I come from a professional services background (corporate tax at Ernst & Young, to be exact).  It was an incredible place to work, where every resource I needed was at my fingertips.  Chartered accounting qualification paid for, tick.  Leadership courses, tick.  Mentoring, tick.  Coffee, tea, huge variety of snacks, tick.  Generous friday night drinks and canapes weekly, tick. Weekly or bi-weekly tax update sessions, tick.  Networking opportunities with other young professionals, tick.  Corporate credit card, tick.  Swanky office view, tick.  Brand new computer every two years, tick.  Salary sacrificing of holidays / mortgages / cars / your children’s education, tick.  Discounts on airfares / hotels / computers / cable tv, tick.  Exclusive invitations to movies / football games / charity functions, tick.  Largest corporate gym in the southern hemisphere, tick.  You get the picture.

So why wasn’t I satisfied in the work I was doing?  Why aren’t accountants / tax consultants happy?  I think it came down to the fact that I was a people person.  I liked people.  I wanted to be around people.  I liked academia, for sure, but I wasn’t suited to number crunching or tax research on my lonesome for the whole day.

My accounting job was much cooler than this.

Some time ago, I recently did a personality test called the DISC, which broke down my personality into four areas:

• Dominance – relating to control, power and assertiveness
• Influence – relating to social situations and communication
• Steadiness (submission in Marston’s time) – relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness
• Conscientiousness (or caution, compliance in Marston’s time) – relating to structure and organisation

Has anyone ever done this test?  It came back that I had a very low score relating to “C” – typically things relating to structure, order, checklists, compliance, detail.  No wonder all the best accountants I know are detail focussed, love order, love structure, thrive on processes and procedures and thrilled when the numbers balance.

I love what I do now.  I love teaching companies how to hire staff.  I love coaching individuals on how to nail the right job.  It suits my personality. I’m glad I realise this now, too!

Are you in the wrong career for your personality type? If you want some assistance, give me a call on (02) 8003 3217.

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Are you wondering why your agency isn't calling you?

I just got off the phone with someone who expressed frustration in their job hunt.  They’ve applied to numerous job vacancies posted on Seek, invited to agency interviews, and not sure why they haven’t heard back.  Having once come from an agency environment myself, it’s only fair for me to share an insight into how recruitment agencies (or job agencies, search firms, headhunters) think:

They are engaged by their client to fill a vacant position.  Yes, your recruitment consultant is being paid a bonus, or commission (and generally sizeable sum) to fill that position.  So once they’ve assessed your resume and how you presented in person they will make an assessment as to whether or not you fit the brief…

Fitting the brief…  what does that mean?  But I’m pretty sure I fit all the requirements listed on the job description….???

Well yes, you might have five years mechanical engineering experience, have graduated from the best university in the state, pass with flying colours in the psychometric testing and scrub up well in a suit, but your recruitment consultant probably also has had various meetings with the client, knows the business well, knows the hiring manager well, and knows the culture fit of the organisation (this is the fluffy stuff that can’t necessarily be listed on a job description but refers to how you’d slot into the organisation; and could include things like how much to pay you, what the personalities of your colleagues are like, what the career progression there is, your age, your ambition and drive, etc etc).  You are also measured against everyone else that has been interviewed for the role, external and internal candidates.

Most recruitment agencies charge a hefty fee per placement because they also guarantee that the candidate (that’s you) will stay in the role for three months.  So they are pretty much staking their reputation on whoever they include in the shortlist.

I don’t know how else to say this, but if your recruitment consultant doesn’t think they can place you in that role, you no longer become a priority.  Of course, out of courtesy they should call you back.   That same consultant is likely to be juggling 5-20 job orders and returning everyone’s phone calls, as well as trying to do more business development.

The best way to manage it is to give them a call occasionally (use your judgment as to what seems appropriate).  If you’re the right person for the role – don’t worry, you’ll hear from them.  In fact, they’ll probably seem like a stalker.

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If you've paid peanuts, don't be surprised that you have a monkey!

How much should you pay your staff members?  Setting staff remuneration can be harder than setting the prices on your products and services, and there are factors to consider such as geography (jobs in Sydney are likely to be better paid than jobs in Launceston because of the cost of living), industry conventions, seniority of the position, the labour market and the candidate’s application and experience.

Here are a few tips for employers to accurately measure what they should be paying their staff members.

Compare apples with apples:

• Refine the job description – a “financial controller” in one company is not the same as a financial controller in another.  What’s the size of the company, employees and revenue?  How many direct reports are they going to have?  How manual or automated are the processes?  I’ve heard salaries for this role go anywhere from $80,000 to… well… the sky’s the limit.  Perhaps there are also additional challenges that they’ll have to face – like if the company is a start up or a well oiled machine, the state of the accounts may look very different.   I’d write the job description first and compare the core functions rather than just job title – you want to be comparing apples with apples.

Track the competition

• Uncovering what your competitors are doing takes a bit of detective work and time, but recruitment salary surveys are potentially a good way to start.  If you have a good relationship with a consultant, you may be able to ring them up and ask them the role that is on offer is in line with what the market conditions are and what their opinion is.  I get quite a few of these requests and it is an interesting exercise – I remember one phone call I had where the company was asking for the world and paying peanuts – it shed some light on why top talent wasn’t applying for the position, and also why the incumbent was disgruntled in the duties they were performing.

Don't be cheap with milk.

Don’t forget the perks

• Getting the balance right between the right salary is crucial but don’t forget that small things also count – I once knew a company that was on listed on the NYSE that provided only one carton of milk per day!  Employees were told to purchase their own milk for cereal.  In my opinion this was fairly short sighted as the early birds who wanted to knock some work over while the office was still quiet felt discouraged from coming in early.  How much is a carton of milk, anyway?!

JNTS Consulting provides workshops to businesses teaching them how to advertise, interview, and hire staff.  We have just recently moved to our new offices at Suite 502, 90 Pitt St Sydney 2000 (near Martin Place station) and can be contacted on (02) 8003 3217.

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1. If you were a tree or animal, which one would you be and why? Try to pick something strong and relate it to the skills of the job.  A tiger is a good example here.   Koalas are cute and cuddly, but they also sleep for 22 hours of the day, so that may not be the wisest choice in this situation.
2. What is the capital of Burkina Faso? What is the capital of Nigeria?  What is the capital of Uzbekistan?   A bit of general knowledge helps.
3. If I was to look in your fridge right now, what would I find? This question shows forward planning (or lack of).  A well stocked fridge vs a fridge with rotting food?
4. Why are manhole covers round? Many of you will have heard this question, made famous by Microsoft’s interview process.  It is looking for a creative answer, and there is more than one way to answer it.
5. If you could be any fictional character, who would you be and why? This one gives them an insight into your personality and interests.  I’d love to hear someone answer Mr Darcy. 

What are the weirdest questions you have been asked in an interview?  What kind of position were you applying for?

Want to know more?  If you would like some interview coaching, give me a call directly on (02) 8003 3217 to make an appointment.

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- Credit to Lisa Pryor

• You enter a dark depression on the last day of your Christmas holidays
• More than half your daily kilojoule  intake comes from the vending machine near the photocopiers
• Your hands are covered in papercuts from handling so many documents
• Pie charts haunt your dreams
• You spend more time surfing the internet for cheap airfares rather than doing actual work

Any others?

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Here are both some common and unusual mistakes you do not want to be making on your resume or curriculum vitae.

1. Make false statements about your work history, education or residency status. First impressions last.  If an interviewer uncovers that you have lied about a detail on your CV, it’s obvious that they won’t be hiring you for the role.  I once came across a candidate resume that had listed “Senior Manager” as their job title.  A quick call to the switchboard of that respective company came back with different information, saying they were actually a “Graduate”.  I then proceeded to do a check on the job titles of that person’s referees – turned out they were “Graduates” too.  I guess that explains why his duties and responsibilities were so brief!
2. Don’t include a photo or graphics. Unless you’re going for a modelling role, its really unnecessary.  Or at least, there is no need to include 3 photos of you on your wedding day on the front page.
3. Don’t include crazy hobbies or interests. Rugby, knitting, photography, chess and fluent Mandarin is fine, but collecting exotic birds and lingerie model will raise some eyebrows.
4. Not including a resume. I once had the pleasure of receiving a 3 lined “cover letter” and then a 25 page attachment on that person’s theory / principles from their website about that subject matter.  They were an excellent candidate – but you need to remember that most people are time poor.  Make it easy for the reader and just include a 2-4 page resume, please!  If your reader is in a bad mood that day, they may just hit the delete button instead of calling you.  Or at least, you have exhausted that 45 second limit that was stated above.
5. Not including a useful cover letter or objective. If I had a dollar for everytime I was asked, “should I include a cover letter or objective on my CV?” I would probably be a billionaire… or at least millionaire.  Cover letters and objectives are only worthwhile if they are descriptive and meaningful.  The most common (and unfortunately meaningless) objectives I used to see on resumes went something like this,” ____ position allowing me to fully utilise my skills and attributes and providing professional advancement opportunities.”

If you need some help in building your cover letter, resume / CV or interview coaching, give Jocelyn Santosa a call on (02) 8003 3217.

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