Four Unemployment Frustrations - Part 4

Before I became unemployed, I would have expected that losing my job would also remove a large number of the frustrations of my daily life. The reality is that while I definitely have less stress in my current state, my previous frustrations have simply been replaced by new ones. This series of posts examines my top four unemployment frustrations. Click here to read Part 1, Part 2 or Part 3.


My fourth and final job search frustration is dealing with Recruiters.

I think this is an underreported issue when it comes to looking for a job. Recruiters hold a lot of power when it comes to the job search. They know about jobs that aren’t being advertised elsewhere. And no job searcher wants to alienate a group of people who can help them. I’m probably shooting myself in the foot by posting this, but I think it needs to be said, and I’m hoping that the good recruiters will know they are not the target of this rant, and well, the bad recruiters are less likely to come through with a job anyway. And yes, there are excellent recruiters out there: the kinds who call you back, who understand the company they’re recruiting for and the positions they’re filling, who answer questions and give you helpful tips for the interviews they arrange. Unfortunately, for every good recruiter, there must be 3 frustratingly bad recruiters.

Everyone I know has a story about one or multiple recruiters who just didn’t get it – the jobs they were filling, the candidate they were working with, basic geography, etc. I get emails and phone calls multiple times a week from legitimate recruiters with legitimate jobs that I consider turning down because I don't want that particular recruiter representing me. Here's an example from just this week:

A recruiter calls me. His English is so poor, I have a hard time understanding anything he's telling me [Note: I have a lot of experience dealing with non-native speakers of English and generally am very good at understanding people, so if I could not understand this person, I cannot imagine how he communicates with people not as accustomed to listening to accents.], however I do finally get some information out of our conversation and he tells me he's going to send me an email about the position. A few minutes later, he calls me back to see if I got the email. [Note: this is a pet peeve of mine. Email isn't instantaneous; it can take up to three days to reach its destination, even if it rarely does.] I hadn't yet, so he tells me to refresh my email (seriously?). While I'm waiting for the email he decides to confirm a few details: best number to reach me, availability, last 4 digits of my SSN. Um, what? I ask him why he needs that. He tells me it's for a background check. I tell him he can't run a background check on me with only 4 digits and I don't feel comfortable giving those to him. He says he'll put his manager on the phone. Meanwhile the email has arrived. It tells me the location and rate for the job and includes a non-compete agreement, but no job description. So the manager gets on and starts telling me about the position, basically repeating what the first recruiter had told me. The manager's English is better, but he's still not a native speaker. I finally get am able to get a word in to tell him I’ve already discussed the position with the previous gentleman and that the reason he was put on the phone was because I did not wish to give them my SSN. He tells me it's just for the client's database; they just need to give them 4 numbers. I tell him if that's the case, he could make up any 4 numbers to enter. He tells me it's only 4 digits of my SSN, so it doesn't matter. I tell him that's almost half the number. He tells me I will have to provide my SSN if I get the job. I tell him that if I get a job I will be happy to give him the number at that time, no sooner. Finally he decides he's not winning and relents. I tell him that I had not received the job description. He says he'll send me that and call back (you know, to confirm I received it). He calls back on my cell phone, despite the fact that I confirmed the best number to reach me on was my home number. The job is actually interesting, and I’m qualified for it, so I send in the NCA and get an email later saying to expect a call from another person at 12:30 (it's unclear if this is the client or another recruiter, I sort of suspect the latter), and to be cooperative. (I’m sure this is snarkiness, but email isn’t always the best medium for communicating, so I give him the benefit of the doubt.) The third person calls me at 1. His English is even better than the manager's, but he's still not a native speaker. [I'm a big proponent of immigration, but I'm starting to question my stance after this experience.] He turns out to also be a recruiter, and tells me after our conversation that the next step would be an in-person interview.  So far, I haven't heard back.

Although this is a job I'm rather interested in, I have a lot of doubts. My first doubt is whether this team of non-native speakers can really represent me to a potential client. My second is whether I want to work for a company that would hire these guys. So, the pros of the job are balanced by the cons of the recruiting team I've dealt with so far. And unfortunately, I know in the back of my head that if this group of recruiters is anything like similar ones I've dealt with, I'll never hear back from them again. So I lost almost an entire morning lost to dealing with them for nothing.

I often wonder how recruiters like this make money. But actually, I know the answer: bulk. As an HR person, I’ve dealt with recruiters from the other side, and frankly, my opinions of them were the same – a few good ones, way too many bad ones. The bad ones would send tons of barely qualified resumes for the positions we were looking to fill, and never question when we turned them all down. The good ones would ask a ton of questions about what we were looking for, actually limit their submissions to candidates who met our requirements, and whenever we turned one of their candidates down, call to ask why. It is a shame to me that what should be a noble profession helping match people to jobs has been taken over by people who just want to make a placement (and the accompanying 20% commission), no matter how they go about it, and that the few good recruiters out there are losing their reputations to the much larger number of bad ones.

Four Unemployment Frustations - Part 3

Before I became unemployed, I would have expected that losing my job would also remove a large number of the frustrations of my daily life. The reality is that while I definitely have less stress in my current state, my previous frustrations have simply been replaced by new ones. This series of posts examines my top four unemployment frustrations. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.
My third frustration is recruiters offering me positions in Financial Sales.

A portion of the emails and phone calls I receive are for positions in financial sales or financial advising. While financial sales is a real, viable career, the techniques used by recruiters for these positions often look exactly like the ones that are obvious scams. The emails often have the same warning flags as the interview offers I mentioned yesterday. And the phone calls are worse. Here’s an example:

A few days ago I received a call from a recruiter. The number showed up on my caller ID as a man's name, not a company. This number called me every day for three days between 9 and 10 am without leaving a message. So, on the fourth call, I decided that I would have to answer the number to get them to stop calling. The recruiter introduces herself, mumbles her company name, and tells me she found my resume on a career site and may want to set up an interview. She then asks me some very basic questions about my work history and contact details. I resist the urge to tell her that if she has my resume she shouldn't need to ask these questions and politely respond. She does not ask for any details about my experience, except to ask if I've every supervised anyone (again this is on my resume). She then says she wants to set up an interview with her boss, and when am I available. I ask what the position is. She tells me they have a number of positions available ranging from associate to senior manager. I tell her that's not very clear; those are job levels, not job titles. She repeats that the positions are all kinds from sales associates to senior managers. I say, so these are sales positions? She says well some of the positions are management. I point out to her that my experience is in HR. She says, so you're only interested in HR positions. I tell her pretty much. She says good luck on your search.

The experience was probably particularly frustrating because it took place over the phone, rather than by email where I could look up the company name if I had doubts, and deal with and respond to the request at my leisure. Over the phone put me on her terms, and I felt like I had to fight with her to get the information I needed. Imagine if I was a less persistent person and actually let her set up the interview. How much time would I have wasted getting to and participating in the interview?

When I was a teenager, I applied for a similar position with a knife company. They advertised on telephone poles and in the paper that you could earn up to $16/hour without telling you anything else about them. Since that was good money for a summer job, I called the number. The “interview” included a sales demonstration with a group of other applicants, a brief 5 minute discussion with the recruiter, and a job offer. Even at 16 I knew that this was a bum deal. I was going to pester my friends and family to listen to my pitch. They would buy something small because they felt bad for me. Then they would give me one or two names of friends who might be interested, but when I called those people, they wouldn’t be interested and that would be the end of my knife selling career. I turned the offer down.

I suspect financial sales is a similar networking sales technique. The need for constant fresh blood pushes the recruiters to do anything in their power to find candidates. Still, their tactics leave a bad taste in my mouth, and even if I thought I might be good at it, I'm disinclined to even consider financial sales as a career alternative.

There's more to come.  Click here to read Part 4.

Four Unemployment Frustrations - Part 2

Before I became unemployed, I would have expected that losing my job would also remove a large number of the frustrations of my daily life. The reality is that while I definitely have less stress in my current state, my previous frustrations have simply been replaced by new ones. This series of posts examines my top four unemployment frustrations. For Part 1 see here.

My second frustration is the amount of job-search-related Spam/Scams I receive.

Every time I update my resume or profile on one of the big career sites, I get a new wave of job search spam, most of it sounding like a scam of some kind. It seems there are a lot of people out there trying to take advantage of the unemployed. A few examples of the blatant spam/scams I've received:

• Interview offers from companies I have not applied to. I get legitimate versions of these from time to time - a recruiter finds my resume on a job board and emails or calls to see if I would be a good match for a position they're working to fill. The difference is that a legitimate recruiter always sends a job description and asks if the position is something I'm interested in before attempting to arrange an interview, usually by phone first. The spam version gives little to no information about the actual position and wants to set up an in-person interview right away. The best I can tell is these are the type of scam where I would have to pay them for something in order to do the job and the "interview" they want to set up is really a sales session where they try to convince me that I need to buy their client list for $299 or whatever.
• Job offers from companies I have not applied to. These usually have multiple warning signs that they're not legitimate - they're offering you the position without any interview or screening process whatsoever; they don't tell you the name of their organization; they don't tell you what the job is; the salary is too good to be true.
• Emails telling me about this great other job site that I should sign up for. These are obviously data mining schemes, hoping I'll type in all my personal data so they can sell it. Although, I have run into some similar sites whose business model seems to be selling "premium" membership. This second type is more likely to advertise on legitimate job boards, rather than send emails, however.
• Emails offering to find me a job for a fee. I don't get a lot of these, but I have gotten a couple. I've been in the HR business long enough to know that legitimate recruiters get paid by the company whose position they've filled, not by the candidate.

It bothers me that so many people and organizations are trying to take advantage of people looking for a job. Sure, I’m savvy enough to recognize that these are scams and hit the delete key, but even I second guess myself sometimes, wondering if maybe I’m being overly suspicious and hurting my chances by deleting what could turn out to be good leads. Of course, when I second guess myself, I google the company or person who sent me the email and find instant confirmation of my suspicions. But not everyone is that suspicious and aware of potential scams. How many unemployed people, desperate for a job, fall victim to these unsolicited email scams?

There's more to come. Click here to read Part 3 or Part 4.

Four Unemployment Frustrations - Part 1

Before I became unemployed, I would have expected that losing my job would also remove a large number of the frustrations of my daily life. The reality is that while I definitely have less stress in my current state, my previous frustrations have simply been replaced by new ones. As with anything, some of these frustrations are simply a natural part of being unemployed: having less money, retyping your contact details and job history for every company you apply to, trying to respond gracefully when people offer unhelpful advice on your job search. These things are frustrating, but they’re legitimate frustrations, with logical, understandable and even forgivable reasons. But some of the frustrations I’ve experienced aren’t logical or understandable, and they’re certainly not forgivable. I was originally going to write about some of these “illegitimate” frustrations in a single post, but apparently, I had a lot to say about them. So, I’m going to run a small series this week of my top four unemployment frustrations. Starting with the least annoying and progressing to the most annoying.

I’ll call the first frustration poor attention to detail.

My resume is publically available on the major job site, Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, etc. I also peruse these sites, job search aggregator sites, and a number of other sources to find companies that are hiring in my field and apply. As a result, I frequently get emails or phone calls from recruiters about jobs they are working on that they feel I’m a match for. This is exactly how one would expect the job search process to work. Except sometimes, the logic behind the call or email makes no sense. Two recent examples:

• A recruiter called and left a message for me about a position in NYC. I return the call, only to learn that the position is payroll heavy. I have almost no payroll experience. (In her defense, I don't think the company was clear about the payroll requirement at first, but it was an HR analytics role, which generally does involve a lot of payroll data.)
• A recruiter emailed me about a 2-3 month contract position in Texas. The job sounded interesting, but I live in NJ, so I emailed him back to find out if it was a remote position. I never heard back.

Because I can tell that they are legitimate recruiters (I’ll talk about the less than legitimate in future posts), I always take the time to respond, because one never knows when a connection may lead to something. For example, the first recruiter and I had a nice discussion, and while the job she’s working on isn’t for me, I hope she will call me if a better match comes up (although maybe not if she reads this . . .). However, this kind of mismatched contact frustrates me because it uses up a portion of my time and gets my hopes up unnecessarily.

Poor attention to detail comes up frequently in job postings as well. I’ve talked before about typos and poor formatting in postings. Usually, I take small errors in stride. But I do find contradictory information in the same posting to be frustrating. Where is this job, exactly, NJ as it says in the job details, or Florida, as it says in the job description? Is this a management position as the job title says, or an assistant position as the job description implies? If I apply, am I just wasting your and my time? Paying better attention to the details would probably improve the number of quality candidates a company receives, so this is important.

I know I’m not perfect in this regard either. We can all use the reminder to think before we act, to slow down and check for accuracy before we do things. These things reflect on how others perceive us.

There's more to come.  Click here to read Part 2, Part 3 or Part 4.

An Organized Approach

I’m a fairly organized person. I enjoy planning and arranging things. I rather strongly believe that a good plan makes life easier and allows me to do more than I would have otherwise. For example, I was able to graduate from college in three years by formulating a plan in my first semester to achieve all the graduation requirements in as short a time as possible. I never thought my fondness for having a plan was a problem, or even all that noticeable, until recently. I’m perfectly able to function without a plan or to handle the inevitable wrench in my plan, I just prefer to make one if I have the time. But a friend called me “the list girl”. My mother said, “you and your schedule”. I started to analyze my habits and found that maybe I am a bit obsessive with the scheduling and planning. For example:

I start each week by preparing a schedule of what I want to accomplish. Each day I review the premade schedule and tweak it, adding anything that didn’t get accomplished in previous days or that has come up recently.

I break pretty much every project I work on into smaller pieces and plan how and when I’m going to do each piece so that the completed project is done in time. For example, if my goal for the week is to clean my house, I’ll assign a room to each weekday. Then I’ll breakout how I’ll clean that room (declutter, then dust, then vacuum, etc.). 

I use my Outlook calendar to schedule not just big events, but regular household chores as well. Even my exercise routine is detailed in my calendar.

I also always have bigger plans in mind, backup plans, and sometimes, backup backup plans. . . For example, my current large-scale plans center on my immediate goal of finding employment and making myself as marketable as possible. I’m planning to take the GPHR exam in December, after taking a prep course. I’m thinking about doing a Spanish language immersion course in Costa Rica. I’m studying to take the GRE and GMAT exams so that I can apply to grad or business school if I’m still unemployed at the end of the year. I’m working out a model for starting my own business.

While I can see that I maybe take the planning a step further than others might, I cannot fathom how people who don’t plan or schedule get things done. Even something as simple as a straight to-do list is a form of planning, allowing one to remember what they should do, prioritize the tasks, and get things done more efficiently. [As a side note, I’m a big fan of handwritten to-do lists. Nothing is more satisfying as taking a pen through the items on your list and seeing it shrink to only a few items.] Life is just easier and more manageable when you have a way to approach it.

Confessions of a Data Junkie

I have a confession to make: I’m a data junkie. I love data, charts and graphs; I love analyzing them for trends and patterns; and I love coming up with explanations for those trends and patterns and testing my hypotheses. I know, at this point, you probably think I’m crazy. Since that’s probably true by several definitions of the word, perhaps it’s best if we get it out in the open already.

My first exposure to the concept of a database was at my first job, really an internship, out of college. I was tasked with creating and populating a database of sales quotes for an import/export company using Microsoft Access. I had never heard of Access, or databases before that job. Ten years later, I’m an expert user of the program, and a big proponent for the use of databases for collecting and tracking information. I took my knowledge of database design and use and brought my next employer kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Lots of people use data, databases and analysis in their day jobs. It is one of the best tools in a business’s arsenal. Any new project or plan should start with an analysis of the current situation before any steps are taken. The quality of collected data and the subsequent analysis can make or break a business strategy. But most people leave the data collection and analyzing at the office, for their business. They don’t see the application in their personal lives. This is where my “habit” becomes apparent.

A few of the ways I’ve collected data in my personal life, and what I’ve learned from them.

1) The Job Search. Every person looking for a job should have some system of keeping track of what jobs they’ve applied to. I would recommend a simple Excel chart showing the company, job title and date of application. I’ve taken my Job Search chart to the next level, though. I’ve included Pivot Tables (a tool in Excel for analyzing the data in your chart) that break down the information and allow me to see some trends. What have I learned?

• I apply to more jobs on Wednesday than any other jobs. [Note this trend could have two causes – 1) more new jobs are posted on Wednesdays; and 2) my schedule on Wednesday allows me to look for and apply to more jobs. The true cause is probably a combination of these two possible causes.]

• Although I source jobs to apply to from a variety of areas, including networking, the biggest sources for jobs to which I apply are still Monster and CareerBuilder. A lot of pundits have criticized these large job posting boards as outdated, but they still seem to have a large number of companies using them for their job search needs. Hmm, this gives me an idea for a new piece of information to track – response rate from different sources.

2) My media collections. I have a database for keeping track of my books, CDs, DVDs, etc. It helps me to know what I have, to avoid duplicates, but also to find things, but tracking when I’ve lent things out or moved a CD to my car. What have I learned? My husband and I have an inordinate number of books with the word ‘Unicorn’ in the title. Maybe not as useful as my job search data, but certainly an interesting trend.

3) My exercise routine. I actually have two charts for keeping track of my workouts. One tracks my running, showing time, heart rate and notable info about a run. The other tracks my Pilates workout showing the current routine and the plan for adding new exercises (I add new ones each month). What have I learned? I’m faster and stronger at the beginning of the week than at the end.

Are there more? Of course; I create a new chart whenever there’s a new piece of information I want to know more about. I’ll admit, my frequent use of Excel and Access for personal reasons isn’t normal, but it helps me to understand and catalog my world. So, while you think I’m crazy, I have a pretty good handle on how things in my life are affecting me, allowing me to be more organized and generally happier.

For Hire

I am a human resources professional with ten years of experience, currently looking for a manager or director of HR position in New Jersey or New York City. Looking for work at any time is stressful and hard on the ego, but in our current economy, with so many people looking, it is even harder and takes a toll on even the most confident of individuals.

There's a lot of advice out there for job seekers, some of it good, a lot of it bad. As someone who's worked in recruiting I have the advantage of knowing which tips would help and which would hurt. But to be honest, when I was recruiting and sorting through resumes, none of the tips and tricks everyone is mentioning really mattered. I looked to see if each individual met the requirements for the position. That was it. Sure, I have my preferred resume format, and a number of other preferences for how an application should be put together, but if someone submitted their resume in a format I didn't like, or addressed me as "Dear Sir" but met the requirements for the position, I didn't disqualify them! My job was to find suitable candidates, not disqualify as many of them as I could based on picayune details about their application.

What I find surprising is how little advice there is out there for organizations looking for new talent. Because, as a Human Resources professional, I'm appalled by a number of things about the job search process. And, as an experienced Human Resources professional applying to an organization for a position the HR department, I frequently wonder if the company I'm applying to is one I really want to work for. A few things that cause me to wonder:

1) The job description. So you've posted your job opening on your website or on a job board or on LinkedIn. It should not have any typos in it. None. If, as an applicant, you're expecting my cover letter and resume to be free of errors, you should have the courtesy of applying the same standards to yourself. No typos. Also, cut the buzz words. No one knows what you’re talking about. Say what you want in plain English and you'll probably get more qualified applicants. One of my favorites is "Change Leadership". Frankly, all leadership is about guiding others through change, even if that change is as small as taking on a new task or learning a new skill.

2) The application process. Ok, you've got a brand new Applicant Tracking System that has all kinds of bells and whistles, and I'm happy to enter my details into for you. The system should be self explanatory. I should be able to figure out what I need to do to complete the application process. Unlike the one I used the other day, where all I could figure out how to enter was my contact details. After saving it, I realized that way up at the top there was a way to go to the rest of the tabs, but then it was too late, I couldn't enter my application to edit it! And your required fields should be limited to the ones that are truly required, like name, contact details, etc. You should not require me to enter my last five employers, when I may not have had that many. Or require me to give you the phone numbers of my prior employers (two of mine are no longer in business, so if you need their numbers I guess I can't apply).

3) The interview. I've been lucky. Most of my interviews so far have been pretty standard. Except the one that spent a lot of time telling me how the former person in the position had done such a bad job. That wasn't a good interviewing technique. Stick to the normal questions. Ask me about my biggest weakness.

4) The follow up. If you interviewed me, you should follow up. If you're a recruiter and you met with me about a specific job, you should let me know if the company was interested. As a job hunter I'm used to rejection, I can handle it. If you interviewed me as a pipeline initiative, you should still keep in touch - it's not a pipeline if I don't feel a connection to you. If you're a company and you interviewed me, let me know when I can expect to hear back, and then make sure you get back to me. If you've put me on hold because you're not 100% sure I'm the best candidate and want to do another search just in case, let me know that too.

So now there's at least some advice out there for organizations looking for candidates. Hope it helps. And if you need more help, I'm available for hire.