After I circulated this article to the people working with me at zenPeak, it only took a few minutes for the excited comments to come back to me.
The zenPeak approach is to “Internalize Candidates“ It’s a fundamental part of our process and when you do it… everything gets easier.
Simple!
Are you ready for the #1 question you are likely to be asked?
OK here it is…
The #1 question is not easy to answer UNLESS you are prepared so PRACTICE in front of the mirror over and over until your answer lasts about 20 – 30 seconds at the most, you sound natural and confident. PRACTICE.
>>>> You need to give up some personal information. Something about YOU. If you don’t, the interviewer will think you can’t fit into the company, or that you are cold, secretive or not someone they want to have around. We suggest you share basic info. that is already on your resume such as (1) where you live now and (2) where you are from originally which is easy to figure out by looking at your high school location and finally (3) something personal related to family (spouse, children, parents, siblings. If you resist this question and say something dumb like “You’re not supposed to ask me that question”, the interview is most likely over. You do want to fit in right? But the strategy is to move on very quickly, without a beat. Don’t engage the Interviewer in follow-up personal answers. Move on to…
>>>> Are you passionate about what you do AT WORK Yes? Great. No… hmmm maybe consider a new career. Get excited about your career, the things you have done that are connected to WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU. Let the Interviewer start to see that you’re passionate about what you do AT WORK and it is right on target to what they need. Don’t talk about hobbies, trips, your favourite music etc. ONLY AT WORK PASSION. That’s why you are there. Now just as quick move on to…
>>>> “and, I am very excited about the opportunity to _ _ _ here”
This final part should be EXACTLY AS QUOTED ABOVE. It brings back the answer to why you are sitting there. The most likely follow up question in the interview will be about the opportunity, the job and hopefully your passion for it!
You have showed that YOU are going to fit in, and that you are a good trustworthy person by sharing a bit about yourself. You talked with PASSION about your work and then you expressed interest and excitement in the OPPORTUNITY. Don’t worry if you think it will sound prepared – it won’t. It will sound professional and poised; much better than stumbling for words, or going on and on about things the interviewer isn’t interested in.
Haven’t got the interview yet? resume style and content does make a difference!
One of the most frustrating parts of a job search is dealing with all the advice you get about resumes. The best approach is a resume that gets you the interview, and helps you get the job! If we have one piece of advice it would be… Don’t make the person reading your resume, work hard to figure you out.
If you have a (numeric) results-oriented, functional style resume you are showcasing… WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU and not just everything that you have done.
Don’t make the person reviewing your resume work hard to figure you out.
So now you have a great resume and you got the interview AND you are ready for the #1 Job Interview Question!
The resume. Fact or Fiction?
Here are the top 3 ways to discover if the person you are considering to hire is a resume liar.
These 3 ways are part of the process we use in recruiting.
Let’s go through a few of the steps we use.
Stress management, assertiveness skills, empathy, and political/social acumen are critical success factors that have a direct impact on the bottom line. These can be assessed in an Emotional Intelligence (EQ in the workplace) test profile. We use an online profile that was selected for measuring many competencies including integrity & trust. This same profile showcases how good someone is at promoting themselves & performing in an interview.
We conduct these EQ profiles on Candidates just before the first face to face interview with the Client. Each profile suggests that for a certain position, the Candidate can be low risk, medium risk or high risk. Although its not the sole factor in making a hiring decision, we don’t present high risk Candidates to our Clients.
There are still other ways to spot a resume liar.
Maybe you don’t have access or training for EQ testing and assessment.
If you are trying to collect resumes and do the hiring yourself, DON’T MISS THIS STEP and don’t accept excuses from the job applicant for not delivering contact info. for references. “out of town”, “can’t get the telephone number”, “no longer at the company” – are these excuses?
You can discover a resume liar by doing a thorough reference check. We conduct scheduled & structured 20-30 minute telephone interviews.
Some people are great in interviews. This doesn’t mean they will be good at their work.
They promote themselves well, and can show interest and excitement during an interview – but they could turn out to be duds at the job.
Integrity and trust are critical in every job. Do you want to hire a liar?
The face to face interview is an opportunity to get past first impressions, and dig into the facts about their past performance. Hopefully you are looking at a good functional-style resume which focuses on “What I Can Do For You” not absolutely everything I have done.
Its interview time. You have a resume in front of you, and sitting across from you is your job Candidate – What do you do to Spot a Resume Liar?
The face to face interview is a chance to match up the requirements for peak performance with specific questions that will verify competency, experience… essentially check out all the “claims” of a good resume. Ask the questions & make notes (you will need them for the reference checks)
Candidates use (numeric) results-oriented functional style resumes that showcase “What They Can Do for You”. We remove soft language and showcase their transferable skills and experience. This makes your evaluation of Candidates easier, as you don’t have to work hard to figure the Candidate out, and each resume looks similar in structure.
The interview process begins with the very first contact and includes motivation, compliance, attitude and a host of other factors that contribute to peak performance. In addition, the interview coaching we do, carries expectations and standards that we expect for interactions with our Clients; smart Candidates learn from this and apply it in their career management.
Our testing and assessment is based on the science of axiology, and was selected as the best system to determine integrity, trust and workplace peak performance. Each role has a benchmark score that helps us determine if the Candidate will be low risk, or not. The zeroriskHR assessment also identifies if a Candidate will likely be great in the job, but may not be the best at selling themselves in the initial interview. This is how the testing helps the Candidate even though they don’t see the results.
We have low fees by using a system that is efficient and because typically, we don’t work on recruiting engagements that we don’t get paid for.
I can’t imagine working for weeks on a recruiting assignment on speculation; rushing to send in the resumes of Candidates I may not have even met or fully screened because the focus is on getting the placement, not recruiting a peak performer.
Not only that – our system is front-loaded and high-compliance, so Clients don’t waste their time on reviewing all those unscreened resumes.
Here is one of our secrets… because we don’t work on assignments we don’t get paid for, and we are super efficient (while still high-compliance), our fees are as low as 10%
Call us if you are looking to hire really good people. If you are tired of being disappointed with the people you hire, or paying ridiculous high fees to Recruiters, then…. consider a different approach where we do the work and you save time and money.
Frank Abrams 416 733-3001
We don`t need a study or focus group to tell us that traditional telephone marketing can be offensive, and that canned scripts don`t work very well.
Hiring low paid offshore workers is short-sighted as the people these telephone marketers are calling, may be sitting at home grumbling about not having a job, because some offshore worker took it.
Also, having zero knowledge about the local marketplace (weather, geography, politics etc.) but being ready to HARD SELL is a strategy from 20 years ago and before the era of Do Not Call lists. Recent News In Canada, Consumers and Customers usually have a deep history, or call it baggage, with the major telcos who are the major users of telemarketers. Its no surprise that these offshore workers lose their cool after hearing hours of complaints and pushback every day.
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zenPeak Telephone Marketing is for mainstream Canadian business to business only.
Our Telephone Marketing approach to business to business telephone marketing is simple. Have a compelling reason for the call and present it to a business prospect with respect. Learn about the offer and the company you are representing, before calling a business prospect, and let the Client connect with an interested business prospect to go into details. This approach works in Canada, when the call originates in Canada and is made from a well-trained, confident, local person.
To reduce turnover, we pay marketers well, and on salary not commission, and only let them work a few hours a day so they are fresh and able to easily cope with the natural resistance and disinterest of some prospects. Coaching & training marketers on a daily basis helps them feel at ease and become better at what they do.
… with training new marketing and search associates, working on some great new job opportunities, working on the oppcourse to Get Working NOW!, planning the new “Marketing Services by zenPeak Recruiters”, plus plus plus!
Personally its been a very good year. The business is growing the way I want it to. I faced up to some challenges and made decisions that I am comfortable with. I have added more staff and am still looking for a Search Associate, a Marketing Associate both well-paid part-time, work from home positions.
I’ve been learning like crazy this year both personally & professionally – and when you are well into your 50s I think this is a good thing. Finally I know this isn’t a good thing to share to job seekers, but I made a personal decision to never work for anyone else again in my life, and to turn down all offers outside my own business interests. I have a lot to accomplish and its all about the journey!
Sadly, one of my oldest friends, Jack Goldhar passed away suddenly at the end of October. He was single and had devoted 30 years of his life to caring for his severely ill Mom Helen (died 2 years ago), and in the past 2 years his Dad Sam (died in 2010) . Within 6 months of his Dad’s passing, Jack dropped dead. I always say “We like people for their qualities, but we love them for their quirks” We loved Jack and yes, he was plenty quirky. I still can’t believe he is gone.
I made some new friends at the dog park this year… Wayne, Linda, Charlie, MaryAnn. They often get some of my fresh homemade munchies; bagels, blueberry buns or muffins, and they are usually very happy. My trip to the dog park is my daily midday break for an hour. Many Clients and Candidates have gotten use to hearing a bark in the background if they call me. I do business 24/7 so I always take calls 
I went back and forth on names for the Online Course for a long time: Should the name be… “Create Your Own Opportunity” OR “Get Working NOW!”?
Both names do a good job of describing our unique free course to help those people who are struggling to get work. The course is now a little closer to being ready, and I am leaning towards a shorter name… OppCourse.
When I want to tell someone about the website, I find its easier to say OppCourse rather than the other two names.
Membership is free.
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Just got a new position to work on and its very exciting for someone truly entrepreneurial and flexible and loves change and excitement! The company is growing like crazy with a hot new health and wellness technology and equipment business. ISO certified with a solid ownership team w. decades of business experience.
Please have a look at the position description here and let us know if you know someone who is a good fit!
Please share these links with someone qualified who is looking for a job opportunity in these areas:
zenPeak contact
Frank Abrams
(416) 733-3001
email: fabrams@zenpeak.com
Marketing Associate & Executive Assistant
Sales Manager – Communications Solutions and Services
Public Relations Account Manager
Commercial Insurance Lines Sales
Sales Positions (multiple companies throughout Toronto GTA)
