Sirona Says

Doctors are just like Hiring Managers!

2009-07-15T08:00:00+01:00

I had the pleasure the other day of sitting in front of a consultant doctor in a hospital (not for me I might add), and observed his actions (or rather lack of actions!)
I have to say that as bright and clever as they are, I have come to the conclusion that doctors are just no different to your average hiring manager I have come across in my career.

Why? Two words - professional dis-respect

What is one of THE most annoying and disappointing things a hiring manager does at an interview (apart from not turning his Blackberry off)? They show the candidate absolutely no respect by not even bothering to read the candidates CV before an interview. They then proceed to read it through at the start of the interview, at the same time as asking the very lame, 'so tell me about yourself' question. It is so shallow and totally transparent, and yet they think it is perfectly acceptable. WRONG!!! It shows total professional dis-respect!!

Now let's go back to the doctor.
At the first meeting a few months ago, he took copious amounts of (albeit illegible) notes regarding the medical problem. For over twenty minutes he quizzed, questioned and proposed ideas. In short, he was efficient and instilled faith that he would do his best to help.
Roll on to the meeting this week with the same doctor. Can you guess where I am going with this? He proceeded to ask all the same questions again. It was so obvious that he hadn't even read his own notes, that it was just laughable! Within seconds, any credibility he had was destroyed. He just showed professional dis-respect, to his patient.

What really hacks me off with both examples is that it isn't a one off. How many times have either of these happened to you? I will bet, more than a couple!
All they would have to do is to take a few minutes before an interview or a consultation just to read through the notes or CV....that's all! Just think what the difference that would make!

So come on all you doctors and hiring managers, start treating people with respect, and we might all start showing some in return!!

50 Top Tips for Job Seekers

2009-07-13T21:27:09+01:00

Over the last few months I have written many posts aimed at helping job seekers find a job. The feedback has been fantastic, so in response to many people's suggestions, I have put many of my tips together in one FREE 12 page guide. In this 50 Top Tips for Job Seekers Guide I have covered:

1. Don’t Forget the Basics

2. Start Online with LinkedIn

3. Then Move onto to Facebook

4. Now it’s Time for Twitter

5. Some Key Reminders

Inside the guide there is also some REALLY EXCITING news about a brand new website coming soon - especially just for job seekers!

Can you afford not to get this FREE guide today?

You are never too old to use a job board to find a job!

2009-07-13T10:26:04+01:00

Last week someone sent me the link to this website - www.2old.co.uk - maybe they think that it will soon fit my age profile!!
I have to say what a good idea it is. I am not an advocate of more job board/ job search engine launches, but to be fair, this is a niche board, and they are the area that seem to be having some traction in the market at the moment.
While it is a nice idea - they do need to get some jobs on there soon to attract all those 'mature job seekers'. While I have no doubt that it will capture the imagination of companies and candidates alike, it does need to be able to deliver the goods at the same time.

So if you are on the grey side, or 'hairless' side (like me!!), then maybe this could be the answer for you!

Why does society accept discrimination and yet it is outlawed in the workplace?

2009-07-10T09:35:45+01:00

I feel like I am stepping into the lions den, writing this post today, as it is on the thorny subject of race discrimination - more directly, white vs black.
Within the world of recruitment / employment / job seeking etc the whole subject of discrimination is around us. We are now subject to many restrictions about what we can / can't say, what questions we can't ask because of the risk if inference for something else, and what we are allowed /not allowed to put on career websites etc.
Even with all these legal restrictions, companies still flout the law and blatantly discriminate. So much so that the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions), recently sent out 1000+ bogus applications for jobs, with similar CV's but with 'white' and 'non-white' sounding names. They were trying to prove discrimination is still rife in the employment market - with the (mad) end goal of having nameless CV's!. In my opinion I think that sets a dangerous precedent.

What I can't get my head around is the way that discrimination by skin colour can be so public with things like the MOBO's , Black Movie Awards and (unbelievably in my opinion) the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (and for all these awards ceremonies there is no comparative white awards), and yet in the workplace it is legally outlawed.
These seem to have become an 'accepted' part of society, but do you think that the flip side would be so true? Surely if there were 'White' only award ceremonies, there would be uproar from the 'non-white' community?

So returning to the workplace for a moment, is it any wonder that discrimination still goes on, when 'society' is still giving out very mixed messages to people in a very public way?

Advertised in a Job Centre: One Witch required, salary £50k!!

2009-07-09T09:01:00+01:00

When I saw this I just started laughing. The advert says "must be able to cackle" and "must not be allergic to cats" - the job? A witch.........being advertised in a Job Centre!!

It isn't often that you see Witch jobs like this advertised in the 'mainstream' is it?

Just in case you think it is a wind up, it isn't The job is in the Wookey Hole Caves, near Wells in Somerset, and they are recruiting for a new Witch to teach their visitors how to cast spells. And just to show there is no female sex bias - the Witch vacancy is open to men, women and trans-gender witches!! And the salary is £50,000!

Any suggestions who should apply?

Employee engagement: Is it just about satisfying the 'me, me, me' attitude?

2009-07-08T11:58:07+01:00

According to the Gallup Management Journal’s Employee Engagement Index survey, in a typical workplace:

29% of employees are actively motivated and engaged in their jobs

71% are unmotivated and disengaged

54% are not engaged at all

17% are actively disengaged

Many people are just grateful to have a job in this climate - even if they have higher workloads due to less staff to do the work.But experience tells us that when the (eventual) upturn actually happens, employee engagement will get get worse, with the resultant figures above reducing.

But what is interesting is the summary of what workers responding to this survey said they what they want from their managers:

• Focus me
• Know me
• Care about me
• Hear me
• Help me feel proud
• Help me review my contributions
• Equip me
• Help me see my value
• Help me grow
• Help me see my importance
• Help me build mutual trust
• Challenge me

Does this sound about right for your place of work? Are all the employees 'me,me,me' focused? Are there certain industry sectors that are better than others from your experience?

Do these statistics lend more to any of the generational groups? More gen Y or more gen X for example?

What do you think?

Transformers 3?: Twitter Autobots Vs Spam Decepticons

2009-07-08T09:10:16+01:00

The other day I went to see a truly awesome film - Transformers 2. Yes, it is escapism, cheesy and full of unadulterated action, but it is a great way to spend two and a half hours!

For those of you who are not transformer fans, it is a classic story of good Vs evil - the good Autobots (led by Optimus Prime) Vs the evil Decepticons (led by Megatron).

I just wonder, did the creator - Simon Furman - of The Transformers see the vision of Twitter or Facebook or spamming many years ago, just interpreting it in a creative way?
No, I haven't lost the plot here......just think about it for the moment.

What is currently the scourge of Twitter and Facebook? Spammers and merciless internet marketers!
They try to get us to part with money for the latest, quickest, 'guaranteed' way to make money, or they try and get all our bank details. They use many different ways to 'trick us' into clicking on their links - and, to be fair, some of them are very clever. While there are a few genuinely useful products out there, the majority are just deceptive money making schemes and malicious ways to gain access to your computer to take over the world! I give you the Decepticons!

In defence of the 'evil force' are Optimus Prime's 'Autobots'. They are all the automated tools that Twitter, Facebook, email systems and Firewalls etc use every day to try and stop the invasion of the 'evil' spammers and marketers - the 'Decepticons'.

Either side wins battles but every single day this battle rages on relentlessly.

Twitter has inadvertently helped the rise of these 'Decepticons', with the desire to produce ever shortening URL's like bit.ly, tinyurl etc. so that Twitter users can cram more into their 140 character limit. These have helped direct people to websites that they wouldn't previously have gone near, and this, unfortunately, will only get worse.

The Autobots will fight back and will find ways of stopping them.....until the next time, and the next and the next. For the future of Twitter and the internet, we all need them to win more battles than they lose!

Come on then, what are you going to call us?

2009-07-06T08:18:00+01:00

Last month at the CIPD Recruitment and HR exhibition, Mike Taylor captured on film, a rare moment indeed!!
Peter Gold, Stephen Fowler and myself, kindly referred to by Mike as "three of the top UK bloggers", all happened to be in the vicinity of his stand at the same time!! Cue the camera!!

(Just to clarify, it is Stephen that actually has some hair!!)

Mike has decided to take this further!! He is running a photo caption competition - "What do you call three recruitment bloggers?"
So if you have a great/funny/rude/amusing caption, head over to Mike's blog to post your entry!

He will announce the winner of the competition at the Social Media in Recruitment Conference and on his blog, with the winner receiving a mystery prize!

Can you afford not to be at the Social Media in Recruitment conference?

2009-07-05T18:16:34+01:00

Last month saw the first Social Recruiting Summit in the Google offices in Mountainview, California. This month sees a UK conference - Social Media in Recruitment - dedicated to using social media within recruitment, on the 16th July 2009 at the British Library in London.. It has been put together by Mike Taylor from Web Based Recruitment, and the subject matter being discussed includes:

An overview of Social Media including social networking sites,
blogs and podcasts
How social networking sites such as Facebook can be used to get messages to your target audience
How to use LinkedIn to promote your vacancies and source new candidates
How to use Twitter, TwitterJobSearch.com and the Job Search Engines for recruitment
The legal issues re the use of social media web sites
Using online video to promote your company and your job vacancies
How to put together a social media strategy for your company
The future - taking social media to the next level

Are you going on the 16th?

If you are, let me know - it would be great to meet you there.

Arrgghh! Why are candidates still being muppets at interviews?

2009-07-03T08:49:35+01:00

This a mini-rant is born out of frustration and disbelief! Yesterday I spent the day with a client during one of their interview events. What I witnessed at the actual interview stages, was both unforgivable and unbelievable - from the candidates being interviewed - in this current climate of large amounts of unemployment.
As a 'recruitment dinosaur' (someone who has been in the industry for 20+ years!) I have briefed more candidates than I care to remember on interview techniques and expectation - you could say, I tend to overbrief candidates - although you can never give a candidate too much information! So when I sat there yesterday listening to the responses to some standard 'every interview has them' questions, I was completely stunned with the answers given....or rather lack of answers!! And bear in mind here, that 99% of the candidates interviewed all had 2:1 degrees and above, and all really wanted it as their dream job!

There were three questions that nearly every interview asks, and yesterday was no different:

What are your strengths and/or weaknesses?
What motivates you? (or What gets you out of bed in the morning?)
Why do you want this job?

The answers varied from bad to awful to zero (Yes! One graduate couldn't even unbelievably answer the second question!!)

So my message is a simple one - if you are attending interviews for a new job, make sure you PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW otherwise you are completely wasting both yours and the company's time by even attending in the first place. You might as well just go and sit on a park bench and talk to the ducks, for all the good it is going to do!

Don't be a muppet - you know these questions (and other obvious ones) will be asked of you, so make sure that have thought about it, and what you are going to say in reply. These are basic, bog-standard interview questions, they are not exactly a curve ball question - but many many people sitting in an interview screw them up time and time again! If you are really stuck (or being really thick) then Google it - many others have written the perfect answers for these questions.

Answer them well, and it will impress the interviewer; answer them badly and you can go back to talking to the ducks - again, again and again!!