…candidate we placed six months ago calls…says that everything was fine and going very well…
he called us two weeks into this job to say that he wanted to quit…he was overwhelmed…didn’t like the people…the job…nothing about it…
he needed the job, but at that point he was ready to quit…
this happens quite a bit…candidate gets a new job…really doesn’t know what he or she is getting into…a bit afraid …overwhelmed is a good way to put it…so, couple of weeks into it, they are ready to go back looking for a job..
our advice was to hang in there for a while…give it 90 days or so…unless there is something that is so awful that one can’t live with it, give yourself a chance…have no expectations..just go to work and see what happens..
once the new employee got over the fear of being new, everything worked out…
give it time…it doesn’t always work out…but give yourself a chance..
one of my candidates was “coached” by…guess what..a career coach to tell people that he wasn’t really looking for a job, he was looking to be a company’s “problem solver”….
oh, boy!…silly and pretentious
don’t do that…don’t try to be unique by being coy or silly..
if you are looking for a job, you’re looking for job…great…then proceed to tell them why they ought to hire you…what you can do for them …today…
keep it simple..effective and forceful…but simple
go to my on line program to learn how to do it perfectly… www.thejobsearchsolution.com
great candidate…top performer every place she has ever been…took two years off to have a baby…fair enough…now needs to find a job…
no way of her knowing that the market is really tight…she figures, like most top performers, that there is always room for a winner..
we don’t get that many interviews because: 1. the market is tight ..and 2. she has been out of the market for two years…
after three months and only three interviews, we get an offer…$90,000 salary plus commission…she said that she was probably going to turn it down because …”i was making $130,000 three years ago!”
well, it isn’t three years ago and this is a much different market… she eventually accepted the offer…it is a great company and she will have a great future..
lesson:..what you made three or four years ago was three or four years ago..the market is different now..no one is intrinsically worth any amount of money
…it happens at least once a month in our company…a candidate looses out on an opportunity because of a “backdoor” reference who “threw them under the bus,” as the saying goes..
a backdoor reference is a “reference” from someone who supposedly knows you, but you don’t provide as a business reference..someone you might have worked with or for in the past, or, as is the usual case, someone who knows someone, who knew someone, who knew someone, who thinks they know you..
here is the problem with “backdoor” references…if someone implies to someone else that you, for whatever reason, aren’t a good potential employee, and you don’tget hired…that person is right and the person or firm considering you will never know if they were right or wrong because you didn’t get hired…
unfortunately, it is human nature to be negative about stuff like this…and it is rather sad…some people feel “big” by diminishing others…even if they don’t know what they are talking about…i once had a candidate get a bad reference from someone who knew somone, who knew someone, who knew somone who played golf with my candidate….one time!…yea, you got it..this was a third or fourth hand negative testimony from someone who had no idea what they were talking about…
if you have been in any profession or industry for any length of time, and you are looking for a job, you’d best expect that a potential hiring authority is going to find at least one or two “backdoor” references regarding you…even if they are distant…best hope they are good references
there isn’t much you can do about this …if you have burned some bridges in your career, try to mend them…if you think some folks you use to work for don’t like you, make sure you have some stellar references to offset any negative ones that may be uncovered…
most of life isn’t fair and this is one of the most unfair aspects of looking for a job
