Why reference seeking is a key skill

Posted on May 28, 2012 | 1 Comment

Resume / CV fraud has  always been around,  but  the recent case of Scott Thompson,  named Yahoo’s chief executive in January, illustrates how easy it is for even senior appointments to slip through the net without thorough due diligence.

Everyone assumes that the previous company has done the necessary work especially when the candidate has a strong market reputation.  The former president of PayPal graduated from Stonehill College in Massachusetts with a degree in accounting,  but his claim to a degree in computer science  turned out to be factually inaccurate.

Critical skill
Obtaining references is a valuable tool in the executive search box and a real skill,   one that is under rated and sadly too frequently inadequately utilised.  It is  more critical than ever to the hiring process, not simply to weed out blatant lies. Today,  job seekers  are becoming more sophisticated,  especially at a senior level.  Top level candidates are now encouraged to orientate their CVs towards each specific opening,  sometimes employing skilled resume writers to perfect them to showcase their talents and career histories. A polished, perhaps even coached interview performance will seal the deal.

What it is not!
Reference seeking is not a chat or quick call with a nominated person or business associate from the candidate’s previous career or a substitute for other forms of rigorous assessment. Nor should it be based on idle network gossip. If there is smoke then the fire should be systematically tracked down!  Very often market whispering can provide valuable feedback if processed correctly.

Preparation
Many companies  will no longer give written references for fear of litigation and will only state any facts such as the candidate’s dates of employment and job title. Obviously the candidate should be informed that contact will be made which is now generally by telephone.  Preparation  for the call should be as strategic as the job interview itself. It is important that the reference seeker understands the key requirements and qualities needed for the position.

Referees  are usually proposed by the candidate so he/she obviously expects to be spoken about in glowing terms.  Quite often they will also have been specifically briefed. It’s therefore necessary to get behind the story with prepared questions relating to the open position and the skills and qualities required that are as penetrating as the candidate job interview.  Each interview usually takes about an hour.  It is probably a good idea to seek referees in possibly 3 previous companies, dependent on the experience level of the candidate. One excellent reference from the last employer could simply mean they want to get rid of a troublesome employee!

References can also be helpful in the onboarding process. If a candidate comes with outstanding references from a number of sources and suddenly under performs in the new role, then that might suggest that some internal questions need to be asked about cultural fit, onboarding programmes etc. facilitating early intervention.

And finally, before the start date, copies of any academic or professional certificates should be supplied. That one simple step would have helped Yahoo save face, not to mention a  lot of money.

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What is the most marketable skill future candidates need?

Posted on May 15, 2012 | 4 Comments

Times they are certainly changing  and as an increasing number of our populations in developed economies are completing further education, only to become unemployed,  the cries from, and about, ” over  / under-qualified ” candidates come  loudly from both sides of the hiring process.

This can cover:

  • too many/ few  years of experience,
  • education levels above/below demanded level
  • too highly paid in current or previous job,  or simply unemployed

 Both candidates and hiring managers are frequently guilty of wasting each other’s time. Candidates often apply for jobs sometimes in desperation, often times without any insightful or strategic thought, when their qualifications far exceed or fail to meet the demands made on the profile.

On the other hand organisations over- egg their job profile omelette assigning ludicrous qualifications and experience requirements to even low-level jobs.

Madeleine a research scientist  told me “ I recently passed through a hiring process down to the final short list. I was eventually rejected on the grounds that I had a Masters and an MBA and would get bored with the job.  My qualifications are clear on my resume.  Although no process is ever a complete waste of time I actually took 3 afternoons off work to attend the interviews with the executive search company and then twice with the employer. If every company did this job seekers would be trouble with their current employers”      

Alternatively, the concerns hiring managers have about placing candidates that are too highly qualified are in many instances valid. There could be repercussions for the team, the person could be onboarded and then leave because they lose interest or become disruptive or demotivated for the same reason

So with workplaces and technology changing at such a rapid pace and job functions disappearing or being re-engineered faster than we realise,  it is going to make the identification of the right calibre candidate hard to assess as transferable skills, training potential and cultural fit becoming increasingly important. By the same token it will also become increasingly challenging for candidates to know when they could the right fit for a particular job and  if they should submit an application.

In that case it will therefore be more helpful  for both parties to focus on requirements and qualities needed in the future:

  • Getting beyond job titles and focus on  skills and  achievements
  • Examine team playing abilities and leadership experience
  • Look at personality, enthusiasm, learning styles and flexibility

If we are currently preparing for jobs that don’t exist yet then provided that basic skills are in place,  the most valuable and marketable skill candidates can have and need, will surely be the pace at which they can learn and adapt.

What do you think?

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Posted in adapting to change, Aptitude testing, recruitment practises

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Ladies! Will an interest in men’s sports advance your career?

Posted on May 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

Last year at exactly this time, while I was working I must confess, being a sucker for a good ceremony, I was maintaining a watchful half eye on the biggest pageant the world has seen for a very long time – THE Royal Wedding. Keeping me company was an old friend and business associate – male.

I was somewhat surprised at his willingness to spend any time at all observing the frankly semi – hysterical, international orgy of girly gushing about frocks and fascinators, although a view of Pippa Middleton’s fine derrière seemed to make it all worthwhile. When I asked him why, he told me that as the CEO of a company which employs over 90% women, he feels he needs to at least be able to comment intelligently and engage on issues that interest the people who work for and with him. Women. He knew they would all have watched the ceremony, as well as the pre and post analysis ad nauseam and he wanted to be able to make a contribution. I passed an admiring comment on his open-mindedness and resilience – it was rather a protracted affair as you may recall.

Women don’t engage in men’s interests
His reaction took me by surprise. His perception was that it was a managerial obligation to understand the culture of his organization. It was just coincidence that in this case his employees happened to be all women. He went one step further and maintained that IHHO there was a general failing in women to do the same, suggesting that we women are remiss in taking no, or very little time, to engage or understand male culture and topics which are of interest men, simply bitching up a small storm about being excluded.

Fast forward a year to the Brussels JUMP conference. One of the keynote speakers Jean-Charles Van den Branden gave an eloquent presentation on the barriers that women encounter in the workplace, but one passing comment struck a memory chord. Hiring managers recruit and promote people they like and trust, which as a recruiter I know to be true. Jean-Charles cited that men for example like football (soccer in the US) and would feel more comfortable with candidates who have similar interests, because this forges a bond between them more easily.

Would it make a difference?
Now I can’t help but wonder would it really make a difference if female candidates become conversant in the minutiae of the international transfer arrangements of the Premier League, tapped into the latest Spurs, Juventus or Barca gossip or took a position on the EUEFA cup final ( May 19th Bayern Munich v Chelsea) rather than simply what’s going on with the WAGs? The world is full of women who are not only passionate about activities that are perhaps wrongly traditionally and stereotypically considered to be male areas of interest, as spectators, but as participants as well. In the UK 1 in 4 of those who pass through the turnstiles is a woman. 33% of London marathon runners are women, whereas in New York the figure rises to 38%. According to Scarborough Marketing , 42 percent of the NFL’s total fan base is made up of women.

But does it result in professional leverage? I didn’t know – so I asked around.

A key differentiator
Carys Osborne, Commercial Consultant at Optimal Media and Man U fan says a definite yes. Being able to  explain the off side rule has made a real difference.   “ Working in the advertising industry, it is all about networking, building relationships with clients and having that personal touch. A knowledge of football instantly creates common ground with prospective clients. It adds something other than a sales pitch discussion to build a rapport. Company directors might not have much time to speak to sales callers, but they are happy to take 10 minutes out of their day to talk about last night’s game. As a woman able to have these discussions, you become memorable to people, which is key to success”.

Not really
I got a different perspective from Amy a Corporate Lawyer who is both a runner and a footie fan, with the London marathon and the 3 Peaks Challenge under her belt. Raised with 3 brothers learning about football wasn’t an option for her. She was however less sure that it advanced her career in what is the conservative, male dominated environment of the law. But she told me “ I think it all gives me additional respect. The 3 Peaks is particularly challenging and a lot of men don’t make it. It was irrefutable proof of my resilience, commitment and focus. Being interested in football means that I can genuinely participate in post work chat which undoubtedly helps office relationships”

A question of marketing
Anne Vandorpe, Consumer Sales and Marketing Manager at Sanoma Media, a soccer Mum and fan, plans to run the NYC marathon later this year. She suggested as a marketeer that “ it’s all about knowing your market whether it’s consumer product users or male hiring managers “ and has always found her interest in sport extremely helpful professionally. She has a word of caution that it can be useful as a differentiator, but will exhaust itself if all women had the same level of enthusiasm in traditional areas of male interest. The natural scheme of things will result in men and women finding other ways of standing out.

Where is this headed?
So ladies, as someone who sadly wouldn’t know a penalty from a corner, is the message that we need to get out our football scarves or running shoes and make a better effort at taking an interest in male activities and improve our all-round engagements in these areas of interest? Is this what we need to enhance our careers?

But where does this leave the concept of diversity? Isn’t it about accepting and benefiting from our differences? Don’t men and women alike need their own spaces or are we headed for a totally “metro-sexual” world?

Or is this all just another smoke screen? Should any of it matter at all?

What do you think?

Men and women please complete my LinkedIn poll ” Has an interest in any particular sport helped advance your career?”

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The declining art of conversation and Gen Y recruitment benchmarks

Posted on April 29, 2012 | 15 Comments

Much has been written about the need for changes that employers should make in order to attract and retain Millenials. We have seen a veritable outbreak of company Facebook pages, inter-active web sites,  Twitter accounts, mentoring  programmes and the like. But as one client mentioned recently after a less than effective graduate recruitment job fair, an additional challenge is even more basic: to identify the best entry-level talent.

I’m not even talking about text-speak or spelling errors on CVs,  but basic social inter- action during the interview process which is generally the backbone of most hiring systems. Modern technology has impacted us in many ways. Many are positive. Some are not.

Good on paper only
The platforms that are typically used and relied upon for entry-level screening are telephone interviews, video calls, job fair meetings and regular face to face interviews.   Candidates are then frequently advanced to testing processes and more rigorous interviews.  Today, undeveloped interpersonal skills means that many capable candidates don’t present well causing increased difficulties for those in the hiring process  to make an accurate preliminary triage. Clients are reporting the growing cost ineffectiveness of job fairs as a result of this down turn in social skills.  Many candidates with pre-submitted CVs,  look great on paper but are under-performing in the face to face interview. So although we know that Millenials communicate and socialise differently to other generations, at some point they do have to engage with people outside their age group. What happens when skills core to the talent indentification process are defficient?

Diminished interpersonal skills
Sherry Turkle in her excellent article the  Flight from Conversation eloquently portrays the downsides of the trend to block out communication and conversation on a whole generation who are “alone together”.   University Career Directors both at undergraduate and MBA  level report a global pandemic of students mentally checking out of their classes and using Smart Phones and lap tops to log onto Facebook and email accounts during lectures. When I asked an MBA workshop group to turn off their phones for my session, one participant reacted as if I was contravening his civil liberties. At a recent Italian job fair a client cut a  candidate because he responded to an incoming text in the middle of the interview. It is not for nothing that Blackberries have been dubbed “Crackberries”.

But is the interview texter an unempathetic communicator or merely demonstrating multi- tasking skills?  The poor presenter might have excellent potential and skills that are simply not evident. We just don’t know.

First impressions unreliable
First impressions are made in less than 15 seconds. In a situation where social skills are under developed and candidates are unable to make that key engagement with an interviewer as they should  (poor eye contact, the ability to listen and tune into cues from the whole range of body language and voice tone) , which is critical in an interview, how do recruiters sort out the wheat from the chaff?

Here are some solutions currently being considered:

  • Online testing: One response from a number of companies seems to be a growing shift to mass online testing prior to personal screening, using outsourced organisations such as SHL , or in-house assessment centres.  Follow-up procedures include further assessment tools before finally personal interviews to evaluate cultural fit and social skills.
  • Network recommendations:  seem to be becoming increasingly important and will favour candidates with strong personal networks possibly via well-connected family members or previous experience. In today’s economic climate this is not easy to come by and as we have seen with the flourishing unpaid intern sector both possibilities put less well placed candidates at a disadvantage. This is also a demographic which networks widely via Facebook,  but generally hasn’t started to develop a professional network.
  • Modifications to onboarding programmes : to incorporate  communication skills training into in-house programmes sooner rather than later have been suggested. Whether this will provide the catch-up programme required remains to be seen.

Gen Y workers are some of the most independent-minded and tech-savvy workers employers have encountered. Changing recruitment models seems to be necessary not just to attract the best candidates, but to identify them too.

But the significant overall message to Millenial job seekers is to switch off  the lap top, iPad or Smart Phone  and practise the old-fashioned art of conversation.

Those with social skills will be ahead of the game.

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Posted in #Gen Y, Communication skills, graduate recruitment, interview techniques, mba

Are you ready for a professional emergency landing?

Posted on April 19, 2012 | 2 Comments

Many of us sit on aeroplanes, especially frequent flier business trips and watch the cabin crew go through the emergency procedures with tuned-out indifference. We know the drill because we’ve seen it possibly hundreds of times in our lifetimes. Despite the commentary that all should pay attention, we dutifully turn off our electronic devices as instructed, read our books and magazines, chat to our colleagues and fellow passengers or simply settle in for a good movie, a nap and perhaps an inferior meal. After all the odds that anything will happen to us are slim. Right?

Workplace parallels
Sadly, despite the pace of unwelcome change which has become a hallmark of our economies, this is not too dissimilar to the view many take of the workplace. We have all seen many excellent people blindsided and ill-equipped to make an emergency landing which causes us to flail around in search of life-vests and oxygen masks.  This can be because of redundancy,  a merger, a take- over or any other unforeseen business circumstance. As the cold winds of recession blow through our economies, the reality is that having a professional emergency landing procedure in place is now taking on increased significance.

This is the professional equivalent of knowing the exact location of the emergency exits.

So how can we do this? Here are 7 strategic career contingency measures:

  •  Up to date professional skills - it’s important to be current in this area. Many people take their feet off the pedal in terms of professional development , quite often in mid-career and find themselves lacking particularly in relation to newer (read cheaper) employees. It’s important not to become complacent and to view education as an ongoing exercise.
  •  Work on your network – many job seekers tap into their networks only when they have a need, by which time it’s too late. Networking should be an ongoing effort.
  •  Pay it forward – the more you can do for other people when you are in a position to do so makes it easier to ask for reciprocation at a critical time.
  •  Create a financial reserve - it’s hard to define in precise terms how long it could take to find another job. You could be lucky – but generally executive searches take about 3-6 months. Today the suggestion is that it can be as much as 9 months. So although it is hard in today’s economic climate, sound advice would be for all of us to have a reserve  “disaster fund“ of a minimum of 6 months to cover critical  expenses. One of the most terrifying aspects of job loss is the gnawing anxiety of how to meet fixed overheads.  It’s a good idea to make sure that key financial contact details are in your address book.  How well do you know your bank manager?
  •  Invest in professional support – many individuals seek career support when they are desperate: it might be when they have already lost their jobs or are facing any other sort of career blip. It is important to treat a career with the same strategic analysis as one might any other housekeeping exercise. In the words of John  F. Kennedy “ The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining”. 
  • Look after you -  Job seekers with family or other obligations worry about letting down their families and their ability  to support their nearest and dearest.  But just as a cabin attendant will exhort  passengers to put on their own life jackets and oxygen masks first and then look after their dependents,  the same is true for the person looking for a job. Putting your own needs first will ultimately be in the best interests of the people who rely on you.
  • Leave your luggage behind  – this is always one I imagine I might struggle with if tested,  but the logic resonates nevertheless. Sometimes our baggage gets in the way and we have to let it go and take that step into the unknown to protect ourselves.

So are you ready for a professional emergency landing?

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Posted in Career management and transition, Executive search, job search strategies, job seeker, networking

The Guilt Volcano: Women and Mentoring

Posted on April 9, 2012 | 2 Comments

Guilt volcano:For many women this is the professional danger zone. The career hard hat area.

Guilt: Only one of the many reason why women need mentors.
I picked up Alison Pearson’s book “ I don’t know how she does it “, the other day,(half price at St Pancras), which I had read years ago. In 2011, somewhat incredulously the main protagonist,  a Yorkshire lass, turned London Hedge Fund Manager,  has been transmuted by Hollywood into a role played by Sarah Jessica Parker,  in a  movie by the same name.  I have yet to see this film, but it stretches the imagination somewhat.

All that aside, this novel depicts really well the daily angst that most professional women with kids go through. Although hilarious in places, there are details that most of us who have any  career aspirations can relate to.  And  I had great employers when my kids were young, who were incredibly supportive. They were ahead of the game in terms of facilities for working mothers,  even setting up remote access via a modem which in those days was the size of a small building block with the noise connecting to the intra -net bearing more than a close facsimile to a Boeing 747 on take -off.

But I too, have made a client presentation with baby vomit on the back of my business suit.  I have looked into the wide eyes of my toddlers as I have left them to go to  the office. I have deflected the  raised eyebrow “  oh..not again” looks as I explain that my son has been in yet another accident requiring emergency treatment.  I almost  qualified for validated parking at the local hospital, such was the regularity of the visits. Don’t worry he made it to adulthood!

Hard hat area
And this is only a tiny cross-section of the debris that falls upon the heads and shoulders of  the working mother which starts off as plumes of  hot air,  but swiftly turns into  ash clouds, rocks, and eventually molten lava spewing out of the guilt volcano to engulf them. What happens then? Well many,  if they can afford to,  opt out,   but many can’t and hard choices are made within couples. If the mother is a single parent then the balancing act is even more fragile.

For many women this is the professional danger zone. The career hard hat area.

New initiatives
Many HR policies focus on the practical aspects of encouraging women to return to work which is clearly operationally necessary.  But I was heartened to read that organisations such as Accenture, Azda ( which has recently launched  a Mum2Mum Programme)  Goldman Sachs, Citi-Bank, Sky and others,  are introducing mentoring programmes for expectant mothers matched with more senior women, who are also mothers.

Unfortunately,  these initiatives quite often stop within a year. What I would like to see is an extension of these programmes so that women mentor each other through this entire critical phase in life (which is indeed only a phase) which can last longer,  so that the leak in the female talent pipeline is stemmed. Women look for mentors generally amongst their peers and the dearth of female senior managers very often makes it challenging for many to find one within their own organisations.

Unhappily, it can  be as difficult to persuade women to mentor other women, in the way it might be difficult to persuade the UK to enter the Euro or Augusta to admit female members.  But women need to start supporting each other at critical times. More senior women have to lose the ” Suck it up,  I did it the hard way” attitude, or worse still convey a message that not having a family is the only route to corporate success, sometimes failing to encourage junior women, or worse still, blocking them entirely.

Women (and men too) should be looking for new ways forward without the necessity of harsh compromises, where organisations are also the ultimate losers.

This article first appeared in the 3Plus International eGazine, an organisation set up to help women find mentors and sponsors and to support them in achieving their career goals. Contact me for further information

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Posted in Mentoring

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Extreme commuting! Why more of us are becoming Super Commuters

Posted on April 1, 2012 | 1 Comment

Limited local opportunities, expanded job markets and better value housing further from city centres are prompting more and more people to undertake longer commutes. Factoring in the career of a spouse or partner, slumps in housing markets making it difficult to sell or rent property,  as well as issues impacting kid’s educations, commuting rapidly becomes the most viable option in a range of other poorer choices.

Typical commutes 
Whether by plane, car, train or any other form of transport commuting is consistently listed as one of the bug bears of modern life.  Recent research in Sweden from Erica Sandhow at Umeå University,  on the impact of commuting,  suggests that 45 minutes could be considered a long commute. However, in the US a typical commute would be 50 minutes  while the British commuter spends 200 hours a year getting to work. Although there are a number of benefits from an increased number of career opportunities,  there are also significant downsides, with Sandhow suggesting that couples engaged in commutes longer than 45 minutes are 40% more likely to get divorced.

International commuting
Just the mildest of enquiries in my social circle produced the feeling that long distance commuting is more commonplace than these stats would suggest. In fact most believed that average commutes are taking increasingly longer as congestion is most towns is rising and 45 minutes elapsed time door to desk  was actually on the light side.

Yet many choose to commute not into their local city,  but internationally.

During a recent trip out of Malpensa airport I found myself in conversation with an Italian gentleman , Fabio, who was negotiating the security line with all the frequent flier finesse of George Clooney in “Up in the Air”. He works in international business development for an Italian conglomerate and was headed, not the 25 minutes typical Italian commute down the road, but 700 kms back home to Brussels.  Fabio was quick to let me know why he has decided to live apart from his family Monday to Friday.

Tough decisions
“When I was offered a senior role back in Italy 3 years ago, it was a tough decision. On the one hand I had a great promotion but on the other I also had to factor in my wife’s career. She is British and an E.U. lobbyist, so needs to be Brussels based, as well as my children’s education. They are 16, 14 and 10 – so not great for the older ones to move. We speak English at home and the kids go to Belgian schools so they only have conversational Italian. So as I travelled 80% of my week  at that time anyway – the logical solution was to find a pied à terre Monday to Thursday in Milan and commute between Belgium and Italy“.

I have been in that situation myself twice when my ex-husband commuted internationally, in the days before cheap flights and speedy boarding. It’s not easy. Fabio continued ” When I’m not on the road I can work from home but obviously I need to be in Milan a couple of days a week at least. Technology helps and I’m lucky that my General Manager is a results orientated rather than presence orientated manager, but when you run a team being visible and available is important. “

Downsides
So what are the downsides as if I didn’t know already. “ When flights are delayed or cancelled – that’s a hassle. My wife struggles sometimes dealing with my 16 year old son on her own and feels isolated. It means if she needs to travel for her own work we have complex childcare arrangements as we don’t have family in Belgium. Hikes in fares means that it’s high cost too. But overall it’s the best decision for our family“

 Women super commuters
Erica Sandhow’s findings show that extended commutes primarily benefit the careers of men and also contribute to polarised gender stereotyping with women assuming a  greater share of domestic responsibilities in the absence of the men, while their partners become the defacto more significant salary earner. I can certainly testify to that.

If a high number of super commuters are men, what about women?

I spoke to Hannah who commutes between Paris and Amsterdam, leaving 2 children on Sunday evening or Monday morning,  with her husband Markus until Friday night.  “ Yes it’s stressful but you get used to it. I find that I have to separate my work and personal life, but as the main salary earner in the family, I have to pay the mortgage and the bills. I am 16 years younger than my husband and will have to work for another 18 years at least.  I miss my kids probably more than they miss me and have some sad moments when I can’t make an event or something is going on in their lives which I can’t be there for.  My husband wishes I had more time, especially if I ever have to work at the weekend” 

At the same time, it is reported that those fewer women who do commute long distances gain new career opportunities and higher salaries – so there are some benefits.

But are they worth it?

So how long would you commute to work?

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Posted in Commuting, Work/life balance, Workplace flexibility, Workplace practises