Job Fairs: Gaining Entry Into the Booth

The fair is in town. No, not the county fair. The annual job fair. Many employers in one place with their best faces forward, looking to attract you, to work for them.

Companies you are interested in will be represented so this looks like a worthwhile stop on your hunt for the perfect job. You will have an opportunity to present yourself and to learn more about your potential employers. You will only get one chance to make a first impression and in the face of bright lights, stunning displays, gifts, candy smiling welcoming faces eager to meet you, don't think for a moment that your potential next employer is taking this lightly. They are not. They are willing to stand at a booth for hours and speak with literally hundreds of potential candidates to find the few who stand out. Don't blow it!

You are walking up to a booth. What do you do? Impacts are made in an instant and if you are serious about your job search, you will want to be taken seriously. How? By showing employers that you do take this seriously. Read and learn everything you can about presenting yourself professionally and take that knowledge with you into the fair. Do not dress like you are going to the county fair. Do not throw professionalism out the door. Do not head straight for the bags o' free stuff. It really does not serve you well when you ask an employer to hold your bag o'pencils, balloons and candy while you dig through it to find your resume at the bottom of the bag.

You are at the booth. You are greeted and you begin to speak with the employer. Be yourself and be prepared to answer the question that will follow the pleasantries, "What areas are you interested in today?" This is point where the pool of candidates splits into two groups. The split is so pronounced that at times, one can almost hear it. In one group are those candidates who are asked to come over to the side where they can speak more privately and in the other, those who are given a free balloon and an application (maybe) to complete and send back. Admission to the first group? A solid, thoughtful, authentic answer to the question. "Oh, I don't know, what have you got?" is not a good response. If you give it, the employer will follow up with a question along the lines of, "What type of work do you currently do?" or "What skills do you have?" If your response is going to be, "I can do anything," you should not be at the fair. An employer at a job fair will not provide career counseling. They will ask questions to see if there is a fit between your skills and experiences and their needs and they will make this determination based on your answers so you need to be prepared with the answers. This is a two way interaction in which you hold the key. 

Maybe, just maybe, you really will take anything. "Anything" still is within a context. Define the context. For example, "I worked at XYZ Company as an Administrative Assistant in the Sales Department. My computer skills are excellent. I excelled at providing the sales force with lists of potential customers by reading trade journals, through my contacts with the local Chamber of Commerce, and believe it or not, as a board member of my church. We were recently acquired by another company and I was let go. I am very interested in working for your company because of your commitment to the local community. I am open to consider any opportunities where I could use my skills to benefit the company."  "Interesting," says the employer. "Come on over here where we can speak more privately."

Yes! You have gained entry into the booth. Now we are talking!

Collaboration Does Not Equal Pushover

I had the opportunity to listen to an awesome attorney speak to our supervisors about labor management relations this week. During each of the two sessions, we went back to the basics. Federal labor relations is governed by statute so we spent the morning getting acquainted (or reacquainted) with the Federal Labor Management Statute. One portion of the statute of particular interest to management is section 7106 (a), Management Rights.

Management rights. We have them. We give them away. We have got to stop doing that.  We must be able to recognize a management right when we see it and when asked to give it away, we need to respond appropriately. When we take an action protected by 7106 (a) and the Union's response is, "No, you can't do it," a proper and correct response is, "Your request is not an appropriate arrangement."

Appropriate arrangement is a new phrase I learned this week.  It really does sound better than,  "What, are you freaking crazy?!" What other phrases and terms did I pick up? Reasonably foreseeable, anti-union animus, status quo ante, bifurcate and the "vitally effects" test.  I was reacquainted with the "covered by" doctrine and the Hillen factors, the supervisors were introduced to Douglas and his factors and we worked through past practices and duty to bargain.

Duty to bargain. We have it. We must abide by it. We must do it right. Management is not necessarily the king and queen of the hill when we change working conditions and conditions of employment for bargaining unit members. Supervisors can huff and puff all they want but it will not change the statute. Huff and puff, do it quickly, and then get over it.

The topic that resulted in the most heads on the table or hands through the hair was union misconduct. Bottom line, unless the union's behavior is physically threatening or qualifies as sexual harassment, there is not much management can do in terms of formal repercussions. History and case law continues to clearly support the union's "freedom of expression." It is what it is and it won't change anytime soon so take the high road, end contentious meetings, disengage when you need to. Your meeting, your sandbox, your rules. 

The desire of some supervisors to want to live by the letter of the statute did get me a little anxious. Remember the phrase  about living in glass houses and not throwing rocks? Labor management relations is not purely procedural. It is not black and white. It is, at least at this medical center, based on relationships. It is a complex system of give and take, of compromise, and of agreements to disagree. The supervisors saw very quickly that the union does not operate by the letter of the statute. What they did not see as readily was that neither does management. I am all for tightening up the system in some areas.  Knowing that stressing or changing one part of the system will affect others it must be done thoughtfully and plan fully, and we must anticipate the benefits and repercussions of doing so.   

I get heat for being "too collaborative" at times. Walk a mile in my shoes then let's talk.  I will always try to work it out collaboratively first and this works right now. I am not one to keep putting my hand out without reciprocation and I can stand my ground when I need to. We have had 3 ULPs in 4 years, 2 arbitrations and less then 15 requests for information. Our grievances are primarily filed only in response to issued discipline and our exposure to MSPB has been limited to probationary removals. Do we cave? No, we talk, we discuss issues and we resolve them informally when we can. We collaborate.

When I think of the energy wasted in filings, fights and positioning, I get tired. Just think of what else the parties in the situations could be doing instead. What processes could they be improving? What employees they could be recognizing? What working conditions could they enhance?