You’re interviewing for a job and the interviewer wants to pick your brain. You sense they want your expertise without paying for it.
“Real” consultants run into this challenge all the time. Most of us learn to charge for “diagnostic” or “test-drive” challenges.
When interviewing, you may feel more constrained, especially if you need or really want the job. Here are some suggestions – but it’s always a judgment call. You’re on the scene. Use your intuition and your judgment.
(1) Are these requirements common in your field and at your level? If not, recognize a red flag. For example, a senior manager normally would not be asked for a writing sample. You have to decide if the company is coming from left field… or if the HR people are incompetent or bored, but your own manager will be just fine.
(2)Did you initiate the contact through a back-door or informational interview approach? You may be selling the employer on creating a job, not just filling one. Some experts recommend using the opportunity to demonstrate your problem-solving skills by presenting yourself as a consultant, not a candidate.
(3) Are you being asked to disclose information about specific programs and processes from your current career or business? I’d view these requests as a danger signal. Your manager may be testing your loyalty and ethics…or displaying some peculiar value systems of her own.
(4) Are you asked to prepare a written report? Be sure to write your name and identifying information on every page.
Frankly, I would take a risk and ask, “If you implement my recommendations, what will my compensation look like?” I can’t imagine an ethical company that couldn’t come up with a response. But I get surprised all the time and I would love to hear from readers on this one.
(5) Are you asked for on-the-spot recommendations to a specific, complex challenge?
This one is tough. You may be evaluated on how you approach the problem, such as the kinds of questions you ask. Or you might do better to say something like, “We had a similar problem in my last job. And here’s what I did…”
Let me hear from you: reply to this message and share your own thoughts. Do you have a whole different take on these questions? Let’s share!
Prime your intuitive pump: Your Intuitive Move http://www.midlifecareerstrategy.com/intuitionbook.html
Irreverent Job Search Guide http://www.midlifecareerstrategy.com/searchbk.html
Tags: career advice, career planning, interviews, job search
| I was inspired to write this post after reading about a former flight attendant who made a whole bunch of these mistakes. Don’t look now but a lot of smart people make at least one.
Dumb Mistake #1: Posting a photo of yourself in a provocative pose on the Internet.
Dumb Mistake #2: Wearing a company uniform (or carrying an emblem of the company, standing outside company HQ) while performing Dumb Mistake #1.
Dumb Mistake #3: Writing a blog about your company “for therapy” and insisting it’s for you and your friends.
Dumb Mistake #4: Using the company email to send a personal message. I get dozens of queries every year: “Hi Cathy. I hate my job. Can you help?” All written on the company’s message system.
Dumb Mistake #5: Thinking your boss, the HR department or the recruiter is your friend.
Dumb Mistake #6: Expecting free help. Yep, every year I get calls from senior execs who ask if we can “just talk” for an hour or so.
Dumb Mistake #7: Working extra hours to help your current company when you’ve been given notice: you’re going to be laid off in six months or less.
Recognize yourself? I sure do.
Why do smart folks make dumb mistakes ?
Secretly they hate their jobs and are into self-sabotage.
They’re brilliant at career success but not career change.
They’re nice people who expect others to be nice too. (So far it’s worked)
All of the above.
P.S. If you really hate your job,
check this out. |
Q. I have a job. It’s not great but it could be worse and it does pay the bills. Last week I got invited to interview for a job that sounds like fun. But I suspect they’re offering less money than I’m making now.”
A. When you’re working, you may have trouble escaping for interviews. You have to set limits and screen your interviewers — a nice position of power.
Talk to the interviewer. “I’m interested in the job. I have a job and my job search must be confidential, so I want to save my time and yours as well. Can you give me a sense of the salary range for the position?”
Of course, some interviewers will be turned off. You may lose an interview. I would say, “If they don’t respect your time before the interview, how will you be treated once you’re hired?”
No absolutes in the career world! Some companies treat applicants horribly but then honor their employees like royalty.
But most don’t.
Tags: job interview, job search
Posted by CathyG on Feb 21, 2007 in
job interview,
job search Q. My job search has taken off!
I want to apply for an advertised job in the systems group of Mega-Corp. I know folks in other departments but not this one. Do you have tips to bypass HR and get a job interview from the hiring manager?
A. This question actually came from a client recently. I’ll share my thoughts and hope readers will email with more ideas, comments and controversy.First, success depends on how much nerve you have and how much risk you’d like to take. These strategies carry no guarantees and any job search strategy (including following the rules) can always backfire.
As far as I know, these strategies are completely legal and ethical.
(1) Call the department and ask for the department head’s name. Usually they’ll just give you the name readily. Some job hunters say, “I’m doing a mailing.” Well, I think you are doing a mailing but you get to sort out the ethics, practicality and reality.
Once you get a name, you can write directly to the department head.
(2) Call the department cold (with or without a name). Ask for info about the position in a calm, confident manner.
(3) Send a copy of your resume and cover letter to HR. But also send copies directly to the hiring manager. I’d say don’t bother to cc anybody: if they don’t like your back door strategy, it won’t matter anyway.
(4) Google the department and (if possible) the name of the hiring manager
to see if you can come up with a connection between you and him (or her). Ideally you will find a mutual acquaintance to perform the introductions.
Or who knows: you may discover a strong common bond based on education, fraternity, previous employment or sports.
(5) Phone, email or visit everyone you know at this company. Get a list of *all* the names for which they’d agree to be a referral source. For example, you call your trusted friend, Janie. She says, “You can call Frank, Hilda and Bob and say Janie sent me.”
Now you set up informational interviews with Frank, Hilda and
Bob, using Janie’s name. Casually ask if they know someone in the target
department or if they have general advice about hiring at Mega-Corp..
(6) You may find informal email lists too. For example, here in Seattle we have
an email list of women writers – and I see exchanges of info about UW positions.
(7) Attend a meeting of any industry group where the department head will be expected to show up. You may be able to scan a membership list (if you or someone you know is a member) to see if she’s involved. And if he’s a no-show, you’ll use the opportunity to get some deep background on the industry and maybe even MegaCorp’s reputation as an employer.
| This morning’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran an article about outplacement services, a newswire story that originated in Providence, RI.
The story’s theme: Companies try to help laid-off workers get jobs by offering outplacement. These services do an inventory of skills and interests, then try to help laid-off workers find new jobs.
Company spokespersons note that about 2/3 of lower-level managers and half of senior level managers within 3 months.
So are they successful? What I tell my clients
(1) Outplacement firms work for your employer, not for you.
Their goal is to defuse emotions so you won’t sue (or worse). They want to place you as quickly as possible so you’ll move on and, incidentally, have no reason to make a claim on your previous employer. If you’re earning a good salary, you can’t claim financial loss or hardship.
(2) Let’s get real.
Most outplaced workers are employable and even marketable. If you’ve got a good track record with Firm Blue, if you’re not above the age norms for your field, and if your industry isn’t about to go belly-up, then you have a good chance to win a similar position in Firms Green, Yellow and Orange. A few job hunting strategies will go a long way.
(3) Most aptitude and interest tests are a waste of time and money. See
my article on this topic.
Outplacement firms use them to gain time: you’ll do well on these tests and get into a better mood, so you’re more likely to do well on the job market.
But when push comes to shove, your outplacement firm doesn’t care if you’re happy. They want you employed so you make them look good.
Is this goal bad? Not necessarily. Getting on a payroll — any payroll — often makes a lot of sense. Just don’t kid yourself about what’s going on.
(4) If you’re over your industry age norms, outplacement firms may not help.
Above a certain age, you need to consider self-employment, whether you have the aptitude or desire. By all means continue looking for a real job with benefits. But insist on an interview with your local Small Business Administration. I have a list of resources to help my own clients and website visitors get started on the Internet.
Learn more.
(5) You may get lucky.
Some outplacement firms have superb consultants and wise leadership. Others do not.
Several years ago I met a displaced executive who had no luck with the resume his outplacement firm had put together — a functional resume that did not show off his superb track record. I made a few suggestions and he was soon happily employed.
OK, I am tooting my own horn here, but many career consultants could do the same. I find that outplacement services seem to recommend functional resumes, which turn off employers. Experienced career consultants rarely recommend them. See my own ebook:
Irreverent Job Search Guide
Bottom Line: If your company offers outplacement, don’t turn it down! But stay aware of realities and don’t surrender control of your job search to anyone, ever. |
