How To Redeem A Disastrous Job Interview

Job interviews are nerve-wracking, sudden-death tournaments where one wrong move can send you tearing off in the wrong direction. You know when it’s going wrong - but few people feel they can then redeem themselves. But once it’s gone wrong, it could be worth taking a big gamble.

That’s clearly what John Scott felt when he interviewed with me for an assistant producer’s job in television. At the time, such positions were few and far between and much coveted since they represented the only path to becoming a fully fledged producer. So any time we advertised for an AP, we knew we’d get a lot of excellent applicants of which, of course, John was just one. And a very nervous one.

Off to a Bad Start

When he came in, he was almost shaking with anxiety. We started talking; it didn’t go well. Then he did something amazing. He stopped talking, stood up and said, “This isn’t going at all well. Do you mind if I leave and come back in to start again?”

It was such a startling request - who could say no? So that’s what he did: left the room, paused, then knocked on the door and started the interview afresh. And he was fine. In the intervening thirty seconds, he’d clearly pulled himself together. He got the job. Why?

Insight

He could tell the interview was going badly and didn’t kid himself that he could somehow talk it into going well. This also showed his awareness that his time was limited and a quick fix was essential. For that insight alone, he won respect.

Courage

Daring to do something so unconventional proved that he could assess a reasonable risk and be prepared to take it. After all, what did he have to lose? Perpetuation of a mundane interview had no chance of success; starting again at least had some.

Resilience

To leave and start again would have gained my attention. But had he re-entered and come out with the same banalities the second time, that would have counted for nothing. That he could so comprehensively re-set himself was remarkable and impressive.

Cumulatively, John’s eccentric performance showed me that, if things started going wrong on a show, he’d know - and have what it took to put it right. Since things always go wrong in TV, I got to see, first hand, how he’d cope. And it proved an entirely reliable predictor of his subsequent career: when he made mistakes, no one had to tell him - and he was fast and adroit at fixing them. Who could ask for more?

Bounce

We all make mistakes in business; they’re how we learn. Being able to bounce back - quickly - is a formidable talent. It’s the ability to recover from them that separates aspirants from achievers.

Regards,

 Margaret Heffernan

6 Lessons We Could Learn from Steve Jobs

Tracking the achievements of Steve Jobs isn’t a difficult thing to do. They’re big, public and - especially in technology - remarkably long lasting. More tricky but, I think, more interesting, is eliciting from those achievements the lessons we could learn from his successes if we tried.

1. Style is Content

From the outset, Jobs and Apple believed in style: in fonts, in graphics, in industrial design and in marketing. It’s easy to under-estimate how eccentric this was at the time - and how eccentric it remains 

today. While most organizations believe that style is the exclusive purview of marketing, few achieve it even there. Most hardware and software remains remarkably clunky, ugly or simply derivative. (The Kindle is hideous; the Fire a pale imitation.) When I first started working in technology 15 years ago, style was dismissed as frivolous and that’s the status it still holds in most companies today. Anyone who imagines that Apple’s success derives entirely from what’s inside the box  (and there are more than a few) has missed a very obvious point.

Conventional wisdom divides thinking into the left brain and the right brain. The left is all systematic, rational, linear while the right is more emotional and creative. What Jobs demonstrated was that success lies not in emphasizing one over the other but in bringing them together. The physical representation of this was clear when he took over Pixar. The new campus planned 3 separate buildings: for creatives, for producers and for business people. He insisted that they be brought under one roof, with toilets at the center - because that’s where everyone meets and talks.

2. Patience Beats Speed

For all that Apple is known for fast product development, the truth is that Jobs was very good at waiting. After his return to Apple in 1997, when the company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy, he did what any smart CEO would do: slashed product lines (15 desktop models to 1) cut software and hardware engineers, eliminated peripherals, reduced inventory and retailers and moved most manufacturing offshore. There is nothing brilliant about this; it’s textbook stuff. But asked in 1998, by Richard Rummelt, what he was going to do next, in order to move Apple beyond its fragile niche position, Jobs had a gutsy answer: “I am going to wait for the next big thing.”

Wait? In a technology business? That took courage. Of course, once he’d figured out what the next big thing was, Jobs was methodical and patient - again - in putting in place everything he’d need to take advantage of the seismic shift in the environment when the U.S. market moved to broadband.

It’s also worth remembering that, during the three years he did this, he was remorselessly hammered by industry analysts not one of whom understood what he was up to.

3. Drama Trumps Romance

Jobs’s product launches were famed for their drama. But one thing they didn’t offer was romance. The products did what they said they’d do. Marketing commentary around them didn’t promise fantasies, illusions or daydreams. Apple promoted its products but didn’t hype them. This may seem a lackluster quality but it built trust. Apple said its products were easy to use not because (like many of its competitors) it hoped that was true, or because it was true for the PhD engineers who’d invented them, but because it was true. It seems peculiar to celebrate a company for truth in advertising but that’s one reason why Apple customers, once smitten, stayed loyal.

4. Nothing Beats a Good Mistake

Jobs’s career isn’t without its mis-steps. Losing control of Apple was the biggest and most obvious but there were plenty of minor slip ups along the way. The suicides at the Foxconn plant that manufactures iPhones was just one of these. But Jobs didn’t try to deny that they had taken place or that they mattered. He was swift to point out that Apple’s scrutiny of its suppliers was more rigorous than most - but he still moved quickly to understand what was going on and try to find remedies.

Every company makes mistakes. But, treated right, they can be treasure troves of learning. Moreover, people loved Jobs not because he didn’t make mistakes - but because he learned from them.

5. Technology Isn’t All About Youth

In the age of fast companies, built not to last, Apple offered ample proof that you can be innovative and cool after the age of 25. Experience, know how and skills counted for something. While the products were cool, they weren’t all built by pre-adolescents oblivious to the constraints and needs of normal human beings. That Jobs continued to be as innovative in his 50s as he had been in his 20s is something most companies should take time to consider at length.

6. Business Doesn’t Have to Be Bad

Earlier this week I was teaching a class of new MBA students. A strikingly international group, they came from Thailand, India, Korea, Colombia, Russia, Canada, Taiwan, China and the U.S. I asked them who their heroes were. As usual, the list included their parents, various heads of state and Nelson Mandela. But topping the list - regardless of age or nationality - was Steve Jobs. More than anyone else alive, he was the person who inspired their love of business and their desire to try their hands at it.

In an age when the streets are full of anger and violence at the havoc wreaked by one part of the business world, that there is such an inspirational figure as Jobs is important. We need smart men and women, young and old, to have high ambitions for the world of work, someone who believed passionately and articulated brilliantly how much good business can achieve. Now that Jobs is gone, who can fail to be concerned that no one else adequately represents his rich synthesis of intellect, imagination and passion?

The lessons we could learn from Steve Jobs aren’t all that remarkable. Many of them contain wisdom that we already know — we just don’t apply it. Why not? Is it that we lack courage? Or is it that we find it hard to believe that tenets so simple can prove so effective? Surely that’s the moral of the Apple story: there is genius in simplicity. But simple is hard.

Regards,

 Margaret Heffernan

Why Startups Shouldn’t Hire People With Graduate Degrees

It’s likely that if a person attended graduate school, he will have a hard time translating his strengths into strong workplace performance — especially at startups.

Most people who went to grad school did it to prolong adolescent needs for grade-based approval. (Note: This analysis comes from writers at the Chronicle for Higher Education.) This is because the grad school model is generally outdated for today’s workforce, and high performers see this before they enroll. But people who are scared of trying to hold their own in the workforce see grad school as a way around the inevitable difficulties of finding a job one enjoys.

Here are three reasons why it’s a decent bet to stay away from candidates with graduate degrees when you need to hire at your startup:

1. Humanities are for people who are afraid of adult life.

My experience with graduate school was for English. I tried it when I couldn’t figure out what job I was qualified to do.

The answer, in fact, was that I was not qualified to do any job before grad school — but I was not qualified to do any job after grad school either. So I left early, without the degree, when I realized graduate school is stupid.

It’s not just the field of English that is a dead end. One would have had a better chance surviving the Titanic than getting a job as any type of humanities professor. Humanities PhD programs suck up time and energy with little return.

Most people who go to grad school for humanities defend their decision by saying they love their topic. But look, if you love your topic, you can do it after work. Just open a book and read it on your own.

2. Business school is for people who lack ideas and initiative.

The big question you should ask when business school graduates tell you they want to work for your startup is: Why did these people just dump $100,000 into a business degree instead of dumping it into their own company?

If they really wanted to work at a startup, why didn’t they launch one? Clearly, money was not the barrier, because they had $100,000 to burn. So it’s something else.

I think they don’t start companies because they do not have any ideas. Or, in the case where a person actually does have ideas, he doesn’t believe in himself enough to give his own ideas a shot.

So why should you believe in this person?

Take a look at how many smart people write about how business school is not a good path to entrepreneurship. The only reason we are even talking about business school in relation to entrepreneurship is that so many people want to be entrepreneurs that business schools had to launch entrepreneurship programs to attract those people.

During my days as a journalist, I interviewed Saras Sarasvathy, from Dartmouth’s business school. She explained to me the research about the traits of a successful entrepreneur. And believe me, none of those traits requires a degree from business school.

3. Law school is for people who lack creativity and will likely fail in the workplace.

Yes, this is a generalization. But there is pretty good evidence to back up this generalization.

For starters, most lawyers hate being lawyers. There are five, big myths about being a lawyer, but the main problem boils down to this: To get in to law school, you have to be great at school (reading and regurgitating back to the professors what they want to hear) and you have to be great at test-taking (the LSAT still rules admissions).

So law school selects for people who are rule followers and like to be told what to do.

But to be a successful lawyer, you have to be great at marketing and client relations. Otherwise you won’t make any money because you won’t bring in any business.

People applying to law school ignore this problem. (And so do law schools, but that’s another story.) The reason law students ignore it is because they are so desperate to have a clear path to money based on the skills they have exhibited in school. The desperate need for a safe route makes people ignore the fact that law school is very, very high risk for an unhappy life.

4. People with multiple degrees will be a pain in the ass.

Why would anyone get two degrees? It’s like being a triple major. Anyone who is a triple major as an undergrad is likely to be awful to work with. A triple major is myopic in her knowledge, insecure with her own identity, and desperate to impress. There is no good reason to have a triple major in a world where it’s clear that an undergraduate education does not really teach you anything about your major anyway.

The same can be said about people with multiple graduate degrees. It’s just that as an undergrad, the triple major is trying to find an excuse not to have to socialize. A graduate student is trying to find an excuse not to have to embark on adult life. And that’s not the kind of person who’s going to add a lot of value to your company.

Which leads me to the best hire you can make: Someone who faces the difficulties of adult life head on and takes personal responsibility for building his own skills. Someone who makes time to develop social skills, test his own ideas, and take risks that are scary but necessary for growth.

Those people often look messy. Adult life is messy. But it’s better to hire someone who has waded through the mess of growing up than someone who has avoided it at all cost.

Regards,

 Penelope Trunk

Are “Years of Experience” Requirements Fair to Younger Workers?

Dear Evil HR Lady,

I’m about six years into my IT career and like any business person I am always keeping my eye on the market.

I’ve noticed a trend where employers post minimum experience requirements, which is not unusual. However the requirements are a bit overstated. For example, a former employer has posted a minimum requirement of eight years experience for the position I held and excelled at for several years (with only two years experience when I started). Truth be told, a second year undergrad could do that job without difficulty.

This is just one example and it is not uncommon in my observation.

The practice smacks of discrimination against the young and I can only imagine the frustration my newly graduated peers must be experiencing. Do you have any suggestions on how to get a resume in front of a hiring manager or will the “kids” just need to pray for a lucky break?

Years of experience are usually completely arbitrary.  Some people can do a job with one year of experience that would take other people 10 years to learn how to do.  Unfortunately, it’s difficult to tell from the outside what type of person you are.

I think we all agree that you can’t just jump into the role of CEO of a Fortune 100 Company straight out of college. Managing people, projects, learning how to navigate the political parts of companies, learning what problems are likely to appear, and what solutions are actually plausible are also things that you learn in the workforce.  Sorry to say, but universities generally stink at teaching skills that help you survive in the workplace.  So, even though you think that a “second year undergrad” could do the job, chances are that the actual technical part of the job could be done, but all the little “extras” that go along with corporate life would still have to be learned.

Hiring is a very expensive thing.  Terminating someone is also extremely expensive.  Therefore, managers do not want to take the risk that they’ll spend a fortune hiring and training someone only to find out that they are utterly incapable of doing the whole job (which includes all sorts of things that don’t generally end up on a job description), so that they then have to go through the expense of firing the person and then hire someone else.  And keep in mind that the word “expense” doesn’t necessarily mean an actual dollar amount given to a recruiter.  Time and energy and undone work (while the position is vacant) are all expenses of recruiting.

So, when a manager has gobs of time and cash and all that, she’s willing to take the risk of hiring someone without enough experience and train him herself.  When deadlines are tight, finances are tighter, and stress levels are high, she wants to hire someone that someone else has trained.  Therefore, the job posting goes up with “Five years of experience” or my very favorite “One year experience required.”  The one year experience just means flat out that a new grad could do the job just fine, it’s just that the manager doesn’t want to do the basic adjusting to the workforce training.  This is why when college students ask me what they should major in or whatever I always say, “I don’t care what you major in, but you better darn well get internships.”   Your internships (plural on purpose) can count as that “one year” of experience.  (And please don’t tell me that only the rich kids can afford internships.  If you’re not a rich kid you absolutely cannot afford to skip the internships.)

Now, as to your previous employer posting a job you did as now needing 8 years of experience, it’s quite possible that the job description has changed since you left.  It’s also quite likely that they thought you were an exception rather than the rule.  And another possibility is that after you left they hired someone with limited experience who was a total failure and they don’t want to go down that road again.

The reality is, it isn’t an attempt to discriminate against the young, which in most cases is perfectly legal, as you are only in a protected class after you turn 40.  It’s an attempt to decrease turnover and increase the amount of time needed to get someone up to speed.  It’s an employer’s market, so when the post a job as requiring 8 years of experience, they are pretty confident that they’ll find a variety of candidates that meet that requirement and are willing to do the job for that pay.  As the job market improves, that will change and companies will be forced to hire less experienced people.

So, what’s a young worker to do?  Same thing as an old worker: Network.  It’s more difficult on entry level jobs because you don’t have the years of experience and contacts that those of us who’ve been in the workforce for a while have.  This means they need to be extra careful to be on best behavior at all times–even non work situations.  Your parents’ friends are people you can network with, but they better think highly of you before you try it.  Your friends that got jobs can be a networking source.  Your contacts from your internships are also sources.

It’s hard to get a first job.  But the experience requirements aren’t a method to discriminate against the young.  It’s a method to discriminate against the inexperienced.

Regards,

 Suzanne Lucas

How to Start a Small Business in Just One Day

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by everything that goes into starting a small  business: Writing the business plan, lining up financing,developing a marketing plan, thinking about branding, building a website… attempting to think of and plan for everything may ensure you never get started. No business is built overnight — but your business can easily be established in a day.

If you’ve been dreaming about starting a business for a long time but haven’t been able to pull the trigger, you probably fall into one of two camps:

1. You’re still waiting for the perfect idea, or
2. You’re intimidated by the apparent complexity of starting a business

Either way, no problem.

Are you stalling because you’re waiting for an idea? If so:

• Stop thinking you can’t start until you have a great idea. For every great idea that launches a company, hundreds of thousands of businesses succeed by outworking, out-executing, and out-lasting existing businesses.  Most successful businesses take an idea or model that already exists and with time and effort learn to do it a better.
• Stop worrying about making millions of dollars or developing exit strategies. Too many people don’t start until they think they can see the finish line. No one can predict the finish line.

Think of it this way: You already know, at least in general terms, what you’d like to do. If you do what you enjoy, you may not succeed but you can’t lose.

Are you stalling because you’re unsure and even a little intimidated by the process of starting a business? The key is to get off square one and in motion. Follow these steps; they’re easy, and can all be accomplished in one day:

1. Choose a name. Forget branding and unique selling propositions and all the business identity stuff.  There is no perfect name. For now, don’t worry about finding the perfect URL or website design or promotional literature. You’re putting those carts way before the horse. Just pick a name. Your business can operate under a different name than your company name. Plus, you can always change the name later.
2. Get an EIN (Employee Identification Number). An EIN is the federal tax number used to identify your business. You don’t need an EIN unless you will have employees, plan to form a partnership, LLC, or Corporation. Even so, get one: It’s free, takes minutes, and you can keep your Social Security number private and reduce the chance of identity theft.  (If you don’t have an EIN, your SSN identifies your business for tax purposes.) Apply for an EIN on the IRS website.
3. Register your trade name. If you won’t operate under your own name, your locality may require you to register a trade name. Easy: Fill out the form, file at the courthouse, and in most cases receive your approved registration form on the spot.
4. Get a business license. Your county or city will require a business license, again using a form that takes minutes to fill out. Bring your EIN and your approved trade name registration form. Note: You’ll probably be asked to estimate annual gross receipts. Do your best to estimate accurately, but don’t fret: It’s only an estimate.
5. Fill out a business personal property tax form (if necessary). Businesses are taxed on “personal” property just like individuals. Where I live, no form is required for the year you establish your business. If completing a form is necessary, and you plan to work from home using computers, tools, etc., that you already own, you won’t need to list those items. If you purchase tangible personal property during your first year, you’ll identify those items when you file your business personal property tax form next year.
6. Ask your locality about other permits. Every locality is different. In my area, for example, a “home occupation permit” is required to verify that a home-based business meets zoning requirements. Your locality may require other permits. Ask; they’ll tell you.
7. Get a certificate of resale (if necessary). Also known as seller’s permits, if you plan to sell goods instead of services, a a certificate of resale allows you to collect state sales tax. Yourstate department of taxation website provides complete details, forms, etc. Some entrepreneurs decide to skip this step; don’t.
8. Get a business bank account. Probably the easiest way to mess up your books or run afoul of the IRS is to commingle personal and business funds (and transactions.) Get an account using your business name and EIN, and use that account for all business-related deposits, withdrawals, and transactions.
9. Set up a simple accounting spreadsheet. You can set up business accounting software like QuickBooks later. For now, just create a spreadsheet where you can enter money you spend and money you receive. Bookkeeping is simple, at least at first.  As long as you record everything you do now, creating a more formal system later will be fairly easy.

Sound like a lot? It’s not. Where I live this list can be accomplished in a few hours, including driving time and chatting with the staff at the courthouse. Even if completing the list does take all day, when you’re done all the “complexity” is behind you.

And you’ll be an entrepreneur. You’ll have the documents to prove it.

Regards,

Jeff Haden

Is Your Profession Like an Arranged Marriage?

You may not realize it, but you’re probably in an arranged marriage.

Most of us don’t do what we love. Instead our backgrounds, education, and experiences conspire to match us with a suitable profession. Schools and friends and circumstances slowly pull us, often without our noticing, into a business or career that eventually feels more like one that was chosen for us rather than one we chose.

While for some people inertia or golden handcuffs keep them in their arranged professional marriage, it’s more likely you no longer even think about what you would like to do. When you feel stuck, it’s not as easy as simply imagining what you’d like to be doing. If you’ve been stuck for many years, you might not even be able to re-imagine yourself doing something else.

If that’s you, you’re not alone.  Once at a speaking engagement I did a quick survey; I asked the 300 people in the audience, “If you could wave a magic wand and immediately be in a different business or profession, how many of you would?” Almost all of them raised their hands. (I suspect the people who didn’t raise their hands were sitting next to their bosses.) Then I said, “Okay; now, how many of you know what business or profession you would change to?” Only about 10% of the audience kept their hands up.

If you feel you’re in an arranged business marriage, would like to do something different, but don’t even know how to start figuring out what you’d like to do, here’s a way to get un-stuck: Use the Refrigerator Test.

Think about it: Most refrigerators are covered with special photos symbolizing or commemorating what means a lot or makes you proud: Family, kids, achievements, mementos, etc. Imagine you can only put photos on your refrigerator that involve your current business or career. Are you only seeing your own reflection?

Now imagine what you would like to see on your refrigerator. What would you want to be able to put there: A photo of you receiving a degree? A photo of your new business the day it opens? You leaving for your first day of a new job?

Then think about the personal photos you would like to see — not of your family, but of you: Maybe you with other volunteers assisting a worthy cause. Or you completing a marathon, or at the summit of a climb, or on a trip you’ve always dreamed about.

A business or profession doesn’t have to be “’till death do us part.”  If you feel stuck, use the Refrigerator Test to imagine how you want your refrigerator to look.

That’s the first step on the road to doing what you love.

Regards,

 Jeff Haden

If You’re Struggling to Get Ahead, Try This

Whether you own a business or work for someone else, differentiation is tough. Local and global competition, coworkers, others in a similar industry… it’s really easy to get lost in the crowd.

Here’s a simple way out of the “similar” rut: Pick an always. An always isn’t based on style; an always is something you will do, without fail, no matter what.

In time you will be known by your always — and you’ll start to stand out.

If you own a business, you can start small and decide you will always:

• Respond to calls or emails within 30 minutes
• Follow up the day after every sale
• Suggest alternatives
• Proactively caution customers about potential drawbacks or risks

Or you could go bigger and always:

• Deliver early
• Charge the lowest prices
• Maintain the most comprehensive inventory

The always you choose is up to you; just make sure customers will value and appreciate the difference your always creates. For example, if I decide to always provide a formatted PDF along with every Word manuscript I send to clients, that’s a nice but basically worthless gesture. But if I decide to always provide ideas for subsequent books — not a bad idea, actually — most clients will appreciate the fact I’ve given real thought to build on their current book to create future opportunities.

The same is true if you work for someone else. You could decide to always:

• Be at work on time
• Respond to emails and calls the same day
• Attend meetings (this one would have killed me)
• Praise others when they do something well
• Say thank you

Or you could go bigger and always:

• Be at work early
• Stay until important tasks are complete
• Respond to emails and calls — even when you’re off
• Volunteer for the worst assignments

Again, the always you choose is up to you but must be based on what your organization values. If measurable output is more important than adhering to set work hours, deciding you’ll always get to work early is much less valuable than deciding you will always outperform your peers.

It may take time, but your always will eventually make you stand out. For example, I’ve worried about whether a critical shipment would arrive; it’s powerful when someone says, “Don’t worry, it will be here. They always deliver on time.” I’ve wondered if an important task was completed the night before; it makes a real impact when someone says, “Tom was working on that, so I don’t even need to check. I’m sure it’s finished.” I’ve worried about whether an installation by a vendor would go smoothly; when someone says, “We’ll be fine — they would have let us know ahead of time if there were any potential concerns or pitfalls,” that level of trust, based on an always, really stands out.

If you’re struggling to differentiate your business or yourself, pick an always, whether large or small — based on what your customers or your organization values, not just on what you value or want to do — and deliver, every time.

Soon you’ll stand out just fine.

Regards,

Jeff Haden