Broken Promises

by Angela Copeland | Nov 25, 2019 | Career Corner Column, Job Search, Newsletter

For years, one of the hardest challenges I’ve seen with the job search is what I’ll call broken promises. These broken promises can happen anywhere along the job search journey. And honestly, they have the ability to be pretty upsetting to job seekers at every point of the process.

Let me give a few examples. Maybe you’ve submitted your resume and the hiring manager has promised you an interview. Then, they drop off the face of the earth. Or, you’ve had an interview and are told you’ll know something in a week, and then radio silence. Or, perhaps you’ve gone through an interview or two, and you’ve been told you’re advancing to the next round. Then, poof! The company ghosts you. Or, you’ve gotten to the very last round of the entire process and you’ve been told you’re the one, and the company decides not to hire anyone. Or, perhaps they offer you a contract role when you interviewed for a full time job. Or, maybe they offer you a lower title or a different job than you interviewed for.

Unfortunately, most companies look at the process of hiring as a business transaction. It’s not personal. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. No big deal, right?

Wrong. If it’s been a while since you interviewed, you may have forgotten what a job seeker sacrifices to interview. They may give up money from their existing job when they miss work to come to your interviews. They may risk being fired if they’re found to be interviewing. Or, they may turn down other job interview opportunities to pursue yours. They’re making choices, based on the feedback you’re giving them.

Job seeker, the best advice for you I have is this. Until there’s a job offer on the table, there’s no offer. Don’t assume the company will move you forward. Don’t put your other searches on hold until you have something in writing. Don’t reorganize your life plans until you have a contract. I know, this can be hard. When a company tells you they love you, they’re convincing. They may even be telling the truth. It’s not unusual for a company to love you and then have a reason they can’t hire someone new.

Hiring manager, I know, you can’t hire everyone. Lots of things happen that are outside of your control. Budgets change, timelines change, priorities change. But, there is something you can control. You can be transparent. You can let a candidate know directly when you’ve moved on. You can do it quickly, not months later. If the timeline changes, you can give the job seeker an update.

Job seekers care much less that they weren’t hired, if the rejection comes from a company that was honest and transparent. They may even apply again when a new opportunity comes along that’s a better fit. Now, that’s a positive business transaction!

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

Dropping Off Your Baggage

by Angela Copeland | Nov 18, 2019 | Career Corner Column, Job Search, Newsletter

Have you ever had a date with someone who had recently been through a bad breakup? There’s a good chance they were nervous to go through the same thing again. You can practically see the fear in their eyes. In relationships, we call this sort of thing emotional baggage. And, it can be tough to overcome. What’s interesting is that companies can have emotional baggage too.

With companies, the baggage starts in the form of a bad hire. It’s a bad hire that happened long before they met you. It’s like an ex-spouse. It’s someone who is long gone, but whose emotional damage still remains. The company hasn’t forgotten them, years later.

You may wonder what exactly I’m talking about. Here’s an example. An interviewer may say to a job seeker, “We hired an entrepreneur once before. That person was really controlling. He was hard to work with. Ever since, I really don’t like hiring anyone who has ever been self-employed.” (Disclosure: Yes, this really happened.)

For a job seeker who’s currently self-employed, for example, this statement is a hard one to overcome. How can you combat worries about problems caused by an employee that no longer works at the company? In this example, it might be best to be friendly and understanding, and try to reassure the interviewer.  Show them you can get along well with others. Quiet their fears.

In reality though, it’s possible that old employee wasn’t difficult because they had been self-employed at some point. Perhaps they were difficult because they are just a difficult person. Wouldn’t that make a little more sense?

These types of generalizations are biases, plain and simple. It’s like assuming that because you dated a chemist once who was very rigid, all chemists are rigid people. But, that’s not true. Each person has their own unique personality, with positive and negative features.

Just like in the world of dating, if you want to find your perfect match, you’ve got to stop looking at things through an old lens. You can’t assume every relationship won’t workout. Otherwise, you’ll never get anywhere. Similarly, you’ve got to judge each job seeker on their character and their individual experience. Don’t hold them up to a standard set by someone else long ago.

Ask the job seeker about their skills, and their past jobs. Ask them why they’re interested in the role. Learn about them. Find out if they will get along with your team. Evaluate them, based on what’s important today – not something that happened before. Try your best to look at them as a unique person.

If you can drop off your emotional baggage, you might just find that you pick up a great new hire. The more that biases drive your decision making process, the less you’re evaluating the current candidate. You’re allowing the old employee who isn’t even there anymore to continue to run the show.

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

Location, Location, Location

by Angela Copeland | Nov 11, 2019 | Career Corner Column, Job Search, Newsletter

In my lifetime, I’ve never seen a time where we were more divided as a nation. Oddly, the job search has also become geographically divided.

It is becoming increasingly common for certain jobs to cluster in large cities within the U.S. You probably noticed it when Amazon picked their new headquarters. The cities that made the list were the usual suspects. And, it’s the same for other big businesses. Many are located on the coasts, in cities like New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

I’m beginning to see a trend of job seekers that are looking to relocate to these large markets. Their goal long term is to create career stability. They assume that being in a big city, they’ll have an easier time finding their next job. This thought process makes sense in today’s professional environment. Many people switch jobs every three to five years. Forty years ago, you would stay at a job until you’d retire, but sadly, this is no longer the case.

The thing that’s a bit odd is this. Many companies are demanding local candidates. You might even notice on some job postings the words, “Local candidates only.” I’ve seen many instances where a candidate has a positive phone screen with human resources. In the last five minutes of the call, the company will realize that the candidate isn’t currently living in their city. They plan to relocate. It is not unusual for a company to end the phone screen and to reject the candidate on location alone. They will say, “We have enough local candidates. We don’t need to consider people from other regions of the country.”

At first blush, many people assume the company is trying to save money on relocation expenses. But, I’m not sure that explains the full situation. Even when a candidate offers to relocate themselves, the companies don’t take the bait. Some hiring managers say that out of town candidates are more risky. The job seeker might not like the new city. But, isn’t everyone risky? I suspect that part of the issue is that it’s logistically more work to hire an out of town candidate. You have to plan in person interviews ahead more. Plane tickets must be booked. Hotel rooms must be reserved. The start date may be further in the future.

The candidate could move themselves first. But, quitting your existing job and moving to a new city where you have no connections is a big risk. The cities I mentioned are quite pricey. They aren’t a great place to be if you’re not going to have a stable paycheck.

I’m not sure what the solution, but, we’re one country. Landing a job in a new city should be easier than it is today. Companies, take more time to consider out of town candidates. Hiring managers, if your recruiter is mysteriously only presenting you with local candidates, find out more.

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

Cutting the Horn Off the Unicorn

by Angela Copeland | Nov 4, 2019 | Career Corner Column, Job Search, Newsletter

I saw the perfect profile for a recruiter recently. It said, “I am not a ninja / purple squirrel / unicorn hunter, nor someone who hires ‘rock stars.’ I am a strategic and tactical recruiter, meaning I partner with leaders and we hire – at scale, for the niche skills required to make the difference to a business.”

Have you ever heard of this phrase – “purple squirrel”? In the world of the job search, it is a reference to a hiring manager who wants to find the perfect applicant. They’re looking for that once in a lifetime candidate that will bring everything they want to their business and more. The person is often also referred to as a unicorn, a ninja, or a rock star.

The problem is this. This purple squirrel hiring strategy is completely unrealistic. It relies on an environment that no longer exists in 2019.

You may wonder what I mean. Well, think of it this way. The dot com crash happened in 2000. This is around the same time that Monster.com started to be the way companies hired. Other sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor have also come onto the scene, but the process has remained largely the same.

Employers are able to input a large list of criteria and in return, they can find a candidate who has the qualities that they’re looking for. When the job market was terrible, this worked perfectly fine. You could upload a list of, say, thirty skills and get a handful of people who matched.

The issue today is, we’re in the middle of the best job market we’ve seen in fifty years. Unfortunately, many employers haven’t adjusted the way they hire. I have to think this is due in part to one thing. People who graduated from college around 2000 are forty years old now. They are hiring managers. And, for those that age, they’ve never truly experienced a job market where the company wasn’t in control.

They’re stuck on finding those perfect unicorns and it’s showing. The time to fill jobs is taking longer now than it did in the past. Employers are having a harder time finding the perfect person. That’s because job seekers have more choices.

So, what’s a company to do? Stop searching for the perfect candidate. Start looking for great candidates. Look for leaders. Look for motivated, dedicated, smart employees. Because, meeting the criteria on a checklist doesn’t measure how dedicated or excited a candidate may be.

You might be surprised, but a yellow squirrel can get the job done just as well as a purple one – maybe even better. Just because someone has a resume that’s non-traditional doesn’t mean they won’t fit a fit for the job or your organization. Take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Don’t stick to a checklist only approach. You’ll do yourself, your business, and your candidates a huge favor.

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