Leadership Building As a Sales Tool

When we were all young, we were asked the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Whatever we answered, it helped to set goals in our mind that helped us move through our lives and careers. We may have adapted our thinking at different times, but we still set in our mind that there can be something better for us in the future.

For many, things change when they enter the workforce. Oh, I'm not speaking of the person from the top business school or the son or daughter of the tycoon. I'm speaking of the person who does a solid job.

Organizations seem to have the nasty habit of pigeonholing these people who do good work and having them continue to do the same job or a slightly different one until it is time to fire them in a cost cutting move or until they leave for the next company who gives them a modest flirtation.

You look at them like an old reliable partner or spouse. They will always be there for you until you don't want them any more.

And they need and want some romance, too.

Leadership training and development can take many forms.

It can take the form of the regular round table where everyone has the freedom to gripe and offer solutions. It can take the form of education, mobility programs and training.

It can take the form of using reviews to tell people the truth about how their performance has been instead of sanitizing it to justify a 3% raise.

Teaching people how to lead may involve creativity. After all, being accountable for one's actions is often used to be punitive rather than constructive in many corporations.

However, I was reminded of something by a friend I had lunch with this week of his experiences on the New Warrior Training Adventures I led for so many years. These weekend retreats are not promoted as business leadership courses; they are designed to help men look at the things in their life that work and don't work without their blackberries, cell phones and laptops.

Leadership involves integrity and being accountable for one's decisions. Becoming aware of the consequences of your decisions and actions and how they impact others. Showing care and compassion and treating them as core values i your organizations and helping people see the forest beyond simply trees.

Once many people are on board, they are asked to be nothing more than what they are on the day they hire you. Maybe you will expect them to make no mistakes ever. Maybe you will ask them to deliver more widgets to you.

But they will always be the third drone on the left in the 14th quad from the back for as long as they work for you.

They need and crave romance (hope) that there is more to working for you than that. I assure you that if you speak to people when you hire them about how you will help them learn and grow in ways that fulfill their dreams and desires, you will attract and retain the leaders you complain you aren't finding.

And this will become absolutely critical during the period when a generation of people referred to as the Baby Boomers start to retire and die.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

Explore some of The Big Game Hunter's products in "The Universe" series

• Job Search Universe: Search thousand of Job Boards and Corporate Job Sites for job leads at the same time
• Self-Employment Universe: Business Opportunities and Work-At-Home
• The Consulting Universe: Search and Post Consulting Assignments and Consulting Jobs
• The Diet Universe: Health & Wellness Information
• The Resume Universe: Information about Resumes and Cover Letters
• Personal Finance Universe: Taking Care of Your Money better

Plus

• Search4Candidates.com: Refined Searching for Resumes and Candidate Leads
• Indian Job Network: Network for Work in India
• VIP Personal Search: Hire Your Own VIP Personal Search Agent
• The Job Market Blog: Blogging and news about the job market since August 2001

RESOURCES for Accounting/Financial Recruiters

देवेलोपेद by: "Barry Geiman" barrygeiman@comcast।net greendenny2001

Accounting, CPA's and Auditing Websites
http://www.accountantspages.com/

find Accountants US and different countries
Accounting.com
http://www.accounting.com
Resources

State CPA Societies

Alabama Society of CPA's
Alaska Society of CPA's
Arizona Society of CPA's
Arkansas Society of CPA's
California Society of CPA's
Colorado Society of CPA's
Connecticut Society of CPA's
Delaware Society of CPA's
D.C. Institute of CPA's
Florida Institute of CPA's
Georgia Society of CPA's
Guam Society of CPA's
Hawaii Society of CPA's
Idaho Society of CPA's
Illinois CPA Foundation
Indiana CPA Society
Iowa Society of CPA's
Kansas Society of CPA's
Kentucky Society of CPA's
Society of Louisiana CPA's
Maine Society of CPA's
Maryland Association of CPA's
Massachusetts Society of CPA's
Michigan Association of CPA's
Minnesota Society of CPA's
Mississippi Society of CPA's
Missouri Society of CPA's
Montana Society of CPA's
Nebraska Society of CPA's
Nevada Society of CPA's
New Hampshire Society of CPA's
New Jersey Society of CPA's
New Mexico CPA Foundation
New York Society of CPA's
North Carolina Association of CPA's
North Dakota Society of CPA's
Ohio Society of CPA's
Oklahoma Society of CPA's
Oregon Society of CPA's
Pennsylvania Institute of CPA's
Puerto Rico CPA Society
Rhode Island Society of CPA's
South Carolina Association of CPA's
South Dakota Society of CPA's
Tennessee Society of CPA's
Texas Society of CPA's
Utah Association of CPA's
Vermont Society of CPA's
Virginia Society of CPA's
Virgin Islands Society of CPA's
Washington Society of CPA's
West Virginia Society of CPA's
Wisconsin Institute of CPA's
Wyoming Society of CPA's

http://www.awesomeaccountants.com

CareerBank.com www.careerbank.com
is the the place to look for the best candidates in accounting,
finance and banking.

http://www.Big4.com
Searching for candidates from big4 accounting and consulting firms?
Take a look at our partner site, Big4.com, a leading resource
dedicated to this community. Alumni of these firms now have access
to news, events, an alumni database, jobs, proposals, financial
services and other information.
The site has just been revamped and includes a careers area powered
by jobsinthemoney. Post jobs to Big4.com to gain unparalleled
exposure to this audience.

Accounting Professionals Resource Center
http://www.kentis.com

AccountingNet
http://www.accountingnet.com

Accountants
http://www.aahcpa.org/links.htm

Accountants World Careers
http://www.salesguycareers.com

American Association of Hispanic Certified Public Accountants
http://www.aahcpa.org

CPA Jobs
http://www.cpajobs.com

CPANet
www.cpanet.com

Accounting Professional
http://www.accountingprofessional.com/

http://www.localaccountingjobs.com

American Association of Finance & Accounting
http://www.aafa.com/

http://www.actuary.com

http://www.aicpa.org/
This is a professional organization and they have online career
postings & forums which are a bargain as postings go.

CareerBank.com is an independent accounting and finance career site
that reports a direct network of more than 81,000 CPAs, and powers
the career centers for associations, such as the New Jersey Society
of CPAs, the Texas Society of CPAs, and the New York State Society
of CPAs.

The Association for Financial Professionals has an online job board where you can post jobs and search the members resume database.
http://www.AFPonline.org

http://www.ascpa.com
Arizona also has a group- ASCPA

http://www.aabpa.org/employ.html

http://www.controllerjobs.com/

http://www.financewise.com/public/unreg.htm

http://www.fwi.org/Careers/careers.htm

http://www.bigfivetalent.com/

http://www.jobsinthemoney.com/

TEI.org - Tax Executive Institute
http://www।ACCAglobal.com
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

- http://www.AICPA.org
- - American Institute of CPA's
http://www.TaxTalent.com
-
- http://www.TheIIA.org
- - Institute of Internal Auditors

TAX
http://www.tax-jobs.com/

http://www.houtscpa.org

http://www.taxtalent.com
TaxTalent.com -TaxTalent.com, a South Carolina-based creator of a resume database of tax professionals, is partnering with TopUSAJobs.com. The Tax Career Portal will appear on the TopUSAJobs board, which features an array of niche sites. The Tax Career Portal
has over 12,000 people registered on the site, and is the largest portal of its kind.

PAYROLL
http://www.americanpayroll.org

Comprehensive eFinancial Jobs
http://www.efinancialjobs.कॉम/ Pay

Comprehensive Financial, Acct & Ins Job Page
http://www.nationjob.com/ Pay

Comprehensive Jobs in Accounting
http://ww2.itoday.com/jobs-careers/banking/ Pay

Comprehensive MBA Careers
http://www.mbacareers.com/ Pay

Comprehensive MBA Employment Connection
http://www.MBAnetwork.com/meca/ Pay

Comprehensive MBA Jobs
http://www.mbajob.com/ Pay

Comprehensive National Black MBA Association
http://www.nyblackmba.org Pay

Comprehensive National Business Employment Weekly
http://www.nbew.com/ Pay

Comprehensive National Society of Accountants
http://www.nsacct.org/ Pay

Comprehensive Pro2Net Accounting
http://www.pro2net.com/ Pay

Actuarial Actuary
http://www.actuary.com Free

Actuarial Jobs
http://www.sitepowerup.com/mb/view.asp?BoardID=106435 Free

Actuarial Financial Job Network
http://www.financialjobnet.com Pay

Auditor Financial Job Network
http://www.financialjobnet.com Pay

Commerce Global Career in Commerce
http://www.globalcareers.com/commerce/ Pay

CPA American Assoc of Fin & Acctg
http://www.aafa.com/ Free
CPA American Institute of CPAs http://www.aicpa.org/ Pay
CPA MBA Careers http://www.mbacareers.com/ Pay
CPA MBA Employment Connection http://www.MBAnetwork.com/meca/ Pay
CPA MBA Jobs http://www.mbajob.com/ Pay
CPA National Black MBA Association http://www.nyblackmba.org Pay
CPA American Association of Hispanic CPAs http://www.aahcpa.org/ Pay
CPA Financial Job Network http://www.financialjobnet.com Pay

http://www.accountantjobs.com/
http://www.accountingjobs.com/index.html
http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/placement.htm
http://www.jobcontrolcenter.com/ccn/nabainc/
http://www.accounting.com/employment/

http://www.aafa.com/
http://aba.careersite.com/
http://www.bankjobs.com/
http://www.jobsinthemoney.com/
http://www.bankconnect.com/
http://www.jobmag.com/
http://www.jobfront.com/
http://www.accountingjobs.com/
http://www.accountantjobs.com/
http://www.accounting.com/
http://www.fjn.com/
http://www.jacobson-associates.com/
http://www.moneycareers.com/
http://www.nationjob.com/financial
http://www.tax-jobs.com/

WEBSITES FOR CPA
http://www.cpajobs.com
http://www.financialjobs.com
http://accounting.pro2net.com/
http://www.cpa2biz.com/career
http://www.cpadirectory.com
http://www.cpapfs.org

GENERALIST SITES
Accountant Jobs (doorway to ejobstore)
http://www.accountantjobs.com/
Financial, Acct & Ins Job http://www.nationjob.com/financial
Job Front http://www.jobfront.com/
Job Mag http://www.jobmag.com/
MBA Careers (doorway to CareerExchange) http://www.mbacareers.com/
National Business Employment http://www.nbew.com/

NO JOBS OR CANT POST JOBS
Accounting Professionals Resource Center http://www.kentis.com
American Association of Finance & Accounting http://www.aafa.com
CPANet http://www.cpanet.com
Global Career in Commerce http://www.globalcareers.com/commerce/
Jaconson-Associates http://www.jacobson-associates.com/
National Black MBA http://www.nyblackmba.org
Pro2Net Accounting http://www.pro2net.com/

WEBSITES FOR AUDITING & FRAUD (ACCOUNTING & IT)

FROM : http://www.taxsites.com/auditing.html

Auditing & Fraud Examination
Auditing Resources
Fraud Resources

Associations
Regulatory Bodies

Certification

Auditing Resources
• @Auditing & Fraud Associations
• ABREMA: Activity Based Risk Evaluation Model of Auditing
• AccountingMalpractice
• AICPA Audit and Attest Standards Team
• Articles on Internal Auditing and Fraud Examination
• Assurance Services
• Audit Committee Institute
• AuditNet
• Auditors Sharing Audit Programs
• Audit Serve, Inc.
• AuditZine
• Bank Internal Auditing
• Business Publications: Auditing Articles
• Columbia University Internal Audit
• CPA Exam Information
• European Auditing Research Network
• Excellence in Audit Education
• Federal Program Compliance and Audits
• Inspectors General Auditor Training Institute
• Intergovernmental Audit Forums
• Internal Auditing World Wide Web
• International Symposium on Audit Research
• ITAudit.org
• Panel on Audit Effectiveness
• Sampling in Financial and Internal Audits
• Single Audit Library
• Standards & Guidelines for IS Auditing
• U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO)
• WebTrust
Fraud Resources
• @Auditing & Fraud Associations
• Articles on Internal Auditing and Fraud Examination
• Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
• Fraud Defense Network
• Fraud Detectives
• FraudNet
• Fraud Prevention (UK)
• Internet Fraud Complaint Center
• National Fraud Information Center
• White Collar Crime: Loss Prevention Through Internal Control

Associations
• @Accounting Associations
• American Accounting Association - Auditing Section
• American College of Forensic Examiners
• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
• Association of College and University Auditors
• Association of Credit Union Internal Auditors
• Board of Environmental Auditor Certifications
• Information Systems Audit and Control Association
• Institute of Internal Auditors
• International Federation of Accountants
• International Auditing Practices Committee
• International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions
• National Association of Local Government Auditors
• National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and
Treasurers
• Northeast Insurance Anti-Fraud Group
• Society of Financial Examiners

Regulatory Bodies
• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• Financial Accounting Standards Board
• Governmental Accounting Standards Board
• Public Oversight Board

Certification
• Accredited Financial Examiner (AFE)
• Automated Examination Specialist (AES)
• Certified Financial Examiner (CFE)
• Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)
• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
• Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)
• Certified Professional Environmental Auditor (CPEA)
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• Certified Quality Auditor (CQA)

Where do the best come from?

Microsoft Battles for Talent

In case you don't read eWeek magazine (www.eweek.com), I thought I would share a few interesting quotes:
===============================================================
The biggest challenge facing Microsoft today is making sure that it has enough qualified, capable, talented people who can continue to scale with the company.

But the Redmond, Wash., software maker is facing competition for those resources from an unexpected source: the hedge fund industry.

"You have about a third of the number of people entering the IT field than you did during the dot-com era," Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner told eWEEK. "Also, one of the stiffest competitors we face today are the hedge funds, for staff to support all the major systems and analysis and decision support-type activity they do and which is pretty intensive.
==================================================================
Microsoft is pulling out all the stops to try to correct the growing shortage of IT graduates and the shrinking number of people entering the technology field by doing things like lobbying in Washington for relief.

"It's unfortunate that we can educate people here, but they then have to go home. Also, [Microsoft Chairman] Bill [Gates], [CEO] Steve [Ballmer], myself and others are all speaking at universities to get students excited about getting into the technology field," he said.

The shortage of qualified candidates in the IT space is a concern to the entire industry and the one thing that Turner said he thinks about every day, from the time he gets up in the morning until he goes to bed at night.
==================================================================
Jim Foley, a professor in the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology and former chairman of the Computing Research Association, agrees with Turner that the numbers for college students heading into IT are not looking that good.

CRA research found that entering freshmen who indicated they would major in computer science fell by half from the high of 16,000 in 2000, which was just before the dot-com crash, to some 8,000 by fall 2006. "But the good news is that the decline seems to be leveling off; at Georgia Tech we have a slight uptick," Foley told eWEEK in an interview.

The number of U.S. students graduating with Bachelor of Science degrees peaked at 14,000 in the 2003-2004 academic year, dropping to 10,000 for 2005-2006, he said, noting that interest in computer science and computer engineering as a major has also dropped from about 3.7 percent of entering students in 1999 and 2000 to about 1.1 percent in 2006.

"Again, this does not include all of IT, but in large part these are the students whom Microsoft would like to hire, and there are not enough of them. There will be another lag until entering students realize that computing and IT are good fields with good jobs. That's what Microsoft and lots of other companies are experiencing right now and are worried about," said Foley, in Atlanta.
===================================================================
While the results of that survey, released in May, found that the number of Ph.D. degrees awarded continues to set records, the number of master's and bachelor's degrees awarded has dropped significantly.
===================================================================
While the results of that survey, released in May, found that the number of Ph.D. degrees awarded continues to set records, the number of master's and bachelor's degrees awarded has dropped significantly.
===================================================================
The number of master's degrees awarded, however, was down 13 percent, to 8,074, in the year ending June 2006. The June 2005 number was 9,286, which was "reasonably consistent with the 17 percent drop in new master's students reported two years ago," Zweben said.

Enrollment in master's programs by new students was about the same as last year, while total enrollment was down by more than 10 percent—all attributable to declines in computer science master's programs, he said.

More than half of new master's students came from outside North America, rising to 56.7 percent from 46.5 percent last year.

On the bachelor's degree front, issuance was down more than 15 percent, following the 13 percent decrease reported last year. "From this year's estimates, it would appear that another 16 percent decline is looming. If this holds true, it would represent a drop of more than 40 percent over a three-year period," Zweben said.

But there is some positive news. "When looking at new bachelor's degree students, for the first time in four years the number of new undergraduate majors is slightly higher than the corresponding number last year. This holds true when looking at only the more robust computer science numbers," he said.
================================================================

What is one way that Microsoft is coping with the talent shortage? They opened a center in Vancouver 159 miles from Redmund.

In the seven weeks since Microsoft announced that it intended to open a software development center in Vancouver, British Columbia, which it hoped would "be home to software developers from around the world," it may have gotten more than it bargained for.

In short, wrote Jenna Adorno, technical recruiter for MSN, on Microsoft's JobsBlog on Aug. 22, "Vancouver has worn me out."

Since Adorno first announced the facility July 9, she wrote, she has been "swallowed up by the endless offers and questions around employment at the Microsoft Vancouver Development Centre," which was built to address international workers affected by an inability to obtain a U.S. H-1B visa that would have enabled them to work out of the company's Redmond, Wash., headquarters.

Vancouver was chosen not only for its proximity to Redmond (less than 150 miles) and Canada's significantly fewer hurdles than the United States when it comes to hiring skilled foreign workers.

On July 12, Adorno implored international workers who had accepted a Microsoft offer but had not received an H-1B visa to contact her directly about a potential relocation to Vancouver, should the involved managers be okay with such an arrangement. The Vancouver location was expected to be made up of different employees on different teams that all had counterparts in Redmond. Microsoft assured rejected H-1Bs that there would be space for all of them in Canada, rolling out "new," comparable offers in late July and early August with start dates between September and November.

However, Microsoft hit a classic "remote work" wrinkle--that some roles function more favorably remotely than others. Software designers and developers would be more than welcome in Vancouver while project managers, media specialists and other roles would not.
==================================================================

Labor shortages won't be eliminated in the forseeable future, particularly if there is a recession. What creative ways can you create to prepare for even harder times finding talent?


Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to me at: thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

So, How Do You Choose Your Human Capital Vendors?

An old client of mine and I spoke this week for the first time in about a year. After chatting about life, the universe and everything, he lamented (at least I think it was a lament) about how his HR organization selects vendors to work with. It seems that every year he is asked for recommendations that they don't act on.

Firms who are contacted are required to complete an extensive form that does little to evaluate or assess the worthiness of the firm to provide service delivery. Although he didn't voice this, I don't work for the firm so I am not encumbered by chain of command or the need to be conciliatory so I will ask the question: Whose human resources are they managing--his or theirs?

This scenario is not unique to this firm.

A state government contacted me two months ago about entering their vendor program. I completed thirty some odd online forms, submitted notarized documentation and then asked, "OK, where is the work for me?" Their answer, "Oh! We're just the vendor management program. We have nothing to do with that!" Huh?

If they are trying to help him, they should at least report back on their contact with his recommendations . . . and they don't. When he has asked the recruiter whether they have been contacted, the typical answer is, "No." So, let's assume you do want to evaluate and assess potential recruiters, what can you ask them? Don't just Google for a business name like "Sales Bananas" that suggests an expertise.

Here are some things to do:

1. I am of the opinion that you can't ask them directly how much experience they have because it is too easy for a beginner to lie and say they have more experience than they have. Instead, ask them, "Where did you go to school? When did you graduate? With what degree? What did you do upon graduation?" Continue through until you have the chronology of their experience. Some may still get through lying, but you will catch others. By all means, if you are in human resources, ask your managers with whom they have had a good experience and what made it good. Then contact them!

2. Do you belong to a trade group? An industry association? A medium where you speak with others doing your job at another firm? Ask them for their contacts. The specific person, not the firm. If you contact the firm in general, you may wind up with the rookie of the day to work with. Why should you break them in?

3. Do you need a specialist or a generalist? There are virtues to working with both. A specialist ostensibly knows the specific type of work you to have done. A generalist can cover a broad arena removing the necessity of you working with many different firms and breaking them all in.

My own history involves extensive recruiting in technology since 1972 but, in 2002, clients asked me to work in different sectors which led me to many new fields. In 2006, I even filled a position for a wood procurement specialist for a liquor company (to purchase hard woods for the casks their liquor was aged in); it was a search like none I had done before but intrigued me (frankly, I thought it was a fun job and took some time and filled it).

Like the mutual fund advertising ads said, "Past performance doesn't guaranty future returns." Ask questions like:

1. Tell me about some of the searches you've done in the last year? (Ask this question BEFORE you tell them about the positions you have open in order to preclude them from repeating back your job as one they just completed).

2. Is your firm a multi-office operation? Does it do local, regional or national searches? At what scale does it operate? Scale may be important if you are trying to find a resource for 2000 positions as part of a ramp up. Multi-office operation may mean that your contact person may get help supporting your work in Timkuktoo or not; many recruiters only work on their own assignments, preferring to keep 100% of commissions instead of half. As a result, your contact person with the 50 offices may not get as much support as it sounds.

3. What can I expect of you? What steps will you take to locate, assess and refer someone?

4. What is your firm's practice about recruiting from a client? What is a client company to you? Who are your current clients (and this, who is off limits)

Since entering this field what seems like a hundred years ago, I have seen how firms do nothing to evaluate and assess the firms that will supply their talent and then wonder why they don't like the results they get. It's like hiring someone who you never interview. Does that make sense to you? Of course not. Yet isn't how you have accepted working with many vendors?

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezines, Head Hunt Your Next Job and/or Natural Selection (his free recruiting ezine), or to find out about his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff or locating consultants, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Is Your System Set Up to Select Mediocre People?

How does your firm choose who to hire?

Often the promise is somewhat ad hoc--a position description is crafted and approved with minimal questioning except to insure that it conforms to process. From there, someone, sometimes from HR, sometimes from the department, does an initial screen by telephone. The person is evaluated based upon their ability to string a few sentences together that relate to the job description.

From there, an in-person interview is constructed where the person is quizzed on one or two things that relate to the job, and quite a few that are extraneous. From there, the person is pused up the chain of command until, ultimately, they are rejected or hired.

Why were they rejected? They were "too light." In other words, they were judged by a person earning less than they earn, who was "winging it" through the interview, rather than asking questions that mattered to the manager and follow ups that were irrelevant to job performance.

Have you ever heard the old saying, "A camel is a horse designed by a committee?

What can you do?

Before you ask a question, before you ask a subordinate to ask questions, make it clear to them what you want them to cover in the interview. BE SPECIFIC!

Unless you make it clear what you are looking for, you will wind up like one of my clients who rejected a job applicant based upon criteria that in no way shape or form related to the position description (and, no, the issue was not about "fit").

Look at your hiring process in advance of interviewing and be clear with everyone what you are looking for and how you want them to screen and what you want them to screen for.

Otherwise, you will wind up with the best person who can get through the committee, rather than the person who is best qualified to do the job.

Email resume in Word to thebigamehunter@cisny.com. Please include the job code for the position with your resume.

NO RELOCATION. NO VISA TRANSFERS. NO OVERSEAS RESUMES. NO 3^RD PARTIES.

To search available positions, sign up to receive a daily digest of positions anywhere in the USA, use a job lead search engine, subscribe to Head Hunt Your Next Job, Jeff Altman’s free job search ezine, or his staffing ezine, Natural Selection, or learn about his VIP service, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

I Have That Person in My Data Base (a brief rant)

I can accept the notion that a person has been spoken with or contacted.

I cannot accept the answer that they are in your data base.

Respectfully, so what if it is in your data base?

I am not investing resources to be a firm's tickler system, prompting them to contact potential employees.

Place yourself in another's shoes.

You are spending time (money) to find, evaluate, assess and refer someone. That person has not been contacted by the client (you) yet and then you are told, "They are in my data base."

Is that the way you want your firm to do business?

Is that fair? Do you believe you are being honest when you have failed to take action on someone and use someone to remind you to call them?

I understand that mistakes happen. I make them and you make them. Everyone does. Don't punish someone who works for free to help you unless they are successful by setaling their efforts.
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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a recruiter for more than 40 years.

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to No B.S. Job Search Advice at TheBigGameHunter.us.
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Trying to hire someone? Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us.

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What are Your Values? How would You Decide?

In some situations, there is no right or wrong. Sometimes, a person just need to be conscious of their values when they make a decision (and their biases but that is another article).

A client had two finalists for a position, both with comparable professional skills.

As they went into the final round they were left with an interesting decision.

What criteria should we use to choose between the two.

One is a relatively experienced person. The other has several years less experience.
Advantage to the experienced person

The less experienced person has been a consultant for several years (advantage to the experienced person) but with one client for several years (advantage shifts to the less experienced one.

The experienced person has been working in industry where he is knowledgeable and has done an extremely good job; the else experienced one is extremely service oriented. As a consultant, he understands that everything he does should be done with service at heart and wears that as a badge of honor and responsibility. Not every consultant does, but he does..

What would you do to decide?

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a former certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To subscribe to Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, or receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

A friend emailed an article from www.law.com to me that I thought was interesting.

In In re Rodriguez, No. 06-1988, --F.3d--, 2007 WL 1827284 (6th Cir. June 27, 2007), the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment award in favor of employer, FedEx Freight East, Inc., which allegedly denied an employee a promotion due to the employee's accent and speech characteristics. The appellate court concluded that the employee had provided direct evidence in support of his national origin discrimination claim.

The employee was not selected for a supervisory position he sought. A manager allegedly told Rodriguez that he would have hired Rodriguez but for the supervisor’s stated concern that Rodriguez's accent and speech pattern would adversely impact Rodriguez's ability to rise through the customer ranks.

Another FedEx manager allegedly told Rodriguez that his supervisor said he did not promote Rodriguez because of Rodriguez's accent and "how he speaks."

lower court granted summary judgment to FedEx on Rodriguez's race discrimination claim (which the 6th Circuit later reclassified as a national origin discrimination claim) over the promotion denial.

As the lower court viewed the statements about Rodriquez's accent and speech, the court decided that the employee must establish that he was a member of a protected class, that he was qualified for the position applied for, that he was denied the position and that similarly situated employees who were not members of the protected class were treated more favorably to state a prima facie case of discrimination. The burden then shifts to the employer to articulate a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for its actions. The burden then shifts back to the employee to demonstrate that the employer's proffered reason was a pretext for discrimination. Applying that standard, the district court found that Rodriguez had failed to establish a prima facie case because Rodriguez did not establish that he was qualified for the promotion or that he was treated differently than a similarly situated non-Hispanic employee.

On appeal, the 6th Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision in favor of grant of FedEx on Rodriquez's promotion claim. The 6th Circuit concluded that the district court erroneously treated the negative statements about Rodriquez's accent and speech pattern as circumstantial evidence of discrimination and improperly analyzed the evidence under the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework.

Rather, the appeals court concluded that such statements were direct evidence of discrimination. Direct evidence of discrimination is "evidence, which, if believed, requires the conclusion that unlawful discrimination was at least a motivating factor in the employer's actions." Jacklyn v. Schering-Plough Healthcare Products Sales Corp., 176 F.3d 921, 926 (6th Cir. 1999). Once a plaintiff provides direct evidence of discrimination, the employer has the burden of showing that "it would have terminated the plaintiff's employment had it not been motivated by discrimination."

The appeals court concluded that the comments showed that a FedEx decision maker denied Rodriquez the position because of his accent and English language skills. The court noted that "accent and national origin are inextricably intertwined." The court also noted that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations recognize "linguistic discrimination as national origin discrimination."

It is not a huge leap to see how this case could be applied to hiring and show how a person rejected because of an accent has been discriminated against.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to me at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

Doctor, Please. Far Less of This

I don’t know about you, but when I arrive at my doctor’s office on time for an appointment, I am greeted (if you want to call it that) by a receptionist who would rather be a nurse who asks me to fill out an intake form that could have been emailed to me in advance of the appointment, The form requires certain basic and obvious information which, upon completion, I am asked to return to her (and it is generally a “her”).

From there I wait.

I am not asked to wait or asked if I CAN wait. I am left alone to wait and read magazines that are often 6 months old. The wait can take a minute or an hour.

How different is that from the experience that is offered to job hunters who come to human resources at your organization?

How does a receptionist “receive someone” That is what they are there for, right? To be the receptor for an organization receiving someone, right?

Do you email applications to applicants or make them complete the form in person?

Subconsciously, do you judge their handwriting?

How old are your magazines?

Is someone invited to have a beverage?

How long are they kept to wait by you? Is you receptionist overwhelmed and thus delays occur between the applicant being ready to meet you and when they actually are caused by their being expected to answer phones which delays notification of someone’s arrival.

Once a week, I receive a call from a client who is asking where my candidate is only to later discover that the delay was caused by the receptionist or security not letting them know someone is waiting for them.


And what is the message that you are sending with this “process”? I’ll tell you. Once you join, you will become the third drone on the left in a cubicle and become Dilbert.

How different would it for someone to receive the application by email so that they can complete it online, print it out and sign it and bring it with them to the interview.

How does someone feel if they are greeted by someone with a huge smile or who apologizes to them for not taking time to chat with them but that they have a project to do for someone? How about this week’s magazines and today’s newspapers or a short video about the firm and opportunities within it featuring the CIO, CEO, CFO or other leaders who make it inviting to join.

How do you think someone feels when they are greeted on time?


The process most organizations have for receiving someone is cold and impersonal. You can change it and make your one that helps to make your process a hiring magnet.


Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to me at:

thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

What's That a Job For?

I receive lots of corporate job descriptions from companies around the US.

As much as firms say they want to hire people, there remains a certain production line quality about the job descriptions.

How many of you post job descriptions or send them to recruiters with titles like

Accountant Level 3
Desktop Support Grade 44
Sr. Civ Eng Grade 6
Security Consultant (for a staff position)

The job specifications describe a person and the job in ways like this:

Serve as project manager for xxxxxxx engagements at banking and other financial institutions firms. Lead all aspects of the project, including the development of a project plan, staffing, assigning project responsibilities and managing the performance of all team members to meet project requirements. Manage client expectations and interactions to maintain effective communications, client involvement and to ensure client satisfaction.

Here are the 93 things we require of you in order to be considered for this job.

In addition to these 93, we prefer people who
1. Are able to leap tall buildings in no more than 2 bounds
2. Possess excellent oral communications
3. Live within two blocks of our location


Please write job descriptions like people are human and not robots.

If you show you care about people in their work in the description and as you interview you, they will believe you when you tell them that people are an important asset at your company.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to me at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

Hiring Great People During a Candidate Advantaged Job Market: 4 Things to Do NOW!

We have entered a period when we have been experiencing explosive business growth following a period of severe contraction following the 9/11 attacks. More and more businesses are are discovering that their time-to-fill metrics (the amount of time it takes to fill a job) are getting longer as they discover fewer qualified people available to hire.

Now for worse news (I hope I scare you with this statistic):

During the next seven years, approximately 73 million people are scheduled to retire.

Put differently, almost 24% of the current US population is scheduled to retire in the next 7 years.

And you thought it was tough to fill jobs now! Just wait!

NOW is the time to make changes that position your firm as a leader in people's minds and advantage you when hiring NOW and in the future.

1. Don't just fill jobs. Find great people and make room for them.

This is a philosophical shift for many firms who, unintentionally, look at human capital like machine parts. We need a programmer with certain skills. We need a receptionist on 14. This works fine up to a point. We all know that great people will make a difference in an organization. Why not make room for people who can make a difference at a high level.

Tell your current leadership that they are important to your firm's success not just for what they do but for the ideas that they contribute that can make a difference. That you want people who can do
great things AND offer ideas that cn move the firm forward in the next ten years and position it as the leader in its industry.

Somewhere in the last 20 years that notion has been lost.

2. Impress all talent. It should go without saying, but whenever someone interviews with you, they should walk out impressed and wanting to work for your company.

Everyone from the security guard in the lobby, to the receptionist in HR, to the HR person who interviews them, on and on, should be talking about what a great firm you are to work for.

I'm not saying to hire everyone. Standards need to be observed. But in this interconnected social networking world we live in, a bad impression will be magnified tremendously and broadcast throughout the world.

3. Network. Network. Network.

Everyone knows about LinkedIn (if you want to connect with my 1000 person plus my public page on LinkedIn is at http://www.linkedin.com/in/thebiggamehunter,

Do you use Jigsaw to recruit? Jigsaw will help you find people cheaply. People with certain titles and job functions. In Europe, Xing is particularly strong.

How about your own alumni (see my other article in this issue).

4. Treat your recruiting sources as allies instead of annoyances. This means you need to evaluate your recruiting sources, too, and not just ask them to work on your jobs just because they happened to call.

This next one may be a little controversial--work witth firms who are not on your vendor list if they have a person who fits a need. Why not accept a great referral from someone who isn;t on your "list?" How did lists become so important anyway?

The organization that becomes a leader isn;t always the smartest or work the hardest, although those are two great qualities. Organizations become leaders by being alert to opportunities.

The same needs to be part of your talent scouting process, too. As an organization that wants to be great, or thrive or prosper or fulfill its mission statement (you know the corporate mission statement don't you?), you will need to acquire great talent and give it room to operate.

These four steps will help you do that simply and powerfully.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, or to learn more and sign up for his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to, http://www.jeffaltman.com. To subscribe to Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, Natural Selection Ezine, subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Boing. Boing. Is That The Sound of Your Next Hire?

"Meet the new boss

The same as the old boss”

--“Won’t Get Fooled Again,” The Who

Although that lyric from The Who, a 60’s band consisting of Pete Townsend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwhistle and Keith Moon, were singing of revolution and rejecting the status quo, there is something suggested in their lyrics that you can use to hire more staff more easily.

It is something that The Big 8 firms (the eight largest accounting firms) did for years during their peak of power and prestige. It is something that you can do NOW to plant the seeds for future hires—something that will become critical as the boomers start to retire and leave the workforce.

Form an alumni group and have someone on point for it so that you have a chance to hire your former workers in the future.

Minimally, collect information that allows you to re-contact former employees by email and do so every 9 months.

Help them get interviews for their next job with other former employees. Help them make good decisions about their choices.

Re-hire people whose skills and temperament fit your needs. Let them "boomerang" back to you.

Why shouldn’t you re-hire the programmer who worked for you three years ago if their knowledge and experience can help you solve a problem?

Maybe they were mismanaged by their boss or released during a down turn in the economy.

Why not bring them back?

The fact is that in the next few years, the number of skilled people will be leaving the workforce because of retirement will be in the millions. Unless we miraculously replace them with immigrants who know your business instantly, you should as few boundaries to hiring down as possible.

By creating a climate where talented boomerangs will want to return to your company and (making it comfortable for them to do so by giving them previous benefits toward vacations, for example) your business will be helped in many ways.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, or to learn more and sign up for his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to, http://www.jeffaltman.com. To subscribe to Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, Natural Selection Ezine, subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Behavioral Interview Questions: Decision Making

Discuss an important decision you have made regarding a task or project at work. What factors influenced your decision?

Everyone has made some poor decisions or has done something that just did not turn out right. Has this happened to you? What happened?

Give an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.

Give an example of a time in which you had to keep from speaking or not finish a task because you did not have enough information to come to a good decision.

Give an example of a time when there was a decision to be made and procedures were not in place?

Give an example of a time when you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.

Give me an example of a time when you had to keep from speaking or making a decision because you did not have enough information.

How did you go about deciding what strategy to employ when dealing with a difficult customer?

How do you go about developing information to make a decision? Give an example.

How do you involve your manager and/or others when you make a decision?

How have you gone about making important decisions?

How quickly do you make decisions? Give an example.

In a current job task, what steps do you go through to ensure your decisions are correct and effective?

Talk about a time when you had to defend a decision you made even though other important people were opposed to your decision.

What kind of decisions do you make rapidly? What kind takes more time? Give examples.

What kinds of problems have you had coordinating technical projects? How did you solve them?

What was your most difficult decision in the last 6 months? What made it difficult?

When you have to make a highly technical decision, how do you go about doing it?


Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at: thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

6 Reminders When Hiring

Having worked closely with managers and business owners for many years, I have seen their hiring process fall on its face because they have forgotten several important rules. Forgetting any of these principles may bog you down, slow down your hiring process and ultimately foster the new hire failing even if you stumble into the “right” person.

1. Don't expect to hire a replica of yourself! You are not the “be all and end all’ of great talent and, as such, don’t expect to hire a clone. First of all, one factor to consider when hiring may be to hire someone who complements your skills and talents rather than replicates them.

If you are looking at junior staff, you may accidentally place an angelic halo around someone because their experience or behaviors may remind you of yourself and, by doing so, may fail to adequately investigate their experience.

Lastly, by doing so, you may foster an environment where you fail to adequately interview and hire people from racial, ethnic, religious and other backgrounds and experiences far different than your own that may foster “lock step thinking” and behavior and, obviously, bias.

2. Know exactly what you expect from your new hire. It may seem obvious in an era where job specs are approved at many levels before a person is actually hired but, again from experience, I know how often people ignore what is on the job description to hire someone who doesn’t fit in some key way or another (for years, the Wall Street Journal would publish a statistic that approximately 20% of all people hired did not fit the job description. That was 20% who admitted it!).

3. Know exactly what you expect from your new hire. What will someone need to do in order to be successful in your job? Do you know? How will you know that this person can actually perform as you hope they will? What will you ask to find out? No matter how junior or senior the person is you need to be able to know your expectations of them and how you will measure their potential for success before you actually hire them.

4. Set aside time. T may seem obvious but you can’t hire someone without making the time to interview them and making sure that your team has time, too. Try to anticipate when there is a lull in the action and avoid interviewing people when you and your team have far too much to get done. Don’t expect that job hunters will be willing to keep visiting your offices or plant time and again because you are too busy. They get the message that they will be overworked and that manners are not important. After all, they took time off from work or to make arrangements to meet you at a time that you said would work. How rude is it on your to push them away and make them return.

5. Create a training program. It may be a simple as “When you have questions, ask Jeff over there” how to handle it. Far better that that is a few days of immersing the new person in your company or group’s practices and processes so that they know what is going on, they know how to handle the basics, and that they learn the informal rules of the road.

6. If you aren’t sure, ask for advice or help. It never hurts to get a second opinion from someone if you are wavering. And after you get the second opinion, if you still aren’t sure, reject the person and keep looking!

Taking the time to do these things will go a long way toward helping you as a manager, a business owner or as an HR professional focus in on the success points to hire someone who will succeed for years to come.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To subscribe to Jeff’s free job search ezine, Head Hunt Your Next Job, or receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Behavioral Interview Questions: Communications

Describe a situation in which you were able to effectively “read” another person and guide your actions by your understanding of their individual needs or values.

Describe a situation when you were able to strengthen a relationship by communicating effectively. What made your communication effective?

Describe a situation where you felt you had not communicated well. How did you correct the situation?

Describe a time when you were able to effectively communicate a difficult or unpleasant idea to a superior.

Describe the most significant written document, report or presentation which you had to complete.

Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person, even when that individual may not have personally liked you , or vice versa.

Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your co-workers or group? How did you do it? Did they “buy” it?

How do you keep subordinates informed about information that affects their jobs?

How do you keep your manager informed about what is being done in your work area?

How do you go about explaining a complex technical problem to a person who does not understand technical jargon?

What approach do you take in communicating with people? What kinds of communication situations cause you difficulty? Give an example.

Tell us about a recent successful experience in making a speech or presentation. How did you prepare? What obstacles did you face? How did you handle them?

Tell us about a time when you and your current/previous supervisor disagreed but you still found a way to get your point across. Tell us about a time when you had to present complex information. How did you ensure that the other person understood?

Tell us about a time when you had to use your verbal communication skills in order to get a point across that was important to you.

Tell us about a time when you were particularly effective in a talk you gave or seminar you taught.

Tell us about an experience in which you had to speak up in order to be sure that other people knew what you thought or felt.

Tell us me about a situation when you had to speak up (be assertive) in order to get a point across that was important to you. Tell us me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across."

Describe the most significant written document, report or presentation which you had to complete.

Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person, even when that individual may not have personally liked you , or vice versa.

Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person, even when that individual may not have personally liked you.

Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your co-workers or group? How did you do it? Did they “buy” it?

How do you keep subordinates informed about information that affects their jobs?

How do you keep your manager informed about what is being done in your work area?

How do you go about explaining a complex technical problem to a person who does not understand technical jargon?

What approach do you take in communicating with people?

What kinds of communication situations cause you difficulty? Give an example.

Tell us about a recent successful experience in making a speech or presentation. How did you prepare? What obstacles did you face? How did you handle them?

Tell us about a time when you and your current/previous supervisor disagreed but you still found a way to get your point across.

Tell us about a time when you had to present complex information. How did you ensure that the other person understood?

Tell us about a time when you had to use your verbal communication skills in order to get a point across that was important to you.

Tell us about a time when you were particularly effective in a talk you gave or a seminar you taught.

Tell us about an experience in which you had to speak up in order to be sure that other people knew what you thought or felt.

Tell us me about a situation when you had to speak up (be assertive) in order to get a point across that was important to you.

Tell us me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across.

What challenges have occurred while you were coordinating work with other units, departments, and/or divisions?

What have you done to improve your verbal communication skills? How have you persuaded people through a document you prepared?

What are the most challenging documents you have done?

What kinds of proposals have your written?

What kinds of writing have you done?

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com


Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

The Single Most Important Thing You Must Do During Every Interview

While evaluating a candidate for a client, I learned that the job applicant was also interviewing with two investment banks and was about to begin second rounds with those firms for positions that seemed very good but not as well-suited as my client's job was.

My person did well on his first round and was invited back for a second interview for a position and firm that he seems to like more than the others. That's good news for my client and good news for me.

Yet one thing about this is troubling me--my client has been focused exclusively on evaluating and assessing the candidate and taking almost zero time to do something that is absolutely critical to win the person if they want to hire them.

Want to know what it is?



Sell their company and the position to the job applicant.


Why should someone come to work with your firm?
How will this job fit their needs not just now but for years to come?
What do you like about working there?
What will they learn that can benefit them?
What career path exists? Does the firm even look at upward mobility?
What are bonuses like?
What are benefits like?
Why do you enjoy working there?


I'm not speaking about with the candidates you are interested in. I'm speaking about every single person.

You're saying, "I don't have time to do that."

Let me offer another way of looking at this.

Imagine that every person you interview is favorably disposed to working for your company so that when you make a job offer they are all leaning toward saying yes. Google has this advantage and so does Goldman Sachs. How can you create this for your firm?

The simple answer is to send people into the world with stars in their eyes excited about the possibility of working for your firm. Obviously, not everyone will be hired, nor is everyone qualified. But if you can get them to think, "WOW! I'd really like to work for them some day," they will chat up your firm now and for years to come.

When someone is interviewing at your firm years from now, they will speak favorably about it.

So take the time to speak about your firm and the opportunity and what's in it for the candidate to join . . . especially now while there are labor shortages that will make the market for talent competitive for years to come.

Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsearchuniverse@gmail.com.

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

If you have a question that you would like me to answer pertaining to job hunting or hiring, email it to him at:
thebiggamehunter@gmail.com