Warning Signs that your job search isn’t working!

The last time I read the labor statistics report it stated that millions of people were unemployed in CA alone and that 65% of the people had been unemployed for at least 1.5 years.

This is sad and it saddens me to know that people are suffering out there. They don’t need to suffer. Ok warning signs below will help you in your job search.

Your way: You have posted your resume on the job boards and no one is calling you.

The dear jane way: Recruiters and human resource professionals live on the job boards, however, they only look at the last two days of postings. So every three days you need to upload the SAME resume so you will stay at the top of the search engines.

Your way: You can’t get to the second interview.

The dear jane way: Contact us for our list of 34 questions and once you have answered them you will definitely advance to the second interview. www.clientservices@dearjane.info.

Your way: You never leave your home office or your house in job search.

The dear jane way: We expect our clients to work 4-5 hours a day on their job search. We also suggest that they put a schedule together and give themselves at least two-three hours of time away from the house to enjoy their day. Also, you can conduct your search at the nearest starbucks, peets, or diner.

Your way: You make a decision to leave the profession/career that you loved so much because you can’t get interview.

The dear jane way: Making decisions based on assumptions is not the right thing to do especially when you are in job search. Nobody said getting a job was easy. It takes consistency, persistence and hard work. We assume that if recruiters don’t call and we can’t get interviews that we should give it all up and head to the mountains. Before you do that invest the time and energy into your search.

Your way: You change your resume content every other day to please the other side (hiring managers, recruiters, and human resource professionals) and/or you submit 10 different resumes.

The dear jane way: As our clients at dear jane say, “1″ resume “3″ jobs. The only thing you need to tweek and customize is your summary of qualifications and your cover letter. That’s it. You don’t need 10 resumes because you really shouldn’t be applying to 10 different jobs.

Your way: You have a great conversation with a recruiter or human resource professional and then you never hear back from them.

The dear jane way: First of all we hear this about 10-20 times a day from our clients. Please remember to have a pen and piece of paper with you at all times when you are talking with a recruiter or hr professional. Make sure you ask for their name, email, phone number, website, etc. Ask them how you can stay in touch with them. Then don’t forget to call them and email them.

How Recruiters Search Using LinkedIn & What We Look For

Here is another article that a client sent me regarding linkedin.com. Very informative.

check out brad’s website at www.impacthiringsolutions.com

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 visit brad’s website. At a minimum you should download our 8-Level LinkedIn Self Assessment Profile. This tool is a great start towards building a great profile. 

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.  I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

www.impacthiringsolutions.com

YOU CAN GET A JOB IN THIS MARKET!

YOU CAN GET A JOB IN THIS MARKET!

Career Action Plan

 

There are many ways to find a job! See below.

 

§          Networking:  It’s all about who you know, so contact everybody you know and start to network with them to gain information on the hidden job market, which are the jobs that aren’t advertised on the job boards or in the paper. Then build a target list of companies that you want to work for and send it to your networking contacts and ask if they can help you or if they know of anyone that works at one of your targeted companies and ask them to sponsor you into the company through their contact. Remember, networking is about gathering information. 80% of the people that use their network will get hired within 6 weeks to three months.

 

§          Cold Calling and Warm Calling:  I know candidates are afraid to push themselves out of their comfort zone but you have to in tough job markets. Recruiters and HR professionals are receiving 100-300 resumes per day. They are working on about 20-200 positions each. So to differentiate yourself you will want to call them directly and try and sell yourself over the phone or ask them about their hiring processes. Don’t forget to mention that you will be in there area and would love to stop by and introduce yourself.

 

§          Recruiters:  Sign up with and meet the recruiters and headhunters in your local area. I.e. Kelly Services, Volt, Manpower, TEKsystems, and Robert Half International. Recruiters will be calling you once you post your resume on the job boards. Also, check out www.rileyguide.com. See www.dearjane.info –tips booklet

 

§          Internet Job Boards:  Post your resume on the internet job boards. Also you can search for jobs on these job board sites. The top 4 posting sites are listed: craigslist.com, monster.com, careerbuilder.com and dice.com if you are in the high tech field. It is extremely important to refresh your resume twice weekly on the boards. So you will have to make changes to it and then submit changes and save. This will refresh your resume. Recruiters only review the last 2 days when searching for candidate’s resumes.  On craigslist.com you will have to upload a new one twice weekly.

 

§          Professional Associations:  Post on user group websites and professional association websites. I.e. AMA, NCHRA, SHRM, PMI, STC, ASTD, and PDMA etc.

 

§          Indeed.com! Check out the new one stop solution to finding jobs on the internet. Please use www.indeed.com – it’s a mega search engine for searching jobs all over the internet from various job board sources.

 

§          Company websites:  Go to company websites and submit your resume online. Go to their Career Sections and even if they don’t have a job posted upload your resume anyway.  This will enter your resume into the Human Resources applicant tracking system.

 

§          Job Fairs:  Attend job fairs and find the job fairs online at www.jobjournals.com or in the local newspaper. 

 

§          Linkedin.com:  Sign up with www.linkedin.com. 50% of the people that use linkedin.com use it for job searching and networking for jobs.

 

§          Newspapers:  If you live in a remote area, don’t forget to check the newspapers for local job fair events. Companies still post their recruiting data and job descriptions in the local newspapers.

Go to www.dearjane.info or contact rebecca.martin@dearjane.info for more information. Check out our blog at www.dearjanedialogues.com

 

 

 

Networking for a job! You can do it!

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt, Former First Lady

 

So you might be asking yourself, what does this quote have to do with looking for a job, getting a job or even job searching and career tips?

 

It has everything to do with Networking. Most of my clients don’t like to network and conduct face to face let alone phone networking meetings. All of my introverted clients look at me with that look of “right Rebecca, I don’t think so; you are not going to get me to make that cold call.”

 

Have you ever heard of the Hidden Job Market? Well it is referring to the positions that are not posted on the “street,” they are hidden. Sometimes hiring managers don’t even let their HR departments know about them.

So if you want to find out about the Hidden Job Market and get a job in this economy you will have to PUSH YOURSELF OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE.

Differentiate yourself. And how do we do this? Well one way is to conduct networking meetings. So below is something I have outlined for some of my clients. I hope this helps you too! Good luck.

 

ONE PLACE TO NETWORK IS AT Professional Association Meetings: Your only objective is to introduce yourself, learn about people that are attending the meetings and maybe talk to them about your job search. It would be helpful to have printed out business cards because you don’t want to give an 8.5×11 resume during cocktail hour at the American Marketing Association mixer, for example. Most importantly you want to talk and have some drinks and relax into the scene. All you have to talk about is the industry and what’s going on in the industry. That’s it. No big deal. Right, I know it’s a big deal and I even get nervous when I am alone at a networking function and I can talk to a pet rock.  Before you exit the conversation, hand them a business card and ask them for a business card. Then if you are really interested and you want to conduct a future networking meeting with them, when you exit, just ask them if they would be willing to meet with you over the phone or in person (in the future, like next week or whenever their schedules permits a meeting) for about 20-30 minutes to talk about whatever it is you are interested in talking to them about.

 

It is so important to have an objective for your networking meeting. For example you could be networking to find out about Company information, cultural, salary, education and skills requirements of various positions at the company, etc.

First, if you have seen these people at the same monthly meetings then it will be a lot easier for you to ask for the meeting.
Second, if this is the first time you have seen and met them at the meeting then you don’t have to ask for a future meeting, unless you feel comfortable asking them for it. Just exchange cards and then follow up with him or her at the next meeting.  

 

Other places to network: Church, Gym, Dentist and Doctor’s offices, with  your CPA, The Peets or Starbucks line,  your Safeway or Lucky’s checkers, family parties, etc.

 

WHY DO HIRING MANAGERS WANT TO MEET WITH YOU?
IT’s FREE they don’t have to pay a recruiter to find you

THEY pay employee referral fees
Paying it forward- karma
Some people like to please and want appreciation
Favor to a friend, sense of obligation, they trust you already –
Something in it for them – their own networking opportunities – to expand their network
They have an opening hidden job market opportunity, something is coming down the road, or they know the company needs your skillset and they will pass you on

 

DEFINE YOUR OBJECTIVE i.e.:  gathering industry, company, info,  or want to set a meeting with this person to review your list of companies that you want to work at, ,want to find out how their career path went or how they changed industries, find out info about the corporate culture, hiring practices, leadership.

 

HOW TO SCHEDULE THE NETWORKING MEETING AND WHAT TO DO NEXT:

CONTACT PERSON TO SCHEDULE MEETING face to face preferred
SCHEDULE THE NETWORKING MEETING – always book it in person first or over the phone second
SEND RESUME BEFORE MEETING HAPPENS
DURING THE MEETING

Be prepared to answer the question TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF?

ASK THEM QUESTIONS RELATED TO YOUR OBJECTIVE
Referrals – Ask them if they would be willing to refer you or sponsor you into the companies you are targeting or give you names and contact information.

FINAL STEP- a simple thank you will do but I would go a step further. Share information with them (“QUID PRO QUO” – Latin for “GIVE TO GET”) and let them know if there is anything you can do for them that you would be happy to.

Sample Networking Email

 

January 9, 2009

 

Dear Colleagues, Family and Friends,

I am going through a career transition and have conducted a lot of company and market research

to ensure a successful transition. I have completed my resume (see attached) and am targeting a couple of positions which are ……

 

The companies I am very interested in working for are listed below. I was hoping to ask you if you had any contacts in these companies or knew of anybody that did. If so, I would love to learn more about them so I can gain more information during this job search.

 

I would be happy to contact you at your convenience to discuss my job search in more detail. Please let me know what time and date works for you. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

I can be reached at…. If there is anything I can do for you please let me know.

 

Regards,

 

Rebecca Martin

Happy Holidays! See dear jane’s reading list.

If you are like me and want to stay updated on what’s going on in the world today and how the internet, global warming, multi-generational workforces, offshoring, outsourcing, etc. are affecting the world and our economy, please read the list of book titles below:

Workforce Crisis, The World is Flat and Hot, Flat and Crowded,

If you want to know how to get a job in this economy please read “83 Tips on How to Work with External and Corporate Recruiters” (www.dearjane.info).

If you are searching for a job right now in this economy don’t forget to POST YOUR RESUME on CRAIGSLIST.com, MONSTER.com, and CAREERBUILDER.com. Also don’t forget that staffing agency recruiters are onsite at every major corporation in the world. Many of my clients are interviewing and many have received offers this week. Companies are hiring in this economy and you just need to know how to find a job. So make sure you consult with the career experts.

HOW TO GET NOTICED by the HIRING MANAGERS and Stay Positive during your job search!

Differentiate yourself during your job search!

I know times are so tough for people right now in their job search and most people are barely hanging on regarding their search. But remember, what is needed now more than ever is to STAY FOCUSED, POSITIVE, and never never GIVE UP. Most of you need to DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF from other job seekers. Ok, so you ask, how does one do this? See the list below.

1) When you get scheduled for a telephone interview, ask the hiring manager or recruiters if you can meet the interviewer in person.

2) Don’t Panic and Don’t Quit your job search during December

3) Make sure your resume is professional, strong and a factual representation of your true professional experience.

4) Call Recruiters, HIring Managers, and Human Resource Professionals and ask them if you can stop by for 5 minutes and introduce yourself in person. Tell them  you will be in their area.

5) Send all Recruiters, Hiring Managers, and Human Resource Professionals holiday cards and wish them a happy holiday season.

6) Send out 8 resumes per day through www.indeed.com.

7) Contact at least 3 staffing agencies and schedule face to face interviews with them.

Don’t isolate and attend all the holiday parties you can. Network with everyone you know.

9) Go to at least one professional association meeting to meet people in your current profession.

10) Take a class that you need to take for your future job.

11) Exercise, meditate, get rest and eat healthy.

12) Don’t forget to write a gratitude list.

13) Don’t forget to write your career affirmations.

14) Contact your nearest One Stop Career Center in your city and sign up with them and take free classes and get free career coaching and advice.

15) Don’t forget to sign up for your extended unemployment benefits.

16) Do something nice for someone else at least once a day.

A poll taken from HR professionals about the BEST Job Boards to post your resume on!!!

 I just received a comment from one of our postings from this past week. Patrick recommended the information below so I wanted to post it for all of you to see.

As a career coach, I always recommend the top three sites to post your resume on if you are looking for a job. They are www.craigslist.com, www.monster.com and www.careerbuilder.com.
But based on Patricks information below, there are two more I would like to mention. Check them out and the link below and let me know how it goes. I will also test drive these as well and let all of our clients know about them. They are www.realmatch.com and www.jobfox.com

 

About.com surveyed human resource professionals and recruiters about which of the top 10 job sites they found the best candidates on, survey results here:

 

http://humanresources.about.com/gi/pages/poll.htm?poll_id=5763275227&linkback=http://humanresources.about.com/b/a/258241.htm

How to Work with Recruiters! Tips below.

1)     How to find a recruiter

·         Job boards – they will be calling you.

·         Job postings and descriptions – i.e. monster or indeed, recruiter’s names will be listed on posted positions.

·         From friends and colleagues.

·         Target list – call the company and ask hr or the receptionist who there recruiting partners are and how many they work with.

·         Google –online sources.

 

2 ) Tips to remember

·         Recruiters are your friends – they want to help you.

·         Recruiters know a lot about their clients and can help you close the deal and get the job.

·         If you don’t like the recruiter don’t work with them and move on.  You don’t have to answer any of their questions if you think they are too personal. But remember they are trying to learn about you and get you in a job.

·         If they don’t call you back, call them and don’t take it personally.

·         Don’t forget to write down their contact information and follow up with them.

·         If you are really shy and introverted you will need to work with a recruiter.

·         Work with 1-2 recruiters minimum.

·         When they call, let them initially drive the interview.

·         If it’s not a good time to talk to them, don’t answer the phone or ask them if you can call them back (we also are looking for professionalism from you too).

·         If recruiters don’t get a good read on you over the phone they won’t call you back. It       happens all the time.

·         DON’T FORGET TO ASK THEM QUESTIONS.

·         Great recruiters will only send 1-2 candidate’s resumes per position.

 

3) Questions to ask the recruiters to see if they are credible

·         How long have you been in the recruiting industry or been recruiting?

·         What type of clients and industries do you work with and recruit for?

·         Are you focused in a particular field, industry?

·         How long have you been working with your client?

·         How many resumes do you send for one position?

·         Figure out if they have a relationship with their client, if they do you will get quick and quality feedback from your interviews.

·         If they can’t help you, ask them if they can refer you to other recruiters.

 

Go to www.dearjane.info or contact rebecca.martin@dearjane.info

 

Career Tip for the day! Refresh your resume – Don’t leave it hanging out there in cyber space

I want to let you know about the three job boards you should be posting on to get results. Recruiters only look at the last two days of postings. So you can’t forget to refresh your resumes every three days. What this means is that you need to go into your resume profiles on these sites and make changes to them and then save changes. This will refresh the resume and bring it to the top of the pile. My clients that do this have 3-4 interviews per week. People are getting hired everyday and there are a lot of jobs in the US despite what they say about unemployment. Hang in there and keep focused. Also, check out the job fairs at www.jobjournals.com.

You need to post on www.craigslist.com, www.monster.com, www.careerbuilder.com when looking for a job. Now if you are High Tech Professional you should post on www.dice.com and if you are in Bio Tech you should post on www.biospace.com.

Job Fairs – Are they Loser conventions?

I can’t tell you how many people get embarassed about attending job fairs. I had one of my clients in a two day training course call it a loser convention. I love job fairs and think they are a great way for job seekers/candidates meet hiring managers and human resource professionals and recruiters face to face. There are very good tips on how to work job fairs for example, you should always sign up before the event and get a full list of employers that are attending; do your research on the companies you want to target at the job fair so you sound prepared when you meet them; arrive 45 min early and make sure you are dressed like you are going to an interview.  Job Journals is a link that lists all the job fairs in the Greater Bay Area. www.jobjournals.com   Try out a couple you might find that you really like them and might get hired from one.   Employers are not at job fairs for their health or to skip out on work. They are looking for hot candidates to fill their positions.

Immediate job openings

•          Anticipated job openings

•          Contract/project work

•          Newly created positions

 

Employers attend job fairs primarily to:

•          Collect resumes -Source candidates

•          Interview candidates to potentially hire them (time varies)

•          Promote the company

 

 

 

 

 

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