Three threads are interwoven in today’s article. It was the entrepreneurial spirit that significantly helped to develop the United States. Years later, Labor Day was established as a holiday in appreciation for the workforce. And through the years, returning Veterans from war were in need of finding work or establishing a business.
As the author of HIRED!, many readers contact me to share their stories asking further advice. Honesty and integrity appear to be lacking on the side of employers. H.R. Managers do not seem to communicate with the hiring staff, while the hiring staff does not appear to be telling the truth to interviewing candidates. While a generalization, the following sentence exemplifies what is consistently shared with me:
“You are the perfect candidate and I can’t wait to get you on our team. The offer will come this week.”
The story continues that after sending the recommended thank you email and handwritten thank you note, the candidate believing they have the job hears nothing in return. A follow-up phone call is made next to find where in the process they may but the candidate receives dead silence.
The candidate begins to believe, “I must have done something wrong.” After analyzing all that took place, anger and disillusionment set in. All of this could easily be avoided if hiring companies were to move with honesty and integrity.
Our economy is still struggling and the news indicates it will be late 2012 before it begins to pick up. I may be a dreamer, the same as John Lennon, but I believe it is the entrepreneurial world that may model how treatment of the workforce and interviewing candidates should take place.
Interestingly, many people have become so fed up they have become entrepreneurs instead of continuing to look for work. In fact, the news stated that it is small business that generates most of our revenue in the U.S., not the major corporations. Perhaps there are several lessons to be learned here.
Operating a successful business is one of the most difficult undertakings I ever participated in. But if you have the drive, motivation to continually learn, and truly believe you are capable of becoming successful, and should you be in the situation of no success while interviewing, you might consider starting your own company. What do you enjoy most about your area of expertise? This is the area on which to focus and begin planning your next steps. Seek help as required.
It would be wonderful if entrepreneurs would ban together to set a new model and become the leaders for doing business the right way with clients, interviewing candidates and the world at large. My dream is that we, the entrepreneurs, model incorporating honesty and integrity into business that will have a trickledown effect to the corporate giants. They will win too by finally establishing a loyal clientele.
This approach becomes a part of your brand and serves to also deliver you a Smooth Sale!
Let us also band together to put “Appreciation” back into Labor Day.
P.S. The Community Service project AmericaHires360 (hyperlink: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1900782291/AH360/1765715087 ) was developed to help Americans return to work. No Fee for Job Seekers. Take place online October – December.
Author:
Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results” and “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews.” She provides team sales training, private coaching and business retreats to grow you business. She is available upon request for consultation.
