The Monster Blog

Surprise! Your Interview Is on the Phone

Recently, a number of recruiters have called me out of the blue to do a prescreen interview over the phone for their clients. While such calls are always welcome, you have to be on your toes when you answer the phone. Typically, these calls come first thing in the morning, as it seems the recruiters are organizing their activities to have candidates at the ready. In fact, one recruiter even called me at 7:30 a.m. his time to be sure to reach me before noon East Coast time.

I've learned to keep my phone fully charged overnight and to answer every call with a cheerful, "Good morning, Jane speaking." It would be Murphy's law to have the best job opportunity be calling and suddenly the phone's power dies. Given that my resume has been circulated a good deal in the last few months, it is no longer a good assumption that an unknown number on caller ID is a telemarketer rather than someone with a solid job possibility.

Most of the time, these screening phone interviews are to help potential employers quickly find out a few facts. So far, in 5 out of 5 surprise calls I’ve received, the screeners were inquiring about:

1. my most recent employment or employer 
2. my last base salary
3. what I had been doing since my layoff 
4. and which other firms had I been interviewing with to date.

So I've prepared short sound bites to answer each of these questions in addition to having my elevator pitch rehearsed. I also use the call as an opportunity to learn more about the particular firm that is hiring.

The hardest thing about these surprise screening interviews is to immediately jump into a mindset so that you click with the speaker. The click is important, as this screening person will advocate on your behalf to get you to the next level of interviewing. After my first surprise interview, I learned to immediately get laser-focused as I approach the conversation at hand. I shut out all other interruptions/distractions. In fact, I’ll even ask the interviewer to hold for 30 seconds or so while I secure a quiet corner given the importance of this conversation. If you need a little time like that, it is perfectly all right to ask for it as long as you remain professional and considerate.

In every case, the surprise telephone interview has ended up with a request for me to provide a resume and a promise from the recruiter to get it in front of the hiring manager. I always make sure to tailor the resume specifically to the job’s hiring criteria before sending.

Your surprise telephone interview is a good benchmark about the dynamics the hiring company is expecting the screener to address and fulfill. Fortunately, none of these surprise calls have come in via video telephone capabilities, but that's not too far away. I've been told that some formal interviews have been done by video and that requires a unique set of preparation skills and solid execution finesse. So far, I have not encountered anyone in my large network of fellow unemployed compatriots who has either been successful or unsuccessful with a video interview. So far, only surprise telephone screening interviews seem to be the norm given employers’ desires to minimize interviewing costs in time and energy.

How have you dealt with surprise telephone interviews?

Exploring the Job Search Black Hole

Lately, I have been wondering where my hard work in tailoring my cover letters to specific job openings goes? It takes me anywhere from 40 to 70 minutes to craft such letters given the lengthy scope and complexity of job postings. Granted, some firms have automatic acknowledgement emails that bounce back after the submission, so I know my application and cover letter were received and entered into their computer database. But other firms keep you wondering. So I categorize companies into professional, those that give you some acknowledgement, and nonprofessional, those that lead you and your resume and cover letter into the job search black hole.

 

What else is floating around this black hole? Follow-up responses from people you’ve made simple inquiries either by phone, email or even occasionally in person. While it may be difficult for them to reply to you with disappointing news that you didn’t make that next cut in interview rounds, it is a simple courtesy for them to give you closure. Recently, I received a one-line note from a prospective employer after an interview. While it wasn’t warm and fuzzy, at least I knew where I stood. That’s fair considering the preparation time I had devoted to the interview.

 

Many of my fellow laid-off folks also suffer from this black hole syndrome. Many agonize and feel badly about not knowing the next steps or if any will ever happen. One of my friends is even convinced that one firm’s job postings are fake given her experience with the black hole. She’s certain this is so, because she’s applied to many different positions whereby her skill sets, stellar results and credentials were 100% dead-on matches for the openings.

 

I briefly wonder about the black hole occurrences in my own job search quest, but I don’t dwell on the lack of responsiveness. I just move on. However, I do keep in mind all the firms and people who exercise this black hole tactic. Eventually, the job market will be back to some level of desire to employ talent. So those firms that aren’t treating me so well now will be on the bottom of my list when considering where to deploy my talent. Some readers may wonder why I even consider myself talented (or have the arrogance to say so) having been laid off in this economy? Simply put, my talent has been lauded many times, and I will not let it disappear into any black hole.

 

Another dynamic of the black hole (as nature dictates), is that it seems to be ever expanding despite the best efforts of some firms to stand out by treating potential employees decently and professionally. These firms realize human capital is a key part of their growth in the short- and long-term and have invested an extra effort into not contributing to the job search black hole. For those firms that choose not to take an investment approach to their human capital, I guess they can’t outsource the responses to job applicants, because the nature of a black hole is to be silent.

 

In the end analysis, maybe all the job communications end up in that same spot as all my sons’ missing socks? That black hole mystery has never been solved in my house.

 

What’s your take on the job search black hole? Do you have any tactics for avoiding it?

 

Communicate Well to Separate Yourself from the Job Search Pack: Try These 2 Key To-Dos

Just prior to being laid off from my former employer, several influential colleagues explicitly told me -- and reaffirmed a few times -- to stay in touch. Now, there are ways to stay in touch that put you ahead of the curve should rehiring happen. As of late, several instances of small and medium firms rehiring former employees have been reported in my large network. Additionally, proactively staying in touch can get the necessary information to sincere people in your network who ask you to keep them posted.

 

So staying connected to your network is key. Why be out of sight, out of mind with the very groups of people who knew and supported you professionally before the layoff and are now willing to extend themselves in your post-layoff phase?

 

I’ve taken to a fairly regular cadence of reconnecting every 25 days. I craft an uplifting, eye-catching subject line to start my staying-in-touch message. I well understand that many of the employed folks are hurting, having taken on monumental workloads and very often welcome an uplifting message to start or end their day. For example, “sending sunny summer greetings” -- who wouldn’t want to read that?

 

Of course, your staying-in-touch message should be crafted to account for unique points in your relationship with that person. A brief update (as positive as possible) about your recent activities is the meat of the message. Most people are genuinely interested in hearing about “whatever happened to so-and-so (meaning you)?” Satisfying their curiosity gives you a lot of mileage. To date, I’ve had 100% response back, as well as some encouragement for my job search quest.

 

The other key action item to set yourself apart from the swells of job seekers is to send out thank-you notes promptly, not just after interviews but also to folks who have extended themselves to you. These thank-you notes must be handwritten -- gasp, not an email! Slowly writing with good penmanship is a good idea to clearly spell out your appreciation.

 

Cleverly following up your dialogue with that contact also gives you an opportunity to reinforce a positive about yourself. It is all too rare these days to receive a thank-you note that has a personal touch to it. It can work wonders and pay off dividends in the future, even unbeknownst to you at that particular time.

 

Call me old-fashioned in my upbringing, but I’ve carried thank-you cards in my work bag for years. As soon as my little tykes can write words in roughly a straight line, thank-you notes will be in their homework plans. It will be a lifelong asset for them, putting them in good stead whether Mom is employed or not.

 

What key actions do you routinely do to stand out from the crowd?

 

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Unemployment Office and Other Job Search Adventures

For some reason, my state's unemployment office keeps wanting to see me (and many of my laid-off brethren) in person every 6 weeks or so. While the sentiment is nice, it means I have to take an afternoon off from my job search to go to a location that is not convenient to my library or home. This last visit clearly indicated that the state employers were overworked. The two managers escorted a number of us into a testing room setup and then read us a list of 10 items word for word. These 10 items were the basics of job interviewing, such as "wear clean and pressed clothing." While mildly interesting, I was more focused on eating my lunch, which was much delayed given non-stop meetings all morning. I tried to eat it in the car, but there was too much traffic to safely drive and eat. Lo and behold, I was told you can't eat in the unemployment office, so my stomach grumbled.

 

After listening to the 10 items, we job seekers were suddenly and summarily dismissed by the two unemployment managers. Now I had won back an hour of time! I politely asked if I could use the resource center to process more job posting applications given the bank of computers in the unemployment office. Oops, it is closed on Friday afternoons. I guess the staff may have gone to the beach? So back in the car to drive all the way back to my library's computers, which fortunately are now open 7 days a week.

 

In other driving adventures, I made the "quick" drive to a neighboring state that hosted a stop on Monster’s Keep America Working Tour. One key technology firm was focused on hiring for 80 positions. I was astonished! I asked what was driving this quantity of positions and even intimated that I was wondering if the jobs were real. The internal company recruiter assured me that the 80 positions were viable and solidly available. The driving factor behind these openings was that this firm's fiscal year ends on September 30. So this firm's business units are gearing up for their new fiscal year (in short, an advanced 2010) on October 1 and wish to have their teams hired and in place by then. There must be other firms that follow this same type of fiscal model, and I wonder if they may be also driving such strong hiring numbers?

 

Also of note in this job fair was the quantity of recruiting firms. Each recruiter I spoke with was very encouraging about participating in their firm's job banks. They went out of their way to really impress upon me to go to their Web site and be engaged with their recruitment efforts. I only had my first name on my badge, so they didn’t know who I was. Another bonus in talking with these recruitment firms: I was able to practice my 30-seconds-or-less elevator speech. It's now fine-tuned to really rock.

 

So the 4-hour drive (only 88 miles) to the job fair paid off in a variety of ways (I also squeezed in a satisfying networking luncheon), while the 22-mile trip to the unemployment office only left me hungry. Nonetheless, I was left with plenty of food for thought after both of these trips and use my drive time for some of my best creative thinking as to the next steps in my job search quest. I wonder, if I drove to Alaska might I land a position?

How do you use daily life routines -- and bumps -- to keep focused in the search for employment?

The Job Market Recovery and Alphabet Soup

Since getting laid off, I've had to replace my regular professional work-life routine with other stand-in activities. For example, rather than listening to voicemails from overseas first thing in the morning, I now listen to local business radio. What these business pundits have to say is actually wittier than my old voicemails, so that change of pace has been good. The radio shows also invite many guests from the business and economic communities, providing a variety of opinions coupled with factual economic reporting.

Encouragingly, the jobless numbers issued this past Friday reported that the July unemployment went DOWN to 9.4% from 9.5%. While a 0.1% decline is very small, many economic experts had predicted it would reach 9.6%. So the trend downwards against all expectations is the heartening part. And while reporting the statistical facts is fairly cut and dry, the amusing part is the ensuing interpretations of what it means for all of us seeking jobs.

So far, descriptions of the economic recovery have resembled alphabet soup. Some key business individuals are saying it will be a “V” recovery. Others point out that an “L” is the likely lackluster trend out of this recession. Still other economic gurus are advocating for a “W” bounce back in the coming months and next year. And even other folks are talking about a little “v” recovery or a small “w” outlook. “U” and “u” are also potential options. After several mornings of listening to such reports while driving to my local library for computer peace and quiet, I felt as if I was about to eat an "mmm, mmm good” bowl of soup. Don't get me wrong, I do love soup -- even on hot summer days.

With the shape of each letter, these businesspeople are adding their own coloring to the meaning of the recovery for those out of work. Obviously, a strong and quick “V”-shaped recovery for the job market is what an individual such as myself is hoping to experience in the near term. Regardless of which letter the economic turnaround actually resembles come recession’s end, there seems to be a fairly common sentiment amongst the business/economic wise sages: The job market and the approach to finding a job will never be the way it was. This is neither good nor bad, but simply is, and you have to adjust to the change dynamically or be left out longer in the cold unemployment tundra.

One example of this shift is that many of the job postings out there have lengthy lists of job requirements rather than a general "come be a valuable team player at our great organization." I've been told multiple times that my application is dependant on very closely matching these requirements. One technique I use to create a matching view for the employer reading my application is to craft my cover letter in a T-bone format. In essence, I put the position's points in the left column and match them to my strengths/track record/capabilities in the right column. I begin the cover letter with a strong opening and end with a compelling closing to make the T-bone.

Another projected change is that many firms will further streamline the pay and benefits to their rank-and-file still employees and offer less (much less, in many cases) for starting salaries. Many of my fellow colleagues (also downsized) are reporting positions in new firms at 40% of their previous salaries, which were already below the industry norm at layoff time. That causes a lot of "X"-cess acid and other stomach distress.

Regardless of all the hype, anti-hype and assorted letters of the alphabet, I believe the employment outlook will certainly brighten and perhaps slightly recalibrate itself to an overall more robust economy for everyone participating. And, God willing, may we all never have to endure another "alphabet soup" recession.

How do you feel about the recent economic news reports and the trends? Any favorite letters?

My Off-Beat Job Search Tactics

By now everyone in the USA has heard about unemployment figures trending towards 10%. Basically, 1 in 10 people who is capable of working is not enjoying full employment or any employment at all. So given the depth and impact of this recession, the stigma of being unemployed is almost nonexistent. And given the depth and impact of this recession, job seekers need to be creative in finding their next opportunity.

 

Recently, one of my young sons lost a well-built children’s shoe during a stroller ride with my babysitter in our neighborhood. This shoe was new and would have been worn another 4 to 6 months, and not having its mate was a loss from a few perspectives. This shoe loss resulted in a creative brainstorming opportunity. How so? I used my artistic creativity to produce a “LOST” flyer to leave in my neighbor’s mailboxes. Along with story of the lost shoe, I shared a few lines about my job loss, worked in some favorable comments about the neighborhood and artfully placed a very cute photo of my young sons. I signed off the flyer with a cheerful closure, my contact details and a link to my professional Web site.

 

What did I learn from this flyer creation? I learned that folks do care. In fact, the shoe found its way back to us within two days. Ironically, someone had placed it on top of a stop sign. So it was quite visible provided you looked in the right direction. But I also received a few supportive emails from the hundred-plus houses in our neighborhood.

 

The next slightly off-beat tactic for marketing myself stemmed from my frustration at the continued barrage of mailed credit card applications I never solicited in the first place. One day, I even received an invitation to a black card, which apparently is the ultimate in credit cards. How could an unemployed person be considered a viable candidate for such a credit card? As I have heard the news in past months, part of the financial trouble in the USA stems from too much credit usage that can’t be repaid, resulting in mounting debt, home foreclosures, etc, etc.

 

As a result of my incredulousness in receiving these solicitations, I decided to use the conveniently enclosed postage paid envelope. In this envelope, I placed a polite note thanking the sender for their mail and requesting they read my enclosed mail, which was my resume with a call to action on the reader’s part. While it may not have been what the credit card firm was hoping to receive, I felt better letting them know their mail was read and that they may wish to reconsider keeping me in their future database mailings. Perhaps I also connected with a possible employer given my creativity -- as they say, you never know who knows who!

 

Do you have any funny or empowering experiences in not-so-standard job search tactics you’ve tried?

 

Check out these articles for more inspiration:

 

     * "Create Your Own Opportunities"

     * "Young Workers Find Creative Ways to Cope with Unemployment, Hard Economic Times"

 

Many Small, Tasty Career Appetizers, But No Really Juicy Steak to Sink My Teeth Into

First, my apologies to any readers who may not have an affinity for red meat.

 

What does my taste for food have to do with the job search? Well, in the last few weeks, several small contract-based jobs have materialized after I sewed the seeds in the last two months. As a result, I think of those small jobs as tasty appetizers. However, my hunger will only be sated once I can sink my teeth into a nice permanent job. The meal is still cooking in the kitchen based on the aromas floating in the air.

 

So what type of small, appetizing jobs have I landed, and how did they come about?

 

All three of these mini jobs are based on skill sets I developed over the years, not with any deliberate purpose, but nonetheless, they have been honed. For example, one of the positions is teaching adults courses covering business skills. While attending a small trade show, I stumbled across an outsourcing agency that provides this training, and they needed seasoned businesspeople who are comfortable delivering business presentations to a variety of audiences. They let me do a trial presentation, which went smoothly and gave them confidence my skill was real.

 

How did I know my skill was real and could be of value to a firm needing presenters in the first place? When crafting my resume, I realized I had been lauded and awarded over and over again for effective and memorable presentations. Consistently for 7 years, I had been evaluated and ranked either the top or within the top three of presenters in large training programs. In fact, I enjoyed the work and always had fun being creative in preparing for such presentations. I took the view of walking in the shoes of the folks receiving the information to make it exciting and impactful for them. A few times, I even designed the dry technical material to be engaging by using a variety of game show formats (and small prizes) to reinforce the key takeaways -- fun! So now I am able to translate this skill into an occasional assignment teaching adults.

 

Speaking of translating, this is the next functional area from which two other appetizing contract jobs are coming from. I am using my bilingualism to provide translation and/or interpretation services. Ironically, my first position out of college involved technical translations into American English from German while based in Europe. Since that two-year stint, I kept up my skills by working for other international firms and always making the effort to speak to my colleagues in their native languages. Over the last couple years, I did live interpreting for the customer’s senior executives who were rather uncomfortable in English. Again, I just had fun interpreting, as I am always happy to see the “aha!” moment when my audience gains complete understanding of the conversation. It is the nuances in interpreting/translating that make this moment so worthwhile and provide excellent customer satisfaction. So my own “aha!” moment came when I realized I could leverage this skill set to earn money from contract firms.

 

How could you turn one of your side skills into a contract or part-time job, perhaps leading to a permanent opportunity?

 

Trying to keep your career moving forward after a layoff? Check out these articles:

 

     * "10 Ways to Keep Busy Between Jobs"

     * "Create Your Own Opportunities"

     * "Experienced Workers Find Internships to Diversify Skills During a Layoff and Enhance Their Careers"

Job Fairs -- Another Outlet for the Job Search Quest

A few well-meaning folks have told me that job fairs would not be worth my time and energy. However, I always believe that any event presents opportunity, and even if I only make one connection or leave with just one meaningful takeaway, then attending the career fair has been worth my time and efforts.

 

The most recent job fair I participated in was in the greater LA metro area, part of Monster’s Keep America Working Tour. It was refreshing departure from two other events I’ve attended in the last two weeks, both from a distance and cultural standpoint. It was well-organized and attended. The substantial attendance, both by participating firms and job seekers, was due to that fact that the job fair was driven and supported by a very large local daily paper that did plenty of advertising.

 

The quality of hiring employers was varied and suited the California climate. For example, two outdoor activity-focused firms were participating, which is spot on for the excellent weather in that locale. Not only was there a diversity of firms represented, but job seekers could also take a number of free training seminars in marketing themselves, resume writing, etc. The energy level and positive outreach from Monster in creating this event was very much appreciated by many of the attendees I spoke with throughout the day. They all felt it was well worth their time and effort, whether they were searching for a position or an employee.

 

This career fair reassured me that firms are indeed seeking competent, savvy professionals. The employers were quite gracious in their time and insights about their opportunities. One executive shared that the two key attributes in a successful hire for his firm is "attitude and activity" -- wisdom I never would have gleaned if I hadn’t spoken to the company in person. Additionally, the presentations gave me some good tips on how to appropriately stand out in a crowd.

 

No matter what the format, I always find it somewhat challenging to navigate employment fairs. You never know what you are going to get when you go in or what takeaway you should be looking for. I went to one in Manhattan in a beautiful, cool venue with a well-organized registration, but the paucity of firms seeking employees was striking -- it was very disappointing. Nonetheless, I was able to connect in person with a firm that specializes in technical translations for government work on a contract basis. I would have never found this firm on my own if it had not been for this job fair.

 

Another event was an evening showcase, where representatives from each firm spoke for two minutes about what they were looking for in employees. Afterwards, each firm had a booth so job seekers could speak with the reps one-on-one. Unfortunately for my skill set, 95% of the firms were seeking sales individuals who could live off commission checks. There was only one firm that had a technical hands-on position that involved serious training and consequent established customer interactions from a tech support standpoint. That was the one positive takeaway I had from this job fair. 

 

So how do I unearth gems when I go to these events? My approach is to work the room counterclockwise. By going against the flow, you can more astutely observe the hiring firms’ interactions with potential hires. By watching their body language, you can take cues and better calibrate your interactions with that particular interviewer. Additionally, before the job fair, I quickly read up about the firms of interest if I can. Otherwise, pulling up a Web page on a mobile device is a speedy and discreet way to prepare as you stand in line waiting to speak with a particular firm. Lastly, if there is time while standing in line, strike up a quick conversation with those around you -- it’s another networking possibility. As they say, you never know who knows who.

 

How do you participate in or experience such job fair events? Any unique takeaways that would resonate with your fellow laid-off colleagues?

 

For more job fair advice, check out these articles:

 

     * “9 Tips to Improve Your Chances at Career Fairs”

     * “Resume Tips for Job Fair Success”

     * “Dressing for Career Fairs”

     * “Prepare Your Elevator Speech”