The Bagg Group Blog

In a recent blog, we wrote of how Erin Abraham’s optimism won us over, and contributed to her being selected as the recipient of The Bagg Group sponsored Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) scholarship.  This scholarship is awarded to a student enrolled full-time or part-time in HRPA academic courses.

At The Bagg Group, we have interviewed hundreds of thousands of candidates over the past forty-plus years to place more than 57, 000 happy people in positions that are right for them.

Just about all those who were hired for full-time positions, contract work, or temporary placements projected an optimistic attitude in interviews.

Pessimism doesn’t give you a competitive edge.  But optimism does.   And you never need optimism more than when seeking work.  

A job search is just that – a search.  Typically, any hunt involves time and a few dead ends before you finally find what you were looking for.  And during this time, you simply can’t afford to let frustration, despair, or anger get the better of you. If you do, you will inevitably turn off important contacts.

The management consultant firm Accenture surveyed 500 senior executives in 20 countries and found that 71% rated an employee’s ability to view difficulties as opportunities as extremely important to them.  They said employees who have this trait would be retained over others who lack it.

In other words, they don’t want pessimists on their team.  The dictionary defines as pessimists as those who “lack hope or confidence in the future.”

It has often been said that optimism and pessimism are innate personality traits:  You’re either a glass half-full kind of person, or you’re a glass half-empty type. 

But renowned psychologist Martin Seligman has been studying optimists and pessimists for 25 years and disagrees with that viewpoint.  He says you can learn to be positive, even if your natural inclination is to be on the gloomy side.

In his popular book, Learned Optimism, How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, Dr. Seligman emphasizes that optimism isn’t about being unrealistic — or in other words, seeing rainbows where other people see pink slips.

Instead, Dr. Seligman says optimism is about recognizing that life comes with tough challenges, and you don’t have control over all situations –  but you do retain control over how you interpret and deal with them.

With that in mind, if you didn’t get the job you interviewed for, The Bagg Group recruiters offer these two pieces of advice to fuel your optimism:

1)  Ask yourself, what could you do better next time?

2) Tell yourself,  “Next time!” And make the choice to believe there will be a next time.   Those who give up don’t get the job.  Those who keep strategizing and searching will land a position in time.

As psychologist Sherrie Bourg Carter, author of High Octane Women, writes, “The truth is that disappointments and challenges are an inevitable part of life. So why not view them as opportunities to learn, grow, and improve? If you do, you’re on the road to resilience and that’s exactly where you want to be during tough times.”

Oops!   It can happen to anyone.  The interviewer asks a question, and without thinking, you blurt out the worst possible answer.  For example, the hiring manager asks why you’d like the job, and you reply with a chuckle,  “One word – debt. I’m in debt up to my eyeballs.”   Then you kick yourself. 

Or you blank on a question and throw out an excuse, “Sorry, I’m exhausted. With four kids, one or another is always sick, I haven’t slept in months.”   On the elevator ride down, you realize you just positioned yourself as the candidate most likely to doze on the job before leaving early for doctors’ appointments. 

At The Bagg Group, we have placed more than 57,000 people successfully over 40-plus years.  Our recruiters have interviewed many more thousands for full-time positions, contract work and temporary placement with the best companies in the GTA. 

We have heard more than our share of interview blunders, and we have coached candidates on what not to say. 

Recently, CareerBuilder in the US released its annual list of “dumb things” people have said in interviews.  Here are four blunders from the list with tips from the experts at The Bagg Group on how to avoid putting your foot in your mouth.

“I’m in anger management because I hit a former co-worker.” 

That was one candidate’s response when asked why he wanted a job working from home.   Sure, he was being honest, but he was also leaving the interviewer nervous about how he’d cope with stress moving forward.

Tip:   If you have a short fuse, it’s important to know your triggers in the workplace and have fail-proof strategies to control your temper.   That said, if asked, you can identify situations in the workplace which you find especially challenging. This will help you and the interviewer determine whether the company is the right fit for your temperament.  In any case, focus on positive steps you take to deal with difficult events, and avoid talking about your past melt-downs.

“Oh that’s because I just took a Xanax.”

In response to an interviewer’s concern that the candidate was having a medical problem, the interviewee explained her slow speech was nothing to worry about.  She said it was just a side-effect of an anti-anxiety pill she took to calm herself before presentations or meetings.

Tip: Companies need people who project confidence and positive attitude. It’s critical to make sure you have the right attitude and mindset before you start interviewing for jobs.   If you have serious performance anxiety, the best thing you can do for a successful job hunt is put in the time to learn a strategy for managing the jitters—one that doesn’t have interviewers ready to call an ambulance.

“My old boss was a monster, and it really scarred me emotionally.”

Tip:  It doesn’t matter if your boss was Dracula, avoid insulting others at all costs. When you put someone down, interviewers will automatically wonder if you might be the problem – they may think you’re hyper-sensitive or hyper-critical. You can talk about difficult situations and how you managed them, but you don’t want to come off as a victim.  If you are viewed as scarred, bitter, or angry, you will be the “downer” candidate – who is much like a miserable party guest that people wish well, but wish they’d leave.

“My apologies for being late. My husband and I were fighting.  It happens all the time.”

Tip:  Check your personal problems at the door.  If you bring your problems into the interview, you’ll be pegged as the “candidate with problems.”  No matter how friendly an interviewer is, they aren’t your friend, or a shoulder to cry on.  If you couldn’t help being late, call in advance, apologize and make sure the reason is about legitimate logistics, not lost tempers. 

Just about every blunder comes down to this:  TMI (Too Much Information).  Don’t spill your guts. Interviewers don’t need to hear your back stories, they only need to know information about you and your skills that is pertinent to the job.  

But if you have an oops moments, and you blurt out something “dumb”, don’t elaborate and give more details to try and explain yourself.  In other words, don’t dig the hole deeper.  Instead, immediately regain your footing by moving quickly to talk about what you can contribute to the company.

Finally, don’t beat yourself up, one oops moment doesn’t mean you are a disaster at interviews.  In fact, the good news is that when you have experienced a mortifying blunder once, you stay on guard to avoid another.  So cut yourself some slack, and get back in the saddle.

Are you considering skills, drive, and fit when hiring candidates?

Read Geoff Bagg’s opinion on the only three job interview questions that matter as mentioned in this recent article on Workpolis.

March 19 – Workopolis: The only three job interview questions that matter

“No man ever listened himself out of a job.”  That’s for sure! All recruiters at The Bagg Group can vouch for the ongoing truism of this statement made by US President Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s.

There’s no doubt about it, listening is one of the most valuable business skills you can have.

However, when candidates interview for a job, many stop listening to what the interviewer is saying and focus instead on what they want to tell the interviewer.

This is understandable.  The interview is your time to pitch your experience and skills.  But if you don’t concentrate on listening, you won’t hear what the interviewer actually wants and needs. And that can lead to a missed opportunity.

Just about everyone senses at an intuitive level if you’re listening or simply paying polite lip service.

As Alfred Benjamin wrote in his book, The Helping Interview, “Genuine listening is hard work; there is little about it that is mechanical… We hear with our ears, but we listen with our eyes and mind and heart … and gut.”

At The Bagg Group, we have interviewed hundreds of thousands of candidates and clients over 40+ years of business.  We can confirm people will talk openly about workplace issues, challenges, and needs when they feel someone is genuinely paying attention.

That’s why we urge candidates to concentrate on what the interviewer is saying.  And it’s why as recruiters at The Bagg Group we live the art of listening – it is how we learn about our candidates and clients so we can make the right match.

To prove that listening works, we can point to the 58,000 happy people we have placed in full-time work, contract position, and temporary placements over the decades.

And recently we were thrilled to receive even more proof. For the third year in a row, our candidates voted us to the Inavero Best of Staffing Candidate List. This award is presented in partnership with CareerBuilder.

It’s the staffing industry’s equivalent to the Oscar.  Fewer than 1% of staffing firms across North America make the list.

How did The Bagg Group make it?  In an independent survey, our candidates gave us top scores for how we communicate, for listening and respecting them, and always working with integrity and professionalism.

And we won the same honour from our clients who also gave us an extraordinary 9 or 10 out of 10 rating for client satisfaction  – that is more than double the North American average for our industry.

Because we listen, we don’t simply match a candidate’s skills to a client’s need.  Instead, we’re able to match a person to a company –whether that person is looking for a full-time position, contract work, or a temporary placement.  There is no way we could do that if we didn’t focus all our attention on what people are saying to us.

All of us at The Bagg Group thank our candidates and clients for giving us the great thrill of winning these awards and for speaking with us, candidly and openly, so we can be the best match-makers possible.

Interruptions are a fact of everyday work life. Between incoming email, texts, phone calls and a colleague stopping by for an impromptu chat, interruptions take up 28% of a knowledge worker’s day.  That’s the finding of a study by the US research firm Basex which also reports that interruptions cost US companies $28 billion in lost hours per year. 

It’s a hefty price to pay for often unnecessary email or unsolicited reviews on last night’s episode of CSI.  But there are also times when an interruption is helpful and contributes to productivity.

A job interview is a case in point. When candidates lose focus and talk too much, the biggest favour you can do for them is to interrupt.  

Yet many hiring managers say they’re uncomfortable cutting off an interviewee in mid-stride. However, The Bagg Group recruiters encourage their clients across the GTA to do just that when necessary.

Sometimes as an interviewer, you need to be blunt to be kind.  We know this from interviewing hundreds of thousands of candidates to successfully fill more than 57,000 full-time positions, contract opportunities, and temporary placements over 40-plus years.  

We have seen time and time again how common it is for people to digress or give too much information when asked about themselves. That’s why we always coach our candidates to stay on point, and be succinct.

It’s not surprising that people get carried away, given that an interview can feel like an exam.  And how many of us have answered exam questions by telling everything we could recall on the subject, in hopes of winning extra points. 

So while talking too much in an interview is understandable, it almost always backfires.  A real chatterbox can prompt just about anyone to check out of the conversation. For that reason, the nicest thing you can do for an interviewee is to cut off rather than cut out. 

Here are some tips from the interview experts at The Bagg Group for how to turn an interruption into a positive interaction.  

1. Identify whether the information is pertinent to you.  As you listen, ask yourself, “Is this important for my decision-making?”  If it’s not, cut in.
2. It’s not advisable to waste your time and patience waiting for the interviewee to take a pause. Instead, jump in.  The candidate will not be thrown if you thank them for their answer but say you must stop them there because you’d like to ask other questions, and you need to be mindful of time.
3. It can be helpful to tell chatty interviewees to bottom line their answers. A useful technique is to include the word “briefly” in your question. This alerts interviewees that you don’t want a lot of background.  
4. If the interviewee veers off topic, it’s beneficial to interrupt by reminding them that due to time, you’d like to focus on how they can relate their experience specifically to your team’s needs.

On the bright side, more challenging than having to interrupt an interviewee is coming face-to-face with a person who hardly says a word.    

Barbara Walters, who has interviewed almost every world figure over the past 50 years, reported that one of her worst interviews was with Hollywood movie star and director Warren Beatty.  “I asked him, ‘how are you?’  There was an interminable dead silence.  Finally he said, ‘fine.’” 

Now that’s a real problem interview.

It happens to everyone.  You are mid-way through an interview, and you feel it’s going well.  You’re in control.  You answer every question with ease.  Then suddenly, out of left-field, you’re asked, “What animal would you like to be?”  or “What’s your favourite quote that most defines you as a person?”  

Huh?

You’ve been hit with an oddball question. It can happen to anyone, in any interview, according to a new book by William Poundstone, entitled Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google? The author shares some of the stranger queries Google has tossed out at candidates.  These include,  “How would you weigh your head?”  and,  “You’re in a car with a helium balloon tied to the floor. When you accelerate, what happens to the balloon?”

In the US, a candidate reported that Amazon.com asked, “How would you cure world hunger?” and another job-seeker reported that the company EvaluServe asked, “Name five uses of a stapler without staple pins.”  

Recruiters at The Bagg Group confirm that their clients, the best companies in the GTA, could put you on the spot with a question you may never have imagined, or prepared for. 

But here’s one bizarre but important query that The Bagg Group recruiters want to prepare you for:  “What do you do when you don’t have a clue how to answer a strange question?”

We’ll give you some hints:

Accept that there is no such thing as a stupid question:  Interviewers don’t care about the right answer.  They use the oddball question to understand how you think, what you care about, and how you handle yourself under pressure.  The question may seem bizarre, but there’s purpose to it.

Welcome the unexpected:  The worst thing you can do is blurt out something like, “That’s a ridiculous question.” Similarly, you can hurt your chances by rolling your eyes, smirking, or challenging the interviewer with, “What’s your point?”  Instead, show that you have a natural curiousity by greeting the oddball question with interest and openess. Buy yourself some thinking time by saying, “That’s an interesting question,” or “That’s a unique question, it’s an intriguing one to tackle.”

Think outloud:  Let the interviewer know how you tackle a puzzle by saying something such as, “There are several ways I could approach this question.  Here’s one way I might try …”   

Relate to the job:  Where you can, make a link between the question and the job you are applying for.   For example, if asked as one candidate reportedly was, “If you were a superhero, what special power would you want?” you might answer something such as, “For the purposes of this job, I’d like to see through walls so I could observe how customers handle the product.”  Or in answer to the question, “How would you cure world hunger?” you might respond from the point-of-view of the position for which you are interviewing.  For example, “As a supply chain expert, I would look first at … .”  or, “As a marketer, I would… .”

When hit with a brain cramp, forget specifics and talk big picture:  Recruiters at The Bagg Group know that whether you are interviewing for a full-time position, contract work, or temporary placement, you may be asked an unusual question that you should be able to answer in a snap.  These include, “What’s your favourite movie or book?”  Or, “What famous person is your hero?”  You may well have a hero and a favourite movie, but for some reason you go blank —  nothing comes to mind. 

If that happens, don’t panic.  Instead, give up on madly searching for a specific response, and instead take a bird’s eye view.  You might say something like, “There are so many people I admire, I have been inspired by entrepreneurs, athletes, … .”  In this way, you can talk about qualities that you admire, rather than specific names.

That said, it’s a good idea to think about someone you admire, a movie that speaks to you, and an inspirational quote that motivates you.  Even if you’re never asked about these, it can still be useful to have a little inspiration in our pocket to help us through life’s unexpected moments. 

When the Stats Canada employment figures dropped like a bombshell in November, the media asked Geoff Bagg, CEO of The Bagg Group, for his advice to help job-hunters weather the bad news. 

From his experience at the helm of The Bagg Group — which has a long history of placing people in the best companies, even during recessions — Geoff was quick to point out that numbers tell only part of the story.  And while it’s disconcerting that Canada’s economy shed 54,000 positions in October, Geoff noted that we are still 226,000 jobs ahead over this time last year.  

For the job-seeker, looking for full-time work, contract work, or a part-time placement in the GTA, the advice of The Bagg Group is don’t worry about statistics.  Instead, focus on proving yourself in an interview. 

Recruiters at The Bagg Group are busy.  Companies still have positions to fill.  However, as Geoff Bagg told Dan Matheson of CTV News, hiring managers are not willing to take risks right now.  They want to know they’re hiring the right person who can step into the position — someone who demonstrates proven ability, rather than someone who demonstrates good potential.

For candidates, this means the key in an interview is to “show, not tell.”   For example, a hiring manager won’t be convinced if you simply claim, “I’m a team-player”.  Instead, you need to offer proof by giving an example of a situation in which you showed collaborative spirit. 

At The Bagg Group, recruiters urge candidates to think SIR when responding to questions.

Situation:  Tell the interviewer of a relevant Situation.

Initiative:   Say what Initiative you took to deal with that situation.

Results:  Conclude with the Results of your initiative.

Remember, don’t waste valuable interview time detailing the situation in-depth.  The interviewer is only interested in the actions you took to resolve it.  By concluding with the results, you offer additional confirmation of your capabilities and knowledge.

Knowing how to reassure a hiring manager that you aren’t a risky hire, but instead a proven asset will set you apart from the competition.  It will require more preparation time to have a SIR at the ready for as many of the skills required as possible, but it’s time well spent.  

From the company’s perspective, hiring an employee is an investment.  Hiring the wrong person costs significantly in lost money and time, and possibly  reputation.  The hiring manager is under a great deal of pressure to make sure their choice of a candidate is certain not to be an expensive misstep.

Anyone can make claims about what they can do. But not everyone can or does substantiate their claims.  Those who do so give interviewers solid reasons to feel secure about their recommendations.

In this day and age of careful spending, proof sells —and now, more than ever, is the time for job-hunters in the GTA to prove what they can do.

To see Geoff Bagg’s interview on CTV about what it takes to stand out from the crowd, click here: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCWqM6Xse2c

Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. Here’s some hard-hitting advice to help candidates who meet with recruiters and hiring managers for full-time work, contract work or temporary placement.

Do not treat your interviewer like a therapist.

All Bagg Group recruiters know that every person truly wants to succeed at their work. And we know that it’s hard when you hit twists and turns on your career path.  To be in the wrong job, or without a job, can be very stressful.

But your interviewer is not the person to confide in about your stress, your disappointments, and your struggles.  Although it can seem sometimes as if they are inviting you to share your life story, take our expert advice and don’t do it.

It’s easy to be tempted.  After all, you are in a one-on-one private meeting, with a person who is dedicating their time and attention to finding out about you. The urge to unburden yourself of your fears, financial problems, past mistakes, and injustices can be strong.

Next thing you know, you aren’t talking to the interviewer about your strengths, but about your weaknesses.  Instead of sharing your achievements, you’re sharing your problems. Rather than focus on what you can contribute to their team, you talk about unfairness you suffered on former teams.

When that happens, the interviewer may have reason to sympathize with you, but not reason to hire you. They may genuinely wish you well, but what you want is a job, not good wishes.  

When you look at it from their perspective, you’ll see that it’s difficult to hire someone who comes off as sad or angry.  If you had to choose between two candidates of similar experience and skills, would you pick the one who spent much of the interview detailing their problems and dramas? Or would you go with the upbeat person who talked positively about their experience, and focused on your company and what they could do for you. 

And consider this:  A 2010 study from Harvard University, published in the British Medical Journal, found that happiness and sadness, like the flu bug, is infectious.  But that sadness spreads at a faster rate than happiness.

The study shows that when you’re unhappy, you quickly bring down others. You are not doing the interviewer any favour by bringing your despair or frustration into their office.

Sharing your misery can leave the interviewer feeling unsettled or upset.  That pretty much rules out the likelihood that they will leap to hire you.

On the other hand, those who project a positive feeling energize people.   Psychologist Martin Seligman said when people smile and laugh easily, others get on their “same wave-length which makes them work together more effectively.”

At The Bagg Group, we have placed more than 57,000 people with the best companies in the GTA in the past 40 years.  That’s why we know what we’re talking about when we say if you want to join the ranks of the happy people we’ve placed, leave your worries and anger behind when you walk into your interview.

Your interviewer will enjoy the meeting a lot more, and you may find you do too.

Picture this: An IT manager and his boss are interviewing a promising candidate.  As the manager provides some background on the IT department, his boss rolls her eyes and says, “For heaven’s sake, get to the point, nobody has all day to listen to this.”   

And with just that one sentence, a good candidate may be ready to speed out the door.   

Some might grumble that the candidate is too easily scared away.  But not so.  According to studies, research on the effects of rudeness in the workplace shows that it negatively affects those who observe it as much as those who are a target of it.  

Second-hand rudeness is not unlike second-hand smoke, it can harm everyone in the room.  And candidates interviewing for full-time positions, contract work or even temporary placements seek out healthier environments.

A few years ago, management professors at University of Florida carried out an extensive study on rudeness.  They found when employees just observed a boss browbeating a subordinate, their level of performance decreased.  The study concluded: “Simply observing discourteous behavior can erode the ability of fellow employees to think creatively, solve problems and act as team players.” 

At The Bagg Group, we have 40 years of helping clients at the best companies across the GTA interview the top talent that we refer to them.   When our clients set up interview panels, we offer these suggestions. 

Have a game plan:  Before the interview, all those in the room should be clear about who will ask which questions, and who is tasked to give what information.  Everyone should be aware of the length of time allotted for the interview. 

The reality is you may be unable to quell the rudeness of an abrasive boss or colleague.  But with a game plan, they will know what to expect and can decide when to come and go during the interview if they are impatient to be doing other things.  

Give interviewees a heads up:  Candidates want to prepare for interviews.  It is helpful to alert them ahead of time if they’ll be meeting with a number of people, and to give them the names and roles of each person.  Like any business meeting, people want to know who will be at the table before they walk through the door.  

Role model:  At The Bagg Group, we hold a long track record for great placements.  That’s because we never forget that a good fit isn’t just about getting someone with the right skills.   

The person also needs the right disposition for the relationship to be successful.  The way the members of your panel interact gives the candidate a sense of how people work with each other at your organization, and whether your company’s inter-personal dynamics are right for them.

While the Donald Trump blunt style of leadership may result in good ratings for The Apprentice, it wouldn’t do much for attracting and retaining great talent in the GTA.  

Browbeating just doesn’t help with the bottom line.  As management professor Amir Erez who co-authored the study simply says, “ Being nice to people has a lot of advantages.”

You know it’s summer when the blockbuster movies are out.  As a candidate, the next time you go to the movies to escape the heat, consider that you and Hollywood screenwriters share something in common. 

The need to pitch-and to do it well — to get a job.

Whether you are interviewing for a full-time position, contract work or a temporary placement in the GTA, or whether you are a writer in LA, you’re going to have to tell your story in a few short lines.

There is no exception.  Even the co-writers of the much anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides had to prepare a good pitch. They caught the attention of decision-makers at Walt Disney Pictures with these two lines:

Captain Jack Sparrow goes searching for the fountain of youth. He finds it, but things don’t go well for him.

For anyone making a pitch, the key to remember is that less is more. The most powerful pitches give the listener one or two facts of interest. 

A short summary makes it easy for the listener to grasp the key points, and remember and repeat these points to other influential people who weren’t at the interview.

But candidates and unsuccessful Hollywood writers often mistakenly believe they need to give a lot of back-story before getting to the point that matters.

They don’t.  The Bagg Group recruiters always remind their candidates of the following fact:  If you give too much detail, your listener will lose track of what you are saying, and become impatient for your story to end.

After 40 years of working with hiring managers at the best companies across the GTA, we know that interviewers typically groan when a candidate offers a long back-story to this standard question:  Tell me how you resolved a difficult situation or challenge ? 

It is natural to want to recount the details of the problem, but that backfires in two ways.  Firstly, you are taking up valuable interview time that would be better spent discussing your strengths and contributions to the company. Secondly, the interviewer doesn’t care.  They aren’t asking the question to learn of past headaches at other organizations.  They simply want to know how you problem-solve.

Candidates referred by The Bagg Group are coached on how to answer the question.  Here’s what we advise:

·      Resume the difficult situation or challenge in a sentence or two.  Don’t spend a lot of time setting up the situation and giving unnecessary information about who did what, and why.

·      Prepare your answer ahead of time and keep it short.  The problem was .. .  I did x, y and z to resolve it.

·      A focused answer keeps the listener’s attention focused.   If the interviewer needs more information, they will ask you a specific question.

Think like a Hollywood writer.

If you think that you can’t boil down your story about a past problem and resolution into a few to-the-point sentences, consider this: Even longest, most complex Hollywood movie was once summed up in pitch of two or three lines. And that pitch is what got decision-makers to sit up and take notice.   And it’s thanks to that pitch that the writers got the job and we get to enjoy the movie.   Pass the popcorn.