I am proud to have another article, They’re Just Not That Into You, on Thrive Global!
My Article, They’re Just Not That Into You, Appears on Thrive Global!
Keep Calm and New Hire On: Five Tips for Managers to Reduce the Stress of Onboarding Someone New
Congratulations! You have a new hire! Except…
We all know that starting a new job can be nerve wracking for new hires, but what about the stress it puts on hiring managers? Onboarding a new hire takes a lot of time, mental energy, and patience. Here are my 5 tips to reduce the stress as you get your new hire up and running:
- Book lots of training time on your calendar in the first few weeks. While it’s easy to think that you can do all your work and get your new hire up to speed, you cannot. There are only so many hours in the day, and the training will be more effective if there are minimal interruptions and your new employee has your undivided attention at least a few hours a day in the beginning.
- Breathe. New hires, from entry-level to the most senior executives, will have a lot of questions. Having someone pepper you with constant questions can be stressful but remember two things: you were once the newbie, so pay it forward, and the more thoroughly you answer the questions early on, the faster your new hire will understand how things work.
- Make it a team effort. It will take some of the stress off you, and the team approach will give the new hire a chance to hear multiple perspectives and build meaningful relationships with others in the organization. Plus, new hires can have questions they do not necessarily want to ask you, their boss, so this gives them other sources of information. Look beyond your team. Find key stakeholders in other departments so that your employee sees the big picture.
- Celebrate early successes. We all want to know that we are getting the hang of a new job and adding value. I worked for a manager who gave a bottle of champagne to new hires at a team meeting when they hit their first major performance milestone. This made the new hire feel accomplished and made the veterans on the team feel good to have played a part in getting the new hire to this point.
- Have daily face time with them for the first month or so. I worked for someone who did intense trainings with me for the first week or so, and then blocked time at the end of each day for the remainder of my first month. That time was invaluable, because it gave me a chance to determine priorities, do a temperature check and get my questions answered.
A well-planned onboarding plan takes effort, and you (and your new hire!) will reap the rewards of the effort.
Good luck!
Hire the best! With personalized service and proven results, Pillar Search & HR Consulting provides retained executive search services and human resources consulting for exceptional non-profits and socially responsible for-profit firms. A woman-owned business, Pillar is based in Boston, MA, and works on the national level. To learn more about how Pillar can assist with your hiring and human resources needs, please contact Cindy Joyce at cindy@pillarsearch.com.
They’re Just Not That Into You
Breaking up is hard to do. The old song is as true for romantic relationships as it is for candidates interviewing for a plum role with a great company. Even if it is a brief courting period/interview process, you have invested time, energy and significant effort. You’ve started getting excited for the future. And then, suddenly, you find that the feelings are not reciprocated. The hiring manager or recruiter delivers the bad news, with something like “we’re moving in a different direction“, or “we’ve filled the position internally”, otherwise known as “It’s not you, it’s me” message. In rare cases, you’ll actually find out it was you and get some meaningful feedback. Either way, it’s clear, what you thought was the beginning of a meaningful, long term relationship is over, done, caput, finished. Time to take a breath and exit nicely, else you scorch the earth by becoming the stage five clinger* candidate.
I am an Executive Recruiter who works on high level searches for my clients, and have to let candidates know of tough decisions in the recruiting process on a regular basis. Very recently, I have had two candidates in separate searches who handled the news of “the breakup” quite differently.
The first candidate, who we will call Jack**, interviewed with me for a role with Company A. I liked Jack’s skills and experience, and believed that he could be a fit for the role. I presented him to my client, who did a phone interview with him. The feedback was that he had highly relevant experience, but came across as arrogant, talked over the client throughout the interview, and spoke ill of former coworkers (all things he did not display in his interview with me). The client, understandably, felt that this was not the best fit for their culture. When I called Jack to explain, he went ballistic. He told me that the client and I did not know what we were doing, he would find someone more important than us at the organization who would understand how great he was, and that the client did not give him enough time to explain his experience. A few days later, he sent a scathing email to the client. Five paragraphs of how we had made an egregious mistake by not hiring him. Thankfully, my client and I have an open and honest relationship, and she forwarded it to me. How embarrassing for me and how uncomfortable for my client. We decided to go ahead and hire him. I kid! We clearly are moving on to candidates who are a better fit for the job and the organization.
I was then understandably gun shy when I had to share news with a candidate interviewing with another client, Company B. They had decided to move forward with other candidates. This candidate, who we will call Sonny***, interviewed for a role of a similar level as Jack had with my other client. When I called him, he listened, asked for feedback, and though I could hear the surprise in his voice at the news and he was quieter than usual, he thanked me for the consideration. Within an hour, he emailed me to say that he was sorry if he seemed short with me. He had been surprised by the news, but upon reflection understood the client’s decision and wished them well. He further thanked me for the feedback, and said that it was great working with me and he hoped that we would have a chance to work together again.
Regardless of the reasoning, shock and bruised feelings are inevitable when someone finds out that they are not “the one”, and there will be a period of mourning while the dreams and excitement of the future fade away. The difference between Jack and Sonny is obvious. One burned a bridge, and one was a true professional, which left a lasting positive impression. Guess who I will call to play matchmaker for the next time I have a great catch of a job?
*Thank you, Wedding Crashers, for this gem!
**Name has been changed to protect the guilty
***Name has been changed to protect the rock star candidate who handled the situation with elegance and grace.
Cindy Joyce is the CEO of Pillar Search & HR Consulting. With over 20 years of experience, Pillar provides national retained search services for exceptional non-profits and foundations and early-stage or rapid growth for-profit firms. All share the characteristic of desiring top talent who want an occupassion, not just an occupation. In addition, Pillar offers human resources consulting services, which was born of clients requesting help on projects beyond executive search, and includes leadership coaching, human resources audits, handbooks, assessing organizational design, training, team building, and employee communications. A woman-owned business, Pillar is based in Boston, MA, and works on both a local and national level. For more information, please visit www.pillarsearch.com.
Interview Tips: Are We Dressing for Interviews Like it is still the 1980s?
I entered the job market in the early 1990s, when hair was high, shoulders were padded, and hemlines were not to be more than an inch above the knee. There was someone at my first “real” job who actually went around with a ruler to enforce that last rule. At first, dressing up for work was fun. Given that one of my favorite movies from the 1980s had been Baby Boom, starring Diane Keaton as the high-powered New York executive who takes on the city in her skirted suits and sensible heels, I felt like I was channeling her and I was, as a result, all grown up.
Despite our job being in a call center at an investment firm where we never saw a client in person, my colleagues and I were expected to be in professional attire every day. Back then, that meant a suit and tie for the gents and a skirted suit or dress with stockings for the ladies. But good news – the dress code stated that women were permitted to wear a suit with pants one day per week. Such progress!
Times, thankfully, have changed. A mere seven years later, the even stodgier investment firm at which I was working had adopted a business casual dress policy. Today, nearly all firms have a relaxed or downright super casual dress code and will ask that people use their judgment and wear suits when visiting with clients.
As an Executive Recruiter, part of my job is to help candidates prep for the interview. Know the ins and outs of the job requirements? Check. Understand the company’s culture? Check. Get a read on the styles of those with whom you will be interviewing? Check. Dressing for the interview? Yes, that too.
Many search firms will tell candidates to wear a full suit for interviews, specifying a skirted suit for the ladies. At previous firms, we were instructed to tell every candidate to “channel their inner Brooks Brothers” when dressing for interviews. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of the Brooks Brothers vibe, but it did make me think: Is interviewing in a suit still required?
If I look at my current clients, it would be about 50/50. One client is a retailer of accessories that promotes the preppy lifestyle. They have told me that if someone comes in looking “too corporate”, they will not be a fit. One client is a bit more traditional, and while the dress code is business casual, the President and CAO wear suits every day, so any candidate would want to be dressed for that. Another client would say that for sales interviews they would definitely expect someone to “suit up”, but otherwise would not balk if someone came in looking less formal so long as they looked really professional.
While there is no hard and fast rule, my advice is this: Figure out what the interviewer(s) will want.
- Don’t be shy about asking! It shows an interest in making a good impression and respect for the company culture.
- Who to ask? If you are dealing directly with the firm, ask HR. If you know someone who works there (this is where LinkedIn can come in really handy), reach out to him or her.
- If you are working with an Executive Recruiter, he or she should be able to give you the lay of the land.
Be sure to be on the dressier end of whatever you ascertain. If it is a truly casual atmosphere and you are told that jeans are fine, make them dark jeans as they come across as far more polished. Pair them with a jacket and a crisp white button down. Business casual? For men, this could mean a sports jacket with no tie, and for women this could mean pants or a skirt with a cardigan. Need to channel your inner Brooks Brothers still? Maybe channel all of their sections, not just the suits. When in doubt, wear a black suit. For women, this can be a pantsuit. Men, wear a subtle tie. This is not the time to use the tie to show your individuality. Regardless of dress code expectations, and this may be the daughter of a former Air Force pilot speaking, shine your shoes before heading out the door for the interview. Literally, it puts your best foot forward. People may not notice a shined shoe, but they will definitely notice an unkempt one.
While dressing for interviews can be a daunting task, doing it right can show that you have an innate understanding of the organization’s culture. Just be thankful that the 1980s are behind us. Those shoulder pads were a lot to pull off.
For more tips on how to make an impact, be sure to check out my earlier article, Interview Impact: The Art of the Thank You Letter.
Surf’s Up: What Surfing Can Teach You about Your Job Search
I am a surfer, or at least aspiring to be one. Recently, I was out on my board on a day with few good waves and plenty of downtime to ponder this addicting sport and life in general, and began to realize that there are many parallels between the job search and surfing.
Like the job search, surfing depends as much on one’s skill and experience as it does a host of conditions that we have zero control over. Weather. Crowded surfing areas and beaches. Wave size and frequency. Swell direction. The list is endless, just as it is when you are seeking a new job in a competitive market or industry.
Once you have decided to get in the water (or start looking for your next career opportunity), you paddle out and try not to bump into others. In the job search, this can be those baby steps that are really critical to overall success, such as writing your resume, crafting solid cover letters, beefing up your LinkedIn profile, and letting people in your network know that you are open to a new opportunity.
Experienced surfers will have multiple boards to choose from to suit their mood or the conditions. Savvy candidates will do the same. Perhaps your “board” will be resumes that highlight different skills and career objectives depending on the jobs you are interested in, or cover letters that will be the differentiator. Knowing yourself and the tools that are available to you is key to success.
Like choosing the right job to apply to, choosing the right wave is key. It would be physically and emotionally exhausting to paddle out, attempt to get in the right spot at the right time, pop up, and stay balanced if surfers went after every wave that came along. Be selective so that you are fresh and energized when the right one comes along.
Hang ten. Surfs up. Cut the curl. These are not sayings that you will hear on a golf course, tennis court, or basketball court. They are specific to the sport of surfing. An industry will have its own language and catch phrases. Do your research so that you can communicate better with the people you are interviewing with and gain their trust and confidence.
Enjoy the ride, even if it is not the perfect wave. There are days that I get out on the board and I am just not feeling it, but I still enjoy being out there. The same can happen in an interview when the job and company look great on paper, but in the light of day you just do not feel that spark. Relax. Every interview is good practice and experience as well as a chance to expand your network. Surfers talk about catching the perfect wave, but in reality we try and try and keep getting back on the board, even after falling or not doing our best.
Having a good instructor helps. Even the most experienced surfers sometimes need a fine tuning on their technique, someone who can help them to look at their style and approach and make suggestions. In the job search, working with an Executive Recruiter can be invaluable, as we will take a fresh look at your resume and help you to identify the skills and experiences that you should highlight in the interview.
Ultimately, you may need to try a few waves before you find the ideal one, but in the end, there is no feeling as satisfying and euphoric as catching that perfect wave. The same holds true for the job search. Keep at it, and you will catch the right job and have the ride of your life.
