job search Archives - Page 2 of 3

…dealing with “bruised credit”

we hear it weekly…candidate gets into the finals of the interviewing process…is told they are a finalist…will have their references and credit checked…

then, oh my, the candidate reveals that they have “bruised” credit…this can be everything from very, very bad credit to poor credit…

in these difficult economic times, it is not suprising that many people’s credit is “bruised”…slightly to very badly..

these days, employers are more prone to check credit on most candidates, even if the position is not a financial oriented job….it use to be that a candidate’s credit was checked only when the job had to do with financial positions…i.e. where money was involved..

these days, though, hiring authorities have a hard time checking references with previous employers, who, more often than not, adopt a “we don’t give references of any type” policy…so, they resort to other objective reports like criminal records and credit reports…

the assumption is that, if your credit is poor, you are a poor employee…

it does no good to argue this issue…if you have bruised credit, best assume you will be eliminated from most any financially oriented job…we even had a candidate lately who was eliminated from an insurance adjusters position because of his poor credit…

we recomend not sharing a poor credit issue unitl you find out that your credit will be checked…(by the way, you can’t refuse this being done without immediately being eliminated from contention)..

once you are informed, tell the hiring authority that your credit has been bruised and ask him or her if that will be an issue…you might share with them the reasons for the situation…we had a candidat a few years ago whose identity was stolen and she was still “recovering” from a poor credit issue through no fault of her own…

some hiring authorities may be able to work with you if they really like you…sometimes they may not have any choice depending on company policies..

you want to be sure that, if you find that a credit report will be reviewed and you have had challenges, the employer does not find out from the credit report itself…especially if you are told that the report will be part of the screening process…

if an employers thinks you are withholding information from him or her, you won’t get hired…

By Tony Beshara|2008-10-31T21:04:33-05:00October 31, 2008|interviewing, job search|

…till your butt’s in the chair

two weeks ago, one of our candidates got a verbal job offer…$150,000 plus commissions, etc…start date, end of november..maybe december…maybe the first of the year (..almost 3 months away)

i said, “that’s really strange….doesn’t make sense…” …i told him not to trust it…he should keep looking and not stop..he marginally agreed…but he was convinced he had found a job

friday, they call him and tell him the position has been put on hold..we feel so badly for him but there is nothing anyone can do.

lesson: don’t count on anything in this job market…until your butt’s in the chair (…and even then) …don’t stop looking for a good opportunity… keep interviewing…even if you get a written offer…once you start a job…and have been there a while, then shut the process down..

By Tony Beshara|2008-10-26T21:53:03-05:00October 26, 2008|employers, job search, job search strategies|

…the risk of relocating for a new job

heard from a recent candidate of ours…he took a new job in Florida …the deal has not worked out and he is trying to get back to Texas…and it is really hard to do

it is hard for him to come interview…he’d love if someone will help him out with relo expenses…he is really in a tough spot…the competition for the kind of thing he is looking for is very keen….

lesson: not good to take a new job with a new company and immediately relocate…as much as no one will admit to this, new jobs do not work out 20% of the time…and you are stuck in a new city with no job or having to look for one and you don’ t know many people…all your contacts are “back home”..

so, if you have to relocate for a new job, commute to it for six months or so to see if it is a good fit…then relocate.., also try to get the company you are going to work for to agree to help you get back home if the situation doesn’t work out…do this before you take the new job…

By Tony Beshara|2008-10-19T21:55:30-05:00October 19, 2008|career development, job search|

…the long distance job search

we get a number of calls every day from folks trying to find a job here in dallas from some distant city…it is so hard to explain that unless you are in a very narrow, well defined profession where there a many job opportunities, trying to find a job when you aren’t here is virtually impossible..

what folks don’t realize is that there are lots and lots of people already living here that are competing for those jobs…and if an employer can hire someone already here, they simply eliminate the risk of the candidate not being able, for any reason, to move here after they are hired…

now, if you are an accountant, engineer, or IT professional, you may be able to come to town and stay for a while and find a job before you move..

but if you are gainfully employed and are not in the rare class of candidates that can get hired almost immediately, the idea that you might come to town for one or two interviews, then come back for subsequent interviews..and then do it again if the first opportunity doesn’t work out…simply isn’t practical

even coming to town for a week or two, expecting to land a new job is unrealistic…short of a miracle, finding a job that quickly isn’t likely

By Tony Beshara|2008-10-01T21:11:11-05:00October 1, 2008|job search, job search strategies|

…”well, my severance is about to run out”

…hello! …wake up! what employer is going to want to hire a candidate that says that the reason he started looking for a job is that his severance is about to run out…

..on top of that, the candidate put off looking for a job for four months, and in the next two months his severance will end, and so he has decided to look for a job…

THINK THIS: “How does what I say appear to a perspective employer? Do I come across as a hard working, determined employee who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done?”

By Tony Beshara|2018-07-25T13:39:25-05:00September 8, 2008|career development, job search, job search strategies|

failures in the job search process

Michael Jordan stated: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted with the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again all my life. And that is why I succeed!”

in order for your job search to be successful, you best expect lots of “failures”…failures to get interviews, to do well in some interviews…to get offers that you want..

in fact, that is part of the deal…even the best candidates have to get 12 interviews to get an offer…even one they may not like…and these are candidates with exceptional experience and credentials..

so…you have to expect misses…it is part of the “game”… in fact, if you follow my mentorship, you realize that the “misses” are simply steps toward successes…

keep shooting…get as many interviews as you can…sell yourself as hard as you can…remember what Zig Ziglar said many years ago..”a big shot is simply a little shot that kept on shooting!”

By Tony Beshara|2008-06-15T10:35:39-05:00June 15, 2008|job search, job search strategies, psychology|

…on vacation???

..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!

By Tony Beshara|2008-05-24T14:58:36-05:00May 24, 2008|career development, job search, job search strategies|

good grades in school

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…

By Tony Beshara|2008-05-18T14:25:36-05:00May 18, 2008|communication, education, interviewing, job search, job search strategies|

…so this is what we decided was the right thing to do

…great candidate..she decided that she should tell potential employers that she was pregnant..

two of the companies she spoke to loved that she told them..said that they had lots of moms there and she would fit right in..one of them is strongly considering her..

two of the companies she interviewed with quietly said very little, but “passed” on her…never said a word as to why..but we all know why..

here was our rational..if she didn’t tell them and she went to work..left to have the baby and didn’t come back to work, which is always possible, that firm most likely would be very upset with her…

no matter what anyone says, it can really put a company in a very awkward position if they hire someone who leaves to have a baby in six or seven months…especially if they are a small firm that depends on every employee..

if a candidate who becomes an employee puts the company in a real pinch like this, the people in the company may really resent her not telling them…so, the right thing to do is to “treat others the way you’d want to be treated”…don’t suprise folks…

By Tony Beshara|2008-05-14T22:03:30-05:00May 14, 2008|communication, interviewing, job search|

don’t believe what you hear…

one of my candidates has been waiting three weeks for an offer he was told he was going to get…it was not my client, thank goodness…but i kept telling him to keep interviewing…but he wouldn’t listen…it was his dream job..

he has been calling the hiring authority every three or four days…has a start date and has been told, “no problem”..

well, today he found out that the hiring authority is going to be promoted…good for him..bad for my candidate..

they are going to wait on hiring…either promote from within or hire a new manager from outside the company..

sadly, the hiring authority knew this was a possibility a month ago, but wanted to hedge his bet, that if he didn’t get promoted he would hire my candidate…he was dealing to what was best for him and not the candidate..

lesson: don’t believe a damn word about “we are going to hire you”..until you get an offer letter..

my candidate is devastated…

By Tony Beshara|2008-04-16T21:53:13-05:00April 16, 2008|interviewing, job search, job search strategies, psychology|