Maybe you’ve heard of a company called Zappos. In 1999, they began selling shoes on the Internet. I remember thinking… no one will buy shoes online. I was wrong! In less than 10 years, Zappos hit $1Billion in sales.
What’s even more amazing about Zappos is their culture. It begins and ends with customer service. I mean real service. Sad that a focus on the customer is so unique.
But the real magic of the organization, according to CEO Tony Hsieh (pronounced “shay”) is in the hiring. When interviewing at Zappos you might be asked,
“What’s your theme song?” or “How weird are you?”
By asking these questions, Zappos finds out if you’re flexible, creative, funny and interesting. So would you want to work in a place where these were the interview questions? I would.
I’ve often said I’m a little too weird for the normal people but too normal for the weird people. So add this (maybe) to the list of interview questions to prepare. What’s your favorite interview question?
Oh my but the world of job search is changing in so many ways, I feel like my head is going to explode. This article, “How Real Time Web Changes Job Search,”is jammed full of ideas, websites and concepts relating to job search.
If you are in HR or looking for work; you need to read this article. Here are just few of the highlights:
- On Twitter alone “more than a million tweets about job openings go out every month from 6,000+ employers and 7,700+ job channels via TweetMyJOBS.com
- The traditional job board is disappearing and being replaced by ‘direct sourcing’ which is when hiring decision-makers “identify, reach out to, engage, and convert” only the highly desirable candidates. Passive candidates become the new gold. The better your digital footprint, the easier you’ll be to find.
- Job sites are adding “Who do I know”? buttons to their sites so you can see who you know at a company without going to Linked In.
And one of my favorites… Paid Interviews.com. It actually pays candidates when they successfully interview (read: get hired) and has a virtual water cooler feature which is “a place for candidates to talk about their past employment experiences, it’s like Amazon product ratings, but for companies. It’s a place where you can get unbiased answers about employers around the world.”
If you’re a company with a lousy culture… the good old days might be evaporating before your very eyes. Between sites like paidinterviews.com and glassdoor.com and social networking; hiding is going to get tougher. Ahhh, transparency. Welcome.
Last week I was speaking at a big event and had the pleasure of meeting many people. I was, however, unhappily struck by the number of people who don’t realize the negative impression of their fishy handshake.
What do I mean by a ‘fishy’ handshake? Well, when you offer just the fingers of your hand or when you fail to grasp the other person’s hand and shake it with confidence; you run the risk of having people think you are weak. This especially goes for men shaking hands with women. It is disrespectful to barely shake hands with a woman. It makes them think that you don’t think of them as equals.
You’ve probably heard the story about why we shake hands, i.e., to show that we have no weapons in our hands. Aside from the way we dress and eye contact, our handshake is another very important signal of our confidence.
When you shake hands, please, oh please I’m begging you, look the person in the eye and give them a gentle but firm handshake. This isn’t a strength contest but it is a chance to make the other person sit up and take notice of your positive manner. So ladies, put your hand out there and shake firmly. Guys, do the same. it’s so important!
It may be hard to believe but many Human Resource professionals are gearing up their recruiting efforts. While the economy isn’t exactly humming, the job market is heating up and companies are actively looking for ‘bench strength.’ In a 2010 survey titled, Job Seeker Nation, it was reported that we are rapidly becoming a nation of ‘free agents’ who are continuously alert for opportunities. And by the way, this is a good thing. Try this on for size…
I know keeping up our skills is hard and that trying to make sure we’re networking and connecting is a pain. But consider the alternative. “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less,” said General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army. He wasn’t referring to the job market but, it does apply.
Each of us needs to be thinking about being a proactive career manager. Are you diligently building your network? Are you getting training? Are you actively discussing key aspects of change in your field? Do you read blogs that are relevant to your industry? Are you out of your comfort zone?
I want to be one of those people that companies are willing to fight to recruit. How about you?
In the only question you need to ask in an interview we talked about asking questions. Now I’m encouraging you to think about how you answer questions and talk with your interviewer. And I do mean talking with them.
In 25 Oddball Interview Questions, the author lists interesting interview questions from companies like Google, Goldman Sachs, AT&T, Facebook and Amazon. These interviewers learned a lot from the responses to these off the wall queries.
You might think, no one is ever going to ask me, “How many traffic lights are in Manhattan?”, but if you get asked an oddball question; will you be prepared with a creative answer? More than ever, organizations need people who can be flexible and think differently about problems.
If you’re hiring manager and had, say, 3 candidates all of whom were equally qualified – how would you figure out which one to hire? You might try asking one of these questions to see how creative and spontaneous the interviewee can be.
So, how would you answer: “How many basketballs can you fit in this room?” Here are a few answers:
Probably the same number of soccer balls
One. You didn’t ask what is the maximum number of basketballs you can fit in the room
Measure the room in basketballs. The room is 16 basketballs (length) by 12 basketballs (width) by 9 basketballs (height). Then it’s just a simple volume multiplication.
My answer would have been, “Why do we want to bring basketballs into this room? Hmmm, what does that tell you about me?
Wow, I knew a lot of things were moving to the mobile space but job hunting? Check out this image of mobile screens from Starbucks. Yes, attention folks; phones are for a lot more than games and email. Before you dismiss this as “not for jobs like the one I’m looking for’”, please check out this article from Mashable.com.
Nielsen Research indicates that nearly half of American adults will have ‘smart phones” by the end of 2011. Mobile payment structures, comparison shopping, geolocation, interest driven profiles, group buying and so much more are evidence that this (r)evolution is coming on strong.
Are you prepared? Do you understand what mobile is going to do to your business? Let me know what you think about mobile.
I regularly talk to groups about social media and there are still a surprising number of people who insist that Twitter is stupid. They know nothing about it, they’ve never used it, but they are certain it’s useless. They are like this dog. Asleep.
As I go through my talk, inevitably the most vocal opponent (the one who kept telling me how insightful they are and how stupid I am) sees the light and suddenly wants my help. Hmmm…
Why are there so many jobs posted on Twitter?
– It’s free, fast, easy, has an incredibly broad reach AND all those people who think social media is stupid won’t be looking there!
Back to the job hunt. Of those 500 job posts per minute, there are, of course, redundant jobs BUT… the question is… how can you use what’s there to help you?
Using Hashtags to Boost Your Job Search is a terrific article on how to use Twitter effectively (Hashtag =# = keywords). Hashtags such as #jobs, #jobadvice, #jobhunt and #jobsearch offer both job openings and general job search advice. If you’re looking for high-level information to help your job search, start here.
Put the hashtag in the twitter search bar and up will pop articles (links) that may help you. Geographic hashtag can narrow your search, #roc = Rochester, NY. Also, there are hundreds of recruiters on twitter, Check out this resource. Follow the smart people on Twitter and you might be surprised how much you’ll learn. Got Twitter job search tips? Please share.
Last week I gave two presentations at the New York State Society for Human Resources Management conference and I met people from all kinds of organizations, all of them hungry to understand how social media is affecting their business. It’s clear that these professionals, like most of us, have a love hate relationship with social media. We love how it connects us to old friends on Facebook and hate trying to keep up with all the new ‘stuff’ that comes out. It’s pretty overwhelming.
Our discussions at the conference went beyond Facebook and Twitter and included a broader set of tools like Yammer, Glassdoor.com, Wikis, video and so much more. Beyond the toolkit, there is the ever important compliance piece of this equation and we covered that as well. You can find the presentation here.
Wherever you work and in almost whatever department, you need to understand the fundamental shift that is occurring and why it is changing the way we work, collaborate, think, relate and engage with stakeholders. Before I went to the conference, I read a post by the former PunkrockHR blogger. She now blogs under the title of http://cynicalgirl.com. I loved this post about kicking HR to the curb. It’s all pretty much common sense but whether you are an HR professional, an employee or a job seeker, I hope you will take a minute to check out the funny way this information is pulled together. We love it, we hate it but we can’t ignore it.
I hear it over and over, “Twitter is stupid.” When some people find out I teach social media they tell me how dumb twitter is. They know almost nothing about twitter and have never even seen it, yet they are convinced (based on something they’ve read or heard) that it’s a waste of time. When I explain it, some people still argue with me and announce,”I’ll never use twitter.”
To that I reply, “You don’t have to.” If you can grow your company, find a job, network effectively or accomplish your other goals without it, then good. If however, you’re looking to inexpensively reach new contacts; you may want to have an open mind. I encourage people to learn what twitter is and how it might help them. I agree Twitter isn’t for everyone but only make that decision after its capabilities are understood.
If you are unfamiliar with Twitter you may think that you have to follow people and have followers and that is what it’s all about. The power of twitter is in REAL TIME SEARCH. All the information that is attached to a ‘tweet’ is there because a person thinks it’s worthwhile.
Here are just a few facts about twitter for job seekers. Did you know that:
There are a minimum of 180 recruiters on twitter?
There are over 50 companies who regularly post jobs on twitter?
You can find jobs by searching on a profession e.g. @engineering
You can find an internship by searching @findinternerships
People who find jobs there already ‘get’ the power of social media and don’t need to be trained
I regularly teach social media for job hunters, my next session is on October 29 at the Pittsford Library, Rochester, NY. Let me know if you’d like to join us. The sessions are free, fun and you can network at the same time as you learn. I am looking forward to meeting you.
I just read a blog post from Guy Kawasaki called, “The Art of Recruiting” (2006). In it, Guy talks about how the idea of “A” players hiring other “A” players and “B” players hiring “C” players. His conclusion is that “A” players actually need to hire “A+” players; candidates better than themselves. While “it takes self-confidence and self-awareness” to do this, “it’s the only way to build a great team.” The Bozo explosion, he notes, is the slippery slope of hiring “B” players who then hire all the way down to “Z” players.
So how do we get to be “A+” players? I’d like to suggest that while we may not all be “A+” players, we can learn to be “A+” versions of ourselves in our chosen field.
Commit to learning how to manage yourself (Peter Drucker) and never stop. Find a mentor or co-mentor and tackle the hard work of self examination. What can I do better; how can I be more effective? What are my strengths and how can I build on them?
Read books. Smart people write books. I love to talk to people about the books that interest them. Reading a book takes effort and it feels great when you finish. Add the book and what you learned to your Linked In profile.
Listen. This seems so elementary and yet, I’m always working on this. Here’s a test. The next time you meet someone new, sit down immediately after your conversation and write down the questions you asked them. Think about how much time you spent listening versus talking. After you shake hands to part company, honestly assess how well you listened. What are the 5 things you learned about that person? What did you admire about them? If you can’t recall, you probably could have listened better.
Demonstrate passion. Guy’s advice to recruiters is to hire passion not skills. To job hunters he says, “Passion can overcome the lack of a ‘perfect’ educational background and work experience.
I learned to listen while raising my children. The more I talked, the less they listened. The more I listened, the more they talked. Pretty simple. Let me know how you are growing to or maintaining your “A+” status. I need all the ideas I can get!
Maybe you’ve heard of a company called Zappos. In 1999, they began selling shoes on the Internet. I remember thinking… no one will buy shoes online. I was wrong! In less than 10 years, Zappos hit $1Billion in sales.
job search, Life Transitions | Deborah | 
November 9, 2011 6:39 am | 
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