How do you build your brand? (Part Two)

This is part two of a three-part series I began a few months ago regarding branding.  If you recall I was hoping to explore three facets of branding your company.  This could help to create awareness about your culture, working environment, and much more.  Those three items regarding branding are:

1)  What do your current employees say?

2)  What does the market say?

3)  What does your competition say?

Today we will be exploring #2 – what does the market say about your brand?  At an organic level there are only two general responses.  The market either has a positive perception of your brand or a negative perception.  The truth could lie in the middle, but for the purposes of this conversation I only want to focus on these two.

Let’s first talk about the positive end of the spectrum.  I will break this into two categories as well – intentional and unintentional.  Intentional branding is an effort to communicate a clear message regarding what you are doing surrounding employee recruitment, retention, employee benefits, and overall working culture.  Your current employees can then take this message into the market when talking with friends and family, vendors, former colleagues, future colleagues, and any one in general.  This provides an invaluable positive image in the community.  That seems easy, so what do I mean by unintentional branding?  These are the little ways that you take care of employees that end up being communicated at home around the dinner table and in personal and professional circles.  You allow some flexibility with working schedules around holidays.  You remember employee’s birthdays and surprise them with cupcakes.  You provide some tokens of appreciation throughout the year with gift cards to a local restaurant.  It may seem small, but I have spoken with many placed candidates over the years that get so excited about the little things that it turns them into longtime and loyal employees.

Now the negative end of the spectrum.  No company in their right mind is going to intentionally brand themselves as a “bad” place to work, but it happens in everyday communications and interactions with employees.  I recently had a candidate who switched jobs about six months ago.  She thought she was going to a better situation.  You know the old saying – the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  Well, in this case it clearly wasn’t.  So as this individual begins another job search after such a short period of time, the market will quickly learn that this particular employer is not stable, does not have a good working culture, has very few actual resources to support client service, and in general is not a good place to work.

These may seem like small things, but perception is everything in today’s ever-increasing competitive marketplace for good talent.  We have been helping clients for the past several months create a completely new idea of branding so that the message is concise, clear, and consistent.  The more positive things the market is saying about working at your company is going to lead to more productivity from current employees, the desire for more good talent to join the team, and an overall good public perception of your company.

What are you doing to create this positive branding in the market?

When to hit the gas vs. the brakes during an interview

One of the most difficult parts of my job as a recruiter is balancing the expectations of candidates regarding timing with what the client's expectations are during an interview process.  I happened to think about this over the weekend as I attended the Good Guys' Autocross at our State Fairgrounds.  There is nothing like seeing and hearing these machines race around the track on a hot summer day.  What struck me was how they all approached the course differently.

The cars that clearly had the most happening under the hood oftentimes struggled the most with the tight corners.  As shown in the picture above, if the driver gave it too much gas, the brakes may not slow things down quickly enough before taking out a few cones.  In stark contrast there were also some cars that were clearly not out there to set any records, like a pink 1971 VW Bug convertible.  Amazingly though, it was one of the few cars that did NOT knock over a cone at some point or get loose on a corner turn.  So which is better when approaching an interview - slow and steady wins the race, or go all out and hope for the best?

My answer may surprise you - it is both.  You have to create a strategy going into an interview, yet also be willing and able to adjust mid-way through as the circumstances may change.  We were standing close enough to the pits to hear some of the drivers and crew discussing the best approach to getting around the track and what they may tweak on the car.  If you can adjust on the fly with your interview, especially in regards to timing, that will greatly benefit you.  There are many ideas/tips that I could share, but below is one example of when to hit the gas and one example of when to hit the brakes.

It is always a good idea to hit the gas if you have multiple interviews going on at the same time and one of them picks up steam.  Don't hear what I'm not saying - it is never a good idea to back anyone into a corner if one interview moves along more quickly than another.  But what is always fair and something I recommend is open and honest communication.  Let your recruiter (and employers you are interviewing with) know a reasonable expectation of your timing in regards to other interviews.  You may not always see if coming, but if you can give more than a 24-48 hour heads up, that is ideal and shows your cards without overplaying them.  This is particularly critical if the interview picking up steam is not your #1 choice.

Now, when to hit the brakes.  Believe it or not the best time to hit the brakes is when you're moving too fast and the employer is not keeping pace.  Similar to the autocross drivers not wanting to hit the cones by flying through a corner or hairpin turn, you don't want to press too hard with a company you are interviewing with even if in a perfect world you want things to move more quickly.  There are only a few conclusions an employer can come to if a candidate presses too hard on timing.  First of all, the candidate could appear desperate to get out of a bad situation and needs to land a job quickly.  Secondly, the candidate could be perceived as attempting to get two offers at the same time in order to leverage one over another.  Lastly, they could simply be seen as impatient and that is not always a good quality to have as a new employee.  So as much as hitting the brakes could seem counter-intuitive, it could be the best thing to do at the time.

Bottom line is that there is no one answer on the perfect time to hit the gas or the brakes.  The best thing to do is feel your way along the track so to speak and listen to those around you in your "crew" as they might have a different perspective than you behind the wheel just doing everything you can to keep the car on the track.  Or in this case the interview process.

Do you have any examples of recent interviews where you have either had to hit the gas or the brakes?  I would love to hear about them!

Is your interview prep a high wire act?

Can you imagine preparing for a walk across a two-inch high wire over the Grand Canyon without doing a little homework ahead of time?  Perhaps you saw this death-defying act yesterday on the Discovery Channel.  I am sure it took months and months of prep work, homework, research, and statistical analysis to ensure the utmost safety despite the overall danger of the act.

I realize this is a little extreme when compared with a job interview, but some common themes can easily be applied when considering how to prepare for a job interview at any level.  Here are a few ideas:

1)  Expect the unexpected.  I heard that Nik Wallenda (pictured above) practiced with high powered fans to know what a 50 mph wind gust might feel like and how he would need to react.  In a job interview this could translate into thinking ahead of time for very direct questions such as "When have you experienced conflict with a colleague and how did you handle it?" or "When have you used a unique closing technique to land a sale?" or even "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?"  True story, that has been a question I have had a candidate tell me about after an interview.  You can never be fully prepared for off-the-wall questions such as these, but just thinking ahead of time about some zingers could put you in the right frame of mind for the interview.

2)  Bring the proper tools.  Nik decided to do this walk without any kind of safety harness, but I guarantee you that he had a particular kind of shoe designed for this profession, a perfectly balanced pole with an exact design, and he likely had a team double check every place the wire was connected to the ground for stability.  In the same way it only makes sense to make sure you have the basics for an interview - extra hard copies of your resume, any applications that were required before the face-to-face, examples of your work if and when necessary, and even possibly a professional looking portfolio with a pad of paper and a pen to take notes.  Seems simple, but many people just "wing it" and are not fully prepared.

3)  Clear your mind before the interview.  I don't know what was going through Nik's head before he took his first step, but I am pretty sure he wasn't thinking about what groceries he needed next week or how much laundry he needed to get to later that day.  He was laser focused on the task at hand and certainly cleared his calendar ahead of the event.  Again, sounds simple, but I hear often from candidates after an interview that they hadn't allowed enough time to get to the office and were almost late.  Or another conflict that arose before an interview that caused them to be a little hectic.  These types of small mistakes can cause you to be distracted before an interview.  If first impression is everything, the last thing you want to do is walk into an interview thinking about anything other than the interview.

The favorite thing I like to hear before an interview is that a candidate is a bit nervous.  The means they are fully engaged, thinking only about the interview, and hopeful for a good outcome.  If you do the little things ahead of time, you are much more likely to have a good outcome from an interview.  Again, I realize that no interview is life or death like a high wire act, but extreme examples like this can help put you in the right frame of mind to have success in an interview.

What are other ways you have heard to prepare for an interview that might be more out of the ordinary?  I would love to hear your stories!

Does hiring slow down in the summer?

Is this what you envision when you think of the HR person not returning your calls in the summer?  A common myth is that companies stop hiring in the summer months for all of the reasons that come to mind - family vacations, summer camps, company picnics, golf outings, and many more.  I can assure you, however, that companies are not napping on the hiring process during the summer months.  Especially in the world of insurance where July 1 is a key renewal time for many clients.  Here are three tips to consider for your summer networking or job search:

1)  Be patient.  It is going to be a fact that hiring managers do take some time off in the summer.  That does NOT mean that the open position or ongoing search is not important.  It just may take a few extra days to get back to you.  I find the candidates that embrace that idea will actually endear themselves to the company that is interviewing them.  It shows you are flexible and really looking for the right opportunity, regardless of timing.  Companies like those qualities in a candidate.

2)  Network more, not less.  I don't know about you, but I am generally in a better mood during the summer.  Everyone else is too for the most part.  So take advantage of that and make some connections or re-connect with folks you have spoken with in the past.  Additionally, companies are reviewing financials right now and beginning to make plans for the third and fourth quarters.  Get ahead of that curve and get your background top of mind for any future hires yet to happen this year.

3)  Re-assess your search/career goals.  Take advantage of your time outside of the office as well.  Don't hear what I am not saying - don't leave the family behind on vacation to "clear your head" at Panera for several hours at a stretch.  But it is a great time to evaluate what is really important in your life.  Are you in a position currently that will provide the best work/life balance?  Are you truly happy in your current job?  What are you looking for in your next role to provide more of a challenge?

Bottom line is that now could be the best time to either begin or continue your job search.  Don't wait until after Labor Day to see if there are more postings or general buzz in the market.  Create the buzz yourself by taking action and making something happen.  June is actually one of our busiest months traditionally and this year is no different.  Part of that is by design as we work diligently in April and May to create some momentum going into the summer.  But part of it is related to some of the points I made above.  The reward will come to those that take advantage of the early summer conversations.  Don't get caught napping on your job search!

Job market supply vs. demand - who has the advantage today?

Remember this graph from an economics class when you were younger?  We all know about how it applies to the basic framework of our economy, but we don't always know how it translates into a job search.  Quite often I hear assumptions from both the candidate and employer side that are based on nothing but pure speculation.  That is a slippery slope for both parties, so I thought I would explore the idea for this week's blog topic.

During the worst stretches of the recession in 2009 and even into 2010 we saw a devastating combination of layoffs/re-organizations and very little interest in growth-oriented or newly created positions.  In other words, there was a lot of subtraction but very little addition.  This created a surplus on the candidate side and gave employers incredible leverage to wait for the "right" candidate.  The supply/demand curve was clearly in favor of the employers for quite some time.  It impacted the way that candidates interviewed and actually led to even more trepidation from employers as candidates were stretching the truth regarding their past experiences and current skill set just to get the job.

Fast forward to today and the curve is bending back in favor of the candidates, but it leads to a few cautions on both sides of the hiring equation.  Here are a few to consider:

Candidates 

Although the market is rebounding, I like to compare it to gas prices recently.  They seem to go up quickly without any explanation, but come back down to a "normal" level more slowly than we all would like to see.  Just because we are seeing more job openings and an increase in salary ranges, don't incorrectly assume that you can begin demanding a 20-25% increase in salary to make a job move.  You have to continue to look at all factors (company culture, employee benefits, career progression) to consider making the move.  This is especially important when in final stages of negotiating an offer.  Yes, you can ask a few questions and possibly seek a higher base salary or a few more days of PTO.  If the answer is "no" that does not mean the employer is not interested in hiring you or that you automatically need to decline.

Employers

Timing is the biggest obstacle we have seen lately on the client or employer side of the equation.  With the market rebounding we are experiencing candidates who have more than one interview going at the same time.  As much as we try to clearly communicate timing of a candidate's search, it remains difficult at times to encourage employers to move more quickly so that they don't lose out on the candidate.  It has happened several times this year already and employers are shocked when it happens to them.  When you meet a candidate that you really like, make a move and make it first.  That will help when it comes to final negotiation, as I outlined above that candidates are not just saying "yes" the minute the offer comes any longer.

The bottom line as the supply/demand curve continues to shift is that the improving economy benefits everyone.  The perfect spot where the two lines on the curve intersect will continue to shift, however, and we all have to be able to adjust to have ultimate success in the hiring process.

Where do you think the curve is at in today's market?  As always, I would be interested in your feedback!

How many career changes will you have by age 50?

I heard recently that the average person will make a job or career change eleven times by the time they reach the age of 50.  If we make the broad assumption that many professionals start their careers after college when they are 22 or 23 years old, that is a job change nearly every 2.5 years.  There are many ways to pick apart this data, but today I simply want to explore one idea - is this a good thing or a bad thing that on average a working professional makes this many job changes by the age of 50?

Let's start with why it may not actually be such a bad thing.  First of all, how many college seniors do you know that are absolutely convinced of the career path they want to take?  I would argue that it is a very low number.  So perhaps this data is skewed because an individual might make 6-7 of those changes very early in their career as they figure out what they want to be when they "grow up".  Then they settle down and after the age of 30 they only have a couple of job changes.

Another reason why it may not be so bad is that an individual might participate in a leadership training program where they spend time in several divisions before finally being pegged to an executive level role.  In the insurance industry for instance you could spend time in underwriting, claims, administration, and much more before finally moving into a higher level management role.  But sitting in each of those chairs early in your career, you will better understand how to manage the overall operation.

Now the downside of frequent job changes is that at first glance your resume may look like you are a job hopper.  That is one of the worst titles you can be labeled with as a job seeker.  You will often be overlooked in the in interview process because it may show a lack of commitment.  If you are a victim of some downsizing or other circumstances that are not performance-related, be sure to list those somehow in the body of a cover letter or even on your resume.  List it as "reason for job change" or something similar.  That gives the reader an opportunity to have an objective glance into why you have made those changes.

Another potential downside/pitfall of frequent job changes is that the individual may have been chasing money, especially earlier in their career.  Some people think that making changes with only money in mind is actually a wise career move.  I believe that it is a terrible idea as it is bound to catch up with you at some point.  I have even spoken with candidates in the past that it backfired so badly that they are now making less money than they were 8-10 years ago.  Be careful what you wish for if you are only chasing dollars.

The bottom line is that regardless of whether you think this is an astounding statistic, you must be prepared for both realities if you find yourself in the middle of the pack on this bell curve.  My professional opinion is that a candidate with fewer job changes and longer average tenure will always trump someone who has had four jobs in the past five years.

Would you agree?

Two unexpected interview tips - napping and procrastination

I bet you are wondering how I am going to tie these two activities into the interview process.  Or perhaps you are wondering if my next blog title will be "How to eat more desserts to lose weight".  But hear me out as this ties into some scientific data that is much more accurate than any hunches I might have that could sound like a late night infomercial.

First, allow me to provide some context.  I was watching a show on National Geographic Channel that provided me the inspiration (and data) to write about this topic.  While they were relating the data to being more productive at work and creating long term wealth, I took some creative freedom to apply it to the interview process instead.  But I think the data would support my ideas as well.

The picture above is actually a popular attraction at larger employers that have employees working long hours.  Usually software or IT related companies.  They have conducted research that the optimal power nap should last about 26 minutes and created exponential amounts of productivity.

I will take even further creative liberty here and not suggest a nap before, during, or after your interview, yet definitely suggest getting plenty of rest during the interview process.  The best example I can give of this is candidates that get back to me one day after taking a personality profile test at 2:00 am on a Saturday morning because they couldn't sleep.  Not surprising at all, they almost always have bad results when that happens.  I could write about dozens of other ways to take care of yourself as you interview, but this is a pretty basic one that often gets overlooked.

The second topic is perhaps more interesting - the idea of procrastination being beneficial.  That word generally has a negative connotation, but if you really think about it procrastinating can have many great side effects if used effectively.  I will also caveat up front that I'm not advocating days and days of procrastination, but rather dividing it up into even hours or down to a few minutes.

One great example can be the idea of sending a thank you note or email.  You may come out of an interview on an emotional high and want to send a message right away to show how interested you are.  I have even had candidates send it directly from their smartphone, thinking that it will be impressive to see something so quickly.  But you're really not being objective, you could have a message filled with grammatical errors, and you may think of something more you want to say later that evening.  Do you really want to have to send another thank you email just to get another point across?

Sometimes taking just a little time to gather your thoughts and maybe even sleep on some ideas can have a great impact.  Plus then you can combine these two ideas into one - procrastinate and send the thank you email the next morning AFTER a good night's rest!