Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door (9 page)

I think that’s an important example for your readers: If your skill mix is a lot like that of the person directly above you or below you and the economy tanks, watch out. Somebody’s job is in peril. The difference from past downturns is that we’re seeing many more of these situations today.

 

The one on the right was shaken to the core. His situation was a little different, but he had still been re-engineered out the door. This fellow was reeling in disbelief that he could have been whisked out of a job after decades in his profession and eight years with that particular company.

The guy on the left—the one who was caught in the duplication squeeze play—was about the same age. He was exuberant, enthusiastic, and ready to do new things. “My wife and I were talking last night. ‘You know,’ she said, ‘maybe we really should go and open up that bed and breakfast on Nantucket.’ ” But if the right IT opening came along, I’m sure he would equally well consider that.

Two different attitudes. Night and day. Glass half full or glass half empty.

Now, which of these guys do you think is going to land on his feet?

 

We look for the motivating factors people use in making career decisions. What were the reasons behind their choices? It tells us about their decision-making abilities, how and what interests them . . . ultimately, are they a good match for your client?

 

Good recruiters rely heavily on a well-tested selection program. It has a three-letter ID code:

G-U-T

Good companies want to attract what I call
impact players
. Every candidate is a mystery, and someone like me is out there using educated gut instinct to peel the onion. That’s how you judge if that person has the right stuff.

 

Everybody has natural concerns about their mortgage and paying for their kids’ education. But don’t let that apprehension take center stage. Genuine personal confidence is still a formidable human trait. Perhaps it’s the decisive one in landing a job.

Harvey, a candidate has to believe he or she is very good at his or her core competency. It’s hard to sell yourself if you aren’t honestly convinced you bring genuine value to a new employer. You know the old adage: “Worry looks around. Sorry looks back. And faith looks up.” Companies are in the market for candidates who inspire well-placed faith.

 

My advice: Take recruiters into confidence on blemishes. After all, everyone has them. Skilled recruiters are experts in Vetting 101. We can’t take candidates on face value, because our clients expect vetting—fact-finding—to be a big part of the service we provide. It’s too easy for applicants to put a misleading spin on their résumés or to allow selective memory to overtake objective reality. When I look at a résumé, the first thing I ask myself is: “What’s missing in this picture?” Recruiters know every human life has its ups and downs. Often, they can help you present a flaw in an honest but diplomatic way.

Also, it’s best to be up-front and authentic in an interview with a recruiter. Recruiters don’t like surprises, and we also want to see how you’ll hold up in front of our client if you make the “short list.” No need to make it an Oprah moment, but recruiters are smart enough to detect if something is eating at you, and even more . . . if you’re trying to cover it up.

For example, I had recruited a “star” that had excelled throughout her career as an arbitration attorney for her blue-chip employer. Talk about a high-pressure job! Sitting across the bargaining table gave her nerves of steel. You can imagine my surprise when midway through our interview her demeanor changed, her answers lacked cohesiveness, and she seemed generally spaced out. I’m thinking, oops, not the right referral for my client.

After digging deeper, it became crystal clear—she had just suffered a personal loss and had more than understandable anxiety. Her uncharacteristic behavior became plausible after she opened up. Recruiters “get it,” and can be an invaluable asset to prep their candidate for the client interview.

 

Not if they’re smart, Harvey. Self-interest motivates professional recruiters to act ethically and responsibly. That means being forthcoming and candid about the candidates presented. Recruiters want long-term relationships with their client companies, and there’s no better way to torpedo that trust than by placing a bad hire. It diminishes the quality of the team. Each new addition should help lift the standard of competency and values of the organization you’ve been engaged to help.

 

Candidates have many more tools at their disposal today, and professionals who manage their careers effectively know how to use these tools well. But even though computer networking seems more efficient, don’t lose sight of what really influences potential employers to have a memorable impression of you. Will it be a glossy presentation in Facebook or a face-to-face encounter?

Let’s say you go up to a CEO or a top-level executive after he or she has delivered a speech. You approach the podium beaming a genuine smile of appreciation and say, “May I give you my business card? If there might ever be a time we could sit and visit, I would value learning more about why you made some of the memorable decisions you described so well in your speech.”

Which impression is likelier to register and to get your foot in the door—the e-mail . . . or the heartfelt handshake plus?

 

In Facebook entries on the Web, I’m surprised at how few people feature a bold, clear statement of what their core professional competency is. Giving that matter prominence in itself shows you are a serious-minded person.

A recruiter reacts favorably if a person maps out their presence on the Web strategically, choosing to be visible on meaningful search engines and to avoid frivolous ones.

 

While I rarely use Facebook, for example, to assemble a candidate list, Web resources like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn are increasingly important in the vetting process.

 

Don’t celebrate your missteps in digital media or social networking sites. Think of yourself as a personal brand. Look at the damage Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Michael Phelps did to himself after a camera caught him using a bong in 2008.

 

Yes, you can easily damage your economic value. More important, you can mar how your personal values are perceived. We’re all grooming a personal brand. How many negative hits can you and your wallet afford to take by doing careless things?

 

The opposite may in fact be true. Be cautious about clicking the ‘send’ button for any e-mail addressed to a person who could influence your career or job prospects. People assume, incorrectly, that everyone makes allowances for reckless ideas or even bad grammar or misspelled words in an e-mail. That just isn’t so. Snail mail may have been slow, but the process of sending an old-fashioned letter gave people time to reflect and review before it was sent down the chute.

 

I’ve encountered many people in this sort of fix. Such a person might take on the job of being a temporary senior executive. Just last week, as one illustration, I placed an interim chief financial officer. This solution can be great for companies who can’t really afford to staff a long-term senior executive in a key position at this time. They may turn out to be hired full-time once the company conducts a permanent search.

Compared to other recessions in the last twenty years, I would say the average temporary senior executive is far “grayer” than in the past, and certainly matches the baby boomer age profile. Also, in this recession, people are becoming more pragmatic than was once the case. They are more entrepreneurial and adaptive—willing to accept learning new skills or taking on jobs that tap different skill sets—being creative about “reinventing” themselves.

Once the pendulum swings back—and we know it will—companies are sure to return to long-term talent acquisition, but temporary tours of duty may be just the ticket for displaced baby boomers today.

© The New Yorker Collection 2009 Leo Cullum from
cartoonbank.com
. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

So many people looking for jobs think something mystical will occur. The gods will either smile down upon them or not, and there really isn’t much we can do but wait for the phone to ring.

They act like Melvin, who went to church every day for years and would kneel down and pray, “Please, God, let me win the lottery.” Same prayer, every day. He never asked for anything else. Suddenly, one day, as he knelt praying, there was a clap of thunder, a bolt of lightning, and Melvin leaped up and yelled, “God, God, is that you?” A voice came back, “Yes, Melvin. It’s me.”

“Oh, thank you, God,” says Melvin, “I knew you would hear my prayers. I knew you were going to let me win the Powerball Lottery.”

“Melvin, Melvin, do me a favor . . . meet me halfway. Buy a ticket.”

Moral: You have to make things happen. You can’t just wait around all day and pray you’re going to get a job.

A friend of mine, a New England recruiter, likes to ask this question, “Well, what did you
do
today?” She tells me she eliminates more prospects on the basis of their answer to this question than any other in her arsenal.

Think of the ways you can answer.

For example, there’s: “After I dragged myself out of the sack, I flipped on TiVo for the latest dose of
30 Rock
and
CSI: Miami.
I think Tina Fey has the best deadpan look in videoland, and I intend to use it when the employment manager says something thick at my next interview. Hey, and who can beat David Caruso for cool wearing a pair of shades? Sunglasses of justice! Wait till I use that super-dude pose when I stride into an office reception area.

“Then, I shuffled into the kitchen and wolfed down a couple of MoonPies. No calls on the answering machine. Boy, that’s a bummer. I wonder if I have it turned on right. So I caught up on my research. The bush telegraph on the Gigwise site dished up one outrageous take on Amy Winehouse. Really a hoot.

“I like to keep active, so I grouted some tile in the bathroom. After that I debated whether I should get my hair cut today or wait until the unemployment check comes on Thursday. Tinkered with my résumé. A couple of more rewrites and it should be a winner. I think I saved the last draft right, or did I? My friend Waldo had a couple of swell licks in his curriculum vitae, so I pasted the same paragraphs into mine . . . just for style, of course.