Category Archives: Finding jobs

Do human “eagles” flock?

Posted on January 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

Eagles don’t flock, you have to find them one at a time. (EDS recruiting slogan)

I used to believe that eagles don’t flock.  I’d seen flocks of geese, starlings, and turkeys.  Never a flock of eagles.  For some reason, I believed the best people didn’t flock either.  After all, my employer used it as a recruiting slogan.  You have to find the great people one-by-one.

8 years into EDS, I worked with a dyed-in-the-wool environmentalist.  On her wall she had the Sierra club calendar.  There was a picture of a dozen eagles all sitting in the bare branches of an Alaskan tree.  I commented on the incongruity of all those eagles flocking together.  She said, “My husband and I were in Alaska when we took that picture.  It really isn’t that uncommon of a sight where there are a lot of eagles.”

Looking for flocks of eagles became a hobby of mine, particularly since my employer’s recruiting slogan denied that eagles flock.  I found that there really are a lot of lone eagles.  They are islands of expertise and productivity in an ocean of mediocrity.  My current profession is to find those eagles and move them into flocks.

There are a few flocks of eagles in every industry and city.  Places where eagles are naturally attracted.  Once you know where those places are, it is pretty easy to get an eagle to move to that flock.  Some choose to remain the lone eagle among sparrows.  I can’t blame them.  Besides, they can move to a flock anytime they want.

Just being around eagles makes you grow.  You can’t help but want to be like them even if you are just a sparrow.  Somehow, you absorb their attitude and habits.  Even if you don’t really want to become an eagle, being around them is exhilarating.

So keep your eyes open for flocks of eagles and individual eagles.  Find a way to work closely with them.  You’ll learn and grow.  You’ll find your career is enhanced and your outlook improves whether or not you ever want to become an eagle yourself.

Something to do today

Ask around.  Where is the flock of eagles you would like to work with?  Where are the lone eagles?

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Later:               Laying a foundation later

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Posted in Attitude, Finding jobs

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Job hunting on the job

Posted on January 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

“Hey, Jim, this is the fourth day this month you’ve worn a suit.  Are you going to see the dentist again?”

That was a running joke at one place I worked.  It was obvious when people were interviewing for a new job. None of us minded as long as the person didn’t slack off.

It is absolutely legal and a good idea to look for a new job while you are still employed.  It can also be theft, treason and absolutely illegal.  It depends on how you do it.

The principles are simple:

  1. Honestly keep earning your income
  2. Don’t give away any company secrets

Here are some things I have noticed about job hunters that I respect:

  1. They interview at lunch or during a normal job downtime.
  2. They use their own email address or know the company policy on using their work email for personal use.
  3. They are careful about who can hear them when talking on the phone.
  4. You can’t pry confidential company information out of them.
  5. Getting their work done despite job hunting is important to them.
  6. Sabotaging workplace morale is out of character.

It is pretty simple.  Treat your job, boss and coworkers how you would like to be treated.  Be worth every penny you have been paid and will be paid.  Switching jobs is not a crime unless you make it one.

Something to do today

Decide what ethical job hunting really is.  Write down some rules.  Live by them.

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Later:               Salt in the wound

Eagles don’t flock?

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Posted in Finding jobs, Quitting or Fired

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Should relocation be an option?

Posted on January 21, 2013 | Leave a comment

It was a drop in total pay, but for a $125,000 dollar base salary, my candidate moved to another state.  Two years later the company was sold and he pocketed an additional half million in cash.  That was a financially successful relocation.  The opportunity had been even better than expected.

But they had to deal with finding a new house, moving the girls into a new school, finding a new church and new social group.  The first 3 months were very painful.  The financial reward was great, but they questioned the decision to move as they tried to settle in. .  They eventually found a school, neighborhood and social group that was even better than the one they left. At work and at home it was an improvement because there was opportunity for a positive change combined with strength and preparation.

Oh, yes.  Last year he made $500,000 in base salary and commissions.  This year he moved again, to another company….for less money. He moved for opportunity.

What if the money is NOT that good?

Opportunity is what is important in considering whether to move or not.  More money alone is not that great of a reason to uproot yourself.  The opportunity to live near family or to get away from a disruptive family member is a good reason.  It may be worth moving just to be where the economy is more vibrant or stable.  Getting into a company with a technical or managerial career ladder that suits you is a great reason to relocate to another state.  A lot of people move here to Harrisburg because it is a smaller town with shorter commutes, and there are a lot of outdoor activities 15 minutes away.

You need to figure out the opportunities that are most important for you and your family.  Talk about it.  For the right opportunity, those high school students may even want to move.

When to delay a move

Running from a problem may be necessary.  If possible, take a little while to fix the underlying cause first, then move.  Otherwise you merely take your problems to a new location and they reappear like weeds in a garden.

That may mean admitting you need more training, a better attitude at work, better work habits or to build a stronger family.  When you are on the road to fixing underlying problems, then a move can give you a clean slate to start over with.

Relocate for opportunity.  That means YOU need to be ready, really ready, to grow.

Something to do today

This is a good time to talk to your family or a good friend about what is holding you back.  Do you need to have more opportunities for work, your family, or both?

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Later:               What a spouse is good for

Job hunting on the job

Salt in the wound

Eagles don’t flock?

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The 2 biggest internet job site scams

Posted on January 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

A banking jobs website salesman called my partner one day.  They have the best, the greatest, the most useful banking jobs website ever.  They want us to have all of our candidates put their resumes up on their website.  Then any employer can pay a fee, find the resumes, and hire the candidates.  There are a whopping 175 resumes in the database. It is useless for anyone to go there.  Don’t waste your time putting your resume on that website.

1.

Wasting your time online is the biggest internet job site scam. Many sites sell hope, and not results, ever.

Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits are objects of scorn to smart Americans who blow horns to break up traffic jams.  (Mary Ellen Kelly)

You need to talk to people.  Your resume only has one job, to get you an interview.  If you can call up a company and talk to a real person who might tell you to come in for an interview, that’s the best use of your time.

2.

One other job site scam is the high fee “We’ll help you find a job” website.  I have nothing against legitimate resume preparation companies.  Someone who helps you prepare for interviews for a fee is fine.  Resume rabbit will post your resume on 75 websites for a small fee.  Companies that send your resume to 10,000 companies do a service, even if it is mostly useless.  The problem is with companies that will charge you $5,000 or $20,000 for those services.  Sorry, that’s where I draw the line.  So, let me give you some guidelines on top fees you should pay.  Paying a fraction of these fees for great service is common. This is the MOST you should pay, ever.

  • Resume preparation:   $800
  • Resume posting to jobsites $150
  • Interview coaching: $150 per hour
  • Mass resume blasts to employers: a few hundred dollars

Consider the internet a helper in your job search.  Your goal is to talk to people who can hire you.  You can’t do that on the internet yet.

Something to do today

Call a potential employer or recruiter today.  Talk to someone.

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Later:               Should relocation be an option?

What a spouse is good for

Job hunting on the job

Salt in the wound

Eagles don’t flock?

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Posted in Finding jobs, Focus, Resumes, Training

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Can you be offshoring resistant?

Posted on January 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. (Rod Serling)

IBM consolidated all of the development work for one of its major initiatives in Bangalore.  I can’t even find Bangalore on a map without taking a few minutes.  At first I thought it was the capital of Maine. (My wife says to tell you this is supposed to be a joke.)

In my business, recruiting, some parts are being offshored.  Sales companies are sending telemarketing offshore.  Engineering is going to cheaper climes.  Data entry is sent to other countries through our great telecommunications system.  And many companies no longer have permanent offices or cubicles for large numbers of their “thought” workers.  They work from home or on the road.

It is a fact of life.  Manufacturers had to face the music decades ago.  Now it is everyone else’s turn.  The economics of a world economy are not going away. You need to assess your skills and job starkly.  Can your job be sent to Vietnam or Indonesia?  What do you offer that is superior to their college educated workforce?

David Foote defined three categories of “offshore-resistant” jobs in the computer field.  They are enabler jobs, customer-facing jobs, and infrastructure jobs. I think he has the right idea, but he is an optimist.  Some of the jobs he thinks are offshore resistant will go overseas.

In your field, what are the offshoring resistant jobs?  Which jobs cannot even be moved to California or Alabama? A recent study showed that half of the outsourced jobs are outsourced within the USA.  The jobs leave your company and stay in the country.

There is a larger reason than potential unemployment to figure it out.  The jobs that are most difficult to offshore are the most likely to be stable.  They are more likely to have constantly increasing salaries.  As the baby boomers retire, those jobs cannot be filled by unskilled labor.  While the workforce shrinks, competition for people who can do those critical jobs will increase.  Compared to today’s wages, some people are going to be paid outrageously well.

In your field, what are the offshoring resistant jobs? Just knowing will change your career.

Something to do today

Invite your boss or his boss to lunch.  Take the chance to ask him what jobs are most and least likely to be offshored.  It is worth paying for his lunch to find out.

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Later:               Prepare to be a manager

You are underpaid, right?

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Posted in Economy, Finding jobs

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Creative or just a gray person?

Posted on December 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

Some people are remembered because they are sharp, creative, and interesting. Many people are gray and easily forgotten

Call up our office after 6 pm.  Usually no one is there.  Listen to my voice mail message.  (800)239-7037.  Bryan Dilts.  I change the message every week or two.

You won’t be the first person to call just to hear it.  Some of them are great.  Some are merely okay.  I, personally, think each is funny, motivational or thought provoking.  Some other people think my messages are an abomination.  Each message is the real me.

My voice mail is unique.  Each person who leaves a message remembers me.

No committee would ever let me have those messages.  They would strangle the creativity.  I actually had a manager tell me not to be happy when I answer the phone at EDS.  That is the kind of thinking that turns you into a grey person that no one will remember.

A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled. (Sir Barnett Cocks)

In your job search you need to strike a balance.  You need to build confidence in the hiring managers.  You also need to stand out.  If you come up with a great idea, run it past some friends who can help you refine it.  Then test it.  The key is to refine and improve, not kill the idea.  In the end, take responsibility and do something a little different.  Your friends are not a committee with life or death responsibility. They are helpers.

Figure out what will make your resume better and unique.  Decide a few things you can answer to the standard questions that make you standout in 10 seconds of an interview.  Find the way to network that will set you apart and make you uniquely worthy of help.  Always go for a little better.

Use help to do something better and more unique.  Don’t let a committee kill your genius.  Be sharp and creative, not just a gray person everyone immediately forgets.

Something to do today

So, what is unique about you?  Is it your personality?  Your brainpower? Your 10 kids? (I have that many.) Education?  Sense of humor? Hard work? Soberness? Reliability?

Figure out a way to emphasize your strengths.  Be different.

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Later:              Boomer brain drain

Not 12 seconds, it is 5.7 seconds

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Posted in Attitude, Finding jobs, Focus, Interviews

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The best place to look for jobs or promotions

Posted on December 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

When I was a child I tried fishing in the water puddle in front of our house.  When the sun dried it up I could see there were no fish there.

At college I saw a video of a man fishing in one of the larger fountains there.  When people asked how the fishing was, he pulled up a nice string of large trout.  That made for interesting conversations, but no one believed him.  They could see there were no trout in that clear fountain water.

On a Scout outing John and I were lying on a creek bank and looking down into the water.  We could see 3 nice trout in the tree roots.  When a fisherman came by we asked how he was doing.  Only one fish so far.  John told the man to cast his lure at the tree root.  In a dozen casts the man caught all three fish.

To catch fish you have to cast your lure where the fish are.

This applies to new jobs and promotions

A recruiter can be that kid lying on the bank of the creek looking into the water.  He says “Cast your resume over here and you’ll get a job.”  He knows where the jobs are.

Ask your friends and acquaintances who is hiring.  They may have a good idea where to go. Look at the financial news stories and find out what industries are “going public” in the stock market.  Ask what companies are growing the fastest and look for a job in that industry.

Your mentor at work will tell you, “Volunteer for that project.  It has great visibility.  Avoid Jill Montoya, she’s poison.”  The mentor knows where the rewards and pitfalls are hidden.

Always be looking to the future.  Where are the jobs being created?  What do you need to learn to be in a high demand field?

Fish where the fish are.  You’ll have better luck.

Something to do today

Ask the people you respect most in your profession where the jobs are and where the industry is going.

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Later:              Mirrored windows

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Posted in Finding jobs, Focus, Promotions

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Why failure is good in your job search

Posted on November 9, 2012 | 1 comment

Not many people are willing to give failure a second try.  They fail once and it is all over.  The bitter pill of failure is often more than most people can handle.  If you are willing to accept failure and learn from it, if you are willing to consider failure as a blessing in disguise and bounce back, you have got the essential of harnessing one of the most powerful success forces.  (Joseph Sugarman)

Why failure is good in your job search

When I was 17 I bragged that I had gotten every job I applied for.  That was 5 jobs at the time.  I set my own expectations and hit them.  I continued to get every job I applied for. Looking back, I was lucky and that luck kept me from doing better.

I always had enough money to survive and my desires weren’t huge.  I was going to college by then and just wanted to graduate.  That is why my luck hurt me so bad.

After I left college I found out that my Geology Department would have gladly given me jobs while I was at school.  I just never asked.  I could have gone on to graduate school and jobs would have been lined up for me so I could afford it.  I never asked.  During the summer break there were jobs available for aspiring geologists, but I had already lined up something else selling books or working in the library.  It was so easy to get the jobs I applied for that I never got the jobs that would advance my career.

Even when I graduated I applied for a job in geology that was being filled by high school graduates at the time.  Of course I got the job.  And I earned less than I could. And I didn’t look for another job until I was laid off.

It took me 3 years after that lay off to get a good job with a bright future.  It took me that long to learn that if I accept every job I can get, I get jobs without a future.

I was a slow learner.  I didn’t start failing until after I was laid off.  I finally learned.  Sometimes getting every job you apply for means you aren’t aiming high enough.

Something to do today

Do you have a real career plan?

I was talking with programmers earning $50,000 per year and others earning $120,000 per year.  They had the same basic talents.  The better paid ones had chosen to work in SAP instead of Visual Basic.  They really had to pay a price to get into SAP.  Now they are reaping amazing rewards compared to the programmers who applied for jobs they knew they could get.

Do you really have a career plan?  Or is it just a downhill career path?

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Later:              Simplicity

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Posted in Attitude, Finding jobs, Focus

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Job safety and job ethics

Posted on October 4, 2012 | Leave a comment

I made a 2 year commitment to the first company that hired me out of college.  I said I would do that job and not quit.  I had a safe job.  I was over educated and working hard. “Safety first,” I thought.  I was happy to make that commitment.  A year into it I got a sweet job offer. A huge promotion into another company.  I was torn.  I couldn’t take the new job.  3 months later I was laid off by my old company.  I had made a commitment to my company, but they could not keep their commitment to me.

Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word ‘safe’ that I wasn’t previously aware of. —  Arthur Dent in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”

Since then I have learned a few things about “Safety First” and job ethics.

“Safety” is important.  Just remember, you are only safe if your company is making money and you are a significant part of that money making machine.  By the way, all that safety goes out the door if someone buys your company.

Job ethics works just like a contract. A contract is of no effect unless both sides receive something of value.  You should live up to your commitments.  Absolutely.  But, if your company is not living up to their commitments, your side of the commitment disappears too.

Staying with the company was the right thing for me to do.  The company was sold a month before I was laid off, and 75% of the capacity of the whole industry was cut over the next month after the company was sold. They had to lay me off.

I learned to feel good about fulfilling my commitments.  I also learned to be careful about what I commit to.  I paid a steep price.  I learned, and have used what I learned for the rest of my life.  It was worth it.  I made a 3 year commitment to EDS a little later.  I fulfilled that commitment too.  That also was worth it.

Something to do today

What commitments have you made?  What are the commitments made back to you?

Write down both sides of the agreement.  Does it make sense when you look at it today?

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Next:   I believe in luck

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Posted in Economy, Finding jobs, Perseverance

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6 things about your job search and job security that you can learn from India

Posted on September 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

People doing business in India have told me how difficult business there can be.  Basic utilities like electricity and water are very unreliable.  The legal system is subject to corruption.  Government regulation depends on your relationship with the bureaucrats, not the rules.  Business partners don’t want to offend you or lose face, so they agree to do things they can’t get done.  Bringing you bad news is avoided at all cost.  Labor costs are low, but people will switch jobs for the slightest increase in pay.  And it goes on and on depending on the city, industry, neighborhood, and your ancestors.

Indian businessmen do incredibly well in the US because they have practice overcoming complex problems. You can learn how to prosper in your job search and job by applying the few basic principles they live by.

These job security, success, and business principles are applicable to accountants, help desk techs, managers, and CEO’s. They especially matter if you are in a job search.  They will give you an incredible advantage in every company you apply at.

  1. Trust others but make sure they are actually accomplishing what they say they will do.  Even experienced partners occasionally screw up.  Have an alternative plan in case things don’t get done on time. Get commitments from recruiters, managers, friends, and anyone you talk to.  Follow up.
  2. Don’t rely on your relationship with one person, like the HR department.  Establish relationships 3 or 4 people deep.  If one leaves or fails, you need the others to keep going forward.
  3. Spend time cultivating people.  Get to know them.  Find out about them personally as well as from business.  It is amazing how often this will give you the leverage you need to succeed. Some of our greatest success as recruiters comes from being friendly, open and honest with the receptionist, as well as with HR and the hiring manager.
  4. Help others constantly.  Go out of your way to encourage, help, and promote others who are growing.  That help will often come back to save you in a crisis. Helping someone else get a job will improve your abilities and give you a strong supporter on the inside of their new company.
  5. Constantly focus on doing things quicker, cheaper, better, and with less people. This alone is the greatest job security guarantor in the USA.  And when you prove you can do it in your resume, you will always be a hot commodity on the job market.
  6. Take time to read, plan, and think.  Americans are terrible at this. Sit down with a sheet of paper and write for 15 minutes or an hour each day. Brainstorm things you can do for your job or job search.

In India it is essential to have multiple layers of preparation.  In America we get by without them.  Americans also often wonder why they got laid off and how they will survive when laid off.  Preparation, getting to know more people, and fearless execution will do more for your earning potential than anything else.

Something to do today

List where you only have one layer of protection.  Then list how you can improve that.

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Next:   Interview follow up – get help

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Posted in Finding jobs, Focus, Networking, Perseverance, Promotions, References

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