It's like dating...

It's been a while, but I figured after a recent call with a former MBA classmate it would be a god time for a post.

My classmate was complaining to me about the fact that his MBA was not a valued selling point and he was frustrated as a result.  He didn't quite get why it wasn't great to lead with "I'm an MBA from..." until I made the analogy that getting a job is like getting a date.

Having an MBA is a nice attribute that can be a difference maker, but it shouldn't be something that you lead with.  If you were trying to get a date, you'd never lead with 'Hi, my name is Mike and I'm well endowed', or you'd get slapped (trust me).  You'd talk about shared interests, passions, etc. and things that generally qualify you to do well on a date/be good in a relationship leaving your other traits to be discovered in the future.  Almost as a cherry on top on the sundae.

So, remember despite what your grad school tells you don't lead with 'I'm an MBA from...' otherwise you might get yourself slapped.

Key Networking Question: How can I help you?

Since I have been networking non-stop, literally like it’s my job, I thought I would share the most important question you need to answer while networking, “How can I help you (the person you are networking with)?”

It seems counter intuitive, because most people approach networking as an activity to get something for themselves (a job, a connection, a promotion, etc.), but identifying if there is anything you can do to help out the person you are networking with is essential.  Just think how you would feel if you received a call from a radio station saying you won something versus, getting a call from a telemarketer looking to try and sell you something.  Which call are you going to be happier to receive?  The same idea applies to networking.  Generally people will be helpful and receptive to questions you may have, but if you can help them with something they will gladly be open to helping you and be more proactive with returning the favor

Even if you think you can’t possibly offer the other party any value, you never know unless you ask.  That is why I try to end every networking session with some version of ‘Is there anything that I can help you with?’.   Just be prepared to offer examples of areas of personal expertise, particularly if you think it may be relevant to what you have discussed.

If you are interested in learning more about effective networking, I would highly recommend checking out The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder and Chairman of LinkedIn.  He does a great job examining the most important aspects of networking and giving some exercises to improve your networking skills.

Getting a More Complete Picture

Building on my last post regarding the difficulties with the hiring process, I’ve been thinking about how to solve one of the problems HR representatives raised.  Namely, the difficulty they face in being able to get a sense of the person beyond the written description that any resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile can provide and get a true feel for who the candidate is.

We’ve all heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” so adding video may prove to be a powerful tool for LinkedIn.  Some of the ways video could be integrated are:

>Summary Videos* – These videos would be used to supplement the written summary section of your LinkedIn profile.  Having a video summary of who a candidate is would be useful and allow the HR representatives to get a better sense of who the person is, before progressing them to the face to face interview.  This would seem to be of particular use for positions that require lots of interpersonal communication (eg – sales and business development).

>Stock HR Interview Q&A – We’ve all prepared for interviews and had to go through answering what I call stock HR questions (eg – ‘What are your strengths/weaknesses?’, ‘What are your career aspirations?’, ‘Can you give an example of a time when you were faced with a difficult situation and how did you deal with it?’).   By providing a list of these questions and having video answers to them a HR representative could take care of this portion of the interview on their own terms/schedule.

>Requested Q&A – Either on the job page, company page or via InMail, a company could request that a candidate provide video clip answers of certain pre-selected questions. 

Having these videos on LinkedIn would not completely eliminate the need for interviews, but it would seem to provide an added level of detail by which companies could refine their recruiting efforts.  Despite the benefits the idea faces a lot of criticism.  In light of those opinions I wanted to reach out to HR and recruiting personnel to get their thoughts, so please post your comments.

*Note: You can currently upload videos to your LinkedIn profile and I have included LinkedIn video upload instructions.  Having this ability is great, but there needs to be more structure around its use so members have a better idea of how to use it and also there needs to be more of an effort made to let users know about the option.  Personally, I was unaware of the capability until I did a Google search on the topic.

What is the Worst Part of the Job Search/Hiring Process?

As a recent MBA graduate, I’ve experienced first-hand just how difficult getting a job can be in today’s job market.  There are opportunities out there but you REALLY have to work to make connections and stand out from the crowd to get noticed.  Of course its not just me, I know a lot of friends who are having an extremely difficult time trying to find a job.  With that as the backdrop I was caught off-guard by the title of this article, Why It’s So Hard to Find Good Job Candidates?

It almost doesn’t make sense when you think about it.  There is an abundance of qualified candidates currently searching for jobs and a shortage of jobs, so you would figure if anything the situation to be the exact opposite.

What this screams to me is that there are still huge inefficiencies in the hiring market or put differently, there are big opportunities for making this market more efficient and bringing together the two sides (employers & employees) more efficiently.  In order to start to develop some ideas I’m looking to get your opinion on what the worst part of job searching and the hiring process are, so leave comments below.

Some sample answers that I’ve heard so far are:

>Dealing with recruitment agents

>Going through a long process only to be turned down at the end

>Having to answer the same stock questions for every job

>Vetting the reliability and credibility of references

>Matching candidates the “on paper” credentials of a candidate with the reality of how they present themselves in person

>Managing and tacking large volume of applicants for a job can be tough

>Attracting high quality candidates is not easy

>Managing the “saw tooth” and choppy demand for hiring                           

>Having a better system in place to make the on-boarding of employees easier

Overview

Hi, my name is Mike Moore (no not THAT Michael Moore).  I’m originally from the US and last year I came over to Australia to pursue my MBA at the top Australian MBA (#41 worldwide according to the FT 2012 rankings).  As part of the my journey I discovered that I had a passion for networking and helping others improve their networking skills (Thanks Dad for hammering home the importance of this to me from a young age).  In order to share this passion and help others I created the Alumni Relations Manager role to increase the emphasis on networking and help strengthen the AGSM  network.  Along the way, I have had the chance to interview for LinkedIn and the more research I did the more I became engrossed with the huge opportunities there was in the hiring space so I decided to craft this blog to share my thoughts, insights and tips to help others along the way.  If you want to learn more about me and my background head to my LinkedIn page.  


Why is it called Corporate Moneyball?  Well, it is a reference to where I think the hiring industry will move in the future. Moneyball is a reference to my favorite book by Michael Lewis.  In it he examined how the Oakland A's use of data and statistics allowed them to quantify player evaluation and identify inefficiencies in the market allowing them to effectively compete with a fraction of the payroll of industry leaders such as the New York Yankees.  Ultimately, this lead to a transformation of how talent is evaluated in baseball allowing teams to make decisions based on analytical data rather than traditional subjective information.  Similar conditions are present in the hiring industry, meaning there is an opportunity for companies like LinkedIn to change the face of the hiring industry.  


So buckle up and come along for the ride, and of course please add any comments that you may have, the more feedback the better information and insights we can all gain


-Mike