Dear Readers:
I've had some folks ask me where we've been, as it has been a couple of months since we posted on this site. Sorry 'bout that.
I have spent all of my writing time writing, editing and preparing some new books for publication over this summer. The first is In Transition: Rapidly Finding Your Next Executive Job (Even in Difficult Times), which was shipped from the publishers on Thursday, June 25th! Our next book is The Six Figure Resume Guide which will be shipped in about two weeks. By August, we'll have a book for non-executive white collar personnel called Getting Employed (Even in Difficult Times). This book gives effective strategies for non-executive personnel to find employment, including over 400 killer interview questions and how to answer them. By September, our book 1001 Killer Interview Questions and Their Answers (working title....we haven't decided on a final yet) will be out. Then, finally (at least for a little while) we're putting out a career management book the working title for which is Highly Cynical Career Management Techniques.
Some of these have DVDs to go along with them. In Transition has two associated DVDs currently in editing. The first DVD is a multiple DVD set with over 6 hours of training on finding executive employment. This will be about a 4 DVD set. We also have a 2 DVD set on answering the 4 "biggie" killer questions, with footage of actual clients answering these questions. I'll put up on my management blog sites further informaiton as it becomes available. Our wonderul internet publicist, Keith Eckhardt, is tirelessly working to get the DVDs finished and put up venues to allow people to buy these books and sets. If you'd like more information on these, please feel free to go to info@heckersdevgroup.com.
So...to make a long story endless....and to quote the Governator....we'll be baaack....very soon.
I hope you're having a great summer!
J
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
We're Doing Something Right
The unemployment figures Friday are, indeed, frightening. When the number of people who are unemployed and underemployed are added together, an astounding number, 15%, of Americans are unemployed. This is hitting the Executive Sector especially hard.
However, I want to give you a ray of hope. Our clients, even those who are very difficult to employ, are getting employed very rapidly. Our average for "C" Level clients is less than 7 months. The national average for "C" Level client is at 24 months and climbing. Our average for VP Level Candidates is less than 6 months. And our average for Director Level executives is slightly more than 4 months.
One of our "C" Level clients is 70 years old, and worked in non-profit...and is employed. He entered our program in November, and the date of his employment was in February. Another CFO client is trying to decide between which of his opportunities he should take. And we have similar success stories for VPs and Directors.
What we're doing right is hooking people into our extensive network of alumni and current clients to get them employed in this economy. Everyone who is being hired at the executive level is being hired through networking at a very high level. Our network is second to none, since Nicole and I are lifetime residents of Denver and the Front Range. We have even helped numerous out of town clients get jobs in the Denver and Front Range areas.
While I don't like to use this blog space for advertising what we do, we're doing many things right and our people are getting employed. We limit the number of people we take and we are not cheap, We cost between two weeks' and six weeks' salary for executives. Considering, however, how many months we cut off of the job search, can you really afford not to talk to us?
We don't take everyone who comes to us. We do not work with "linear" in-the-box, concrete thinkers, so if you're one of the hide-bound dinosaurs of Corporate America, please don't bother. But we'll be happy to speak with you and see if we can help in any way for those holistic, organic, out-of-the-box thinkers that America needs now. Our number for a free evaluation is 303.480.5484, and we welcome your call and look forward to coffee with you.
If you're tired of daytime TV, we'd love to help.
Please note, we work only with Director Level, VP Level and "C" Level (CXO Level) Clients. We are a fee-paid service, and require a portion of our fee before beginning our program. We do not work with people "pro bono," nor "on contingency," and we are not recruiters. For more information on us, go to www.heckersdevgroup.com or www.heckersdevelopmentgroup.com for the HTML site.
J.
However, I want to give you a ray of hope. Our clients, even those who are very difficult to employ, are getting employed very rapidly. Our average for "C" Level clients is less than 7 months. The national average for "C" Level client is at 24 months and climbing. Our average for VP Level Candidates is less than 6 months. And our average for Director Level executives is slightly more than 4 months.
One of our "C" Level clients is 70 years old, and worked in non-profit...and is employed. He entered our program in November, and the date of his employment was in February. Another CFO client is trying to decide between which of his opportunities he should take. And we have similar success stories for VPs and Directors.
What we're doing right is hooking people into our extensive network of alumni and current clients to get them employed in this economy. Everyone who is being hired at the executive level is being hired through networking at a very high level. Our network is second to none, since Nicole and I are lifetime residents of Denver and the Front Range. We have even helped numerous out of town clients get jobs in the Denver and Front Range areas.
While I don't like to use this blog space for advertising what we do, we're doing many things right and our people are getting employed. We limit the number of people we take and we are not cheap, We cost between two weeks' and six weeks' salary for executives. Considering, however, how many months we cut off of the job search, can you really afford not to talk to us?
We don't take everyone who comes to us. We do not work with "linear" in-the-box, concrete thinkers, so if you're one of the hide-bound dinosaurs of Corporate America, please don't bother. But we'll be happy to speak with you and see if we can help in any way for those holistic, organic, out-of-the-box thinkers that America needs now. Our number for a free evaluation is 303.480.5484, and we welcome your call and look forward to coffee with you.
If you're tired of daytime TV, we'd love to help.
Please note, we work only with Director Level, VP Level and "C" Level (CXO Level) Clients. We are a fee-paid service, and require a portion of our fee before beginning our program. We do not work with people "pro bono," nor "on contingency," and we are not recruiters. For more information on us, go to www.heckersdevgroup.com or www.heckersdevelopmentgroup.com for the HTML site.
J.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Executives and Money Issues
One of the biggest obstacles to executives becoming employed is their attitude about money. It isn’t surprising that money is the center of existence for many executives. After all, they went into business, not social work. When I was growing up, our old Monsignor said to me “John, the most sensitive part of the human anatomy is the wallet. You can grab a man by the privates and he won’t scream as loud as if you grab him by the wallet.” Father Schmidt, may he rest in peace, was so right!
However, as with most things that we hold near and dear, money can also be the source of our derailment as executives. The problems here are numerous. It is time for some tough talk around money issues and where executives are on this most sensitive part of their anatomy.
1). Fear. There was a billionaire in Paris who, in this recent financial crisis, lost about 1/3rd of his billions. He committed suicide because he was financially ruined. Now, before you laugh and point too hard, I’ve seen executive after executive get to almost the same point when, really, very little of their income has been reduced.
As an example, our fee to help executives, with an incredible success rate, is less than a month’s salary. Considering that our folks average about $220K per annum, plus bonuses, it is substantially less than a month’s salary.
And, consider that a fee for an executive coach is an investment in one’s main channel of income…to increase it dramatically. Yet you’d think with some folks that I was asking them to empty their bank accounts, take off their Rolex, and hand me the keys to the Mercedes!
Many of our executives bitch and gripe about paying for parking at some of the events. Or paying $350.00 to join an association to meet other executives. Or buying a few new suits. Or even a very good haircut (we have someone to whom we send our executives to fix their hair).
Executives are cheap, cheap, cheap, in many instances. Yes, this probably means you! This attitude of paying the least possible for things to support and assist your career search, simply because you are temporarily without income, is very counterproductive.
But the executives are often nowhere near as cheap as their spouses, especially the wives (although I certainly know a few very cheap hubbies!). The thought of {{{gasp!}}} paying money to help to get a $250K a year job much more rapidly sends them into an anxiety attack. This is also incredibly counterproductive.
2). Misunderestimating. Sorry, folks, couldn’t resist. The fact is that when executives look at their bank accounts, they see a yawning chasm where there might be Mt. Everest. Until recently, Bill Gates could never see that he had enough. He was consistently panicked about making more and more and more and more money. This is a pathology. It is also a black hole. All the money in the world will not make someone internally insecure into someone secure. All this talk about “financial security” is so much hooey. What is often going on is a need to be in control of all situations. As this is impossible on this plane of existence, no amount of money is ever going to be enough.
What has to happen is to look at one’s “burn rate.” From the burn rate, calculate how many months you are able to exist. Then ask what you can do to reduce the burn rate. Do you really need that cruise? I’ve seen people balk at spending money on the things that will get them a new job, but spend money on a new car, a vacation, an expensive present, and so on. Reduce the burn rate as much as possible!
Then look at what to spend money and time on that will reduce the amount of time that you will be looking for a job. This might be a transition coach, group and association fees, clothing, travel to a city you want to move to, etc. Get your priorities straight! A new car is not as important as a fee to a major networking group that will put you into contact with other top executives and people in your community immediately. Yes, a new car might make you feel better about yourself, but is your three year old Mercedes really ready to be put out to pasture?
3). Stretch your money. Do some intelligent things with your money. You might consider moving into some safer investments for a time. You might consider putting the extra home up for sale. What about simply garaging the third car and taking it off of insurance for a while until you’re re-employed. How about a very temporary consulting assignment in November, December, and late June through mid-September when executive hiring is at a “low” anyway? Howsabout cutting back on some of the kids’ activities? (It is good for the kids to feel the cold hand of reality sometimes, too.) Does your spouse really need to go to the spa every week? And so on.
This blog is written to upper management and executives. If you’re not one of these folks and reading this anyway, you probably think I’m being pretty nasty and exaggerating. I’m not. This is the way these folks live. (I don’t, and even most of my clients don’t, but a large enough proportion of them do, that I know whereof I speak!) Those of you who do live this way…you look really silly to the rest of the nation who would love to have your problems right now. Which brings me to…
4). Get real about your situation in life. You wife is sobbing because you have to put the country club membership on hold for a few months. Well, brother, the wife of one of the people who you passed in the hall every day at Lehman Brothers is crying because she can’t pay the mortgage on their three bedroom, modest home, and the cable has been turned off, and there isn’t enough food in the fridge to feed the family. Grow up! Get real about your situation. Many of you are not in any real trouble. Yes, your lifestyle isn’t going to be the same. But you, too, were part of the problem that led to this. (For whom did you vote in previous elections? What belief systems do you have about the economy? What decisions did you make at your company that contributed to the current economic crisis? We’re all in this together, folks, including me.)
So, get real about money. Even your “broke” is not truly broke. You can still pay the mortgage, keep the heat on, put food in the fridge, etc., even if it means tapping your IRAs and investments. Some very hard working and good people don’t have IRAs and investments to tap, can’t pay for the simple necessities of life, and had almost nothing to do with the current crisis (whereas we all did at our levels). Frankly, I’m surprised these people are not rioting in the streets, pulling us out of our homes and taking them over. This is what would happen in these situations in most other countries. It speaks to the quality of Americans that they haven’t done so…yet.
5). Greed. Greed (and stupidity) is what brought us to the current economic crisis. Greed isn’t going to get us out of it. Be real about what salary and benefits you’re going to be making. Don’t try to hold up an employer for more than the market will bear. Don’t try to hang on to all your money. Dip into the IRAs if necessary, and liquidate the investments. Hey, given the volatility of the market, you might be glad you did!
Here’s the bottom line. Now is the time to stop collecting and hoarding and spend a bit to get going on your job search. Don’t be stingy or greedy. Don’t hold out for every penny you can make. And don’t hold on to every inch of your lifestyle. This might be your wake-up call from the Universe. Get real about your money!
However, as with most things that we hold near and dear, money can also be the source of our derailment as executives. The problems here are numerous. It is time for some tough talk around money issues and where executives are on this most sensitive part of their anatomy.
1). Fear. There was a billionaire in Paris who, in this recent financial crisis, lost about 1/3rd of his billions. He committed suicide because he was financially ruined. Now, before you laugh and point too hard, I’ve seen executive after executive get to almost the same point when, really, very little of their income has been reduced.
As an example, our fee to help executives, with an incredible success rate, is less than a month’s salary. Considering that our folks average about $220K per annum, plus bonuses, it is substantially less than a month’s salary.
And, consider that a fee for an executive coach is an investment in one’s main channel of income…to increase it dramatically. Yet you’d think with some folks that I was asking them to empty their bank accounts, take off their Rolex, and hand me the keys to the Mercedes!
Many of our executives bitch and gripe about paying for parking at some of the events. Or paying $350.00 to join an association to meet other executives. Or buying a few new suits. Or even a very good haircut (we have someone to whom we send our executives to fix their hair).
Executives are cheap, cheap, cheap, in many instances. Yes, this probably means you! This attitude of paying the least possible for things to support and assist your career search, simply because you are temporarily without income, is very counterproductive.
But the executives are often nowhere near as cheap as their spouses, especially the wives (although I certainly know a few very cheap hubbies!). The thought of {{{gasp!}}} paying money to help to get a $250K a year job much more rapidly sends them into an anxiety attack. This is also incredibly counterproductive.
2). Misunderestimating. Sorry, folks, couldn’t resist. The fact is that when executives look at their bank accounts, they see a yawning chasm where there might be Mt. Everest. Until recently, Bill Gates could never see that he had enough. He was consistently panicked about making more and more and more and more money. This is a pathology. It is also a black hole. All the money in the world will not make someone internally insecure into someone secure. All this talk about “financial security” is so much hooey. What is often going on is a need to be in control of all situations. As this is impossible on this plane of existence, no amount of money is ever going to be enough.
What has to happen is to look at one’s “burn rate.” From the burn rate, calculate how many months you are able to exist. Then ask what you can do to reduce the burn rate. Do you really need that cruise? I’ve seen people balk at spending money on the things that will get them a new job, but spend money on a new car, a vacation, an expensive present, and so on. Reduce the burn rate as much as possible!
Then look at what to spend money and time on that will reduce the amount of time that you will be looking for a job. This might be a transition coach, group and association fees, clothing, travel to a city you want to move to, etc. Get your priorities straight! A new car is not as important as a fee to a major networking group that will put you into contact with other top executives and people in your community immediately. Yes, a new car might make you feel better about yourself, but is your three year old Mercedes really ready to be put out to pasture?
3). Stretch your money. Do some intelligent things with your money. You might consider moving into some safer investments for a time. You might consider putting the extra home up for sale. What about simply garaging the third car and taking it off of insurance for a while until you’re re-employed. How about a very temporary consulting assignment in November, December, and late June through mid-September when executive hiring is at a “low” anyway? Howsabout cutting back on some of the kids’ activities? (It is good for the kids to feel the cold hand of reality sometimes, too.) Does your spouse really need to go to the spa every week? And so on.
This blog is written to upper management and executives. If you’re not one of these folks and reading this anyway, you probably think I’m being pretty nasty and exaggerating. I’m not. This is the way these folks live. (I don’t, and even most of my clients don’t, but a large enough proportion of them do, that I know whereof I speak!) Those of you who do live this way…you look really silly to the rest of the nation who would love to have your problems right now. Which brings me to…
4). Get real about your situation in life. You wife is sobbing because you have to put the country club membership on hold for a few months. Well, brother, the wife of one of the people who you passed in the hall every day at Lehman Brothers is crying because she can’t pay the mortgage on their three bedroom, modest home, and the cable has been turned off, and there isn’t enough food in the fridge to feed the family. Grow up! Get real about your situation. Many of you are not in any real trouble. Yes, your lifestyle isn’t going to be the same. But you, too, were part of the problem that led to this. (For whom did you vote in previous elections? What belief systems do you have about the economy? What decisions did you make at your company that contributed to the current economic crisis? We’re all in this together, folks, including me.)
So, get real about money. Even your “broke” is not truly broke. You can still pay the mortgage, keep the heat on, put food in the fridge, etc., even if it means tapping your IRAs and investments. Some very hard working and good people don’t have IRAs and investments to tap, can’t pay for the simple necessities of life, and had almost nothing to do with the current crisis (whereas we all did at our levels). Frankly, I’m surprised these people are not rioting in the streets, pulling us out of our homes and taking them over. This is what would happen in these situations in most other countries. It speaks to the quality of Americans that they haven’t done so…yet.
5). Greed. Greed (and stupidity) is what brought us to the current economic crisis. Greed isn’t going to get us out of it. Be real about what salary and benefits you’re going to be making. Don’t try to hold up an employer for more than the market will bear. Don’t try to hang on to all your money. Dip into the IRAs if necessary, and liquidate the investments. Hey, given the volatility of the market, you might be glad you did!
Here’s the bottom line. Now is the time to stop collecting and hoarding and spend a bit to get going on your job search. Don’t be stingy or greedy. Don’t hold out for every penny you can make. And don’t hold on to every inch of your lifestyle. This might be your wake-up call from the Universe. Get real about your money!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Idiocy in the Job Search (or: Hey! This is an EMPLOYER’S Market!)
I’ve had my eyes opened. We have a need for someone to expand our business…and we’ve seen many résumés, with 2 out of about 60 we really like. We posted with our partners and friends at Jobing.com, who have, by the way, done a great job of helping out. (www.jobing.com. If you are an applicant, register with them now. If an employer with a job opening, ask for Craig Hakes at 303.227.3377 and post your description with them. Let them know I sent you.)
To respond to this post, either comment below or email me at jheckers@heckersdevgroup.com. I welcome your comments.
But the lack of intelligence and old fashioned manners in the job-seeker world is truly amazing! So, let my bad experience be your education, as always. Here are a few really stupid human tricks that some of our applicants have done.
1). Ignored the post entirely. Our post clearly says up front that people applying any other way than instructed will be automatically not considered. Then it gives a set of things we have to have before we talk to someone, including reading one of our blogs and replying to a couple of questions that are posted there (so we know that the person read it.) Out of the 60 résumés, only two followed the directions completely. This proves that they are not bright enough to be employed anywhere (except, maybe, the Post Office or the TSA), much less at our firm.
2). Got nasty. When I didn’t just delete these congenital idiots who couldn’t follow simple directions, but sent them back instructions asking them to apply again, some got nasty and told me I was rude, proving the point that no good deed goes unpunished (I shoulda just deleted them rather than giving them a second chance). Even if I had been, what kind of houseplant IQ does it take not to say something ridiculous like that to a potential employer, hmmmm? Never criticize an employer. If you don’t like what they require or want from you, don’t apply.
3). Showed ignorance. We’re trying to hire someone to serve as a Career Coach Associate. One of the duties is writing résumés, which we’ll train them on. But several of the résumés had major misspellings and misuse of words. I think that these folks probably didn’t make the grade. (The two people I liked did everything right, BTW….great résumés, read the blog, followed directions — proving that I did not pose an insurmountable test or anything.)
4). Sent canned responses. This is in part an extension of #1, as we said “NO CANNED COVER LETTERS,” and asked for a statement of 500 words or less telling us why they wanted to work for our firm. Instead several job seekers sent a canned cover letter that had absolutely nothing to do with the position or any information we wanted. Duh.
5). Didn’t even use our names. If the name of the person to whom you’re applying is in the job posting — ummmm….use it! Not doing so is incredibly rude, as well as un-bright.
6). Applied even though they had 20% of the qualifications or less. That 20% consisted of being able to breathe air and be of the human species (for some, I wasn't sure that "being of the human species" applied..). Really, in some of the résumés that is the only similarity I can find to anything in the job description.
When you do this you’re wasting everyone’s time, and really torquing off an employer. “Papering” your résumé is just plain idiotic. Don’t do it!
7). Applied to the wrong email address. Once again, follow directions. How many working brain cells does it take to send an email to the correct email address when it is sitting there with a link on it?
8). Just forwarded their “Jobing” profile without even a canned cover letter. It is bad enough to get a “canned” cover letter, but to just get a profile…sent to the wrong email address…with none of the qualifications for the job…and numerous misspellings…well, these people need to go on Welfare, because no employer who needs someone who can even use a broom well will hire these people.
9). Send really offensive cover letters. One guy started out his ridiculous cover letter with “Congratulations! Your search for the right person is over!” Yeah. Whatever. I'll make that decision, thank you, not you. Don’t send hokey stuff like that, people. It just marks you out as someone who will be a “salesy” employee who will apply high pressure sales person type tactics to your clients or customers and make them so angry that they’ll go to your competitors. I would prefer to slowly slice off vital parts of my anatomy than to subject my great clients to a high pressure loser like that. And please don’t tell me, the employer, what decision I need to make.
Be humble when you write. I don’t mind someone saying “I believe I am the right person for the job,” and giving me examples that mirror the job description to tell me why. I like it, in fact.
What I really hate, though, is someone who tells me that I'm the idiot if I don’t hire him (this is a mistake usually made by the male of the species), and doesn’t give me one good reason why I should.
10). Telling me that I’m looking for impossible qualifications (or that I don’t pay enough). Out of 60 résumés, we have two good ones. We always knew that we were seeking a special individual. But the fact that two people did have the qualifications and thought the salary range was good is proof that we simply asked for the improbable and difficult, not the impossible. Besides which, I do the improbable and the difficult at least 3 or 4 times a day. The impossible I only perform once or twice a week. If I had received no viable candidates, well, maybe they’re right. But two out of 60 is actually a good “hit” ratio, since we’re seeking someone who fits into our unique culture and has high` intelligence.
I could go on, but I won’t. The upshot is this. It is an employer’s market. You aren’t going to get anywhere by being nasty, rude, not following directions, or generally acting stupid.
If you do fit, follow the instructions and apply, remember it is still an employer’s world. You aren’t in control now and you won’t be in control after you get hired — if you’re lucky enough to be hired. Also remember that the amendment that would have required employers to give a reason for firing someone was withdrawn. Employers in Colorado and most other states can fire you for any reason whatsoever or no reason at all. While you could get away with a great deal of crap in a tight labor market, real unemployment now is hovering around 12%, regardless of what the government propaganda says.
If you don’t want to be part of the “unemployed” statistic, polish your shoes and your attitude, be polite and deferential and generally behave yourself.
Good hunting,
J.
To respond to this post, either comment below or email me at jheckers@heckersdevgroup.com. I welcome your comments.
But the lack of intelligence and old fashioned manners in the job-seeker world is truly amazing! So, let my bad experience be your education, as always. Here are a few really stupid human tricks that some of our applicants have done.
1). Ignored the post entirely. Our post clearly says up front that people applying any other way than instructed will be automatically not considered. Then it gives a set of things we have to have before we talk to someone, including reading one of our blogs and replying to a couple of questions that are posted there (so we know that the person read it.) Out of the 60 résumés, only two followed the directions completely. This proves that they are not bright enough to be employed anywhere (except, maybe, the Post Office or the TSA), much less at our firm.
2). Got nasty. When I didn’t just delete these congenital idiots who couldn’t follow simple directions, but sent them back instructions asking them to apply again, some got nasty and told me I was rude, proving the point that no good deed goes unpunished (I shoulda just deleted them rather than giving them a second chance). Even if I had been, what kind of houseplant IQ does it take not to say something ridiculous like that to a potential employer, hmmmm? Never criticize an employer. If you don’t like what they require or want from you, don’t apply.
3). Showed ignorance. We’re trying to hire someone to serve as a Career Coach Associate. One of the duties is writing résumés, which we’ll train them on. But several of the résumés had major misspellings and misuse of words. I think that these folks probably didn’t make the grade. (The two people I liked did everything right, BTW….great résumés, read the blog, followed directions — proving that I did not pose an insurmountable test or anything.)
4). Sent canned responses. This is in part an extension of #1, as we said “NO CANNED COVER LETTERS,” and asked for a statement of 500 words or less telling us why they wanted to work for our firm. Instead several job seekers sent a canned cover letter that had absolutely nothing to do with the position or any information we wanted. Duh.
5). Didn’t even use our names. If the name of the person to whom you’re applying is in the job posting — ummmm….use it! Not doing so is incredibly rude, as well as un-bright.
6). Applied even though they had 20% of the qualifications or less. That 20% consisted of being able to breathe air and be of the human species (for some, I wasn't sure that "being of the human species" applied..). Really, in some of the résumés that is the only similarity I can find to anything in the job description.
When you do this you’re wasting everyone’s time, and really torquing off an employer. “Papering” your résumé is just plain idiotic. Don’t do it!
7). Applied to the wrong email address. Once again, follow directions. How many working brain cells does it take to send an email to the correct email address when it is sitting there with a link on it?
8). Just forwarded their “Jobing” profile without even a canned cover letter. It is bad enough to get a “canned” cover letter, but to just get a profile…sent to the wrong email address…with none of the qualifications for the job…and numerous misspellings…well, these people need to go on Welfare, because no employer who needs someone who can even use a broom well will hire these people.
9). Send really offensive cover letters. One guy started out his ridiculous cover letter with “Congratulations! Your search for the right person is over!” Yeah. Whatever. I'll make that decision, thank you, not you. Don’t send hokey stuff like that, people. It just marks you out as someone who will be a “salesy” employee who will apply high pressure sales person type tactics to your clients or customers and make them so angry that they’ll go to your competitors. I would prefer to slowly slice off vital parts of my anatomy than to subject my great clients to a high pressure loser like that. And please don’t tell me, the employer, what decision I need to make.
Be humble when you write. I don’t mind someone saying “I believe I am the right person for the job,” and giving me examples that mirror the job description to tell me why. I like it, in fact.
What I really hate, though, is someone who tells me that I'm the idiot if I don’t hire him (this is a mistake usually made by the male of the species), and doesn’t give me one good reason why I should.
10). Telling me that I’m looking for impossible qualifications (or that I don’t pay enough). Out of 60 résumés, we have two good ones. We always knew that we were seeking a special individual. But the fact that two people did have the qualifications and thought the salary range was good is proof that we simply asked for the improbable and difficult, not the impossible. Besides which, I do the improbable and the difficult at least 3 or 4 times a day. The impossible I only perform once or twice a week. If I had received no viable candidates, well, maybe they’re right. But two out of 60 is actually a good “hit” ratio, since we’re seeking someone who fits into our unique culture and has high` intelligence.
I could go on, but I won’t. The upshot is this. It is an employer’s market. You aren’t going to get anywhere by being nasty, rude, not following directions, or generally acting stupid.
If you do fit, follow the instructions and apply, remember it is still an employer’s world. You aren’t in control now and you won’t be in control after you get hired — if you’re lucky enough to be hired. Also remember that the amendment that would have required employers to give a reason for firing someone was withdrawn. Employers in Colorado and most other states can fire you for any reason whatsoever or no reason at all. While you could get away with a great deal of crap in a tight labor market, real unemployment now is hovering around 12%, regardless of what the government propaganda says.
If you don’t want to be part of the “unemployed” statistic, polish your shoes and your attitude, be polite and deferential and generally behave yourself.
Good hunting,
J.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Ten Career Limiting Moves for Executives
As you move up the executive ranks, there are certain behaviors that will give you a boost, and others that are very career limiting moves. Here are some of the career limiting moves and how to avoid them.
1). Getting too close to your boss. This may seem counter-intuitive, but don’t let yourself get too close to the boss. It is especially important not to be friends with the boss. Be friendly. Invite the boss and his/her spouse to dinner (preferably at a nice restaurant). Accept any invitations given to you. But never, never think that the boss is your friend. S/He isn’t. If the choice comes between you and losing his/her job, which do you think will win? And letting the boss know your personal life challenges can only lead to disaster.
2). An office romance. There is an old saying that applies. “Don’t dip your quill into the office inkwell ‘cause someone will come along and cut your feathers off.” Crude, but true. As soon as you enter into an office romance, you are a target.
I tried to tell this to one young friend of ours who started to go out with a senior official of her company while she was consulting there. It didn’t last. Neither did she. If you absolutely must date someone you’ve met at work, one of you should quit and find other employment if it looks promising after 3 or 4 dates. Otherwise there is a very large hole in your armor.
3). Dishonesty anywhere. If someone is dishonest with me they’ve just been dishonest with someone who has a very large Rolodex and isn’t afraid to use it. A moving company did something dishonest to my widowed mom. They didn’t want to deal with it when I brought it to their attention. I let my network know what they’d done. The next day they received over two hundred phone calls from people. They wound up making a fairly large settlement.
Honest disagreements will happen. But cheating someone, stealing from them, or defrauding them will get around very rapidly and ruin your career chances. I know one gentleman who had to move out of town because of a bad reputation. Great guy, but had made a few judgment errors. Run your life and your business with integrity, or you’ll pay the price.
4). Letting your network lapse. I see too many of my clients let their networks lapse once they get employed. This is a very large mistake. In fact, the lack of a network is how most of the transition executives I deal with got in the position of needing to utilize my services in the first place. Keep up your network!
5). Losing focus. Everyone has life issues that arise. There are deaths and illnesses and other unforeseen cosmic noogies that surface from time to time. Take a few vacation days, deal with it as well as possible, but then focus on your work again. Don’t get sidetracked with volunteer work, family issues, and so on.
6). Identifying with the company. One of my clients was a true company man. He had a company shirt, a company ball cap, a company cup, and even a company crest ring. Yep. He was a good company man right up to the time he was laid off. A goodly portion of his identity was temporarily taken away. You work for a company, you don’t live for a company, unless it is yours. Even with the fact that my wife, Nicole, and I are in practice together and our name is on the letterhead, we don’t live for the company. We live for life and work at our company. But we’d still be us if we didn’t have the company. You should take the same attitude.
7). Taking the part of employees. Don’t get too close to your employees. I made this mistake early in my executive career. The employees had some legitimate gripes, and I went to bat for them. That was a very big mistake. Don’t make it.
Do what you can to look like you’re on the side of employees while making sure that your superiors know that you are pushing the corporate agenda. If you want to right injustices, join the Peace Corp or start your own company where you can put your ideals into effect. But don’t try to reform corporate America. It won’t work and it annoys the powers that be.
8). Thinking you know all the answers. One of the most rapidly growing careers is that of Executive Coach. Why? Because intelligent executives know that they need to have an independent sounding board to bounce things off of and some independent advice. If you don’t have one, get one. But watch yourself. Make sure that the individual you’re contracting is experienced and skilled. Often times your company will pay for this.
9). Isolating yourself. Keep up. Read. Watch CNN and other stations. Talk with others outside of your company. Join associations and groups where you can, not only network, but also meet like-minded people.
10). Mixing personal and professional life. Keep the office at the office and the home at home. Don’t let anyone see much of your personal life. I rarely invite clients to my home. My home is my home.
I used to have an office in my home (in Highlands Ranch at the time) where I’d see clients. This did have some advantages. But it also let them see too much of me and my family. It is usually a mistake to bring the office home or the home to the office.
These, of course, aren’t the only career-limiting moves that executives can do, but are a few of the big ones. Watch for my upcoming book Highly Cynical Career Management to be published around the December holidays. In the meantime, watch your back and watch yourself!
1). Getting too close to your boss. This may seem counter-intuitive, but don’t let yourself get too close to the boss. It is especially important not to be friends with the boss. Be friendly. Invite the boss and his/her spouse to dinner (preferably at a nice restaurant). Accept any invitations given to you. But never, never think that the boss is your friend. S/He isn’t. If the choice comes between you and losing his/her job, which do you think will win? And letting the boss know your personal life challenges can only lead to disaster.
2). An office romance. There is an old saying that applies. “Don’t dip your quill into the office inkwell ‘cause someone will come along and cut your feathers off.” Crude, but true. As soon as you enter into an office romance, you are a target.
I tried to tell this to one young friend of ours who started to go out with a senior official of her company while she was consulting there. It didn’t last. Neither did she. If you absolutely must date someone you’ve met at work, one of you should quit and find other employment if it looks promising after 3 or 4 dates. Otherwise there is a very large hole in your armor.
3). Dishonesty anywhere. If someone is dishonest with me they’ve just been dishonest with someone who has a very large Rolodex and isn’t afraid to use it. A moving company did something dishonest to my widowed mom. They didn’t want to deal with it when I brought it to their attention. I let my network know what they’d done. The next day they received over two hundred phone calls from people. They wound up making a fairly large settlement.
Honest disagreements will happen. But cheating someone, stealing from them, or defrauding them will get around very rapidly and ruin your career chances. I know one gentleman who had to move out of town because of a bad reputation. Great guy, but had made a few judgment errors. Run your life and your business with integrity, or you’ll pay the price.
4). Letting your network lapse. I see too many of my clients let their networks lapse once they get employed. This is a very large mistake. In fact, the lack of a network is how most of the transition executives I deal with got in the position of needing to utilize my services in the first place. Keep up your network!
5). Losing focus. Everyone has life issues that arise. There are deaths and illnesses and other unforeseen cosmic noogies that surface from time to time. Take a few vacation days, deal with it as well as possible, but then focus on your work again. Don’t get sidetracked with volunteer work, family issues, and so on.
6). Identifying with the company. One of my clients was a true company man. He had a company shirt, a company ball cap, a company cup, and even a company crest ring. Yep. He was a good company man right up to the time he was laid off. A goodly portion of his identity was temporarily taken away. You work for a company, you don’t live for a company, unless it is yours. Even with the fact that my wife, Nicole, and I are in practice together and our name is on the letterhead, we don’t live for the company. We live for life and work at our company. But we’d still be us if we didn’t have the company. You should take the same attitude.
7). Taking the part of employees. Don’t get too close to your employees. I made this mistake early in my executive career. The employees had some legitimate gripes, and I went to bat for them. That was a very big mistake. Don’t make it.
Do what you can to look like you’re on the side of employees while making sure that your superiors know that you are pushing the corporate agenda. If you want to right injustices, join the Peace Corp or start your own company where you can put your ideals into effect. But don’t try to reform corporate America. It won’t work and it annoys the powers that be.
8). Thinking you know all the answers. One of the most rapidly growing careers is that of Executive Coach. Why? Because intelligent executives know that they need to have an independent sounding board to bounce things off of and some independent advice. If you don’t have one, get one. But watch yourself. Make sure that the individual you’re contracting is experienced and skilled. Often times your company will pay for this.
9). Isolating yourself. Keep up. Read. Watch CNN and other stations. Talk with others outside of your company. Join associations and groups where you can, not only network, but also meet like-minded people.
10). Mixing personal and professional life. Keep the office at the office and the home at home. Don’t let anyone see much of your personal life. I rarely invite clients to my home. My home is my home.
I used to have an office in my home (in Highlands Ranch at the time) where I’d see clients. This did have some advantages. But it also let them see too much of me and my family. It is usually a mistake to bring the office home or the home to the office.
These, of course, aren’t the only career-limiting moves that executives can do, but are a few of the big ones. Watch for my upcoming book Highly Cynical Career Management to be published around the December holidays. In the meantime, watch your back and watch yourself!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Figure Out What You Want and Go For It
The most important challenge for a rising executive is to figure out what he or she wants in his or her career and life. Until this all-important question is answered all of the career moves, the politicking, and the climbing of the ladder remain unimportant.
There are three vital questions to ask in this — and in this order.
1). Who am I? There is an old saying that if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything. It has a great deal of truth to it.
Executives (and everyone else) must first know what they’re made of. What is it that you’d die for? What do you live for? What will you do if faced with a conflict between your job and your ethical/moral system? Do you have a price? What is it, and can you look yourself in the shaving or make-up mirror afterwards?
It is vital to know your values and your mission in life. What did God send you here for? If you’re uncomfortable with the “God” term, substitute your own question there, such as “What am here this time around for,” or “What purpose does the Universe have for me?” They wind up as the same question. Why the heck are you here.
When I ask some of my clients that question I get some pretty scary answers. They include “To build a comfortable life for me, my wife and kids.” Really? Really? The whole Universe has planned to have you here so you can have a nice house and two SUV’s and the money to buy gas for them? Wow…what a wasted life.
I would hope that the talents, skills and brains that you’ve been given give something better back to humanity as a whole than your wife and kids being able to shop at Needless Mark-ups (Neiman Marcus) and go on European vacations and drive a nice car.
What are you here for? A nice life is a nice perk, but it isn’t a Life Purpose. Who are you? What are you going to give back to humanity — and I’m not talking about the $10 bill you slip into the Church collection plate the once a month you show up. I’m talking about what Service you’re going to do for the world. Think about it.
(If you truly think that your highest and best purpose is to make you, your wife and kids comfy, you probably are just going to get very angry reading this blog, as you’ve probably figured out that I think having that as “life purpose” is incredibly shallow.)
2). Where am I going? As J.R.R. Tolkien had Biblo write, “Not all those who wander are lost.” But most are.
If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to get there? What would you like people to say about you at your funeral? Being the wealthiest person in the graveyard is not terribly valuable…unless that wealth is in people you’ve helped and those who you’ve loved and who have loved you.
If you’re going to the top chair, why do you want to get there? Do you think you can make a difference as a CEO in people’s lives?
Most of my “C” Level clients wanted that position to make people’s lives better. They wanted to see their employees treated more justly, see a better product made to serve their customers, ensure excellence in ethics and communication, or some purpose that has a bit of nobility to it.
Many others choose to leave that path and pursue a path of making a difference in other ways.
Which path are you going to choose? Why?
3). Who do I want to go there with? Few of us walk totally alone. Figure out if you’re a hermit or if you want to walk with a large group of people.
Then figure out what kind of people you want to have around you. Do you want to work for a large company, or a small one? Do you want to start your own company? Figure out who you want to go with and then stick to your guns. Don’t be swayed by money. Take it from one who knows, money comes and money goes. Money is like the rain. It is here today, but maybe not tomorrow, and it doesn’t matter how much you have. But you can always make more. Making money is easy. Finding a group of people with honor and integrity is tough.
Find a group of people to walk with who have honor and integrity and the dollars (and millions of dollars) will, to some degree, take care of themselves. Align yourself with dishonorable people and/or become dishonorable yourself and it won’t matter how much money you have. A millionaire jerk is still just a jerk. Live with honor or improve the gene pool by leaving it rapidly.
Remember what Mom and Dad used to say about the company we keep and the friends we have? They were right. We are known by the company we keep. We are also known by the Company we work for.
Figuring out with whom you will walk your life path is absolutely vital to your happiness. Choose wisely. Think of the gas and time you’ll save by not having to visit any of your friends in Club Fed Minimum Security doing 10 – 15.
These three questions are essential ones for any individual at any time, but absolutely vital for those climbing the executive ladder. Know who you are, where you’re going and choose carefully with whom you will go and success will follow. Ignore any of these and you’ll fall off that ladder sooner or latter — usually sooner.
All the best,
J.
There are three vital questions to ask in this — and in this order.
1). Who am I? There is an old saying that if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything. It has a great deal of truth to it.
Executives (and everyone else) must first know what they’re made of. What is it that you’d die for? What do you live for? What will you do if faced with a conflict between your job and your ethical/moral system? Do you have a price? What is it, and can you look yourself in the shaving or make-up mirror afterwards?
It is vital to know your values and your mission in life. What did God send you here for? If you’re uncomfortable with the “God” term, substitute your own question there, such as “What am here this time around for,” or “What purpose does the Universe have for me?” They wind up as the same question. Why the heck are you here.
When I ask some of my clients that question I get some pretty scary answers. They include “To build a comfortable life for me, my wife and kids.” Really? Really? The whole Universe has planned to have you here so you can have a nice house and two SUV’s and the money to buy gas for them? Wow…what a wasted life.
I would hope that the talents, skills and brains that you’ve been given give something better back to humanity as a whole than your wife and kids being able to shop at Needless Mark-ups (Neiman Marcus) and go on European vacations and drive a nice car.
What are you here for? A nice life is a nice perk, but it isn’t a Life Purpose. Who are you? What are you going to give back to humanity — and I’m not talking about the $10 bill you slip into the Church collection plate the once a month you show up. I’m talking about what Service you’re going to do for the world. Think about it.
(If you truly think that your highest and best purpose is to make you, your wife and kids comfy, you probably are just going to get very angry reading this blog, as you’ve probably figured out that I think having that as “life purpose” is incredibly shallow.)
2). Where am I going? As J.R.R. Tolkien had Biblo write, “Not all those who wander are lost.” But most are.
If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to get there? What would you like people to say about you at your funeral? Being the wealthiest person in the graveyard is not terribly valuable…unless that wealth is in people you’ve helped and those who you’ve loved and who have loved you.
If you’re going to the top chair, why do you want to get there? Do you think you can make a difference as a CEO in people’s lives?
Most of my “C” Level clients wanted that position to make people’s lives better. They wanted to see their employees treated more justly, see a better product made to serve their customers, ensure excellence in ethics and communication, or some purpose that has a bit of nobility to it.
Many others choose to leave that path and pursue a path of making a difference in other ways.
Which path are you going to choose? Why?
3). Who do I want to go there with? Few of us walk totally alone. Figure out if you’re a hermit or if you want to walk with a large group of people.
Then figure out what kind of people you want to have around you. Do you want to work for a large company, or a small one? Do you want to start your own company? Figure out who you want to go with and then stick to your guns. Don’t be swayed by money. Take it from one who knows, money comes and money goes. Money is like the rain. It is here today, but maybe not tomorrow, and it doesn’t matter how much you have. But you can always make more. Making money is easy. Finding a group of people with honor and integrity is tough.
Find a group of people to walk with who have honor and integrity and the dollars (and millions of dollars) will, to some degree, take care of themselves. Align yourself with dishonorable people and/or become dishonorable yourself and it won’t matter how much money you have. A millionaire jerk is still just a jerk. Live with honor or improve the gene pool by leaving it rapidly.
Remember what Mom and Dad used to say about the company we keep and the friends we have? They were right. We are known by the company we keep. We are also known by the Company we work for.
Figuring out with whom you will walk your life path is absolutely vital to your happiness. Choose wisely. Think of the gas and time you’ll save by not having to visit any of your friends in Club Fed Minimum Security doing 10 – 15.
These three questions are essential ones for any individual at any time, but absolutely vital for those climbing the executive ladder. Know who you are, where you’re going and choose carefully with whom you will go and success will follow. Ignore any of these and you’ll fall off that ladder sooner or latter — usually sooner.
All the best,
J.
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