The Top 6 Things that could prevent you from getting a job

You’ve heard the term, “Hindsight is 20/20.” Sometimes things happen where we wished we could turn back the clock on, and it’s just not possible to do so. Mistakes can happen that can seriously affect a person’s ability to land a good future job. It happens most often when employees are secure in their job, and then the tables turn. Suddenly you’re in a scramble to fix past events.


Let’s look at some career damaging activities that all employees or future candidates should avoid. These are things that can cost a professional that future dream job.

Driving while intoxicated—Understand that it’s not just about driving while intoxicated, but any alcohol related offense (driving under the influence, possession of an open container, underage drinking charges, etc.) is detrimental to your job search. Employees and job applicants with alcohol/drug related charges will not only create the potential for a significant increase in liability insurance cost for the employer, but are assumed to have questionable judgment when making decisions. Retaining this employee or hiring this applicant would be seen as a serious risk to the company. For that reason alone, most employers have a zero tolerance for these types of offenses that can continue for up to 5 years past the actual offence!

The real question that the companies are left with is; If this has happened once, will it happen again? Most employers will take the position that it is “better to be safe, than sorry.”

The best rule to follow – Don’t even think about it, don’t drive after drinking. Appoint a designated driver.

Have Bad Credit? Perception is everything. If you apply for a job and have bad credit, the likely perception of the employer will be “If they can’t manage their own finances, why would we want them to be able to affect ours” Regardless of the position you are applying to, whether it’s loading trucks or managing the accounting division, you make decisions every day that can affect the financial performance and well being of the company.

If you’re not able to manage your own debt, employers may find you more likely to take financial risks, or even make some extra cash or by padding that expense account to compensate for things you can’t buy yourself. A common example that can hurt your credit is not paying your bills on time. In general, any application that asks for a social security number is fair game for potentially impacting your credit score.

There are a few organizations online that will offer you a free credit report once per year. If you have not done so recently, get a report and make sure everything is correct.

Poor Social Networking Practices – A recent industry survey noted that over 35% of employers search social networking sites to screen job applicant. This number is rising fast with less than 20% checking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace a year ago.

Employers don’t usually search with the hopes of finding something negative about you. In fact, the opposite is true- they’re looking to confirm the information on your resume and hoping to find more proof that you’re a good candidate who really can help their company. However, employers can’t predict how their search will end. Employers in the survey listed these items as reasons they have chosen NOT to pursue the candidate:

• Information about alcohol or drug use (41% of managers said this was a top concern)
• Inappropriate photos or information posted on a candidate’s page (40%)
• Poor communication skills (29%)
•  Bad-mouthing of former employers or fellow employees (28%)
• Inaccurate qualifications (27%)
•  Unprofessional screen names (22%)
• Notes showing links to criminal behavior (21%)
• Confidential information about past employers (19%)

The internet is public domain and you need to take preventative action. Google yourself and see what comes up. If you were an employer about to give a raise, or make a job offer, would you be happy to see what you are seeing? You can’t erase the past, but can definitely affect your online presence for the future.

Network abuse – Is anyone watching? That not so appropriate email you can send to friends or the 45 minutes you spent shopping online can easily be monitored by your employer. The purpose of your online activities is a big concern to your employer. Most companies do not want to monitor with the expectation that they will catch someone. Rather, they truly do it for protection and record keeping if should something bad should occur. Whether their goal of monitoring is to identify risk for harassment suits, or recognizing employees that “surf the net” instead of taking care of customers, they have the right to know what you are doing with their network – especially when they are paying you to do something else.

Badmouthing - A common mistake that that can be made in conversation, whether that be face-to-face or electronically, can be talking negatively about previous employers. If you are disgruntled about your past experience, that same mistake can easily be made in the interview. We’ve all had or know someone who’s had a weak supervisor or someone they didn’t work well with. Regardless of the situation, candidates should think twice before sharing their opinions publicly. What you say may reflect more negatively on yourself than the person or company you’re talking about. Be very careful when asked about a former employer that you did not really like. Sometimes it’s best to just let it go.

Honesty and Integrity – Being dishonest, cheating, or lying is bound to catch up to the offender, sooner or later. It could turn into a not so flattering reference for you, or a refusal to give a reference other than the required confirmation that you were employed there. Dishonest activity could also cause you to be passed over for a promotion. In some cases, where company policy is violated, it can also result in dismissal.

How would you explain that to a prospective employer? An employer may ask you, “What caused you to change jobs from that company?” Answering that question could be a “lose-lose” proposition. Have you ever thought about the fact that a hiring manager may already know the answer to the question and they just want to see if you will answer it honestly?

Certainly there are many things that can affect one’s career. This may be just a short list. In most cases, a dose of “common sense” is all that is needed to avoid one of these pitfalls. As a recruiting agent for our clients, we are asked to “Find the Best”. Certainly, if during interviews or background checks, something damaging to ones career is found, it can seriously affect our ability to refer an otherwise very high quality candidate. For all of our sakes, it’s best to avoid the pitfalls. It may not be your career that’s at risk, but possibly with some of the aforementioned knowledge in hand, you can help a friend or colleague avoid a career damaging pitfall.

From the Other Side of the Desk-The Interview

Have you thought about what your interview looks like from the other side of the desk? One sure way to see that would be to tape yourself in an interview, but that rarely happens. Let’s think about this a moment. What does the interviewer see, and what are they watching for?

• One of the most obvious is how well you are dressed for the interview? One of the the assumptions can be, that if you have organized yourself, then possibly you could handle organization in the job setting. 
• Generally, in all cases, as an interviewee, you should be neatly dressed, but not overly so. A rule of thumb one could use is to dress at the level or one step above the attire that would be appropriate for the everyday attire in that workplace setting. If it is casual, then step up to business casual. Don’t go in over dressed and don’t go in wearing a t-shirt if business casual is the rule of thumb. The objective here is to show respect for the interviewer, but not to look out of place. 
• Go in neatly trimmed, a professional look. Ladies don’t overdo the makeup. Men, a neat trim or clean shave. The point here is that considerable attention is paid to eye contact so distractions away from eye to eye contact are a problem. 
• Attention forward. Your posture in the interview is important. Don’t slouch and lay back in the chair, and don’t get in the interviewers face. Sit forward and upright with full attention towards the interview. 
• Turn cell phones off. What’s most important here? 
• Listen carefully. The interviewer is seeking answers to his/her questions. Make sure the question is understood and answer carefully. Take your time to think about a question, but not too much. If you need clarification, ask for it. Some research on the company and the position prior to getting to the interview may help you really prepare for some of the questions and prevent answering poorly. 
• They are looking for questions as well. Prepare some of your own questions going in, but never ask what the job pays in the interview. That can be taken care of if and when the company shows interest in you.
• You must know key details of your past performance. The interviewer is really trying to translate your abilities into what kind of value you could bring to the position and company. 
• They are looking for signs not just of what you have done in the past, but just what exactly was YOUR responsibility and what leadership and performance did YOU bring to your previous jobs. This is key. They are not interested in hiring your past company, but YOU.
• They are looking for signs of what you can bring to the company in the future. Your resume shows what you have done in the past. What they really want to know is what you can do for them from today forward. You MUST project what you can do for them. This is critical to the success of the interview, not only to getting the job, but to determining also what you are worth to them, i.e. if they want to hire you, what kind of compensation package could be offered.
• They are looking for the cultural fit. Your skills and experience may be a great fit, but if you do not have the personality, the mannerisms, and values, then you may not get the nod. In other words, if the position calls for an eagle, and you are a dove, the fit may not be the correct one.
• Companies make a great investment in their people. They are looking for long term employment. If you are not indicating commitment for the position, you could be knocked out.
• Finally, you must be better than all of the other qualified applicants. It is not enough to be a good fit. You must convince the interviewer, or interview panel that you are the best. Have you prepared yourself for that? Know your competition. Go in prepared. Take the interview seriously. Be sure to thank the interviewer for taking time to meet with you, and ask for the order. That is, tell them that you want the job.

Finally, follow up with a message to them thanking them for their time. This shows respect and keeps you on top of their mind.

Press Release

Minneapolis, MN – Arbita, a provider of recruitment marketing technology, and media planning services, and Ag 1 Source, the largest recruiting firm in the agriculture industry, are pleased to announce they have achieved excellent results from a recent Search Engine Optimization (SEO) initiative led by Arbita Consulting and Education Services (ACES). The goal of the initiative was to increase candidate and client traffic to the Ag 1 Source web site from the organic search results of major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.


“Prior to working with Arbita, we were heavily invested in Internet marketing initiatives such as pay-per-click advertising,” said Mark Esfeld, Recruiting Consultant and Partner, Ag 1 Source Professional Personnel Solutions. “Our approach was somewhat successful, but during 2009 we began to see cost increase and effectiveness decrease. Our challenge was magnified by the fact that we needed our Internet marketing initiatives to attract both potential candidates and clients.”

Ag 1 Source evaluated several organizations before selecting Arbita as their SEO partner. Nicole Bodem, Director of Search Marketing for Arbita, worked closely with the Ag 1 Source team (and a third-party web developer) to improve SEO results. Ms. Bodem leveraged extensive search pattern analysis and competitive intelligence to formulate a key word strategy that would improve results for the most important search phrases used by candidates and clients. She then implemented the key word strategy across the Ag 1 Source web site and provided training on other tactics for improving results including link building and web content modification.
 “There is no doubt that Ag 1 Source continues to lead their market segment in innovative approaches to finding the best candidates for their clients,” said Ms. Bodem. “And their SEO strategy also puts them ahead of the pack in terms of finding new clients. I am very pleased to have worked with such a professional team that is clearly so dedicated to recruitment marketing innovation.”


“Nicole was a pleasure to work with,” said Mr. Esfeld. “Everyone on my team felt they were getting access to an expert resource with significant experience and exposure to what works in our market segment. Most important was her dedication to our results. For example, though it wasn’t part of our scope, Nicole drove usability requirements for our web site that help both with SEO results and the overall user experience of our site. And she worked closely with our external web developer to make sure that all her recommendations were implemented without sacrifice.”


Ms. Bodem continues to provide ongoing training and consulting to Ag 1 Source. Since the launch of the SEO initiative, they have experienced an exponential increase in client and candidate visits and inquiries. This has had the dual impact of decreasing marketing costs while improving overall marketing results.

About Arbita

Since 1993, Arbita has been connecting leading employers with the best talent on the Internet, all over the world. Our recruitment marketing technology, media and services have been developed with the belief that every client deserves a partner with their best interests at heart. Arbita is based in Minneapolis, MN and on the Web at www.arbita.net.


About Ag 1 Source
Ag 1 Source is the leading recruiting firm in the agriculture industry. Their recruiting consultants help clients find great candidates for a wide range of market segments including agronomy, seed, grain, energy, equipment and livestock. Founded in 2002, the company works with organizations seeking employees throughout the US, Canada, and Latin America.

Your Career Change Checklist

So here you are at a crossroads (potentially) your current career path just does not seem to be working out as you had first planned. You find it hard to get out of bed in the morning and do your best work. Your boss is a jerk! Your customers hate your guts! You’re just not “juiced” by your current position. Before you start to feel like there is something wrong with you personally, don’t! This happens to everybody at some point in their career. The key here is to find some time to do some serious reflection and take inventory. Perhaps a career change is in order; maybe you just need to take a different view of the situation. The following are some questions you might ask yourself when you are in the mood to answer them honestly.


Here are the questions:

1. Why did I accept this job in the first place? What got me excited about it? Was it the job itself or was it an entry point that could get me to the level / position I really want? Is that opportunity still there? Am I doing everything I can to perform at a high level in order to deserve success? 
2. Do I like the people I work with? Do they seem to treat me fairly? 
3. Are the career advancement opportunities still available? Do I feel like I am on a track to earn one of those positions? If I am not on a track, how can I get on it? 
4. Am I being compensated fairly and competitively with the marketplace?

Ok, let’s say you have reflected on these questions and were honest with yourself and your answer kept coming back…time to make a move! Now you have some more questions that you have to ask and reflect upon. And this time, you’ll have to get some serious input from others close to you. Here are some things to think about:

1.   Do you know and can you articulate what you really want to do career wise and what path you have a burning desire to go down? Can you clearly explain why and it can’t be just about the money? 
2. If your skills sets don’t match up perfectly, but you are talented and trainable, will you step back in rank and maybe pay in order to get where you want to end up? This is sometimes necessary. 
3. Will you be willing to move for this opportunity? If so where would you go and where would you not go? Relocating can be fun and invigorating, but it can also be temporarily stressful. Think about the good and the not so good! 
4. This a big one…Is your spouse / family / significant other on board with career change and a potential move to another area? Really on board?

If you have gone through this interesting exercise, one thing is for sure. You should be much more clear and hopefully have plans regarding your career. We help hundreds of people a year take the next step in their career and we may be able to help you too. But first, be sure to be clear on what you want and where you want to go, this helps everyone involved.