Tag: Business

Job Search: A Sad Tale of a Misdialed Area Code


Images Posts related to job search issues have become more frequent.  I guess, it is unavoidable with such a persistent problem – a lot of people are unemployed and the jobs availability diminishes every day, no matter what the big-time economists and government statisticians are saying. 

This story was related to me just last week and I felt compelled to share it here.  A fellow financial exec has been contacted by a recruiter with an opportunity for a CFO position with a service company.  The recruiter does not work for an employment agency.  He is with a consulting company that specializes in hedge fund and private equity brokerage.  They offer a broad range of assistance: from finding companies suitable for takeover or merging to post-closing transitioning.

Excellent!  Recruiters working for such consulting firms are less constricted than conventional headhunters from Robert Half et al.  Because they are immersed into an entrepreneurial world, they actually try to find talented people instead of counting the check marks they drew on a resume.

So, the two have an extensive phone interview, going over the financial exec's experience with various functions crucial for this job.  At the end, the recruiter is very positive and tells her he would make a presentation to his boss, the consulting firm's Managing Director.  A couple of days later he calls to inform her that he got a favorable feedback and wants to make an appointment for a telephone interview with the boss.  They set the day and time.  

Now (this is an important bit of information), the consulting firm is in Philadelphia, where predominant area code is 215.  The candidate is in New York City – 212 area code there.

Appointment time comes – the interviewee sits and waits by the phone.  An hour later – nothing happened.  She writes an email to the recruiter advising that the Managing Director did not call.  He writes back immediately saying that she did call, nobody picked up and she left a message.  How is it possible?  The woman in New York was by her phone all the time.  Well, we, CFOs, are quick like that – our job seeker realized right away that the Philadelphia woman, out of habit, must have punched 215, instead of 212.  

The recruiter and his boss probably looked at the call log and saw the wrong number too.  The interview was rescheduled.  But now, there is a subconscious resistance in the interviewer's mind – she is human, and we don't like admitting to embarrassing errors like that.  She re-schedules again, then again, then never calls. 

And just like that, the opportunity was gone.  What always bothers me when things like that happen, is that it is quite possible that this woman could have been the best thing that ever happened to the company.  She might have impacted the future of the enterprise in the most positive way.  It seems so unfair that stupid little things like this misdialed area code have such a big role in this Comedy of Errors we call life.  

Objectivism, Part 2: Lynn Tilton – the Matriarch of Patriarch


Jessica Pressler provided the second mentioning of Ayn Rand, in her long-titled article What Does it Take For a Female Tycoon to Get Noticed Around Here? , which she contributed to New York magazine's issue on the post-crash Wall Street.  It profiles Patriarch Partners' CEO Lynn Tilton and, according to the author, this is how the powerhouse of private equity investment sees herself: as "an Ayn Rand heroine in six-inch heels."

Rightfully so.  This woman is not simply concerned with the state of American capitalism and the future that awaits us ("…I believe that there will… be violence in the streets in America," she says.  "And I think the only thing we can do to stop it is by creating employment."), but she is actually doing something about it – working very hard on trying to rebuild American manufacturing.  Moreover, she is doing that without any regard for the conventions of the phony propriety that has saturated our existence. 

Lynn Tilton destroys the stereotype of a "powerful man" as a world-savior.  A true standard-buster,  just like Ayn Rand wanted women to be, she does not make herself look like the androgynous creatures in buttoned-down suits who are allowed to enter "little boys" clubs from time to time.  She does not let herself to fit into the designated for business tycoons box either.  She refuses to hide her wealth into over-priced art rubbish other billionaires stash in their unseen drawing rooms.  Her conspicuous consumption is honest, because that should not define her.  It has nothing to do with her achievements.  

It is incredibly important to me that Ms. Tilton's  business focus lies in the same field as mine does: the proverbial backbone of the US economy – small and midsize companies.  And it makes the refusal of others to look beyond the outfits, the hair, the jewelry, the mannerism, far more painful.   Once again I am exposed to the violation of my personal absolute truth – MERIT.

Why can't people break out of their constricted mentalities? 

At art fund raising minglings, when I dissect a movie or a play, impressed people, who are paid to be in the know of those things, inevitably ask what I do for living.  I just love seeing their faces when I say, "Accounting and finance."  You see, number-crunchers are not expected to understand the high art.  It does not matter that I know more about it than they do.  On the other hand, when I was entering Economics PhD program, my wild jewfro was diminishing my scientific credibility, even though I came with 50% of my research and modeling already completed. 

Always those fucking labels, those stupid boxes.

I can easily visualize Lynn Tilton going to Harry Winston or Van Cleef & Arpels for some fabulous $250,000 necklace and people in attendance there thinking that she is some mogul's wife.  She must relish the opportunity to tell them, "I am the mogul, bitches!"

It's too bad that Ms. Tilton deals only in private equity acquisitions of distressed businesses and does not diversify into venture capital start-up investments.  I am developing a product right now that has a great potential of contributing into survival of smaller companies and complementing her quest for preserving the true capitalism.  I think we would get along handsomely.  We both know that it's what's inside your head that counts.  She is having trouble getting the respect she deserves, because we lost our meritocracy to "club membership" long time ago.    

Language Barrier


I don't know why, people still single out the US as a country of immigrants.  Just because before Columbus "found" the "New" World, this land was vastly unpopulated, and after that Europeans started moving in?  Well, people,  all over the world, migrated from one place to another through the history of humanity.  And I can assure you that Americans who can trace their origins to Mayflower and beyond, don't consider themselves immigrants.    

Of course, we have an inflow of new immigrants, and we  do lead in absolute numbers, but per capita, Australia's and Canada's immigration rates are currently three times higher than America's.  Also, there is a question of concentration.  What we should be called is a country of uneven immigration. 

There are places where people have never seen an immigrant.  I have a Turkish friend who once stopped with his half-Swedish-half-French wife in a small Midwestern town for gas and the shop-keeper called a sheriff.  100% true story. Homogeneous regions and countries scare me – they are too easy to manipulate.

I enjoy the blessed places, where you can see different faces and hear different tongues every step you take.  And it is with a great reluctance, I have to recognize the fact that the language barrier problem sometimes affects the work environment.  Well, it's rather accent barrier.   

I myself have no such problem.  Over the years I worked with people from more than 20 countries.  I pay attention and my ears got accustomed to all sorts of accents and grammatical deviations.  Unfortunately, that cannot be said about everybody.  Many times I have encountered situations of stark misunderstanding between employees of different origin.  It results in  frustration, waste of time and even errors. 

Few years ago I had two employees in my analytics group – one was a woman from Ukraine and another was a man from China.  While I had no problem communicating with them, they could not understand each other.  The woman was very cautious about filling the gaps in information with her own assumptions and guesses.  Instead, she would drag him into my office, asking me to explain.  CFO, the Interpreter! 

Something needed to be done.  I thought of replacing one of them, but that's not my way of doing things.  Instead, I asked them to communicate in writing – every time they needed to say something to each other, they used IM.  Some people may think that it took away more time – not true.  They spent so much time trying to understand one another and getting me involved, my solution was actually a time-saver.  Actually, seeing the words has improved their verbal communication as well.    

I think problems like that are rooted in the lack of effort.  The two kept asking me why I didn't have problems understanding either of them.  I'd said,  "Just pay attention to expressions and emotions and it will be easier to understand."

Like in this video.  The great comedian speaks a cartoon language he invented himself.  Yet, people all over the world understand him.

 

    

    


   

CFO Folklore: My Personal Mantra


In my earlier post Why Do I Work So Hard? I talked extensively about conscientious attitude towards my CFO responsibilities.  However, time and again I find myself worrying about matters, which are not really under my direct control: lazy marketing people, self-serving sales force, inept operations, and (again and again) bosses who constantly jeopardize their own business.

And it’s not just me.  There are a lot of people in my network, who display the same level of care.  We frequently become each others’ sounding boards when the angst gets too overwhelming.

So, here we are at lunch.  My friend JM ranting about VP of Ops fighting with his girlfriend on the phone for three hours, while the production manager was waiting for him.  I am sharing the pains of trying to catch the President to release a $1M wire transfer and his dodging me because “he had enough for the day.”

And it’s not like we don’t have anything else to discuss.  Most of my business acquaintances are entertaining individuals.  JM, for example, has an incredible sense of humor.  I am a theater and foreign cinema fanatic.  Somehow, my banking relations are all classical music buffs.  We all read Jonathan Franzen and Michael Cunningham.

And yet, we talk about problems at work every chance we get.  Most people, when they stop for a second and think about it, get very angry and frustrated with themselves.  Frequently at the end of these conversations I hear, ” I don’t own this business.  It is not my fuck up.  Am I supposed to butt in on other people’s responsibilities? Why do I even care?“

Me? I don’t get frustrated about my caring so much.  And I tell my concerned peers that they shouldn’t get upset with themselves either.  You see, years ago I figured out that the conscientious working attitude, the ambition to succeed, the striving for merit-based rewards and the care for the entire business – they all go together.  They are inseparable qualities and indifference doesn’t fit into the picture.  If this is who you are, you will always care.  

Moreover, in small business environment, this very combination of qualities is what brought you to where you are.  This is what separates you from others.  This is what got you into the CFO or Controller chair with the correspondent salary and perks attached, which, in their turn, define your living standards. 

So, I’ve created myself a mantra: I CAN’T SURVIVE ON “I DON’T CARE.”  

There is a compensation threshold, which, when crossed, brings you into the stage of your professional life, where hardworking people care about the well-being of their employers.  I’d say right now it’s somewhere around $70K a year.   At $200K a year, you either care a whole lot, or you are a fraud, or you are working for a big-size mastodon.  So, ask yourself, “Can I survive on a $70K salary?”  And if you can, go for it – not caring is a bliss.

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.