Filed under: Executive, Professional | Tags: background check, HR, nonprofit
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been watching a drama unfold at a highly visible nonprofit in my county. I’d like to share what’s happened with you because there’s a lot to be learned from the situation.
Here’s the scene: the ED of the nonprofit had a court case pending in Southern California. It appears that he was caught in an FBI sting for molesting a young lady who was underage, with a felony charge the result. Further complicating the situation, the Board of Directors didn’t make sure a background check was done on the ED.
Bottom line?
If you’re a candidate, please don’t think that you can move from one county to another – heck, even from one state to another – and leave your legal problems behind. Particularly if you’re interviewing for a position that requires you to be in the public spotlight, know that your name will be visible everywhere. Most organizations will do a thorough background check – including a check on your degrees and possibly even your driving record.
Don’t kid yourself – if you’ve got something in your background, it’s only a matter of time – you can be sure it won’t remain hidden. At that point, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been employed for 25 days or 25 years. The end of the story is termination.
If you’re a member of the Board or make the hiring decision, remember that it never matters how nice the appearance is. Even feedback from references isn’t the same as a full background check. Trust, but verify. Always verify. If the individual you’re hiring comes in contact with children and you haven’t properly vetted them, you’ve just left your organization open for a lawsuit.
The organization in question is possibly in for further damage. We’re nearly a third of the way into the last quarter of the year. Why is that important? Because nonprofits campaign for donations at this time of year and there’s potential for donors to give elsewhere.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Regardless of what’s happening during your job search, keep in mind that the only person who can really stop you is yourself.
Are you rolling your eyes? Stick with me here…
Of course the various people interviewing you during the process have input. And when you speak with the supervisor, you know their vote will be huge. Even the receptionist and security people may weigh in on you – no kidding. I’ve known clients who’ve told me the wrong word to the admin got them torpedoed. But then, you knew that.
So how can I say it’s up to you?
Because what someone else does has no bearing whatever on how you conduct yourself.
It’s impossible to know what will happen in advance, so you’ll always do the preparation. You’ll treat everyone you meet with respect. You’ll be attentive and understand that filling a job is much harder now, and the stakes are higher for people involved in making the decision.
Be real and present your best self. HR people and managers can spot a fake a mile away. Think of HR as the first line of protection for a company. They’re paid to keep the organization productive. What they’re really hoping for with each interview is finding that rarest of candidates – a person who has integrity, social skills, technical chops and dedicated work ethic.
Give it to everyone you meet by being consistent, considerate and demonstrating yourself and your skill with every encounter.
Filed under: General
Barbara Kiviat gets it – a year ago many of us viewed jobs as something we worked at while we waited for that killer idea we’d sell to venture capitalists. No longer.
Your 401K has cratered, the house is ‘under water,’ your diamonds and gold don’t appear to be holding their value and it’s been a long while since you’ve fed your insatiable appetite for a trip to Hawaii. Welcome to the recession.
Oh, by the way – you just might want to get serious about your job. Whaaaaaaat? You heard me – your job. That’s j-o-b.
With all the typical asset classes dropping in value, look to your employer as your most valuable asset.
Stop that screaming – I can hear it all the way over here on the Left Coast. Get serious and snuggle up to your job. The day of double digit returns on investments has disappeared like the buggy whip. Who knows when it may return.
Meanwhile, your surest source of riches? Let me repeat: it’s your job.
Now you can be smug about paying attention to Mrs. Chapin in 6th grade English class. In Kiviat’s article in the 3/23/2009 issue of Time, she quotes experts who compare the income stream from a job to the interest income you might receive from a bond. And education, flexibility, problem-solving ability and smarts coupled with social skills will pay you big dividends starting now. In short, it’s nice to be nice. And smart. A prior post on CEOs Mulcahy and Merchant makes the point.
With people now saving 5% of their paychecks, you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that there’s more than just the lure of a paycheck to a job. Not even considering the benefit side, a steady income also allows the recipient to provide their own private version of stimulus checks within their community in the form of buying groceries, clothing, gas, paying for dry cleaning and signing the monthly child care check.
If you need food for thought, consider this from brilliant career coach Jane Genova’s Career Transitions blog – of the 300 applicants for a cook’s job paying $25K recently, 9 applicants had a Ph.D. Jobs are a very valuable commodity.
Read Kiviat’s entire piece here and change your view of employment. You just gained an important asset – one that’s well worth protecting.
Filed under: Executive
Have a broad background and adaptability? You win, says Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy.
The NYT has a great interview done by Adam Bryant with legendary Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy. She and her management team have worked hard for many years to revitalize the company, succeeding in many areas against steep odds.
What stands out for me in this piece are two things.
First, she outs herself as a ‘pen tapper’ when irritated. When you’re working with executives, it’s important to pay attention to the signs of irritation. If they’re trying to get you to speed to the point, if they appear not to be listening, if, in Anne’s case, they start tapping their pen – pay attention. Compress your pitch. Get the key sentence out.
Do not drag them through the rest of the presentation just because you want to be heard. If that’s the case, go see a therapist or talk to your dog during your evening walk.
Far too few of us spend time ‘reading’ the reactions of others in business. One person I’ve worked with who is brilliant at this is Rubicon Consulting CEO Nilofer Merchant. An astute judge of character, she has a finely-honed ability to take an emotional intelligence reading at the same time she is untangling a complex multi-national business scenario. And, as Mulcahy notes in the interview, “We also learned a lot about identifying failure quickly.” CEOs like Merchant and Mulcahy are successful in part because they treat problem-solving like defusing a ticking time bomb.
Second, the man in the gray suit won’t work well in business today. Structure? It’s different than it was, and the rules keep changing. Roles? They morph to keep up with alterations provided by technology, culture, public sentiment (are you listening, AIG, Citi, and B of A?), and the economy.
Mulcahy’s take on the most important attributes she’s looking for in people? “Adaptability and flexibility. One of the things that is mind-boggling right now is how much we have to change all the time. For anybody who’s into comfort and structure, it gets harder and harder to feel satisfied in the company.”
The individual who’s willing to roll up their sleeves and get dirty, try something new and risk failure, or innovate knowing it may change everything – they’re the new winners. If you’re fluid with an ER-like penchant for using parallel inference to develop the right new answers to problems that might not have existed 10 minutes ago, you’re probably going to win.
For those who liked the old world of rigid, stratified, high-boundary hierarchy – sorry, game over.
Read the entire NYT interview with Mulcahy here. I’m a fan. Like Merchant, she’s a leader I’d follow anywhere.
The folks at your state unemployment office could be your new best friends.
OK, they’re not like that. Or at least they’re not wearing togas.
Make sure applying for unemployment is one of the first things you do after being laid-off. Pay attention to the rules – this is one part of the government that has very definite requirements. Read the web site, read the documents you’re required to fill out. Then take the time to read them through one more time before you complete your application.
Don’t press the button before you’re sure that you’ve done everything they’ve required. Know how often you have to report. Keep records. And make sure you track where and when you’ve sent your resume or applied for jobs. This is more important than ever since many applications will be done online.
My prior post about a New York Times video about Boomers at a job fair in New York makes that point – most of them were told to go to the company’s web site even though they’d gone to the fair to speak with recruiters in person. Frustrating, I’m sure.
When you start getting your checks, make sure the amount is correct (based on the salary you received at your last job) and deposit or cash the check immediately. Read any forms you receive. Do what they ask.
Keep it simple. Remember: every time you speak with the unemployment office, there’s a chance your benefits may be delayed or denied. Just follow the rules. Submit the forms on time, exactly as specified.
Want more on this? See Eve’s great post on unemployment over at Career Diva – she gets it!
Filed under: Legal | Tags: attorneys, Goodwin Procter, Holland & Knight, Jane Genova, laid-off, Latham & Watkins, Law and More, left behind, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Wall Street Journal
Mark Penn reports that it’s happening with a vengeance – attorneys are receiving pinkslips like nobody’s business.
Firms large, small and in between are getting in on the action. It’s likely not just a response to bad business – lowering the number of attorneys cuts the payroll and keeps partners in the dough. I’d imagine those left behind are struggling to manage their new case load and increased billability requirements designed to maintain profits.
Cutting attorneys while whittling the legal firm down to size is a topic long-covered by the brilliant legal commentator and lead paint watcher Jane Genova in Law and More.
Here’s the Wall Street Journal quote:
“For the first time, even lawyers are facing wholesale layoffs. Big firms like DLA Piper have had to let go of 150 lawyers at a time, and this is rippling through the industry. In February alone, Goodwin Procter, Holland & Knight, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and Latham & Watkins have laid off about 325 lawyers, in some cases cutting almost 8% of their attorneys.”
Read the entire piece here.
In Manhattan, Boomers got up and out in frigid weather to wait on line for a job fair. Most were told to go to the web site to apply.
Job seekers, this is really the point: don’t spend more than 20% of your time online to get a job. Prep your materials, get them out, but above all – go talk with real people.
People help people get jobs. Let me repeat that six times:
People help people get jobs. People help people get jobs. People help people get jobs. People help people get jobs.
People help people get jobs. People help people get jobs.
Got it? I’m serious – talk with a live person today.
View the NYT video here.
Filed under: General
We’d never have seen this article 9 months ago. And from the New York Times, even!
In the time it takes to have a child, the world has changed considerably. Many who commented on this article were outraged that the public desires the suffering of investment bankers. Reminds me of the crowds attending Marie Antoinette’s execution.
Part of the emotion is a desire for justice. Another is punishing those who fell from grace. The tone of this piece is sarcastic humor.
Even people who have lost big time can recover, though. I’ve known a few investment bankers. The best of the bunch weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth. They went to schools like the University of Oregon. Not exactly Harvard or Dartmouth. One client I’m thinking of in particular was smart and a hard worker. A very kind man. Not a shark.
Anyone for polishing up their Tom Wolfe? Perhaps it’s time for a rereading of The Bonfire of the Vanities.
My take? I don’t like lies. And I’m not going to be in the mob throwing stones.
Filed under: General | Tags: fair pay, Gail Collins, New York Times, Obama
The first bill signed into law by President Obama is about fair pay.
Pay equity has been an issue for decades – and it became even more important as women became a key part of the workforce.
By this point, most of us have heard of Lilly Ledbetter who worked at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama and found out that her male colleagues were much higher on the pay scale – yet she was doing the same work they were.
This is important legislation for women and children. It also impacts our country, culture and communities in a positive way. I hope many job seekers receive benefit from it.
Now equal pay for equal work is the law of the land. Here’s the story.
Gail Collins has a great column on it here.
With the Super Bowl coming up soon, you might wonder if there’s value in a pre-interview snack of tail gate leftovers before that interview.
The NYT published a recipe I can only call ‘bacolicious’ – and definitely just for those who are struggling to keep their fat intake flying off the charts.
Call your cardiologist before attempting this….click here for the entire story.
I’ve never imagined weaving bacon into a meat mat that wraps around sausage before – thanks to Jason Day and Aaron Chronister for their genius. Please guys – don’t share the recipe with President Obama, we need to keep him on the job.
The 411 on pre-interview snacks?
No sugary foods, no fatty foods. Sorry, eating the Bacon Explosion before you interview is likely to have paramedics carting you out of the VP’s office on a gurney or nodding off into dreamland as all the fat hits your system.
Stick with protein and keep it light. A snack of almonds and some water about 30 minutes before your appointment will probably be optimal.
