C Sharp

Who wouldn't want to work a four-hour week?

2010-03-25T23:02:00.000-07:00

This week I have been catching up with a few of my clients that I haven't seen for a while. 2010 is passing us by way too quickly. Where is the time going? Some days it feels like Christmas was just yesterday but when I look at the calendar, one week from today it's already Good Friday.

I have had some really productive meetings as well as some very interesting conversations.

I was sitting down with Josh on Wednesday afternoon. We'd talked about how his team is going this year as well as the hires he would ideally like to make in the new financial year (at the rate we're going that will be just around the corner!).

Then he leant back in his big "manager's chair" and asked me whether I had read any good books recently.

To be honest I can't remember when I last read a good book, so I just politely said "I really haven't had much time to read since starting my business".

"I had a feeling you'd say that, Matt", he said. "And that's exactly why you should read this book".

He pulled a book out of his top drawer and waved it at me too quickly for me to get a proper look at the title on the cover. But then he put it down and said, "Seriously, you MUST read this book".

It's called "The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich" and it's by Timothy Ferriss.

When Josh started talking about self-actualisatation and self-improvement I immediately began to lose interest. However when he actually started talking about the concept of the book, I have to admit my interest peaked.

Without giving too much away, in 2007 Ferriss wrote the book in which he addresses four broad topics:

• Definition: figuring out what you want, overcoming your fear, and generally looking beyond the "expectations" society places upon you;

• Elimination: this is about time management, or rather about not managing time and about the difference between efficiency and effectiveness;

• Automation: this is about building a sustainable, automatic source of income (incidentally this was the concept Josh found most intriguing!); and

• Liberation: believe it or not Ferriss asserts that technology such as e-mail, instant messaging, i-Phones and BlackBerries complicate life rather than simplify it.

Perhaps over the Easter break I won't log on to my e-mail, I'll keep my phone switched off and read more about how to run my business successfully in just four hours per week!

Maybe I do need a slight does of self-actualisation after all!

Image courtesy of: Peter Hellberg

Understanding what YOU are really looking for ...

2010-03-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

Whenever a new candidate comes in to meet with me, one of the first things I ask them is what has prompted them to register with me and why specifically (if they are currently employed) they are looking for a new position.

Typically I hear something along the lines of "I just need a new challenge", "I can't go any further in my current company", "I am just so undervalued", or "I missed out on a promotion". Now personally I believe that whilst some of these reasons may well be true, when I hear them on a daily basis sometimes they just start to sound a little bit "textbook".

However on the odd occasion I do hear a reason which while clearly genuine, I am still totally surprised that someone would actually admit that to a recruiter. And this week it happened twice!

Joseph came in to see me on Monday. He is in his mid-20's and has been working in his current role in a help-desk team for nearly two years and I could tell that he really enjoys his job. When I asked him why he had come to see me, he said "My parents don't like me getting home so late since they think the trains are too dangerous after 7:30pm". I couldn't believe it ... his parents were actually forcing him to look for a new job because they think he gets home too late.

Then on Wednesday I interviewed Flora (who also happens to be in her mid-20's). Her reason for coming in to see me was "My friends don't think I am spending enough time with them any more because I am working too hard".

She was being serious.

I cannot stress enough that you are responsible for your own career path ... not your friends, not your partner, not your parents ... YOU!

After all ... what is the name of the career supplement in they Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne AGE? It's "MyCareer" ... not "MyMum'sCareer" or "MyBestFriend'sCareer".

You are in charge of your career direction. If you are happy in your job then why put yourself through the anxiety and unnecessary stress of looking for a new one? But at the same time, if you are not happy where you are you can't let "significant others" tell you to stay where you are for the sake of stability or because it's "easier than looking for something new right now".

Please make sure that if you are embarking on a new career direction that it really is your decision.

Image courtesy of: gerlos

Things don't always go quite according to plan ...

2010-03-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

It's funny how some people can get their mind (and hopes) so set on something going according to plan that when it doesn't quite turn out that way (for whatever reason) they are clearly not quite sure how to react.

Over the last week this has happened to both a very close friend of mine as well as to one of my candidates.

Jessica has been a senior IT project manager for many years. But in this story she is actually the very close friend!

From the moment she found out she was pregnant last year she had everything planned out to the minute. She would work right up to Friday March 5th, have a relaxing two weeks off and then have her baby at 3:30pm on Friday March 19th (by Caesarian Section). There was no way she was going to experience any pain. She would then breast feed for three months ("every mother should breast feed"), then go back to work part-time for three months and then be back on board full time with her baby boy (naturally she chose to find out what she was having) in daycare.

You can imagine how surprised I was to get a text message on Wednesday to say that Jessica had had the baby that morning.

Apparently by the time she realised what was happening and got to the hospital, her labour was too far gone that she couldn't even be given the epidural so she went through a totally natural delivery (and had felt everything!). I went to visit her in the hospital today and apparently baby Zach isn't quite taking on to the breast feeding option.

Jessica - the "everything has to go according to plan" power woman doesn't quite know what to do and has been thrown into a slight state of chaos.

Now take Jarrod - another senior IT project manager (this time my candidate).

He has been going through an incredibly lengthy interview process for a role down in Melbourne. It has actually been going on for over three months and on Thursday he had his fifth and final interview (and that doesn't include the three-hour psych test he took at the beginning of March).

After the third interview Jarrod basically stopped looking for any other positions. He was so sure he would get this particular role and was prepared to go the distance in terms of the interview process. Nothing else mattered.

Yesterday I had to give him the news that unfortunately he had not been successful in the role and that the client had gone with "the other guy". When I gave him all the feedback I had received from my client Jarrod was absolutely stunned. Actually he was guttered.

Jarrod - the "everything has to go according to plan" Mr Confident doesn't quite know what to do and has been thrown into a slight state of chaos.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

Perhaps (in both your career and life in general) it's a good idea to not necessarily have a Plan B per se, or to have the fall back option (some might feel this is being somewhat pessimistic) ... but to at least know how you might react if things don't go quite according to plan.

Image courtesy of: orangemoonapparel

Sometimes it's good to think about things differently ...

2010-03-05T17:30:00.000-08:00

Whilst there are times when for me it may seem a lot longer, when I stopped to think about it this week I realised I have now been running C Sharp for about seven months. So much has happened in that time but this week I was really flattered when I was approached by someone who expressed a genuine interest in working for me.

When I first got the call I explained to Warren that all my contractors actually work for C Sharp, but he quickly corrected me and said "No, Matthew. I actually want to work for you as a recruiter. I want to join C Sharp".

What a great feeling!

Warren has been a recruiter in the IT industry for nearly two years, but things just aren't going according to plan for him at the large agency where he currently works. He explained to me that although he is seeing consistent results, any idea he puts forward to his manager is ignored (without any discussion) and on the odd occasion he has even been called crazy.

"I just wish they would sometimes think about things a bit differently", he said.

It was the way Warren said this that made me think of a YouTube clip I saw recently from Apple which clearly highlights the importance of not looking at people who might see things differently as necessarily being the "crazy ones" and to take into consideration what they may really have to offer.

I have been in the recruitment industry for quite a while, but when Warren said, "I want to work in an organisation that isn't 100% obsessed with JFE's" - I had to ask him to clarify what he meant as I really had no idea.

He continued to explain that he was being sarcastic and that JFEs (Justification For Existence) was the way he and his colleagues referred to KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) - the way his organisation measures activity. The recruiters where he currently works are made to feel like they have no other role in the business other than generating revenue and making their contribution to the bottom line.

Warren also told me that some of his candidates who had also been to see me felt that the way I treated them was pretty unique and that I just "saw things differently", which was why he wanted to talk to me about an opportunity at C Sharp.

If this is the perception that my candidates (and hopefully my clients) have of me and my business, then my business is certainly positioned just where I want it to be.

Sometimes a bit of self-promotion doesn't do any harm, does it?

Image courtesy of: junkiemind

A case of "sink or swim" ...

2010-02-25T02:39:00.000-08:00

What would you do if you found yourself in the following predicament?

You have been working for one particular organisation for over five years. You love what you do. You are very good at what you do. You get along with all your colleagues and you even like working for your boss. Then the economy takes a nose dive and your boss is actually made redundant.

The team you are in is left to fend for itself for a few months and one day you are called into a meeting. You are convinced it's your turn to be let go, but instead you find yourself being told that because you have always done such a great job you are now being promoted into a management role ...

As Nick has found out (the hard way) over the last three months, management is not always the most pleasant place to be. In fact Nick is finding the challenges of leadership so strenuous (on both his professional as well as his personal life) that he has recently come to me to help him find a new role.

"I work with a team of people who used to be my friends and who now stop speaking when I walk into the room", he explained when I asked what the biggest challenge was. "Nobody's productive, nothing's coming together, and no-one has even shown me how to enforce leadership. I don't even like managing people".

Nick was totally frustrated.

What would you do in his situation?

You see Nick is too ashamed to tell his boss that he isn't comfortable handling the extra responsibility. However it's not just that he isn't comfortable ... he just doesn't like it and he doesn't even want to have the additional accountability.

But he's scared that if he admits it, he might find himself out of a job.

Just because someone has given their commitment to a business and might be very good at what they do, it should never be assumed that they would make a good manager or that they would even necessarily want a leadership role.

After all, look what's happened to Nick. His elevation into management was in fact the beginning of his decline in the organisation. After five years with the company and really enjoying what he did, his promotion became his downfall and he is now actively looking for an exit strategy.

Nobody should ever be thrown in the deep end ... not without at least being given some form of assistance to stay afloat.

Image courtesy of: sagebrush7

What's really important to you?

2010-02-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

I have heard from many of my candidates over the years that there are a number of recruiters out there who like to play the power game during interviews and actually control the discussions to the point that the candidate can actually feel quite uncomfortable or intimidated.

Personally this approach to interviewing has never even once entered my mind. In fact for me it's quite the opposite as I know I get the best out of my candidates if they are feeling relaxed and comfortable when they meet with me and not overwhelmed or threatened in any way.

When I met with Preston yesterday afternoon I could sense that he just needed to get a whole lot off his chest, so before I even started to look through his background and CV I just casually asked him how he was feeling and what was going on where he was working at the moment.

Preston works in a busy IT department as a member of the national "IT Help" team for one of the big banks. But in his words "the craziness is getting out of hand", "all the team wants is for the chaos and stress to stop" and "people are just walking out the door".

I'd been right. He just needed to vent.

But then I began to subtly probe to find out what part of his job he had enjoyed over the last three years and what was important to him in his role. He immediately sat back and the tension lifted from his shoulders as he started to talk about the "order and structure" that had once existed, the way the division used to run so smoothly, how he used to feel in control all the time, and how everyone used to be so much calmer in the team and how they used to respect one another so much more.

He then looked at me and said "I've never dissected it like this before" and then he just started to list everything that was important to him in his job. And it didn't all come down to the actual role and responsibilities ... for Preston it was more about the way the team functioned and the structure in place around him.

It was the work environment that was becoming damaging for Preston and not his job, so it didn't take him long to realise that the solution was fairly simple. He just needed to find a new environment even if his job responsibilities remained exactly the same.

Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery.

Image courtesy of: mercipatron

It's all about persistence and determination

2010-02-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

Later today the world will turn its sights upon Vancouver for the opening ceremony of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and for the next two weeks records will be broken, hopes and dreams will me made (and shattered) and adrenalin levels will be pushed to the max ... not just for those taking part in the events but also for those watching in awe.

Over the last few days I have been admiring the determination in our Olympic athletes and as it turned out I was able to share my thoughts with one of my candidates yesterday.

Patrick had been put forward for a few positions recently not only by me but also by another recruitment agency. In all three instances he'd been told that whilst he was certainly a very qualified and capable candidate and had interviewed very well, there had been one candidate slightly more suited to the roles. Patrick had been pipped at the post three times and at one point he had even said "when it comes to going for jobs, I am always second best and second place is the first loser".

Personally I am quite a fan of the Winter Olympics and I decided to share with Patrick an interview I had watched with Steven Bradbury (no relation to me I should point out) - our own Australian Gold Medalist from the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Steven Bradbury had taken part in three Winter Games previously and it was finally in his fourth games in 2002 that he brought home the gold. I pointed out that there are four years between each of the games so it was in fact at least 12 years before he achieved his goal.

Talk about persistence and determination.

For Patrick there had only been a few weeks between the interviews where he had come a close second and if he really wants to prove himself in the interview I have scheduled for him next Wednesday (and the job is perfect for him), then he will have to focus on the goal and not let his level of determination slip.

For anyone who may have missed out on a job they really wanted, or who for whatever reason my feel that their dream job is too far out of reach, think of our Olympic athletes for a moment. They train for hours every day, have one chance of glory every four years and for those who miss out on gold, they keep trying and immediately set their sights on the next possible opportunity - no matter how far away it is.

Go for gold!

Image courtesy of: kgmphoto

What's your greatest asset?

2010-02-04T02:01:00.000-08:00

I interviewed Charles a few weeks ago - a pretty strong candidate with quite a unique background in that he could either go down the more "technical" IT route, or alternatively he could just as easily find a role using his creative design / web development expertise.

After we met I had put him forward to two of my clients who are in fact still considering his CV.

Yesterday Charles called me and asked if he could come back in and see me urgently. He sounded upset and as I was in the office I naturally told him to come straight in.

As it turned out, he had just been to see another recruitment agency and the consultant had actually told him that "until he could clearly articulate whether he wanted to work in the IT or creative space there was no way they could represent him and he'd ever be able to get a job".

Charles was devastated.

I was shocked!

Clearly Charles had just had every ounce of confidence knocked right out of him and he was feeling totally incompetent.

It was important for me to ensure he regained his confidence as quickly as possible so I asked him what he felt is his greatest asset. He immediately replied "my imagination". So I told him to imagine (I may have used the word visualise) himself already working in either a creative or more technical role.

He actually closed his eyes for a few seconds, opened them and said "I think I need to have two totally different CVs - one to present for creative roles and the other for the more traditional tech positions".

He had made this decision himself and I immediately saw the confidence return.

Unfortunately it's recruiters like the one who single-handedly shot Charles' confidence down that give our industry a bad name. Not every candidate ticks every box or can simply be slotted into one category. Different skills and competencies can be harnessed or transferred between career paths and often those candidates with a variety of attributes can bring a different approach to a particular position.

We've all heard the cliches about square pegs, round holes, or thinking outside the box as opposed to just in black and white.

Now they just need to be applied to the recruitment process ...

Image courtesy of: Simon Grossi

Finally ... a positive predicament to face

2010-01-28T13:04:00.000-08:00

In the second half of 2009 it wasn't uncommon for me to hear stories about candidates who had been out of work for months applying for literally dozens of jobs and never even hearing back either from the recruitment agencies or from the organisations that had chosen to advertise their rare vacancy directly. This didn't exactly help the rapidly dwindling levels of confidence that several candidates were already experiencing at the time.

However this week I have seen signs that the job market is certainly on the up. But to my surprise it has managed to confuse a few eager job seekers who haven't been entirely sure how to handle this seemingly new phenomenon.

The case of being presented with not one but two job offers ...

Who would have thought.

Take Maxine for example.

Maxine certainly impressed me when I first met her back in November last year. I had spoken to a few of my clients about her but, as was the case with pretty much every client I talked to, there hadn't been any needs at the time.

However last week, when the IT world finally returned from its Summer reverie, a few of my clients called me to see if Maxine was still available. I arranged for her to meet with each of them and just yesterday two of the clients asked me to extend formal offers to her for positions ideally to start in the next few weeks. This really threw her into a bit of a spin ... and for me it was interesting to see her reaction.

Before the market went pear-shaped, the notion of receiving two job offers was not uncommon at all. I would sit down with my candidates and we would systematically weigh up the pros and the cons of each job, look at further career progression, professional development opportunities (and salary too of course) and the candidate would then make a rational decision.

For some reason Maxine immediately started to question her own ability ... "What if I am not really as capable as they think?", she asked. "If I accept this one over the other one, will that jeopardise any future opportunities with the other guys?". At one point she even said, "This is just too difficult. Maybe I should just turn both of them down and see if something else presents itself".

Clearly the bleakness of the GFC has not only tarnished people's self-confidence in terms of getting back into the workforce but it has also hindered their ability to make what should be an exciting decision.

Receiving more than one job offer simultaneously used to fill some of my candidates' egos to the point that I had to tell them to tone it down as it may have swayed a potential future employer's opinion. For Maxine it seems that being faced with a choice was even harder than the concept of being out of work.

It's looking much better out there, so hopefully job seekers will start to see the light getting brighter at the end of the tunnel. And if there happens to be two bright lights, surely it's better than sitting alone in the dark.

Image courtesy of: Jearvi

Back to School ...

2010-01-21T02:31:00.000-08:00

Rest assured this posting is not directed at the many kids going back to school for 2010 in the coming week. And it definitely isn't a tribute to the 1986 (B-grade) comedy featuring Rodney Dangerfield and (a very young) Robert Downey Jnr (after all we are talking a quarter of a century before he was cast as Sherlock Holmes!) ...

It's actually a reference to a very bizarre interview situation I found myself in just this morning.

Stewart came to see me about a position I had advertised for a Senior Systems Implementation Manager. His CV was impressive, and he'd been able to give some great examples about his background. I definitely wanted to put him forward to my client so in passing I asked if he'd be able to give me the details of any referees I might be able to speak to in the meantime.

He flicked through his compendium and pulled out a plastic sleeve which looked like it contained a pretty faded document. He confidently handed it over to me saying "this pretty much sums me up".

I had to laugh ... it was his Primary School end of term report from his Grade 4 teacher written in 1983!

"Stewart is certainly a very bright boy and is very deserving of the Class Monitor role he has held this year. His friends look up to him as their leader and he is without doubt one of the most ambitious boys in the class".

The school emblem and Latin motto sat underneath Mrs Riddel's signature.

"I really haven't changed since then", Stewart continued.

Was he serious?

Absolutely!

Naturally if my client were to ask for some references I wasn't going to fax through copies of his grade 4 and 5 reports. However it did prompt me to think about the fact that our attributes and core competencies (such as ambition, responsibility, drive, and leadership) really don't change much from quite a young age. It's just that the environment around us changes.

Being a class monitor and having the respect of others around him at the age of eight or nine could well have set the scene for his future role as a people manager gaining the respect of his staff at the age of 35.

What did your Grade 3 school report say about you?

Image courtesy of: stephen-yu-uk

Apparently now it's all about Video Miles ...

2010-01-14T14:59:00.000-08:00

I am about to make a pretty big statement. Yesterday I interviewed without doubt the most impressive candidate I have ever met.

Definitely a big statement.

Rick is from London and has been in Australia for a few months now. He was referred to me by another UK candidate I have been working with and he came to me to discuss a potential contract opportunity over the next few months.

Not only were his executive summary and CV extremely impressive, but the way he was able to articulate his experience to date was exemplary. The actual work he has been doing over the last two years that fascinated me.

Rick is a senior developer. Before travelling to Australia he was working in London as a contractor for a "lead developer" who happened to have been based in San Francisco (yet another example of the virtual workplace). In recent years he has become a real specialist in the development of applications for video conferencing solutions.

One of his core clients was a pioneer in the notion of Video Miles and the work Rick did with them was a key part in the development of an amazing piece of technology that actually measures the amount of cost and carbon emission saved by using video conferencing as opposed to taking a business trip interstate or internationally.

A spin-off from this has also been the introduction by many multinational companies of an internal video mileage program ... mimicking a regular airline mileage scheme only instead it measures the number of minutes spent in the office on video conference as opposed to on a plane.

A fantastic example of where technology, communication and innovation all come together so perfectly in the name of corporate and environmental sustainability.

Image courtesy of: video_conferencing

On your mark ... get set ... go!

2010-01-07T18:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and welcome to 2010!

For many the dawning of the new year (and new decade) will bring new opportunities on the job front. But following a somewhat tumultuous 2009 and with the number of eager job seekers out there, it is critical that you are doing everything you can to stand out from the crowd. And that crowd may be just a little bit bigger than you may initially have thought.

I came back from the Christmas - New Year break (I had only been away from my e-mails for a little over a week) and when I logged on I could not believe the volume of applications that had flooded in from people keen to work in the IT sector.

However what really surprised me was that over half of the CVs and cover letters that I read through (I have always been committed to reading every single application that I receive) contained careless (and often glaringly obvious) errors.

For example some cover letters still had the name of the previous recruitment agency they had sent the application to; others had clearly done a "cut-and-paste" job from an old document (or maybe even someone else's document) ... and had kept the old fonts; several had no dates alongside the various roles they'd had; and believe it or not some did not even have the most recent position included.

Just yesterday a friend from the USA sent me a very interesting article from the New York Times titled Getting back in Shape for the Job Chase. Whilst it has clearly been written for an American audience, much of what the journalist writes applies to the eager job seekers here in Australia. It's certainly worth the read.

Whether you like it or not, it will be a job chase, or a race for that next perfect opportunity ... but just like in an Olympic event, a careless little slip up can mean the difference between winning gold or not. So avoid the careless mistakes and ensure your CV is error free and stands you aside from the crowd.

Go for gold! And good luck in 2010!

Image courtesy of: Ed Peto

A final word on social networking for 2009 ...

2009-12-23T12:55:00.000-08:00

Do you think Santa Claus has a LinkedIn profile? What about a Facebook page?How is he supposed to know if you have been naughty or nice?

Surely he reads through everyone's profiles or at least checks their recommendations before deciding what he'll bring down the chimney and leave under the tree!

I do get the feeling, though, that if over the last few weeks Santa suddenly received hundreds of invitations to connect with him on LinkedIn or to be his friend on Facebook (or any of the other ever-increasing number of social or professional networking sites), he may have started to get just a little bit irritated. In fact he may have started to feel that perhaps people outside his immediate circle of close friends up in the North Pole (including Rudolph, Prancer, Dancer and all the elves of course!) were even taking advantage of his position.

Over the last few weeks I have received at least five invitations from one particular candidate of mine to connect with her via a social networking site that I hadn't previously heard of called Naymz. Despite having declined the initial invitation, I was bombarded (OK perhaps that is a slight exaggeration) with another four invitations from her within a period of 10 days. What part of "decline" did she not understand? Did she have me on "auto-invite" or is she just being persistent? Perhaps instead of being a digital information architect she should consider moving into a sales role :)

I am however a firm believer of social networking, but there are only so many social networking sites that one can belong to.

On that note I want to wish you all a happy holiday period where you have a chance for you to spend time with family and close friends as opposed to those whom you may refer to as 2nd or 3rd degree contacts in the virtual world!

Image courtesy of: stuyvsant

Yes it's that time of the year again ...

2009-12-17T21:28:00.000-08:00

For many organisations, the end of the year often means a time for performance appraisals. Now whether a company has created a culture whereby they conduct only one annual performance review, or whether the December review is an opportunity to look back over the last six months, these discussions should not only be a time for reflection, but also a time for setting goals for the months ahead.

However for many employees these reviews can cause a great deal of stress, angst and frustration. If an appraisal is conducted poorly it can even cause a staff member to start to contemplate other options; particularly if they feel they are not being listened to or they are not being given any say as to how the team or business unit is running.

I saw a classic case of this yesterday when I met with Gavin.

He'd had his performance review on Monday afternoon. What had frustrated him most was that as part of the company's learning and development strategy he had completed and submitted a fairly in-depth pre-appraisal questionnaire. However his manager made no reference to it at all during the 90 minute review, which it turns out had been 90 minutes of pretty much just criticising Gavin's performance.

When he asked whether he could discuss any of the points he had raised in his pre-appraisal, his manager explained that she didn't feel it would be of any value as it didn't really fit into her "framework".

Gavin found himself at a cross roads. He enjoyed his job but felt that he was just being utilised as a tiny part in a larger "framework".

It frustrated him to the point that within 24 hours he was speaking to a recruiter to help him find a position where his ideas and contribution could be put to better use. In his words, he didn't mind "slogging it out", but clearly there was no recognition at all, so he was now willing to "slog it out" elsewhere.

We should all remember that somewhere within the word "appraisal" is the word "praise" which can often go a very long way.

Image courtesy of: Marvin L

Phrase of the week: WORK-LIFE BALANCE!

2009-12-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

You know what it's like ... You'll be driving along and all of a sudden you will see four or five of exactly the same type of car (even in the same colour) in a matter of minutes. Or over a few days every time you turn on your radio the same song will be playing (for me it's been Michael Buble's "Just haven't met you yet"!) more recently. I like to think of it as a co-incidence.

This week I have experienced another slightly more work-related co-incidence. I interviewed four fairly senior candidates a few days ago and when I asked them specifically why they were looking to leave their current role, they all answered with exactly the same response: ''I am just looking for a better work-life balance".

Each of them had the identical response - almost as if they had all plotted to give the same answer word for word.

Does anyone really know what the term "work-life balance" actually even means? When I asked each of the four candidates to elaborate slightly, it became quite clear that they didn't really know what it meant either.

It's just a phrase that has crept into the "employment vernacular" and so job seekers feel compelled to drop it into to responses during interview.

For some it might be the ability to work remotely one day a week; for others it might mean being able to get to the gym during the day but outside of the core rushed lunch hour; while some may just want to be able to leave the office at 5pm one day each week to get to an art-therapy course they have enrolled in.

When I asked the candidates this week if they had actually asked their current employer for this amount of flexibility, in each case the answer was no. They just assumed that the answer would be no, so they had decided to look for a new job rather than speaking to their manager. These were senior candidates who had made an assumption rather than presenting a case for some flexibility.

In today's employment climate, employers want to hold on to their good talent. It's far easier to say to a manager you have worked with for three years that you would like to work from home once a week, as opposed to turning up to a interview for a new job and expecting working remotely to be offered to you on a platter ...

It can't hurt to ask ...

Image courtesy of: EngineeringDaily.net

Finding work on the information super highway

2009-12-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I posted a blog entry which included some pretty phenomenal statistics around social networking ... like the fact that around the world there are up to eight billion minutes spent on Facebook every day.

I was talking to a colleague yesterday who works in the on-line job board space and during our conversation he happened to mention another fairly astounding statistic: the fact that here in Australia alone there are in excess of 50 million job-related searches on Google alone every month!

This means that candidates (predominantly) are using Google as a search engine to find a new job. Whereas a few years ago a job seeker may have entered something like "IT jobs Sydney" and been inundated with results, they have since learned to be far more specific in their search criteria and are entering more specific key words such as "System/Solution Architect Cross Domain Spatial Data Infrastructure Melbourne" and are finding far more targeted results.

I also discovered that less than 20% of successful candidate attraction today is coming from the pure on-line job boards which also surprised me. But I was pleased to hear that candidates are actually preferring to look for jobs on recruitment agency web sites as well as on the web sites of organisations choosing to advertising directly on their career pages as opposed to having to use the big employment job boards.

So as the market turns (which fortunately seems to be the general feeling) the search engines are certainly going to be kept nice and busy. But a tip for anyone looking for work in the months ahead ... the more specific you are in your search criteria, the easier it will be for you to find something that's perfectly suited to your experience, skill-set and competencies.

Happy Googling!

Image courtesy of: Mark Knol

Are arcade video games making a comeback?

2009-11-23T20:54:00.000-08:00

This morning a candidate of mine called me to give me feedback about an interview he had been to with one of my clients - a fairly young company who had been very keen to meet with Ched.

In fact they had been so keen to meet him that within two minutes of me having sent Ched's CV and profile across they were on the phone booking the interview time for today (something I haven't experienced for several months now!).

When I asked Ched how the interview had gone, he was very quick to reply:

"I felt completely invaded. They just invaded my space".

I was quite shocked since the owners of the business had seemed really decent when I had met them three weeks ago.

But then Ched continued: "And then it was like they just chewed me up and spat me out".

It was at this point that I had a vivid flashback to the 1980's and to my two favourite video games Space Invaders and PacMan.

I should explain here that Ched had previously worked for the exact type of company that my clients hoped to become (over time). Needless to say when they had seen the company name on Ched's CV, that alone had caused the urgency of bringing him in for interview.

Apparently Ched had been grilled - to the point of feeling very uncomfortable. He felt like he had been brought in solely to be drained of all the competitor information they could get out of him. At one point he felt that the three of them were almost moving in closer towards him until Ched decided to leave the interview.

This was a classic case of a team of hiring managers making a decision based entirely on the information contained in a CV. Therefore they were making their decision based on Ched's ability to get the job (having worked for a competitor) and not based on his ability to do the job - based on his skills, strengths and competencies.

Ched did the right thing to leave the interview. In fact it hadn't even been an interview - more an information gathering (almost spy-like) exercise. Whilst Ched had been made redundant from his last role and is certainly keen to find a new position, he still did not feel at all comfortable talking about the strategies and initiatives he had worked on with his former employer.

Ched will play again (when a more suitable role comes up), but as far as me working with this particular client? GAME OVER!

Image courtesy of: www.diyromarcade.com

A case of working with Human (under) Resources ...

2009-11-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

If the market really is starting to turn (as "they" say it could be), then perhaps this week has been the first indication of how certain organisations may not be coping as well as they will have to with the demand that such a positive market change might bring along with it in the months ahead.

Over the last few days I have had calls from clients needing staff (both on a permanent and contract basis) because they have felt that their teams are now "seriously under-resourced" - which is a positive sign. However when I have the candidates immediately available and try to arrange interviews with HR teams, I am repeatedly hearing the same message: "I am sorry, Matthew. We just won't be able to interview all four candidates this week as we just don't have the resources".

I also heard from a colleague of mine yesterday who has been trying to get a particular piece featured in the media, that the only reason the article has not appeared has come down to the simple fact that the editorial team at the paper is ... you guessed it "under resourced".

Organisations have clearly found themselves in a bit of predicament. With the onset of the economic downturn, staff numbers were rapidly scaled back to a bare minimum without a second thought (I guess they felt they were over resourced at the time and had to watch costs very closely). However now they are feeling the repercussions.

Hopefully it won't have a knock on effect ... where companies now start to miss out on good candidates, customers go elsewhere if they feel they are not getting good enough service, and reputations are tarnished as the demand outweighs their ability to deliver.

Let's just hope HR remains HR and doesn't become known as HUR (Human Under Resources).

Food for thought ...

Image courtesy of: shinnygogo

Stuck in a rut

2009-11-11T23:29:00.000-08:00

I was sitting across from a client yesterday - a pretty switched-on senior IT guy working for one of Australia's top organisations. We'd talked about the overall business, the plans he had to grow his department in the new year as well as the requirements he had for one particular role.

Then he closed his folder, leant back a bit and turned his chair so he was looking straight out at the pretty awesome view of the city behind him and said to me: "Do you ever get the feeling that you have abandoned your intellectualness?"

I wasn't entirely sure whether he was thinking out loud, asking me the question specifically or just putting the thought 'out there' ... so I just let the silence linger a bit. But then he turned back around to face me (so this time I knew he was asking me for my opinion) and said: "Sometimes I just feel a sense of 'stuckness' and I need to find a way to re-discover my 'purpose'"

Now normally in my job it's my candidates who talk (often quite philosophically) about the need to find a new challenge or new purpose ... certainly not my clients - so this was all a bit new to me. But when he said: "I know I over-achieved as a child but I now realise I am totally disconnected from my passion" I immediately understood that he was just wanting some advice and needed someone to listen to him.

He didn't regret where he had reached in terms of his career, but just wanted to make his day-to-day life more exciting.

I guess I learned that just because someone holds a senior role and has the perfect office with an amazing view out over the city, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are happy in their job.

Don't get stuck doing something for the sake of doing it just because that's what's expected of you, or because you might feel ashamed of starting all over again in order to experience something exciting and new.

Image courtesy of: @muntz

Patience certainly is a virtue ...

2009-11-03T20:39:00.000-08:00

I was heading into the city this morning to see a client and got chatting to the two Uni students sitting directly opposite me on the bus. It certainly wasn't the conversation we had that I want to write about, but believe it or not it was actually the message on one of their t-shirts.

The girl on the left was wearing a t-shirt that said "I'm busy. You're ugly. Have a nice day". Typical uni student! However the guy sitting on the right was wearing a t-shirt that said "Silence is golden. Patience is diamond" ... now this statement really rang true.

I have been working with a particular candidate of mine for nearly three months now. He's a great candidate - certainly very competent, articulate and well-presented. Since I first met him he has been offered quite a few positions but they just didn't seem to sit right with him and each time I talked through a job description or followed him up after an interview with a potential employer he (very politely) explained why it wasn't quite right.

Many people (especially in the current climate) would say something along the lines of beggars can't be choosers (or words to that extent). However in the case of Jeremy it was certainly worth waiting for the role he was offered this week. It's pretty much exactly what he has been looking for (ticking nearly all the boxes) and he can certainly see a long-term future in the company he will join in two weeks time.

Patience is diamond!

Jeremy was patient in waiting for the right role to come along that he could really see a future in. As it turns out my client had been looking to fill this particular role for over two months before turning to a recruiter for help (so she was being patient too). And when Jeremy told me that other recruiters had stopped working with him after he kept turning offers down, and he thanked me for being so patient with him ... I knew I was certainly doing my job as a recruiter.

It really has been a win-win-win outcome! Perhaps I should have a t-shirt made up saying "looking for more than just a quick fix"!

Image courtesy of: lokomotiv-shirt

The social media phenomenon ...

2009-10-29T01:59:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine in the USA forwarded an article to me this week which really made me stop and reflect on the social media phenomenon. It talked about how around the world people spend up to eight billion minutes on Facebook every day. EIGHT BILLION MINUTES! That is absolutely incredible when you think about the fact that six years ago it didn't even exist. Actually it was created on October 28th, 2003 ... pretty much six years ago to the day.

This then prompted me to look at some of the other social media platforms out there and while on my own research mission, I came across quite a few interesting facts:

Did you know that Flickr contains nearly four billion images? Or that one hundred million videos are viewed on YouTube every single day!

At a more local level, 73% of Australians are connected to the internet and 41% of Australians access the internet from their mobile phones. Actually there is an entire generation growing up where their mobile phone will in fact be their first connection to the web.

This week both my knowledge and respect for the power behind social media and globalisation increased exponentially ... and this just reinforced why I enjoy recruiting in the IT space.

If anyone has any other stats to share, feel free to comment ... but you may want to limit your comment to just 140 characters!

Image courtesy of: Vasjen Katro

Getting into the spirit of the Spring Racing Carnival ...

2009-10-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air, the gardens are in bloom at racing venues all across Australia, and with the race that stops a nation just over one week away, even those of us who never gamble are getting ready to pick a winner!

Some people will place their bets based on the colour of the jockey's attire, the barrier number the horse is starting from, or perhaps even based on the name of the actual horse (who would you tip as a winner ... Island Streaker, Regal Stallion, or To the Point?). But then there are those serious punters who will conduct in-depth research into each of the horses' past races and results based on track and weather conditions, length of the race, weight of the jockey etc.

Now whilst many of my previous blog postings have been tailored predominantly towards candidates, I decided that I would write this posting for the many employers (and hiring managers) out there who unfortunately often approach the recruitment process as they do Cup Day - going into it on a whim, making superficial judgements and literally "picking a winner" based entirely on gut feel.

This is a dangerous approach.

Sticking with the horse racing analogy, as a hiring manager it is extremely important that you look into a candidate's past performance and results since that really is the best way to predict their future performance. You may have laughed at the idea of placing your bet based on the colour or design of the jockey's cap, but making a decision to hire someone based on their CV alone is just as risky.

Remember you shouldn't be hiring a new member of your team based on their ability to get the job (what their CV looks like). Instead you should be hiring them based on their ability to do (and ideally exceed) in the role in question which you can only learn through competency-, behavioural-, or performance-based interviewing.

See you at the track!

Image courtesy of: aaron_i_o

Another Generation "why" experience ...

2009-10-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

This week I interviewed a candidate who didn't think there was anything even slightly strange about the fact that she was in fact looking for her third permanent job in a two year period. What I personally found very amusing was the fact that when she was talking me through her list of strengths and achievements, she actually described herself as being "fiercely loyal"!

Just who exactly was she trying to kid here?

She then went on to describe how her "twenties had catapulted her to where she is today" and that she was now looking for the role that would "see her into her thirties"! I immediately read that to mean until she's at least 31!

I read an article recently that explained how, on average, Generation Y'ers will undertake up to 29 job changes throughout their careers. Did my candidate seriously expect me to be the one to find her every single one of them? Perhaps even in the next 10 years? That would bring a whole new meaning to the concept of career partner!

Now whilst you may be ambitious, it's important not to describe yourself as being "fiercely loyal", "totally burnt out" or "having outgrown the role" to a recruiter or potential employer when you have in fact only been in a role for less than a year. This type of reasoning just won't sit properly with them.

Of course it's important to know your reasons for leaving and to be able to talk through these reasons during an interview, but please ensure your rationale is appropriate and matches the story you are trying to convey.

Image courtesy of: cayoyin

Value adds ... the power of going that extra mile

2009-10-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

This week has really been a breath of fresh air on the customer service front ... but strangely enough the episode I am going to describe actually involves one of my candidates.

I have been working on a particular role for a client and was inundated with CVs for an Applications Engineer position. I had read through over 40 covering letters and profiles, telephone screened 17 of them and whittled the shortlist down to six.

The interviews all went well and after booking the candidates in to meet with my client, as is always my policy, I sent each of them an in-depth follow-up e-mail confirming all the details of their upcoming meetings, including directions, address, what and how to prepare etc.

Later that afternoon I received a phone call from one of the applicants. At first I thought he was going to withdraw his application, but he was in fact calling to let me know that my email to him had in fact gone straight into his junk-mail. He proceeded to ask me a few questions about the company hosting my website, the company through which I had registered my domain name, he had me clicking through various settings and even mentioned the slight chance that my "server could be on a black list"!

What could I have possibly done to end up being blacklisted?

Fortunately after a few more questions, clicks and and a re-start, he assured me that everything seemed to be OK and given that nobody else had alerted me to the fact that my e-mail had gone into junk-mail he came to the conclusion that it was more likely a problem at his end.

I immediately felt more relaxed having just experienced my own little private help-desk moment.

Had he used this as an excuse to further demonstrate his capabilities? I doubt it. I truly believe he was being very genuine and wanted to help me out. Needless to say given that some of the key criteria for the role I was putting him up for include "a proven ability to troubleshoot", "a strong customer service ethic", and "experience in assisting users in a help-desk capacity", I certainly felt confident tin my decision to represent him to my client.

Image courtesy of: onecrowdedhour

The importance of punctual-IT

2009-10-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

This week I have once again experienced a few situations that have made me question whether the concepts of common courtesy, decency and basic manners have completely disappeared. Perhaps it's just a Gen Y thing, but punctuality seems to be a thing of the past ... and with the sheer volume of available talent currently out there in the marketplace, complacency should be the last thing to cross one's mind.

Let's take the notion of an 11:00am interview with a recruiter. If you arrive (with i-Pod still attached) at 11:10am as if nothing's wrong (without even a hint of an apology), what do you think the recruiter is going to think of you? Are they going to confidently represent you to one of their clients? Surely they will just assume that you would also quite happily show up late to a meeting with a potential future employer and therefore take you out of the equation ...

I am certainly not suggesting that you arrive for an interview 20 minutes early - believe me that can be just as irritating for a recruiter as when a candidate arrives 15 minutes late. However in today's climate you can't afford not make a positive impact and a lasting first impression. You need to be on your most professional behaviour. This week three candidates were up to 20 minutes late for their interviews with me. One of them had some mumbled excuse about missing a train and the other two carried on as if nothing was wrong.

If you are going to be even one minute late for an interview, show some common courtesy and call the recruiter to let them know. If you are serious about finding a new job in a market where recruiters are being inundated with literally dozens of applications (especially in the IT space) every day, then you need to understand that whilst your CV, skills and competencies are certainly very important, the way you present yourself at interview is equally as important.

Catch the earlier bus or train ... go and have a coffee in a nearby cafe, but you must be on time for a job interview. Quite frankly there are no excuses.

Image courtesy of: Simone LomoLove!