…snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
candidate is in the finals..down to him and one other.. he is going to interview with the CEO and the president…it is a small, $100 million firm..
so, thinking he can wow them, he comes up with an elaborate “future” plan about how he has contacts to help them expand and double their size by adding lines of products he can bring them…instead of interviewing, he comes across as though he wants to create partnerships for them….bad move..
they agree to pass on him…they were simply looking for a sales person, not a new business….he oversold and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory..
lesson: sell yourself to get the job you are interviewing for..don’t try to make it more complicated than it is
…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…
…elementary
this seems so elementary, but one of our candidates went to the interview without a hard copy of his resume…the hiring authority didn’t have it on his desk, asked the candidate for one and the interview went down hill after that..
the hiring authority searched his computer for ten minutes… finally found it, had to print it…well, you get the message… bad interview
always, always have multiple copies of your resume with you..don’t assume the hiring authority will have one even if you emailed it…
this week one of our candidates went to his interview…he was confronted by a group of three people in the interview.. he sure looked prepared when he handed out copies of his resume to everyone that didn’t have one..
…monday morning interviews
..DON’T do it…stay away from monday morning interviews…the pressure of monday morning is mostly caused by people’s interruption of their cercadian rhythms that they established over the weekend…they slept later, did fun things, relaxed..and now it is interrupted by monday morning..
if you have to interview on a monday, make it after 1pm or later in the day..
also try not to interview in airports, restaurants, starbucks, at conventions, conferences, social engagements…the day before thanksgiving, christmas or new year’s eve…late at night, i.e. after 7pm
…so, life and interviewing are unfair
..interviewing and hiring are staged, contrived events…they aren’t reality…but, like churchill said about democracy, it’s the worst form of government after all the others have been tried..
candidates complain that hiring authorities ask very unfair questions, that have nothing to do with the job (i.e. “why are manholes round?”…”what is one thing about you, you don’t want me to know?”) …and employers get hung up on one or two answers that aren’t the way they would answer the question..(i.e. define “consultative selling”)…
we have seen candidates and hiring authorities get hung up on the smallest, most silly things that really have nothing to do with a candidates ability to do the job or the quality of a job opportunity…
no sense in getting mad or disappointed about things like this…when they happen, the situations are unfair…not right…just unfair…
but, so is life…get over it and move on…you’ll hardly ever rectify or change the situation…accept what you may not understand …move on..
…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
