It’s Not You
One thing that is notable about the job search process is just how easy it is sometimes, and just how hard it is other times. If getting a job has always been easy for you, and you’re finding it to be hard now, you may feel like you’re doing something wrong. Or, that perhaps you’ve changed. Although that could be the case, sometimes, it’s really not you. There are many external factors beyond your ability that impact whether or not you get the job.
First, the economy plays a bit part of your job search experience. When the economy is strong, and when it’s a job seekers’ market, interviews move faster and smoother. Companies don’t have the luxury of stringing along candidates, or of finding the perfect unicorn. When the economy is down, companies receive many more applications for each job. Companies are able to pick and choose which candidates to move forward. And, at times, they may even intentionally slow their hiring process in order to save money.
Similarly, where you live can have a big impact on your job search. If you live in a big city with many corporations, it can often be much easier to find something new. There are simply more options than in smaller towns where you may have to wait for something to come open. Although some companies will relocate the right person, they always prefer a local candidate if they can find one.
It can also matter if you have connections within the company where you’re applying. If you are applying online, along with hundreds of other applicants, the chances that someone will see your resume are slim. But, if a friend offers to hand deliver your resume to the hiring manager, you are much more likely to get a job interview.
The story that your resume tells also makes a big difference. In other words, companies often look at small, potentially irrelevant details, when they are sorting candidates. Think of this similar to filtering profiles on a dating app. The company is starting with so many options that they are narrowing them down using random criteria. If you have switched jobs too frequently, they may judge you. If you currently work in a different industry, they may assume your skills don’t translate. This can happen even if you previously worked in the industry in which you are applying.
If your work history is varied, you need an open-minded hiring manager. You need someone who understands transferrable skills, and who can see you as the whole and talented person you are. But, this doesn’t happen every time. It takes many applications to find a boss who understands the value that you bring.
Let me leave you with this. All of the things described above can impact your job search. None of the things described above are about your potential or your performance. Keep looking, and you will find your fit.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
Fitting In
As children, most people are told that if you work hard, it will pay off. Working hard is the key to success. This makes a lot of sense. Hard work should be the foundation for accomplishments. For each degree you earn or position you hold, you become more qualified. You are checking off more and more boxes that make you a better and better fit for a future role.
This theory works fairly well in fields such as computer programming. It is not uncommon for computer programmers to earn certifications and take courses, even beyond their degrees. The qualifications to be a computer programmer are more clear cut than in other fields, so it is fairly easy to distinguish who the most qualified candidate is.
Unfortunately, there are many other fields where this is not the case. This is true in marketing, for example, where candidate qualifications can vary widely for the same role. And, this is the same situation for executive level roles. These employees can find their path to success through many different roads, and different degrees.
When hiring, what’s a company to do? Very often, the hiring manager is looking for what is known as a culture fit. Culture can become their number one priority. They have a good team in place, and they want someone who will get along well with that team. They want to keep things on track, and someone who fits culturally feels like the answer.
Unfortunately, the desire to find a culture fit creates a few unforeseen consequences. Sometimes, the people who are the most likely to fit culturally are also very similar people. In other words, they may be similar in age. They could be the same gender or have the same religious views. They could be the same ethnicity. Or, they may have similar hobbies or children around the same age.
Have you ever noticed that an entire team of company leaders often has a lot in common with one another personally? It’s more than being good at their jobs. They are also very similar people.
Unfortunately, this makes the bar much higher for interview candidates. Not only must they be qualified to do the job, but they must be like the other employees. And, if they are different, then they must be overqualified. In other words, there has to be a lot of extra perks to the person in order to be selected.
Don’t get me wrong. It is important to get along with your team at work. Companies don’t want to hire someone who is high conflict, and who may cause problems within the company. But, there is a big difference between fitting in with everyone and being high conflict. There’s a big difference in being able to do the work, and being just like everyone else.
Being aware of this potential pitfall will ensure you’re hiring the most qualified candidates, not the most similar.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
Non-Competes Banned
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission announced that they are banning non-competes across the country. And, this new ruling applies to almost all workers. You read that right. The FTC does not want your employer to be able to force a non-compete onto you.
Employers have long believed that a non-compete allows them to protect their trade secrets. They believed, non-competes allowed them to protect their financial investment into workers. And, employees often had no choice. If you wanted to take a job, a non-compete was just part of the arrangement.
In reality, non-compete agreements often tie the hands of employees. When an employee has spent the bulk of their career in one industry, it prevents them from going to other companies in the same industry. Often, a non-compete will remain in effect for multiple years, and can sometimes prevent employees from working in entire industries. It’s also worth mentioning that many companies invest less of their resources into workers today than they have in the past.
Non-compete agreements discourage employees from switching jobs. And, they prevent those same employees from pursuing more money, or a better workplace. Non-competes take away the options an employee has when switching jobs. It can lock someone into a company where they are underpaid, and may have an unhealthy work situation.
Even before the FTC decision, I would often hear people say that it’s hard to enforce non-competes. Some people felt they didn’t really matter. But, I would argue that this is not true. Even if an agreement is not very enforceable, the employee must go through a lengthy and expensive legal process to prove it. And, many employers don’t want to risk being involved in such a process with a new employee. Companies would rather play it safe than hire someone with an active non-compete.
The FTC estimates that one in five workers today are bound by a non-compete agreement. That means that this change will impact 30 million people. The FTC estimates this ban will grow startup activity by 2.7 percent. And, they believe an average worker stands to make $524 more per year because of this change. The FTC believes that allowing people to switch companies and remain in the same industry will create more competition. By allowing workers to switch jobs more freely, companies will be forced to pay a higher wage.
Going forward, companies will have to move beyond the non-compete. They may want to look at fair pay and treatment. And, they must focus on protecting their actual intellectual property in more specific ways. Protecting intellectual property is fair. Blindly restricting someone’s right to work is not.
Unfortunately though, the fight is likely not over. It is expected that the FTC will get a significant amount of pushback from companies who wish to keep their non-compete agreements in place. But for now, this change is a big win for workers.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
Recognize Your Employees
After spending many years as an executive coach, I learned a clear lesson. People hate looking for jobs. They hate switching jobs. The process is stressful and painful. Most employees only consider a big job change as a last resort. They wait until the pain of staying is bigger than the pain of walking away.
So, why do employees change jobs? It’s complicated. There is no one size fits all answer. Many people are looking for an opportunity to grow their skills at work. They may feel stuck. But, more than that, they may feel unhappy. They may feel unrecognized. They may even feel mistreated.
In the past, it could be said that money would not be the primary reason to leave a job. Employees were more concerned with their fulfillment. But, after the last five years, more employees are concerned about money – which makes sense. Prices have gone up, from groceries and gas to housing. Interest rates are up. And, pay has been going up.
Your loyal employees have not benefitted from these big jumps in pay. While their bills have gone up, their pay has stayed about the same. Many companies continue to believe that an annual three percent per year raise will maintain the standard of living employees are used to. This is not the case.
As well-meaning as companies may be, tiny raises are just not enough. Younger employees, and parents are hit extra hard. Younger employees are struggling with increasing rents and expenses. Many twenty somethings are being forced to live at home for longer than prior generations. Employees with children are balancing the cost of rising childcare with their flat wages.
This can put both employees and the companies they work for in a difficult situation. The employee is forced to move to potentially less fulfilling job in order to be paid the current market rate.
And, the employer also faces a difficult situation. When the employee leaves, their role is left empty for a period of time. That puts pressure on the remaining employees, to pick up the extra work. Then, the company must find a new, qualified candidate. They must pay an internal recruiter or an external placement firm to find candidates. The company must go through the process of interviewing those candidates. When a candidate is selected, they must be trained. Not surprisingly, the new candidate will likely be paid the current market rate.
So, what is a company to do? First, don’t wait for your best employees to leave. If you know they are underpaid, so do they. Just because they don’t bring it up doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of the going rate. Keep an open door policy for conversations around compensation. And, when someone brings it up, be willing to have honest conversations. And, advocate for them. In the long term, it may very well save you time and money. It could even help you to retain great talent.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
Time and Money
It’s no longer socially acceptable for a company to ask an interview candidate how much money they currently make. It’s also not terribly good to ask the candidate how much they want to make. These days, the standard is to share the pay range for the role. Then, the candidate can decide whether or not the range is acceptable.
In the past, recruiters would argue that asking questions like these made sense. They wanted to know if the candidate was “within their budget” for a particular role. In reality, if the candidate provided a salary number at the low end of the range, they would be paid on the low end of that range. And, they might not ever know it.
Fortunately, many states across the U.S. have agreed that this practice is not okay. It’s not fair. And, it allows pay disparities to continue, and to grow. In other words, if you are currently underpaid, and your future salary is based on your current salary, you will continue to be under paid in the future. If a company pays a fair market rate, then you have a better chance of making what your skillset is truly worth.
Unfortunately, not all recruiters have gotten this message. When a recruiter shares that they have been working as a recruiter for over thirty years, you can bet there’s a decent chance they aren’t playing by the current rules. They will continue to ask questions they should not.
Unfortunately, as a candidate, there’s not much you can do about this issue. If a recruiter asks your salary and you don’t provide it, you’ll likely be eliminated from consideration. You’ll be perceived as difficult, because you aren’t willing to go along with this outdated line of questioning.
The good news is, you can decide not to work with a particular recruiter. You can decide you won’t participate when something like this occurs. There are many recruiters who will care about the candidate experience, and who are willing to follow the laws and this current way of interviewing candidates.
In addition to questions that a company is not allowed to ask, there is a question that candidates are allowed to ask. In certain states, it’s the law. A candidate can ask the company what the pay range is for a certain position. The company should be willing to provide the range. This gives the opportunity for the candidate to share with the company whether or not the range provided is one they are interested to pursue.
Sadly, this is another area where some recruiters are trying to do their own thing. When asked for the range, it is not uncommon for the recruiter to respond with, “My company hasn’t set a range for this role. We’re trying to see what the market will bear.” As you can imagine, this is most not likely accurate and is an antiquated way of interviewing candidates.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Happy hunting!
Angela Copeland
@CopelandCoach
Copeland Coaching Podcast
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