What Did He Say???

I don't know about you, but I am married. In addition to my wife at home, I have an "office wife" and, in the past, I had a "train wife." These wives are good friends and we look out for one another, covering for one another when one of us is on vacation and bouncing ideas off of one another when we are unsure.

Yesterday, my office wife, Terry, was speaking with someone who had replied to an ad she had run on the web for a client, an airline targeting an upscale market. The ad was clear that airline industry experience was required.

So she calls up the person, whose resume does not mention airline experience and asks, "So what's your experience with airlines."

And then he answered those words that instntly became legendary in my office:

" My wife works for an airline."

HUH?

I understand. A wife replies for a surgeon position at a hospital with the explanation, "My husband is a surgeon and we sometimes talk about his day and operations over dinner."

How about this response to a teaching position:

"My daughter is in 4th grade!"

Please only reply for positions for which you meet minimum qualifications or are extremely close to meeting minimum qualifications.

If you do this you will have a chance of being interviewed and eventually hired . . . depending upon your interview and competition, of course.

If you don't do this, you are stealing time that the potential employer or recruiter can never regain with no purpose other than to hope against hope and reason that they interview you.

Outplacement firms often encourage people to blanket every ad with resumes . . . but they don't have to open and read all the emails or mailed resumes. They just have to talk and offer advice that may or may not be good.

Trust me, you don't like to get spam and neither do recruiters, managers and business owners. Make sure your resume demonstrates a fit before you send it and only send it if it meets or is extremely close to meeting minimum job requirements.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, or to learn more and sign up for his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to, http://www.jeffaltman.com. To subscribe to Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, Natural Selection Ezine, subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Manners Aren't Just for 6 Year Old Boys and Girls

My son, Jack, is six years old as are his friends. I get to watch he and his friends eat with some regularity and I'll just say Hannibal and the Roman armies as they are depicted in old movies eat with better manners than they do.

Food lands on their clothes and flies everywhere. It is eaten with hands despite frequent demands not to do so.

And then I started to notice how job applicant manners can sometimes be infantile, too, and decided to write this column. Here are a few reminders about do's and don'ts.


1. Arrive at the interview early, particularly with human resources. It should go without saying but, unfortunately needs to be said because people keep arriving at their interviews late. Five minutes. 20 minutes. 45 minutes late. It's all rude.

2. If you are late, apologize and explain. Don't pretend that nothing happened. Acknowledge it. Two of my clients will reject someone for not explaining a lateness, thinking that if they are rude when they are supposed to be polite, what will they do when they are comfortable.

3. Remember to spell check before you hit send. I confess to making this mistake, particularly with my blog and ezine, and, fortunately, I have gotten better with this mistake. Readers have told me how a spelling mistake (they are generally caused by typos) irks them. Now imagine what it is like when someone reads your resume and it is replete with spelling errors.

4. Turn your cell off and make sure your PDA/Blackberry doesn't chime, chirp or beep during the interview. I recently wrote about the job hunter who took a call for 5 minutes while in an interview, keeping the hiring manager waiting throughout. UGH!

5. For lunch or dinner meetings, don't focus on the food and forget the person. Your interview is more important than fixating on the appetizer, no matter how good it is. Oh, yes, don't eat like Jack.

6. Don't rush through or brush off the application. An application is a legal document. At most companies, completing it inaccurately or falsely is grounds for dismissal. Rushing through it, unless asked to do so, sends a message to the employer of disrespect (they will have trouble reading your handwriting when you rush). Do everything well.

7. Make sure your voice mail at home, at the office and on your cell sound professional. A child's voice is adorable. Really. But put yourself into the caller's shoes and imagine what it is like to listen to the voices of so many children's and family's messages. Something like, "This is Adam (the child), Lois (the mother) and Roger (the father). (TOGETHER) Please leave a message when you hear the beep."

8. Send a "Thank you email" after the interview. Look them right in the eye, shake their hand and thank them for interviewing you and tell them of your interest in the job. Speak sincerely. Then send a thank you email afterwards.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like me to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to me at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to me at: thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

LinkedIn and Xing: Get Found!

The person who gets ahead isn't always the smartest or work the hardest . . . although those are great qualities to have. The person who gets ahead is one who remains alert to opportunity. Sometimes those are internal to an organization; more often than not, it is external.

Most people have heard or understand the importance of networking and LinkedIn and Xing are the two premier business networking sites to help you be found or find others.

Both have international penetration but LinkedIn is stronger US and Xing in Europe.

Often, people make the mistake of presenting a bland commercial about themselves into their listings instead of using an aggressive commercial about their experience and interests into the posting.

Why not have a focused version of your resume on your page?

Why not put your email address next to your name in order to invite contact?

Why not update your listing on a quarterly basis with new accomplishments?

Making it easy for others to find you will help you be perceived as an expert in an employer's mind so that they are favorably disposed to hiring you before meeting you?

LinkedIn and Xing can not only help you find a job, but help you shape your career.

Wouldn't job hunting be easier if they wanted to hire you at the time they contact you?

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, or to learn more and sign up for his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to, http://www.jeffaltman.com. To subscribe to Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, Natural Selection Ezine, subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).