Amanda Augustine is a job search expert for The Ladders, and she writes extensively for their blog and website. Personally I think she writes in a very accessible, almost breezy, style but the principles contained in her articles are very actionable and timely. Speaking of timely, since we’ve just embarked on another football season, Ms. Augustine has crafted this article around appropriate gridiron analogies. Job Search Fumbles is a quick and worthwhile read to help you keep the ball in your possession!
Category Archives: General Interest
Making Sense with SAP!
Have always enjoyed people who seem to understand the sense around IT Technology. Just read a comment by Jonathan Becher, Chief Marketing Officer at SAP who said…”I’m also championing SAP’s strategy of helping organizations close the gap between strategy & execution so that they can optimize business performance.” And I say BRAVO Johnathan! Keep up the good work and tell us more about closing this gap!
From My Perspective: Vacation – How Was It?
In the May 2013 edition of From My Perspective the question was – “are you actually going to take a vacation or will you just be working away from the office?”
So how did you do? Successful at not taking calls from the office? How many work e-mails did you respond to while on vacation? When you didn’t take the call or respond to the email did you feel compelled to respond if they texted?
My scorecard: Very well. Surprisingly, yes. Zero, really! Absolutely, just couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t get a full week away from the office as we had to fit in trips for two college graduations (woo hoo!) and a week of Girl Scout Camp for my wife and two daughters so maybe my test was a little easier. Shorter time away than I would have liked but I did return feeling genuinely recharged.
So with the family vacation season behind us perhaps I can at least get better at not checking email on the Blackberry every time a new one arrives. Or maybe at least not checking it while with others, I don’t know, maybe? The real test for me is with September baseball in full swing and playoff positions hanging in the balance can I stop checking MLB.COM while with my family and friends? Go REDS!
Tips For A Successful Video Interview
EDI Specialists is a boutique recruiting firm focusing on the IT integration and electronic data interchange fields. This article is written by Adam Barron and it spotlights some “how-to advice” when you receive a request for a video interview. This is not something to be treated lightly, even though it may seem “different” or “more casual” than a real face-to-face interview. It is actually neither, and doing it right requires some serious thought and pre-planning. Treating a video interview as anything less than the “real thing” can eliminate a qualified candidate from further consideration… and it doesn’t have to happen! 6 Tips For A Successful Video Interview is a worthwhile read for anyone on a job search when technology is increasingly a tool to bridge time and distance.
Don’t Waste An Internship!
Amanda Augustine is a job search expert at The Ladders and she contributes to their blog extensively. Her articles are short yet impactful, and her topics are very timely. In a recent post, 4 Ways To Waste An Internship, Ms. Augustine speaks to college students about the realities and value of internships. Although summer is winding down and the kids will be returning to campus, many will have in-semester internships and co-op positions. This article is a must-read to avoid the pitfalls of treating an assignment too lightly.
Remember To Ask These 3 Interview Questions
James Caan is the CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw Ltd, a mid-market private equity firm based in London, England. Caan is the author of The Real Deal, a best-selling book about his rise from Pakistani immigrant and high school drop-out to British business tycoon. He is also a panelist on Dragon’s Den, the British equivalent of the ABC television program, Shark Tank. The following is from a post he made on a Linked In recruiting group:
“Getting an interview for that dream job is a perfect chance to sell yourself and you need to make sure that you get everything right. Preparation is vital and it goes without saying that you should turn up for the interview knowing everything there is to know about your prospective employers and the role that you have applied for.
Of course, no two interviews are ever the same and the line of questions that you take will be determined by the nature of the company and the people who are interviewing you. But I have always been more impressed by candidates who ask ME questions. The process should never be one sided – you need to take control. The best way of doing this is to ask as many questions as the interviewer does.
There are at least three questions you should definitely have ready to ask for every job interview you go for. Remember the aim is to sell yourself as a bright, motivated and ambitious individual but it is important not to be too obvious. The people who are interviewing you will have heard it all before and they will be looking for someone who has that little bit extra quality or personality which sets them apart from the rest of the crowd.
Here are three questions that you should always try and ask:
What qualities are you looking for in the person you are hoping to appoint?
This may sound like a very obvious starting point but it is vital for both parties to grasp exactly what it is needed from candidate in terms of skills and experience. Remember the whole point of the interview is to prove you are the person that they want and are looking for. There is a much better chance of being able to do that if you actually ask the interviewers straight from the start what their ideal candidate would be.
What scope is there for personal development at your company?
It is important to show any prospective employee that you are the type of person who is ambitious and is looking to move their career forward. No one wants to take on an individual who is going to be content to coast and you need to show that you are not coming along just for an easy ride. Any ambitious and forward thinking company will be looking for like minded individuals. Ask a question which will give you give the chance to show just how driven you are.
Is there anything you have seen in the other people on the shortlist that you have not seen in me?
This is a great question to throw into the mix as the interview is drawing to a natural close. I remember a candidate asking me this once and I had to smile because it left me with nowhere to go. As well as turning the tables on the panel it is also a great way of gauging just how well or how badly you have performed throughout the course of the selection process. You should always be looking to improve and getting feedback from an interviewer is a crucial part of this. It is a risky strategy to take because you might get an answer you are not happy with. But if you are prepared to take a risk, then this final question is a gamble that just might pay off.”
Reasons To Confront Sexism Head-On
Are you a female executive? Been called “honey” or “babe” in the workplace? Asked to pick up the coffee and donuts for the staff meeting? Been expected to ‘straighten up’ the conference room after an ideation session? Those (and many other) seemingly innocuous situations are indicative of a culture steeped in sexism. This article in Forbes magazine offers up three good reasons to confront the perpetrator(s) head-on.
Personal Branding For A Solid Transition
It seems that the concept of personal branding is becoming as ubiquitous as having a robust presence on every social media platform known to man. Career coaches, recruiters, and outplacement consultants pontificate about its importance. No doubt it is, but few practitioners put it into such understandable and actionable terms as Scott Ginsberg. He has written nine top-selling books and contributes to The Ladders blog. Ginsberg says, “Your brand is what you’re known for and what you’re known for knowing. Use that to your advantage in making a career transition.” This article is a worthwhile read for anyone contemplating a move up and out.
Squeezed By Everything: Life As A Middle Manager
This Wall Street Journal article by Melissa Korn is an illuminating look at life as a middle manager through the eyes of one at FICO. What’s it’s like being a middle manager is chronicled by following Michelle Davis from the start of her day in an empty parking lot at 6 am to the end when she hits the hay at 10 pm. Meetings, conference calls, crises, and precious little planning time seem to be the norm. She has many duties but little authority. People-pleasing is the order of her day. Upward mobility is limited and company loyalty is questionable. This article is a good read for those on “the fast track” and for their bosses who struggle to keep good employees engaged and motivated.
Age Discrimination Is Real. Here’s How To Deal With It.
Marc Cenedella founded The Ladders… you know the commercials, “$100K jobs for $100K people.” He writes a weekly topical letter that is often quite informative and, as the job market heats up, this week’s is worth a careful read. It is on the topic of age discrimination and, as Cenedella posits, age discrimination is prevalent while hidden and is affecting ever younger workers. It is something that the savvy jobseeker can overcome… without dressing in clothes from J Crew or getting the latest buzz-phrases from your teenage daughter. In fact, DON’T do that! Instead read the letter.
“One of the things I was most surprised by when I got into the jobs business over a decade ago was the prevalence and practice of age discrimination in hiring right here in the USA. Oh, sure… we’re not like some overseas markets where job ads explicitly demand youth, or a particular gender, or beauty(!), in the applicant, but there it is… the blank look on your interviewer’s face when you talk about growing up in the 60s or 70s. The skepticism with which your Twit-facebook-gram skills are regarded. The cultural references that pass silently like two Teslas in the night…
Well, at least the younger generation seems to get your reference to “Gunga-galunga” and giggle. Most of the time. All of it adds up to a pernicious undercutting of your ability to get hired and get ahead. We just have to admit the ugly truth that age discrimination exists — there’s no doubt about it. And there’s no silver bullet for those facing it. If you’re in the job market and over the age of 52, you will almost certainly face stereotypes and negative attitudes regarding your desirability because of your age. And in some cities, in some markets, that negative environment impacts candidates as young as 40 years of age.
While there’s nothing you can do to stop it, I have, over the years, observed which candidates and applicants have succeeded despite their age and which have failed because of it. If I had to summarize, I’d say it appears to me that age discrimination is mindset discrimination first and foremost. And you’ll need to review how you are presenting your mindset — your attitude — to your future employer. Every hiring manager is asking herself, every HR person is asking himself, these questions about you and every other candidate they’re interviewing. Will this candidate:
| – | Be able to excel in this role? |
| – | Be able to learn and adjust as the role evolves? |
| – | Be able to master the tools and technologies involved today and tomorrow? |
| – | Get along well with others on the team? |
| – | Take direction and feedback? |
And it’s important for you to realize that youth is the symptom, not the cause, of age discrimination. What I mean by that is that hiring managers are hiring for open-mindedness, flexibility, and a sociability with others. On average, there’s a perception on the part of hiring managers, whether right or wrong, that those attributes are more frequently found in the young, as opposed to the experienced.
And it’s worthwhile to review why these attributes have so much value in the business world today. As the world changes, businesses change even more rapidly. Companies sometimes need to jump on new trends before they pan out, or hedge their bets, or make sure they’re well-prepared for most contingencies. And that means there’s always plenty of “new” to keep up with. So a workforce that is flexible, open-minded and interested in learning is far better than a workforce that is determined to keep doing it the old way.
“The old way works fine” might be OK for you around the home, but in business, it has proven to be an enormous destroyer of value. Take a look at the hard times that old famous companies have fallen upon. Heck, even some of the newer tech companies that were darlings within the last decade have had difficulties mastering new environments. So expecting your future employer to be pleased with an “old ways are tried and true” mindset won’t serve you well in your job search. So it is not necessarily youth itself that companies are hiring for, rather, it is those attributes that have proven effective in today’s business environment.
The cause of age discrimination is the perception around older professionals’ adaptability, curiosity, and team spirit; youth is merely a symptom. Since you can’t change your age, your goal is to address the underlying root causes of age discrimination — your goal is not to appear or act age-inappropriate — it is to present yourself, effectively, as a constructive, resourceful, “coachable”, team player. When confronting misperceptions in your job search, it is always better to “show” than to “tell”:
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Describe situations in which you adapted new technologies to the problem at hand. It is helpful if these examples aren’t from the seventies, but rather represent transitions that your interviewer herself went through. |
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Recount how you were able to help younger (and older) staffers get to a solution that was stumping all. Detail the challenges you faced and what tactics you used to overcome them. |
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Relate your experiences with receiving and using feedback constructively. Discuss how you used the situation to update your behavior and outlook. Share the process you went through to find where you could perform better and the steps you took to achieve an improvement. Ideally, quantify that improvement. |
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Illustrate with specific stories your interest in, and passion for, the work that you do. Why does it drive you? What excites you about your work? Your younger competition does this out of habit — because they can’t talk about decades of success in the business — so you need to make sure you put yourself on a fair footing. |
As you can see, the important thing is that rather than telling the hiring manager that you’re open-minded, curious, flexible, adaptable to new circumstances, and sociable enough for the role, show him that you are. And a final word to remake the point about youth being a symptom and not a cause of age discrimination.
On occasion, one finds older candidates that mistake having an open mindset with mimicking a twenty-year-old’s mindset. There is a difference. Arriving at a job interview replete with the names of the latest bands, dropping age-inappropriate lingo into your answers, and wearing clothes that reveal too much about your desperation by trying too hard, all have the opposite effect of what you’d hope for. Interactions like these reconfirm your interviewer’s fears that you’ll be obtuse, unsavvy, and a management challenge on the job.
No, your best tactics are to communicate, verbally and nonverbally, that you are adept at keeping up with the times, and, even more importantly, interested in doing so. And the best way for you to do that is to show them precisely those behaviors and traits for which they are interviewing.”