Dogs, ponies, gas and SNL

I've been on more than a few interviews in my days including a couple this year.

This years' interviews were different in that I truly was there to learn more about the job and the people running things. I was respectful in every way and even communicated all this on the phone before I went in. I was upbeat with good energy. Again, I was completely honest about why I was there-as opposed to trying to overtly sell myself or exhibiting insincere excitement about a job/company I knew nothing about.

This approach went over like a fart in church....which is fine. (The result, not the metaphor..though that's one of my favorite images).

These masks we all wear. That "polite laugh" you do when your boss tries to be funny. Our constant need to be validated. So much of work has nothing to do with work. I digress.

Most people interviewing you expect certain things. For openers, they expect your personalized Dog-n-Pony about your exceptionalism. They also want you to exhibit your intense interest in the position from jump street- and how your prowess can be utilized if they were to consider hiring you.

They endlessly mumble words like leverage, deliverable, traction and end of the day. Meaningless business buzzwords.You manage to hold down your lunch until they start talking about thinking out of the box. You're stuck in a real-life, very unfunny Saturday Night Live skit.

All that's been written about how interviews are a two-way street, go ahead and try that approach...but don't do it if you really need THAT job. They'll look at you the way a pigeon looks at The Space Shuttle.

Obviously, this is not every interview situation. not even close. But it's true for way too many.

I understand the hiring company's psychology- they must fill the job but it's a huge part of the turnover problem.

An Interesting Conflict

Any time you’re talking to an agency recruiter about either a specific job or what recruiters generically call “opportunities”, just remember who’s buttering their bread.

All recruiters are paid by the company doing the hiring.

So when you’re given some version of “the more you make, the more I make” regarding what your new salary would be if you change jobs, be reminded the recruiter has the hiring manager in their other ear telling them they would want to hire you at the most prudent salary.  

That is the way it works- EVERY TIME. The recruiter gets a percentage of your first years’ salary while the hiring company cuts the check.

You almost certainly already know this- or maybe you don’t. 

Inherently, there is nothing wrong or dishonest about any of this. But it very quickly can become a slippery slope if everyone is not on the up and up.

Ask the recruiter, if they break out that old line about The More You Make to you.., if the hiring company would like to know you’re throwing around such language. Of course they wouldn’t and you deserve a straight answer. It’s true, the recruiter WOULD LOVE for your salary to be elevated…but not as much as getting the deal done AND having a very happy hiring client.

You’re not seeking conflict by asking the question. You just want all the cards face up. It’s important you know how the process works.

Personally, I’ve never once used that phrase with a candidate re: salary expectations, I think it’s just a little misleading. If I’m asked how a client/hiring company feels about what your salary should be, here’s my answer:

“As you likely know, XYZ Company will pay me if I find the person they want to hire. That person may or may not be you. Either way, they’re in business to make a profit- just like your employer. That said, they hope to pay market value.  Part of my job is to come to a number that both parties are agreeable to”.

What exactly Market Value is can be a little fuzzy and hiring companies, to a degree, listen to what agency recruiters say about what the market is yielding on salaries. A competent and principled agency recruiter knows A HELLUVA LOT more about current salaries than, say, Salary.com, GlassDoor etc.

Virtually everything in life and especially business, when put under the microscope, has some form of conflict of interest in play. When any form of need, want or desire is in play, people are hardwired to safeguard their own and their loved ones. Often if not always, if one doesn’t protect their self-interest, things become unraveled. If everyone on the planet lived a purely altruistic life, this would be a non-issue.  Until then, much of life and most of business is a negotiation. Do your homework, gather all the facts and proceed from there.

Open Position- POTUS.

Politicians running for national office- takes a special type. "Special" in the sense they have a layer of ooze that covers them to a depth of about about 18 inches. Ted Cruz's face I find exponentially more frightening than a rattle snake on the bedside pillow next to me- and that's before he opens his mouth.

The Trumpster seems like a swell fellow. Wow. The monitoring extraterrestrials from Andromeda are enjoying this particular performance more than Celebrity Apprentice.

"Feel The Bern" Bernie has a great plan that would end in every true innovator and creator this nation and economy has produced finding another country to live in that won't take their earnings and drop the cash from helicopters.

"Going to fight for you!...fight, fight, fight!" "Going to make America great again!,..right after I take care of all of the Special Interests groups that got me elected" shouts Hillary. The election would have been CANCELED and her GIVEN the nomination 2 years ago if not for the fact she has more buried skeletons than Arlington National Cemetery.

I digress.

The default "are you better off than you were 4 years ago"- we don't hear that question in this election because of a lame duck sitting president. It's a good question, though. The better question for people who've been in the workforce for many years is: Are you better off than you were at an earlier stage in your career?

Most people would answer no.

Worth mentioning, many if not most of these same people answering "no" enjoy a standard of living that exceeds virtually everyone, dead or alive, who ever took a breath on this planet.  Some would say they were dealt a GREAT hand. But they have less than they used to...and they are pissed.

They shouldn't have less- most should live more comfortably than they did earlier in their life. Part of this is being a victim of circumstance (automation, globalization etc..). But part is also due to a very human trait- one of the nastiest: insatiable greed. The amended Golden Rule says "One who has the gold makes the rules". I could write a hundred pages on this but it's a lousy use of time. I'm not in favor of Bernie's Helicopter Plan for the economy but he's right that the system is utterly filthy.

There's still time to run , kiddoes!. I don't mean for POTUS, I mean Run for the Hills Have Eyes Part II- a film so frightening that Ted Cruz seems like Barney the Dinosaur in comparison. I'm sorry, I have that backwards.

Got the Time?

"90% of success is just showing up" famously quipped Woody Allen. I think there's a ton of truth in that but it didn't help me a lick when I showed up, unprepared, for a Calculus exam in college.

Oh, I "showed up", alright. It was just everything else I had a problem with.

A gazillion smart or clever things have also been written about the importance of impeccable organization,,,and the value of  timing. (or access to "timely" information).

How do you manage "timing" when it comes to hiring? You don't- it manages you. And the problem is staring right back at you in the mirror.

In recent years, corporate Human Resources departments have put tremendous trust in Applicant Tracking Software (ATS). It's not working. LinkedIn has helped company and candidate alike but it doesn't solve the problem of everyone being in synch..."we need you now..does now work for you?"

Many of the better companies do a good job in keeping tabs on the pool of sought-after talent in their industry. But they are still forced to use agencies when they need that certain someone ASAP- and they pay big money for it.

Agencies have no secret sauce. They face the same challenges as the employers. Endlessly contacting their candidates under the guise of "just touching base"- if that's their secret sauce, that's not too tough to replicate for the companies doing the hiring. And most agencies don't do a helluva lot more than that. Ask a top performer in any industry how many of those calls he receives every month.

The problem for both sides is alarming turnover amongst the people whose job it is to stay close to any specialized labor market. When you're constantly flipping segments of your workforce (recruiting), there's simply no real knowledge transfer taking place when they leave. Expensive software is better than the old yellow candidate file folders...but not by much. And the expensive software will always run victim to the Garbage In, Garbage Out reality so widespread to an apathetic workforce that expects to be working somewhere else in a few months.

This is why instead of having the name at their fingertips of that Project Manager who's likely going to be on the market in the early Spring, companies will pay 15, 20, 30K and more to an agency who has that"timely" information.

5 %

If you are time-tested and proven in your line of work- and many influential people are aware of who you are- job security or the ease in which you can change employers almost certainly isn’t a concern.

So we’re talking about, what, 5% of the workforce? You think you’re in that group? You very well might be.  I have a lot of admiration for the people in that lot.

I do, at times, wonder about that 5%. Mostly I wonder why these elite performers work for other people. You 5% ‘ers  are a very special group, the BEST employees.  And my “why” inquiry- at a macro level- would be a study with endless layers that is best left to academics and meaningless to this short blog entry.

But please allow me some room.

The vast majority of business empire builders were never part of this 5%. Some were very good employees, but most were not. They just didn’t believe they should serve anything or anybody but their own ideas and resolute belief in THEMSELVES. And our world certainly benefited from their brilliance. The high profile types in this mix- Richard Branson, Steve Jobs etc..aren’t useful for this example. 

I’m talking about the untold thousands of brilliant people who perform at the highest of levels but never contemplate the idea of building something they can call their own. And gaining the monetary windfall from it.

Most high-performance employees aren’t looking to change the world. They have their own worlds- family, friends, value systems, hobbies. They are more than fine with trading their output for what is hopefully a equitable payment from an employer. And the world ALSO benefits tremendously from their effort and endeavors.

So..

If you’re EXCELLENT at what you do, are you confident and comfortable that you are getting what the market bears for someone like yourself? 

A question, even if in silence, that needs asking.

Screen the screener

The headline read something like: What 10 things candidates do that drives Recruiters crazy. 

For openers, I ignore all articles like this and I suggest you do the same.

Aside this is how Internet marketing people hope to get people to click on Web content of any variety, regardless of subject (EVERYTHING is now a TOP TEN-LIKE HEADLINE positioned somewhere on your screen) pay no attention to articles about what recruiters don't like...or like. And pay no attention to the man behind the curtain because it was a GREAT line from The Wizard of Oz and I felt like including it- so there.

The next time a Recruiter puts you up on the Witness Stand and starts grilling you with questions, tell them you can't do this phone interview unless you know something about them.

If they won't oblige, politely tell them you are about to end the call. 9 times out of 10, this person is not in any position to do anything except pass your resume along to someone only slightly less empowered to assist you.

Ask the recruiter the purpose of this phone interview/screen
Ask the recruiter ALL the steps they must pass to get an interview with someone who understands the type of work you do and has the authority to hire you.
Ask the recruiter if THEY THEMSELVES are employed by this company.
Ask the recruiter their unique qualifications that qualifies THEM to qualify you.

Truth is, doing this won't advance your cause....that's the bad news. Good news is you waste no time being interrogated by someone not qualified to qualify you.  

But taking this approach allows you to learn who you are talking to. By this I mean can they do anything but DISQUALIFY you?

They're are MILLIONS of people in the U.S. employed in the DISQUALIFYING business. They usually have ridiculous titles like "Sr Talent Acquisition Specialist" . Beyond ridiculous.

Their EMPLOYMENT HISTORIES??...don't get me started- but they are there to screen you.

If you have a long track record with notable employers in your industry, this post is not about you, If you are the other 90%, take charge of your career and don't subject yourself to these "screening calls".

Start your own company and you can award yourself any salary you like.

Doesn’t that sound delightful?

“Well, there, fine sir. We are extending you an offer of employment with an annual salary of…oh, just fill in any number!...we think you are the bees knees. And please forgive our use of bees knees- an expression that even your grandparents though was dated..Yeee haaa”

It sounds super-snarky but I do say the line about "starting your own company" a couple of times a year to people looking for a job or to change jobs. I say it because they’ve convinced themselves they should be paid a king’s ransom but they possess zero economic justification.

(they’ve also convinced themselves that I just graduated from the 3^rd grade- and not with high honors)

What people are paid doesn’t come from some arcane formula. Like water, money/salaries will find its own level. Supply and Demand in any labor market is driving this bus. The brain surgeon makes more than the retail clerk. The lawyer who wins cases AND brings in new clients makes more than the lawyer who wins cases. The Project Manager with a long track record on getting projects done on time and at or under budget gets paid more than the Project Manager whose record is less.

I’m not sure it works in a Planned Economy but with free markets, you get paid what the market says your worth. Any monetary value is where buyer and seller agree to meet, no exceptions. If you want to get paid more, the market will let you know if you’ve earned it. Might take a while- often you’ve got to hustle. Sometimes, people will come to you and announce your worth more. Ask them what qualifies them to make this assessment. Do not accept incomplete and vague answers.

My work includes advising people on the market and what people’s compensation looks like. Too many of the people who also do what I do haven’t the vaguest idea on what they are talking about. Again, be careful-even suspicious.