Career

Secret information recruiters don’t want you to know

Many people are afraid of working with recruiters during their job search and or don’t know how to make recruiters work for you. Recruiters have become an unnecessary evil when it comes to finding a job and if you’re not using them or using them properly you could be losing out on job opportunities and or losing money when it comes to getting an offer.

As HR departments are downsized and companies try and minimize recruiting costs, there has been an unprecedented push to use recruiters as middle men in finding the right candidates for the job. Many companies use a combination of outside and internal recruiting, and knowing how to manage these recruiters is key to maximizing how much money you make versus giving away money to the recruiters for no reason.

I’ve been laid off 3 times since I’ve graduated college. When entering the job market I was bombarded by recruiters calling. I thought recruiters were a joke. However, I was short sighted in that thinking and it probably cost me money. Below, I’ll tell you why it’s important if not critical to use recruiters nowadays in your job search, and how you can ensure that they don’t take a recruitment fee from your salary offer if it’s unnecessary.

Many companies are exclusively working with recruiters for hiring outside people now. If you don’t work with recruiters you could be missing out on a number of opportunities.

Know who you’re working with.

When working with recruiters it’s important to understand who you’re working with. With the rise of the use in outside recruitment agencies, there came a rise in the number of solo operations too. That is, people calling themselves recruitment agencies when they are in fact the only recruiter in their agency. This is not necessarily bad in and of itself, but it’s something to keep in mind. The larger firms like Robert Half have contracts with different companies (meaning they are the exclusive outside recruiting provider, or one of only a couple of firms – this is typical in larger companies – and this may mean that the only way to get an interview with a particular company is through an outside recruiter), while with the mom and pop operations (the one-man operations calling themselves recruitment agencies) most do nothing more than you do – look at the paper or internet, find jobs for people too lazy to look for themselves and take a fee if they get you hired (which means a lower offer for you). Some do manage to get in with smaller companies, but only because the company placed ads previously and hadn’t any luck in finding a candidate.  The key here, make certain the recruiter is showing you jobs for things that aren’t already out there. Why pay a recruiter to simply find you a job when they will lower your salary offer?

So how should you best manage recruiters?

Initial contact when a recruiter calls you: Your phone rings and it’s Bill from AccountStaff, he saw your resume online and would like to talk to you about some positions.

Keep in mind there are two types of recruiting agencies (and many have both operations combined), agencies that are temporary placers, in which you work for the recruiting agency (like Kelly Financial Services), and other recruitment agencies that find permanent placement positions (Kelly Financial Services does this too as well as companies like Robert Half, Manpower, and various other employment agencies).

From the beginning, you need to distinguish whether or not the recruiter has anything to offer you or not. If they have an immediate job that they are searching for, pry information from them. Many will tell you “we have a position that we think you would fit in well,” this is just so they can establish a relationship with you for the sole purpose of making you stop looking on your own, so they can make money doing it for you. Other companies are reputable and really do have jobs they are actively searching for on behalf of a client. If they really are the only one searching on behalf of a company, they shouldn’t be reluctant to give you information on the company they’re searching for.

Tell them you’ve already submitted your resume to most every position out there (and you definitely don’t want a recruiter to submit your resume to someone you’ve already submitted to – companies frown on this for legal reasons – as they may be obligated to pay a fee if there is a disagreement on how they found you. Companies would rather not pay a fee and or deal with a potential legal issue).

You need to make certain that before they submit your resume to anyone they have your explicit permission. This is the single best way to figure out if they’re bullshitting you or not, if they ask you what jobs have you submitted for, be vague. Tell them to tell you a job title and location if they don’t want to disclose the company name. This is all a game, they don’t want you to know who’s out there if you haven’t looked on your own – they don’t want you to go out there and find them and pursue them on your own because they told you – they want the money! Be smart, see who is out there posting jobs, even if you haven’t submitted your resume yet – you can act like you have. This will help you cut through their bullshit.

The bottom line is, you should have an army of recruiters working for you. This doesn’t mean you need to go interview with each recruiter either. Many recruiters will tell you that you have to interview before they will approve and submit your resume. This is bullshit. Only interview with the recruiting agency if you’re looking for temporary work through them. If you’re looking for permanent placement only – they should tell you who the company is if they want you to come in for and interview. If they do have a solid lead, this is understandable, they want to make certain they are putting the best candidates forward. Defer interviews with the recruiting agencies until they have some solid opportunity that they’re telling you. Believe me, if they want you bad enough, they will give you specific company information. This will help you cut down on the multitude of requests for interviews with recruiters. Tell them a phone interview should be sufficient until things become more serious – that you’re not interested in wasting your time or theirs.

I will expand upon this in future articles. For now, I’m off to lunch! Good luck!

Why it makes sense to spend on your professional image

I couldn’t come up with a title to put it more eloquently than this; If you don’t take care of your professional image, it may cost you much more in the long run than you could ever save in wearing the same old clothes or showing up to work not dressed adequately for the part. Many people struggle to find that middle point between how much money they should spend on their professional work attire versus how much money they’re trying to save. My advice, error on the side of professionalism, this is one area where it’s better to spend money on a wardrobe rather than skimping to save money. It’s also important to be as frugal as possible when clothes shopping, and to not buy clothes that will wear out too fast, causing you to spend more in the long run. Below, I will touch on some important points to help you create a balance between your budget and your work clothing needs.

There’s a secret rule in which all professionals or working people should live bye, and that is to dress the part of the role you want to be, not the current position you’re in. This doesn’t mean to go overboard and wear a shirt and tie each day if it’s unnecessary or because some day you want to be a CEO, CFO, or some other type of executive. It means you should be dressing with a purpose for the position you hope to get next. If you’re a a senior accountant, dress the role of management, not that of a senior accountant.

It’s sad, but true, you are what you eat and wear. Slobs tend to finish last for good reason. I learned the hard way when I wore a sport coat to an interview. I didn’t know any better, but a recruiter gave me the heads up that the sports coat was inappropriate. Per the recruiters recommendation, I went out and bought a nice black suit for $300 and landed the very next job I interviewed for. This doesn’t mean obviously that every decision on your promotion (or hiring) will come from what you wear, certainly your performance comes into play among other things. However, when all else is equal, the person who is deemed more professional looking will likely get the job or the promotion.

As manager now, I’ve got 7 people working for me, 3 of which I hired. Professional image was definitely an aspect of my selection process. The people I hire will not only have to interact with me, but they will have to interact with other departments as well as customers and clients. One of the positions I was hiring for, a fixed asset accountant, came down to two guys. For the most part the two were equal with regards to work history and how well the interview went. One of the guys was wearing an old gray suit straight from the 80’s, while the other guy had a simple black suit. You can probably guess who got the job.

I find myself to be one of the most non materialistic people I know, however, when it comes to business you have to dress the part. Dressing in a professional manor does not mean you have to stop being frugal or wear all name brands. It simply means dressing professionally. For me, that means wearing a fairly nice button up shirt (cleanly pressed) as well as wrinkle free slacks to work everyday. It also means coming to work cleanly shaven (I have a goatee) and with your hair clean. Also, make certain your shoes aren’t all muddy. Spend the $100 and buy a nice pair of shoes that will last a couple of years or more. It also means getting adequate sleep (which I’ve had a hard time with because of my sleep schedule with 4 kids) so that you don’t have big bags under your eyes and so you’re attentive in meetings. A nice wardrobe doesn’t have to break the bank, be weary of the best times to snap up deals in the off seasons, plan ahead for the following year and save money. Honestly, most all of my dress shirts were purchased for $20 or less, while most all of my pants (wrinkle-free) were $30-40. Over time I’ve amassed about 20 nice long sleeve winter dress shirts ($400), and about the same amount of short sleeve golf shirts, and 10 pairs of slacks or pants ($350-$400) I’m a khaki type of guy 3/4 of the time). Total, my wardrobe cost under a $1000 (and I’ve got an ample supply, you could do just fine with 10 long sleeve winter shirts (or 10 golf shirts for spring/summer/fall) and 5 pairs of pants. It’s worth every dime to show up looking professional every single day. If you can’t afford dry cleaning your shirts, do it yourself. To me, there is value in paying the $1 per shirt (I don’t get my pants dry cleaned), with 4 kids my wife nor I have the time to do it, and it saves me so much time being able to pull the shirt and pants off the hanger in the morning and go.

Look at your peers and draw inspiration from those you deem to be the most professional looking. For me, it’s a nice shirt, pants, black belt and black shoes.

You are the companies’ image in many ways. Whether that be through interaction with the outside world in customers or business clients, you must be professional. Dressing professionally and on a consistent basis will help your company gain confidence in your ability to represent them in the best possible light and will give you the advantage over your counterparts when a new opportunity arises.

Interview tips to help you get the edge on your competition

It seems everyone has some sort of tip for interviews, however, some are better than others. I’ve been on numerous (professional job) interviews, have made several mistakes, and I’ve learned a bunch that I want to share with you. I landed a job I clearly wasn’t completely qualified for by doing the below. Seeing that I’m a guy, some of these tips will help men more than women, regardless this will help the ladies too.

In no particular order (some of these might be obvious but they’re worth restating):

• Arrive on time, there’s no excuse for being late whatsoever.
• Dress up and be clean shaven (this doesn’t mean you have to lose the goatee or beard either). Just any old sport coat and slacks and tie won’t work, you need go with black slacks and a black coat, you can vary the shirt and tie to show style or your own touch. You only have to button the top button of the coat! Borrow something from a friend or family member if you have to, heck, buy something and take it back after the interview if you have to. If you get the job, dress for the next position you want in the company.
• Clean and shined shoes is a must.
• Don’t wear cologne or perfume or smell like smoke. Wear antiperspirant or something that doesn’t smell. Don’t come into an interview smelling like cigarette smoke – chew nicotine gum before if you have to. Don’t wear an undershirt if you sweat too much either.  If they ask you if you smoke, tell them you quit recently (some employers test for nicotine use though – you can find out on their website).
• Dry your hands before shaking hands with others (if you sweat). Shake with a firm grip, not a weak flimsy grip.
• Be knowledgeable about the position and company you want to work for. You don’t have to know everything, but you should spend half an hour to an hour learning about their products or services and top dogs. Know what will be expected of you and be ready to answer  – even if you don’t have the necessary experience.
• Know who you’re meeting with beforehand, and their role in the organization. Have some questions ready for each of them, such as, “In what respect would I be working with you, How would you describe the company culture, what do you like most or least about your job.” You should have questions for these people, unless you’re willing to take anything this is as much about you finding the right company to work for. It doesn’t make sense to take a job just to quit a month or two later because you’re miserable.
• Be confident you’re going to get the job, but not cocky.
• Bring something to write notes on. Don’t write down everything they talk about in the interview, rather key points that you want to communicate back in your thank-you letters. Get each person’s email address for thank you letters.
• Be enthusiastic, but not burdensome. You’ve got to show that you’re outgoing (depending on the role) and can jump right in to working with others. As well, you must ensure to them that you work well with little supervision.
• Think of examples to share before hand of accomplishments you’ve made, as well as mistakes you’ve made and how you overcame them.
• If you don’t have complete experience in the job you’re applying for, emphasize your ability to learn quickly on the job. Emphasize your desire to keep learning and bettering yourself through continual growth in education and experience. Know what you want to do in 5 to 10 years. Anticipate your career path and communicate it well.
• Avoid using buzzwords to make yourself sound more intelligent.
• Show how what you’ve done in the past has helped to increase the bottom line. At every opportunity, show things that you’ve done to help cut costs and or increase profits in your past jobs. Make them feel that you will pay for your salary by process improvements, and how you have a knack for finding solutions through working with others.
• Be happy and nice and make eye contact with the interviewer. If the person interviewing you doesn’t, it’s OK, be attentive. Listen to what they’re saying to you.
• Avoid talking about your salary expectations by saying you’re more interested in finding the right job. Another method would be to tell them that it depends on the expectations and requirements of the job and until you learn them then it’s too difficult to give them a number. Get the job first, employers will be much more willing to negotiate salary if they want you, believe me.
• Sell yourself. This means inject your past experiences as the interviewer brings up questions. For example, they may ask you what experience do you have in dealing with customers. You’re response shouldn’t be a blanket statement, such as, all my customers love me. Rather, give examples of problems customers had and how you helped them resolve the situation to their satisfaction while keeping the companies profits in mind.
• Keep the attitude that the company interviewing must sell you on the job too. This is supposed to be two parties coming to an agreement to work together, not just one party wanting to work with another.
• Treat the receptionist the same way you treat the hiring manager, and everyone in between.
• Send thank you letters via email within 48 hours, the faster the better. In your thank-you letters talk about points each person brought up, and how you can help to solve their problems. Even send the receptionist a thank-you letter. Don’t use a boiler plate letter to each person, write out individual letters to each person – none of them should be the same.
• Make it seem like you’re in demand and have a few other interviews, don’t be afraid to share the fact that you have another offer on the table too. Create an outside demand for yourself and make the interviewers think they will lose you if they don’t act quick.
• Don’t be afraid to ask when you can expect to hear back from them. Find a point person to keep in contact with, but only bother them when a deadline for them calling you back has passed. Push the envelope if need be, but only if completely necessary, by this I mean tell them you’ve got another offer and you need to know where they stand, because you’re extremely interested in their position, maybe more so than the offer you have on the table.

The above list should give you a great head-start on your competition. Don’t fret if you don’t get the job right away. It takes time and patience and rehearsal, sometimes through screwing up, before you’ve got your game down. Always shoot high for yourself, meaning take the interviews for jobs you’re not completely qualified for. It’s worth the shot, I’m living proof. Good luck!

The importance of short term and long term disability insurance

The husband of my wife’s best friend (and friend of mine) recently found out that he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. As a manual skilled laborer and union member, his benefits are tied to his working, in that he must accumulate a certain amount of hours to be eligible for his health insurance and pension benefits. His union does not offer short-term or long-term disability, and although I’ve never discussed it with him – maybe he never knew this type of insurance existed. Many companies do not offer disability insurance either, you must go out and purchase it on your own. Even when companies do provide the insurance, the worker typically pays the premium. Below, I will outline what this insurance is and what it covers, and why it’s so very important to have it if you don’t. I also provide a list of companies where you can purchase it and what you can expect to pay for it.

It’s unfortunate to have to spotlight a friend of mine’s bad situation to highlight the critical importance of having this insurance to help maintain one’s ability to provide for their family when some unexpected illness occurs. My friend and his wife have two children, and they both were working and doing just fine. One day, my friend noticed a lump in his neck and decided to go and get it checked out. The results of the biopsy were shocking and life changing when he found out he had stage 2 Hodgkin’s disease. He would have to stop working immediately and undergo chemotherapy for the next 6 months, with radiation a looming possibility if the chemo doesn’t cure his cancer. He would be unable to care for the youngest child therefore requiring daycare expenses. His wife will continue to work to help support their monthly mortgage payments and other needs. However, because he will not meet his labor requirements, his insurance premiums will potentially increase significantly. Moreover, he no longer has an income to help meet the family bills. He’s in a flat-out horrible situation with no where to turn. Fortunately, we have a good community rallying around the family and my wife is sponsoring a charity event for the family. But that money will in now way come close to replacing his lost income and increase in bills related to medical care.

So what is short-term and long-term disability insurance and what does it cover? In a nutshell, short-term disability insurance generally pays between 1/2 and 2/3 of the individual’s pay due to a disability that prevents work and the coverage lasts from 3-6 months. There is typically a cap on the payment and policies vary widely. Long-term disability is the same except it usually pays out between 2-5 years, with some paying benefits through age 65 or longer. Think of this insurance as income protection  – when you can’t work, this will help you pay your bills.

How much does disability insurance cost?

According to UNUM, “the cost of coverage varies and is based on the type of policy, insurance carrier and other factors, but here are some examples:

Group insurance that is purchased by a business as an employee benefit averages $228 per employee per year for long-term disability and $192 per employee per year for short-term disability[3]. The employee usually pays nothing or a small amount for this coverage.

Rates for short-term disability products that are sold directly to employees at the workplace may benefit from group discounts. For example, a 35-year-old light blue collar worker could choose a policy that provides a $2,000 a month benefit for 12 months for a covered disability. The average monthly premium for this policy would be $58[4].

Here is an example of an individual policy that may be purchased through an independent insurance agent. A 40-year-old professional man who makes $50,000 a year would pay about $1,700 a year for a policy that would pay him $2,900 a month for up to five years for a covered disability.”

Where are some places you can get this disability insurance?

• Hartford Life
• Aflac
• Lincoln Financial Group
• Unum
• Aetna
• MetLife
• Cigna
• Reliance Standard
• Standard
• Prudential

I hope this article helps you consider getting the necessary insurance you need to help cover your family in the event of an unexpected illness or injury. Not to mention, short-term disability covers things like pregnancies! Take the time to look into this and see if it makes sense for you and or your family.

3. JHA 2005 U.S. Group Disability Market Survey, 2006.
4. Voluntary Short-Term Disability Plans Participant Summary, Eastbridge Consulting Group, 2005.

Move companies if you want to move up in your career or work

I love sharing my thoughts and helping others, as I feel I have personal experiences and insight that others may not, or insight others just might not be willing to share. I’m going to focus some time on the subject of when it comes to getting raises or making more money in your career. I’ve had a number of friends and coworkers over the years ask me the best way to make more money in their career, my answer is almost always move out if you want to move up in your career.

Below, I will discuss my personal experiences over my career and how I was able to game the system to make more money professionally than most of my peers. In addition, I’m going to show you how often you should be doing this, and why it’s more acceptable to do so now than it was in the past. Moreover, I’ll provide some insight as to how to approach the subject of “why are are you moving companies” with prospective employers. After all, you can sit around and wait for a marginal raise, or you can take matters into your own hands and get a substantial raise, likely much larger than you would have ever gotten through hard work at your current job, with very little risk.

Early in my career I worked extremely hard (and I still do, I like to think), but my reward ended in being laid off due to business divestitures (sale of my company) and bankruptcies in my first couple of jobs. I watched people much more loyal than myself let go with little severance. It pissed me off too, I’d put in plenty of 12 hour days in hopes of getting a big raise or promotion, but it never came. At the end of the day I was left without a job, but I learned many valuable lessons that I took to heart and so should you.

Long gone are the days of employers being loyal to their employees, it’s time for you to lose your blind loyalty to them. It’s important however to keep good relationships with employers, give them proper notice etc, because chances are, one day you’ll be interviewing for a job at a company where someone knows you from the past.

Luckily, when I was being laid off I typically had a small amount of time to search for jobs while I still had a salary coming in. In my situation it didn’t make sense to wait a round for a severance, I simply went out and found something else. You should do this if you feel stagnant or worried you’re going to be losing your job. In fact, you should always be looking for new opportunities.

You can arrange interviews while you have a job without your employer knowing what you’re doing if you’re halfway smart about it. Prospective employers understand and will work around your schedule, don’t be afraid to ask them to do so. Once you get past the initial screening, and if it seems like something your interested in and somewhat confident you will get – you may have to take a half-day at work to complete a more thorough interview process.

Each new job I took I was able to jump my salary by leaps and bounds based upon the experience I had gained at the previous employer in short periods of time (typically around 1-2 years time). In addition, I was able to take dramatic increases in pay. Granted, I am in an industry where the pay is fairly well. At your current job, most promotions will only increase your pay from 3-5%, while with a move to another company, you can increase your pay upwards of 20%, simply based upon your newly built experience.

You can be a hustler and still be honest. I would never recommend lying to a prospective employer, but you should certainly know what the prospective employer can and cannot ask of your current or former employers. Prospective employers will not contact your current employers if you tell them not to for obvious reasons, so use this to your advantage. In addition, former employers usually only give time periods worked, and will not divulge salary information unless there is express written consent from you. It opens the employers to potential litigation and they won’t do it anymore. The same is true about your past performance. They won’t talk about you in fear of being sued.

Prospective employers will ask you what you currently make, and what you are expecting to make in a new job. It’s not smart to shoot yourself in the foot, be vague with your answers, your objective is to land a job and theirs is to weed out candidates. Early in my career I was making around 35k, when asked what I currently make, I told them in the upper 40’s (with benefits this is true-but I didn’t mention that). Stretch the truth, but be honest. It’s important to not allow them them to take advantage of you – but at the same time don’t shoot too high to where you remove yourself from consideration. Know the limits of what they’re going to pay. When asked how much you’re looking to make, the best answer is to subvert – and do not give them a number unless otherwise pressed to do so (If absolutely forced – give them a wide range – and say it really depends on what time commitments will be expected of you). Emphasize the importance of you finding a job that will help you grow your knowledge, skills, and abilities. Get the job first, worry about the money after they want you, it’s much easier to get what you want when they want you! When looking for a job, consider the experience you can gain and what that will mean to your next job.

You don’t have this experience or that experience, so what. Too many people won’t even apply for a job if they don’t have exactly the requirements listed, and that’s plain silly. Emphasize your ability to learn quickly, work with others to get answers, and your desires to constantly improve your skill set. Bring enthusiasm to the interview and smile. Be happy and confident and dress the role. Always be positive. If they ask you about things that you’ve done wrong, be honest, but also tell them how you learned from the experience and how it made you better.

Moving jobs too frequently can have equally negative consequences on your long term career prospects. So how often should you move companies? Early in your career it makes sense to do this every couple of years at minimum with a max of about 3-4 moves in 10 years. However, you must show a logical progression in your jobs. When pressed why you are moving jobs, you must convince them that your job has grown stagnant and your ability to move up within your current organization is limited. Eventually, you will get to a point where you need to stay at a place for several years because you’ve reached the pinnacle or top of pay in your area. You will know when you can’t make more money, at the time settle down and focus on being the best you can at what you do and learning other aspects of the business. If you’re jumping jobs every year, you’re going to be labeled a jumper and people won’t want to hire you, so make sure your moves are truly worth it.

I will write more about interviewing in upcoming career related posts, so check back often!