— Archive for June, 2010 —

• “I’ll hire you.”

  *** From my weekly newsletter to TheLadders.com subscribers *** Over the past two weeks we’ve done an “interview” with the fictional character Betty Boss regarding all the reasons she didn’t hire you for the job (and we also watched a valiant US team compete in the world’s pastime and lose, heartbreakingly, to Ghana in overtime. Go USA!) This week, I’d like to tell you what you can do about it (the job search, not the soccer.) Betty shared the reasons she didn’t hire you: I never saw your resume, Your resume didn’t grab me, The interview was a nice chat, You never said you wanted this job, I heard back from somebody else first, I’m looking to build out the team with a variety of perspectives, I’m looking for somebody with a different industry background, We haven’t had success with profiles similar to yours in our organization, I’m looking for [...]

  Jun 28

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• I didn’t hire you for a reason, Part 2

  *** From my weekly newsletter to TheLadders.com subscribers *** We’re back this week with Betty Boss, our fictional hiring manager who last week discussed with us reasons the boss didn’t hire you that are in your control. This week, Betty is going to address the things you can’t control. Next week, I’ll tell you what you can do about them. Specifically, for the things you can control, you’ll need to change your behavior or actions; and for the things you can’t control, you need to ask questions early in the interview process so you can focus your efforts on more productive opportunities — to put it in sales parlance, you’ll need to “qualify your leads”. So let’s hear from Betty again this week… Me: Thanks for visiting with us again, Betty! Betty Boss: You’re very welcome. Me: OK, Betty, this week we’re talking about the reasons you didn’t hire the [...]

  Jun 21

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• I didn’t hire you for a reason

  *** From my weekly newsletter to TheLadders.com subscribers *** If only bosses could talk! We’d be able to find out why it was that we didn’t get the call back, didn’t get the interview, didn’t get that sweet job we thought we were just perfect for. There must be a reason, right? One of the biggest frustrations of the modern job hunt is “the black hole” — that super-gravitational mass that sucks in resumes and applications and emits no feedback, no light, no rhyme or reason. So this week and next week, I’m going to let the boss “talk.” I’ll be doing an interview with a hypothetical, that is, imaginary, hiring manager, and sharing with you all the “reasons why” the boss didn’t hire you. And then two weeks from now, I’ll follow up with practical advice as to what you can do about it. This week we’ll focus our [...]

  Jun 14

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• A clever networking trick for your job hunt

  *** From my weekly newsletter to TheLadders.com subscribers *** “When I find a job on TheLadders, and I have a contact or connection at that company, I’ll send them an e-mail asking for help with that job. I include the name of the hiring manager, the job ID number, title, location, and specifically the fact that I’ve already sent in my information through TheLadders on such-and-such a date. I’ve discovered that the easiest way for them to brush you off is to tell you to go through the application process, so I make it abundantly clear that I’ve specifically complied with the system already.” That’s advice from one of your fellow subscribers, and I think it is just outstanding. Why? Well, which e-mail makes it easier for you to know exactly what to do to help the person out? “I’m interested in the VP, Corporate job and I think I’m [...]

  Jun 2

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