I Was Asked This Question From an HR Director:
"It is my opinion that the "bait and switch" tactics
used by employers and their hired employment agencies is consistently used to
screen the undesirable "minority" and/or “disabled” candidates from
the better "match" non-minority, non-disabled candidates. Yet, in the face of the various adversities
that prevents highly qualified candidates from becoming gainfully employed,
what can a candidate do without playing the race, age or disability card?"
Harold R., HR Director, Omaha, NE
A: To begin with I am NOT an expert on racism. I
am however a 69 year business professional with a disability and have
experienced discrimination from both of these arenas. Even though I am
consider an “expert” in retention and other people issues, I was told recently
that although I am filled with energy, the President of a particular company
was reluctant to hire me to facilitate a
management strategy seminar to improve employee retention, he wanted somebody that “looked
whole.”
Considering
I fly airplanes, walk, talk, dress, swim, manage a
business, have an exercise regime, play catch with my grandson, facilitate a dozen seminars a
year, am happily married and have spent a lifetime learning my trade, I was a
bit irritated to say the least. So irritated in fact, that I cancelled
the recruiting contract I had with them, even though it was lucrative and they
“claimed” I was one of the few recruiters that every really performed for them.
My advice
to you is the same as it is to all of my potential candidates. In order
for me to present you as the “most place-able candidate” or better said……in
order for YOU to prepare yourself to become the most place-able candidate it all
comes down to the following; SKILLS, STABILITY, EXPERIENCE AND
ATTITUDE
A.
All companies ask me for the
“skill set” first. If you don’t match the qualifications, why would you
try to force a square peg into a round hole? All it does
is offer frustration and a set up for a failure
B.
Job hopping
is a no-no. I recently read an article that says the Generation X & Y
employees will change jobs 26 times in their career path. This is an
atrocious goal in life. I hear from hiring managers, “why doesn’t he/she
stay any longer than 2 years at any given job?”
And I rhetorically respond, “Good question, why don’t they?”
C.
You must learn your trade and then relearn
your trade every day. Our world moves
fast and change is a common word in most growing business environments. If you don’t have the skill sets required by
an employer it probably won’t be a match, no matter how hard you try. What did
you do in the last 12 months to improve yourself? Remember that YOUR resume is only a job
description of who you were. You must be
prepared to demonstrate to a prospective hiring manager what you plan to be and
how your presence can impact their company in a positive way!
D. There
are no longer any “give-me’s” in this world. Having an attitude that the
new employer or current employer “owes you” is a destination to nowhere.
It all begins with you the employee. Why fall into an
impossible
stereotype? Why not demonstrate your qualifications by example? My
grandmother used to tell me, “deeds not words!”
When
I speak with employers about employees they have terminated I hear, “they just
acted like they didn’t want to be here; or he/she stood around with his/her
hands in their pockets waiting for ME to do it; or He/she never contributed to
the conversation, never offer good solutions to problems; or when the five
o’clock buzzer rang, they were out the door like a shot.”
All these
actions demonstrate why an employer wouldn’t want to keep an employee. And if you fit into these
categories, change or the results will be the same in the future for you.
Now from the management or hiring side of these issues I suggest
the following;
1.
Start
looking at candidates from what assets and value that they bring to the
organization.
2.
Look
at candidates with this thought, “if he/she has only five years left to work,
how can I empower them to allow me to tap into their knowledge to grow the
people in this department or company?”
3.
Become
known as a company that is a champion of PEOPLE. This will probably include
soul searching and making decisions that you have probably not made in your
“job hiring” past.
4.
The
results will be that you will have a work place that people will WANT to work
and the word will spread and it will positively affect your sales and bottom
line.
5.
If
one of your friends or parent was noticeably older than you or walked with a
disability or had a different color of skin, would you tell him/her not to come
to your house because you didn’t want the neighbors to know that you associate
with “those types” of HUMAN BEINGS? I
think not, so why do it in your business life?
6.
QUALIFIED
candidates will reward you, the company and their co-workers once given the
opportunity to shine.
Go
forth and make this a tremendous week for you and everyone around you.!
Regards,
George F. Mancuso
George F. Mancuso, CPC
