Getting Professional Help Can Shorten Your Job Search – Example 1- Turnover

I find it interesting that people will pay for help for just about anything but their job search. People pay for dance lessons, golf and tennis lessons, piano lessons, financial help, help with taxes, the list is endless. Yet for possibly the most important part of one’s life they refuse to pay for help. So many choose to continue a job search instead of seeking professional help. There are many good career coaches,  job search coaches, executive recruiters and others to help you. Most aren’t that expensive, when compared to what one loses each month in salary by not getting a job.

Let me give you two examples of how getting professional help impacted two people with their search. First, it wasn’t that they were doing anything wrong, it was that they weren’t doing everything right and didn’t know what to do when issues came up. The results were consistent, they didn’t get the job. This was too bad because as  you will see, these were easy issues to handle. The candidates just didn’t know how. By the way, neither did all the non-professionals in their network.

Example 1:

This candidate had been on the market for about 6 months. He had been getting interviews and coming in second. Most of the time he was told some story by the company or recruiter about why he didn’t get the job. Rarely the real story. Then, because he had a friend in the company he was interviewing with, the true story came to life. He was told the original reason for not hiring him was that the other person had industry experience. His friend found out the real reason was that he had what they called “high turnover.” His last three jobs had lasted on average only 18 months.

So the obvious question to me was, “How many jobs in the last 6 months where he came in second, had he lost because turnover was the real reason?” We will never know, but I’m going to assume at least one.

When we first started working together, this issue obviously came up. It turns out this is a very simple issue to handle, especially in this case. Like so many candidates, he just didn’t know how to handle it in the hiring process.

The way to handle it was to face it head on. He figured if they didn’t bring the topic up during the interview that it wasn’t an issue. WRONG. It wasn’t an issue that the company felt they needed to discuss, because right or wrong,  someone had already decided he had high turnover, so there was no reason to discuss it. WRONG.

We changed that. Now the candidate brought it up first in the interview. In every interview. He had nothing to hide and so he forced the discussion. At the beginning of the interview when asked, “Tell me about yourself.” or “Give me a quick overview of your background.” he would start out with, “From my resume it may appear that I have had a lot of turnover. I can understand why most people would think that, I would think that too if I looked at my resume. Let me explain the reasons why I left each company, and in many cases, I didn’t leave the company, the company actually left me.”

This was a huge change in the interview. It was no longer left for the company to decide if it was high turnover without understanding the issues. It was right out there to discuss.  Does this mean all companies will accept the reasoning? Absolutely not. All it means is that the ones that are open to understanding why bad things happen to good people will.  For those companies that aren’t open to understanding the reasons, the outcome will be the same even if he didn’t bring it up.  He wasn’t looking for those companies. He wanted the one company that would have passed on him, but once hearing the reasons changed their mind. That was the one company that would reconsider him.

Within two months he started working.

Please don’t comment back on how bad the companies are for not probing about his background, or who would want to work for such narrow-minded companies. That is the purpose of the article. Quite frankly, when unemployed for 6 months, most people don’t care about narrow-minded companies. They care about a paycheck.

The purpose of the article is to encourage you to think about getting professional help. I will outline what professional help is in a future article so you don’t get ripped off.  CLICK HERE to read the article,  Job Seeker Scam Alert – Job Seekers Are Getting Ripped Off so you don’t get ripped off.

This person was earning over $150,000 a year. That is $12,500 a month that he was losing because of a silly reason that wasn’t handled properly. For every additional month that he was searching this was the cost. I think the cost far outweighed the benefit of getting a little professional help.

We offer many free tools to help you. CLICK HERE to download a free sample cover letter that recruiters like. CLICK HERE to download a sample thank you letter that will make sure you are remembered. CLICK HERE to download a free LinkedIn profile assessment that will help you build a great LinkedIn profile.

Finally, consider joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. It has a wealth of great articles and discussions to help you in your search. CLICK HERE to join the other 5,300 members of this group.

I welcome your thoughts and comments. If you liked this article, please tweet or re-tweet it so others can benefit.

Brad Remillard

How To Get Job Lead Referrals. 3 Simple Steps

I preach all the time how important it is in a job search to have a steady stream of job lead referrals coming from your network. Few disagree with this.  Few also do much about it.  Oh they go through the motions, they generate a lot of activity, they meet a lot of people, and they go to so many networking groups they have lost count. Yes, even after all that activity, one of the biggest issues I have to help candidates with is getting referrals from their network. In fact, most of the people that come to me requesting job search help, this is the catalyst that starts our relationship.

The conversation often begins,”I have been looking for X number of months with very little results. I’m actively networking, meeting people all the time and just not getting the right referrals or leads. Can you help me?”

This person hasn’t built a sales force. They’ve built a lot of contacts, but every top sales person knows few contacts buy anything. Connections and a relationship often result in a sale.

So here is the proverbial $64,000 question for you, “How many sales reps do you have out in the field selling you?” If you answered 50 or more you can move on to the next article. If you answered, “I don’t know.” Here is how to find out, “Are you happy with the quality and quantity of the job lead referrals you are getting?” If no, read on. If yes, move on.

I find that most job seekers have less than 15 (usually around 10) really solid job lead referral sources  in their network. Most are getting referrals to other people, usually service providers, but not job leads. Few are tapping into the hidden job market.

The people I work with have a goal of 50 sales reps. I call them sales reps, because every candidate needs to have at least 50 people in the market place promoting and selling them every time a job lead or potential job lead comes up. The larger the geographical area, the larger the number of sales reps required.

My all time favorite line that best describes effective networking was given to me years ago by a person that understood networking before networking was even a word. Bill Ellermeyer said to me,”You have to take a contact and turn it into a connection.” Read it again if you didn’t pick up on what real networking is all about. This hits the problem square on the head.

Job seekers are not making connections, most are making contacts. Many don’t even know if the contact is willing to refer them or not.

So start turning all those contacts into connections. 50 great connections are worth more to you than 500 contacts. So start focusing on getting the 50.

Some ways to do that include:

1. Network with a purpose. Stop going to every networking meeting on the planet. Stop meeting every person referred to you. Start going to networking meetings that will provided you the connections you need to get job leads. If the meeting isn’t going to meet this goal, why go? Do your homework before spending a lot of time with someone. Ask the referring sources some qualifying questions about the person and why they think this person would be a good referral source for you. Don’t just run off and spend all that time meeting a bunch of people.
2. Select or target the people that can help you and eventually you can help them. Generally, if it is a service provider you are trying to make your sales rep,  they want business referrals. They want to meet decision makers. So you should have a list of people you are relying on for help and find out from them exactly what types of business referrals they want. Stop asking the question, “How can I help you?” Every service knows that rarely leads to anything. You want referrals so do they. So ask them, “What business introductions can I make for you?” Have your rolodex with you. Open it up right there and give a good referral. They now owe you.
3. Follow-up with these people regularly. Every sales manager knows you have to keep in-touch with your sales reps and with the customer. So you need to do the same thing.  Since you know the backgrounds of the people they want to meet invite them to meetings, introduce them to a potential referral  over coffee with you there to make the introduction, call and inquire if hey would be interested in meeting this person or that person, invite them to a social event, golf, sporting event, drinks, conference.  Maybe they would like to meet one of your other 50 sales people so they can network together. Why not set up  a small group meeting.  There are so many opportunities to take this contact and turn it into a connection once  you start thinking about it. The problem is very few think about it.

It only takes the ability to focus on the right things that will lead to quality job leads. I can tell you from personal experience, when I can get the candidates I work with in this mode most see quality job leads start coming in. Having a sales force is critical to a successful job search.

So please go out today and start building your sales team.

For a FREE example of a cover letter CLICK HERE.

For a FREE example of a Thank You letter CLICK HERE.

For many more FREE resources and articles, join our Job Search Networking Group on LinkedIn. 5200 people have done this. CLICK HERE to join.

If your LinkedIn profile doesn’t demonstrate you are the expert in your field you may be missing opportunities. Recruiters, HR and hiring authorities often start looking on Linkedin. This tool is critical in a job search. CLICK HERE to learn  how you can build an outstanding Linkedin Profile.

I welcome your thoughts, comments, suggestions and ideas.

Brad Remillard

Job Seekers and Warren Buffet

I am currently reading the book, “The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder. It is an interesting biography on Warren Buffet’s life starting as a small child.  Some of the more interesting parts highlight what influenced his thought processes about everything from money to how he treats people.

I haven’t finished the book yet, but as I was reading it two sentences stood out. To me, these two sentences explained exactly why so many candidates stay in a job search so much longer than need be. I have known this for a long time. The candidates I work with one-on-one in our job search coaching programs often start out the same way.  I interview and speak with hundreds of candidates a month. It use to surprise me the number of people who acted this way. Not any more, I just accept it. I don’t understand it, but I do accept it.

When Warren was a teenager he read the book, “How to Make Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Just about everyone has heard of this book.  His biography addresses the impact this book had on him. How it “honed his natural wit, above all it enhanced his persuasiveness, his flair for salesmanship.” Obviously, this one book influenced him so much that decades later he still remembered it and gave it credit.

It was  the two sentences before this which stood out and relates to the vast majority of candidates I encounter. Alice Schroeder writes, “Unlike most people who read Carnegie’s book and thought gee, that makes sense, then set the book aside and forgot about it, Warren worked at this project with unusual concentration; he kept coming back to these ideas and using them. Even when he failed and forgot and went for long stretches without applying himself to the system, he returned and resumed practicing in the end.”

This is what grabbed my attention. As soon as I read it, I thought this is exactly what most candidates do. This is exactly why so many candidates spend so many extra months searching for a new positions. They read a book, attend a webinar,  read a blog article or listen to an audio file and think, “Gee, that makes sense, then set it aside and forget about it.”

Few, my guess less than 10% do as Warren did. Read the sentences again. Does anything stand out to you as it did me? What did Warren Buffet do different than all the others?

I see this constantly.  People will return our job search workbook with a note, “Already know all this stuff.” At first I was stunned. When we wrote the book we spent an extensive amount of time identifying the mistakes candidates continually make. We  then worked extremely hard to provide solutions  to those mistakes. So it struck me as strange, that so many people knew all these mistakes, but just kept making them. How could this be?

I’m sure the many other excellent authors of books on this subject have experienced the same thing.

So I decided to test if it was true these people really did know all this stuff. I started doing some follow-up. I would call the person and ask for feedback. As I got bolder, I became more direct. I started asking very specific questions of those that “already know all this stuff?” For example, I would ask:

• Since you already know the only three things which can be measured during a phone interview, what do you do to properly prepare?
• As you know, there are only three types of questions asked in an interview. How do you identify which type of question is being asked and how do you prepare for each type of question?
• Of the ten most important questions to ask in an interview, which ones in your opinion were most helpful and of those which ones do you use most often?
• How long have you been using the cover letter we recommend and what has been your experience with this style?
• How often have you found yourself in anyone of the 5  positions in the Circle of Transition and how do you handle it? This could be really helpful to other candidates?
• How is your networking business card different from your interviewing business card?

It didn’t take long to discover these people may have read the book, but unlike Warren Buffet, they didn’t embrace the ideas with “unusual concentration.” Instead it was, “Gee I already know this stuff.”  When in fact, from their answers, they had no idea what mistakes they were making and how the book provides solutions.

Warren Buffet read Dale Carnegie’s book over and over again. He referred back to it time and time again. He practiced regularly. When he failed it was back to the book. That is what made him unique. He didn’t just know it all, he implemented the concepts. He didn’t blame the book when things went wrong, he adjusted and tried again.

I know from the one-on-one job search coaching we do, when we get candidates to stop knowing everything and start doing things the right way, they find job leads that eventually lead to offers and employment.

Although it might appear as an attempt to sell our book it really isn’t. There are many great resources available to candidates. Many are 100% free. It is positively an attempt to get candidates to stop saying, “Gee, that makes sense, but I already know it.” It is positively an attempt to get candidates to learn from Warren Buffet. To get candidates to refer back time and time again to excellent resources. To re-read the books, re-listen to the audio recordings and to take this advice to heart with “unusual concentration” as Warren Buffet did.

I have discovered the reason there is so much written for job seekers is because job seekers need so much help. If candidates did everything so perfectly there wouldn’t be a need for all the books, blogs, articles and webinars.

The next time you read anything designed to help you in your job search don’t let your first thought be, “Gee, I already know that.” Rather force yourself instead to ask, “Good advice. How am I implementing that in my job search?” Attack it the same vigor and “unusual concentration” as Warren Buffet.

Try this approach first and you will find yourself gainfully employed a whole lot sooner.

OK, now this is a blatant attempt to sell you a book. You can get our job search workbook to review for free. Just pay the $5 shipping. For details on this offer CLICK HERE.

Test your job search effectiveness by downloading our free Job Search Plan Assessment Scorecard. Find the strengths and weaknesses in your job search. Then attack the weaknesses with “unusual concentration.”  CLICK HERE to download.

For a FREE example of a cover letter that recruiters, HR and hiring authorities  like and will get your resume read, CLICK HERE.

I welcome your comments, thoughts and feedback.

Brad Remillard

Is This Age Discrimination Or Not, You Tell Me?

I was recently co-interviewing candidates with my client for one of his open positions. Together we interviewed 3 candidates all in the same day.

Obviously, two of the candidates didn’t get the job. One of the candidates that didn’t get the position was the catalyst for writing this article.

We began in the morning with the first person. The first impression of this candidate was weak. Although professionally dressed in a suit, it didn’t fit him well, it was clear it had been worn a few times without being pressed, he was overweight, hair was combed, but groomed would not be used to describe him. His overall presence was OK, it  just didn’t overwhelm us when we first met him.

As the interview progressed, he didn’t come across with great energy or enthusiasm. His body language was low in the chair and even when he was asking questions he never seemed to change how he sat in the chair.  His voice was monotone. Eye contact during the interview was good and he did his best to engage us.  Not that he did poorly, but the spark of a person who really enjoys what he does day to day wasn’t there. He came across as bored and would work because he needed a job until he retired.

He asked a few insightful questions during the interview, but nothing all that impressive. He closed the interview politely.

Again, no real knock out blow, and with the weak appearance and the interview we just weren’t all that impressed.

The next candidate was different. Candidate #2 was well dressed and groomed. Polished comes to mind. He came across in the first impression as confident, with drive and energy, and as someone very comfortable meeting people. He was all business but didn’t over do it.

As the interview progressed he wasn’t overly friendly, he stayed focused on the business at hand without a lot of small talk or joking. We could see from his answers that he listened well to our questions.  His body language was clearly designed to engage us. We assumed that he had been trained this way. He leaned forward when stressing a point, he mirrored a lot of our movements, which is a technique used to make us feel comfortable, and he used voice inflection very well to stress points and add emphasis.

He asked a number of very good questions during the interview that demonstrated he really understood the position and many of the issues that he would encounter if he was to come on board.  He left the interview on a positive note.

We were impressed with him, his professionalism, his approach, and his ability to engage us.

Candidate #3 was completely different, as this time the candidate was a she not a he. She was very professional. She was dressed in a very professional business suit and groomed perfectly. It was apparent that she had dealt with senior level executives and knew how to present herself. She was outgoing, friendly, and engaging from the moment we met her. She was just one of those people that has that extra spark. She knew how to conduct small talk, demonstrated the appropriate level of humor for the circumstances, and was just comfortable in a business environment. This was all from the first impression.

As the interview progressed, so did she as a candidate. Her body language was much like the second candidate. She sat up straight when needed, her eye contact was continual and even when she wasn’t speaking directly to me I felt like she was, she was well prepared to not only answer our questions but asked some excellent questions as well. Unlike candidate #2, even though we did spend the vast majority of time discussing the position, it just didn’t seem that way. She was very business focused just as the second candidate was, but somehow it didn’t come across that way.

She left the interview on a positive note, but made a little extra effort to make sure that we were satisfied with her and her answers.

We decided to proceed with the last two candidates. I had to call the first one and let him know the bad news. This is positively the worst part of being a recruiter. The comment that he made to me is what sparked this article. He said, “I’m not surprised,  I could tell you were looking for someone younger than me.” How he surmised this is beyond me. He was clearly implying age discrimination.

We never once discussed age or anything even close to it. He just assumed that because he didn’t get the job it was due to his age. I think many candidates do this. I agree age discrimination exists. I just don’t think it is as widespread as most candidates do. I have written other articles on this topic. Too often, just like candidate #1, when candidates don’t get the job the first thought that surfaces is age discrimination when in fact, it is all of the other things they are doing wrong that are really the cause.

The big problem with thinking that age discrimination was the reason is that the candidate will never step back and consider that maybe it is something else. Why would they consider anything else when they have already decided that age discrimination is the reason they didn’t get the job and there is nothing they can do about that?  Then they don’t do anything to improve themselves.

As the late Paul Harvey would say, “Now the rest of the story.” It goes without saying that we never discussed age during the hiring process. However, as the hiring process continued, so did the need to perform our due diligence.  This meant that I needed to verify each of the candidate’s degrees. In order to do that, I needed the year they graduated from college. This isn’t always an indicator of age, but in many cases it is a benchmark.

Candidate #1 indicated on his resume that he received his degree in 1979. He is probably near 50. Just a guess.

Candidate #2, one of the candidates we continued to be very interested in, graduated in 1975.  Probably the oldest of the three.

Candidate #3, the person ultimately hired by the company, received her degree in 1978.  Most likely, but no guarantee, she was close to the same age as candidate #1.

When I called candidate #2 to tell him the news that he wasn’t going to get the position, he never even mentioned age as a reason for not receiving the offer.  He knew better. In his case, it really just came down to fit within the organization.

So is this age discrimination or not?  I would really like your opinion.

I do believe, as I said before, that age discrimination exists. However, here is the important take away from this article, don’t take the easy way out and go first to age discrimination as the reason. Use age discrimination only as the final reason. Explore other options first. Then, only after all of the other options have been addressed, consider age discrimination.

To help you evaluate other reasons your search may be stalled, download our free 8-Point Job Search Plan Assessment Scorecard. This is a good start for highlighting other areas in your job search that might be causing problems. CLICK HERE to download yours.

Also consider joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. This is one of the best resources to provide you with the job search tools you need. There are over 4,800 members in this group to assist you. It will really help you with your job search. CLICK HERE to join. LinkedIn is free for everyone.

I welcome your thoughts and comments on this topic.

Brad Remillard

Why Your Skills & Experience Don’t Matter To Recruiters

The title is true. It just isn’t true all of the time.

I can’t count the number of times I have heard from candidates, “I have done all of the things for your position.” or how many times I get a cover letter that goes into a lengthy explanation about “how perfect” they believe they are  for my search.

One question, “If you are so perfect for the position, then why didn’t you get it?”

Skills  and experience will only get you so far in the hiring process. At some point, usually much earlier than most candidates realize, these begin to diminish in importance.

What begins to increase in importance is your qualifications. This encompasses a lot more than skills and experience. Otherwise, why go through the interviewing process? If skills and experience were all that mattered, you would be hired just from your resume.

For example, let’s say that I received your resume and started reviewing it. At this point, skills and experience are 100% of my screening process.  Once, I have read your resume and like what I read,  I will then pick up the phone and conduct a phone screen. I don’t like to call it an interview, because quite frankly I’m in a screening mode more than an interviewing mode.

At this point, your skills and experience may now only be about 75% relevant. During this phone interview, it is true that I’m interviewing you on your skills and experience, but that isn’t all. There is so much more to a phone screen that it took a whole chapter in our candidate job search workbook to cover it all. This chapter is so important that we offer it for free for everyone to download. CLICK HERE if you want to download it.

If that goes well, the next step is going to be a face-to-face interview. Now your skills and experience are at best 50% relevant. Since I have read your resume and conducted a phone screen, I have a really good feel for whether you meet the minimum criteria or not. The interviewing priorities shift. There are so many issues I’m screening on to decide if I will send you out to my client that I can’t list them all.  This took too many chapters in our job search workbook to properly cover and with the depth needed, I can’t possibly go into all of them, but here are a few.  I’m interested in much more than just your skills and experience. I’m also interviewing for how professional your presentation is, how well you can communicate, whether or not you can withstand probing questions on your background, do you have the facts on your accomplishments, do you answer questions in vague generalities or can you get specific, and even how strong or weak your first impression was.  I’m paid to make value judgments regarding  how well you will fit with the company, if you are prepared for how my client will interview you (are you prepared or just winging it) and whether or not you will embarrass me once you are in front of my client. It only takes once in a recruiter’s career to have a client call back and complain that the candidate wasted their time, before the recruiter improves their screening process.  These are really the basic things I’m screening on in our in-person interview. Only about 50% pass this interview.

That means half will never meet the hiring authority. Even though they have the  experience and skills required, they may not be qualified.  Now of this 50%, some will turn out to not be a good match, and often the candidate will agree. Usually, that is less than 10% of the total people I have interviewed in-person.

I can assure you it works about the same when you are interviewing with companies. The only major difference is that as the interviewing process progresses the percentage of reliance on skills and experience decreases even more.

For some senior level positions that require more than 4 or 5 meetings, this percentage may dwindle down to as little as 10% or less.

As the interviewing process moves forward, the hiring authority has already come to the conclusion that the candidates have at least the minimum skills and experience to do the job. Otherwise, they would have been eliminated.

What I’m trying to stress in this article is that candidates rely too much on their skills and experience to the detriment of what is important at different points in time during the hiring process. It isn’t always about your experience. At some point the question is, “Are you qualified?”  It is more about your personality, behavioral issues, managerial style, communications, professionalism, professional presence, assertiveness, etc. that really matters.

These are the things most candidates take for granted during the  hiring process. I have encountered so few that grasp these at the actionable level. Many reading this article will be thinking to themselves, “I know all of this.” That is the point of the article and the frustration. You may know all of this, but what are you doing about it to ensure that you pass?

How are you preparing?

How are you improving your ability to succinctly communicate your accomplishments?

What tangible things have you done to become a salesperson? After all, in a job search you are in sales.

Have you ever video recorded yourself in a mock interview?

What unique and probing questions do you ask in an interview that demonstrate that you are an insightful person?

How do your questions differentiate you from all of the others that ask the same questions?

How do you use your voice to communicate effectively?

I could go on and on. I’m not implying that every person needs all of these. I am implying that every person needs some of these.  The question is, what do you need in your search so that as the percentage shifts from skills and experience to your personal qualifications that you continue to excel?

Test your job search effectiveness by downloading our free Job Search Plan Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE to download.

For a FREE example of a cover letter CLICK HERE.

For a FREE example of a Thank You letter CLICK HERE.

For many more FREE resources and articles, join our Job Search Networking Group on LinkedIn. 4,300 people have done this. CLICK HERE to join.

How Recruiters Search Using LinkedIn & What We Look For

So much has been written on the importance of a complete and compelling LinkedIn profile.  I am currently working on two searches for which I am extensively using LinkedIn to source candidates. From what I have seen, one would think that LinkedIn is either a new or non-essential tool. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In the last two weeks, I have looked at well over three hundred profiles on LinkedIn. Only one thought comes to mind and I hope I speak for most recruiters (internal and external) when I say, “What a major disappointment!” or “Now I understand exactly why so many candidates are in transition so much longer than necessary.”

I firmly believe that most profiles are viewed, and then passed over time and time again. Most  LinkedIn members who are looking for a position don’t even know how many times someone has reviewed their profile and never contacted them simply because their profile completely, “SUCKS.”

Profile after profile indicated “open to being contacted for career opportunities,” but the profile wouldn’t even include the person’s name!

If that isn’t  ridiculous enough,  my favorite examples are the ones that state in the headline, “Unemployed or Actively Seeking a New Position.”  One would think that since this person took the time to announce to the world that they are in transition, that they would at least upload their resume. But “NO.”   OK,  surely they will at least complete their profile so people reviewing it will know what they do?  Nope, why let recruiters and others searching for candidates have this information?

Give me a break,  do they expect me to engage them based on their picture? Are recruiters supposed to just know this information via osmosis?

Here is how I search for candidates on LinkedIn. I hope this will help you as well as help recruiters help you.

1. I start out using the advanced search feature for people.
2. I want to throw a wide net.  My goal is to be inclusive at this point, rather than to exclude someone.
3. I usually start with just a few criteria. Generally, title, location (I use zip code and 50 mile radius), industry and function. That is it.
4. There are exceptions to this but this is the starting point.
5. I leave all other fields set to the  “All . . ” category in the drop down boxes. Meaning search all my groups, search in and out of my network, etc. I want a wide net.

Generally, hundreds of profiles appear. Now the search really begins, as does the frustration.

I begin scanning through the summaries of the profiles that appear. There is not a lot of information in the summary but enough to give the reader a good idea of whether it’s worth it to view the person’s full profile.

So often there is no need to even review a person’s profile. I can tell just from the summary that the information on the profile is either missing or completely worthless. For example, no picture, no name, no companies listed, vague titles, no contacts, background missing, no work history, etc. Yet, they want to be contacted for career opportunities.

Once I start looking at the profile, I usually decide in about 10-20 seconds if I should click out or read on.  So many profiles are so incomplete that I wonder why this person even took the time to post a profile. What exactly were they expecting when they posted this worthless profile?

I also look at the picture to see if it is professional or one that will embarrass me for referring the person if my client views it. That’s assuming there is a picture at all.

I then begin looking for the box checking stuff my client is requiring such as education, experience, current or past titles, years of experience, level, etc. You can read more about this in an article I wrote, “How Recruiters Read Resumes In 10 Seconds or Less.” Click here if you are interested.

I also look for recommendations and may read some. What are others saying about you? If nobody is willing to say anything good about you, it certainly isn’t a knock out, but I am curious about that.

I will also scroll down the profile summary and work history, and if a resume is uploaded I will review it. Rarely is a resume uploaded. Most of the time this is where it ends. The profile is so incomplete, the work history so brief, the description of work so worthless, that I can’t figure out what they were responsible for.  The profile has little or no company information, so I have no idea if their past companies were even in the right industry. Finally, the summary at the top is meaningless. Most don’t even include specialties.

I scroll to the very bottom and sure enough they want to be contacted regarding career opportunities. Some are even helpful at this point and will say, “Prefer to be contacted on my cell phone.” or  “Please use my personal email address.” Neither of which are included in the profile. Hey, I can’t make this stuff up.

GOODBYE. I have better things to do and a lot more people to consider.

This person probably just lost a great opportunity, or at the very least an opportunity to discuss a position. Even if they aren’t interested,  just knowing what is going on in their market is helpful. Just getting a feel for comparable compensation is a good data point for anyone to know.

The lunacy doesn’t end here. At least 50% of  these people are not working. Their work history will be 2007-2009.  What planet are they on? I’m sure they are frustrated, and complaining about how long they have been out of work and how bad the market is. This may be completely true, but they aren’t helping themselves with their profile.

If this search fails to produce viable candidates, I will go back and change the title or industry and try again. Not necessarily change the search, just some of the criteria. I’ll try to throw a wider net in a different part of LinkedIn’s membership.

Finally, I may eventually search by company name. If I know of a specific company that is right, I will search using the company name. That brings up all of the people that are currently working for this company or have in the past.

This is why your complete and compelling profile is so important on LinkedIn.  In today’s world, the search for candidates so often starts on LinkedIn. The sad part is, it also often ends there too.

Take away nothing else from this article but this one thing: In today’s market, companies (right or wrong) are looking for the kings and queens in their field, not the jack of all trades. If your profile doesn’t shout out loud and clear, “I’m an EXPERT,” you may be missing opportunities. Sadly, this happens and it is so easy to fix.

On March 26th we are having a webinar on how you can leverage LinkedIn to find your next job. We believe this is the most comprehensive webinar we have seen on this topic. We’ll have over 35 slides (we’ll give you all the slides) on how you can build a compelling and complete profile. We will show you step-by-step where the tools are and how you can use them to be the “EXPERT.” These slides and the audio recording of the webinar are included. If you want a profile that puts you in the top 10%, then you should CLICK HERE to learn more.

At a minimum you should download our 8-Level LinkedIn Self Assessment Profile. This tool is a great start towards building a great profile. CLICK HERE to get yours. It is 100% free.

Finally, if you are on LinkedIn, join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There are more than 4,800 members in the group. It is one of the fastest growing groups on LinkedIn that focuses on job search issues. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

Your LinkedIn Profile May Be More Critical Than Your Resume In A Job Search

This is an important discussion that I believe will accelerate over the next few years, especially for professionals and those in managerial positions. However, I still believe that the discussion is very relevant for all others.

Right now this is the, “which came first the chicken or the egg” argument.

So what do recruiters, HR, and hiring managers screen with first? Your resume or your LinkedIn profile?

One side might argue the resume. The candidate emails the resume or replies to a job posting. The person screening reviews the resume and makes a decision to follow-up or not. So in this example the resume was the deciding factor.

The other side would argue that, more and more before companies incur the expense of posting an ad, they first go to LinkedIn. This is especially true for recruiters. They first go to LinkedIn, and if they can’t find a person on LinkedIn they will post an ad. So here LinkedIn is the most important.

As a retained executive recruiter and job search coach, I would take the position that both are important, but LinkedIn is rapidly passing up the resume, and is at least equal to it.

I take this position because so often, and it is increasing at an alarming rate, after the person screening your resume reads it, the next stop is LinkedIn. They want to see your profile. My partner, Barry Deutsch, and I are being told more and more by our clients that this is what they are doing. I just wrote an article about how one of my clients was considering hiring a person until they looked at their LinkedIn profile. BTW, this is becoming true not only for LinkedIn, but for all social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter.

People screening  your resume are becoming more savvy about LinkedIn. I’m not referring to recruiters. We have been using LinkedIn for years. With the explosive growth of LinkedIn due to the recession, companies are rapidly realizing the enormous value of LinkedIn. So much so, (call me crazy) but I believe that within the next few years, the need for resume databases on the job boards will become secondary to social media sites. After all, why would a person pay almost $10,000 to search a database of resumes when the information is free on LinkedIn and other sites? In a world of cost cutting, eliminating this cost just makes sense to me.

So what does this mean to the job seeker?

1) Make sure  you have a very complete and compelling LinkedIn Profile. A compelling and complete profile can literally change your search overnight. I have seen this happen with people I do job search coaching with. Unfortunately, only about 10% currently have a compelling and complete profile. That is why when you have one, you stand out.

I can’t stress this enough. 90% of most profiles on LinkedIn are at best fair and most are so incomplete they are worthless.  What a golden opportunity to position yourself as the “expert” in  your field. In today’s market, companies are searching for the expert. That can be you. LinkedIn has the tools for you to do this. Why so many don’t take advantage of these FREE tools is beyond me. If you know “WHY” please enlighten me.

2) Don’t forget Facebook, Google profiles, and Twitter. These are often overlooked. Why not have a Facebook page that focuses on you as a professional? Use it for your job search, rather than socially. There is an awful lot  you can do on Facebook to stand out.

3) Twitter is a great tool that builds awareness. It is easy to use and gives you  great exposure. Plus, you can link your tweets back to your LinkedIn status. Now you are killing two birds with one stone.

You have an outstanding opportunity right now (but the window is rapidly closing) to stand out on LinkedIn and be the “EXPERT.” So many people today have such poor profiles that you should take advantage of this by creating a great profile.

How often in your job search have you heard the phrase, “You must differentiate yourself.” Well, this is your opportunity to do so. Why would anyone leave this gaping hole in their resume?

You might qualify to receive a FREE LinkedIn profile assessment, valued at over $300. On March 26th we are having a webinar on how you can leverage LinkedIn to find your next job. We believe this is the most comprehensive webinar we have seen on this topic. We’ll have over 35 slides on how you can build a compelling and complete profile. We will show you step-by-step where the tools are and how you can use them to be the “EXPERT.” These slides and the webinar audio recording are included in the webinar. If you want a profile that puts  you in the top 10% then you should CLICK HERE to learn more.

At a minimum you should download our 8-Level LinkedIn Self Assessment Profile. This tool is a great start to building a great profile. CLICK HERE to get yours. It is 100% free.

Finally, if you are on LinkedIn, join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There are more than 4,800 members. It is one of the fastest growing groups on LinkedIn that focuses on job search issues. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

How Would You Rate Your LinkedIn Profile?

I recently asked this question on LinkedIn, “How would you rate your LinkedIn profile?” The choices were, poor, fair, good or very good. I wasn’t referring to completeness based on the LinkedIn scale. I wanted to know how you would rate your profile based on how good or compelling it is.

Would a recruiter, HR professional, or hiring authority be so impressed that they can’t wait to contact you? That is the goal of a LinkedIn profile. Why else would you have one if you are in a job search?

So that is my question to you, “How do you rate your LinkedIn profile?” We would really like to know.

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Now the really important question, “How would you rate your resume?” Let us know that too. Just simply send us a comment. You can do that at the bottom of this article.

Did you rate them both the same? Most rate their resume good to very good and their LinkedIn profile poor to fair. WHY?

Both of these are marketing documents. That is all a resume is. It is put together to market you. In our best selling job search workbook,“This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” we don’t like to use the word “resume.”  Rather, we prefer to call it your Personal Compelling Marketing Brochure.

Your LinkedIn profile is your online marketing brochure. It must sell you. Your profile can be even more compelling than a resume because of all of the added features LinkedIn allows you to add to your profile. Most are not possible on a resume.

So here is the next set of questions, “How many hours have you dedicated to developing your resume?” My experience is that most candidates spend hours not only developing their resume, but revamping it, changing it, redoing it, updating it, and so on. For many, this is a never ending process.

OK, so then, “How many hours have you dedicated to developing your LinkedIn profile?” We would really like you to be completely honest and answer these questions. Just add your responses to them in the comment box at the bottom.

Still  not convinced about why you need a great and compelling profile on LinkedIn?  Here are some additional reasons that might convince you.

• For my last three placements, all of the candidates came directly from LinkedIn.

• Two clients recently told me they hired mid-level sales people directly from LinkedIn.

• Before posting an open position on a job board, most recruiters go to LinkedIn first.

• I’m currently working on two searches and I found all of the candidates using LinkedIn.

• LinkedIn now has over 45 million users.

• More and more internal recruiters and HR professionals start their searches on LinkedIn.

• Companies can save thousands of dollars searching LinkedIn versus searching resumes on a job board.

Given all of this, would you reply to a job posting with a fair resume? Would you expect a call back from a hiring authority or recruiter if your resume was “fair?”

If your LinkedIn profile isn’t better than your resume, you are leaving a very valuable tool in your tool box. When I’m coaching job seekers, one of the first items we work on is their LinkedIn profile. It is not uncommon that within two weeks of completing the profile makeover for these candidates, that they start receiving inquiries.

So let us hear from you regarding how you responded to these questions. We are really interested.

Don’t know how to build a great profile?

Get a FREE LinkedIn Profile Assessment. To help you build a great LinkedIn job search strategy, we are having a webinar on March 26. This webinar will ensure you not only have a great profile, but in addition, teach  you how to find contacts, how recruiters use LinkedIn, and how to ensure that if someone comes to your profile that you are positioned as the expert.  CLICK HERE to learn more.

Also, Barry and I have had extensive discussions regarding LinkedIn on our weekly radio show that airs every Monday at 11 AM PST at www.latalkradio.com on channel 2. We add all of these recordings to our audio library. These recordings are free for you to listen to or download. CLICK HERE to review our audio library.

Finally, consider joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There are more than 4,4oo members, and a wealth of articles and discussions to help you in your job search. CLICK HERE to join.

Brad Remillard

It’s play-off time for your job search – what do you have to lose?

Here comes another basketball metaphor about your job search.

A few nights ago, my Varsity HS Girls Basketball Team played in the first round of the State Playoffs. In our section we were ranked 6th out of 32 teams. We played a team ranked 24 and almost lost.

Why? It should have been an easy win – a no-brainer.

At playoff time, teams change – they go from being conservative, playing careful, doing the same old thing, and usually playing within their capability. At playoff time, lower ranked teams hike it up to whole other level. They play with complete abandon – and give it a 110%.

What do the lower ranked teams have to lose? If they don’t win, their season ends right now. And if they can pull off one more win – they get to come back and play another game. Many upsets occur, because lower ranked teams fight as hard as they ever fought, they do everything they can to influence the outcome, and they leave nothing on the table.

If you asked the team last night that lost to us in the last 5 minutes of the game if they had any regrets – if any of the players felt they had not played as hard as they could – and the answer would be an overwhelming “I gave it everything I could”.

When asked that question, our higher ranked girls would have said there was a lot they could have done and they were disappointed in their performance since they didn’t “work hard enough”. They were coasting on their high ranking, thinking their past track record could speak for itself.

Are you guilty of this dysfunctional thinking in your job search?

If you ask most candidates that question about their job search, I would predict that most candidates would have significant regrets about their commitment, energy, and intensity regarding their job search.

Most candidates are not willing to “go beyond the call of duty” in their job search.

Most candidates could not claim that they have “outworked their peers” in their job search.

Most candidates are just doing the same thing over and over (Benjamin Franklin’s Definition of Insanity).

No wonder the typical executive/senior management job search is now significantly over 6 months. Here are some questions to ponder about your job search:

• What are you doing in your job search that your peers are unwilling to do?
• What are doing this week that represents a high level of energy, commitment, and intensity in your job search than last week?
• How would you quantify the effort and intensity of your job search?
• Shouldn’t you be treating your job search like it’s play-off time and it’s the last 5 minutes of what could be the last game of the season or your entire career?
• Are you going beyond the call of duty in your job search?

What could you be doing differently that would represent a higher level of commitment, energy, and intensity?

• Have you assessed your LinkedIn Profile and are making the necessary changes and investment of time to get noticed by recruiters and hiring managers?
• Are you writing custom cover letters for every appropriate job you apply for?
• Are you publishing a blog on your functional expertise?
• Have you joined two local networking groups and possibly a trade/functional group? Are you taking on a leadership role in these groups?
• How hard are you working your network using classic networking principles of being a connector, giving back, staying in touch through nurturing? Have your taught yourself how to be a master of networking?
• Have you continually refined your resume and turned it into a marketing document instead of a factual presentation of your history?
• How many blogs do you read, how many job search E-books have you downloaded, how many comments have you posted in Job Search LinkedIn Q&A sections.

This is just a small list of the hundreds of things you could be doing in your job search to reduce the time it takes to find a great opportunity. Most of your peers are unwilling to invest the time to do these job search best practices. Are you willing be to do what it takes to win – to go beyond what most of your peers do in their job search – or would you rather coast in the middle of the pack?

Have you downloaded our FREE Job Search Preparation Scorecard to see if you’re doing everything you can to conduct an effective job search?

What’s holding you back from pouring everything you’ve got into your job search?

Barry Deutsch

Jump into the Questions and Answers in our popular LinkedIn Discussion Group to discover what some candidates are doing that truly represents an effort to go “beyond the call of duty”.

Job Seekers Should Stop Being So Hypocritical

For 30 years this September, as both a contingent and retained recruiter, I have listened to the complaints by candidates (job seekers) about hiring managers and the complaints by hiring managers about candidates.

Even after 30 years, as I read blog comments, or sit in a chair and listen to these complaints, I’m still amazed (yes, amazed) at the hypocrisy spewing out from both candidates and hiring managers.

I read the comments to our blogs where candidates complain about the black hole when they send resumes, they complain about how long it takes to fill a position, they complain about recruiters, they complain about not getting their calls returned, they complain that their resume doesn’t get read in great detail, they hate the 10 second resume screen, they complain about cover letters, they complain about how these hiring managers are missing qualified people, they complain that the interview wasn’t fair or too short or too long, and that the person conducting the phone interview wasn’t qualified and didn’t know the job. This list could fill a book about the size of War and Peace, or for those not into War and Peace, book seven of Harry Potter.

Sound at all familiar if you are seeking a new position?

I then listen to hiring managers, HR, CEOs and key executives who are doing the hiring complain that, I get too many resumes, I get tired of interviewing average candidates, I will get to those resumes this weekend or next weekend, the resumes don’t match my job, candidates don’t know how to interview, candidates can’t put together two complex sentences, they complain that recruiters aren’t screening tight enough, they complain recruiters are screening too tight, they get angry at the recruiter for wasting their time interviewing unqualified candidates, they rule a qualified candidate out because they didn’t like the way they sat in the chair (I’m not kidding), they rule a candidate out because his tie was not straight (No, I’m not kidding), give me a job spec so tight and narrow that they themselves (this person’s boss and direct report) wouldn’t be qualified, tell me that from a 15-minute interview this person won’t fit, isn’t assertive enough, or my favorite, the candidate isn’t a  team player (so I ask, “What teams will they serve on?” Answer, “Well not right away, but probably in the next two years.”) They also don’t like the candidate’s handshake, or for this sales position the person needs to be a real go-getter, outgoing and aggressive (so then I ask if they like being approached by outgoing, aggressive sales people and they reply, “No, of course not.”) I could fill another book the size of War and Peace with these complaints.

Then I realized in both cases,  I’m talking with or listening to the exact same person.

Job seekers become hiring managers and hiring managers become job seekers.

The problem is that when they move from one side of the desk to the other, their perspective changes, their needs change, their priorities change, and it is a whole new ball game. Hiring, whether it’s a candidate or hiring authority is “all about me” and “what’s in it for me?”  That is just the way it is. Right or wrong, good or bad, like it or not, that is the fact of hiring.

So the next time, before you complain, from either side of the desk, please take a step back, look at yourself and treat the person on the other side of the desk with the same respect you complain about.

I know, I for one, would surely appreciate it.

You can download many free tools from our Web site. Our most popular free resource is the sample cover letter. CLICK HERE to get one.

If your LinkedIn profile is just fair to average download our free LinkedIn profile assessment to help you build a great profile that gets you noticed. CLICK HERE to download.

You should also join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking group. This group had 3,900 members. The articles and discussions can only help you with your job search. CLICK HERE to join, all are welcome, and of course it is free.

I welcome your thoughts and comments. Good or bad, agree or disagree, all voices are welcome. Just be respectful.

Brad Remillard