Career Coach Office Hours: September 16 2022 | JobSearchTV.com

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
I answered questions about job search, hiring staff, management, career transition, as well as workplace issues. Join me at 1 PM Eastern on Tuesdays and Fridays on LinkedIn or YouTube (JobSearchTV.com channel). You can also message me on Linkedin before the show and I will answer it, too.

How Proactive Networking Will Prepare You For The Inevitable

[04:11]

During a job interview, the interviewer told me that they’re sorry that this job they are going to offer me is going to distract me from my business. Does that mean I’m hired? Here’s the tricky part of this. They’re probably making you an offer, but they’re gonna expect you to give them greatest attention and not your business. Maybe they want to hire you full time and you’ve been self-employed and you’re interviewing for a contract assignment. Whatever it is, they’re signaling that your business is going to suffer if you accept their offer. And that’s really what they’re telling you; that you’re going to have a choice to make. You’re either going to work for us, or you’re going to be self-employed. And the probability is that if they hire you, they’re going to expect you to dedicateinformational interviews1 your time and effort to them, and not to your business. So, yes, they’re probably hiring you. Let me know how it turns out, okay?

 

[05:19]

Are there dangers in hiring people smarter than you? I think the simplest way I could point it out, is it’s not about hiring people smarter than you, per se. It’s about hiring people who are arrogant and smarter than you. Being smarter than you is not intrinsically a problem. It’s the personality of the individual, that can be a problem that can exist, whether someone is smarter than you or not. So the real question is, are they arrogant? That’s really the biggest thing from a danger perspective, to be concerned about. That if they think you’re not someone that they can respect, their arrogance is going to get the best of them, and they’re going to be abusive towards you, and become an organizational problem. So that’s really the sole danger I see that someone can have. The rest, you know, about being smarter than you, hey, they’re working for you. So if they can deliver, and they’re working for you, and they’re poking fun at you, that’s their arrogance showing up, right. So, right off the bat, I would simply say in meeting with people, ‘I’m looking for people who are incredibly smart, who can take direction, offer input, and work well with one another.’ That defines the terms of engagement that they’re going to be expected to work under. So I don’t think it’s an issue unless you don’t know how to recognize arrogance, when you talk to someone.

 

[07:19]

How would you find and fit in a role, where uniqueness or skills are more important than on paper experience, in terms of promotion within the company? Slow and steady wins the race, but are there any major factors or opportunities in today’s uneven career that most people are overlooking? I’m going to deal with the first part of this. How would you find and fit in a role where uniqueness and skills are more important than on-paper experience? I think the simplest way I can recommend is to be referred by someone who knows you and the hiring manager well enough to identify that you can help them and vice versa. So that’s really about your relationship with people and your willingness and ability to call in markers that indicate ‘this is who I am. You know me. You have a good idea of what I’m like. is there someone in your organization who I should be working for? And in terms of the overall experience, don’t sweat it. It’ll be fun.

 

[08:48]

Do we need a LinkedIn profile to do LinkedIn Learning? I think you can have a very basic LinkedIn profile, and do LinkedIn Learning. But I want to remind you that LinkedIn Learning is a paid service. So this is not a free thing; you are paying for it. So I believe it’s $59 a month to have the lowest-end premium service on LinkedIn. If you’re looking at this at a later date, you’ll find out what the price is currently. So just look at what the cost is of LinkedIn Learning. I think you can just be a member of the platform and be willing to pay and you’ll be good.

I Keep Sending Out Resumes, Following Up and Getting No Results

[09:39]

How do you verify that salary cannot be negotiated after the recruiter says a number is the best offer? So I’m going to work with the assumption that Negotiatingthis is an agency recruiter that you’re talking about, and they’re saying ‘this is it. There’s no flexibility. None whatsoever. And you can either take it or leave it.’ I think what you do is you call the organization and the person you’ve been dealing with there, and thank them for making an offer. Start off with that. ‘I really would love to come to work for you. And I really appreciate you extending an offer. Could you do a little bit better on the offer?’ ‘How much better?’ Hey look, I understand everyone has a budget. And originally when I interviewed I was looking for x, and you’ve offered x minus y. Could you do a touch better? Really, could you do a little bit better, because that’s going to help me financially as I join this firm?’ So that’s the simplest way to do it. Forget about the recruiter if they’re telling you that’s the max number. Maybe the corporate recruiter will do a little bit better, or the hiring manager will do a little bit better. But recognize that if one of them says that’s really the max we can do, that’s really the max that they could do.

 

[11:09]

Is it possible to restrict my LinkedIn profile completely, not only from the public, but anyone who isn’t a recruiter or hiring manager? No. No way to do it, period. That’s it. They want people who they can sell the platform to. Who are those people. They could be in another organization and trying to hire there. And you can say, ‘Well, that makes them a hiring manager.’ Maybe they haven’t updated their profile, to demonstrate that. And thus, they show as a senior developer, supervisor or something along those lines. They wouldn’t necessarily demonstrate the picture of a hiring manager. And, you know, the long the short of it is, you know, they don’t make that feasible for members to do, because they sell access to your profile, everyone’s profiles, so that there’s a way that they can develop relationships with people.

 

[12:59]

Did I destroy my career? For 10 years, I’ve been working for an extremely fast paced high tech company, experiencing tremendous growth year after year, I’ve been performing at a high level until the end of 2020. As I’m recording this, it’s this September of 2020. Che The problem is that I’ve dismantled my reputation at this amazing company. And, you know, they’re barely able to keep their head above water. The problem is they he or she has a new manager, and they’re concerned. So they finally told their leader that this person was having a hard time and show them the status of all their work. The House of Cards came down. He is fantastic. He said he noticed that I haven’t been very devoted to my line of work, that things seem to be going slow. But the generally I’m being hard on myself. And I’ll get back on track. He understands that mental health, burnout and all the factors with it. So the question is, did they destroyed their career at that particular phone? Possibly, possibly. The question is, how do you recover after that conversation? with your manager with your leader that you described? Are you going to go back and be exactly the same as you have been the last few years or are you going to change? Once you do get the fire back in your belly and start doing world-class work, if not, you blew your career. It’s really that simple. If you can get back in here, and demonstrate that you can generate world-class work for this organization, the fact that you had that conversation was brilliant. If you can’t pull it together, you basically demonstrate to them why it is they should let you go. That’s how it is.

Tough Interview Questions for Managers: What Qualities Are Most Important When Managing a Team

[15:34]

I had to withdraw from school for two terms and graduated, but my GPA is very low. How do I explain this to a recruiter who’s asking? Well, simple. There are a couple of possibilities depending upon what’s truthful. So here’s how to present it. ‘There’s the problem. I had to withdraw from school for two terms and return and graduate, but my GPA is low. How do I explain this to a recruiter? Easy, I joined school. And here’s a couple of ways that you can explain it. Number one, ‘I was young and immature at the time, I started school and I really didn’t put in the effort and the result showed what it deserved to show. My grades were terrible. And when I returned and had my head back in the game, my performance went a lot higher and I improved a lot. I really loved school. But the first two semesters really tanked me. So I’m now in a situation where I returned to school, I graduated, and I’ve learned a lesson. So I think if you look at my GPA, over the last couple of years, it looks good. Like 3.6 3.7, whatever it is, as long as not a 2 something. Okay. So basically explain it to them in a sincere and honest way. And that will make a huge difference, because your humanity is going to be out front. And that always works, that always serves you. Well, let’s continue on.

 

[17:50]

We’re having a quick chat with my manager’s boss. What could it mean? Our team manager wasn’t included. That’s weird since the department manager is technically his boss. And the idea is what’s going on? Yeah, they’re quitting. They are quitting. And the result is they’re not letting you in on the secret until the meeting. They want to see the looks on everyone’s faces to see if people are surprised. Be surprised, even if you knew what was coming so that this way, you’re able to demonstrate ‘Oh, my God.’ and the shock and the worry and the what-have-you. They want to let everyone know, at the same time about the departure of this person.

Tough Interview Questions for Managers: How Do You Approach an Employee About a Performance Issue?

ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

JeffAltman, The Big Game Hunter
JeffAltman, 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 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 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

JobSearchTV.com
JobSearchTV.com

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.