The first bit of advice is for you to expect that the job is going to be quite a bit different than what you thought it would be. Things are never the way they appear on the outside looking in.

The second suggestion is to observe very closely in your first few weeks what is going on in the company. The best way to find out the real scoop is to talk to the most senior level administrative personnel (we used to call them secretaries). These people know more about what is going on in the organization than anyone. They may not be the decision makers, but they still know more about the organization and all the managers.

Get to know your immediate supervisor’s personality and style. Do this with all those with whom you interface. Don’t hesitate to ask lots and lots of questions regarding procedures and protocols. Nobody expects you to be intuitive about anything – you are the new kid on the block. It may not hurt to take notes about what you learn, especially regarding any “unofficial” procedures.

Recognize and avoid the negative people who exist in every organization. They can range from people that see the glass half-empty to people who are downright negative, gossipy, and in some cases, slanderous. Avoid them like the plague.

The most important thing you can do as a new professional is to be quiet and not draw attention to yourself until you really learn about the company and the personalities of the people. Too often, newly hired professionals try to immediately show how good they are by drawing attention to themselves before they really know the lay of the land.

No matter how good you might be, no matter how smart you are, no matter how much you might be able to contribute to the organization, you will have much more impact and be received with much more respect if you learn as much you can about the organization and its personality before you start having significant input. Understand that you will have plenty of time to prove yourself – later.

Epilogue

Goals are always elusive. We all have a tendency to set goals and, once these goals are achieved, set others. It seems that the need to strive for something better is a physical condition, however what we become on the inside – how much our spirit and soul grow in the process of obtaining our goals – is where we should focus.

Before soul and spirit expand to the same relative size as the physical, social, and mental components through the emotional goals that we attain, we struggle with a mismatch of the inner and outer person.

OK, so you’re asking, “Tony, what does this have to do with my getting a new job?”

It is really pretty simple: as you are going through the emotional process of changing jobs, through the ups and downs, the advances and setbacks, you need to pay attention to your internal growth.

Are you becoming a better person in the process of getting what you want? Are the trials and tribulations making you stronger? Are you learning more about yourself? Are you more sensitive to others? Do you see the world through other people’s eyes just a little better?

Finding a job is a practical, valuable thing to do. Ironically, every job is temporary… after all, life is atemporary assignment. I guess you could go through the job search process focusing only on the tactical, practical value of finding a job, which is to make a living. But the process will be tremendously more gratifying if you also focus on the kind of person that you become from the process. Not only will you get a better job, you’ll also become a better person. What you become in the process of getting what you want is more important than what you actually get!

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Until a candidate has accepted an offer, most hiring authorities feel absolutely no moral obligation to that candidate. Hiring authorities, just like anyone else, fear rejection. It’s not uncommon for an employer to make an offer then become scared when the candidate asks for a delay and so offer the job to the next candidate…. without even telling the first candidate.

Get it in writing

Contrary to what most people think, a signed offer letter, except in very rare instances, is not a legally binding implied contract. Candidates often think that because they have signed and accepted an offer letter, they have some sort of legal right to the job. So you know, most states are employment-at-will states, which means that the employer or the candidate can terminate the employment relationship at any time, for just about any reason – except that the employee cannot be terminated for an illegal reason like race or age discrimination.

Unless there is a clear or implied long-term promise of employment, the candidate has practically no legal recourse if the job doesn’t materialize – even if the offer is spelled out in writing. Even with the clear long-term promise, the candidate must still document hefty damages to justify an action in law.

There are, however, two major reasons that you should be sure to get a written offer with as much detail as possible. The first reason is that at least 30 percent of the time it will be different, in some way, from what you have discussed with the hiring authority. These usually are not major mistakes and often result from inadvertent mistakes by the H.R. Department or administrative staffer whose job it is to write letters. Sometimes things get lost in translation.

The second reason you want to get an offer in writing is to be sure that your paychecks reflect your agreement – including benefits and benefit deductions. It is not uncommon for an earnings agreement, whether verbal or written, to be handled by a number of people before it is entered into the payroll system. These are normally just human errors, but the shock of something like this doesn’t make the start of a new job any easier. You don’t want any surprises, so have as much detail in the offer letter as is reasonable.

Set a starting date

Most people think that this is an easy thing to do once you accepted a job, but as I’ve mentioned before “it isn’t over ‘til your butt is in the chair,” – even then it might not be over. You’ll want as little time to go by as possible between the time you accept the job and when you actually start the job. Why? Because strange things do happen.

When you have accepted the offer, you should try to get to the new job as soon as possible. It is rare to have something happen to the job between the time of accepting the offer and actually starting the job, but it can and does happen. I have seen companies sold, head counts for new hires frozen, changes in management, and all kinds of other things that may alter the status of the situation just before the candidate shows up for work.

I recommend that if the starting date is more than two weeks away, you try to take the hiring authority to lunch during that period, or make some other effort to keep yourself in his consciousness.

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When hiring authorities decide to move candidates up in the interview process, they’re getting other opinions in order to protect themselves. Since hiring is personally risky, these people have a vested interest in the chosen candidate and are likely to help the candidate as much as they can.

It is important that you ask this person:

• How many people are being interviewed

• How you compare to those other candidates

• Who else will interview you

• What the hiring authority’s perception is of these people

• How long the process is going to take

• What the people involved like or don’t like

• And anything else you can think of that will help your candidacy.

Once the hiring authority tells you that you’re going to be promoted to the next step, it is not a bad idea to request another meeting with him/her so you can get as much information as possible about the other people to whom you’ll be talking. The hiring authority wants to hire someone who goes the extra mile and demonstrates that he/she wants the job.

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You absolutely must research a company with which you are going to interview before the interview. I’m amazed by the number of candidates that interview knowing very little or nothing about the company and the person with whom they are interviewing – even those seeking positions requiring more experience.

I recently represented a candidate with an undergraduate degree in engineering from a very prestigious college, an MBA from one of the top 10 graduate schools in the country, and a track record that was absolutely stellar. We had two weeks to prepare for an interview with an excellent company for a position as vice president. He went to the interview having done no research on the company … none, zip, nada.

He figured that since he “knew of them” from the marketplace, that’s all he needed. Not only did he not get past first base in the interview process, it was embarrassing. Don’t let this happen to you! You have to research the prospective employer and it is easy to do.

The vast majority of companies have web sites that tell you what they do. It isn’t hard to do this kind of research. Thoroughly review the company’s web site before an interview – and take notes. Often, companies will provide a description of the job for which you are interviewing on their web site. Even if the company is small, it’s going to have information on its web site that you better know.

If you’re interviewing with a public company, there’s no excuse for not knowing a wealth of information about them. You should be knowledgeable about everything from their officers, market cap, stock price, advances and declines in the marketplace, the number and size of their different divisions, who runs them – even the problems that they’ve experienced. You can probably find newspaper articles, magazine articles, white pages, and other kinds of published materials about the company and its people. Even if you find adversarial information about the company, asking about it once you are in the interview shows that you are a “student of the game.”

It is very impressive when the candidate goes into an interview having done a lot of research. You might even Google the person that will be interviewing you. Some resources, like Hoover’s, will give you the names of the company’s competitors. Knowing who the competitors are not only gives you information about the industry, it also gives you an idea of other companies you might target for an interview. The more research you do on a company and the more that you know about them in the interview, the better you will do.

Again, take good notes so you can incorporate them in your interview.

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• Grades, either your total GPA or grades in your major academic awards

• Accomplishments (i.e. awards, recognition, etc.)

• Having worked part-time during high school or college

• Having worked full-time in between years of school

• Leadership positions (i.e. Sports, fraternity, sorority, clubs, social organizations)

• Competitive sports – especially at the collegiate level. Also service fraternities or organizations

• Volunteer organizations

• Any real personal challenges that you’ve had overcome, either with your family or individually (i.e. Illness, setbacks)

• Unique activities that demonstrate independence, initiative, etc. (i.e. extensive travel either in the U.S. or foreign countries, successfully investing in the stock market)

• Leadership in the military

• Exceptional hobbies that demonstrate intelligence, persistence, determination, or hard work (i.e., having articles published, breeding animals, etc.)

• Anything you can think of that sets you apart from other candidates and that says: “I will make you the best employee you could hire.”

A perspective employer is looking to find transferable skills from the above experiences. The skills you need to demonstrate are:

• Decision-making

• Goal setting

• The ability to lead

• The ability to follow instructions and be a team player

• Planning and organizing

• Showing up early…staying late to get the job done…dependability

• Problem solving

• Clear, concise verbal communications

• Negotiating

• Clear, concise written communications

• Expressing ideas both orally and in writing

• Meeting deadlines

• Quick learner

• Common sense (…which isn’t very common)

IMPORTANT: go through your experiences and write down any transferable skills each demonstrates. You can demonstrate transferable skills by writing what you learned with each experience and event. What you learned has to be articulated so that an employer can hear that you understand the practical aspects of the experience.

When you can “translate” the event or experience into terms of “what I learned that will apply to working here,” you have just set yourself apart from 95% of your competition.
An example would be:

“While chairman of the fraternity philanthropic committee, I organized a toy drive at Christmas for children at a local church, and two fund raising parties, one in the fall and one in the spring. We raised over $2,500 for a local charity. I learned how to organize and motivate my 35 fraternity brothers, schedule all of the events, and be accountable for the money. This was the first time in the history of the fraternity that we had such a committee and functions. It was so successful, the fraternity has made it a permanent committee and plans for next year are already taking place.”

Now, think about all of the things you have done, the transferable skills, and what you have learned, and write them down for use in your interviews.

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