Your Age and Risk and Reward in a Job Search.

As an experienced advertising executive turned headhunter turned career strategist for the last ten years, I have been interested in the role of “risk and reward” in a job and career search process and how age affects these factors.

Numerous articles in recent years extol the value of learning to fail as part of becoming a strong executive and member of a company or consulting team.  In past years, failure was avoided at all costs, but with the advent of more youthful executives succeeding more quickly in the worlds of finance, technology and other industries, companies have sought out job candidates who have failed as well as succeeded in their careers.

This suggests to me that younger executives should be able to explain their mistakes and what they learned from them, so as to demonstrate learning and maturation along the way.

So in the first ten or fifteen years of your career, you should present yourself as a high-risk, high-reward candidate.  “Hire me and I will apply my “wins and losses” to building your business and helping your company succeed.  We may hit some rough spots, but we will prosper from understanding and solving them”.

The reverse is applicable, I believe, to executives 45 and older.  In this case, you should reduce the perceived risk of hiring you.  “Hire me and I won’t disappoint you or upset the applecart.”

Think about it.  The company is considering you for a position in middle or upper management.  They know you can do the job by reviewing your resume.   What they really want to know in the interview is, what will you be like to work with?   Will you work well with younger supervisors?  Will you ascribe to the way the company does business or will you insist on bringing old ways to the new company?  Will you be open to being one of the team as opposed to leading the charge when there are others in the lead position?  In short, will you work out here?

So what should you do?  Cool your jets!  Listen to the questions in the interview with a third ear…what are they really asking of you?  Respond with an attitude of “helping” rather than the attitude of the ambitious twenty-seven year old you used to be.  Cast your answers in supportive as well as creative terms.  They know you can DO the job; they really need to know HOW you will do the job. 

So, REDUCE THE RISK of hiring you if you are 45-Plus.  Make it easy for them to take you on.  Be part of the solution rather than the problem “can we manage him/her?”   Be open to an initial consulting relationship which gives you and the company a trial period of time, usually six months, to fall in love with each other (if it does not work out, as a consultant, they are a “client” on your resume instead of a formal job).  Make no demands beyond fair compensation and meaningful benefits.  Stay on the subject of the job rather than bring up distractions that can negate your candidacy.  Be your most likeable and supportive self.  Get the offer!  Then do your due diligence (which is another Blog subject).

Make it easy to hire you if you are over 45.  Reduce the risk.

Make it a bit of a risk to hire you if you are under 45.  Increase the promise of a big reward for hiring you.

Never Lead with a Resume!

Most of us send a resume with an inquiry about a job, or a request to meet for an informational interview, or for other job-seeking and career-building purposes.

This is fine if you are under thirty as you are in the early career-building process, and people expect a resume because they know you are seeking a new job to enhance your professional profile, improve your income or expand your horizons.

If you are thirty-plus, however, you should lead with a bio.  Your bio is a one-page “story” of your career, written in a relaxed style in chronological order.  It includes some personal insights that should be memorable and unique (“I am a bee-keeper”). You also should include an informal or semi-formal black and white photo and your contact information..

Why send a bio instead of a resume?

Simple.  A resume communicates that “you need a job”.  If the recipient does not have or know of a job for you, they are not likely to be helpful or respond.  On the other hand, a bio communicates a very interesting and attractive story describing accomplishments and a pattern of growth.  The recipient should want to meet you on the basis of your bio, your story.  It also represents a more mature and thoughtful approach.

Work on your bio just as hard as you have worked on your resume.  Style it to suit the people you are contacting.  Copy ones you like on company websites.  Check it for typos and attach it to emails you send out in your job and career search.  Put it on LinkedIn and other appropriate sites. Remember, it is your story which I am sure is a good one.

Good luck!

Tips on a Successful Job Search!

Great Tips for a Successful Job Search.  As an experienced Career Strategist, I have noted a number of things that can make a real difference in your job and career search.  In no particular order, they are:

Contact People Who Sold to You in the past. 

Many of my clients have difficulty re-establishing a network of people who can help their search.  One suggestion regarding expanding your network is to think back to people “who sold to you” in your previous jobs, and who could very likely be interested in having you sell for them now.  You are an experienced expert and therefore, a very credible representative of various products and services targeted to people holding jobs you have held in the past.  These would include advertising and PR agencies, office products companies, financial institutions, law firms, and any other companies who used to want your business or your firm’s business.

Offer to help consolidate, not just grow a business.  

Every resume and bio I see speaks about “growing” or “expanding” businesses.  Sure, that is what we think companies want.  But, think about it.  In today’s business world, companies are more likely to be trying to consolidate and stabilize their business and make it more profitable.  Consider focusing on how you are able to help a company strengthen what they already have vs. focusing on ways to add products and services or enter new markets.  Those things cost money and take time and resources.  Instead, help companies save money and improve profits.

Acknowledgement-  The Secret to Success.  It’s about them, not you. 

In my Career Strategy Coaching practice, I have learned that most of my clients are quite consumed with their job or career search, almost to the exclusion of thinking of others.  This is intriguing as “others” and their regard and support for you, are key to success in your life and career.

I read a posting by another career coach recently which I liked.  He suggested that instead of saying your name first when meeting someone, ask for their name first.  “Hi, what’s your name?” or, “Hi, what brings you to this event?” is about them, not you.  Acknowledging others first and foremost, rather than being self-focused, will be more effective, productive and memorable.  Acknowledging others by thanking them for an idea or help via email or a note, being sure to say a sincere hello to a receptionist or a store clerk, and smiling with your mouth and your eyes upon meeting a new acquaintance establishes that you are about them, not just about yourself.

Reduce the Risk of Hiring You. 

This observation is similar to the “consolidation” comment above.  The point is that when you are 45-plus, hiring you represents a risk for the company interviewing you.  They can see by your resume that you can probably fulfill the job requirements.  What they are wondering is, how will you integrate into the company at this mature point in your life.  Can they manage you to do things the way they do them, will  you work well with younger managers and employees, will you be motivated to dig in and really contribute, etc.  In response to this, maintain a “helpful attitude” rather than a “take charge attitude” in interviews and meetings and be open and appreciative of other people and their ideas and programs. 

Also, when interviewing for a position, find a way to suggest that you and the company agree on a six-month trial period to ensure that both parties are happy.  This reduces the perceived risk of hiring you and relaxes the relationship at the outset, thus improving the chances for a successful hiring and long-term employment at the company for you.

Never lead with a resume; offer a bio instead.

A resume communicates one thing, “I need a job”.  The recipient may not have or know of a job, so, end of conversation.  A bio, on the other hand, communicates “I am an interesting and effective executive; let’s have coffee”.  The more senior you are, the more important it is to lead with a bio rather than a resume.  The bio is “your story” and should be interesting and memorable.  It is the “human expression” of your career.  Attach it to emails sent to your network, new contacts, prospective employers, board members at companies of interest to you (your Target Companies), and other communications.  Hold your resume back until someone asks for it.

The Care and feeding of your references- your “gold”

Many people do not fully value the importance of their references.  When I was a retained executive recruiter, I would be given a list of references by a candidate only to learn that many of the references had lost touch with the candidate and were not very strong advocates as a result.

You should have a current list of references that are aware and supportive of your search, up-to-date regarding what you are seeking, and able to comment on key aspects of your expertise and credentials. 

You should have three supervisors, three peers, and three subordinates “on deck” who with whom you have worked in the last ten years. Importantly, do not offer up your references too early in the interviewing process.  Hold them back until things look serious.  The company will respect you for your professional approach to your references (“They are busy people and I do not want to involve them until we are closer to an offer”). 

Remember to ask your references to call you after they have been contacted.  You will want to learn what questions were asked by the subject company as this will give you insights into what issues they are concerned about relative to your candidacy.  You can then be prepared to respond to those potential concerns in follow-up conversations with the employer

What Others Think About You Is None Of Your Business

Sounds crazy, right?  Well, like my coaching advice to “Interview for the Company, Not the Job” and “Why Not Contact Board Members in Your Search?”, this non-traditional career search idea makes sense.

As MENG members, we are all trained marketers.  Just as we have learned how to sell products and services for our employers or consulting clients, we have also learned that we have to effectively market ourselves.  So, we have done all the right things.  We have written our own Creative Platforms (key message, target audience, support points and 4-5 stories that support our candidacy) and then revised our resumes and written interesting bios and 60 elevator speeches.  We have created catchy selling lines for our websites and our business cards and in some cases, handed out coffee cups to Brand ourselves.  We have done everything possible to shape others’ opinions of ourselves.

And then we find that people forget what we do for a living, fail to contact us when they have a problem to solve that we would handle in a minute, draw a blank when they are called as a reference for us and simply, don’t seem to know us after all that work.  Even our own mothers ask “What is it that you do?”

So we wonder and agonize over why this is often the case.  Why don’t people call?  Why doesn’t the HR person call me back for another interview?   Why didn’t a board member at XYZ Company (where I really deserve to work!) respond to my very clever email?  Why didn’t my friendly headhunter (who I have helped numerous times!) call me regarding a search that I know she has which is so perfect for me?

Wonder, wonder, wonder.  Worry, worry, worry.  All it does is cause you to lose sleep and irritate your loved ones.

Realize, please, that you can only do so much about marketing yourself and impressing your profile and goals on others.  Do your best and then leave it to the gods and move on to another opportunity or activity that offers promise.

Frankly, others probably think you’re terrific.  They are just spending most of their time on their own careers and jobs, and all the work it takes to keep them alive and growing

To Go Foward in Your Career, Go Back to Your Roots.

One of the best techniques that I know in helping my career coaching clients more clearly define their true interests and talents is to suggest they sit down during a quiet period, perhaps late at night, and consider and write about “their roots”.

The use of various formal assessment tools such as the Birkman Method, Myers-Briggs and other well-regarded tools is very useful in identifying our strengths and the areas of business in which we are likely to succeed.

A useful exercise to help guide our future career direction with actual experiential support information is to “think back”.  Think back to what your teachers and other “youth guides” said you were good at.  Did they suggest that you patiently studied your school work, or that you seemed to enjoy speaking to the class, or that you were always the most organized kid in the class.  Market research, general management or administrative careers would be natural directions for each of these behaviors. 

What did your friends always say about you?  What did your class yearbooks say were your noteworthy attributes?  Were you the class clown?  Perhaps sales is the right place for you, building relationships through upbeat means.  Were you always surrounded by people, active on sports teams?   You may be right for leading technical or operational teams.  Were you always coming up with novel school newspaper columns or writing term papers that got the approval of your teachers and fellow students?   Maybe you should focus on creative careers such as a becoming a technical or advertising copywriter.

When you examine your high school and college roots, what role did your team-members on a class project always ask you to play?  Was it a leadership role presenting the group’s work, or was it an administrative role ensuring that everyone knew the date and time for the next group meeting?  Did you always draw the pictures or handle the white board during discussions? 

All of these recollections will help you identify your real-world talents and expertise and gain confidence in the direction you choose to undertake.

So, try going back to your roots to find your future career direction. 

“I’m Here to Help”- Key to a 45-Plus Job Search

I work with executives of all ages across the country that have a range of job titles in a variety of industries, and the one common trait those in a 45-year old job search portray in their job search is that they sell themselves too aggressively.

Being “bright-eyed and bushytailed” was the right style when you were in your twenties and thirties.  Employers sought energetic, ambitious prospective employees who they could train and mold into successful executives.  So, “selling yourself” was what we all were told to do.  And we did so with vigor……and success in most cases.

However, now that you are in your forties and fifties, over-selling yourself is 1) unnecessary and 2) wrong.  At this point in your career, you must instead “insert yourself into the new position with confidence and tact” as one of my clients reflected recently.

She had been interviewing for a CMO position at several Bay Area firms with little success.  Smart, well-educated and fresh from several successful start-ups, she had approached each new interview with the same high energy and take-charge attitude that she had developed during her twenty-three year marketing career.

When she then engaged my career strategy services, she was frustrated and gun-shy.  “At each company, I was told that I was “over-qualified” for the position.  I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I need to figure it out soon”.

In our meetings during which we thoroughly assessed her as an individual and executive, tightened up her resume and created an engaging bio and other communications materials, I found myself often “bowled over” by her persona.  It became clear that instead of presenting a profile of someone who would readily “fit into” the company and provide the right kind of leadership, her intense persona borne of years of success, had the potential effect of intimidating and sabotaging her candidacy.

We concluded that her being told by several companies that she was “overqualified” was “HR code” for believing she might be difficult to manage and might alienate her co-workers.

As I had seen this “overqualified” phenomenon many times in my work with clients, we agreed to adopt a more effective approach.

We agreed that she would begin to present a more “HELPFUL” approach in future interviews and portray herself as a strong team-leader and member, sensitive to developing good people, capable of nurturing good ideas with the help of others, and generally, interested in doing what the company needed to do to continue their success.

This shift from “I can  do anything” that worked when she was younger and less-experienced to an attitude of “I’m here to help” was a critical, and as it turned out, a very effective tool in recent interviews.

She found people more interested in and comfortable with her, quickly engaging in more meaningful and informative interviews that will likely lead to an offer soon.

So, in any interactions now that you are over 45 years of age, consider approaching others with equanimity and quiet confidence rather than power and domination.  You are now a pro and do not need to press your case as aggressively.

This “helpful” attitude will feel better and require less energy which are good things as you mature in your career.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON'T GET THE JOB OFFER!

KEEP THE OPPORTUNITY ALIVE!

In my many years of coaching mid and late-career executives to seek “work, not just a job”, I have been mystified by an almost universal response on the part of candidates when they are rejected in favor of another executive for a position they really desired.

These executives, who are highly-qualified, talented and motivated, simply “take no for an answer” and move on to other opportunities.

What a waste of weeks of work on their part interviewing for the position as well as the contacts they made at the subject company, many or most of which were likely to have been positive ones.

Should you be rejected for a job, my earnest advice to you is the following:

1 If you really wanted the position, express that fact and the reasons for your interest in a follow-up letter or email to all the people you met. State in a pleasant, yet confident fashion that you would like to stay in touch and hope they will reach out to you should other opportunities arise in the near future.

2 Specifically follow-up in a phone call with executives you met in the process with whom you really “hit it off”. Express your pleasure at having met them, remind them of your on-going interest, and ask that they keep you in mind for future opportunities at the company or elsewhere. Add them to your Linked In contacts. Linked In will advise you when they have changed positions or companies, another reason for contacting them again.

3 Review the entire interviewing process in your mind (and with trusted advisors or your career coach), and endeavor to refine your interviewing skills and improve your professional presentation based upon any insights you can identify or glean from the people you met.

4 Add these people to your network and periodically update them on your progress (especially when you land a new job).

5 Consider offering to work in a consulting capacity if you are aware that the winning candidate may have more on their hands in the new position than they can handle.

6 Consider contacting the hiring executive or Human Resources in five months or so. Often the winning candidate will have succeeded or failed by this point, so your follow-up could be well-timed.

7 Look for other ways to stay on their radar. But, don’t just let them “go away” if you were strongly interested in the company.

8 Look for other ways to stay on their radar. But, don’t just let them “go away” if you were strongly interested in the company.