EG #26: The art of selling jobs, Central Park sakura, & how running is like cloud transformation
Reframe
The interview process is a sales process. Use it to differentiate your team. You’d be surprised how many managers land great people because they moved the interview process with a sense of urgency while communicating what’s in it for the job seeker clearly.
Who really enjoys the seven+ interviews over three months format?
My clients have the process down to two meetings.
In partnering with a new manager recently, I asked what success in the job looks like and how they are selling the job to people interviewing. I know, I know. I see your eye roll right now. Selling is a slimy sounding word to some of you. However, your job won’t sell itself. The days of relying on brand name and outsized salary end in the context of high profile layoffs and tightened business lending. You will lose out on good people to someone who took the extra effort to think about and present how a job seeker will benefit from working with them specifically. What can you help people on your team do that other managers can’t?
Always remember to address what’s in it for the job seeker.
Even if you don’t end up hiring the person, creating a positive experience that is transparent earns respect and good will towards the company. Stand out for a good reason instead of hiding behind a wall of silence and lame “didn’t tech” feedback that is standard. Don’t treat people as transactional 1s and 0s.
Put yourself in the job seeker’s shoes.
Manager A: Speaks to what success looks like, growth looks like, and what is unique about working for the company in the context of the overall industry.
Manager B: Speaks to the day to day of the job, as a warm body filling a seat in their headcount.
See the difference?
In one instance the manager is proactive and persuasive.
In the other, the manager is reactive and in maintenance mode.
Be aware of how you’re framing the job. Perception & expectations matter, as much as your logical left brain will want to argue they don’t.
Please note, if your job is a backfill to maintain headcount with no success mapped out do not present it as something different.
That will just lead to pain later for everyone involved.
Wasted time, wasted effort, and wasted potential.
Be honest about what you’ve got and let the chips fall where they may.
NYC
Cherry blossom season in Central Park is stunning. You get a sense for how magical the time is when you see how quickly the blooms disappear again, as if it was all a dream. Japan gifted Washington D.C. cherry blossom trees and a group of prominent New Yorkers led by writer and traveler, Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, wanted some for Central Park too. She formed the “Sakura Circle” in 1912, donating and raising funds to plant the trees. “Sakura” is Japanese for cherry blossom. Now, there are over 2,000 cherry blossom trees in the park, mainly found from 72nd to 96th Street.
Follow along with the cherry blossom tracker here: https://www.centralparknyc.org/cherry-blossoms
Running
The week leading up to race day hits different.
Imagine a project you’ve been working on since 2014 coming to an end. Every step has led you to this moment. You start to feel a mix of misty eyes and butterflies. The question of “what next?” looming in the background.
This is like a multi-year cloud transformation initiative to migrate from non-runner to runner.
The whole process looked like this:
Assessed current running capability for a 5K at Yankee Stadium to help raise money for a cancer charity that affected a good friend’s Mom.
Got fitted for shoes at a local run shop.
Ran the four mile loop in Central Park to prepare. (5K = 3.1 miles)
Chose Chi Running as framework to run a marathon.
Tested different fueling on the run, routes, water bottles, socks, sunglasses, sunscreen, pre & post run meals.
Monitor breath & optimize for energy.
Looking back, I never even thought of myself as a runner until I started running for a reason. Not to look lame while finishing a 5K.
Growing up, feeling slow and the sensation of water sloshing around my stomach turned me off to running. Even when I started to train for marathons, my legs would feel like concrete bricks around that first 16 mile run. Breaking in a new lactate threshold for my body to operate at.
I’m not the fastest runner finishing 26.2 miles. Pros cover the distance in about two hours while I clock in just below four hours on my best day so far.
That’s not the point though. The point is to start & finish. Continuing to move forward while mental and physical challenges show up to test you along the way.
Much like life & business. The best training is experience.
Thank you for joining this journey.
Let’s keep moving,
Jen
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Those Central Park cherry blossoms 🌸 look great
This takes me back to Dan Pink's book "To Sell is Human" in that everyone's in sales. The managers and the candidates sell to each other with the ultimate goal of seeing if there's a mutual fit.
Do you think companies get complacent when they have hundreds of applicants lined up for a position?