My meeting was a disaster!

(It's been a long time since I last wrote. Thanks to all of you who wrote in or spoke to me and mentioned that you would like me to continue posting. I am back, and I sure hope to be regular)


Twice, in the recent past, I have had candidates meeting with some senior executives from the hiring company and telling me that the interaction was a disaster.


And how could they tell?


There were the obvious clues :

• the chemistry was just not there
• it seemed like they had already made up their mind with someone else for the role
• the meeting was scheduled for an hour, but they wrapped it up well before that
• the company executive was focusing on gaps rather than trying to understand the things I have done

These are usually clear indicators that you are not making the cut for the role.

So what does one do when this happens?

Usually there's not much one can do. But there are some things you could.

• Chemistry, or the lack of it, is one of the primary reasons why company executives reject candidates. But they won't tell you that. Feedback shared, if any, will usually be about how they liked you but found someone who fit the bill better!
  But the thing about chemistry is that it is a 'two way street'. The onus on making the chemistry work, rests as much upon you, as it does on the interviewer.
  More often than not, our personal biases, insecurities and fears come into play.
  The key, I think, is to be aware of this; to acknowledge the importance of 'chemistry' and trying to mentally prepare yourself before the meeting so that you are in a positive frame of mind. I know its easier said than done!
• Be prepared : Preparation and professionalism shows, and it helps win over tough interviewers. Very often, the hiring manager/ interviewer gets turned off if they feel that the candidate is not well-prepared and doesn't seem to be serious about the opportunity or committed to the process.
• Ask for feedback! You could ask the consultant who positioned you as a candidate, or you could ask your contacts in the company. But be graceful about the feedback, even though you might be convinced that the company executive has got you all wrong and you haven't got a chance to defend yourself.
• Sometimes, the interviewer is only one among multiple individuals who are meeting you, and your meetings with all the other company executives go exceedingly well enough to counter the one bad interview you had.
• Give it time! Sometimes the company comes back for one more round of discussions.

The best way to look at this situation is that, if the chemistry didn't work out even during the courting stage, then you possibly wouldn't want to risk working with this manager! Maybe there is a better match for you out there somewhere.


Of the two people who spoke to me about their disastrous meetings, one heard back from the company, because all the other executives who had met him were very impressed with him and were keen to get him on board.

Thinking of a sabbatical? Don't!

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I recently met a senior executive who was contemplating a sabbatical. I have had these conversations with quite a number of people in the recent past.

And the reasons for the sabbatical are usually the same :
most people would like to believe that they are taking a sabbatical to take a break and figure out what they should do next; or to spend time with family; or to do some course they always wanted to do.

But more often than not, it is because they are about to be relieved from their current job or want to quit because of some frustrating and untenable situation at the workplace.

And when you do not have a job in hand, a sabbatical seems to be the most logical thing to do!

But the hiring managers/ search consultants interpret this statement 'I am on a sabbatical and I am now looking to move back for the right opportunity' in very different ways :

• For most hiring managers, this is a red flag. What's going on in their mind is : you lost your last job and you haven't found another one so far. There must be some problem!
• If you were really as good as you claim you are, you would have had people reaching out to you and offering you a job.
• Maybe you couldn't handle the pressure of your previous job and needed a break. What if you are still not ready for the pressures of this job?
• You are not clear about what you want in your career. We are not sure this is the kind of person we would want to hire.
• Maybe you just want to take it easy in life now. And we are not looking for someone like that for this role!

Now it may be possible that you are taking a sabbatical for a variety of genuine reasons. But you would still be up against these biases when you are looking to move back into a job.

My advice would be, don't take a sabbatical, especially in the Indian context.

But if you still had to take one, how would you address these biases you would be up against?

Please share your suggestions and I will include the best responses in my next post.

Time to pack your bags?

I recently met a very accomplished senior leader from a global organisation who had spent more than a decade in his current organisation.

He was now considering a change but wasn't sure if this was the best time to be looking out for opportunities in the market.

So how do you decide if this is a good time for a change?
How do you evaluate the options you come across vis-a-vis your current role?

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind while you go about such an exercise :

• The average career graph for most professionals over the course of 25-30 years looks something like the chart above.
• What you will notice is that most people move into a new role every 3-4 years (this could be getting shorter now). And during the course of this time, there is an initial steep learning curve after which the 'value' (in terms of learning and challenges) that you are deriving from the role usually tends to plateau beyond a point.
• In some cases, people get the opportunity of moving into new roles within the same company, as was the case for this person that I had met. In such cases, the individuals do not feel any compelling need to look for opportunities outside their current organisation.
• But in many cases, the 'value' curve tends to dip beyond a certain point, and the current organisation does not seem to have the 'next role' to offer.
• This is usually the best time to look for a change - to see what is out there, and where does your next challenge lie.
• Plotting such a chart for your own career also helps you evaluate options that you come across and benchmark them with your current role.
• This is also a great self-evaluation exercise. (It might not be possible to quantify your career value graph and plot an actual chart. The exercise might translate into a 'balance sheet' statement for yourself. The idea is to do this honest evaluation for yourself, and figure out where you stand today!)
• So, where are you currently on your own chart?

Whiners pretty much end up losers!

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The worst thing you can do for yourself when looking for a job is 'whine'! Nothing turns off a hiring manager or a search consultant than a whiner.

Sometimes you might have a very valid reason to gripe about your current role/ manager/ company. But I have seen different people handle the same situation very differently.

You have the whiner who grates on your nerves after some time. The whiner sees the world as a hammer and himself as a nail! For a whiner, the fault always lies with the other person and situation and never with himself.


And then you have the other person, in a similar situation, who is able to present the facts in a far more mature and balanced manner. Who will explain the situation in terms of the challenges, the issues at hand, the efforts being put in to address the problem, and maybe even the futility of all the efforts, etc.

If you think you are a whiner (does anyone ever describe himself as one?), or if you are being confronted by one, here's a quick checklist of questions to ask oneself and take stock :

• If you think the situation is really so bad, why are you still hanging around? Isn't it better to move out and find a better place where these problems don't exist?
• If you are hanging around because there is no other option out there, then it should be amply clear to you that the market doesn't value you as much as your current organisation does.
• And if you are choosing to hang around, then it is obvious that you are deriving some value from the current role in the company, else you would have moved on.

And what most whiners don't realise is that they are making it even more difficult for themselves when they are out looking for their next job. Astute hiring managers clearly figure out the problem and the whiner usually comes across as a loser.

And guess what? The whiner now has one more reason to whine about!

I didn't want this post to sound preachy, but I realise it does sound a bit like that. But it does help us to pause once in a while and check to see if we are slowly turning into a 'whiner'.

Don't go down that path. Not only is it counter-productive in your job search process, but, more importantly, it makes you into someone that most people want to avoid interacting with. And that's the worst thing you can do to yourself!

Always ace your interview!



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One of the best things about my job is that it gives me an opportunity to meet and interact with some amazing professionals. And most of the people I meet are usually speaking to me about their jobs or want advice on their career moves. I also meet with many candidates on a formal basis when I am doing a search for my clients.

There are some basic things that stand out in most of interactions. And it is the level of 'unpreparedness' of most of the candidates.

Whether you are actively looking for a change or not, I personally believe you should be prepared for the meeting. Whether it is with a search consultant or with an executive of the hiring company.

Here is a quick check-list to prepare you for your next meeting :

1. I am surprised by the number of people who do not even read the 'job description' properly before coming in for the meeting. Hiring managers/ consultants mentally cross you out because they feel you are not serious about or not interested in the opportunity.
2. I am always impressed by people who have not only read the JD, but have also done additional research on the company, the industry, the key people in the organisation, the interviewer, etc.
   If the company you are meeting is a listed entity, then you will usually find substantial material online in the form of financial statements, annual reports, analysts' reports, etc.
   This level of preparation always shows in the quality of the discussion and always impresses the interviewer.
3. To quote an oft-repeated cliche, first impressions matter. The way you are turned out, and the manner in which you greet and acknowledge people. This almost always sets the tone for the conversation ahead. (More about this in a future post.)
4. If you think about it, you can actually pre-empt about 70-80% of the interview and prepare accordingly. Based on the stage of evolution of the organisation and the specific role they are hiring for, you can expect a list of questions that would come your way; and you can go in well-prepared with specific answers.
   You can also expect questions on any gaps in your profile, your experience, your relevance, etc. And if you have thought through these before the meeting, you come across as a genuinely interested, meticulous, 'thinking/ analytical' kind of person.
5. And always use opportunities to ask questions. But don't come across as being arrogant or confrontational, when posing the qusetions.
   Your questions can say a lot about you. It communicates your interest, your business acumen, your ability to see the big picture, and your skill in unearthing the essentials.

These are a few basic pointers to help you make a great impression in your next hiring conversation or interview.

And as always, I look forward to you sharing your pointers with me as well.

Want a job? Don't reach out to the folks at HR!

http://goo.gl/oGyhN8

Now that doesn't sound like good advice, does it? (And it also sounds like I'm being rude to the HR fraternity!)

Wouldn't the folks at HR know if the company is hiring? And wouldn't the HR Department be the best place to start?

Well, you're right, but only partially!

Most organistions manage their recruitment through the HR department or through a Talent Acquisition/ Hiring team, usually within HR.

But what most people do not realise is that the hiring requirements are not defined by the HR department. While the HR department usually gets involved in the hiring plan across all levels of the organsiation, the actual hiring requirement and rationale is driven by the business or specific support functions (which also in turn are driven by business).

Leadership hiring requirements are mostly necessitated by strategic decisions made by the boards or business leaders. Very often, some of these hiring decisions do not get articulated to the rest of the organisation, including the HR department.

And if you happen to contact the HR department expressing interest in a job in that company, you will most likely be told that they are not hiring at this point in time, even while some of the business leaders are contemplating hiring at that level.

So what do you do in such a situation? Do you ignore HR completely? Do you send your resume to the CEO/MD of the organisation directly?

Here are a couple of thoughts :

• If this is a company you are keen on, it is always useful to connect with the relevant folks in HR. It could be one of those organisations where the leadership hiring requirement is being managed by HR. And there are some progressive HR/ hiring teams which welcome interactions with interesting leadership talent in the market for potential future needs.
• But what you most definitely need to do, is to research the company, understand what they are doing in your area of interest, and who are the relevant leaders and business heads.
• Find out the people you might be connected with in this company (friends, relatives, batch-mates, ex-colleagues, etc.) and speak/ meet with them to understand the company better.
• Find out ways of getting introduced to the relevant business leader and push for a meeting or at least a call with this person.

But do not send out your resume to this person from the cold, because it is most likely going to get ignored or, worse still, get sent to the HR department who will send you a boiler-plate response that they are currently not hiring. And that's what we were trying to avoid in the first place!
 

Top 10 career resolutions for 2014!

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The year will pass in a few hours from now, and many people might be glad that it has passed. It has been a tough year for many. And most will wake up tomorrow, full of hope and renewed vigour to begin the year on a high note.

Some of us make our own resolutions for the New Year! So what are your resolutions for your career and your job search for 2014?

Here's a list of 10 resolutions that you could refer to, to help you through your job-search in 2014 :

1. Set daily goals

• Make 2 new contacts directly or through existing contacts
• Make a list of target companies and find one contact in any of your target companies
• Do something related to the new trends in your industry - read an article (not just the news); speak to someone in the industry about some recent trends/ developments; have a point of view

2. Do a self-assessment

• do an honest self-assessment of your achievements, setbacks, gaps, etc.
• write down your personal assessment and fine-tune it over time
• ask about 4-5 people you've worked with in the past to share their assessment about you
• use some of the online assessment tools to help find your stresngths and gaps

3. Do you resist new ideas? Try something new this year; move out of your comfort zone

• lots of tips and advice available; read, adopt and adapt
• connect with new people
• learn something new
• revamp your resume; make one if you haven't made one in years
• ask a senior colleague to interview you

4. Spruce up your online presence

• critique your online presence
• make a professional LinkedIn profile

5. Brush up your sales skills; a job search is a sales activity

• follow-up
• be prompt
• convey a sense of eagerness, energy and urgency
• but know when to 'back off'

6. Stay connected

• maintain a mailing list; keep adding names
• send relevant updates (monthly or quarterly) about yourself
• sharing relevant, useful information with your mailing list
• refer people and connect people

7. Prepare hard; it shows

• customise your resume
• make a list of potential questions and write down your answers
• read up about the company, the position and the people you are meeting

8. Don't stop even after you've got a job

• thank people who you had reached out to
• update them with your new contact details
• find some way of helping these people

9. A 'No' is not necessarily the end.

• don't burn bridges
• let them know that you are keen on related opportunities
• reach out to others in the same organisation
• stay in touch; be persistent, but not painful

10. Refuse to give up!

• find ways to stay positive
• focus on learnings
• firmly believe that 'whatever happens, happens for the best'
• don't keep doing the same thing and expect miracles; try something different!

Here's wishing all of you a Wonderful New Year where you reach greater heights and find more joy in your career than the year that has just gone by! (But let it be less than what you can achieve in 2015!)