Online persona killing your future?
Probably not.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen the statistics. Nearly half of employers googled a candidate in the last year and a third made a decision based on that. It is awful to think of those poor people who were disregarded because of some drunken photos on MySpace.
As a disclaimer, I have googled the name of almost everyone who has come to work for us. And no, none of them lost consideration because of it (though a few stuffy companies might have done so with what I found). At best, most of the information I found had little to nothing to do with the ability for these people to perform their job.
The point I make is that assuming your online persona isn’t incredibly unemployable (and I would guess that about 98% of them fall in that category), you aren’t going to be denied a good opportunity at a good company. Most decent companies are going to have some kind of policy about using outside information to come to a job decision. Most decent companies are going to exercise good judgement on this matter too.
But if you are a company that can’t stand if one of your interns has a picture of him and his buddies at a bar and you are the type of person that doesn’t mind making that information public, maybe you aren’t being denied a good opportunity after all. Job fit and company culture play a major role in your future as an employee and along with your future boss, this sort of clash of cultures might kill your job chances anyway.
It isn’t going to become less common for employers to do an internet search for you. If you are concerned about what your chances are with a company based on what you find about yourself, you should try to sanitize it.
Or then again, maybe not. You might just be doing yourself a favor.
Disclaimer 2: My boss at work has seen my MySpace profile. It has several unprofessional pictures on it (including drinking pictures). She thought it was great. Of course, I don’t think it is bad for HR to show any sort of personality. We have to beat accounting!
Self-management 101
Whenever you go to college and you talk about business and management philosophy, a resounding theme comes up. It is a theme about businesses taking responsibility for poor policy. Whenever your employees aren’t reaching their full potential, you should be looking at your organization, its structure and how well you are communicating expectations to employees. It is unnatural and weird to first examine your company whenever there is a breakdown in your organization. At least it is for me. It is still against the norm for companies to be looking at what they could be doing better but it seems like it is getting better.
Whenever there is a problem at your workplace as an employee in communication with your boss, a co-worker or a missed goal, the opposite holds true. Many employees take the easy way out by blaming their employers for their failures at work. As an HR person, I know first hand how often this comes up in interviews. “I couldn’t reach my potential in this position.” “My boss promoted the CEO’s son instead of me.” You learn similar things about a candidate from the offer and acceptance process and the excuses that could come up if she is not successful and she is interviewing for a new job. If a move is made from a large corporation to a startup, she could blame the lack of structure when she interviews for another big firm two years later. He’s been the “CEO” of a very small business and now he is taking a role that is much more structured and much more niche than what he was doing before.
These types of sacrifices happen all the time when switching jobs. You weigh the positives and negatives to taking a job. So maybe you take a pay cut, a different position, a smaller company, a bigger company, a company you know you can’t grow in or a company you have to grow in. You take these sacrifices and say “I can handle it.” Then you forget about all of these and you don’t change your expectations for the job. So now you want more pay, your old position, a bigger company, a smaller company, a company you can grow in and a company you don’t have to grow in to survive.
So whenever somebody says to me that they weren’t challenged or weren’t paid enough, I always ask a follow up to detect if they knew this before they were brought on board and if they attempted to make the best of the situation.
Changing jobs because your expectations were not met isn’t a big deal but if it happens repeatedly in your career, hiring managers will figure it out and they might suspect you have a hearing problem. If you are aware of the sacrifices you are making to take a job, write them down. Keep them. Reread them in three months. And don’t take anything a company says at more than face value. If you get blindsighted by an expectations gap, work as hard as hell to personally conquor that gap. Not only will you be bettering your prospects at the company, you’ll be prepared to seek another position elsewhere if it comes to it. Then you won’t be making excuses for poor performance, you’ll simply be explaining the steps you took to improve your situation and the progress you achieved.
Longevity
I’m David Manaster, CEO of ERE Media, the leading trade publisher for recruiting professionals. Your HR Guy is generously hosting this (very late) guest post on his blog as part of the Big Bad Recruiting Blog Swap.
I’ve been reading Beth’s post on “job hoppers”, the comments on it, and Your HR Guy’s thoughts on the subject with a great deal of interest. As the CEO of a small business (about 10 employees), I thought that I might have a slightly different perspective on the topic.
Small companies often feel very different than their larger counterparts with thousands of employees. Generally speaking, it’s more of a family feel. Yeah, we really only work together, and most of us at ERE are not even physically at the same location, but we spend most of our days talking, emailing and IMing with each other, so culture is not just some warm & fuzzy idea or a matter of drinking the Kool-Aid, it’s vitally important.
We’re all in this together, and we know it.
I’m not speaking hypothetically here. When someone here screws up, everyone feels it. When someone knocks the ball out of the park, we all benefit.
Daisy Dukes
A quick little intro for those of you tuning in to the Big Bad Recruiting Blog Swap… My name is Tod Hilton and I will be your host for this post. What I am: a software developer at Microsoft and a bunch of other things [father, husband, gamer, snowboarder, etc.]. What I’m not: a recruiter or hiring manager, although I do interview candidates and give the infamous ‘hire’ or ‘no-hire’ recommendation.
Do you remember The Dukes of Hazzard from the late 70’s? Well, I was all of 10 years old and watched that show religiously. I wanted to be Bo or Luke Duke…I didn’t care which one, they were both cool [back then anyone who wore a Buck knife on their belt was cool]. And then there was Daisy. Oh my goodness, Daisy. Yes, I had a huge crush on her…in fact, name me a 10-40 year old male from that period that didn’t! And of course, there were those Daisy Dukes. Denim cut-offs [when those were also still cool] that barely covered the necessities. Yowza! 
Now that I’ve revealed some of my teenage angst for you, let me get to my point. Dress codes at work. I have never agreed with them. Every employer’s dress code should be limited to two words: common sense. That’s it. Nothing more and nothing less. Meanwhile, Your HR Guy says “some people need to be told what to wear.”
Here’s the rub, I agree wholeheartedly with HR Guy’s sentiment. Yes, some people do need to be told what to wear, but why should that translate into telling everyone what to wear?
I have worked a number of jobs in retail, the private sector, small business and large corporations. Most of them had dress codes and the most prominent thing I remember about them is the amount of agitation, discomfort and controversy they caused among the employees. Here are a few examples:
Entertainment from employees
This post by Beth Carvin on my blog as part of the blogswap has generated quite a few comments. Most of them seem to be from disgruntled employees or those who feel less optimistic about corporate America in general.
Just a few comments regarding some of the responses:
- Wow. I wasn’t aware that HR types had it so easy that they could (and would) so casually discount an otherwise worthwhile potential hire, purely because they thought that person might be a “job hopper”. I think that’s a bit of a misnomer there. We don’t have it easy which is why we must seriously evaluate whether or not a person is going to stay with a company to recoup our investment. Hiring isn’t an incredibly easy thing to do right so you don’t want to be rehiring after a few months. I would say that it is probably easy to hire people, but it is not easy to hire the right people.
- I don’t like HR people who think I must join a cult they call a “team” to be a successful employee. Who said that? You have to be able to work as a team in many positions. I don’t think that’s demanding you join a cult.
- Anyone who cares what anyone in the field of HR thinks of them is wasting valuable thoughts. In some companies, that’s probably true. Anybody who thinks that as a rule should really re-evaluate how they intend to make a living because it probably won’t be working for a company. As an HR person, I have come to the realization that some people aren’t made for working for someone else or working in their particular job. And while you may be just biding time until that next opportunity comes up, it does you no good to start burning your bridges before you’re off them.
- Absolutely never indulge in thoughts of *loyalty* — companies have zero loyalty to you, and will drop you without hesitation as soon as it is convenient for them. I’ll agree with you to a point. You should never exert loyalty beyond what you are willing to sacrifice. We live in a choice society and you are able to make a lot of choices. You should make choices that best suit you and best meet your goals. I would NEVER encourage anyone to not do that. What I am trying to do with this blog is make people aware that some of the decisions they make can effect them and here’s why.
- Look out for better offers, and take them when they show up. Companies (and hence HR) don’t want that because they want to keep your wages low. Don’t let them. Actually, a good HR department doesn’t mind that too much because they are often the one’s putting up the better offers. I would say that with the exception of a few fields, staying in jobs for several years at a time will allow HR to offer a better compensation package at your next jumping off point. You’re artificially keeping your wages low (with some exception) by jumping around a lot.
I’m not a full out company man by any stretch of the imagination but I realize that working for my company and doing a good job is in my best interest and I have been rewarded accordingly. Do I see myself doing this forever? I sure hope not. I’ve got the “be your own boss” jive in my blood. But being a good employee and helping the people I work with be better employees is a choice I have made. I love what I do and if you can’t do what you love, you shouldn’t make yourself more miserable by putting whatever you have currently in jeopardy.
Why I STILL Don’t Like Job Hoppers
This post is part of the BlogSwap.
Hi all, my name is Beth N. Carvin. I am the CEO and President for Nobscot Corporation, the developers of WebExit exit interview management software. I’ve worked in the recruiting and/or human resources field for more than 15 years. When I was involved in recruiting, I didn’t much like job hoppers. Now that I’m involved in employee retention, I still don’t like job hoppers. Today I’d like to share with you why.
Why I STILL Don’t Like Job Hoppers
1) If an applicant worked for less than a year at his last 3 jobs, why should I think he will stay at my company any longer?
2) The cost spent on an employee is considerably higher in the first year then in subsequent years. If the employee leaves in the first year, I have not recouped my investment.
3) It doesn’t matter how great an employee is, even the best ones don’t start truly contributing until they have been with the company for at least 6 months. For most employees it usually takes 18 months.
4) The best employees become heavily involved with important projects and/or have strong client relationships. When they leave it creates a huge crisis. It’s too risky to have a job hopper working on anything important.
5) Job hoppers are generally weak of character. They have little sense of responsibility and commitment. They are more focused on themselves than on the people and things around them. They jump ship at the smallest irritation or when the company across the street offers them a few extra pennies. The best employees are responsible by nature. They are more outwardly focused. They care about the company, their co-workers and clients. A responsible-minded employee will contribute at least 150% more in productivity than an employee who cares only about himself.
6) It’s a pain in the ass to refill positions. If you are an employee, find yourself a good company and stay with them long term. Even if it’s a mediocre company, do the best job you can and show your future employers that you’ll do what it takes to be successful.
If you are an HR guy, it’s your job to carefully weed out job hoppers. When you interview, make sure you understand each applicant’s reasons for leaving for each of his or her positions. If the reasons were not the applicant’s fault or if the applicant happened to work for some unusually horrible companies then take that into consideration. Otherwise, if the applicant is a job hopper in the true sense of the word, stay far away. Your company will thank you.
For more quick tips on hiring, see Carvin’s Rules for Hiring the Best.
Copyright 2006 B. N. Carvin
Your HR Guy Hates Shorts
As a quick aside, I have been super busy, stressed, yadda yadda and ignoring the one thing that brings me sweet relief: blogging. It is good to see you all again.
I hate dress codes. Especially because I hate dressing up or looking nice and that sort of thing. In fact, if I were in a position of not interacting with future employees on a face to face basis (or customers, etc…) I would happily not wear the getup.
That being said, dress codes are an absolute necessity. There are exceptions to this rule that I don’t really feel like going into or inserting myself into a debate over but one thing, one universal idea that goes into why I like dress codes.
Some people need to be told what to wear
Some people I do not want to see any more of. Some people want to show skin and it might be distracting to co-workers. I hated our shorts policy. Some people were wearing shorts that were too short and we get to have fun conversations about short length. Then some people wore shorts that weren’t professional (rips, etc…). I just got tired of the combo of having to try and regulate all the different types of shorts there were and trying to disuede some people who shouldn’t wear shorts. And especially this time of year, I get a few complaints about it and I usually make up something about how we are a professional office and yadda yadda yadda, but for the most part, the reasoning above is all I need.
CanaryWharfJobs.com provides London jobs online.
Building portable equity
I reviewed Radical Careering here several weeks ago and while I thought the book was average, one point that stuck with me and has continued to do so is the building of portable equity. Portable equity is defined as skills, experience and education that you can take with you from job to job. These days, nobody would be attracted to a retirement plan that you lose if you get laid off. Employees want portability because they don’t see themselves as employees for life (and most employers, if they are honest, don’t either). The same is true with job skills that translate to the field you have chosen to work in. Building portable equity in your career takes work. As a recent graduate, you may be stuck with not-so-sexy job assignments and duties. Here are five ways you can beat the rap on those duties and become a superstar:
1.) You must do the job. The key to beating it straight out of the gate is to enthusiastically hit a home run with those not-so-sexy duties and every time you do, inform your boss that you are ready for your next challenge. No need to be annoying about it but no need to take it sitting down. It should be apparent from your actions that you can easily and competently take care of these minor job duties and you can start fitting in some projects with sex appeal.
2.) Be patient but don’t be a pushover. If you are on your second day, now is probably not the time to ask for more responsibilities and a raise. If a year has passed and you are doing the same thing you did your first month, you probably need to take control of your career. Don’t be a clock-puncher (a.k.a. the type of person that sits around years after his last promotion wondering why his promotion hasn’t come), go to work excited to do your job and present it as evidence to your boss that it is time to move up.
3.) Be prepared to take risks and experience failure. That doesn’t mean you falsify financial results until you get what you want. It is that you are prepared to risk falling flat on your face for both the possibility you might hit a home run or that you will learn something valuable once you dust yourself off. The best possible opportunities are the one’s that your boss thinks can’t be done. Taking on a project like this with enthusiasm is as near to “no risk” in business as you get. Figure out a way to make it work and knock your boss over.
4.) Build your resume now. Think about what you would want on your resume if you were forced to leave your job the next day. If you haven’t done it yet, do it. Stop putting it off and make it happen. The key to building portable equity is making sure you can use your experience and education to move (either within your company or to a different one). Try finding more projects that make your superstar status apparent.
5.) Be prepared to use that portable equity. While job hopping is not something I would ever promote, sometimes it is the only option in a dead end job. Before you go though, make sure you aren’t job hopping from a bad situation with no room for portable equity growth to another one with a nicer boss. You won’t be happy there either and then you’ll look like a job hopper. While you seek that next opportunity, spend time in your current job building whatever limited equity you can.
Maybe some other HR folks think I am throwing them under the bus here. I wish I had a room full of superstars but I won’t. The problem is that thinking in the above way is extraordinary. It is easy to find people who want to come in, punch a clock and get paid to do the basic requirements of the job. Finding people who are truly hungry for challenges is the difficult part.
Sexual harassment is still a hot button issue
Recruiting Animal responded to a series of posts I made regarding the termination of an employee for offering “copious BJ’s” to other employees for taking a shift of his. The discussion that unfolds is very interesting. There seems to be two schools of thought unfolding. One is that the language he used was obviously crude but also obviously joking. While inappropriate, what he said was not firing worthy. The second thinks this guy is an idiot and deserved to be treated to a lesson before he started his real career.
I understand the first school of thought very well. HR is often the business end of the political correctness fostered by a company’s legal department, lawmakers at state and US capitals and judges and it irritates me as well. That being said though, the point is moot. That is the business environment we operate in and as I commented, our legal system rewards employers that over-enforce sexual harassment law. End of story. Do any of your legal departments want to take a principled stand and fight for the right for this guy to say “copious BJ’s” as he pleases? Perhaps if he is the CEO but not if he is an easily replaced, entry level employee.
The fact of the matter is that employers are fairly risk adverse on any potential sexual harassment behavior. Could this guy have sued us for firing him inappropriately? Perhaps. The chance of it going to court and getting heard is pretty slim, the chance of him winning it is slimmer. Could someone plop a sexual harassment suit on us based on this e-mail? Perhaps. The chance of it going to court and getting heard is much better than the employee who got fired. Furthermore, if this guy had made previous advances towards other employees that the supervisor was unaware of, this could further the case of harassing behavior and not an innocent joke. Not to mention, there is very little tone in e-mail to go off of. If this were a conversation with witnesses, perhaps it could be more easily defended as a joke. Black and white text gives little indication of the jist of his statement. His intentions of a joke is unclear enough to raise a valid point.
So I guess that’s the long way of stating my view on it. Did I agree with it in principle? No, I thought it was an over-enforcement. Does it matter whether I agree in principle? Not really. Why? Because in practice, over-enforcement is encouraged and makes much more sense than rolling the dice with sexual harassment. Were it my business, legal department and money on the line, the choice is obvious. If some other HR guy wants to play with fire on that one, please go ahead and let me know your results and ROI on it. This was an easy decision to support. There are much more compelling cases out there where there is an obviously wronged person on the business end of political correctness but I am confident in saying this isn’t one of them.
Researching to reduce turnover
Dr. Williams over at ERE says that the best way to reduce turnover is to look at past employee records and determine a pattern of traits that can help you avoid high turnover rates. There are several pitfalls that he addressed along with the obvious benefits of such a program that I am interested in talking about.
The benefits he goes over are of real value to any company. Reducing turnover has a true ROI if accomplished effectively as Dr. Williams states. It is an easy sell to the executive group.
What isn’t going to be an easy sell are a few questions they will have for your HR department like:
Who is going to do the analysis? Those sorts of skills aren’t as easily available in some organizations as others
Do we have a similar enough workforce to accomplish this? If you don’t, you’re done.
What kind of reduction are we talking about? It is untested and many companies don’t want to be testing grounds.
On top of those questions, I have to wonder what HR department has time to try something like this. Granted this could be a phenomenal success. On the other hand, there might be nothing significant that differentiates successful employees from the unsuccessful ones (or at least enough to enact positive changes). If you have more HR resources than you know what to do with and you have time to implement this sort of massive research and analysis project, you either don’t have a big problem (because you have adequate HR analysis) or you are missing the boat completely.
HR can make a proven, positive impact on the positions that are very similar: developing a world class training system, constant monitoring of new employees job performance and satisfaction and retooling the interview process in response. Better sourcing, reviewing of compensation, and even a change in management technique can make a more effective change in a company’s turnover rate than this sort of system (even if successfully implemented). If you have higher than acceptable turnover, you should be going through these basic, time tested and proven techniques before trying something like this. If you’ve had little success with the basics though, you should probably be looking at what you’re doing wrong before you spend resources on this because if you can’t nail the basics, I am doubtful you can implement this system successfully.
It isn’t that I think that Dr. Williams suggestion couldn’t be successful, it’s that I think the companies that could implement it effectively probably have little use and probably wouldn’t meet any ROI goal.
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About
Your HR Guy is a Human Resources Generalist practicing in the field. But don't let that fool you, this isn't a boring blog. I seek relevance and humor in a place we will spend much of our lives. Everything from workplace issues, job seeking and terrible bosses. Read more...
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