I recently posted a Q&A on LinkedIn asking "What have job candidates done or said that blew their chances of getting hired?" and received an astounding 40 answers. I could not believe the weird stuff that recruiters and hiring managers said that candidates had done during their interviews. It seemed to be something that recruiters and hiring managers wanted to talk about . . . A LOT. And so with that I've launched a new website called TJNTIY (they're just not that into you).

I figured a little levity could go a long way to get us through economic hard times we all face. In anecdote after anecdote, you get to hear how hiring managers assess and ultimately decide against a candidate who could have been you or me. That insight, I hope, will help candidates not make similar mistakes during their next job interviews. TIY postings, on the other hand, will provide real-world examples of things a candidate can say or do to get hired as in "they're . . . into you". And last . . .we also invite the anecdotes about the clues from a potential employer that, when decoded, suggest they're just not that into you.

So please come. Read. Laugh a little. And then share . . . (those who are not logged in can post anonymously to the site.)

See you online!

Have you ever found yourself at the end of a day, week, or month and wonder where the time went? Seriously.  One moment you were at the beginning. The next moment . . .its as if Scottie beamed you up to CBD (close of business day). You review all that you did in the preceding hours and realize you could not have worked any harder. If you did, you would be dead. (Seriously. Your co-workers arriving the next morning at work would discover you sitting bolt upright in your chair, head tilted back, and mouth agape - as if  your last words were not words, alas, but a silent scream.)

I don't know about you, but I've got 371 emails in the inbox I'd cleaned out less than 24 hours ago.  It's like I've got randy rabbits in there making baby email bunnies. I've got 4 phones to my name, each one with voicemails demanding my attention. Throughout the day, luminaries and clients all want a piece of me. (The economy is actually working for us as employers seek better value in the search firms they retain.)  And then there's the social networking, the blogging, the speaking engagements, the video and photo shoots, not to mention the fact that I head my own firm as CEO with all the requisite fiscal and leadership responsibilities that come with it. 

So what's a recruiter to do? What's anyone in talent acquisition to do to meet the growing demands of our 24/7 world when you have so much you want to achieve and so little time in which to do it. I have two words for you.

Clone thyself.

Big, fat companies have been cloning themselves for years. They call it outsourcing.  If the outsourcing extends beyond the boundaries of these United States, it is called off-shoring. But for individuals, I am referring to a personal assistant, in this case a virtual one.  Celebrities have enjoyed the benefits of personal assistants for years. They can serve as your own personal concierge, taking care of whatever business needs tending to that can be delegated. It takes some planning and management, but as Edward Savio points out, the rewards can be enormous. It's a way to drive your performance to new heights by getting twice as much done as you did before. You get around to doing stuff you should have been doing that wasn't because you didn't have the time. You get time for work/life balance. And because you are making oh so much more money, you get to give back and pay it forward.

Of course, The Good Search is positioned to serve as a natural extension to internal search teams. In essence, we help recruiters clone themselves whenever their bandwidth is maxed out or whenever their time is better spent managing relationships with hiring managers and ushering top candidates through to offer.  Clients retain us for a single executive search engagement a month at a time or to deliver candidates across a range of openings. . .we keep it easy, flexible, and affordable. And that's the approach you want in your virtual assistant.

Typically, the corporate solution for an overworked executive is to provide an executive assistant.  But, honestly I believe virtual assistants offer greater flexibility. You can task them with personal as well as professional responsibilities. You can have them work overnight while you're asleep so that the task is complete by the start of your business day.  You can have them manage a team of helpers . . . The increases you see in your productivity and income should more than offset the cost.  In fact, I know some top executives who use a virtual assistant in addition to the executive assistant they have at work. Moreover, one keeps his personal assistant a secret -- better to keep 'em guessing on what his secret is to accomplishing so much more than everyone else. ("Does George ever sleep?")

So the next time your "To Do" list is longer at the end of your day than at the beginning, simply clone yourself. You and your newfound you will be glad you did.

Scenario: What to do if your hiring manager is making your search a living hell.

With few exceptions, a senior level executive (hiring manager) is not a recruiter by profession. As a result, he or she may be under the mistaken impression that ideal candidates can be found lined up at your front door step ­– especially in this economy – when, in fact, the opposite is more likely to be true.  The flood of applicants is actually making it even harder for many of our clients to find the right candidate.  But that doesn't seem to matter as you attempt to explain why you haven't materialized a candidate out of thin air.   You watch on as your senior executive's jaw muscle flexes and as his complexion turns a shade of crimson you've never before witnessed.  Your grip tightens around the arms of the office chair in which you sit as you begin the silent countdown . You are confident he's going to blow.  

• Do not take argumentative attacks personally.  Try to picture stepping aside as incoming volleys go past. Remain mindful.
• You don’t have a “problem”:  you have an “opportunity” to improve recruiting results.
• Realize the manager may be acting under duress as a result of pressures stemming from the economy and may lack the skill sets necessary to cope.
• To gain his trust, increase your transparency: detail every thing that has been done on his behalf. Analyze what has and has not worked.  Then make recommendations.  In doing so, think out of the box. Innovate.

To prevent problems in the first place, I recommend that you or your search firm build search bullet-proofing into your search process: 

• Test the requirements of the role.  “If I found a successful candidates with seven, not the required eight, years of experience, would you rather I not present them?”
• Test the competitiveness of the role. “Are you confident this opportunity is competitive when compared to similar opportunities elsewhere?”  If the hiring manager says he doesn’t know, then that’s an opening for a dialog.
•  Proactively scan for problems that may interfere with your search success and immediately document those disconnects in a report. Even if the hiring manager doesn’t take action, you now have proof you did your best to try to resolve the issue.
• Request immediate feedback on candidates and underscore how doing so will benefit the hiring manager.

As the economy worsens, those in talent acquisition may feel it safer to keep their heads down and not speak up to deal with a problem searches and irritable hiring managers.  However, by speaking up and by solving problems, you become more valuable to your organization.

Visit http://www.thegoodsearchllc.com for our whitepaper, articles, and to brainstorm with our team.

Suzy Welch's new book, 10-10-10 A Life-Transforming Idea, is a study in decision-making, which is why executive search consultants should take notice as well as the C-level luminaries that we recruit. A candidate's career is not simply a collection of skills and acquired experiences, but rather serves as evidence of candidate's ability to decide his or her own fate. Great recruiters learn to look for a story arc in candidate's career.  Ideally, the career path should, on average, ascend ever upwards in as series of steps in which greater responsibilities are assumed and greater challenges are overcome. There should be valleys among the peaks (a complete absence of valleys suggests a cooking of the career books). Moreover, life's lessons and priorities, its plots and subplots, are important parts of the story as they speak to character and backbone. 

Suzy is the  former editor-in-chief of the Harvard Business Review and is a work-life columnist for O The Oprah Magazine. She is married to the former Chairman and CEO of General Electric Jack Welch with whom she co-authored the New York Times bestseller Winning and of The Welch Way.  Suzy teaches us that in our complicated multi-tasking world of conflicting priorities, too much information, and far too many options, decision-making is often crazy-making at times.  As a result, we put off deciding, which, as the standard default option, is most decidedly a decision with consequences.  That is how we end up in the uncomfortable places that we end up.  Frequently, it isn't by design. It is by avoiding difficult choices altogether, which is an illusion because they cannot be avoided.  There is a tremendous price to be paid: an opportunity cost.

Suzy proposes a simple rule of 10-10-10.  We must ask ourselves what are the consequences of our actions in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years.  She doesn't mean specifically down to the last minute, month, and year. It could be 8 minutes, 14 months, and 11 years.  Rather, we must consider the immediate, short term, and long term costs and benefits regarding what we are about to do. 

Suzy's rule, of course, can be harnessed to assess leader's decision-making abilities by examining the implications of his/her decisions over time.  A resume is a time line.  So too is a corporation's financial statements to the SEC.  Did she go for immediate gain and ignore long-term risks? Did he fail to see a threat that emerged a half year or year down the road?  Decision-making is an expression of an executive's murky or crystalline vision.  Suzy has given us new clarity as we contemplate the futures of our candidates and ourselves.