Tenure: Is there such a thing as having tenure that is “too good”?

January 30, 2012

While this may seem like a funny concept, it’s absolutely true. I would say that 90% of the time if we are dealing with a tenure issue in how “place-able” a candidate is, we are talking about someone who has had too many short stints in their recent jobs (for example, someone with more than three jobs in five years, or more than four jobs in 10 years). But occasionally, we are faced with the opposite problem: someone who has spent too much time at one company.

Crazy as it may seem, there can be a negative stigma around a person who has spent 15-20 years with the same company, especially if they are just leaving that company now. The perception is that this person has been so entrenched in a certain environment that they will not be able to adjust to anything new, or at least not until they go through one or two bumps in the road elsewhere (failing to integrate into those new environments, but getting better at it each time). Once they have bounced around a couple other places they might be more familiar with what works for them and what does not, and only then able to make an appropriate decision about the appropriate work setting for them.

Clearly there are no exact formulas here, but based on the feedback we get from clients it seems that “too long” at one company starts at around 8-10 years. To illustrate the point, a person with 4 jobs in the last 20 years (4-6 years in each job) will have a MUCH easier time landing a new position compared to someone who spent 18 years with one company and 1-3 much shorter stints at other companies. Furthermore, the person whose 18 year stint is just now ending is also going to find it very difficult to be considered (for a position) compared to the person with an average tenure of 4-6 years. Again, the perception is that the person who has experienced four different environments during that time is much better suited to adjust to a new environment quickly, compared to the 18 year IBM’er (for example) who has gotten very accustomed to a very specific way of doing business.

Let me be clear here: I neither agree that this should be a reason to not hire someone, nor do I think anyone should feel discouraged by this. I’m simply trying to point out what’s going on behind the scenes so you can address this concern before someone takes a pass on you for the wrong reasons.

So if you indeed fit the mold of someone whose tenure is “too good”, I’ll try to help you create a plan of attack.
• Have you switched divisions within your company?
• Had a new manager (or CEO) that made massive, major changes to the direction of your team or company?
• Does your company have a stated policy of being a “learning organization”?
• Did your industry go through any major (and painful) changes midway through your career with your company?

What you want to show is that you have been able to adapt to change and that your new employer will be no exception. As always, happy hunting!!

Written By: Brock Boyd

Working with Recruiters

January 20, 2012

My desire to share thoughts on how to best work with a recruiter was driven by the frustration I had personally, and witnessed in the eyes of my contacts through the course of the job search process.

One of the most common complaints about recruiters (from the Job Seeker’s standpoint) is a lack of follow up, that recruiters will get a resume, or meet with you, then simply disappear. Since I am personally far from flawless in this area I want to do my best to share some insights on what’s going on behind the scenes.

If a recruiter is able to put you in front of a strong opportunity (or place you), it is because of his/her industry knowledge and strong contact/client company relationships. The biggest challenge to a seasoned recruiter is that neither of the two strengths above are DIRECTLY enhanced because of strong follow-up with job seekers, who do not fit into any current opportunities. But any recruiter with half a brain also knows that if you never follow up with people they will have little motivation to take your phone calls down the road.

The best solution I can come up with has three parts; two parts fall on the shoulder of the recruiter, one part on the shoulder of the job seeker. First, recruiters need to do a better job of setting expectations on the front end with their candidates/job seeker contacts. Second, recruiters need to develop a “system” for keeping a more open feedback loop. Finally, the job seeker needs to analyze the situation and determine their best means of follow-up with a recruiter.

The amount of job seekers a recruiter interviews on an average month will vary depending on the level of positions they tend to work on. For us target number is 20 per month. Now for some interesting statistics for you:

• At this level of search, on average a recruiter will place approximately 10% of the people they interview (the % is slightly lower for those interviewed by phone only, and slightly higher for those interviewed face to face)
• In the BEST of times a recruiter can hope to place 25% of the people they interview

Don’t interpret these stats too quickly. I would say that for me personally, about 5 out of 20 are people I simply could NEVER hope to place in a position. I do my very best to give these people value in the form of advice/consultation/direction before they walk out of my office, since I can often tell right away that this is the case. The opposite five are those I am highly likely to place in a position. I will have multiple opportunities for these people because of a combination of factors; their personal presence, relevance of background to our core space, and realism of salary expectations.

The remaining ten, the ten folks in the middle, are those who I would make attempts to place but have no success with. More often than not, these are simply people who find something through other means before I have a chance to place them. But a good number of these are people who have good skills, and fit into our core space, however, they simply don’t fit into anything we have AT THE MOMENT. These are the people I have the most advice for.

To these people I would say your strongest ally should be e-mail. A strong recruiter is going to either have a great memory or a great system for categorizing candidates after each interview and their intentions will be nothing but the best. On the other hand, if you want to increase your odds of being at the top of their radar screen I have a very simply/easy plan.

Write up a 1-3 sentence email (that you can use as a template in the future) that you will set up to send to your recruiter once every week or two. While many of the strongest recruiters will shutter at the thought of making “touch base” calls every day (with no purpose, no opportunity) to candidates they have recently interviewed, ALL recruiters will be thankful if you send them an e-mail just touching base every week or two. This will make certain that you remain high/bright on their radar screen and you may be thankful in turn when this turns out to be the reason a recruiter thought of you first upon spotting an exciting new job opportunity!