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 Traveling a couple of hours for an interview is outdated.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.

Live: It Is Your Skill, Your Clients, Your Business And Your Choice

Here are a few of my email responses to job consultants, recruiters and hiring managers in the past few months

Dear ABC,

 I have met XYZ yesterday. My constraints are with time and therefore have to pass this opportunity for the more deserving. Thank you for letting me have this learning experience. In my personal capacity, I will definitely refer my contacts to avail your services, whenever the need arises. I am already following your firm on twitter for industry updates 

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Yes please

 I will be interested in the opportunity however on contractual basis or assignment basis (Not full time) I have relocated to Kolkata a couple of months back therefore we will have to collaborate on SKYPE. If this arrangement is okay, I will be glad to take this forward. Regards 

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I am based in Bangalore and cannot relocate to Chennai. I can remotely support training/ learning function on demand/ contract basis like I support other start companies with plans, content, website, coaching modules etc, if (Company Name) is open to the concept.  

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Thank you for contacting.

 (Company Name) HR has directly sent me a mail for this opportunity. As I support startup companies with business plans, website content, marketing campaign, leadership coaching, training modules, on demand basis, I have reverted back to (Company Name), if they are open to similar idea of me supporting transition function without being a full time employee - Transition role is need based subject to deal wins. If sales do not win new clients, transition team does not have much to do which is a huge bandwidth waste. If you can pitch this idea to them, do reach out to me if there is a possibility. As far as I know (Company Name) is a 60 member transition team - I just do not want to be another new hire there please. I can sign NDA/ Contract/ confidentiality clauses to ensure there is no conflict of interest. Just that after 11 years in BPO, over 6 years in Bid Management and Transitioning several projects across Banking, Telecom etc, I need better exposure. Thanks again.

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That is how polite I am while responding to job inquiries today. First thing you will notice is I have stated my priority upfront - My time.

You will also notice, I am not flatly refusing the opportunity - I am leaving the note with a subtle pitch they may want to consider to avail my services. 

Seriously, what I did in my corporate years, AltLearn Ventures is just an extension of that capability backed by a virtual team to serve more than one company. So each of these companies can be our potential clients. Inward marketing is just as good as outward marketing.

Though I know it will take a while, may be close to another decade when even the large corporations will begin to think on those lines and feel the need to switch to part time consultants and contractual assignments for their daily activities. This is not outsourcing processes, job or office activities. This is need based in-sourcing.

M&M

You have a perfect plan for the day. To optimize your productivity you decided to do all the “thinking” piece of work when your mind is fresh – before lunch.

Traffic was not easy somehow you got over it when you got yourself a steaming cup of coffee. Just when you were about to begin work, you were called for a meeting.

The problem here is your reporting manager also has similar plans to do all the important meetings - before lunch.

So the “thinking” piece of work moves to late evening and by the time, your first and final cut is ready, the whole thing spills over to late nights.

That was my first aha point.

I write long mails in the portal itself and that is all I do to understand my client's work and deliver my assignment. I do not share email ID, SKYPE ID, phone number - nothing.

Denial Mode

Many people I know stay in denial about the reality of their job situation. They are okay with 

Extended work hours

Working weekends

Doing the mundane

Lack of recognition

It is not the company's increment and incentive structure that is holding them back or the fact that the job market is not quite encouraging. They are yet to identify their top sell-able skills to find clients based on their individual capability without a company's name to back their credentials or achievement.

After years in Corporate, the first client acquisition based on your lead, pitch, proposal, credentials does a lot of good to your confidence - the path and vision gets clearer. With every new client, your working style becomes better and a proven model.

That is the second aha moment

Now, as I hand hold others seeking alternative careers, additional income through a startup or part time venture, either through my booklet or coaching session, I facilitate their journey to reach exactly those two aha moments first.

1] Freedom from M&M - The age old saga of meetings and managers. 

2] Winning a client purely based on your skills - Without any recommendation

Soon, I and many like me, should be able write this,to every recruiter who has time based role offer,

We are not really good match

Can we talk skill based role please?

I find myself more resourceful as an external coach, unaffected by internal sycophancy, politics, people pleasing attitude, bureaucracy and waste of time or bandwidth that runs in many organizations as part of their culture, too deep to ignore and tolerate.

I also know a decent percentage of population is already out of corporate to work on their business ideas, establish online income independently, work their own hours, do their own thing and passionate about their work.

Are you keen to launch your coaching business or trade your skills and expertise to many clients?

Write to advocating.outcomes@gmail.com for a checklist to get started

Look Beyond Recruitment Practices

Some reality bites do not really feature in the resume. If you are a live Hiring Manager, who deals with real problems, you should be able to see the person beyond his stories, his problems, make a few exceptions in policies and stay human. Get him to the interview board. Hear him out. He is probably the one. A few biases to deal with:

Startup Failure: After years of corporate experience, someone wanted to build something of his own; he put his entire savings in that dream project. Lack of experience, guidance or tenacity, regardless of the reason, dynamics of business somewhere pulled him down and he is back to job hunting. How fair is it to treat that person as failure and ignore all his past achievements in his corporate life? Would you label the candidate as immature? How fair is it to doubt his stability that he might quit to try a start up again?

Lay Off: Being laid off does not always mean performance issues. Let us get real here. It is not the average or under performers on the first list. Who do you think is high on earnings – all those resources who performed well in their initial years, got rewarded with high percentage hikes and those took more responsibilities and got promoted. So, when money is tight, any guesses what the strategy will be? Their talents and experience can build the company’s future however as they are not attached to day-to-day revenue, out they go. Only an interviewer who understands business dynamics and changing eco system can see through this and hire him.

Facing Redundancy: As Insurance is focused vertical this year the company decides to purchase an Insurance company to strengthen their portfolio of services and grow client base. You were key Insurance professional till that happened and suddenly, you are surplus. The hiring manager based on his own personal conditioning can pre suppose that you are not redundant, just incompetent. Even if the resource is exploring new territory, the Hiring Manager can still be blind to that. Remember, only the very competent can dare to go beyond their domain expertise.

Career Mistake: They offered a huge package and you were flattered. Only after you join you learn, it is not exactly your skills or industry expertise that they were interested in, as you were hardly given any responsibilities. It is not just the leads and deals that you were working from the previous company that mattered, you were given the Herculean Task to pitch to the same prospects. Yes, most of us know how difficult it is to explain people that you could not pursue the job as your Ethics and Integrity did not allow you to stoop that low.

Unemployed: If current status is unemployed, the resource has probably lost his edge. No one lives a life that has an upward graph always. Stand up and defend a profile when you think it deserves a closer look. Recruitment problems are complex. Is it a complicated pregnancy, an ailing parent, a pet project, a crash course, travel – Does that justify the unemployment? He is just a call away anyways. Listen. Never Assume.

It is your personal choice whether you want to be human or be driven by a set of blanket policies and continue the rounds without challenging status quo. By the end of the day, you fail to hit the numbers and meet recruitment goals because the best resources are out due that checklist you have.

BECKON Model thrives on questionnaires – a series of them. By the time you are answering the third or fourth questionnaire, you already know what needs to be done, regardless of which department you belong - Recruitment, Business or Talent Development.