Career Coach Office Hours: April 12 2022 | JobSearchTV.com
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Virtual Career Fairs When You Are Relocating
What’s the most common mistake to make when recruiting a staff? I think the most common one is that people are not clear about what’s going to make someone successful in the role. They work off an old job description and never update it. Thus, their HR business partner, their recruiting resources waste a lot of time in presenting people to them that don’t fit the current thinking. And as a result, that wastes a lot of time. Now, we can talk about hiring people who don’t have the skills or and hope that they’ll grow in the job, or hiring someone who doesn’t really care about what you do and what your firm does, who’s burned out for some reason. We can talk about all that stuff. But the most common mistake I think people make, the most common mistake hiring managers make is they don’t clear get clear about the requirements of the position as they currently are, work from an old job description, don’t share any new information, and thus, waste everyone’s time. They bring people into the search to evaluate. “Talk with someone so about this job and tell me what you’re think” without getting clear about what your thinking is about the role and what’s going to be required. So they’re basically interviewing by a whim, rather than with intention. So it’s stuff like this, I think are the big mistakes that firms make, that hiring managers make when recruiting staff.
I’m moving to the final stage of the interview process. They originally said they wanted me to return on the 28th, but asked me to come back on the 18th Is this good or bad thing that they wanted me to come sooner?
Well, I would say it’s gonna be a good thing. And I say that because if it was a bad thing, they didn’t have to meet you. They could have just basically contacted you and said, “We found someone that was perfect, and no need to meet with you. We’re going to be making them an offer. Good luck. Have a great day.” So I view this as being a good thing on their part. They’ve accelerated their interviewing, I’m going to tell you don’t assume that this is a guarantee that you’re going to be hired. They’re probably bringing a few people back, they want to make a decision. They’re afraid of losing at least one of you. And thus, what they’re looking for is to make a decision now. So consider it good news, but not a guarantee of anything.
Standing Out on an Interview
How do you overcome ageism when looking for a job? And then someone asked me, Why is ageism, commonly accepted in hiring?
I’ll speak of my own experience with being a perpetrator of ageism. When I was younger, and I worked in recruiting, I worked for a third party firm. And often, I got the message pretty clearly from my clients, that they didn’t want to hire someone who is older. Like they didn’t say it directly, but they’d use all those indirect code phrases, that signal that they really didn’t want to hire someone older. “They won’t fit in.” “I’m not sure that they’ll be happy taking a step backward in their career,” even though they know what the job is. They’re very clear about it. But we’re not so sure that they’re willing to take a step backward, even though they sat there and said very clearly, this is where I want to be now, I don’t want to manage or lead. I want to be a doer again. You know, I’m at a stage where I don’t want that additional pressure.
Now, how do you overcome ageism? Well, it starts off with connection. Connection with the interviewers. You know, I was watching a movie last night. It’s a poker movie called Rounders with Matt Damon, John Turturro, Ed Norton. It’s on HBO Max. Terrific movie from probably 10, 15 years ago. So everyone looks a lot younger than they do now. And it’s a poker movie. And there’s a conversation that Matt Damon does as a monologue, where he says, “I don’t play the cards, I play the players.” And he looks for the signals that tip him off as to what kind of cards they have. And the same thing applies to you in an interview as a job hunter who’s concerned about ageism. You so concerned about the facts, you’re so concerned with conveying your competence, you forget about displaying self confidence, character, chemistry, charisma, you know, that you care about the work, and that you can connect with the interviewers along the way.
It’s not like if you’re the 62 year old woman, and you’re interviewing with a bunch of 28 year olds, you’re going to be their best friend, but you don’t want to come across as mom or worse, grandma, to them, right? It’s not about dressing trendy if you’re the 67 year old guy, and interviewing with a bunch of 32 year olds. It’s about connecting with them as people and making it clear. “Hey, look, I’m not here to be your mom or dad, and I don’t know anything better than you. You know, I know what I know, I believe I can help, especially with hiring managers, where they’re always looking and concerned about whether you’re going to look over their shoulder and judge them and be a negative influence in the organization. You have to be aware of that and put it on the table. “Look, I’ve helped a lot of people grow professionally. I don’t force my ideas on them. I wait until I’m asked, unless I see something critically wrong. It’s so rare, I see something critically wrong. So you don’t have to worry about me being a judge to you, and telling everyone that you’re doing things wrong, or I know how to do this better. I don’t! You know a lot more than I do about a lot of things. So I just want to support you being great and help get the job done that you want me to get done. And speak with sincerity with conviction. And with eye contact that basically says you can trust me on this. I really don’t want to hurt you professionally. I just want to do my job, go home, help your organization be effective, etc.
What should I tell the customer when they say “Can I speak to your supervisor?” The correct answer is “Sure. Hold on one second, I’ll get them on the line.” I’ll speak of my own experience, because I’ve been that person where I know the person I’m talking to, can only say no, that’s as far as their authority goes. They follow an institutional line of thinking, where they’ve been told, just refuse them, get them off the phone, they’ll go away. And that’s not good enough for me sometimes. So there is my mobile phone carrier. I saw an ad that was very explicit that offered $1,000 toward a new phone. And they said, I didn’t deserve that phone, because I forgot what the excuse was, nor is it particularly important. I qualified for that phone. And it took a few hours of time, however, on more than one occasion to get what I was entitled to, but I escalated it because I knew that the person I was talking to couldn’t say yes. And I had a screenshot. And I had a URL to a webpage that said I was. So the idea very simply is, once you know, you can’t satisfy this person, rather than arguing, just simply go, “Sure. Hold on one minute, I’ll get them on. If for some reason, there’s a delay, I’ll come back to you and let you know, and I’ll stay on with this so you don’t think I’m hanging up the phone? I’ll be there with you. So just hang in there. And I’ll be back in about 30 seconds if there’s gonna be a delay.” That’s what you do.
As someone who’s lost their job, have you ever had a former employer, try to fight your unemployment claim? My son did. It was bizarre. He was in New York. And he’s, at that time, he was probably 19 years old, and working for a dentist in a dental office. He was the office manager at 19. And she qualified as an essential worker. He was someone who has an asthma history. And under one New York state law, he was entitled to special care, because he had a preexisting medical condition that would kill him if he caught COVID. And she was entitled to have her workforce come in, because she was a an essential worker. So he politely said, “you know, I’ll log in remotely, or do everything remote, I have no problem doing that. And she insisted he come to the office. And he recorded messages from her threatening him. And he wrote, and basically said, “I’m not willing to do it. They sent texts to one another. So it was easy to also follow that train of thought and she contested his unemployment. He was collecting the supplemental unemployment insurance that the government was offering. And she was concerned her rates would go up. And apparently she did this with regularity with people who left. And he attended multiple hearings, and won his claim. So he got doctor’s notes, confirming because she demanded a doctor’s note to verify that he had this history. He provided one from his doctor in North Carolina, where we lived and where he lived until he moved to New York. And she said, “Why don’t you have a doctor here? He’s seen me for 10 years. I’ve been pretty healthy so far. But I know I have an asthma history and this person attested to it. So this person I see locally doesn’t know me, like the person who’s seen me for 10 years. And he won his claim. So yes, it can happen and just very calmly fight it, and know the law and know what’s required of you so that in this way, you can win your claim.
How do I explain to a hiring manager why I omitted a position on my resume that closely aligns with what they do? It was a mistake. Basically, what you say is in the editing process, I made a mistake, I inadvertently deleted something that should have been there and it’s probably the most important part of my background related to your job. So I apologize, this is the accurate resume, and you send it to them. Again, because I assume you don’t have an interview, and if you upload it to an applicant tracking system, you might need to re upload it. Make a small change and use a second email address when you do it for the second email address to your primary, so this way they can see it. And you might just, if you’re asked for comments or additional information, say, I uploaded my resume previously, and in the editing process, I missed the mistake that my resume writer made, where they inadvertently deleted a position that was closely aligned with your job. Please review my resume; I hope to have a chance to meet with you. That’s the way.
How much time should my notice period be? So I’m going to start off with, in the US, it’s common to give two weeks notice, sometimes three is appropriate, if you’re finishing up some work, and it has a deadline and leaving the project prematurely will have an adverse impact on the success of the project, and affect the remaining people who are there. Now in Europe, it’s different. In Europe, it’s very common to have three months as a notice period. Again, different companies or countries have different rules. And I know someone I’ve been working with had to give three months notice before leaving his position with a firm. So two to three weeks is most common in the US. Don’t go to a month. Two to three weeks, generally, two is the most common imaginable.
How can I get more LinkedIn connections that will help me find a job? Answer this question–Why should they help you find the job? What’s in it for them? What do they really know about you that’s gonna make them stop everything and help you find a job? Do they really know you except as a connection on LinkedIn? Do they know anything about your work, your capabilities, anything about you? Have you ever spoken to them? If they are your real friends, and professional colleagues, present or former? They’re more likely to help than they, in my case, 26 or 27,000 first level connections, who generally reached out to me and I’ve never heard from again. So, you know, why should I help them except I share content and information with people so that they learn from me? And from your standpoint, if you could answer that question, what’s in it for them? Why should they help you? You have a shot of getting their help? Because you explain it to them? Otherwise, you’re kidding yourself. They have no reason to do any more than you’ve helped other people in the past, who you don’t really know, in finding a job as well.
What Is The Best Way to Get a Job When Unemployed And Over 50?
How do you close an interview that takes a longer time? So I’m gonna translate that into let’s say, I’m on the calendar for 30 minutes, and we’re 40 minutes in and they’ve got a head of steam going and they’re not ready to end it. You have a decision to make. And the decision is do you really have time that you can go longer? If so, don’t end it; just go with the flow. They like what they’re hearing, otherwise they would have ended it. On the other hand, let’s assume you have an appointment that backs up on this one and you have to be available for that one, you can pause for a second and as you finish answering a question, say, “when I was asked to schedule this appointment, I was asked to set aside 30 minutes. And I did that with a little bit of cushion. But I have another appointment that’s due to start in five minutes over Zoom. So if you’d like, let’s reschedule a continuation of this conversation and continue the call, or the session or the what have you. Does that work for you?” And everyone will say yes, because they ran long, not you. So if you can go longer, great. If you can’t very politely say “I was asked to set aside this amount of time, and I did plus, and I’m starting to bump up against another appointment that I have. So can we schedule a continuation of this conversation, so that you can complete what you need?
Does zip recruiter have a higher quality of jobsthan Indeed? No. Let’s go to the next question. It’s a job board; people post jobs there. I don’t know what you mean “higher quality.” Most people think that that means it fits them. So it has jobs there. Indeed, has jobs. Look for jobs that fit you. You may find some overlap. But the reality is, it’s a job board. It’s a list of positions that firms have posted there. Higher quality, probably not. It has jobs.
What does it mean, when my job application is put on hold? Because the company is finding a second headcount, with complementary skills to the first. You had to accept the job offer. I’m sorry, for being read this again. What does it mean when my job application is put on hold because the company is finding a second headcount for a complementary skill to the first. Are they still interested in me? This person is second headcount. It’s hard to tell if I’m understanding the scenario correctly. What’s happened is, you’re in this second group. Oh, I understand that. You’re in the second group, you’ve been put on hold. They’re trying to hire someone for one headcount, you’re in the second group, and you’ve been put on hold. The answer is they’re probably not interested because you’re not in that group that they’re focusing on now. They’ve put you on hold,. Maybe they want to talk to more people, and not just simply you that bringing in competition. I wouldn’t bet on them bringing you on board. So are they interested? It’s hard to tell, but the probability is no.
Interview Like an Expert: Learn an Interview Framework That Makes a Difference
[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyrbxoyxesk[/svp]
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves career coaching, as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2300 episodes.
Are you interested in 1:1 coaching, interview coaching, advice about networking more effectively, how to negotiate your offer or leadership coaching? Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
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