..candidate has been out of work for three months…we get her an interview and she says she is going on vacation for two weeks???
vacation from what..?
most employers would think that the priorities are out of sync here….and they are right!
had a candidate that was an employer of mine who hired people from me…four years ago, he was interviewing candidates and, as many employers do, didn’t really communicate with all of the candidates he interviewed.. in fact…he was rude to them…telling them he’d call them, then never do it…telling them they were good candidates but never following up with them..
now everyone is busy, but it is courteous to do what you say you will do…many, many hiring authorities don’t do this..in fact, it is one of the biggest complaints we hear, that the hiring authority said they’d be in touch then don’t..
well, one of the guys he treated this way is now a hiring authority…i presented the man ..the original one that was rude to the new hiring authority…he laughed and said there was no way he’d interview him because he’ been so rude four years ago…
what goes around…comes around
we are at Wake Forest this weekend…our youngest son is graduating from there…it made me think about how getting good grades in college can really makes a difference in your future…
now, many of us, like me, got by in undergrad with C’s…we still did OK, because we work hard…
BUT, it sure makes a big difference if you can show folks that you are smart..yes, even, “book smart”…common sense has to be there…but being smart sure helps you in life…and employers love it..
so when interviewing, even if you have been out of school for a few years, if your grades were really good, let the hiring authority know you did well in school…
if you didn’t do so well in the first year or two of college and did well in the last couple of years …or you had good grades in your major, but your overall gpa wasn’t so hot…don’t hesitate to share with a hiring authority that you did well in those situations…
if your grades in college were not that hot, whatever you do, don’t justify poor performance…something like, “My grades were not as good as I would have liked. If I had it to do over again, I would have studied harder,” works well. Then emphasize working hard at “other” things, like a job during school, or social activities, i.e. fraternity, sorority, organizations, politics, etc.
You will never be able to make reasonable excuses for poor grades, so don’t try.
If your kids or someone you know is starting college, tell them that Tony said that few things take the place of being smart…you can open many more doors in your career with good grades…
…i’m often criticized for my fat finger typing and apparent abhorrent spelling…it is OK when you own the company,..
IT ISN’T OK ON YOUR RESUME..make sure you have your resume proofed and read by a few folks…it isn’t fair, but employers will often eliminate a candidate because of poor grammar and spelling mistakes..
and you can’t say, “Well tony beshara doesn’t spell very well either”… tony beshara has a good job that he loves…not a good excuse..
p.s. don’t write your resume late at night when you are tired