Career Coach Office Hours: June 28 2022 | JobSearchTV.com

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

I answered questions about #jobsearch #hiringstaff #management #leadership #workplace issues. You can message me on Linkedin before the show and I will answer it, too. #careercoachofficehours #careercoaching #careercoach #jobsearchtips #jobsearchadvice #interviews #hiring #managingpeople #leadershipskills #linkedinlive #linkedinlivestreams

Career Coach Office Hours: June 24 2022

Is being a recruiter an easy and good job that is stable?

How can we hire people without giving a salary, but only a vision of success?

How effective are software engineering interviews in determining how good the candidate will turn out to be?

Is making an extra effort to recruit BIPOC or LGBTQ+ people, especially if you need to, an example of “tokenism”?

Is it risky to accept a great software engineering job offer in a top tech company if you think you are a mediocre programmer?

How do you choose an executive coach?

I just did an interview for a job, but a couple of hours after the interview the recruiter asked me if I get hired when can I start. Does that mean something good?

Recruiters Are Not Your Friends

Is being a recruiter, a good profession, that is stable? Is it a good job? Is it easy? And the answer is, it’s not easy. It is erratic at times. Stable? No. you are contingent upon your ability to find people to fill jobs and having a client that’s willing to pay you. Is it easy? Absolutely not. You’re dealing with people. People, shall we say under pressure, who at times will misrepresent themselves to you and what they’re capable of. I’ll also mention and say this a little tongue in cheek. I did recruiting for more than 40 years and filled more than 1000 or 1200 full time positions, plus consulting assignments during my career. And as a result, I’ve learned the three jokes of the recruiting business Joke number one, how can you tell an applicant is lying to you? Answer, their lips are moving. How do you tell one of your institutional customers is lying to you? Answer, their lips are moving. And the third one is how can you tell the third party recruiter is lying to you? Yes, their lips are moving because everyone postures for advantage in the relationship between the three parties. The good recruiters are the ones who are just the messengers of the exaggerations that the parties engaging with one another. So I’ll just simply say it is not an easy field and if you’re slumping, if you’re not filling jobs, you’ll get fired. That can happen in one week. It happened happen in two months, two years. They don’t care about your past. They just care about your results now. So no, it is not an easy feel. I think it is a great profession. I worked in it for a long time and was very successful. But what I’m seeing in a question like this, they’re not looking for the amount of effort that I put in to be successful. They are looking for this as like an easy job that they can kind of coast their way through. It isn’t one of those.

 

How can we hire people without giving a salary but only a vision of success? Hiring inexpensive junior people who will do anything. The veteran people won’t do this. They want to get paid and they deserve to get paid. They’ve spent years developing expertise. Do you think you can hypnotize them into doing something and working for very little or free? No, they’ve got bills to pay. Kids, on the other hand, you have a shot with and sometimes you can mesmerize them with your story, talk about your vision, not pay them a heck of a lot, because they still live with mom and dad, and mom and dad are going to foot the bill. So that’s really your only chance. Very experienced, very talented people you’ve got to pay for. So how can you do it? Man? You’re not. You’re not gonna do it for the very experienced talented people. It’s just that simple.

How Do I Follow Up on an Application When I Haven’t Heard Back for 2 Weeks?

How effective are software engineering interviews in determining how good the candidate will turn out to be? I’d love this question. Because, well, let’s work with that premise I gave earlier about everyone posturing for advantage with one another. And thus, they’re exaggerating; you’re exaggerating. And thus, too often, people are hired for jobs that they’re not capable of performing. You think you can evaluate for fit? You can’t. You think you can, but you really can’t. As a result, too many people get hired and leave within a few months because you’ve misrepresented the job to them. You misrepresented not just what they’re going to be doing, but the institutional friction that exists that prevents them from being effective. And conversely, you’re frustrated with them, because they’re kind of tuned out. They’ve given up and they’re starting to look elsewhere. You sense it. But there’s not a lot that you can do about it at that point. So how effective are these software engineering interviews in determining how successful the new hire will be? It depends. It depends upon whether you standardize your interview and in such a way is that you’re able to, shall we say, avoid some of the biases that show up in the process. The biases such as ‘she’s just like me. She went to the same school.’ I’m just using some simple examples. Or ‘he’s just like me; he went to this. He’s worked at such and such firm. I did too.’ But they were the bad person in the department. And you were the excellent lawyer. So how effective is it? You’ve got to standardize your process in order to ensure that you’re really evaluating and assessing people for their capabilities vis a vie the position and its requirements, the position you have available. Most of you don’t do that. You kind of walk over to someone and say, ‘talk with them for a minute. I’m interviewing them now for a job. See what you think. Tell me what you think. And that’s not a way to interview. That’s the lazy way. And that’s why you make mistakes. So I’ll just simply say, most of the time, because people don’t know what they’re doing, their interviews are not good. And they get those results that they deserve. Bad results, bad outcomes, bad hires, too much turnover, stuff like that. So let me start off by encouraging you. Be honest with the people that you talk to, the people that you interview, because when they join and they find out that you lied to them, you lose them, not just simply their bodies but emotionally you lose them. They are tuned out to you. They know they can’t trust you and you want to trust them when you hire. They want to trust you when they join. And if you start off by having conned them into a job, having lied to them to persuade them to join, not good.

 

Is making an extra effort to recruit BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ people, especially if you need to, an example of tokenism? No. No, it’s an example of hiring to ensure diversity in the culture. Tokenism is hiring to ensure diversity in the culture, but never listening to their advice or acting on it. Thus, they learn pretty quickly that they are seen as unimportant and their opinions don’t matter. As a result, you lose them, you lose their best efforts because the fact of the matter is you’ve made it clear to them that they don’t matter to you. That simple. They don’t matter because if they mattered you’ve listened to them. So start off with figuring out how to connect, involve listen, act on what people who are LGBTQ+ or BIPOC, what their opinions are, just like you do with the ones who are not. Have people disagree with one another. Encourage it. Explain why you make certain choices. And now, it’s not an example of tokenism. Like I said, not listening to or acting on the advice, or the opinions that you hear and thinking that people are going to be happy–That’s tokenism.

 

Is it risky to accept the great software engineering job offer in a top tech tech company if you think you’re a mediocre programmer? No. Because that could be a case of stinkin’ thinkin’ or imposter syndrome talking for you, where you don’t believe that you are capable.  but this firm does. And that’s true of any organization. You’re sitting there going, ‘Oh, I’m not any good. I’m not capable. Everyone’s better than me and they disagree with that assessment. They believe that you’re quite capable, and they want to hire you. Are you qualified to do that job? Are you interested in doing that job? Are you available to do the job? If so, why not do it if they’re paying you enough to do it? So is it risky to accept the software engineering job at a top firm if you think you’re mediocre? No, because the idea is they don’t think you’re mediocre? Do they. They wouldn’t have made you an offer if they thought you were mediocre?

Answering Behavioral Interview Questions The Right Way

How do you choose an executive coach? Great question. I think you choose an executive coach pretty simply. You choose them because you relate to them. You choose them because you don’t relate to them. They coach you as a human being and in becoming a better human being, you become a better executive. Do you connect with them? Or not? Do you have a referral to them or not? Not doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hire them because there are all these other factors that come into play that makes it possible for them to be a great coach. Do a conversation with them. See if you can relate. And, again, I’ll share one of my experiences with mentoring. Early in my career with a nonprofit, I sought out a mentor. In effect someone to coach me during a time I was developing in this nonprofit. And there was one man in particular I thought of reaching out to but if I decided not to and I went to someone who was the polar opposite of me and this other man, and I learned so much from him. It was such a great learning experience for me for many years, as he coached me in many, many situations, and helped me grow and develop. So I’ll just simply say, how do you choose one? Again, price and who’s paying for it is a factor? Because if you’re paying for and you can’t afford them, well, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hire them. Maybe you’ll figure out a way to pay for it and get the worth that you need from this person. So, again, there’s so many factors, but you know, I want to talk about how companies hire. I talk about how competence is only one thing that they look for self confidence, character, chemistry, charisma. Charisma is always a terrific attribute for a coach to have, and that they care, and it shows and you trust them. Ultimately, it comes down to trust. If you don’t trust them, don’t hire.

 

You did an interview for a job. But a couple of hours after the interview, the recruiter stated, the recruiter asked me, if I get hired, when can I start? Does that means something good? Usually, but not necessarily. Usually. because if they’re getting to the point of asking you about potential start date, they’re interested in you joining. That makes sense. But sometimes they’re trying to avoid someone who’s trying to surprise them by saying, ‘you know, I’d love to join. I’d say yes to an offer. But then you hear about the vacation that they have planned in Asia. They’re going to be away for two months, and all sorts of other nonsense that makes it impossible for them to join in a timely way for you. So I’ll just simply say, what does it mean? Is that a good sign? Normally, but it’s not guaranteed? I like this question.

 

In the era of psychologically disagreeable bosses, or managers coming to an end, does it mean, the old way is coming to an end, will the new way be bosses and managers leaving through time tested group psychology techniques that are less distressing to employees? I think you’re being remarkably optimistic here. There are some managers, there are some leaders who are more enlightened than others. Does that mean your manager, your leader is one of those people? You know better than I as to whether that’s true or not, but they may not be? As a result, you may be joining an organization, where, shall we say, your manager is disagreeable? You know, they push people; they bully? Who knows! But you have to look for these qualities and, as you talk with people, by the way, the one phrase I’m really objected to is psychologically disagreeable bosses or managers primarily because I don’t know your capability to determine whether or not someone is psychologically distressing, or a distressed manager or boss. What makes them that way? is it that they bully people to do their job? That’s one benchmark for it. It doesn’t mean that everyone in that organization is different. You work for one person, maybe two or three. And they may be different than the ones, than the other ones. Feel comfortable. If you don’t feel comfortable, don’t do it. It’s really that simple. Next question is,

FEELING DEPRESSED About Your Search? Struggling? Feeling Fatigued?

is it a good idea to say that the current job is not doing well financially to an interviewer and that is why you want to leave? So the answer is, it’s not ideal. The only time it works is if this is a company whose name is in the press, and people know that they’re having a hard time. So, for example, you read something about a particular firm. Other people read about it; it’s on the TV news. And you say, ‘you probably have heard that my firm’s is in a distressed state right now, and I would expect from what we’re seeing, there are gonna be job cuts coming down pretty soon.’ That’s one level of things. Another thing is revealing something confidential that says, ‘you know, we’re having problems, and I don’t want to stay here until the doors shut.’ Ooooh!. So there are lots of different ways to evaluate for whether this is a troubled company. Always look for signals online. And in terms of what you tell HR, you can always say, ‘you may or may not have seen that my firm isn’t doing particularly well. And one of the things you might look for, say that you’re looking for is a more stable environment where you can learn, grow and get ahead. And that’s going to have you stand out from your competition all the time.

 

How do good leaders identifying gifts in people? So the answer is you listen and observe. You listen to what they say, and don’t say. You observe what they do and don’t do. You notice how they are superior to the other people in the group. It makes a difference. As a result, taking the time to notice someone’s excellence is an important way to determine whether or not you want to hire them.

 

Is management by walking around the best kind of management? I’m going to give you a wonderful answer I love to give from time to time. And the answer is, ‘I don’t know.’ I think management by walking around is known to be an excellent process for identifying and hiring talent. As a result, what you find is that walking around and noticing how people are doing great work works for you. So is it best? I don’t think so. Are there better? I’m sure there are. And thus what you want to be doing is noticing people, complimenting them, encouraging them inspiring them to being their best.

 

7 Things to Do When Your Job Search Calendar is Empty

ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

Jeff Altman, The Big Game HunterJeff 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 websitewww.TheBigGameHunter.us/courses The courses include ones about Informational InterviewsInterviewing, final interview preparation, salary negotiation mistakes to avoidthe 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

JobSearchTV.com
JobSearchTV.com

via messaging on LinkedIn or in chat during the approximately 30 minute show.

Classes On Skillshare https://thebiggamehunter.us/Skillshare 

Freelancing or hiring a freelancer: fiverr.com https://thebiggamehunter.us/fiverr. or Freelancer: https://thebiggamehunter.us/freelance

To set up your freelance business correctly: incorporate https://thebiggamehunter.us/incorporate

Connect with me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/thebiggamehunter 

Watch my videos on YouTube at JobSearchTV.com, the Job Search TV app for fireTV or a firestick or Bingenetworks.tv for Apple TV, and 90+ smart tv’s.

Thinking of making a career change and need some ideas that fit you. CareerFitter offers a free test and if you want more you can upgrade for the paid version.https://thebiggamehunter.us/Career

We grant permission for this post and others to be used on your website as long as a backlink is included and notice is provided that it is provided by Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter as an author or creator.

 

About the author

Leave a Comment, Thought, Opinion. Speak like you're speaking with someone you love.