OutPlacement News April 2023

Publication in April 2023
OutPlacement-News.de (OPN for short) regularly reports on everything worth knowing about OutPlacement, NewPlacement, career, professional separation, placement, application process, graduation, onboarding and integration.
Questions to the partners of NewPlacement AG about stumbling blocks in the application process.
OPN: Why is the entry in the commercial register relevant for board members, managing directors and authorized signatories in the application process?
NewPlacement: Many applicants with previous board or representative functions (board member, managing director, authorized signatory) suggest in their documents continued presence in the previous company (since ... or until today), although the entry in the commercial register documents a dismissal that has already taken place, usually with release. This Internet check for the applicant's "digital self" is standard and a necessary safeguard for headhunters and company decision-makers. Therefore, in this case you should split your last stop and have a proactive success story ready for the time after the removal from the commercial register. The longer the release phase lasts, the more clearly the interim period must be documented. It is best to have a NewPlacement coach with years of management and coaching experience at your side.
OPN: Why is a "sabbatical" only suitable to a limited extent to explain longer search periods?
NewPlacement: Periods of unemployment are often presented as a pure sabbatical, without any intention (objective, time, place), in the CV of applicants. Similar to the "management consultant" stooge, who often acts without industry focus, consulting products and projects, sabbaticals are also viewed very critically by headhunters or corporate decision-makers and questioned accordingly. With increasing length of a not credibly defined period of time, the mistrust grows that already headhunter colleagues might have discovered problems with you, and already they refrain from your application. Generally, the application process looks for gaps in your resume and assumes a lack of acceptance or performance. The experienced NewPlacement-Coach will help you to work through these gaps in terms of content and coherence, and together we will achieve an increase in your chances of finding a new job. OPN: What use do you recommend for the severance pay? NewPlacement: Severance pay is an asset-building benefit only if the employee has a direct job connection. Otherwise, it should be used to top up unemployment benefits, for professional support and access to the job application market (investment in your future). If you only bet on the top-up, you are playing high poker. Even first 1-2 spontaneous application projects, which can drag on for 8 weeks until a rejection, do not provide security for the job future and cost valuable time and financial reserves. Additionally, if the application time takes longer than hoped, the acceptance on the application market for you decreases. Together with a NewPlacement-Coach you drive a professional parallelism on up to 8 runways to success and have not only statistically a shorter placement time than "severance pay eaters". Late insight is problematic; nevertheless, it is always worthwhile to talk to NewPlacement. OPN: Why are references from the previous company so important? NewPlacement: Especially from your current or last company, one would like to have telephone references (boss, colleague) who worked closely with you. This can be problematic if "china was broken" during the separation. But even in this case the NewPlacement-Coach helps with creative solutions for the selection and involvement of the reference givers. References should be requested personally and appreciatively and become a "set screw" of the severance agreement. Testimonials are your written references and should not be in the same style or use similar generic terminology across recent stations. Otherwise, you will quickly be seen as the actual testimonial writer and the testimonials will lose their value. When drafting testimonials (closing paragraph, proactive change motivation, evaluation, times and function descriptions), you should rely on your NewPlacement coach's years of marketing & sales experience. At the same time, the draft should not be consistently "very good", but should show structure and serve the future objective. The so-called "main tasks" in testimonial language should not be copied 1:1 into the resume, as this needs more of a factorial presentation for matching between job requirements and your multidimensional management record. OPN: Can you end prolonged lack of success in the job application market by "downgrading"?

NewPlacement: When you apply to headhunters/companies for positions below your current level, you suggest a lack of confidence in your experience and skills, and overachievement in your last position. Even if the company hires you at the lower level, there may be discrepancies with the supervisor, who may not yet have your experience level, or a bore-out on your part. Both could lead to a separation, often still in the probationary period. This reduces your chances of a follow-up. However, if the job is interesting in terms of content and objectives, you could consider it on an interim basis, regardless of level, in order to gain time to find a longer-term position that is strategically right for you. However, NewPlacement experience is required when presenting this interim position on the resume. OPN: Is your own network the best way to launch your materials? NewPlacement: Your network of contacts is an ideal source of information about current and future changes in your contacts' companies that may be relevant to you. However, due in part to compliance, influence, and bypassing HR, it is not an appropriate conduit for your application or materials. This information should be provided via referral marketing directly to the respective decision maker via a third party (hybrid, free of charge for the company). This is also how the relevant contacts from the NewPlacement network are handled. The maintenance of the contact network is often underestimated. It is difficult to reactivate contacts that you have not "served" for 5 or 10 years for your job search. For this purpose, NewPlacement has developed a corresponding multi-level tool that helps you to revitalize or increase the "usable" contact network for your job search. OPN: An English CV is often requested, who should create it? NewPlacement: Do not give your German CV to a native speaker for translation, but translate it yourself line by line at your language level. Otherwise you will suggest a wrong language level (e.g. native instead of business fluent) to your later interviewers in the application process. Irritation and disappointment in the further application process and after starting the job are programmed. The self-translation is also a perfect training for the upcoming English job interviews. After your translation, the NewPlacement coach will look for "stock errors" and replace them with better formulations. Afterwards, you will have an appropriate English "script" for the job interviews, which will give you confidence and aplomb and will also incorporate the company's 50 or so demand factors accordingly. OPN: It says everywhere that you should prepare questions for the job interview. What do you need to keep in mind? NewPlacement: Your detailed interest in the new company, its culture and all the circumstances of the job posting is absolutely understandable. However, corresponding questions, e.g. to the owner "How would you describe your leadership behavior" or "What happened to the predecessor" or to the headhunter about very specific professional details, unfortunately often cause discomfort among the interviewers in the application process. Since the progress after the first acquaintance is predominantly left to the "gut feeling", you should not trigger this negatively. In particular, there are always breaches of confidentiality in the early stages of the application process. Many things cannot be inquired about, but only experienced. For this purpose, read the principles of your company on the homepage again now after the separation. Work out individual interview strategies, scripts as well as re-briefings by project and stage together with a NewPlacement coach. Empathy and developed perspectives play a decisive role in this process. If you mentally "sit in the other person's chair," you will find the right tone even in tricky situations. OPN: What do you have to consider when making speculative applications to companies? NewPlacement: Unsolicited applications by executives to companies are aimed on the one hand at existing vacancies that are in the internal or concealed filling phase, and on the other hand at latent dissatisfaction that requires a change impulse from a suitable applicant. Here, many mistakes are made with regard to the acting persons, communication channels, approach and contact persons as well as neglect of confidentiality. In this case, the telephone approach is only recommended if there is a resilient familiarity with the specialist superior for the position in question. Telephone inquiries in the personnel department, sending in of portfolios as well as harnessing of contacts in the enterprise lead particularly with the change impulse only in rare cases to the goal and can even close doors. Therefore, these initiatives should always be top-down, without application character and ideally from a third party as a postal hybrid recommendation with appropriate bridging. OPN: What may I communicate about my previous company? NewPlacement: The principle of the application process "All previous companies, superiors, colleagues, employees and partners are and remain great" is particularly frequently violated. This leads to a transformation "What will he say about us when he leaves us again". Therefore, "separation by mutual consent" or litigation with the previous employer combined with refusal of telephone references are problematic "selling points" for your application. A move to the competition can also cause concern at the new company. However, if you take a step back when looking back and see all sides, it is no longer difficult, together with the NewPlacement coach, to also recognize and communicate the many positive aspects. This gives the new company and its decision-makers a sense of security, especially with regard to loyalty. OutPlacement-News.de Meisenstr. 96 33607 Bielefeld E-Mail: info@OutPlacement-News.de Tel: +49 521 1644475 Further publications are free of charge and must take place under denomination of the source. Responsible for the content in terms of the media law: Executive Board of NewPlacement AG, Bielefeld, Phone: +49 521 16444-75