Interview Basics

So you got the interview.  Great, but that is only half the battle.  Next up…….going to the interview.  This might come as a surprise to some of you, but you can’t just show up in the clothes you wear to the mall.  A suit is usually preferred, no matter who or where you are interviewing.  If you don’t have a full suit, for sure a shirt and tie.  This shows the interviewer that you are serious about the job and you are taking the interview seriously as well.

The Company

So you have a suit, now it’s time to research who you are interviewing with.  2 reasons why researching the company is beneficial to you as an interviewer.  Reason #1 is pretty obvious.  You need to know what the company’s primary functions are so you know what you are getting in to.  Reason #2 is to impress the hiring manager.  Let’s put ourselves in a manager’s shoes.  You are choosing between 2 candidates, one that didn’t know much about your company during the interview and the other that did.  If these 2 are the same candidate in the manager’s eyes would you hire someone who took the time to educate him/herself on the company or one that didn’t?  The answer is pretty obvious I think.

The Interview

The moment of truth, you walk in with your suit, the notes you took about the company burned in your brain, and now you meet the man/woman of the hour.  The manager that will be saying “yes” or “no” to you getting a paycheck from this company.  This is a big deal, no one else matters at this moment(unless there are multiple people in the interview).  You sit down and he/she starts the interview right?  Wrong!  Either you have a bit of a walk to the interview or it is not a far walk at all, there will be small talk.  Have 1 or 2 questions ready for this time.  If the manager is asking you questions, great! If it is silent, break that silence with a couple of questions that you have prepared for this.  You want everyone involved to feel like you are already part of the family when you start the interview.  This will make it easier for them to picture you as part of the team.

While interviewing, be sure you make eye contact with everyone in the room as evenly as possible.  This seems like a minor detail, but is a big deal to some. Don’t leave your fate to one person who wants you to make eye contact with them. Just do it.  Be humble.  Confidence is ok, cockiness is not.   The final thought I have for you to succeed in an interview is always(or as much as you can) answer a question with an example of your work.  Manager – “Have you ever had to deal with adversity in the workplace?”   You – “Yes.”   NO!  Manager – “Have you ever had to deal with adversity in the workplace?”  You – “Yes I have, at my last position………”  YES!  The rest is up to you.

And there you have it, my guide to getting the job after you get the interview.  Pretty easy right?  When nerves are high and the opportunity is right in front of you, it gets a little more difficult.  Take a deep breath and just think of it as just another networking conversation.  You have networked before right?  Wait, you haven’t?  Ok, so we have a lot more work to do than I thought….. I’m outta here for now!

Please leave your comments below! I welcome any and all feedback!

What party do you support?

Democrat vs Republican, Republican vs Democrat.  Who wins doesn’t necessarily mean they are the perfect fit for America, it just means they have the majority vote that year.  The staffing world has its own Democrat and Republican party.  Those that prefer contract work and those that prefer permanent placement. Contract work has an exact start date and end date. Contract workers are also paid hourly most the time. Typically candidates are hired for certain projects that need to be done in a certain amount of time.  Permanent roles are just that, permanent.  There are pros and cons to both, and you’re about to find out what those are!

Contract Work

Pros – 1. You get to change jobs often. Let’s say you’re hired for a project and you don’t particularly like the work, the manager, or anything for that matter.  You don’t have to work there forever, just a few more months(most likely).  2. On a contract you typically get paid more.  I’ll save the info for the cons, but benefits are not included on contract most times. You’ll have to get your own personal benefits, which usually cost a little more.  To compensate for that, most staffing firms will up your hourly rate and pay you a little more because of the lack of benefits. 3. Flexible hours are common on contracts. More so than in a permanent role, as long as you get your 40 hours of work in for the week you are good to go!

Cons –  1. As mentioned above, no subsidized benefits.  While permanent employees enjoy “cheaper” benefits, contractors do not.  2. There is not a lot of job security.  If the manager wants to end your contract, they have every right to do that.  Realistically managers can do this with permanent employees as well, but they seem to have to think about it a little more for whatever reason.

Permanent Work

Pros – 1. Supposed job security.  While any manager has the right to fire you at any time, candidates do feel like permanent roles have more job security. 2. Benefits.  401k’s, health insurance, vision, dental, the whole boat. These are typically cheaper when you are a permanent employee.  3. Permanent roles have a better opportunity to be promoted within.  Most times contractors aren’t considered employees of the company, so promotion within is not very common. (Contract workers are hired through a staffing firm and they are paid by that staffing firm)

Cons – 1. Most times permanent roles are salaried positions so if overtime is logged you do not get paid more.  Contractors get paid for every minute they are in the office, whether it’s 70 hours or 40 hours.  2. As I said, permanent jobs are permanent. So there is more thought needed behind leaving a permanent role.  What if the benefits aren’t as beneficial at the next job you take? What if you’re manager isn’t as “cool” as your last?  These are all things that contractors don’t think about.  They expect to move jobs and have new bosses often. They already know, more than likely, they aren’t going to have subsidized benefits in their next opportunity.  They have the mind-set to handle this quite often. Permanent employees typically don’t.

Conclusion – The purpose of this blog post was to teach some of you the difference between a permanent and a contract role. I talk to a lot of people every day and some know the difference, some act like they do, and some have no idea.  When you’re in the job market you NEED to know your options and what is beneficial about both.

What are some other pros and cons of these type of jobs?  Comment below and let’s discuss!  Until next time job seekers, happy hunting!

The Power of your Network!

Have you ever been in desperate need of a job? I hope not, but if you have, you know that feeling where you would do ANYTHING to find a job.  Job boards, write in applications, social media, even walking in to to a store and picking up an application yourself.  What are we forgetting here?  It’s so obvious(to some people) that it is rarely utilized.  I’m talking about the network that you have worked so hard to build up.  Ok, hopefully you have worked so hard to build up.

If you have ever read Bob Beaudine’s book, The Power of Who, you know what I’m talking about.  In the book Bob states something to the effect that you, me , we, already know everyone that we need to know.  Think about that, right now, you know the right person to find you that new job. This doesn’t mean this person will find you the job, but they know someone, who might know someone, you get the point.  Regardless of where you’re at in your career/life, I would suggest reading this book.

Now let’s discuss the previously referred to “network.”  If you think you’re doing it right and you have a couple people in mind who you could call to see if they know any openings, you’re wrong!  In my opinion there should be at least 10 people who you could reach out to in this scenario.  Don’t have that many?  You need to start building ASAP!  How?  Networking should be a daily occurrence.  Meeting a friend for lunch today?  Have that friend invite someone they work with.  Always be meeting new people.  In my opinion, your network is never big enough.  Another book I refer to is “Never Eat Lunch Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi.  I don’t have to explain what’s inside this book, do I?

My points above are simple.  If you think you have a vast network, it could be better.  If you know you don’t have a network, start building it right now!  You never know when you could need it!  I’m constantly touching base with my network.  Not just my professional network, but my personal as well.  Do you have a longer commute home? Call a friend who you haven’t talked to in a while.  Have some time in the morning before you start work?  Send a quick “Hey, how are you doing” email.  Little things like that build your network very fast! LinkedIn is quickly becoming one of the greatest networking tools out there. But don’t stop there, meet people.  This is where “Never Eat Lunch Alone” comes into play. Schedule a meeting to introduce yourself and what you do, or what you’re looking for. This is a quicker than filling out an application or scouring Facebook or Twitter for a new job.

You’re network should give you pride, and it definitely could come in handy when you are in a bind.  Your network wants to help you, utilize it for what its for.

Until I write again, happy hunting!

First Impressions

Everyone knows first impressions are very important.  These days face to face meetings happen less and less.  I have recruited on roles that offer a Skype interview and the employee never even meets his/her manager F2F(Face to Face).  Things have definitely changed over the years.  Since the F2F meeting is almost becoming extinct, what would happen if you got really, really good at meeting people?  I’m not talking about being really good at shaking hands, although that is an art too(maybe to discuss another time), I’m talking about being really good at striking up a conversation with a complete stranger and honestly connecting with them. Here are some helpful tips to start you off…

Do your homework.  – What if you’re headed to a networking event and you know the president of a prestigious local company is going to be there.  You would really like to chat with him because you plan on applying to his company the next time there is an opening that matches your skill set.  Do you walk up to him and say, “Hello Mr. President, how’s it going?”  If you said “Yes,” please email me(thedsmrecruiter@gmail.com) immediately and we will meet to chat about it.  Anyway, with so many avenues to research, said President, you NEED to do your homework on him/her.  Head to the Google Machine(I stole this phrase from a buddy) and see what he/she has been up to the past couple months/years.  Being the president of a company the social media networks are probably set to private or show very little, but it’s worth a try.  Give the name a search on Facebook or Twitter to see what you can find.  Maybe he/she likes shows at the Civic Center and you just saw the Oz last week.  Talk about it!  Heck, read a newspaper.  Maybe you’ll find something in there that will be of some help to find a topic to discuss.  The possibilities are endless with this one, especially because so much information is right at your finger tips.

No idea who’s going to be at the “party?” – This happens more times than not.  So what are you supposed to do if you don’t know who is going to be at the networking event?  Come up with a list of general questions to ask people about themselves and their companies.  I don’t want to do all the work for you, but if you want to talk about more about these please email me at thedsmrecruiter@gmail.com, but here are a few examples.  After you get the general information about someone, ask questions that are more in-depth.  “What is the last book you read and what is the most influential book?”  This is one of my “go-to” questions because I love to read.  Most of the books I’ve read have been referrals from people I’ve asked. It doesn’t matter their position or job title.  People who read have probably read a great book that I haven’t.

Asking someone about their company is a little different.  Sometimes they don’t want to give away too much info, so you have to walk that line.  One of my favorites is “What do you see your biggest problem being in the next 12 months?”  I love this one, because when the individual gives the answer, you can immediately follow-up with, “Why?”  Plus, if it’s a problem, and you know someone who fixes those types of problems, you connect those two and immediately have a business relationship with that individual. BOOM!

Conclusion – The advice above is strictly from my experience. In the staffing industry, networking groups are a must. So I’ve had a little experience with what works and what doesn’t.  Everything I’ve mentioned above is so much easier if you keep a pulse on what’s going on around you.  Whether it be you picking up the Juice Magazine or the Des Moines Register, following local journalists on Twitter and Facebook or connecting on LinkedIn.  Be knowledgeable about what is happening in your area.  Know if there has been some layoffs, know if there was a recent merger of two companies in the area, know if a company in Des Moines has just hired a new president.  All of these tasks are relatively easy and inexpensive, so I don’t think you have an excuse.

If there are any books you’ve read that you think would be of some benefit to me, please either comment below or send me an email(I don’t have to type my email address again do it?)!  I’ll respond with a couple that I enjoy to return the favor.  Also, networking events.  Know any?  Let me know!

Happy Hunting!

Make money with this Bracket!

Do you fill out a bracket for the NCAA Tournament every year, just to possibly with a couple bucks?  Well what if I told you there was a bracket, that you could fill out, and make money with 100% certainty?  Would you fill that one out?  I know I would…..I have and I have made money!  What bracket am I talking about?  Your career bracket!

What drives you?  What is your passion?  What is your “Why?”  This is what you need to be “advancing to the next round,” not a basketball team.  I talk to way too many people who are working a job that is “good enough.” Why would you ever settle for that?  This can not only affect you, but affect your personal life as well.  If you’re in a bad mood at work all day, the potential for keeping that bad mood is quite good.  And what do the kids say these days?  Ain’t nobody got time for that….  By no means am I advising you to quit your job today.  I’m advising to always leave the door open to opportunities.  Even if you are working your passion, don’t shut the door completely.

There is no bracket online for this, and to tell you the truth, I don’t expect you to actually fill out a bracket.  I’ve been in the staffing industry for 3.5 years now and I can tell you without hesitation, people who have jobs that are close to their passion are happier and more joyous to be around. So decide what’s important to you and find something that helps you work towards that.

With all of that being said, maybe you are working your passion.  I highly commend you!  Please comment below if you are.  I love to hear from my readers and would enjoy talking to you about your passion!  Or email me a theDSMrecruiter@gmail.com

Until next time seekers, happy hunting!

The Amazing, Wonderful, Counter-Offer

Depending on how many times you change jobs in your career, you will more than likely get a counter offer from your current employer at some point.  A counter offer, for those that don’t know, is an offer from the company you are quitting(currently working for) for more money, better hours, more PTO, etc.  Now, if you’re thinking like I did before I entered the staffing agency, you’re thinking, “That’s awesome!  Accept the counter offer, unless you’re working for the devil in his house.” Well, I’m here to tell you that you couldn’t be more wrong!

Counter offers are something that seem like a good idea until you start to think about it more…..  Step into your managers shoes for a minute.  He/She knows you have been or might still be looking for a new job.  They don’t want to get left out in the rain again, so they start to look for your replacement in case this were to happen again. They find someone who they think would be a fit.  They don’t want to lose this person, so they hire them as your replacement.  NOT GOOD!

With a halfway decent manager this would not happen, but I have heard of it happening in the past.  You accept a counter offer.  Your manager feels betrayed by you and starts to treat you like the dirt that you walk into the building on.  You start to despise your job and can’t find one that compares to the one you rejected because of the counter offer.  You accept a new job because you can’t stand to work there anymore.  Always thinking about that perfect job you rejected.  BAD DEAL!

Now, I’m definitely not saying if you get a counter offer you should immediately reject it. There are some situations where it is a good idea to at least think about it.  But, as it stands currently, around 80% of people who accept a counter offer will not be at that company in the next 6 months.

This blog is specifically geared to give you useful information that you can use on your job search.  The information I give is not the Bible of job searching.  However, even though every day is different in the staffing industry, I have seen and handled a lot of different situations.  Most of the time counter offers are not in your best interest to accept.  Just do me a favor and think about it if you ever receive one?  Your future self will thank me!

Happy hunting job searchers.

Searching on Job Boards

Although I think there are plenty of better ways to find yourself a job than a job board, they are still a major player in staffing and job hunting.  The actual site you use will vary depending on what industry you are looking in, but the major ones use similar processes and rules. I will let you in on a couple of secrets and would encourage you to contact me if you have anymore questions or would like more advice.

Searching for a Job:

To most people this will seem fairly elementary, but there are a few tips that I have learned from my years in staffing.  Keywords are typically asked for while searching for a job.  This is pretty standard, but what if you want to search 2 words as you “Keyword?”  If you type in 2 words with a space in between them, the search engine will search for both words individually.  If you want to make it search for both words as one word, place quotation marks around the two words.  This tells the search engine that you want it to treat the words as one!  Pretty nifty huh?

Best time to search for a job on a job board: 

While I wouldn’t necessarily say there is a best time to search on a job board, the time to search if you want to the most open jobs is Monday afternoon – Tuesday morning.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  #1 – Coming off the weekend, hiring managers won’t have everything they need to post a job together until the afternoon.  Very rarely, but it does happen, do managers have their “stuff” ready to go on Monday morning. #2 – When making offers to candidates, most times candidates are given the weekend to decide to accept or decline.  Most of the time it is either agreed upon or assumed, Monday morning will be the time that the decision has to be made.  Whether he/she accepts(in this case they take the job down) or declines(they keep it up or update the job requirements), movement won’t happen until at least Monday afternoon.

Do you have more questions that I didn’t answer?  Contact me on Twitter at @theDSMrecruiter!

Until next time, happy hunting!

Why work with a Recruiter? 4 reasons why not and 4 arguments!

It’s amazing to me how many people are looking for a new job and refuse to even entertain the idea of working with a recruiter. As I have explained many times, there are so many reasons why job seekers should use recruiters.  For all y’all that don’t know, check it out(I hope at least one of you gets the Kris Kross reference…)!

Job Seekers don’t use Recruiters because……

1. “I don’t want to pay someone to find me a job.”  

-This isn’t the case in all situations, but the majority(99%) of the companies that I know of, the candidate doesn’t have to pay a penny.   The company that the recruiting firm is working for is the one that shells out the cash!  So go ahead, contact a professional to take care of your job search.

2. “They call ALL the time and are too pushy.” 

-Unfortunately this does happen.  With different motives being the culprit, recruiters get a little overzealous and use their telephone too often. My advice is to set the ground rules immediately, if you only want to be contacted after 5pm, tell him/her.  If you only want to be emailed, tell him/her.  If you don’t want to be sent text messages(yes, we do that), tell him/her.  Hopefully the reason they are contacting you so much is because they have so many opportunities that you are a match for, they HAVE to.  But, definitely not always the case.

3. “There are plenty of jobs out there, I’ll just find one myself.” 

-This is actually not true at all!  At least in the market I’m working in.  Good jobs, at good companies, are at a high premium currently.  This does vary with location and time of year.  I’ve been in the industry for 3.5 yrs and I’ve seen the ups and downs. Again, why not have a professional working for you to find you the best fit?

4. “I’m already working with a recruiter, I can’t work with another one.”

-I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but this is also not true!  My recommendation to ANY job seeker is, work with as many as possible!  To be clear, most clients have rules against having your resume submitted by 2 recruiters to the same job.  So DO NOT do that.  But, my company will have clients and openings that other firms don’t, and vice versa!  So as long as you’re organized with the positions you are submitted for, there shouldn’t be any problems.

Conclusion:

I have read that blog posts aren’t supposed to be very long, so I am cutting my list short at 4.  I have many other reasons, so if you are looking for more, please comment or contact me at any time!

Until next time job seekers…Happy Hunting!

Are you a Linchpin?

A linchpin. Why in the world would you want to be a linchpin?  The insert from the dictionary under “Linchpin” is; “a pin inserted through the end of an axletree to keep the wheel on.”  So I think the real question is, why wouldn’t you want to be a linchpin?  In life, but for sure your career!  One of my favorite books is Seth Godin’s “Linchpin: Are you indispensable?”  (Seth’s Blog: http://www.sethgodin.typepad.com/).

Working:

The pin that holds the wheel on….sounds like something that the wheel cannot do without.  So in turn, the vehicle that the wheel is on cannot do without the linchpin. Do you see where I’m going with this?  Are you a linchpin? Some of you are, many of you aren’t.  Why aren’t you?  If you have a job, wouldn’t it make it much harder for your boss, upper management, or whoever signs your paychecks to let you go if you were the pin that holds the wheels on?  Go in earlier than everyone else, stay later than everyone else, work through lunch 3 days a week, work for a few hours on Saturdays.  It is actually a lot easier than you think.  For the first hour of my day, I am typically the only one in my office.  I have no distractions and can get some real work done!  I know some people can’t do this, and when my wife goes back to work in a month I might not be able to.  But pick something else, the options are endless.

Not Working:

So you’re not working and you want to be a linchpin?  You’re in luck, most people who are looking for a new job go through the motions…..find a job online, email their resume to the email address provided, wait to hear back, interview, wait to hear back.  Do something out of the ordinary for once!  Research a company in the area you are looking and see if they have any jobs available.  If they do, print your resume on a nice, heavy sheet of paper, put on your interview suit, and drive to their location and drop it off.  Now, will the wheels fall of your job search if you don’t do that?  No!  But do you think the manager will remember you if you’re the only one out of hundreds of applicants that does that?

Being a Linchpin:

One of my favorite quotes in Seth’s book is “Remarkable people deserve remarkable jobs.”  Being remarkable is, in many ways, what being a linchpin is.  Some people don’t have to try, others have to make a conscious effort every single day.  But, is that so bad when that could mean job security for the rest of your life or that promotion you’ve been wanting so bad is easier to get?  I don’t think so.

Closing:

Being a linchpin is just one way to keep, get, or save your job.  What are other ways you have been a linchpin in your current role?  Leave some ways in the comments below.

I’d like to personally recommend Seth’s Book to everyone who reads this(thank you for letting me write about your book Seth!).  It is very well written which makes it a very easy read.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Linchpin

Happy Holidays!

Stop being so negative!

So you got the interview of a lifetime at a company that you’ve been wanting to get into FOREVER.  You’re sitting there fielding questions from 2-3 different people and you could not be happier with how things are going.  Then one of the talking heads in front of you asks, “So why are you looking for a new job?”

What happens:

You go on and on about how you didn’t get along with your manager, you disagreed on everything, you never saw eye to eye, he/she was the worst manager you have ever had.  Are you done yet?  Why on Earth would anyone hire you if you talk this way about a manager.  Won’t you do the same for your new manager?

What should happen: 

First off, don’t lie.  Never lie in a job interview.  If not for moral reasons, because lies are usually uncovered and things just get messy from there.  I digress…. Answering that question is tough, especially if you really didn’t see eye to eye with your manager and that was the reason you left.  My suggestion is to talk about it.  You really didn’t agree with him/her, but also talk about the lessons you learned from that.  Examples;

“I learned that I’m not always right.”

“From this, I learned to see things from other people’s point of view.”

“Because I didn’t always see eye to eye with him/her, I learned there are some things you just can’t control.”

Obviously everyone has different lessons learned from poor situations.  Think of these before you get to the interview, this will make it much easier.  Happy Interviewing!