Referrals Trump Resumes, Don’t You Think?

If you were looking to hire someone to clean your house or take care of your lawn, what would you do first? Post an ad on Craigslist or ask your friends if they know anyone? What would mean more to you? A good looking resume, or a person who comes highly recommended by a trusted friend or adviser who has worked with them before?

Job Seekers: Stop Working So Hard!

I had someone apply for 15 of our job openings the other day. Fifteen! And all the job openings called for completely different skill requirements. Before even opening this person’s resume I’m thinking: What a waste of my time. Just seeing those 15 messages in my inbox, I was completely turned off. I didn’t even want to look at his resume, but I did. Sure enough, this was not a candidate I could market or present to any of my job openings. His resume bared no resemblance to any of my postings. What was he thinking?

Job Search Accountability

“It’s not my fault.” “You didn’t tell me…” “I didn’t know…” Job seekers, these are statements your next potential employer doesn’t wants to hear.

As the job market continues to open up and my list of job orders is rapidly growing, I have seen some pretty impressive resumes this month. Unfortunately, that was all they turned out to be: impressive resumes, not impressive candidates. Two in particular turned out to be especially disappointing. These people looked great on paper! Their resumes had everything I was looking for. I was so excited, I immediately called each of these candidates, emailed them our online application, and scheduled phone interviews so we could start working together right away.

Temporary Work on the Rise

One of my clients recently asked me for a helpdesk person for a 6-8 week contract. Since I place people in temporary as well as full-time positions all the time, I was confident I could fill this position for my client. Several of my helpdesk candidates are currently unemployed so I left a few voicemails and awaited some positive responses. To my surprise, of the five people I called I received not one, not two… but FOUR rejections from unemployed candidates. “Did you find a new position?” I asked them. “No, but I don’t want to lose my Unemployment.” Is that really the purpose of Unemployment? To discourage people from working?

New Year, New Job?

Have you ever thought about changing jobs? With all the economic doom and gloom the past couple years; it is easy to see why people might be afraid to make a move. Too many people lost their jobs due to the recession, leaving those who managed to stay in one of three categories:

Smart Job Searching

Thinking of applying for a job opening? Whether in between jobs or gainfully employed, people in all stages of their careers are responding to job postings. Hiring managers are pleased to see their inboxes filled with new resumes and eager to find the perfect candidate among them.

In a perfect world all of these resumes would come from highly qualified candidates who are genuinely interested in the position and 100% ready to accept an offer. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case. Many are either over or under qualified. Others look great on paper but turn out to have misrepresented themselves. Then there are those applicants who are emailing their resumes to every company and every job opening they can find just to see what happens. Instead of an inbox filled with strong candidates, hiring managers waste too much time sorting through a stack of resumes that ultimately will not result in a new hire.

Landing an Interview: Resume Pitfalls to Avoid

For every job opening, several resumes are typically submitted. Only some of them will result in an interview, and ultimately only one will get the job. So, if 50 people apply for a position and 5 get interviews, what about the other 45 applicants? Why didn’t they get a chance to talk to the hiring manager? In a hiring capacity, I see a lot of resumes every day – some stand out as “must calls”, others fall under “maybes”, and many can be easily dismissed. This leaves the question in most applicants’ minds: What can I do to make my resume stand out? I would like to share with you some common resume mistakes to avoid, and some of the things my “must call” resumes have in common.

Hiring Turn Around on the Horizon

Over the past couple years, with an increasing number of employees being laid off and unemployment rates climbing across the country, we have been experiencing a primarily employer-driven market. Instead of posting job openings and praying that someone will apply, employers have been posting positions and then weeding through hundreds of resumes. Hiring managers have become more specific in their searches, screening out people who don’t have experience with the most recent version of a software package or who are missing one key word on their resume.

Dispelling the Myth About Recruiters

When you hear the word “Recruiter”, what kind of person comes to mind? Someone who tries to trick you into taking a new job? Someone who forwards your resume all over town without discussing each opportunity with you, maybe? I have talked to many job seekers and employers during the past few years who think we are just that – questionable “salespeople” out to get you. I would be lying if I said that this is never the case. As with any profession, there are some pretty bad recruiters out there who give the rest of us a bad name. The thing is, if all recruiters were like the negative stereotype, there is no way I would still be doing this job.