Isn’t anyone staying for the gold watch anymore? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the answer is probably no. Their latest statistics say college-educated workers hold a mean of nearly 12 jobs between the ages of 18 to 48. Over 31% of women in that category have worked for 15 or more employers. And when it comes to Millennials, it looks like those numbers will go even higher.
If you’re looking for a new position, one of the best places to pass out cards and make connections is during the industry trade shows. But the season, which began in Las Vegas with G2E, moved across the pond to London for ICE, and concluded this month with NIGA in San Diego, is over.
So how do you find a job now, or how does a job find you? Fortunately, despite our industry spreading from coast-to-coast, we still live in a small world. As Casino Careers executive Beth Deighan says, “most of us are in it for life; we may move around, but gaming is in our blood.” That tight circle of gaming executives can be a blessing or a curse. On the plus side, when there’s a desirable job opening, word gets around quickly. Vendors talk. Managers talk. Often, the rumor mill is faster than throughput on your Cat-6 network. The downside is that, if your reputation is not good, that info can spread just as fast.
With the internet, things have gotten easier. The only hard part is sorting it all out. Dice may have been the first generic online job board, back in the 1990s, but today there are dozens: Glassdoor, Help Wanted, Job Monkey, Monster, and so on. Enter “casino management” on LinkedIn and your finger will tire of scrolling long before you get to the end of the list. The aforementioned Casino Careers has a long-running job board that’s always been a good choice. This week there were 27 pages of listings there from Palm Springs, CA to Monticello, NY. The opportunities ranged from VPs and Directors to Line Cooks and Box Office Ticket Sellers. There are similar listings at Traci McCarty & Associates, Bentley Price Associates, CasinoRecruiter.com and Bristol Associates, all firms with solid experience hiring gaming executives.
With all these resources available on your keyboard, is there any reason to use a professional headhunter these days? Yes and no. No, because the term itself is out-of-date. Some pros embrace the “hunter” designation; others consider it demeaning. Executive Recruiter or Executive Search Firm are the acceptable terms in 2019. The other negative is there are so many good alternatives today (as seen above) to help find a position.
But the answer is often yes. Whatever you call these pros, they can still be an excellent choice for both gaming employers and job seekers. Occasionally, a casino may decide to make a change while the position is still occupied. There’s nothing worse than seeing your current job posted on LinkedIn. In these cases, an executive recruiter is the best choice for a casino wishing to be discreet and maintain confidentiality. That’s why recruiters can spot jobs you’ll never see on your own.
But the primary reason a candidate should consider a professional recruiter is quality. As you might imagine, online listings get dozens, if not thousands, of hits. Doesn’t every dealer want to be the Chief Gaming Officer and every accounting clerk the CFO? There’s nothing wrong with ambition, but experience and qualifications need to match the position. A majority of online submissions are often unrealistic. Employers know that candidates submitted by recruiters are qualified.
Why doesn’t every casino use an executive recruiters? Today, even sophisticated casino HR departments start their searches by posting online, for the simple reason that they can avoid professional fees. In case you were unaware, recruiters charge a fee to the casino when one of their candidates is hired. The rates vary between 15% to 30% of the candidate’s annual base salary, excluding bonuses and other perks.
But those fees are often worth every cent. Recruiters are working for the casino, not you. The last thing they’ll do is recommend poor candidates. They’ll work hard to make a good match for their client, and that generally means a good match for you. Since they are seeking future business, they want their clients to like their recommendations.
If you’ve decided to make a job change, here are the steps most of the pros recommend.
- Introspection and Research – Realistically evaluate your own skills and potential. Target a position in line with your goals and accomplishments. Applying for a corporate VP position when you’re now a Supervisor at a small operation is a waste of time. Check the job boards. In addition to the ones mentioned earlier, don’t forget the property-specific postings on individual casino sites.
Research where you want to live and where you don’t. Check the Yelp and Facebook reviews of the casino. McCarty, whose firm Traci McCarty & Associates has 25 years of working with exclusively with Native American employers, says, “Google any prospective employer to see if you’re a fit. What’s their turnover rate? How’s the cost-of-living in the area, the schools, real estate, the weather and other factors that determine if this is where you want to be?” Her website, and many others, have tools to help in this research.
How are your tech skills? Dennis Rizzo, whose firm Bentley Price Associates has 40 years of experience, noted in a recent newsletter, “our clients in the Hospitality and Casino-Gaming industry are asking us to search for senior managers and executives who can drive technology initiatives. Five years ago, we would rarely get a search that insisted on tech skills at the enterprise level.” This is especially important if you are older. A strong level of Excel expertise (including Pivot Tables) is nearly mandatory for most operational positions, and it doesn’t hurt to have some database coding background. The end goal with those tools is to demonstrate analytical skills, which are highly desirable today. With YouTube and online courses, it won’t take you long to learn the basics of programs like MS-SQL and Tableau, but you need to start now. An adult education program in Statistics would also be a strong plus if you missed this course in college.
- Build and Place Your Resume — There are lots of resources online to help guide you through this process, but the pros strongly recommend that you include measurable accomplishments relative to the position you’re seeking. Some sites claim a one-pager is the key, but those we talked with in the gaming industry said about four pages is best.
Honesty is paramount. Mark Wayman, the self- proclaimed Godfather of Las Vegas, is also a veteran executive recruiter and says, “Integrity is a huge deal breaker. I’ve had a dozen bad experiences… with executives that were dishonest.” The head coach of Notre Dame football didn’t heed this advice in 2001 and was fired after just five days on the job. You can check that story on Yahoo, where you’ll also learn that the CEO of Yahoo (!) was fired for lying about his computer science degree on his resume in 2012.
For high level positions, Marc Weiswasser of CasinoRecruiter.com says you might want to consider a professional resume writer. He highly recommended the Las Vegas firm of MasterMinds5. He added, “when you’re talking about six-figure jobs, it’s a very a wise investment.” More than one pro said that including some human interest points like hobbies and activities can be a plus if you keep them short.
While it may sound obvious, McCarty says that 99% of the resumes they receive do not clearly state the candidate’s casino experience. A general manager in construction is not necessarily a good match for a casino GM job. She emphasizes, “we need the candidate’s industry experience clearly stated.”
Once you’ve got the resume in hand and have thoroughly checked it for grammar and typos, you’ll face the decision of how to distribute it. Sending it everywhere could get you noticed. But it could also end up in the huge pile with everyone who did the same thing. While mass distribution may have some benefits, it may hurt you elsewhere. Executive recruiters might be a little less enthusiastic to work with you if you’ve spammed your resume throughout the industry.
- Clean Up Your Social Profile – Assuming you’ve already scrubbed Facebook of all the photos of that embarrassing Spring Break episode, you may still have work to do. Bristol Associates advises to think ‘keywords.’ On their website they say, “Your title, summary and job experience content should all target keywords someone else may use to find you. For example, instead of ‘Chief Marketing Officer’ you may want to describe yourself as ‘Chief Marketing Officer for a Global Financial Services Organizations’. Utilize your selected keywords throughout your profile.”
Just like your resume, providing a professional studio headshot is a must on LinkedIn and other social sites. Sujan Patel recently wrote for Forbes that it was important to keep your image consistent, diversify your content, and “give as much as you can.” That latter suggestion was, “If you want to create a memorable brand, you need to give people a reason to remember you.” The last of his nine tips was to “monitor your name.” He said you can set up alerts to learn if others are unknowingly destroying your brand with inappropriate posts or photos.
- Networking – “Start with and use your networks.” That was a universal quote from all the pros. Hopefully, you’re working every day to build a large group of fans, both in-house and with your peers nationwide. Many quoted a version of the credo, “the hands you step on while climbing the ladder of success will be there to pull you off on the way down.” McCarty, like Deighan, says, “we’re all one big family in the casino world.” Wayman, in a 2014 article for the Huffington Post, warned, “There is no upside to burning bridges. Relationships trump talent every day of the week.” Not everyone agreed that talent is secondary, but all stressed the importance of good relationships.
Deighan says, “Everybody is going to check your references. Create trust, don’t backstab and be honest. HR professionals all hang out together, and we talk with one another.” Current law prevents companies from officially saying too much about their ex-employees, good or bad. However, if you’ve received a “not eligible for re-hire” tag, that can legally be passed along. McCarty agrees that gaming is “like a family, and we often times get the ‘inside scoop’.”
- The Executive Recruiter – The Boston Globe recently ran an article saying that artificial intelligence (AI) may soon take the bias, and the humans, out of hiring. But until that happens, an executive recruiter is one of your best choices, particularly for positions above the manager level. If confidentiality is a concern, recruiters have a much better record in that regard than friends, family and LinkedIn.
You can use multiple firms, but there are some advantages to selecting just one. Some firms offer casinos a discount if their searches are exclusive. A recruiter will most likely work harder for you knowing they won’t be undercut by a competitor. Recruiters like to advertise their successes, so if one firm has done well with an employer you have targeted, they might be a good choice. Likewise, if you know some folks at your preferred new employer, ask them who’ve they’ve used. The same advice goes for your colleagues who’ve had success with a certain recruiter.
- The Interview – All of the executive recruiters have stories of candidates who lost a job during their interview. Here are some of their universal tips:
- Make sure you’re on time. Do you know how to get to the location and the room where the interview will be held? Traffic is not a great excuse, so plan ahead. Do you have the phone number of the interviewer in case Murphy’s Law attacks your transportation?
- Rizzo advises, “From the moment you walk onto the property, create positive energy. Be bright, be polite, be on point. When you get to the outer office, go ahead and shut off your cell phone. Take a few deep breaths and get focused.”
- Never discuss or show a prior employer’s proprietary information. However, it is good to bring samples of your work.
- Honesty is key. They’ll check up on your statements.
- Bring a notebook and pen to the interview to take notes, but don’t write excessively during the discussion.
- If you’re not 100% sure on how to answer, Weiswasser suggests saying “That is a good question, let me think about that for a second.” Then if needed, take a breath before responding to queries that catch you by surprise.
- Appearance – you should have this one down by now, or you wouldn’t be in the workforce. Google “job interview appearance” if you still have any doubts.
- The Counter Offer – The advice here is to be careful. McCarty says on her website, “After resigning, you have made your employer aware that you were looking for new employment. When promotion/raise time comes around, your employer will remember who may be leaving.” Accepting a counter offer could burn bridges with others. Remember, gaming at the executive level is a small community.
- The Application and Licensing – Like your resume and interview responses, complete honesty is mandatory. Deighan recalled a middle-aged candidate who did not list a DUI conviction that occurred when he was 18 years old. Despite three decades passing, the failure to disclose the violation resulted in his termination. Some noted that Native American gaming regulators, more than others, focus on discrepancies on licensing applications. They check details very aggressively. Without the Tribal Gaming Regulatory Authority’s clean endorsement, you’ll never get hired.
Finally, don’t worry about not getting that gold watch. You won’t be alone. Time magazine said, “even 20 years ago, only 7.7% of men in the private sector had worked at the same company for 25 years. In an era when computer geeks swap jobs as readily as hair colors, job loyalty will continue to decline, at least as long as the job market remains strong. If current trends continue, by next year the average middle-aged worker will spend less than eight years at the same company.”
Take solace that a $7.95 black plastic Casio Classic keeps better time than a $10,999 gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual. That’s a proven fact, by the way.
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Some of the sources mentioned in the story are:
Bentley Price Associates – Dennis Rizzo – https://bentleyprice.com
Bristol Associates – Ben Farber – www.bristolassoc.com
Casino Careers – Beth Deighan – www.casinocareers.com
CasinoRecruiter.com- Marc Weiswasser – www.casinorecruiter.com
masterMinds5, inc. – Bobbi Youngblood – www.masterminds5.com
The Godfather of Las Vegas – Mark Wayman – www.godfatherlv.com
Traci McCarty & Associates – Traci McCarty – http://www.tracimccartyinc.com
