Dave Retires

 

Dave is retired from The Ankenbrandt Group. We’ve spent over 30 years working together recruiting, arguing, negotiating, and laughing about work while managing the firm. I remember my first recruiter job description written on a napkin from a local coffee shop, my first deal closing and all the months of work to get to that point. Since then, there’s been lots of deals and many ups and downs, but we’ve always held our standards high at the firm and continued our good work.  The family company has been a challenge and a pleasure for me.  I’m excited to take the helm and continue to recruit for our amazing clients.

Dave will be missed but for us he’s just a phone call away – unless he’s offshore fishing.

Who do you know?

 

So, you’ve been using the power of YES to reach out to people. That’s positive networking and it is key to finding a new job. It’s all about who you know. How many applications have you sent into companies with no response? Some people have sent 100’s.  You must get in front of the hiring managers and LinkedIn is a great place to do that.  How to find more people to connect to?

1.     Research companies within a commutable radius of your home.

2.     Find the hiring managers at those companies and send them a connect.  Most people are nice and will accept a connection. 

3.     Follow up with a quick elevator pitch about you. 

This may not always work but it’s a quicker way to get in front of Manager/Director/VP than going through their application process.

New Adventure

 

Montana was amazing! I came home refreshed and ready to work. New and exciting things are on the horizon for Ankenbrandt. After over 40 years recruiting Dave will be retiring by the end of the year. He will still be available for special project work!

I have a great business development teammate on board to work on our Tampa Bay business– Lily Salem. We work together at Career Bright.  You'll find her at a few business events all over Tampa as well as reaching out to new CA, TX and TN companies!  We also have Mark McKay on board handling all Operations – all the stuff I’m bad at like programing phones and fixing computers. He created our new logo!  Amanda will still handle all our accounting and billing.  We’re off and running to an exciting new adventure.

Looking forward to the company's future.

The Grass is Greener

Wow what a difference 10 years makes.

10 years ago, most of my blog posts were about how to survive the Great Recession.  Those blog posts include advice from my Grandfather and how he survived the Great Depression, which is still an interesting read.  They also included how difficult it was for me to talk to friends on the kid’s school playground about their layoffs but, times have changed and for the best!

Right now, unemployment rates are crazy low --   Los Angeles, CA is at a 4.4. Orange County, CA is at a 2.4 and Tampa Bay FL area at 3.3. Times are good and shockingly some of our clients are still very conservative with salaries and pulling the trigger with hiring. They learned a big lesson and a good one from the past, but we do caution them on taking too much time and offering too little money.  Good people are getting hired quickly and if our client finds someone they want to hire, it’s like the crazy housing market, you need to jump on it and make an offer! A start date can always be contingent on background checks and references so if someone is that great fit – make the offer! 

The grass is greener right now – go for it.

*Amazing lawn care and photo credit go to Holden McLeod

The Climb

Some weeks it’s all about the climb. It’s the insurmountable odds, the failures and the frustration.  It’s about the people who ignore your calls, the unreturned emails, the lack of communication and trying to work around it.   Eventually I’ll get to the top of the wall. 

Spring has Sprung

Spring is here! How do I know this --  our desert tortoise is out and about. Indy, the tortoise is similar to Punxsutawney Phil with Spring predictions but, he’s the Southern California version of him. 

Once Indy is up we know Spring is on its way.  So, get out there and enjoy the weather before it gets crazy hot again! 

Salary Negotiation Tips

Focus on your value, not what you need or greed.

If you don’t have much of a work history, you need to be very flexible with salary. Employers don’t want to pay a lot of money to teach.

Pay attention to your tone. Attitude and tone can convey a lot during negotiations.

Research what the job value is online. Keep in mind the online salary tools are national averages.

Be honest with your salary if asked directly. Also, be honest about your expectations and when people ask salary they are typically asking base salary.

Don’t take the negotiations personally. It’s a business deal.

Consider other perks beyond base salary -- benefits, extra vacation, free meals, flex-time, stock, bonus etc. This only works for small to medium sized companies. Too big of company = little wiggle room. They are harnessed by Human Resources.  

Ask for an offer in writing.

You can counter offer but be prepared to hear no.

Most companies want an answer to an offer within 24 – 48 hours. It’s easy to stretch it over the weekend if the offer comes the end of the week. If you are putting off answering them is it the right job for you?

If you only have one offer and it’s not great but you need to get to work, it is OK to take the job. Some of the best educational experiences are from bad experiences.  Work is work it’s not called play. If you can find a job you can “play” at, you are one of the lucky ones. Most people understand that work only partially fulfills your life. You must find other ways at times to be happy. Work is not always flowers and fairies. You can learn anywhere and then take that knowledge with you when you move later.

Do not take an offer and then not show up because you got a better offer somewhere else. SoCal is smaller than you think and word does get around. Don’t burn bridges. 

What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork. – Pearl Bailey

What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork. – Pearl Bailey

Paper work is what I keep hearing is the most horrible aspect about looking for a job. That and the lack of “love” you get from the hiring managers and many recruiters. Quite a few people I’ve talked to say that they submit resumes, write letters, email and call and never hear back from anyone. They get dead air.

I realize that people are busy however, I think common courtesy has been thrown out the window. Please get back to the people who are interested in your company. If you are a recruiter, please remember the long term ramifications of being rude and not calling back or following up after you’ve interviewed people. We all mess up and forget to call or put it on the back burner for too long. Let’s make the time to develop relationships and make the time to show respect and courtesy to the people that are trying to work for you and/or your clients. 

Gone SO Wrong

It went so wrong. We had a client conference call recently that went so sideways I ended up on Pinterest browsing through Christmas stuff while listening to him rant. It felt like we were talking to a 1970’s executive who was smoking and drinking his martini’s while dictating to his secretary and letting his ego do the talking. Keep in mind,  this client was in a high tech, cutting edge industry, but it felt like “Silicon Valley 1970”.  Any question I asked was wrong including when I told him I did some research on the company he worked for -  that was wrong! I was told I shouldn’t do any research! Oh my, the ego. 

We do research on all companies we work for  – the background information we gather on employees, the company website, Glassdoor, press releases etc. is priceless. We can gather all sorts of info. on people and learn who they are by how they present themselves. For example, when they say they are “published” and it’s only a blog – everyone has a blog  - or they have a “white paper” and it’s their non-expert super short opinion with little to no facts.  Or they claim to have worked at a job for 15 years when in fact they have been consulting and bumping around for the last 15 years. 

All that information creates a character profile. Research is priceless!  I have been blessed with amazing clients over all these years but this potential high tech client was a definite NO! We declined to work with them – no going back to the dark ages. 

Shut Up About Free Lunch

I have had the exact same conversation at least a hundred times now. Millennials want a lot - 

-they want more vacation time

-they want matched 401ks

-they want open communication

-they want free thinking 

-they want 'horizontal atmospheres', whatever that means

-they want a homey atmosphere at work

-they want 'work-life-balance'

*All within work week that's less than 40 hours

I have always said that work in moderation is the best kind of work. Pick something you love and try to make a living at it. I tell our intern that she may be at a desk for the next forty years so she might as well be comfortable with it. But these kids are asking for too much. They want the benefits of being retired without ever having to really work for any of it. 

All of the benefits can be achieved, but not without hard work. Disclosure. The word 'millennial' seems to have become more synonymous with lazy and less associated with the year in which someone was born. Which was of course the original intention. If you are numerically a millennial, you may not be one in attitude. There's a difference. 

Now go find something you love and make some money at it! 

Simple Advice

I was recently asked to speak in my son’s classroom about what colleges want to see in students and what employers want when hiring. I did a bit of research on what colleges want and presented that. My main focus was what employers want for their employees because I hear daily what they do not want. Many of my clients are frustrated with their young hires. Oddly, I wrote about this last March. But I think I need to go over it again. So, young people heed this simple advice because it will help you get and hold on to a job. 

Ethics – Show up on time ready to work and get the work done.  Don’t mess around on your social media all day. You are there to work and you are getting paid for it. It’s unethical to accept a paycheck for no work. 

Initiative – Or, the ability to act on your own. Figure it out and get it done. Don’t use the excuse, “No one told me how to do it.”  If you do not know how to do something, ask and listen to the answer. 

Communication – Mostly importantly, good communication skills. Speak and write in complete sentences. Don’t write and speak in “text talk” or acronyms. Look at people when they are talking to you so they know you are listening.  

Good manners and social skills – Learn how to shake hands. Be polite and kind.  Do not cuss at work; it is not professional. Put your phone down when talking to a co-worker and engage in the conversation.  

I know you are reading this and thinking, really? You'd be surprised. I hear from my clients daily that these young workers are lacking these basic, simple skills. We might be in a digital age but unless you are programming all day, you need to learn how to engage with the people around you and do it well. 

Speaking Dave

Dave, the owner and founder of The Ankenbrandt Group has his own language. He speaks and writes in quotes and short clips.  Sometimes it’s a challenge to take his thoughts and get them written down in understandable English. It’s like his brain is going too fast to get it all on paper. I try to make it all work for TAGBit’s  so I thought I’d give you a peak at how I transform his quotes and clips -  

Below is copy he sent me for October’s TAGBit's and his column Ank’s Angle. This is what he sent me –“Fall is upon us and winter is coming – we need rain - and Halloween is right around the corner. There will be a tomorrow – sure wish that we had leaders in this good old US of A…Seems the problems just keep stacking up. Had a boss one time – if there was a problem you would had to come up with a solution. Back in the day when people had manners.. Maybe go back to those days….”

And this is what I turned it into – “Fall is upon us, winter is coming and Halloween is right around the corner. There will be a tomorrow, but I sure wish that we had leaders in this good old U.S. of A. It seems the problems just keep stacking up for our “leadership”. I had a boss at one time who taught me if there was a problem you would have to come up with a solution but that was back in the day when people had manners, good work ethics and respect.  Maybe we should go back to those days….”

I’d leave it in the original form but then we get too many people calling us telling us we have typos and grammatical errors in our newsletter.  There really is only so much explaining we can do so I change it but still try to capture the essence of Dave. 

LinkedIn Recruiter Connects

Last month, one of my business associates sent me a note about constantly getting contacted on LinkedIn by recruiters. I thought her comments on what they are doing right and wrong are relevant to anyone trying to expand their network on LinkedIn.  Here are Bridget’s thoughts, including a compliment to me. Always have to keep those in right? She wrote:

You know I think you're the cat's meow as a recruiter, but have you noticed how some of your kin in your industry are not as savvy as they should be when it comes to using LI (LinkedIn) to recruit?

This year, I've come in contact with three recruiters who have no previous connection to me, yet they've sent me canned candidate search e-mails via the "InMail" feature, and they're usually mis-categorized as an "expertise request."  The most recent one sent me this long, chatty request to reply to her to inquire directly about and available position at her company. I responded right away, since she specifically asked me to get back to her with a time when she could call me to tell me more about the opportunity. I hear nothing back for two days, and then she replies with a single link to the position on their website.

The sad thing is, these recruiters were legit - in my case, all of them were HR department employees of the companies with positions to fill. Just a little anecdote for you that illustrates how the poor homework isn't always the fault of the candidate, LOL.

Some common issues I've noticed with recruiters using LinkedIn:

1. Spelling/grammar errors. Really?  If I'm taking the time to spell-check and punctuation-check an inquiry before I hit send, why can't they? 

2. Improper use of InMail. Only premium or enterprise account holders have unlimited InMail access - That feature gives you the ability to e-mail LI members without having to clear the hurdle of getting a connection first. The rest of us regular folk have to purchase the right to *send* InMail, so when we *receive* one, we tend to take it seriously. If you're a recruiter using InMail to attract a candidate, don't waste our time if you don't intend to contact us or formally ask for a resume. In addition, you're not asking me for my "expertise" or a "consulting request." If you can't find the right category to enter on the drop-down menu of the InMail recipient's contact preferences, don't use InMail. Make the connection request and scrap the generic LinkedIn greeting for a proper, personal introduction and request to connect.  

3. LinkedIn "party fouls." If you’re a recruiter that keeps lurking our profile and your settings aren't set to "anonymous," we can see the last 5 days worth of profile views without paying for a premium account. Quit being a creep and either make a connection request and CONTACT us, or stop stalking us! Seriously, it just gives a hungry job seeker a false sense of hope when you re-visit the profile, but take no action. :-)

4. If you are a recruiter who has already taken the time to become a first-level connection, ask for a resume, and perhaps even invite that connection to become part of the interview process, don't turn into a jerk the moment the candidacy process hits a wall or favors someone else. Case in point: I once had a recruiter "court" me from initial connection through five (YES, FIVE) in-person and phone interviews with her company, only to become a total cyber-ghost, failing to return any e-mails or calls about my status. 

I compare this to online dating. Sure, it's considered only slightly rude if you don't respond to a "wink" from a potential mate, but if you've taken the time to talk over e-mail/phone, or maybe even meet for a first date, it's rather tactless to vanish without a trace if you're just not feeling the love after the first meeting.  A simple, "Sorry, I think you're nice (sharp candidate), but I don't think we're a match (the right fit for what my hiring manager needed)," will suffice.

[Check out this video on You Tube - http://youtu.be/Ba6Igu1MvE0http://youtu.be/Ba6Igu1MvE0. It’s a funny parody on a Gyote song about lack of recruiter love.] 

Thank you. That concludes my little LinkedIn gripe of the day. :-) I'm sure you're not guilty of these moves, right? LOL

My response to Bridget: "Love your comments! I get a lot of candidate complaining about lame recruiters and how they use LinkedIn. Me, I’m just super direct on it – asking for help and stating exactly why.   I might check a candidate out twice but that’s it.  I think Dave has instilled in everyone over here to respect the candidates even though we don‘t work for them. Eventually they may become a client and/or a great source for information. Bottom line treat people with respect and kindness and it will come back twofold!"

Multitasking Mama shops while working

I read an article about sitting too much and the blogger doing business while hiking instead of sitting.

Now, Hiking during a business meeting is serious multitasking and it got me thinking about how much I multitask. I multitask often and in fact I had a multitasking lunch today. I needed some warmer clothes since the temperature out here in sunny SoCal is below 60 degrees and I’m freezing.

Problem, I hate to shop.  

A few weeks ago a friend of the firm, Ralphie, asked me to meet him at South Coast Plaza for a business meeting/shopping trip. At first I thought he was crazy, who shops while working? But I went ahead and met him. I would never have thought that you can combine a trip to the mall and business, but it worked. Meeting at the mall is so convenient! Yeah you’re all thinking duh, but seriously I hate to shop and I avoid malls at all cost. 

So, today being cold won out and I did it again. I met one of my clients at the Nordstrom café. We ate, chatted about business, and I got my clothing! It seems so simple but I like simple and I like multitasking. I’m thinking maybe even the hiking while working thing could work for me. I should add it to my multitasking repertoire. I walk every morning and maybe one of these weeks I can incorporate a business meeting in my daily walk! Be warned: I do walk far and fast! 

TXT Job Offer?

recntly I XperENs a yung pro (YP) hu wntd 2 email & txt w/o talkin durN d offer process. It mAd 4 a straNg & complicated process cuz d YP wouldn’t TLK How do U tAk a complicated process lIk a job offer & mAk it wrk Thru text?

 U don’t. 

d deal blew ^ cuz ther wz n real QSO – jst txtN. YP’s & recnt graduates U must Lern how 2 communicate verbally Ovr d fone & n prsn. txtN doesn’t wrk wen U negotiate yor salary, benefits vacation dA – thOs R a huge pRt of yor life!

Pick up the phone and call or meet people in person without your phone ringing! This is not a social even it is work and at work you must be a good communicator.

For those of you who couldn’t decipher the text the translation is here - 

Recently I experience a young professional (YP) who wanted to email and text without talking during the offer process. It made for a strange and complicated process because the YP wouldn’t talk. How do you take a complicated process like a job offer and make it work through text?

You don’t.

The deal blew up because there was no real conversation – just texting. YP’s and recent graduates, you must learn how to communicate verbally over the phone and in person. Texting doesn’t work when you negotiate your salary, benefits vacation day – those are a huge part of your life! 

Thank You Notes

I was talking to one of my candidates this morning about a thank you note she was going to write. I was relieved to learn that she was hand writing a short note instead of emailing it. Email is great, but not for thank you notes. I've found most emailed thank you notes candidates write to their interviewer to be too long, too much about themselves (instead of the company), and are often hastily and poorly written.

I prefer a short, legible hand written note on good stationary. Keep it simple and to the point. Mail it immediately after an interview - it has a much bigger impact than any email.

Writing A Thank You Letter After An Interview

When you’ve interviewed you must send a thank you letter! Very few people send one so be the one to stand out. A few things to remember when you do start writing:

• Don’t start every sentence with “I”. When you say “I” all the time it makes you look self centered. It’s about what you can do for the company, not what they can do for you. Get creative and restructure your sentences to change things up.

• Watch your grammar and spelling – double check everything.

• Make sure you pitch (sell) yourself and do it well. You interviewed there and now you know more about the job. Every sentence written should show why you should be working at the company.

• Keep it short and simple. Never go over a few short paragraphs and never over one page.

Arrogance is so outdated!

Webster’s definition – Arrogance n. the quality of state of being arrogant; overbearing pride or self-importance. Also arrogance. Arrogant. Adj. full of or due to unwarranted pride and self importance; overbearing pride or self-importance.

No one likes an arrogant person especially an arrogant job searching person. It’s time to drop the attitude and humble yourself. Haughty, overbearing, self promoting and obnoxiousness is not flattering. Tone it down.

Yes, show what you've done, yes promote yourself, but don't act like you are on reality TV. Stop the talk and the false TV show glam and show us who you are and what you can do with sincerity, honesty and integrity. Those traits will take you a lot further when searching for a job than self importance, over-bearing pride, and narcissism.

Q&A for Job Seekers

So a leader of a  group on LinkedIn sent me a request to answer a few questions. In the interest of providing a diverse set of viewpoints, he wanted feedback/responses/advice from me for those in transition. No idea if he’ll use my stuff but I thought I’d provide his questions and my answers.

1. Question - Facing unemployment in today’s world is complex. Can you give us perspective from different points of view, say a college grad versus someone at mid-career, a woman or Veteran re-entering the workforce, or a degreed versus non-degreed job seeker?

Answer: College grads vs. mid-career. I’m volunteering right now as a Mentor for the Chapman MBA program. I actually think the college grads will have an easier time finding work. They can intern for free and prove to their employers that they are worth bringing on. A mid-career person has to slug through the resume, interview hiring process without the help of a career placement office to push them in. Both types of people need to get aggressive to get a job. You must show why they should hire you. Don’t expect whoever is hiring you to fish it out you must sell yourself.

2. Question - What is unusual about our current economic situation that makes the job of getting a job completely different than in past decades?

Answer - Unusual about current economic situation – companies are cutting back and expecting you to do three jobs not one. So when they decided to replace, rehire or create a new job they combo skills. Quite frequently during our searches the combo is almost unheard of and we’re out seeking that needle in the haystack. Also normally in harsh times companies still need accounting/finance types but not as much now. As accounting/operations gets more automated it takes less people to manage the systems.

3. Question - Other than the economy, what is the number one barrier that prevents people from gainful employment?
Answer - Not demonstrating why they fit the job, not explaining what they bring to the table to help the company and not asking for the job.

4. Question - What does one do if they have been historically employed in an industry that is showing no signs of growth or is in fact diminishing altogether?

Answer - What to do when you are becoming extinct – like mammals did, you need to adapt. Think out of the box, figure out what skill sets are transferable and market yourself to companies that can use those skills. People have a tendency to see what they can’t do instead of what they CAN do.

5. Question - What are the first steps you recommend for a job seeker to prevent feeling overwhelmed?

Answer - Take a deep breath and call a recruiter friend.

6. Question -. What are some of the key pitfalls job seekers face when looking for a new position?

Answers – Their ego – lose it. You won’t be making as much money as before and you’ll be working harder than before.

7. Question - Many unemployed workers start to focus on their passion and look to turn hobbies or dreams into entrepreneurial companies. At what point in the unemployment process do you recommend people begin to look at this as the best or worst option?

Answer - It all depends on the person and how entrepreneurial they are. Running your own business is not easy - you have to market your company constantly and work. Many people don’t understand that or are capable of doing that. Before you launch on something new I’d suggest finding a mentor/coach to talk with. Also do lots and lots of research on your new industry. The more you know the better off you are.

8. Question - What is your most memorable story or experience of a job seeker overcoming obstacles and realizing successful employment?

Answer - No idea - I work mainly with people who have jobs currently and I’m recruiting directly.

Ankenbrandt Group Trivia

Browsing through The Ankenbrandt Groups' old TAGBits newsletter I found out some fun and interesting stuff about the firm -

• Our logo is over 10 years old and we still think it looks good – thanks Rikki!

• We’ve been preaching tech solutions to recruiting for over 15 years. We still love technology.

• We have shared loads of Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving trivia.

• We are continuing re-inventing ourselves. We have recruited in almost all industries – the only industry I know we have not placed people in is hospitality. Anyone want to change that?

• We have found fantastic quotes over the years which are posted on this blog.

• We have been through recessions, earthquakes, fires, floods, huge periods of growth, a relocation to a new office etc.

• Dave “retiring” and then coming back - it’s hard not to work when you don’t have a hobby.

• Dave won’t quit – ever.