Monthly Archives: November 2010

Considerations before Accepting That Coveted New Job

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The job market seems much better lately, and more and more offers are being extended to applicants. Some move into the new positions from other jobs, and others from being in transition. In both cases, those job seekers miss out if they don’t take a holistic approach to specific evaluation of the new opportunity.
Often, the excitement associated with receiving the offer of a new job and accepting it, plus the flattery expressed by that job offer, may lead to a too-quick decision. It’s advisable to first do some meticulous due diligence in order to avoid a possibly costly mistake, because numerous questions need clear answers before you become able to make a final decision. Here are a few. How important to you are the content and the level of responsibility in the new job? Does the new job fit your personality? Does your new boss’s management style align with yours? Are there future opportunities for promotion? Will the new job satisfy your work/life balance? Are the commuting time and distance acceptable? Is the amount of business travel expected in the new job acceptable? And finally, is the compensation–in the form of salary and bonuses–acceptable? How about employee benefits such as health insurance and retirement plans? This may not be a complete list, but it’s a good beginning.
People make life decisions based on their logic and their emotions. The outcomes are typically an aggregate of the two. Someone who’s been in transition for a while is more prone to make emotional decisions, and yet accepting a new job should be judged on the job’s merit and on logical reasoning. In such a situation as the acceptance of a job offer, it’s sometimes helpful to discuss the issue with a friend or, better yet, with a professional such as a career coach who deals with such matters frequently. The following might be a rhetorical question, but if you had a serious medical condition, would you seek a consultation with a friend or with a physician?

If You Like Surprises, Google Yourself

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It’s unfortunate that most people in transition don’t understand the importance of their cyberspace profiles, and they therefore underestimate them. The following “From Tweet to Hired” quote puts the issue into perspective: “According to a recent CareerBuilder study, 43% of employers and 83% of executive recruiters admit to searching candidates online before making a hiring decision. Employers often turn down candidates based on negative content, and they solidify their decisions to hire based on positive content.” The October 2010 issue of Inc. magazine says, “Job seekers are especially at risk: Almost 80 percent of recruiters surveyed in a recent Microsoft study checked out applicants online, and 70 percent of them eliminated candidates based on what they found.”
Several companies–such as ReputationDefender, Naymz, and Brand-Yourself–specialize in helping people protect their reputations. For a fee, such a company provides a customer with a report showing every Web reference found for that customer. Knowing that potential employers and recruiters can find all sorts of information about you in virtual space can be helpful, although in some situations, it’s almost impossible to change or correct what’s out there, and in others there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. In my own case, for example, someone has exactly the same name as mine except that he’s a professional photographer specializing in nearly nude photography.
While LinkedIn is a more business-oriented social media site, Facebook is more inclined to attract younger people, who at their age do not understand how poor judgment in adolescence can irreparably damage their image for years and years to come. Those youngsters consider it cool and popular to post pictures showing themselves socializing with friends–sometimes inappropriately–and illegally drinking alcohol. Some people feel compelled to expose their unique personalities, but the Internet does not allow separation of professional image and business from one’s particular hobby. Such exposure could be very detrimental down the road. Younger people should be cautioned by parents and teachers about the potential damage. Mature people should know better; otherwise, they have to live with the consequences.

Paying For Job Advice???

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Monster.com gets me going sometimes, I tell you!  In many of my past blog posts (on other blogs) I have ranted about what their value really is to job candidates and more importantly, what it really is not.  Today, while surfing around the net just to see how our blog was ranking in search engines on some keyword terms, I came across a service that I had seen in the past but never looked further into.  I decided to “learn more” today.  It is a Monster product called “InterviewSmart (R) Online”.

Essentially, for $29.95 you get 6 months of unlimited access to system of online multimedia (interview advice and the like) which I am sure consists of lots of regurgitated content and a variety of educating video clips.  Monster.com actually has come up with lots of these types of services over the years in an effort to increase a fallen revenue model.  I applaud their efforts at maximizing their traffic into dollars, but find it incredible what people pay for these days on the Internet, quite frankly.

For starters, content about job search including interview tips, resume help and so forth is in huge abundance on the Internet.   I mean, you could find volumes upon volumes of content and certainly on YouTube.com you could find large amounts of videos on these topics as well.

Heck, our blog was created to provide this type of help to those job seekers in need of educating themselves on landing their next job.  Over the last year, we have reached out to reputable writers who now contribute valuable information to our job advice blog.  We also have created job advice videos, and are working on creating more videos because we realize the importance of these videos.  The reality is that people would rather watch a video clip than read a blog post in many cases and we understand that and will continue to work at getting this information to people in that multimedia format as we progress forward.

Anyway, I just cant figure out why people pay for this type of information sometimes.  Especially information that is easily attainable.  A long time ago a friend told me… people will pay for information if it is in front of them.  Even though it is easy attainable, they are lazy and want that information “now”.  So, they will pay for it.  While, I agree that this individual was right, I still find it incredible and somewhat annoying.  Perhaps we should duplicate a similar pay-for-information system and open up a revenue model?

Actually, this is no untraveled territory internally.  However, with the economy the way it is, and the trouble some people are in, we just didn’t see it prudent.  We found it to be more rewarding at this time to continue to do our part and get information to people in a non-pay format.

Now, for those Monster.com supporters who are going to justify the expertise of their content and the millions of dollars spent on creating it and how perfect the content really is, I simply sigh, as it is you who actually annoy me more :)

Let me conclude by stating that this post is not meant to indicate that there is no information or assistance with landing your next job that has a monetary value.  Quite the contrary.  There are lots of services worth your hard earned money.  I just don’t think  regurgitated content is worth the money.  One on one, quality, professional and experienced help and coaching, with proven results is plain and simple, a horse of different color.

Background Checks… For Employment?

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Yup!  Its not a new concept!  Many corporations and even small businesses are now conducting background checks on job candidates of interest, as part of their overall hiring process.  It might not exactly be fair in every case, but it is sort of an insurance policy for businesses hiring a new employee.   While it may not always be exactly fair, it is hard to dispute this piece of the disqualification process.  I use the word disqualification because that is the name of the hiring process – to create a group of seemingly qualified candidates and then weed out every one except the one that matches the hiring criteria the best.

So, in our continuing efforts at preparing you to find a new job, I thought I would give you some basic information on background checks as they are becoming quite the norm these days.

For starters, you should be aware that if a company is going to conduct a background check before hiring you, they need to get your written consent.  Therefore you will be tipped off if this is going to occur.  To be safe you should simply anticipate the hiring company is going to perform one and therefore be prepared.  You might even want to offer it before they ask, as if to suggest you are absolutely OK with the background check being performed and that you have nothing to hide, or can explain anything negative that may be discovered during the check.

Now, if you are interviewing and have agreed to a background check, it can be a good sign that the hiring company is very interested in your employment.  This is obviously a good thing (that is, if your background is OK to display).  If after the background check, the hiring company doesn’t hire you, that hiring company is obligated to provide you with the name of the consumer reporting agency that provided them the background check.

As mentioned, it is strongly encouraged that you really take the time to review your background so you are made privy as to what will appear on these background checks.  They really can include a plethora of information from past work history, SSN verification, credit report, driving record, criminal history and more.  For more information on what is included in a background check you can further research The Fair Credit Reporting Act.

What will NOT be in the background check is school information.  Also, much of what will be detailed in the report differs by state.  So it may provide a criminal arrest, but might not give much details.  Again, if you are aware of what will be found in your background check beforehand, and get into a situation where a background check is going to be performed, you can make mention of any blemishes beforehand to the individual hiring.

So once again, preparedness is paramount!  Do your own due diligence – on yourself.  What supersedes this, as always, is the old adage “Honesty is the best policy”.  If you lie on your resume, there is a strong probability that the lie will surface and put a halt in the your hiring.