#internpro

Jobseekers Taking Chances

Posted by Steve on February 17, 2015
Posted in: #internpro, #jobhuntchat, #OMCchat, Job Search. Leave a comment

[cleaning out my Drafts and I’m surprised I never posted this – originally written December 2013]

This past Black Friday, I watched as Willie Geist interviewed WalMart US “President and CEO” William Simon and asked Bill (actually, Willie tried his best to “pin” Simon against that mythical media “inquisition” wall) questions pertaining to WalMart’s performance, the paying-a-higher-wage issue and future career plans.

From my vantage point, Willie sure seemed to bear his teeth at Bill, pressing him to disclose on public television if (a) he was annoyed at being passed over for the newly available global CEO spot, and (b) if he would raise minimum wages at WalMart. As Willie continued to press, Bill held to the corporate positions but in my opinion, did so in a far softer than the outgoing CEO ever did. Click here for the interview.

At 7:25 AM, right after the interview, I sent off this email to Bill – whom I don’t know – and shared with him my thoughts:

Subject: Your Today Show “interview” – Willie tried but you didn’t budge

Morning Bill-

1. You realize that you’re now the most recruitable CEO target in retail, right?

2. Willie sure doesn’t understand #1 nor does he likely know what succession planning means.

3. Paying above the 50th percentile is all you can ask for as an employee; garnering a higher wage is all about performance – not a Common Law right.

4. People are free to better themselves via a range of education and self-learning channels – leading to potentially higher salaries; Willie might not know this…

5. Good job on the interview – but you should have been firmer with Willie and emphasized #3 and #4. Honesty is a trait that is in short supply in business.

By the way, I know quite a few folks on your recruiting team – good people.

Best regards and revenues,

At 10:03 AM, I received a simple email back from Bill:

Thanks for the kind note.

My message here is not that I reached out to the WalMart US CEO but that I had something to say; rather than keep it between my ears, I elected to act upon it. What’s the worst thing that could have happened?

If you’re a jobseeker seeking to engage a hiring manager or a recruiter trying to engage a passive superstar, what do you notice from what I did?

A customized Subject line?

Some real understanding about your target’s hot buttons?

Statements that support your target’s point of view?

A few sincere platitudes?

Humor and Humanity?

As a jobseeker, would you write something like this? Why – or why not?

Call Me Madame?

Posted by Steve on October 26, 2014
Posted in: #internpro, #OMCchat, Careers, Cover Letters, Interview, Job Search, Recruiting. Tagged: , , , . 4 Comments

There’s simply no science that a career and job search expert can refer to that can be used to guarantee that a recruiter will call you once your cover letter (if you’ve actually sent one) and résumé hits their Inbox. Even a spot-on performance match can’t get past the dumbass biases – or just plain dumbassability – that many recruiters and hiring managers carry with them to the office each day.

Where do people get their job search advice from? Do they even ask these experts if they actually know any recruiters? Or do they confuse “marketing gurus” with “talent scouts”? (Another reason for recruiting to never report to marketing)

Seriously:

To Whom It May Concern? Nothing says “lazy jobseeker” more than this salutation. Yeah, yeah, I know you’re going to ask me how does one identify the recruiter or hiring manager – and I’ll show you how freakin’ easy it is.

Dear Sir or Madame? Oh, this one is so much better – if you’re applying for a job at the Alien Area 51 Cathouse in Nevada (cut out the comments – I Googled “legal brothels in nevada”).

Dear Recruiting Professional? This one always makes be cringe. My – that last word is an awfully big assumption; might as well just use Dear Recruiting Rockstar.

Hi,? I seem to get this one quite a bit from overseas jobseekers. Makes me check to see if they have a first name. Yep – every time.

Dear Bob? My name is Steve. Douchebag.

What does get me to reply?

I know I’m different but as much as the five examples might turn many off and cause these turned off recruiting professionals to pass on a candidate, a very wise mentor long ago informed me of Weinberg’s Second Law of Computing and how it related to recruiting:

If builders built buildings the way programmers write programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization. ~Gerald M. Weinberg

As it applies to recruiting, companies who “assess to exclude” rather than assess to include do more harm to their short and longer-term bottom line than any lying-on-their-résumé-weasel CEO could ever do. The only thing I can say for certain about any jobseeker with a perfect cover letter and résumé is that they have a perfect cover letter and résumé. I can’t determine their expertise or performance-ability from reading their collateral – only speaking with them can get me to this end.

Some of the best performers I know have résumés so bad that even career services consultants would puke a bit in their mouths ;).

This is why I don’t read the cover letters first: The battle against cover letter stupidity is still tough to overcome, even for this recruiting graybeard. So I wait. I’ll read the résume´; if this is promising, it’s off to the LinkedIn profile or some other secondary source. I’m looking for signs of gold rather than the presence of coal. In other words, I’m looking for performance, not just the presence of accomplishing tasks. Stuff that makes me think, “Dang, this person is special.” Tell me – what’s your special?

Finally, the cover letter.

And if it’s really, really bad, I’ll call. I just have to find out what compelled someone to write such a horrible job search tome (on a more philanthropic note, those who know me, know I make these calls to help jobseekers out).

Even if my name isn’t Bob…

On Monday, 10/27 at 10AM PT (1PM ET), I’ll be joining my friend Dawn Rasmussen on her Google+ Hangout, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know From Recruiters… And Were Afraid to Ask.” No  holds barred, no fluff. Just stuff you should be able to use to convince that recruiter or hiring manager to call you back. Here’s the link to the event.