The idea for this issue of the newsletter was sparked because of something that happened during the negotiations phase for someone who wasn’t a client, something that bothered me, yet I couldn’t put my finger on what disturbed me at the time. This individual was negotiating salary, trying to get the employer to give him the top end of the range as opposed to the middle, and was being told by the HR group (which was handling the hiring process and details of the offer) that they would get back to him about his request for a higher figure in four or five days, after the person who could make the decision had returned from his vacation.

Now this particular company had already told the chosen applicant that they wanted him to start on the 15th of the month, which was only two weeks away, a very tight deadline, whereupon the job-seeker said:

“This delay is not going to allow me to start on the date you want because I still have to give notice and I’m obligated to give my current employer two weeks, minimum…” He felt rather righteous, and rather upset.

Uh-uh. Bad move. It was reminding them of an impediment to the ultimate goal, which is to make sure that all parties believe they’re getting exactly what they want. That’s creating friction. Not something you want to do in the final throes of a job offer and salary negotiation. Not something, for that matter, that you ever want to do in any part of the process of finding a job.

Friction impedes progress. Friction gives pause. Friction holds things up, makes them rougher, provides an excuse to slow the forward motion. Friction creates heat and heat sometimes creates hostility or anger; at worst, it creates resentment. Friction, in short, is a most unwelcome component of any job search.

Another example of friction that I recently encountered was much more subtle. During a particular interview, the interviewer seemed rather rushed and not a little distracted. The person being interviewed felt annoyed by this, because he felt the interviewer had an obligation to pay full attention to him during the interview.

Now, he didn’t state this nor did he ever make it known to the interviewer, but it is my belief that such annoyance, no matter how artfully concealed, hangs there during the interview and may be sensed by the interviewer on a non-verbal or subconscious level. It is sensed as resentment, properly so, and it can influence the interviewer, even if it is never acknowledged as a tangible strike against the particular interviewee. (The truth of the matter was that the interviewer had to make travel arrangements for a business trip, and the trip was on his mind, and it did distract him.)

The resentment that I’m talking about here, no matter how justified, creates friction. It interferes with what is supposed to be happening in the interview, and it, I believe, is destructive. So instead of being supportive, and acknowledging that they had little time to work in, and suggesting that he would do everything to help the interviewer in the short time they had, the interviewee here created friction.

Here are some other things, chosen at random, that can create friction:

• Long, rambling cover letters
• Functional resumes that attempt to cover up a gap or a bad job experience
• Extraneous or trite material in a resume (e.g. “I am seeking a position that is challenging”)
• Objectives that don’t match the job description
• Not being prepared to discuss, and knowing how to properly, discuss and dispense with salary requirements up front
• Being unprepared for a telephone screening interview, being caught by surprise by it
• Pacing that doesn’t match the other party’s gait
• Telling inappropriate or overly long stories during an interview
• Not answering a question forthrightly
• Dressing inappropriately
• Being late for an interview
• Attempting to negotiate salary prior to actually being offered the job
• Etc., etc.

I bring all of this up because whenever you create friction during a job search, it will work against you. It will decrease your chances of landing the job. Friction is not a simple thing, and working too hard to avoid it can result in the overly-sweet all-too-nice nicey-nice façade that ultimately turns off the prospective employer. So be on your guard against the subtle ways that friction can be produced, sometimes inadvertently, and retain your sense of perspective about how to handle those difficult situations without producing unnecessary friction, if you want to prevail in this very competitive market we have today.

Attitude: The effect it has

Job search: Denial

Job skills: Denial

Job search: Dispair

Job search: Competition

Intense job search focus

Being flexible

Limiting job options

Sales and job hunting

Unhook your ego from your job

Magic of three