How do employers judge professionalism?

Conventional wisdom says that job seekers ought to present a professional image to potential employers. While a majority of people agree that’s the case, there is a variety of opinion as to what a professional image is.

I've written on this topic before, however, given the cultural slide away from professionalism in the workplace, it's a topic worth revisiting.

Professionalism is generally judged subjectively. I suspect most people would agree on what makes a “professional” senior corporate executive, however, may have a range of ideas on what makes a “professional” mechanic.

Professionalism is not simply whether someone wears a nice suit, rather it’s a number of traits that combine to form a professional image.

How does a potential employer judge whether someone is professional or not? Here are some common indicators…

· Attitude. Attitude creates a positive impression. However, It’s also a critical component of professionalism. It’s not just whether someone is upbeat or not, but also whether they are a solution-finder or nay-sayer. A professional is someone that sees opportunity, not someone that just finds reasons that something can’t be done.

· Competence. Competence in your field is also vital. In order to be professional, you have to know what you’re talking about. You have to be able to have understanding and insight into relevant issues in your field and be able to articulate solutions.

· Communication Skills. You may have a great attitude and be highly competent in your field, however, if you can’t communicate your insight or ideas effectively to others, you miss the mark. Communication skills don’t refer to an accent, but rather the ability to be understood, speak in clear terms, and make complex subjects understandable.

· Appearance. Appearance does matter. It’s not necessary for someone to wear a $2,000 suit. However, clean and appropriate clothing, fit properly, and arranged well do play a part in a professional image. A mechanic in well fitting and well cared for cover-alls can create a professional image as well as a C-Level executive in a tailored suit. Dirty, wrinkled, sloppy, and unkempt appearance damages a professional image regardless of the field you may pursue.

· Appropriateness. Inappropriate language, slang, appearance, or subjects have as much to do with damaging a professional image as anything else. Running off on unrelated tangents in a conversation, cursing, or wearing a polo shirt to a formal executive interview each create an impression that you don’t grasp the particular role. Like it or not, but ‘bucking the system’ rarely gets rewarded when pursuing a new job.

Are you professional?

Take a critical look at yourself through an employers lens and decide whether you hit the mark, or need to re-aim!

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It's not about you!

Many job seekers pursue opportunities with a focus on finding a company that will…

• “appreciate me for who I am”
• “help me develop to my maximum potential”
• “help me explore different functions to find where I’m most fulfilled”
• “give me opportunities for growth when I feel I’m ready”
• “judge me only by what I do, and not trivial factors like how I look, or how I talk”
• “know that no one is perfect, and even though I might fail, people should always get another chance”
• “not constrict me with uniform rules or expectations, but let each person do what works best for them”
• “pay me what I know I’m worth”
• “make me excited to come to work each day”

While it’s natural to want all these things, and more… frankly, for the most part, the company doesn’t really care!

Is it good for companies to have happy, fulfilled, employees? Of course, and most companies try to do all they can to that end. However, it’s for the purpose of facilitating an environment that will make employees as productive as they can be in order for the company to be as successful and profitable as it can for the benefit of its owners or shareholders.

Companies do not exist for the purpose of providing fulfilling career opportunities for people. They exist to provide a product or service in order to earn a profit. Providing fulfilling career opportunities is a side benefit, and not the reason for being.

So… particularly in this tough and competitive job market… what should you consider in order to land a job?

• What does the company want? Ultimately, the company will hire the kind of person that they want. It’s not their responsibility to figure out what you want and offer it to you. The more you match their vision of an ideal candidate, the greater chance you have of landing the job.
  
• You’re not the only one. When unemployment rates are high, particularly for new grads, companies have a number of people they can consider for any particular opening. You are competing with several people. The likelihood is that most of them can do the job, it will be additional factors that will make the difference as to who gets the job or not. It’s a buyers’ market!
  
• Appearance matters. While you may think “I gotta be me”, you are probably competing with people that present themselves in a professional way. Loud tattoos, extraordinary piercings or hairstyles, too casual, or inappropriate clothing may express the image you want to portray to the world. However, a company has every right to expect their employees to appear professional to their customers, other departments, and co-workers. Way outside the box appearance rarely gets rewarded. If they are interviewing multiple candidates, others in that group are likely to fit the image.
  
• Communication matters. While it may seem like you’re being “real” by speaking very casually, using a lot of slang, emailing with texting abbreviations, or occasionally cussing, it presents a less than professional image in a work environment. Similar to appearance issues, it’s not likely to fit the professional image they are seeking and they are probably interviewing others that do.
  
• Express a willingness to do what it takes. While goals and ambition are good, a willingness to do the things necessary to prove yourself and achieve results before expecting more responsibility or other opportunities is important. Particularly with people early in their career, they often don’t know what they don’t know. They often expect opportunities to take the next step before they are ready, and don’t trust those who know better to decide. A candidate that understands that their own goals will be achieved best by learning all they can and excelling at their current responsibilities, is far more attractive than one who only wants to “move up”, even before they master their current role.
  
• Know, and be able to articulate what you offer them. Often, candidates are best at expressing what they are looking for. What matters to an employer, however, is how you can solve their problems, get their work done, and help them be more productive. The better you can express what you can accomplish for them, the more attractive a candidate you become.

The more you focus on what a company wants rather than your own desires in a new employer, the greater your chances of landing a position.

Furthermore, you’re likely to find that the more you focus on accomplishing the company’s objectives throughout your career, you will much more likely accomplish your own as well. You will be given more opportunities and greater consideration when you’re viewed as someone that can achieve the company’s goals.

It’s an irony that… once you realize it’s not about you, your own desires are more likely to be realized.

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The Salary Question

One of the common questions job seekers have is "What's the best way to handle the salary question?"

When an employer asks in the application process or in the interview, what they've earned in the past and what they're looking for, how should you answer? There is a lot of conflicting advice on this topic and varying opinions. I certainly have my opinions as well.

First, it helps to understand why the question is being asked, and what they are looking for. Then decide on an appropriate and effective response.

"They just want to low-ball me" A common misconception by job seekers is that an employer only wants to know so that they can make as low an offer as possible. While that may be the case in some instances, my experience in 25 years of recruiting is that is the remote exception rather than the rule. The vast majority of employers want new hires to feel good about their new job and feel like they're being treated fairly. They are not trying to find out how cheaply they can hire someone, rather trying to get a sense of what the requirements would be and what would be a well received range. While they aren't generally wanting to 'buy' someone with an overly generous offer, they want the new hire to feel like they are getting a fair deal.

Is it in the same ballpark? Making the effort to interview a candidate for a position is a time-consuming and expensive (value of time and possible travel costs) process for both an employer and the job seeker. Finding out at the offer stage that a particular candidate's expectations of salary are well outside the possible range for the position is a huge waste all the way around. It's important early in the process to find out if the two parties are close enough so that if all else goes well, there is a possibility of making it come together. Especially in today's market, when people are pursuing jobs at every level, it's not unusual to find that someone's expectations are far beyond what the position can pay. It's critical to get that issue addressed early on.

Is it realistic based on experience, market comparisons, and history? Similar to the 'same ballpark' question, it's important for an employer to understand if your expectations make sense based on multiple other factors as well. Are you looking for a salary commensurate with your level of experience? How do your requirements compare in the marketplace and with other people at their company? Have you had a salary history that makes sense compared to what you're seeking now? These are all legitimate concerns an employer has when evaluating candidates.

Know your numbers! Often, when people are asked for a salary that would be acceptable to them, they don't know what they are really willing, or able to accept. Sometimes they give a number that's too low, in the hopes that it might keep them progressing through the hiring process. When an offer comes that's too low, it makes for a very awkward negotiation. Know your requirements. Know the minimum you can accept, know the range that the position is likely to pay, and know the realistic number you'd like to see. Knowing what your numbers are, you can give an amount that you can work with when an offer arrives.

Don't get into a spitting match! People often hear advice like… never give them a number first, the first one to give a number loses. Unfortunately, people sometimes take that advice and set up an adversarial relationship with the interviewer. While it certainly does help to give a more educated answer when the employer gives a range for the position first, if they are not forthcoming with an answer, it's important to know when to concede and be willing to give a number. Continuing to avoid giving an answer when they keep pressing will not prove to be a winning strategy.

Always give a range. Giving your salary expectations in context of a range allows you to explain what the different numbers may mean to you. Perhaps you may be willing to consider less initially if they are willing to commit to a review in six months after they get a better sense of the value you bring. Perhaps you are particularly interested in the position and willing to consider less than you might otherwise. A range is always a better strategy than only giving a specific number.

So what does it sound like? A hypothetical example of how to express your salary requirements might be…

I'm glad to consider any fair offer for the position. However, based on my experience and my understanding of the role, I believe an appropriate range would be between $52,000 and $60,000 per year. $52,000 would be the least I would be able to consider depending on the overall opportunity. However, my real objective is to land in a range of $56,000 or more.

When possible, the vast majority of companies want to make offers above the minimum amount a candidate is seeking. They want the person to feel like they were treated fairly. However, there are times when the salary grade for a role only pays up to a certain amount that may be at the bottom of a candidates range. The employer is not trying to low-ball the candidate, however, is restricted in what they can do based on the range for the role. The explanation above makes clear to an employer what the parameters and objectives are. They can make a decision based on a solid understanding of the expectations.

Taking the time to prepare, and doing the research to know your numbers will help you give much more effective answers when the salary question arises.

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Short Substantive Soundbites!

When discussing resumes or LinkedIn profiles, I often say it's more effective to write in "short substantive soundbites" instead of long sentences or paragraphs. People are often confused by what I mean or have trouble editing their profiles to achieve that.

To make things even more confusing, I also say that a LinkedIn profile can be significantly longer than a resume, however, it's still important to use short substantive soundbites!

So… what does that mean, and what does it look like?

Here are some considerations and examples…

The 20 second test. Most job seekers understand that a resume or a LinkedIn profile generally gets scanned for 15 to 20 seconds before a decision is made to pursue that candidate further, or not. In that quick scan, the reader is looking for specific skills, experience, and keywords. The easier those are found, the greater the likelihood they will be called. The more difficult it is to determine if the candidate has them, the less likely there will be any follow up. In that quick scan, easily spotted words and phrases will get read, and longer sentences or paragraphs will not! No matter how well worded and powerfully presented a paragraph may have been written, it has NO impact if it's not read. What is easily spotted in a 20 second scan of your resume?

"Short" does not equal "without substance"! People often contend that if they shorten their sentences and paragraphs they will lose important points they are trying to convey, or are not able to "tell the story" of their career and achievements. In reality, it makes them a better writer and communicator to tell the substance of their story in as few words as possible. Eliminating filler words and relative trivialities, distilling each sentence to the most important information will have a far greater impact than a lengthy sentence that is never read. Furthermore, through the process of achieving this in your resume and online profiles, it will help you to articulate the ideas much more effectively in interviews as well!

It's not easy, however, highly effective. Your "story" is important, and we all enjoy talking/writing about ourselves. Distilling a paragraph down to the most essential information can be a very difficult process and will likely take several iterations. A focus on metrics and results are more important than detailed descriptions of your overall responsibilities. Keeping in mind that your resume's purpose is to help you get an interview, not answer all the questions they have to make a decision to hire you or not. Focus on what they are likely to need to know to decide whether to bring you in for an interview, where they can ask questions to get more details. Making it easy for them to connect the dots between your experience and the job requirements is key to gaining their interest.

Short, but long, is OK! Presenting information concisely is key… Brevity is a Virtue! However, the overall length of your LinkedIn profile might be quite long, and your resume may still be 2 pages… that's OK. The brevity you should be seeking is in each phrase and bullet-point for them to make it easy to catch your experience in a quick scan. However the overall length of the profile page or document can remain the same. In a scan, easily spotted words and phrases will get read, and longer sentences or paragraphs will not. Many key words and phrases are fine. Avoiding long sentences is critical. Key words within a sentence can be bold-faced for added emphasis as well.

Compare…

• Responsible for developing new strategies and improving processes within the existing sales organization, achieving a sales performance improvement of 32% in 2010 over the 2009 fiscal year.

To…

• Led a 32% sales increase over previous year.
  

Which bullet point is more likely to get read and easily understood? Which is likely to have the greater impact on the reader? Which one most quickly answers the most burning question when an organization is looking for a new Sales Manager? (Can this person improve sales?) Which raises questions that are better discussed in an interview (questions like "How did you achieve that kind of increase?")

The second example does not give up the most important substantive information. It concisely emphasizes the most important facts for an employer to decide whether to pursue things further, or not.

Compare…

• Utilized Agile methodologies to lead a software development team to meet milestones and achieve superior results in order to complete a high-profile project on time and under budget.

To…

• Led high-profile Agile project to finish on time and under budget.

Which conveys the key information most efficiently and more effectively? Which is more likely to be noticed? If you were a hiring manager or recruiter quickly reviewing 20 resumes submitted for a position… which would you be able to get the most key information from most easily?

Most resumes are written like the first examples. The most effective resumes are written like the second examples.

What does your resume look like? A dissertation, or an outline of the most relevant and key points?

Which do you think will more likely be read, and get the better results?

Each person you talk to will have different opinions about what your resume should look like. You are the only one responsible for what you present to potential employers. Consider all the advice, and then consider what would be most effective from a hiring managers' or recruiters' perspective. Apply what makes the most sense to you. If it gets the results you're looking for, stick with it. If not, try a different approach.

Try Short Substantive Soundbites over lengthy sentences and paragraphs and see if your results don't improve.

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Why is it easier to get a job while you're employed?

There’s old conventional wisdom that says it’s easier to get a new job while you’re in a job than when you’re unemployed.

Why is that? Simply because employers are biased against the unemployed? Or is there something else going on?

While there are some employers that have biases against people that are unemployed, that’s generally not the a deciding factor in the vast majority of cases.

Some employers do believe that if someone was let go from a previous position, there must have been a reason for it. Companies generally don’t want to lose their best people, so some employers assume that if you were let go, you must not have been that good. Particularly in todays’ job market, that view is very unfounded.

Unfortunately, when companies are looking to make drastic cuts to their budgets, they often chop with an axe instead of carve carefully with a scalpel to keep what they want. They often eliminate entire divisions, departments, or teams. Sometimes they make decisions purely based on seniority, or job functions. Sometimes they look for the biggest salaries to cut, or other arbitrary criteria that have nothing to do with an individual’s performance. A bias against unemployed / laid-off candidates is by far the exception rather than the rule since it is not a solid criteria for evaluating a prospective employee.

So what is going on?

More often than not… unemployed candidates are too eager! While employers want to find candidates that are enthusiastic, passionate, and have a desire to be at their organization, unemployed candidates often stand out as taking it a little too far.

Employed candidates, who don’t need a new job, generally spend their time evaluating the employer as much as the employer is evaluating them. They are more “hard to get”. Similar to dating… generally the one that’s a little harder to get is often perceived as more attractive than the one that’s too “easy”. To an employer, the hard to get candidate is perceived as more confident and professional.

How does “too eager” look in an interview?

• They are overly agreeable. Regardless how a position or work environment is described, the over-eager candidate says it sounds great.
• They sometimes stretch their abilities. In fear of sounding under-qualified, over-eager candidates sometimes exaggerate their experience and skills. Claiming to have solid experience where they may only have had exposure.
• They ask superficial questions. Instead of digging into the culture, job duties, management style and other factors that would impact them directly as an employee, they ask generically about the company’s strategy, financial outlook, or other not directly applicable questions.

How have you looked to a potential employer? A little over-eager, or somewhat hard to get? You may find that a slight shift in your perspective can give you better results!

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Connect more on LinkedIn!

It's not unusual for me to hear job seekers balk at the idea of connecting with people on LinkedIn that they don't know well. They typically have less than 30 or 40 connections, and believe that much more than that would "dilute the quality" of their network. They often say "quality is better than quantity".

While I can respect their argument, I wholeheartedly disagree… especially during a job search. Here's why…

While it's good to have a profile on LinkedIn in the hopes of being "found" for appropriate opportunities, the far greater value of LinkedIn in your job search is the ability to find people at target companies or in your field that can be great networking contacts or potential employers.

Greater Numbers = Greater Results. The only way to find people on LinkedIn is through searches, and your search results are fruitful in proportion to the number of your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level connections. The fewer connections you have, the fewer results you will get in your searches. The more 1st level connections you have, the overall number of people in your network grows exponentially. While a profile with 20 1st level connections may only search through a few thousand people, even as few as 70 connections can potentially reach a million profiles. A couple hundred connections can potentially gain you access to a few million profiles, and over 1,000 connections can allow you to search over 10 Million or more! The larger your network, the more profiles are scanned when you run a search, and the greater likelihood you will find the results you need. In your job search, those results are critical for you to connect with the people that can benefit you.

You're likely keeping your close connections anyway. If you're only connecting to people you know well on LinkedIn, what added value does that provide you? You are likely to remember and keep those contacts whether you had LinkedIn or not. The added value LinkedIn can provide is access to others that you wouldn't connect to otherwise. Expanding your network is a way that can be a benefit to you in your job search and in the rest of your career. You're likely to find the broader network to be a benefit once you're in a job as well. Other people in your industry or field can be tremendous resources when you have issues where you can use some advice.

Most everyone else is looking to expand their network as well. The majority of other people with profiles on LinkedIn are there in order to improve their professional networking too. It's very rare for someone to turn down an invitation, because generally they realize the benefit of a larger network for themselves. Reaching out to others is not an imposition on others, rather it's a win-win and a mutual benefit.

So… how should you start?

Send invitations to everyone you know! Do a search of the previous companies you've worked for and find all the people you've worked with and for earlier in your career. You'll generally find that even people that you haven't talked to in 20 years or didn't like will be glad to "reconnect" on LinkedIn. Send each of them invitations, for your benefit and theirs. Keep in mind, that it's not important whether any one individual is a "good" contact for you or not, the value is in gaining access to all the people they are connected to, and to all the people that are connected to their connections. The numbers can be staggering. Don't have their email address? If you worked at the company, you're familiar with the standard email format and you're likely to be able to easily deduce their address. Send it… if you were wrong, the email will bounce back and there's no problem.

Use LinkedIn's email search tool. It can automatically scan your Outlook contacts or other email client that you may use and match up all the email addresses you have to people already on LinkedIn. You can then select which ones you want to invite and LinkedIn will handle the rest.

Look up friends, family, bowling teammates, other parents from your kids sports teams, professional association colleagues, and anyone else you can think of! Don't think "who would be a good contact", rather think "is there any reason I wouldn't connect to this person?" Default to connecting rather than not connecting. It's not the person you connect with that is as important as all of their 1st and 2nd level connections.

Join Groups! LinkedIn has thousands of "Groups" related to almost anything you can imagine. Groups based on Geography, Industries, Professions, Hobbies, Clubs, Technologies, Tools, or virtually any thing else. When you join a group, all other group members automatically are scanned when you run a search. So if you join one group that has 10,000 members, you've increased the possibility of results from your search by 10,000 additional people. Find appropriate groups for your location and industry and you're results can improve dramatically.

Connect to connectors! There are a number of people on LinkedIn that have thousands, and tens of thousands of 1st level connections themselves. They accept all invitations and aggressively seek new connections themselves. When you connect to someone that has thousands of connections, your searchable numbers increase markedly… you are not only gaining their thousands of first level connections, however, the connections of all of those connections as well.

Don't limit the benefit LinkedIn can be in your job search! To gain the maximum benefit, you need to connect to as many people as you can. You can also find great benefit in the larger network in the rest of your career!

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