Career Coach Office Hours: August 2 2022 | JobSearchTV.com
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
I answered questions about #jobsearch #hiringstaff #management #leadership #workplace issues. Join me at 1 PM Eastern on Tuesdays and Fridays. You can also message me on Linkedin before the show and I will answer it, too #careercoachofficehours #careercoaching #careercoach #jobsearchtips #jobsearchadvice #interviews #hiring #managingpeople #leadershipskills #linkedinlive #linkedinlivestreams
The show is shorter than usual. I inadvertently deleted anumber of questions that were in the queue.
Recession-Proof Your Career With Your Current Firm
02:37
What should I bring to an oral interview other than yourself? The one thing I always remind people of …let me restate that. The one thing I would suggest you bring to an oral interview is a copy of your resume. Your phone, in case you need directions, but your resume is for them in case for some reason, their tech isn’t working, they don’t have access to your resume, they can’t log in … whatever it is, there’s something impeding them from getting to your resume, to be fully present there at the time of the interview. So carry a copy of your resume. Carry your phone so you have directions on how to get there, who you’re asking for, and all the other sorts of stuff. Because I presume you have that in your phone, right? And thus, you’re not going to get there late. You have a sense of what the timeline is for the interview, and how long it will take to get there. Arrive a few minutes early, not a lot of time, but like five minutes early. And this allows you time to complete an application, if one’s called for. So that’s what I would bring to an oral interview.
04:04
In what ways do recruiters improve your job search? There are a couple of them. So one is a convenience factor. They are the go between. They are reaching out to people. They are scheduling appointments for you and for their client. They are rescheduling appointments, functioning between the two parties. That’s an administrative function. They also know what their client is looking for most of the time, so that they can deliver resumes or have conversations with them and reinforce those parts of your background to fit what their client is looking for. That’s really the big thing that they can tailor a resume on your behalf to make the fit on obvious to their client that you can do this job. They’re focusing is an intermediary in scheduling interviews. They’re having conversations with you and with a client that allows them to make the fit obvious to their client that you can do this job, and much more.
05:28
What makes me stand down on LinkedIn? Well, there’s a couple of things. And I’ll just simply say, the big thing is, how do people use LinkedIn? If you’re a recruiter, if you’re a hiring manager, you’re searching LinkedIn to find people to hire. So what makes you stand out? That you have the required skills, so your LinkedIn profile demonstrates your fit for a role that someone has, right? As such, what reinforces that are some of the comments, some of the podcasts, some of the articles that you’ve written. This helps you stand out from average Jane or Joe, who may also have similar experiences, but isn’t you. So what makes you you? Recommendations, endorsements, what you write or share. These help you stand out from other people. So again, what you write or share should include video, that you share their links, that you share on the platform, these all contribute to differentiating you from average Jane or Joe.
06:59
How do companies have time to do a full day interview process? The simple way to explain that is you’re probably not the only person that’s there. So they’re bringing you in two or three other people in to evaluate and assess concurrently. So they’re working with four or five, six different hiring managers, and playing round robin, moving all of you around, which at the end of the day, they think is more efficient. And I think is more efficient, too, in helping them come to a decision about who to hire for a role. So they may fill more than one position that day because more than one hiring manager may be trying to staff. But what gives them the time to do this is that it’s more efficient, it will take less time doing it this way. Let me show you how. The comparison I’m going to make is with you’re coming back for multiple interviews. Day number one, you do a phone interview with HR. During interview number two, you’re doing an interview with hiring manager. Day number three, you’re doing an interview with a member of the team. Day number four, you’re interviewing with someone from the user community. Day number five, their boss’s boss. So, you bet you’re dealing with five separate interviews, in order to get them to the point where they’re making an offer. In good times, they don’t think that that’s reasonable. They think they will lose you by doing that. So they’re trying to streamline their process, maybe hire for more than one position. And their thinking is, the sooner that you can get on board, the sooner, they’re getting results from you. So that’s how they can do it.
08:58
Is it appropriate to do a zoom interview from your bedroom? What’s wrong with doing a zoom interview from your bedroom? Well, they’re going to see me in my bedroom? Well, I’ll just simply say, you can blur your background so they can’t notice it’s really your bedroom. So, understand that from the bedroom, that’s one thing. But seeing the bedroom, that’s different, I would not do that. I would blur my background, to block that from view so that in this way, it’s not one of those bases for criticism that will cost you an opportunity. Seriously, blur your background. To do that, what you can do is once you’re connected, in the video area, there’s a drop down to the right of the camera. And if you use that drop down, you’ll see that there’s the ability to blur. So blur the background so this way people can’t see you’re in the bedroom. That does not help you in any way, shape, or form.
11:25
I gave my resignation in October 2021. Three months notice. (God bless). In April 2022, my company asked me to pay back my relocation allowance and they asked me after I leave. So the real question, I believe, is, what was it that you signed? What was it that you signed originally, that makes them think they can ask for their money back? If you signed that agreement that commits you to that? Well, they’re gonna come after you, at least I would have if I were them. So the goal becomes, you want to leave on good terms. And in doing so, not put yourself in the awkward position of them chasing you for money. Now, again, if I were you and that I’m getting these notices to pay back my relocation, I might forward something to them, because I assume you don’t have a contract. If you have the contract. You might message back saying ‘Where in my contract, am I obligated to pay back to relocation money?’ Seriously, where in the relocation agreement does it indicate that I’m obligated to pay back the relocation if I leave?’ ‘Well, I think it’s the right thing to do.’ ‘Yes, but where in the contract does it say I’m obligated?’ ‘Well, I think you should.’ ‘I’m not concerned about what you think I should do. It’s what I’m obligated to do.’ ‘Yes, but you’re leaving after nine months and are we believe that if you leave before at least one year, you should pay us back.’ ‘It’s not going to work that way, will it?’ They have not fulfilled something for you. You don’t need to say this to them. You can just very simply say, ‘show me where in the agreement I am obligated to pay back the firm for leaving.’ And then see what it says. It may not say that. It may do something very different. But the idea becomes make them tell you where it is you signed away your obligation to reimburse them or signed that you’re obligated to reimbursement. Without that, forget about it.
14:15
What should you do when your boss says you’re doing a great job, but they might have to let you go soon. Well, thank them, because they’re giving you a signal that it’s possible that layoffs are coming and you’re going to be in the crosshairs. So recognize that message so that in this way, you’re out interviewing, and you might just simply … well, you’re leaving there, so they’re telling you, it’s time to go. Really? That’s what they’re telling you with this question, because they’re probably going to have to let you go. As a junior individual, a less experienced person, you’re a target for termination. Catch that one. You’re a target for termination. So, don’t kid yourself. Your boss is doing you a favor, by giving us a signal that they’re you are at risk of being fired.
When You’ve Been Made Redundant, Fired, Laid Off, RIF’d
15:26
How do you handle a boss who pushes the workload of a two-man job on you, and you try to give solutions for lightening the load which the boss shot down your solutions? So I would wait for the next circumstance to occur and respond by simply saying, ‘Well, I’m going to have even fewer resources. I can’t handle that. But if I judge that you’re trying to get me to work on San Diego’s agenda and not my boss’s agenda. I’m not going to do that. So the easiest way to give them feedback is by pushing back on them so that they don’t think that they can get away with this. If you make it sufficiently unpleasant, people will leave like you. So get the heck out of there. And don’t put up with that crap. Because it really is crap. Okay, my motto seems to be a little bit frozen. My boss, sorry. Where are we? Oh, my goodness, I wiped out all my questions here. Let’s see if I can. Okay, wiped out almost everything I have here. So this is gonna be my last question. For today, since I inadvertently deleted? How do you handle a boss who pushes the workload of a two man job on you. And you try to give solutions of lightening the load, which the boss shot down your solutions? Okay, so the answer to this is pretty simple. So they want you to do the work of two people. And if you can, I would do it. If I can’t, I’m not going to injure myself. In order to do to the work that was previously done by two people, I can’t physically move something. In order to do that, that makes no sense to me. So I’m just going to tell you point blank, I can’t do it. I can’t do too, I will do the best that I can. But I can’t do the work of two people. Now what I can do, is the best I can, it will not satisfy you in so far is it is really the work of two people. So I’ll just simply say, that’s how you handle it. You let them know you can do it. If you push me to do it, I will do the best to the best of my ability. But you may not be happy with that. And I’m going to put that in writing that I’m I gave you a heads up that I didn’t think it could be done. So it’s your choice at this point.
[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDEUy5bQGRw[/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 2400 episodes.
Are you interested in 1:1 coaching, interview coaching, advice about networking more effectively, how to negotiate your offer or leadership coaching? People hire me to provide No BS career advice whether that is about a job search, hiring better, leadership, management or support with a workplace issue. Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
My courses are available on my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us/courses The courses include ones about Informational Interviews, Interviewing, final interview preparation, salary negotiation mistakes to avoid, the top 10 questions to prepare for on any job interview, and starting a new job.
I do a livestream on LinkedIn, YouTube (on the JobSearchTV.com account) and on Facebook (on the Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter page) Tuesdays and Fridays at 1 PM Eastern. You can send your questions about job search, hiring better, management, leadership or to get advice about a workplace issue to me via messaging on LinkedIn or in chat during the approximately 30 minute show.
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