The Career Encouragement Blog

Question for my readers...

Ask a Manager had an interesting post the other day about what is a good excuse for missing a phone interview.  She relates a situation where a candidate misses the call, then sends a casual note by way of follow-up.  AAM concludes:

"The only potentially mitigating factor in her favor is that she's a recent grad and therefore inexperienced."

I enjoyed reading through the comments and lean towards agreeing with HR Wench who said simply:

"FAIL. Sorry."

So it turns out I have a quasi-related situation to pose for your scrutiny.  Last week I sent out an e-mail  to candidates for an admin job thanking them for their resume, letting them know I was interested in  scheduling a phone call with them to discuss their background further, and I offered 4 or 5 different times I could be free over the next three days and asked which one they preferred.  (By the way, this is a part-time job with FULL BENEFITS so I have a lot of resumes.)

I got back a reply that said:

"Thanks for considering me.  I'm available anytime - just give me a call."

This response bugged me.  My schedule is particularly jammed these next few weeks with several "top priority" projects and what little leeway I have is taken up by current employees who are standing right in front of me.  I already gave some available times and asked the candidate to pick one.  My intention was to schedule the call into an already busy schedule, not randomly call and hope to find someone free to talk at that time.  I also feel like the candidate may not really be interested since she didn't jump on the chance to schedule a specific time. 

At this point I am not inclined to send a 2nd e-mail to try to schedule a specific time and I am going to focus on candidates who did schedule a specific time for a call.  But then, she did say, 'Thanks for considering me..." which seemed nice and pleasant.  Am I being too uptight?  What would you do?

Carnival of HR!

The 39th Carnival of Human Resources is up over at the HR Capitalist Blog - Kris Dunn has truly taken the theme of "Carnival" to heart!

The Purpose of a Resume

Recently I was talked to the HR Coordinator at one of my client companies.  Karen is a seasoned professional who has been in the workforce for sometime now.  We were reviewing resumes for an open position and commenting on how wordy one of the cover letters was when she made the following observation:

"Years ago, my boss told me that the purpose of a cover letter is to get them interested in looking at your resume.  The purpose of the resume is to get them interested enough to invite you in for an interview.  The interview is where you get the job."

How very basic - and yet how still true today.  For more on developing your resume, check out some of the great postings at Bullseye Resumes.

More on Mentoring

Great minds think alike!  On Wednesday I wrote about finding a mentor.  Little did I know that Ask a Manager was writing about how to be a mentor.  If you are an employee looking for a mentor, AAM's 7 tips on how managers can be good mentors can be a helpful checklist for you.  Is there someone at work who you think can do these things for you?  Take a minute also to read the good advice about mentoring that Jackie Cameron gives in the comment section!

Finding a Mentor

Throughout the course of my nearly 20 years in HR I have always gotten squeamish whenever I've been involved in a conversation about employee development and someone has enthusiastically chirped "Let's develop a mentoring program!"  My career has definitely benefited from people who were kind enough to take me under their wing and teach me a thing or two.  And I have enjoyed the opportunities I have had to "pay it forward" to others.  So it's not like I'm against people helping people or I'm a territorial jerk.  It's just that in each case - whether I was the mentee or the mentor - the relationship evolved naturally and came out of a mutual opportunity for two co-workers to help each other succeed. 

The two times I was "assigned" a formal mentor in my career, the relationship was strained and awkward.  There is something about a canned, formulaic relationship that makes me feel fake.  And when I am operating from "fake" rather than from "authenticity" I feel weak and dis-empowered.

This is why I was glad to see a great posting by Rachel at the Employment File on letting mentoring relationships happen naturally.  She says:

"Just like you wouldn’t pick someone off the street and assume you establish a strong friendship with them, you shouldn’t pick a mentor off a page and expect to have a good mentoring relationship. People are fickle. You may not like person you end up with. Then, there’s the fact that this stranger has no allegiance to you. Do they really care about your development or do they want something that looks good on their resume?

...The key to mentorships is not to look too hard or to think too much about it. A contrived relationship will rarely develop into the lasting partnership that a naturally developed mentorship can provide. Just like any other relationship, a mentoring partnership takes time and effort on both parts."

So if you are thinking your career needs a boost and some mentoring could help, start by letting people know you are interested in learning more about whatever it is you want to learn more about (it could be as generic as "I want to learn more about what career options are available in the financial services field" or as specific as "I want to develop a plan to become a partner at the CPA firm I work at").  Ask each person you talk to what he knows about the subject and who else he recommends you talk to.  I'm willing to be that if you talk to at least one person a week in your company or your industry, and let them know what you want to learn about, you will eventually meet people who take an interest in helping you and become good, informal mentors to you.

Years ago when I wanted to have a career in Human Resources and also work part-time, I made a list of highly successful female HR professionals who were also mothers in my metro area.  I then cold-called them and said that I wanted to learn from smart, powerful women about how to have a career and a family and asked if I could interview them about how they developed their career.  Almost every single one of them was willing to meet with me.  Many of them I never saw again, but one woman stayed interested in my career and eventually called me when her company had an opening.  We are now both independent consultants, but stay in touch 4-6 times a year and she continues to be a good encourager and teacher to this day.  In return my career has grown to where I have been able to be a resource and source of information/knowledge for her at times. 

Do you have a mentor?  Have you ever had one?  How did you find your mentor?  What made the relationship successful?  Please write and share your story!

More on How NOT to Respond to Rejection

Recently I wrote a posting on how NOT to respond to rejection.  Ask a Manager has a great posting on this topic and shares 5 real life examples from her own work.  My favorite is the dejected candidate who suggested that only Southerners know how to send a proper rejection notice! 

Job Search Rule #33 - Figure Out How to Answer the "Weakness" Question

At some point in every interview process you (as a candidate) will be asked about your weaknesses. This question can take many forms such as:

• What is your biggest weakness?
• When you think back to recent performance reviews you have received, what are some of the things you have been asked to work on?
• What parts of this job would be hardest for you?

Why do recruiters and HR folks ask this question?  There are a variety of related reasons - we do it to start a dialogue, to see how you view yourself, to see if you are the type of person that can take feedback and not take yourself too seriously, and sometimes just to get a feel for your personality.

Recently I've had 2 candidates give me rather lame answers to this question - notice how neither one of them embraced the chance to dialogue and build rapport with the interview team:

Candidate #1 for an IT Manager position delivered his answer to the weakness question with a mix of incredulousness and arrogance designed to impress: "Weaknesses?  If you're looking for a candidate with weaknesses then I am NOT your guy.  I know this job inside and out and I just don't make mistakes."

Candidate #2 for an Office Manager position gave an answer that had nothing to do with her: "My biggest weakness is people who won't respect diversity.  I cannot stand that."  When I clarified that I was wondering what her weaknesses might be with respect to the position, not what her co-workers weaknesses might be, she reiterated, "I can't work with people who aren't respectful." 

Since you know you are going to be asked the question, it's a good idea to have an answer prepared.  While your answer should be uniquely you, and tailored to the position you are going for, a good basic answer to the "weakness" question is:

Timely. It's an interview. You knew you would be asked about your weaknesses. While you may pause briefly before answering, you shouldn't come across as dumbfounded by the question and have to think for an extensive period of time before offering something.

Honest. Be real about what you are working on, don't make something up.

Direct. Speak to the weakness. Don't be cheesy and try to pitch a strength as a weakness (e.g., "I'm so task focused that I take on more work than my peers do and that makes them think I am competitive.")

Relevant to the Job.An interview is a business conversation. Use the chance to answer the question as an opportunity to demonstrate that you know how the job contributes to the success of the business. (E.g, "In this PR position, you're looking for someone who can pitch stories and get press for your clients. While I had an extensive network of media contacts in [my old city] I am new to this metro area, and I am still building my contact list.

Progressive. Demonstrate that you already have a plan in place to manage your weakness as it relates to the job. For example, the PR candidate above might conclude her answer with: "My colleagues in my old city have been gracious enough to help me make contacts here. I've already joined [local PR professional association] and I have been attending their networking events. I also know from articles i have seen about you in the press that you are the type of manager who will be able to give me great coaching on getting connected in this city." etc.

Have you ever heard or given a great answer to the "weakness" question?  Please leave a comment and let us know about it!

More on starting your first job...

I've written here and hereabout Jason's experiences in his first job.  Recently MSN Careers had a neat article on 10 Things You Must Know Your First Year Out of College.  All 10 points are good ones, and I was particularly drawn to one of the opening paragraphs:

"Even though you may think you learned a lot in college, companies that recruit you and your comrades aren't necessarily interested in what you know right now," says Nicholas Aretakis, author of "No More Ramen: The 20-something's Real World Survival Guide."

"They're interested in what you can learn and what you can contribute. They are interested in your potential."

Read here for the whole article.

Carnival of Human Resources

The latest Carnival of Human Resources is posted over on the Changeboard.  This month's theme is Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Justice. 

Starting Your First Job - Thoughts from Jason

In response to my recent posting on starting your first job, Jason e-mailed me a few thoughts and reflections after two weeks at it - I like his focus on managing the self, and taking each day/situation as it comes: 

"1. Learn to ride the gentle waves of transition into a daily corporate setting. Early on, some days will be full of exciting lunches and meetings with visions to be cast and important decisions to be made, some days will languish with a PBJ and a desert-dry training manual. An individual facing the first month of post-graduate employment should be equipped to stabilize themselves through the highs and lows of training and familiarization with his/her duties.

2. Strive to gently develop your role in the office culture without disturbing pre-established political and relational protocol. Every office setting is different, don't expect things to be one way and be shocked when the cube-dweller next to you does not want to become best of friends. Have a strategy when developing relationships, focus on three different relational groups: 1) Those in proximity to physical workspace, 2) department comrades and 3) on those who you feel most drawn to on a personal level (bonding with those you feel most alike with can help ease the transition process.) All three of these groups are essential to create a cohesive work group in which you can thrive.

3. Benjamin Franklin once said: "Our critics are our friends, for they show us our faults..." A wise new employee seeks out ways he can better do his job, fit into the relational structure, and formulate a successful plan for his or her first few months on the job. One way of gleaning valuable, gentle and constructive criticism is by seeking out peers or those you feel most comfortable with at first and ask for them for advice on how to better acclimate; be it in practical ways or more stylistic nuances.

4. Above all, enjoy the experience. Don't let a rough hour or a difficult day get you down. Learn as much as you can, every situation offers wisdom for those who truly seek it. Savor the great moments, while not living in past success. Seek new horizons, each day is another opportunity to achieve what you set out to do."

I will follow up with Jason in a few months and see what new wisdom he will have to share!