I attended a monster.com webinar today regarding sourcing from, interestingly enough, the job seeker’s perspective. I wanted to share an important finding from their survey.

The number 1 job seeker complaint about finding new jobs (in sourcing terms) was vague job descriptions. I shudder as I write this because I envision companies writing even longer sales ads. The key word was vague, not short.

The 3 negative outcomes job seekers perceive from a vague ad:

1. Bait and switch – once into the process, the candidate learns that he or she is really being considered for a lesser position
2. Misrepresentation - the ad doesn’t truly describe what the actual job entails
3. Mismatch - skills defined in the ad do not match up with the level of the title of the ad

This post describes a sales position that literally called out a typing requirement for the salesperson in terms of words per minute. I think that ad qualifies for point number 3 above.

Comments(0)

I found this site – RecruiTV – from the ERE.net newsletter. The company that runs this site is called Wetjello (I have no idea why, but it is memorable). From their website:

Wetjello provides powerful online video recruitment solutions including recruitment campaign video development, video production and integrated web video solutions.

Were helping create a new online recruitment medium with powerful, edgy and impactful video campaigns for companies around the world.

Their claim to fame is that they feature video resumes. I have been drawn in to watching a few of the sales resumes (is that the proper word for these). I have to admit, some parts of the videos are quite distracting. One gentleman was twiddling his thumbs which was, well, annoying. This observation indicates simpletons like myself can be easily distracted by the inane as opposed to focusing on the substance of the resume.

Give me a good phone screen any day over this media. But I suspect the video resume will grow in popularity over the next few years.

Comments(1)

CareerBuilder.com’s latest newsletter features Managing Outside Your Generation which discusses the differences in managing Gen X employees vs. Gen Y employees. The article is a good, hands-on read for any manager. To cut to the summary statement of the article:

Generation X requires more training, whether on-the-job or through continued education, and feedback on a regular basis. Generation Y also requires a higher amount of feedback than what you may be used to, but they also desire greater flexibility and the freedom to run with a project once it is assigned to them.

Good advice and insight. Then there is this specific suggestion:

If you are not doing so already, consider offering continuing education reimbursement to your Generation X employees. Offering opportunities for advanced learning and career related training satisfies this generation’s desire for personal development.

You know, there is no greater generalization than characterizing a generation. Effective management comes down to the one-to-one interaction on a daily basis. I would suggest that you must know the employee’s rewards and motivations to reach any individual regardless of their generation.

Case in point (emphasis mine):

The key to managing and retaining Generation Y revolves around the type of relationship you have with your Gen-Y employees. Because of the amount of feedback this generation craves, and the level of responsibility they need to take on, it is critical to adjust your management style accordingly.

Absolutely true. As we work with sales managers, we provide a communication cheat sheet to help them understand the preferred communication style and motivational decision making process of their salespeople. Take the time to read the article – it is well worth it. But please understand that the individual interactions are the key to effective management.

Comments(0)

Inc.com offers As Valentine’s Day Approaches, Office Romance on the Rise – an appropriate story the day before Valentine’s. Check out the lede:

The number of workers caught canoodling at work has skyrocketed over the past year, according to new research.

That deserves mention simply for using the verb “canoodling.” When is the last time you read that in a business article? Yeah, I know, maybe last year at this time. Anyway, the stats:

Four out of 10 U.S. workers admit to being involved with another colleague at some point, according to a new survey by Spherion, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based employment firm, and Harris Interactive.
…
Twenty-five percent of workplace relationships eventually lead to marriage, according to the Spherion study.

I mention that last stat since I am in that 25% group. I met my wife at work and we did get married while working at the same company. She worked in marketing and I worked in sales – a match made in heaven.

Comments(1)

From Foxnews.com – Study: Inc. 500 Companies Fast Adopters of Social Media:

The nation’s fastest-growing private companies are making use of social media – including blogs, social networking and podcasts – at a rate more than twice that of Fortune 500 companies, according to a new study.

The University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research surveyed companies from the 2006 Inc. 500 list, to gauge the level of familiarity and usage of six forms of social media blogging, podcasting, online video, social networking and wikis. Out of 121 respondents, generally managers and other senior-level executives, 42 percent claimed to be “very familiar” with social networking, followed by 38 percent with message boards and 31 percent with blogging.

I would certainly have liked to seen blogging ranked higher, but I suspect the trend is strongly upward. Perhaps in 5 years we will look back at a study like this and laugh.

Imagine a study today inquiring about a corporation’s use of email and websites.

Comments(0)

CareerJournal.com reposted an older article regarding resume errors that land in the “no interest” pile. From These Resume Gaffes Do Immediate Damage:

These knockout factors invariably mean sure death to a person’s candidacy. They typically include:
1. An objective that doesn’t match current openings.
2. Inappropriate or insufficient educational credentials.
3. Incompatible salary requirements.
4. Poorly organized, sloppy or hard-to-read content.
5. Geographic restrictions incompatible with current openings.
6. A long list of employers in a short period of time.
7. Too much information.
8. A lack of U.S. citizen or permanent-resident status.

The list is comprehensive, but I have to add one more item – misspellings. We’ve posted on this topic in the past. How many typos are acceptable? In sales, the concern is that the salesperson represents the company to the outside world, mainly the prospect and customer base. Their email communication has to be up to par. Their proposals need to be perfect. I have seen written proposals for $100,000 deals with spelling errors in them. For me, this is inexcusable.

When you get to hiring, spelling errors are indicative of the quality of their work. As a sales manager, I would not want to burden of having to double check every written piece of communication generated by this salesperson.

Comments(0)

A few months ago I posted on Why Salespeople Leave which discussed the disconnect between how a company compensates their salespeople and what the salespeople view as a reward. Last week I attended a webinar jointly presented by Monster and DDI and was amazed at the disconnect they found in their research between what employers think candidates desire in a position and reality. Employers, or more specifically hiring managers, listed these items as the top 4 reasons why a candidate takes a position:

1. A good manager/boss.
2. Opportunity to advance.
3. Opportunities to learn and grow.
4. Balance between work and personal life.

However, here is how the candidates responded in the survey:

1. Opportunities to learn and grow.
2. Interesting work.
3. A good manager/boss.
4. An organization you can be proud to work for.

Now you might be saying that the hiring managers had 2 out of the 4 correct which isn’t bad. True, but what I found amazing was where the other 2 ranked with candidates. “Opportunity to advance” came in at #5 and “balance between work and personal life came” in next-to-last at #9. On the other side, “an organization you can be proud to work for” landed at #8 on the manager’s list. Why is this important? Remember that a candidates base their employment decision on this criteria:

• Need
• Motivation
• Compensation
• Trust
• Urgency
• Format

If you are not aligned with their top 4 reasons, you are not going to be aligned to their motivation. This misalignment makes your chances of them accepting your offer far more difficult. My suggestion – start off your hiring process by selling them on your company and the position by talking about their opportunities to grow/learn, the type of work they will be doing, the manager they will be working for and what makes your organization unique/different.

You know the one question that kept going through my mind during this presentation was do these findings vary based on the demographics of the candidates? According to the study, there is a variance by age classification. It is late on a Friday so that topic will have to wait for another post.

Comments(0)

Turnover is a symptom of a deeper disease in most companies. A consistent turnover level typically speaks to one of two problems – poor management skills or hiring the wrong employees. Corporate culture, compensation and other topics can come in to play, but I want to focus on the former topics.

One of our placements resigned this week after only 6 weeks in the role. This is not a sales position so it is somewhat outside of our expertise. Nonetheless, I contacted the former employee and discussed with her what went sideways. She laid most of the blame at the feet of one of the co-owners of the company and the fact that she was being asked to work on projects that were not the main focus of her job (for this co-owner).

I pursued the topics in detail and heard some real angst in her voice as she relayed the issues that led to her walking in and resigning at 8:00am. She painted a dark picture of her experience.

At the end of this discussion, I purposely stammered through one last question, “What did the other co-owner say when you approached her about these topics?”

The former employee tripped all over herself trying to answer and ended the call shortly after my question. She didn’t discuss it, she simply quit. The issue here is that she was doing well in the role and both owners were pleased with her performance up until this point.

I’ve come to learn since then that there are many personal issues occurring in the former employee’s life right now. My point here is that even though the employee characterized this situation as a management issue, the weak link was actually the employee. She was not the right fit for this position based on outside issues in her life.

The exit interview that I was afforded from her was the impetus for determining the root of the turnover. If you have an employee that leaves the company, especially in a sudden manner, it is imperative that you locate them to walk through an exit interview. Secondly, stay pragmatic through the entire discussion. Look for the gaps in the situation and ask an assumptive question. Sometimes you will be surprised by the answer.

Comments(0)

From a sales ad for an Account Executive:

Successful candidate must:

• Type 50+ wpm
• Be proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook)

Of course there were other bullets in the list, but these jumped out at me. If you are trying to find a strong salesperson and you are concerned about their typing ability, I am doubtful you are going to hire a strong salesperson. I could be wrong, but I’ll take the odds on this one.

To make matters worse, this ad was placed by a recruiting agency for an internal hire!

Comments(1)

From Inc.com:

Among the 50 states, Connecticut and Delaware offer the best economic climate for entrepreneurs and business, according to a new report by the Corporation for Enterprise Development, a private research group based in Washington.

The two states were alone in earning straight As on the group’s 20th annual report card of state economies for 2007, based on business vitality, performance, and development capacity.

Colorado, Massachusetts, and Minnesota also garnered high marks across all three categories.

That looks like a top 5 finish for our state. It is a bit surprising since the tax burden in this state is, well, burdensome. Nonetheless, there is a strong business infrastructure here. Obviously weather was not a factor in their ranking (it was -15 degrees here this morning).

Comments(0)