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Ecstatic about finding a guru in your chosen industry, you accommodate the new hire’s desire for a windowed office. When he asks if he can take the first week off to find a place to live, you tell him “no problem.” But then he shares that he’ll need to go on vacation a few weeks into the new job, as the vacation is pre-paid and he simply forgot to mention it. You begin to think his resume and acumen may not be synchronized. Has this happened to you?
According to a recent article, titled Five Ugly Numbers That You Can’t Ignore-It’s Time to Calulate Hiring Failures by John Sullivan, a well known name in the staffing industry,
- 66% regret hiring decisions — Nearly two-thirds of hiring managers come to regret their interview-based hiring decisions (Source: DDI)
- 50% new executive turnover — nearly half of new executive hires quit or are fired within the first 18 months at a new employer (Source: Corporate Leadership Council).
- Less than 50% are qualified — a majority of managers surveyed (59%) believe that less than half of all candidates they interviewed were qualified (Source: eBullpen, LLC).
- 65% lie on resumes — the key data source that we rely on to source and narrow down applicants contains untrue information more than half the time (Source: The Risk Advisory Group )
- Resume-sorting failures — Of all the “perfect resumes” sent out by mystery shopper candidates, only 12% were actually scheduled for interviews (Source: Hodes’ Healthcare).
You cannot ignore these statistics, yet what can you do to rectify the situation?
- Don’t always believe the resume. Technical skills are important but the person’s accomplishments and potential may be much more important.
- Always prepare adequately before you interview any candidates.
- People loathe being asked the same questions repeatedly during the interviewing process. The same questions can be asked but in a different way to assure consistency. Planning is imperative.
- Clear expectations are critical. The candidate wants and needs to know what the duties and responsibilities are before he or she will ever agree to interview. The job description needs to be engaging. Would you want to do the job? Make it enticing!
- Identify what you mean by a successful hire. What are the characteristics, not technical skills only, of your best employee?
- Don’t allow someone with extraordinary communication skills to “wow” you into a bad hiring situation. Behavioral interviewing helps this situation but it is not the only way to assess top talent.
- Set dates for interviewing in advance and try with all your heart and soul to stick with the schedule. If you don’t have time to interview, you don’t have time to hire.
In a three year study by Leadership IQ, the researchers found 26% of new hires fail because they can’t accept feedback, while 23% fail because they don’t handle their emotions well and 17% fail because they lack motivation to excel. Those are dismal figures, especially if you neglect preparation for any hiring spree.
If you are a hiring manager, you need to be in regular communication from the inception of the idea of hiring with the recruiter who will be assisting you. The mantra of clear and realistic expectations leads to the success you require, especially in this market. Don’t throw new requirements into the mix as you go. Work together as a team. If your company will not let the hiring managers talk with the agencies, there is a glitch in the system. You will have a lower success rate if the entire team is not communicating. Regular updates between the hiring manager and staffing team are mandatory. A weekly conference call increases the likelihood for success.
If you want top talent, you will be far more successful if you take the time for planning and communication throughout the process. You don’t want to be one of the statistics, do you?
Today’s blog is a little different from usual. I’d like to talk with you about the importance of networking. That means you, and you and you!!! Whether you are working or not, you need to constantly be aware of the opportunities to network
Maybe you are one of my readers with 20 years at one company. That can change in a heartbeat. Your awareness of the considerable ways to stay connected with your colleagues is important and ongoing.
Social networking, such as Linkedin.com, is here to stay. We live in an electronic age and it’s not just for young people. If you are using Linkedin, use it correctly. Complete your profile with enough data for others who may meet you at a seminar or conference can touch base with you. You want people to find you and you want to find others.
Perhaps you are working on a technical problem for a new cell phone. Linkedin has many groups you can join that allow you to connect with others with similar issues. There are alumni groups, real estate groups, a group of android gurus…you name it and there is probably a group for you on Linkedin. You don’t have to have the email address to contact someone in your group. If you contact someone with similar interests and talk about your technical problem, you may have a new friend and relationship for the future.
Networking inside your company is a wonderful way for successful career development. Large companies often have “management groups” or “technical ladders” to help you associate with people from other parts of the company. You may want to start your own group inside your company to foster a special cause or work on an issue for process improvement.
Remember that you are your own personal brand. Your performance is being judged on a regular basis, both personally and professionally. Your career depends on the profile you project.
If you’d like to hear me expound on this topic, I’ll be speaking on February 25, 2010 at the North Texas Global Telecommunications Society (NTGTS) at University of Dallas-Frisco at 6:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. See www.ntgts.org for details and registration. The presentation is called Profiles for Success with an interactive activity to increase your networking acumen. I hope to see you there!
Yes, I think the economy is improving. My openings are increasing and the hiring is starting to happen. I suggest you read Gerry Crispin’s latest study about the upcoming year. If you are among the lucky ones to be hiring, the suggestions below should help you find top talent and help our economy grow again.
- Take the time to correctly identify what you “must have” and what would be “nice to have” before you begin.
- Be reasonable with your requirements.
- There is no such thing as a perfect candidate. Interviewing 10 or 20 people will not improve the odds. Preparation and good interviewing will.
- Set a deadline to fill the position, rather than affecting your reputation for slow decisions. You don’t want to affect your company’s reputation negatively with your process.
- Unemployed and employed candidates should be considered.
- If you don’t have time to spend interviewing, don’t open the requisition.
- Pre-screening a candidate who doesn’t quite fit based on the resume may help you discover the candidate more than meets what you want and need.
- Candidates are often very different in person than on the phone.
- The team members who will interview the candidates must be prepared and not ask the same questions.
- Using an outside recruiter can save you time and money as agencies have resources to reduce your time to hire, keeping you on track with your regular responsibilities.
Is the economy improving? Although I see some improvement, we will not see much better cash flow until we hire more people. With one out of ten people still unemployed, that prevents anyone from great hope. You can help by increasing your hiring.
Please feel free to contact me directly with comments or suggestions for this blog.
Current urgent openings: Color Scientist, Field Application Engineer (3). Details are available at www.hotcareers.com on the JOB tab.
The job description read five years of management with an engineering degree in a specific industry with several years of experience in ASIC chip design. The hiring manager agreed he would interview quickly. He loudly proclaimed his opening must take priority over all others.
Quickly I found several outstanding candidates, pre-screened them and sent the resumes with the documentation about each to the hiring manager. No response. I sent him a couple of emails, left a few voice mails. No response. I finally ran into him in the hall. “Oh, by the way, Ruth, I’ve found someone for that job opening. Here’s his resume.” No comment about the candidates I’d submitted to him. Much to my surprise when I looked at the resume he handed me, no management experience existed. And the candidate’s recent experience showed six months working for a retail store, after acquiring his engineering degree.
Naturally, I was elated (and puzzled) to hear he’d found such a good match. Wow! How could I have missed that he actually wanted a new grad with no experience? We had to re-write the job description and re-post the job to give others with this background a chance to apply, but this was the person hired.
I never knew the whole story behind the scenes but what a waste of company time and money! Of course I queried the hiring manager to see why he felt this inexperienced individual met the needs but the answer somehow didn’t clear my conscious about the merit of this hire. Communication and feedback would have enhanced the time and effort in this particular situation. But time and money should not be wasted
If you are a seasoned recruiter, you’ve seen this happen time and time again. The story is a compilation of incidents, rather than a specific situation. Contrast this with the candidate who had a phone screen on Wednesday, interviewed on Thursday and had an offer on Friday. Background and reference checks were completed so the individual could start in a little over a week. When we met to write the requirements, one of the team knew an individual whose job recently ended and could vouch for his relevant work experience. Efficient hiring creates a better bottom line. The latter group prepared in advance to find a quality hire in a timely and cost effective manner. Recruiters love referrals if they adhere to the requirements.
Preparing for an open position is the most important aspect of the hiring process. We’ll be exploring many aspects of the hiring process in the near future, especially concerning “loading” your preparation for success. If you have time, I suggest you read Lou Adler’s recent postings, as he shows clearly how easy hiring managers can think they are hiring top talent, but may be way off course.
If you have openings, please contact me to see if we might want to work together to find you top talent. You don’t want to waste your money on hiring.
Career Consultations emphasizes “MORE than Recruiting” which this blog will support in various ways in 2010. I am convinced that staffing and hiring managers need to be reminded of the basics. In 2010, the blog will reverberate with the essentials for hiring top talent in the most efficient ways.
I plan to post minimally every two weeks or twice a month with useful information for the following people:
• Hiring managers
• Hiring teams
• HR and staffing professional
• Employees who want to learn more about the recruiting process
• Employees who want to hear me rant about related topics.
I opened my business in January 1984, as a training and consulting company. In 1989 I sold the clients to a competitor, but kept the name (dba) and did training and outplacement nights and week-ends while I worked full time for Lennox, the HVAC company. While at Lennox I moved into recruiting which was an immediate fit, as my training background developed my consulting skills for ascertaining client and candidate requirements. By asking good, consultative questions, I became well known, especially in the semiconductor market. Most of my business development derives from referrals. I returned to working full time for my own company in 1994, focusing on quality recruiting in the semiconductor market.
Currently Career Consultations provides contingency and project recruiting. Contingency means I receive a fee if the company hires one of the candidates I submit. Project recruiting refers to special hiring projects for companies, both large and small, when the managers don’t have time to complete the staffing related projects. For example, you may want to hire a customer service team. I might design the campaign, starting with defining the requirements, establishing deadlines and processes and work across functions to finish the process in record time. Or maybe your company has no HR or recruiting person. I function as your part time (no less than 10 hours per week) to make sure you hire the best talent in a cost effective way.
I’m adamant about being a partner when you have a project. Recently I discovered a company had 18 contingency recruiters working on one assignment. I won’t be a party to that. The recruiters were falling all over the same candidates, the positions were not getting filled, and the company was developing a very bad reputation.
Please read my prior blogs to know me better or visit my websites which I’ll list below. I bring experience, education, and a passion for matching people and companies for bottom line results.
Not only will topics include the recruiting process with ancillary ideas, but you’ll be offered the chance to see the importance of preparation and planning. You’ll hear me preach on the criticality of personality in recruiting. And you’ll have a chance to suggest topics, situations and maybe we can actually have dialogue. Please send me any ideas for the blog. I’d like “MORE than Recruiting to reflect what you need and want to be “MORE than a place to work.”
www.hotcareers.com
www.ruthglover.com
www.morethanapaycheck.net
http://www.examiner.com/x-31872-Dallas-Career-Transition-Examiner (online articles for candidates in transition)
Last week I presented a program for the North Dallas/Plano Career Focus Group at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church, titled Driving Your Plans to Work. I thought you’d like a taste of that presentation, if you didn’t attend. I customized the presentation for the group as the program coordinator indicated he wanted me to encourage the group to look for former jobs, as well as think about alternatives.
I listened attentively to the 30 second presentations of the participants’ job titles, understanding the exercise is important for a couple of reasons:
1) You focus on your best skills.
2) You may be able to furnish leads and contacts to each other.
But no matter how good your 30 second commercials are, you need good plans for the upcoming year.
Finances
How much do you need to make? Pay cuts abound, as only 27% plan to increase salaries for new hires in 2010, according to a recent article titled, Employers see uptick in hiring in 2010.
Personality
Shyness is not an asset in changing jobs or careers. You must bury shyness. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, you need to forget any cockiness or faux-confidence in your blood. You are in sales, which means you modify your behavior to meet the needs of the situation. Whether you feel like it or not, push yourself to be diplomatic and friendly. If you have a liability, do NOT let it hinder you. Focus on your assets.
Skills
Know what your best skills are. They can transfer to other industries or your own business, but it is not an easy switch.
Role Models
Who were your role models growing up? Was your mom or dad an entrepreneur? Did your favorite uncle drive a truck or own a restaurant? Who was your favorite manager/boss? All these experiences color your drive to success.
Plan of Action
I see many who know how to write a great resume and interview well, but they only have one plan. You need back up plans. Plans need to be written and reviewed periodically and not only remain in your head. They don’t have to be fancy or written well enough to go to the bank; however, you do need to determine how you will arrive at your destination. Target companies, whether for full time jobs or entrepreneurial endeavors. How will you sell yourself (the product) or market your own business?
That’s it for today for I must keep massaging my 2010 business plan, which is in sad shape at the moment. Isn’t there a story about the shoemakers’ children going barefoot?
Be sure to subscribe and read my articles at:
http://www.examiner.com/x-31872-Dallas-Career-Transition-Examiner
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
When Jo was laid off, she was tired of it; she wanted to be her own boss. A depressed economy often reveals more introspection by people who want to explore self-employment. My bet is there are many days, you’d like to fire your boss!
Jo was a training manager. Although she had experience in several industries, she knew her degree in Business Administration might not be valued as much as a technical degree She understood profit and loss, along with proven management skills. Jo felt she could manage training projects in any industry but with so much competition, she realized that owning her own business could be the answer.
Should she look for another training job or start her own business? She needs health benefits and there is no second income to support her family. What should she do?
Jo is passionate about books. Her dream is to own a book store when she retires, which may be more than five to ten years in the future. But she decided now is not the time, with the economy in shambles. She started contacting former colleagues. Linkedin.com became a “new friend.” She attended an online class to learn techniques for using Linkedin for job search. Much to her amazement, when she attained 300 connections, she received more calls and requests to link with people she hardly knew.
Jo went to the local bookstore to purchase a few career books and while she was there, she applied for a part time job. If she couldn’t own a bookstore at this time, she’d find out more about the industry. Although her unemployment checks were reduced, she began working 20 hours a week. Not only did she love the work, but her part time schedule allowed her to pursue a full time job. Sometimes she worked into the wee hours of the night on her search but did not neglect other important aspects of her job search, like regular exercise and volunteering.
Three months later Jo landed a full time job through a lead from one of her friends. As she approaches age 60, she may face another layoff before long. She decided to stay with the part time job. Working two jobs is exhausting at times, but the money helps. In fact, she likes the bookstore better than her “day job.” And she’s exploring locations which might work for her bookstore at a future date.
Jo is a fabulous role model for all of us. By working, using her network and creating new connections, she found her old job in a new industry. Finding a training position is not easy. But she stayed focused and talked her way into a new job by not letting age or lack of specific industry skill stand in her way. And she’s also preparing for the next step in her career with her part time job. My bet is one day she will follow her passion. And you can, too!
An excellent source of information is the Small Business Administration. If you’ve been thinking about owning a business, check the information about the money available through the SBA. Many rules and guideline exist to help you through the miles of “red tape” to find money for your dreams. It appears there is money for loans, if you do the research, write the plans and follow through on all the details.
You may want to visit my article that provides additional information about self-employment at http://www.examiner.com/x-31872-Dallas-Career-Transition-Examiner.
Whatever your passion may be, I wish you luck in the fast approaching New Year. May 2010 be your best year ever!
Upbeat News
Although the economy has not leaped forward, I see glimmers of hope. The DFW Business Journal excels as a resource for what companies are growing, declining, and relocating. If you in career or job transition, or even contemplating it, you need to read the online version or the weekly paper publication. The Dallas Morning News, of course, is a resource which must not be neglected. The new in the Journal this week showed potential growth in various industries and companies, including telecom.
Openings
My most urgent job opening: I have an opening for a Field Applications Engineer in the Oregon or Washington state area. Go to the jobs tab at www.hotcareers.com for details.
Presentation
I’ll be presenting an hour workshop (that means it’s interactive) called Driving Your Career Plans to Work on Friday, 12/18/09 at 10:30 a.m. at Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, TX at Coit/Parker Roads. The information is a quick review of assessment, resume writing, interviewing, marketing/networking and planning for a new career. If you are contemplating a career or job change in the near future or currently unemployed, you are welcome to attend.
Announcement
You may want to read my online articles on www.examiner.com, which is a cool place to find all kinds of local news. Www.examiner.com has authors around the country who write about cats, movies, food, business and many other topics of interest. I’ve been selected to be the specialist concerning Career Transition for Dallas. I write periodically, so you’ll want to subscribe on my page to be notified each time I write. The button for subscribing is on the toolbar at the top left of the screen. This week I reviewed Up in the Air, the new George Clooney movie, which I enjoyed, not only because of the spoofing of our outplacement ethics, but also because the message is abundantly clear that our jobs are far less important than our relationships.
Other
When we are unhappy in our workaday world, our relationships suffer. We need to think and act positively, even in difficult situations. Rather than be quoted in the NY Times about your sad situation, please send me a note regarding your actions which are leading to success. I’d love to hear from you. My email is rglover@hotcareers.com.
Suggesting contract work to many unemployed individuals brings horrified looks. “But that would interfere with my unemployment benefits! And I wouldn’t have time to look for a job. It would destroy my credibility as a full time employee.” I’ve heard all the excuses and I understand the dilemma; however, finding work, especially when you are over 50, can be more than challenging.
A big reason employers shed a far-less-than-expected 11,000 jobs last month is that temporary staffing agencies found slots for 52,000 additional workers, the most since 2004, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said
According to a Wall Street Journal article recently, “The number of unemployed workers ages 55 to 64 has nearly tripled since the recession began, to about 1.6 million of the nation’s 15.4 million unemployed as of November, according to the Labor Department. By comparison, the number of jobless workers of all ages has roughly doubled.” Statistics demonstrate the difficulty for this group.
If you are unemployed, how long are you willing to try to live on the unemployment benefits and savings? Wouldn’t it be better to consider contracting? You’d be with employed people with a chance to prove your worth and discover whether the company culture fits you. Managers’ fear of making hiring mistakes, plus the reality of shorter term ramps on product launch provide diverse opportunities for contractors.
The job search cycle starts with the unemployed individual stating, “I want to stay in this area.” Three to six months later, that person thinks about relocation, but home sales are problematic. Joe Job-Seeker may lose his shirt while selling his home to move to another location. Better that he thinks about a contract position before uprooting the family.
Contract firms appreciate workers with strong business ethics. The Boomer crowd has a reputation for diligence and meeting deadlines.
Benefits don’t have to be an issue. When you work for a contract agency, they often offer benefits, which are not as costly as COBRA, yet not as robust as Fortune 500 companies provide.
The search string “contractor growth” appears almost 9 Million times in a google search today. Try a google search to see what agencies may have opportunities for you. I’m convinced contracting is more plentiful than full time work in this market. And it can lead to full time work.
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