When an "economic downturn" becomes a reality in the minds of candidates and clients in the hospitality industry, one thing becomes a primary issue: interview behaviour.
Apparently candidates that have good management backgrounds, are educated, and present themselves well can disconnect somewhere along the line in their interviews with clients. Not good when clients are in a position to be selective about who they hire.
In any event, candidates looking for work need to be mindful of their interview skills. When you prepare for a marathon, you must wear the proper gear, know your strengths and the track, study the prize, stretch your muscles, etc. Likewise, for an interview, be aware of your appearance in dress and personal grooming, your demeanor, resume presentation and references, knowledge of the prospective employer. As well, it's going to work in your favour to acknolwedge the current market situation and how it affects your current and future aspirations with the company you join.
If you take the time to prepare for an interview as you would for a marathon, for example, you'll avoid some of the tragic pitfalls I've encountered as a recruiter. For instance, one candidate showed up for a restaurant management position wearing a baseball cap, another man didn't shave for an interivew for an Area Manager position, while another rambled on with chatter due to nerves. They were all politely declined by my clients.
Perhaps in a booming economy, with a small pool of qualified candidates, these mishaps by candidates would be overlooked, but not now. Candidates now need to ensure their interview behaviour is top notch and they're fully prepared because you really can't afford even one disconnect along the way. As a recruiter, I can sometimes help candidates in putting their best foot forward, ie: a free interview prep program online to stretch those interview muscles. Candidates need to use all their resources to be a successful candidate in difficult economic times. Good luck!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Pride and Job Hunting
PRIDE AND JOB HUNTING
I thought I'd share something that happened today in the life of an hospitaity recruiter; me. It has to do with pride and looking for your next career move.
I spoke with a man today who's been actively looking for work and currently unemployed. He works in the hospitaity industry in Western Canada at the management level. The connundrum of pride came up in reference to looking for work, but first, let me tell what came before this issue.
We did a screening interview with him and I was following up on his search. He comes across as energetic, people-oriented, an experienced manager who has a history of stability, focusses on upgrading his skills with courses/training and he loves the industsry. All good so far, right?
In terms of career searching, he seems to doing everything right to get himself out there with networking, resume posting, and sending out applications. So why hasn't he landed a position?
I'll tell you why, in my recruiter opinion. This candidate told me he "has pride and wasn't going to call them if they didn't contact me". Ahh, one of the 7 deadly sins wreaking havoc in his ability to land a good job.
Although he's been looking for a significant period of time, he laughed after he told me this. He then went on to say that he's been starting to wonder if there's something wrong with his experience and work history that people are not making offers. Isn't it a shame that good people can sometimes get in their own way and not quite realize that's happening?
So,in the end I gave him the good news, then the bad so to speak.
We talked about where his efforts have been directed and I assured him he was doing a great job getting himself out there and that his experience is solid, his training was the best in the industry currently. I also told him about what the market is like for hospitality career seekers Western Canada now and gave him some new search ideas. A general attitude boost,and isn't that something we can all use when we're looking for work. It's so stressful and rejection can be so personal that we get depressed and look at what's wrong with us.
Then I dropped the bad news. I told him straight up that not receiving follow-up from an hiring organization is not personal and pride shouldn't be an issue at all. I gave him a few scenarios as to why orgnaizations sometimes don't respond to you resume, not the least of which is because they are pulling overtime covering the position that they posted! I emphasized to him that it's always a good idea to follow up with a phone call when you submit your resume. Pride has nothing to do with this, it's about making their job easier and demonstrating your ability to professionally following up.
And what happened to him? I'm not sure, but I think he did understand he could make those calls and not damage his sense of pride. Once he understood the circumstances that could interfere with a company calling him, he was relieved he could do more to be effective in his career search.
Historically, any one of the deadly sins is said to lead to damnation, but I hope now he'll be led to a great career move in hospitality!
I thought I'd share something that happened today in the life of an hospitaity recruiter; me. It has to do with pride and looking for your next career move.
I spoke with a man today who's been actively looking for work and currently unemployed. He works in the hospitaity industry in Western Canada at the management level. The connundrum of pride came up in reference to looking for work, but first, let me tell what came before this issue.
We did a screening interview with him and I was following up on his search. He comes across as energetic, people-oriented, an experienced manager who has a history of stability, focusses on upgrading his skills with courses/training and he loves the industsry. All good so far, right?
In terms of career searching, he seems to doing everything right to get himself out there with networking, resume posting, and sending out applications. So why hasn't he landed a position?
I'll tell you why, in my recruiter opinion. This candidate told me he "has pride and wasn't going to call them if they didn't contact me". Ahh, one of the 7 deadly sins wreaking havoc in his ability to land a good job.
Although he's been looking for a significant period of time, he laughed after he told me this. He then went on to say that he's been starting to wonder if there's something wrong with his experience and work history that people are not making offers. Isn't it a shame that good people can sometimes get in their own way and not quite realize that's happening?
So,in the end I gave him the good news, then the bad so to speak.
We talked about where his efforts have been directed and I assured him he was doing a great job getting himself out there and that his experience is solid, his training was the best in the industry currently. I also told him about what the market is like for hospitality career seekers Western Canada now and gave him some new search ideas. A general attitude boost,and isn't that something we can all use when we're looking for work. It's so stressful and rejection can be so personal that we get depressed and look at what's wrong with us.
Then I dropped the bad news. I told him straight up that not receiving follow-up from an hiring organization is not personal and pride shouldn't be an issue at all. I gave him a few scenarios as to why orgnaizations sometimes don't respond to you resume, not the least of which is because they are pulling overtime covering the position that they posted! I emphasized to him that it's always a good idea to follow up with a phone call when you submit your resume. Pride has nothing to do with this, it's about making their job easier and demonstrating your ability to professionally following up.
And what happened to him? I'm not sure, but I think he did understand he could make those calls and not damage his sense of pride. Once he understood the circumstances that could interfere with a company calling him, he was relieved he could do more to be effective in his career search.
Historically, any one of the deadly sins is said to lead to damnation, but I hope now he'll be led to a great career move in hospitality!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Gen Y at Work
This is the most straight-up clip on how Gen Y wants to work..... BTW, why is it Gen Y for Millennials???
Monday, April 20, 2009
Did Your Psychic Tell You To Call In Sick?
How many of us can honestly say we’ve never called in sick under dubious circumstances? Not too many. Approximately 30% of workers have called in sick over a given year, at least once, when they’re perfectly well and taking their golf clubs to the course. How likely would your company be willing to provide that “sick” day if you didn’t make up a false excuse? Some employees and smart companies are realizing the benefits of workers being able to have the occasional mental health day.
In the hospitality industry, where we must provide customers with the utmost respect, professionalism and positive attitude at all times, this is especially relevant and could show some big dividends. We often feel the effects of a “revolving door” with frontline and management staff in this industry. Hotel, restaurant or Club Managers work longer hours than other industries that clock a 9-5 day, in a demanding, high paced, customer-driven atmosphere and then often take the paperwork home!
Many companies are aware that careful attention to the work/life balance of their employees boosts the bottom line. If an employee has time to attend to family, personal goals, exercise, their spirituality, and social network then they are going to be more alert, creative at work, more productive and more loyal.
Why not pay workers to pursue a creative hobby, or for mental health days? IBM, for instance, initiated a program in 2004 that actually paid workers to exercise. It’s a proactive approach instead of a reactive one to prevent real sick time off that can become very expensive for a company paying health benefits, covering flu shots, providing diabetes and high blood pressure tests and so on. Not to mention the various costs involved when you must hire and train new staff.
As with IBM, "more companies today are moving toward a Paid Time Off system, giving employees more flexibility in how they categorize time away from the office” says Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com.
However, if you find the company you work for does not seem open to the concept of a more balanced work/life, you might try one of the following true excuses from CareerBuilder’s survey:
· Employee didn’t want to lose the parking space in front of his house.
· Employee hit a turkey while riding a bike.
· Employee said he had a heart attack early that morning, but that he was “all better now."
· Employee donated too much blood.
· Employee’s dog was stressed out after a family reunion.
· Employee was kicked by a deer.
· Employee contracted mono after kissing a mailroom intern at the company holiday party and suggested the company post some sort of notice to warn others who may have kissed him.
· Employee swallowed too much mouthwash.
· Employee’s wife burned all his clothes and he had nothing to wear to work.
· Employee’s toe was injured when a soda can fell out of the refrigerator.
· Employee was up all night because the police were investigating the death of someone discovered behind her house.
· Employee’s psychic told her to stay home.
Source: For IBM Employees, Healthy Habits Pay Off, Literally, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, May 17, 2004. Source: One-Third of Workers Called In Sick with Fake Excuses in the Last Year, CareerBuilder.com’s Annual Survey, October, 2008.
In the hospitality industry, where we must provide customers with the utmost respect, professionalism and positive attitude at all times, this is especially relevant and could show some big dividends. We often feel the effects of a “revolving door” with frontline and management staff in this industry. Hotel, restaurant or Club Managers work longer hours than other industries that clock a 9-5 day, in a demanding, high paced, customer-driven atmosphere and then often take the paperwork home!
Many companies are aware that careful attention to the work/life balance of their employees boosts the bottom line. If an employee has time to attend to family, personal goals, exercise, their spirituality, and social network then they are going to be more alert, creative at work, more productive and more loyal.
Why not pay workers to pursue a creative hobby, or for mental health days? IBM, for instance, initiated a program in 2004 that actually paid workers to exercise. It’s a proactive approach instead of a reactive one to prevent real sick time off that can become very expensive for a company paying health benefits, covering flu shots, providing diabetes and high blood pressure tests and so on. Not to mention the various costs involved when you must hire and train new staff.
As with IBM, "more companies today are moving toward a Paid Time Off system, giving employees more flexibility in how they categorize time away from the office” says Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com.
However, if you find the company you work for does not seem open to the concept of a more balanced work/life, you might try one of the following true excuses from CareerBuilder’s survey:
· Employee didn’t want to lose the parking space in front of his house.
· Employee hit a turkey while riding a bike.
· Employee said he had a heart attack early that morning, but that he was “all better now."
· Employee donated too much blood.
· Employee’s dog was stressed out after a family reunion.
· Employee was kicked by a deer.
· Employee contracted mono after kissing a mailroom intern at the company holiday party and suggested the company post some sort of notice to warn others who may have kissed him.
· Employee swallowed too much mouthwash.
· Employee’s wife burned all his clothes and he had nothing to wear to work.
· Employee’s toe was injured when a soda can fell out of the refrigerator.
· Employee was up all night because the police were investigating the death of someone discovered behind her house.
· Employee’s psychic told her to stay home.
Source: For IBM Employees, Healthy Habits Pay Off, Literally, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, May 17, 2004. Source: One-Third of Workers Called In Sick with Fake Excuses in the Last Year, CareerBuilder.com’s Annual Survey, October, 2008.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Managing Your Work/Life Career in Hospitality
"A century ago, economist Sydney J. Chapman predicted that, as the economies of Western nations grew and production became more intensive, the number of hours that people worked would decrease and be replaced with growing amounts of leisure time. Some theorists at the time were even concerned that the dramatic increase in the mechanization of production would mean that people would soon cease to work at all!
Ironically, we are putting in longer hours than ever and, for many, work-life balance is a thing of the past" from Mariel Angus (A Reduced Work Week, In Theory). This is especially true in the hospitality industry where longer work hours is considered the accepted norm - where other industries have a 35.5 or 40hr work week, hospitality's norm is 50hrs with the expectation of a further time commitment whenever necessary.
In Canada, our relative incomes have been going in a downward spiral since the '70's and, as a result, many people have no choice but to work longer hours or take on a second job to compensate for their reduced incomes. The average Canadian family is now working 200 hours more a year than they were just a decade ago.
The negative consequences of work life overshadowing our personal/family/leisure time has opened discussion to cap the work week at 40 hours or engage in a 4 day work week instead of 5. For example, Quebec has a labour standard of a 4 day work week under certain conditions and France recently experimented with a 7 hour work day.
The problem is that some have the inaccurate view that the more hours an employee works, the higher their productivity. If you combine this with our high-bandwidth lifestyles – BlackBerry, laptop and Wi-Fi – some people are never clocking off. Human beings simply are not designed to be wound up like tightly coiled springs. Overstretched employees are more likely to suffer from ill health and high levels of stress, resulting in absenteeism and a lack of commitment to both employer and colleagues. The outcome, poor overall performance, satisfies no one.
So how can employers steer people away from an array of potential misfortunes, ranging from failed personal relationships to a heart attack? Does ensuring employees have the ability to manage their workload and balance competing interests fall within the scope of corporate social responsibility? Is it the individuals responsibility to balance work/life? We are not born inherently knowing how best to manage our time, delegate or prioritise tasks. These are skills that we have to learn, whether it is through on-the-job training, guidance from a manager or mentor, or a formal training solution.
Understanding how to manage priorities is relevant for people at all levels, in just about every industry. Specifically, learning how to ask for help and how to say ‘no’ are fundamental building blocks in the pursuit of work-life balance. Employees need to appreciate the significance of accountability. People who opt not to take on more than they can handle are more productive than those who accept every project that comes their way and end up overwhelmed. Educating staff about the goals and business objectives of your organization will improve their ability to judge which elements of their role are most crucial to the company’s success.
Companies that offer little in the way of work-life balance inevitably suffer from higher rates of staff turnover. Work-life balance should not, however, be perceived as a quick fix. Companies that try to paper over existing problems without research, planning and a rigorous evaluation framework will not reap the benefits. Ultimately, work-life balance is not a ‘feel-good’ policy but a strategic imperative for all businesses, requiring both employer and employee to commit to a positive change management process.
Ironically, we are putting in longer hours than ever and, for many, work-life balance is a thing of the past" from Mariel Angus (A Reduced Work Week, In Theory). This is especially true in the hospitality industry where longer work hours is considered the accepted norm - where other industries have a 35.5 or 40hr work week, hospitality's norm is 50hrs with the expectation of a further time commitment whenever necessary.
In Canada, our relative incomes have been going in a downward spiral since the '70's and, as a result, many people have no choice but to work longer hours or take on a second job to compensate for their reduced incomes. The average Canadian family is now working 200 hours more a year than they were just a decade ago.
The negative consequences of work life overshadowing our personal/family/leisure time has opened discussion to cap the work week at 40 hours or engage in a 4 day work week instead of 5. For example, Quebec has a labour standard of a 4 day work week under certain conditions and France recently experimented with a 7 hour work day.
The problem is that some have the inaccurate view that the more hours an employee works, the higher their productivity. If you combine this with our high-bandwidth lifestyles – BlackBerry, laptop and Wi-Fi – some people are never clocking off. Human beings simply are not designed to be wound up like tightly coiled springs. Overstretched employees are more likely to suffer from ill health and high levels of stress, resulting in absenteeism and a lack of commitment to both employer and colleagues. The outcome, poor overall performance, satisfies no one.
So how can employers steer people away from an array of potential misfortunes, ranging from failed personal relationships to a heart attack? Does ensuring employees have the ability to manage their workload and balance competing interests fall within the scope of corporate social responsibility? Is it the individuals responsibility to balance work/life? We are not born inherently knowing how best to manage our time, delegate or prioritise tasks. These are skills that we have to learn, whether it is through on-the-job training, guidance from a manager or mentor, or a formal training solution.
Understanding how to manage priorities is relevant for people at all levels, in just about every industry. Specifically, learning how to ask for help and how to say ‘no’ are fundamental building blocks in the pursuit of work-life balance. Employees need to appreciate the significance of accountability. People who opt not to take on more than they can handle are more productive than those who accept every project that comes their way and end up overwhelmed. Educating staff about the goals and business objectives of your organization will improve their ability to judge which elements of their role are most crucial to the company’s success.
Companies that offer little in the way of work-life balance inevitably suffer from higher rates of staff turnover. Work-life balance should not, however, be perceived as a quick fix. Companies that try to paper over existing problems without research, planning and a rigorous evaluation framework will not reap the benefits. Ultimately, work-life balance is not a ‘feel-good’ policy but a strategic imperative for all businesses, requiring both employer and employee to commit to a positive change management process.
From: Quebec will introduce four day week for parents and caregivers. by
Source: Community Action, 2/17/2003.
Via: 
COPYRIGHT 2007 Community Action Publishers
What In the Hospitality Am I Doing?
Well, I'm learning how to post to my blog with pdf files. As you can see below, I'm a noob, so any suggestions will be welcomed and thanks for your patience with me.
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