Question of the Month: February 2009

“What sectors of the economy are hiring or experiencing strong growth right now?”

While the questions I feature in this recurring segment have traditionally come from my client base, I thought it would be appropriate to feature one this month that was recently asked to me by a Seattle Times reporter — since I’m sure it’s a question that’s on almost everyone’s mind!

Unfortunately, the straightforward answer to the above question is “very few’”.  The economic climate right now seems to be highly equal opportunity in nature and the credit crunch and low consumer confidence levels appear to be affecting virtually every business sector out there.  Across the board, companies are in the process of cutting costs in order to stay competitive, and as a result HR reps and hiring managers are in full “risk management” mode as they try to avoid taking on any additional overhead, if they can help it.  And while I could throw out the token answer everybody seems to give when asked to name an industry that’s faring well — health care — this industry isn’t without its challenges, as well, and it’s unlikely that every displaced worker out there is going to be able to retrain overnight and suddenly become marketable as a polysomnographer, pediatric nurse, dental hygienist, or phlebotomist!

While the bottom line isn’t very pretty, however, and there are aren’t many major industries one can point to that are immune to the economic forces at work right now, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t hiring still going on.  A recent search on Indeed.com, for example, reveals that there are still 65,000 job openings in Washington State waiting to be filled.  One also shouldn’t overlook the opportunities that constantly open up through attrition, even in a flat or declining economy, as people retire, resign, transfer, get promoted, or get terminated for poor performance or not having the right skill set for a certain assignment.  So while career counselors may not be privy to any secret industries out there that are going like gangbusters, they will incessantly remind people that it’s time to step up, in the face of adversity, and focus on competing more effectively and vigorously than ever before for the many jobs that are still out there.  There are many people out there who are job hunting no differently in this economy than they would in a booming economy, and this just doesn’t make sense.  The average person is going to need to put a lot more time into their search and get more outside their comfort zone, this time around, than they would during times when the labor supply/demand curve is more favorable.

Additionally, one should note that there are certain industry sectors that DO tend to thrive when the economy, in general, isn’t faring well.  Moving companies, liquidation firms, and used office furniture dealers come to mind.  Credit counseling, career counseling, and outplacement firms also meet this description, as do certain colleges and vocational training schools.  Even in my recent search for new office space, I discovered that the executive suite companies I was trying to rent from (at least some of them) are experiencing record low vacancies right now, based on the growing demand for temporary, flexible office space.  So much for any negotiating leverage I thought I’d have!   Highly motivated job hunters should therefore ask themselves “What types of companies tend to meet various needs that come up only during times of economic turbulence and downturn?”  If you ponder the matter for a bit, you might come up with some fresh ideas.  And while you might feel like a vulture for targeting these kinds of businesses, you shouldn’t — they’re ultimately all part of the “circle of business” (can you hear Elton John breaking into song?) and part of the natural order of  the economy.  And always have been.

So at the end of the day, as painful as these recessionary periods always are for individuals and businesses alike, there are still pockets of opportunity scattered out there for those who choose to look for them.  These types of times also tend to stimulate incredible amounts of creativity out in the market, as companies are given little choice but to invent new ways of doing business and many individuals, thrust out of the corporate womb, are forced to take risks, try new things, and launch new enterprises that they likely wouldn’t have initiated in more economically-abundant times.  No fewer than 16 out of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, in fact, were started during periods of recession or depression.  So while again, it would be absolutely wonderful to be able to point people to an economic escape hatch, or a new growth industry that is laden with potential for tons of hiring in the coming months, I’m afraid I haven’t caught a glimpse of one in my crystal ball, quite yet.  As stated above, however, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t still a lot of good jobs around for those willing to compete for them, and if we all fasten our seat belts and ride out this violent economic squall together, history suggests that there’’s likely to be some pretty neat stuff coming on the other side of it…

P.S. Agreement?  Disagreement?  Ideas about some industries that might be much better off than others out there?  If so, please feel free to submit a comment to this post, since I’d love to hear your thoughts and share them with the rest of the Career Horizons community!

Question of the Month: December 2008

Question: “I’ll confess, I’ve never really had to look for a job before, so it feels really strange to suddenly find myself unemployed and to now have to go ’sell myself’ to somebody and ask them to hire me. Is this unusual?”

Despite what many people might suspect, the majority of people we encounter who are seeking career coaching and counseling are not ne’er-do-wells or individuals who possess a consistent track record of workplace failure. Instead, we’ve found that most of the people we work with actually have been highly successful to date in their chosen fields — and have only recently had their careers “pop out of gear” due to current economic conditions or other factors. And while in one sense such a career history should foster tremendous pride, since many of these people have engineered a track record of employment that is statistically well above average, it’s also understandable that such individuals tend to feel unusually unsettled by finding themselves suddenly among the ranks of the unemployed.

As a further consequence, we’ve noted that it is precisely these successful sorts of people who also have the most difficult time adjusting to the rigors and challenges of the job search process. For starters, the out-of-control feeling and perceived “lack of success” that comes with needing to look for work often turns out to be a tougher pill to swallow for high-achieving individuals who are used to always being on top and in control of their destiny. Additionally, such folks are also far more out of practice in terms of understanding how to job hunt properly and with regard to the tools, techniques, and resume methodologies that are most productive in the current work climate.

So given this common dynamic that so many people express, here are five key thoughts for any of you out there who may be approaching this process for the first time in a number of years:

– Brace yourself; it’s hard to see incremental progress. Unlike diet, exercise, and the pursuit of other important goals in life, the process of looking for work rarely produces positive feedback on a consistent and predictable basis. There are simply too many variables in play outside of the job hunter’s control. One can send out a batch of 30 resumes, for example, and experience a zero hit rate without this necessarily meaning anything is wrong either with your resume, your cover letter, or your qualifications. So it’s critical that “rookie” job hunters take a patient approach to the market and set up a daily routine that will keep them moving forward — and putting out constant feelers — instead of allowing their activity level to fluctuate or be driving solely based on the feedback level they receive.

– People will be flakier than you expect. Another common observation our clients make is that many of the people they were counting on to help them find work are suddenly exhibiting distant, flaky, or uncharacteristic behavior. Again, while unfortunate, this development is also one that can be anticipated as part of the process. Were it limited to just a few reports, from a few people, we’d simply chide the handful of people exhibiting such behavior. Given that the phenomenon is so widespread, however, we can only conclude that there is something about the world today (e.g. lack of time, multiple competing priorities, cover-your-rear behavior…) that causes people to be less responsive than we remember them being in years past. So don’t be shocked if you experience this same reality when kicking off your job search. Anticipate it, take more personal responsibility for following up with people, and factor it into your overall networking and search strategy.

– Job requirements are inflated and excessive. To an individual who last looked for work in the days of the Sunday want ads, the new breed of Internet employment websites will seem incredibly daunting and discouraging! Now that companies don’t have to pay for every word they publish, they are able to dump dozens of knowledge/skill/ability requirements into each advertisement, with the end result being that almost nobody feels qualified to do anything, anymore, once they read through these “wish lists” of what employers are ideally hoping to find! So remember that most modern published job descriptions are, in fact, idealized, and don’t let this stop you from applying if you have at least the basic set of requirements requested — or feel that you could perform the job at hand.

– Interviewing takes longer. Think your job search is likely to be over in a month or two? While it’s certainly within the realm of possibility, it’s also not highly probable given that the interviewing process itself has now emerged as a time-consuming bottleneck for most organizations. Simply put, given the speed at which organizational priorities now change, hiring managers tend to drag their feet more on shepherding candidates through the interviewing process. As a result, we’ve had clients fight their way through as many as 5-6 months of interviewing before receiving a formal offer, and would encourage newbie job hunters to be prepared for this eventuality, as well.

Alas, while the above four factors would not generally be considered “positive developments” from the standpoint of the typical job seeker, they are, nonetheless, the reality out there — and the faster that transitioning professionals come to accept them, the more they can tailor their search strategy, attitude, and mindset accordingly. And lest one think that everything about the process has changed for the worse, we’d leave you with one final, hard-to-argue-with observation that might provide you with a small degree of comfort, as well as some fresh food for thought…

– There are more opportunities than ever before. Despite some of the annoying new wrinkles we’ve mentioned above, with regard to the job search process, the window of opportunity has also never been more opened more widely to a greater number of professionals. This sweeping statement is based on a number of elements, including the profound increase in diversity hiring (remember who recently won the presidency?) to the availability of information/training on various occupational paths to the fact that successful global companies can now be launched for the low, low price of building a basic website. Additionally, due to the increased turnover and turbulence within organizations, you rarely see situations anymore where capable professionals get “blocked” for years behind unyielding layers of management that clog up the promotional ladder for decades at a time. So while yes, all of us in the Gen X and Baby Boomer ranks will have to mourn the passing of certain workplace rules, etiquette, and traditions, the new marketplace that’s emerging is not without its advantages, as well, for those who proactively recognize and capitalize on them!

Question of the Month: April 2007

Question: “Is LinkedIn worth a damn?”

Ha ha — I couldn’t resist phrasing the question in such stark terms, since the above sentiment pretty much sums up the frequent line of questioning I get about this notorious social networking website and its usefulness in a modern job search campaign.  And while I’ll be elaborating further, the equally stark response is “yes” — and I’m willing to state unequivocally that searching for work these days without LinkedIn is tantamount to searching with one hand tied behind your back.

Having reviewed hundreds (perhaps thousands) of websites that relate to careers and the employment process, I would say that LinkedIn is one of the very few pieces of technology that actually “gets it right” and adds significant value to the job search process, as opposed to complicating it or making life more difficult for all involved.  I’ve had several clients tell me, in fact, that this website was the single MOST productive channel for job leads they utilized during the course of their search and that they were simply amazed that they hadn’t heard of it before — and that other people they know aren’t using it!

For those doubters out there, however, or those who may be unfamiliar with the site, let me share just a couple of key reasons why this tool is so uniquely powerful — and why its capabilities are almost impossible to duplicate through the more traditional “low-tech” networking alternatives…

1)  LinkedIn allows job hunters to “see” up to several layers out in terms of the networking process, greatly expanding their ability to locate useful contacts and referral sources.  In other words, while you certainly could contact everybody you know and ask them if they know anybody at XYZ Company, there’s absolutely no way using conventional methods to determine whether your current contacts “know somebody who knows somebody” at this same company, or other companies — which is an extremely useful feat you can accomplish in milliseconds using the LinkedIn system.

2)  LinkedIn allows you to search a real-time pool of company/contact data that is significantly fresher and more accurate than virtually all other sources of data out there, including old standbys such as Hoovers and Dun & Bradstreet.  What’s more, people don’t just list their current positions on the site, but usually also include details of their entire background.  So if you’re interested in identifying anybody in Seattle with “branding”, “web analytics”, or “CFO” in their job title — or anybody who used to work with you at previous organizations — this functionality makes these tasks a piece of cake.

3)  Lastly, and perhaps the most important and underappreciated aspect of the website, of all, is LinkedIn’s unsurpassed ability to allow you to do favors for other people.  What’s that, you say?  Are you telling me that lots of people are going to be bugging me for referrals and potential favors if I join this website?  Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying!  And this is critical, since the single most common hurdle job hunters face is their lack of an effective network and the fact that over the years, many professionals haven’t done enough favors for other people to allow them to “make withdrawals” now in the form of requesting help with their own unemployment challenge.

So if you’re one of these people, and have found yourself out of work and woefully short on allies, LinkedIn can be your saving grace, since it will provide you with a steady stream of chances to lend help, aid, and comfort to those around you — in order to earn the right to their assistance, in return, down the road.  Sound crazy?  Don’t knock it.  This is the stuff that great careers are made from…

Now granted, LinkedIn continues to add new bells and whistles constantly, and the above three benefits are just a small subset of what a true “power user” stands to gain from the site — but I’d still argue that none of the other features comes close to the significance of the three uses highlighted above.  Additionally, I hear many people expressing concerns that they will be pestered or overwhelmed by abusive networking requests if they add their profile to LinkedIn.  Such fears, however, strike me as completely groundless since you have total control of who you link to, at all times, as well as the types of requests people are allowed to forward along to you to begin with.  It’s a completely self-policing system in this respect.  Nobody can link to you without your permission and nobody can force you to grant a favor that you’re not comfortable performing.  So as long as you practice common sense, and avoid linking to hundreds of strangers at random, you shouldn’t find these occasional requests for help to be more than a minor inconvenience — and as stated above, if you’re looking at it this way to begin with, you need to ask yourself some tough questions about the fundamental nature of networking and why other people out there should ever bother paying attention to your requests, in return!

Question of the Month: December 2006

Question: “I sent out a resume to a lead and haven’t heard anything.  Should I follow up?”

Okay, I realize that the question above seems like something of a giant softball, and many of you can predict what I’m going to say in response, but I feel compelled to address this issue nonetheless — since the lack of appropriate follow-up continues to be a major Achilles Heel for many job seekers.

The short answer to the direct question above is, of course, almost always “yes” — unless an employer expressly forbids follow-up activity or you’re dealing with a blind lead where you have no way of identifying the company in question.  Aside from those instances, you always want to follow up your initial resume submission with a phone call several days later to try to push your candidacy forward.  In doing this, however, it’s important to understand that you’re not calling with any real hope of achieving breakthrough progress or even necessarily getting through to a live human being.  Don’t set the bar that high or you’ll be chronically disappointed.  What you’re attempting to do, instead, is create greater name recognition for yourself by leaving a short phone message that expresses your enthusiasm for the job and showcases your positive, helpful attitude.  Something along the lines of:

“Mr. Jones, this is Betsy Smith, and I was just putting in a quick call to restate my interest in the financial analyst position you have available and to make sure that you did, in fact, receive the resume I e-mailed to you on Tuesday.  On the surface, this opportunity looks like a tremendous fit with my background and current career goals, so I hope I have the chance to meet you for an interview in the near future to learn more about your needs in this position.  In the meantime, if you have any questions I can answer or you need me to provide any further information in support of my candidacy, please don’t hesitate to give me a call at (425) 827-3920.  Thanks for your time and have a great day!”

Again, a message like the one above may turn out to have zero impact on the overall hiring process, but it only takes a minute or two to deliver — and this time will turn out to be very well spent if you gain even a slight extra edge in landing an interview.  Essentially, you’re banking on the fact that most employers get inundated with resumes when they publish a job lead, and that even a tiny speck of conscious or unconscious name recognition goes a long way toward helping separate your document from the pile.  What’s more, some employers are immediately impressed by the rare candidate who has the courage and conviction to follow up, since there’s a good chance they are screening for qualities such as enthusiasm, proactivity, and persistence in terms of the ideal candidate they’re seeking to find.

So again, in the vast majority of cases, job seekers need to manage their pipeline of prospects carefully and follow up as rigorously with each lead as would a professional salesperson whose livelihood was depending on each sale.  Additionally, they need to be on the lookout for allowing negative assumptions to creep into their thinking or squelch their follow-up efforts.  Recently, I received a voice mail from a client that ended with: “Oh yeah, and I haven’t heard back from that other lead you passed along, so I’ll assume they’re not interested.”  You know what they say about assumptions, right?  This is a perfect case in point, and in my e-mail response, I stressed that “the lack of a response from a company doesn’t automatically mean they aren’t interested in you, since in many cases, they just get swamped or busy with other priorities.  So resist the temptation to think negatively!  Keep ‘bugging’ the employers in question until they give you a firm answer, one way or another, and let your competition be the ones who are scared away by the silence…”

In closing, periods of profound employer silence are now simply part and parcel of the modern job search process, and job seekers have to learn to adapt to this reality, rather than get intimidated by it.  Even once the interview process begins, and several encouraging meetings have taken place, it’s not uncommon for a company to suddenly “go dark” and give you the appearance that they’ve completely forgotten about you or left you at the altar.  In these cases, all you can do is try to maintain your sense of humor, follow-up periodically without placing blame, and keep yourself distracted with other productive lead-generation activities.  In most cases, the company will resurface again once their other priorities have subsided, and you’ll be glad you didn’t give up on the lead!

Question of the Month: April 2006

Question: “What are the most common mistakes that most job seekers make?”

Ah, now that’s a loaded question, given how unfamiliar the vast majority of professionals are with the modern job hunting process!  In the spirit of the question, however, let’s look past some of the fairly obvious and remedial missteps that people make — such as not catching typos on their resume or not dressing properly for an interview — and concentrate, instead, on some of the more subtle things people do wrong that have an even more profound impact on their overall success rate.

First things first, I’d have to say that the single most dangerous error in judgment a professional-level employee can make in today’s market is to not take the job hunting process and career management process seriously enough.  Now granted, I tend to be exposed far more to people who are encountering career turbulence, as opposed to those who are enjoying smooth sailing, but I think the lesson still holds that in the modern marketplace nobody can afford to feel “entitled” to a good job, at good pay.  These opportunities are a finite commodity, and no matter how much education and experience you’ve amassed, at the end of the day you still need to find an employer willing to pay you a large amount of cold hard cash for the solutions you can bring to their organization.  This can take a considerable amount of time if you’re targeting jobs in mid-to-senior-level management, and even longer if you’re not willing to relocate outside of Puget Sound.  So if you don’t treat the process with respect, establish a game plan, and stick to it, you will be at high risk in terms of your ability to locate an appropriate new assignment.

The second issue I see many job seekers get way too hung up on relates to putting together their resume presentation.  Simply put, the golden age of resume-writing has passed.  And while this document is still a critical part of your job search, and needs to be treated appropriately, far too many people continue tweaking, editing, and revising this document for weeks on end in the fervent hope that it will magically open doors for them or dramatically increase their response rate.  In truth, the resume is far less significant than it used to be.  Employers and recruiters scan these documents for a few brief seconds and will derive 80-90% of their impression from the candidate’s actual work history, and series of choices they’ve made throughout their career, instead of aesthetic issues like font, format, and length.  I’ve said it before and will say it again — I would always place my money on the candidate who moves quickly and sends out twice as many “good” resumes during their search, and follows them up aggressively, versus the candidate who takes weeks compiling a “great” resume and ends up delaying their search efforts and coming up way short in terms of overall submission volume.

Lastly, since all good things come in threes, I’d implore most active job hunters to pay extremely careful attention to the attitude they’re projecting out in the marketplace regarding their availability.  As stated above in this newsletter, it’s imperative that you work hard to create a positive, winning impression on every single person you encounter, even if you’re secretly struggling with feelings of frustration, fear, and stress.  You simply can’t afford to let these feelings leak out to anyone other than your absolute most trusted friends and family members — and, potentially, your career coach — or you’ll do irreparable damage to your “personal brand” and ability to generate useful contact names and referrals.  And yet, here I am mentioning this issue as one of the three most common mistakes that most job seekers make, so what does that tell you about most people’s awareness of how they come across?

In the end, paying attention to the three factors above will have a greater impact on your ultimate success rate — both in terms of the length of time you’re in the market and the quality of the offers you receive — than any specific “tactical” issue I could mention.  Unlike many things in life, I don’t feel that the “devil is in the details” quite as much when it comes to job searching.  The main rewards come to those who stay positive, identify their goals, take the process seriously, and don’t let anything come between them and a conversation with their most likely customers!

Question of the Month: December 2005

Question: “Do companies actually hire during December and the holiday season, or is it best to pull back on my job search and wait until the New Year?”

Just as I started to write this response, I glanced out of my office window and noticed that the first snow of the season had started to fall in Bellevue — which means it’s probably time to address the perennial question I get asked by dozens of clients.  Does it make sense or not to continue an active job search throughout the holiday season, or is it a big waste of time?

The short answer, which hasn’t changed for over a decade, is “yes”.  Without question, December is a strong hiring month and serious job seekers shouldn’t throttle back on their search efforts at all unless they’re willing to miss some outstanding potential opportunities.  Not only do companies continue to add staff aggressively throughout the winter months, and not just for seasonal positions, but they’re also scouting out talent for the upcoming year when fresh hiring budgets become available.  Last year, in fact, I distinctly remember helping somebody negotiate an offer on Christmas Eve, which I felt was somewhat sad from a societal perspective, but a legitimate testimonial to the year-round nature of business these days and the fact that capitalism doesn’t slow down much anymore for Santa’s sled.

So if you’re looking for a legitimate economic excuse to postpone your job hunt until 2006, I’m afraid I can’t give you one.  The hiring market continues to clip along at a brisk pace, and one of my colleagues in the recruiting world told me recently that her firm has historically placed more candidates in December than in October and November combined!  At the same time, however, we must never forget that there are a number of things in life that are equally or more important than one’s career.  If you’re feeling the need to relax and recharge, and to spend some uninterrupted quality time with your family during the holidays, there’s nothing wrong with giving yourself permission to dial down your search efforts to a bare minimum.  Just make sure you do this consciously, and for the right reasons, instead of trying to rationalize it around the fallacy that no hiring takes place in December.  By doing so, you’ll feel a lot less guilty and will enjoy your “break” an awful lot more!

Question of the Month: February 2006

Question: “How do I know if an entrepreneurial path is right for me or not?”

Over the past few years, an increasing number of our clients seem to have been bitten by the “entrepreneurial bug ” and to be contemplating the possibility of self-employment.  Whether this is due to the pending retirement of the Baby Boom generation, or the perception that job security is now more likely found in self-employment than in traditional workplace alternatives, I’m not certain.  What I do know, however, is that there are still many significant myths and misconceptions floating around with regard to the entrepreneurial path — and that anybody considering this option needs to do some serious homework and soul-searching before abandoning their quest for a traditional salaried position.

On the plus side, I can attest from personal experience that being in business for yourself is one of the most freewheeling, tremendously creative efforts you’ll ever undertake.  Each day brings a new slate of challenges (which is both the good news and the bad news) and if you hate being bored, trust me, you’ll never find yourself sitting around like the Maytag repairman watching the clock!  Additionally, one of the most rewarding entrepreneurial benefits I’ve discovered is the way in which your business essentially becomes an exoskeleton of your own personal values, allowing you to make the world a better place in your own small but significant way.  Do you believe in taking great care of your customers?  Saving the planet by buying recycled materials?  Treating your employees in an ethical, fair manner?  If so, you can express all of these values to your heart’s content, all day long, just as long as your business model is sustainable and you’re able to keep the lights on.

Now on to the more sobering news…

What many would-be entrepreneurs FAIL to take into consideration is just how much of a culture shock it can be to give up traditional W2 creature comforts such as free time, paid vacation, or a paycheck that shows up like clockwork at the end of each month.  Granted, there are certain entrepreneurial avenues that don’t necessarily require these sacrifices, but in general, most of the business owners and sole proprietors I run across seem to wear a conflicted expression on their face that can be described as a mix between exhaustion and blissful self-actualization.  We’re having the time of our lives, in other words, but it just might be killing us!  If you want a more detailed explanation of the factors behind this, I’d encourage you to read the book The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.  It’s an eye-opener and will give you a very useful, no-holds-barred account of what it’s really like to be your own boss.

And yet, despite the tradeoffs, there’s no question that many people ARE cut from entrepreneurial cloth and meant to go into business for themselves.  You can sense it immediately in their attitude and by the level of pragmatism — as opposed to idealism — that they bring to the conversation.  One former client of mine, for example, announced that he was finally ready to hang up his own shingle in the architectural profession, but needed my encouragement to stay true to his vision and to metaphorically “burn the ships behind him” in terms of helping resist the temptation to go back to the corporate world.  He was realistic enough to know that the gnawing temptation would always be there, and I believe this was one of the most important elements that has contributed to his ongoing success.

In closing, it was probably unfair to suggest that I could answer the eternal “should I work for myself?” question in the space of a short newsletter article, but hopefully, I’ve provided a few fresh insights and convinced you of how seriously you need to take this question, if nothing else.  If you’re interested in receiving additional assistance on this topic, I’d encourage you to check out the “Partners” tab of my website, where I’ve included links to a number of top-notch local experts who can help you explore all kinds of entrepreneurial paths ranging from franchising to buying a business to getting your own consulting practice set up in a smart, profitable way. And despite some of the initial hurdles, at the end of the day, it’s certainly nice to do the things you love in life — and have them be tax deductible!

Question of the Month: February 2007

Question: “How do I overcome the dreaded ‘overqualified’ objection?”

Few employment-related issues aggravate job hunters as much as the notion that an employer might really like them, and be impressed with their credentials, but neglect to move forward with a formal offer due to the concern that they (the candidate) might be “overqualified” for the opportunity at hand.

In these situations, which are of course much more common among older, more experienced professionals, is there any chance that the job hunter can change the employer’s mind?  Is there any type of tactic or technique that can effectively neutralize this objection and get the hiring manager to see things differently?

Honestly, the answer is probably “no” in the majority of cases.  This is not only because the objection tends to surface at the very end of the interview process, when the employer’s impression of the candidate is already fairly well-formed, but also because the overqualified objection is also not likely the real issue in the majority of cases.  Telling somebody that they are “overqualified” is often a lot safer, and more comfortable, than telling somebody that they might not be getting a job due to other factors such as age, salary level, lack of education, sloppy appearance, or poor interviewing skills.   One can argue (or sue) over the other reasons, if they are expressed, but it’s tough to fight an employer’s subjective decision that a person might be overqualified, and therefore not challenged by a particular work assignment, if that’s the excuse offered for a no-hire decision.   And boy, do employers know it!

This isn’t to say, however ,that a properly-prepared job hunter can’t substantially diminish an employer’s perception that they may be overqualified, especially if they assess this potential threat to their candidacy right from the outset.  As with most interview objections, the key is to hunt for the quasi-legitimate grain of truth behind the negative stereotype or perception.  Simply put, in cases where employers truly believe a candidate is overly experienced for a given role, their fears are usually that a) the candidate will be bored and jump ship at the first opportunity for a more challenging assignment; b) the candidate will end up asking for too much money; or c) the candidate will be so experienced that they will be tough to manage, as well as as a potential threat to the job security of their boss.

It’s difficult for job seekers to admit the likelihood of these perceptions being accurate, I realize, especially when a senior-level person is under the gun to get back to work and generate some cash flow.  As one of our clients recently put it, however, he was saying all the right words in the interview, but knew deep down it was way too junior of an opportunity to consider given his background.  In fact, after responding to this objection in a recent interview, he reported “I didn’t even convince myself, in my own mind, that I wasn’t grossly overqualified for the role.”  The result?  The odds of his convincing the employer to this effect were almost nil.

In the event, however, that you do face a legitimate situation where you think the employer is missing the boat, and that you could be sincerely happy with a given assignment despite your experience level, your best bet is to tackle the issue early on in the process, using disarming honesty.  You might say:

“I can completely understand why you might think I’m overqualified for this position, but honestly, I don’t view this assignment as ’settling’ in any way, shape, or form in terms of my current goals.  I’ve done a lot of soul-searching around the type of ideal opportunity and organization I want to pursue, and this position you’re discussing is right in my sweet spot because of (insert reasons).  So while you’re right, I might be a bit more experienced than some of the other folks you’re considering, you’d ultimately be hiring an employee who knows exactly what he wants — and would be going into this position with eyes wide open in terms of what to expect.  Ironically, this is probably a more important contributing factor to retention than just about any other element, wouldn’t you say?  Somebody who knows what they want and won’t be surprised to find out what the job really entails?”

Again, whether using this script or any other, you certainly can’t expect to win ‘em all.  But if you can inject this kind of dialogue into the discussion right from the opening gate, in appropriate situations, you’ll have the best odds of heading off the “overqualified” objection at the pass — and minimizing the chances of the employer holding your years of experience against you!

Question of the Month: January 2006

Question: “I’ve been out of work for a few months now and am really struggling to stay motivated in my job search.  Any tips you can share on how I can stay more focused?”

You’ve raised an outstanding question, and as I’m sure a large percentage of my clients would agree, staying positive, focused, and motivated is perhaps the single most difficult issue related to the career transition process.  Attitude is everything, and looking back after 14 years in this field, I would say that the average individual’s success rate in the job market is more tightly correlated with their motivation level than with any single job search tactic, resume trick, or employment resource in the book.

The first step in improving your motivation level, I believe, is to acknowledge the importance of this issue and recognize that it truly may be the greatest obstacle to your eventual success.  Honor the fact that looking for work is one of the hardest challenges the average person will go through in their lifetime.  For starters, you’ve got the fact that most professionals in transition are in a position where they have to go out and try to impress employers, despite the likelihood that they are smack in the middle of the grieving process, rebounding from some negative disruption in their career such as a layoff, business failure, or involuntary termination.  You’ve also got to contend with the sudden loss of familiar routines and relationships.  Most people tend to underestimate (or fail to notice altogether) the “stabilization effect” that comes with having have a familiar workplace, job title, and commute to fall back on each day.  Pull this rug out from under them, and suddenly anything goes.  The weeks fly by like they were days, social contacts tend to diminish, and people marvel at how little they’re able to accomplish despite suddenly having so much “free time” available to them.

Additionally, unlike other life challenges such as dieting or working out, job seekers tend to receive very little positive feedback during the course of their search efforts.  While you can always look in the mirror or step on the scale to see that your “get in shape” plan is bearing fruit, job seekers often send hundreds of resumes out without netting a single interviewing opportunity or positive response from an interested employer.  This lack of immediate, incremental feedback makes it tough to stick to your plan, and you can easily start to question your methods and lose confidence.  Even if you know you’re doing everything right, and have an experienced coach in your corner telling you to stay the course and be patient, basic human nature makes it tough to do anything — week in and week out — on faith alone.

All this being said, there are a few simple methods you can try that might help you clamp down on the job search challenge and maintain a steady positive outlook.  One is to have a clear plan of action built around simple, measurable short-term tasks and goals.  By crossing a few of these items off your list each day, you’ll start to visualize your progress and will gain a continued sense of accomplishment.  I’d also highly recommend that you begin a physical fitness regimen or “get control” of some other important aspect of your life, aside from your employment situation, since doing so will help you feel good about yourself and keep things in perspective.  Lastly, you should make an extra effort to get out of the house and expose yourself to social and educational opportunities.  Take a class.  Volunteer at your church or a local school.  Step up to an officer role with an appropriate professional association.  These actions will not only expand your networking opportunities, but will keep your brain engaged and help you combat the paralyzing feelings of withdrawal and isolation that can often creep in.

Easier to say than to do?  Always.  But ultimately, when you get to the other side and look back, the true measure of your success won’t be how soon you find your next job — since that issue isn’t fully in your control — but how good of a job you did at recognizing, respecting, and responding to one of the most difficult transitions life can throw at you.

Question of the Month: January 2007

Question: “What is with employers these days?  They always want to know my salary needs right off the bat, before we’ve even had a chance to evaluate the potential fit.  How should I respond to these questions, since they always catch me off-guard and I don’t think I give a very coherent answer?”

Without question, the topic of money now tends to make an appearance earlier, and more often, in the typical hiring conversation, as companies try to avoid mismanaging expectations and to aggressively screen out “overpriced” individuals early on in the selection process.

As a result, candidates who are used to flirting a bit first before moving forward to first base are frequently caught unprepared by direct questions about salary — which not only can weaken their negotiating position significantly, down the road, but can also immediately disqualify them from opportunities if their answer doesn’t flow smoothly or jibe with the interviewer’s expectations.  In teaching clients to handle salary questions gracefully, therefore, we’ve come up with a simple three-step approach.  We call this response the R-F-P Model and believe that it will help you walk the perfect line between providing the interviewer with truthful, relevant information about your compensation needs — without locking you into a fixed position that you might regret later.

Here are the three elements of this model, which we’d encourage you to weave together and practice until you’ve developed a fluid 30-60 second response:

RANGE: Start your response by providing the employer with a broad salary range that represents your best “educated guess” about the value of your skills and qualifications in the current marketplace.  When providing this range, allude to the fact that you’ve compiled it based on a variety of sources, including recent interviews you’ve gone on for similar positions.  This will boost your credibility.

FLEXIBILITY: Once you’ve shared your ballpark range, open things up by assuring the interviewer that you have a certain amount of flexibility for the right position and are considering many additional factors other than salary in your search for the ideal opportunity.  If comfortable, list a few of the specific compensation variables that you value highly, other than base salary, to help the interviewer understand your needs and where you are coming from.

PROBE: Once you’ve finished sharing your range, and have stressed your flexibility, it’s time to check back and see how closely your numbers mesh with those of the hiring manager.  Ask whether your stated salary parameters are “in the same ballpark” with their own and whether they think your requirements are reasonable given current market conditions.  You’ll immediately get a sense of how close or far apart the two of you might be — and can then decide what appropriate next steps might be warranted.

All together, your response might sound something like:

Interviewer: “Before we get much farther along, can I ask how much money you’re looking for?”

Candidate: “Sure, that’s a fair question. And while I’ll obviously need to learn a bit more about the job in question before I can give you a definitive answer, I would share that I’ve been actively interviewing for similar roles that are coming in at around the $80,000 to $95,000 range.  This seems to be the going rate for marketing professionals with my background and credentials right now, based on what I’ve seen out there.  I would stress, however, that I’m not married to any particular number, and would certainly have some flexibility if the right opportunity were to come along.  For example, I’d place a premium on any position that didn’t require extensive travel — or on a company that offered strong retirement benefits such as a pension or matching 401(k) program.  Does this sound pretty reasonable, based on your own sense of the market and the range you have in mind for this position?”

Again, while we wouldn’t encourage you to memorize this script (or any other) in preparing for an upcoming interview, we do think that following the R-F-P outline will help you maximize your success in most normal situations when the salary question comes up.  It will provide just enough information for the employer to understand your approximate salary needs, without boxing you in or suggesting that you wouldn’t be willing to get creative, should other mitigating factors present themselves.

Above all, however, whether you follow this recommended format or not, the important thing is that you you DO think about this question early on in your job search — before you encounter it — and that you practice your answer until you have it down cold and feel confident that you can handle preemptive salary strikes by employers without batting an eye.  You won’t regret it!