…are you a risk?
since 1973, I have never met a candidate that thought they were a risk… Every candidate that I ever interviewed thought that they would be a glowing employee and that hiring them would never be any kind of risk for a hiring authority…
But the truth is, every candidate is a risk in some way … and every hiring authority, whether you like it or not is looking at what kind of a “risk” you pose to them…
The hiring authority is asking himself or herself, “if I hire this candidate what is in his or her background that is going to cause me to regret hiring them … are they going to be here a short period of time … are they going to fail on the job … am I going to have to fire them? ”
“risk factors”come with every one … a number of years ago, I placed a candidate with a company who had a heart attack and died about a month into the job … the hiring authority, when he called me, implied that I should have known that the candidate had a bad heart… Go figure?! … now I realize that he was simply venting his frustration, but how could I know the candidate was going to die?
30% of the hiring authority’s consideration of you as a candidate is going to be based on what kind of “risk” you are … in other words how is it not going to work out with you as a candidate when you become an employee?
Some “risk factors” are obvious … if you have had three jobs in three years, the hiring authority is going to be concerned that if he or she hires you you’ll only be there one year… If you have made significantly more money than the job pays, the hiring authority is going to be concerned that even if you take the job, you will keep looking for a higher paying job… If you’ve been the president of the company or the owner of a company, the hiring authority is going to be concerned that you’re going to come into the organization and “tell them” how they ought to run it… If you have been a bit of work for an extended period of time, the hiring authority is going to wander why you haven’t been able to find a job … never mind that unemployment is high and good jobs are difficult to find, you’re still going to get this question…
So, as you prepare to interview, think about what kind of “risk factors” you pose to a potential employer … don’t give me that business of “I’m not a risk”… because every one poses some kind of risk to a perspective employer…
Be sure, in your presentation of yourself to perspective employers that you offset the risks that you pose … and you know what those risks are … if you’ve had three jobs in three years be ready to offset that concern … if you’ve been out of work for an extended period of time be ready to offset that concern…
But offset these risks in the presentation of yourself BEFORE they come up or you have to be asked, … you can even make them a positive … something along the line of, “I realize that I’ve had three jobs in three years so, whoever I go to work for is going to get a five year to seven year commitment from me and as long as they’re around, I’ll be there… I can’t afford another short stint on my resume. ” Do this before you are asked, “why have you had so many jobs in the last few years? ”
Think about your risk factors … deal with them!
“Let Me Be Honest With You”
I’m continually annoyed with people who put “fillers” in their speech patterns, especially in the interviewing situation. I know they’re not conscious of their using these “lip loads,” but they are still annoying. Here are the ones I hear most often:
“You know… you know… you know”… it makes you sound so stupid
“Honestly”… as though you haven’t been honest with me and the other things you’ve said?
“Let me be honest with you”… which means you haven’t been honest with me up until now?
“Trust me”… and you say it so many times that I have to really wonder if I can or should.
“Let me be transparent”… as though you’ve been hiding stuff from me throughout the whole conversation.
“The truth is”… as though everything else you said hasn’t been the truth.
If you are in the habit of using these kinds of “fillers,” you need to practice getting them OUT Of your vocabulary, especially when you are interviewing. Interviewing and hiring authorities are making very quick judgments about you and everything about you based on very little information. Most of that information is communicated in what you say and the manner in which you say it.
These kinds of lip loads are used because people are very nervous. And worst of all they are uncomfortable with silence so they fill the void with these kinds of sayings. None of them amount to much, but in a 35 or 40 minute interview if you say them fairly often, that’s what people will remember you by. It takes about 10 to 14 days of practice but you can be rid of these things and quit embarrassing yourself.
… so you been out of work more than a year
It sure crept up on you awfully fast, didn’t it? You have absolutely no idea that much time could pass since you were working. It just kind of crept up on you. After you lost your job, you took a little time off because you “hadn’t had a vacation in a while.” Then you started casually looking around thinking, “last time I looked for a job, it didn’t take me that long.” It took six or seven months for you to all of a sudden get serious about finding a job and then, all of a sudden, you found out how darned difficult it was to do.
So, now you’re beginning to get interviews because the economy is getting a little better and you have to try to explain why it’s taken so long for you to find a job or why you have been out of work so long. After the first couple of interviews like this, you really understand that an employer is very cautious, even dubious about the fact that you’ve been out of work so long and will normally discount all of your excuses. You will have caught on that a hiring authority is much more likely to want to hire someone who is either presently employed or, if unemployed, for only a short period of time. Every time you go to explain you become more and more self-conscious and you can literally see the doubt on the hiring authority’s face. Since most of them have not been out of work that long or even experienced that kind of thing, they have absolutely no idea the challenge you have had. In fact, their attitude is, “What’s wrong with this person?” They think, “There’s got to be something wrong with somebody who can’t find a job in a whole year.” And then they move on to the next candidate.
There isn’t much you can do about this attitude, except when you get the chance to get in front of them for an interview you cannot try to make excuses for being out of work for a year, blame the economy, etc. You must take full responsibility for it by saying something along the line of, “I really had no idea it would be this difficult to find a job. In years past when I’ve looked for positions, I’ve always been able to find one relatively rapidly. I have been actively getting as many interviews as I possibly can. (It is not a bad idea to have on hand the names of the companies that you have interviewed with or the kinds of positions you have interviewed for.) I have come close on a couple of opportunities and decided to pass on a couple of others because I didn’t think it was a good opportunity for the company I was interviewing with or for myself. I want to be very careful to be sure that the next opportunity is a long-term one.” Then, shut up about why you’ve been looking for a job for so long and ask questions of the employer about the present position you are interviewing for. It’s that simple.
If you do anything other than this, it is going to dig a deeper hole of doubt, uncertainty and fear on the part of the hiring authority regarding you as a candidate. If you make excuses, you’ll sound like a whiner. If you go on and on about why you started so late to look for a job and express the bad luck in getting interviews, you simply won’t look like a wise business person. Most every way you try to explain this problem will be very treacherous. The “mea culpa”, simple quick statement above is the best way to do it.
If anyone has come up with some great “lip loads” to deal with this issue, please share them with us.
…counteracting perseveration
Perseveration. It occurs when candidates who are having a particularly difficult time finding a job play their issues and failures over and over in their mind.
“Why can’t I find an interview?…What’s wrong with me? … Why didn’t I do better on that interview?…They told me they were going to call me back and they didn’t.… I thought I was perfect for the job.… They told me they were going to hire me and then they didn’t.…I’ve never had a problem in getting a job before, what’s wrong with me?… I must be doing something drastically wrong.… Don’t these people understand how hard it is?… This just isn’t fair.… I was making that kind of money 10 years ago.… The gal I interviewed with, I should be her boss.… Those people couldn’t even tell a good candidate if they saw one.… I know I didn’t do very well in the interview but that shouldn’t make any difference.… Those people that interviewed me don’t know what they’re doing.”
Pick any one of these statements and read it over and over and over and over again. That’s perseveration. It’s depressing and it is not the way to look for a job.
Everyone who reads this is going to agree that they shouldn’t do it. But they do. And it further depresses them. So, when this kind of conversation in the head begins, a well-grounded candidate will stop themselves and begin this kind of self-talk:
“I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn’t know it was going to be this hard. I have to work harder at getting interviews. I have to do the right things in order to get interviews.”
“I can’t do anything about the past and I can’t do much about the future. All I can do is control what I do right now. Right now, I’m going to take massive action.”
“Let’s see, what did I do wrong in that interview? I need to figure it out so I can correct it.”
“I did the best I could, but I do have to get better. That was a learning opportunity and I’ve grown from it. Now I know things are difficult, but I’ll get better.”
Well, I think you get the point. Negative perseveration leads to nothing but disaster.
…hiring authority’s top 20 lip loads that kill an interview
Most hiring and interviewing authorities don’t know that 60% of the interviewing mistakes are made by them as opposed to the candidates they interview. Most interviewing and hiring authorities claim that “good hires” aren’t made because of poor candidates or poor interviewing techniques on the part of the candidates. But the truth is that good candidates are often turned off or discouraged from pursuing an opportunity because of what hiring or interviewing authorities say.
Here are the top 20 “lip loads” that hiring or interviewing authorities use to kill perfectly good interviews and the messages they send to good candidates:
“I’m not sure what we’re looking for, we can’t agree, but I’m glad you’re here, now tell me about yourself.”Message: We have no idea what we’re looking for, wouldn’t know it if we found it, can’t agree…. this is a shot in the dark. We’re surely an indecisive group of folks.
“I will know the right candidate when I meet them.”Message: I hire and fire by feeling. I don’t want to be bothered by details like qualifications and the ability to do the job.
“We are in a big hurry… we’ve been without someone in this position for some time….. Our process takes four weeks, if we’re lucky. ” Message: This makes us look like we’re working. On top of that, it gives us plenty to complain about…that we can’t find good people.
“Let me tell you about our company, the job… me … my boss … why we’re looking to hire … what hasn’t worked in the past … what we think will work in the future … why I like the Cowboys… the Mavericks’ … the Stars.”Message: I’m going to do all the talking. Then I will decide on your qualifications and ability to do the job.
“I’m sorry, I’m 15 minutes (…20 minutes, 30 minutes) late but I had to take a phone call…talk to a customer…. had an emergency… talk to my boss.”Message: Interviewing you or anybody else just isn’t that important.
“Excuse me for a moment, but I have to… take a call… talk to a customer… have an emergency… talk to my boss… in front of you.”Message: Interviewing you or anybody else just isn’t that important. I’m just a busy person as well as inconsiderate.
“The last person we had in this position was a real jerk and the one before that was awful. Our luck in finding good people seems to be really poor.”Message: I will talk about you and I will talk about the other people who left.
“We want someone who is a cultural fit.”Message: You are too old.
“My boss, who you will speak with, is a real piece of work. We never know which personality is going to show up on a daily basis.”Message: The boss is a real piece of work. No one ever knows which of his personality is going to show up. He is very difficult.
“How much money are you making? We know we’re not really competitive in the marketplace, but it is a great place to work.”Message: We underpay and expect a lot.
“We really need a water-walker… someone with at least 10 years of experience, an M.B.A. from an Ivy League school, a tremendous track record and we will pay at least $60,000.”Message: Our expectations are totally unrealistic and they keep getting higher with every candidate we interview…we just can’t afford to make a mistake.
“Thank you for coming to the interview. You know what happened to me. I just went through an awful divorce… my 16 year-old ran away…. I was in an awful car accident two weeks ago…. we just found out my mother has cancer… “Message: My personal life is more important than interviewing you.
“I’m the decision maker, but I like to get the input of five (… four, six, etc.) other people.”Message: I’m not really the decision maker, I just wanna’ look good.
“This company is one of the hardest places to work in the whole world. But if you have lots the courage and can weather the constant storm it is really interesting.” Message: This Company has a lot of turnover. They are unreasonably demanding.
“I’m the first person in the interviewing process. Although I am in H.R. (…the ‘screener’…the admin to Mr. /Ms. Big), my job is to make sure that the hiring authority interviews the right kind of candidates.”Message: I need to look good. You might be able to do the job, but I am not going to send you or anybody else past me unless I think you’re a perfect candidate. I’m really not certain of what we need because; I am not really in that department. I have this list of qualifications that every candidate has to meet. I check boxes. I don’t want to look bad.
“You are one of 20 candidates that we have interviewed over the last six weeks.”Message: We have no idea what we are looking for. Our hiring process is an endurance race. We can’t understand why we can’t find good people!
“We are really careful about who we hire. We make sure every candidate knows what they are getting into.”Message: We are so picky. We want everyone in the company to like the person we hire.Your ability to do the job isn’t as important as what everyone thinks of you.
“Everyone we talk to wants to come to work here. The lucky ones get to.”Message: You are darn lucky to be interviewing here. We don’t have to tell you why you ought to work here. We are the only company in the world worth working for.
“Along with our interviewing, we have a battery of tests you will need to take. But don’t worry, we all took them and they only account for 25% of the hiring decision.”Message: The tests decide who gets hired. They are the “first” 25% of the decision.We don’t have to make a decision because the testing does it for us.
“You are exactly what we are looking for. We will get back to you when I get the other people that need to speak to find out when they can interview you.”Message: I tell this to everyone. We are unorganized and our process will take a very long time.
Other “killers”:
“I’ll call you tomorrow (…in a day…two days…)” Then never doing it.
“I’m so busy… we need to reschedule this interview.”
Never giving the candidate honest feedback.
Not selling the job and the opportunity to candidates.
…rituals and routines
The importance of rituals and routines in your job search cannot be overemphasized. Whether you’re looking for a job full-time or looking for a job while you have one (which is like having two jobs) it’s very important to develop specific patterns of living (rituals and routines) that allow you to focus your mental and emotional efforts on doing everything you can to find a job.Good routines are designed to prepare a job seeker for their best performance, mentally, physically and emotionally.
Routines and rituals mean that you set a schedule that you follow every single day of your job search. If you’re looking for a job full-time, it’s writing out a specific schedule that you don’t deviate from so that you don’t have to “think” and spend mental energy on inconsequential decisions. Inconsequential decisions like, “What time should I get up tomorrow?”… “Which shirt should I wear today?”… “What suit should I wear?”… “What should I have for breakfast?”… “What time should I eat lunch?”… “Who should I call about an interview?”… “What plan should I have for today?” “Should I simply blow today off and go play golf?”… added together take a tremendous amount of mental and emotional energy.
The result of too many of these inconsequential decisions is called decision fatigue. There have been a tremendous number of psychological studies showing that even after making a number of inconsequential decisions that are just that, inconsequential, people get emotionally and psychologically tired and they don’t do as well on cognitive tests.
Decision fatigue is further exacerbated when someone is looking for a job because of the emotional strain of looking for a job and, if it’s the case, trying to keep a job they don’t like which they are leaving as well as trying to find a new one. Decision fatigue can happen really quickly and put the individual in a debilitating mood. I’ve often wondered how much this factor plays in those 94.7 million people who are out of work with 50% of them reporting that they just plain quit looking.
Routines and rituals help minimize decision fatigue. Minimal decision fatigue frees an individual’s mental and emotional efforts to focus on the process of looking for a job, i.e. getting interviews, performing those interviews, etc. It’s hard enough to function well in the job search process without decision fatigue. Bluntly, there’s always going to be some of it, but the idea is to minimize it as much as possible.
Are your rituals and routines helping you?
