Take a good look @ your email address ...

In my book I spend quite a bit of time discussing the importance of a well written cover letter, of having a CV that really highlights your career achievements to date and for the need to be well presented for any interview.

Over the last few weeks I have personally been running a few of my own recruitment projects, and in doing so I have been inundated with applications, covering letters and CVs. 

However, perhaps because it's been a few years since I have actually run an end-to-end recruitment process myself, I have recently noticed a new danger zone in which way too many candidates (in my opinion anyway) are going to let themselves down.

Personal email addresses.

It's strange what an impact someone's personal email address can have on a recruiter or hiring manager.

For years I have been telling candidates to not necessarily include their home address on their CV or résumé since, for whatever reason, it could create a negative opinion or result in an unfair bias. And yet even without any evidence at all of where an individual candidate actually lives, a candidate's email address can now create a negative impression and even lead to the candidate not being considered for a role ... no matter how strong their background might be.

In the last few weeks alone I have seen personal email accounts along the lines of:

trudishopstoomuch@ ...

speed_daemon@ ...

italianstallion@ ...

shoefetish@ ...

Now email addresses aside, I have to admit that these individuals all had well written covering letters and reasonably impressive backgrounds. But in all honesty I couldn't take any of them seriously. 

When I started to actually question them as to what sort of message or impression they thought their choice of email address was creating, the most common response was "I've had that email address since high school and just haven't ever been bothered to change it".

Let's just say that following my not so subtle words of 'advice' (read this to mean "I will not be able to represent you until you have a more professional email address"), Trudi, Rob (aka speed_daemon), Marco, and Yvonne have all updated their email addresses to something far more professional.

Whether you prefer first name "dot" last name @ ... or first name "underscore" last name @ ... is entirely up to you, but ideally you want a recruiter or potential new employer to be able to recognise the name at the top of the CV with the email account.

I remember many years ago I received an application from a drlovemuscle@ ... and before I even read his covering letter or opened his CV, I had sent him an automated rejection letter. Harsh, cruel, unfair ... call it what you will. But professional recruiters who deal with professional clients probably want to deal with professional candidates too.

You might want to keep your pet-name or nick-name based email address as a private address that you use amongst close friends or as your log-in to your social networking site. But please ensure that for any job application or professional email correspondence that your email address reflects the professional person that you are or at least want to be known to be.

I won't rant on any more ...

harshrecruiter@home.com

Image courtesy of: checkrecordsdotcom

Rate your employer, speak your mind ...

For anyone going through a job or career crisis, often the one thing they want to do when they meet up with their friends (or with their career development specialist for that matter) is to vent.

In fact usually the first 10 - 15 minutes of any meeting I have with a new client is me listening very patiently to what can often be a fairly emotive purge culminating in their justification for either wanting to leave their current job, or the reasons for why they just left an organisation.

Then when I ask them why they took the job in the first place, or if I get them to talk about the good times, they will quickly calm down and speak passionately about what it was like when they really enjoyed their job.

It's only then that we can really start to work on a strategy ...

About a year ago now I helped Dave through a pretty hectic roller coaster of a ride ... two redundancies in a row (both due to companies having to close their doors). Fortunately he's now really happy in his new position.

I was checking in with him the other day to see how things are going and he couldn't stop raving about his role and also his employer. What a change from 12 months earlier when unfortunately he couldn't think of anything nice to say about either his jobs or his employers.

I must have said something in passing along the lines of "wouldn't it be great if there was somewhere employees could anonymously vent about their employer or have a chance to say something really nice about them ..."

And before I could say anything else, Dave said, "But there is Paul. You should check out Grindstone".

Grindstone ... I checked it out immediately.

I had a good look at the site ... giving individual employees the opportunity to anonymously "rate your employer and speak your mind".

Now whenever I stumble across something that really impresses me I need to investigate it, so I tracked down Grindstone's co-Founders and I asked them what their motive was behind launching the website.

Brett Tait explained how "it's all about employees reviewing employers and generally making work places better places". While Tova Wilshansky continued to describe how "not only does the site allow employees to comment about a particular workplace, but people considering joining a particular organisation will eventually be able to see how that organisation has been rated in the past".

"The circle [of feedback] has to start somewhere", Brett Tait said.

I then started to think more about their objective.

Once employers start to see how their staff (either present or past) are describing them, then in order to keep their staff (both present and future) happy, they will be able to use all the feedback (real feedback from an independent source) to make some positive changes.

So go ahead ... rate your employer and speak your mind.

Image courtesy of: TomStock.us

Dress to impress ... or dress for success

I know I have talked about this before, but when it comes to attending an interview, first impressions count.

Over the last few weeks I have been working with Raphaella who this Wednesday will be meeting with undoubtedly one of this country's leaders in the field she is so keen to move into.

I wouldn't call it a job interview per se ... more like an informational interview where ideally Raphaella will get some advice, guidance, words of wisdom, and perhaps even a few names of other key players in the space. Of course if her meeting results in a job offer that would be 'nice', but she is mature enough not to be getting her hopes up (too high!).

When we last caught up, she asked me what she should wear to the meeting and I immediately explained to her that in a market literally saturated with highly skilled and qualified candidates, the notion of making a lasting first impression has never been more important.

After all you can be the most qualified candidate, you could have a killer covering letter, a CV that is the envy of all other applicants, and you may have even narrowed your interview technique down to a fine art. However if you don’t look the part, or you don’t act the part, the person sitting opposite you may not be convinced enough that you could, in fact, play the part. And when all is said and done, that’s what ultimately counts.

She thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "I'm glad you've said that because this week I dropped a bomb at Cue and I know I will be dressed to impress".

Even in an era of smart or business casual and dress down Fridays you need to remember that you are going for an interview so dress accordingly. By no means am I insisting on a business shirt and tie for the gentlemen or stockings and closed toed shoes for the ladies, since different industries reflect different dress standards. But as a general rule, you should dress at a level above the person you are going to meet and if this means putting on a tie, then so be it!

Even if its jeans day at work it’s never jeans day at an interview.

Unfortunately presentation becomes a major stumbling block for far too many otherwise perfectly suitable candidates.

I once interviewed a candidate who arrived wearing a Charlie Chaplin type hat, a bright lime green short-sleeved shirt, and a bow tie that flashed fluorescent lights every few seconds. Given that I wasn’t recruiting for Cirque du Soleil, how well do you think he went?  

Another tip ... try not to intoxicate the interviewer with an overdose of perfume or aftershave, and ladies, don’t wear so much bling that you cause a distraction as the sun comes through a nearby window creating a mirror ball effect around you.  If you are going for a fashion job (which Raphaella certainly is not), then fashion will be important, but remember unless you are interviewing in an area such as this, then business type dress is far more appropriate.

And finally ... before you arrive at your meeting, make sure you are not chewing gum, make sure you have taken your iPod earphones out, and make sure you switch off your mobile phone.

You only have one chance to make a lasting first impression.

Image courtesy of: canburak

Don't let your age become a stumbling block

Nothing beats a face to face meeting when it comes to working with clients. However from time to time, whether it's due to timing or distance I will "meet" with a client over SKYPE.

Last week I met Christian for the first time on SKYPE. He had been referred to me and when we had looked at our respective schedules it was just going to be easier that way.

Now it's one thing to look at someone's CV or LinkedIn profile and get a general understanding of their background and experience, but seeing them in person (albeit virtually) still adds another dimension to gaining a better insight into their personality.

Once the initial "meet and greet" was out of the way, I asked Christian to briefly tell me a bit about himself.

"I'm old", he said. "I'm so old I remember watching the moon landing on black and white television", he continued before pausing - perhaps waiting for me to respond.

Whilst I thought he'd chosen an interesting way to introduce himself, I didn't really react. But I could tell he was obviously waiting for a response.

To be honest I wasn't really sure what he wanted me to say so I just decided to steer the conversation back to his career, and more specifically to his most recent experience.

But let's just think back to what he said for a moment.

Christian related the concept of being "old" to the fact he could remember watching a major event in history (on black and white television) on July 20th, 1969. Now I didn't want to probe and ask whether he was standing up in a cot wearing nappies at the time, or whether he was five, six or even 12 years old watching Neil Armstrong take his giant step for mankind.

My point is that I wouldn't recommend to anyone opening up a conversation with a recruiter or potential future employer with a reference to the fact you can remember watching an event on TV which took place 43 years ago.

Once I had put the moon landing comment to the side, and chipped away at Christian's career background, I uncovered an incredibly talented individual with skills in on-line marketing and digital customer relationship management that in my opinion would surpass even the most e-marketing savvy Gen Y.

While he may not have realised it at the time, Christian was using his age (and to be honest I still have no idea exactly how old he is ... because it's completely irrelevant!) as a stumbling block for moving on to his next role. 

In the same way that Renée Zellweger says to Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) "You had me at hello", Christian had practically lost me at hello. Remember it's the first 10 - 15 seconds (or your elevator pitch) which will have the most impact on someone considering you for a potential position in their team or organisation.

Christian's experience, skills and knowledge of his niche make him (in my opinion) highly sought after. But by using his age as an obstacle, he could potentially create a self-fulfilling prophecy which would result in people not even giving him a chance talk about his experience.

When you launch (please pardon the space travel pun) into your introduction with a potential new employer or recruiter, age shouldn't even come into the picture.

Image courtesy of: nreddin

What could a flat battery possibly have to do with your career?

This week my car had a flat battery.

Frustrating as it was at the time, if it's only going to happen to me every three years, then it's something I can certainly live with. And it also reinforced the value of being covered for roadside assistance.

It was dark and my car was parked in a quiet side street. When I called for assistance I was told that the wait would be around 90 minutes.

Perhaps patience is something I have been getting better at since turning 40!

The battery technician arrived and had flicked the switch on his head torch before I could even explain what I thought was wrong.

"Yep she sure is dead, mate", he said. "We can either re-charge or we can replace. The choice is yours".

As it turned out, the "re-charge" option would help me get home, but as soon as I switched off the car engine I wouldn't be able to get any further without replacing the battery anyway. So really it was a no brainer.

"Let's just replace it now, please".

With his voltage counter in one hand, his cables in the other, he asked "So what do you do for a crust, mate?"

When I told him what I did, I could hear him laughing with his head still buried under the bonnet of my car.

I didn't really find it all that funny.

Then he stood up with a massive grin on his face and said, "So you probably ask your clients the same question I have to ask all my customers ... 're-charge or replace'!"

We talked for a few minutes and it was clear that Terry was on to something.

When you're feeling flat (as in the case of my car battery) in your job or in your career, perhaps it really is a simple case of either re-charge or replace. Will taking a break from work (perhaps a long overdue holiday) help you re-charge your levels of enthusiasm? Perhaps a change of scenery (working in another department or in another office) will also help you re-charge your energy and passion for what you do.

But if not, and like Terry explained, re-charging will only take you on final short spurt before you shut down again completely, then it's definitely time to replace your job with a new one. And just like the new battery, even if you find yourself totally charged for another three years before you go flat again, then this new role or career move could help you achieve some great things.

So if you feel like you're at a bit of a cross roads, ask yourself if you just need to be re-energised and go ahead and take some annual leave. But if when you get back nothing's changed, then you need to come up with a job replacement strategy ... which will take a bit more than just calling Terry and his head torch!

Perhaps I should come up with a new tag line for my own business ... 

Just like roadside assistance for your career!

Image courtesy of: amcgore