We're All Replaceable – Are You Ready?

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I once read an opinion piece in the New York Times by Dan Lyons, who worked at a software company where involuntary turnover (i.e., getting fired or laid off) was the norm. The fact that you could be fired on any day, for any reason, was routine.

Rough and tumble corporate cultures are nothing new. And while not every company is a meat grinder, the truth is that deliberately tough work environments do exist, and employers aren't necessarily selling themselves as best-in-class places to work. They demand results. The social contract is simple enough: We give you a paycheck, and you work in the environment we choose to foster.

Websites like Glassdoor will show you reviews of companies' work environments by former and current employees. My guess (and it's just a guess) is that this increased level of transparency has led some companies to embrace the fact that working there isn't going to be a Shangri-La. It's kind of freeing for executive leadership, in a way - if people know you're not too worried about employee engagement, you can focus that energy on simply producing results.

Going back to the opinion piece mentioned at the beginning of this post, the detail that really caught my attention was that Lyons' employer evaluated employees in their appraisals with a metric called VORP - Value Over a Replacement Player. This is a baseball statistic that general managers use to decide when to trade or cut players. In other words, if there's a second baseman on the market who can do the same job for less, or deliver better stats at the same rate of pay, the GM has data that can support making a personnel change at moment’s notice.

This, according to the article, is transparent to employees, they can tell immediately how much the organization values them. What's scary about this is that Major League Baseball is a truly elite work environment - at any given time, there's only 750 positions available at the highest level. And these players are paid elite money to deal with this uncertainty - and to reward them for the level of performance they are expected to deliver.

The average MLB player knows the odds - there are hundreds of thousands of people competing for his job. And his career averages 5.6 years in length. Longevity isn't necessarily part of the equation.

But the fact that this practice has entered the mainstream should serve as a wake-up call to employees. We are all replaceable. There is always somebody ready to come along and do our job.

How can you prepare?

• Be self-aware. Are your skills up to date? How about your soft skills, do you get along well with others? Your employer and coworkers are very aware of your strengths and weaknesses, and you should be, too. If you realize you're lacking in a certain area, work on developing your skill set. It's worth it.
  

• Know where you stand. Have regular touch-bases with your manager. Engage in open dialogue about your performance and expectations. Make sure you're both aligned, and you know what is believed to be a personal strength or development area.
  

• Keep your resume and your LinkedIn profile current. Change may come faster than you anticipate, and not necessarily on your terms. You need to be ready in case opportunity knocks.
  

• Always be networking. The worst time to start building up your connections is when you need a job. Have your network in place and give it some TLC. Pay it forward - help people in your network when you're in a position to do so, so that others have a reason to give you a solid. Be nice to people – it pays dividends.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercareerstrategies.com.

I Just Got a Job Offer! What Do All The Words in this Letter Mean?

Sign it! Sign it! / iStockphoto.com (Grinvalds)

Congratulations! After five weeks and multiple rounds of interviews, the company decided to extend you a written job offer!

The recruiter emails you the offer and... holy cow, this thing is long. The letter has to be at least two pages long and filled with business speak. What do I make of all this? And why did the company feel the need to send me their own version of War and Peace?

Believe it or not, that lengthy letter you're holding in your hands is a well thought out document, that – if well written – details most of the things about compensation, terms, and conditions, and the other effluvia you need to consider prior to accepting a job offer.

Let's go through the components of a typical offer letter. But first, there are two important items I'd like to mention:

I am not an attorney, nor do I presume to give legal advice. This is a general guide to reading a job offer; if you have serious questions or concerns about the wording of an offer, I advise you to find appropriate legal counsel. But that's not me.

This article details what you will typically find in an offer. There are as many variations to offer letters as there are companies extending employment, so how much or how little documentation a company chooses to include in the letter can vary wildly - from the verbal offer to a lengthy contract.

Let's talk about the components of an offer:

1. Salary: How much the company pays you to do your job. This will usually be presented as an annualized figure., such as $35,000 per year, and broken down into per-pay-period amount, such as $1,346 per bi-weekly. The reason for this is that unless you sign a serious contract (like a Major League Baseball player or head coach in the NCAA) your pay is not guaranteed. Your job is likely at-will, meaning that once you stop working, so does payroll. This will often tell you if or when you will be eligible for the merit increase (i.e. raise) based upon your performance appraisal and the regular salary review cycle. Some companies don't give regular raises - be warned.
    

2. Incentive Compensation: Many companies give out bonuses to employees in certain jobs if they, the company, and or their business unit meet some combination of performance goals. This is usually presented as a percentage of salary, such as "12% of eligible earnings." Keep in mind, this is just a target; companies often give more or less (or none) depending upon how that performance turns out. Often, the letter will state that you will have to be employed on a certain date and have worked a certain period (like the previous full year) to collect this. Terms will often be detailed in the offer letter.
    

3. Long-Term Incentive: Higher-level folks, like executives, often get offers for stock options and the like. It's usually detailed in here.
    

4. Sign-on Bonus: If company really wants you to join, they may throw some extra cash at you to help influence your decision. They'll detail the amount they're offering you - and they'll detail how they'll claw back a portion of the bonus or the entire amount in case you leave before a certain time (like 1 or 2 years of employment) – companies often include this language to encourage employee retention. My advice: If you're not sure you're going to love the job, put the money in escrow so that you can hand it back when you leave.
    

5. Relocation Assistance: Moving the old homestead from Texas to California for the job? The company may offer you relocation assistance in the form of mover services or a cash allocation so that you can handle the move itself. The specifics of the actual relocation itself usually reside in a separate policy document, so ask for this if they offer you a relocation package. Again, the company may try to claw back a portion or all of your relocation expenses if you leave the company too soon, and these costs can really add up to major cash.
    

6. Tuition Reimbursement: Your new employer may pay some or all of the tuition for you to get that degree you've wanted to pursue. There are two catches. First, the degree usually has to be something that will add to the company's benefit in your current role (in other words, if you work in Accounting, they'll more likely approve tuition for an MBA than for a Theater Arts Degree). Second, clawbacks in case you leave usually apply.
    

7. Health & Wellness Benefits: This explains the benefits you will typically qualify for - such as health insurance, long- and short-term disability insurance, life insurance, dental insurance, etc., and when you're eligible to get these benefits. The letter will usually tell you when and how you qualify, but won't get into the nitty–gritty of what your benefits cost you (your premiums and copays) and what's covered. You'll need the benefits brochures - ask for them.
    

8. Vacation, Holidays, Sick Time: Also known as PTO (paid time off). Here you'll find out how you accrue days off, and how many you can accrue. Each company's paid time off policy works differently, so read this carefully; some companies offer separate vacation days and sick days, and others will lump these all into a time bank where you draw it down regardless of why you're missing work. Incidentally, if you have vacation time already scheduled to take place after you start, this is a good time to mention this to the recruiter, so that you can get the time approved, even if you haven't accrued the time.
    

9. Other Perks, Benefits, and Tools: Company phone, company car, discounts on corporate product, travel benefits, whatever, this will all be outlined in the offer letter.
    

10. Terms of Employment: The company will likely insert verbiage about your employment being "at-will" (in other words, you can quit or be fired at any time), or perhaps contractual terms. Either way, the company usually include a note about their right to change terms and conditions (on benefits, policies, or many other things) in the future.
     

11. "Employment is Contingent Upon"...: This is where the company details that the offer letter is only good if you pass the drug test and background check. Fail one or both of those, and the offer is null and void.
     

12. Place For You To Sign: Yep. The offer letter is a contract. The company wants you to sign the letter and send it back to make sure that everybody is on the same page and agrees to the terms. Keep a copy.

What may NOT be in the letter: Employers may have you sign a plethora of other documents once you walk through the door. These could include Non-competition Agreements (which restrict you from working for a competitor within a certain period of time), Nondisclosure Agreements (saying you won't share their secrets), Conflict of Interest Disclosures (preventing you from investing in or doing business for any organization in direct conflict with your employer's interests) and many more covenants. Companies have been known to terminate employees who refuse to sign such documents, so ask your questions up front.

Don't hesitate to ask the HR representative who extended you the offer if you have questions about its contents. It's better to know and to understand what you are getting yourself into.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

No Degree? 11 Winning Strategies To Help You Compete In The Job Search

You've got this. / iStockphoto.com (YiorgosGR)

You're browsing the job boards and you come across a position that's a great fit in every way. The company advertising the job has a great reputation, the role's responsibilities are right in your wheelhouse, and it's just a couple minutes drive from your house.

Then you see the following line in the job description:

"Requires a Bachelor's degree for consideration."

Despite the fact that you've had a successful career to date, have progressed forward in your line of work with multiple promotions, you never finished college.

It happens. Life takes unexpected turns, and sometimes earning a degree becomes less of a priority than earning a living, caring for a sick parent, or raising a child. Next thing you know, the years have slipped by, and school hasn't been a priority any more.

In addition, it's also not unusual for an individual to enter a company at the bottom of the ladder – for example, starting in a retail position working the sales floor and earning a promotion into a management role. However, even their own employer may be hiring their new managers straight out of college (upon completion of their degree) for the company's management training program – in other words, if it weren't for their track record inside the company, they wouldn't even be considered if they were applying for the job they now hold.

Many companies value a college degree for their newly hired employees. There are several reasons for this:

• Essential foundation of knowledge. Especially in technical fields. Think about a mechanical engineer, for example, and the intensive study they would have undertaken. An auto manufacturer would prefer not to have to teach their newly hired engineer how to - well, be an engineer, and the required fundamental science and math skills. Or consider retail management jobs; employers may want business graduates who have taken accounting, finance, marketing, and operations classes so they can better understand how to manage their store's P&L.
   

• Demonstrated discipline. A degree shows you had the diligence to complete four (or more) years of rigorous study. True, I know some people who partied their way through college, but employers don't really ask about that in the interview so long as the candidate has a respectable grade point average and a completed degree.
   

• "Raising the bar." Some employers use a college degree as a minimum screening criteria even for jobs in which the degree doesn't matter, in order to get what is perceived to be a more "promotable" individual. By this reasoning, if somebody wants to become the Vice President of Sales, there won't be any education roadblocks, and they will set a positive example for the other employees as a "highly qualified" individual. It also makes it easier to say "no" to people who don't have a degree, reducing the number of resumes to review. A corollary is the perception that having a degree is a predictor of success, because all the company's current top managers have degrees.
   

• It's easier to compare candidates. Publications such as U.S. News and World Report publish annual rankings of the best colleges. I've seen hiring managers make sweeping determinations about the relative quality of job applicants based the schools attended. By this reasoning, a graduate of Duke (#8) must be a better candidate than a graduate of UCLA (#24), right? It's much easier to quantify a hiring decision, whereas it's a more difficult comparison point for an individual who didn't graduate college - without that valuable school ranking as a metric, the degree-less candidate doesn't rank. 
   

• It's always been done that way. Don't underestimate the power of corporate inertia. Many managers fall back on this reason, or, "it's our policy," in order to avoid the heartburn associated with making an exception or - even worse - being accountable for accommodating an exception that flopped.

While the hiring process may not always be fair, take heart. Your goal is to position yourself as a great candidate whom an employer should take a chance on, so irresistible that a potential employer is willing to take chance on you regardless of the fact that you never finished college.

Here are eleven strategies for positioning yourself for a job when you don't have a degree.

1. Really, really, REALLY show off your skills. All through the process, employers are going to be questioning your ability to do the job. Your strongest selling point will be your applied skills. Be prepared to explain in excruciating detail - both in your resume and in interviews - your foundation of work, and how you've gone about your work. It needs to be glaringly obvious to an employer that you've done this job before, and stepping into this role will be both quick and easy, with minimal learning curve.
    

2. Get your resume in tip-top shape. You need to make the best possible impression right from go. There's no wiggle room here, since you're already at a disadvantage. It needs to look good - really good. Make sure it's loaded with accomplishments and experiences which reflect the fact you're a proven professional and a low-risk hire.
   
   By the way, if you did attend college but dropped out, make sure to include your studies in the resume - something like "Studies toward a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration." This serves two purposes; first, it shows that you were accepted to a degree-granting program, which is an accomplishment in itself and, second, employers' Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS's - the databases they use to store resumes and post jobs) rank resumes according to how closely they match the job description, and the ATS might look for specific words pertaining to the degree. And put your education after your work experience, so it's not the first thing an employer sees.
    

3. Read the posted job description carefully; you still need to be qualified for the job. Your technical skills and/or past experience need to be rock solid in order to be a candidate for a job - otherwise you're wasting everybody's time, including your own. Do you meet ALL the criteria, other than the degree ? If so, you've passed the first test. And look specifically at the stated degree requirements. If it says something to the effect of "Four year degree preferred, equivalent experience required," this means the employer is willing to look past the lack of a diploma but all things being equal, the process may break in favor of the candidate who graduated college.
    

4. Apply to the job online. Yes, even if the job says the degree is absolute, apply. Make sure your resume is top-shelf. Look for the employers' keywords, terminology, and requirements, and make sure you're tweaking your resume to include these. And include a title on the resume matching the job's title. Better keyword match = higher ranking. And while it's not a sure thing that your resume will make the cut, one thing is absolutely certain: If you don't apply, you have a 0% chance of getting the job. Just apply.
    

5. Work your network. You may need an advocate to sing your praises. Leverage referrals to network the hell out of yourself, and to build positive buzz. Let's say you know somebody who works at the company you're targeting, in the group most likely to hire you. A well-placed word from that individual to the hiring manager may convince him or her to schedule an interview, regardless of the degree requirement.
    

6. Practice interviewing. Again, you're at a comparative disadvantage. So be ready to "wow" the interview team. Be dynamic, be engaging, be prepared. Have success stories so far up your sleeve you're going to need another shirt. Wow the hell out of the interview team.
    

7. Have your story ready as to why you didn't finish college - and own it. Whatever the reason, employers will want to see that you are accountable for yourself. Interviewers may ask what happened. Even if they don't, it's often best for you to get in front of it, tell your story, and frame the situation. This can often be a fantastic opportunity to really sell yourself - how bad was your life situation, and what were you able to achieve in spite of this adversity?
    

8. Be strategic about where you apply. Some companies, such as Google, don't care if their software programmers have diplomas. For many companies, it's about finding the best talent, and the degree simply isn't a factor.
    

9. Know when to walk away. You will never be able to convince everybody that you can do the job. Some employers simply won't budge, and that is their right. But close out the situation cordially, be gracious, and live to see another day; your resume may once again surface in front of another hiring manager who's willing to go to bat on your behalf.
    

10. Consider re-enrolling in college. Yes, going back to college as a working adult is a pain - it involves juggling a lot of priorities. But doing so can rally some empathy in your favor, and it gives you a current academic credential to include on your resume. Some employers are suitably satisfied if they see that you're dedicated to filling this gap in your work history. I've seen this happen.
     

11. Never lie about having a degree. Not once, not ever. You will get found out, I guarantee it. And it will haunt you. When I was a recruiter, I ran into several situations where candidates who interviewed for a job indicated that they had completed their diploma - but really hadn't. Once we ran the background check and we found information contradicting the job seeker's claims, it killed their chances. The really sad part of this story is that often the degree wasn't really a firm requirement for the position. But candidates who lied about their education left us with serious doubts about their honesty, and we had no choice but to eliminate them from consideration.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.