The Savvy Tour Guide

Recently returned from a 3 1/2 week trip to Israel. Was long but a very cool experience full of religion, history, hummus and chopped salad.

Joined a mission/tour of lawyers and judges from Miami most of the time but spent some alone time away from the group before and after the tour.

When I first arrived in Jerusalem I ventured out on our own to the “Old City” and took in all the sites including stunning architecture, holy places like the ‘Great Wall” and kind of just wandered around until we ran into a very nice, friendly guy who spoke perfect English. I obviously looked like tourist…must’ve had that doe eye “where am I” look.

My new found friend asked if I would like to see where Jesus had his “last supper’? Heck yeah. Went to 10 years of Catholic school so I was very familiar with Jesus’ last gathering. (heres 2 pics of last supper location. Not really how I envisioned it but cool nevertheless).

While walking to the famous destination this nice man who never announced he was a formal guide proceeded to ask tons of open-ended, questions like;

Where are you from?

Where have you been?

When did you get here?

How long are you staying?

Who are you with?

Why are you here?

Etc…

Found it fascinating how smooth this guy was at asking qualifying questions. In fact, I could tell he was sizing us up whether or not we were long term customers or just a quick hit.

Turns out we had a planned tour that was extremely detailed and thorough so he made the most of his short time with us. He spent about an hour with us and my husband tipped him pretty well.

What’s the lesson here?

When you’re in an interview be like the tour guide and get the employer (or person you’re interviewing with) to talk about themselves and the job to which you’re applying.

People love talking about themselves and love being around people willing to listen. Stick with open ended questions.

Another tip I give to candidates and friends/family when interviewing is “close the deal” by asking something like:

“Based on what we discussed, do you think I’d make a good fit for this job?” OR “How do I rank compared to other candidates you’ve seen?” OR “How do my qualifications compare to other active candidates”?

I hate when people say “trust me” but I’m telling you trust me on this. Not many people have the “cajones” to close a potential employer and if you do you’ll stick out from the pack.

There’s ton’s of psychology going on when a person commits to you out loud. It’s almost like she can’t take it away once she says it.

I could on and on about the benefits of closing.

Doesn’t matter what type of job you’re pursuing And you don’t have to be “hardcore” or in your face aggressive.
Simply ask the interviewer how you stack-up vs. the competition. If you ask they they will remember!

If you got your interviewing “mojo” working and ready to move one step closer to landing your dream golf job, click here to get started.

(Click the above link, register for free, then click the “White Glove” tab. If you’re already registered, log-in and click the White Glove tab).

Dawn Schlesinger
Chiefgolfjobologist

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Learn an Interviewing Tip or Two Ordering Mock Cocktails

Was in NYC last month and one of the things my husband and I like to do is watch broadway plays and eat!

Before seeing “Glass Menagerie” starting Sally Fields, which by the way was a pretty intense show, grabbed dinner at The Lambs Club, right across the street from the theatre…couldn’t have planned an impromptu reservation any better.

The Lambs Club is an old established thespian club (started in the 1800’s) with a dining room dripping in history including one of those big 10ft high and wide fire places.

Got the feeling that it was the type of place that probably makes killer cocktails.

My instincts were spot-on.

Once seated, the waiter came with a drink menu.

Included were 3 beautifully described Mock Cocktails. Been laying off “the juice” (alcohol) so was excited to order a special “virgin” libation.

Couldn’t decide on which one.

Torn between the Cucumber Cooler or Rosemary Blush…the blush caught my eye.

However instead of going with my gut I asked the server for her recommendation.

After a couple of qualifying questions she suggested the Cucumber Cooler which arrived beautifully presented.

Took one sip and immediately knew it was too tart!

Wound up timidly, sending back my drink and getting the citrusy Rosemary Blush which was perfect.

What the heck does all this drink talk have to do with recruiting?

I’ll tell you what…once you know what you want don’t deviate from the plan OR let someone else change your mind.

Same rule applies to hiring.

When you’re interviewing a club candidate, know the qualifications you want and the type of person that will excel in the position. And never deviate from needed qualifications.

How do you know what you want?

Learn from past employee/employees, what you liked and disliked about them and write it down. (For new positions list your top qualifications needed for that particular postion).

For example, if you’re seeking a General Manager did the last one have great people skills, did he give good “warm and fuzzies” by interacting with the membership and guests daily or did he prefer staying behind a desk?

Did he communicate with the Membership Director and help create new marketing ideas or did he have poor sales skills .

Was he weak or strong on budget management?

Were employees motivated or was there high turnover?

Did Board members push him around or did he command respect from the Board?

You get my drift.

Go a step further and develop a job ad and/or job description (or at the very least update an existing one) around these wants. Theres a big difference between job ads and job descriptions….we’ll discuss this topic another time.

Once you figure out your “Want List” (notice I use Want vs Wish list…wishes are something you would like to have, wants are needed), Don’t deviate from the list when interviewing candidates.

If you’ve done the work and know what you want, do not let a candidate or anyone else for that matter talk you into hiring a someone for the wrong reasons.

Don’t sway from the plan.

You’re more likely to hire the best candidate if you develop a plan and stick to it!

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Resume Cluster – Find Bigger Needle in Smaller Haystack


Was listening to Sirius radio the other night while driving home and there was an on-line dating expert giving advice on finding the perfect mate.

Not in the dating market but the conversation peaked my curiostity nevertheless.

Forgot the guy’s name but the most important tip he gave was to pursue a limited amount of dating candidates. Reason being too many options creates indecision.

Better to stick with a “finite” number of potential “love connections” and go from there.

Got me thinking…the same theory applies to club management recruiting.

When searching hundreds of resumes on large job boards there’s so much information and so many candidates, the search becomes one big cluster you know what!

You would be much better off with a quality pool of candidates vs. quantity.

This brings me to our offer.

When purchasing a Golf Candidate Blast, Triple 7 Membership Package or Target Search Service receive FREE access to our resume database.

All of our golf club candidates are either employed in the golf industry or want to break-in.

This narrows the “playing field” so you can focus on the most qualified candidates available…and it’s FREE with the above services!

Save Time.
Save Money
Increase Number of Quality Candidates

If you’re ready to uncover a bigger needle in a smaller, high-quality haystack, click here to get started.

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St. Valentine was beaten and stoned…then decapitated!

Yikes…what’s with that?

I thought the meaning of Valentines Day was an expression of love and appreciation.

How does one spin a tortuous death into a day of “gushing” love?

Let me explain.

Back in the day, around 260 AD, society was permissive, lot’s of promiscuity and partying. Polygamy was very common.  A mean old emperor named Claudius ll banned marriage because he thought single men made better soldiers. Meanwhile, a roman priest named Valentinus secretly married Christian couples. He was eventually caught, imprisoned, tortured and beheaded. Poor guy.

Now here’s the twist.
Legend has it while imprisoned he fell in love with a young, blind female visitor, the jailer’s daughter named Julia. On the eve of his death he signed a note to her “From your Valentine”.

Fast foward to this modern holiday as we know it and according to Money Mazazine, Valentine’s Day spending reached approximately $19.7 billion in 2016.

Quite a profitable spin on a tragic story line! Here’s my point.

Anyone can take a negative event and spin it into a totally different meaning or to what they want you to believe. In fact, this rendition of Valentines Day is just one of many and for all we know the whole thing could’ve been made up.

Same spin happens in business all the time.

Take job boards for example. Maybe a small percentage of golf companies have actually had success using general job boards but they don’t tell you that.  They  promise tons of qualified candidates and great results to anyone willing to shell-out hundreds of dollars worth of fees for a 30 day ad, even though these claims are based on a very small percentage of users.

Bottom line is they don’t care what you post as long as they get your money!

At GolfSurfin.com, we don’t make false promises. If you post a crummy ad you’re going to get crummy results. We urge our customers to write a solid job ad that’s honest, sells the company’s benefits and clearly spells out “what’s in it” for the candidate.

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Back from the PGA show – now what

So you returned from the PGA Show last week as an exhibitor or attendee and “hocked your wares” to anyone and everyone who would listen. In fact, you’ve met a couple of sales people who look and sound pretty decent and have shown interest in your product/service.

Now what?

You follow-up with them and hopefully they respond back within the next couple of weeks. If all goes well you’ll do your due diligence and check references including current customers because you’re smart. Then you’ll negotiate a compensation agreement and send samples if required.

Then the waiting game starts….

If the rep is legit you’ll get an order within 30, 60 or 90 days or longer depending on factors like product/service demand, rep customer base (hopefully one exists), rep’s work ethic, time of year etc….

Finally wah lah the first order appears!

Now real work starts.

You’ll bend-over backwards to fill the order as seamlessly and professionally as possible in a timely manner. Then with a big happy smile, you’ll pay the rep the agreed upon commission rate within the agreed upon time-frame.

Why do soooo much work to please the customer and sales rep? Listen carefully…

because if the rep makes $$$ she/he will refer other good reps and that’s how one build a solid sales force!

Unless you’e a “big wig” like Nike or Adidas or Callaway good independent reps won’t be banging down your door. If you’re a small company and/or new to the golf industry and fortunate enough to find “a diamond in the rough” treat them and their customers like royalty and watch your sales and your sales force grow in leaps and bounds!

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Blah blah blah golf job ads

Have you ever noticed, particularly in the golf industry, how boring job ads can be. These types of ads are outdated job descriptions cut and pasted into a job board ad. Bad, lazily written ads…if written at all…are ineffective recruiting tools that attract “bottom feeders” or “dregs” of the candidate pool.

They usually read like so:

Title – General Manager
(I’m choosing a GM title here but you could add any department head title i.e. Membership Director, Controller, F&B Manager, Operations Manager, Chef etc…and find the same results).

Next is usually a little blurb about the club, where it’s located and how long it’s been around. Then comes the dreaded Responsibilities, then Experience/Qualifications, then Compensation (if even mentioned is very general ,non specific) then more Blah blah blah.



Reading such ads is about as exciting as sitting in a traffic jam or a doctor’s waiting room or being kept on hold or watching the Kardashians…yuck…you get the picture.

What’s in it for the candidate? Absolutely nothing. Why would a “super star” golf manager apply to a boring, basic job description written with no effort or enthusiasm? They won’t. In fact candidates who will apply are typically desperate for a job.  They’re the “dregs”of the candidate pool who could care less about making an impact at the club/organization or job satisfaction or a supportive workplace. All a “dreg” wants is a paycheck and will say anything during the interview process to get it. Period.

So sharpen your pencil or clean your keyboard and chuck the old blah job description. Instead, write an honest and enthusiastic job ad.

Then post it on the #1 golf job board avoided by “dregs”, GolfSurfin.com. Click here to get started.

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GolfSurfin.com’s Recruiting Service Stinks…

…at least that’s what one customer thought.

Let me explain.

A new customer wanted to try our service and asked for my advice on how to make a successful ad.

I responded:

“…I suggest, if you don’t already have one, to write an ad as if you were a sales person and include things you would like to see …especially how reps will make $$$ carrying your line. Include points like what makes your company/product unique, why your product will sell and any company accolades/accomplishments. Again there’s thousands of companies that come and go seeking independent sales people in golf. Try to set yourself apart from the pack, tell a unique story and make good on promises made to reps. If done properly they will be banging down your door…”

He wrote an ad and sent it out yet did not receive the response he was hoping for.

Moral of this story is we can’t guarantee a great candidate response  for every company who uses us.

The ad may have to be tweaked and distributed a few times to produce great results.  Sometimes no matter what is written there’s just not a whole lot of excitement out there about the product/service. Such companies may have to re-strategize and come-up with a new marketing and/or business plan.

Point is you’ve got to start somewhere and put your “best foot forward”  to start attracting sales people.  It’s not an easy process for all companies but sitting back and “waiting” for the reps to come  is, in most cases, a fantasy.

The one guarantee I can make is we treat every company equally. We’ll “Blast” your ad to a database (over 4,000) of active golf sales pros within 24 hours of posting.

If you believe you have a solid golf product/service to sell and need reps, click here to get started.

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The Scary Angry Sales Rep

Wrote a blog entry about independent golf reps (Hiring Sales Reps – Promises Promises see below) who make empty promises to manufacturers. The point of the message was for employers to perform “due diligence” when hiring a rep before wasting time and $$$ on those frighteningly devilish candidates making empty promises.

An angry rep, who’s blood was obviously curdling after reading the entry, responded back that my commentary was offensive AND I should not criticize golf reps in general. In other words “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.

I was a little spooked at first that a sales person took the time to write such a scathing reply. In fact, he was even upset that I referenced “Zig Ziglar” ( Zig was the selling guru back in the day).

Booo…thats scary angry!

There are many hard working, professional, independent sales people in the golf industry who are trustworthy and do a great job with the lines they represent. I call them Superheroes. They are the good sales guys & girls GolfSurfin.com helps by connecting them with our customers.

The fact is that there are some bad apples, scammers out there who take advantage of golf manufacturers…especially companies new to the golf industry.

Beware. Bad reps come in a variety of disguises:

-Ghosts or Mummies are the reps you never hear from once they get their samples
-Ghouls tarnish your brand by lack of customer follow-up
-Grim Reapers give wrong company information or make false promises to customers
-The infamous Vampires/Vampiresses usurp all company resources yet never makes quota or significant sales; all they do is complain

To help avoid getting involved with sales Monsters, conduct background checks like:

-call references
-customers
-former employers
-other sales people
-check social media etc.

Don’t just accept a good sales pitch that winds up being just that…a good sales pitch.

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10 Strange Come-Ons By Creative Candidates

In a recent survey,* hiring managers gave these examples of unusual tactics job seekers used to stand out … not always for the right reasons:

1 – Came dressed in a Halloween costume during a late October interview.
2 – Bought a first-class upgrade to sit next to the hiring manager on a transatlantic flight
3 – Had his wife make homemade lavender soap bars for the hiring manager as a thank you for the interview.
4 – Sent a pair of embroidered socks to HR with a note saying he would knock the company’s socks off if hired.
5 – Showed up in his camp counselor attire with some children from the camp he worked at to show his leadership capabilities.
6 – Sent a shoe with a flower in it, plus a note saying: “Trying to get my foot in the door.”
7 – Arrived to the interview in a white limousine, an hour early, dressed in a three-piece suit. (The open position was middle-wage and had a casual      dress code.)
8 – Kissed the hiring manager.
9 – Wore a tie that had the name of the company on it.
10 – Mailed the hiring manager an envelope with cash inside.

Ok I agree. These methods are pretty kooky and “over the top”… my personal favorite is #10.

That being said, you’ve got to give credit to the candidate who’s unique and stands-out albeit in a professional manner.

There’s nothing worse then sitting through another boorrring interview where the candidate gives rehearsed blah, blah blah answers to well thought-out questions.

They may look great on paper and say all the “right” things but lack pizaazz, spunck or fire in the gut!

Give me the girl/guy who’s creative, comes across as competent and maybe throws-in a little sense of humor.

Again, the above examples may be over the top but I’ll take the candidate who stands out from the pack (within reason of course) any day over “average”.

*Careerbuilder Survey

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Interview – Stick to the Damn Plan!

I’m at the vet with my dog prepping her for a dental cleaning…Greyhounds have the smelliest breath!

While in the vet’s lobby, a dog rescue volunteer walks in with a “beaten down” pup, shaven, eye partially closed and skin looking pretty bad. Obviously the poor guy was in bad shape but despite his physical ailments. was playful and cute. I immediately fell in love with this little nugget (a 65 lb. American/English Bulldog mix). I asked the volunteer a couple of questions about him, gave my new friend a pat on the head and big hug and went on my merry way.

Throughout the day I couldn’t stop thinking of this poor pooch and wanted to help. No way could I adopt him with two aging, jealous and demanding canines already at home but at the very least I could make a donation and help with his medical bills.

That night told my husband and daughter about the dog interaction I had earlier in the day and wouldn’t you know within an hour we convinced ourselves that my daughter needed to adopt the Bulldog as a companion for law school in Brooklyn. What???

What does this cockamamie dog story have to do with golf employment? I didn’t stick with my initial plan (making a donation) and found myself in a deeper commitment that, as it turns out, was not the best fit for my family’s needs.

This scenario plays out in interviews as well.

One of the toughest department head positions to fill at a club is Food and Beverage Manager.

Why? Because F&B candidates have such diverse backgrounds it’s tough finding the “perfect fit” for your club. For example, a candidate walks in with tons of experience as a chef. Her priority is to meet production needs while your main concerns are employee management and purchasing and waste.

That’s a crummy match!

When conducting an interview one must have a plan of hiring priorities and stick to those priorities throughout the interview. The candidate’s background and skill-set must parallel your priorities. If he/she doesn’t “fit” move on. Stick to the plan. Avoid deviating from the needs of your club during the interview.

Hone your interviewing skills with quality club candidates by posting an ad on GolfSurfin.com. Click here to get started.

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