A man walking past a construction site sees a sign: “Handy Man Wanted: Apply Within.”
The man goes to the office trailer to speak to the foreman.
Forman: “Can you drive a forklift?”
Man: “No.”
Forman: “Can you plaster?”
Man: “No.”
Foreman: “Can you lay bricks?”
Man: “No.”
Forman: “If you don’t mind my asking, what’s handy about you?”
Man: “I only live five minutes down the road.”
When speaking with employers, job seekers tend to emphasize their skills and experience as reasons for hiring them and overlook reasons other than matching the job description, such as living close by, that would make them an appealing hire.
When an employer makes a hire, it is not just the candidate’s skills and experiences that are being hired. The employer is taking on the candidate’s personality and aptitudes, mental and physical health, vices, good and bad habits, political and religious beliefs, morality, family dynamics, mannerism… all the stuff that makes each of us “one-of-a-kind” which employers, and your colleagues, must deal with and accommodate.
Have you ever considered how your health could be an asset to an employer? I am not talking about being athletic fit, where your BMI is 20.8, and you participate in triathlons every second weekend. I am talking about, for example, if you do not smoke. Between two equally qualified candidates, who would appeal more to a hiring manager? A smoker or a non-smoker? Presuming the hiring manager is a non-smoker, which is likely, then, of course, a non-smoker would be more appealing. Likewise, a candidate who appears to be in good shape would be preferred over a candidate who seems out of shape.
For several reasons, hiring managers are “judgemental” about a candidate’s health. Since hiring ultimately boils down to assessing the risk of hiring a candidate, hiring managers tend to be risk-averse. Therefore, hiring managers will pass on a candidate they feel will need time off to deal with medical issues.
Nowadays, companies are running lean. You are being interviewed for a reason: The employer has essential work which must be done and, therefore, cannot afford to have employees take excessive time off. In other words, why hire someone who may be away a lot?
I recall asking a candidate, whom I would say was in his mid-forties, “What can you offer that the other candidates cannot?” I braced myself for the cliché answer of being told they have years of experience or a unique set of skills—rarely does anyone have a unique set of skills—instead, he said, without hesitation, “Yesterday I had my annual physical. My doctor said I was in top health. I have the body of a 25-year-old. You have a chance to hire a healthy 25-year-old with over 20 years of workforce management experience.”
This is how you answer an interview question! Spin your answers so you look favourable and are hard to reject.
Outside of your relevant to the job skills and experience, an employer may find valuable:
You live nearby.
You have grown children who are on their own, or you have no children.
You do not smoke.
You speak a second language.
You are a member of an industry association, or you sit on an advisory board.
You are working on a degree or a certification.
Your social media presence/digital footprint. (g., you have a high number of followers, you write a popular blog)
Mentioning any of the above and much more is how you set yourself apart from the other applicants. For example, if you are interviewing for a senior accountant position, you can be certain that all the other applicants have similar skills to yours. However, do they speak French, have over 150,000 Twitter followers, live 4 kilometers away, or sit on the advisory board that champions the employer’s industry?
Do not just consider how you will fit into the job you are interviewing for; consider how you can fit holistically into the company. Being able to speak French may not have been mentioned in the job description; however, being bilingual would be a plus if the company has a presence in Quebec. Being skilled at social media would be a massive plus if you were interviewing for an accountant position for an e-commerce site.
Introducing to your interviewer your strengths outside of your skills and experience relevant to the job is relatively easy. In most cases, your interviewer will ask you a question such as, “Is there anything else I should know about you?”
This is when you would answer, “I am fluent in French, therefore, I will be able to communicate with my colleagues at your Montreal office easily,” or “I live just 10 minutes away; hence I have no excuse for ever being late.”
If your interviewer does not ask you to elaborate on your candidacy, then be proactive and say, “Before we wrap up our discussion, I would like to add ________.”
In preparation for your next interview, ask yourself, “In addition to my skills and experience, what else can I offer to increase my chances of being hired?”
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
