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Personality Job Tests

May 23, 2012 by

You’ve got a great resume, which includes the right education from a good school, and you have the experience for the job you’re applying for. But do you have the right personality for the job? Do you have the right personality for the company? You may think you do, but the person hiring you has a huge pool of talent to choose from these days and a wrong hiring decision can be very costly. So they really want to make sure.

And one of the ways companies are testing job seekers is with a personality test. Certain jobs, like customer service require a certain type of personality. Even if you think you can handle it, you might not be the best applicant for the position. It’s a better use of a company’s time and money to find out before they actually start working.

Jobs that require complex problem solving and decision making may also be subject to a personality test. They help to uncover your attitude and temperament. The first part of the tests often just weed out the extremes and the people that are clearly not suited for the job. I frankly think this is a good idea, whether I’m on the job seeker side or the employer side. It’s hard to know for sure exactly what a company is looking for. What you think it is might be something very different. And they might expect certain things out of you as an employee that you wouldn’t like down the road.

The first things employers want to weed out are dishonesty and a tendency towards violence. Then they want to make sure you can work in a team and will be persistent on the job. For some jobs being an extrovert is more desirable than being an introvert. Jobs like sales and customer service rely on having employees that are more extroverted.

As a business owner, I have never hired anyone solely based on their resume. I hire people I know very well, so I can tell if they are the right ones for the job and if we would get along in a small office space. I tend to hire people who are more entrepreneurial and don’t need to have a lot of hand holding. I can give them the work to do and I can trust them to do much of the problem solving on their own. I can trust that they will make the best decisions.



Filed Under: Job Interviews Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Job Search Buyers and Sellers Market

March 23, 2012 by

You’ve probably heard the term “buyer’s market” as it relates to the housing market. But it also applies to the job search market. This is simply basic economics of supply and demand. It describes how prices are determined by the number of things available to the number of people that want that particular thing.

In the case of jobs, right now there are more people looking for jobs and fewer jobs to be found. This makes it an employer’s market. They can afford to be picky and choose the best of the best. Very few companies are increasing pay and benefits. Some are lowering pay and benefits, while most are keeping them the same, but not hiring new employees.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. As an entrepreneur I have to hustle every day for work and new customers. So I’m quite used to it. But even business owners tend to get a little complacent about the hustle when economic times are good. What goes up always comes down and vice versa. The good news is that it won’t last forever. And when things return to a job seeker’s market you, my friend, will be more polished, with more skills, and more ambition and drive. Just keep in mind that it’s a temporary thing. Use this time to sharpen your skills, resume, and networking ability.



Filed Under: Job Search Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Youth Unemployment

March 1, 2012 by

The latest statistics reveal that youth unemployment is the worst it’s been since World War 2.45% of people 16-29 are unemployed.

According to New York Magazine “one in five young adults now lives below the poverty line”. And it’s not just in the U.S. Young people in Europe have been going through similar situations. Their numbers are just as bad, if not worse. 51% in Spain and almost the same in Greece.

As I read through their stories, and hear similar stories from the college students in my neighborhood it’s pretty sad. Most are stuck with mountains of student loan debt that just keeps piling up. Many have finally come to the realization that they will have to wait tables or take jobs at Starbucks if they want any spending money at all.

Since I didn’t go to college, but instead went straight into the job market, I did all of those jobs anyway. But without the student loan debt. Living in NYC and working as a waiter/bartender wasn’t easy, but it was a job. And I was headed in a different direction, being an entrepreneur, so college wouldn’t really prepare me for that anyway.

In a recession it’s just going to be understood that you have to do whatever you have to do. Getting a job is easier if you already have a job, even if it’s not in your field and is way beneath what you expected. Start somewhere. It’s better than nothing. When you’re young no one expects you to have the experience yet. It’s a time you can experiment.

But it could always be worse. Youth unemployment in Somalia is 75%



Filed Under: Networking Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Job Security in the Future

October 2, 2011 by

Since the name of this website is “Job Security for Life“, I thought I’d take a minute to talk about the security part of it. Frankly, there is no job security. At least not the same job security our parents’ had.

Remember when you were told to get a good education, find a good job, work hard, and retire with a pension and a gold watch?

Well, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most people will change jobs at least 7-10 times in their lifetime. The Great Recession has redefined what job security is. I think the new job security will include entrepreneurial thinking. That doesn’t necessarily mean starting your own business, but incorporating that kind of thinking into whatever you decide to do for a living and how you will achieve that.

I think this opens up a whole new world where you can do more of what you really want to do and have more flexible hours. I think people will work differently in the future. More working from home, less commuting. More consultants and freelancers, fewer full-time workers.

Of course, this could change, as all things do. But it does look like the job market is going to different for quite a while and you just have to learn to work within it in a different way.

As an entrepreneur I know that the only job security is the one I create myself. I guess since I am my own boss, at least I know I will never be fired.



Filed Under: Create A Job Tagged With: , , , ,

The Old & New Job Search

May 10, 2011 by

Remember the days when you just picked up a newspaper and turned to the job listings if you wanted to find a job? Okay, well, trust me, that’s the way it used to be. Or you could just walk in and fill out an application for a company you wanted to work for.

These days all of the old rules are out the window. With far more job seekers than jobs to be had, you have to be smarter than the average bear and learn to think like an entrepreneur in order to get the attention of a hiring rep.

Resumes used to mean something, but not so much anymore. Now they are more of an afterthought or a minor tool in the hiring process. It’s even more important to be able to write a resume that works online than off.

Years ago an employee would be hired and then would have to prove themselves on the job. Now employers want proof before you get hired. This is why having great referrals is important.

Because the cost of making a hiring mistake is so high, the vetting process is much more important. This is why relationships matter. Make them and keep them.



Filed Under: Job Search, Job Seekers Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,