Marcia Heroux Pounds

Sun Sentinel Columnist

February 9, 2011

Out of work since March 2010, Mark Roper wouldn’t stop knocking on the door of Wholesale Carrier Services, a telecommunications firm in Coral Springs. At least, that’s how his CEO Chris Barton remembers it. “It was non-stop banging on our receptionist’s counter – ‘I’m qualified for this job,’ ” Barton says.

Roper, 49, says he didn’t literally bang on the counter, but he was persistent. After passing an initial screening and interviewing, Roper followed up with thank-you notes and calls until he was hired. “I let them know my qualifications and I backed them up,” he says. “I didn’t try to give the impression that I knew everything.”

Whether a job candidate represents himself honestly and professionally is important, says Barton and other South Florida hiring managers. Barton hired Roper in November 2010 and says he has proven to be an asset to the company’s trouble-shooting help team. “He’s probably the most positive employee we’ve hired,” he says.

Why does an employer hire one job applicant, but not another? Here are seven big mistakes that South Florida hiring managers say keep potentially good people from getting hired:

Not taking the screener seriously: Seems simple, but many job applicants fail the first screening because they don’t think they have to make an impression at that point, says Gerry Czarnecki, once a senior human resources manager at IBM, and now CEO of O2 Media in Pompano Beach.

“You don’t impress them by blowing so much smoke at them — telling stories about yourself that simply don’t matter,” he says.

Also don’t send too much information to an employer, Czarnecki says. He wants a short, crisp resume that, for example, shows a job candidate’s achievements,

Posting party photos on Facebook. Barton won’t hire a candidate who displays extreme party photos on Facebook. Before interviewing someone, his company looks at the applicant’s web pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Google, Yahoo and other social and professional networking sites. “Many candidates have been eliminated for failing to meet our standards of conduct or professionalism,” Barton says.

So he recommends job applicants “sanitize” their Internet profiles before seeking work. “Put your name in Google. Everything you’re going to type in, I’m going to type in. Then do something about it if there’s something you don’t like,” Barton says.

Ignoring technology advances. At the same time, Barton won’t hire someone who isn’t a “digital citizen.” In interviews, he often asks applicants how many people follow them on LinkedIn.com, the professional networking site, and other social media. Barton also asks: “What ranking do you have in Google if I search your name? Do you care? Why or why not? Do you have a professional blog?”

Barton says what he wants to know is: “What web-based following does hiring you bring to our company?”

Trying to control the interview. Listen more than you talk, until the interviewer asks if you have any questions, Czarnecki says. “You have to answer questions candidly, carefully and succinctly. If all you do is ramble on, then you will probably not get an invite to the next stage. An interviewer doesn’t have time to waste. They’re asking you questions for a reason.”

Seeking a job other than the one that’s open. Czarnecki immediately dismisses candidates who start asking about when they can get promoted. So don’t ask, “What is my career path?”

“That is a ridiculous question. They should be interviewing for the job on the market,” he says.

Then when it’s your opportunity, ask good questions, such as, “Can you help me understand how the business model works? Help me understand the position I would be doing in relation to the rest of the organization. What are the expectations? How will I know if I’m qualified to be in this position?”

Failing to show an aptitude to learn. Barton says organizational skills are critical to everything his firm does so he often asks an applicant to show him his Palm Pilot or other organizer. “If you don’t have one, strike one.”

“They should be proud to say, ‘This is how I organize my day.” Barton often says to a job candidate, “Show me your Outlook calendar. How many appointments have you booked?”

Organization is important to any company’s productivity, Barton says. “They better be more efficient or we’re not going to be efficient as a company.”

He’s not as concerned if an applicant doesn’t have the latest technology. What he wants to see is an aptitude to adapt to new technologies. “If they’re not comfortable, I’m not going to hire them,” Barton says.

Lying to the employer. Simply don’t apply for a job if you’re not qualified, Czarnecki. He often finds fraudulent educational information, such as college degrees, on resumes. And don’t claim skills you don’t have. Interviewers are trained to smell a phony, he says. “You’re doing serious damage to your credibility,” Czarnecki says.

Job seekers who lie “don’t have a prayer of getting hired. They’re better off saying they’re not educated and brilliant,” he says.