Joan’s Tough Situation

Got this mail from a subscriber yesterday in response to my previous post about recruiting agencies and networking.

The question is … do you identify? And the next question is … what do you do about it?

It’s pretty important.

Hi Gerard

Thanks for your very interesting newsletter. You are quite right about the bad, extremely rotten service from the recruitments agencies.

I recently had to deal with a nineteen or twenty year old, whose mascara was smudged and whose nails are so long and she has to be careful not to poke her eye out while trying to get the mascara out of her eye. At the same time she is trying to read the CV in front of her and convinced me, who has held a senior position as Admin Manager in an international shipping company for nine years, that I needed to be tested for my typing skills. She refused to discuss the job until I had done a typing test and some other skills tests. I refused and walked out of the interview. They not only wasted my time and petrol but I have lost complete faith in them. Of the 24 jobs I responded to online, only 3 had the decency to get back with a “no thank you”.

One of the 3 that responded, had the audacity to say that since the job market was so bad, they would offer me the position – and only stated that it was a 1 year contract at the interview – at a reduced salary. Times being tough, I accepted the post, but am still on the lookout for something else.

My Reply:

Great reply Joan. Thanks for the story. Liked the typing test bit. Just shows how many of these companies work a formula – so that brains don’t much need to enter the picture on the part of their staff. It’s all about ticking boxes. Sad. But it highlights the importance of taking responsibility for one’s own ‘personal marketing campaign’. There’ll be a lot of that under discussion in the new www.CareerAndSuccess.info forum – check it out.

Like your attitude – willing to accept a lesser post, but you’ve definitely not given up or resigned yourself to the lesser post. You’re still focussed on finding something better. My advice: use this position to build a ‘kick-butt’ reference, perform in kick-butt fashion, build your self-confidence by over-delivering. If you do that I predict an outstanding result from this temporary setback. All the best.

Don’t want to knock agencies too much, they serve a valuable purpose – just not to job hunters really. There are exceptions. But here’s the thing: “Joan” has had a temporary setback in her career. How will she respond? It’s easy for her to feel angry and allow the unfair situation to affect her performance at work negatively. A setback like this can be a real hole that’s difficult to dig yourself out of.

• So how does she stay positive?
• How does she go about working a serious plan to get her career back on track?
• Where can she network with other job hunters who can refer her to a better, more professional agency/personnel consultant (they are out there somewhere)?
• Where can she find some encouragement?
• Where can she get some constructive feedback about her job hunt, her CV, her covering letters, etc?

There’s nowhere she can go. Until now. At www.CareerAndSuccess.info there’ll be a whole lot of all of this going on. Exciting isn’t it. But it’s only for members. It launches on June 1. It’s going to set you back (at the pre-launch special tariff) just R30 pm. Go to www.CareerAndSuccess.info now, print out the application form, complete it and fax/e-mail it back today.

The one thing you can do to make your job hunt quicker and less painful.

Mandoza Sings About It. Believe it or not. The one thing you can do to make your job hunt quicker and less painful.

In your gut you know it. There are opportunities out there for you. But what appears to be the most obvious route to those opportunities, the easiest route, is a rough road that often leads to no-where. Agencies. Recently in a survey I conducted, agencies came in for a hammering in the popularity stakes. Bad service. Unhelpful attitude. Rude. Lying – or at least never being ‘straight up’ about reasons why applicants are not successful in their application, etc. And certainly seldom being helpful about helping ‘candidates’ to market themselves more effectively.

So are we going to take the fight to them? Fight for better service and higher standards? No. Our energy and time are much better spent on other things. Taking a walk in the park with your dog Rufus will help you land a job sooner. Seriously. And applying for hundreds of jobs advertised online also seems like an ‘easy’ way to land your next great job. But what happens? Frequently nothing. Just a CV that seems to disappear into a cyberspace black hole.

So what do we do? Interesting letter written to the Sunday Times last week. And it hits the nail on the head. First – what do we actually want? A fight? No. A better job. Simple. So it’ll be good to focus on effective ways to get there.

The letter is titled:

“It’s Who You Know, Not What.”

Now as a first comment I know many job hunters will say, “It’s now what you know, but who” with more than just a little bitterness. And it’s true, it is unfair. After building a respectable record, skill and experience, one expects that that is what takes precedence in a search for a job. Experience. Qualifications. Being good at what one does. But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

The letter goes on:

“Talking and contacting people you know is the most effective way to find a job. I have come to realise that only a small percentage of jobs are advertised in local newspapers and only a small percentage of people find a job from answering an advert – yet most people are hired by networking with personal contacts.

“Mandoza had a song which goes, “Uzokuyithola kanjani uhleli ekoneni” meaning, how are you going to get it if you are sitting over there in the corner.”

Now although there are no prizes for guessing what mr M was actually referring to by “it” the principle of what he’s saying is just true, true, true. Sending a CV off via e-mail answering an ad – well, it’s as safe as “sitting in the corner.” Surfing the job websites applying all over the place – well, it’s easy, safe, like “sitting in the corner”. And it can yield a good result. But more frequently it doesn’t. You have to be ‘smoking’. And really mostly we’re good at what we do but not so hot that employers notice us in the corner and arrive with their tongues hanging out.

The letter continues:

“In this day and age to grow your business and opportunities you must network. Networking comes in many forms, from a cup of tea to helping a grandmother who wants to cross the road and who later puts in a good word for you.”

Well, that’s true, but if we want real results we have to network more aggressively than that. Especially when it’s job related – it’s usually urgent.

That’s where networking becomes uncomfortable. Deeply so. We hate connecting with people, appearing to want something from them. We hate being beholden. We hate letting people see our vulnerable side and then asking them to help. Right?

But that doesn’t change the fact that networking is the one thing you can do to make your job hunt quicker and less painful. So … with that in mind …

Imagine if there was a place you could connect with other career minded people, job hunters, even serious recruiters and employers who you could network with. Get ideas on how to improve your CV. On what’s hot in the market. On where opportunities may lie for you. On who to talk to, people you could share contacts with. Even a place where you can go to ‘rant’ after a frustrating day at the job hunting office. And get encouragement from others facing similar challenges.

Richard Nelson Bolles in his famous book “What Color is Your Parachute?” lists hunting for a job in a GROUP, having support and supporting others, as one of the big ways to speed up your job hunt.

So … that’s what the Career&Success Member’s Only Community is all about. The best ‘guerrilla’ job hunting and success information out there – AND – giving you the place to connect with them, make friends, get support and NETWORK for your next great job. Find out more about how you can become a member for the pre-launch price of R30.00pm at http://www.careerandsuccess.info/.