Builders and Destroyers
February 23, 2010
Several years ago, I wrote an article for BCG Attorney Search called “Builders and Destroyers”. In this article I discussed the two types of people one may encounter inside a law firm: (1) People whose mission it is to build and improve things around them, and (2) People whose mission seems to be to tear down, criticize, and damage the whole.
In reviewing the financial crisis this past week, and in thinking about my own career and life, I come back more and more to this belief and its importance in the business world.
Organizations surrounding themselves with positive employees – and that even make this attitude a requirement – typically have higher success than those who do not. In the law firm merger space, for example, I have noticed that firms that do not merge, and instead raise and maintain their own positive culture, tend to do much better in the long run (and survive), as compared to law firms that do not do the same. The social culture of law firms, and all organizations, tends to be much healthier, and conducive to success when the organization surrounds itself with positive people.
When organizations grow too quickly and unnaturally, they often end up absorbing at least a few negative people. The forces inside the organization that would have traditionally kept these people out cease to function as they should. On Wall Street, with the advent of mortgages being sold in bulk, a similar lack of accountability has entered the system. The contact bankers used to have with borrowers, and the subsequent understanding of their particular family and work history, is gone. Also, it seems some employers do not care who people are as long as they appear to contribute to the bottom line. People who cannot contribute to the overall system effectively or for a sustained period of time are also allowed in for one reason or another.
It benefits everything, be it a system, organization, or individual, to avoid those who do not contribute positively along the path to success and growth. For example, we have all come across people who continually find fault in the world and in the people around them. We know how draining people like this can be. When organizations bring in these types of individuals, it affects the whole. Staff can become unmotivated and unsure of themselves and their organization. Personally, when I spend time with negative people I tend to get a little depressed. I also notice avoiding them makes me feel better.
While my career advice may be an overly simplistic solution, I do believe that many problems can be solved by having more personal accountability, and by surrounding ourselves with positive, forward-thinking people, those who want and are able to work toward a common goal. As simple as it may seem, I have experienced how big a difference this can make.
Be Proactive in Business and in Your Job Search
January 14, 2010
The gloomy estimates you’ve heard about business failures are not exaggerated. As many as half of all small businesses launched in the United States this year will not be around by the end of next year. These businesses will remain as little more than painful memories in the minds of the people who launched them. The big question is why do so many businesses fail? Is it because of lack of venture capital? Bad location? Inexperienced ownership or management? Simple miscalculation of market demand?
Every week for as long as I can remember, there is a giant pullout advertisement for an electronics store called Fry’s in the Los Angeles Times. I have not seen giant ads for any other electronics stores in the Times – just this one. In the past five years, I have also read in the same paper about one electronics store after another experiencing major financial troubles, and eventually closing. I think Fry’s has probably survived for one reason: the company does not sit passively and wait for customers. Instead, it goes out and finds customers by advertising as aggressively as it can every single week, all year round.
You need to be just as proactive with your career. If you are looking for a job, you need to broadcast yourself to everyone the way Fry’s does. Fry’s may have the best locations in Southern California. Fry’s may even have the best merchandise, the best managers, and the best salespeople in its stores. But none of that matters if Fry’s is not being proactive and letting people know it exists.
In late 2008 the unemployment rate in California was above 7.8 percent. Today, in 2010 it has risen to over 10 percent. When you see unemployment numbers like this and read the related stories, you always see something else as well: the papers talk about a percentage of people who have simply given up on looking for jobs. This is the last thing I would ever want you to do. I do not want you to give up. I want you to be proactive.
The main reason people fail in their job searches or in business is due to a lack of proactive strategy. You need to be proactive in order to survive.
First, make sure you are in fact seeing all of the job openings available. If you are spending your time on job boards like Monster or CareerBuilder, you need to realize you are seeing only the jobs that employers are paying to have advertised on those specific sites. You need to look at all job search sites, in all newspapers, and on all employer websites. You need to have complete access to every available job in the market. Not being aware of every available job in the market is a huge mistake that can lead to missed opportunities.
This is what we do at EmploymentCrossing: we consolidate every job in the market that we can find into one place. We gather jobs from employer websites, newspapers, and other job boards.
However, being proactive goes further than this. You also need to apply to every single job you can possibly find for which you think you may be a good fit. Even if there is no current opening – give it a shot. Most people only apply for a few jobs when seeking employment.
I have seen people refuse to apply to a company because they knew someone there who did not like the management. This is not a smart decision. Companies have numerous departments and depending on the company’s size, potentially hundreds of different supervisors. Refusing to try a company due to one person’s bad experience, or even a group of people’s bad experiences, is not wise, and there is no place for this within a proactive strategy.
In addition to applying for every open job you can find, you need to track down “hidden” and unseen job openings. How many times have you made an impulse purchase? How many times have you purchased something because you saw it at the right time? The same idea applies to how employers often make hiring decisions. Someone happens to be at the right place and time, and they are hired.
One of the most effective ways to get a job, in my opinion, is through the targeted mailing of your résumé. This is what our company, Employment Authority, does. This almost always generates a significant number of leads when someone is looking for a job. Targeted mailing involves sending your résumé to a group of employers in the area who match your career interest. For example, if you were searching for a bank teller job, you would mail your résumé to a group of companies in a given city that typically hire bank tellers. This method of pursuing employers is most likely to secure you the sort of job in which you are most interested, and it is highly proactive.
When you cold call an employer, or send an unsolicited résumé, you are also being proactive. You will stick out in the employer’s mind much more than the average person who is applying for a job in a classified ad. The employer is also likely to believe that you are interested in them specifically. Furthermore, the employer is given the chance to evaluate whether or not they have a need – all without having to do any advertising, since you are going to the employer proactively.
Businesses often fail for the same reason that people fail to get a job: a lack of proactive measures. Be proactive in your job search. Do everything you can to track down a position and get hired.
Protect Your Reputation At All Costs
January 13, 2010
What You Will Learn
|
“A risk to reputation is a threat to the survival of the enterprise.”
-Peter J. Firestein
I read an article once about Blackstone executive David Blitzer, whose father-in-law he once charged with trying to shake him down for $7.5 million. The man was ultimately arrested after Blitzer, 38, made a $500,000 payment as part of a deal to get the harassment to stop. Blitzer’s father-in-law had originally requested that Blitzer loan him money, which Blitzer did. However, when Blitzer refused to relinquish more money than originally requested, things turned ugly. According to the article:
“In June, Ross demanded more money and began harassing Blitzer with phone calls and emails, according to the district attorney’s office. Ross allegedly said if Blitzer did not give him at least an additional $50,000, Ross would contact Blackstone executives and law enforcement with accusations he said would ruin Blitzer’s career.
In one voicemail message, Ross threatened to “commit open warfare” against Blitzer if he didn’t send money, the district attorney’s office says.”
When I read that article, a family member was attacking me in a similar way, after I’d refused to give that person a loan. The difference between what happened to me and the situation with Blitzer was the “open warfare” against me had already begun. The attacks had been going on for some time, in fact. When my relative denied the attacks, I asked him to take a lie detector test, which he took and failed.
While I cannot comment on this further, I will say you must protect your reputation at all costs from public defamation. Don’t let yourself become a victim.
Being attacked by my relative was one of the hardest things I have ever dealt with. A situation like this really goes to the core of who you are, and causes damage in many ways. People have asked me why someone would make accusations against me if they were not true. The problems the ordeal caused me, my family, and even my employees is completely unacceptable.
During your career, you cannot afford to take any chances with what people say about you. Never let lies be spread about you. Before becoming the CEO of the employment companies I work for now, most of my experience was in the legal industry. I worked in Los Angeles and saw several attorneys’ careers literally get destroyed because of rumors. While some of the rumors I heard were in fact true, most were not – and the results for the attorneys were catastrophic. Even in a market as large as Los Angeles, word got around very quickly. If you think there’s rumors going around about you, you need to react quickly to stop them. The only fight you’re guaranteed to lose is the one you back down from.
When you are searching for a job, you need to be aware your potential employers will do their homework on you. They will put your name into a search engine and look you up on social networking sites to see what they can find out about you. If you have a blog, your potential employer will look this up as well. If the people you associate with on your blog do not meet your potential employer’s approval (e.g., they are into “weird stuff”), this may cause him or her to lose interest in your candidacy. You must ensure you are protecting your reputation and controlling what others can find out about you.
I once heard someone say something I believe is very appropriate regarding professional reputations: “Never tell people you work with your biggest weaknesses because this is something that can be used against you in the future. Your weaknesses are something that gives others power over you.” While this advice may sound extreme, the point is to protect yourself. You do not want people spreading negative information about you in the workplace. This can not only cause problems with your current job, but can also potentially damage your future employment prospects. There is no quicker way to hurt your career (especially in niche professions where a lot of people know each other), than to allow rumors to circulate about you.
The best way to deal with rumors is often to acknowledge they exist and then do your best to address them. Addressing rumors is an excellent way to ensure whatever is behind them is not allowed to fester. For example, the Coca-Coca Company has an entire portion of its website dedicated to addressing false rumors. This is a priority for large companies such as Coca-Cola, and it should be a priority in your career as well.
In my opinion, one of the best ways to overcome your critics is to simply sit down and speak with some of the people whom you believe are creating the rumors. This can be challenging to do in a professional environment but, when done properly, it can put the people on notice about your concern and let them know you may suspect their own behaviors. Getting close to these people – keeping your enemies close – is often the best medicine to help quiet them.
When I was in high school, I remember another football player spreading rumors about me and a girl in our school, with whom I’d never even spoken. I walked up to the player the day I heard the rumor and asked him, “What exactly makes you feel good about spreading rumors about this girl and me?” I never heard the rumor again. Later, I heard he denied ever saying it.
In summary, if you hope to continue to grow your career, you must confront rumors early on in order to prevent them from festering. Protect your professional reputation at all costs, act with honor and don’t let petty talk from other people stand in the way of your progress.
Look at Your Job (or the Job You Are Seeking) from Your Employer’s Point of View
January 11, 2010
What You Will Learn
|
One of the highest performing dental offices in Australia is that of Patty Lund, who takes his job very seriously. Some years ago, Dr. Lund studied the dental market and identified what people considered to be the three worst things about going to the dentist. He identified pain, smell, and waiting time.
After identifying these three things, Dr. Lund and his dental hygienists did everything in their power to ensure people were extremely comfortable when getting dental work done.
His practice included making muffins and cookies for patients, which led to a small bakery being built on the premises, so that incoming patients would smell fresh bakery aromas instead of the antiseptic odor typical of a dental office. To ensure that patients did not have to wait for a long period of time, the office made a practice of only having one patient in the office at a time. The office actually ended up getting rid of three quarters of its patients, keeping only a small number with whom they wanted to work.
As a result, Dr. Lund’s office became much more efficient and is now among the most profitable dental practices in Australia. He has a huge waiting list of people who want to be his patients.
This example shows that businesses that find out what their customers need end up doing very well. Businesses that concentrate on what their clients want–not just what the business thinks they want, tend to do much better than their competitors.
The same goes for your job–or the job you are trying to get.
The best thing you can do in any business or job is look at your service from the customer’s point of view. I’m not just talking about customer service jobs here. I’m referring to a way of thinking about work that ensures your constant success. Try viewing your boss and the people you work for as customers, especially when you are seeking employment.
Every employer’s priorities are different. At one of my first jobs, I worked for someone who cared almost entirely about making sure there was never a typographical error in any document. In another job interview, I noticed the person doing the hiring had the most organized office I had ever seen. During the interview I spoke about the importance of maintaining order in an office environment, and I was offered the job. At another job, I worked for a brilliant man who cared nothing about convention, typographical errors or tidiness, but he was obsessed with the ability to think unconventionally. He judged people almost entirely on their ability to do this.
You always need to be aware of, and understand what is most important to your employer or interviewer. Look for signs of these priorities when you meet them. Find hints on their website or through any other source you can find. This is also something you should do in your current job.
While you may have ideas about what the priorities are at your company, chances are they differ in some way from the priorities that are actually vital to your employer. Your employer’s needs and concerns trump your own in most cases. Being able to accept this and work toward those priorities is key in helping you to land and hold on to a job.
Believe it or not, I have interviewed people who have basically told me they wanted to work at our company and, as part of their job, do whatever they wanted. They wanted to be the judge of what was important. This is not usually a welcome idea, nor is it what is needed in most employment situations.
I remember one time an attorney I was working for came into my office and gently rebuked me. I had been trying to sell him on an idea I believed was very important to a case on which I was working. The job I’d been given basically required me to do research, but I wanted to do much more on the case. The attorney told me that I needed to look at myself as a soldier and him as a general. I needed to do just what I was asked and not try to change the assignment. Basically, I needed to follow orders and honor his instructions. I remember this scenario quite well and, looking back on this, the attorney was absolutely right and what I learned has been a piece of lasting career advice.
One of my favorite film genres is submarine movies. These films usually have a very simple plot that involves an experienced captain and his much younger crew. Typically, the submarine is being pursued, more or less having a difficult time, and the captain always needs to give orders, which quite often seem counterintuitive–even crazy to his crew. The crews often mutiny because they disagree with the captain’s instructions. But always, in these movies, the captain ends up being right despite what everyone else around him seemed to believe.
You need to find out what the people you are working for need and simply honor those needs. You should follow orders instead of making up your own. This is something very few people understand in the business world. Understand this and you will not only stay employed but you will really stand out when you are seeking a job as well.
Add Value at Every Turn
January 7, 2010
What You Will Learn
|
At the start of my career in the employment industry, I worked primarily with attorneys who’d come from some of America’s top law firms, and who were seeking the highest-paying jobs at the best firms. In working with these individuals, many of whom held top credentials from prestigious law schools, I very quickly identified two types of people: (1) people who worked hard to get where they were, and who would continue to do so because of their work ethic, and (2) people who believed that, because of what they’d already achieved – admission to a top school, securing a job in a top law firm – they were owed success.
Over the years I became very astute at identifying these different types of people. Generally, people who feel they’re owed success often act as though they don’t need to impress their superiors, or work as hard. Their careers tend to be marginal and organizations often eventually cast them aside.
Before I go any further, I want to let you in on what I feel is the best, and perhaps the oldest, career advice I know. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what work you’ve done in the past, it’s something everyone should know, but few understand: you will never arrive at a place where you will be treated with massive deference, all due to your past achievements.
This situation simply does not exist. At each stage of the game you will be called upon to prove yourself even more than before. By realizing this, you will become aware of opportunities to improve, and therefore, to advance your career and life.
One needs only to observe how the media treats presidential candidates, movie stars, and other celebrities. As they become more successful, the scrutiny they undergo becomes tougher and tougher. The price for past success is greater, and expectations for further achievement become increasingly higher. People’s generosity tends to diminish in relation to others’ success. Successful people get less of a break as compared to others. Each of their subsequent endeavors is expected to surpass the prior achievement. Therefore, as a successful individual, you never ultimately arrive. The journey simply continues.
The primary purpose of any job is to add greater value than the cost for which you were hired. The same premise applies to every business, service and industry. In the course of your job, you are selling your skills, and your employer tries to make money from those skills. Just like a retail product that is sold for a profit, your services are goods from which your employer needs to make a profit.
To give an example, when I bought my last car, I had two choices – one American made, the other German manufactured. The predicted resale value of the German car convinced me to purchase it. Incredibly, after two years of ownership, I ended up selling it for only $2,000 less than it had cost me to purchase it new. Had I purchased the American car, I would have lost $10,000 or more in resale value over those two years. Clearly, the German automaker provided more value in its product than the American automaker–on many levels.
This concept is relevant to employment as well. At work, I’m sure you know people who work diligently and don’t waste time on the job. I’m also sure you know people who are clock watchers, and who perform marginally. Companies want to surround themselves with people who work hard and who are willing to give more than they take. The worst thing you can do at any job is to focus on performing at the minimum level for what you are earning.
I have heard salaried employees talk about how much they make per hour. These employees obsess over how much they are getting paid for each hour of work, and they only do the absolute minimum. When you’re paid a salary, you should think in terms of being part of a team – a team which values and rewards you for your efforts by providing you with a steady paycheck.
Your goal in every job should be to add as much value as you can to your employer’s business, and to the customers whom your employer services. Essentially, if you do not add value, you may not keep your job. If your team does not add value, everyone on the team could get laid off. If your profession does not provide value in the marketplace, your entire industry could cease to exist altogether.
No matter what your job, service, or industry is, it must always be about adding value beyond all expectations.
Your Ultimate Goal: How You Can Find Job Security
December 28, 2009
What You Will Learn
|
One of the worst things that can happen to people is getting fired from a job with no notice whatsoever. It can be devastating to lose your source of income unexpectedly, especially in a contracting economy. Losing a job can color our perspective on the world and our future. Going forward, we have a difficult time allowing ourselves to ever feel secure again. We believe that things can change in an instant and that we might be suddenly out of a job again. This fear of sudden job loss is something that many people who have been terminated from jobs carry with them throughout their careers. The goal for all of us is to be in positions where we are secure, and to keep that security. Recently, I saw the movie American Beauty again. When I first saw the movie I was younger; I didn’t really understand the importance of what was going on, and how it applies to everyone in the working world. In the movie, the protagonist is fired from his job. In response to this, he decides he wants to simplify his life and he takes a position in a fast food restaurant–which is far beneath the sort of job he had been fired from. He takes this job, the viewer is led to believe, because he wants to go back to a simpler, happier time in his life, and have again that feeling of empowerment and security from his youth. His goal is to find that stability in a world that had grown dark and uncertain around him.
Stability and certainty are so important to many of us that we often settle for far less than we could have simply because we want that security. We settle for worse jobs than we could get, we settle for less pay than we could earn. Simply stated, we settle because our cost benefit analysis of the world tells us security is more important than pay, job satisfaction, or status.
Several weeks ago, I wandered into an impossibly expensive bed store in Beverly Hills with my wife (where some beds cost as much as $50,000) and when I asked why someone would spend so much on a bed the salesperson told me that we spend one third of our lives there. However, we spend far more than one third of our lives at work–or thinking about it. Furthermore, if we do not work we cannot even afford a bed! Therefore, work is one of the most important aspects of our existence.
When you add up everything we do in our lives, whether it is participating in a church or synagogue, spending time with friends or family, or engaging in various hobbies-you will quickly discover that most of our time is spent working. Work may be the predominant activity in our lives, whether we want to admit it or not, and, more importantly, if we do not like our work, we are probably not enjoying life.
Have you ever spent time with people who hate their jobs? This is practically all they talk about. Not liking their jobs makes people depressed or angry. Being around people who hate their jobs is a miserable experience. I remember growing up in Detroit, where many of my friends’ parents would come home at the end of the day from jobs they hated. They would walk straight to the liquor cabinet, pour a drink, and, after 20 minutes or so, begin complaining to their spouses about how much they hated work, or about some slight they received from their boss that day. Several hours later, a loud argument might even break out between the parents. This process would be repeated day after day. Even at the age of seven or eight, watching this process taught me that not liking one’s job was a huge problem.
Sometimes it takes a child’s mind to see what is really going on in the world. I remember writing reports about Russia when I was around seven or eight. The major conflict in the world that existed up until the 1990s was the threat of communist Russia against the United States. We were afraid of communism, but, in reality, communism is nothing more than an economic system wherein people are given jobs and told exactly what to do. They are paid less by the state but, in exchange, they receive security. In the United States, capitalism is built on a lack of security. You have your choice of jobs, but it is up to you to find security within the capitalist system. Entire civilizations have been built on the quest for security.
In the United States, a giant strike was going on in late 2008 between the machinist union at Boeing and the company. The company was demanding the right to outsource certain work, and the workers were demanding security in their jobs. This fight cost the company $100 million a day. At the same time, similar conflicts between unions and automobile companies were having far-reaching implications for the American auto industry.
The fight for security is all around us.
When a man loses his job, you will usually find him in a bad mental state. Sometimes the man will stop shaving. He may look confused. He will fight with his wife more and snap at people around him. The stress of not having a job, or feeling a lack of purpose, can quickly bring on emotional problems. When people are having emotional problems, a psychologist or doctor may prescribe drugs or treatment, maybe wanting to talk about the person’s parents, for example. Most often a better solution would be to look at how the person’s job is going-or how their lack of a job is affecting them. Fix a person’s career and most other things often quickly fall into place.
If security is so important, how does one go about finding it in a job? People get college educations, professional degrees, and do everything within their power to make themselves attractive to employers so they will have security. People rehearse interviewing so they can get a job. People attempt to go into industries or work in sectors with presumed security, whether they are in government, real estate, medicine, or law. Every industry out there has been presumed to be secure at one time or another. However, all of them involve some level of instability.
After studying the employment market for some time, I believe there are several ways to look for security. There is a push and pull between finding security and making a great deal of money. The question is, what do you want and how much are you willing to risk? Since I am a former attorney, I will draw from my experience to give you some career advice, and an indication of how the employment process works in the legal industry.
When attorneys graduate from law school, they typically try their hardest to get the highest-paying jobs they can. The highest-paying jobs are with large law firms and they typically pay around $160,000 a year. Due to the massive amount of money these attorneys make, they are expected to work extremely hard; they are also very quickly let go if they are not billing as expected or if there are issues with their work. These jobs typically do not have a lot of long-term security, and if young attorneys believe they may lose their jobs they will usually try to find another job at another high-paying firm. They will likely keep doing this until they either become a partner at a high-paying firm, or they end up changing careers.
Once attorneys get a few years of experience at a high-paying law firm, they generally start wanting to leave the law firm to work for a corporation. Jobs with corporations are very much in demand. In most cases, corporate jobs pay at least 50 percent less than jobs at law firms. The reason attorneys want to work for corporations, though, is due to the security factor. Security appeals to some attorneys far more than money (jobs with corporations typically also require less work).
Most (over 95 percent) attorneys do not end up with jobs in the highest-paying law firms. These attorneys typically do not change jobs as often and, in my experience, have a lot more long-term security. As an example, almost all of the attorneys I personally know who started practicing law with large firms that paid large salaries are no longer practicing law ten years later. The attorneys I know who went to small law firms or took positions with the government, on the other hand, are still practicing law. This phenomenon bears some examination, and I think there are reasons behind it.
I believe that the attorneys who went to large firms saw so many people lose their jobs (and may have lost their own jobs) that they simply became disillusioned with practicing law because they saw no security in it. Conversely, smaller firms, which typically pay less, do not let people go as aggressively; the attorneys working there experience far more security within the practice of law and therefore continue their legal careers.
Generally, the higher paid or more competitive the job you take, the more insecurity that job will involve. Think about investment banks letting go of thousands of people. You will rarely find an investment banker in his mid-30s even who has been with the same firm his entire career.
I also want to note that the more complex the organization you are in is, the less security you will generally have in your job. For example, giant companies like Yahoo! might suddenly decide to let go of 10 percent of their staff to save money. A larger organization is, in many respects, more impersonal and, due to its complexity, there are forces involved that are simply beyond the control of the people working there.
A few months ago, I went to the dentist and, as I started speaking with the dentist and his staff of four, they told me that they had all been working together for over 20 years! I thought about how rare this is in today’s society, where people move around so frequently between jobs. In considering this, however, I quickly realized the reason. A dental office is not a complex institution. If it is set up in the right area (an economically stable one) and the dentist is respectable (this dentist was also a professor of dentistry at USC), the operation should continue going indefinitely. In this case, the lack of complexity in the dentist’s operation, and the presumed stability of the business, made it a secure work environment. Working in a small dental office is a secure job, it would seem, and in that sense, not much different from the job that the protagonist in American Beauty found working in a fast food restaurant.
There is one last point I want to make that is crucial and involves the people or person you will be working for. I am sure you have heard stories of the crazy boss in a given company who randomly lets people go, or who is altogether unbalanced. If you make your choice of employer based on one thing alone, make sure you are working for a stable person. You can detect a stable boss by many factors, such as the length of time certain employees have worked directly for him or her. Being around stable people is very important in your work environment, and so is feeling comfortable around the people you work with. You need to feel comfortable or you will have reason to doubt your security.
Security in a job is one of the more fundamental issues in all societies and is a basis for conflict between nations and people. Realize that you need to seek security and find it at all costs. This is the most important aspect of any job.
Are You Here? The Importance of Being Present in Your Job and Job Search
December 25, 2009
What You Will Learn
|
What makes someone successful in his or her career? When it comes down to it, I believe one of the greatest determinants of success is whether or not you are “here.”
“Being here” takes two forms. The most obvious is to be here physically. Coming into the office each day and going through the motions is the most basic way to be here and the minimum requirement for success. An example of being here for a salesperson would be coming into the office and making a certain number of cold calls each day. If this is done, and nothing more, the salesperson will experience some degree of success. However, in all likelihood the success will be mediocre.
A more significant way of being here is to have a connection to your work. I am sure each of us knows many people who are, for one reason or another, never really present. Being absent even when you are physically present, shows in (1) not listening to those around you, or not otherwise paying attention to your environment, (2) not taking the time to understand where your work fits into the larger picture, and (3) not taking any interest in the people and activity going on around you. Such a person is unable to extrapolate “signs” and various important signals from his environment. The most important thing anyone can do in their career is be here, completely present and focused. In my job as a recruiter, I saw first-hand that every major success was a result of my ability to be here, focused on my job and attuned to my clients’ needs:
-I understood my candidates and thought a great deal about their situations.
-I wrote a letter fro my clients that showed passion, and had a clear and compelling message.
-I spoke in depth with the candidate and developed a greater bond.
-The bond I had with my candidates drove me to deepen my relationships with law firm clients so they would want to hire from me.
-I sought even more opportunities and got creative with the employers who would consider my candidates.
-The more my candidates and I bonded the more we continued our search together, even after an initial round of submissions may not have produced any results.
I found that I was more likely to place the candidates I took the time to get to know and understand. Conversely, for virtually every candidate I did not place, I was typically guilty of not being fully present with him or her. I simply went through the motions with my submissions and hoped something good would come from that alone. Sure, that approach had worked for me a few times, but rarely was success that simple. When absently going through the motions one can hardly expect to produce meaningful results.
The career advice I will give is that you need to be present in life and in your career, and to feel a connection to your work. You need to be engrossed in what you are doing and feel the passion and energy that comes from that. This breeds career longevity and success. The more you are here, the more you are also likely to keep your job when companies go through transitions or downsizing. If you are here you may even find yourself getting a promotion, even in the most unlikely of times.
Several years ago, I gave a lengthy speech about the importance of legal recruiting. At the time, I was very concerned about instilling passion in the recruiters who worked for me and showing them the value of this at all costs. Passion changes everything. I wanted my workforce of recruiters to believe in what they were doing and in the people they were doing it for. I wanted them to help their candidates to the greatest extent possible. After the speech, I overheard one lady speaking to another, and she said something I will never forget: “I would rather work for a place that cares about what it is doing and takes it seriously than work at a place that does not.”
This stuck with me. I think we all want to be surrounded by passion in what we do. Time and again you hear about how important it is to love what you do. Passion and commitment are attributes people notice. These qualities help build careers. Your boss or future employer wants to see that you love what you are doing. If an employer is deciding to hire one person over another they are likely to hire the person who connects to his or her work, instead of the person who does not. If an employer is deciding to lay off one person over another, they are likely to keep the person who is passionate over the person who is not.
My favorite example of this is in hiring an attorney. If you had been falsely accused of committing a crime, which attorney would you hire?
Attorney A
- Does not belong to any special groups involving what you do, or your situation.
- Is difficult to reach on the phone.
- Does not seem that passionate about what he does and does not seem to take a sincere interest in you.
- Has held multiple jobs at different firms.
- Is very interested in golf and wants to talk about it a lot.
- Likes to collect cars.
Attorney B
- Is a frequent speaker on matters involving the wrongly accused.
- Is the president of the local bar association.
- Recently wrote a book about the wrongly accused and how travesties of justice occur every day in America.
- Admits to having few hobbies because he spends his free time reading about the rules of evidence and how they can be used to free the wrongly accused.
- Calls you early in the morning and late at night to discuss your case.
- Is always reachable.
A person who has been falsely accused will almost invariably choose Attorney B. The person who is here will always win over the person who is not. We want enthusiasm and commitment. We want presence.
Do Not Ever Be Afraid to Broadcast Your Value
October 16, 2009
What You Will Learn
|
One of my favorite quotes is by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote: “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” A similar quote is this: “Build a better mousetrap, fail to advertise it or let people know about it, and the world will beat a path around your door.”
If people don’t know about the true value of what you are offering, they will simply ignore you. You need to broadcast your value constantly in everything you do. Let me share with you a pair of quick stories about how to broadcast your value, and the importance of doing this.
Donald Trump is not the biggest real estate tycoon in the United States, although he is great at what he does. There are numerous men who have vastly larger real estate holdings than Mr. Trump. What Mr. Trump does, however, is broadcast his success everywhere he goes. He gives speeches; he does television shows; he writes books; he does countless media interviews. Everything that Trump does is geared towards self-promotion. He does all of this because he knows the attention he receives from his promotional efforts will keep him visible and make his personal brand name stronger.
When I was practicing law, several years ago I was on a large case with attorneys from several different law firms. One of the attorneys kept sending me and the other attorneys on the case various articles he was reading during his spare time, about relevant legal issues. I never forgot that attorney because this behavior was so unusual. That attorney went on to become very well known, and he ultimately became an important politician. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that he was the most visible, and managed to stay close to mind for many people.
If you do extra work behind the scenes, tell your superiors. In your career you need to educate people as to why they should work with you as opposed to other people, and one of the best ways of doing this is to do lots of work behind the scenes. If you go out of your way to say something positive about your boss to a coworker, tell your boss. If you are running an errand and get your boss extra service, tell your boss. At every single turn, you should be very clear about the value that you are providing and ensure that your bosses are keenly aware of what you are doing.
Nothing is assumed. One example of this is in the construction and marketing of a car. Automakers go into excruciating detail in telling prospective buyers everything they do to make a car as safe as possible. The automaker has to tell people the size of the engine, the number of airbags, the sophistication of the stereo system, and everything special that the car does, because the buyers assume nothing. You want to know this information when you are making a purchase. In the same way, your supervisor (or the person who is hiring you) wants to know the value you are bringing when they hire you and while you are working for them. Do your best to communicate your value to those around you at all times.
Show that you have passion for what you do. One of the ways to educate your superiors as to why they should be working with you is to demonstrate that you have a passion for your subject matter. For example, let your superiors know that you like to study materials related to your profession during your spare time. Forward them articles and keep books lying on your desk regarding the subject matter of what you do. Become a member of clubs and other organizations related to what you do. Having genuine passion and interest in your profession also shows that you are likely to have more insight into it, and that you will probably be better at your chosen job, whether it is in public relations, healthcare, or government.
I once watched a relatively unknown marketing person sell probably $100,000 worth of CDs and other instructional materials after giving a one-hour speech. The man got up on stage and started talking about how he had the largest collection of marketing books in the world and had read them all. He spoke about how he loved marketing and was extremely passionate about it. Given that he was relatively unknown, I think it was the fact that he communicated a major amount of passion for what he did that assisted him in selling so many CDs and other products. Essentially, people seemed to feel that if he was so enthusiastic about marketing, he must be someone they could trust to teach them about marketing.
When you are communicating with your superiors or with people interested in hiring you, you must appeal to what they are interested in. Ultimately, you need to be concerned about what other people believe is most important, not necessarily what you think is most important.
In 2002, the market for corporate attorneys in the United States was absolutely horrible. One firm in Denver, Colorado, had an opening for a corporate attorney, one of the few openings in the United States. The firm was using our legal recruiting firm, BCG Attorney Search, exclusively. The qualifications of the candidates who were interviewing for that one opening were absolutely fantastic. Most of the candidates interviewed were from the best law firms, the best law schools, and all had stellar communication skills. The job of one partner in the law firm was to interview about twenty-five different candidates and to hire one. After a few interviews, the partner told us that basically all of the candidates seemed pretty much the same.
One of the candidates had an interest in snowboarding and spoke about this interest during the interview. The partner he was speaking with was also an avid snowboarder, and the two spoke about the sport at length. As you can imagine, this is the person who was hired for the job. He spoke in terms of the other person’s interest. The reason the candidate had started talking about snowboarding in his interview was because he had noticed that the partner had a picture of himself snowboarding on his wall. The candidate could see that the interviewer was bored by the procession of candidates coming through, and he wanted to ensure that he stood out.
It is important career advice that you communicate in terms of the other person’s interest. If your value to the organization is the fact that you can snowboard, and that you can quickly bond with your coworkers, that is perfectly fine. If your potential employer is interested in discussing stamp collecting, do your best to discuss that too. Whatever it takes.
Your superior, or the person who is hiring you, needs to ensure that the business they are working for makes money. They need to make sure that what you are offering can contribute to the bottom line. Contributing high value, and broadcasting that value to your superiors, is key to securing and maintaining your position within any organization.
The Dangers of Getting Jobs Through Friends
March 6, 2009
Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure.
“Oh, I already have a friend there. I’ll just contact him.” In the job market, it’s one of the more common things we hear after informing a job seeker that a certain employer has a job opening. There is a lot you need to consider before you decide to apply to a job through a friend or relative, or take a job working for a friend or relative. First, it is exceedingly rare that a friend or family member will ever be able to get you a position. The reason for this is simple: Despite what you think, the involvement of friends or family members in your job search may actually hurt you. Moreover, all employers know the severe problems that can arise when friends or relatives work together. Due to this, simply going through a close contact is often something that is actually counterproductive for your job search. Second, even if you are one of the few people who are able to get positions through a friend or family member, you could run into a great deal of trouble and harm your relationship with that person in the process. First, this article examines the risks associated with attempting to get a job through a friend or family member. Second, the article will then examine potential problems you could face if you ultimately get a position through these means. Third, this article describes some of the reasons for not working for a friend or relative. Finally, because it is so common to get jobs through acquaintances, this article examines the conditions where it is acceptable and likely to not be a problem.
What You Will Learn
|
A. The Risks of Trying to Get a Position Through a Friend or Family Member
When you are seeking a job through a friend, you will often be surprised to find that he/she will not help you get a job with his/her organization. Moreover, the organization may actually look upon you negatively and not hire you if you try to use a friend or family member to get a job.
1. Friends and Family Members, More Often Than Not, Do Not Help You When You Are Seeking a Job with Them
One of the most common things that job seekers do is think that friends are their best allies in job searches. After all, the employment market is a harsh place. Who better to help you with your job search than a friend employed by an employer you would like to work for? A friend certainly recognizes all of your strengths and appreciates you for the person you are. In addition, the thought of depending upon a stranger when you have a friend or family member close by does not make a lot of sense. Certainly you can always trust a friend over a stranger.
I have been a legal recruiter for several years. I have represented more candidates than I can count. In all of my time as a legal recruiter, I have never once had a candidate get a job through a friend. Incredibly, I have actually gotten several candidates jobs with firms where they thought that they had friends inside who were helping them with their job searches-”insiders” who never managed to get their friends interviews. Moreover, when I think back on my own life, I do not think that I have ever gotten any job where I had a friend or relative helping me.
The issue with using friends to try to help you with your job search is that you never know your friends as well as you think. Almost instinctively, most people are competitive with one another. When you are dealing with people close to you, you will often agree with them just to avoid argument. In fact, if you spend more than a couple of hours with your family or a group of your friends, you will find this sort of thing occurring probably every few minutes throughout each conversation. Friends and family also often do their best to laugh extra hard at each other’s jokes and cover up their unpleasant qualities. Your friends and family will most often say they love your taste in music, your choice of clothing, your house or apartment, your writing, and most everything you take seriously. It is possible your friends and family mean this. It is also possible they do not.
The thought of asking a friend to help you with a job search with his employer is, in effect, an attempt to shield yourself from the harshness of the world. The same enthusiasm your friends and family have for you in the personal realm, you may imagine, will directly translate to an eagerness to help you find work with their organizations. I would offer at the outset that this is a possibility, and you may not be wrong in thinking this. Notwithstanding, this is often not the case.
One of the more common things that occur when job seekers ask a friend or family member for help is, nothing. The friend or family member gets your resume, thinks about it, and then (for whatever reason) decides he/she does not want to forward it to the powers that be. You cannot imagine how common this is. If you have forwarded a resume to a friend recently, call the hiring partner or recruiting coordinator about it. In more than 50% of the cases, your “friend” will not have even forwarded the information. He/She will pleasantly tell you that he/she will, but he/she didn’t. Your friend will often lie and tell you he/she forwarded the information when he/she did not. Again, I have seen this more times than I can count. The number is more than 50% (with the possible exception of employers that pay “bounties” to employees who find other employees).
Your guess as to why this occurs is as good as mine. Perhaps your friend or family member simply does not want the two of you working in the same office. Perhaps your friend does not want responsibility for what you might do if you were hired. Perhaps (just perhaps) your friend honestly does not think as highly of your capabilities as you do. While your friend might not tell you that he/she resents you because you have so and so, did so and so, or said such and such once, you can believe this can come out if you come to him/her seeking assistance with getting a job. Again, you will not even know this has come out. It just will-the employer may never see your resume.
Assuming your friend or family member does forward your resume, be prepared for all sorts of brutally honest assessments of your character and talents that you personally may never have been aware of. Most friends speak about one another with other groups of friends when the other is not around. Not all of this conversation is pleasant. Do you have any idea what your friends are saying about you? I can almost guarantee you that some of it is negative. You probably do not even know 10% of the negative things your friends and family say about you when you are not around. I have a question for you: Do you want any of this 90% of invisible negative information you are not aware of to be communicated to your potential employer?
2. The Reasons Organizations Often Do Not Like to Hire Friends or Family Members of Their Employees
Nepotism has traditionally been considered a negative term. The word originates from the Latin word nephos, which means nephew and was created to describe Pope Calixtus III’s hiring of nephews as cardinals. The first anti-nepotism policies probably originated in the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages or Renaissance, when resentment began to build against incompetents appointed to high clerical offices. To this day, nepotism is something that can create resentment in all employment environments. In this article, I define nepotism as the hiring of relatives as well as friends.
Reducing corruption and increasing efficiency are the primary reasons many organizations have anti-nepotism policies. Corruption has always been a concern in this realm. If individuals who are friends or relatives work together, organizations fear that these individuals may collaborate to advance their own interests rather than the interests of the organization. Nepotism can also lower morale of those who supervise relatives of friends of high-level members of the organization, those who work with them, and those who feel that rewards or promotions have been bestowed in an unfair manner. One or two friends or relatives may react negatively (and contrary to the interests of the organization) when another is criticized or disciplined by the organization. Finally, perception is a serious problem. Other employees will also perceive unequal treatment of one friend or relative regardless of whether or not this is the case.
While a great deal could be written about nepotism, suffice it to say that is something many employers are concerned about. Using a perceived in with an employer to try to get a job may actually hurt you because of the employer’s own feelings about nepotism.
It is important to note that not all employers will be against nepotism. For example, in smaller, family-owned law businesses, it is often common because it provides an efficient way to identify dedicated employees. Nepotism may also foster a dedicated, family-like environment that boosts the morale of everyone-relatives and friends alike. A good example is the Central Intelligence Agency, which actually encourages the hiring of married couples. Having both spouses free to discuss classified information can actually reduce the strain of a high-stress career.
While nepotism may have its place, it is important to note that more often than not it is something that can scare away employers. It should therefore be avoided in the job search.
B. The Problems You Will Likely Cause Yourself if You Get a Position Through a Friend or Family Member
I review a lot of the resumes that we receive throughout the United States each day at BCG Attorney Search. There are two things that I see a lot of: (1) associates who obviously do not have the qualifications to work inside certain law firms and (2) associates working for small law firms (with their own last names in the mastheads) who are secretly looking for jobs.
Each and every time I speak with these associates, I find that they are in positions because of family members and are extremely resentful of the family members for whatever reason. They have lots of negative things to say about them and desperately want new jobs with the same salaries and levels of responsibility. Not once in my career do I think I have seen one of this class of associates who was qualified for a job even remotely as good as the one he/she was in at the time. Nevertheless, these associates always resent and, in most instances, hate the family member who got them the jobs they were unqualified for to begin with. Moreover, these associates refuse to go a less-prestigious firm or job. Most often, in fact, they believe they should be working for even better organizations.
If you accept a job through a friend or family member, watch out. More important, watch yourself. In the end, you will likely be your own downfall. It is your friend or family member’s act of kindness that will ultimately unbalance your friendship.
The typical pattern that happens when someone is hired by a friend or family member is as follows. First, the people hired are grateful for being hired, but generally want to feel as if they deserve their good fortunes. Accordingly, the friends or family members hired will look for all sorts of justifications to show the world and demonstrate to themselves that they deserve their good fortunes.
One response of the people hired may be to believe that being hired is a payback of sorts for everything that they have ever done to be kind to their friends or family members. They begin a process of justifying their hiring by everything they have ever said or done for the friend or family member.
Another response may be for the hired person to begin comparing themselves to others inside the same organization and believe they are more intelligent than all of these other people. Therefore, the hired friends or family members justify their positions by often unjustly attacking their fellow employees.
The most common reaction, though, is that the hired friend or family member will become resentful of the person who helped him/her get the job to begin with. The receipt of a favor can come to mean, in the hired friend’s or family member’s eyes, that he/she was hired due to this and not based on merit. There is what I would term “hidden condescension” in the act of hiring a friend or family member that grinds at him/her all the time.
Whoever you are working for likely cares more about (1) getting the job done and (2) doing the job as well as it can be done than having friendly feelings flowing between the two of you. Your status as a friend or relative of someone does not mean that you are automatically the one who can best do the job. If you cannot do the job in the best manner, more resentment is going to arise when your friend or family member asks another person to help with a given task.
One of the more brilliant statesmen of the 19th century, Napoleon’s Foreign Minister Talleyrand, decided that his boss was leading France to ruin. Talleyrand therefore decided that he needed to take down Napoleon. Obviously, the task of overthrowing Napoleon would not be a small one. In order to carry it out, Talleyrand desperately needed to enlist the assistance of someone he could trust. Instead of turning to a friend for help, Talleyrand turned to his worst enemy, Fouche’, the head of the Secret Police.
Fouche’ had even tried to have Talleyrand assassinated. The brilliance of Talleyrand’s choice was that it provided Fouche’ with the opportunity to reconcile with Talleyrand on an emotional level. In addition, there was nothing Fouche’ would expect from Talleyrand, and quite the contrary, Fouche’ would work hard to prove that he was worthy of Talleyrand’s picking him for the task. When people have something to prove, they will work harder than those who do not. Compare this to what could have occurred if Talleyrand simply went to a friend for help.
Talleyrand chose Fouche’ because he knew that their relationship would be based entirely on their mutual self-interest in removing Napoleon and not poisoned by personal feelings. While their effort to topple Napoleon ultimately failed, they were able to generate much interest in the cause and had a good relationship going forward.
Similarly, it is important to realize that getting a job and working in a job on equal ground and in an atmosphere of mutual self-interest is crucial. Personal feelings obscure the fact that there is work that needs to be done in an efficient manner. In a work environment where everyone is evaluated and judged on merit, more productivity and honesty on all sides can only ensure good business.
C. Conclusions
One of the more disturbing phone calls I have received was from the Dean of Career Services at a second-tier law school. The Dean had read an article I wrote that advised attorneys on how to get a job in a tough legal market. The Dean told me that the first place everyone should always look to get a job was with their family. The Dean then told me that people should go to events and “make friends” with other attorneys and then ask them for jobs (a.k.a. “networking”). As I listened to the Dean speak, it became abundantly clear to me that she did not like any manner of getting an attorney job that did not come through friends or family. In her view, if a job came through a friend or family member, it was far better than getting a job through a “stranger.”
It is natural when looking for a job to contact the people you know to see if they can help you with your job search. In fact, I would guess that most job seekers early in their careers contact a family member, a personal friend, or an acquaintance when seeking a new job. Most associates and partners I have worked with as a recruiter (who have contacted me for assistance) have been clear with me that before contacting a recruiter, they contacted a friend, an acquaintance, or another person they were connected with in some social manner to see if he/she could help with a job search. Moreover, most employees have, at some point in time, told a friend that they would try to assist them with getting a job at their place of work.
While it may be difficult to believe-and contrary to the advice of the Dean, you actually may be safer (1) getting a job without the help of family or friends and (2) working in an environment without family or friends. You do both at your own risk. Most of the time, I believe the risks far outweigh the potential long-term and short-term rewards.
Focus on Other Geographic Areas to Get Your Job Search Going
October 20, 2008
“The median job search among those winning positions in the third quarter lasted nearly 4.4 months,” up from 3.6 months in the second quarter.
It’s also notable that 13.4 percent of the job seekers ended up relocating to take new positions. That’s up from a first-quarter figure of 8.9 percent, but still lower than the share who relocated in 2006 and most of 2007.
Moving is stressful and expensive, and some people may simply be unwilling to take that step. However, fewer people are relocating, no doubt, due to the state of the housing market. Job seekers eager to move for the right job may find themselves trapped by an inability to sell their homes, and perhaps are even wishing they were renters right now.
What You Will Learn
|
One of the reasons it’s taking so much longer for many to find employment is that many areas of the United States have been devastated by the economy, and there are fewer jobs available in those areas. The troubled automotive industry has had a serious effect on the Michigan economy, for example. Regardless of the economic status of the area where you live and work, you may be in a position in which you should consider relocating to find a job. If you are under economic pressure, relocating and getting a job may be a crucial priority for you right now.
Relocating isn’t always an easy decision to make. However, relocating for a job is perfectly normal and is something you should not hesitate to do. This is especially true if you’re living in Detroit or another area of the country where your skills are no longer in demand. Essentially, the entire history of the United States was essentially built around people who relocated here because they felt there were better opportunities.
For most of us, our careers and the time we spend at work take up most of our waking hours. Considering this, you need to be focused on finding an area of the United States or the world where people are seeking and hiring workers with your given skills.
It is extremely important you live in an area where your skills are in demand. Life is in many ways like a game, and so is your career. If you were a fisherman, would you rather spend your career working in a small lake with a few fish or a large ocean with many fish? The more opportunities, and the more competition there is for your skills in your market the better off you will be. You need to put yourself where the action is to survive.
Several years ago I was working at a federal judicial clerkship job in Michigan. In three months, the clerkship would be over and I needed to find a job. Although I already had a job lined up with a New York City law firm, I wanted to get a job in California. I sent a targeted mailing of résumés out to legal employers in California. I meant to send my résumés only to major cities, like Los Angeles and San Diego, but also ended up targeting several small towns by mistake. I received several calls from law firms in small towns, and they all had similar questions:
Why was I applying to a law firm in a small town?
Who did I know in the small town?
Was I also applying to law firms in larger cities?
One of the potential employers from a small town firm called me and asked those questions because he was worried that, if I did not have a connection to the small town, I would simply leave if I did not like the job.
Employers want you to have a connection to the area if you are relocating, because they are concerned you will not have incentive to stick around. They get nervous if you are looking at employers in larger cities as well because they feel like you are less interested in them.
The questions about why I was relocating did not come up as much in larger cities. Employers in cities like New York are generally of the opinion anyone would want to relocate there because New York is New York. People in smaller markets are a little less confident. As a general job search strategy, I would recommend you stress the fact you have a real interest in the company and believe it’s a perfect place for you based on your personal interests, as well as your future career goals.
Generally, employers like to hear you have close family in a given geographic area. If you do not, you may have a significant other or friends there, or perhaps you went to college or grew up there. The point is you want to assure them you have some sort of personal connection to the area. Absent family or friends, you should focus on the company and your sincere interest in them.
As an aside, I want to bring up an important piece of career advice about applying for a position outside of where you currently live. The employer receiving your résumé is going to wonder why you are applying there and not in your own geographic area. You never want to send the message you are unemployable or cannot find a job where you currently live. Employers want to hire people who are “winners” and are employable in all markets. Therefore, you should never approach an employer by telling him or her that you cannot get a job where you live. Prospective employers should believe you are relocating because of reasons related to your personal long-term growth objectives–not because you have been defeated in trying to get a job in your existing market.
In a down market, many people end up stuck with large mortgages and unsold homes. They feel saddled with this and cannot relocate. If you are in a market that is getting worse and worse by the day, you may have to relocate before you sell your home. This is not something that you should be talking about with your potential employer, however.
An employer does not want to feel guilty you may be leaving an unsold home behind. Sharing this sort of information can also hurt you because the employer will suspect you have to return to your hometown to deal with the situation. Keep such personal matters to yourself in your job search. Never give them any possible reason to believe you are not their ideal candidate.
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it, you will land among the stars.