7 Ways to Be *Easy* to Hire
Recruiters are in a “war for talent” and have been for several years. That war is the competition to find candidates qualified for their job openings. Exacerbating the situation for recruiters is that most of them are measured and rewarded for their time-to-hire performance — how quickly they fill a job.
Consequently, recruiters are almost always in a hurry. If they run into an obstacle with one candidate, they may quickly move on to the next candidate.
So, we’re back to that war for talent…
How to Be Easy to Hire
Contrary to popular belief, job boards are not usually the solution to the war for talent (read The Common Job Search Strategy that Kills Opportunities for the reasons). When the right candidate isn’t in their network, they search for qualified candidates in Google and LinkedIn. So, for the future, you need to be findable and reachable: [Read More…]
6 Rules for Smarter Email for Your Job Search
Effective e-mail is critical to your job search success, and it’s not difficult to achieve. When you are conducting a job search, try to think like someone in your “target market.”
Put yourself in the position of the recipient of your message. Why would they read your message? How will they react if they do read it?
The Rules for Improving Your Job Search Email.
It’s surprising how poorly email is used for job search. Remember whenever you are in any interaction with a potential employer — what you do in your job search is viewed as a “sample” of your work. So, show them your best! [Read More…]
A Personal Brand Is Required Today
I know many people view the term “personal branding” as nonsense – pretentious hogwash and marketing balderdash. They feel that we didn’t need a personal brand in the 1990′s so we don’t need one now.
Life would be much simpler for all of us if that view was correct. But, unfortunately, it is wrong.
We lived in a much smaller world during the 20th Century.
The Internet and Google Have Changed the “Game”!
A personal brand is critical to the success of a 21st Century job search, and the longer a job seeker ignores defining and disseminating their personal brand, the longer and more difficult their job hunt could be. [Read More…]
Smart Bragging Wins Your Next Job
Smart bragging is a requirement for job search success today. Unfortunately, many of us are not comfortable bragging about our accomplishments. We have been taught that bragging is not polite or smart.
Boasting about our accomplishments makes us look needy, clueless, insecure or otherwise inadequate, missing the important personality trait known as modesty. When we point out our accomplishments, we are demonstrating “bad manners.”
Bad manners? Really? Perhaps in a conversation, but maybe not then either, if that conversation is a job interview…
Empty Claims Are Useless
Mind-reading is really NOT a widely-held expertise, although this seems to be an assumption many people hold, if their LinkedIn Profiles are an example. Particularly when recruiters are in a hurry (always!), they don’t have time to read your LinkedIn Profile to determine what you mean when you describe yourself vaguely. [Read More…]
5 Ways to Connect with Hiring Managers
Bringing yourself to the attention of hiring managers, who have the ability to hire you, is a very good way to connect with a job. With social media and the Internet, we have excellent sources of information and methods to connect with those hiring managers when we approach the project methodically.
5 Ways to Connect with Hiring Managers
Ideally, an employee (not on the HR staff) hands the hiring manager – or her boss – a copy of your resume. Here are 5 ways to find that Very Important Person who helps you make that connection to the right job for you.
1. Networking Through Your High School, College, University, Graduate School, and / or Technical Training Provider
Regardless of how long ago you attended the school, most colleges and universities have alumni associations, often with career services and other alumni support. [Read More…]
Common Job Search Strategy that Kills Opportunities
One of the most common and popular job search strategies is also one of least effective today. That deadly strategy: Focusing most job search time and effort on applying for jobs without regard to fit for the opportunity.
The process of searching through job postings and applying for jobs feels productive. When you are doing it from the comfort of your home, maybe using your smart phone as you sit on your couch, it feels very comfortable, too.
But, when you aren’t careful of the jobs you apply for, you may actually do your job search much harm.
Playing the Lottery to Win a Job
Clicking on the “Apply” button for a job can feel good — this time the effort will pay off! This time you will win. This time you will get a response inviting you to an interview.
Much like buying a lottery ticket, clicking the apply button for a job usually feels good.
And, since applying for a job won’t hurt you, what does it matter? Right?
WRONG! Those applications can hurt you. [Read More…]
Job Search Success: Unemployed Woman Over 60
Job search successes happen constantly — more than 5,000,000 jobs are filled in the USA every month. But, most job seekers don’t learn about those successes. This post is the first of a series to help you see how those successful job seekers landed their new jobs.
Job Search Success: Betty, Over 60, Seeking a Part-Time Job
Sixty-plus year old Betty (not her real name) had worked for her employer full-time for several years. But the “company culture” was not very flexible or supportive, and it became toxic when Betty’s husband died unexpectedly. In the end, Betty left the job because the environment became unbearable.
Fortunately, for many years she had been running her own small business on the side, outside of her full-time job. Unfortunately, that income was not enough to live on, even as she ramped it up to a full-time job. So, Betty needed a part-time job so she could consistently pay her bills without worry.
After more than six months without an official job or income, Betty decided to look for a part-time job, and she landed one very quickly.
This is how she did it… [Read More…]
New Ways to Find Jobs With Job Boards
Smart job seekers think beyond simply applying for the jobs they find on job boards. The apply-apply-apply method doesn’t work well now. In fact, applying too often without being careful about the jobs you are applying for can backfire. Employers blacklist “resume spammers” who apply for every job regardless of fit with the requirements.
While job boards are obviously still valuable resources, they can often be a big waste of time. Job boards are not the only source of jobs, and they are not the best way to find a job today. According to recent research, only 12% of jobs are filled via job boards.
Think beyond using job listings to find your next job.
The Best Way Job Seekers Can Leverage Job Boards
Job postings are an excellent source of information for job seekers, if time is taken to collect and analyze it. Do this analysis over time — not just one day or one website. In particular, leverage Indeed.com, the largest source of job postings in the world.
Use the information you collect in your LinkedIn Profile and in any submissions you make for job openings.
Avoid These 5 Deadly LinkedIn Mistakes
LinkedIn mistakes are too common and can be very damaging. Those errors make a job search more difficult and career success more challenging than it should be. Avoid being one of these unfortunate people by avoiding these 5 common LinkedIn mistakes.
LinkedIn Mistakes Too Many People Make
Picture a recruiter, who has the perfect job or opportunity for you. This recruiter is desperately looking for you, but they cannot find you. Here’s why…
LinkedIn Mistake # 1: Ignoring the SEO power of LinkedIn.
Google trusts LinkedIn, so entries from LinkedIn are often at or very near the top of any search on a person’s name — a significant position that leverages both LinkedIn’s reputation and reach.
Recruiters and employers search LinkedIn and Google relentlessly (and they search LinkedIn using Google, too). The searches happen usually for two primary reasons: [Read More…]
The 5 Best Job Search Strategies for 2017
Because they don’t understand today’s best job search strategies, many folks are struggling, searching for jobs for many months. The reason? They focus all their efforts on applying for jobs on job boards.
My advice: Stop applying for every job you find! Because —
- Fewer than 15% of jobs are filled through job boards.
- Job seekers face the most intensive competition on job boards because so many people spend all their time applying for every job they find.
- Opportunities are limited to the jobs and employers visible in postings.
The 5 Best Job Search Strategies Today
The best strategy — don’t gamble on winning the job board lottery. Leverage what works best today:
1. Focus on being found.
Being findable is essential for a successful job search and career, today. If you aren’t visible online, presenting a coherent professional image, you aren’t going to be considered for most professional jobs.
- When an application is received, most employers search the Internet (and, in particular, LinkedIn) to verify the “facts” on the resume or application submitted for a job and to get a sense of personality (a.k.a. “fit”).
- Most recruiters and employers search for qualified job candidates because searching for them is more effective than digging them out of the avalanche of applications, mostly unqualified, that result from typical job postings.
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