by: Liz Ryan
The other day I received a resume attached to an email message. The email message itself was lovely, but the attached document was labeled "BrittneyRoxYall.doc." Evidently young Brittney (let's hope Brittney is young) forgot what she'd titled her resume and sent it off as an attachment, without changing the document's name.
It is fantastic to see that Brittney has healthy self-esteem. That's a big plus for Brittney in her job search. However, I couldn't consider Brittney a candidate for the job I was filling, once she'd made that unfortunate clerical error. Little items like a mislabeled resume can hurt a job seeker, so take note of these five fatal job-search errors:
Mislabeling Your Resume
Brittney learned the hard way that a resume on your hard drive must be labeled BrittneyJonesResume.doc or some other simple and obvious name when it's sent to employers via email. Even better is to label each resume with your name and the name of the employer it's going to, a la BrittneyJonesResumeAbbottLabs.doc. That way, if you tweak your resume for different job openings (and I hope you do) you'll always know which version of your resume you've sent to each employer.
The Shotgun Approach
A resume that starts out "Objective: to make a contribution to my next employer in any Marketing, PR, Product Management or Operations role" is bound for the trash bin, whether the job in question is a Marketing, PR, Product Management or Operations job. These days, you don't go to the print shop and order resumes in boxes of 100 anymore. You can and must customize your resume as often as needed, and very possibly for every job you pursue. So why would a prospective employer want to know about your qualifications for jobs you're not applying for? Take out the extra roles and focus your resume on just the job you're applying for today.
Ignoring the Job-Ad Instructions
I wrote a job ad that said, "Please send me an email message that answers these three questions." Then, I listed three questions that job applicants should answer in a paragraph or two. Oh dear! Of 95 applicants, only a handful answered the questions. That's an easy way for employers to screen out candidates, so it's worth your time to read and re-read the job ad carefully, and respond to it in the way the ad specifies. No sense being dropped out of the pipeline before you've had a chance to shine!
Failing to Customize
When a job opening gives you a chance to write a cover letter, write a good one! Take 15 or 20 minutes to research the employer online (visiting the company's own website and news sites, for starters) in order to say something company-specific in your cover letter. "I am interested in the job because it sounds interesting" doesn't cut it in this job market. Try, "Given your recent acquisition of Sun Microsystems, I'm guessing that the IT Integration Specialists you're seeking now should be folks who've been through data-integration projects in the past, as I have. At IBM, I ..." and so forth.
Drowning in Boilerplate
A good 2009 resume or cover letter is strong and human-sounding, not dry and full of corporate-speak fluff. Take out the "strong team orientation," "results-oriented professional," and "bottom line focus" before you send another resume into the market. Replace that awful stuff with mini-stories that point out your best qualities, like "At ABC Graphics, our team won the President's Award for on-time delivery."
Don't let a basic job-search error slow down your job search!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
10 Questions Never to Ask in Job Interviews
by: Liz Ryan
You know enough to bring a list of questions to a job interview. When the interviewer asks you, "So, do you have any questions for me?" the last thing? You want to say is "No." But that could be the best option if you're at a loss for words, because some interview questions are better left unasked.
Here are 10 highly unsuitable interview questions that should never make an appearance, unless you don't want the job:
1. "What does your company do?"This was a reasonable interview question in 1950 or in 1980, before the Internet existed. Today, it's your job to research any company you're interviewing with before setting foot in the door. We need to show up for a job interview knowing what the employer does, who its competitors are, and which of its accomplishments (or challenges) have made the news lately.
2. "Are you going to do a background check?"It is amazing how many job candidates ask this question, which provokes alarm on the part of the interviewer, instead of the more general, "Can you please tell me a little about your selection process, from this point on?" Lots of people have credit issues that cause them worry during a job search, or aren't sure how solid their references from a previous job might be. If you're invited for a second interview, you can broach any sensitive topics from your past then. Asking "Will you do a background check?" makes you look like a person with something to hide.
3. "When will I be eligible for a raise?"Companies fear underpaying people almost as much as they fear overpaying them, because a person who's underpaid vis-a-vis his counterparts in the job market is a person with one eye on the career sites. Instead of asking about your first raise before you've got the job, you can ask (at a second interview) "Does your organization do a conventional one-year performance and salary review?"
4. "Do you have any other jobs available?"A job search requires quick thinking about straight talk, and if a job is far below your abilities, you're better off saying so than beating around the bush with this question. You don't have to take yourself out of the running; you can say, "The job sounds interesting, but frankly I was earning 30% more and supervising people in my last job. Could you help me understand the career path for this role?" That's the cue for the interviewer, if he or she is on the ball, to highlight another job opening that might exist.
5. "How soon can I transfer to another position?"You're broadcasting "I'm outta here at the first chance" when you ask this question. If you like the job, take the job. If it's not for you, wait for the right opportunity. Almost every employer will keep you in your seat for at least one year before approving an internal transfer, so a job-search bait-and-switch probably won't work out the way you'd hoped.
6. "Can you tell me about bus lines to your facility?"Get online and research this yourself. It's not your employer's problem to figure out how you get to work.
7. "Do you have smoking breaks?"If you're working in retail or in a call center, you could ask about breaks. Everyone else, keep mum; if your need to smoke intrudes so much on your work life that you feel the need to ask about it, ask your best friend or significant other for smoking-cessation help as a new-job present. Lots of companies don't permit smoking anywhere on the premises, and some don't like to hire smokers at all. Why give an employer a reason to turn you down?
8. "Is [my medical condition] covered under your insurance?"This is a bad question on two counts. You don't want to tell a perfect stranger about your medical issues, especially one who's deciding whether or not to hire you. Ask to see a copy of the company's benefits booklet when an offer has been extended. This is also a bad question from a judgment standpoint; no department managers and only a tiny percentage of HR people could be expected to know on a condition-by-condition basis what's covered under the health plan. Anyway, your pre-existing condition won't be covered under most corporate plans for at least a year.
9. "Do you do a drug test?"If you have a philosophical objection to drug tests, wait until they ask you to take a drug test and tell them about your objection. Otherwise, your question sounds like, "I'd fail a drug test," so don't ask.
10. "If you hire me, can I wait until [more than three weeks from now] to start the job?"Employers expect you to give two weeks' notice. If you're not working, they'd love to see you more quickly. If you ask for tons of time off before you start working -- unless you have a very good reason -- the employer may think, "How serious is this candidate about working?" In any case, a start-date extension is something to request after you've got the offer in hand, not before.
You know enough to bring a list of questions to a job interview. When the interviewer asks you, "So, do you have any questions for me?" the last thing? You want to say is "No." But that could be the best option if you're at a loss for words, because some interview questions are better left unasked.
Here are 10 highly unsuitable interview questions that should never make an appearance, unless you don't want the job:
1. "What does your company do?"This was a reasonable interview question in 1950 or in 1980, before the Internet existed. Today, it's your job to research any company you're interviewing with before setting foot in the door. We need to show up for a job interview knowing what the employer does, who its competitors are, and which of its accomplishments (or challenges) have made the news lately.
2. "Are you going to do a background check?"It is amazing how many job candidates ask this question, which provokes alarm on the part of the interviewer, instead of the more general, "Can you please tell me a little about your selection process, from this point on?" Lots of people have credit issues that cause them worry during a job search, or aren't sure how solid their references from a previous job might be. If you're invited for a second interview, you can broach any sensitive topics from your past then. Asking "Will you do a background check?" makes you look like a person with something to hide.
3. "When will I be eligible for a raise?"Companies fear underpaying people almost as much as they fear overpaying them, because a person who's underpaid vis-a-vis his counterparts in the job market is a person with one eye on the career sites. Instead of asking about your first raise before you've got the job, you can ask (at a second interview) "Does your organization do a conventional one-year performance and salary review?"
4. "Do you have any other jobs available?"A job search requires quick thinking about straight talk, and if a job is far below your abilities, you're better off saying so than beating around the bush with this question. You don't have to take yourself out of the running; you can say, "The job sounds interesting, but frankly I was earning 30% more and supervising people in my last job. Could you help me understand the career path for this role?" That's the cue for the interviewer, if he or she is on the ball, to highlight another job opening that might exist.
5. "How soon can I transfer to another position?"You're broadcasting "I'm outta here at the first chance" when you ask this question. If you like the job, take the job. If it's not for you, wait for the right opportunity. Almost every employer will keep you in your seat for at least one year before approving an internal transfer, so a job-search bait-and-switch probably won't work out the way you'd hoped.
6. "Can you tell me about bus lines to your facility?"Get online and research this yourself. It's not your employer's problem to figure out how you get to work.
7. "Do you have smoking breaks?"If you're working in retail or in a call center, you could ask about breaks. Everyone else, keep mum; if your need to smoke intrudes so much on your work life that you feel the need to ask about it, ask your best friend or significant other for smoking-cessation help as a new-job present. Lots of companies don't permit smoking anywhere on the premises, and some don't like to hire smokers at all. Why give an employer a reason to turn you down?
8. "Is [my medical condition] covered under your insurance?"This is a bad question on two counts. You don't want to tell a perfect stranger about your medical issues, especially one who's deciding whether or not to hire you. Ask to see a copy of the company's benefits booklet when an offer has been extended. This is also a bad question from a judgment standpoint; no department managers and only a tiny percentage of HR people could be expected to know on a condition-by-condition basis what's covered under the health plan. Anyway, your pre-existing condition won't be covered under most corporate plans for at least a year.
9. "Do you do a drug test?"If you have a philosophical objection to drug tests, wait until they ask you to take a drug test and tell them about your objection. Otherwise, your question sounds like, "I'd fail a drug test," so don't ask.
10. "If you hire me, can I wait until [more than three weeks from now] to start the job?"Employers expect you to give two weeks' notice. If you're not working, they'd love to see you more quickly. If you ask for tons of time off before you start working -- unless you have a very good reason -- the employer may think, "How serious is this candidate about working?" In any case, a start-date extension is something to request after you've got the offer in hand, not before.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Why Your Resume Gets Tossed
by Sara Goldsmith, WetFeet.com
The average recruiter sees 5,000 resumes a year. Any legitimate reason she finds to make one disappear makes her life that much easier -- and yours that much harder. Here, top-level recruiters reveal how candidates blow their chances to get a foot in the door.
Numbers Don't Add Up
If accomplishments can be quantified, do it -- but use discretion. Brandishing borderline performance numbers signals a lack of experience and bad judgment. "Phrases like 'managed a budget of $500,000' or 'led a team of two' might catch my eye in a bad way," warns Olaf Weckesser, a former recruiter for McKinsey & Co. Better to spin it as "managed company's largest budget."
Adds Alexandra DeMarino, a Citigroup recruiter: "If a small number is impressive, you absolutely have to put it in context." Because you can't provide context for academic numbers, don't include GMAT scores below 650 if you're targeting a top firm. DeMarino suggests bragging about nothing less than a 3.7 GPA.
Formality Takes a Vacation
Don't succumb to the informality of email. "If you send a cover letter by email that starts with 'Hi,' it and your resume will probably end up in the trash," says Cynthia Shore, an assistant dean at the University at Buffalo School of Management and former director of its career-resource center. Treat an email as you would a proper letter: Instead of "Hi," write "Dear Mr. Case." Instead of "Thanks," conclude with "Sincerely."
Keywords Are Overused
It's true that recruiters sometimes use scanners to sort through resumes looking for certain keywords. But resumes appear contrived when candidates consciously try to include them. Describing a business-development position using such terms as "needs assessment" and "contract analysis" in order to squeeze in more keywords is a misguided strategy. Assume that a human being -- not a computer -- will be reading the resume. After all, these days fewer than 25 percent of all recruiters even use scanners.
Things Get Too Personal
"If you mention your age, we have to trash your resume," says Jeremy Eskenazi, vice president of talent acquisition at Idealab!, the California incubator firm. Since it's illegal for a company to solicit a candidate's age, race, or marital status during the hiring process, firms have adopted a "don't tell" policy to avoid potential bias suits. Many won't risk even having it handed to them.
It Looks Too Fancy
"A recruiter who receives resumes in pretty plastic folders will likely toss them," says Dave Opton, CEO and founder of ExecuNet, an online executive recruiting service. "I don't have time to take the damn things apart." Another faux pas: Folding a resume so that it fits into a standard business envelope. Heavy-stock paper that retains its crease can be a nuisance. Says Opton: "They're easier to store and photocopy if they're flat."
Also, don't try to differentiate your resume with boxes or ornate lettering. When recruiters see a resume that's designed differently, they think the person's trying to hide something. Instead, focus on content. Your resume will rise to the top of the pile.
The average recruiter sees 5,000 resumes a year. Any legitimate reason she finds to make one disappear makes her life that much easier -- and yours that much harder. Here, top-level recruiters reveal how candidates blow their chances to get a foot in the door.
Numbers Don't Add Up
If accomplishments can be quantified, do it -- but use discretion. Brandishing borderline performance numbers signals a lack of experience and bad judgment. "Phrases like 'managed a budget of $500,000' or 'led a team of two' might catch my eye in a bad way," warns Olaf Weckesser, a former recruiter for McKinsey & Co. Better to spin it as "managed company's largest budget."
Adds Alexandra DeMarino, a Citigroup recruiter: "If a small number is impressive, you absolutely have to put it in context." Because you can't provide context for academic numbers, don't include GMAT scores below 650 if you're targeting a top firm. DeMarino suggests bragging about nothing less than a 3.7 GPA.
Formality Takes a Vacation
Don't succumb to the informality of email. "If you send a cover letter by email that starts with 'Hi,' it and your resume will probably end up in the trash," says Cynthia Shore, an assistant dean at the University at Buffalo School of Management and former director of its career-resource center. Treat an email as you would a proper letter: Instead of "Hi," write "Dear Mr. Case." Instead of "Thanks," conclude with "Sincerely."
Keywords Are Overused
It's true that recruiters sometimes use scanners to sort through resumes looking for certain keywords. But resumes appear contrived when candidates consciously try to include them. Describing a business-development position using such terms as "needs assessment" and "contract analysis" in order to squeeze in more keywords is a misguided strategy. Assume that a human being -- not a computer -- will be reading the resume. After all, these days fewer than 25 percent of all recruiters even use scanners.
Things Get Too Personal
"If you mention your age, we have to trash your resume," says Jeremy Eskenazi, vice president of talent acquisition at Idealab!, the California incubator firm. Since it's illegal for a company to solicit a candidate's age, race, or marital status during the hiring process, firms have adopted a "don't tell" policy to avoid potential bias suits. Many won't risk even having it handed to them.
It Looks Too Fancy
"A recruiter who receives resumes in pretty plastic folders will likely toss them," says Dave Opton, CEO and founder of ExecuNet, an online executive recruiting service. "I don't have time to take the damn things apart." Another faux pas: Folding a resume so that it fits into a standard business envelope. Heavy-stock paper that retains its crease can be a nuisance. Says Opton: "They're easier to store and photocopy if they're flat."
Also, don't try to differentiate your resume with boxes or ornate lettering. When recruiters see a resume that's designed differently, they think the person's trying to hide something. Instead, focus on content. Your resume will rise to the top of the pile.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Deceptive Targets in the Job Hunt
5 Methods That Waste Your Time
by Caroline M.L. Potter
Time is money -- whether you've got a job or not. While it may be tempting to chase down every possibility when you're searching for work, don't. Many can lead you down a blind alley -- where you may lose the contents of your wallet.
A focused search using tried and true methods, especially networking, will lead to your next job, not tactics that smack of desperation.
Avoid these five job-hunting "don'ts" that will yield the poorest of results, according to leading workplace advisor Liz Ryan.
1. Spray and pray.
Don't blindly send your resume unsolicited, electronically or otherwise, to any company without first making verbal contact. Says Ryan, founder of AskLizRyan.com, "Tossing out un-customized cover letters and undifferentiated resumes in huge volumes and crossing your fingers is a job-search non-starter. That doesn't work, and it hasn't worked in 10 years, or more." Establish a connection before sending a customized cover letter and, adds Ryan, "You can even customize your resume if a job opening calls for it."
2. Stand in line for a job fair.
Admits Ryan, "Sad to say, but most job fairs are a waste of time. Avoid the huge cattle call-type job fairs where zillions of employers have booths, yet no one is taking resumes." There are some job fairs that have value. Ryan, a former human resources executive, points to company-specific open hours and college placement job fairs. Tap your network to learn if anyone can recommend worthwhile fairs. "Ask around before you head off to a job fair or risk having your time wasted and your ego dashed."
3. Earn certifications nobody wants.
It's common to feel less-than-confident in your skills if you're having a hard time finding work, but don't rush out to spend money on any additional training unless you're certain it will yield improved results. Ryan reveals, "Before you sign up for a certification training program, check the job boards to make sure that employers are asking for it. There's no sense investing time and money in a certification no one wants."
If you're getting the hard-sell from an educational institution, Ryan says, "Ask the people at the school that's doing the certifying, 'Which local employers have hired your graduates in the past year?' If they can't tell you, run away."
4. Pay a headhunter.
Don't dole out money to any kind of recruiter or sign a contract agreeing to do so. "Real headhunters, also known as search consultants or third-party recruiters, won't take your money. They get paid by employers to fill open jobs." She warns, "If a recruiter calls or emails you to say s/he's got jobs open, and then invites you to his or her office for a counseling session and presents you with a range of career-coaching services, bolt for the exit. Real search professionals won't take a dime from their candidates."
5. Sign up with a resume fax-blast service.
This old-school -- and desperate -- tactic is a total turn-off to potential employers and smacks of spam. Ryan says, "Services that send out hundreds or thousands of your resumes might have been worthwhile 20 years ago. Today, they're worse than pointless, because it irks employers to get unsolicited resumes. Forget the fax-blast services and do your own careful research to reach decision-makers with messages they actually want to hear."
by Caroline M.L. Potter
Time is money -- whether you've got a job or not. While it may be tempting to chase down every possibility when you're searching for work, don't. Many can lead you down a blind alley -- where you may lose the contents of your wallet.
A focused search using tried and true methods, especially networking, will lead to your next job, not tactics that smack of desperation.
Avoid these five job-hunting "don'ts" that will yield the poorest of results, according to leading workplace advisor Liz Ryan.
1. Spray and pray.
Don't blindly send your resume unsolicited, electronically or otherwise, to any company without first making verbal contact. Says Ryan, founder of AskLizRyan.com, "Tossing out un-customized cover letters and undifferentiated resumes in huge volumes and crossing your fingers is a job-search non-starter. That doesn't work, and it hasn't worked in 10 years, or more." Establish a connection before sending a customized cover letter and, adds Ryan, "You can even customize your resume if a job opening calls for it."
2. Stand in line for a job fair.
Admits Ryan, "Sad to say, but most job fairs are a waste of time. Avoid the huge cattle call-type job fairs where zillions of employers have booths, yet no one is taking resumes." There are some job fairs that have value. Ryan, a former human resources executive, points to company-specific open hours and college placement job fairs. Tap your network to learn if anyone can recommend worthwhile fairs. "Ask around before you head off to a job fair or risk having your time wasted and your ego dashed."
3. Earn certifications nobody wants.
It's common to feel less-than-confident in your skills if you're having a hard time finding work, but don't rush out to spend money on any additional training unless you're certain it will yield improved results. Ryan reveals, "Before you sign up for a certification training program, check the job boards to make sure that employers are asking for it. There's no sense investing time and money in a certification no one wants."
If you're getting the hard-sell from an educational institution, Ryan says, "Ask the people at the school that's doing the certifying, 'Which local employers have hired your graduates in the past year?' If they can't tell you, run away."
4. Pay a headhunter.
Don't dole out money to any kind of recruiter or sign a contract agreeing to do so. "Real headhunters, also known as search consultants or third-party recruiters, won't take your money. They get paid by employers to fill open jobs." She warns, "If a recruiter calls or emails you to say s/he's got jobs open, and then invites you to his or her office for a counseling session and presents you with a range of career-coaching services, bolt for the exit. Real search professionals won't take a dime from their candidates."
5. Sign up with a resume fax-blast service.
This old-school -- and desperate -- tactic is a total turn-off to potential employers and smacks of spam. Ryan says, "Services that send out hundreds or thousands of your resumes might have been worthwhile 20 years ago. Today, they're worse than pointless, because it irks employers to get unsolicited resumes. Forget the fax-blast services and do your own careful research to reach decision-makers with messages they actually want to hear."
Monday, July 27, 2009
A good time to look for a new job (yes...you read that correctly)
Beth Gilfeather
One of the big contributors to why the job market is so weak today is employee retention believe it or not (not necessarily the lack of newly created positions). This lack of job hopping is happening for several reasons to include misperception of market conditions, negatively perceived salary trends and plain old fear of getting caught. All of these obstacles can be addressed and easily overcome. Start looking for a new opportunity and YOU can help stimulate this job market.
In recruiting, we love attrition! It causes a daisy chain of vacancies that must be filled (Bob leaves his job and opens up a position, Sue leaves her job to take this position and opens up her job, etc..).
1- In some instances, people aren't looking right now because they think nothing is happening. Not true! While demand for new hires is certainly down, there are certain verticals that are doing better than others. The technology vertical is one of them. Sales is also a vertical that is picking up. To help you get a more positive (and accurate) perspective on the state of the job market, you'll need to jump online:
Make sure to use job boards like Simplyhired.com and Indeed.com (not just the run-of-the-mill Monster and Careerbuilders of the world). These sites "aggregate" postings from all over the web (not just from their paying customers) and this will give you a much better sampling of the jobs that you are interested in. Not only will it pull more jobs to you, their search capability is excellent and will allow you to really focus in on what you want.
You can also search the web using an effective boolean string. Try this one: (intitle:job OR inurl:job) KEYWORD or KEYWORD (MA OR Massachusetts) 01432..05544. I have used Massachusetts in this sample, but you can list your own state and zip code range. This will ensure you only pull back jobs in your location. Use a website called zipmath.com and go to "applications" and choose "Zip codes in a radius" to establish the zone you want to search in. Make sure to list the first and last zip in sequential order and separate it by two periods. You can also run this string replacing the word "job" with "position" or "career"
2- People also aren't looking because they think the salaries will be too low. No, we aren't seeing 20% pay raises like we experienced back in the day. However, people are getting good offers right now. We all need to wake up and smell the coffee here. Salary levels have changed. Just like how your home value has gone down, our professional "worth" has too to some extent. As a result, I think we all need to adjust to the new economy which will be about fair, reasonable, merit-based jumps in salary. I think it's perfectly acceptable to want to shoot for a 10% increase when expecting a job offer (and hopefully they can do this or even more). But we need to recognize that salaries are going to go through the same cycle that everything else has in the economy (a correction). So don't expect for an employer to pay you any more just because you need to make more money. Here's the good news...the days of the "low ball" seem to be over. We witnessed a lot of companies over the past 6 months try to put out a low offer and inevitably lose the candidate as a result. Companies are realizing this and are in a better position to be reasonable and fair having been burned by this in Q4 and Q1.
3- Afraid of getting caught is probably the biggest reason people aren't looking. You certainly don't want to be the one who has demonstrated your disloyalty to the company when cuts are being made. If you do, you will likely find yourself terminated or conveniently laid off. And if you are lucky enough to not get terminated, get ready for the bitter attitude you will continue to get from your boss. There's no reason you have to risk your job to conduct a job search.
Use a confidential resume and make sure to take off not only your name and address but also your current employer name. Companies will often run searches on Monster and the web using their company name as the search term to pull back "confidential" resumes of current employees looking to leave.
Don't use your work email to conduct your job search. First of all, your company can monitor this and find out. Or an innocent subject line that reads "your interview tomorrow" could be easily displayed on your desktop when your boss is over at your desk.
Always list your cell phone, not work phone. If you work in an open environment, it is completely obvious when you are trying to hide something on a phone call. This will only lead to suspicion.
If working with an agency, make sure they aren't openly marketing your background if you don't want them to and make sure they aren't sending your resume out without speaking to you first.
Don't ever put your resume into an open database or resume emailing service. You have no control over where it will go.
Bottom line: There are jobs out there. They pay well and you don't have to get caught looking for a new job.
One of the big contributors to why the job market is so weak today is employee retention believe it or not (not necessarily the lack of newly created positions). This lack of job hopping is happening for several reasons to include misperception of market conditions, negatively perceived salary trends and plain old fear of getting caught. All of these obstacles can be addressed and easily overcome. Start looking for a new opportunity and YOU can help stimulate this job market.
In recruiting, we love attrition! It causes a daisy chain of vacancies that must be filled (Bob leaves his job and opens up a position, Sue leaves her job to take this position and opens up her job, etc..).
Unfortunately today, less and less candidates are jumping ship. Why?
-They are afraid there aren't any good jobs to choose from (or any jobs at all to choose from)
-They are afraid the salary they get offered will be too low
-They are afraid they will get caught and terminated, "laid off" or ostracized as a result
1- In some instances, people aren't looking right now because they think nothing is happening. Not true! While demand for new hires is certainly down, there are certain verticals that are doing better than others. The technology vertical is one of them. Sales is also a vertical that is picking up. To help you get a more positive (and accurate) perspective on the state of the job market, you'll need to jump online:
Make sure to use job boards like Simplyhired.com and Indeed.com (not just the run-of-the-mill Monster and Careerbuilders of the world). These sites "aggregate" postings from all over the web (not just from their paying customers) and this will give you a much better sampling of the jobs that you are interested in. Not only will it pull more jobs to you, their search capability is excellent and will allow you to really focus in on what you want.
You can also search the web using an effective boolean string. Try this one: (intitle:job OR inurl:job) KEYWORD or KEYWORD (MA OR Massachusetts) 01432..05544. I have used Massachusetts in this sample, but you can list your own state and zip code range. This will ensure you only pull back jobs in your location. Use a website called zipmath.com and go to "applications" and choose "Zip codes in a radius" to establish the zone you want to search in. Make sure to list the first and last zip in sequential order and separate it by two periods. You can also run this string replacing the word "job" with "position" or "career"
2- People also aren't looking because they think the salaries will be too low. No, we aren't seeing 20% pay raises like we experienced back in the day. However, people are getting good offers right now. We all need to wake up and smell the coffee here. Salary levels have changed. Just like how your home value has gone down, our professional "worth" has too to some extent. As a result, I think we all need to adjust to the new economy which will be about fair, reasonable, merit-based jumps in salary. I think it's perfectly acceptable to want to shoot for a 10% increase when expecting a job offer (and hopefully they can do this or even more). But we need to recognize that salaries are going to go through the same cycle that everything else has in the economy (a correction). So don't expect for an employer to pay you any more just because you need to make more money. Here's the good news...the days of the "low ball" seem to be over. We witnessed a lot of companies over the past 6 months try to put out a low offer and inevitably lose the candidate as a result. Companies are realizing this and are in a better position to be reasonable and fair having been burned by this in Q4 and Q1.
3- Afraid of getting caught is probably the biggest reason people aren't looking. You certainly don't want to be the one who has demonstrated your disloyalty to the company when cuts are being made. If you do, you will likely find yourself terminated or conveniently laid off. And if you are lucky enough to not get terminated, get ready for the bitter attitude you will continue to get from your boss. There's no reason you have to risk your job to conduct a job search.
Use a confidential resume and make sure to take off not only your name and address but also your current employer name. Companies will often run searches on Monster and the web using their company name as the search term to pull back "confidential" resumes of current employees looking to leave.
Don't use your work email to conduct your job search. First of all, your company can monitor this and find out. Or an innocent subject line that reads "your interview tomorrow" could be easily displayed on your desktop when your boss is over at your desk.
Always list your cell phone, not work phone. If you work in an open environment, it is completely obvious when you are trying to hide something on a phone call. This will only lead to suspicion.
If working with an agency, make sure they aren't openly marketing your background if you don't want them to and make sure they aren't sending your resume out without speaking to you first.
Don't ever put your resume into an open database or resume emailing service. You have no control over where it will go.
Bottom line: There are jobs out there. They pay well and you don't have to get caught looking for a new job.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
How to Answer 'Tell Me About Yourself...'
By: Jon Jacobs
A new acquaintance recently asked for guidance handling the open-ended interview question I used in the headline of this post. "Although it sounds benign, it can be lethal," he observed. "What do you feel is the answer a hiring manager/recruiter/other is looking for? Just as important: What do they not want to hear?"
He's smart to be looking for effective ways to field that deceptively simple question. It probably trips many people - and in fact probably tripped me up more than once.
While job-hunting in 2006 and early 2007, I faced the question numerous times. Later, when I had the opportunity to hear what career coaches and hiring managers had to say, I realized I'd been going about answering it all wrong.
More Than Where You've Been
The key is to not to make the question a jumping-off point for a career-path version of the "autobiography" your third-grade teacher asked you to write. Remember how everyone tackled those? "I was born in Metropolis, Ohio. My father is a car dealer. I have a sister, Patty, two brothers, Joe and Bill, and a dog, Spike. My hobbies are baseball, model trains and coin collecting....."
In other words: Resist the natural tendency to tick off each of your career roles and transitions in a single narrative.
The interviewer isn't looking for completeness. Instead, she is looking for a coherent "story" that provides indications you're a good fit for the opening. That means your answer should briefly convey both:
· A sense of who you are and where you're going - why the opening you're applying for represents a logical culmination of where you've been. You needn't make that point explicit, but if you can suggest it in your answer, you'll score points. And:
· Something about your previous career that prepares you for the role you're interviewing for. Just as with a resume, take pains to focus this part of your answer on accomplishments, not just responsibilities or functions. For each past or present job you discuss, mention an anecdote about a challenge you faced, a project you completed or a learning experience you had that's directly relevant to the new role. If you can also relate that challenge or project to your motivation for wanting the role, so much the better.
Don't Ramble
You needn't go through each and every job you've had. Feel free to skip over any of them. Nor must you explain why you left jobs: The interviewer surely will question you about that later.
The best answer to "tell me about yourself" will have the Goldilocks quality: just enough detail, without getting tedious or long-winded. Concise but not too concise. I envision this answer taking up to two minutes, assuming the interviewer doesn't break in with tributary questions while you're speaking.
If you can, try to watch yourself from outside while answering. Imagine one fraction of your mind perched in a corner of the wall and keeping tabs on how you're coming off. Be on guard against rambling. If you catch yourself starting to delve deeper and deeper into one situation or one past job, cut yourself off and move on.
When I had to job hunt a few years ago, I rehearsed answers to, "describe your three biggest strengths and your three biggest weaknesses." Surprise - not a single interviewer asked me that question. All the rage in the 1980s and early '90s, it seems to have all but vanished from modern practice. Instead, today's obligatory question is "tell me about yourself." Whether you meet by phone or face-to-face, it's often the first substantive thing out of the interviewer's mouth.
I hope this helps you develop a response that keeps you in the game.
-- Jon Jacobs
A new acquaintance recently asked for guidance handling the open-ended interview question I used in the headline of this post. "Although it sounds benign, it can be lethal," he observed. "What do you feel is the answer a hiring manager/recruiter/other is looking for? Just as important: What do they not want to hear?"
He's smart to be looking for effective ways to field that deceptively simple question. It probably trips many people - and in fact probably tripped me up more than once.
While job-hunting in 2006 and early 2007, I faced the question numerous times. Later, when I had the opportunity to hear what career coaches and hiring managers had to say, I realized I'd been going about answering it all wrong.
More Than Where You've Been
The key is to not to make the question a jumping-off point for a career-path version of the "autobiography" your third-grade teacher asked you to write. Remember how everyone tackled those? "I was born in Metropolis, Ohio. My father is a car dealer. I have a sister, Patty, two brothers, Joe and Bill, and a dog, Spike. My hobbies are baseball, model trains and coin collecting....."
In other words: Resist the natural tendency to tick off each of your career roles and transitions in a single narrative.
The interviewer isn't looking for completeness. Instead, she is looking for a coherent "story" that provides indications you're a good fit for the opening. That means your answer should briefly convey both:
· A sense of who you are and where you're going - why the opening you're applying for represents a logical culmination of where you've been. You needn't make that point explicit, but if you can suggest it in your answer, you'll score points. And:
· Something about your previous career that prepares you for the role you're interviewing for. Just as with a resume, take pains to focus this part of your answer on accomplishments, not just responsibilities or functions. For each past or present job you discuss, mention an anecdote about a challenge you faced, a project you completed or a learning experience you had that's directly relevant to the new role. If you can also relate that challenge or project to your motivation for wanting the role, so much the better.
Don't Ramble
You needn't go through each and every job you've had. Feel free to skip over any of them. Nor must you explain why you left jobs: The interviewer surely will question you about that later.
The best answer to "tell me about yourself" will have the Goldilocks quality: just enough detail, without getting tedious or long-winded. Concise but not too concise. I envision this answer taking up to two minutes, assuming the interviewer doesn't break in with tributary questions while you're speaking.
If you can, try to watch yourself from outside while answering. Imagine one fraction of your mind perched in a corner of the wall and keeping tabs on how you're coming off. Be on guard against rambling. If you catch yourself starting to delve deeper and deeper into one situation or one past job, cut yourself off and move on.
When I had to job hunt a few years ago, I rehearsed answers to, "describe your three biggest strengths and your three biggest weaknesses." Surprise - not a single interviewer asked me that question. All the rage in the 1980s and early '90s, it seems to have all but vanished from modern practice. Instead, today's obligatory question is "tell me about yourself." Whether you meet by phone or face-to-face, it's often the first substantive thing out of the interviewer's mouth.
I hope this helps you develop a response that keeps you in the game.
-- Jon Jacobs
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Is Print Recruitment Advertising Dead?
by John Zappe
Jun 24, 2009, 5:37 am ET
At a time when one of America’s largest newspapers is worth perhaps $1 — assuming it can be sold at all — is there any likelihood that the print industry’s single largest revenue category will ever even come close to approaching the $6, $7, and $8 billion glory days of a decade ago?
Not likely, say observers of the market (here’s just one) who have warned of the demise of the newspaper Help Wanted for years. The Conference Board, which once used the volume of employment ads in 51 of the nation’s newspapers as an index of labor health, discontinued its Help Wanted Advertising Index in July 2008. The Board explained the decision this way, “Because print advertising no longer comprehensively captures changes in labor-market demand, The Conference Board will focus its efforts on other indicators that better reflect today’s labor market …”
Earlier this month the Newspaper Association of America released the results of the first quarter newspaper revenues showing all categories down. But no classified category is down more than recruitment, off 67.4 percent from the first quarter of 2008. That’s a near disastrous showing, made worse because 2008’s first quarter was itself down by 35.4 percent from 2007.
In dollars, the drop means America’s daily newspapers took in $205.441 million in recruitment advertising from Jan 1 through March 31st. Compare that to the $119 million Monster took in from its North American job postings or compare it to CareerBuilder’s $141 million for the same period.
You don’t have to be a math wizard to see that just two online sites — the two biggest, to be sure — took in more job posting revenue than did all of the nation’s 1,400 or so daily newspapers. The newspapers also took in $3.1 billion in online revenue, with employment ads accounting for a piece of that total.
The accompanying chart shows the rise in employment advertising through 2000; its sudden drop with the tech crash of 2000 and then 9/11; it’s improvement into 2006; and, now, what is likely to be its final decline.
So definitive has been the crash of newspaper employment advertising that many newspapers are running help-wanted ads only on some days, rather than seven days a week. The Chicago Tribune, an owner of CareerBuilder, became the first major market daily to curtail recruitment advertising, when in early 2008 it decided to run ads only two days a week.
The rapid decline in newspaper employment advertising coincides with recruiter sentiment that newspapers don’t provide the same value as online job boards, employee referral programs and, increasingly, social networks.
In 2006, ERE in collaboration with Classified Intelligence surveyed several hundred recruiters visiting ERE and found they considered print advertising to be the least effective means of attracting candidates from among the five choices. Those choices were employee referral programs, job boards, career fairs, print, and social networks. We asked the decision-makers among the survey respondents about their spending on various media in 2006. Some 43 percent expected to spend less that year on print, while about that same percent expected to increase their spending on social networking sites, referral programs, and job boards. The numbers bear out those predictions.
That’s the glass-half-empty look at print recruitment advertising. If there is a half-full point of view, it’s not evident. We could point to ads in The New York Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal, and a few others that list available openings and point to online sites for more information. The Chicago Tribune does something similar with ads it runs for CareerBuilder during the week.
Recruitment advertising agencies that used to earn 15 percent commissions on newspaper ads that cost upwards of $3,000 on a Sunday have embraced other media, generating fees from buying online advertising, designing online campaigns and building career sites, and managing search engine marketing campaigns.
Executives from these agencies no longer spend time placing what used to be called in-line display ads in the daily newspaper. Now, they advocate using newspapers for integrated campaigns and for special events like on-site open houses and career fairs, where a wide net is desired.
Jun 24, 2009, 5:37 am ET
At a time when one of America’s largest newspapers is worth perhaps $1 — assuming it can be sold at all — is there any likelihood that the print industry’s single largest revenue category will ever even come close to approaching the $6, $7, and $8 billion glory days of a decade ago?
Not likely, say observers of the market (here’s just one) who have warned of the demise of the newspaper Help Wanted for years. The Conference Board, which once used the volume of employment ads in 51 of the nation’s newspapers as an index of labor health, discontinued its Help Wanted Advertising Index in July 2008. The Board explained the decision this way, “Because print advertising no longer comprehensively captures changes in labor-market demand, The Conference Board will focus its efforts on other indicators that better reflect today’s labor market …”
Earlier this month the Newspaper Association of America released the results of the first quarter newspaper revenues showing all categories down. But no classified category is down more than recruitment, off 67.4 percent from the first quarter of 2008. That’s a near disastrous showing, made worse because 2008’s first quarter was itself down by 35.4 percent from 2007.
In dollars, the drop means America’s daily newspapers took in $205.441 million in recruitment advertising from Jan 1 through March 31st. Compare that to the $119 million Monster took in from its North American job postings or compare it to CareerBuilder’s $141 million for the same period.
You don’t have to be a math wizard to see that just two online sites — the two biggest, to be sure — took in more job posting revenue than did all of the nation’s 1,400 or so daily newspapers. The newspapers also took in $3.1 billion in online revenue, with employment ads accounting for a piece of that total.
The accompanying chart shows the rise in employment advertising through 2000; its sudden drop with the tech crash of 2000 and then 9/11; it’s improvement into 2006; and, now, what is likely to be its final decline.
So definitive has been the crash of newspaper employment advertising that many newspapers are running help-wanted ads only on some days, rather than seven days a week. The Chicago Tribune, an owner of CareerBuilder, became the first major market daily to curtail recruitment advertising, when in early 2008 it decided to run ads only two days a week.
The rapid decline in newspaper employment advertising coincides with recruiter sentiment that newspapers don’t provide the same value as online job boards, employee referral programs and, increasingly, social networks.
In 2006, ERE in collaboration with Classified Intelligence surveyed several hundred recruiters visiting ERE and found they considered print advertising to be the least effective means of attracting candidates from among the five choices. Those choices were employee referral programs, job boards, career fairs, print, and social networks. We asked the decision-makers among the survey respondents about their spending on various media in 2006. Some 43 percent expected to spend less that year on print, while about that same percent expected to increase their spending on social networking sites, referral programs, and job boards. The numbers bear out those predictions.
That’s the glass-half-empty look at print recruitment advertising. If there is a half-full point of view, it’s not evident. We could point to ads in The New York Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal, and a few others that list available openings and point to online sites for more information. The Chicago Tribune does something similar with ads it runs for CareerBuilder during the week.
Recruitment advertising agencies that used to earn 15 percent commissions on newspaper ads that cost upwards of $3,000 on a Sunday have embraced other media, generating fees from buying online advertising, designing online campaigns and building career sites, and managing search engine marketing campaigns.
Executives from these agencies no longer spend time placing what used to be called in-line display ads in the daily newspaper. Now, they advocate using newspapers for integrated campaigns and for special events like on-site open houses and career fairs, where a wide net is desired.
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