Author Archives: bryandilts

What will happen in this summer’s recession

Posted on January 14, 2014 | Leave a comment

I expect there to be a minor recession this summer.  We will be out of it before the year ends.

Three things will surely happen to companies in the next recession:

  1. Companies will have layoffs and close.
  2. A lot of people will retire.
  3. Musical chairs will become the biggest game in corporate America.

In a recession, companies close down divisions and lay off people.  Many will offer early retirement to their older and more expensive workers.  A lot of those retirees will decide to really retire.

I saw one estimate that half the US workforce is over 60 right now. I’m suspicious of that number.  However, there are a lot of people who will retire and won’t look for another job.  They are highly skilled.  Someone has to take their place.  Prepare now and you will find the coming decade to have incredible possibilities.  There will be more openings at high levels in companies than there have ever been in the history of America.

Take advantage of the future retirements.  In your company and division decide who is going to retire in the next 3 years.  Someone will fill their job, and then a domino effect will happen.  It will look like musical chairs as everyone scrambles to fill open seats created by the guy who just got promoted.  Musical chairs in the corporation is going to be incredible.  Prepare now and position yourself.

There is no such thing as luck. There is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe.  (Robert Heinlein)   

Something To Do Today

 

Figure out who will be retiring where you work.  How can you take advantage of it?

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Later:  Some jobs give you a bad reputation, no matter how good you are.

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Posted in Economy, Promotions

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What a big house or a great job costs

Posted on January 10, 2014 | Leave a comment

I was at a gorgeous house.  It had radiant heating, an indoor basketball court and swimming pool, wonderful view, and enough room for anyone’s desires.  I loved it.  The hosts were generous and kind.  Then I decided to tally up the cost of owning a house like that.  My estimate is $24,000 per month without mortgage payments.  Owning that great house had a price tag that I can’t ever see myself paying.

Last week I also talked with people in jobs that paid $100,000 – $250,000 per year.  They are wonderful jobs.  Nice offices, private secretaries, authority over others, and a sweet lifestyle come with the jobs.  They are leading financial and accounting people. 

There is a price those people pay.  First is education and certification.  Then comes an apprenticeship with 60-90 hour weeks for months at a time during peak seasons.  Without that apprenticeship with the “right” companies, they would be earning half of what they are.  The “right” companies now means choosing from 4 major CPA firms and toiling there for at least 4 years.

With all that hard work, we still need to mention another 5-20 years of always putting in 50+ hours per week. There is a very high price for those jobs, and there is high pay. Many people try to get around the education, certification, and apprenticeship.  Notably, a few people make it without those exact experiences.  But those who get around it are either obviously geniuses, or have worked even more to rise from obscurity to notoriety than the path I outlined would have taken.

If there is a high and mighty job you want, there is also a price to be paid for it.  Go ahead, get that job.  As you earn that job, make sure that you always understand the price of the next step or two in your progression.

Both a big house and a great job have fine rewards.  They also have their own unique costs.  It can be worth it.  Is it worth it for you?

Something To Do Today            

Invite to lunch a person who has the job you want. Ask them about the price they paid in the past and they price they pay now for that job.

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Later:  What may happen in the next recession

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Posted in Focus, management, Perseverance, Promotions, Raises, talent, Time management

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Beat the job boards – Now to get past the human filter

Posted on January 9, 2014 | Leave a comment

80% of all resumes are discarded 12 seconds AFTER they get to the first human. 

Seize the screeners attention.

Here is the secret. Look at the first two sentences. 

  1. Using numbers or BOLDED words gets attention
  2. Great first words make a difference
  3. The first two or three bullet points under your first job are usually read
  4. Short is infinitely better.

Study the three paragraphs above.  They are the key to being noticed in under 12 seconds.  If a screener is going to toss 40 resumes in the trash can and keep 5, he is going to get rid of the duds as quickly as possible. Use the 4 tricks above to get past that human filter. 

Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently.  Be the chess player, not the chess piece (Ralph Charell)

Something To Do Today

Hand your resume to a friend.  Tell them you will take it back in 12 seconds and want their opinion.  Let them read it for only 12 seconds and snatch it back.  Find out what they read.  That is a great test for your resume’s impact.

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Later:  What a big house or great job costs

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Posted in Finding jobs, Resumes

Beat the job boards – 4 ways to get a call

Posted on January 8, 2014 | Leave a comment

How do you get people to pay attention to your resume when there are 100 others just like it?

You can’t.  You have to be different.

The best way to be different is to be obviously well qualified.  Another great way is to prove, not just say, that you have a great attitude.  You can also solve their problems.  Being bizarre even occasionally works.

1. Being Bizarre

Unless there is substance behind your resume, being bizarre just gets your resume trashed.  So, try bizarre for fun and personal entertainment. Try the others for results.

2. Solve Their Problems

Most managers hire someone because they have a problem.  If the first two bullet points under your current job prove you can solve the manager’s problem, you’ll get an interview.  You figure out that problem by reading the ad, and also by calling up and asking.  You can call Human Resources, or you can call and ask for the “Manager Of Computer Systems”. If you can find out the real problem, prove you have already solved it for someone else.  Make it impossible to miss the fact that you can solve his problem.

3. Prove You Have A Great Attitude

How did you help lead the team?  In what ways were you provably the best?  How was your attendance?  You need to figure out how to show that everywhere you go the teams work better.  Don’t just say, “Everyone works better when I am around”, say “When I joined the team turnover dropped from 60% to 10% per year.”

4. Be Obviously Well Qualified

Prove you have done that job very well in the past.  Don’t say, “Worked on the Accounts Receivable team.”  Instead say, “Highest collections rate on the Accounts Receivable team.

You need to prove that you should be hired.  You also have to make it impossible to miss that fact.

Something To Do Today            

Call up a company about a job you know they have open.  Ask for the manager of that area.  No matter who answers the phone, ask why the job is open and what problem the person hired will solve.

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Later: Beat the job boards – beating hundreds

Now to get past the human filter

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Finding jobs, Job Boards

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Beat the job boards – electronic filters

Posted on January 7, 2014 | Leave a comment

When I put an ad on a job board I often get 100 replies, but only 1 or 2 candidates are viable.  Since people have to go through 100 terrible resumes to find one or two good ones, electronic filters have been employed.  Some of those filters are pretty good.  Most of the filters are terrible.

Filters are mostly keyword driven.  They have a list of words that have to be on your resume in order for you to be considered.  If you don’t have those key words, you will either receive an instant rejection, or nothing will ever happen because your resume is dumped. 

There is another reason for the filters.  Federal law says large companies have to be able to prove they don’t discriminate by race, sex, age, etc.  They have to keep records of everyone they consider for jobs, except for people who are filtered out immediately.  There you are!  Another government law with unintended consequences.  Because they don’t want to have to guess your sex or race, they eliminate you completely unless you are obviously qualified.    

The easy way past the filters is to carefully read the ad, and put in all the keywords they use.  Even if you do NOT have a particular skill or experience here is how you can put it on your resume.  At the bottom just put a line that says, “I know how to fish, but have never done underwater basket weaving, though I can learn.”  Because you mention underwater basket weaving, you get past the filters.  It is at the bottom of your resume, so no one reads it.

Another method that works is to paste the ad at the bottom of your resume with a note that says, “This is the ad I am responding to.”  Every key word will be in it then! Note: you have to do this on the RESUME because the filter is always applied to the resume.

One last note, if you are totally unqualified you will still be instantly rejected by the first human to see your resume.  Spamming still does not work.  Also, if you are qualified, your resume has to get past the human screener. Well talk about that too.

Something To Do Today

Go fishing for trolling ads.  Find a few ads that look very generic.  Start collecting them and seeing if they are out there for month or years.  Some are a decade old.

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Later: Beat the job boards – posting your resume

– beating hundreds

Now to get past the human filter

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Posted in Finding jobs, Job Boards, Resumes

Beat the job board trolls

Posted on January 6, 2014 | Leave a comment

Putting out an ad for a job that doesn’t exist is called “trolling” in the recruiting business. 

When you troll for fish you drag a bait or lure behind your boat as you putter around the lake.  Eventually a fish grabs it, and you reel in the fish.  When you troll for candidates you put a generic ad out, refresh it occasionally, and try to catch a qualified person looking for a job.  You don’t have a specific job, you just place the ad.

A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other. (Samuel Johnson)

By the way, trolling for candidates is illegal in some states.  Recruiters do it any way because it works. The candidates who get jobs don’t mind.

You need to decide which ads to respond to.  You want to find a company that has a job for you, or a recruiting agency that has a job for you.  That means at times you will deliberately respond to trolling ads, and other times you won’t.

A trolling ad is usually very generic.  It gives no disqualifying details.  It just says, “accountant”, “salesman”,  “vb programmer”, or “electrical engineer”.  Look at trolling ads to figure out which agencies work in your field regularly. Ask some friends if they know the agencies whose ads impress you the most.  Call those agencies when you really just want your resume out to as many hiring companies as possible.  There is nothing wrong with that.

If you are more concerned about getting the right job, only respond to very specific ads.  The more disqualifiers an ad has in it, the more likely you are to get the specific job you want.

Responding to trolling ads is a choice.  You may not care today, but someday it could be important to you.

Something To Do Today            

Go fishing for trolling ads.  Find a few ads that look very generic.  Start collecting them and seeing if they are out there for month or years.  Some are a decade old.

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Later: Beat the job boards – electronic filters

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Posted in Finding jobs, Job Boards

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Are job boards keeping you from getting a job?

Posted on January 2, 2014 | Leave a comment

On Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, or even Indeed .com.  Look for a job in your specialty. Did you carefully read the ads and find that the vast majority are put there by recruiting agencies?  Amazing, isn’t it?

The problem is not that corporations no longer have job openings, they have lots of them.  The problem is that there is a huge lack of skilled workers.  When a company desperately needs a skilled worker and can’t find him, they contact at least one agency.  Some companies contact 100 agencies.  Each of those agencies puts the job on the agency’s website and on at least one job board.  I don’t put ads on CareerBuilder, I put a few ads on 50 lesser job boards. So I also contribute to the glut of ads.

All those ads are causing less highly skilled people to apply for jobs through the internet job boards. A lot of under-skilled desperate people apply for the jobs instead. So, now they use computer filters to clear out under-skilled candidates.  Unfortunately the filters mess up a lot.  They tend to also filter out people who have less than stellar resumes, but great skill sets.

So what do you do?

I’ve got some great ideas coming up. 

Something To Do Today            

Have some fun.  See how many ads from agencies you can find for one particular job you can do well.  What is the same in all the ads?

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Posted in Job Boards

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How to deal with absolute idiots, bosses, and 6 year olds

Posted on December 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

Into everyone’s life comes people who just don’t get it.  There is even a chance that you will be that person for someone else at some time.  The fact is, no one sets out to be an idiot.  They are always well intentioned, they just don’t get it.  So how do you deal with an absolute idiot? What if he’s your boss?

Pretend he is 6.

How do you deal with a 6 year old?  If they are not causing any real trouble you just smile and ignore them.  Sure, you correct them occasionally, but you let them mature until they understand something about life.  Smile and enjoy it.  You don’t spread malicious gossip.  Why should you?  They are only 6 after all.

And what if the 6 year old just gets too annoying? Do you gossip behind his back? Do you shoot him for target practice?  No.  You give him chores.  If you can, you give him chores that will educate him and make him less of an idiot. Otherwise you just have him do a lot of things that need to be done.  That gets him out of your hair, and gets things done.  In the end he may even learn that if he is annoying, he gets more chores to do.

If that 6 year old is destroying property or reputation, you take him aside tell him to stop, and tell him what the consequences are if he doesn’t stop.  Then you follow through.  He may consider it a threat.  You should just consider it a statement of fact. You essentially tell a 6 year old, “I love you too much to let you do that.”

What if the 6 year old isn’t yours?  Then you politely draw boundaries with the kid.  If the kid goes past them, you rudely let him know. You call his mom if he won’t cooperate.

Can you do that to your boss?

What if the idiot is your boss?  Same thing.  I mean, do the same things.

Sometimes you just have to smile at your boss and let him go about doing whatever he wants.  If he is doing something destructive, give him chores – try to help him see that there are things he can do that will help, or at least won’t slow people down.

If your boss is destroying property or reputation, take him aside and tell him what the consequences are if he doesn’t stop.  Are you telling his boss?  Leaving the company? Asking for a transfer?  Let your boss know that what he is doing is absolutely unacceptable and you will not allow him to continue doing it.  Be prepared in case he fires you.  Think about it, if your boss is damaging your reputation, won’t you be better off looking for a new job?

Of course there is always the final way to get rid of an idiot.  Move.  Get a new job or a new house.  Maybe you should try the other things I mentioned first. Treat the idiots in your life like a 6 year old.  It will preserve your mental health.

Something To Do Today

Don’t get mad at idiots.  Get an attitude change.  Look at them as really big 6 year olds.

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Later: Did you notice that job boards are mostly ads by agencies?

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Posted in Attitude, management, Quitting or Fired

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Proof you are really good at getting the job

Posted on December 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

When you don’t get a particular job, sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and think about past successes.

Very few jobs are awarded to the only candidate considered.  In most situations, even internal promotions, at least 3 candidates are considered.  For the majority of outside hires more than 10 resumes are reviewed.  You never have a chance of getting the job.  But somehow, you eventually win.

Look at your current or last  job.  Who were the competitors? Why did you win? See! You are good at getting the job.

Now look at the next job you want to have.  What can you do today to give yourself the winning edge over the other candidates?

Goals can be used to give you that winning edge in an impossible competition.  Yesterday I talked to someone who spent $6000 last year to finish his degree while working full time.  Now he not only can win the jobs he looked at more easily, but he can look at a whole new level of jobs.

Set a goal to give yourself an unfair advantage in you next career move.

The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser — in case you thought optimism was dead.  (Robert Brault)

Something To Do Today

Figure out when you can spend some time with your goals every day.  Just sitting with a pen and paper for 15 minutes each day can change your life if you are thinking about where you want to go.

Make sure the goals will give you a tangible advantage in your career.

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Have a great New Year.

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Posted in Attitude, Focus, Perseverance, Time management

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The most common bad career goal

Posted on December 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

The only thing worse than not reaching your goal, is reaching it.

The most common bad career goal

As a recruiter I talk to some people who are miserable that they reached their career goals.  Of course I also talk to those who have reached their goals and are loving it, so they set new ones.  What’s the difference?  Setting the right goals. What is the most common career goal?  I do/do not want to be a manager.

It is a terrible thing to climb the ladder of success, and find out it is leaning against the wrong wall.

I want to be a manager

This is the biggest misery making goal I see.  As a programmer, accountant, salesperson, or engineer you get to regularly do something concrete.  You can see what you did.  It is obvious.  Managers often work a whole week resolving problems and dealing with emotional issues.  At the end of the week, they often cannot point to a single thing they really accomplished.  When someone quits, it is their fault and their responsibility to fix the problem.  Then someone else quits.  They also feel isolated from their coworkers. Managers have to discipline, give raises, and fire people.  It gets lonely at the top.

It can also be the perfect job.  Some people thrive as managers.  If you want to be a manager find out if you will like it.  Lead some projects.  Lead a team.  Reflect on what it will really be like if you no longer “get your hands dirty”.  Ever.

I want out of management

It’s funny that this too is a common bad career goal.  Be honest, do you really want to get back to the daily production grind, or is your current position the problem.  Sometimes you have to change what you are doing, change your boss, or change your company.  If you loved management in the past and did well, but you are no longer allowed to succeed, getting back to a production job isn’t the solution.  Figure out what else must change, and change that.

Being a manager can be great if it fits your personality and you are in the right place.  Before you get out of management, make sure you should be out.  You can volunteer for a project leader job where you go back to work in the trenches for a while.  Get your hands dirty in a temporary assignment to see if that is what you really should be doing.

Be careful that you set goals you will be happy with. See if you can try out that promotion or production job before you take it full time.

Something To Do Today

Figure out when you can spend some time with your goals every day.  Just sitting with a pen and paper for 15 minutes each day can change your life if you are thinking about where you want to go.  Figure out how to try out your goals.

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Have a great New Year.

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Posted in Attitude, Focus, Raises, talent

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