One of the most important things for you to realize when you are looking for a job and you see a position advertised is this: the employer wants to hire you.
If the position is advertised, the employer is actually desperate to hire you. When I say ”desperate,” I mean the employer wants you yesterday, not today. The employer is losing money, or has a need that is really “calling out” when they start advertising jobs.
A few years ago, I was running a company that was growing like crazy. We couldn’t hire or bring people on fast enough. I remember I hired a person and paid him $85,000 and his assistant another $50,000 just to bring people in. I advertised our jobs on our own website and also made sure that those same jobs were advertised on numerous job boards. In one month, I took out contracts for over $120,000 worth of job postings. Twice a week, I would meet with this manager and the conversations would generally go something like this:
I have over 40 job openings right now! Each of these jobs that aren’t filled is costing me a tremendous amount of money. You are probably costing this company like $500,000 a week by not getting these openings filled and filled fast!!
“I have over 40 job openings right now! Each of these jobs that aren’t filled is costing me a tremendous amount of money. You are probably costing this company like $500,000 a week by not getting these openings filled and filled fast!!”
Each day, I would watch this person go home with a stack of hundreds of résumés to review. He used to fall asleep every single night reviewing résumés. Our need for people was absolutely out of control. We needed bodies and didn’t know what to do.
In other parts of the country, I remember we needed people so badly that people would walk in, start interviewing, and if they looked like they were respectable they were hired on the spot. During this busy time, I heard a story from one of our managers about when a girl walked in for an interview to our office, which was bustling and out of control. He looked at her and said:
‘You look fine. I don’t have time to interview you. Sit down and start answering the phone!
”You look fine. I don’t have time to interview you. Sit down and start answering the phone!”
This is what it’s like when companies are growing and need people. They want to hire you. Sometimes, if you get really lucky, they don’t even ask many (if any questions).
I remember walking out of my office one day and seeing a man with scores of tattoos down his arm sitting directly outside of my office. I had no idea how he had been hired. The man had a shaved head and was wearing jeans and a starchy clean tee shirt. He had a belt on that appeared to be a chain of some sort and was also wearing boots. The man had some of the most intimidating and scary looking muscles I’ve ever seen on a human being. He looked like a larger skinhead version of Mr. T, with a shaved head, and a bad attitude towards humanity. Just to be clear, this is not the sort of office atmosphere I’ve traditionally fostered where I have worked. This was quite a scene for me and a lot to take in. I didn’t care, however. It is best to allow people to be themselves.
”Nice tattoos!” I told him as I exited my office. I noticed that his biceps were probably larger than my calves. I probably shouldn’t have said this. The tattoo on his arm appeared to be some sort of important scene. It looked like a woman with a snake wrapped around her body screaming. Whatever it represented, the tattoo was positively intimidating.
I will never forget what happened next. The man looked up at me and growled, then went back to whatever he was working on. I was afraid he was going to kill me.
I met with several people over the next few days and no one could figure out how he got hired. We’d been so busy with everything, he’d been hired by mistake. He’d showed up for work and people were so afraid of the guy, they didn’t want to tell him he wasn’t really hired. Then, incredibly, he was allowed to start work. At the time, we had around 120 people working in the particular office. About 30 people who were sitting within 20-feet of this guy were stone cold silent during the day. It had formerly been a fun and playful work atmosphere, but they were all absolutely terrified. Men and women.
“We need to fire this guy and get him out of here,” I told a group of our managers behind a closed door meeting one day. “I’m afraid he is going to kill someone.”
It certainly looked that way. The guy skulked through the office, bumping into people, and staring them down in response when they didn’t react. Everyone (including myself) was absolutely terrified of this man.
“I’m not going to fire him. He will kill me if I do!'” one manager said. One after another, the managers came back with the same thing. There was no way any one of them was going to fire this guy because they were terrified of him.
Every single manager refused to fire the guy. They were afraid of physical violence directed towards them. We ended the meeting with none of us knowing what to do. A few days later, a guy in the mail room declared that he was not afraid of the guy and would fire him. This completed the process and everything went pretty smoothly from there, as far as I know.
When companies are in ”hiring mode,” they need people so badly that even assassins can make it through the door (as evidenced by this case). Back at this particular point in time, our company was so desperate to hire people, it was amazing. These are the sorts of employers you need to find. A company that is growing and needs people.
In a bad economy, places like debt settlement firms, collections agencies, and others are growing and bursting at the seams. In a good economy, it may be mortgage companies. The point is there are always tons of employers out there who are growing and want to hire you. I read a story the other day about a debt settlement company that is growing so fast, it’s unbelievable. You need to find companies like this.
When you go in to interview with any company, they are desperate to hire you or someone else.
Think about it. When an employer takes the time to line people up to interview you and bring you in to speak with them, they must be pretty eager to hire someone. Most employers that are interviewing people are very eager to hire. Exceptionally eager. Here is what happens, however. Most people go into interviews and throw off all of the wrong signals and end up not getting the job.
It happens to everyone.
You don’t get the job because you throw off the wrong signals and the employer thinks you don’t want the job, don’t have the confidence or charisma for the position, or cannot handle the position.
Every interview you go on, the employer is wishing and hoping from the bottom of their heart that you are the perfect person for the position. The employer wants you to go in and say all of the right things and do all of the right things. When you go into an interview, you should assume the employer is enthusiastic about hiring you. Many people, however, end up psyching themselves out and thinking something else is going on. They go into the interviews with a bad attitude and an attitude that prevents them from getting the job of their dreams. Do not let this person be you.
If an employer takes the time to put an advertisement somewhere, the chances are they really need someone. It costs $500 or more to post a job on many websites. If an employer takes the time to pick up the phone, call you, and bring you in for an interview, chances are they’re interested. They may have had hundreds of applications just for your spot.
Employers interviewing you are excited. They want you to be exactly the person they are hoping you will be and the sort of person they advertised for. Go into each interview ready to seize the day. Take the job you’re entitled to and deserve.
People go into interviews many times with very low expectations. Instead of believing they are the perfect fit for the job and that the employer really wants to hire them, they go in with the attitude that the employer will probably choose someone else, or they may not fit the position.
Why do employers want to hire you so much?
They want to hire you because without you in the company, they are losing money. Regardless of the job you are interviewing for, whatever you are doing is likely something a good employer can make money off of. If you’re answering the phone, you are giving someone more time to work on other aspects of the business (bringing in clients, for example). If you’re sweeping the floor, you’re allowing people in the company to not have to worry about this and, instead, spend their time worrying about something else. Companies that need people, need them because they can make money through their efforts.
What I want for you is to look at all of the job opening advertisements out there and all of the companies out there as opportunities. You need to understand that employers are eager and enthusiastic to hire you. Don’t allow yourself to think otherwise.
THE LESSON
Whenever you attend an interview, remember you are there because your prospective employer has already made an investment in calling you in and really wants to hire you. Most people enter interview with negative preconceptions about their employer’s opinions and their own prospects, ultimately bringing about their own failures. Bringing such thoughts into an interview projects negative vibes, and signals a lack of enthusiasm and confidence to your employer. Always keep a positive outlook when walking into an interview.
| Interested in More Interview Advice? |
| Read More About Providing Too Much Information That Gives the Employer Reasons not to Hire You: |
About Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes is the Founder of BCG Attorney Search and a successful legal recruiter himself. Harrison is extremely committed to and passionate about the profession of legal placement. His firm BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys. BCG Attorney Search works with attorneys to dramatically improve their careers by leaving no stone unturned in a search and bringing out the very best in them. Harrison has placed the leaders of the nation’s top law firms, and countless associates who have gone on to lead the nation’s top law firms. There are very few firms Harrison has not made placements with. Harrison’s writings about attorney careers and placements attract millions of reads each year. He coaches and consults with law firms about how to dramatically improve their recruiting and retention efforts. His company LawCrossing has been ranked on the Inc. 500 twice. For more information, please visit Harrison Barnes’ bio.
About BCG Attorney Search
BCG Attorney Search matches attorneys and law firms with unparalleled expertise and drive that gets results. Known globally for its success in locating and placing attorneys in law firms of all sizes, BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys in law firms in thousands of different law firms around the country. Unlike other legal placement firms, BCG Attorney Search brings massive resources of over 150 employees to its placement efforts locating positions and opportunities that its competitors simply cannot. Every legal recruiter at BCG Attorney Search is a former successful attorney who attended a top law school, worked in top law firms and brought massive drive and commitment to their work. BCG Attorney Search legal recruiters take your legal career seriously and understand attorneys. For more information, please visit www.BCGSearch.com.