Career development

7h

Career Coach Office Hours: November 12 2024

I answered questions about #jobsearch. If you can't attend live, mark that you'll attend on LinkedIn, message your question to me there, and watch the replay

07:01 Why doesn't HR reply after I complete the job application?

08:45 What are some effective strategies for negotiating a higher salary when starting a new job?

11:20 If a person has two job interviews scheduled for the same day, should... they go ahead with both interviews or cancel one of them?

If a person has two job interviews scheduled for the same day, should they go ahead with both interviews or cancel one of them?

12:45 A commercial

14:48 Does not showing up to interviews affect hiring process at other places?

16:57 What are some things to say to explain a job search gap on a resume or during an interview?

19:07 Is it good when a company closes a job requisition, just before sending you the interview invite?

19:41 Does not showing up to interviews affect hiring process at other places? more

Career development

9h

Top Job Interview Mistakes That Can Cost You The Job

Your resume worked and got you a highly coveted job interview. You're a strong candidate, excited and hopeful. Then to your ultimate disappointment, you don't get a job offer. Sarah found herself in this situation.

She was a sales manager who had recently lost her job. Frustrated by her lack of success, she called for interview coaching. Sarah began our conversation by saying, "I'm in sales, but... it seems I can't sell myself. I must be making a major mistake because I'm not being hired. I have all the job qualifications, so I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I've lost out on three jobs now, so I'm doing something to turn off the employers. What can it be?"

Many others also face this scenario. They don't know what they might be saying that prevents them from not getting hired. As I began my interview coaching session with Sarah, it became crystal clear that there were some significant mistakes she needed to correct to change the outcome to land the next job.

You need to avoid making the following mistakes.

When you are under the spotlight, people often give a poor answer that sends the message to the employer that you are the wrong person for the job. You don't want to get tripped up by these typical but difficult questions. Advanced preparation is the key to handling them like a pro and building the employer's confidence in your job performance.

List the questions you'll likely be asked and write your answers. Are you saying something that can make them question whether you might have problems with the work or interacting with others? When you are happy with the response, practice recording yourself answering each one. Listen to the playback. Refine the answer until you are satisfied with how you'll respond.

Prepare answers to questions like:

All job hunters seem to cringe when they hear this weakness question. Yes, this is a super tough one. My Forbes article, "A New Way To Answer The 'What's Your Greatest Weakness?' Interview Question" will guide you in developing the perfect answer.

This probing style of questioning is how most candidates make mistakes. It's designed so the employer can assess how you have performed in the past and also assume you'll do the same if you work for them. Your answers are very revealing and help the employer make a better, unbiased decision.

Job hunters find situational questions challenging to answer. They skip early details that make the story harder to follow. They fail to paint a clear picture of the situation, leaving out specific details and critical information. This confuses the hiring manager, who gets stuck wondering where this happened or who was involved. By not being detailed and specific upfront the employer often doesn't catch the rest of your answer.

As you craft your answer, begin the story defining where this happened. For example, "While I was the Director at Mount Vernon Health," then name and explain who the players are, clearly noting the problem or issue. You would continue saying, "My project manager, Mary, made a costly mistake on the project budget." Next, show what you did and how you resolved the problem. These upfront details are precise and allow the listener to comprehend your actions. Your work stories should be concise and last no more than 60 seconds.

For examples of creating effective answers to situational questions, read my Forbes article "Ace Your Next Interview Using the STAR Method."

Don't assume the employer has read your resume thoroughly and carefully when you begin the interview. Many times, they just skim it. As important as this meeting is to you, the employer often shows up distracted, preoccupied, and not paying complete attention at the start. They could be thinking about other work that needs to be done, an employee problem, the last candidate they met, family issues, etc.

In order to grab their attention in those first two minutes, you need a powerful opening to the "tell us about yourself" request. You quickly achieve that goal by using a technique I call the 60 Second Sell. This strategic elevator pitch highlights your top skills, accomplishments, and credentials demonstrating how you would excel performing their job.

Customize your answer to address the employer's needs. Identify your top five top selling points, link them together in a couple of sentences, and you have your 60 Second Sell. This response will get the interview off to a flying start. For a few examples, read my Forbes article "Best Way to Open An Interview To Secure A Job Offer."

When the employer has finished answering all their questions, and you have asked yours, most job hunters say goodbye. That's a missed opportunity to sell yourself. Assume that the employer may only recall a little about you. We want your top accomplishments, skills, and strengths to be at the forefront of their mind with a fine-tuned closing that ensures that you are perfect for the job.

To conclude say, "Thank you for the opportunity to learn about your position. I'm very interested in this job. In closing, let me summarize what I bring to the position," and continue making your four or five key points. Then say goodbye. After you leave, the employer fills out a form evaluating the candidate. The last thing they heard were the top reasons to hire you. more

Career development

9h

How to Write a Cover Letter That Will Get You a Job

By Alison Green, the Cut's workplace-advice columnist who has run her own career-advice website, Ask a Manager, for 15 years. Green is the author of Ask a Manager: How to Navigate Clueless Colleagues, Lunch-Stealing Bosses, and the Rest of Your Life at Work and Managing to Change the World: The Nonprofit Manager's Guide to Getting Results.

Over the course of my career, I've read probably tens of... thousands of cover letters. (And yes, that's as boring as it sounds.) In doing so, what I've learned is that most job applicants' cover letters are truly awful -- and as a result, if you're willing to put in the time to write a good one, you can stand out from your competition in a really effective way.

A great cover letter won't get you the job if you're not qualified, but it can make a hiring manager notice you in a sea of applicants and encourage them to interview you when you otherwise might have been overlooked. In fact, a good cover letter can be such an effective way of boosting your application that I'm always amazed by how many candidates don't bother to take advantage of the opportunity they offer.

The whole point of including a cover letter -- and the whole reason employers ask for them -- is that you're more than just your job history. Your experience is a huge part of what will interest employers, of course, but that doesn't tell the whole story; hiring managers are also looking for candidates who communicate well, show good judgment, are easy to work with, and all the other things you'd want from your own co-workers. When written well, cover letters can give more of a window on those things than a résumé alone. They can also fill in any blanks and provide context on your candidacy -- for example, explaining why you're interested in this particular job (especially if it doesn't at first glance look like a natural next step for you).

Without question, the biggest mistake people make with cover letters is using them to restate their résumé; no other mistake even comes close to this one in frequency or impact.

Hiring managers don't need a summary of your résumé! They're going to see your work history and relevant experience on the very next page. And when you consider that your entire application is only a few pages total (a one- or two-page résumé and a one-page cover letter), it makes no sense to squander space by repeating yourself.

Instead, your cover letter should go beyond your work history to talk about things that make you especially well-suited for the job. For example, if you're applying for an assistant job that requires being highly organized and you neurotically track your household finances in a multi-tab, color-coded spreadsheet, most hiring managers would love to know that because it says something about the kind of attention to detail you'd bring to the job. That's not something you could put on your résumé, but it can go in your cover letter.

Or maybe your last boss told you that you were the most accurate data processor she'd ever seen, or came to rely on you as her go-to person whenever a lightning-fast rewrite was needed. Maybe your co-workers called you "the client whisperer" because of your skill in calming worried clients. Maybe you're regularly sought out by more senior staff to help problem-solve, or you find immense satisfaction in bringing order to chaos. Those sorts of details illustrate what you bring to the job in a different way than your résumé does, and they belong in your cover letter.

If you're still stumped, pretend you're writing an email to a friend about why you'd be great at the job. You probably wouldn't do that by stiffly reciting your work history, right? You'd talk about what you're good at and how you'd approach the work. That's what you want here.

3.

You don't need a creative opening line.

If you think you need to open the letter with something creative or catchy, I am here to tell you that you don't. Just be simple and straightforward:

That's it! Straightforward is fine -- better, even, if the alternative is sounding like an aggressive salesperson.

4.

No, you don't need to hunt down the hiring manager's name either.

If you read much job-search advice, at some point you'll come across the idea that you need to do Woodward and Bernstein-level research to hunt down the hiring manager's name in order to open your letter with "Dear Matilda Jones." You don't need to do this; no reasonable hiring manager will care. If the name is easily available, by all means, feel free to use it, but otherwise "Dear Hiring Manager" is absolutely fine. Take the hour you just freed up and do something more enjoyable with it.

5.

Show, don't tell.

A lot of cover letters assert that the person who wrote it would excel at the job or announce that the applicant is a skillful engineer or a great communicator or all sorts of other subjective superlatives. That's wasted space -- the hiring manager has no reason to believe it, and so many candidates claim those things about themselves that most managers ignore that sort of self-assessment entirely. So instead of simply declaring that you're great at X (whatever X is), your letter should demonstrate that. And the way you do that is by describing accomplishments and experiences that illustrate it.

Here's a concrete example taken from one extraordinarily effective cover-letter makeover that I saw. The candidate had originally written:

"I offer exceptional attention to detail, highly developed communication skills, and a talent for managing complex projects with a demonstrated ability to prioritize and multitask."

That's pretty boring and not especially convincing, right? (This is also exactly how most people's cover letters read.) In her revised version, she wrote this instead:

"In addition to being flexible and responsive, I'm also a fanatic for details -- particularly when it comes to presentation. One of my recent projects involved coordinating a 200-page grant proposal: I proofed and edited the narratives provided by the division head, formatted spreadsheets, and generally made sure that every line was letter-perfect and that the entire finished product conformed to the specific guidelines of the RFP. (The result? A five-year, $1.5 million grant award.) I believe in applying this same level of attention to detail to tasks as visible as prepping the materials for a top-level meeting and as mundane as making sure the copier never runs out of paper."

That second version is so much more compelling and interesting -- and makes me believe that she really is great with details.

6.

If there's anything unusual or confusing about your candidacy, address it in the letter.

Your cover letter is your chance to provide context for things that otherwise might seem confusing or less than ideal to a hiring manager. For example, if you're overqualified for the position but are excited about it anyway, or if you don't have the exact experience the ad requested but can point to other evidence that you would excel at the job, explain that. Similarly, if your background is in a different field but you're actively working to move into this one, say so, talk about why, and explain how your experience will translate. Or if you're applying for a job across the country from where you live because you're hoping to relocate to be closer to your family, let them know that.

If you don't provide that kind of context, it's too easy for a hiring manager to write you off as the wrong fit or assume you're just applying to everything you see or don't understand the job description and put you in the "no" pile. A cover letter gives you a chance to say, "No, wait -- here's why this could be a good match."

7.

Keep the tone warm and conversational.

While there are some industries that prize formal-sounding cover letters -- like law -- in most fields, yours will stand out if it's warm and conversational. Aim for the tone you'd use if you were writing to a co-worker whom you liked a lot but didn't know especially well. It's okay to show some personality or even use humor; as long as you don't go overboard, your letter will be stronger for it.

8.

Don't use one generic letter for all applications.

It's tempting to use the same canned letter for every job -- it certainly saves a lot of time. But by doing that, you're squandering much of the value a cover letter can provide. You'll miss the chance to speak to the specifics of what each employer is looking for, not to mention your application is highly likely to feel like a form letter (because it is).

That doesn't mean you need to write every cover letter completely from scratch; you don't. You'll often be able to reuse whole chunks of language from one letter to the next. Just don't blindly upload the same letter each time without customizing it at least a bit to each individual job.

A good litmus test is this: Could you imagine other applicants for this job sending in the same letter? If so, that's a sign that you haven't made it individualized enough to you and are probably leaning too heavily on reciting your work history.

9.

Keep it under one page.

If your cover letters are longer than a page, you're writing too much, and you risk annoying hiring managers who are likely sifting through hundreds of applications and don't have time to read lengthy tomes. On the other hand, if you only write one paragraph, it's unlikely that you're making a compelling case for yourself as a candidate -- not impossible, but unlikely. For most people, something close to a page (single-spaced) is about right.

10.

Don't agonize over the small details.

What matters most about your cover letter is its content. You should of course ensure that it's well-written and thoroughly proofread, but many job seekers agonize over elements of the letter that really don't matter. I get tons of questions from job seekers about whether they should attach their cover letter or put it in the body of the email (answer: No one cares, but attaching it makes it easier to share and will preserve your formatting), or what to name the file (again, no one really cares as long as it's reasonably professional, but when people are dealing with hundreds of files named "resume," it's courteous to name it with your full name).

Approaching your cover letter like this can make a huge difference in your job search. It can be the thing that moves your application from the "maybe" pile (or even the "no" pile) to the "yes" pile. Of course, writing cover letters like this will take more time than sending out the same templated letter summarizing your résumé -- but 10 personalized, compelling cover letters are likely to land you more interview invitations than 50 generic ones will. more

Career development

10h

AI Yi Yi! -- AI Ethics, Part 2

You know the kind of day I'm talking about. Big job interview coming up, girlfriend sick, so I spend the night tossing and turning on the couch. Wake up with a neck so stiff I can barely move, only to smash my head on the car door frame because bending over far enough to get in is currently beyond me. Spring allergies? Check. No AC in my old Maverick? Double check. Stuck in crosstown traffic,... sweating like I've been trapped in a Texas summer my whole life? You know it, guy. By the time I park, I'm half a step away from unraveling.

You know the kind of interview I'm talking about. I want to sound confident without displaying overt desperation, so my answers bounce between watered-down versions of what I'd like to say and whatever I think the two people across from me -- the managing editor and her assistant -- want to hear. Spoiler: It isn't going great. I'm too obviously hedging every response, walking the tightrope between "actual hireable professional" and "volunteering to sacrifice myself on the altar of capitalism," all for the promise of enough money to scrape by at a job that I can finally say uses my English degree.

Then, it happens.

At the end of my desultory interview, the managing editor leans forward and says, "You know, apart from everything else we've talked about, I just have to... more

Career development

12h

'Preparation is key'

With 30 years of experience in management roles and extensive expertise in managing people, Robert Cassar, founder at Heroix, brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.

Over the years, Robert has helped countless professionals in finding roles that align with their needs, values and career aspirations. Moreover, he has acted as a mentor, lecturer and thesis supervisor - which experiences all... enrich his capacity to guide candidates through their career journeys. His insights are invaluable for anyone looking to excel in their career journey, particularly at the executive level.

What would you say are some of the key questions candidates sitting for a job interview at an executive level, should be prepared for?

When it comes to interviews for mid- to senior-level positions, candidates should be ready to answer a range of questions that assess their leadership abilities, strategic thinking, and adaptability. The key in such scenarios is to always find genuine cases in one's experience which can be linked to these situations and refer to them as an example as to how they had tackled such situations in real life.

This enhances the candidate's potential to interview success twofold. On one hand it shows that what was written on the CV is genuine, there is experience behind it. On the interviewer's side, the interviewer can ask secondary questions to continue expanding on such examples and therefore continue to deduce that the experience mentioned is sincere. On the other hand, such anecdotes will assist the interviewer to remember the individual. Case examples give the interviewer a good mental picture of the interviewee.

Statistics show that job mobility increased in recent years. Are more people willing to change careers in Malta?

Job mobility has indeed increased. And this is not a Malta-only phenomena. The evolving nature of work, driven by technological advancements and changing market dynamics, the pandemic and its repercussions has led many professionals to seek new opportunities or move to totally new career paths. You get practising medical doctors wanting to move to senior roles in commercial entities, banking executives leaving their risk averseness and looking to move into C Suite asking specifically for a start-up environment, people with a strong accounting background wanting to merge their expertise with ESG eyeing the upcoming demand for high profile roles in this sector.

Has this made it more difficult for organisations to retain talent?

Yes, this is indeed a challenge. We get introduced on a daily basis with new business customers who would be willing to engage more headcount for further growth for their setup, but are held back due to the challenge of finding and retaining the right talent. Increased job mobility has been making talent retention challenging for organisations. This has assisted companies to continue to invest more in employee engagement, career development opportunities, and competitive compensation packages to retain top talent.

When people decide to change jobs or careers, is a more attractive pay package the most determining factor?

While a more attractive pay package is always an important factor, it is not the only one. Many professionals also seek better work-life balance, opportunities for career advancement, and a positive company culture. Factors like job satisfaction, personal development opportunities, and alignment with personal values and goals play crucial roles in the decision to change jobs or careers.

What makes for an effective CV that stands out from the rest?

An effective CV should be clear, concise, and, especially for senior roles, tailored to the specific job. It should highlight key achievements and skills relevant to the position, rather than just listing job duties. Including quantifiable results, such as "increased sales by 20%" or "reduced costs by 15%", and expanding on those, can make a CV stand out, as these can be talking points for the interview. Additionally, a professional layout, free of errors, and including a compelling summary or objective can significantly enhance its impact.

For candidates presenting themselves for a job interview, how should they prepare themselves?

Preparation is crucial. Candidates should research the company thoroughly, understand its culture, recent achievements, and challenges. As said, candidates should prepare examples from their past experience that demonstrate their skills and achievements. Additionally, understanding the job description and aligning their skills and experiences with the job requirements is key.

Finally, though it sounds obvious, get into the 'logistics' of the interview in detail. Be sure if it's online or on premises, be sure of the time; if online, check the link, that one has the latest working version of the communication platform to be used. Nothing creates stress more than clicking on the Zoom link two minutes before the interview and the platform requires updating. On the other hand, if meeting on location, be sure of the exact location, who to ask for, where to park. Go through the company's website and their social media presence, see how people dress at work - this will give you a clue of how to show yourself. Unconsciously or not, whoever will be interviewing will want to see someone who can integrate well and happily to the culture, and this includes dress. Now for the interview, dress a notch up in formality, to that found in the search, after all you're going in for an interview and not the regular day at work. The appearance point is especially critical for people-facing roles such as commercial roles. When interviewing for such roles I always keep attentive on how the individual walks into the meeting room, how they're dressed, their greeting and overall 'room vibe'.

In what ways does your presence on the Jobhound platform add value to Heroix's service offering?

Being on Jobhound via Times of Malta website enhances our service offering by providing us with a channel frequently visited by executives. It allows us to present job opportunities that align with the skills and career aspirations of many seeking new career paths and roles.

How does Heroix support executive candidates in their search?

At Heroix, we focus on a personalised approach to candidate support. We aim to understand candidates' career goals, values, and motivations. This allows us to highlight roles they might not have considered but which align with their expertise and potential career trajectory. We also provide feedback on their CVs and support in interview preparations. Our aim is to help candidates find positions that not only match their skills but also resonate with their personal and professional aspirations.

Our goal is that a candidate's move is for the long term, so that they establish themselves in the new role and grow in their expertise. This not only brings added benefits to their career prospects but also more stability in their personal life as while they establish themselves in their role, they become more satisfied, more motivated and this has a positive effect on their life outside work, on their personal projects and the important people in their personal life.

What strategies do you employ to ensure candidates find companies that align with their values and passions?

We employ different approaches to understand candidates' values and passions. Our experience in mentoring and coaching assist us to help candidates to identify their core motivations and long-term career goals. We then leverage our network and industry knowledge to connect them with companies that share similar values and offer the right cultural fit. By aligning candidates with organisations that reflect their personal and professional ethos, we help them achieve greater job satisfaction and long-term career success.

How does understanding a candidate's potential career trajectory benefit their job search?

The default one might fall into, erroneously, both from a potential employer's side and from a potential employee's side, is to 'just' look into the past. The adage 'the past is not a guarantee for the future' fits here too. Looking at past achievements both academic and secular, needless to say, is an important factor in evaluating a candidate's potential. But it's far from enough. Especially in 2024 and beyond.

How will people be preparing their marketing campaigns in 2026? Managing a team in 2025? Same as in 2016 or 2015? Things are changing exponentially. What worked 10 years ago, albeit one dare say even 4 years ago, pre-pandemic, may well not be today's standard or that of next year. Therefore, understanding a candidate's potential career trajectory allows us to provide tailored advice and highlight opportunities that align with their future goals and the future of work.

By focusing on where a candidate can go, rather than just where they have been, we can identify roles that offer growth and advancement, ensuring they continue to develop professionally while assisting organisations to have a better edge than competition in the market.

To explore the executive vacancies presented by Heroix, visit https://jobhound.mt/b/heroix. more

Career development

13h

Veritone Reports Third Quarter 2024 Results - Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI)

Career development

15h

Why There Are So Many Bad Managers And What We Can Do About It

We've all heard the saying, "People don't leave bad companies; they leave bad managers." Unfortunately, it seems there's no shortage of poor management. The impact of bad managers extends far beyond disgruntled employees -- it's bad for business. The cost of bad management is staggering, with estimates putting the financial toll at over $960 billion annually in the U.S. and $8.1 trillion globally,... according to Quartz Business News.

Bad managers are a major drag on employee engagement. Gallup's research reveals that 70% of a team's engagement is directly tied to their manager. When engagement drops, the ripple effects can be costly -- lower productivity, higher turnover, and a toxic work environment that's hard to recover from.

Given these statistics, you'd think organizations would be doing everything in their power to eliminate poor management. Yet, incompetent managers remain prevalent. In fact, Gallup finds that companies fail to choose the right candidate 82% of the time.

In many organizations, the path to career advancement is narrow. Ambitious employees who excel in their roles but have no desire to manage others often find themselves with limited options for growth. The only way up is to transition from individual contributor to manager, even if they lack the inclination or skills for leadership. This scenario leads to employees taking on management roles not out of a passion for leading, but for the salary bump, title, and status that comes with it.

Leadership Expert and President of IMS, Charles Good said, "Instead of pushing talented individual contributors into leadership roles, organizations should find ways to leverage their strengths by offering different paths for career development beyond the usual ones. In their internationally best-selling book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Guilioni highlight an important point: Some of the best conversations you can have with your employees revolve around what career success means to them. Getting to know their definition of career success is the first step. From there, pursuing that vision can take many forms and go in all sorts of directions!"

Promotion decisions are often based on past performance rather than future potential. Organizations tend to reward high performers with management roles, assuming that success in one area automatically translates to leadership ability. This backward-looking approach overlooks critical factors like emotional intelligence, leadership attributes, and the desire to lead. As a result, promotions become rewards rather than acknowledgments of true leadership potential.

In some companies, internal politics play a bigger role in promotions than merit. Those who excel at networking or have strong political connections within the organization may find themselves in management roles, regardless of their ability to inspire and engage a team. This approach undermines the principle of meritocracy and often places unqualified individuals in positions of power.

Another common mistake is promoting someone to a management position as a means of keeping them, even when leadership isn't what they want or are suited for. This short-sighted approach often backfires, leading to unhappy managers and disengaged teams. To retain top talent, organizations need to understand what truly motivates their employees and find ways to offer growth opportunities that don't necessarily involve managing others.

Once a bad manager is in place, it's hard to remove them. Those who made the promotion decision may be reluctant to admit they were wrong, and sometimes, the extent of a manager's incompetence is only known to their immediate team. In cases where managers are bullies and the corporate culture doesn't reward honest communication, employees may be too intimidated to speak up, allowing the toxic behavior to fester.

Many managers are thrown into leadership roles without the proper training and support. They receive leadership development after the promotion, which sets them up to fail. Despite the billions of dollars spent on leadership development each year, the training often doesn't align with the real-world challenges managers face. This disconnect leaves new managers underprepared to lead effectively. Good added, "Companies should prioritize leadership development as an ongoing journey, recognizing that it starts long before an individual is promoted and continues throughout their career. By investing in this continuous growth, companies can build a strong pipeline of capable leaders ready to drive organizational success."

Leadership development should be customized to maximize impact. Melissa Janis, a leading expert in new manager development cautions, "Even when managers receive training, they often struggle to maximize its value because the program isn't tailored to their specific needs. Covering a wide range of topics like communication, delegation, and business acumen, one-size-fits-all programs overwhelm managers with information they can't immediately use, and they're left to figure out how to apply these concepts on their own. Without development that meets them where they are and the support they need to apply new concepts, training becomes just another box to check, failing to drive real results and leaving both managers and companies frustrated."

Organizations that are willing to change the way they hire, promote, evaluate, and develop their leaders will have a significant advantage over their competitors.

Leadership potential should be assessed and prioritized over past performance. Companies can use 360-degree feedback from colleagues and direct reports to evaluate candidates' leadership qualities before promoting them. This approach ensures that promotions are based on the potential to lead, not just technical expertise.

Rather than waiting until someone is promoted to provide leadership training, organizations should offer management training as soon as they recognize potential. This proactive approach helps employees develop the skills they need to succeed in leadership roles, reducing the likelihood of failure once they're promoted.

Organizations need to create alternative career paths that don't involve managing others. By understanding employees' motivations, companies can offer growth opportunities that align with their interests and strengths, whether that means taking on an international assignment, leading a specialized project, or deepening their expertise in a specific area.

Managers who aren't performing need support to change their behaviors and master new skills. But, if they don't improve, they should be demoted or let go. Taking this tough stance sends a clear message that poor management won't be tolerated and reinforces the importance of leadership integrity and effectiveness.

Not everyone is suited for management, and not everyone aspires to a leadership role. By rethinking how promotions and employee growth are handled, organizations can significantly reduce the prevalence of bad managers. The result? A more engaged workforce, better business outcomes, and a workplace culture where true leadership is recognized and rewarded. more

Career development

18h

There's a talent crunch in the job market. 'I have an offer' starts retention contest

And for some, it's a chance to step up and get a higher pay rise within the same organisation. When an employee comes with the line "I have an offer," with sort of a winner's swag, it is meant to immediately start a matching contest -- for compensation, job profile and flexibility to help work-life balance! In a job market, so devoid of talent, this contest plays out frequently across... organisations to retain an employee, even when they may not be the best fit for the role, as recent conversations with people from varied backgrounds reveal. There's a reason for this.

The reason any organisation tries to retain an employee is that the exercise of hiring from another company has become more tedious and time-consuming than it ever was. It's quite likely that the knowledge of the talent crunch in the job market reached jobseekers long before experts began flagging it at marquee conferences and summits. That knowledge gives jobseekers courage, confidence and power that those from earlier vintage lacked.

How times have changed, any old-timer would say. Earlier, one would go discreetly for that rare job interview or a meeting that might translate into a job prospect. The meeting place would be handpicked to ward off all risks (read, keeping the boss or that nosey colleague out of the picture). In contrast, now job interviews, like offers, are to be flaunted. There's no fear anymore of being spotted in another organisation. It's even better if the information is passed on to the current boss, who, in a desperate attempt to retain talent, will possibly offer a hike and a promotion. The jobseeker will then go to the new employer and bargain. And so on.... Whether an aspirant will settle for the new employer's offer or the current one's counteroffer is a question with no straight answer. It's, however, clear that in most cases it's the candidate who closes the deal, not the other way round. What starts with "I'm open to a conversation'', could end with "I'm not looking for a change'' many weeks later.

Why has the white-collar hiring pool shrunk so much in some professions? It's tough to pinpoint the exact reasons, but a recent report by Michael Page, a recruitment firm, gave out some telling numbers based on a talent trend survey of over 3,000 respondents from across seniority levels and industries. It found that 34 per cent of organisations in India are struggling to spot the right talent and almost a third of them are trying hard to retain their employees. According to the report, even among those happy with their current salary, 94 per cent are open to new roles. So the assumption is that an employee needs more than just competitive salaries, and factors such as work-life balance, manager relationships, clear promotion paths, and recognition are crucial for making retention easier.

A Gartner HR survey last year focused on the reasons why an employee stays back in an organisation and why a candidate rejects an offer. In a survey of some 3,500 candidates globally, Gartner found greater flexibility (59 per cent), better work-life balance (45 per cent) and higher compensation (40 per cent) were the top drivers. The 2023 survey also showed that 50 per cent of the respondents backed out after accepting a job offer. In 2022, 44 per cent of the respondents had backed out after accepting offers, the earlier Gartner numbers revealed. In pre-pandemic times, the back-out numbers were lower. In 2019, for instance, 36 per cent of the respondents had backed out after accepting an offer.

As Korn Ferry, a prominent organisational consultancy firm, says, there are too few candidates for too many jobs, a trend that took off during the great resignation wave in 2021. Against this backdrop, organisations have to finetune their workplace dynamics, so that hiring and retention of talent become more meaningful. more

Dominic Anyanzo

Career development

22h

what's the best way of creating a perfect cv

1

Career development

1d

Employers seeking skilled workers often overlook military veterans

Ashley Bethea transitioned from the Air Force into a job as a government contractor. Veterans can face challenges translating their military skills to civilian roles. Employers too often overlook or discount the experience veterans bring, a report found.

Last summer, during her final month in the Air Force, Ashley Bethea cried almost every day.

Bethea, 40, felt on edge about giving up part of... the identity she'd held since she was 18. She was also nervous about making it in a civilian job market, where she had no experience.

"For 21 years, the military was who I was," Bethea told Business Insider. "I had no clue what corporate America looked like."

Her predicament is one that often confronts military members attempting to shift from drills and missions to slide decks and sales targets.

Ashley Bethea retired from the Air Force in July. Foto: Courtesy Ashley Bethea

Employers often face the inverse challenge: not knowing how veterans' abilities might translate to a civilian workforce, executives who work with vets told BI. These advocates for hiring veterans said that by looking a little closer at the skills undergirding veterans' experience, employers could help plug gaps in their workforces.

Bosses who dig into veterans' qualifications might like what they find. A 2023 LinkedIn report examining its users' experiences said veterans were three times as likely as those who hadn't served in the military to have a graduate degree or higher.

Yet at the same time, employers often overlook or discount military experience, LinkedIn found. The result: Veterans are only half as likely to rise to the level of director or VP even though they have almost double the work experience of nonveterans, the report said.

The gap exists even as more employers say they're interested in prioritizing skills over pedigree. Even so, many hiring managers still scan résumés for four-year degrees and prior experience in a role, hiring experts previously told BI.

A résumé for the private sector

Bethea, who retired from the Air Force at the end of July, turned to a nonprofit called Hire Heroes USA to help her translate her experience running logistics for deploying and returning airmen into something palatable to hiring managers. A representative from Hire Heroes helped Bethea craft her first-ever résumé.

"I just wanted to highlight that I could work all avenues of logistics, whether it be supply, transportation, people, equipment, or whatever the case was," Bethea, a mother of three, said.

A Hire Heros USA advisor also helped coach Bethea on salary negotiations.

Ross Dickman, CEO of Hire Heroes USA, told BI that one of the biggest challenges for people leaving their service is explaining how what they did in the military can be helpful to civilian employers.

Dickman pointed to his own experience flying Apache helicopters during the dozen years he served in the Army.

"No employer really needs a helicopter that puts missiles into other things," he said.

In addition to the obvious differences with civilian life, Dickman said, many members of the military chose to take on additional duties during the spare time they had while serving. That work might not be reflected in vets' records and can be difficult to capture, he said.

"That is where it gets murky and hard for an employer," Dickman said.

Dickman said Hire Heroes USA works to help vets communicate about the skills that they possess. These can range from abilities in manufacturing to prowess in so-called soft skills like conflict resolution and negotiating.

From there, Dickman said, Hire Heroes USA can go to employers and point to the abilities a veteran, service member, or military spouse possesses. Hire Heroes USA recently assisted its 100,000th veteran in the search for civilian employment, Dickman said.

Vets tend to excel, Dickman said, in roles involving consulting, customer service, operations management, logistics, analysis, and project management.

"They have a lot more skills that informed the way that they executed as an infantryman versus just knowing how to use a rifle," Dickman said.

That was the case for Jesse Gartman, 41, who spent four years in the Marine Corps. In 2007, about a year after returning home from Iraq, he responded to an ad on Craigslist looking for movers in New York City. Gartman loved the work and the flexibility it offered. Plus, it was lucrative, and the camaraderie echoed what he'd found in the military.

Some three years later, with his back and shoulders hurting, Gartman decided he had what it takes to run a business. So, he started Veteran Movers NYC, employing mostly former military members. Gartman later sold that business and started another moving company in Oklahoma City, which he still owns. Now, back in New York City, Gartman is also doing business development work for another moving company.

Gartman said that in his case and that of many vets he's worked with, they're "just happy to be alive." He added, "We take a lot of pride in what we do in life."

Helping employers help vets

Trina Clayeux, CEO of Give an Hour, a nonprofit that provides mental health support to veterans and their families, told BI that employers offering affinity groups or employee resource groups for veterans can help ex-military members feel more at home in civilian roles.

Give an Hour also provides training and consulting services for employers on how to best support veterans.

Clayeux said that employers often see veterans in somewhat one-dimensional ways by thinking they're good at getting things done or in leadership roles.

"They have so many other individual skills in between that they've picked up," Clayeux said.

Clayeux said that's why it's important that hiring managers and supervisors should be curious about veterans' experiences and the skills they can bring to a workplace.

A hiring manager's curiosity came through for Bethea, the newly minted Air Force veteran. She recently began a job as a government contractor at the Pentagon. Bethea's new role as a mission readiness airmen analyst builds on her decades of work in the Air Force.

"I enjoy logistics, and I still wanted to do it in my second life," she said.

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