No surprises here from the ManageSmarter.com article – Roundin’ Up Reps. Our clients often ask us what the employment market is like right now. For most of this year we have been telling them it is a candidate’s market right now. Some seem surprised while others seem to be familiar with this fact. In case there were any doubts, this short article lays out the findings from a CareerBuilder.com survey (my emphasis): The 2007 CareerBuilder.com Midyear Employment Forecast indicates that “46 percent of sales employers currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates, an increase from 39 percent heading into the first half,” reads a release on… Read More
Continue ReadingManage The Leading Sales Indicators
I’ve been talking to numerous prospects and existing customers this week about onramping salespeople. This topic is germane to every company that employs salespeople. The discussions I had this week have all involved a common thread – managing the trailing indicators. Revenue, customers, pipeline, etc. The sales managers in these discussions were discussing the performance of their new salespeople based on the aforementioned criteria. But this data is a trailing indicator. Think of it as trying to drive a car by only using the rear-view mirror. Some of these companies were frustrated with the new salesperson and skeptical of their future. Mistake. Onramping a salesperson is difficult because the trailing… Read More
Continue ReadingAnother Cover Letter Bomb
From a resume received by a VP of HR: Here are my qualifications for you to overlook.
Continue ReadingWipe Your Facebook
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 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 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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