Let’s count down the Top 5 faux pas, as they say in French, the top horror violations of broken etiquette rules and social norms in the world of recruitment, which I have experienced in Thailand over these many years.
Dear Bob when my name is Tom
Wrong: Do you, too, get upset when people call you Sombat when your name is Sompop? Or getting an email: Dear Bob when your name is Tom? Does it not show some level of attention or rather lack of attention to details? When someone can’t be bothered to double check that you address the person correctly, what else does this person get wrong? Probably a lot.
It’s annoying to receive an email and resume which has been sent to a large group of recruitment companies and executive search firms.
Correct: Make sure that you always read your email one more time before hitting enter. Double check that the name after “Dear” is the right person you intend to contact.
If you wish to forward your personal resume to more than one recruiter, do yourself a favour and send one email at a time. To show a level of integrity and professionalism, personalise the message and use the name of the person to whom you email.
Dressed up for Saturday night disco when going to an interview
Wrong: There is a big difference between going to the disco on Saturday night and attending a job interview. The mini skirt, high heels and red lipstick are all fine at your local dance club. But that’s where it stops.
Correct: Dress up please. To the women, it means no short skirts, no big earrings and rainbow coloured nails. Be careful with too much perfume. To the men, wear a tie and even a jacket if the company is in a business where such a dress code is the norm.
Invest in a classy pair of black shoes to underline you are a businessman.
If you must use a handshake to greet the interviewer instead of a wai, deliver a proper firm hand because a limp or weak hand can break the first impression. And you may have lost the interview before it has even begun.
You forgot to mention that allowance of 25,000
Wrong: We are coming to the Top 5, the worst of them all. At the end of any recruitment process we start negotiating compensation and benefits. The headhunter will usually liaise with both parties as a buffer, just to prevent the risk that there are any hard feelings brought into the employment because of some tough negotiations.
Once you have tabled all details of your current package, it’s a killer in any discussion, suddenly and late in the process, to claim that you forgot to mention the 25,000 baht allowance you also receive every month. Honestly, we all look stupid in the eyes of the prospective employer who no doubt will see this as a scheme to deceive or outwit them.
To pull this trick out of the hat when the employer has tabled you an offer, makes you look either extremely greedy or your intelligence runs far ahead of your common sense and will get you in trouble.
Correct: When the recruiter or client asks you to give details of your current package, do make sure you get absolutely every big and small amount or benefit on the table.
Ask the recruiter if they have a list of typical bonus types, allowances and benefits. Then use that as a check list when you prepare the compensation.
Say one thing to me and something different to my client
Wrong: Presenting a resume with a current job, talking in the interview with the recruiter as though you are actually still working there. Or, even more disturbing, telling the recruiter where you are now working but then at the interview with the possible future employer, suddenly reveal that you have not been entirely truthful and in fact you have left that “current” company and are now unemployed.
I still cannot get my head around the belief that anyone would think this strategy is working to their advantage: hiding facts from the headhunter whom you want to help you, showing the client interviewer that you cannot be trusted. Go figure it out for yourself.
Correct: Isn’t this really obvious? Put the cards on the table please. Tell the recruiter if you have already left the last company shown on your resume. Tell us if you have already given your current employer notice to terminate the employment even you may still officially be on their payroll.
Presenting a document with false information, withholding employment details from the recruitment or search firm, will label you as a cheat and a liar.
Cancelling the interview last minute or not showing up at all
Wrong: OK, so we have set you up to meet our client’s CEO, but you call us in the morning to say your boss has asked for an urgent meeting. You can’t go. Never mind that our client CEO is a regional manager who came in the night before from Shanghai just to meet you.
What could be worse than that? Only one thing is more inappropriate and selfish; staying away without letting anyone know you do not intend to come for the interview. No-shows are totally incomprehensible. And yet it happens.
Correct: Take half a day off from work and focus on the new opportunity. If you are not really taking the interview that seriously anyway, then have the courage to tell the recruiter in advance that you are not ready to consider a new job right now. That way, we will not end up red-faced.
Spare yourself from being blacklisted because you didn’t have the courtesy to let people who may be important for you in the future, have the opportunity to know you.
Tom Sorensen is a Partner at Boyden Thailand, a global Top 10 executive search firm. Contact tsorensen@boyden.com and learn more on www.boyden.co.th
Christopher F. Bruton, Executive Director of Dataconsult Ltd, has 46 years business experience in Thailand, providing regional forums, seminars and reports helping business capitalise on future trends. chris@dataconsult.co.th.
