Category Archives: Perseverance

Should I change based on what the HR person told me?

Posted on March 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

Yes and no.

Human Resource people are phenomenal.  They are almost always honest.  However, they are human. An HR recruiter who is sorting through 100 resumes each day, scheduling 30 appointments for herself this week, and 50 appointments for managers, may cut corners.  You call and ask, “Why won’t you interview me?” She has no clue who you are and merely pops your name into the database to be sure you are a reject, then replies, “You just didn’t match what we were looking for.”

In reality you may have been a perfect match but the receptionist rejected your resume.  The HR person never saw it. She needs to get back to work and you are an interruption.  If you can get your resume into the manager’s hands some other way, you might be interviewed.

At another company where you have been through three interviews, you eventually get a reject letter.  You call up HR and ask, “Why?”  She may have been told the real reason. She may remember.  In all likelihood she pops your name into the database and sees the box checked, “Other hired.”  She racks her brain, remembers that the winning candidate had two certifications and tells you, “You weren’t as qualified as the person we hired.”  No revelations there, really.  She never talked to the manager about you, only about when the winner starts.

Even when the HR person remembers you personally she often does not have good feedback.  I always pump HR for information.  I trust the best to know exactly what is going on.  I always ask myself if this HR person really had the time to get involved with my candidate.

HR people rarely lie.  They are honest and hardworking.  Often they just don’t know the details you may want to hear from them.

Something to do today

Ask HR for feedback, but don’t put too much emphasis on what they say unless they give you a lot of details relevant only to you.

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Later: Should I trust an agency recruiter?

You can learn from spammers, but don’t spam

The rubber band solution for nervousness

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Posted in Finding jobs, Focus, Interviews, Perseverance

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Do you eat the leaves of your job search before the fruit appears?

Posted on March 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

Woodchucks are evil.  They get in my garden.  They eat the leaves on my strawberry plants and leave the flowers and small green fruit.  Then the flowers and fruit die.  I hate woodchucks.

I sometimes do the same thing figuratively.  I get started in a successful niche in my business, then I turn my hand to something else without thinking, without following my plan.  I waste my built up career capital switching direction because of lack of discipline.  I fail to direct my efforts and let the shifting winds of the moment direct my efforts.  I eat the strawberry leaves.  Then the flowers and fruit wither and die.

Are shifting winds and tides driving your job search and career?  Changing direction is one thing.  Never deciding is another.  You only have 40 or 60 hours a week for your career.  You have to build the roots and leaves of your career so that you get the full fruits of your labors.

Don’t let the woodchucks of indecision and lack of discipline keep you from the ripe fruits of hard work and patience.

Something to do today

Write out what you want your career to look like.  You can change it later, but if you write it out you will be less likely to change it 3 times a day.

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Later:             It’s official

Illegal questions

How to quit

The old boy network

Exploit the old boys

The money question

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Posted in Focus, Perseverance

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You should plan your career advancement like a 50 mile hike

Posted on February 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men. (Kin Hubbard)

Boys on a 50 mile hike

2 1/2 pounds of trail mix per boy each day for a total of 90 pounds.  3 packages of hamburger helper for one meal for 6 boys.  Oatmeal every day for breakfast for 6 days on the trail.  Coyotes, raccoons, elk and a 20 acre meadow of ripe blueberries. It was a great adventure.  By the end the boys learned they had taken way too much trail mix and hamburger helper.  They also stopped liking banana flavored oatmeal.  They planned, saw, did and learned things they would never have known about without that 50 mile hike. Later most of the boys did 70 and 100 mile hikes. On the later hikes they carried less weight and had even more fun.

Job hunting

If you want to constantly move up you have to stop looking at your job search as an occasional sprint.  It has to become a planned excursion.  It may become a safari.

Job hunting does not get any easier at the next level up. When you get better at what you do, it takes longer.  The number of jobs decrease and the number of good people looking for the great jobs increases as you move up.  Moving laterally isn’t hard.  Moving up is hard.  Getting a promotion is tough.  Beating the 20 other people who want to be raised to Executive Vice President or be the highest paid technician in the company is very hard.

It takes one month of job searching for every $15,000 of salary in today’s market. That’s how hard it is to advance.  That is how much harder it gets later.

If you start now and decide to LEARN while you search for a job, you’ll do better next time.  You need to study and try different ideas.  Find out what works for you and what flops.  Everyone is different.  There is no reason for you to do things exactly the same as someone else.

My boys started out with 2 mile, 10 mile and then 20 mile hikes.  They got better, but kept learning.  The 50 and 100 mile hikes were a lot of work, but not as painful as the 20 mile hikes.  Your job searches may get longer, but they don’t have to be as difficult as your current one if you keep on learning.

Something to do today

Go to your job journal.  List your employment dates so far.  Also list your promotions.  You will probably see a pattern.  If the new jobs or promotions stopped, was it really your idea or did you just stop advancing?  Write down how quickly you really can earn that next 3 raises, promotions or jobs.  You may want to set up a personal progress program.

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Later:                         Was that bear scat?

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Posted in Finding jobs, Networking, Perseverance, Promotions

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Can a kick in the teeth help your career?

Posted on January 2, 2013 | Leave a comment

You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.  (Walt Disney)

Can you believe Walt Disney said that?  He was such a nice guy!

Many of the happiest people I know were ruined at one point.  Some depressed people were also ruined, but they stayed that way.  It can be layoffs, bankruptcy, divorce, a major health problem or a terrorist act that is your personal disaster.  Often it is a combination of them, a major kick in the teeth.

One friend of mine was climbing the career ladder.  There was a disaster and he, his wife and kids all had to come and live in the basement of his parent’s house.  He took a dock worker job at trucking company.  He had no future. He learned that dockworker job and got promoted several times in only a couple of years.  Then he quit and formed a local company that expanded to several states.  He still loaded trucks when he had to… as the CEO helping out.  He won’t tell you he liked getting kicked in the teeth.  Instead, he’ll tell you it was a turning point.  It was the start of a new and exciting phase of his life.

Oh yeah, he got kicked in the teeth again and had the courts liquidate his company three years later.  Now he’s back at it. He didn’t enjoy it, but he just kept moving forward.

Happy or depressed, which will it be?  That depends on how long it takes you to put yourself in charge.  Being in charge is the subject of the next series of articles.  Positive steps you can take to prepare for or recover from disaster.

Something to do today

Talk to the 3 happiest people you know.  Get them alone.  Ask them if they were ever kicked in the teeth.  You may have to push them to find out.  Ask them about the list: layoffs, bankruptcy, divorce, health and terrorist acts.  I’ll bet you are surprised at what they call, “A blessing in disguise.”

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Later:               You vs offshoring

Prepare to be a manager

You are underpaid, right?

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Posted in Attitude, Perseverance

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What do you do while you wait to hear if you are hired?

Posted on December 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

Here in the USA we wait in lines.  We get upset when someone cuts in front.  So we wait back until it is our turn.  We don’t want to be greedy.

Tim was competing with 3 others for a promotion at EDS.  He was prepared.  He was a good choice.  He told his boss, “I do want this promotion.  It is the next step I need to take in my career.  But I don’t want you to choose me for the job if the other guys should have it.  I know it is important to them too.  I don’t want you to feel any pressure to give it to me even though I want it.”  Tim did NOT get the promotion.

Tim also waited a full year to get half of the bonus he was promised for putting in a lot of overtime on a project.  During that year he reminded his boss twice of the bonus.  Then Tim waited patiently with a smile.  Tim was a nice guy.  He was getting beaten up because he was afraid that hustling was uncouth.  Tim was politely waiting in line.

Good things come to those who wait.  But only what is left behind by those who hustle.  (Abraham Lincoln)

Let’s compare that to me.  Same area at EDS, different job.  I wanted to move to a special technical team.  There were 4 openings.  I asked my team leader and manager to help me get in.  I reminded them every few days.  I visited the manager who was leading the new group every other day.  I brought a word of cheer or another accomplishment.  He had no doubt how much I wanted the job. He got an email after every contact.  I got the job with 3 years of experience.  The other technicians were 5 to 20 years my senior.  They were well known and earned twice what I did.  I was nobody in comparison.  And I know I beat out a whole bunch of other folks who had way better credentials than me.

I waited, but I hustled while I waited. I made sure my references were checked.  I offered more proof of my accomplishments.  I never let the manager forget I wanted that job.  Towards the end he would see me in his doorway and grin, “Bryan, I haven’t made that decision yet, but I’m going to.  Don’t worry.  I know you want the job.”  But I kept coming for 3 weeks anyway.  I wanted the job more than I wanted to be polite.  I was willing to out work any of the more senior guys he could hire.  This was my only way to prove it.

There were a lot of very surprised people when I got the job.  They were obviously better than me.  But I hustled.  I made it a big deal.  I got the job.  Unfortunately there was nothing left for the others waiting in line.

Something to do today

If you are job hunting or looking for a promotion, hustle.  The job seeker who offers contagious enthusiasm often gets hired over the guy with experience.  For the job that is a quantum leap forward in your career, refuse to wait in line.  Hustle.

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Later:              The 5 pound call girl

Where to fish

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Posted in Attitude, Focus, Perseverance, Promotions, References

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Thrive in a terrible company – row away slowly when you have to

Posted on November 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

Tim tells me why he has to leave his current company every couple of months.  Then he says he has to stay.  Leadership is lacking.  The work ethic stinks.  His office only stays alive because it is propped up by corporate headquarters.  He and his boss both know what is wrong.  Tim can’t fix it and the boss won’t fix it.

Tim does have a good reason to stay.  He had five jobs in four years before he took this job.  He wants to make it to the two or even three year mark here to clear up his resume.  If the office lasts that long without being closed, he will stay.

More important than collecting years of service, he is collecting accomplishments.  Tim can prove he produces 2/3 of the output at his office of 6 people.  He has proof that his occasional training of coworkers has had a deep impact.  Tim has numbers.  Tim has projects and accomplishments.  Those numbers look even better because of his unproductive coworkers.

Call on God, but row away from the rocks. (Indian proverb)

This is not a race away from his old job.  Tim is slowly rowing away from the rocks in his career.  He may need a new job tomorrow or in two years.  There is no telling how long corporate will suffer losses cheerfully.  So he is preparing to leave.

If you are in a dead end job, use it as a lifeboat to your next job.  Be the most important person in your office.  Keep track of exactly how good you are.  Slowly row away from the rocks in your lifeboat job.

Something to do today

Whether you plan on it or not, your current job is the boat you are in until your next job.  Collect accomplishments, projects and cheerful statistics.

It is almost the end of the year.  Write your accomplishments in your job journal.  Give a list of them to your manager.  That is the only way to be sure he notices what you do.

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Later:              Useful little faults

The millionaire mind

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Posted in Accomplishments, Perseverance, Quitting or Fired, References

Overcome real career problems by using this weakling’s plan

Posted on October 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

In The Millionaire Mind the success of many German aces is credited to a flyer who had a weak arm, “Paule” Rossmann.  In the days before modern airplanes, brute strength often determined whether fighter pilots stayed in the air or were shot down.  Rossmann had a weak arm and decided he preferred life to a glorious death.  He decided to carefully pick his targets and opportunities instead of going into testosterone charged death matches.  That pilot had over 80 kills because he only attacked when all the odds were in his favor.

The plan is simple. Study things out. Get above your target.  Make sure the odds are in your favor.  Wait a little bit if you have to.  Then commit everything you have to win the day.

You need to do the same thing as Rossman.  Become a student of success in your field.  If you want to be a great technician, salesman, manager or CEO you need to study people who are performing better than you.  Why were they given opportunities or promoted?

I am often told, “I can’t get promoted because I refuse to play politics.”

If that is how you feel, you are welcome to your injured pride.  You may NOT be able to succeed where you are.  So quit and get a new job.  If you have had 3 or 4 jobs and you always have the same problem, look at yourself.  In all likelihood you are the problem.

Take some time to honestly evaluate why you don’t succeed. Are you playing to a weakness?  Do other people REALLY outperform you.  Are you guilty of taking on yourself ALL the jobs no one else wants?  Have you positioned yourself to lose?

If you are not sure what the problem is, time to swallow your pride.  Call up some of your old bosses.  Now that time has passed, ask for their help.  Tell them you have come to realize that you have some problems.  Humbly ask them, “You were my boss.  What keeps me from succeeding the way I could?”  Then just listen.  Take notes.  Swallow your pride.

Asking your old bosses for help even works for wildly successful people.

The idea is simple.  Study things out. Get above your problems.  Make sure you know what you do well and compensate for what you do poorly.  Wait a little bit as you get prepared. The re-commit everything you have to win the day.

Something to do today

Only do this if you recover quickly from sharp criticism!

Do you have a boss that hated you years ago?  How about one that loved you?  Call them both and humbly ask for their help.  Tell them you need perspective.  Write down what they say.  Meekly say thank you at the end of the conversation.

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Tomorrow:     Another ace who learned

Later:              My former boss is killing me

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Focus, Perseverance

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2 things that create career luck

Posted on October 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

IQ experts say that Thomas Jefferson was the smartest man ever born.  I don’t doubt he was brilliant.  He harnessed his brilliance to the ox of hard work.  Without his hard work, that incredible brain would have been wasted.

I am sure there have been many others born who were smarter than Jefferson, no matter what the experts say.  Those who were smarter were never recognized because they either worked in obscurity or didn’t work much at all.  They used their brilliance to just get by.

So, two things:

  1. You have to work hard
  2. You have to be recognized

Make sense?

I constantly talk to job seekers who have managed to get themselves into a great position.  They work hard, have a great attitude and are willing to take chances.  Interestingly, they commit with all their heart even though they may change jobs or positions frequently.  They commit, work hard and make sure their accomplishments are recognized.

These superstars often hit bumps in the road.  I know one that went from COO, to $24,000 per year junior associate, then back up to senior associate at $70,000 per year in 24 months.  A year later he was CTO.  He makes commitments, works hard and gets recognized.

Something to do today

It is time to look at your habits.  Are you performing at the level you want to be recognized at?  In other words:  work hard and get recognized.

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Next:     Ask and you shall receive

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Posted in Accomplishments, Attitude, Focus, Perseverance, Promotions, talent, Time management

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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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