Vikki Pachera’s Blog
The Fashion Crisis
Coming off a few days interviewing in NYC, can I say, those guys know how to dress. And I’m not talking about unlimited access to the world’s best in fashion–though who can resist a trip to Barneys?–I’m talking about common sense.
A friend of mine was in the job market recently and he sent me a hilarious note questioning what to wear in his upcoming interviews. He’s a senior, technical guy in Silicon Valley and ultimately did the right thing—guessing what the interview team might be wearing and dressing slightly better than that. He landed a great job at a great company.
What to wear during interviews, or for that matter in business in general, is an important question. I don’t like to see it cast as ‘to tie or not to tie’ as the conversation often is, because that leaves unaddressed the space where 80% of the mis-steps take place. More on that shortly.
The rules of engagement as I see it, may be simpler than you think. Technical or not, no matter what your gender, if the role requires face time with customers or is outbound facing in general, wear a jacket and slacks. Guys, error on the side of a tie. Lose the three piece suit look. Gals, error on the side of conservative. Never wear a skirt. Everybody: wear great shoes.
If the job is inbound facing, your best bet is business casual, jacket, trousers, pressed shirt.
The more outstanding your technical chops and the more inward facing, the more you can get away with casual attire and, ‘personalization’ in Silicon Valley. And only in Silicon Valley or LA. Recently, I had a candidate wear shorts to an interview. Like my ‘Brown’ delivery guy, he apparently wears shorts every day. My view on that is, be yourself. Just keep in mind that you may be limiting your options. Life is all about choices.
But here’s the deal– 80% of the fashion disasters are in the details of choices made and ability to execute. Next time you are getting a haircut, take a look at the back page of Glamour Magazine. You don’t want to show up in the ‘dos and don’ts page’. And yes, we have seen it all on interviews—from tie dyed jeans to capri pants, everything from sky high stilettos to clogs better suited for the garden than the office. Think you could get by without getting a haircut? Think again. Think we didn’t notice you desperately needed a fresh polish? Think again.
Every professional should be intimately familiar with the iron and the dry cleaner. My guy in shorts? They were nicely pressed.
Yeah! I’m about to get a job offer. What’s negotiable?
First, check your expectations. I’ve spoken to a number of candidates recently who thought the offer they received wasn’t ’earth shattering’. Maybe we’re spending too much time on the sports section—you’re not Derek Jeter, it’s not 1999, sanity prevails and that’s the kind of company you should be looking to join.
If you are at the CXO level and you are looking at role in a significant company, a lot may indeed be on the table for negotiation. At the VP level, much, much less is negotiable. Very unlikely the bonus structure, healthcare, 401K, relocation and other programs that are built for large groups of people if not the whole company.
So what can be negotiated? Perhaps the salary but that can be a ‘pay me now, don’t pay me later’ situation—you could get more now and be stagnant for a couple years as your peers catch up. Maybe stock but keep in mind grants have been scaled way back generally across the board. Sometimes sign ons but you need a rationale as to why that would be on the table—for example, you missed an annual bonus from your departing company and missed the window for the year from the new company.
What’s most important is to rationally assess the elements of compensation. For whatever reason, some people get super emotional about 401K match, ESPP and the like. The reality is that’s just money and can be easily quantified. In the end, talk to professionals and get educated on the current environment before launching into negotiations. My advice is, if you really want the job, don’t piss off your future boss by nickel and diming, look at the bigger picture of opportunity and decide if the role is for you.
Back To School
For weeks now, particularly as our friends haul their kids and their stuff off to colleges, I’ve been wanting to blog about the increasing value of an education. Now I find myself talking about this in the midst of an apparently heated conversation about whether our President should evangelize the topic to schoolchildren next week–he absolutely should.
Early on in my career, I was asked to speak to troubled high school kids and try to get them to understand that their earning potential was much higher if they got a high school diploma. The fact that I was an appealing recruit as a successful female engineer wasn’t lost on me then and it isn’t lost on me now. When people identify with someone, they are far more likely to be an influence.
More recently, my husband and I tag team nearly every year on the same mission. I have to admit that I dread these sessions–it’s really hard to know if you are getting through to these kids. And, while I fully realize that studies beyond the high school level are not for everyone and out of reach for too many, I’m even more of an advocate for getting the best and most marketable college education you possibly can.
It used to be that when you had no experience, your educational credentials, including your GPA, were of top consideration for a job. And as you progressed in your career, it mattered increasingly less.
As an executive recruiter, I’ve noticed a new trend over the past year, tied to the economic slowdown. Companies are putting more weight on where a candidate when to school–even those who graduated 20 years ago. As the job market tightened up over the past year, the professional openings that do exist have a far higher bar than in years past. It’s not uncommon today for a CEO to weigh in on a hiring decision several tiers down in their organization. I was discussing this with a hiring exec recently–his belief is that if someone earned a degree from Berkeley or Stanford, that’s a good proxy for an assessment on their IQ and their drive.
Of course this isn’t the only indicator; that’s why we conduct a minimum of six references, value work experience, and do in depth interviewing. And yes, being well rounded, able to string together a coherent sentence, being energetic, confident, well presented, etc. are all important. But those attributes have become the floor, not the bar.
The competition on the educational front is astounding. As we continue to compete for talent globally, I find that there’s no shortage of people who were born and raised abroad, who earned an engineering degree in their home country who came to the US, earned another technical undergraduate degree here, one with a perceived better brand, went on to earn a technical masters and more often than not an MBA on top of it all.
If you want to maximize the chances that you’ll stay employed the majority of your adult life, you need a highly marketable degree. There’s a lot of passion around the liberal arts program but I thought a colleague of mine said it best a couple of weeks ago, “Yes, I got a liberal arts education but then I went to trade school.” He’s a lawyer and CEO.
Earning the best education you can and making sacrifices to do so, whether it’s a night program that eats into your personal time, or a loan to pay for that big brand school, will pay off. I’m delighted that the President choose to speak on the topic and I hope that we put an increased focus and emphasis on education.
Top 10 List: How to Enter the Job Market
Every week I take a call or two from someone who found themselves in the job market, sometimes for the first time in twenty years. Here is what I tell them to prepare for a job search:
1. Create a ‘personal brand’. Creating a story line of who you are and what you can do for an employer is key–no one has the desire or interest to spend time figuring that out for you.
2. Create a stellar resume. Not ‘good enough’, not ‘good’, not ‘pretty good’. Stellar.
3. If you are a Director or above, consider creating a bio as well.
4. Create a detailed Linked In bio. Linked In, with 40M profiles, is becoming a great tool to find talent.
5. Make yourself identifiable. Use tools like Plaxo, Spoke, FaceBook to allow yourself to be found. And yes, put an email address on those.
6. Make sure your resume is in as many recruiting databases, company databases, etc. as possible. Don’t worry about over exposure, everyone is or should be, identifiable these days.
7. Network. Statistically, most people find their next job from a connection of a connection.
8. Be upbeat. No one cares about how you got screwed in your last job or how mean or political your last boss was.
9. On that note, be sure you have a well thought out answer to why you were let go and if your job history is spotty, address that out the shoot.
10. Landing an new job is a full time job. The people who tend to land quickly are the ones who put 40-60 hours in a job search. Luck plays a factor but generally speaking, the more effort you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. Like most things.
The First 100 Days
Unless something else takes center stage, we are about to enter into a media frenzy focused on President Obama’s performance during his first 100 days in office.
If you just took a new role, assuming it’s not in sports or politics, you can be thankful that your own performance isn’t being publicly discussed in every venue possible. At the same time, you can be sure that people are indeed watching and evaluating you.
Here’s a outline on how to get it right out the shoot:
Game Plan
As far as a ‘game plan’ goes, the President had it easy. For the past two plus years, he’s been creating a platform of what he wants to accomplish through the campaign. Sure, conditions like the economic meltdown create changes, but overall he came into the job with a solid plan.
Don’t wander through your first few months adrift at sea or simply reacting to requests and direction. Create a game plan of what you want to accomplish and measure yourself against it.
Tie out with your management and peers to ensure that you really understand the role–like everything in our fast paced culture, the job is likely to evolve and morph as priorities change. This isn’t the time to make assumptions, this is the time to be actively seeking input.
Network
The honeymoon phase of any new job is the time to meet with everyone you can. You’ll want to engage with the troops, with the opposition, with your peers and your upper management. You too, might want to dust off the passport and meet people internationally if you job calls for it.
Months down the road, it may be awkward or frowned upon to meet with some of the people you can get away with meeting in your first couple of months. Don’t waste that opportunity.
Early Wins
Seek some early wins. You’ll feel more confident and the team will take notice. Whether that’s as simple as taking a task off of a peer’s plate or leveraging a work product or idea from a previous role, adding value in this economy out the shoot will get you recognized.
Keep in mind that your management probably fell on their swords to get the role you now occupy open. Someone you work with may have wanted that promotion themselves. Being on top of it from day one is key to getting everyone aligned and behind you. It’s unbelievable how important those first few months really are.
Nailing the Interview
In another great article by Sarah Needleman, in today’s WSJ, she offers some very solid advice for those lucky enough to land an interview. Getting an interview right is more difficult than you might think.
One of my top tips to job seekers is a page right out of media training. Before you go into an interview, during your interview research and preparation phase, create 3-5 points and messages that you want to put forward. Too many people go into interviews, sit there, often on pins and needles and react and respond to a litany of questions. Be sure you answer those questions in a way that brings out your unique value.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123966126017514865.html
By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN
In recent weeks, recruiters for Consolidated Container Co. have seen job candidates arrive up to an hour early for interviews. Other candidates have alluded to financial hardships while in the hot seat, and one person even distributed bound copies of documents describing projects he completed for past employers.
These sorts of tactics aren’t exactly winners.
In today’s ultracompetitive job market, even getting an interview is a feat. Yet recruiters and hiring managers say many unemployed candidates blow the opportunity by appearing desperate or bitter about their situations — often without realizing it.
“People are becoming a lot more aggressive,” says Julie Loubaton, director of recruiting and talent management for Atlanta-based Consolidated Container. “They often wind up hurting themselves.”
At an interview, you want to stand out for the right reasons. To do so, you’ll need to leave your baggage and anxiety at the door. For starters, wait until 10 minutes before your scheduled interview time to announce yourself. Arriving any sooner “shows that you’re not respectful of the time the hiring manager put aside for you,” says Ms. Loubaton, adding that a candidate who arrived an hour early made workers uncomfortable. “Companies really don’t want someone camped out in their lobby.”
Signal confidence by offering a firm handshake, adds Wendy Alfus Rothman, president of Wenroth Consulting Inc., an executive coaching firm in New York. Focus your attention on the interviewer. Avoid looking around the room, tapping your fingers, or other nervous movements.
No matter how you’re feeling, keep your personal woes out of the interview process, asserts Ms. Alfus Rothman. Instead, always exude an upbeat attitude. For example, if you were laid off, instead of lamenting the situation, you might say the experience prompted you to reassess your skills, and that’s what led you here. “You want to demonstrate resilience in the face of unpredictable obstacles,” she says.
Discuss
Meanwhile, show you’ve done your homework on the company by explaining how your background and track record relates to its current needs, adds Deborah Markus, founder of Columbus Advisors LLC, an executive-search firm in New York. This is particularly important if the firm is in a different industry than the one you worked in before. To stand out, you’ll need to look up more than just basics on company leadership and core businesses. You’ll also need to find out — and understand — how recent changes in the marketplace have affected the firm, its competitors and industry overall. Read recent company press releases, annual reports, media coverage and industry blogs, and consult with trusted members of your network. “Companies that may have been performing well just a few months ago might be in survival mode now,” says Ms. Markus. “You want to understand how [they're] positioned today.”
Also, be sure to show you’re a strong fit for the particular position you’re seeking, adds Kathy Marsico, senior vice president of human resources at PDI Inc., a Saddle River, N.J., provider of sales and marketing services for pharmaceutical companies. Offer examples of past accomplishments — not just responsibilities you’ve held — and describe how they’re relevant to the opportunity. “You must differentiate yourself like never before,” she says. “You need to customize yourself and make yourself memorable.”
Sherry R. Brickman, a partner at executive-search firm Martin Partners LLC, says a candidate recently impressed her with this sort of preparation. “He knew the company’s product line and what markets it was already in,” she says of the man, who was interviewing for an executive post at a midsize industrial manufacturer. “He clearly and effectively explained how he could cut costs, increase sales and expand market share based on what he’d done in his current job.” The candidate was hired.
Be careful not to go too far, though, in your quest to stand out. For example, it may be tempting to offer to work temporarily for free or to take a lesser salary than what a job pays. But experts say such bold moves often backfire on candidates. “Employers want value,” says Lee Miller, author of “Get More Money on Your Next Job … In Any Economy.” “They don’t want cheap.”
Your best bet is to wait until you’re extended a job offer before talking pay. “In a recession, employers are going to be very price sensitive,” says Mr. Miller. “The salary you ask for may impact their decision to move forward.” Come prepared having researched the average pay range for a position in case you’re pressured to name your price, he adds. You might say, for example, that money isn’t a primary concern for you and that you’re just looking for something fair, suggests Mr. Miller. You can try turning the tables by asking interviewers what the company has budgeted for the position.
In some cases, you may be looking just for a job to get you through so you might consider a less-than-perfect fit. But if you aren’t really excited about an opportunity, keep it to yourself, warns David Gaspin, director of human resources at 5W Public Relations in New York. “I’ve had times where people come in and it’s clear that if they really had their preference, they’d be doing something different,” he says. “You don’t want to put that out on the table. Nobody wants to hire someone who’s going to run for the door when times get better.”
After an interview, take caution with your follow-up. If you’re in the running for multiple jobs at once, make sure to address thank-yous to the right people, career experts advise. Also look closely for spelling and grammatical errors. In a competitive job market, employers have the luxury of choice, and even a minor faux pas can hurt your chances.
If all has gone well, don’t stalk the interviewer. Wait at least a week before checking on your candidacy, adds Jose Tamez, managing partner at Austin-Michael LP, an executive-search firm in Golden, Colo. Call recruiters only at their office, even if their business card lists a home or cell number. Leave a message if you get voicemail. These days, recruiters typically have caller ID and can tell if you’ve tried reaching them multiple times without leaving a voicemail. “There’s a fine line between enthusiasm and overenthusiasm,” he says.
Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com
Network Now!
Be honest. How much time do you devote to building your personal or business network? Do you spend 15 minutes a day? Ok, how about 30 minutes a week? No? Please don’t tell me you spend 60 minutes or less a month on maintaining or building your network!
If the latter question applies to you, don’t worry because you are in good company. Most people put building a personal or business network on the priority list somewhere near picking out cemetery plots or getting a root canal. It is not that people don’t want to have hundreds of movers and shakers in their network. It is just that the stuff of life gets in the way and pushes this extremely important task to the back burner. Actually, “task” isn’t quite the right word…networking is a discipline. Better yet, networking is good business hygiene. I cannot tell you how many executives have told me that one of their regrets (prior to losing their job or quitting a job they didn’t like) was that they ignored their network. All of a sudden, they look at contacts in their Blackberry, Outlook or (gasp!) their dog-eared day planner and realize the only people in their “network” are family members, former classmates or people with whom they would have preferred to lose touch.
Building, maintaining and expanding your network has to become one of your top to-do items that you work on, at the very least, once a week and ideally every day. Why? Because your network is tantamount to food, water and shelter! It is an asset that pays dividends in the present and in the future. The good news is that the rise and popularity of sites such as LinkedIn, Plaxo Pulse and even Facebook makes building a network easy and even fun. All you need to do is:
1) Make the decision to start or restart your networking efforts
2) Commit yourself to networking at least one hour per week and ideally for 15 minutes each day
3) Set a goal for how many contacts or connections you want to establish each month
So, let’s get started! If you haven’t done so, sign up for LinkedIn right now. www.linkedin.com LinkedIn is the most widely adopted business networking site and odds are many of the people you have lost touch with are on LinkedIn already. Once you have created your basic LinkedIn profile make sure you optimize your presence by:
• Uploading a picture that conveys approachability and friendliness. My first picture on LinkedIn looked like a mug shot from “America’s Most Wanted” and I received an enormous amount of grief from friends and colleagues!
• Ask former bosses, peers and subordinates for recommendations!
• Join networking groups such as your college or former employer alumni groups or professional associations. LinkedIn provides an extensive listing of groups on the Groups page.
By following these and other simple steps suggested by LinkenIn you will create a high impact profile that attracts and engages contacts from all around!
Next, sign up for Facebook. www.facebook.com Facebook is the big gorilla of social networking sites and is attracting more and more baby boomers who use it for connecting with colleagues, friends and family. Facebook is easy to get started with and can be quite addictive! Here are some suggested steps:
• Be somewhat selective: Since Facebook provides a peak into your personal and business life, invite only people you know personally or who was recommended to you by a trusted friend.
• Be careful of what you post on your page: Whatever you post is there for the world to see! Avoid pictures that put you in compromising situations or where someone could question your character. There are numerous stories of would be employers finding questionable content of a prospective candidate which resulted in the end of the interview process. I put pictures of my kids, family events and a few friends….that’s it.
• Be consistent: Facebook and all networking sites are like gardens. They require constant care, feeding and nurturing. Don’t let content stay up for too long. Change your profile picture periodically. Post new photos. Contribute to someone Wall. Your life is a tapestry of great content so show it off!
Lastly, if you are the parents of middle school or teenage kids, the reality that you are on Facebook will absolutely mortify them! That alone is reason to sign up immediately!
Plaxo Pulse is the third social networking site I frequently use. Plaxo differs from other sites in that their focus is more on the content you share with your contacts than on amassing hundreds or thousands of connections. I encourage you to add Plaxo to the mix and invite others to join as well. Once you get started, you can:
• Post blog entries, restaurant reviews and links to compelling articles or videos.
• Comment or debate about content others have posted.
• Check out how Plaxo is used by others and inquire about how they have found it to be a valuable tool in their professional or social lives.
Lastly, check out Twitter. www.twitter.com Twitter is a service that allows you to let friends, family and colleagues know what you are doing. Yes, your life IS that interesting so why not share it!
LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo Pulse and even Twitter should become as much a part of your personal workflow as e-mail and your mobile phone. Maintaining and expanding your network on a daily basis is essential especially in today’s times because you never know when you may need to reach out and connect with someone.
Happy Networking!
Mike Vanneman
Putting Your Best Foot Forward
It has been said that success covers a multitude of sins. Like a delicious frosting covering the cracks, bumps, and imperfections of a newly baked cake, success smoothes over one’s flaws.
When companies are successful, they are often overstaffed which can shield the need for performance management. The underperformers are sheltered by the over achievers. As a case in point, take the Silicon Valley circa 1999, the heart of the dot com explosion. It’s been said that if you had a pulse in that era you could land a job. With unemployment at 1% during that time, Interwoven even perked new hire engineers with a two year lease on a BMW Z3.
But, as you probably have noticed, it is not 1999. Our nation, our economy, our markets, and the majority of companies haven’t been all that successful of late. We’re all under enormous pressure to reduce costs, become more efficient, and be productive. And whether you’ve been a victim of this pressure or you’re living it, it’s imperative that you put your best foot forward.
Companies are running lean and mean, and behind every job opening is a hard fought fight. Resources are prioritized based on what’s required vs. some other competing need. Hiring managers are not going to compromise; they are not going to settle for less than near perfection. The bright light of scrutiny is on them. All too often, even at midcap public companies, the COO or CEO weights in on the hire.
And yet, as an executive recruiter, I am often amazed. Despite the millions of jobs that have been lost in the last few months and the 10% unemployment rate in California, too often I cannot believe what passes for acceptable communication, appearance, and content. Maybe it’s the arrogance that is frequently part of the DNA of high tech. Maybe it’s experience. After all, it’s been proven that experience can breed an overconfidence that actually diminishes performance. Maybe it’s a lack of self awareness. Maybe it’s the ‘Twitter age’.
Sure, Twitter, texting and mobile messaging all have a place. But in professional communication, you need to be as near perfect as possible. Many, if not most, executive recruiters readily disqualify candidates who cannot communicate properly. You know that line, ‘excellent written and verbal skills required’? You need to pass that test.
Check your Linked In profile. Are you one of the 15-20% who have a typo in your bio? How about the emails you send? Do you write in full sentences? Is your grammar correct? Have you proofread for proper punctuation and spelling? I know writing is a lost art, but why not differentiate yourself and go for perfection.
A big part of your image comes from your appearance—what you wear and how you put yourself together. I worked at Apple for ten years and loved wearing jeans or shorts to work every day. But, for those 50 business trips I made to Japan, I wore a suit. It seemed common sense at the time to wear what is appropriate for any given interaction.
There’s a lot about your appearance that telegraphs how contemporary you are, and that holds true no matter your age. If you are over 50, you can do a lot to make yourself look relevant and contemporary without crossing the line. At the same time, there are a lot of 30 year olds who feel dated despite their chronological age. And, there are a few who come off like they wouldn’t be able to go out for drinks after work.
Of course, the most important thing–though not the only thing–is your ‘content’. Do you have a track record of success? Can you prove and communicate effectively a wealth of unique and deep experiences?
Unfortunately, unlike communications and personal appearance, content is something that you’ve spent your life creating. As they say, don’t wait until you were thirsty to dig a well Building content is something that you should focus on your entire career.
In today’s market, there’s no way to camouflage how good you are (or aren’t), what you’ve accomplished, and how people perceived you.
• For sales roles, the numbers speak for themselves and you’ll be asked to provide them. You either have a great track record in selling or you don’t. Be prepared to back yourself up with your W2.
• For other roles, expect that deep reference checks will be done not just with the people whose names you provide, but a slew of others as well. If you are an ‘outbound’ executive in marketing, for example, you should have a nice portfolio of quotes, articles and speaking roles easily discoverable on the Internet.
Finally, you can differentiate yourself by getting back to the basics. How about sending a ‘thank you’ note to the team after your face-to-face interviews? Better, how about that candidate who took the time to write up a straw man proposal on how he’d approach the program if he got the job? Well, he’s about to find out because he just landed it.
For any given executive role that we’re working, we almost always have over a 100 candidates, sometimes 800 to 900. And yet, the top candidates, the ones who receive offers often have multiple offers. Why are they in that situation? They are in this enviable spot because they are on the top of their game, all cylinders firing, putting their best foot forward.
Getting on a Board
In the past month, I’ve been to an event–a packed house–geared toward getting more women on boards and have been asked by a couple people just how you get on a board.
It’s more difficult than you may think.
There’s often a time in your professional career where you’ve interacted with a board, know someone who is on a board and perhaps have been asked to be on a board and you start to think, hey, this could be a fun road to go down.
But just how do you get recruited to a board role?
Generally, you have to have some specific experience or knowledge that the company or current board is seeking. Given today’s SEC requirements, having a very strong financial background–ie, having held the responsibility of publishing financial statements either as a CFO or as a Business Unit Head, is experience in high demand.
Here’s some additional tips:
-network through your local NACD chapter events if you are on a board
-submit a profile to www.boardrecruiting.com, the NASDAQ product
-submit a profile to the large search firms who do more volumne in board searches
-make yourself identifiable–beef up your Linked In, edit your ZoomInfo bio, etc.
-publish articles, take on speaking roles—showcase your expertise and thought leadership