The Executive Update

Ask the Coach: How Aggressive is Too Aggressive?

Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from this week’s session with career transition coach and consultant Randy Block.

This week’s coach call included a lengthy discussion on how to follow up with recruiters and hiring managers. When calling or e-mailing, how often is too often? Should you use the “read receipt” function on your e-mail?

Randy emphasized that networking into a company with a reference is the best way to get connected, but recruiters are still looking for a perfect fit – the square peg for the square hole. Therefore, don’t expect a follow-up call if you are not in the top 10 percent of their match pile.

One caller added that a recruiter recently told him that the electronic noise level has become so high that it’s easy to get lost, even if you are a perfect fit for an opening. It’s important to try something different to get noticed. There has to be something different in a personalized letter, or use a different colored envelope.

Randy pointed out that in the 1970s all recruiters were feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of resumes they received in the mail. Now they are drowning in e-mail. How do you stand out with an e-mail message? Start with the subject line. If you have been referred to the contact, let them know right away. Use a courier service to send a hard copy of your resume, or if you are close and in the mood for a drive, hand-deliver a resume. One caller added that she has tried this approach three or four times with a very positive reaction. You can hand-deliver “thank you” notes as well. Make the receptionist your ally.

How often do you call to follow up? Often! If you send information electronically, call to follow up within 48 hours.  Then keep following up every few days. Be sure to always ask about the next steps; when to touch base again. Set up a follow-up call and then follow through.

When do you become a pest? Well that depends. One participant said he couldn’t get a call back from a recruiter after a successful meeting. Randy suggested leaving voice mail every two to three weeks, along with an e-mail follow-up. Try calling at odd times, like 7:30 a.m., 12:30, or between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m., when you are likely to catch someone at their desk. You can use the *66 or *67 phone option to hid your caller ID so you won’t be perceived as a pest.

Boomers: You Need to Rethink Seeking Full Time Jobs With Gen Xers.

By Randy Block, Career Transition Coach   

In my coaching practice, I often hear complaints from job seekers over 50 regarding not being considered for a full-time position by a Gen Xer.

“I was fully qualified and it makes no sense” is the most common complaint.  “They simply don’t know how to hire” is another one.  “They told me that I was overqualified.” Other comments cannot be repeated.

To put some perspective on this phenomenon, here are some observations I have made, both as a coach and an executive recruiter:

1.    Thirty-somethings don’t want to hire their parents.  Boomers have hired people from their own age demographic or their juniors for years. Would you have hired your dad or mom to work directly for you?

2.    Boomers also are considered a “flight risk” once the economy turns around.  They probably will take a better job.  They will be viewed as someone who just used the company as a “half way house”.  And guess what?  They are a flight risk.

3.    Boomers want to be “led” and not managed.  In my coaching practice as well as my past recruiting experience, most thirty-something managers look for someone they can “manage.” In coaching sessions with young managers, I observed that their leadership skills typically lag behind their management skills.  Therefore this is clearly not a fit.

4.    I also believe that the age antidiscrimination laws in this country have backfired.  If you hire someone for full-time work over 50, they can be hard to get rid of, even in an “at will” state like California. So why hire them in the first place?

Yet, I have found that most young managers need help and guidance. They appreciate being mentored, coached, or advised. They recognize the need, but look at it as a temporary or project-based opportunity. Young managers have hired me, for example, for three-month engagements and I am a “sixty something” boomer.

If you are a Boomer and still want to work with these “young lions and lionesses,” what can you do? Here are six steps that you can take:

Ask the Coach: New Rules for the New Economy

Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from a recent session with career coach Don Orlando.

Tough times call for aggressive measures, and in this week’s Ask the Coach call, one attendee asked about cold calling into companies. He said he has been using this method, making sure that he alerts his contacts that he will call to talk soon. The question posed: is this effort a waste of time?

Don noted that there are a lot of myths and folklore about cold calling. Before the web, hiring managers would use their community networks to find candidates – the Rotary Club, golf clubs, school organizations, etc. – seeking recommendations they would value. Now they are using other methods, and they aren’t as sure of the value the candidates bring. When you cold call, it’s up to you to demonstrate your value. Make your worth easy to recognize and you can talk to the right party.

Remember, too, that in today’s tight hiring market, managers need permission to bring on new hires. These managers are putting their own reputation on the line when they make a hire, assuring their bosses that their choice will do the job right and create more value than it will take to hire, train, and keep them. So to get hired, the hiring manager must feel very secure in your demonstrated value.

Before your reach out to any company, be sure to assess compatibility. Identify those that need your expertise. And don’t just ask for a job. Talk about the company, its competitors, and the future of the industry. Do your homework, and talk about how you applied your own expertise to deal with similar problems in the past. End with a request to meet to discuss their unique needs.

And most important of all, follow up! Promise to call about the information you sent, and then do it. Or ask for a convenient time for a follow up conversation.

Don  also shared some of his own articles on researching companies using online resources, the evolution of the green economy, and the impact of the stimulus package on hiring. If you want to receive copies of these documents, please feel free to contact  Sabrina at NETSHARE (Sabrina@netshare.com).