Career Coach Office Hours March 29 2022 | JobSearchTV.com
I answered questions about #jobsearch #hiringstaff #management #leadership #workplace issues or anything work for that matter, join me at 1 PM Eastern 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 and I will answer it on my next show. #careercoachofficehours #careercoaching #careercoach #jobsearchtips #jobsearchadvice #interviews #hiring #managingpeople #leadershipskills #linkedinlive #linkedinlivestreams
Today’s questions are:
I am an SAP Finance consultant for about 20 years who got married in 2019, moved to USA, and started my American legalization process, Pandemic started at the same time, the process got slower, without legal authorizations I couldn’t work. Now I have GC IR6 and I can finally go back to work. In these almost 3 years I was studying, watching Lives World SAP, contacting my network of professionals to update me I am from Brazil, This gap about almost 3 years without work, is the big issue in my resume. What should I do?
How do you manage people who are clearly smarter than you, without them thinking you’re an idiot?
How do you manage people without burning out?
Why do recruiters view my LinkedIn profile but never contact me?
How do you answer “tell us about yourself” in a creative way?
Why do career counselors provide career guidance but rarely place clients while campus career offices work with actual employers and are able to bring in real live recruiters?
Do W-2s show up on background checks? What are the signs of bad management to look out for as a pre-hire?
Does online job search work?
What is the hardest part of the job search?
What should I do as a dad? My daughter told me she wants to move back into my house because she lost her job (due to layoff and COVID-19 uncertainty). Should I allow her to come back? Job search could be 2-3 years. She’s 23, an engineer.
When a software engineering recruiter mentions that the team noted you have very strong engineering skills but they didn’t find you to be the right fit do they really mean the candidate was good or could it be a standard rejection template?
A person did consulting in SAP Finance for about 20 years, got married three years ago, moved to the United States and started their legalization process. Pandemic hits, the process gets slower, obviously, she can’t work because she doesn’t have the legal right to work in the United States. And now she has a green card, IR6, and can finally go back to work. But it’s been three years and although she’s been studying, watching lives, you know, continuing to learn, working with her network of professionals to update her. It’s still three years without work is the big issue in her background. What do you do? The answer is, is an unpleasant one, but it’s an honest one. And basically, your likely place of finding work is with consulting firms. Because I don’t want to say that many of the consulting firms are less critical of people when they evaluate talent. But they’re more willing to give you a shot. If you can pass the technical interviews, you can explain in your message to them, “Look, we moved to the US. I was trapped in the pandemic, I’m up to speed, give me a tech. Let me prove to you that I can pass a technical interview. Yes, I know, it’s been a few years, and I can pass a technical. Give me a shot.” And that’s really the best that because in the industry, they’re more reluctant to take someone on board who’s been out for a few years. With consulting firms, you have a chance because you’re revenue to them. So keep looking for SAP finance roles. You may need to travel to do this, because, again, I don’t know where you live. But you know, the likelihood is a consulting firm, or a consulting firm of some sort, is going to give you a chance. And you just need one. And you need to pass a technical from one firm that can get you in with their client in order to get hired.
How do you manage people who are clearly smarter than you without them thinking you’re an idiot? Well, their job and yours are different. Their job is to execute what you manage them to do. Notice, they’re the doers; you’re the manager, you have to be competent at what you do. They have to be competent in what they do. And as a result, different jobs, different responsibilities. They report to you. They give you any lip, you bring them into an office and say, “I don’t understand why you’re being disrespectful. Have I done something to offend you?” And call them out on it. But I think this is more in your head, that they’re smarter and thus better than you. You have different jobs to do. They’re looking for guidance from you. They’re looking for direction from you. They are looking to have you believe that they’re looking to have you support them getting things done, given up that notion that because someone is quote smarter than you, and you’re their manager. It has no relevance here. Get rid of it.
How do you manage people without burning out? Well, I’ll start off with the premise that if you’re burning out, you’re doing something wrong. So, you may be trying to do too much, and not delegating enough with the result being you’re doing the day to day work. You’re managing people, you’re meeting with users, you’re doing everything. And that’s not the way to manage. You’ve got to give up some of the functions that you’re doing. Have people report to you who you know, like, trust and respect. You won’t burn out under those circumstances. And if you are, you need to take a short break. Figure out where you’re overdoing it. Find someone on your team or a consultant to bring in who can help you. Because you need support, you should not be burning out.
Why do recruiters view my LinkedIn profile but never contact me? Well, the answer is, you turned up in a search, but your background doesn’t fit what they’re really looking for. So you may have had the right keywords could have been too low a level. And the result winds up being that they see the profile, they see what you’ve actually done. And it’s not a fit for what they need. But what you can do is message them back. In messaging, you can say, LinkedIn told me that you looked at my profile, let’s connect, was there something you were looking for that you didn’t see? Perhaps I have that experience and we can have a short conversation? And that becomes a way that you can move this and find out the specifics of what they were looking for? What was the job that they’re trying to fill? And perhaps it’s not there? Perhaps they don’t need a lot of experience with it. But try and reach out to them and have a conversation?
How do you answer tell us about yourself in a creative way? I’m not sure where creative means to you. So it’s hard for me to really say. But the goal should be to connect the dots between the position and what, what your experience is. So initially, and this is in a minute to a minute 15, you give them a high level perspective of your background. “I’ve been in the field now for 10 years. For the last three years I’ve been working for so and so where I’ve done this and that. Before that I worked for so and so where did such and such. And what’s relevant in my background to this role, as I understand it, is my experience with . . .” and now you connect the dots so that this way they know that your background fits the role. Is that creative? Hey, look, your job is not to be a comic; you’re job is not to be a singer. Yes, if you want to be creative, you can sing your answer. “I’ve been in the field now for four years, most recently I’ve been working for . . .” and who would want that? Who would want that from you. Connecting the dots between your experience and what they want is the most important thing that you can do in answering that kind of a question. Do it. Connect the dots for them? Since so few people do that. And most of what they do is talk about what they’ve done, not talk about what they’ve done that matters to the interviewer. So focus on what you’ve done that matters to them, and not just what you’ve done.
Why do career counselors provide career guidance, but rarely place clients while campus career offices work with actual employers and are able to bring in real live recruiters? The answer is the two jobs are different. Private sector career counselors or coaches are there to guide you through the process. If you want someone to schedule interviews for you, you want to , those are the people that you loathe because you think they push you around, treat you like a body and all that other sort of stuff. Campus career offices is all they do. And I have to say, I’m not trying to be demeaning to them. But most of them push paper. They schedule fairs, they talk to students, but they don’t really know what they’re talking about. They have book knowledge about it, but they’ve never filled a position their life. So all they’re doing is coordinating job fairs, where employers come in, and students interview.
And they’ll give you some real simple basics about how to interview or point you to a video that’ll teach you how to interview. Like, I know one school uses one of mine about interviewing and they don’t really have practical experience. They give unrealistic advice. And thus, it’s different jobs, The private sector people, they know ho,w to find work. Their job is not to place you in a job, to set you up on an interview. That’s what recruiters do. That’s what third party recruiters do. Your job is to execute on a plan, identify what it is you want to do, ideally, where you want to do it. Learn from the private sector people. So this way, you don’t make as many mistakes. It’s one of the reasons I created as much content as I do, because I know not everyone can afford my coaching services. But if you go to JobSearchTV.com, TheBigGameHunter.us, my website, or listen to and subscribe to No BS, Job Search Advice Radio. It’s just so much information I put out there. It’s not customized to you, but you can learn as you watch my videos, read the stuff on my blog. Listen to the podcast, there’s just a lot of great info there. So different jobs, different responsibilities. What schools want career counselors to do is to set up job fairs for the students to parade in, and employers to pick them out. And private sector people have a much bigger job.
Do W-2s show up on background checks? Maybe if you disclose employment on an application, and you’re working for multiple firms, it shows up. However, I’m also going to say that there’s no federal law that prevents an employer from requesting a W-2 to verify past employment or salary history. However, certain state laws may ban such inquiries, or prevent or prohibit employers from asking for that information. So can they find out? Yes. And especially if they request it of you. And especially if the service that they use to do the background checks, identifies something a little funny in your background?
What are the signs of bad management to look for as a pre hire? Translated. You know, I’m interviewing with a company. How do I recognize bad management? Well, if everyone seems dead, if everyone seems, you know, it’s hard here. And I’m depressed. If the next smile you see is going to be the first one. If no one seems to care about their work, if they’re talking with you about projects that are delayed, and, you know, it’s like we’re three months behind on this thing. We’re trying to bring on more people. That’s another sign of delay. If you’re in a situation where there’s lots of little things, but ultimately, as you talk to people, and they say “So, do you have any questions for us?” “What do you like about working here,” should be one of your questions. And notice their response to that question. If they have to think about it for a long time, they’re probably not all that happy. True? And you don’t ask a manager about it. That question, because they’re prone to, shall we say, lie to you? And why are you putting yourself in a position of being lied to when it’s a potential peer? And you ask them, “What happened to the person who I’m replacing? What did they do well, what could they have done better?” The done well, is something that tells you what you should be doing once you’re on board. Done better, tells you about some of their foibles and if they seem pretty normal, that’s one of those indications of bad management.
Does online and job search work? Yes, everything works in job search. Just never works as well as we’d like or comes across as fast as we’d like. And I’ve said that to people for years, I know it’s an unsatisfactory answer for many of you. But the fact of the matter is, so many people are, are applying to jobs online and they’re getting hired. And they’re not getting as many responses as they want, because they’re applying to things are not qualified for. But online job search works. And the statistics are 70 to 85% of positions are filled as a result of networking. The balance is filled as a result of recruiters. It’s filled as a result of applying. 70 to 85% through networking. So where do you think you want to spend most of your time? I think it’s with networking.
What’s the hardest part of a job search? Obviously, this is my opinion. I don’t look at these questions in advance, this is really done live for you. So, what I’m thinking of is there just 1000s of details that go into a job search. It’s why I’ve got 7000 plus videos on YouTube, and more than 2300 podcasts. This so much minutia that goes into a job search, you’ve just got to be aware that you’re an amateur. And you need to understand how the market works. And that’s what I do as a coach. I help you understand how to get things done more effectively and get better results faster. So you’re not learning through trial and error, or making mistakes that prove costly. So I can’t be more specific than that. Get out there, start talking to folks, someone will want to hire you.
As a dad, my daughter told me she wants to move back into my house because she lost her job due to the layoff, and COVID-19 uncertainty. Should I allow her to come back? The job search could be two to three years. She’s 23 and an engineer. What makes you think job search is going to take two to three years? Seriously, what makes you think that? I can understand that if she’s in petroleum exploration, that could be an issue because this administration doesn’t like petroleum, or natural gas. So that’s really the only circumstance where an engineer should be struggling at this time. Perhaps she doesn’t know how to job hunt. And thus, she’s making lots of mistakes. But the question is, should you let her back in? Of course you let her back in? Do you want her in school? In school? Let me restate that? Do you want her to be sleeping in a homeless shelter? Do you want her to go hungry? You set a limit and maybe refer her to a coach or someone who could help her, guide her in her search, help her with interviewing, help her get results. That’s what you should be doing. Tell her I’m going to let you in for no more than six months. You can find a job in six months. If COVID breaks out again, we’ll revisit the conversation. But as things stand now, she doesn’t have to be job hunting for two or three years. Unless again, she’s in the oil and gas industry. Other than that, she should be able to find work within six months.
A software engineering recruiter mentioned that the team said you have strong engineering skills, but they didn’t think you were the right fit to actually do the job. Is this a standard rejection? Or do they say, “Well, do they mean the candidate is good? Or could it be as a standard rejection resume template?” So, I want to start this off by saying, everyone lies in job search. You’re exaggerating what your capabilities are. It’s just the nature of being a job hunter. You want a job? You’re going to say whatever is necessary to have you get that job. So job hunters exaggerate. Employers exaggerate. It’s sad, but it’s true. Thus, Is it true what they said that you’re competent? And they just don’t think you fit? Or could it be something else? And the answer is, I don’t know. After all, I wasn’t in the room with you, listening to your answers, getting a sense of your manner and personality to know whether or not it’s that or something else. But the fact of the matter is, employers tend to embellish the truth. So do job hunters, and thus, you can’t tell. Just can’t tell.
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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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