I’ve lived with a dark secret that no one else knew about for over 20 years.

Late in 2010 my world started to unravel when my 6 year relationship started to fall apart, I was being bullied at work, my Dad had a life threatening heart condition and as a result I started to suffer from depression.  It was only when my depression became quite serious that I began to wake up to the fact that the real root of my problems was a deep seated lack of self esteem and that I had coped with it through a very self-destructive addiction.

It was an addiction to credit cards that had finally manifested into a debt of over $55,000 on 7 separate credit cards. I had no house, no car nor any other assets.  Over half of my disposable income went on servicing my debt and I was constantly struggling just to find the money to live.  The stress poisoned my relationships with family, friends and work colleagues and work, relationship and debt stress fed off each other.  I was in a dark place at the bottom of a deep debt hole.

Finally it all fell apart and I had to confess to of all people my boss first (only my partner had known previously), I was desperate to hold onto my job, I’d convinced myself I was hopeless at my job and was letting everyone down (none of which was actually true!).   My company kindly offered me free counselling with a psychologist to help me through my relationship woes.

It took a few months but I finally found the courage to end my relationship.  It was then that I could face up to the fact that I had to tell my family how much trouble I was in, leave my job and move up to Queensland to be with family.  I could also take care of my parents who for too long I had mistakenly tried to protect from my troubles.

I then had to tackle a $55,000 debt that I now had no way to service!!!

I flirted briefly and foolishly with a debt management company who were to “negotiate” for me.   They would have still had me paying off a $50,000 debt and were charging me $2,000 in fees with no guarantee the credit companies would accept it!  My gut and my head thankfully said no.

I sought free financial advice and decided to try to negotiate privately with the banks and finance companies.

Well it has taken over 10 months and it has at times felt like I’m working a full-time job, but I have got all but one of my creditors to accept a write-off of my debt at 15 cents in the dollar.  One bank even agreed to completely write off my $5000 debt!

Hopefully my final creditor will soon agree as well.   Then I will have turned a $55,000 debt into a very manageable $7,000 debt!   It seemed like a challenge as big as Everest and virtually impossible for me however I had nothing to lose and I learnt a very valuable lesson about my true abilities in the process.  I also managed to do something that has astounded even the most experienced financial planners.

All of those banks said “no” over and over and over again.  Most people would have accepted their decision and been worn down by them.  However the reasons they kept giving, when I looked at them carefully, we’re at worst completely invalid and at best seriously flawed.

So I kept asking and asking again and writing letters and questioning their logic.  Sometimes it meant writing to the CEO or the Financial Ombudsman.  It took months and seemed to be dragging on but I had to accept that it had taken me over 20 years to dig myself into the hole I was in so it was understandable that it would take some time to climb out.

But I’m almost there and I just don’t know myself now.  My life has turned completely around and I’m 1000% happier.  And a substantial negative (my debt woes) has become a positive that money can’t buy (quality time spent with my Mum and Dad).  It wasn’t until I owned up and shared my debt woes with others that I learnt some important life lessons.

1. When you hide your problems you convince yourself that your problems are unique. Share them and you start to realise lots of other people have the same problems and are very willing to help you.
2. Tackling your problems can change your life.  Negatives really can become positives!
3. Persistence is everything.  Don’t give up when you know you are right!

Related posts:

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. Blog Spotter Four
3. Trust Your Gut . . . . . . . and Your Ability!

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. Blog Spotter Four
3. Trust Your Gut . . . . . . . and Your Ability!

I know when you read this blog that some of you may accuse me of being either:

1. the Grinch that stole Christmas or,
2. completely humourless or,
3. the original party pooper.

But I’m afraid I have to take that risk because this is something that I feel very passionate about.

Last time I checked, one of the basic tenants of being a Recruitment Consultant or HR Professional was that candidate information (including the candidate assessment process) is strictly confidential.  In fact recruiters when joining a new company will typically be asked to sign a candidate confidentiality agreement.

And yet, I have but to Google “funny candidate interview” and a veritable online tsunami of stories from Recruiters and Human Resources professionals floods my screen.  I can then choose from a smorgasbord of juicy and delicious tidbits that may include quotes from job candidates that the recruiter found amusing, “strange” and “unusual” candidate behaviour or perhaps some left-of-centre resume information.

Interestingly though I don’t often find any whiff of a suggestion that the candidate has been counselled by the recruiter to get them back on the path towards their goals.  The candidate often as not appears to have simply been written off and I suspect has then become an anecdote to be shared around (and far beyond it would seem) the water cooler.

Two questions spring to mind.

1. What message do we think this behaviour sends to our clients (employers and employees)?
2. Does this behaviour promote or undermine our clients’ trust and respect?

I sit here rather nervously awaiting your response.

Related posts:

1. Should we really “hate” recruiters?
2. Dark Ages Recruiters (and job seekers too)
3. “But if I tell my candidate why, they might sue the company!”

1. Should we really “hate” recruiters?
2. Dark Ages Recruiters (and job seekers too)
3. “But if I tell my candidate why, they might sue the company!”

Here’s what I found for you that’s funny, interesting and clever this week in the Careers, HR and Recruitment blogosphere.

For those of you that seem to be hitting brick walls in your job search, Jacob Share and guest author Dave Thomas have some timely advice in 5 Quick Questions to Review Your Job Interview Progress.  Sometimes when you’re in the thick of it all it’s hard to see the wood for the trees. Dave’s blog might just help bring the trees into focus for you!  You can follow Jacob on Twitter @JacobShare

3 Ways to Deal with Whiny and Complaining Employees is good advice from Mike Rodgers.  We’ve all worked with people like this and who knows, if the advice works, you or they may not need to look for a new job?  You can follow Mike on Twitter @Secondgleader.

I thought it was time we raised the intellectual tone of this blog.  So I’ve done some research through my alumni network and discovered a very enlightening short doco which I believe provides real insight into just how long humans have been conducting job interviews. Take a look at Job Interview Origins.

The one where it’s in the family is another “hitting-a-brick-wall” story but seen from a very different angle. In a heart-felt post Rob Jones questions why he’s hitting a job brick wall and concludes it’s because of other peoples’ limitations.  Make sure you read the comments as well because they’re just as enlightening.  You can keep in touch with Rob through his blog.

And finally I love Bringing something to the party . . . just because it’s a personal, from-the-heart post and reminds us that sometimes it’s not what we do or don’t do, but rather what we say to ourselves that holds us back!  Wish I could tell you who posted it but she seems to value anonymity.

Related posts:

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. “Funny” Job Candidates and the Recruiters that “go public” with their story
3. “But if I tell my candidate why, they might sue the company!”

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. “Funny” Job Candidates and the Recruiters that “go public” with their story
3. “But if I tell my candidate why, they might sue the company!”

The other day I received this question as a comment on my blog.

“Hi Karalyn,

I seem to stumble when writing selection criteria. For example I am employed in the client contact role in the APS and wish to transfer these skills to a local government role but never been successful in gaining an interview…and what is the different skills in client contact in local government to the federal government environment.

Regards

James”

Hi James,

Good question. Great question in fact.

Often selection criteria for two different roles read the same way, but actually mean two different things. I would not suggest there is a general difference between local government and federal government as such, but the difference will be in the requirements of the role.

The only way you will know this is to speak with the convener. When you do this acknowledge that you have read the application (otherwise they’ll roll their eyes), and then ask if you can explore the role a little further.

The killer question to ask the convener is: “what will a typical day or week look like in this role?”

I’ll give you an example.

The selection criteria may read:

“Providing excellent customer service to internal and external stakeholders”

As I have said before on this blog, that kind of language is woolly. It’s impossible to unpack what the job actually involves after reading this statement.

If you ask the convener this question: “what does a typical day or week look like?” you get a whole different insight.

You may then find out that you will actually be answering telephone calls from rate-payers disputing their council rate notices. Close to the end of every quarter you will be incredibly busy as people receive their bills. At the end of the year rates go up. So the first quarter of every year when people receive their first quarterly bills, you will be incredibly busy with very angry callers who will often be distressed.

When you understand this, you then provide examples that show you are able to manage this situation.

That’s my killer question. You can apply this question to any other role as well.

What’s your killer question on the job hunt?

We’re very keen to hear what you use.

Related posts:

1. Selection criteria tips for the frightened
2. Resume and Selection Criteria? – yes you do need both
3. Get to the point! Write within selection criteria word limits

1. Selection criteria tips for the frightened
2. Resume and Selection Criteria? – yes you do need both
3. Get to the point! Write within selection criteria word limits

I was chatting to Karalyn the other night about a comment I had come across from the InterviewIQ blog post, 6 reasons your recruitment consultants doesn’t give you feedback.

Karalyn gave 6 reasons to explain what goes on behind the scenes at a recruitment agency. She describes why people do not get the service they deserve.

Recruitment Consultants are easy targets. Inevitably when we write posts like this about agencies, we always get told the “seventh reason.” Like the writer of this comment said:

“What a load of nonsense excuse making. Agents don’t give feedback because they are rude, lazy and arrogant. It’s as simple as that. They’d *never* accept being treated as such so why treat someone else that way? Because they can. It is possible to send someone a quick email stating that the application has been unsuccessful without having to delve into detail. However, they choose not to and that is purely a reflection of the poor professional and personal attitude pervasive in the recruitment industry.”

Other readers’ comments along similar lines caused me to think that unfortunately not much has changed on the “candidate feedback front” since I was a recruiter 15 years ago.

Don’t get me wrong, I was no angel when I was looking after candidates!  I made my fair share of mistakes and my care of candidates wasn’t always the best.  I remember on more than one occasion deliberately avoiding candidate feedback either because I didn’t know how to handle an uncomfortable situation or because I was paranoid about exposing my employer to a law suit.  And the organisational culture meant that a blind eye was turned to this shortcoming if I was generating revenue for my employer.

I do know though that I always had my heart in the right place and that I genuinely cared about my candidates.

Why am I telling you this?  Because it reminded me of a very important lesson I learnt from an eager 19 year old young bloke from the South Western suburbs of Sydney named Mario (name changed).

He told me he had been “workin” in a clothing store, enjoyed “playin” rugby league and was “lookin” for work in call centres within the Finance and Insurance industries.

So here’s my dilemma.  I can’t put him forward for the call centre jobs I have because I know that my clients wouldn’t be happy.  They want well spoken staff to represent their organisations with their customers and they would view Mario’s poor enunciation as unprofessional.  But Mario is a bright, enthusiastic young bloke with a lot of potential.

I know that the owner of the recruitment agency would have a heart attack if he knew what I was about to do, but my heart tells me it’s the right thing. So I do it, I tell Mario that his speech is holding him back and that I can’t put him forward until he fixes it.

And what does Mario do . . . . . ?

He takes a deep breath, looks like the wind has been taken out of his sails but then looks me in the eye and says, “Richard I’ve been to over 10 agencies so far and I knew there was a reason why I hadn’t been given a chance!  But no one would tell me!  It’s not nice to hear it but thank you for bein’ honest with me.”

Mario was genuinely appreciative and I think he respected me more because I’d had the courage to say what needed to be said.  I tried to reassure him that his barrier could well and truly be overcome with a bit of effort on his part.

And Mario’s mature response taught me two incredibly valuable lessons:

1. if your candidate assessment is entirely based on valid selection criteria any negative feedback is defendable from potential legal action and therefore;
2. you as a recruiter should always exercise your obligation to your candidates to provide honest feedback.

So as a candidate you have a right to expect honest feedback from your recruiter. And if you don’t get it, find another recruiter!

Related posts:

1. “Funny” Job Candidates and the Recruiters that “go public” with their story
2. Are you in the hands of a recruiter, or a consultant?
3. 6 reasons your recruitment consultant doesn’t give you feedback

1. “Funny” Job Candidates and the Recruiters that “go public” with their story
2. Are you in the hands of a recruiter, or a consultant?
3. 6 reasons your recruitment consultant doesn’t give you feedback

Here’s what we found for you that’s funny, interesting and clever this week in the Careers, HR and Recruitment blogosphere.

3 Things Exercise Can Teach You About Career Success makes some interesting connections between two important parts of our lives. Emily Bennington reminds us that truly rewarding results rarely happen quickly. You can follow Emily on Twitter @EmilyBennington.

In How To Get More Done, Phil Bolton provides wise counsel on how to make your life more productive.  He suggests it’s important to think in increments with your goals, be mindful of major distractions and to not lose sight of the importance of fun in your life.  An important reminder when job hunting.  You can follow Phil on Twitter @LessOrdinaryLi.

Heather Mundell reminds us how all consuming the job search process can be in How to Boost Your Self Confidence During a Job Search.   But fear not!   She has some excellent advice on how to keep perspective and boost your spirits. You can follow Heather on Twitter @HeatherMundell.

I had to include this just because it makes you feel good and reminds us that if you stick at it, amazing things can happen. Pretty inspirational stuff!  Jason McElwaine.

Paula Caligiuri reminds us we can become overly goal focussed in Finding Career Fulfillment in the Process or the Outcome. It’s easy to forget that much of the pleasure can come from the trip itself. If you are job hunting you may be thinking that this is a real stretch, however I have personally found great pleasure from volunteering and caring for my parents, which is all part of my journey. You can follow Paula on Twitter @PaulaCaligiuri.

And this is just plain funny! Job Interview.

Related posts:

1. Blog Spotter Two
2. Blog Spotter Four
3. Cracking the New Job Market

1. Blog Spotter Two
2. Blog Spotter Four
3. Cracking the New Job Market

I know I’m a bit slow to pick things up but I’ve finally realised just what a powerful thing my mind is.
Unfortunately for years now I think it’s been working against me!

I was employed as a corporate trainer and my manager and I had a rather complicated working relationship.  During the last 3 years there were a number of decisions made that caused me to suspect that I was not “favoured.”

I never quite knew how to address it because my boss often said things indirectly. My manager handed good opportunities to other team members. I thought that she did not appreciate my tendency to challenge the status-quo and she viewed my suggestions for improvements as a hindrance rather than a help.

Finally after years of feeling like I was treading water in my career I plucked up the courage to confront my manager with my concerns.   She proceeded to confirm that she harboured reservations about me and had done for some time.  Upon reflection I had to agree that she had a point, but I could also see that these issues were all very solvable.

I now had to deal with the painful realisation that this discussion would have been exponentially more productive and positive had it occurred 3 years earlier.  And that caused me to feel angry, and a bit foolish.

Shortly thereafter I resigned and I’m now pursuing a career within community based training and education. I work with the educationally disadvantaged, migrants and refugees.

The past few months have taught me some valuable lessons.

1.  Address immediately any situation that eats away at your confidence.  Take action now!
2.  If it feels wrong, it probably is .  Trust your instincts.
3.  Patience is a virtue but not always.
4. Forgiveness is always a virtue especially when we extend it to ourselves. Humans aren’t perfect!

Realising all this has been an incredibly empowering experience.   Look out world, here I come!

Related posts:

1. Persistence does pay off!
2. If you’ve recently arrived, here’s how to get a job in Australia
3. Blog Spotter Four

1. Persistence does pay off!
2. If you’ve recently arrived, here’s how to get a job in Australia
3. Blog Spotter Four

Kool…..Kwerky…… Kwestioning . . . . . we’ve found the best of the best for you!

Here’s what we found for you that’s funny, interesting and clever this week in the Careers, HR and Recruitment blogosphere.

Only Because You Work For Me… could mistakenly be viewed as just another “I had a bad boss” story.   In fact Cora Mae has provided us all with an extremely insightful lesson in the incalculable long term costs if you take your colleagues for granted and don’t encourage and nurture your staff. You can follow Cora Mae on Twitter @1CoraMae.

I know, I know it’s an older post (11 October 2010) but I can’t ignore a blog that vindicates all those times I fell asleep at work!  Falling Asleep at Work Increases Productivity provides irrefutable scientific proof that a “nanna-nap” in the bathroom cubicle at work is an act of employee loyalty.  Thank you Meghan at Talent Culture and your guest author Cathy Taylor.  I knew I was an unappreciated visionary! You can follow them both on Twitter @MeghanMBiro and @CYTaylor

Chris Ferdinandi provides a beautifully inspiring video – The Right To Dream from Sonia Manchanda.  It serves as a reminder of what makes us human – our ability to dream and its importance to the creative process.  It’s all part of an amazing project in India called Dream:IN whose goal is to tap into young people’s dreams and identify how they might positively influence India’s future planning.  Good career and life lessons here I think? You can follow Chris and Sonia on Twitter @ChrisFerdinandi and @sonia_manchanda.

Penelope Trunk provides some interesting insights into how blogging can provide a career boost at Blogging Bootcamp is Stupid. You can follow Penelope on Twitter @penelopetrunk

And I’ll finish up this week with some inspiring quotes from the late Steve Jobs of Apple at Think Different. You can follow Recognition Heroes on Twitter @mcfrecognition

Related posts:

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. Blog Spotter Four
3. How a professional blog can help your career

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. Blog Spotter Four
3. How a professional blog can help your career

Kool, Kwerky, Kwestioning….. We’ve found the best of the best for you! – by Intern Richie.

Here’s what we found for you thats funny, interesting and clever this week in the HR, Careers and Recruitment blogosphere.

Ask a Manager poses the age old dilemma of what to do when critical personal and work commitments clash.  Is there a right or wrong decision?

Its Talent Stupid provides a fascinating physiological explanation of why we all tend to talk more about our negative experiences than the positive ones, and then challenges us to harness our inner salmon and swim against the current!

hrinsomniac has been subjected to one too many bad PowerPoint presentations and she’s not going to take it anymore!  If you’re guilty as charged fear not as there is hope for you yet.

Tuttopersona has an interesting take on the age old story of an underdog’s triumph over adversity that might just give long term job seekers some much needed inspiration.

And in keeping with the power of positive thinking, the Ex-Executive tells us that Jacarandas in bloom reminded her how important it is for us to reflect upon the blooms amongst the painful thorns of our workplace past.

Working for Wonka has discovered a YouTube teen rapper and wonders if we are looking at the next Steve Jobs?   You might want to introduce yourself because he may just be interviewing you in a year or two!

Related posts:

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. “Funny” Job Candidates and the Recruiters that “go public” with their story
3. “But if I tell my candidate why, they might sue the company!”

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. “Funny” Job Candidates and the Recruiters that “go public” with their story
3. “But if I tell my candidate why, they might sue the company!”

Please note my new telephone contact for the next 3 days is (02) 9559 5210.

To the people who stole my mobile – I have just been told there’s an app that means I can find you!

Beware!

Related posts:

1. How to use LinkedIn to land the job you want!
2. Six career killers on Facebook
3. What is Personal Branding?

1. How to use LinkedIn to land the job you want!
2. Six career killers on Facebook
3. What is Personal Branding?

Last month I was sent a review copy of “Cracking the New Job Market – The Seven Rules for Getting Hired in Any Economy.” The book is by R.William Holland, Founder of R. William Holland Consulting LLC – a consultancy specializing in HR and career management.

While the book is comprehensive and covers almost everything you need to know about getting hired in a tough economy, including: demonstrating your value, creating value on your resume, using social media (a passion of mine), nailing interviews and negotiation to get what you want, not what you deserve – I was particularly interested in the chapter around career choice.

We’ve spoken about the importance of finding your passion to help with finding your career before, on this post.  Bill, however, says that career choice is more than finding your passion.

He writes:

“The idea that passion should guide our career choices is appealing. All of us would like to live in a world in which what we do for a living is a constant source of inspiration and satisfaction. But that does not happen very often. Most people know what they are passionate about – or least what they enjoy doing. Identifying our passions is not the problem. The difficulty is linking those passions to available work. The interaction between what we do for a living and what makes us happy has many sides. And the advice to find work often distorts as much as it clarifies.”

Interesting thoughts – passion as a strong influencer of career happiness is something I have talked about quite often, possibly because in my work I rarely see people who absolutely love their jobs.

With badly written advertisements, poor recruitment practices and many confusing hands involved in the recruitment process, I often wonder how anybody makes a sound choice in a job, let alone a career.  I also think as a society we’re swept along by the idea that we deserve the best without actually having earned it – and that leads to a whole host of problems from the way we interact in the workplace, to the career choices we make.

My take from Bill’s chapter on career choice,is that we need to have broader insights into what makes us satisfied, such as:

-          Our lifestyle

-          How far we are prepared to travel and where we want to live

-          What security means to us

-          Whether we want to fulfill obligations that are broader than ourselves

-          Our actual skills and strengths

-          Our values and personalities

Bill also talks about serendipity and its importance in career choice.

I really loved this idea.

“Just as much as passion is overrated in terms of career choice, so serendipity is underrated. Never let the process of career choice blind you to unanticipated opportunities. Some professionals evolve in a straight line from what they studied in college to what they do in a career. In our experience, many more cannot trace their career path so easily. And most acknowledge the role of an accidental dimension that lead to the career direction they eventually took.”

Bill says, while you can never prepare for serendipity, you can position yourself to take advantage of it if you embrace the following:

-          Learn to create value in whatever you do

-          Make the value you create not about you, but what others want from you and your ability to provide it

-          The market for the value you create may be hidden as much as splintered. Make sure that value is on display when opportunity knocks

I’d also add that you need to be social, and in a way that takes you out of your normal comfort zone of family and friends. I know of people who’ve found jobs talking to people on the beach and on bus stops. If you doubt me, take a read of this post here for some inspiration on ways people have found jobs.

For anyone thinking that they’re too old to change, Bill says:

“You never know when lightening will strike. Colonel Saunders opened his first KFC store when he was 65!”

You can see more about Bill’s book here. I strongly recommend you buy it here.

Related posts:

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. Find a job you love, or love the job you find?
3. Job seekers – Are you in invoking the law of subtraction in your job search?

1. Blog Spotter Three
2. Find a job you love, or love the job you find?
3. Job seekers – Are you in invoking the law of subtraction in your job search?

There’s been talk about this for a while, but last month Linkedin officially released the “Apply with Linkedin” button.

The button will appear on employment websites. Linkedin kindly sent me a press release with this explanation on how it works. Here’s my take:

When you hit the “Apply With LinkedIn” button you can edit your profile before submitting to the employer, or you can directly hit the submit button. Once you do that your public Linkedin profile goes directly to the employer, or pre-populates the employer’s online application form.

You can see who in your network is associated with that employer, giving you the opportunity to contact that person to improve your chances of being hired.

I always have a few questions whenever I allow third-party access to my information on social media, namely how much access am I giving and how is that data going to be used.

I put my investigative reporter’s hat back on for some reassurance, and put these questions back to Linkedin.

Me: Could you tell me if this gives the recruiter/employer ongoing access to a candidate’s profile? What happens when an applicant updates the profile? Does that re-populate the database of the employer/recruiter?

LI: No.  The “Apply With LinkedIn” function creates a PDF snapshot of the applicant’s profile.  This is not linked in any way to the applicant’s profile and so would not update itself if the profile was updated.

Me: How much information does it give an employer? Will they have access to areas such as contacts that an applicant may have set as private on their profile?

LI: Before submitting their application, an applicant can edit their profile so that the recruiter/employer only sees what they want them to see, including areas of the applicant’s profile that may be set to private.

Me: Will an applicant be able close off access, if they are off the job market?

LI: An applicant isn’t granting a recruiter or potential employer access to their profile with “Apply With LinkedIn.” Instead, they are creating a static ‘print out’ version of their profile in place of submitting the traditional CV.

So there you have it.

I have another post coming up from interviews with four headhunters and recruiters about what they look for in a LinkedIn profile. If you want to use this function, you’ll need to read this.

Stay tuned.

Related posts:

1. LinkedIn has a new resume feature
2. Six new reasons to use LinkedIn
3. How to use LinkedIn to land the job you want!

1. LinkedIn has a new resume feature
2. Six new reasons to use LinkedIn
3. How to use LinkedIn to land the job you want!