jobseekers

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7 Jobseeker Fails

Posted by Steve on November 17, 2014
Posted in: Recruiting. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

My buddy Hannah Morgan – the Career Sherpa – penned a nice little article over on The Savvy Intern, “What Are the Top 7 Job Search Fails?”

I got carried away with my comment and this morning realized it should be a post here on The Recruiting Inferno.

So read the post first, then the stuff below…

Fail No. 1: “I will find my next job by applying to a job online”

What this means is that after exhausting your ability to get to the hiring manager or recruiter via networking means, you really have to apply. Shoot, even a blind squirrel catches a nut from time to time (15%). Besides, many companies actually allow hiring managers to search the ATS – and if you’re not in there, you’re SOL.

Fail No. 2: “I expect to hear a response (either yes or no) soon after I apply”

If you receive an auto-response, please give it one week before you begin to barrage the company with calls, emails, text messages, and carrier pigeons.

This being said, I wish more companies were honest with feedback; it’s so simple. But you know why many don’t? Aside from the ones who are crappy recruiters, there are many jobseekers who simply won’t take “No, you’re not someone we’re going to hire because you have no experience doing the job – and no, despite being a fast learner, we don’t have 2 years to wait while you learn”; so many companies say nothing until the “Thank you for your interest” email is sent.

Fail No. 3: “My cover letter always will be read in full”

Think about this: If you hired someone to write you a professional resume which presumably explains “everything” and puts on you a demigod pedestal – why do you need a cover letter? To explain things not explained in the resume? Huh?

My order: Resume, online, LinkedIn (or equivalent), and maybe, just maybe, a cover letter.

Fail No. 4: “I’m networking…with people in Human Resources”

Unless you’re looking for a job in HR, no more than 25% of your networking efforts should be with HR folks. Do I really need to explain why?

Fail No. 5: “I can only network AFTER the job has been posted”

No one can manage your career better than you. Remember this advice after you land: Spend 2 nights EVERY month at a professional association endeavor.

What this means folks is that YOU ARE ALWAYS NETWORKING.

If you do, you just might be one of those who get the job before it gets posted anywhere. Joy.

Fail No. 6: “I’ll land an interview for every job I apply to”

Well – some people do. Some people got into every school to which they applied. Some folks are 4% body fat.

Most don’t and aren’t.

Fail No. 7: “My resume is the most important job search tool”

Your resume is one tool – one arrow in your quiver.

The best two tools are still the telephone and the handshake.

Can’t beat the personal touch…

Call Me Madame?

Posted by Steve on October 26, 2014
Posted in: #internpro, #OMCchat, Careers, Cover Letters, Interview, Job Search, Recruiting. Tagged: , , , . 4 Comments

There’s simply no science that a career and job search expert can refer to that can be used to guarantee that a recruiter will call you once your cover letter (if you’ve actually sent one) and résumé hits their Inbox. Even a spot-on performance match can’t get past the dumbass biases – or just plain dumbassability – that many recruiters and hiring managers carry with them to the office each day.

Where do people get their job search advice from? Do they even ask these experts if they actually know any recruiters? Or do they confuse “marketing gurus” with “talent scouts”? (Another reason for recruiting to never report to marketing)

Seriously:

To Whom It May Concern? Nothing says “lazy jobseeker” more than this salutation. Yeah, yeah, I know you’re going to ask me how does one identify the recruiter or hiring manager – and I’ll show you how freakin’ easy it is.

Dear Sir or Madame? Oh, this one is so much better – if you’re applying for a job at the Alien Area 51 Cathouse in Nevada (cut out the comments – I Googled “legal brothels in nevada”).

Dear Recruiting Professional? This one always makes be cringe. My – that last word is an awfully big assumption; might as well just use Dear Recruiting Rockstar.

Hi,? I seem to get this one quite a bit from overseas jobseekers. Makes me check to see if they have a first name. Yep – every time.

Dear Bob? My name is Steve. Douchebag.

What does get me to reply?

I know I’m different but as much as the five examples might turn many off and cause these turned off recruiting professionals to pass on a candidate, a very wise mentor long ago informed me of Weinberg’s Second Law of Computing and how it related to recruiting:

If builders built buildings the way programmers write programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization. ~Gerald M. Weinberg

As it applies to recruiting, companies who “assess to exclude” rather than assess to include do more harm to their short and longer-term bottom line than any lying-on-their-résumé-weasel CEO could ever do. The only thing I can say for certain about any jobseeker with a perfect cover letter and résumé is that they have a perfect cover letter and résumé. I can’t determine their expertise or performance-ability from reading their collateral – only speaking with them can get me to this end.

Some of the best performers I know have résumés so bad that even career services consultants would puke a bit in their mouths ;).

This is why I don’t read the cover letters first: The battle against cover letter stupidity is still tough to overcome, even for this recruiting graybeard. So I wait. I’ll read the résume´; if this is promising, it’s off to the LinkedIn profile or some other secondary source. I’m looking for signs of gold rather than the presence of coal. In other words, I’m looking for performance, not just the presence of accomplishing tasks. Stuff that makes me think, “Dang, this person is special.” Tell me – what’s your special?

Finally, the cover letter.

And if it’s really, really bad, I’ll call. I just have to find out what compelled someone to write such a horrible job search tome (on a more philanthropic note, those who know me, know I make these calls to help jobseekers out).

Even if my name isn’t Bob…

On Monday, 10/27 at 10AM PT (1PM ET), I’ll be joining my friend Dawn Rasmussen on her Google+ Hangout, “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know From Recruiters… And Were Afraid to Ask.” No  holds barred, no fluff. Just stuff you should be able to use to convince that recruiter or hiring manager to call you back. Here’s the link to the event.