Career Coach Office Hours: September 2, 2022
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.
I Keep Sending Out Resumes, Following Up and Getting No Results
02:54
How would you handle an employee who refuses to attend company parties? Well, let me start off with the sometimes company parties are a single person’s game. By that. I mean, they don’t have responsibilities at home. You know, sometimes people have a wife, husband, partner, and kids, and the other partner has primary childcare responsibility. They don’t want to be left to deal with the kids even longer. So let’s just get real. What’s the point of the company party? Socialize, be friendly, and connect with people. Connecting with people is the most primary thing that you’re asking people to stay, usually after hours. And in doing so, that’s taking time away from the other person in their life. Or they’re going to school, and they have work to do related to school, or they’re just beat to crap. Don’t feel like going. And when you use the term’ refuses,’ that suggests to me a more obstinate tone on their part, which may not be the case. They may just choose not to be there because they’ve got a life beyond work, and responsibilities beyond work. You don’t own them, right? They have work to do and they’re entitled to go home. So how do you handle such a person? You just make sure you let them know they’re always welcome. And if you’re really
curious about why they’re not coming to these parties, why don’t you ask them? You can always say something along the lines of “Well, I’m just curious. I want to make sure you always know you’re welcome at our parties. And I noticed that you don’t really come. I’m curious, is there anything wrong or any particular reason that you don’t attend?’ Then be quiet and listen, and don’t be critical of them? Just listen and try and help them. Okay. And acknowledge that you hear that? ‘Thanks. I appreciate the explanation. You’ve got school, you’ve got kids. They’re both more important than attending a party. I got it. And thank you for explaining that to me. I’ve been curious for a while.’ And if it’s an outright refusal, you know what the problem is. What’s the big deal? Seriously, it’s a freakin’ party. It’s not getting work done. So let it go. And if you want to just simply follow my advice, do it. But don’t make a big deal out of it, especially if they’re doing their job well. What’s the point?
05:57
After my meeting with a CEO of a hospital, he gave me his mobile number. He hasn’t responded to my follow-up emails. Try calling them on his mobile? My first reaction is to text them on their mobile because you don’t want to be an interrupter. And if he didn’t put your number into his phone, you’re probably not going to get through anyway. I know with my phone, if someone’s not in my directory, it often shows up as a possible spam call. And certainly, that might be the case with you. He hasn’t added your phone number into his phone. But I would follow up and simply say, ‘hi, I’m Ravi and we met last week, and you invited me to follow up with you on your mobile, I just thought I would check and see what might be going on’ or whatever (the question is that you want to pose of he or she). From there, I’d do it by text. And if he or she follows up by asking about getting together with you again, perfect! You did it exactly the right way. So that’s how I would handle that, Ravi.
07:23
What is the best way to apologize for being unavoidably late to an interview? I’m going to be obnoxious here and say there’s always a way to not be late. You could have left earlier, gotten there, and avoided being late. But the best way to apologize is when you walk in the door, you say something along the lines of ‘I’m so sorry, I’m late. Traffic accident, whatever it is, you tell them what caused you to be late. Now, if it’s something of a personal nature, and revealing it would be obnoxious and you know, those kinds of things–My son/daughter wanted me to play with him for an extra 15 minutes–Okay, what’s the message you’re telling them about your work life if your son and daughter wants you to play for an extra 15 minutes, and that’s more important than the interview? So just simply make apologies on the way in. ‘I’m so sorry, I’m late. Traffic or there was an accident, there was an issue on the train,’ Whatever it is. And I must also tell you, you could have called in advance, right? You’ve got a mobile phone. You could have called them and provided an explanation. And if you didn’t have their phone number, well, you could have called the switchboard and said ‘I have a two o’clock appointment to meet so and so. Can you connect me or give me their phone number so I can call them and let them know I’m running late?’ That would have been the ideal way. The second way is on your way in, you acknowledge it and explain it. And beyond that is no good explanation that’s gonna make sense. Again, the preferred way is on your way in and you’re being delayed. You let them know in advance so they have an opportunity to not sit around wondering what’s going on and when you’re going to be walking in.
09:31
If an interviewer says we’re still interviewing other candidates, at the moment, again, walks you out into the lobby, does that mean they want to hire you potentially? Do they want to hire you potentially after or not? Well, I’ll start off by saying they’re still interviewing other candidates at the moment is as neutral a statement as you might possibly hear. So I’ll just simply say, let’s work with the idea that their intentions are good. The follow-up to that would be, ‘I’m just curious. When might I hear from you about the next steps?’ And if they still give you a neutral remark, ‘I expect to hear from us soon.’ That kind of tells me they’re not interested. The follow-up is the key. So for example, ‘you’ll hear from us soon,’ doesn’t really say anything. It probably means you were rejected. ‘I expect you’ll hear early part of next week’–better, still not great. I expect you’ll hear from us early part of next week; we’ll have HR give you a call.’ And the more specifics, you hear about what’s going to happen next, the better you did. So it seems to me from the brief information you gave here, they don’t really 
care. I wouldn’t think about expecting an offer anytime soon. You didn’t describe this person as a hiring manager. You described them as an interviewer. So this could have been an HR screener and thus, you’re early in the process. You know, there’s a lot here that I don’t know. So I would simply say, don’t hold your breath. The likelihood is, you’re going to get rejected. And I’d be happy to be wrong.
11:39
How do I get into Amazon as a software engineer? Well, you get qualified. I don’t know what your background is, your expertise is, where in the world you are, or whether they hire software engineers in your part of the world. You know, again, it starts off with being qualified to be hired, being familiar with the Amazon principles, and ideally, getting a referral into the organization because that’s always a better way, because you’re cutting the line and getting to the front. That’s always the best scenario is to be recommended and even then, with Amazon, it doesn’t matter as much, except it’s like being asked out on a date. You’re being introduced by someone who knows what Amazon looks for. But that’s not a guarantee. You prepare for an interview. You demonstrate your expertise in what matters to them. Again, you talk about what you’ve done that they care about, rather than just talking about what you’ve done. You become enmeshed in the Amazon principles, which I can’t stress enough, for your interviews. But again, we have no idea what your expertise is, where you are and a lot of other stuff. So I know that’s a bare bones answer to you. But again, I just don’t know much about you.
13:07
As an interviewer, what do you mostly look for when you ask ‘why should I hire you?’ I’m trying to listen. And again, I haven’t done interviewing for some time. I’m a career coach. People hire me for no BS career advice related to job search, hiring more effectively, management leadership, career transition, and workforce issues. When I would coach people about answering this question, my answer would be, ‘I’m not sure why you should hire me. After all, you know who you’re interviewing with and what their capabilities are; so I can’t compare myself to them. But I can tell you about me as it relates to the job that you’re trying to fill.’ And then I’d hit four or five different bullet points that demonstrate my expertise that relates to what they care about. And thus, in doing that, what I’m trying to do is, explain to them how I fit the role. And I’m being charming by saying, ‘I don’t know how my background compares with the other people you’re talking with. I’m sure you’re speaking to very capable people.’ I’m going to pause here and say, And you’re not trying to be like the organ grinder’s monkey jumping up and down to beg them for a job. What you’re trying to do is demonstrate how your expertise fits what they care about, and do it in a way that demonstrates a passion for what you do. That’s the way I coach people to, to answer that question.
Standing Out on an Interview
16:30
Should I disclose my age (and this person’s 64) to a potential employer to a potential employer? My resume hints at it. But could have been written by someone five years younger. Oooh! 59! Whoo! And we have had one zoom call, I’m looking forward to the next step. So I’ll just say to you, no, you don’t disclose your age. It doesn’t do anything for you. And in the right set of circumstances, it won’t do anything to cause you to be rejected. You’re going to be evaluated and assessed based on your capabilities. And you’re basically saying, ‘Look at me, I’m not 24, I’m old, which they’ve already seen on Zoom. And by the way, I’m older than you are. So the real thing they want to do is evaluate and assess you for your skills and capabilities and how you’ll fit into the group, whether you have passion for what you do, or whether you act like a tired burned out has been doing that. I’m being that blunt about it because a lot of older professionals do that. I don’t, but that’s what a lot of people do. So, with that, your job is to make them fall in love because unless they fall in love, you’re not gonna get hired. You’ve been asked out on a couple of dates, and then they’ll break up with you. So I’ll just simply say, no, don’t disclose your age, not because you’re trying to hide anything, but because it’s supposed to be irrelevant to the equation. So don’t make it easy for them to suddenly go, ‘ He’s old,’ or ‘she’s old.’ Oooh! And the fact that your resume hints at it (but it could be five years younger. This may come as a shock to you but people discriminate against people who are 59 and 60, and 58. So make them fall in love. That should be your focal point.
18:43
Will an inaccurate job timeline on a resume be an issue with a background check? The resume is not a legal document. The resume is the way you got in the door. But when you get to fill out the application, that is a legal document and it has to be as accurate as possible. Now, given the fact that you’re not sure, I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt that this is not an intentional thing on your part. It’s just you don’t remember; you don’t have any records to indicate when it was you went to work or left some of your previous firms. When you fill out an application, you use the phrase ‘approx’ next to the date or next to the salary you’re not sure about. And when you’re asked about that, you just simply say ‘look, I don’t remember exactly when I went to work’ or ‘when I left this organization.’ And I don’t want you to ever think I’m trying to deceive you. But I know is about during this period of time. June. May. July– somewhere around there. So I put June because it’s in the middle. So if you determine I wasn’t accurate, I don’t want you thinking I’m trying to lie to you, because I’m not. I just can’t find any documentation for when I started with that firm.’ So now I want to take it to another level and that is, will it cost you a job if you lie, and you fill out an application? Yes, because that’s the legal document. And that’s what the background checking firm does, it usually is a background checking firm that does that, rather than a real employer, what they’re going to go by. And thus, if you don’t get accurate about it, it can be grounds for not making the offer, or if it’s post-employment, and they check your background, as I’ve seen happen several times during my time in search, you can get walked out the door. It could
be at a point while you’re working there. Once they find there’s an inconsistency between the dates and wages that you’ve reported and what the reality is, you could be fired. It’s grounds for termination. So lying? Don’t do it. Not sure I’ve explained how to deal with it, okay?
21:26
Many times I get the response from HR/recruiters, ‘We went with someone else, but would like to keep your resume on file for future positions.’ Has a company ever actually pulled those “kept” resumes to see if someone qualifies for a role? Now, when I started in recruiting, the answer would be no. They went right into the garbage. But there’s this new thing you may have heard of called computers, and applicant tracking systems. Data sits there for them to access at a time a new position opens up. The good recruiters–and there’s no guarantee that you’re talking to a good one but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. The good recruiters are databasing your resume and starting their search to fill new positions by going through the applicant tracking system and looking for people who fit the criteria of the job and they’re already in their system. If you’ve been interviewed, they have their interview notes from the people you’ve spoken with. It gives them a leg up in the process so they could reach out to you. And go ‘Roy, Sara, Suzie, whatever your first name is, I know you interviewed with us about 18 months ago. You’ve probably found another position. I just want to let you know that something opened up, and I want to have a chance to speak with you. Please give me a call back at . . . or send me a message to let me know if you’d be open to something. They’ll have some version of contact with you because you’re in their database. And thus, the database is an access point for them to see if you might be qualified for another job. And they can do direct email to you. They could do direct texting to you, or bulk texting, or to anyone in their system, who would demonstrate that they’re qualified for our role. So, yes, it’s certainly possible that you wind up in a situation where you’re being contacted at a later date. Now much more so than when I started recruiting.
23:51
Is stumping people with brain teasers no way to hire the best. I know Google has changed its attitude about this from what they used to do where they would ask brain teasers, to now. So I’ll just simply say, for some organizations, they see your ability to answer a brain teaser, as a way of seeing how you respond to stress, how you respond to unusual scenarios that are not by the book. So for them, they think they can test your ability to think by asking you questions like that. I’m not gonna have a value judgment because I don’t know the kind of organization that you might represent. And if you’re someone who’s job hunting, you know whether firms ask brain teasers. They think it works for that. That’s all that matters. So Google decided that didn’t work for them. Other firms, they can work for them. In the hedge fund industry. So often, people ask brain teasers. It’s just the way it is. And I’ll just simply say, you know if it makes if they’re asked, it makes sense for them. It doesn’t have to make sense to you. It has to make sense for them.
25:30
After my interview, the interviewer told me to contact HR about the benefit package. Should I contact HR now or wait for the job offer? There’s no simple way to answer this and here’s why. I don’t know whether you ask them about benefits first. And the interviewer said, ‘talk to HR,. They’ll give you the answer to your questions. That’s not me. I don’t know about all the benefits.’ I don’t know if you asked that kind of question or whether this was at the end of the interview. They said ‘so, do you have any questions for us?’ You asked a few and now they said, ‘We’re interested. If you’ve got questions about benefits, contact HR; they’ll go through the benefits package with you.’ In the case of the former, you asked for it. Get the answer. Be proactive because there are some HR people, and there are some hiring managers, who will judge you based upon whether you actually followed up. So in the case of the former situation, yes, you follow up and not because you think they’re gonna make you an offer, but because they told you to contact HR about benefits. And the second case, that’s certainly a possibility and the choice to speed things up. So I can’t give you a clear answer, because I just don’t know enough to really answer the question.
27:09
How do I write an email telling the HR Recruiter to make an appointment to interview attached cv’s? Okay. So, I don’t know whether or not you’re a hiring manager within an organization, instructing HR to schedule people for your calendar or to screen people, or you’re a job applicant, who’s trying to figure out the clever, clever language that’s going to get you in the door at the beginning of the process. In the case of the second person, you’re the job hunter trying to get HR to talk with you. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. You’re being obnoxious. In the case of the former, very simply just email them and say, ‘Here are people I’m interested in speaking with. Please tput them onto your calendar to do a pre-screen. If you like them, book them onto mine. Here’s a link to my calendar.’ It’s really that simple.
[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKpFrk8pifk[/svp]
Recruiters Are Not Your Friends
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
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