True Story: As Freshmen in Architectural school, we had practicing NY Architects come in weekly to critique our work. These brilliant, talented and egocentric people weren’t professors teaching us how to design; they just commented on work in progress - what we had already designed.…

Continue

Whether you are looking for a new job, trying to win more business, or

just need to find a solution to a challenge, networking is often the

answer.

Most people need some help to capitalize on their own contacts, and

certainly when calling strangers. Here's some key tips on how to get

people to joyfully help you:

• Walk in their shoes. Understand who they are, where they are in life, in business, and what…

Continue

Performance-Based interviewing yields better hires, when compared to competency-based interviewing. We are advocates for doing the work during the interview to find the candidate’s precise skills in context (in directly comparable situations) that align with the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable,…

Continue

Job seekers hear about the hidden job market and often wonder how much is myth vs. reality. Here is a guide on what is real, and what you can do to tap into these opportunities.…

Continue

Try to imagine this scenario: You are a BP Oil or Halliburton employee anywhere along the Gulf Coast, attending a friend’s backyard barbecue on a recent Sunday, and in between sips of beer and nibbles of chips and dip, you hear, over and over, “Oh my god, you…

Continue

Many CEOs claim to have exceptional intuition about hiring for their executive team. “I know in my gut if someone will be a fit,” they say. Much like the stories of gamblers, who will brag about their winnings (but not tell you about their losses), you only hear about the successful hires.



Too many executive candidates today are good salespeople. They know how to create a good first impression, and hit the CEO directly in the gut with their personality, and win the job offer. A…

Continue

Ever had an awful boss? I'll bet he or she had some or maybe most of these bad traits:



Control Junkie: Has a tough time truly delegating or letting go. Has an opinion about everything.



Being Right: Even if your boss is usually right, it feels bad to think that you are generally wrong.



Rude: Bosses too often fail to say please and thank you, and they don't take the time for basic politeness.



Gives Blame / Takes Credit: Bad… Continue

Overqualified…

Continue

Many employers, correctly seeking to act quickly on a good candidate, put together and extend offers as soon as they decide a candidate is right for them. The minute the offer is extended, all control moves over to the candidate, and the employer’s ability to influence the decision, or help “close” the candidate is diminished. An important strategy is to test-close or pre-close the candidate, mostly to surface…

Continue

I call my concept of getting close to people quickly the “Bullseye Theory of Communication.” Picture a bullseye type of target.

We are all trained from childhood to be polite, to not be nosy, not pry, not push people too far out of their comfort zone. In my bullseye…

Continue

Whenever people talk about candidate lying, the usual topics come up: Exaggerating dates of employment, falsifying education, inflating salary or title, hiding a criminal record, and hiding a drug habit. Most of these can be easily caught by a decent background check. You can ask for a W-2 to verify compensation. Simple diligence can prevent a person who is lying about…

Continue

I have consistently contended that executives who tolerate “B” and “C” players on their teams give up a lot. Let me now quantify it:

Let’s say you are a CEO with 5 key management team reports, running a $50 million (revenue) company. Let’s say that you project 10% revenue growth next year, but…

Continue

The trend is moving positive, with many people actually “getting it” that a resume needs to be a promotional flyer that accurately represents who you are in a selective, exciting, compelling manner. BUT, too many people still have really bad resumes!…

Continue