Like lambs and kittens, they arrived in the spring: high school and college students seeking employment. While some were excessively furry, few were as cute as kittens and lambs. They arrived in tank tops and flip flops, showing more skin than intelligence, iPods in place, and asked if we were hiring. I hate to lie, but saying, “We are always hiring, but we are not hiring you because you are a slob,” is probably too direct. It isn’t just kids. Adults drop in and tell us why jobs in our store would be great for them . . . but rarely think to mention what they can do for us. We are now seeing several job hunters a week and interviewing most of them, since we need both sales and clerical help. Naturally, I am hoping to meet a well-dressed, nicely-groomed individual who will look me in the eye, introduce herself with a firm handshake and explain how she will benefit the store, increase our sales or make us more efficient.
Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. While we read that jobs are harder to find and that there are thousands seeking employment, most merchants see very few qualified applicants. Even when we have a great staff, we keep searching, since we know that we will lose someone, we’ll need more help at the holidays or just because we always hope that one fabulous employee will appear. Now it is fall and we are about to advertise for seasonal help as well as a full time position. Sadly, I am expecting another wave of applicants without a clue. This column is for the job hunters, including my own teenaged children, who are supposed to be searching for real jobs.
Feel free to give this column to your kids, hand it to job applicants or post it on your websites. I am sending it to all the high schools and colleges in our area, hoping that they will help their students search more effectively.
Dear Job Applicant,
Thank you for coming to our business to apply for a job. Before we meet, perhaps you should consider that you are on a sales call. You are selling yourself to us. We will hire the person who makes the best personal presentation, shows enthusiasm for our business and looks presentable.
Have you thought about what you hope to do for us? Why should we talk to you? Why you want to work for us is not important…the big question is why do we want to hire you? What skills do you have? How will hiring you improve our business?
When a business hires a person in any position, at any salary, that business has an expectation that the salary paid the new hire will show a return on its investment. This means that the salary we pay you will be justified because it will help our business in some way. We don’t hire people just because they live close by, need jobs or really, really like our store. We hire staff to serve our customers better and ultimately make more money. Are you a good salesperson? Can you fry a perfect hamburger? Serve seven tables at once? Unpack boxes and mark merchandise? We need to know what you bring us. If you do not have the skills we need, we need to see a real willingness to learn them. Do not hesitate to tell me what you did well in your last job, even if it was in a different type of business. Many skills are transferable, especially customer service and sales ability.
Handwriting Counts
The first thing most managers review is your application. Use your best penmanship, but fill it out yourself. We had a young adult bring in an application her mother had filled out for her. She did not get the job…and neither did her mother. Answer the questions thoughtfully and truthfully.
Dress for Success
How do you dress for the interview? It matters. When an interviewer looks at you, she figures that this is the best you will possibly look at work. Show her (and the job) the respect of dressing nicely, even if you are just coming to the store to get an application. Making a good first impression is essential.
If the establishment requires uniforms or if the staff wears very casual clothing at work, a nice personal presentation will still give you an edge before you even start to talk. Most human resource people realize that most applicants looks better than usual during the interview and may not keep the same standards every day at work. So, if you arrive in saggy jeans, boxers or bra straps in view, chewing gum and listening to your MP3 player, I will IMMEDIATELY disqualify you. Others may not be so harsh, but why take the chance?
The Interview
When we meet, stand up, look me in the eye and introduce yourself with your full name and a firm handshake. A poor introduction is very hard to undo. Ask me about the job, what it entails and the hours we need to fill. Do not begin by asking me about the salary or benefits -- that is a question for later in the interview. If the position we are discussing does not pay well enough, you may decide not to take the job (if it is offered), but it is a bad signal to the interviewer if your first question is about pay, benefits or vacation time.
After you hear what the business needs, explain what you can offer, based on what you have just learned. Tell me what you can do for us, not what you think we can do for you. If you do not have the skills we need, be honest. Most employers are more than happy to train a willing candidate, and the interview is when he will decide if you have potential.
Do not lie to me about your availability, the duration of your employment with us, or anything else. If we hire you and later learn that you lied on the application we may dismiss you as untrustworthy.
It’s Not About You
Tell me why we need you, not why you need the job. Here are some comments to avoid: “Your store is close to my house so it will be easy for me to get here”, “My mom says I have to get a job”, “I am looking for a new job because my boss is a jerk.”
While I do love to hear that you love the store, it is not a compelling reason to hire you.
Why Are We So Picky?
In any business, turnover is expensive and time-consuming. Most experienced personnel managers understand that hiring carefully is imperative, because a poor choice is not only inefficient, but hard on the rest of the staff. We hate to fire, so we are very careful when we hire.
Especially in a small business, the staff must work well together, so we look for people who will be a good fit with the rest of the staff as well as terrific with the customers.
Who Makes the Cut?
There is not a magic formula for most businesses. For our business, we hire outgoing people of all ages, with many different backgrounds and types of experience. When we find a person who loves people, is excited about working for us and willing to learn what she needs to know to be an asset to our business, her chances are good.
Thank you for reading this. I hope you find the job of your dreams...and that you are one of the employees that managers dream of hiring.