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

Ask A Recruiter Anything You Want To Know

As a recruiter for the last 30 years this September,  I get asked questions daily. Sometimes about one’s career and other times job search questions. Most job search questions focus on the tools of a job search, the resume, cover letter, interviews, thank you letters, etc.  Sometimes I also get questions about why recruiters do what recruiters do.

I think asking recruiters these questions is a good thing. Recruiters are uniquely qualified to answer these questions, because good recruiters see both sides of the job search. They hear what hiring managers want and don’t want, like and dislike about candidates’ resumes and interviewing styles, why the company decided not to hire one person or why they hired a specific person. It is easy to draw conclusions as to what works and what doesn’t work most of the time after hearing these things so many times.

So here is your chance to ask me any questions you might have for a recruiter. I realize that many recruiters like to be mysterious, but I believe the more candidates understand how we work, the better we can work together. The more you know about what you need to do so that a recruiter will engage you if they have the right job for you, the better.

Please comment on this article by asking me anything you want to know and I will do my best to answer your question.

If you don’t have a question, another option might be to suggest a topic you would like us to write about. If this will help you shorten your job search then that is a good thing.

So please let me know your questions or anything you would like for us to write an article about.

Depending on the volume, I can’t promise to respond to every request. I will do my best, so give me some time. Also, if many questions come in on the same topic, please check other comments for answers.

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.

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

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

How To Get Recruiters To Reply To Your Resume

I know this is one of the major complaints by candidates. I hear it all the time, “I send them my resume and they don’t reply. Most won’t even return my phone call.”  As difficult as it is to say, for the most part these candidates are correct. That doesn’t mean it is right, it just means you are correct.

Similar to most at the manager level and above, when you are working, you are generally overwhelmed with things to do. So you have to prioritize. Some things are high priority and some things go on the low priority list. The low priority items may never get done, or may get done in the next few months. Generally, this depends on what other higher priority items trickle in.

Recruiters are really no different. We have to prioritize our day. Some things are high priority and other things are low priority. If  you want to engage recruiters, your job when working with or contacting them should be to move up the priority list. Knowing how I, and many other recruiters prioritize, might help you do this.

Here is how I set priorities regarding the basic duties as a retained recruiter.  Contingent recruiters might vary slightly, but when I was a contingent recruiter it wasn’t a whole lot different.

High priority:

1. Clients always come first. So some might ask, “Who is your client?” The company paying my fee is the client, not the candidate. Therefore, the company has first priority on my time. That means I will return their phone calls before a candidate’s, I will meet with them prior to a candidate, reply to their emails first,  and screen resumes they send me first.
2. Candidates on an active search. These are candidates that I’m actively working with on an existing retained search. They could be at any stage within that search which includes, recruiting ones I have identified, interviewing them, returning their calls or emails, reviewing their resume, meeting them, scheduling interviews, following up after an interview, compensation discussions, reference checking, or basically anything I need to do to move the candidate and the search to the next phase.
3. Marketing. The next priority for me is marketing. This is meeting with clients and potential clients, attending networking meetings, and making sure I’m out in the market so that when a search comes up I’m the one that gets the call. When that call comes, refer to number 1 above.

Important but not a high priority. These I try to get to by the end of each day. Sometimes they spill over to the next day, but I usually try to complete these within 24 hours.

1. Returning emails not related to a search from people I know or have worked with in the past. These are generally people updating me on their search, prior clients with a question, a request unrelated to an active search, general emails, and clearing SPAM. Sometimes I don’t get to these until the afternoon. I scan down the “sent from” and subject lines, and when I see someone I know I will read the email and then reply appropriately.
2. Reply to emails and return calls that are a referral. If someone is referring a person to me, I will always reply. I respect the fact that they have taken the time to do this. I feel I owe the reply out of respect to the referring source.
3. Return voice mail calls. Basically the same as above. I listen to them and clients get an immediate call. Anything to do with an active search gets a call. Others I evaluate and make a decision on what to do with them. Refer to low priority below for many, not all, of these calls.

Low Priority:

1. Return emails from those I don’t know. This is one of those low priorities that tick many candidates off. The good news is that you have a much higher chance of getting a return email than a phone call. I often try to catch up on these on the weekend or at night. Because of the large volume of these, I’m often two weeks behind.
   1. If you are just sending me an unsolicited resume, I may or may not reply to you. Generally not. I may take a look at the resume to see if it fits an active search. Probably less than 50% of the time I reply. This is why I preach, tweet, and blog,  DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON A RESUME SERVICE THAT WILL SEND YOUR RESUME TO 1,200 RECRUITERS. Save your money as most recruiters don’t even look at them. I doubt more than 5% of retained recruiters do.
   2. If the email is just to introduce yourself to me with no referral,  I will probably just delete it. What else can I say? Like me or hate me, that is what will happen. (If it makes you feel better, then “yes” I spend hours late at night reading the hundreds of unsolicited resumes I receive on a weekly basis).

Lowest priority. So low that I have to be bored and/or very lonely to take action. I’m desperate to just talk to someone and my wife and kids are all busy. I have probably already called every person in my contact list, any tech support that I can possibly think of, and if it’s the only way to get out of having to watch Driving Miss Daisy or The English Patient, I will claim I have to return these phone calls.

1. These are the  voice mails that simply say, “Hi Brad, this is (fill in the blank) please call me at (fill in the number. I probably don’t even recognize the area code).” or “Hi Brad, this is (fill in the blank) I just want to introduce myself to you. Please call me at (fill in the blank).”  I will apologize now to all of those I have offended. Sorry, if I didn’t return your call.  It is just that I don’t have the time, and I rarely can help you.  I know each call is going to take 5–10 minutes, and in the end, I can’t do anything for you. I used to make a list of these calls. When time permitted, I would work my way down the list but over time the list just got too big. For every 3 calls I returned, I added 5 or 6. I stopped adding to the list when it exceeded 100 calls to return. Sorry, but this many calls to return just isn’t possible. Heck, it is hard enough to reply to that many emails.

It isn’t personal, and please don’t take it personally, when recruiters don’t get back to you. Most recruiters are not trying to be rude, but as I said in the first paragraph, we only have so many hours, just like everyone else, and we have to manage our time too.

My guess is that most managers, when working, don’t have time to return calls from all of the sales people that call. My guess is that you also don’t return unsolicited calls you receive at home.

My hope with this article is two-fold:

1. The most important of all is to save you money by discouraging you from using a resume blasting service. They are easy to find and often may even call you. When they do call you, do me and yourself a favor, DON’T RETURN THEIR PHONE CALL.
2. Give you a path to getting to recruiters. Knowing the path of least resistance should help you. If you can’t get in the highest priority group, you may be able to move into the important but not high priority group. All this takes is some time and getting a referral. Most candidates are capable of getting a referral given all the networking tools available.

You can download for free many tools and resources from our Web site. For example, you can download a sample thank you letter. CLICK HERE to download.

If your search is stalled, you can download an 8-Point Job Search Assessment Scorecard. Use this to identify the areas in your job search that may be causing you to be stalled. CLICK HERE to download.

Finally, if you are a member of LinkedIn, you should join our Job Search Networking Group. Over 4,400 people have. It provides an extensive amount of resources and articles for you to take advantage of. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your comments and thoughts.

Brad

You Passed The 10 Second Screen. You May Still NOT Get A Call. WHY?

After the storm of controversy I created with the article, “How Recruiters Read Resumes In 10 Seconds or Less” (Click here if you haven’t read it), I thought it would be appropriate to follow up with what candidates, that pass the 10 second screen, can do to get a call from a recruiter.

Whether you like recruiters or  hate them, they are a necessary part of the equation in a job search. Some will fight the system, while others will embrace it. My only goal is to help educate candidates that want to understand how recruiters work. I do this to help candidates, not hinder them. I believe the more information you have about how we work the better it is for you.  Together we can then help each other.

Recently I calculated approximately how many resumes I have reviewed in 30 years as an executive recruiter. It is close to, and probably exceeds, 1 million. That is a whole lot of resumes. That number scared me. After 30 years of doing anything, one should get a feel for what works and what doesn’t.

So before you send me a nasty comment, I’m going to take the position that I’m as good at what I do after 30 years, as you are at what you do after 20 years.

By doing the following and including these few things on your resume, I believe you can dramatically increase your response rate.

1) NEVER use a functional resume. PERIOD. Before you come up with reasons to justify it, the key word in the sentence is NEVER.  I have never, ever met a recruiter that reads them. In addition, I very rarely have talked to a hiring manager, CEO or HR person that reads them. Why fight this battle? Even if 10% read them, that means 90% don’t. Which side of that equation do you want to be on? Considering that 100% read chronological resumes, you don’t want to fight this one. Join the 100% club and use a chronological resume.

2) The format is not as important as the content in the resume. My experience with speaking with candidates is that they spend a lot of time on the format; what should go on top, where should I put the education, do I need an objective, how long should the summary be, etc.  Spend more time making sure the content communicates to the reader what they think is important. I have yet to meet anyone, who told me, “I sure like all of their experience. They are really qualified, but they put their education in the wrong spot on their resume, so they are out.” The article, “Resumes Are About Substance Over Form” gives a lot of good information on this topic. CLICK HERE to read it.

3) Help us help you. All recruiters need to know certain things to make a decision to call you. The very basics include:

a) Some information on the companies you have worked for such as, size, number of locations, industry and products. This can be done in one sentence or less. Just the name of an unknown company is worthless when screening. You want to stand out from the rest.

b) If you are in management, a little about your organization such as, number of people you manage, are any of them managers, titles, and are they all in the same location.

c) If you are in sales, who are your customers? If not by name, at least what industries you call on, are you selling B2B or B2C, product description, territory size, and average size of the sale. I am constantly amazed that most sales people exclude this information. As a salesperson what you are selling is pretty darn important for the reader to know.

d) For technical people, what technologies are you working with? What language are you programming? If in engineering, is it a highly custom engineered part, are you working on a system or a component, are you designing nuts and bolts or toys? Seems important to me.

d) Include quantifiable results in the accomplishments. If you don’t, these are meaningless and most other resumes will read the same as yours.

The first comment I get from candidates when I suggest these things is, “My resume will be too long.” No, it won’t. I have prepared thousands of resumes and I can get all of this on two pages. In fact, in our book, “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” (CLICK HERE to review)  there is an example of a two page resume that contains all of this information. The person has over 20 years experience, so it is very doable.

Getting in the “A” pile is your responsibility, not the reader’s.

I wish more candidates would help us help them. All you have to do is give us the information we need to call you.

Contrary to what you may think, recruiters want to fill the position just as badly as you want the position.

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.

I welcome your comments and thoughts.

Brad

5 Most Frequently Asked Job Search Questions I Receive

On Friday’s from 9 – 10 AM PDT we often conduct free “Candidate Open Forums.” These are conference calls open to all of our candidates, in which we discuss topics and answer questions directly from you – our candidates. Unfortunately, we are limited to 50 people on the line at one time, so often we can’t get to all of the questions submitted ahead of time via email.

We believe these are important, so from time to time in this blog we will discuss the topics and questions we, 1) don’t get to during the conference call, 2) are asked over and over again (so these are probably on your mind too), and 3) just consider important for you to know.

Remember, we are retained executive recruiters so the answers and thoughts come strictly from that perspective.

1) Chronological vs. functional resume? Easy answer – NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, use a functional resume. In my almost 30 years of recruiting I have never had any recruiter or hiring manager support the functional resume. I have also been on many panels where all of the panelists agree to NEVER use a functional resume. Functional resumes just scream out,”Try to figure out what I’m trying to hide.” See our free audio file on resumes.

2) How do we overcome negatives such as age, turnover, time between jobs, etc? We believe you address them head on. If you have a negative, avoiding it doesn’t make it go away. We have a blog entry “Preemptive Strike” which you should also consider reading. If you have a negative item, you should bring it up straight away, discuss it openly and then whatever happens, happens. Don’t assume, “They didn’t bring it up so it must not be a problem.” They didn’t bring it up because they already settled it in their mind. You need to preempt any preconceived ideas before they come into play.

3) What is the best method and frequency for following up on a resume? For us, as recruiters, we prefer via email or one of the social media forums, Linkedin or Twitter. Recruiters have reduced staff just like many other companies, while the number of calls from candidates has skyrocketed. It isn’t possible to call every person. Email allows us to reply late at night, on weekends, or even while waiting in the lobby of a client. I can’t do that with phone calls. Regarding frequency, if in fact you are dead on perfect, then after two weeks send a follow-up email.

4) With so many top level executives in the market, how do you differentiate yourself from the pack? This is the 64,000 dollar question. We believe the best answer is to have a very compelling resume which is targeted specifically to the position. A generic, one size fits all resume will not differentiate you. That is what “generic” means. In today’s market our clients and therefore recruiters, are seeking very specific backgrounds. We are not looking for the proverbial, “Jack of all trades,” we are looking for the, “King or Queen for a specific role.”

5) Is negotiating with the employer different today due to the economic situation, and if so how? There is a difference given today’s market. For example, most companies will not relocate today especially in a large market area. Also, companies tend to be closed to severance agreements. If you aren’t working, they figure there is no reason to give an agreement and they are in control. You have to pick your issues and know where to compromise. This is all part of the pre-planning process for a job search. What issues will you compromise on and which ones should you dig in your heels?

You can download a free 8 Point Job Search Plan Self-Assessment that will help you evaluate exactly what you need to do to improve your search. CLICK HERE to download.

Is your Linkedin Profile going to get you noticed. Our FREE Linkedin Profile Matrix will help you develop an outstanding profile. CLICK HERE to download yours.

Join our LINKEDIN Job Search Networking group. Over 4200 people have joined. CLICK HERE to join.

We realize not everyone will agree with these answers and that is healthy. So if you don’t agree, or wish to comment, we encourage you to do so. Just click the link below.

Brad Remillard

5 Tips How To Keep Your Resume Out Of The Black Hole

Candidates constantly complain about how when they email resumes they all seem to end up in the proverbial “black hole.”

As a recruiter, who receives on average 6 to 7 hundred resumes a week, I can understand your frustration. I’m also sure I may not be able to eliminate it, however, I hope I can help you reduce it with these few tips.

1) When you move from candidate to hiring manager remember your frustrations and treat the people sending you resumes as you want to be treated now. You know, the thing our parents always taught us about treating others the  way we want to be treated. Sounds so obvious but I just wrote another article about how rarely this happens.

2) The best way to avoid the black hole in the first place is not enter it. If you include a cover letter; a) don’t send it as a separate attachment to your resume. It should be the first page when the resume attachment is opened. b) use either Word or PDF to send your resume. I receive many resumes I can’t open. c) your cover letter should be designed to grab the reader’s attention. That means the cover letter must clearly and with a simple glance align your background with the needs of the job. CLICK HERE and download a free copy of a sample cover letter that does just that.

3) You don’t have to be the first resume received. Most ads run for at least 30 days. Many candidates have experienced most companies take their time. So wait a few days or even up to a week or more before replying. Avoid being one of the first 400 resumes. After the first blast of resumes come, as more trickle in one or two at a time, I will often just open the resume take a look at it and make a decision how to handle it. These people avoided the rush and got their resume reviewed.

4) First try the personal approach. With number 3 above in mind, use this time to try and find a personal connection within the company or recruiting firm. There are many ways to do this. 1) Linkedin should be first on your list. This is  exactly why you need to build your connections to the maximum number possible. 2) Google the person’s name, position, or company name, anything that will help you target the right person within the company. Then look for a personal introduction. Most recruiters value a referral.

5) Don’t use services that blast your resume to 10,000 recruiters and/or companies. This is a major waste of money. What do you expect will happen when someone receives a bunch of unsolicited resumes? What would you do with them? How do you handle unsolicited emails? Most call it SPAM. It doesn’t work.

Hope these tips are helpful and now your resume will at least pop to the top.

Designing a resume is the starting point of every job search. If your resume gets screened out it is worthless.

If you didn’t know these little tips our Complete Resume System is designed to make sure your resume gets noticed. We guarantee it. The hundreds of people who have used this system to build an effective resume are getting their resumes read. You can too. There are many more tips you should include in your resume. For more information about getting your resume noticed check out our Complete Resume System. CLICK HERE to view it.

You should join our LinkedIn IMPACT Hiring Solutions Job Search Networking Group. It is free on LinkedIn and there is an enormous amount of articles and discussions to help in your job search. That is why over 4000 people have joined so far. CLICK HERE to join if you are a LinkedIn member.

You can also download for FREE a sample cover letter to use that will align your background with those of the company. CLICK HERE to download your sample.

I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

Brad Remillard

Two Types Of Recruiters – Retained and Contingent

90% of recruiters fall into one of two categories, they are either retained or contingent. The difference is significant and a candidate should know the difference so that they know what to expect from each. Granted there are other types, but they are few and one rarely encounters them.

Since September of 1980 I have been an executive recruiter. I still run an executive search firm, IMPACT Hiring Solutions. For the first 13 or 14 years I was a contingent recruiter and since then have been a retained recruiter. Having worked both sides of the street, I will explain the difference and why it is so critical as a candidate that you know which type of recruiter you are working with so you can properly set your expectations. I hope this will reduce some of the frustration in dealing with recruiters.  I know it will not eliminate it.

As a starting definition:

1) Contingent recruiters get paid when the candidate starts working. Until then they are working for free. Think of them as a 100% commission sales person. No sale no income.

2) Retained recruiters get paid by progress in the search.  This payment stream varies by agreement between the company and recruiter, however, as a general rule it is the first third of the projected fee to begin the search, the second in some period of time usually 30 – 45 days, and the final third when the person starts or in some agreed upon time frame. The retained recruiter is guaranteed, if not all of the fee, at least two thirds regardless of whether a person is hired or not. Much like a lawyer or tax accountant, the fee is independent of the results.

One is no better than the other and both serve a purpose and market. Either type of recruiter can be professional and unfortunately unprofessional. There is no rule that guarantees that you will get a highly skilled and professional recruiter with either type, anymore than you can with a lawyer, accountant, counselor, or any other profession. There are good and bad in all professions.

So what should you expect from each of these and how does this differ in the real world and the day-to-day workings of each type of recruiter?

First some ground rules: 1) This is “Recruiters 101″ so I will not be able to cover every aspect and every situation. 2) This is an overview, so I will be discussing generalities. There are exceptions to everything. 3) Unless otherwise specified, I will be assuming a professional recruiter and not the flakes that are out there. 4) Don’t confuse recruiters with career counselors or coaches, resume writers or outplacement consultants. There is a big, big difference in all of these. 5) When possible I will try to contrast the two to help you understand what to expect from each.

Contingent Recruiters

Since they are basically 100% commission sales people, closing the sale is critical and so is time. When a company uses contingent recruiters, most of the time they engage more than one. Depending on the discipline and geographical area, that could be up to 10 recruiters working the same position. The company is also attempting to fill the position so the recruiter is not only competing against other recruiters but also the company.

Time is critical to contingent recruiters. The first recruiter to get the resume to the company is considered the recruiter of record and the one that will get the fee if that candidate is hired. Since candidates send their resume to multiple recruiters, having an inventory of candidates is critical. A good contingent recruiter wants active candidate’s resumes on file so that the minute a company calls with a job opening the recruiter can email resumes  before another contingent recruiter working with the same candidate can. This makes them the recruiter of record. From a candidate’s perspective, don’t send your resume to just any recruiter if you don’t want it sent out to companies without your knowledge. Contingent recruiters don’t want to take the time to call or email you, wait for a return call or email, to find that while they are waiting some other recruiter emailed your resume to the company.

Over screening resumes is the worst thing a contingent recruiter can do.

Contingent recruiters may or may not meet the company and hiring manager. This is not a requirement for contingent recruiters. Some will and some won’t. I always met every candidate before sending them out to a company. They may not have even been to the company, or ever met the hiring manager, so as a candidate you may not be able to expect all of your questions about the company, position, and future boss to be answered.

Retained Recruiters

Since retained recruiters get paid regardless of the outcome, they aren’t as driven by time as much as match. Retained recruiters generally have much longer guarantees so it is very important that the candidate is successful. For example, we have up to a year’s guarantee.

Retained recruiters are expected to be very selective. This is frustrating to candidates that think they are qualified, but the retained recruiter isn’t impressed. A big mistake candidates make is that they assume retained recruiters are looking for qualified candidates.  Retained recruiters aren’t looking for qualified candidates. The company can do that on their own. Retained recruiters are looking for exceptionally qualified candidates that the company can’t find.  As close to perfect as we can get.

Most retained recruiters have a very close working relationship with the company and hiring manager. They generally have spent a fair amount of time with the hiring manager, they should have a complete understanding of the position, and know what type of personality works well in this culture and with the hiring manager. Also, most retained recruiters will have an extensive screening process before the candidate moves on to meet the company.

A candidate should expect to be one of  4 or 5 candidates presented to the company for any one position.

The retained recruiter is not competing against other recruiters or the company. They know that if the candidate fails, this may be the last time they work with the company. Generally, they have a long relationship with the hiring manager and that is the person that hired them.

That is Recruiters 101, I welcome your thoughts and comments.

For more, join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. CLICK HERE to join.

To learn more about the retained executive search process CLICK HERE.

If this was helpful to you then please pass it on to others. Consider emailing it to your network, updating it on your LinkedIn or Facecbook status, or mentioning it on Twitter. The more you help the better.

I welcome your comments and thoughts.

Brad Remillard