Just as you would in choosing a new hire, choosing a job, choosing a boss, or even choosing a mate, knowing how to make an informed assessment is critical. It is the stuff that any coach who works with executives or leadership teams (like me) should be able to do in their sleep, and it’s the type of thing that any layperson should learn and know how to do.… Read the rest
What Should You Know BEFORE the Headhunter Calls?
It’s tough to play well without knowing the rules. The employment game is no different: jobs may not always go to the best, but rather the best who know how to play the game. For those people who are in roles where positions are usually filled by companies using search firms, knowing how "executive search" works, particularly knowing what to do and what to avoid, can propel you throughout your career.… Read the rest
[Delivery Status Notification Failure] First Things to Do When the “Pink Slip” is for You
There are certain steps you should do when you leave a job, and Sam (not his real name) knew them all. He just didn’t follow them.
I thought it was odd when my mid-monthly Life Back West mailer bounced from his work address, but it would not be the first time that an e-mail bounced from a valid address. Odder was the call two week later from a manager from his firm looking for some advice, the type of advice you’d normally get from your Head of Human Resources.… Read the rest
[Land O’Spin] If You Only Had ONE Job Interview Question to Ask?
While interviews can seem hard on job candidates, they may actually be harder on hiring mangers. Apart from recruiters, most people – unless they’re an ineffective “interview and burn through people manager” – don’t interview enough to make interviewing second nature. As a result, instead of focusing on the candidate, hiring managers can get lost in thinking about their next question to ask, engage in a little white knuckle time while interviewing, and actually sweat and pray they’ll finally interview well.… Read the rest
Time To Be Greedy: Your “Brand”
This is the first in a series of three posts dealing with “brand.” A post on personal brands (YOU), and “how-to-do” examples will follow this first overview piece. As someone who’s been in the people (and teams) coaching business for over 25 years, and also been directly responsible for hiring thousands of people through roles running large staffing / recruiting operations, I have a pretty good idea why some firms recruit well (and others don’t), and how people can take their best foot forward as either a job candidate or consultant / vendor.… Read the rest
[Land of Spin] The Job Hunt: TwitterShouldHireMe.com and Other Tricks of the Trade
Fortune Magazine’s April 13, 2009 edition has an article on Jamie Varon, who built a website called TwitterShouldHireMe.com as part of her job hunt campaign to get – guess who – to hire her. She also writes a blog called “intersected ." Her Twitter job campaign site apparently has spawned a host of imitators (googleshouldhireme.com, Facebookshoulehireme.com, etc.). [Update: Varon has also just launched a new blog site called "Shatterbox – The Way of Standing Out and Changing the World."… Read the rest