To Name Change or Not Name Change: That is the Question

For years I have had this particular blog centered on recruitment and sales called "Ev's Recruitment Answers," which currently features articles for sales people, HR professionals, recruiters, job seekers, or anyone else that ever has to sell themselves or a product. Published with a touch of humor from someone in the trenches.
Since I'm now in the laundry industry I want to include articles relating to the laundry industry. I don't want to start a new blog because a lot of what I write can be used by various parts of the laundry industry, but it isn't strictly recruitment focused anymore. Should I rebrand my blog and if so, what should I change the name to? Suggestions anyone?
Maybe one of the following:

Ev's Answers

A Heck of A Nice Guy

Ev's Laundromat Answers

Ev's Business Answers

R5-D8

Decesions...decesions...

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

8 TIPS TO HELP YOU DEVELOP AS A YOUNG COACH

Thanks to Coach Mike Famiglietti for this article.
This article caught my attention because even though it is meant for football coaches, the same concepts apply to anyone building a team of salespeople, recruiters, or anything else. A lot of the advice is the same as my mentors taught me and I have taught others. One of my mentors who gave me this great advice was my father, the author's grandfather.
Good job Mike, keep up the good work!
To read the original article click here:
8 TIPS TO HELP YOU DEVELOP AS A YOUNG COACH

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

8 TIPS TO HELP YOU DEVELOP AS A YOUNG COACH
The early years in coaching, no matter the level, feature a steep learning curve with a lot of trial and error. In the years leading up to the first opportunity to be a coordinator, there were many stressful moments where I either made a mistake or was unprepared for the situation at hand. Every moment of success or failure allowed me to grow as a coach because of the help from the more experienced coaches around me. Learning from others who had the experience I lacked has been the main thing that has helped me grow as a coach. Helping others, both players and coaches, is what this profession is about. That is exactly why I want to share eight of the tips my coaching mentors gave me to grow through my journey as a quality control assistant, graduate assistant, assistant coach, and coordinator. I work to apply these eight things to my everyday coaching philosophy.

1. LISTEN

We have two ears and one mouth. What we hear is far more important than what we say. Coaching is a constant conversation, not monologues. Not just what is said, but how things are said with body language and tone tells us as much or more than the actual words do, so be observant. It is important to take in everything said by those we work with to be as prepared as possible for the time when we lead a room. If we do look to you for an answer, you better be ready to contribute rather than asking what they are talking about, so pay attention

2. TAKE NOTES

We never know when that one nugget of knowledge we picked up during a meeting, a clinic, or while watching film will be needed. Writing things down helps us keep our thoughts organized and even helps our brain remember them. Coaches who have been in the profession longer than I have been alive, still tell me they take notes every time they watch film. Writing notes also works to keep us engaged with the conversation rather than just simply hearing the words.

3. BECOME A TECHNOLOGY EXPERT

The nightmare scenario of every young coach is when the film remotely “decides” to detach itself right before a meeting, or even worse, during the meeting. Be the one who the rest of the staff can turn to when we need help fixing these problems, and be ready to explain how to use any form of technology to the rest of the coaches in a simple manner. Believe it or not, there are still people out there who don’t know how to connect their phone to Wi-Fi. Learn how to type fast, know the secrets to spreadsheets, filming, and any other technology your program uses, especially the benefits, dangers, and rules of social media. Technology is there to help your program run better and chances are, the young coaches on staff are the ones who get assigned many of the tasks related to it, such as video coordinator. Also, Photoshop or other editing skills can help out the brand of your program and earn some instant recognition with the guys on the team.

4. CREATE SOLUTIONS, NOT PROBLEMS

As a young coach, we never want to create issues on our staff or in our program. We are there to help make everyone else’s already difficult work more simple and efficient. We are never “just” a [insert coaching title]. The job we have is important otherwise the program wouldn’t have it. The program will give us opportunities to earn other coaches’ trust when we help with compliance knowledge, film breakdown, have gum or soda available, or become the guy the head coach can always depend on for a laugh. Listen and execute directions rather than blindly making your own decisions. I have been around head coaches who help carry the equipment out to practice, so no job is ever too small to leave our mark or demonstrate the ownership we have in a program with the best quality of work we are capable of.

5. ALWAYS WORK TO IMPROVE

As a young coach there is so much experience that we are lacking, so take the time to learn from those who do have a variety of experience. We will never get to meet everyone in this profession, and the wealth of knowledge surrounding this game is too great for any one person to know everything. As football coaches, we are competitive people, who always look for the next challenge and opportunity to become the best at what we do. Always work to find the time to read, teach other coaches, seek professional development, and study the game. Football moves too fast for any of us to stand still and rely only upon what we have previously done. Challenge yourself to find a coaching mentor or someone who is already where we want to be in 3-5 years and learn from them. As a young coach, our best coaching days are ahead of us and every day is preparation for it.

6. NETWORK

Coaching is all about relationships, and not just inside our own program, but outside of it as well. How we represent our program is everything, and a first impression at a team meeting, clinic, or out on the recruiting trail can go a long way towards making a lifelong friend. We never know what moments will make a strong impact in someone’s life, and we never know who that person will be. As important as meeting a high quantity of coaches is, making quality connections is even more important. Not every relationship needs to come from looking for a job, but many of them can arise from wanting to learn and develop. In a total role reversal, the guy we are teaching and helping one year, may get a position and look to hire us someday. The people who we start our coaching journey with, will also hold a special place, so keep in touch with them after your time together as young grinders. Work on getting a quality handshake and get out of our comfort zone, because ultimately if we work hard and genuinely treat people right, good things will happen.

7. MAKE WHERE WE ARE THE BIG TIME

This is a people-first business and those people around us, coaches and players, all depend on us being “all-in” all the time. Coaching is teaching and helping others no matter where we are. Everyone has similar problems and elite coaches can be found at every level. While we can catch ourselves looking forward to what’s next or idolizing a “bigger” job, that won’t come to fruition if we don’t care about what we are doing right now. No matter what job we have, there are literally hundreds of people out there who want the job we have. So own it, celebrate it and do today’s work for yourself and those around you.

8. HAVE FUN AND BE YOURSELF

We have to enjoy coaching even while not being outside or on the field every day. Finding a way for us to have fun with the everyday pieces of coaching, such as: helping others grow in life, academics, athletics, and forming incredible lifelong bonds. For every bad moment that can weigh us down, there are thousands of positive moments that reaffirm what we love about coaching and why we got into it in the first place.

Our job is one that functionally operates 365 days a year, all hours of the day. Sometimes, however, coaching requires us to be human and show our guys how to balance life’s many demands by getting out of the office, spending time with the family, and most importantly, being yourself. We may want to copy everything a certain influential coach does, but we can’t just fake who we are. The coaches and players we are around every day will smell the phoniness from a mile away. So if we are loud, be loud, if we are a coach who participates in the drills with the players, do so, if we tweet about movies or wrestling, do that. Whatever it is that makes us ourselves, do THAT. Ultimately, give those around you the best version of yourself and have fun doing it!

Mike Famiglietti is currently in his first year as the offensive coordinator at Kansas Wesleyan University. Prior to KWU, Famiglietti had a two year stint at Northern State University as the running backs coach and assistant recruiting coordinator. Famiglietti joined the Wolves after two seasons at Wisconsin Lutheran College.

In his two seasons at WLC, Famiglietti worked primarily as the special teams and running backs coach. He began his coaching career at the University of North Dakota as an offense, video and recruiting assistant for the program. 

Famiglietti played collegiately at Western Illinois and Western Michigan Universities, and was a 2-year member of the Missouri Valley Conference academic honor roll. 

I Don't Want to Forget 9/11: The Memories

Image by Bill Biggart

When I started this blog I made it a point to always write about things I thought my audience of HR and salespeople would be interested in. I told myself to avoid politics, and trivial matters. Since I am an expressive person and I enjoy writing, I allowed myself to use the blog for humor once per month with a joke page (the jokes were also the most popular section of the email version of my newsletter), and once per year between Christmas and New Years (when most people aren’t doing serious business) I could write an article about anything I wanted.

This article is an exception to this.

My mom was born in 1922. My dad was born in 1925.
All my life I heard about where they were when:
-1929 stock market crash and the depression
-Pearl Harbor was attacked
-D-Day
-Atomic bomb dropped
-VE and VJ day
-President Kennedy was shot
-Man landing on the moon

As I got older I thought I had lived through some events that were the equivalent of the events my parents lived through:
-President Reagan got shot
-Pope John Paul II was shot
-The space shuttle Challenger exploded
All of the examples I could come up with my parents shrugged them off. Sometimes they did that with words like “…but it doesn’t compare to…,” or “The country was (or was not) the same after that.”

I realized later why they said those things. The events they lived through were events that literally changed the world. The 1929 crash brought on the depression. That in turn helped lead to WWII.
Pearl Harbor tuned the tide of the entire war and subsequently the Cold War and our superpower status. Man landing on the moon represented human beings our first true point where science fiction became science fact. My historic events were important events, and there was a shock to world, but they didn’t have the turning point type of change that their events did. The sense that we’ve reached a new threshold.

That changed on 9/11/2001. Events on that day clearly changed the world. We now have a clear line of demarcation between the pre and post 9/11 worlds. I can now join the conversation with my parents as an equal. 
News Reports of 2nd Plane Hitting Towers

I'll never forget that day.
I'll never forget driving to work listening to Bob and Brian on my car radio talk to their sports reporter Steve Czaban. As I was parking my car Steve said a plane had flown into the world trade center.
Brian, a licensed pilot, was bewildered and tried to understand and explain how that could happen. No one at that time had said it how big the plane was. They were thinking it was a small plane like had hit the world trade center (henceforth WTC) several years before (anyone remember that?).
I got into our office and turned on the radio and told my co-workers what had happened and said I thought it was a terrorist attack. One of my co-workers and I went to the Irish bar next door where we knew they had TV's and were open early.

I'll never forget arriving in time and looking at the screen with the burning north tower and seeing the helicopters and planes flying around and then seeing the second plane hitting the south tower. I don't know how long I must have sat at the bar with my mouth open in an incredulous gaze, but I do know it was long enough that I asked the bartender for a Coke. I remember her looking at me with a "are you serious" look and not taking my money.

I'll never forget seeing the antennae at the top of the tower wiggle and standing up on my bar stool and yell "the building is falling down" and everyone stop talking and watch as the first tower collapses. I remember saying "if the first one fell the second one will come down any minute too!" Unfortunately I was right. I sat there long after my co-worker left to go back to our office.

I'll never forget hearing the news announcer saying that there were unconfirmed reports of another hijacked plane heading towards Cleveland. After the towers fell I remember asking over and over to the TV "what about the Cleveland plane?!"

I'll never forget walking out from the dimly lit bar into a bright sunny morning and seeing the lines of people coming out from the taller buildings 1-3 blocks away. An order had been given to evacuate all the tall office buildings. Many of those workers had parked in the lots around my office building. I remember seeing everyone walk past me or walking to other parking lots with a glazed dumbfounded look. We were all in shock. I also remember looking up because I heard the sound and saw an F-16 fighter fly over the city. 
I remember noticing that I wasn't hearing or seeing the usual commercial airliners flying over downtown or the lake. That silence was eerie because for the next few days we didn't hear planes. When we did it was a fighter aircraft. 

I'll never forget calling my mom and asking if she had heard from my sister who lives in the Washington DC area. I knew she was probably safe, but I also knew that sometimes she would drive on the highway that runs next to the Pentagon. 

I'll never forget going back to my office. My dad always said that in sales before leaving the office make at least one more sales call because odds are you will sell something or set an appointment to sell something. I remember looking at the phone and my laptop and thinking "nobody is buying anything today," and walking out to go home where I watched the coverage for many hours before going back to work and picking up some things.

I'll never forget trying to get my money in a 401K to rollover to a different account and a manager saying that I had to be patient regarding getting my money because all the people they used to deal with were dead.

I'll never forget later going to my job at our baseball stadium and being taken to an office to have my picture taken for the FBI. I made some joke about my lack of a record. My supervisor told me it wasn't for a criminal check, but rather since we worked at a potentially highly visible target the photograph was for the FBI files so they could identify my body in case of my death in an attack.

I'll never forget paging though a picture book of the attack and seeing a collage of several shots of people jumping off the burning building. Their various poses making me wonder just what was going through their mind, knowing they were going to die. Seeing the images of photojournalist Bill Baggert, who died that day but created stunning images that were only uncovered when they found his cameras next to his body. Then I got to the back of the book and seeing an image from one person's camera of the debris falling on top of them. Who ever the photographer was, it was their last shot and the last thing they saw.

I'll never forget going to the airport several years later to pick up my wife from a business trip for the first time after we were married and being mad because I couldn't meet her at the gate. That may seem a very minor thing when compared to those died and the loss their families feel. My point is that we were ALL affected by that day's events in some way, shape, or form. Thanks you freakin' terrorists.

I'll never forget the stories of the heroes who sacrificed themselves to save others that day; or the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who have sacrificed themselves for us since. Thank you!

I'll never forget.

Thank you.
Ev

How To Handle Video Interview Distractions As a Recruiter

As an interviewer have you ever had a candidate participate in a  virtual interview with you and a distraction happened like their pet jumped on their computer, their kids came into the room, or their dog started barking?
How did you handle the interview during and after the distraction?

 Did you (be honest):
-Scoff at the interruption
-Make a disruptive face
-Become impatient
-Cop a negative attitude
-Think the equivalent of “You’ve got to be kidding me!” or worse
OR did you:
-Tell the person it was okay with a smile on your face and move on with the interview
-Make a little joke about it to put the person at ease
-Relate a story about your pet, kid, or something similar to put the person at ease
-Ask the person a question about their pet, kid, or whatever was the distraction
-Ignore it

If you answered any of the first five think about how the interview would have changed if you reacted with one of the next five things?

As a recruiter, HR professional, manager, owner, or anyone else assigned to do interviews we are required to not ask certain questions (like about kids) or trained to ignore others that are not relevant (like about pets), however we are all human and have all had embarrassing things happen to us or during our own events. Video interviewing is now commonplace, however not all candidates have a lot of experience doing them. A candidate can do all they can to control the situation and the environment they are interviewing from, but life happens and if they are quarantined at home some things are beyond control. 

As the interviewer we want to get to know the “real” candidate. Interviewing is an inherently stressful situation. Remembering that stress and humanity can allow both parties to “drop deflector shields” for a moment. Be professional but don’t be rigid sticking to every rule. Talk about kids and pets or whatever the distraction was for a moment. Relax and remember you are dealing with another person. Not holding a distraction against a candidate and letting them know you are not holding it against them provides a commonality. It allows both recruiter and candidate to communicate in a more relaxed way, even for a little bit, which can lead the interviewer to get to know something about the candidate besides the practiced and standard answers. Isn’t that the goal of the interview, to understand who the person really is and how they would fit in the company, the team, and the job?

Thank you for reading this.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

How to Handle Distractions in Video Interviews As a Candidate

So you just had a video interview and you think you won’t get the job because during the interview:

-Your cat jumped on your desk right in front of the camera
-Your kids are fighting in another room
-Someone outside the window is cutting the grass
or any other distraction that you can’t control came into play.

Maybe you did blow the interview, or maybe you just became the leading candidate.
It is all about how you handled the situation and the rest of the interview.
Recruiters and hiring mangers do hate a lot of things that could happen in video interviews,

hiring-managers-hate-when-you-do-these-4-things

6-dos-and-donts-of-video-interviews/         

however the good recruiters and hiring managers will understand that unfortunate things can happen when you are being interviewed from your home, especially when you are forced to be there by government order. 

If you nailed the rest of the interview, but a distraction happened:
1. Try not to make a big deal about it, however
2. Don’t act like it DIDN’T HAPPEN! Maybe make a joke of it or maybe a simple statement such as “I’m sorry about that. As I was saying…” or just smile and move on.
3. Keep your cool!

A good interviewer will use the distraction to find out more about you or your experience.
If you are doing okay in the interview but seem a little uptight, a distraction like your cat can be a potentially embarrassing thing, however it can also be the item that makes you relax a little more (or the interviewer for that matter) and seem more confident or personable. Interviewing is a formal process that makes everyone uptight and can block some of your true personality or experience.

 A distraction can also be a way of establishing rapport between you and the interviewer. If your cat causes the distraction, acknowledge it and ask the interviewer if they have any pets, or better yet if their pets did anything to embarrass them at any time. By asking the question you get time to recover while the interviewer has to answer. Sometimes they may have a long answer that makes your distraction seem really not a big deal. Their answer can also serve as a reminder to them to not hold that distraction against you because they have had similar situations.

A distraction can also be the answer to the hardest interview question of them all…
“tell me about yourself.” While that question is not meant for you to talk about pets, kids, yard work, etc., it can give the interviewer the opportunity to ASK YOU about your pets, kids, yard work, etc. and isn’t that what we would really like to talk about instead anyway?

The bottom line is in a video interview be yourself. Goofy things can and will happen, but good interviewers and companies won’t hold it against you...if you nailed the rest of the interview.

Thank you for passing this along.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

ME2 Program helps make a Green Coin Laundry?

Please note this program is no longer in existence as far as we know. This article was reprinted from another blog strictly for archiving purposes.
-Ev

Too Clean Laundry & ME2

City project helps cut energy costs

By Thomas Content of the Journal Sentinel

Aug. 14, 2012

Plugged In

Energy writer Thomas Content keeps you current as you adapt to changes in the world of energy, climate change and efforts to build a greener economy.

From small laundromats and gas stations to residential complexes, Milwaukee Energy Efficiency is signing on city businesses looking to save on the bottom line.
The project, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, uses savings achieved through energy-efficiency measures to help businesses pay the upfront costs of making changes that save money over time.

The program has 27 projects funded across the city, such as helping gas stations switch to energy-saving LED lights for their canopies, and enabling one owner to replace water- and energy-wasting washing machines at the Milwaukee laundromat he bought last year.
This owner is replacing 30-year-old washers in the first phase and has already seen his utility bills cut by one-third.
"It's really huge for a small business like myself, because anything we can do to reduce the overhead of our utilities is great for someone who's in the laundry business and uses water and gas and electricity," he said. "I can keep my costs down and, in turn, keep my customers' costs down."

The program, known as ME2, has attracted strong interest for projects that deploy LED technology because the paybacks on the investment is so quick, said Erick Shambarger of the city's Office of Environmental Sustainability.
Energy incentives are available in different amounts, which vary based on the size of the business or the amount of energy savings the project is projected to generate. A maximum of $300,000 is available for a large project that would generate energy savings of at least 25%, Shambarger said.

In addition to more than two dozen small projects, ME2 has worked with Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc. to persuade two residential properties to undertake major energy-saving changes.Following up on a big project for the Newport building, which is an east side co-op similar to a condo, Johnson Controls is now working at the Edgewater Terrace condominium complex, also on the east side, to replace an aging boiler.
In addition to lighting upgrades, the company installed a ventilation system that recovers heat from the building's common areas and recirculates it into those areas, said Chuck McGinnis of Johnson Controls.
Representatives of Edgewater Terrace "came to realize this was something they've been putting off for quite some time," said McGinnis, director of commercial energy solutions for Johnson Controls. "They decided to address this now rather than let the issues they were having become bigger problems in the future."
The $440,000 project will deliver about $18,500 in energy and operational savings, said McGinnis. A grant of $88,000 was provided by the ME2 program.
"It was very much influential in getting them to do a comprehensive project," he said. Other projects are in the works, including "some pretty major projects" in downtown Milwaukee, McGinnis said.

Expanded interest in the program comes less than a month after Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced that the city was joining the Better Buildings Challenge during an appearance with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. The challenge is a campaign to encourage building owners to pledge a 20% reduction in their energy costs by 2020.
"It's a good opportunity for people to really put their head around what energy efficiency really means," said Shambarger, of the Office of Environmental Sustainability. "It puts a number out there that's achievable and it means something to people."

Say Thank You...Please

Saying "thank you" to someone is such a little act, 
however it can mean so much to someone.
Over the years I've written several articles about saying thank you to someone, 
below are a few of them:

saying-thank-you
how-do-you-wanted-to-be-thanked
my-2012-thank-you-list

Since May of 2015 I have been the supervisor of over 100 individuals in various jobs.
I was the person that directly hired 71 of them.
I have promoted 10 into leadership positions.
If you count multiple raises I've given to some, regular cost-of-living, or merit raises that is about 250 raises.
Of all these hires, promotions, and raises I've been involved in, 
only twice has someone said 
"Thank You." 
That isn't a good average.
It reminded me of a lesson one of my sales managers told me;
if you don't tell someone thank you today they might remember that and hold it against
you tomorrow.

Thank you for reading this.
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

Why Aren't There More Asians in TV and Film

I've wondered about this myself over the years. I clicked on the link and read the article from the NY Times by Thessaly La Force.

Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/t-magazine/asian-american-actors-representation.html?fbclid=IwAR3YFWFFbZRhEqMsdxDayjXTQzG_cp0QQY7SpBUlHHub4emionE1Vbln_4k 

Stabbing the Lifeboat: Trump Sales 101

 

In the past many people wondered how our country would be if a business person would be the president. Maybe even some of them wondered back in the 1980s and 1990s what it would be like if Donald Trump ran the country. Well now he is home and no longer president so we can speak about what we learned...about sales! I bet you weren't expecting that statement or perspective! 

If you take the politics out of it, and pretend it does not matter what party he was from, but rather think of him as a salesman, and through that view is how he sees his strategy the policies that he put forward, it makes perfect sense when you look at it from a sales perspective. Whether you like his politics or not, or whether you like his personality or not, all he did was provide perfect examples of sales 101 good and bad lessons.

Let’s look specifically at the issue of building a border wall. 

In the case of the border wall President Trump is the sales person and Nancy Pelosi is the client.

President Trump is a wall salesman. He wants this country to build a wall.
When he was a candidate President Trump sold the idea of a border wall to the American people. In this case the American people are the equivalent of the first gatekeeper a salesperson person might meet in the company. The gatekeeper either passed the information to the boss or throws it away.  The gatekeeper may pass on the information to a decision maker, but they themselves do not have the final decision. In this case, the American people said we like the border wall so it was good enough to pass along to the next level. 

The next person that President Trump saw was the Republican Congress and the leader Paul Ryan. The Republican Congress wanted a wall but they were more the middle manager. They could not decide exactly what they wanted and before they could make the ultimate decision, they were replaced by different manager. This is similar to the contact that leaves the company after you give them the sales pitch and now you have to get back in to see the new decision maker, which is now Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats. 

So President Trump the sales person came to his client, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat Congress, and said I would like a wall.

Anyone who has ever done sales knows that when you are sitting in front of the decision-maker and you understand what they want, you pitch them the biggest package for the most money that you can get, knowing the client will either take the package as is, ask for changes to lower the amount, or reject it.  
Trump wanted a large wall and have Congress enforce the bill that was passed several years ago to build the wall. Nancy Pelosi said no.

Salesman Trump changed it to say instead of a wall, I'm asking for a slotted fence.
Nancy Pelosi wasn't biting.

So President Trump the salesman changed it to say I don’t need the whole wall just certain amount of money to build a part of the wall. Nancy Pelosi still said no.
Then President Trump said I will give you one of the programs that you were most interested in, in this case DACA, I’ll make it a slotted fence, it won’t be as long as I originally tended to be, and it won’t be for as much money as I intended it to be. Nancy Pelosi said no.

Normally a client will give you feedback as to what they like or don’t like about the product or package you are offering. Pelosi didn't do that. So when Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats said there is no way they were going to buy a wall, Trump got up and left. As a salesperson you can do the same. As a salesperson if you aren't getting feedback, or the client keeps saying no, at some point it is time to stop selling and leave otherwise you are just wasting your time. If there is no compromise or chance of agreement there is no sense wasting the clients time.
If you can't win stab the lifeboat and try something. You're drowning in "NO" anyway, be different and try something that might set you apart.

If you agree in good spirits to end the negotiations the client will probably respect you for it and appreciate you for it. Leaving you the possibility that the client might call in the future.

I've had meetings where the prospect really didn't seem interested in answering questions or talking, so I asked if they really had any interest in talking or my products and if they didn't that was okay and we could save the time. One customer took me up on it. The other customer said they were a little distracted and apologized and we had a good meeting afterwards. The customer that apologized never called back. The prospect that did end the meeting called me back several months later and I had another chance. They didn't buy at that time, however they always called me back whenever I called in the future, I'll take that result.

A Heck of A Nice Guy

Ev

5 Critical Mistakes That Can Keep You From Getting An Interview

Ben does a great job on this article.
To read it in his original version click the link:
5-critical-mistakes-that-can-keep-you-from-getting-an-interview/ 
Thanks Ben!
Ev


The devil is in the details. The prior sentence is a famous idiom that emphasizes how critical it can be to pay attention to the little details of certain things. When it comes to resumes, interviewing and your career, it definitely applies.

Spending the last decade in talent acquisition, I have seen plenty of solid candidates who have been eliminated from interview processes for small reasons that were totally in their control. My guess is that most candidates weren’t aware of some of the negative consequences of these actions, which is exactly why I chose to write this piece this morning.
The following are four small things you can change to make sure you don’t self-eliminate yourself from interview process moving forward and one bigger picture change that might change your perspective on a few things moving forward. I know you are busy, so let’s jump right into these.

The objective on a resume that doesn’t fit

In the past, I have made my position on objectives abundantly clear, and today will be no different. If you have an objective on your resume minimize this chrome window, open up your resume on your desktop and delete it. Still here? Let me explain why.

I have probably looked at one hundred thousand resumes in the last decade. Guess how many dramatically improved their chances of landing a job with an objective. High five for those who guessed zero. Even if you apply for a Developer role at ABC company and your objective says something like “To become a Developer for ABC Company to contribute to overall company profitability and continue to grow my technical skills”, it doesn’t help you.
You are applying for the role, of course, we know what your objective is. That being said, I have seen a bunch of otherwise great looking candidates be eliminated because of an objective that didn’t fit with the role. I have seen people leave old objectives on their directed at other companies. I have seen hiring managers decide against a candidate because their objective gave them the impression the candidate wouldn’t be satisfied doing the primary tasks of the role. The list goes on.

The bottom line is I have never seen an objective help a candidate but I have seen it hurt many. It’s a marginal risk, non-existent reward scenario in my opinion. If you have an objective, do yourself a favor and delete it off of your resume forever. In the unlikely case I am ever floored by an objective that moves me to tears and makes me bang my fist on the table that a candidate needs to be interviewed, I promise you all that I will issue a blog post immediately.

Resume saved with a with a wrong name

This is a quick one but to me, that’s even more reason why it bears mentioning. The title you save your resume as will be seen by everyone who is sent your resume. So, if you save it as Ben White ABC Company, what does that tell you? Well, it tells whoever sees it that it is a resume made specifically for them and it is highly likely it isn’t an accurate portrayal of your skills and/or you are applying at numerous other companies (which may be the truth but nobody really likes knowing that).

 What if your resume says Ben White Sales? Again, this means it is a resume crafted specifically for sales roles and to a degree is even more damning because it lets people know that you are in all likelihood applying for roles that aren’t sales roles. Which would lead a logical person to question your dedication and passion towards sales roles if you are exploring other avenues for your career that don’t involve a sales position.
Luckily, it’s a simple fix. Title your resume Ben White Resume. It’s that simple. Before you ever apply for a job or you share your resume with anyone, give it a simple title like that. The truth is we know you have a different version of your resume and you are likely applying other places if you are applying for a role with us, but this way we can have the illusion of doubt.

Rude when answering initial call

You know those sweet ringtones where you can have Slayer playing when somebody calls you and they wait for you to pick up? It is decidedly less sweet when that person calling you is from a potential employer (even if they love Slayer). On a similar note is answering the phone in a super rude way.
Believe it or not, countless times I have called a candidate who applied to a role I was working on just to have the candidate be weirdly rude to me. I’ve called and had people answer like “Who is this?” No hello, no pleasantries just “What” or “What do you want”. My favorite is I will call and say something like “Hi, is this Joe Smith?” and the candidate replies, “Who is this?” I then say this is Ben White calling from Titus Talent Strategies and then the candidate goes “Oh, hi, this is Joe”.

I then respond, “Hi Joe” but I assure you, in my head, I am thinking “Why did Joe respond like that? Is he a fugitive or something?” Is Joe on the run from something? Does Joe have bill collectors calling him? The truth is, I don’t know why he answered like that but it is starting things off on the wrong foot. If you are in the job market, just answer the phone like a normal well-adjusted adult and you can avoid people like me thinking you are on the run from a Bond supervillain.

A resume that isn’t enticing to hiring managers

There can be a huge difference between what a hiring manager see and what a recruiter sees. A recruiter (most, not all) looks at your resume and spends about seven seconds confirming your education/training, job titles, duration of stay at organizations and a quick scan for any caps. That may seem like a short time but that’s the reality.
A hiring manager will look at your resume differently. They are looking at your roles and what you did there. What technology did you use, what projects were you part of, what was your contribution to the organization and can they see some sort of impact.
What I am getting is that when you craft your resume, you have to do so with multiple people in mind. For the recruiter make sure the formatting, grammar, and aesthetics are handled. For the hiring manager think specific, quantifiable impact in every role. In some professions it will be critical to include certain technologies or types of projects (I will assume if its relevant to your industry you understand what I am getting at here).
A good example might be: Spearheaded an 18-month project where I lead a team of 10 to reduce waste on a manufacturing line by implementing lean principles. Over 18 months improved efficiency by 25% and eliminated significant waste and downtime which lead to an $80,000 over that time period.
Now, I am not a technical person but I think you can get what I was aiming for there. It was specific, quantifiable and it lets the hiring manager imagine how your skill-set might be utilized in their organization. I could probably write a 2000-word post on this topic alone but I will leave it at that for now.
Now I don’t personally offer resume writing as a service but I do have a few recommendations. I am pretty fond of the innovative strategies at Blue Sky Resume, currently, they have a special deal going on with a money back guarantee, check price HERE.
Another unique service is Resume Scanners. It is a pretty awesome service that can help you tailor your resume against job postings you are interested. What I specifically like about this service is that it’s so customizable to the position you are targeting. It’s a one of a kind service that to me is worth exploring further if you are willing to make a purchase to enhance your chance at a position, check the price HERE.

Burnt bridges that work for a new organization

At the beginning of this post, I wrote there were four quick things and one longer-term thing I wanted to touch on. This topic is the latter. In my time recruiting and interviewing I have had many people tell me that didn’t need to give their two-week notice or during that two-week notice period they planned on just coasting. I have also had people let me know that for various reasons they have burnt bridges at previous companies.
All of these actions are pretty big mistakes in my opinion. It is also extremely short-sighted to think that your actions when negative won’t impact you down the road unless your plan is to apply at a company you have worked at previously. When people say they don’t think these actions will have repercussions I like to ask them the two following questions to reframe their perspective.
Is it not possible that the people at your company switch organizations and wind up at an employer you might want to work for in the future? Is it possible that people at a company you apply at know people at previous employers? Your actions are always going to matter. In a world as connected as ours, you can ill-afford to cultivate a negative impression of yourself.
It is a small world and the actions you take at one employer could very well have far-reaching implications down the road. You might leave an organization with absolute certainty that you will never work there again but if you think for one second your reputation there might not adversely impact you down the road you have made a huge miscalculation.
The way you treat people and the effort you put forth can certainly have an impact on your career and what doors will or will not be open for you in the future. If you have applied for a role you were perfect on and not gotten an interview, this could be a reason. Your reputation, your brand, the perception people have about you is always going to matter.

Putting it all together

Well, there you have it. The first three tips are things that take no time to implement. They are quick, easy things that could potentially have a pretty large impact. The resume bit is something that can take more time. If you need professional assistance with your resume there are plenty of services out there to help you create a great resume.
I don’t personally offer any services like that but if you check out my Resource Page you can find a few great services to assist you. The last tip is obviously something that isn’t quick or easy. It is something that you will have to work at over time and continue to be cognizant of; however, trust me when I say that it is completely worth the effort.
I cannot tell you how many times I have presented a candidate just to have a hiring manager say that they know someone who has worked with the candidate and they would like to ask them first. In some regards the impression you make with the people you work with can have a bigger impact than the skills you pick up along the way. That goes both positively and negatively.
Leaving a job is not about what the people at your old job will think about you after you are gone. It is about what they will tell people about you when they ask. I can tell you for a fact that it is a critical thing that a lot of people just do not take into consideration.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this all, I know it was a long one. Do me a favor, if you liked this please share it with your social networks, it helps me quite a bit. Specifically, if you have a Pinterest a LinkedIn or a Facebook, any shares on those platforms can help me big time. And lastly, what please feel free to comment below.
Do these tips help you? Are there any other tips that I did not mention that you think should be included? The first step to nailing the interview is getting the interview so this is a critically important step. I would love to hear what other factors might be important that I am missing so that I can incorporate them into future posts.
If you have more time and want to read another post, last week I wrote What successful people do before interviews. It is a bit shorter than this one but it is a great piece with some really helpful tips as well. Thanks again for reading and have an awesome day!
Ben