Whether it's the onset of the cooler weather, the alignment of the moon with certain stars, or it's just a pure coincidence, there is certainly something in the air prompting people to reassess where they are at in their careers.

I have been speaking to several people over the last few weeks who have displayed similar 'symptoms' in that they have, for whatever reason, suddenly realised "enough is enough; it's time for change".

James has been working for his current employer for quite some time now but feels he doesn't receive any recognition from his manager. "I could just keep dithering there", he said. "Or I could just do something about it and find a company where I will be respected and recognised for the work I do".

Joanne's exact words were, "It's like someone sawed the rudder off the ship. There's no direction given to anyone, management talk around in circles, and nobody seems to know where the business is really going".

When Kyle described how he has been feeling, he described his work environment to be "just like the set of a TV soap opera" where he only recently realised just how caught up in the drama of it all he had become.

James, Joanne and Kyle are all very good at what they do (they work in completely different industries) and they all enjoy the work they do. However their reasons for looking for a new job are all related to the environment they work in.

Throughout my career as a manager, I was always told that “people don’t leave companies; they leave leaders”. Given that it’s the leadership team that create the culture of any organisation, this statement certainly holds true in each of the above scenarios.

Whether it’s the leaders not believing in recognition, the leaders not being able to clearly articulate the direction of the team or business, or the leaders just wanting to be in the spotlight, this will result in good people leaving the business.

So if you feel you are treading water, waiting for things to change, or simply “dithering” (as James put it), you need to think seriously about making a move. Since to continue on with Joanne’s way of thinking, for a leadership team to change the culture of an organisation would be like a cruise ship trying to turn around on a 20 cent coin.

Sometimes the best thing to do is in fact to jump ship.

The opening keynote was by Dr Werner Vogels - Chief Technology Officer with Amazon who presented on "The Lean Cloud".

Now given that even just 12 months ago, I was totally unfamiliar with the concept of the Cloud (let alone a lean cloud!), I wouldn't have called myself the most technologically advanced delegate in the room.

However quite a few of Dr Vogels' points still resonated with me - including the notion of "defining the Cloud by its benefits and not just its technology", as well as one of his interpretations of the word "lean" to include "removing anything that does not lead to direct value for customers".

I should also point out that his reference to Amazon's Elastic MapReduce service also got a lot of heads nodding, a lot of fingers tapping on iPads and even a few laggards scribbling in note books. I have to admit I had to google the term to learn more about it.

The Guest Speaker for the event was Eric Ries - entrepreneur and author of "The Lean Startup". I have to say I found his presentation nothing short of inspiring.

He opened with the words, "There's never been a better time to be an entrepreneur" and he kept the audience informed, educated and entertained for an hour.

Attending a startup event, I was certainly ready to hear references to Facebook and perhaps even to the movie The Social Network. But Eric was able to find a connection between the notion of a startup and one of my personal favourite films Ghostbusters!

Serious take-aways from Eric's presentation for any startup (which are also highlighted in his book) included the ideas of learning, pivoting, and innovation. But there were a few points that Eric made which immediately resonated with me from many years running corporate sales teams and which stand true for not just a startup, but for any business - small or large.

1: Re-examine every part of your business through the eyes of your customer

2: Measure how your customers are behaving right now because you can't operate on a series of guesses.

Understanding the customer experience is critical for any business selling a product or service, either online or in a store.

The fact that Eric not only made reference to one of my favourite movies, but also to the importance of the customer experience, customer engagement and customer satisfaction - things that I am incredibly passionate about in my role as RecruitLoop's Head of Customer Service (or Head of Keeping Clients Happy as we like to call it) made his session especially memorable.

While Eric implied that his presentation would be focusing on "the boring side of entrepreneurship", I hope the fact that I personally found it inspiring does not suggest that I am boring in any way.

I have lost count of how many flights I have been on in the last few weeks. In fact I am writing this particular post while waiting for a flight back to Sydney that has been "delayed indefinitely due to engineering issues" but hopefully they can get me on to another flight. I have heard countless flight calls, dozens of airport announcements and I have also read the in-flight magazines of both our main carriers cover to cover.

There is a common theme being promoted at the moment. Qantas announcements all end with the phrase "Enjoy the journey", while the Virgin marketing collateral is telling passengers to "Make your journey count".

Evidently it's all about the journey (and perhaps less about the destination).

It's made me reflect back to the poster behind me in the call centre all those years ago but also to the job seekers I have been speaking to over the last month who have been too quick to assume that a new job or their newly found success is something that will just happen miraculously overnight.

Unfortunately there are very few job seekers lucky enough to find something as soon as they start their search. For the majority of job seekers, there will be a series of interviews, obstacles, rejections, frustrations, leads to follow up, more applications to send and calls to make before an offer is made.

But there is also a lot to learn along the way – from the people you might meet, to understanding what you are really looking for as opposed to what you think you’re looking for, and of course becoming more resilient and tenacious as you bounce back from certain knock backs and refocus your energies on the task at hand.

There are many people who learn more about themselves and develop professionally more throughout the job-hunting process than they may otherwise have done in a new role. In some cases it’s this learning or development that will translate directly into their newly found success.

So like our airlines that are clearly focusing on the experience of getting somewhere (whether it be for business or pleasure) as opposed to specifically what’s waiting at the other end, my one piece of advice to eager job seekers is to also make the most of the process. After all you never know who you might meet, what you might learn, or where your journey might take you.

When it comes to the 'trendy' world of fashion, there are those who will only be comfortable if they are seen wearing certain brands. Whether it be Hugo Boss or Armani for suits, Herringbone or Rhodes & Beckett for shirts, Prada or Oroton for handbags, or Jimmy Choo or Kate Spade for shoes.

But over the last few weeks, I have started noticing that even in the somewhat less glamourous world of graduate recruitment, the notion of a 'brand complex' has started to make an appearance.

It's that time of the year again when the deadlines for graduate job applications are looming.

If you are currently in your final year at university, what exactly are you looking for in your first 'real' job? Is it a particular type of working environment? Have you looked into exactly what certain graduate programs can offer you? Are you focused on the career path that a particular organisation might be able to offer you beyond the rotations in the first 12 - 18 months? Or does each of these questions almost blend into insignificance as long as you receive an offer from a ‘prestigious brand’?

Why are so many graduates obsessed with the notion of working in a specific building, or on a particular street in the CBD? Just because you might get to step into a grand foyer, walk past some amazing art installations, or take a glass elevator up to your office every morning, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right place for you to start your career.

Many years ago, when I received my first real job offer, I have to admit that I too was lured by the perceived glamour of a big global brand. Oh the prestige of being able to walk into a new building in the city with big revolving doors leading into a giant foyer and the company name and logo helping light up the Sydney skyline from its roof every night.

Exactly one year and two days after I first walked through those revolving doors, I walked back out for the last time.

Neither the company nor the job were all that they were made out to be, and although I noticed this very quickly, I convinced (or rather ‘forced’) myself to “give it a year”. Your first job after university shouldn’t be somewhere you just stay at for a year. It’s the perfect opportunity to gain exposure to several parts of a business, to find your niche, develop some great skills, and to make a successful name for yourself within the organisation.

I caught up with Midas this week, a final year student at Macquarie University, hell-bent on only submitting applications to (and ideally receiving offers from) the ‘big guns’. I asked him whether he felt he had a brand complex and he unashamedly said yes.

I completely understand getting caught up in the hype of what many of the big players can offer graduates. But there’s so much more to your career than the address of your office, the fact that you can join a corporate sports team, or receive a gym bag telling the world where you work.

I am certainly not saying not to submit applications to these guys, but believe me the mid-tier firms and even many less well-known brands can offer graduates fantastic career opportunities. You will not only get more exposure to more areas of the business, but you will also have a better chance of building your own personal profile within the organisation, since the work that you do will be noticed by more of the people that matter.

There’s a whole world out there for graduates beyond the marble foyers and granite lobbies of the big boys.

Image courtesy of: steevenb43

I would hope that anyone (and this includes recruiters as well as any internal staff member tasked with interviewing applicants for a particular job) is aware of what not to ask during a job interview.

However this posting is certainly not a lesson in anti-discrimination legislation. It's actually directed at anyone thinking about applying for a new job.

It's more like a few tips for candidates and what they shouldn't say during a job interview.

Personally I've had some real 'doozies' over the years ...

I remember asking a candidate once what she was hoping to do in her next role and her response was, "Oh look I'll do anything 'xcept prostitute m'self". 

Let's just say I brought that particular interview to a grinding halt.

On another 'memorable' occasion, when I asked a candidate how she would be described by her peers, she replied, "I guess they'd probably call me the office handle [pause]. Everybody's had a turn".

That one left me speechless for quite a few moments.

OK and one more for the road ...

I was sitting across from a candidate who I was seriously considering for a pretty senior role in financial services. I asked him how he would feel if, for whatever reason, he didn't get that particular job.

He looked me in the eye, made a pistol shape with his middle finger, index finger and thumb, pointed the 'pistol' straight at me and made a gun firing gesture. Then he simply said "So you'd better make sure I get the job".

Now I am not sure where any of these particular candidates has ended up (nor do I care), but I certainly haven't had anything to do with their career advancement.

As a candidate, you don't just have to think carefully about your responses to specific competency-based or behavioural based interview questions. You actually need to be just as aware of what you are saying during the rest of the interview and what sort of impression this may have on the chances of you either being represented by a recruiter, or being considered for other interviews internally.

I was talking to a recruiter last week who had also recently experienced a bit of a 'classic comment' from one of his candidates along the lines of her being the best candidate for the job because she felt she was the best looking one!

He then came up with the great analogy that wouldn't it be great if recruiters could just press a button or pull a giant lever during an interview if a candidate said something stupid and they would just be ejected from the room without any need for further explanation.

Something like Graham Norton's big red chair would be perfect! The minute a candidate would say something completely inappropriate ... BAM! The interview would be over.

You don't want your recruiter even thinking about flicking a switch, pulling a lever, or pressing a button to eject you from the interview room. So if you are asked about your suitability for a particular role, why you applied for specific job, or how you would be described by your peers or colleagues, think before you say something you might regret.

Recruiters are always careful not to ask candidates about their age, religion, marital status, or whether they might be suffering from a particular medical condition despite what they might be thinking to themselves.

Candidates need to be just as careful. So think before you say something that could impact your chances of getting that next job.

Image courtesy of: BassboatRadio

Over the last few weeks I have personally been running a few of my own recruitment projects, and in doing so I have been inundated with applications, covering letters and CVs. 

However, perhaps because it's been a few years since I have actually run an end-to-end recruitment process myself, I have recently noticed a new danger zone in which way too many candidates (in my opinion anyway) are going to let themselves down.

Personal email addresses.

It's strange what an impact someone's personal email address can have on a recruiter or hiring manager.

For years I have been telling candidates to not necessarily include their home address on their CV or résumé since, for whatever reason, it could create a negative opinion or result in an unfair bias. And yet even without any evidence at all of where an individual candidate actually lives, a candidate's email address can now create a negative impression and even lead to the candidate not being considered for a role ... no matter how strong their background might be.

In the last few weeks alone I have seen personal email accounts along the lines of:

trudishopstoomuch@ ...

speed_daemon@ ...

italianstallion@ ...

shoefetish@ ...

Now email addresses aside, I have to admit that these individuals all had well written covering letters and reasonably impressive backgrounds. But in all honesty I couldn't take any of them seriously. 

When I started to actually question them as to what sort of message or impression they thought their choice of email address was creating, the most common response was "I've had that email address since high school and just haven't ever been bothered to change it".

Let's just say that following my not so subtle words of 'advice' (read this to mean "I will not be able to represent you until you have a more professional email address"), Trudi, Rob (aka speed_daemon), Marco, and Yvonne have all updated their email addresses to something far more professional.

Whether you prefer first name "dot" last name @ ... or first name "underscore" last name @ ... is entirely up to you, but ideally you want a recruiter or potential new employer to be able to recognise the name at the top of the CV with the email account.

I remember many years ago I received an application from a drlovemuscle@ ... and before I even read his covering letter or opened his CV, I had sent him an automated rejection letter. Harsh, cruel, unfair ... call it what you will. But professional recruiters who deal with professional clients probably want to deal with professional candidates too.

You might want to keep your pet-name or nick-name based email address as a private address that you use amongst close friends or as your log-in to your social networking site. But please ensure that for any job application or professional email correspondence that your email address reflects the professional person that you are or at least want to be known to be.

I won't rant on any more ...

harshrecruiter@home.com

Image courtesy of: checkrecordsdotcom

In fact usually the first 10 - 15 minutes of any meeting I have with a new client is me listening very patiently to what can often be a fairly emotive purge culminating in their justification for either wanting to leave their current job, or the reasons for why they just left an organisation.

Then when I ask them why they took the job in the first place, or if I get them to talk about the good times, they will quickly calm down and speak passionately about what it was like when they really enjoyed their job.

It's only then that we can really start to work on a strategy ...

About a year ago now I helped Dave through a pretty hectic roller coaster of a ride ... two redundancies in a row (both due to companies having to close their doors). Fortunately he's now really happy in his new position.

I was checking in with him the other day to see how things are going and he couldn't stop raving about his role and also his employer. What a change from 12 months earlier when unfortunately he couldn't think of anything nice to say about either his jobs or his employers.

I must have said something in passing along the lines of "wouldn't it be great if there was somewhere employees could anonymously vent about their employer or have a chance to say something really nice about them ..."

And before I could say anything else, Dave said, "But there is Paul. You should check out Grindstone".

Grindstone ... I checked it out immediately.

I had a good look at the site ... giving individual employees the opportunity to anonymously "rate your employer and speak your mind".

Now whenever I stumble across something that really impresses me I need to investigate it, so I tracked down Grindstone's co-Founders and I asked them what their motive was behind launching the website.

Brett Tait explained how "it's all about employees reviewing employers and generally making work places better places". While Tova Wilshansky continued to describe how "not only does the site allow employees to comment about a particular workplace, but people considering joining a particular organisation will eventually be able to see how that organisation has been rated in the past".

"The circle [of feedback] has to start somewhere", Brett Tait said.

I then started to think more about their objective.

Once employers start to see how their staff (either present or past) are describing them, then in order to keep their staff (both present and future) happy, they will be able to use all the feedback (real feedback from an independent source) to make some positive changes.

So go ahead ... rate your employer and speak your mind.

Image courtesy of: TomStock.us

I know I have talked about this before, but when it comes to attending an interview, first impressions count.

Over the last few weeks I have been working with Raphaella who this Wednesday will be meeting with undoubtedly one of this country's leaders in the field she is so keen to move into.

I wouldn't call it a job interview per se ... more like an informational interview where ideally Raphaella will get some advice, guidance, words of wisdom, and perhaps even a few names of other key players in the space. Of course if her meeting results in a job offer that would be 'nice', but she is mature enough not to be getting her hopes up (too high!).

When we last caught up, she asked me what she should wear to the meeting and I immediately explained to her that in a market literally saturated with highly skilled and qualified candidates, the notion of making a lasting first impression has never been more important.

After all you can be the most qualified candidate, you could have a killer covering letter, a CV that is the envy of all other applicants, and you may have even narrowed your interview technique down to a fine art. However if you don’t look the part, or you don’t act the part, the person sitting opposite you may not be convinced enough that you could, in fact, play the part. And when all is said and done, that’s what ultimately counts.

She thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "I'm glad you've said that because this week I dropped a bomb at Cue and I know I will be dressed to impress".

Even in an era of smart or business casual and dress down Fridays you need to remember that you are going for an interview so dress accordingly. By no means am I insisting on a business shirt and tie for the gentlemen or stockings and closed toed shoes for the ladies, since different industries reflect different dress standards. But as a general rule, you should dress at a level above the person you are going to meet and if this means putting on a tie, then so be it!

Even if its jeans day at work it’s never jeans day at an interview.

Unfortunately presentation becomes a major stumbling block for far too many otherwise perfectly suitable candidates.

I once interviewed a candidate who arrived wearing a Charlie Chaplin type hat, a bright lime green short-sleeved shirt, and a bow tie that flashed fluorescent lights every few seconds. Given that I wasn’t recruiting for Cirque du Soleil, how well do you think he went?  

Another tip ... try not to intoxicate the interviewer with an overdose of perfume or aftershave, and ladies, don’t wear so much bling that you cause a distraction as the sun comes through a nearby window creating a mirror ball effect around you.  If you are going for a fashion job (which Raphaella certainly is not), then fashion will be important, but remember unless you are interviewing in an area such as this, then business type dress is far more appropriate.

And finally ... before you arrive at your meeting, make sure you are not chewing gum, make sure you have taken your iPod earphones out, and make sure you switch off your mobile phone.

You only have one chance to make a lasting first impression.

Image courtesy of: canburak

Last week I met Christian for the first time on SKYPE. He had been referred to me and when we had looked at our respective schedules it was just going to be easier that way.

Now it's one thing to look at someone's CV or LinkedIn profile and get a general understanding of their background and experience, but seeing them in person (albeit virtually) still adds another dimension to gaining a better insight into their personality.

Once the initial "meet and greet" was out of the way, I asked Christian to briefly tell me a bit about himself.

"I'm old", he said. "I'm so old I remember watching the moon landing on black and white television", he continued before pausing - perhaps waiting for me to respond.

Whilst I thought he'd chosen an interesting way to introduce himself, I didn't really react. But I could tell he was obviously waiting for a response.

To be honest I wasn't really sure what he wanted me to say so I just decided to steer the conversation back to his career, and more specifically to his most recent experience.

But let's just think back to what he said for a moment.

Christian related the concept of being "old" to the fact he could remember watching a major event in history (on black and white television) on July 20th, 1969. Now I didn't want to probe and ask whether he was standing up in a cot wearing nappies at the time, or whether he was five, six or even 12 years old watching Neil Armstrong take his giant step for mankind.

My point is that I wouldn't recommend to anyone opening up a conversation with a recruiter or potential future employer with a reference to the fact you can remember watching an event on TV which took place 43 years ago.

Once I had put the moon landing comment to the side, and chipped away at Christian's career background, I uncovered an incredibly talented individual with skills in on-line marketing and digital customer relationship management that in my opinion would surpass even the most e-marketing savvy Gen Y.

While he may not have realised it at the time, Christian was using his age (and to be honest I still have no idea exactly how old he is ... because it's completely irrelevant!) as a stumbling block for moving on to his next role. 

In the same way that Renée Zellweger says to Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) "You had me at hello", Christian had practically lost me at hello. Remember it's the first 10 - 15 seconds (or your elevator pitch) which will have the most impact on someone considering you for a potential position in their team or organisation.

Christian's experience, skills and knowledge of his niche make him (in my opinion) highly sought after. But by using his age as an obstacle, he could potentially create a self-fulfilling prophecy which would result in people not even giving him a chance talk about his experience.

When you launch (please pardon the space travel pun) into your introduction with a potential new employer or recruiter, age shouldn't even come into the picture.

Image courtesy of: nreddin

Frustrating as it was at the time, if it's only going to happen to me every three years, then it's something I can certainly live with. And it also reinforced the value of being covered for roadside assistance.

It was dark and my car was parked in a quiet side street. When I called for assistance I was told that the wait would be around 90 minutes.

Perhaps patience is something I have been getting better at since turning 40!

The battery technician arrived and had flicked the switch on his head torch before I could even explain what I thought was wrong.

"Yep she sure is dead, mate", he said. "We can either re-charge or we can replace. The choice is yours".

As it turned out, the "re-charge" option would help me get home, but as soon as I switched off the car engine I wouldn't be able to get any further without replacing the battery anyway. So really it was a no brainer.

"Let's just replace it now, please".

With his voltage counter in one hand, his cables in the other, he asked "So what do you do for a crust, mate?"

When I told him what I did, I could hear him laughing with his head still buried under the bonnet of my car.

I didn't really find it all that funny.

Then he stood up with a massive grin on his face and said, "So you probably ask your clients the same question I have to ask all my customers ... 're-charge or replace'!"

We talked for a few minutes and it was clear that Terry was on to something.

When you're feeling flat (as in the case of my car battery) in your job or in your career, perhaps it really is a simple case of either re-charge or replace. Will taking a break from work (perhaps a long overdue holiday) help you re-charge your levels of enthusiasm? Perhaps a change of scenery (working in another department or in another office) will also help you re-charge your energy and passion for what you do.

But if not, and like Terry explained, re-charging will only take you on final short spurt before you shut down again completely, then it's definitely time to replace your job with a new one. And just like the new battery, even if you find yourself totally charged for another three years before you go flat again, then this new role or career move could help you achieve some great things.

So if you feel like you're at a bit of a cross roads, ask yourself if you just need to be re-energised and go ahead and take some annual leave. But if when you get back nothing's changed, then you need to come up with a job replacement strategy ... which will take a bit more than just calling Terry and his head torch!

Perhaps I should come up with a new tag line for my own business ... 

Just like roadside assistance for your career!

Image courtesy of: amcgore