employers Archives - Page 2 of 2

..working for friends

..heard from a candidate of mine over the weekend…”well, you told me so..” he began

frankly, i had forgtotten what i did tell him…it was six months ago and i have slept since then…he remnded me that, when he told me he as going to go to work for a good friend of his, in that friend’s small company, i shared with him that it rarely works out…that you loose a friend and usually the job in a relatively short period of time…

and that is exactly what happened..it was even more difficult because my candidate thought that his friend was sidestepping the law on certain issues…i.e. payroll taxes…

apparently it got ugly and my candidate is looking for a job again and did loose, what he thought, was a good friend….

i guess anything is possible, but really think twice about going to work for friends..even “distant” ones…if you have to feed your family and that is the only job you can find, you may not have much choice…but ask yourself before you do, “how easy will it be to quit?”.. “what happens if they fire me?” …”am i willing to loose ‘friendship’ over this?”

By Tony Beshara|2009-01-04T09:13:24-05:00January 4, 2009|employers|

…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|

…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

By Tony Beshara|2008-10-21T21:51:51-05:00October 21, 2008|communication, employers, interviewing|

…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..

By Tony Beshara|2008-10-03T21:45:49-05:00October 3, 2008|employers, interviewing|

..politics

we know that sara palin kicked butt…but don’t you dare discuss it in an interview…

if there is even an hint of being drawn into a political conversation…don’t do it…YOU need a job…not get elected..

simply nod your head and say, “It’s all very interesting.” then s-h-u-t u-p!…bring the conversation back to the interview…what you can do for the company

By Tony Beshara|2008-09-04T21:11:36-05:00September 4, 2008|communication, employers, interviewing|

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

By Tony Beshara|2008-07-24T21:58:56-05:00July 24, 2008|communication, employers, job search strategies|

be nice to the administrative personnel

one of our candidates today whose “healthy” ego became too big lost a great opportunity

the hiring authority of our client company purposely makes candidates sit and wait at least 20 to 25 minutes after the interview is suppose to start..

he does this to see if the candidates are nice to the administrative personnel at the front desk…he want to see if the candidates engage with the admins in a nice way…

after the formal interview, he asks the administrative personnel if the candidate was nice…cold…grumpy, etc….he makes much of his decision on how the candidate treats these folks…

our candidate’s ego got the best of him…he was cold..grumpy..impatient and not engaging…in fact, he was down right rude to the admins… but, boy!…when he got into the formal interview, he was as nice as he could be…

dumb…dumb…dumb…moral: be nice to everyone..especially when you are interviewing…you never know if you are going to be “tested”

By Tony Beshara|2008-06-16T22:08:40-05:00June 16, 2008|communication, employers, interviewing, job search strategies, psychology|

…pregnant candidate

..one of our candidates says she is 2 months pregnant…still needs a job, as she is unemployed…

asked us if she should tell people when she is in the interviewing process that she is pregnant…

an employer cannot ask if a candidate is pregnant…but a candidate can offer it if she wishes…

what do you think she should do???

i’ll tell you what we advised her later…what do you think?

By Tony Beshara|2008-05-13T22:05:38-05:00May 13, 2008|communication, employers, interviewing|

…never take it personally

Today one of my candidates got called by an employer I sent him to a month ago. The candidate called him to check in as the employer told him to do. In fact, the candidate called the employer close to 25 or 30 times over two or three weeks and never got a return call.

Frankly, you and I know that is rude, but I kept telling my candidate to keep calling. Don’t take it personally. These hiring folks will tell you that hiring is a priority but not call you back even though they say they will…rude, rude, rude.

Well today, out of the blue, the hiring authority calls the candidate, tells him that he’d like to see him tomorrow and talk about an offer. He never apologizes or acknowledges his never returning the calls. Nothing.

Well, the job is a good one, so my candidate is going to go to the interview tomorrow and talk to the hiring authority.

The lesson is: never take it personally. We won’t know why the employer didn’t return the calls, but the job is still a good one and the candidate should still consider it.

By Tony Beshara|2016-08-31T16:55:23-05:00April 30, 2008|communication, employers, job search strategies, psychology|

saturday morning interviews

Hiring authority insisted on interviewing tomorrow morning…she is looking to replace her controller and doesn’t want the whole office to know it, so she decided to interview four candidates tomorrow…

I have never liked Saturday interviews…too casual…just isn’t business…we’ll see how it goes…

I guess it is better than no interviews…but it is still not the best environment…

we’ll see…

By Tony Beshara|2008-04-25T22:07:32-05:00April 25, 2008|employers, interviewing|