A Professional’s Credentials Deserve a Proper Look

I have been seeing a lot of resume posts recently on whether a resume “passes the 6 second test”, and it disturbs me. Do you mean to stay that my vast professional experience and education is only worth six seconds of your time? You mean to tell me you are not interested in a potentially excellent candidate?

A professional’s experience cannot be nor should it be summed up in mere seconds. If you are serious about recruiting the best than you need to act like it; the best deserves more of your time.

We all understand that there are many more applications today for a single job, but you owe it to your company and to future employees to do your due diligence and treat them as more than a number.

This also extends to returning emails and phone calls by the way, especially if you asked the person to do just that. There are far too many rude employers out there who feel they can just ignore a legitimate communication from someone.

How you recruit is what you get, and how you try and retain is what stays.

Lessons from an MBA course.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

Th ETeam

PS, Employers, for Pete’s sake keep communication formal as well. Use proper titles, tense, and tone. 

At some point, you have to acknowledge your company is really not that into you: when to walk away

There is a humorous video I show in the first part of one of my HR classes called “when Barry Met Sammy- A Funny View of HR and KM”,

check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu9QWojx8qE

While it is funny, it underscores a serious problem companies have, and industries have (including the higher education industry): leadership often does not show that they value their employees, in fact the reward for good work is often more work.

What is the difficulty with acknowledging the work your employees do on a regular basis and rewarding them for it?

I have said a million times before and I will say it again: YOUR EMPLOYEES ARE YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSETS! This is a simple lesson to learn, and in theory it should be simple to practice; there is data that proves this. But the data is not being looked at, or at least not until it is too late.

We teach this stuff in our universities, but why oh why, can we not learn it ourselves?! Education and specifically higher education, will need to go through some major changes over the next few years, whether it likes it or not, and practicing what we are preaching/teaching needs to be lesson number one.

The creation and implementation of certifications for higher educational leaders should not just be a pipe dream, it needs to be a reality.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam http://www.theeteamconsulting.com/our-work.html

Do not despair and know your worth

The social contract between employers and employees is all but dead; employers are not promising longevity and employees can no longer count on retiring where they started. Add to that is, the market worships youth, or seems to value youth more than experience. We see this in the high numbers of skilled over 40s in the job hunt, we see this in the want ads stating “recent college graduate wanted” (or some variation of that).

It is important not to let the actions of others affect one’s outlook; it is important that you try and keep your head up and know your worth. I say try, because we are all human and everyone has bad days.

Do not give up! There is an employer out there who will thank their lucky stars once they have you. You are worth it.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

There is nothing peaceful about the sound of crickets if you are an employee

The definition of “hearing crickets” is: “It means it is so quiet you can hear the crickets. This phrase is often used after someone tells a joke or story to signify that that either no one got it or they just don't care”.

In today’s job market, it is not uncommon it seems, for professionals to hear crickets during the application process or even after an interview: I mean not hearing anything at all until it is obvious they did not get the job. Rude, but it seems more commonplace.

What should never happen though, is an employee of a company, asks a question or three, and all they hear are crickets. While those questions might not seem important to the person being asked, they might be very important to the "asker"; and not to mention that not answering shows a lack of caring and empathy, which leads to employee retention issues.

As a boss, you might not have the answer right away, especially if it is above your pay grade; but you should always take the time to acknowledge that you heard that employee and that you will get back to them as soon as possible. Make sure you do get back to them as well, because false promises add up in all kinds of negative currency.

Recognition of a question, especially a good one, recognition of a consistent job well done, and letting your employees know from time to time that they are appreciated, goes a long way for achieving employee buy in.

Simple tips from an MBA program or leadership certificate,

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam