blind sided
our candidate got the offer…accepted the job…was told it was dependent on a credit check…
his credit was excellent…no problem!
wellllllll..one of the places that his credit report said that he had worked at wasn’t on his resume…he had been at that company for only 3 or 4 months and it showed up on his credit report…. but he thought it best not to put it on his resume..
we can sympathize with him and understand…but the client didn’t…offer rescinded..
the lesson here is obvious..think twice before keeping a job off your resume..
bluffing….no, no, no..
candidate goes into “negotiations” for the job offer…first thing she says is, “Just so you know, I have two other offers.”
hiring authority says, “Oh, great. With whom?”
she stammered and stuttered…she was obviously bluffing
she blew the “negotiation”…
lesson: don’t tell a hiring authority that you have another offer unless you really do…and if you do, tell them who it is with…don’t look stupid by bluffing..
…the funeral
my candidate’s wife’s grandmother died…rather suddenly..he and his wife have to explain to their small children ..4 and 5 years old about death, etc.
our client had scheduled a dinner with the candidate and the president of his company …a semi-final interview…and, wouldn’t you know, the evening right after the funeral…
so my candidate leaves his wife and kids at the family gathering after the funeral and goes to the dinner interview..
needless to say he was distracted and unfocused just enough to screw up the interview…
his mistake was that he should have explained that he had just come from a family funeral and he was a bit unfocused and emotionally depleted…
most people would have empathy for that kind of thing and take it into account …soooo, the lesson: if you are experiencing an emotionally stressful personal issue that is going to impact your being able to interview well…tell the interviewing authority at the beginning of the interview
he did not
thoughts on references
lately..and these things come in streaks..we have had a “rash” of lessons as a result of references for our candidates that have caused problems or cost the candidate the job..
over the next few blogs, we are going to discuss them..
last week, one of our candidates gave a previous peer as a reference…when the hiring authority checked this reference, the reference giver said that he had not worked with the candidate in over a year…!!!
the candidate had told the hiring authority that he had left his last job last month…so the hiring authority jumped to the conclusion that the candidate was lying about when he left his last job…
we eventually cleared the misunderstanding up…it was true that the reference hadn’t worked with the candidate in more than a year…because the reference was moved to a different department of the company…the employer didn’t hear that, because the reference didn’t make it clear..
remember, hiring authorities are afraid of making a mistake…they will be fearful of the smallest issue or misunderstanding..
make sure your references are “reading from the same page”.,.it took a whole day of calls to other people that worked with our candidate to clear this up…
call your references before they are called by the hiring authority…share with them what the hiring authority is going to want to know…
follow up…no matter how long and how many times it might take
my candidate kept following up with the hiring manger, even though they hired someone else…
the hiring authority and my candidate really hit it off, but my candidate just didn’t have anywhere near the experience they needed…but boy they hit it off..
my candidate asked the hiring authority if he could call him back from time to time…of course, the hiring authority agreed…
so at least once a month the candidate called the guy…heck, my candidate was still looking for a job and he figured until he got one he ought to call everyone that might eventually hire him…
seven months later, he got hired by the company..they liked him so well they “created” an opportunity for him
never quit following up…no matter how many times it might take
odd first impressions…tone it down a bit
you never know how candidates are perceived…
one of our candidates who is a very successful sales person goes to an interview…the hiring authority loves her, but is concerned about her motivation..
why?…well she had, according to him, a four carat diamond ring on (…really only two) and drove a brand new mercedes and wore at least a $500 outfit (…how does he know?)
…he wondered if she was motivated???…oh, brother
the truth is that she was able to afford these things because she is one hell of a sales lady…she also has two kids in college that she supports..
now, i might agree that when you combine the ring, the car and the suit, the hiring authority might have been put off a bit…
lesson:..tone it down a bit…dress professionally, but not over the top..
