Last month Bonnie Hoy & Associates successfully completed more than a dozen placements in our industry, which represent our best month to date. While some people are moving ahead in the industry there are many that are falling by the wayside and finding themselves completely unemployable with reputable firms. Today, we want to speak to those individuals that find themselves unmarketable or who are perhaps not behaving in a reputable manner and may therefore soon find themselves int he same position.
There are three cardinal rules that people break with no hesitation, but with enormous consequence. Never bash your boss! The issues make no difference – you just don’t share those details when you’re looking for another job. People lose respect for you immediately and the only message you convey is that you’re not trustworthy. If you’ve been let go from a position where there was conflict with your immediate superior use phrases like “we had different management styles”. The minute you make one negative remark about your current or past employer you might as well get up, shake the interviewer’s hand and leave. This industry is too small and if you’ve worked in it for three years everybody already knows who you are.
If you change jobs three times in five years, even if it’s just a promotion, you run the risk of being seen as a jumper. Jumper is a term we use to describe people who are only driven by the almighty dollar. The problem is that landlords don’t want people who’ll leave their job for a few extra bucks because there is always someone out there who will pay a dollar more. If you do it too often, the salary scale just starts moving in the opposite direction. Employers will start to see you as high risk and as someone that’s been around the block too many times. I’ve seen this happen to property mangers repeatedly. After moving around three times in five years your value just drops between ten to twenty-five percent to any employer.
Finally, when you’re at work-related functions, dress and drink appropriately. I was recently in an executive meeting with a major landlord and they were talking about an outside candidate for a position. One of the team asked if that was the person they’d seen behaving badly at a particular event and another member of the team said yes it was. The company decided to take a pass. The sad thing was, I remembered that event that they were referring to – it happened in 2000. People in this industry have memories like elephants. We never forget.
One last caution – be careful what you post of Facebook. Holding a beer or glass of wine doesn’t exactly send a positive message when you’re looking for a job. Privacy settings people – use them!