What would you do in this situation? – - – Here’s a tactic when things ‘smell’ a little strange.

Employers do background checks on candidates. They commonly contact a candidate’s prior employers. Well, turnabout should be fair play. Call up the HR person. Tell him/her you want to do a background check. Ask for the name and phone number of the person who previously held the position. If they won’t give it to you (or come up with a lame excuse why that can’t happen), then you know you don’t want to work for that Hiring Manager / employer.

You may conclude that this is a very risky tactic that will probably lead to losing the job opportunity.

However, you need to balance that risk off with the risk of accepting the job and finding out that the situation was worse than you feared. – - -Or, worse than that, you resigned a good, secure job to take this one that turns out badly.

A bad thing can happen whether you take action or even if you don’t take action. At least, evaluate the risks and the potential gains.

Below are these lists:
* Reasons to “Rev Up” Your Job Search Over the Holidays
* Myths about Looking for a job over the Holidays. (Don’t buy into them.)
* Things that You can do that are More Effective during the Holidays:
* Pithy Quotes (that will hopefully add to your inspiration to keep at the job search)

I hope this helps you out.

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Reasons to “Rev Up” Your Job Search Over the Holidays

* There is less competition, because many job seekers are pessimistic about the prospects over the holidays and fewer people are actively looking. Those who work the phones have an above-average chance of getting a face-to-face interview.

* Positions advertised over the holidays are ones that companies are very serious about filling.

* Secretaries and other gate keepers are more likely to be on vacation. That increases your chance of actually talking to a hiring manager.

* Executives who travel a lot throughout the year are often in, sorting through end-of-the-year paperwork or finishing business plans for the next year. This is another reason why your chance of talking to a hiring manager increases.

* Employed people who voluntarily leave typically do so at the end of the year. That creates openings for persistent job seekers.

* Holiday parties are good for networking and you, even as a job seeker, will get invited to more “get-togethers” at this time of the year than any other.

* Business volume increases for many employers at the end of the year due to the seasonal buying pattern of their customers. This creates more job opportunities.

* Employed people tend to want to tie up loose ends before the new year. Hiring managers, human-resource representatives and executive recruiters are like the rest of us who have that feeling of urgency as the year-end approaches. If there are unfilled positions on their staffs, hiring managers naturally want to fill them.

* Headhunters are more motivated to place candidates before the end of the year. “Contingency” recruiters are paid on commission. This commission is based on fees their company earns for placing professionals. The amount the individual recruiter receives can be up to 60% of the total fee or higher if the recruiter is a principal or owner of his firm.

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Myths about Looking for a job over the Holidays. (Don’t buy into them.)

* No one does any hiring at this time of the year.

* No one has time for a meeting – with all their other concerns.

* There is no turnover in December.

* There are no budget dollars left to do anything else this year.

* Everyone is too busy with year-end projects.

* Everyone goes on vacation out of town.

* Anyone you haven’t talked with in a while will feel that you are “using” them if you contact them now when you need a job.

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Things that You can do that are More Effective during the Holidays:

* Make a telephone “holiday” greeting call to the people in your network. The holidays give you another reason to remind them that you are looking for a job.

* Get involved in a year-end charitable event. This will create networking opportunities for you, in addition to doing something worthwhile.

* Send holiday greeting cards with your business card enclosed to hiring managers with whom you’ve recently interviewed.

* Consider a part-time job (even if it’s not your first job objective) with an employer who needs extra help over the holidays. It may turn into a more desirable job and, and at a minimum, it will generate some cash for the holidays. (About 40% of temp workers at Manpower Inc., a temporary-staffing firm based in Milwaukee, end up getting a permanent position.)

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Pithy Quotes (that will hopefully add to your inspiration to keep at the job search)

“Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is!” – Will Rogers.

“I am a great believer in luck and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson (1743-1865).

“Hope is the dream of those that wake.” – Matthew Prior.

“To have begun is half the job: be bold and be sensible.” – Horace, Roman Poet (65 – 8 BC).

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC)

“There is more credit and satisfaction in being a first-rate truck driver than a tenth-rate executive.” – B. C. Forbes.

Why do it? You want to appear to the recipients of your emails that you are open, friendly, and easy to contact. You also want to make it easy for someone to copy your email address and add it to his/her address book.

Most email software / servers will automatically include such information as a “Signature” in each email you send.

Despite how easy it is to do, I’d guestimate that more than 70% of the emails I receive from job seekers do not have a “Signature.”. – - – Yes, it may be possible to figure out your name from your email address, but if that is your reaction you are missing the point.

I highly recommend that you figure out how to set up a “Signature” and have it automatically inserted into every email you send

What do you include in your “Signature?” The same things you should include on your job search business card, like:
* Your Name
* Title of the job you are seeking (or two)
* Key words that are used in your field / job
* Your phone number
* Your email address
* If your field is graphics design (or similar), include some graphics (but don’t over-do it.)

Here’s an example:
* Jim Grant
* Manager Financial Planning and Analysis
* Management, forecasting, margin-mix analysis, budgeting, strategic planning
* 440-248-6042
* JWGrant@AOL.com

I hope you feel this helps in your job search.

Jim

1. Are you finding enough job openings? No, then you need to spend a lot more time networking and a lot less time searching the Internet for jobs.
2. Are you finding the jobs, but not getting enough interviews? Then it’s either (a) Your resume, or (b) You’ve got to start using a T-Letter every time you apply for a posted job, or (c) You’ve got to stop wasting your time applying for jobs through the HR Department.
3. Are you getting the interviews, but not the offers? Then, you need to improve your interviewing skills.
4. Are you getting the offers but they’re way too low? Then, either (a) You need to learn how to not answer “the salary question” or (b) You need to learn how to negotiate compensation.

I hope you feel these points and ideas head you in the right direction.

In short, if you adhere to these 4 tips, I would be highly confident that you will materially shorten the amount of time that you are unemployed.

1. Stop wasting your time applying for jobs through the HR Department (and that includes filling out employers’ online applications).  There’s less than 1 chance in 20 that you will get an interview when you do.
2. Always use a T-Letter when applying for a job you found posted somewhere.
3. Network, network, and network some more.
4. Learn how to not answer “the salary question” (at least not the first time someone asks).

If you do not know how to adhere to the above tips, don’t know what one of the terms means, or, in the case of #1, know what to do instead, then you need to find out. You can find out by reading some of my other posts in this blog, by reading a good book on the job search, by working with a person who is experienced in the job search process and counsels job seekers.

It’s all about the process. If you use the right process, the results will come.

In simple terms, you need to become as good at the job search process as you were in the last job you had – - – and it probably took you some training and some time to be good at that job.

This is an important piece of information. It should be one of the major factors which should be taken into account by a job seeker to determine what to do next. Yet, most job seekers do not know the answer to the question.

Consequently, I highly recommend that you never leave a job interview (either with a Hiring Manager or an HR person, either face-to-face or over the phone) without asking some question(s) to determine where you stand in the employer’s mind.

Here are some example questions. They range from fearful / passive down to confident / aggressive.

• What do you think?
  
• Do you feel that I meet all the job requirements?
  
• Am I on your short list of candidates?
  
• Will you have me back in for additional interviews? (If speaking with a Hiring Manager.)
  
• Will you recommend to the Hiring Manager that he/she invite me in for an interview? (If speaking with an HR person.)
  
• When will we have another round of interviews?
  
• Do you see any reason not to make me an offer (right now)?

Regardless of which question you may start with, you want to end up with a clear understanding as to whether the employer is going to bring you back in for more interviews (or make you an offer).

Employers commonly survey customers to determine whether the customer’s experience is going to lead to additional business. Extensive academic research has demonstrated that the question that is the best predictor of the prospects of additional business is “Would you recommend our products/services to someone else?” 

Hence, the best question you can ask an HR person is “Will you recommend to the Hiring Manager to bring me in for an interview?”

If the answer you get is “Yes”, then that’s great for you. Then respond slowly and briefly and perhaps only probe for “when.” 

If you do not get an answer right away (that is, the person hesitates and has to think about an answer), then is not likely you will be invited back in. The other person just hasn’t figured out how to let you down easily.

If this case, no matter what the response is (like “Well, we have other candidates to interview, yet.”), then you will need to ask some additional probing questions to find out where you stand. (For example, “Well, based on candidates you have already interview, where do I stand in your mind?”) 

If you get a “No” answer to your question about whether you will be invited back for additional interviews, this will be deflating and you will tend to clam up. However, this is a point in time when it is very important for you to get feedback on why not. A response / question like “Well, that is very disappointing. I am very interested this job. [pause] I do intend to pursue other job opportunities. Could you please give me some feedback about how I could better present myself and my capabilities to help me improve my chances in other situations?”

Your response to a “No” answer is also critical for another reason. That Hiring Manager or HR person may know of another opportunity with his/her company. If you come back with a negative / unprofessional, or worse yet, an angry, response to a “No” answer, you’ll never hear about that other opportunity. 

I hope you feel these ideas help you in your job search.

As a consequence, I designed a form with a handful of questions that I ask a person to fill out and bring to the resume review session. This has proved to be effective. Not only does it help me suggest changes to the resume that will help lead the person to the right job, it gets the person to think through his/her job objective again and firm up what he/she wants to.

Below is a link to the form I designed. Copy the link, paste it into your browser, download the document, print it, fill it out, and take it with you when you meet with someone who is going to review your resume.

We offer the form to the members of the CVJS.

You may be thinking, “Doesn’t my resume explain the kind of job I am looking for?” Maybe, but you will find questions on my form asking for information that is rarely, if ever, found on a resume.

I hope this helps you out.

Let me know how it works for you.

http://cid-f881afcf1774fca8.office.live.com/view.aspx/.Documents/Job%20Desired%20-%20V6.doc

They are timid about asking an employer questions. They are timid about calling back after an interview. They are timid about negotiating for more compensation. And so on.

I frequently get questions from job seekers that start with, “Is it OK if I……….” – - – It is a rare situation in which I suggest “No.”

I realize that you may perceive that these are challenging times for job seekers. I realize that you may have been out of work for an extended period of time and that you may think you can’t take a chance and say/do something that will lose an opportunity for you – - – and for all of that you have my sympathy and empathy.

But, I have to say that too many job seekers I come across are too timid. It is as though they feel that they have to roll over and play dead when dealing with employers. They seem to feel that they have to play the game exactly according to the employers’ rules – - – If you play exactly by the employer’s rules, you will, no doubt, get ruled out. – - – The system is set-up to rule you out.

Besides, have you considered that maybe the employer is looking for someone who is proactive, perseverant, aggressive? – - – Not all bosses are looking for employees who sit around waiting for someone to tell them what to do.

There are different levels of freedom. Ranging from low to high, some examples are:
     * Wait until someone tells you what to do.
     * Ask someone what to do. (Ask for permission in advance.)
     * Do something without asking. (If need be, ask for forgiveness later.)

It is rare that I encounter a job seeker who lost his/her job because of his/her performance. The vast, vast majority of job seekers out there were laid off because of business problems that had nothing to do with the employee.

It is not your fault that you were out of work. There is nothing wrong with you. You are a capable and valuable employee.

Take care of yourself. Evaluate employers as much as they evaluate you. Be proactive. Get control of your job search. – - – Don’t be too timid.

Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. If you lose out on a job opportunity, do you want it to be because you did nothing or because you took action? – - – If you take action, you will likely learn from that for the next time.

When an employer asks for confidential information (like pay stubs, social security numbers, birth dates) before an offer is made, one of several things can be happening:
   * It is a legitimate request. It is part of the employer’s standard procedures.
   * The information may be used to rule you out. (e.g. your pay is perceived as too high or you are perceived to be too old.)
   * The employer is doing market research on salary and has no intention of making you an offer.
   * It is an outright scam with the intention of stealing your identity or some other fraudulent act.
The problem is that you don’t know in advance.

I have not done a formal survey. However, I believe such requests from an employer before an offer is made, negotiated, and agreed to is very uncommon. It is rare that another job seeker tells me that it is happened to him/her. I also believe it is premature for an employer to ask for such information? Why? Because an employer can make an offer contingent upon any information discovered during a background check or subsequently provided by you, the job seeker. Also, it costs an employer to have a background check done. It is not a lot of money, but it seems to be reasonable to think that an employer would be interested in saving the time, effort, and money by waiting to do the background check after the offer is made for those few cases in which an offer is not acceptable.

When I do get asked how to deal with such a request before an offer is made, my suggestion is that you say “I will be glad to provide whatever information you need after an offer is made.”

Please note. The employer’s people may not accept that kind of response. You run the risk of losing the opportunity if you don’t provide the information when it is requested. If you are desperate for a job, have been experiencing extreme personal or financial stress, or this is your dream job for which you have been waiting for years, then you may want to use a response that is softer than what I proposed.

However, in that case, I would suggest that before you acquiesce and provide the requested information that you ask yourself “Do I really want/need to work for an employer who plays the game with such strong-arm tactics?”

I am not a sales person, but I have enough first hand experience with sales people to know that something they are taught somewhere during their career is to “Ask for the order.” Doing so increases the chance of getting the sale.

The same is true when you are interviewing for a job and you conclude you really want it. “Ask for the job.”

The job seeker I referred to above told me that a month after he had the job (and things were going smoothly), the hiring manager (now his boss) told him that at the time of interviewing candidates, she had 2-3 really good people to choose from. However, during the interview with the CVJS member, he “asked for the job”. She told him that right there on the spot, she decided she was going to hire him because he asked.

In the spirit of Dr. Wayne Dwyer, “The world is waiting to give you what you want. You just need to tell the world what it is.”