Have you ever had professional career coaching? I mean, other than me. Sat down with someone and talked about your goals, your background, gotten honest feedback on your resume, cover letter, interviewing skills? Have you ever done a mock interview where an HR person actually gives you feedback on “how you did”? Just so you know, … “most” candidates think they did great in an interview, and they also think they will make it to the next round in the interview process. Sadly many of those candidates are overconfident in their interviewing skills and only 10% move forward. 1 in 10. Most people fall into the 90% disqualified, they don’t get called and they wonder why they can’t get a job.
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I can clue you in on some HR secrets. I have coached thousands of individuals. Real friends have done the same and after listening carefully I can always tell if/when the candidate was eliminated. It’s almost like a game for me. I coached my own mom and told her she wasn’t a candidate anymore for a job she really didn’t even want. She wasn’t happy and like most candidates got defensive. She wanted to know how I knew that she wasn’t moving forward. So I got in her face and asked, “Did she ask what your time table looks like for this week? Or next week? Did she ask who else you’ve talked to in the industry? Who have you been interviewing with? What your salary range is? No. Okay, then she doesn’t care because it’s not going to be you.” Sure it hurts to hear you aren’t going to get the dream job you thought you were perfect for, but the truth is you weren’t a good, great or fantastic, perfect fit for the job. Someone else is, and many times that HR person and the hiring manager is waiting for the perfect person, so they don’t have to train him/her. He/she might be a breath of fresh air with new contacts that will rejuvenate the business and bring in new streams of revenue. I can’t begin to tell you the number of times a manager says he/she will know the right person when they meet him. Like, it’s magic or chemistry. What they really are saying, secretly, is they want to hire someone that is a lot like them. Same background, personality, intelligence, … you get the idea. As much as I hate to say it, many times in the HR department there is all kinds of illegal shop talk that is going on.
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True story, I had a manager said she needed a new ____ and to go onto Monster.com and find some candidates. I asked “What about internal candidates? Any I should review?” and she said no, they were all trash. Nice. And she also said she didn’t want anyone with kids because she just dealt with 2 employees with daycare bullshit issues. Wow. Okay, well, I can certainly find out if candidates have kids. Did you know HR people sometimes use props in their office, like a picture frame of a couple of kids. Yeah, I had one with my nephew. Hey he looks like my kid. I never said he was my kid, but you just volunteered that you have 4 at home, all under the age of 7. And you’re single. Because you told me. Hmm, sounds like a tough decision since the job is a 50+ hour a week job. Next. Hey, that’s how it works sometimes. Is it fair? No. Remember, HR is not your friend, unless you are the owner of the company. They are paid to protect the employer, find talent and prevent employee litigation. Do not tell them personal information, health information, financial issues, religion, and I have to say it, politics. They are NOT your new best friend. They are looking at you like you are a potential problem or an asset. Do not give them a reason to not hire you. Missing work is a big reason. You may be awesome at attendance, but your _______(put any relative here) could be dying and you might be gone because of that. Work doesn’t get completed when employees are missing.
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So where am I going with this blog today? Well, your goal today is to find someone IN your personal network who is a hiring manager. You are going to go to that person and ask for a mock interview. You are going to go through the entire process and he/she will then tell you what you did great, what you need to work on and what you need to leave out of your interview. If you don’t have someone, then go find someone. I am not going to coach you on what you need to say, … in this first round. You need to do your best and then write down the results in your notebook. You know, the one you have been using to do all these exercises. And then later, I am going to write an article on how to make it to the next round, what not to say to accidentally get cut, and how to negotiate a better salary. It is perfectly okay to go into your final interview with a laundry list of things you want in your job/career. It doesn’t hurt to ask, and who knows you might even get some of your wish list. Be prepared and give that person a real job description of a job you want and he/she should be able to look at it and give you a run for your money. This should be the first interview with the hiring manager, not HR and not the key decision maker. So do not ask or talk about salary in this interview. If he/she does ask about your requirements, just smile and say they are negotiable of course. If you appear too interested in money they might not want your sudden enthusiasm. Oh, you’re just here for a paycheck. Uhm, okay. We all are, but we don’t want to appear that is what is driving us.
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And if you need some help with a script, “Hey it’s Aaron. I’m doing an HR project and I need an actual hiring manager to interview me so I can improve my skills for when I have the real thing. Help a brother out?” (Do not give this person your resume … only talk about what is on it in the interview. Only “mock apply” for jobs your are qualified so he/she can ask questions directly from the job description. I have interviewed candidates without their resume, knowing that HR has already screened them to make it to that round.) You are NOT secretly trying to get a job from this person, you only want valuable feedback. And remember, have fun. Use this as an in person opportunity to get together with someone.
