Why Didn't You Get the Job? No One Will Tell You

Yesterday this article was in the Wall Street Journal:  Didn't Get the Job? You'll Never Know Why.  Lauren Weber explores what it feels like to be the interviewee, thinking that you did really well in the meeting and thought you were a shoe in for the job, only to finally find out you didn't get the job, and that the company went with someone who was better suited for the role. As the job seeker, this really doesn't allow you to learn what your weakness was and improve on it.  

Often as the interviewer, I know that there are certain things that arise during the discussion that cause a candidate to fall out of consideration. These can be big things, like the resume didn't accurately represent the person's experience or that the person's salary requirements were out of whack.   Sometimes they are little things, like a candidate arriving late to an interview, having vague answers to questions or not seeming engaged in the interviewing process.  And sometimes it is something you can't put your finger on.  Yes, it happens.

So, if you were just interviewed, you probably want to know what the reason was that you didn't get the job.  Of course if you don't ask you can't find out, but even if you do ask, often you will get vague generalizations about why you were not hired.  They decided to hire someone with more specific experience, the chosen candidate had significant academic credentials, the position has changed and the hired person was better suited for the role.  OK, these are real reasons, but were they THE reason.  

Interviewers and companies are reluctant to answer specific questions about why someone wasn't hired because they want to limit their exposure to lawsuits.  If you were to learn that you were not hired because the company thought you were planning on starting a family--or looked like you were pregnant--you may have cause for a discrimination lawsuit.  Looking at it from the company's perspective, if they did have a woman interview who was clearly in her final month of pregnancy, isn't it fair for them to think that the work they need done now would somehow suffer while she's on maternity leave?  So they don't hire her, and say they chose someone with more experience, etc., etc. 

How would you feel if you didn't get the job because your belt and shoes didn't match or your tie was too skinny.  Who even looks at that nowadays?  Well, sometimes it is little things like that which stick in an interviewer's mind after the interview and raise questions.  I know it seems trivial, but that little nagging question has a way of derailing a candidacy.  If I was to say that you didn't get the job because of this mismatch--wouldn't you feel offended?  Wouldn't you want to scream at me that I'm being childish and that I don't understand that you are the ideal person for this role?  Of Course. So what can an interviewer say?  The interviewer gives you a platitude and says better luck next time.

Ok, so you've been interviewing and are always the runner-up.  What can you do to find out what works and what doesn't?  The article mentions a program that HireArt put in place.  HireArt's co-founder offered to give people 15 minute mock interviews and give them true assessments.  Not everyone was happy with the feedback they got, but HireArt has found that the assessments are very popular and are continuing to offer them periodically to job seekers that they are working with.

Last year I got a call out of the blue from a father whose son was just wrapping up his Bachelor's Degree in Business.  The father asked if I would be willing to do a mock interview and provide feedback to the son.  I was game, and met with the son for an hour about a fictitious job I had presented to him.  Afterwards we did a 30 minute recap.  I will say that it was an interesting meeting, and I was happy that the son was really engaged in the process.  I put my notes together and sent it to the son and father afterwards, including some stuff that may have been easier to put in writing than to say in person.  Yes, dad, he should cut off the ponytail if he's looking to work in a more conservative setting.  But he was really professional and gave spot on answers.  The family and I have stayed in touch, and now the son is working within the wine industry, gainfully employed.  


Knowing the potential for lawsuits, you have to understand if companies don't give out specifics about why you weren't the one hired.  Maybe I'll get a release of liability from job seekers and just tell them what they really need to hear......

Be Specific when Asking for Money

Recent WSJ article about the power of asking for a precise number during negotiations.  I'll take an extra $2,256 if it is this easy!

The Key to Making Eye Contact, and Making it Matter

Great article from WSJ about eye contact in interviewing and work settings.  Learn the art of making, and keeping eye contact, for the right amount of time.

Are You a Winemaking Consultant? You May Want to Read this Article

Over the years I have been involved in lots of wine industry roundtables, seminars and networking sessions, and have learned that people don't like to talk money.  This was evident a few years ago when I sat in on a winemaking consulting session at the Unified Symposium, and while everyone was talking about how to be a consultant and why companies would hire a consultant, when the issue of consulting fees came up, the group was silent.  There wasn't any information about consulting rates, how fees were structured, or how to bill customers.  And if you've read this blog before, you know I think people should know what things cost out there and the value of their own time.  So, if you are a winemaking consultant, you need to read this article in the Wall Street Journal.  Hope it is helpful.

What are Employers Looking for These Days?

Recently Nick Schulz wrote "Hard Unemployment Truths About 'Soft' Skills" in the WSJ.  While I know many people have been hard hit by the recession, I do also know that sometimes the littlest things make the biggest differences.

Non-Technies Need Not Apply? Nick Schulz reported on the struggle manufacturing companies face to find qualified applicants for open jobs.  With manufacturing becoming more high-tech, it is easy to believe that the work force needs to be more computer savvy and technically competent.  It may come as a surprise to many that the biggest challenge many employers have is finding applicants with the "soft" skills you may take for granted.  These skills include being polite, motivated, enthusiastic, and able to answer a phone professionally.  The hiring managers also noted that sometimes it is hard enough to even find applicants that can pass the drug test.

What New Skills Employers Are Looking For?  Earlier this week I was meeting with a sales executive who has worked for many prestigious wineries in California.  He asked me what skills people are looking for in their sales staff.  I paused, and thought about it for a moment and said, "Someone who does their job."  I felt a little flat-footed, but really most often the hardest thing to find is someone who actually does their job and takes pride in their work.  And when you find someone who does, you don't want to let her go.

New Skills Versus Effectiveness:  Yes, it is true that we have lots of new technology and skills that we want our employees to have.  Knowing how to update a Facebook page is important if you are doing social media and having advanced point of sale system experience will make you a hot commodity--but if you waste your time lost in social media sites or don't actually work to make a single sale using the POS system--you aren't worth anything.

A Peek Into the Entry-level Job Scene

What it is Like Out There:  Recently my college-aged son has been looking for a part-time job.  He went to an informational session at a large logistics company and felt very out of place.  As his mother instructed, he wore his nice khakis, an ironed dress shirt, a tie and his best (read only) dress shoes.  He took his resume and reference list along in a folder.  Reporting back afterwards, he said he was the only guy there that wasn't "sagging" and the only white guy who wasn't sporting dreadlocks. (Please, reader, I love dreadlocks as much as the next guy--but thought it was a very interesting remark)

Set Yourself Apart, Nicely:  Today he is going back for a real interview.  Going over his game plan yesterday, I asked if he was going to wear a tie again.  He said, "Of course, I have to set myself far apart from the mirror-foggers."  Now this is a part-time job during college loading boxes into freight trucks.  He's hoping to get a grave shift and work in a 30 degree warehouse during the holiday season.  This isn't the highlight career for most people--but my son is really looking forward to working hard, getting paid and getting lots of extra hours during the holiday shipping season. 

Learning the Ropes:  Two years ago my son went for his first interview with the parks department to help clean up garbage and pull weeds around the city during the summer.  Getting to the interview, he said he again was the only guy not "sagging" and noted that most of the girls there were wearing short shorts and were baring their midriffs.  When he sat down at the interview table, he asked the interviewer if she would like to see his resume.  While she was shocked that he brought one, she took it and conducted the interview.  He got the job and got to spend many 100+ degree days picking up garbage and fixing playgrounds around Sacramento. 

Getting the reference:  Yeah, so maybe these jobs aren't going to find my son living in a mansion and partying on a yacht--but he's a step ahead of a lot of unemployed people out there.  In his summer job he learned how to work as part of a team, a little about money management and how to do the job his supervisor wanted done.  Never missing a day of work--and only forgetting his steel-toed boots once which caused him to be 5 minutes late to work--made his supervisor happy, and she has been a great reference.  He also has a good job to put on his resume, helping him get the next job.

What Can You do to Improve Your Hireability?

Make Sure you Polish your Soft Skills:    Be polite and approachable when interacting with a potential employer.  Make sure you use good grammar in communications with them and follow-up as requested.  Be consistent in your information, especially when it comes to job history and responsibilities.  Dress appropriately for a job interview.  Don't Sag!  Act professional.  Be enthusiastic about the opportunity to meet with anyone at the company and sincere about your interest in working for them.

Know What's Relevant:  Yes, most likely you have more experience than needed to load freight trucks--so make sure you brush up on your specific experience and know what talents you bring to the role.  If you are applying for a job that requires knowledge of sales tracking software--make sure you study up on it so you can talk intelligently about your expertise on it and discover where you might need additional study.  Be honest about areas that you don't have the required experience, but if you can show how you can acquire that knowledge, you are showing you know a lot about the job.

Act Like You Want to be Hired:  It may sound funny, but I can often tell when someone isn't really into the job hunt.  Statements such as, "Well, maybe it would be better if I continued to work for a friend instead of taking a full time role" or "If I take a job I will lose my unemployment benefits"  are interview killers for me. Why are we talking here?  Didn't you apply for the job?  When you are talking to a hiring manager they are listening for little clues about how likely you are to take the job, and also to keep the job.  When you put up little red flags it may give the hirer pause.  Mulling it over they may decide to keep looking, or bring in that other person who seemed to really want the job.  Don't shoot yourself in the foot--if you are interviewing you should be prepared to take the job.  Or at least seriously consider the offer. 

Crossing My Fingers:  Right now my son is in that interview.  I do hope he's been listening to his mother all these years.  And that he wore a belt!  He'd better pass that drug test.

How to be a Smart Protege, WSJ article

Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal they had a great article about how to be a smart protege. The article addressed how people go about finding and learning from industry experts. I think having a good mentor network is invaluable in your career, and agree with the authors that you have to go out and find mentors and work to make the relationship thrive. I have written previously about my mentor/protege relationships, and encourage everyone to think about who can be a mentor, or a protege, and make the connection.

Is that a real job posting?

As a recruiter, I am continuously searching for new candidates for openings. While I have several open positions I am working on, I also know that certain positions are soon to come open. I do my fair share of advertising for current openings. I also post common job titles that I frequently have openings for. What I don't do is post phony listings to attract job seekers.

Today's Wall Street Journal had an interesting article in the Career Journal about phony online job postings. The article, It Isn't Always a Job Behind an Online Job Posting, by Sarah Needleman, discusses some of the ploys used by job placement companies as well as of scammers.

I do advise against sending your resume out to any posting you see. Recruiting and staffing firms often post general job descriptions to lure prospective job seekers to submit a resume. Often, these resumes will be useful for current or future positions, and adds more candidates to the search firms coffers. But if you are hoping to have a confidential search, make sure you contact the company and find out as much as you can about the opportunity. If it doesn't sound real, hold off on submitting your resume. If you have skills that closely match a true opening, a good recruiter will follow up with you to find out more about you.

Also, with the tough economic times, beware of putting too much information out for scammers to see. Online job sites are reporting increased scams. Scammers use postings to get personal information, including full names, addresses and job information that they can use for identity theft. Also, career services firms may be phishing to get people who might pay for their services. If your resume submittal turns into a come-on for services--beware. A job posting should be just that--an opening for a real position.

Performance Reviews: Make them Count

Last week I presented at the Women for Winesense's Winemakers Roundtable on salary negotiations. I hope it was a worthwhile presentation, and felt that it was well received. One topic we discussed was performance reviews. Going into the end of the year, many companies conduct their annual reviews now. I suggest that you make them a positive experience for yourself. Here are some steps to take to do that.

Go over your last review: If you have a performance review from last year, take a look at it. Often companies list areas for improvement. What were your's? What did you do in the last year to address that? Also, advancement opportunities or goals may have been addressed. How have these been implemented, and where have you gotten on these.

Do a self assessment: Objectively look at your work performance. Although it can be hard to see the forest from the trees, take a step back and think about how you did. Were you a major contributor? Was their a personality conflict that caused you to perform below your abilities? There are plenty of other things that you might see if you take the time to look. Now how would you grade yourself.

Know your accomplishments: Now is the time you want to know what you accomplished in the last year. If you don't bring them up, they may never be talked about. If your reviewer is a distant supervisor, she may not know much about your contributions. You want to have this information readily available when you are in your review.

Brag: As I've said before, you need to be able to talk about your accomplishments. Make them known, so you can be adequately rewarded with a salary increase, a promotion, or a new role with the company.

Find out how to excel: Aside from the "report card" aspect of a review, this is also a time when you have the undivided attention of one of your superiors. You can use this time to find out future opportunities with the company, areas that your boss might need help with, and possibly get some good grooming for upper level positions.

Prepare a career wish list: When you are getting ready for your review, think of some areas within the company that you might be interested in working. You also can take some time to reflect on how close of a match your position, and your company are with your own goals and values. By taking the time to dream about your career, you might open your eyes to some great new opportunities.

(a note: Sarah Needleman first ran an article in the Wall Street Journal on November 4, 2008 exploring this topic. Her points were very good, and I have included them in the above article. Please link to her article for the full version)

How Best to Make an Industry Career Change

Often I'm asked how people can make a move into the wine industry from a myriad of other industries. I've blogged about some possible ways to make the leap--and encourage people to always try to find a job that really interests them--and wine is a hobby of many people out there. I recently read a strategic piece by Chandlee Bryan from the Wall Street Journal. The article, Weighing a New Industry for a New Job Outlook, outlines a few ways to handle the leap realistically.

Key points from the article are:
1. Find an area that interests you, such as wine. Looking at hobbies or personal interests is a great way to explore new career opportunities. Using your current job skills in a related way in the new industry could be an easy transition.
2. Learn the landscape. Do your homework on what types of jobs are out there and which might use your skills. Do internet searches to find information that might shed some light on your potential career path.
3. Examine your experience: Identify your strengths and find out how you can capitalize on them in the new industry. Your previous work experience will allow you to differentiate yourself from many competitors.
4. Develop a communication strategy: After you've learned about your target industry and done your homework, develop a pitch on what makes you a highly desirable candidate for a potential employer. Ms. Bryan suggests using 15secondpitch.com to help you refine your message.
5. Consider a recruitment agency: Okay, that's me.
6. Be prepared for compensation adjustments: This is very good to think about. While you may be at the top of the pay-scale in your current industry, switching to a new one may bring some small paychecks--hopefully only until you've proven yourself. But remember, you might be looking to change industries because your current one is going through some changes or having less opportunities in the future. Switching to a more vibrant industry can have a bigger upside down the road.

Embellishing Your Resume

On Friday, April 27th the MIT Admissions Dean, Marilee Jones, was forced to resign due to lying on her resume. She didn't just bend the truth, or change dates. While she did attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1974 as a part-time student, she did not receive a bachelor's or master's degree as she claimed. She also never received the degree from Albany Medical College that was on her resume.

Back in 1979 she first embellished her resume when she was hired in MIT's admissions office. From her fudged resume, she went on to be a leader in her profession, and sat on many higher-education boards. Ms. Jones was a well respected advocate for easing the college admission process. Being the Dean of Admissions, Ms. Jones was in charge of standardizing the college's application process and maintaining the integrity of the admissions system.

Did lying pay off for Ms. Jones. Since 1979 she has worked at MIT and moved up through the ranks, becoming the dean of the department. She also earned national recognition for her work to ease the college application system. She even co-authored a book for parents of college applicants. Most of this would not have been possible for her if she hadn't of created her credentials.

But where is she today? She has been publicly humiliated and outed for lying on her resume. Her reputation is tarnished, affecting her future career opportunities. Could she have gotten into a similar position through her intelligence and hard-work? Probably not one in academia at least. Hard work and intelligence go far in the school of hard knocks--but it takes longer to get to the top rung.

I have found out that trusted employees were embellishing their resumes. One government expert said he had an MBA from Harvard, and a Master's in Computer Science from Florida Tech. When I had to do an educational background check for a government contract that he was on, all of his school information came back blank. When I asked him what was up, he claimed he was put in the US Government's Witness Protection Plan for Top Secret military knowledge he had. His whole previous life had been "erased". While this may have been true, I could not vouch for his education level or his expertise. I asked a private investigator who I had worked with on background checks how plausible his answer was. The PI flatly dismissed this "expert's" story.

Once you lie on a resume, it's hard to rectify it later on. I have had Ph.D's hide their education level to avoid being seen as over-qualified. I can understand their idea, but always counsel them that it's a big decision. Any college degree is a milestone in a person's life. Hard work went into obtaining that degree. Will it be easy to swallow your pride and continually downplay your education. What if you are hoping for a promotion, and your competitor has a higher degree? Will you be able to hold your tongue? Keep that in mind.

For more advice on what to do if you've lied on a resume, check out the Wall Street Journal article that accompanied their MIT Admissions Dean story on Friday.

Black and White and Never Read: How to Make Your Resume Stand Out

My favorite riddle when I was young was "What's black and white and red (read) all over?--a newspaper of course". You want your resume to be read thoroughly by anyone who glances at it. Unfortunately, most resumes are boring and easy to pass over. I read over 20 resumes every day, so here's my tips on making a good resume that recruiters and hiring managers will read, and that will be noticed. (This morning I just read a great resume advice piece in the Wall Street Journal by Dana Mattioli. For those with a subscription, please visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116891185519277215.html?mod=careers_left_column_hs)

First, always put your name, address, phone number--including cell phone and voicemail numbers. And everyone should have an email address on their resume. Seems simple, but I get plenty of resumes with no contact info besides a home address.

Next, put a summary section that states what your talents, experience and accomplishments are. This should be fairly short for an entry-level individual, and 5-8 sentences long for exerienced job seekers.

Then a chronologic listing of your job history is always the best bet. Put your most recent position at the top, oldest at the bottom. If you have switched between industries or areas, put the most relevent jobs in a section defined as say, Wine Sales Experience. Then list that experience. Later put Retail Sales Experience and list those jobs. And don't list unrelated old jobs, such as Cattlemen's Bean Girl, or Parking Attendent, part-time. Everyone has had to take odd jobs, but these don't sell your current professional work self.

A resume is a sales/marketing tool. You want to represent yourself in your best light on your resume. Think like hiring managers. If they want a winery sales professional, they want to see that on the resume. If you did indeed sell in the wine industry, put it down. Always represent your dates of employment, job titles and education accurately.

Always list your education, as long as it's post high school. If you took classes, list them. If you have your Associates degree, list it. Of course list your Bachelor's, Master's and Juris Doctorate. I have known Ph.D.'s to not list that degree to prevent being rejected as over qualified, but I'm not sure if this helps them.

Now this is all pretty basic--and if everyone does this all resumes will look the same. First of all, many people don't follow these basic guidelines and their resumes are hard to understand. Second of all, within your job experience you need to list your duties. Use action words and always pay attention to verb tense. And of course, check your spelling. Attention to detail is very important in many jobs, and a resume should be the first example of your's.

So how do you "kick it up a notch"?

• Use simple fonts and keep the size at about 11 or 12 pt. No recruiter will spend a long time squinting at a hard to read resume.
• Make sure all your formatting is consistent--titles bold, sections underlined, etc.
• Keep your information concise--bulleted lists of accomplishments, duties, responsibilities are very good.
• Use color for listing websites, company names, email. Using tags in your email resume allow the reader to link to your website, email or blog
• Keep it to 1 page for entry to 7 years of experience, 2 pages for experienced individuals.
• Show some of your personality in your resume. If you're creative, emphasis it. If you're fascinated with Italian wine varietals, talk about it.

Consistency is key, but a few small details can make your resume the first one I choose to call.