Alternate People Model: This Concept Will Take Some Time To Catch Up

Yesterday was my nephew’s birthday and so we were at my sister’s place for a small family gathering.

The night before yesterday I received a call from a real estate firm stating they received my submission on LinkedIn however without a resume. For me, every company I ping on LinkedIn is a lead for potential business – work scope that I can front end with client (Company) and my virtual team can execute under my supervision.

The key components of the work scope will be my ownership.

I am the single point of contact with client
I am the one receiving the instructions.

The role was Digital Marketing - My virtual team's sweet spot. They are trained on that and have executed assignment for US clients in Real Estate industry.

I was glued to my laptop till 3.30 AM doing something of medium importance and completely missed sending the resume.

I woke up yesterday morning with another call from the firm and even before the caller spoke, I apologized and promised to send my resume, withing 10 minutes - which I did. In the mail, I categorically specified I am open for contractual assignments only and I am not stepping out (work from home)

Within a couple of hours I receive another call to attend an interview on Tuesday. 

Now this is the difficult part. Traveling a couple of hours for an interview is outdated.

I do not just work from home for my clients, I do not get interviewed. 

I do short paid assignments to let clients test my skills and ability. Then we go long term or discuss the major project. If I like the industry and the subject in scope, I am okay to do a no obligation sample assignment. If they agree, the client will be made aware that the sample will show up in my portfolio and will be their intellectual property only if it is paid for.

I had to very gently offer alternatives to the lady who called - that I was open for SKYPE interview (Digital) and Test Assignment (Digital) only

Here is the irony. As I mentioned earlier in this blog, the role is digital marketing and the interview is physical - Why can't I be allowed to sell my skills digitally too?

The benefits of SKYPE interview:

1] Saves travel time 

2] Screen/ documents can be shared for past assignments done successfully and ongoing projects for which candidate has approval from clients to share with potential prospects

3] Live demonstration of how digital marketing can be done effectively 

4] It reflects company culture and forward thinking attitude.

5] There is mutual respect for each other's time which is a great contributor to build strong business relationship

6] This reduces the hiring cycle time frame considerably because the logistics part of coordinating with prospective candidates to attend interview, negotiating time, giving address instructions is down to zero.

Are the companies here ready for this little change? It will require some effort from both parties.

Write to advocating.outcomes@gmail.com if you have thoughts and perspectives on this. The most apt response will be published here.