Job Search Blog

This Market is Nuts!

We haven’t seen it like this since 1999. The other day we sent a candidate who’s been earning in the $85,000-$95,000 range to three initial interviews on the same day. By 6 PM he had three offers, one from each company. We were unaware he had two previous offers in his pocket when sent to the three interviews we set up on his behalf.

Granted, without doubt, he was a really good candidate!  However, three offers on the same day from three different companies that only interviewed him once; that is wild! He ended up taking the offer he thought was best for him; and it was a great offer.  I’d love to tell you that we did that for every candidate that came to us, but you know that’s not true. It’s simply that there are more jobs than candidates and really good candidates are difficult to find.

In this market, there are critical lessons for candidates.

The basic lesson for all candidates in this type of economy is to Stay Humble.

Don’t let it go to your head.  Even though you may be able to get a number of interviews and even job offers, while this is great and you should take advantage of the opportunities, do not allow your pride to be overinflated.  As President Clinton said, “It’s the economy, stupid!” take it in stride.

Find a good job, work really hard, but please understand what goes up always comes down.

I have experienced eight recessions, and each time we have an expansion of the economy, lots of candidates get hired at ridiculous salaries for jobs that they are under-qualified for. Generally, they are hired because companies are making a lot of money and need help. However, if these candidates begin to ‘read their own press clippings’ and believe this will always be the case in landing a great job; until a recession comes along and they are unable to figure out why they were laid off.  Followed by multiple months of job searching till they locate their next position.

Remember the saying, “high tide raises all boats.” God bless us all to take advantage of a good economy however, when we are blessed we need to be sure that we accept it with gratitude and humility.

Humility allows you to believe in your God-given talents without thinking it was all because of you or all for you.  When blessed with a good economy with new opportunities, this comes with responsibilities to make the most of these openings available by being a blessing to the companies we work for and the communities we support.

This is one of the best jobs in most lives and on average lasts 50 years!

This position comes with:

• No titles or promotions…just phases of the same job
• No training programs to prepare for it however thousands of ‘ how to’  manuals but nobody really knows what it’s like until they do it
• No committees…although it would be nice if there was to help  make decisions
• Preparation for being unprepared makes a big difference
• No expectations … it avoids disappointments
• No ability to quit although you may run away  however wish you hadn’t
• No PTO allowed, even when you are alone
• No retirement benefits, not likely in this life
• No 401k, maybe in the next life

The days and the nights are long, but the years are short and there are no peer reviews.  Anyone who has ‘been there’ knows better than to give advice.  Knowing exactly what to do will be a daily challenge.

If interested in this position be prepared to experience:

• Anxiety and fear balanced by moments of joy held in the heart
• Lack of awards, trophies or plaques
• Frustrations where the only solace is prayer
• Pain and joy all within the same hour
• Unpredictability, the day you think you ‘got it down’… watch out

This position is a mission of the heart rather than a job of the mind and the body, although the beginning of it can be physically painful.  This position ends up being more of a calling than a job that you must ‘love’ even when you do not like it.  I mean really LOVE IT!

The hardest job in the world of course is . . . . being a Mom!

To all the moms of every type; Happy Mother’s Day! 

Thank You for Your Service.

A candidate today goes to a third interview. He was doing great…until he reached the end of the interview and he says “I’m very interested. Where do we go from here?”

That statement, while valid, can come off to some hiring authorities as weak or passive.  A better or more assertive statement would have been, “This is a great opportunity for both of us …what do I need to do to get the job?”

Unfortunately, he was eliminated as a contender for the job.  Advice, do not ever leave an interview without asking or presenting assertively, “What do I need to do to get the job”.

Contrast the first candidate with our second candidate, who had been through six corporate interviews with one of our clients. The client was being extra cautious and put him through the ringer. It was one of the most important jobs in the company, traveling internationally, and establishing the company’s presence around the world. So, admittedly, it was understandable that they were being vigilant.

According to the Executive Vice President, it was going to come down to one last interview with the CEO. Before the final interview, I can’t really say that our candidate was ranked one, two or three. The direct hiring authority told me after the interview that he seemed a pretty distant second but . . . he was offered the job.

Here’s why. The candidate revealed to the CEO that he had spent six hours doing an online tutorial concerning the software products the company developed. He presented assertively to the CEO exactly how he would introduce it to the countries he was going to be responsible for.

That sealed the deal.

Being assertive in your presentation and language can seem like a little thing, but it can make a really big difference in letting the hiring authority know “I want the job”.

Thanks to the thousands of hiring authorities and companies who have taught me, I am passing along my wisdom regarding the interview process.  The majority of interview topics are relatively timeless and learned.  I remember the effects of at least eight recessions, events like the dot bomb and 9/11 changed the way we practiced business. Lately, what has mostly changed the hiring landscape is the Covid pandemic. My business partner, Rich Lavinski, derived the following concepts below regarding successful post-Covid interviewing practices.

• Never schedule an interview for less than an hour

• Account for Video Time Consumption

• Prepare for Distractions & Interruptions

• Establish Interview Plan with Effective Topic Coverages & Next Steps

• Value Face-to-Face Interviewing prior to hiring

Post-Covid interviewing effects are still going on. Some of them may never change, and some of them, like work from home policies, may change over time.  My continued purpose is to offer practical advice and help companies and hiring managers interview more effectively; throughout all various market environments.

“Covid hiring” especially in regards to the interview process has created a whole new paradigm in the employing process.  I warned about the zoom 30 minute interviews, in previous postings, and how they were destroying good hiring opportunities for both candidates and companies. The video medium has altered employer’s decision-making viewpoint.

Below are concepts that my business partner, Rich Lavinski, derived from this new employing process.

• Never schedule an interview for less than an hour.

Any interview simply takes longer to gather information needed to make an informed decision. Sometimes the technology doesn’t work very well, and getting it fixed eats up time.

• Video Time Consumption

Small talk eats up more time than personal, face-to-face interviews do.

• Distractions & Interruptions

Disruptions are more likely to occur… the cat enters the camera view or unexpected noise in the background (dog barking, kids playing, etc.). These kinds of things make the interview less professional.

• Interview Planning

Hiring authorities need to plan the interview more carefully. It’s really important to write out beforehand the questions the candidate needs to be asked, write the answers clearly so they can be referred to even weeks later.

• Effective Topic Coverage

Make sure you cover all of the topics you need answered. Limit these to only three or four. The time is going to go a lot faster than you think. A face-to-face interview doesn’t have the perception of time limit.

• Determine Next Steps

Determine what information you need to take the next steps and evaluate that decision about a candidate right then.

• Importance of Face-to-Face

Never hire a candidate without a face-to-face interview.  We hear from our IT staffing clients all the time about interviewing one candidate and qualifying that candidate via video only to have a different candidate show up, in person, for the consulting job.  Somewhere along the line, most of us wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it and we surely wouldn’t buy a house without walking through it.

To prevent mistakes in employing, do not let this new “Covid hiring” paradigm hangover cause a fault in your traditional hiring process.

When clients locate the perfect candidate, time is of the essence.  Waiting and delaying the hiring process increases your chances of losing the most optimal candidates.

Recently I had such a candidate, she had the follow:

• A great personality
• Met the clients professional requirements
• Brilliant interviewing skills

The client requested we inform the candidate to wait a week, even after confirmation of a decision was stated to be in a few days.  The client requested the wait to interview last minute internal candidates.

Internal interviews are respectable preference; however many times companies are seeking to promote the idea of internal promotion even if the candidates are not qualified for the position.  Needless to say, our candidate was frustrated and thought the clients hiring process was ludicrous.  Acting out of her emotional state, she informed the hiring manager she was no longer interested in the position with a few extra ‘choice’ words via email.

Later, the hiring manager stated they were going to hire our candidate prior to the email but simply needed more time.  Overall, this was an unfortunate scenario; both sides would have benefited if they practiced a little more thoughtfulness.

Candidates that keep rewriting their resume need to keep in mind one thing, resumes are not read but scanned.  The average resume is scanned in 10 seconds with the points of interest being:

• Who you worked for?
• What your job function was with the company?
• How did your work impact the company’s bottom line?

The point of your resume is to land you an interview not to get you hired.  Therefore, avoid overthinking the resume process by simply writing a clear and concise chronological assessment of your career.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard candidates answer hiring authority salaried questions with, “it’s not relevant”. It usually comes from candidates that have totally screwed up the interview process. Typically, hiring authorities become less interested immediately after such an abrupt answer from a candidate.  This week not only was the hiring authority taken back with such a response but also had to take defense when the candidate began a minor argument.

When I debriefed the candidate regarding why he irritated the hiring authority in such a manner, his response was “I really didn’t want the job anyhow.”  When I was younger, in the recruiting business, I used to get upset with such candidates but now I just refuse to assist them any longer.

Comments like, “that’s not relevant” are both rude and a poor interviewing habit.  If you are a candidate, always contemplate how to sell yourself to get the job offer.

Good candidates cover the basics by always making a good impression and maintaining a polite demeanor.

We had a candidate referred to us who was exceptional.  Her personality was charming; she had a good employment history and was seeking quick employment.  With such great character traits, she already scheduled five interviews in four days.  It was clear that she was going to find employment fast.

We contacted three of our clients and explained to them what a great candidate she was, hoping to set up interviews immediately.  First client, who had been seeking an employee for over a month, was unable to interview due to spring break.  Second client agreed to interview her but it required a multiple stage interview process with 3-4 people, thus a week long progression. The third client interviewed her via Zoom on a Thursday, followed by two Zoom interviews that Friday morning and later offered her a job that afternoon.  She started the following Tuesday.

We don’t write the rules of the market.  We simply live with them.

When we tell clients they need to hurry because the market is crazy, almost as bad as 1999, they think it is “recruiter speech.”  Client one was downright upset with us for not delaying the candidate, nearly a week, until hiring authorities returned.

Again, we do not write the rules. This was a mid-level management job and our client had been looking for some time but failed to learn the lesson of urgency.

Frequently hiring organizations drag the hiring process out to avoid making a mistake.  They are under the illusion that a multiple stage interview process with 3-4 people will alleviate hiring errors. It is simply not true.

The truth, involving more people in the interviewing process is a hiring management defense to spread blame if the candidate does not work out.  However, studies have shown that the quality of a person being hired is no greater or less whether one person does the interviewing and hiring or more than one person does the interviewing or hiring.

A quality interviewing process is the key but has little to do with the number of interviews necessary to discover the ideal candidate.