The thought of using social networking sites as part of a candidate background check has been debated greatly in recent months. I have to confess, I am of two minds on the topic. Foxnews.com offers up an interesting story titled Job Hunters Hire Pros to Clean Up Online Profiles. Some CareerBuilder.com stats are provided within the story: A study of 1,150 hiring managers by Careerbuilder.com found 26 percent of managers admitted to using search engines such as Google and 12 percent of managers said they used social networking sites like Facebook.com in their hiring process. … Of the 12 percent who checked social networking sites, 63 percent declined to hire… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Developing Others
This week we focus on a critical sales management trait. We often encounter sales managers who attempt to sell first, manage later. This approach may pay short-term dividends, but the long-term effect is an underdeveloped sales team. We always look at this measurement when hiring sales managers. Developing Others The ability to understand the needs, interests, strengths and weaknesses of others and utilize this information for developing others. This trait is derived primarily from a person€™s concern, their ability to evaluate others, and their ability to identify with others. It is affected by a person€™s focus on structure and order. The person with a strong focus on structure will tend… Read More
Continue ReadingInterviews And The 2% Improvement
Good ManageSmarter.com article here titled Hiring as a Competitive Advantage (great title). There are few echoes in the article that reflect exactly our thinking when it comes to successful hiring processes. First, an amazing piece of data: €¢ Interviews: A University of Michigan study found that a typical job interview only increased the likelihood of choosing the best candidate by less than 2 percent. The statement could use some clarification, but the fact is that most ineffective hiring processes over-rely upon the interview in their decision-making. Less than 2% is even worse than I would have guessed. Hiring the “best” candidate clearly requires more input than what can be gathered… Read More
Continue ReadingHow Did We Get This Resume?
Have you ever been flummoxed by some bizarre resumes you have received in response to a clearly written ad? We receive them frequently. And often we explain these scenarios to our customers. In case you ever wondered, I received a promotional email today that revealed much: You can use <product> to instantly search all major job sites (at the same time) for jobs you like. Next, review the jobs it found and put a check mark next to your favorites. Then, press a single button to send your resume & cover letter to ALL the jobs you checked. It’s that easy! You can apply to 1 or 1000 jobs all… Read More
Continue ReadingAd Irony
From perusing the morning ads I came across a company looking for a Quality Engineer. One of the requirements is to be a “Competent technical writer.” Unfortunately, this plastic injection-molding company misspelled their name in the listing – XYZ Platics. That, my friends, is a perfect example of irony.
Continue ReadingNew Article – The Structure Of A Selling System
Part 2 in our 3 part Proactive Sales Management series has been released. It is titled The Structure of a Selling System and continues the homebuilding analogy by comparing a selling system to the framing of a house. Just to give you a taste: It took me awhile to understand what was going on and why some of the things I was required to do were important. The key to the training was to understand and use a proven sales process. Tom assured me of success if I stayed within this structured approach. He also assured me I would fail if I didn€™t use the process and techniques that had been refined by… Read More
Continue ReadingBrutal Bosses Get Promoted?
This report just cuts against common sense in many ways. From Yahoo News’ Bad bosses get promoted, not punished? In the study to be presented at a conference on management this weekend, almost two-thirds of the 240 participants in an online survey said the local workplace tyrant was either never censured or was promoted for domineering ways. Whenever I see these types of surveys, I wonder about the wording. “Domineering ways” is definitely a fuzzy phrase. I would guess that the respondents may simply have had an issue with a High D style. I’ve worked for quite a few bad bosses and I know the stress involved with them. Some… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Is A Fuzzy Phrase?
The Rock Star posted on fuzzy phrases just about a year ago. I believe I have uncovered a pristine example from an email I received this morning: The deadline is mid September.
Continue ReadingA Blogger’s Union
Talk about another bad business decision – from the Pioneer Planet’s Bloggers May Form Union: A loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers is trying to form a labor union in hopes of helping them secure health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards. But wait, it gets better: “Blogging is very intense – physically, mentally,” she said. “You’re constantly scanning for news. You’re constantly trying to … mobilize your readers. I particularly enjoyed the first part of that quote – blogging is very intense physically. Physically? Insert your own Jay Leno joke about how fat we are becoming as a nation.
Continue ReadingWhat The Candidates Are Reading
From Yahoo Finance comes this BusinessWeek article – When an Employer Just Is Not That Into You: Here are some signs that they’re just not that into you, and you’d be better served pursuing other opportunities: 1. Silence After Initial Contact 2. Difficulty Scheduling a Phone Screen 3. Last-Minute Interview Changes 4. Delay in Post-Interview Contact 5. Too Many Changes in the Process 6. Slow Follow-Up After Second Interview 7. Delay in Extending the Offer There are paragraphs written under each of these 7 topics and I strongly encourage you to read them. Do you notice any pattern to the 7 topics? A lack of structure and a lack of… Read More
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