this blog entry, and it’s the level of urgency a company places on filling the position, which will dictate the fluidity leading to any job offer. Sometimes we get lucky and experience a shared synchronicity, when both you and the company are in the right place at the right time, with a mutually beneficial happy ending. But this is the exception more than the rule and one side or the other usually drags their feet for whatever

In the workplace, as well as during the interview process, honesty is something most dare not speak due to the easily offended. Utter the truth and likely you’ll be exposed to ridicule and derision. With the potent combination of political correctness and a litigious society, who wants to stick out their neck. For example, after McDonald’s was sued by a patron who spilled hot coffee onto their own lap a few years ago, instead of monetarily rewarding their stupidity, the honest  response to a lawsuit should have been to offer them a lifetime supply of coffee served in a two-handed sippy cup with instructions and a bib. I’m sure many more agree with me than are willing to admit it, truthfully. Not only are people increasingly reluctant to speak honestly, many can’t handle the kick of full-strength 100 Proof honesty

Perhaps it is just me, but I have always felt that if I saw the crowds all doing the same thing, I would do something different to stand out - and often I would do the opposite. I’ve never been a fan of strict conformity. I think being a little bit at odds with and rejecting strict adherence to convention is at the heart of innovation. Especially in the professional environment, one might conclude there is less and less tolerance for non-conformity when it comes to processes. By the very nature of this blog, wouldn’t you know it, I come right back to leveling an indictment at currently accepted / dictated hiring practices you’re supposed to follow. I’m not suggesting anything radical, just different. When everyone else is introducing themselves with a mouse click, I suggest people introduce themselves with a

When you ask questions and apply deductive logic, a yes means “yes”, no means “no” and maybe means “no” at this moment. It may turn into a yes later but that doesn’t help you now, today. When you are interviewing for a job or you haven’t yet reached the interview process, and you’re still just looking for opportunities, it’s the same. If you need a job today a “yes” would be nice, “no” is a bummer and a “maybe” is just plain frustrating. I suggest you might get more traction by asking the same questions, regardless of what they are, with a little better forethought. There are five basic types of questions: Factual, Convergent, Divergent, Evaluative and Combination. But let’s simplify it and, for our purposes, I’m only concerned with close-ended questions and open-ended questions. Consciously knowing the difference and learning

To begin, after my last posting I received an email from someone taking issue with the sales analogy I am suggesting. Then they went on to proclaim their years of experience, but at the same time complained they’ve sent lots of emailed resumes and never received any replies so it must be the fault of the market. Frankly, the email and complaint proves my point that some people just can’t and won’t get it. I suggested if they take issue, they should continue to do what they’ve been doing and, perhaps, if they cross their fingers and wish hard enough, everything will work out for them. You see, I am tone deaf to whiners and, for the record, I’m not trying to appeal to everyone’s sensitivities, because when you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one and

When you are searching for a job and interviewing make no mistake about it, you are selling a product and that product is you; your resume is your product literature and brochure. When you get your head around this concept you’ll see the hiring and interview process differently. What is a brochure supposed to do? It lists product features, what the product can do and the benefits that can result from obtaining and utilizing the product. But that is all a good resume is meant to do, to draw attention to the product for further consideration. A brochure by itself is rarely reason enough to attract a buyer and that’s where you come in. How you present yourself is about much more than what you wear to the interview. Too many people think a good resume and some luck is what

As a Veteran and on behalf of Veterans, in order to draw attention to the subject, I’ve intentionally posted this entry a few days after the fact. Veteran’s Day celebrates former service members, those who’ve already served and then returned home having hung up their uniforms and moved on with their lives. We celebrate current military members with Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day for those lost in war. On Veteran’s Day the glowing praise and concern in the media is as predictable as the date on a calendar. It’s nice but the following day it fades away until next year. It is an inescapable fact that more service members and their families are falling through the ever-widening cracks and to say they are being shortchanged is an understatement. Veterans are being left behind and forgotten with too many people

My last blog entry went a little long but it is an important issue and, as such, I would like to offer suggestions for how to overcome this hurdle, if you run into it. Let’s say you have the opportunity to interview for a position and you begin to sense, or they come right out and use the “O” word, to suggest you might not be considered further. Don’t get defensive or feel insulted, they are simply doing what they are accustomed to. We’re talking about trying to get people to adjust their processes to provide you the benefit of the doubt. Getting in their face or acting hurt won’t have any benefit for you except momentary satisfaction for telling someone off, who hasn’t done anything to deserve your wrath. Here are a few tips that may help you. Check either

With a sluggish economy, shrinking manufacturing, reduced staffing, not to mention half of all college grads can’t find employment, everyone’s competing over fewer jobs. Since the ‘90s middle management ranks have been decimated, manufacturing jobs are vanishing so it doesn’t take a mathematician to recognize there are more job applicants out there who are judged to be overqualified. Not only in the U.S., it is occurring in many other nations with depressed economies brimming with experienced workers, so why aren’t they given more serious consideration? Isn’t there an advantage and added-value to having workers who require less training and already possess valuable skills? Maybe, a weak hiring manager feels threatened by a more qualified job candidate, worried they’ll angle to replace their boss before long. Another reason could be an often correct assumption that an overqualified person will quickly grow