Career Coach Office Hours: April 15 2022 | JobSearchTV.com
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Virtual Career Fairs When You Are Relocating
I answered questions about #jobsearch #hiringstaff #management #leadership #workplace issues or anything work for that matter, join me at 1 PM Eastern on Tuesdays and Fridays and put your question into chat. You can also email questions to TheBigGameHunter(at) gmail.com and put the phrase “Office Hours” into the subject line or message me on Linkedin and I will answer it on my next show. #careercoachofficehours #careercoaching #careercoach #jobsearchtips #jobsearchadvice #interviews #hiring #managingpeople #leadershipskills #linkedinlive #linkedinlivestreams
00:00 Intro and Coffee Toast
03:26 How can a recruiter help a candidate in the hiring process?
04:59 How do I gently discourage my employee from taking sick leave?
06:40 Do you help hiring remote resources?
08:17 When is the best time to have a job interview?
10:02 Why do companies always resort to firing staff to save money? Aren’t there other areas of the business they could look at?
12:49 Can an employee opt out of having their photo/name posted on the company website or social media? If so, how should the employee bring this up? Should it be brought up before accepting a job offer?
15:36 I got an offer at a place I am excited for, but the initial pay is 15% less than my current salary. A salary revision will be conducted in 2-3 months after joining the company where it could increase. Should I take it?
18:32 Should I be transparent with why I decided to leave the company? I was grotesquely underpaid for my role. I know that people with the same level gets 44% more than I make even though they have less responsibility. Any advice?
22:52 How do I create a positive environment where employees feel at ease about lacking/seeking knowledge?
24:01 Do cover letters repeat information in a resume?
25:35 How do you encourage your staff to build your business?
27:34 Can recruiters rate or report candidates on LinkedIn?
29:10 Outro
Standing Out on an Interview
03:26
How can a recruiter help a candidate in the process? I presume in the process of being hired. So they can do in a number of ways. Number one is, and the big one is, they can handle all the mechanics of scheduling appointments, they know what might be available to you and submit your resume to that manager or that HR person so that in this way, you wind up with an interview. They can prepare you for the interviews, share knowledge and their experience with that recruiter or recruiting for that firm to give you a sense of what you’re walking into, nuances, because the job descriptions are not completely accurate. And most people don’t know that little trick that I have of questions that you ask or a question that you ask at the beginning of the interview that will help you understand what a firm is looking for. Schedule the appointment, help negotiate for you. You know, be the the virtual assistant for you scheduling, putting you on people’s schedules, rescheduling, critiquing your resume visa vie the role. There’s a lot that recruiters could do to help you. So that’s how a recruiter can help during the hiring process.
05:00
How do I gently discourage my employee from taking sick leave? I have no idea why you would want to do that. So let me just start off with the way I can help is pretty simple. Or let me just pause for a second and go. Why you would want to discourage someone from taking sick leave is bizarre. Now when I read the question, this was a wife writing for her husband who had worked for one firm through three different owners, and finally was sufficiently ill that he required hospitalization, came out, had another medical issue. And they were trying to persuade him to go back to work and he actually took sick leave. They denied the sick leave, because he hadn’t put in for it in advance. Really? Like he was supposed to know he was sick. So he was going to be sick. So I’m just going to pause for a second and say don’t discourage people from taking sick leave. Unless they’re taking sick leave in lieu of vacation time. It’s there for illnesses. And what this woman described to me was her husband was ill and needed to take sick leave. But why you would discourage someone makes no sense, especially with someone who’s been associated with the organization for a long period of time, which was the case here. Don’t do that kind of stuff.
06:40
So I received this question from someone in chat. Do I help hire remote resources? I hate the word resources. People. I like the word people. So I’m not a recruiter; I coach people throughout the process. And people need advice about finding work because most of you are amateurs. Most of you think you know how the process works, but you really don’t. It’s why I do these livestreams and answer questions from people so that you’re getting the advice of someone who worked in search for longer than some of you were alive and now coaches people at all levels to help you land in new roles. So, yes, I work with people abroad. I just helped someone land an executive marketing position. based out in Germany. I’m working with someone else in Asia, currently, a couple of people in Canada. I work with people globally. I’ve worked with people in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, a number of different places. So, yes, I have I help people work remotely on a US clock. So if you’re telling me that I need to be up at 4am to coach you, that’s not eme. I’ll see if I can get someone local, and perhaps I could introduce you to someone if that makes sense. Let’s go the next question.
08:18
What is the best time to have a job interview. There is no specific time of day. Now, I tend to think there are people who . . . let me pause for a second. If you’re a morning person, try to get morning interviews. If you’re an afternoon person or late afternoon person, try to get things scheduled at that time. But understand, you’re only part of the equation; you’re dealing with someone else. And frankly, you need to be more accommodating to them than to make demands about you. So, generally, I tell people to stay off Monday morning until late morning, at earliest. For me and for many of the people I worked with, if they were working past five, I would try to see if my client would be available after five for an interview. But most of the time they weren’t. They may have been working, they may have been commuting. They don’t want to work 24/7. And just remember from from the standpoint of you, I understand you may want to do things off hours. But from their standpoint, they want to demonstrate that they don’t want their people working 24/7 So what’s the best time? It’s when you’re at your best? What’s the best time for them when they’re available and they’re not distracted? So that’s really the best answer I can give you.
10:04
Why do companies always resort to firing staff to save money? Are there other areas of the business they could look at? So, yes, there are other areas that they can look at. And they usually do. And they may sell off a line of business. They may attempt to reduce certain costs, but it’s not like turning off light switches is going to make a significant difference. It doesn’t. So you want them to reduce marketing. Now, real estate, they try to, but they have to buy out leases, which means that they have to write checks out to do that. They may try to consolidate real estate. So for example, when I worked in search, and the great recession was starting, I do remember going to the owner of the firm. And we had two floors in midtown Manhattan. And I said, I want to help you here. So we can all sit around commiserating about how tough it’s going to be. But I’m also aware that from the standpoint of what’s good for you, can we consolidate on one floor and give back one of the floors of office space? What needs to happen about that? I was thanked for coming up with the idea, because it was a significant saving to the firm. So real estate is a big thing. Phone bills are non existent. Internet. You need internet. Computers, they may not do an upgrade of technology for some time. You have to maintain it. So you still need support personnel, or outsource to another firm. So those costs are still there. Eventually it comes down to people. And, you know, the more expensive someone is, or the more expensive the team is, the more likely it is their senior people on staff who are going to be cut in order to save money. Because one person making $200,000. Well, that’s like four people making 50 or three people making 65 or 70,000. And so they tend to go at more experienced people, rather than staff because staff still need to do stuff. And they reassign people to different leaders on staff or different managers. So it tends to be managers who tend to get caught or more expensive people get
What Is The Best Way to Get a Job When Unemployed And Over 50?
12:50
J Grace. Can an employee opt out of having their photo or name posted on the company website or social media? If so, how should the employee bring this up? Should it be brought up before accepting a job offer? So let me work with an assumption here. And please correct me if the assumption’s incorrect. This is a smaller firm that you’re going to work for. And it begs the question of why would you not want to do it? Is it that you’re not fully committed? If so, why should you go to work for a firm that you’re not fully committed to? Should it be brought up before accepting an offer? I don’t know if that’s even necessary. You don’t have to provide them with an image of yourself. Your name? Let’s assume you’re about to be a senior person, or a member of the leadership in an organization. Part of what they tried to do is promote the firm by promoting the people within it. Now, the negative for you in doing this, is you lose a degree of credibility if you decide to change jobs. So, for example, if you were joining the firm as Chief Technology Officer, and didn’t want your photo there, didn’t want your name to appear on the site, and you said you were CTO of this firm, and all the other C people are there, people may distrust it. So you can do it. And don’t provide them with an image. I would encourage you to have your name on the site. But if that’s not what you want, you’re creating an issue between yourself and the leadership of the firm that’s going to make them doubt your commitment. And that has an impact upon you once you’re on board. If you do it beforehand, well, that causes the same thing and makes them question your commitment and may cause the offer to be rescinded. There’s no simple way to do this. You know, the egos of the people involved better than I. So you have to take that into account as to whether or not you damage your relationship with them by doing this, or whether you think it’s going to be a no brainer to them if you do this. And J Grace, if there’s more, put it into chat, I’d be very happy to deal with that as well.
15:37
I got an offer at a place I’m excited about but the initial pay is 15% less than my current salary. A salary revision will be conducted in two to three months after joining where it could increase. Should I take it? Well, personally, I think no. And let me explain why. The way you’re phrasing this, a salary revision will be conducted in two to three months after joining where it could increase. No guarantee that it will increase. No guarantee that you will make up the money that you’re taking a pay cut for, or get you more. For all, you know, it’s going to be a 3% revision, in which case, you’re 12% behind. And this is at a time where the headline number for inflation is at eight and a half percent, which means you have to earn closer to 11, 11 and a half percent to break even because government takes taxes out, right? You don’t get the full eight and a half percent. They take a piece. So you have to aim higher in order to make enough to cover where inflation is today. And I believe it’s actually going to go higher for a while now. Why do I think so? Because the Producer Price Index was up by 11.1% last month, which means prices of goods and services are also going to be going up, because producers are not going to eat that amount of money. So should you do it? I don’t think so. And anyone who tells you that, just simply say, “Do you think I’m rich or something? Because, you know, I’m not. I need to make a reasonable amount of money. And you’re asking me to take cut. So back to finishing this question. Don’t do it. You’re being treated like an imbecile. And that’s not a good place to start. Everything I know you’ve read indicates that there’s a more labor market out there that’s short on people, and they’re trying to get you on the cheap. Now, if you have completely unmarketable skills, my answer might be a little different. But even so, a 15% cut, you may get an increase in two to three months. I don’t know how much it could be. You have no idea if they’ll even let you get back to your previous salary. So don’t do it. Okay. And it is your choice, but I don’t think you should do it.
Interview Like an Expert: Learn an Interview Framework That Makes a Difference
18:30
Should I be transparent about with why I decided to leave my company? I was grotesquely underpaid for my role. I think you need to talk to the last person. I know that people with the same level, the same level get 44% more than I make even though they have less responsibility. And I just want to simply state the facts. I don’t want to cause drama or get bitter. I love my team. My manager’s a nice woman. And the salary and responsibilities probably aren’t something she has influence on because I joined her team six months ago. Any advice? Well, I think you need to confirm your data first. So the first piece of data is I might sit down with her and go “I heard something. Tell me if I’ve heard incorrectly. But the last 3 people you’ve hired into this group make a lot more than I do. And they do less than I do. So, is that true? Are they making more than 40% more than me? And then shut up and listen. Hopefully your manager who you described as a nice woman will tell you the truth. Once you have that conversation, you verify it with the people. Now, if you already know the answer, now you’re really going to determine if she’s a nice person, because some managers will look you straight in the eye and lie. And thus, she’s not the nice woman that you think she is. So let me just start by saying, you can talk with the people first and confirm what they’re earning. If you’ve done that already, sit down with your manager and say, “why is it that the new hires are making so much more than me? When can I get that kind of money?” “Oh, we can’t do that,” and get out. Because with inflation being what it is, I know you’re not independently wealthy. You work for your paycheck, and your paycheck is about to be worth less. Find someone who pay you what you’re worth. Now, you can wait until your raise which hopefully is sooner rather than later. So if you get a 5% raise, and then go change jobs, the new employer is going to work off the higher number. So get out. Don’t fool around, just move on.
21:21
So for that person who asked me about taking a salary reduction, if he ignored my advice about it, and decided to start, there’s a great course that’s going to help you launch well in a new job, whether you’re at a staff level, where I’ve got, and I also have a great 25 minute interview I did on this subject with someone that will help you if you’re at a more senior level.
Interviewing for a Contract or Temp Assignment
22:48
Let’s go to the next question. Okay. How do I create a positive environment where employees feel at ease about lacking or seeking knowledge? Well, it starts off when you’re interviewing people and you say to them, “Look, I don’t expect you to know everything. I want to hire people with particular skills. This is what I need someone to know and this is what you’re going to wind up doing. But I also expect you don’t know everything about everything. So I want to hire people who are curious, who will work hard, will try to do things where they seek advancement in their career. There’s just, I want to help you learn and grow. So that in this way, you develop professionally. And frankly, I get the benefit of that learning.” And then when they make mistakes, you don’t get punitive with them. You say, “Okay, let’s break down what happened to you.” This is all about you, and the environment where they can trust you.
24:02
Do cover letters repeat information in a resume. I’m not a fan of doing that. What I believe a cover letter should do is connect the dots between the position description and your experience. So it doesn’t have to repeat it, but it’s an appetizer for them. So my premise of a cover letter goes like this. I’m forwarding my resume to you because of the position I understand you have available for such and such. This is what I’ve been told about the job or this is the job description I’ve seen. Let me show you how my background fits. Flush left you put one of the requirements of the position, flush right how long and how recently you’ve done that or used that particular skill. Same thing with the functionality of the job. Flush left is what you’ll do; flush right is how long you’ve done it. List it and if you haven’t done something that’s in the job description, skip it. And close it out by saying, “I look forward to hearing from you about next steps. And we’ll follow up in two days to see if you’d like to speak with me.” Keep it very simple. Okay? So, do you list the same thing? Actually, no, it’s not a replica of your resume. But it connects the dots and creates an appetizer for them so they want to open up a resume file and take a look at it.
25:36
How do you encourage your staff to build your business? Well, carrots and sticks, carrots and sticks, primarily carrots. And the way I would do it is by saying to them, you know, we’re all in this together. So, yes, I own the business. But I want to help you profit from our success as well. You make a contribution contribution that has an immediate benefit on on the business, once we start experiencing that benefit. I’ll give you a spot bonus, we’ll have profit sharing at this firm, we’ll do bonuses based upon firmwide profitability and individual contribution. Those of you who provide more to the bottom line make more in the way of a bonus. And for those who don’t want to do that, that’s okay. No pressure for me. I’m going to publicly reward people for doing great stuff. And leave it at that. And then when someone does it, I’m going to give them a check, make it public. “Heah, so and so, Shirley, here, Ramesh here, Joan here, Wen, whoever it is, made a great contribution that I really appreciate. We’ve been able to generate X number of $100,000, as a result for X number of 1000s of dollars or millions of dollars. And we appreciate it. Here’s a check as a way of saying thank you for your contribution, celebrate together, criticize in private, but celebrate and give rewards to people. It does make a difference.
27:35
Can recruiters rate or report candidates on LinkedIn? I’m going to start with rate and then go to report. In the LinkedIn Recruiter product, it has a built in applicant tracking system where they can take notes. Now are the notes public? No. But they can be viewed by other people within an office that are on the same LinkedIn account. And thus, people can see what she has been commented about by this recruiter. And thus, if you are rude to people, it will come back and bite you. If you are, if you do something critical like you accept an offer, and then ghost them, they’ll put that into their notes to remember. They want to remember you so that you never hurt them again because you cost them a lot of money. You caused headaches to their client. And that’s a problem for them. So will that be public? Will they chastise you for it and embarrass you in front of other people? No, that’s not how it works. But what they can do is make your life miserable within their firm. So then, this way, no one is ever adversely affected by your behavior.
[svp] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcyJDqy96eo[/svp]
When You’ve Been Made Redundant, Fired, Laid Off, RIF’d
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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