Zookel Blog: News & Views

Archive for the 'Paul's Blog' Category

The Swans & The Patriots – Lessons Learned

Posted September 24, 2009 * Comments(0)

Having just finished reading James Lavin’s book Management Secrets of the New England Patriots; From Patsies to Triple Super Bowl Champs – I thought it was worthy of reflecting on a couple of key takeaways:

  1. Similar to the Sydney Swans (an AFL team in Australia) and their “no dickheads” policy The Patriots focus on the group or team dynamics over the individual.
  2. Whilst some players inevitably have a higher profile – as stated by Lavin The Patriots “don’t want a team of overpaid stars and a bunch of resentful journeymen making the league minimum” instead they “bring in people who value being part of a successful organization, and like to be around other hard-working guys who want to win,” The result: Few Patriots players have stellar individual statistics, but the “team” has two of the longest winning streaks in National Football League history. And it has won three Super Bowls in four years.
  3. Similarly the Swans have overlooked potential recruits with “superior skills” because they didn’t have the right character. As their manager (Paul Roos) says “I won’t name the names, but we’ve been laughed at sometimes for overlooking kids because they didn’t have the qualities we wanted…a few years later, the same blokes are making headlines for the wrong sort of things. They’re underperforming”. The result: The swans won the AFL title for the first time in 72 years in 2005 and backed up by making the finals for five straight seasons.
  4. Both teams have taken somewhat radical steps to reinforce the focus on the group for example:
    • The Swans have implemented the practice of a leadership group and co-captains. The leadership group are senior players who set the code of conduct, dictate the culture, and importantly deal with any breaches to the code. The idea of co-captains again reduces the focus & pressure on one individual to be “the man” and instead relies on the combined strengths, skills and differences of three.
    • The Patriots have shied away from individual performance goals and focused instead on broad measures. If the team wins a set number of games, or if fans and coaches vote a player into the Pro Bowl, bonuses kick in. There are also smaller penalties and incentives meant to bring about shared responsibility. For instance, if an offensive lineman jumps offside during practice, the entire offense does a lap, not just the player. “The idea,” says Lavin, “is make everybody feel responsible for everybody else.”

Is The Swans / Patriots approach the best (or indeed the only successful one)?

Clearly not.

However the success and uniqueness of the approach they’ve taken does reinforce that adding the culture & management structure of the company you’re interested in joining (or the indeed the potential new recruits fit within the company culture & management structure) to your evaluation (or selection) criteria is critical.

What do we do at Zookel? Personally I’d much rather play in a champion team than a team of champions.

Good luck with the continued job hunt.

Paul & Team Zookel

Zookel nominated in TechCrunch Europas

Posted June 30, 2009 * Comments(0)
TechCrunch Europas Logo

TechCrunch Europas 2009

We’re proud, impressed, and ever so slightly embarrassed that TechCrunch, the go to Tech blog, has nominated Zookel for the Best Bootstrapped Startup award in the TechCrunch Europas.

What exactly are the Europas? As described by TechCrunch:

These awards will recognise and celebrate the most compelling technology startups, Internet and mobile innovations of the past year (Summer 08 – Summer 09), with the tech community invited to have a say in which finalists should be recognised.

What does it mean?

As the only job site recognised in the category we’re pretty excited to be nominated, particularly in such exalted company. That said, we’d be lying if we said we wouldn’t love to win!

What do I need to do?

If like TechCrunch you believe we’re onto something please cast your vote for us today.  And if you’re so inclined tell your family. And friends. And the random people that follow you on Twitter.

Thanks!

Paul & Team Zookel

More Lessons from the downturn!

Posted June 22, 2009 * Comments(0)

I’ve increasingly been reading about (or more like seeking out) innovative strategies both individuals and companies are coming up with to deal with the economic downturn.

Having previously asked the question what can we learn from Graham Edwards. I thought it would be good to look at it from the other side and consider what we can learn from the strategy of Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre.

The background story in a nutshell:

  • Facing the need to find $20 mil in budget savings Levy was being forced to consider layoffs.
  • Levy examined the details of how the Hospital worked – especially how the often-overlooked frontline employees did their jobs. He was impressed by what he saw, and wanted to both protect the lowest wage earners and recognize their commitment.
  • When Levy gathered his 6000+ employees together to discuss the options rather than making mass redundancies, he offered a creative solution: “I want to run an idea by you that I think is important, and I’d like to get your reaction to it,” Levy told the assembly. “I’d like to do what we can do to protect the lower-wage earners — the transporters, the housekeepers, the food-service people…If we protect these workers, it means the rest of us will have to make a bigger sacrifice. It means that others will have to give up more of their salary or benefits.”
  • The consensus was that the workers didn’t want anyone to get laid off and were willing to give up pay and benefits to make sure no one did.
  • As a result of the combined commitment of the management and staff the number of necessary redundancies has reduced dramatically, from over 600 to about 150, and this will be achieved at the same time as providing earnings protection to the 900 lowest wage workers.

The three lessons I take from this brilliant initiative are:

  1. Creativity is not an option it’s a requirement. Just as candidates need to be increasingly creative when presenting themselves (using videos and psychometrics etc) and networking for new jobs, so do Employers when determining how to deal with the downturn.
  2. Honesty & Transparency is the best policy. We’ve consistently endorsed honesty in terms of candidates CV’s & interview answers. Equally as employers (putting aside the times when you can’t legally share all you’d like to) we believe that the only way to gain trust and respect is to treat employees with honesty & transparency.
  3. Mindset & Attitude are key. Could Levy have achieved this without having a team that reflects the mindset & attitude he wants within the organisation? Unlikely. Equally would you as an employee or job seeker be willing to make a similar sacrifice if you didn’t share the same mindset & attitude as your colleagues? Also unlikely*.

See other lessons? Let us know by leaving a comment. And as always good luck with the job hunt, and please feel free to drop us a note if we can help.

Paul & Team Zookel

*Granted we’re biased as one of the reasons we built psychometrics into the core of Zookel is to allow candidates to understand their career motivations and the type of company they’d be successful working for.

Why is it that candidates always leave it too late to evaluate a job offer?

Posted June 4, 2009 * Comments(1)

Job offers rarely come as a complete surprise. Even if you’re headhunted the process is likely to take more than a month to complete. So my question is – Why do candidates almost always wait until the offer is in hand to start evaluating it?

The answer – most candidates consider the offer to be primarily about the salary. Whilst it’s true salary is critical, people working solely for money will eventually feel unfulfilled.

So if salary’s not the only factor – What should candidates be considering before the offer is made?

The four most important – pre offer considerations.

1. The job. You’re likely to have applied for it, but that doesn’t mean you actually want it. From the initial application through to offer you will generally go through a number of interviews, during which time you’ll learn more about the true nature of the job and the day-to-day responsibilities. The more you can find out about the job before receiving the offer, the more likely you are to make the right choice. Asking yourself the following questions will help:

  • Does the job match your interests and make good use of your skills?
  • How important is the job to the company or organisation?
  • How long do most people who enter this job stay with the company?
  • Is the job a lateral move or promotion?
  • Does the job title adequately describe what the job is?
  • How will accepting the role alter my lifestyle?
  • Are there clear opportunities for growth and advancement?

2. The organisation. During the interview process you’re likely to gain a greater insight into the organisation, its culture and whether it is a good place for you to work. It’s also likely you’ll have the opportunity to review any press articles, track the share price (if it’s a public company), and ask peers within the industry for their opinion on the company. Factors to consider include:

  • Does the organisation’s business or activity match your own interests and beliefs?
  • Is the organisation financially sound and what are the growth prospects?
  • Should you work for a relatively new organisation or one that is well established?
  • What is the reputation and image of employer?
  • Who are the organisation’s key competitors and how are they viewed in comparison?
  • Is the organisation rigid or flexible? Does it work strictly by the book?
  • Does the organisation have a record of layoffs or downsizing?

3. The Industry. The industry the company works within or earns the majority of its revenue from (for multi industry companies) has a large influence on the company culture, will impact on how success is measured, and will to some extent shape the boundaries of its future growth prospects (assuming it remains within that industry), Some questions to think about:

  • Is the industry high growth, commoditised, or at risk from technical innovation?
  • How does the macro environment or business cycle effect the industry?
  • Is there any industry dependence on government policies and programs?
  • Is the general publics’ view of the industry positive or negative?
  • Would working in the industry help your long term career prospects regardless of the organisation?

4. Your Manager & the team. The impact of your direct manager and the team you work within is often underestimated when taking a new role. And yet when you talk to people who are happy within their role they will consistently refer in part or whole to their boss and workmates. Without a boss who is committed to helping you learn and succeed, and a team that works towards common goals you may quickly find the other benefits of a role simply aren’t worth that much. It’s therefore worth trying to:

  • Assess how the boss will serve as a mentor, and what you will learn from him/her.
  • Ask questions around his/her interpersonal and management style.
  • Talk to your potential boss about the team before you accept the position.
  • Understand (as much as possible) the team structure, chemistry & dynamics.

Should I do this for every role I apply for?

Definitely not – that would be a waste of time and energy.

You do however want to consider them before any final interview. Not only will they make you better prepared for any offer when it comes, but they should also help you to ask sensible, clear, concise questions in the interview itself. And as an employer I can assure you that seeing a prepared candidate with considered questions is always positive!

As always good luck with the job hunt, and please feel free to drop us a note if we can help.

Paul & Team Zookel

Do you share too much Online?

Posted April 28, 2009 * Comments(2)

Interests: Drinking & getting naked.

Perhaps successful interests (as listed on Facebook) when it comes to attracting a new partner, but less likely to be when you’re applying for a role within a professional leadership organisation as was the case with the above.

With interviewers increasingly turning Internet detective to find out what jobseekers say about themselves on social networking websites, it’s more important than ever to consider what your social profile looks like.

To emphasize the point let’s look at the lessons learnt from the recent run of horror stories:

  1. Cisco Fatty. Lesson: Criticizing your current (or indeed your previous or future) boss or company is unlikely to be a good idea but is likely to come back to bite you.
  2. Sickie Email (or more recently Swiss Sacking). Lesson: Your social network is likely to be more visible than you realise. Whilst boring its well worth managing your public settings and thinking about who you’re connected to and why. Also don’t be plain stupid (as in the case of Sickie Email).
  3. Oxford students. Lesson: Incriminating pictures have the shelf life of nuclear waste.
  4. VP of PR. Lesson: Think before you post.
  5. Interests Drinking & Getting Naked*. Lesson: Listing details of your very personal interests or romantic life is rarely a good idea.

Despite the horror stories above I firmly believe that Social Networks are (and will be) a vital tool for jobseekers (indeed it’s one of the reasons we created Zookel). Like any new technology however we sometimes need to step back and learn the rules and our personal parameters in order to gain the greatest benefit.

As always good luck with the job hunt, and please feel free to drop us a note if we can help.

Paul & Team Zookel

*Note – no link provided to Interests Drinking & Getting Naked as this story was shared in confidence.

What can we learn from Graham Edwards?

Posted March 23, 2009 * Comments(0)

For those of you who haven’t heard Graham Edwards is the graphics worker who recently offered to pay £2000 to charity in order to secure a new job.

We’ve often talked about the need to stand out differentially, something I personally believe is always critical, but perhaps even more so in a down economy. Whilst Graham’s approach to this is clearly in the extreme and definitely not for everyone I admire it for a number of reasons:

  • It was somewhat philanthropic in that the £2000 went to charity rather than to the future employer.
  • It was structured smartly with £1000 going to charity up front and £1000 after Graham had passed his probation period.
  • By being willing to risk his own money (or putting his money where his mouth is so to speak) Graham showed great confidence in his ability to deliver – something almost 100% of employers looks for when hiring.
  • Perhaps more than anything it was proof that no matter what the prevailing economic environment thinking outside the box, and striving to stand out can help.

Now, I’m not suggesting that jobseekers everywhere should go and raid their savings to further their career. I am however continuing my push for jobseekers to be creative, and to look to differentiate themselves when searching.

Of course I’m slightly biased but I’d argue that one good way for jobseekers to differentiate themselves quickly and simply is to set-up a Zookel profile. Granted it won’t get the same press coverage as offering £2000, but with psychometric tests, video CV’s, personal recommendations, and more it may just help you show you’ve got what it takes to succeed.

As always we’d love to hear your feedback not only on this post, but on the site itself. And of course good luck on the job hunt!

Paul & Team Zookel

The employment landscape and how can you thrive in it?

Posted February 27, 2009 * Comments(0)

When it comes to unemployment forecasts, it’s difficult to know who – or what – to believe.

Just take a look at the data:

  • In July 2008, the OECD was predicting a 100,000 rise in UK unemployment over the course of 2009 and 2010.
  • Two months later, the CBI forecast an unemployment surge of 450,000 by the end of 2009, meaning that over two million people would be looking for work by Christmas.
  • And just as we were digesting this news, the Institute for Public Policy Research painted an even bleaker picture, stating that unemployment would exceed three million during 2009.

Who’s right, who should we believe, more importantly what can you do as a job seeker to thrive in these uncertain times? None of us can influence the future or the economic landscape around us; instead I believe it’s time to focus on YOU.

Here are my top five tips:

  1. Stand out. With increased competition its critical you stand out to potential employers. How – you could use Zookel’s your career focus profile and video CV to show why you’re a great candidate, work for free for a week to prove yourself, or use blogs and forums to build your personal brand.
  2. Network, network, network. The people in your network know your skills, strengths and ambitions. So whether it’s your former colleagues on LinkedIn or friends and family on Facebook, why not use this to your advantage?
  3. Look for pockets of positivity. New funding = new jobs, so it’s worth assessing whether you can transfer your skills to a growth sector you haven’t considered before. For example could your skills transfer to the charities sector where the government has recently announced £42.5 mil in new funding?
  4. Update your skills and knowledge. Now’s the time to ensure your skills and knowledge are completely up to date. Whether it’s attending conferences and webinars, or enrolling in longer term University or College courses, the key is: know your area and stay in the loop!
  5. Be prepared. You’ve found the perfect role and got an interview, so don’t blow it by not being prepared. Find out as much about the company as possible. Review official reports (like the ones on Zookel), the company website, and news aggregators like socialmedian In short, do whatever you can to ensure that you’re ready to shine at the interview.

In my view, the current economic conditions and the Web 2.0 revolution mean the ‘traditional’ job search is dead.

You need to do more than write a CV, send it out, sit back and wait for a call. You have to work as hard to get a job as you will once you’ve got it.

So be proactive, use all the tools at your disposal and put yourself at the front of the pack and good luck!

Paul & Team Zookel

We’re a month old! And what a month it’s been!

Posted January 30, 2009 Comments Off

paul-duggan-twitter-image1We first took the covers off Zookel’s public beta a little over a month ago, with the goal of changing the face of online recruitment.

Whilst there’s certainly a long way to go before we can declare our success, as a team (and indeed personally) we couldn’t be happier with our progress.

Our highlights:

Keep tuned our plan is to continue to use this blog as a way of updating our users, clients, and supporters of our progress.

It’s a fair question?

Since we moved into public beta in mid December one of the recurring questions I’ve been asked is – ‘why launch a recruitment site in an economic downturn’.

When we first started developing Zookel in May 08, there were signs that we were potentially heading towards a downturn, so it’s a very valid question.

So, why did we continue to invest and launch Zookel rather than wait? The simple reason is that during this downturn (and the ongoing war for talent) the benefits of a site that can improve the process for applicants competing for roles, and for recruiters seeking to identify the best candidates are clearer than ever.

We’re confident that Zookel is starting to deliver real change for our users and recruiters. We hope you share our enthusiasm! And if you haven’t yet checked Zookel out – click here to see the progress we’ve made.

Paul & Team Zookel