Tag Archives: employment

jobseekers: hiring managers judge a book by its cover!

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I recently had a conversation in which I was discussing my 10+ years of experience in human resources management. It’s not something I talk about often these days, but it’s definitely a huge part of my life and career experience. During this conversation, the other person asked me, “what’s something that HR managers/hiring managers don’t want people to know?” Honestly, I can think of a few things that are considered to be on a “need to know” basis when it comes to recruiting and hiring, but thinking along the lines of my particular focus, what jumped to mind is this: they’re judging you. Not just your experience – YOU.

Optimally, and on the record, hiring decisions will be made on tangibles such as your resume and skill set. By the time you make it to the interview, though, you can pretty much presume that those things pass muster, especially if you’ve been pre-screened by phone. When you’re sitting in that interviewee seat, you are being judged on not only your experience and responses to the questions asked, but also how you look and speak – your overall presentation. In fact, you are being judged on those things from the time you walk through the door. Don’t underestimate the impressions you make on the receptionist or other staff members you may encounter prior to the actual interview. You never know how much input someone has. Put your best foot forward with everyone you see.

One buzzword that a lot of companies use is “fit.” They’re looking for someone who “fits” with their staff and company culture. I’m not necessarily a fan of this because finding the right “fit” can often translate to biased hiring; however, you will be judged on how well the interviewer thinks you will fit in with the company.

My point here is: don’t underestimate the importance of your presentation – both visual and verbal. Your manners, personality and conversation skills also come into play.

Bonus secret: sometimes people are brought in because the company requires that a certain number of people be interviewed for each position. Don’t rest on the quality of your resume to seal the deal. Of course your resume is important, especially these days when the candidate pools are so large, but once you get your foot in the door, make sure your shoe is polished – literally and figuratively! Stand out among the rest. Remember, you’re being judged.

Need help polishing your image and presentation skills for your job search? Contact me at tamara@msrasberryinc.com or 202.681.8598.

YOU are your brand. Represent!

3 tips for earning what you’re worth

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I’ve had several conversations lately about money, in particularly, being fairly compensated for services rendered. We often hear the phrase, “know your worth,” in relation to relationships and self-esteem, but it is equally as important when it comes to business. I’ve learned that often when people are just starting out as business owners or consultants, they tend to work for free and/or an unreasonably low rate. This probably seems like a good thing to do in order to help build a client base and gain experience. Nothing could be further from the truth! What it actually does is teach people to undervalue you. Even if you are just starting out, your knowledge, skills and abilities (or KSAs as the Federal Government used to call them :) ) deserve to be valued. Don’t sell yourself short.

Tia Peterson of Bizchickblogs.com recently wrote a post discussing how women in particular tend to settle for less when it comes to compensation, both as employees and consultants. She referenced Mika Brzezenski’s book, Knowing Your Value (which I plan to add to my reading list.) I realize and understand how tempting it can be to offer to work for free or at a reduced rate simply to gain the business, thinking that some money is better than none and/or that the work will give you experience/exposure. That’s what I like to refer to as a “fail move.” In other words, you are setting yourself up for a fail. You will be working just as hard, but for little to no money which will only end up with you feeling resentful and frustrated. Oh, and probably still short on needed funds. Trust me, I know what it’s like to operate out of fear- “When will I get my next client? When will I get paid again?” -but sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and believe that you are doing the right thing.

Follow these three tips to knowing, and earning, your worth:

Do your homework. Research the going rates for the services you are providing. Even if you start charging at the lower end of the range, it’s better than charging well below the range.

Be confident in your abilities. Hopefully you decided to go into business for yourself or to be a consultant because you found something that utilizes your skill set and about which you are passionate. Be confident in that and believe that the right clients will be willing to pay you what you are worth. Don’t settle for less.

Have a Plan B. In this case, ‘Plan B’ refers to having multiple streams of income. We frequently hear how important it is to have multiple streams of income, but this is especially important when you are not “employed” and therefore not receiving a paycheck on a regular basis. If you don’t have money coming in from one stream, another stream can help fill the void. This will help you to not have to sell yourself cheap. Optimally, your streams would be related, but of course they don’t have to be.

I’m speaking to entrepreneurs/consultants here, but this is just as important for employees. The same theory applies – if you undervalue yourself, so will everyone else.

YOU are your brand! Represent.

What lessons have you learned about knowing, and demanding, your worth? Please share in the comments.

social presence: personal vs. professional

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It’s important to have a social presence; especially if you have something to sell, and EVERYONE has something to sell. Be it a mission, a product, or, the most critical brand of all, yourself, everyone needs to know how to best navigate the worlds of social media and networking in order to accomplish their goal, which is to get people to buy what you’re selling. For those of us who are not (yet) self-employed, the waters can become murky when you are trying to distinguish between your social presence and that of your employer. For some people, the two are indistinguishable. For me, they couldn’t be farther apart.

True story: I attended a social media seminar recently, which I live-tweeted. It was on a weekday, my company paid for it and they will definitely benefit from the knowledge I gained, but I did the live-tweeting from my personal Twitter account. During a staff meeting following the event, I discussed the seminar and that I had live-tweeted it. My supervisor asked if I had used my own Twitter account. My response, “Yes. I represent brand ME.” I didn’t attend with the understanding that I would live-tweet for the firm and it’s second nature for me to do this when I attend events. This is what I do. This is not; however, what my company does. Of course my supervisor’s primary concern was how the company would be represented via my tweets. Well, she needn’t worry because no one in my Twitter network even knows where I work, unless I know them personally.

On my social networks I don’t brand myself as an employee of this firm. I don’t even mention it, except on LinkedIn, which is pretty much an online resume. People don’t know me as “employee of XYZ company.” They know me as “ms. rasberry.” That is MY brand and the one I choose to promote. A few months ago, my company wanted to link our LinkedIn profiles to our profiles on the company website and I fought against that. Why? I don’t want the lines to be blurred. Though my profile lists the company that I work for as part of my employment history, that’s not the purpose of it. I’m not representing, or selling, them; I’m selling ME. I’ve never sent a tweet or written a blog or Facebook post as a representative of my firm. If I mention anything about work, I’m never specific. When I live-tweet our annual conference, that’s when I use the firm account.

Though more and more companies are embracing and even encouraging the use of social media by employees, employers remain concerned as to the potential negative effect this could have. The solution is for companies to put social media policies and guidelines in place. These guidelines will set the stage for how employees can utilize social media in the name of the company and under what circumstances they can mention their relationship to the company. Even companies that do not currently have a social presence should establish these guidelines. Better safe than sorry.

For employees, better to err on the side of caution. We’ve all heard the stories of the person who was fired because of a tweet or blog post mentioning their employer. Be mindful of your social presence and any potential impact it may have on your employer – if you want to keep your job. Keep the personal, personal and keep the professional, professional. Don’t be a social media casualty!

who owns your image? you or your employer?

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much is too much in regards to employer requests; specifically involving the use of my image for business purposes. Recently my employer asked the staff to take photos and make videos, basically for the purpose of promotion – telling why we “love” working there, etc. Maybe, it’s just me, but I don’t feel that I should have to do this. Maybe I don’t “love” working there. Maybe it’s just a means to an end.

The bigger issue for me; however, is that, I feel that requests like these blur the boundaries between personal and professional property in a way that makes me uncomfortable. Just because someone pays me to do a job doesn’t mean that they own me. Or does it? Is that the mindset that I am supposed to have – you write me a check, so now I am your property and you can do with me, and my image, as you wish?

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that an employer can ask you to do pretty much anything job-related and not illegal; however, if goes beyond the realm of the position and is not a requirement of the job, the employee should have the option to refuse. My day job doesn’t represent me, my dreams, thoughts, hopes or desires and when it comes to my face and my words (not as far as work product, but personal thoughts,) I should have control over how they are used. I have my picture on my blog, and social networking accounts because they represent me and that is my choice. And that’s the way it should be!