Job Search: Sales Pitch Behavioral Breakdown


In "The History Boys," a play by Alan Bennett, Douglas Hector explains to his student how, once in a while, you read something that is so close to your own thinking, it makes you feel as if a friend extended a hand towards you.  Beautiful! 

Sometimes, it happens with online reading as well.

Like this article, written for The Ladders by Dan Coughlin, Understand the Mind of the Interviewer.  I really appreciated his applying fundamental concepts to a particular issue.  It targets the job search process, yet it addresses business behavior topics I frequently discuss, namely the importance of:

  • understanding people's motivations,
  • treating everyone you meet with equal respect,
  • keeping professional demeanor at all times.

Mr. Coughlin's  assessment of the interviewing process is applicable to any form of "bargaining."  Whether you are selling your professional skills and qualifications for a job position, or pitching a TV series idea, or promoting an improvement in your organization – the behavioral principles are the same.  And there are important conditions to keep in mind:  

  • you are on somebody else's turf,
  • you may interact with people who are not directly involved in the selection,
  • in the first rounds you encounter people who decide whether you can go on the next stage or not,
  • if you get recommended, you meet the final decision-makers.

Because you are on somebody else's territory, you don't know who can observe you.  When you drive through the security gate on the way in or out, you may be seen on a camera, for example. So you'd better keep your professional armor on at all times.  Don't miss that garbage can in front the building, when you throw the soda bottle on your way in – the woman having a smoke nearby might be the HR Manager. 

Many people loose their creditability by saying or doing something in the reception area.  Doormen, assistants, secretaries may have their own impact on your case.  Once, I interviewed someone: by the time he walked into my office, I already knew that he was snappy and rude with the receptionist.   Did I hire him?

The actual decision-makers who have the power to either recommend you for the next round or to hire you (buy from you, option your script, adapt your improvement proposal) are motivated to make the choice by their own sets of reasons.  Your task is to understand what those motivations are and to try to accommodate them.

The two most important stimuli are the interviewer's reputation and professional advancement.  If there is a possibility that an HR manager will look foolish for passing your candidature to a CFO, she will never do it.  On the other hand, if a creative exec reading a script thinks that showing it to the executive producer will boost his status, he will be running to his boss like an olympic athlete. 

Understand what the person sitting opposite from you wants and bring the ability to fulfill that need forward.  That's the trick.

The Frustrated CFO Takes Lessons from Karl Pilkington


Images Karl Pilkington of Ricky Gervais Show and An Idiot Abroad has nothing to do with CFOs and Controllers.  Nevertheless, his unconventional wisdom, profound understanding of how bizarre life is, and unwavering ability to stay calm, deserve recognition in this blog.  After all,  the majority of issues we discuss are related to coping with the overwhelming strangeness of our professional existence, and human behavior.   Moreover, we look for the ways to get rid of our anxiety and frustration, and Karl has a good grip on his emotions and an admirable attitude towards life.  Watch the video at the the end of this post and you will see what I am talking about.

It is difficult for over-educated and jaded people like us, who spent their lives doing what was expected, to take lessons from someone who accepts life as it comes and is not afraid to voice his unusual opinions.  Karl Pilkington possesses the truthful innocence that we either never had or lost in the early stages of our childhood through severe parental and educational brainwashing.  Nevertheless, considering how frustrated most of us are with our lives, we should definitely try.  So, here are five lessons The Frustrated CFO draws from Karl Pilkington's wisdom.  None of them are profound breakthroughs and you probably knew them to be true already.  It's just that we frequently forget these truths, while Karl lives by them.

1.  If you keep your cool and don't refuel attackers, they stop pretty quickly.  We see Ricky laughing at Karl's every sentence, calling him names, etc.  Karl just sits there with Zen calm, not even smiling, or saying anything back.  The attack dies very quickly.

2.  If you don't retaliate people's insults, you automatically get yourself on the sympathetic side of the argument.  Ricky calls Karl an idiot, an empty-headed buffoon, etc.   We never hear a single crass word back.  So, what happens?  People say that Ricky is "soooo mean"  and everyone loves Karl.

3.  If you criticize a group of people instead of attacking a particular individual representing that group, it will have a much better effect.  When you address faults of one person they get offended and stop listening.  When you speak about shortcomings in general terms, people think its not about them, but subconsciously may recognize their own traits.  Karl never says "my doctor," or refers to his local Chinese restaurant.  So, instead of attacking an employee whose lack of urgency drives you insane, or throwing accusations of oppression into someone's face, we should find a right moment to talk about laziness and bullying in general.

4.  You can speak your mind and cover up your harshest statements with innocent humor.  Of course, this one is hard – not everyone possesses a sense of humor, but I found for myself that a smile alone goes a long way when you make severe statements.

5.  This is the hardest lesson to learn.  If you manage to unclog your mind of politically correct, pre-programmed bullshit, you can unlock free-thinking abilities that you didn't suspect were inside your head. 


 

Quote of the Day


"You learn more when things go wrong.  You can't understand success – too many intangibles."

                                                                            David E. Kelly

Job Search: Ageism


Age discrimination is an undeniable fact of our lives.  Young people are never taken seriously as customers, clients, health patients, philosophers, business developers, etc.  On the other hand, media, entertainment, advertising and marketing adore youth.  And one thing is sure: their "young" status is going to change.   Discrimination of older people even more pervasive and they don't even have a benefit of hoping for improvements. 

The problem is particularly acute in human resources.  The age discrimination is at its worst when you are searching for a job, or expecting layoffs, or know you may be deemed too expensive.  

 According to a research quoted in The Gale Group's  Small Business Encyclopedia, over 52% of surveyed executives admitted that age is one of the key factors in job searches for people 47 years old and up.  What do I think about that number?  The other 48% lied.  Age is ALWAYS a factor. For one or another reason, when we hire people we take their age into consideration.  So, we should accept that, when the tables are turned, we will be treated the same way.

I have to own up to the fact that while wearing the CFO's hiring hat, I automatically estimate the age of applicants.   I don't care about their age per se.  I do it to quantify their accomplishments against the length of their careers.  It helps with assessing their work ethics and personal ambitions.  

Other hiring managers and recruiters don't even have a justification like that.  They just go, "Too old," and send the resume into Trash.  With the job security becoming a myth of long-forgotten times, more and more middle aged people will be forced to enter the circles of job search hell.  This possibility practically hangs over everyone's head in the world of vulnerable small-size businesses.

Having that in mind, I would like to share with you an extremely useful The Ladders' article on adapting your job search, your professional "brand" and your resume to your age: Job Search in Your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s.

By the way, is it just me, or have you also noticed the funniest thing (I am not laughing) that's happening in our media?  The "official"economists, major newspaper analysts and politicians are trying to convince us that the recession has ended months ago and we are "recovering".  Yet, every article or post related to job search and HR issues contains a phrase "especially in this economy" and you can almost hear the author's sad sigh.  

I think the old terminology of recession, recovery, economic conditions have lost their meaning.  People just don't want to admit it to themselves, because, as I frequently say, they are afraid of changes, especially changes for the worse.    The phrase "this economy" gives a false hope of a better future.  The truth is – we live in a NEW REALITY.  This is the "recovered" state.  Things are only going to get more difficult.  Everyone should be prepared to face job search ordeals in their 50s, 60s, and beyond.