I’m back..Some thoughts for hiring managers

October 15th, 2007 markg

Hi everyone, I’m back with my latest thoughts on the do’s and don’t’s for hiring managers and candidates who are hiring and interviewing for opportunities with software companies. As a hiring manager, you may just beginning a search for a position you are seeking to fill, and you happen to interview someone who is a reasonable fit, but you also want to speak with other people as well. That’s fine, but make sure you keep in touch with that candidate and keep the dialogue going, and that you show continued interest. It is a tighter job market and candidates may not be on the market when you are ready to pull the trigger. It is important that you keep in touch and keep the interest level alive.

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I’m back! and I have more thoughts to share from my recruiting travels..

September 19th, 2007 markg

Hi Everyone..

I not been keeping up with my blog and I apologize :)  I understand from my blog experts that I need to keep up with this and I promise to be more diligent. In addition, I would welcome and suggestions or feedback. I could use some real blog help!

On another note,  I recently had a client-candidate interview for a director of software engineering position. It was a grueling interview process and he knocked it out of the park for 3 long interviews where he basically met with the entire company. His last interview was with the CEO and it should have been a rubber stamp situation (Though they never really are:) The question was: So what’s so great about you? What are you going to do for my company? The answer was a bomb. Unfortunately, my client candidate responded to this question like a deer in head lights and it was ..you guessed it..Game over. This is a common scenario and it happens all the time, to many people. My advice is, always stay in sales mode, all the way to the end. It is important to think about what your value is to a company and how you are going to present that information on an interview. From where I sit, I know it sounds simple but I understand that interviewing is challenging and how to communicate in interview-speak is not innate knowledge for many people. That is one of the services that we are able to provide at Techpros, for the candidates that we represent, and I am always available to answer questions that may come up.

New topic and last message for the day: In this market, hiring managers need to understand that there is a window of opportunity with good fit candidates, just like there is a window of opportunity for their job opening. Recently, we had an experience with a client company where they waited 3 weeks from initial interview to set up the next step. They were very interested in the candidate, but very busy. It’s understandable and it happens, but you may want try to make sure that you keep the process moving at as quick of a clip as possible. Good, qualified software candidates will not likely be on the market for very long. My advice to my client companies: Try to make a decision on a candidate one way or the other quickly and keep it moving. Also, keep in touch with the candidate. Make sure you view the interview process as an investment of your time, as that’s what it really is.

Thanks for listening

Mark

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Hiring Managers should feel free to ask closing questions when making an offer

August 27th, 2007 markg

It was a great weekend..my sister got married and it was very exciting. I’m now ready to tackle the week! I recently had an interesting situation with one of my clients. They made an offer and had no idea how the candidate felt after making the offer. There is nothing wrong with asking ‘closing’ questions when making an offer. So..what do you think? What’s your level of interest? Do you have any concerns? Who are we competing with and how do we compete? I know we’re giving you ‘x’ amount of time to get back to us. Will you need to take the full amount of time? These are all fair questions to ask. It helps you get a handle on how interested this candidate is. Is there a greater than 50% chance they will accept? How much effort should you put into making sure your back-up candidate is ready to go? It helps the candidate because it gets them to focus on how they feel. Are they excited? Not excited? It is this type of thinking that will help the candidate make the best decision possible.

Thanks for ‘listening’

Mark Goodstein, Recruiter, Techpros

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Thanks to all of my supporters for the Pan Mass

August 21st, 2007 markg

It was another great ride this year and I just wanted to thank everyone who supported me. The Pan Mass Challenge is an amazing event and does such good for cancer research. I am proud to say this was my 3rd year doing the Pan Mass!

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You thought you were a slam dunk but..

August 21st, 2007 markg

Ever interview with a company and think you were a slam dunk for the position but the company rejects you? You are shocked. You want that job. You want to do something about it. Recently, I experienced this with a candidate. I advised this person  to send an email or call and say something compelling. I was not making any promises and offered that as an option, in the spirit of ‘you never know’ Apparently, this person was angry that they were rejected and they positioned a follow-up that had an angry tone. Why were’nt you interested in me, instead of, what can I do for you? How I can help you? How I can come in and hit the ground running? This was not what I had suggested or what I had in mind. Instead of potentially rekindling an interest, this person only succeeded in alienating the hiring manager. Remember, if you going to attempt this, know that the odds are against you, but always keep it positive and if you need to, always give yourself time to cool down and think about how you are going to position and sell yourself.

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How to handle multiple offers

August 21st, 2007 markg

As a recruiter, I find that candidates can sometimes be hesitant to make decisions when they have multiple offers and/or if they get a counter offer.

In a perfect world, the best to do is to try to make things work at your company before embarking on a job search. Are you sure they can’t fix what you’re unhappy about? Did you even attempt to ask? I will often hear candidates say I didn’t ask because I just assumed my company would not accomodate me. In fact, the reality is that is not the case..companies don’t want to lose good candidates. The key though is in the delivery. It’s not what you say but how you say it. More on this topic later. Back to “How to handle multiple offers”

If you do face multiple offers, make sure you keep expectations appropriate with all of your potential new employers. If you don’t really the offer, tell the company not to make it. If you get the offer and you know you won’t go to that company, tell them as soon as you know. If you tell a company you will get back to them by a certain time, get back to them by that time.

No one will fault you for going elsewhere. They may be unhappy that you are not joining their company but they will understand and believe it or not, they will survive! However, companies will fault you for not keeping their expectations appropriate. When a company feels that you have been stringing them along, that is a sure fire way to damage your reputation and at the end of the day, that’s all anyone really has. Always leave things so that you can keep the door open in the future. You never know..

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Your resume is a ’sales tool’ and should answer questions, not create them

August 2nd, 2007 markg

I interviewed a prospective candidate today for one of my clients. One of the services that I provide is giving feedback on resumes. A resume should explain what each company a person worked for does, and where that company fits in the market. It’s always good to assume that the ‘resume reader’ has never heard of the companies you have worked for. Also, keep away from using proprietary expressions and titles that only someone at your company would understand. Try to explain what you’ve done in standard terms so the  “resume reader’ will more clearly understand where you fit. Last tip for today: You want to show your accomplishments and achievements in terms of what you did for the company, and ideally, you want to show the changes that you made at that company. What did things look like when you started? What do things look like today? These types of accomplishments and achievements are what makes you most valuable to a prospective employer.

Thanks for ’listening’  

Mark Goodstein, Software Recruiter and Founder of Techpros

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It’s so important to listen when checking references

August 2nd, 2007 markg

I was checking some references today, for a candidate/job seeker who has been interviewing with one of my client companies. I will have some clients say to me that references are meaningless because people only will give references of people who will say good things about them. This may be true sometimes but many times, like when the candidate gives a reference who is really a friend, but for the most part, if you listen, you can pick on what people don’t say! For example, some people will pause when asked a direct question. At that point, I know this person is not telling me everything, so I start to ‘drill down’ and probe, to see if I can get more useful information. Today, for example, after hearing a ‘pause’, during a routine reference check, I was able to learn that the person is strong in part of his/her job, but not all of it, and that ultimately, the reference would not recommend this person for all positions within their domain of experience. It was clear that the reference really liked the candidate and would work with him/her again in a heartbeat, but really, when pressed, would not recommend them for every position that person presented themselves as being a fit for. I really feel strongly that if you ‘listen’ during a reference, you can learn a lot!

Thanks for ‘listening’

Mark Goodstein

Software Recruiter and Founder of Techpros

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Communication between hiring manager and employee are key

July 26th, 2007 markg

It is critical for a hiring manager to evaluate his or her employee against expectations. If your employee is not doing what you expect, tell them. Help them. They are not mind readers. On the flip side, if the position is not meeting expectations in terms of what the employee thought it would be, they should communicate this to their manager. Tell people how you feel, communicate, and give people the chance to remedy the situation.

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Don’t try to be all things to all people in a job search

July 24th, 2007 markg

I spoke to a client job seeker today who said he could do a lot of different things and he was open. The best job search is a focused one. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Companies are interested in your background because you can help them with a skill that they don’t have in house. They can’t promote someone or train someone. They need to hire someone from the outside who can hit the ground running. You want to present yourself as an expert in your domain and show the company that you have the skills that they need and that you can help them help solve their problems. By trying to be all things to all people, you lose credibility and will be less competitive when you interview for that particular opening.

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