Blogs Could Become Newest Recruiting Tool from the SHRM website (membership required): Blogs offer businesses an excellent and interactive communication tool. For example Microsoft has close to 3,000 blogs posted by the company’s employees. Blogs can give an insiders view of a company’s work environment to potential job candidates. This is extremely important with the younger generations (ed.-see our article), it is as important to understand the culture as it is the responsibilities of the position. For this reason companies that don’t have employee blogs could find themselves at a competitive disadvantage in recruiting. Honeywell Corp. is a good example of a company that uses blogs as a recruiting device.… Read More
Continue ReadingHail Rhymes With Sale
This may only interest me, but I read an employment ad for a Hail Restoration Salesperson this morning. We had a tremendous hail storm roll through here last week – softball-sized hail did some extensive damage. I have already received 5-6 mailers/brochures from roofing companies in the past 5 days. Now I read this ad and it states: This could be the opportunity of a lifetime, with six-figure income potential easily within reach. Maybe it is that big of an opportunity, but I am skeptical. What does this salesperson do in the middle of our extended Minnesota winter? I would recommend this position be on a contract only. The steady… Read More
Continue ReadingJob Hopping Amongst Executives
Job hopping gets much attention from companies when they are in hiring mode and rightly so. This business article provides some interesting statistics in regards to upper-level management trends. Did you know: A total of 17,612 managers from chief executive officers to vice presidents changed jobs from January through July, more than twice the 7,251 during the same period in 2005, New York-based Liberum Research said in a study released Tuesday. Of the executive changes, 1,636 were CEOs, up 50 percent from 1,089 in the first seven months of 2005 The pressure hasn’t been just on CEOs. Some 1,444 chief financial officers left their companies through July this year, up… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Gut is NOT the Answer
We were at a customer site yesterday afternoon and heard a great line. This is a large, national company with thousands of employees. Our HR contacts have to work with many different hiring managers and have to debrief with them after interviews. One of the lines they hear from a particular manager is that their gut tells them no on a certain candidate who has been qualified and assessed. Our HR contact said, “We don’t like ‘gut’ in HR.” Amen to that! We don’t like it either in our business. Far better to hear objective assessment analysis and direct interview responses as opposed to anything involving the ethereal “my gut”… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Silver Bullet
No, not Coors. I’m talking about interview questions. More specifically, is there any catch-all interview question that will reveal the essence of the candidate. No. I read many articles that discuss interview strategies and most of them are exercises in theory. Maybe my sales background taints my perspective, but interviews are qualifying events for both the candidate and interviewer. What I mean is that template questions tend to generate template answers. For example: Q – “Where do you want to be in 5 years?” A – “I hope to use my leadership skills to expand my responsibilities within the company and move into a leadership position.” That exchange was worthless… Read More
Continue ReadingCrackBerry Lawsuits
Unbelievable. This seems like it must be a joke, but I doubt it. Here is the gist of the article: But instead of increased efficiency, lawsuits against employers who supply workers with gadgets are “very possible,” she says. Addiction to technology blamed by critics on the seeming ubiquity of portable e-mail devices, smartphones, cellphones and laptops, coupled with long working hours is hardly a new phenomenon. But Porter argues litigation could be the next step, as employees seek redress for technology dependence.
Continue ReadingAnecdote – Why Ask?
Friday and time for another anecdote as the week winds down. A while back, I was working with one of our clients who has a fairly complex sale in which they offer a high-end solution. Budget is one of the first qualifying questions in their sales process so we mirror that process in our sourcing. We ask candidates, “At what point do you qualify a prospect’s budget in your current sale?” As I talked with each candidate, I asked them this question to see if they could discuss this topic and how they handled customers who were reluctant to share their budget. Most of the candidates did well with this… Read More
Continue ReadingBackground Verification
In an article on Salary.com titled – Can Your Credit Report Hurt You in An Interview? An interesting statistic popped out at me – only 1 out of 5 small to medium-sized businesses run any form of background verification. 20%! I was shocked that the number is so low. Soap box time: If you are not already completing some form of background verification, start with your next hire and all subsequent hires. A true story to illustrate my point. Roughly 2 years ago, we were working with a client that was impressed with a candidate’s ability to close the deal (ask for and start the job). They liked him so… Read More
Continue ReadingEntry-Level Pay
Good article here from CareerJournal written as a “How To” for young workers entering the workforce. A good tip for any candidate from the article: Try not to play hardball at this level,” warns Mr. Gordon. But you don’t have to be a pushover either. Once you’ve got a number, remain positive about the position. Ask, don’t demand. No one wants to hear you need more money to take vacations in Cancun, but you might have a case for a higher salary if you have to move to a new city. Ask for a day or so to think it over. Another topic to be aware of is the fact… Read More
Continue ReadingInterview Blunders
CareerJournal.com references a survey from Korn/Ferry that identifies the most common interview blunders: Talking too much Lack of knowledge about company or position Over-inflated ego Appearing overly confident Inquiring about compensation too early in the process Unkempt appearance When selecting salespeople, an overly strong ego combined with a Dominant selling style is a recipe for disaster. These salespeople, at their worst, turn into a walking flamethrower. Their approach will aggravate most who come in contact with them – coworkers, customers and prospects. In case you were wondering (I was): unkempt = 1: not combed 2: deficient in order or neatness
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