Jim Beqaj - How to Hire the Perfect Employer: Finding the Job and Career That Fit You Through a Powerful Personal Infomercial

HOW TO HIRE
THE PERFECT
EMPLOYER

Finding the Job and Career That Fit You
Through a Powerful Personal Infomercial

JIM BEQAJ

Foreword by Richard Nesbitt
Afterword by Tom Milroy

Toronto and New York

Copyright 2011 by EENJSS Holdings

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in 2011 by
BPS Books
Toronto and New York
www.bpsbooks.com
A division of Bastian Publishing Services Ltd.

ISBN 978-1-926645-36-0

Cataloguing-in-Publication Data available from Library and Archives Canada.

Cover: Gnibel
Text design and typesetting: Casey Hooper Design

Fit Factor, Personal Balance Sheet, Target Rich Environment, TRE, and Personal Infomercial are trademarks of Beqaj International Inc.

A portion of proceeds on sales of this book will be donated to The Sick Kids Foundation, Toronto.

To my wife,
Jennifer,
who has been so wonderfully supportive
and encouraging through all the ups and
downs of this difficult journey,
and my children,
Emma, Eddie, Nora,
Jack, Sam, and Sarah,
who inspire me every day

By Richard Nesbitt

W hen I returned from graduate school to Canada in 1986, I wanted to work for the best investment bank in the business, Wood Gundy. I tried the conventional approach through an investment banking associate position. No luckthat is, until a friend brought me in to meet the head of fixed income for Wood Gundy, Jim Beqaj. After fifteen minutes, Jim said, I can work with this guy, and that was my life for the next ten years at Wood Gundy. It was the beginning of a trusted advisor relationship that has continued to this day.

Jim was my advisor and mentor from the time I helped set up a mortgage-backed security desk for him at Wood Gundy in 1986, again when I worked for him in New York in the mid-nineties, and then back in Toronto. His unique insights into people and business have been of great value to me in my more recent responsibilities as head of the Toronto Stock Exchange and now at CIBC.

Jim and I didnt operate the same way when we worked together. In fact, we solved problems and created programs in different ways. Jim was always able to conceive the big idea and attract people to the mission. I, meanwhile, liked to tease the best idea out of dozens of good ideas and bring focused resources to the task. Our approaches complemented each other as we worked through the years on many achievements.

Like Jim, I believe a business rises not on the technical skills of its employees but on how well those employees fit the culture of their business. Contrary to what you read in the business section of your daily newspaper, businesses that fail do not fail because of external factors but because of wrong decisions made by the people inside them. And these decisions, more often than not, emanate from problems of fit.

Let me put this more positively: Businesses succeed, and sustain their success, when their leadership teams are rowing in the same direction, and when their chief concern is to find and develop people who fit the culture of their business.

This book examines this critically important issue of fit from the point of view of individuals who are looking for the perfect employer. Leaders will also benefit greatly from this book, however, as they infer, from Jims clear and compelling words, how important it is for them to refine their search for the perfect employees.

Richard Nesbitt is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIBC World Markets Inc.

F or so long (Im talking decades, not years), I felt out of kilter in my work. Not only did I not fit my work, I didnt think it was even possible to fit.

I had some successful and exciting days in corporate life, but I also spent time on the outside looking in. I went through the painful process of taking responsibility for my life and figuring out why I didnt fit and how and where I could fit. Im thrilled to say that the experience was far more liberating than it was painful. I emerged from this dark period to create a business that makes me so happy each and every moment of every single day, week in and week out, month after month, and year after year. If only I had discovered this earlier!

Ive written this book because Ive seen the process I developed out of my experience make such a genuine difference in the lives of the many people I have coached. It doesnt matter whether theyre inside or outside the finance industry, already in a job or looking for one, new to the workforce or toiling at the most rarefied of senior levelsit works. While I dont believe anything is unique, I do know my process is helping people take responsibility for themselvesfor everything in their lives from day one to this moment right nowand for how the world sees them.

I havent written this book with the expectation of being the next Tom Peters or some other famous business writer but just to hold out hope to people caught in the very sad reality of work life today, the reality that only the tiniest percentage of people are actually doing what they truly love to do. My overall message for everyone reading this book is: You can find your fit and love what you do.

This book has been on my mind for a long time and I am thrilled that it is safely in your hands. Not being a prolific writer, I was fortunate to have the support and companionship of several people on my writing journey. Starting me off were writers David Thomas and David Hughes. Getting me over the goal line were my trusted advisor Lee Fullerton and my editor and publisher Donald G. Bastian. Cheering me on at every twist and turn were two very special friends, my business partners Jaz Chahil and Bob Baldock.

Of course none of this would have been possible without my wife, Jennifer. Thank you for your support and candidness when all seemed pretty bleak in the darkness of trying to find myself. I would have never made it and life would not be nearly as satisfying without you by my side, step by step, building to this day. And my thanks to Emma, Eddie, Nora, Jack, Sam, and Sarahmy six wonderful children, who teach me something new every day (and submit to being my guinea pigs as I develop my theories about people).

I will be forever indebted to Tom Milroy, for giving me my first assignment and believing in me when I was at my lowest point. Thank you, Tom. And thank you, Richard Nesbitt, for your friendship and support through the years.

As for my clients who have supported me from the very beginningI am deeply grateful for your loyalty and trust and for inviting me into the inner workings of your business. What an honor!

Jim Beqaj

I COULDNT HELP BUT SMILE WHEN I READ A COVER story in The Economist on the state of business today. Do you know what it identified as the number-one challenge of organizations big and small?

Finding the right people.

I smiled because I work as a trusted advisor to numerous clients, helping them with their recruiting, consulting for them on business matters, and coaching them. I coach many individuals who are looking for a job or considering a career change, or who wish to develop greater clarity and success in their present position.