Monday, June 19, 2006
When You Don't Get Hired & It's Not Your Fault!
Everyone understands disappointment but I don't believe anything causes a job candidate to lose confidence as much as submitting a great resume, sporting a good-looking interview outfit, holding a compelling interview, passing the drug test, learning that your references were called and then waiting... for the job offer that never comes.
Knowing you impressed a decision-maker only to wait for a call that never comes is an all-too familiar job search killer. What did you do wrong? Perhaps nothing. Where could you have done better? Perhaps nowhere.
If you thought you were a "sure thing" and nothing happened the following scenarios might explain why:
The hiring authority may have assumed a different position or exited the company completely and thus created a communication gap in the hiring process on a long-term or permanent basis. I have always compared this phenomenon to a breakdown of a company's "hiring nervous system" because the left hand can no longer transmit a message to the right hand. What is unfortunate is that any sensitivity to your job offer has gone numb.
The company implemented a corporate-wide hiring freeze. When companies such as Disney announce a hiring freeze headlines are made. But when smaller corporations or privately-held companies suddenly "freeze," their own employees may never be told, much less the candidate who's interview so impressed 24 hours before the announcement.
The CEO's nephew finally decided he wanted the job. While some companies have policies against hiring family members and relatives, just as many have open-door policies and are very likely to be faced with the potential inheritance of these folks due to their availability from layoffs. There is nothing a good candidate can do to outperform that nephew.
The lesson here is twofold. It may not have been your fault so don't beat yourself up! You may have been the perfect candidate in a particular hiring event but because of outside forces, you still may not get the job! If you have enough "irons in the fire" the realization that one isn't going to come through won't leave you quite so devastated and you will have other events for which to prepare. You'll also get hired sooner!
Knowing you impressed a decision-maker only to wait for a call that never comes is an all-too familiar job search killer. What did you do wrong? Perhaps nothing. Where could you have done better? Perhaps nowhere.
If you thought you were a "sure thing" and nothing happened the following scenarios might explain why:
The hiring authority may have assumed a different position or exited the company completely and thus created a communication gap in the hiring process on a long-term or permanent basis. I have always compared this phenomenon to a breakdown of a company's "hiring nervous system" because the left hand can no longer transmit a message to the right hand. What is unfortunate is that any sensitivity to your job offer has gone numb.
The company implemented a corporate-wide hiring freeze. When companies such as Disney announce a hiring freeze headlines are made. But when smaller corporations or privately-held companies suddenly "freeze," their own employees may never be told, much less the candidate who's interview so impressed 24 hours before the announcement.
The CEO's nephew finally decided he wanted the job. While some companies have policies against hiring family members and relatives, just as many have open-door policies and are very likely to be faced with the potential inheritance of these folks due to their availability from layoffs. There is nothing a good candidate can do to outperform that nephew.
The lesson here is twofold. It may not have been your fault so don't beat yourself up! You may have been the perfect candidate in a particular hiring event but because of outside forces, you still may not get the job! If you have enough "irons in the fire" the realization that one isn't going to come through won't leave you quite so devastated and you will have other events for which to prepare. You'll also get hired sooner!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
"Advancement and Stability?"
What's So Bad About "Opportunity For Advancement and Stability?"
Expressing the fact that we crave both opportunity for advancement and stability in our paychecks seems innocent enough. In fact, many of us feel entitled to these guarantees as though they were included in the Constitution. Well candidates, beware! Should this be the best you can do in response to a question, chances are you will not make the cut to the next interview.
Here's why:
In challenging times companies are hiring because they have a desperate need for someone to fill the hole in the dam so the waters don't come rushing in. The opening for which you are being considered occurred when Mr. Jones was let go for lack of performance, Mr. Smith resigned to move to Jekyll Island or Ms. Lacey decided she didn't want to travel.
So, we now fast-forward to your interview. Pre-occupied with how many of his customers will seek the competition because their delivery time has now been compromised with the exit of Mr. Smith, the interviewer, with far more pressing things to do than chat with you, must fill his opening and asks the burning question, "Why do you want to work for our company?"
With high levels of enthusiasm you respond, "Because I want opportunity for advancement and stability." For this empty request, (who doesn't want opportunity for advancement and stability?) your salary requirement is merely $50,000, $75,000 or six figures. Even at $6 per hour, you have given this employer no reason to buy!
Remember people don't purchase a Mustang to increase the profits of Ford; they don't open an account at Bank of America to help Manager makes his quota and they won't hire you to provide you with opportunity for advancement or stability. Offer your interviewer solutions! With foresight, insight and good career planning you can guarantee your own opportunity for advancement and stability.
Expressing the fact that we crave both opportunity for advancement and stability in our paychecks seems innocent enough. In fact, many of us feel entitled to these guarantees as though they were included in the Constitution. Well candidates, beware! Should this be the best you can do in response to a question, chances are you will not make the cut to the next interview.
Here's why:
In challenging times companies are hiring because they have a desperate need for someone to fill the hole in the dam so the waters don't come rushing in. The opening for which you are being considered occurred when Mr. Jones was let go for lack of performance, Mr. Smith resigned to move to Jekyll Island or Ms. Lacey decided she didn't want to travel.
So, we now fast-forward to your interview. Pre-occupied with how many of his customers will seek the competition because their delivery time has now been compromised with the exit of Mr. Smith, the interviewer, with far more pressing things to do than chat with you, must fill his opening and asks the burning question, "Why do you want to work for our company?"
With high levels of enthusiasm you respond, "Because I want opportunity for advancement and stability." For this empty request, (who doesn't want opportunity for advancement and stability?) your salary requirement is merely $50,000, $75,000 or six figures. Even at $6 per hour, you have given this employer no reason to buy!
Remember people don't purchase a Mustang to increase the profits of Ford; they don't open an account at Bank of America to help Manager makes his quota and they won't hire you to provide you with opportunity for advancement or stability. Offer your interviewer solutions! With foresight, insight and good career planning you can guarantee your own opportunity for advancement and stability.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Winning Your Academy Award... Wins Your Job Offer
Not too long ago I attended a meeting of unemployed job seekers who were having problems getting hired. They were great candidates, and as I overheard their conversations with each other, I realized they all had one thing in common. They all transmitted negative messages...
Candidate #1 really wanted to work for an aviation firm. He crashed and burned at the end of a fantastic interview when he became tentative about working third shift. He never got a call back and doesn't even remember his lack of enthusiasm until, after three phone calls, the employer actually owned-up as to why someone else was hired. If you want the offer, don't blink if the terms don't please you. You may be able to negotiate terms more to your liking after you've impressed your next boss. Besides the temporary displeasures of strange hours may just be worth your gaining great experience, opportunity for advancement or specialized training. Nothing is easier to change than wages and hours unless you've expressed negativity about either.
Candidate #2 was understandably interview weary. Laid off and unemployed for a year she had unfortunately experienced several interviews that were incompatible with her expectations. Totally forgetting her non-negotiable mission of impressing toward a job offer, instead of offering up her talents, skills and war stories of achievement, she gave the impression of not wanting to "waste her time." She came prepared with her own set of specs and demanded to know what the job paid, what would be required of her and areas of potential future opportunity. It was as though they had to impress her!
Looking for a job really challenges our self-esteem. Armed with a lifetime of pride in what we've accomplished, we all come under the scrutiny of a litany of hiring judges, often with far less experience and often unprepared to even measure our qualifications.
The solution? Stay the course! Play the part! Learn to become the product for purchase that an employer feels he must have. Getting the job is always tougher than doing the job! Remember, during that one interview hour that could determine your destiny, earn your academy award!
Candidate #1 really wanted to work for an aviation firm. He crashed and burned at the end of a fantastic interview when he became tentative about working third shift. He never got a call back and doesn't even remember his lack of enthusiasm until, after three phone calls, the employer actually owned-up as to why someone else was hired. If you want the offer, don't blink if the terms don't please you. You may be able to negotiate terms more to your liking after you've impressed your next boss. Besides the temporary displeasures of strange hours may just be worth your gaining great experience, opportunity for advancement or specialized training. Nothing is easier to change than wages and hours unless you've expressed negativity about either.
Candidate #2 was understandably interview weary. Laid off and unemployed for a year she had unfortunately experienced several interviews that were incompatible with her expectations. Totally forgetting her non-negotiable mission of impressing toward a job offer, instead of offering up her talents, skills and war stories of achievement, she gave the impression of not wanting to "waste her time." She came prepared with her own set of specs and demanded to know what the job paid, what would be required of her and areas of potential future opportunity. It was as though they had to impress her!
Looking for a job really challenges our self-esteem. Armed with a lifetime of pride in what we've accomplished, we all come under the scrutiny of a litany of hiring judges, often with far less experience and often unprepared to even measure our qualifications.
The solution? Stay the course! Play the part! Learn to become the product for purchase that an employer feels he must have. Getting the job is always tougher than doing the job! Remember, during that one interview hour that could determine your destiny, earn your academy award!
