Johnson & Associates, LLC

Candidate Preparation vs. Letting the Candidate be Themselves

We lost a consulting opportunity this week. In the past I used to agonize over how it could have been averted. I've always been confident in my business eye and in just about everything to the point of being unrealistic. In my mind there isn't any way another competing business could have a better solution than what we had!

In today's market there is no shortage of highly skilled candidates who want the same position. The fact is that many consultants talk to one another and know who each is working with, where they're being submitted and interviewing, and how much each makes (this is always tricky as I've found exaggeration can be rampant). So what is the right thing to do with candidates in preparation for an interview? For our company, it's preparing them on the players, the project, and honest discussion about the environment, and then the business and financial benefits of the assignment. I've never, and my recruiters have never, told a consultant how to act or what to say. We've discussed client tendencies to ask certain types of questions in an interview and to expect more or less technical grilling from one client or another. But our philosophy is to let the recruiting process and our understanding of our clients and the candidates we've presented stand on their own merits.

Now, back to the one we lost. We lost it because the personality fit wasn't compatible. The consultant in question is very talented and fits very well in some environments. But they have a tendency to be very strongly willed and have firm beliefs in their work methods and practices. To some clients this can be seen as a positive attribute and to others a concern. This client felt concern and went to the next candidate in line. Had we coached this candidate to be someone in the interview they are not, we risk a poor client experience or reputation. Its small consolation but one that hopefully our clients have come to appreciate.

Is This Heaven? No, it's Des Moines.

Guest Author: Ashley Hennig

The popular joke, "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa" loved by all Iowans is back with vengeance!

Working with IT candidates throughout 2009, many of whom have seen firsthand what the recession can do to a career, to a family, and to a city; hs us constantly looking for the silver lining. Well, the end of the year results are out, and it looks like Des Moines can boast more than just a silver lining.

Here are just a few of the accolades Des Moines has received over the past few months:

• MarketWatch ranks Des Moines as the best city for business in the U.S. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tortoise-wins-race-for-best-us-city-for-business-2009-12-16  
• Woods & Poole Economics forecast Des Moines to create 4,500 new jobs, with the finance and insurance sectors adding more than $100 million to the local economy and contributing to a population growth of 6,200 people this year. http://www.desmoinesmetro.com/newsroom/news/displayArticle.asp?idNewsroomArticle=611&idNewsroomWebsiteSection=1  
• MSN lists Des Moines as one of the 100 metro areas in the nation that have begun to recover from the recession. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33312701/ns/3303539  
• The ACCRA Cost of Living Index reports the living costs in Des Moines are 9% below the national average for the Third Quarter of 2009.     http://www.coli.org/  
• MSN ranks Des Moines as first in the nation for real estate as the "Most Livable Bargain Market". http://realestate.msn.com/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=22334217  

The Feds CIO

Upon reading a lengthy profile of the Obama appointed CIO, Vivek Kundra (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Names-Vivek-Kundra-Chief-Information-Officer/), in Information Week, I was both impressed and left wondering. Impressed with his credentials and business-like approach to the overbearing task of coordinating the Federal Government's IT operations. However wondering if perhaps some major issues are being overlooked or left out of his public strategy communications.

The article lists more CIO's in Federal Government than we have corn fields in Iowa. There are turf battles for funding, for prioritizing, and for control of overlapped services. At a time when the economy, environment, and global terror are the main stage, there are more challenges than manpower to tackle. He's lead the charge for a new dashboard that high-level Info Tech executives of the government can view and obtain data to help them run their business like a business.

But in all due appreciation of the magnitude of his job, I felt as if there were many unanswered questions about how IT could impact the nation and globe positively. Albeit politics seems to find a way to hinder progress, I see three main issues that IT might pursue:

1. Air traffic security - put in a system that screens everyone thoroughly and denies anyone tied to terrorism or their peers. People - you might need to get over your bashfulness. Once you're blown up mid-air no one will remember what your butt looks like.
2. Environment - Put some scientists on the job that are looking for real data versus parallel results that match their funding source. When well read people with actual brains can't make sense of which side is right about what is causing global warming, let alone what is global warming, how do we know that the money we're spending on programs is effective? Why is legislation being put into place that can adversely affect our economy at a critical time of recovery when the savings and environmental benefit appear fleeting.
3. Economy - It seems we're so busy trying to use IT to track what we're doing now that we might try to focus more on tomorrow's vision of IT and the world first. With national unemployment at 10% it seems there ought to be focus on lowering that number to 5% or 6%. And government jobs is not the best way to sustain a workable employment factor.

I hope everyone is thinking about these issues. I'm sure we all won't agree with how, what, and why but if our focus is common we'll do some good.

What Recession?

The last month has been a whirlwind for many entrepreneurs. Planning, working, fearing the news. The latest Federal bailout, falling investments, and market uncertainty abound. Fear not lest ye forget the statistics that propelled our optimism only a year ago.

The Boomers are generally suffering the results of the financial crisis. This could lead to a large scale postponement of retirement which is a good thing for our nation. Who else is better qualified to remain on the jobs in America than those with the most seniority and skills? Sure, in Recruiting this creates a bit of an issue but consider the reality that many people have actually saved for retirement and protected their investments and can continue as planned. There is still a need to grow our businesses and our clients have that same need. The general market is going to be tight for awhile but we've endured this before and we will again. We all will.

Now, onto the November election and the financial crisis. Can anyone make sense of this? Ron Paul believes we need to let the market sort itself out and the bailout is going to make the problems even worse (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/23/paul.bailout/index.html). Andrew Sullivan (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/) believes our government hasn't allowed a true Capitalist environment to exist and that no one forced people to take on loans they couldn't afford. Bloomberg's Kevin Hassett blames the crisis on the House controlled Democrats (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0). Ironic how the war on terrorism, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, China, and the environment have practically disappeared. People are fragmented on what to believe and where their loyalties lie.

We've been lied to by both political parties folks. They're POLITICIANS and that is what they do. Is Obama the answer to Real Change? I highly doubt it. Is McCain/Palin a better answer? Again, same doubt from this voter. But there is one thing I do trust and that is my God and my family. And by family I mean my actual family and my small circle of friends. We take care of our children and our communities and will continue to do so. We don't buy excessive homes or spend every cent we have because we know better and our parents taught us well. When the authorities tell us to take shelter or evacuate we do. We don't expect a bailout and if things become too bad we cut back even more and find another job. We'll teach our children the same thing and we'll survive this crisis. Many people won't without battle scars.

But I remember the statistics of the workforce in my chosen field. Now is the time to work hard for the times ahead lie full of promise for those ready to sort through the fog.   

Succeeding within Unpredictability

My neighbor has a daughter who is friends with Shawn Johnson, the Olympic multi-medalist from West Des Moines, IA. He was telling me about her two years ago of how she would likely dominate the 2008 Beijing Olympic Women's Gymnastics. I'd never heard of her and this was before we in Central Iowa were inundated with all things Shawn and Lolo. He said, "You watch. She's gonna dominate like no one ever has." He wasn't far off.

Shawn and all the Olympic athletes sacrifice a normal life for their sport and their team. Arguably, she could have won more than the one Gold Medal at this year's games. It isn't like Track & Field or Swimming were the finishers are clearly established. You have a panel of judges, politics, and subjectivity involved with Gymnastics. I can't imagine a soul exists that doesn't empathize with the athletes when they appear to have put on a great performance only to have the scores reflect less than what we and many experts believe they should have received.

In Recruiting we're faced with a similar uncontrollable variable to succeed. We can do everything in our power to cover the bases to achieve the predicted result of having our clients say 'Yes' to our candidates and our candidates to say 'Yes' to our clients. The real world is unpredictable and that is primarily because it is populated by people. You learn by each experience and there are some where there just isn't any explanation. You forge ahead.

My advice to Shawn if she ever asked is this: Keep doing what you're doing and work toward improving with grace and style. Johnson & Associates continually modifies our recruiting model for each candidate and after each positive or less than positive result to minimize unpredictability. It can get complicated but it doesn't need to be. Just like the expert gymnast knows what each judge is seeking from the routine we know what each candidate is looking for and why our client's can benefit from our services. We uncover the traits that our clients seek and find the aptitude, skills, and personalities that work with each client. But, as one scholar said, stuff happens. The human intellect and emotional system are very complex and unpredictable. The more you learn the more you realize you have more to learn.

Congratulations, Shawn! I hope we see you again in London, 2012. You are a Champion with a rare gift that goes well beyond athletic competition.

New J&A Recruiting Blog

New to J&A is this section dedicated to employment trends in Healthcare and I.T., Des Moines and the Midwest employment markets, fun and exciting experiences we’ve had in recruiting and contracting, and some unique entries into whatever grabs our owner’s interest (which is most likely new restaurants, wine, and golf).