Candidates Singing Own Praises Fall Flat

Last summer, Lisa Harrell interviewed a candidate for a director job who offered a list of impressive accomplishments. But during the 60-minute meeting, the Ivy League candidate never paused long enough for the recruiter to ask just how he executed on them.
' In the end, he took a breath and said, 'After my first 90 days, what is my next step?'' recalls Ms. Harrell, vice president of human-capital development at UnitedHealth Group Inc. in Minnetonka, Minn. His bravado cost him the job, she says.
When it comes to self-promotion in the workplace, hiring managers say some people go too far and block their path to the next level. You might call them the corporate world's 'American Idol' wannabes. Like many contestants on the reality TV show who extol the greatness of their singing abilities and then end up sent home, corporate idols sing praises about their abilities without delivering tangible evidence to back up the claims.
And recruiters and employers say they're seeing the behavior more frequently in the current bad economy, as some candidates try harder to impress interviewers and workers go out of their way to hang on to their jobs.
' A lot of people are selling themselves hard,' says Mark Angott, president of Angott Search Group, a recruiting firm in Rochester, Mich. Out of desperation, many job hunters convince themselves they're qualified for positions that don't match their backgrounds, he says. 'They want to try anything and everything,' he says.
And like 'American Idol' rejects, corporate idols who lack the skills and knowledge they claim to have often handle criticism or rejection poorly. 'We've had guys use every expletive in the book,' says Dave DeMink, an executive-search agent in Roseville, Calif., referring to the reactions he has received from job hunters he has declined to present to clients.
Even in the current recession, some job hunters are still unwilling to bend. Brian Rhonemus, a managing director at Angott Search Group, says several former big-bank executives recently refused to consider job opportunities at small community banks and credit unions. 'They balked because they didn't want to go backward,' he says. 'It's amazing. Some candidates just haven't wrapped their arms around reality yet.'
In more robust economies, some corporate idols take their cockiness to extreme levels by demanding above-average salaries, custom job titles and other forms of special treatment. Consider, for example, the candidate for a senior communications job who told New York recruiter Bill Heyman that he would accept the role only if he would report to the large company's chief executive officer. The position reported to the head of human resources, and Mr. Heyman strongly urged the candidate 'to play by company rules.' Ignoring the recruiter's advice in an interview with the employer, the candidate lost out on the job, he says.
On the job, corporate idols often spur resentment among their peers. John LeBlanc, vice president of product management at Jefferson Wells International Inc., a professional-services firm, says he once worked with a colleague at a former employer who regularly puffed up his job title when talking to clients. 'This same [person] routinely would tell anyone willing to listen how he was doing the same work -- and doing it better -- than his boss and his boss's boss,' says Mr. LeBlanc. 'He showed a great lack of self-awareness, which hurt his working relationships.'
An unwillingness to accept help from a boss or colleague is another sign of a corporate idol. Case in point: When Lee B. Salz was a vice president at a small outsourcing company, he says, an employee who reported to him repeatedly turned down his offers to show her ways to improve. 'She thought she knew everything and [in reality] she wasn't that good,' recalls Mr. Salz, now president of Sales Architects, a sales-management consulting firm in Minneapolis.
What causes these unaware workers' heads to swell? According to Brooks Holtom, an assistant professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, employees in certain fields like customer service have no solid way to measure their performance. By contrast, sales professionals can add up the revenue they generate and compare figures over time. As a result, some people are more susceptible than others to developing false impressions about their skills, he says.
Poorly designed reward systems are sometimes to blame for overinflating egos, says Roy Saunderson, president of Recognition Management Institute, a New York provider of workplace-consulting services. 'If you read the criteria, they're so loose, almost anyone can get' rewards, he says.
Of course, career experts say that some self-promotion can be helpful for moving up the corporate ladder. 'A lot of times, managers have a tendency not to think about how much work went into an accomplishment,' says Jo-Ann Gastin, senior vice president of human resources at Lockton Cos. LLC, an insurance brokerage firm in Kansas City, Mo. 'When an employee does go above and beyond, they should make it known to their supervisor.'
Likewise, it can be advantageous for job hunters to engage in a little spin-doctoring to show recruiters they're confident in their ability to handle a position, say career experts. But it's also critical to demonstrate modesty. UnitedHealth's Ms. Harrell says she hired a director last year who described himself as a technically competent leader and provided two detailed examples to illustrate his point. 'He showed that he could efficiently instill a vision and accomplish major tasks, and whether he did them himself or through other people,' she says. Giving credit to others and showing his team mentality helped seal the offer.
Sarah E. Needleman


2008年夏，丽莎•海罗尔(Lisa Harrell)面试了一个应聘经理岗位的人，他简历上的工作成就给人留下深刻的印象，但在60分钟的面试过程中，这位毕业于“常春藤联盟”(Ivy League)名校的求职者始终滔滔不绝，面试官根本没机会插嘴询问他到底是如何实现这些成就的。
“最后，他抽空喘了一口气，问我：‘过了90天的试用期，我会有怎样的发展机会？’”位于明尼苏达州Minnetonka市的UnitedHealth Group Inc.人力资源发展部副总裁海罗尔回忆道。求职者的这种张狂气势令他丢了工作机会。
Matt Collins
招聘经理们说，有些人在公司里太爱自吹自擂，反而阻塞了自己的升迁之路。你可以把这种人叫做职场中的“美国偶像”追随者。正如电视选秀中的选手极力展现自己的歌唱天赋，但很多人却免不了要黯然退场一样，职场中的“美国偶像”们往往都是说得好听，实际上并没有表现出多大能耐。
招聘企业和人力资源经理们表示，在目前经济不景气的局面下，这种自我吹嘘行为越来越多。一些应聘者竭力想给面试官留下好印象，而一些公司职员也千方百计地表现，希望保住自己的饭碗。
“很多人都在拼命推销自己，”密歇根州罗切斯特市职业介绍公司Angott Search Group的总裁马克•安哥特(Mark Angott)说。走投无路之下，很多求职者都自欺欺人，认为自己可以胜任那些并不符合自身条件的岗位。“他们无所不用其极，”安哥特说道。
正如“美国偶像”的落选者一样，这些并无他们所吹嘘的技能和知识的“职场秀客” 经常难以接受别人的批评和拒绝。“有些人急了就破口大骂，”加州Roseville市一家猎头公司的戴夫•德明克(Dave DeMink)回忆道。这些竭尽辱骂之能事的人正是那些他拒绝向客户推荐的求职者。
即使在目前的经济衰退时期，有些求职者还是不愿委曲求全。 Angott Search Group公司的董事总经理布莱恩•罗恩默斯(Brian Rhonemus)说，几个以前在大银行当高管的人，最近就拒绝考虑在社区小银行和信用合作社任职。“他们不愿意接受这种工作，因为他们不愿意走回头路，”罗恩默斯说，“这让我感到很惊讶，看来有些人还不了解当前的就业现状。”
在经济繁荣时期，一些“职场秀客”会把自负发挥到了极至，提出非分的工资要求、职务要求，以及其他种种特殊待遇。比如说，有个应聘某电信企业经理的人士告诉纽约一位招聘经理比尔•海曼(Bill Heyman)，除非他能直接向公司首席执行官汇报工作, 否则他不会接受这个职务。由于该岗位直接隶属于人力资源部负责人，海曼极力劝说求职者“按公司规矩办事”。但那人在参加公司面试时，对这个建议置若罔闻，结果未能得到这个工作岗位，海曼说道。
“职场秀客”常常会引起同事们的反感。约翰•勒伯兰克(John LeBlanc)是专业服务公司Jefferson Wells International Inc.产品管理部的副总裁，他说曾遇到过这样一个同事，跟客户谈话时喜欢把自己的职位吹得高高的。“那个人逢人就说，他和老板甚至老板的老板干的活儿一样，而且比他们干得都要好”，勒伯兰克说，“这简直是不知天高地厚，所以同事们都对他敬而远之。”
“职场秀客”的另一个特点是不愿意接受上级和同事的帮助。例如，李•萨尔兹(Lee B. Salz)曾是一家小型外包服务公司的副总裁，他说当时自己有个下属，每次都拒绝接受他对其提出的改进建议。“她自以为无所不知，但其实根本不是那么回事，” 萨尔兹回忆道。他现在是明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯市(Minneapolis)一家销售管理咨询公司Sales Architects的总裁。
这些搞不清状况的员工怎么会如此夜郎自大•乔治敦大学麦克多诺商学院(Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business)的助教布鲁克斯•霍尔顿(Brooks Holtom)认为，对一些在客户服务等领域工作的员工来说，很难实行明确的考核办法；而销售人员则不同，他们可以把一段时间的销售量加总起来进行比较和考核。因此，有些人更容易高估自己的能力，霍尔顿说道。
有时，不合理的奖赏办法也会导致某些员工过于自负，纽约职场咨询服务公司Recognition Management Institute的总裁罗伊•桑德森(Roy Saunderson)说。“有些奖赏办法把标准定得太低了，几乎每个人都能完成指标拿到奖金。”
当然，职场专家表示，有时候自我表现还是有助于职位晋升的。“大多数时候，经理们都不太注意下属为达成一个目标所付出的辛劳，” 密苏里州坎萨斯城保险经纪公司Lockton Cos. LLC人力资源部的资深副总裁乔-安•加斯汀(Jo-Ann Gastin)说。“如果一个员工真的有出色表现，就应该让自己的上司知道。”
同样，职场专家说，求职者在介绍自己时也不妨略微自我夸赞一下，从而向面试官表明，他们有信心、有能力从事所应聘的岗位。不过，面试时要表现出谦虚的品质，这一点也至关重要。UnitedHealth公司的海罗尔说，她去年招聘过一个经理，那个求职者说自己是一个能力很强的管理者，并举了两个详细的例子加以阐述。“他通过具体事例表明，自己能够行之有效地确立目标并加以实现，无论是通过本人的努力还是通过与他人的合作，”海罗尔说。这种既不居功而又注重团队合作的态度使得那人求职成功。
Sarah E. Needleman