Informational Interviewing: When Interview is Over
What is informational interviewing?
You’ve just spent a half hour talking with and asking questions to Bob, the owner of Bob’s Plumbing. You now have a clear view of Bob’s company and how he goes to business. Thank Bob for spending time with you. Make sure you get one of Bob’s business cards and then ask him if he could recommend other people for you to talk with.
As soon as you can following the interview with Bob, make notes on what you learned. Also, pay attention to how the interview progressed. What seemed to work? What didn’t? Make a point to incorporate changes into your next interview.
Send Bob a thank you note. In order to have maximum impact, make sure that thank you note gets into the mail on the same day that you talked with Bob. This will require a little advanced planning but it is so worth it. I guarantee that folks like Bob are not used to getting thank you notes from technicians. And this pertains to anyone who you informational interview with. Always send them a thank you note!
One side benefit of informational interviewing is that the more you do it, the easier it gets. You will notice your confidence grow. The upside is that when you go out for actual job interviews you’ll notice how much better you’ve gotten in the process. Prospective employers will notice this too!
His Head, the Door and Your Room
You’ve heard it before. This guy has such a huge ego his head won’t make it through the door. Maybe that guy was you. Maybe not. If that guy was you (and you never changed), chances are you’ll never figure out how to get this guy into your room. Make that you’ll never even try to figure it out.
The trades are so short on talent that it’d be a shame to not at least consider trying to work with a technician whose ego is bigger than a 500 ton air conditioning chiller. Pointed in the right direction, engaged and packing a degree of civility, the technician with a large ego can be an invaluable asset…providing he really is talented and knowledgeable.
If our super tech degrades, is cruel to other techs and is causing morale problems, then all bets are off. But let’s continue this discussion based on a I am God’s gift to technicians and am master of the technician universe technician.
The problem that I’ve seen with most managers in dealing with their super tech is their inability to hang up their own technician boots. The manager seems to become enamored in the detail and takes his eye off the outcome. Most managers and their super techs will not argue about the outcome. They agree on satisfied customers, repaired systems and installed systems that work. One key for the manager is to let his super tech work his own way to the desired outcome.
Many super techs with huge egos are walking gold mines of knowledge. The fact that they tell the universe how great they are, should not deter the manager from letting them help other techs. Matter of fact, the manager should coach the other techs on how to mine the gold mine.
The less experienced tech needs to adopt a learning mindset. His goal is to learn. Yes, he will have to here how super tech brought the main chiller on line just in time for the Queen of Sheeba’s visit to the Gradisson Luxury Hotel and stories like it, but it’s a small price to pay for technical knowledge. The key is to ask good questions and make notes or use a small tape recorder. Most super techs love when one asks them good questions.
Super techs loved to be praised. While you think that the praising they are doing to themselves is enough, it isn’t. As a manager, dole out praise when the super tech does something good and of value. Remember to focus on desired outcomes and not on processes and how they get there.
A good manager learns how to modify the door. A great manager learns how to coach coworkers to expand the room, making it a rich, learning environment. And by the way, the world always needs people to rescue the Queen of Sheeba. Take pride in your hero.
You? You’re the General Manager?
“Wow! How can that be? It seems like yesterday when we’d just graduated from tech school, got a job, got new tools, got uniforms and got to work lugging senior technician’s tool bags. Where has the time gone? And now you’re the general manager of Kent Mechanical?”
Yesterday was twenty-five years ago and if Bill had kept in touch with Bob he’d have known Bob was on the way up and destined for positions of greater responsibility. If Bill had kept in touch with Bob maybe he wouldn’t still be working for PT Mechanical and climbing ladders with knees that belonged in a museum. If Bill had kept in touch with Bob maybe he’d be more aware of opportunities that other techs took advantage of.
Should you keep in touch with a guy like Bob in hopes of riding along on his coat tails to bigger and brighter things? No. You should keep in touch with Bob because Bob is the type of person who wants to make himself better. He wants to know all about the latest technology and he wants to become the best professional that he can be.
A general manager position would never be a fit for Bill nor would he ever want to be a manager of any kind. But Bill could have been a technical trainer…if he had wanted to be. And if he had pursued that path of professional development and stayed in touch with Bob, most likely Bob would have considered hiring him. Or could have hooked him up with a decent company.
The point is, if you want to make the most out of your career, hang out or at least stay in touch with guys like Bob. Have a cup of coffee with them every once in awhile. Send them a congratulations note when you hear of their promotions. Be a sponge when they offer advice and ask them for help when you need it.
“Not bad advice Dave. Now about that bit about lugging senior technician’s tool bags around…”
Social Business by Design
This is a little off topic for The Technician Shop. It’s more applicable to business owners and managers. The reason that I am bringing it up is for technicians to get a feel as to whether or not their company (or prospective company) gets it. And by gets it, I mean, are they taking steps to compete as a business in this century?
Following this slideshow I offer a few points to consider.
Slides:
4 – an excellent visual of the various types of social media
22- if your company is not using social media, their attempts to do so will look like this
31- no doubt the wall of separation are preventing your company from moving forward
32- if you have a bunch of bosses running around telling everyone what to do, your company will look like the guys stacked up on the left hand side of this screen
73-74- okay, these two screens are a tad bit corporatey (like you’ve stepped in a big steaming pile of cow dung), but they do demonstrate a solid social business foundation and what it takes to make it work
80- changes pushing business to be more social
90- it’s how we do business. Most owners thing that social business is just a fad. It is not…any more than the fax machine or computer was just a fad.
Feel free to contact me for help in determining whether or not your company gets it.
Thanks to David Armano and his company the Dachis Group – they get it.
Should You Watch Yourself Online?
You are out looking for a new job. You’ve heard how prospective employers are researching folks like you online. They’re finding pictures of you at last year’s Halloween party, they got you on the beach at last year’s spring break and they’ve read the post your friend wrote about you at his blog. You know, the one that involves drinking, the swimming pool, your girlfriend, your other friend’s girlfriend and the cool whip. I don’t want to ask. Should you be concerned? Heck yes!
No matter how fair or unfair it is, you are being judged. Yes, it’s your private life and yes, you should be able to do as you please. And you can. But you’re still being judged. Why not make this work in your favor? (My suggestion doesn’t involve cool whip).
In the future we’ll be talking more about developing a focused online presence that showcases who you are and what you can do, but for now, let’s keep it simple.
Be respectful – when you’re writing and commenting online, be decent to the other guy. I listened in on an online HVAC talk forum the other day. There was a technician who is in his early twenties participating in a discussion with senior techs. As the conversation begins to degenerate, the tech has this to say: “but anyway too all the grumpy guys who are talking about me *middle fingers*”
The grumpy guys are mostly senior technicians who, if treated with respect, would give this guy the world. If I were a service manager and thinking about hiring this twenty-something year old, and I discovered what he said online, I wouldn’t give him one more second of consideration.
Help people out – In this same online discussion two or three other technicians are offering the young tech advice, encouraging him to be respectful. If as a hiring service manager I came upon these guys online, I would want to know more about them.
If you participate in an online forum or comment on someone’s blog or write on your Facebook page, always try to help people out.
Online security settings – Most communities like Facebook, allow you to set your own security settings. This way you can only allow access to people you know. Make sure to make adjustments accordingly.
Lets say you realized that your online behavior will cost you the opportunity to get jobs. While it’s impossible to go back and erase what you’ve done, first, begin to help people online. Or if you have little experience, demonstrate online that you are a student who wants to learn. After awhile a pattern of good behavior will emerge online. A competent hiring manager will notice this. You’ll still have a lot of work to do, in regards to your previous behavior, but at least you will not be a victim of the DELETE key.
