Is Your Job Search Like Bill Buckner?

Are you Bill Buckner?


Ok…I admit it. I am a huge baseball guy. You may even call me a baseball geek. It’s early February and I’m already wondering how close we are to having pitchers and catchers report to MLB training camp. (Seven days or so in case you are wondering).

This time of year, my mind always wanders in two distinct directions. First, what is my team going to do this year to shore up their pitching and power hitting deficiency? Second, I can’t help but go back to the best Fall Classic of my life – the 1986 World Series and famous/infamous (depending on your side of the ledger) “Buckner Ball”.

Let me just relive the moment for my own amusement. Late October, Game 6 of the World Series, Boston leads the best-of-seven series 3 games to 2, and has a two-run lead with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning. New York has 3 straight singles to tie the game and then Mookie Wilson, of the Mets, steps up to the plate. After fouling off hundreds of pitches (or several anyway), Mookie hits a slow ground ball down the first base line towards Buckner (an All-Star first baseman). “Billy Buck” had quite literally fielded thousands of these ground balls through his career (though originally an outfielder). This was just another routine ground ball….field it, step on the bag, game over….Boston Red Sox break the “curse of the Bambino” and are World Champions.

Then it happened. The routine ground ball somehow goes right under the glove of Buckner and dribbles into right field – allowing Ray Knight to score the game winning run. Mets win!...then come back to win the Series in Game 7. Yes…I’m a huge Mets fan.

So what does any of this rambling have to do with Job Searching? Everything in fact. “What are you doing to find a job?” This is a question I ask people at least 5 to 10 times each day. The answers are surprising. Typically, the answer is, “Well, I check Monster.com and I’ve talked to a few recruiters.”

So how important is your job search? Is it really only important enough to check a few job boards and send an email to a recruiter or two? Well, most of the candidates I speak with are really just doing what they’ve done in the past. It’s not that they don’t care…it’s more that they are creatures of habit, and have done it this way…many times. So many times, in fact that the job search for many has just become a matter of routine. A routine that is so in-grained in many job seekers, that they just take their eyes off the ball and it trickles in to right field and costs them the game, the World Championship, and immortality (the good kind, not the “Buckner” kind).

Yes, times have changed and there is definitely more to finding the right career spot than checking a few job boards, talking to a few recruiters, or gasp……looking at the classified ads in the paper.

Do you know about the “Hidden Job Market”? Some professionals say that nearly 80% of openings are filled before they ever become public. If that is the case, then a true job search needs to be able to both identify and penetrate the “hidden job market”. If you are unable to access the hidden market, you risk competing for the 20% of advertised positions with all of the other job seekers.

If you are looking for a new opportunity, do you know:
• How jobs are created…and what sets the process in motion?
• What is the first step an employer generally takes to look for candidates?
• If the first step doesn’t work, what is the next step?
• Finally, when the job becomes public/posted, how do you get noticed?

More information to come. Stay tuned, and Go Mets! I hope we get some pitching this year.

The Benefits of Contract Workers

Would your business benefit from contract/temporary help?

Patricia Schaefer wrote a great article for Business Know-How (www.businessknowhow.com) that I thought I’d summarize and add some thoughts to. You can find her article in it’s entirety at http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/hire-temp.htm

Since the birth of the Temporary Staffing industry in the 1940’s, the industry has evolved from “seat-warmer” type of fill-in employees to the highly skilled (and highly courted) valuable contractors. The use of these highly skilled employees has become the norm across most industries, from health care to construction to information technology. In fact, according to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the temporary work industry has grown 5 times more than national employment.

In evaluating your business needs, keep in mind some of the benefits of utilizing contract employees including:

1. Flexibility your business needs to adjust quickly to workload fluctuations. Some of the reasons the companies hire temps include:
• Employee absences due to illness, vacation, disability or maternity leave, or sudden departure.
• Peak periods, special projects, product contracts, etc.

2. The ability to maintain staffing flexibility. Right now, the employment pool increasingly consists of a mix of temporary and full time employees. This creates a more efficient workplace and provides greater opportunities for both employees and employers.
• Contract work appeals to many types of workers including workers with: specialized skills, flexible hours, family commitments, education upgrades, industry expertise garnered from working with various clients.

3. Ability to evaluate talent. Many companies utilize temps in different ways to assist in the hiring process.
• Contractors are a great way to continue to produce at high levels while searching for a full time employee.
• Many companies also use agencies as a resource to hire the same worker for different projects at different times – which can lead to a hiring commitment.
• Companies can use contractors and evaluate them for full time openings with little commitment – if it’s not the right fit, the contractor can easily be replaced.
• A temporary or project assignment can also server as a “working interview”.

4. Savings of time and money. In the short term, it is generally more cost-efficient to hire contract employees versus full time employees. The responsibility that an agency covers (financial burden) with a contractor can include:
• Hours and money spent recruiting/sourcing candidates.
• Screening, interviewing, testing, hiring candidates.
• Payroll expenses, payroll and withholding taxes, paperwork.
• Training.
• Unemployment and workers’ compensation insurance.
• Employee benefits – medical, dental, vision insurance, retirement/401k, holiday pay, vacation time/pay, etc.

5. Contract employees provide specialized skills and industry experience. Contract employees today are highly skilled professionals that can tackle one-time projects with time and scope limits. They bring with them a wealth of experience in specific technologies and skills, along with different perspectives from other industry leaders.

6. Long-term relationships with a staffing agency. When you find a company that continually provides the contract employees that work successfully with your company, you can establish a long lasting relationship that positively affects both parties. A good (even exclusive) relationship with a good agency can help you more easily achieve your company goals.

How about concerns? One of the biggest concerns that companies deal with in evaluating their need for temporary or contract workers is the question of reliability. Some surveys conducted in the industry find an assumption that contract workers are generally less reliable than their permanent employee counterparts.

Joe Broschak, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, shared some of his findings about a study of temp workers: “On average, these temporary workers displayed better performance relative to goals compared to their full-time counterparts.” For those temps later hired as full-time employees, Broschak reported that “they continued to become better workers after becoming permanent.”

The time is here. If you aren’t using contract employees, it’s the first of the year and a great time to evaluate your business needs and goals. Ask yourself the question: “Would your business benefit from contract/temporary help?”

Are you out of your mind-set?

So Happy Holidays to everyone. While typically I like to discuss hiring tips and techniques directed more towards hiring managers than job seekers, I’d like to go a little different route this month, and focus these remarks towards job seekers. Let’s face it, at some time or another….we are all job seekers.

Most people have been affected in some way by the economy. Either you’ve lost your job, lost a portion of your income, made a change to a new career, or at least know someone that has. I’d like to focus on a subject that is extremely important for finding success as a Job Seeker……….. “job seeker mindset”.

So what is the “proper” mindset a job seeker should have to ensure success?

In very general terms, there are most commonly 2 schools of thought…both very distinct in their differences.
• Mindset #1: Supreme confidence… “This job is mine!”
• Mindset #2: Cautiously optimistic… “Here we go…get ready to hear “No”.”

So which is best? What is the secret to cultivating a successful mindset?

Mindset #1 is a very upbeat and positive attitude towards the “hunt”. People with this type of mindset feel that every job is theirs to have and it’s just a matter of getting in front of the decision maker. This attitude is very “here is what I can do for you” in its mode of delivery. This job seeker looks at the search/interview process as a sales process, ie… “I’m the product and I’m showing you the benefits of buying me.”

Mindset #2 is more passive, often classified as “realism”. People with this type of mindset feel that the right job is out there, but there are also other candidates who may be more qualified or a better fit. This attitude is very “I am a good fit, but it’s your decision” in its mode of delivery. This job seeker looks at the interview process as an explanation of what they can do for the company, but in a more passive fashion than #1.

In order to understand the “best” mindset for success, let me draw upon some of the things I’ve observed about hiring over the span of my career as a recruiter. I don’t want to call these “Hiring myths” or pretend they are the “absolute” in truth….just observations:

1. The candidate with the best qualifications DOESN’T always get the job.
• Qualifications are important, but so are other factors including: personality, relationship to the company (personal or professional), compensation requirements, appearance, upside/growth potential, etc.

2. Not every position goes to the person that “sells themselves” the best.
• Selling yourself as a candidate while important, comes naturally to some people….and some hiring managers are looking for those who can “sell themselves”…but not all.
• If the sole purpose of your interview is to “sell”, then you may miss very important information regarding the opportunity. Is it really right for you, your skills, interests, and short/long term career goals? Are you answering honestly, or just trying to give the interviewer “what they want to hear”? Are you identifying potential concerns that could keep you from being successful at this opportunity or with this company?

3. “Who” you know often out-weighs “What” you know.
• I am convinced through my own job searches and my experience as a recruiter that companies and managers typically want to surround themselves with people they trust and like. Yes, it is only one factor, but an important one. Look back at how many jobs you got through a personal network or recommendation…it does matter!

4. Skills, knowledge, and experience are all essential to landing the right job, but be careful of where you place your emphasis.
• While there is rarely (if ever) a detriment to training, skills, and experience, be careful to understand that the hiring manager may rank the importance level of each differently than you. Some managers think certain skills are more important than others…some weigh experience heavier than others…some weigh education and training differently. Be aware that what you think will make you successful in the job may be different than what they think.

Ultimately, my point is that either mindset can be effective or ineffective – depending on your own personality and that of the hiring manager. While I am always one to advocate the importance of being able to sell your skills and have confidence, I also try to prepare every candidate for the reality that…this is a long process and there will be ups and downs….so get ready for some rejection (it helps you grow if you know what to do afterwards).

One of the most important things I’ve learned over the years is something that every recruiter probably tells every candidate: “The best time to look for a job…is when you have a job!” Job seeking and successful searches are always a factor of confidence and comfort. If you aren’t comfortable in the interview, the resume writing, the negotiation, or the search itself, your results will reflect it. Choose a mindset that works best with your personality and most importantly, try to identify what each hiring manager is comfortable with as well. Don’t force a square peg into a round hole…because the hiring manager won’t either.