Well, it is good to be back at it after a nice Christmas break with the family. It is even better to come back to read an article like this one from CNNMoney.com. How about this: "We’re looking at some leading indicators on employment, and they’re all flashing green lights," said Bernard Baumohl of the Economic Outlook Group, a Princeton, N.J. research firm. Though most economists still expect a painfully high unemployment rate of about 9% at the end of this year, Baumohl and others think that stat masks more important signs of strength. Baumohl and some other economists forecast between 2.5 million and 3 million jobs being added to… Read More
Continue ReadingGotcha Questions
Do you know what I mean by “gotcha questions?” These are the questions designed to trap, trick or zap a candidate. These types of questions are often used by interviewers who believe they need to “win” the interview. I know it sounds odd and uncommon (I certainly hope it is), but I have sat through interviews where the gotcha questions have been asked. Interview questions are a tricky sort. Almost everyone enjoys reading interview questions in hope of discovering an effective one. However, we incorporate assessments into our process which provides an x-ray of the candidate’s abilities, motivations, aptitudes, style, etc. The power in this approach is that it identifies… Read More
Continue ReadingKeep It Clear
I have sat through some interviews which have been enlightening in terms of the struggles of hiring managers who do not hire often. One of the blatant deficiencies I observed was this – a lack of good questions. Is there anything more important than questions in interviewing an external candidate? Even an internal candidate. Here is one instance of what I observed – a rather inexperienced manager asked esoteric questions that left me scratching my head. The candidate did a good job attempting to answer the question without embarrassing the hiring manager. One question took almost 2 minutes for the hiring manager to ask! The question included an analogy, an… Read More
Continue ReadingDoing Or Helping
This may sound like a fine delineation, but I thought it was rather profound. One of our customers mentioned that he had people who could “do” certain tasks in a hiring process. However, these people were not able to provide “help” in the hiring process. That may sound like he is splitting hairs, but I find that point to be extremely important. One of the struggles in assisting companies in their hiring process is that most companies, unless quite large, tend to hire on a need basis. This means they do not spend their entire time hiring. In fact, it often is pushed into the margins of their day. Other… Read More
Continue ReadingUncommon Sense
I’ve been swamped of late with sales candidate assessments for different customers and have encountered an important trait – common sense. This is a broad topic, but we use it in a fairly defined manner – using common sense. We actually measure this aptitude in one of our assessments which often leads to rather pointed discussions…especially when a candidate has a low score in this area. But what of it? Our definition utilizes speaks to common sense being more of a natural reflex as opposed to a logical thinking process. I’m not talking about intuition but rather the practical thinking in regards to seeing the world. Does that make sense? … Read More
Continue ReadingA Great Headline
From Forbes.com: How To Handle Post-Recession Job Stress Post-Recession? I think most people are still dealing with Recession Job Stress. It gets worse: The worst of the waves of layoffs may be over, but countless American workers who still have their jobs are unhappy at them, overloaded with increased responsibilities, short of colleagues to share the burden, and unsure where they can turn to look for something better. Few people got raises last year–many took pay cuts–and it’s not looking like pay hikes will come anytime soon. Again, this viewpoint strikes me as seriously off target. I equate this type of unhappiness to people who complain that their ice cream… Read More
Continue ReadingSelling Advice From A Badger
No, not a Wisconsin graduate, an actual badger. JustSell.com has the video on their site. The setup is this – the badger is an “old-school” car salesman who badgers his prospects. The 30 second ads are for a car dealership. It is quirky, but I love quirky and got a real kick out of them. Here is a taste: Badger Sales Rep
Continue ReadingA Secondary Effect Of The Recession
Most people agree that there will be a demand for workers as soon as we start the recovery process (no, I do not subscribe to the idea that the recession ended in June of 2009). Companies are running in a most efficient manner right now due to the fact that they had to cut staff to the bone. Growth/expansion will require an expansion of most company’s workforces. The supply of workers will be limited due to the Baby Boomer retirements and the great decrease in workers in Gen X. Along with this shortage comes another important limitation in the workforce. From the Herman Trend’s weekly email (emphasis mine): “Unfortunately, with… Read More
Continue ReadingImpression Management
I am a psych major. As my mother likes to say, “I’ve never met a psychologist who didn’t need their own services.” Although I am not a psychologist, I get the gist of her commentary. In that vein, I was revisiting some of my antiquated text books in search of a professional explanation for why “bad” sales candidates can often smoke good interviewers. I give you self-presentation or impression management. The definition from Social Psychology-Understanding Human Interaction by Baron and Byrne: …they flatter others, pretend to agree with them about various issues, or feign great interest in what they are saying – all in an attempt to create a favorable… Read More
Continue ReadingBashing Millennials
Fast Company has an entertaining article written by a CEO of a company that employs almost all Millennials. The article is well worth the read, but let me give you a taste of it: Lazy. Entitled. Fickle. Freighted with their own inscrutable agendas. These are the kinds of things people say about cats — and millennials. For today’s managers, the generation born after 1980 is a favorite punching bag. It’s not hard to see why, given that they’re the generation of Lindsay Lohan, Jersey Shore, and flip-flops as appropriate office footwear. I have been drawn in by these exact topics and I’m an Xer. But further on in the article… Read More
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