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Offer Letter LimboRecently we concluded the placement of a Senior Sales Representative for a publicly traded company. The role was ripe with potential as the company products were being widely embraced by current and new customers. The recruiting process went smoothly as the candidate progressed through several rounds of face to face interviews with company executives. At the conclusion of the final interview, our candidate was pulled aside by his prospective boss, the Vice President of Sales. Substantive conversation took place as the candidate and prospective employer agreed upon the terms of a potential offer. The candidate and prospective employer spent approximately 30 minutes discussing in detail the offer terms: base compensation, commission schedule, profit sharing and bonuses, insurance coverage, car allowance, expense account and other related matters. At the end of the conversation, the candidate and the prospective employer shook hands to "seal the deal". The VP of Sales told him that their HR Director would follow up with him in the next "few days" with an "official offer letter". Four business days later, the candidate called me. I could tell this normally cool and collected sales professional was a bit flustered. He had not heard anything from the company or their respective HR Director. What should he do? Should he call directly? Was that making him look too eager? Was the deal off? Our candidate was now in "Offer Letter Limbo". Offer Letter Limbo occurs when the candidate waits and waits for a company to take the action of creating and sending him a formal offer letter of employment. Jobseekers can avoid Offer Letter Limbo by following a few simple steps: 1. If you do not sense continuity, create it on your own. Smaller and even medium sized companies sometimes suffer from a lack of continuity in the hiring process. After your interview, and especially one like our candidate experienced where an actual verbal offer has been made, be certain to follow up the next day with written communication to the participants. If a verbal offer has been made, be certain to reconfirm the terms and parameters of the offer in writing to the person extending the offer. Make certain that your communication reflects your commitment and desire. Set a specific time period in which you anticipate hearing from them back in writing. Remove any possible obstacles to communicating with you by giving the employer various methods to reach you directly and conveniently. 2. If you have not done so already, open a channel of communication with the HR department. Make an inquiry with your prospective boss as to who will be handling or coordinating the creation of an offer letter. Follow up, preferably via telephone, to reconfirm your interest in working for the company and your anticipation in receiving the formal offer letter. Knowing and understanding that HR is constantly dealing with multiple job candidates for multiple departments, reconfirm your contact information and timeline directly with the HR representative. 3. Never stop your job search. Our candidate was fortunate to experience only a limited delay in receiving his offer letter. As a candidate, you do maintain negotiating leverage against a verbal offer in that you will continue your search and interviews until you surface a complete offer (verbal and written). This leverage can assist you in applying negotiating pressure to get the letter completed and ready for your acceptance if it is properly framed. The employer should assume that as a quality candidate you do have options. These options may materialize faster if they do not act in turning their verbal offer into a formal written offer. Thus, they stand the chance of losing your services. "Offer Letter Limbo" can be a frustrating place. Careful steps at this critical stage of the interview process will assist you in reaching the finish line. Executive recruiter William Werksman is a frequent columnist to job boards including http://www.NevadaJobBoard.com addressing both the candidate's and employer's perspective. Werksman's expertise has been featured in business magazines, national newspapers and television news segments. His firm, Resource Partners, is recognized as the leading source of specialized and executive talent in the Casino and Gaming industry. He manages a staff of recruiters out of his firm's Las Vegas, Nevada headquarters. He may be reached at: Bill@CareerInsider.com |  | | | RELATED ARTICLES Reinvent Yourself in a New Career Some people reserve the word "vocation" for religious calling. Contemporary career guides encourage us to think of a "life purpose" that guides and gives meaning to a life, regardless of career. See, for example, Mark Albion's book, Making a Life, Making a Living. Five Mistakes That Can Derail Your Job Search No matter how much time and energy you invest in job seeking, critical mistakes can derail your efforts. Consider the following job search scenario. Each of the mistakes described below can put your job search off track, but all are easy to avoid. Find Passion for Your Work Most people spend approximately 25% to over 67% of their waking hours working. Eventually, most everyone will want to work in a career that they enjoy and are paid well enough to live a prosperous life. Yet, far too many people end up being miserable in their job and find themselves stuck in a career that they did not choose. People then get discouraged, produce less, and become disgruntled. Unfortunately, people then blame themselves or those they work for, when in truth there is rarely anything wrong with them or the people they work for. Instead, maybe their job selection process is flawed which causes them to fall into the wrong positions. 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Salary negotiation requires preparation and good timing. It's important to determine your salary needs and research the market value for the job you want. Timing is critical for negotiation. Discussing salary requirements too early in the interview process can jeopardize your chances of getting the salary you deserve. Failure to negotiate could result in losing money. Creating a Feng Shui Power Office: 6 Easy Tips to More Successful Surroundings More and more people are looking to gain an edge in their working environments. One method that business people are increasingly turning to is feng shui. Feng shui promises that by arranging your office environment correctly, it is possible to create a better energy in your office, and that energy can promote further opportunity and advancement. A Career In Medical Assisting My name is Danni R, and I am a certified medical assistant and online educator. I am writing this article to introduce you to an exciting career in the allied health profession that has existed for quite a long time but is just recently gaining the attention and recognition it deserves. I am talking about a career in medical assisting! CV Writing ? How to Write a CV A winning CV has 2 objectives: To illustrate your strengths and maximise your chances of getting through to interview and to put factual information, such as dates, places, names together in a presentable and readable form. Focal PointIt is claimed that the human eyes are naturally drawn to a focal point one third down from the top of the page. Therefore, put your most useful information in this area. It might be your Profile, Key Skills, Professional Qualifications or details of your most recent employment. You can choose whichever you think is most important and relevant to your application. Always get a second opinion when you have put your CV together. It is difficult to be objective about oneself. Presentation It is often thought that a CV should be fitted on to one side of A4. This can be difficult if you are a mature applicant with a long employment history. If you need to go on to a second page make sure that the CV is spread out over 2 whole pages, not one and a half pages as this looks messy. As a 'rule of thumb' there should be more white than black on a page to make it easier to read. Always write a rough draft first. It can be as long as you like as you will edit it later. Always start with your Career History as this will highlight your Key Skills and help you write your Profile. Once you have compiled your draft copy you must edit it. 1. Take out anything that will not help you get where you want to be. 2. Write in the 'third' person as much as possible keeping 'I' to a minimum 3. Never use the past tense e.g. use "supporting senior management" rather than "supported senior management". 4. Use short sharp sentences cutting out any waffle and jargon.Headings Name Print your name in bold type at the centre top of your CV. If there is any doubt as to which is your surname, e.g. James Martin, indicate by using capitals or underlining. Address Top left of CV. Full address including post code. Telephone Top Right of CV. Full dialing code and daytime and evening numbers if possible. Date of birth Put in full such as 13th December 1962. Do not put your age. Bearing in mind that you will be close to the Focal Point now, this might need to go at the end of the CV under 'Personal' along with other details such as marital status and children. Marital status You do not have to include this at all. If you choose to, make sure you use only "married" or "single". Do not use divorced or co-habiting. Put at the end of the CV under 'Personal'. Children Its up to you whether you include this information or not but if you include it put it at the end of the CV under 'Personal' Profile This is an introductory statement about who you are and what you have to offer. You should complete this last although it is positioned prominently in the CV, possibly in the Focal Point. It should be no more than two sentences and include the most important facts about yourself. You can include skills, achievements, responsibility or personal qualities. e.g. Highly motivated Account Manager with successful direct and telesales experience in hardware and software industries. Key Skills Several Key skills should be highlighted after you have analysed and edited your employment history. Pick out no more than six. Make sure they are relevant. Do not include dates. A key skill can come from an earlier job or an outside interest. If you are short on direct experience and qualifications you may have skills arising from your personality, i.e. Interpersonal skills, e.g. "the ability to relate and communicate with others". Some examples of descriptive words to use in key skills are: Administering Implementing Budgeting Leading Reorganising Forecasting Advising Employment History Always start with your most recent employment. Break down your job functions as much as possible. The job description on your contract might provide a starting point or, consider how your employer might advertise your job. You should have more to say about your most recent, and therefore most relevant, employment. Include successes and achievements especially if it saved the company money. Don't have any employment gaps. If these occur explain them briefly. Qualifications If you are a mature applicant you can leave these out as career history is more important. Put the highest qualification first with year achieved. If you have a degree you can leave out the lower qualifications altogether or include the basic information. Do not include poor grades or failures. Professional qualifications Only include those that are still current. Training Only include training that is relevant to the position for which you are applying. Interests Only include interests that are unusual or which indicate transferable skills, achievements or responsibilities. Reasons For Applying This finishes the CV off with a concluding statement and puts the application into context. Don't imply you are out to gain advantage to yourself such as "I would like to join the company to gain additional experience". Instead, concentrate on what you have to offer, "my experience at??would be useful to the company because????." Finally Your CV should be available soft copy or on good quality plain white A4 paper. Do not use double sides. Only fold once and enclose an SAECopyright 2005 CVwriting.net |
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