Job Search Blog

Janice was a great salesperson, even the leading salesperson in Texas.  She had been with her relatively small accounting consulting firm for 10 years. The firm was family oriented with their corporate offices in Chicago.  They pretty much left Janice totally alone to do whatever she wanted, given she was a top producer.  She ran her business like she owned it and everybody was happy.

But over a period of a few months, the corporate office wasn’t giving Janice the consulting support she needed and she got frustrated. She has consistently been earning in the $150,000-$200,000 range every year for the past few years.  However, the response time on the part of assigning consultants to her projects got longer and longer and she even lost one deal because corporate didn’t move fast enough.

Janice’s company had been a client of ours and in contacting her to see if they had any job opportunities for any of our candidates, she voiced her frustration regarding the need for consulting support. But, she said that this kind of thing has happened before and she knew how to work around it.

It just so happened that a competitor accounting and finance consulting firm to Janice’s employer had an opening for a salesperson, through us. They are a much larger consulting firm and they take really good care of the deals they sell and pay better than just about any consulting firm of their kind in the country. It is not uncommon for some of their salespeople to earn as much as $400,000 to $500,000 a year.

We mentioned to Janice that this client was actively looking for someone in Dallas and considering the frustration she was going through it might be wise for her to speak with them. We realized that she was not actively looking for a job but the first year earnings with this organization would be somewhere around $300,000, if she performed at the same level. It seemed like a no-brainer.

Janice decided to at least speak to our client. We explained to our client how Janice was not actively looking for a job but showed interest given the consultant support and increase in earnings.  They interviewed Janice and absolutely fell in love with her.

Janice had a noncompete contract with her employer.  To a certain extent she would have to “start over” with new clients.  However, our client was willing to “bridge” her earnings for the first year. It would be relatively easy for her to earn $300,000 the first year and even more the second year.

Our client offered Janice the job, however she decided to stay where she was in order to avoid having to “start over”.  By all standards, Janice should have taken this job. There’s really no comparison to the caliber of companies, the amount of support, and obviously the kind of money that she could have earned.  We certainly respected her decision.

One of the mysteries of my profession is that we deal with people. And you never know what they’re going to do. Janice may not ever earn the kind of money she could have from our client, however we are certain she’s going to be relatively happy wherever she’s employed.

Most of the books and articles written about how to get a job are by theorists, who have not actually helped people find jobs!  So much of readers’ time and money is wasted on reading articles and books that have little value or no proven strategies.

My day-to-day responsibilities are solely concerned with finding people jobs. What are my qualifications? I have been successfully finding people ‘real jobs’ for over thirty years. After receiving a Ph.D. in Higher Education from St. Louis University, I began to forge a career working outside of academia – in the real employment world. I have personally placed more than 7,000 people, interviewed more than 24,000 people (of all professions), worked with over 21,000 different companies and have been adding to these numbers every day.

Babich & Associates, the firm that I work at (and once owned) has been in the placement and recruitment business since 1952. I joined the organization in 1973. We are the oldest placement firm in Texas and certainly one of the most experienced in the Southwest. Since its founding, the firm has helped more than 100,000 people find jobs.

Our developed surefire recruiting techniques help people find new jobs and new careers, every day. If you are new to this blog, I explore specific challenges of finding a job and a behind the scenes view in the hiring process in an ever changing economy.

The following are just some of the aspects I will continue to explore:

• How a recessionary market impacts your personal job search or employment change

• The psychological dimensions of finding a job in a changing economy

• How to start taking action immediately

• What to expect from potential employers

• Searching for a new job while presently employed

• How to manage the initial and all follow-up interviews

• How to deal with being fired and laid off

• Negotiating the highest pay

For continued practical and highly useful information on how to get hired with companies of quality, good pay, and work/life balance, please continue this journey on my blog site and share it with your friends/family.

For those of you that follow this blog, you know that I speak about the resume formatting topic all too often. However, as a recruiting educator, it bears repeating given the impact a resume can have.

In any given day, I receive 30 resumes and I would bet that half of them do not describe clearly what the company did or what the candidate’s function was within the company.  Many people assume hiring authorities know what their company does or expect them to take the time to research it.

Resumes should clearly communicate the following:

What is the company’s function?

What is/was your job role within the company?

How did you practically contribute to the company’s success?

Given time is limited and there are approximately 31 million businesses in the United States alone; a clearly defined company function, job role, and job success rate are key for a recruitable resume.

We had a candidate this week who was asked what her salary was in her last job. She answered, “I don’t think that’s relevant” and then proceeded with silence. According to the employer, he was so taken by her response, he was not sure what to say. So, according to him after a long pause, he asked again but in a different way. “Look,” he said, “I need to know for the interviewing process how much you were making.”

The candidate previously read that in some states it’s illegal to ask how much a person has been earning. Therefore, she decided not to answer the question. The candidate was correct, in more than a dozen states including California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Washington it is illegal to ask previous salaries.  Even some cities, such as New York City and San Francisco they have passed similar laws.  However, given this employer was in Texas and no such law exist, the hiring authority had the right to inquiry about the candidates previous earnings.

The logic behind these laws is the assumption companies want to pay as small a salary as they can get away with. Apart of that assumption is if a candidate has had a low salary either now or most recently, the company will not pay a fair wage for the job they are hiring for. This logic is flawed.  The majority of companies are willing to pay whatever they estimated the position is worth. What companies are seeking by gaining salary history is to understand in the initial phase of the interviewing process if the salary associated with the position is in the “ballpark” of what the candidate has earned before.

Gathering salary information is not utilized to handicap the candidate’s salary negotiation leverage but to prevent wasting anyone’s time, mostly the companies, if salary expectations are out of range.

The employer, very politely, told the candidate that he did not see any sense in continuing the interview because he felt a simple question was asked, therefore a simple answer should be adequate.

In Texas, and most states, salary inquiries are reasonable for hiring authorities to ask. Here at Babich, we ask it of our candidates. Frankly, I will not work with a candidate that will not disclose with me what they have been earning. This kind of situation happens mostly with candidates that have been earning a low salary and want a substantial pay increase, based on the position, without prejudice.

While I can understand the candidate’s point of view, as well as the logic behind the laws stated above, the majority of reputable companies require a salary history.

Therefore, whether you agree with salary inquiries or not, it’s likely that you will be asked about your previous earnings.  Rather than be put on-guard, simply answer the question and find out if the employer is reputable in offering a fair pay, based on the market.  If employers are not reputable and utilize previous salaries as a leveraging tool to practice ‘unfair wages’, it’s best to know that upfront.  However, my experience, clients have a pre-determined salary for the positions to be filled and are interested in candidates’ skills and assets, not to cheat them on the salary they deserve.

by : Rich Lavinski, CPA

The good news – Most people’s memories are relatively short. I know mine is.

The bad news – The notes and comments made about you into applicant tracking systems, social media systems and both formal and informal networks last for decades. So will the memory of you not showing up for a job or interview you accepted, you not following up on a promised call back or leaving a job without notice. If you are a consultant or vendor, it could be even worse.

We all know there is a severe labor shortage. Workers have a big advantage over hiring managers right now. Demographically, this may last for a very long time, but…not forever!

I have had the good fortune of being in the consulting, staffing, and recruiting business since 1981. My friend and business partner, Tony Beshara, one of North America’s top and best-known recruiters, has been at this since 1973. We have been around long enough to see markets like this one come and go. Trust me when I say that this high demand employee market will eventually go away. And, when it does, those who carelessly tarnished their professional reputation by acting much like ill-behaved mercenaries, will regret their bad disrespectful behavior.

When jobs become scarce, those who accepted positions and didn’t show up, ghosted hiring managers, or otherwise failed to extend common professional courtesies, will have “do not interview’ or “do not hire” attached to their records. That will be regretful. Databases and reputations live on forever, and the word about your disrespectful behavior will too.

I happen to work in Dallas/Ft Worth, which is a huge metropolitan area. But it is also the biggest small town you will ever see. Reputations, relationships, and networks take on a life of their own here. Those that do good are almost always rewarded because everyone knows about it and the blessings of good will and special consideration for opportunities will follow. Do bad, and what will seem like the entire world will know about it and ostracize you when you need a job most. That’s just the way it is, only made worse by the technology of applicant tracking systems and social media networks.

I recently read an article about a recruiter and an employer in Chicago who had asked the police to do a wellness check on a candidate who had accepted a job and even completed all the new employee on-boarding paperwork, including payroll, insurance, and employment agreement documents. He was supposed to start on a Monday, but he did not show up. Both the employer and recruiter tried multiple times to reach him and could not connect. There was simply no reply to their multiple calls, emails, and texts, so they became worried about him. The police showed up at his home after he had gone totally silent for several days to see if he was ok. He was highly embarrassed and annoyed. He could not understand why he was expected to tell anyone he changed his mind about the job or return the phone calls of the employer to whom he committed. Professional and classy…right??? No. Not so much.

So… How do you protect your reputation and optimize your future? It is easy.

Be transparent and candid.

If you are continuing to consider multiple options or have reservations about committing, simply say so. Your truth and candor will be refreshing and will differentiate you as a straight shooter rather than a weak coward who is afraid to share their genuine thoughts.

Do your best to do what you say you will do. All of us have a “say/do ratio.”

If yours is low, you will struggle throughout your career (and probably throughout your personal life). Not all of us can keep every promise we make. However, if most of your promises are un-kept, you will spend your career running up hill with a large box of rocks on your back. You will struggle keeping up, let alone getting ahead. People with no credibility rarely advance.

Do what is best for your company and for other people on your team.

Doing so will differentiate you and allow you to advance beyond your skills. Mercenaries, focused primarily on their self-interest, will almost always advance in the short-term. But in the long-term, they will flounder. And, unlike every other personal setback, mercenaries rarely recover from their reputation. No one feels good about giving them the benefit of a second chance. And few potential advocates, if any, can find it in their nature to trust them.

In conclusion, there may be some who feel making false promises, dodging professional courtesy, not showing up or following up is not that big of a deal. I am sorry this message (or maybe better defined as my rant) is not compelling enough to change your mind.

For most others, who are professional, responsible, and honorable, I could not encourage you more. Going the extra mile to do the right thing ALWAYS pays off. If not in this lifetime, your positive payback will come in eternity. I promise. Things always come back around.

Don’t be the employee, candidate, consultant, or vendor who takes advantage of the current hot demand and blows off people, companies, recruiters and hiring managers. Doing so, comes at a potential career price most will find devastating.

Richard A. Lavinski, CPA

I do not typically reference specific individuals in this blog, primarily because I interact with literally hundreds of people and it’s a little partial to mention anyone in particular.  However, when someone does something so out of the ordinary, it bears mentioning.

About six months ago I sent a candidate to one of my contacts who was hiring, Casey Clark.  Casey’s job opening turned out to be a great match for the candidate however, the timing was not.  Therefore, the candidate gracefully turned down the job offer.  Casey, and his team, while disappointed refused to give up on the candidate.  Over the next few months, Casey kept in touch with the candidate by taking him to lunches and even a Mavericks and a Stars game.

Recently, Casey contacted me to state the candidate had started working with his company that Monday.  The candidate was impressed with the persistence and the engaging spirit.  All of the energy that Casey, and his team, placed into building a relationship with the candidate paid off.

Now, I will admit, there may not be many candidates that such an effort is worth pursuing with multiple activities.  But, I guarantee you that there are very few hiring authorities who are keen enough to recognize the candidates in which additional effort and patience is required.

Relational and appealing hiring strategies, applied by Casey and his team, happen so seldom it bears mentioning.  So, if you are a hiring authority and interview a really good candidate and for one reason or another do not hire him/her, build an engaging relationship with them.

Good candidates are difficult to locate and perceptive hiring authorities are a rare commodity as well.  When the two meet great business relationships develop, benefiting both the candidates and the companies.

Best of luck to both Casey and the candidate!

I receive at least 50 resumes a day, and of course I have to review all of them. I am absolutely blown away by the crazy job titles that I see people have.  The sad thing is most of them do not seem to think it’s any big deal. I was discussing this with our good friend Terry Sullivan, the founder of Buzzpro https://www.buzzpro.com/, which is a LinkedIn consulting company.  He was also blown away by the various titles that show up on people’s LinkedIn profiles.

In fact, here is a list of titles Terry recently received:

• Chief Happiness Officer
• Chief Imagination Officer
• Chief Inspiration Officer
• Chief People Officer
• Director of Employee Engagement
• EVP of Employee Engagement
• Marketing Rock Star
• Marketing Thought Leader
• Software Superstar
• VP of People Management

I could go on and on but I’m sure you get the point.

What people do not realize, or care to understand, is that real people are taking the time to review their resumes or LinkedIn profiles. Hiring authorities and recruiters are only scanning resumes or LinkedIn profiles, not reading it in full. If they do not immediately recognize exactly what you do or if they are confused by some cockamamie title, they will simply move on to the next one.

The usual excuse candidates give me for eccentric titles is, “well that’s my title…” in which my retort to that is, “but if people do not understand it they will move on to the next resume and if you really want the job you’ll ultimately be passed by.”

So, what I recommend candidates do, if they have unusual titles, is to adjust their job titles to a more conventional one in order for everyone to understand their position. The bottom line, if you want people to consider your resume or LinkedIn profile then give them the impression you are a professional.

Traditional titles, while unexciting, allow candidates to be easily discovered and clearly establishes their career history and occupational goals.