Confessions of a Job Seeker: What I Learned!

For those who don’t know, I was a recent job seeker. Through hard work and perseverance, I found a great position with an innovative company called SmashFly Technologies. Through this recruiting journey, I learned a lot about both sides of the recruiting spectrum. By experiencing the ins and outs of the job search grind on a daily basis and more importantly actively seeking advice from job seekers and recruiters, I was able to garner some key takeaways on how the recruiting process can be better.

In addition, as I talked to both sides, I came to realize the great value that came from these two sides sharing thoughts with one another. To foster this sharing of wisdom, I would like to share my observations from my job seeking process and the many conversations I had with job seekers and recruiters. I hope this article helps you both.

FOR JOB SEEKERS

I’ll start with job seekers. Here are 4 tried and true tips that worked for me in finding the great job I have today:

One Page Resume: Recruiters and HR professionals don’t have the time to read through every line of every candidate’s resume, so make it easy for them. A one page resume forces you to prioritize what experiences are the most important for a crisp, clean submittal. (This may change for candidates with more than 10 years experience.)

Knock Their Socks Off with Your Cover Letter – Your cover letter is a great chance to get noticed by a recruiter (and have them look at your resume). So how do you write one? Ignore the basic cover letter templates you see out there and be yourself. Be enthusiastic and let them know why you’re interested and more importantly qualified for the job. Most importantly, don’t worry about being informal (disrespectful is another issue), as the more your cover letter is different the more you’ll get noticed. (One great cover letter that I wrote provided me with over 6 interviews in less than a month.)

Leverage Your Online Networks – From Twitter to Facebook to LinkedIn, there is a wealth of people that you are connected to, that are more than happy to go out of their way to help you. Identify what you want to do and companies that you’d love to work for and see who in your network has connections in these disciplines or companies. Email them and set up some time to talk and learn about how you can get into the company and ask for other people to talk to. (And who knows they may receive a referral hiring bonus from their company which provides even more incentive.)

Do Your Research – Make sure you do your research for every position you are excited about. Know what the company does, follow them on Twitter and Facebook for company news and look up your interviewers on LinkedIn. There is such a wealth of information out there today, that not doing research for a job is just plain lazy which is not a trait you want to show a recruiter in an interview.

FOR RECRUITERS

As you go through the recruiting process, you notice a lot of things that companies do extremely well from a recruiting perspective. When you notice the good, it becomes eerily evident when a company doesn’t provide these benefits. Here are my 3 biggest pet peeves when it comes to employers:

Provide Opt-In Opportunities - One of the most frustrating parts of job seeking for me was coming across a job I was qualified for but was posted 30 days ago. I finally realized that I could create alerts in Indeed that would allow me to follow new jobs at companies that I wanted to work for. But why make it that hard? A simple opt-in form during the application process would give the applicant the opportunity to get updates on new jobs quickly through email and provide recruiters with a great pool of interested candidates to post new jobs to. It’s a win-win, but something not every company does.

Leverage Your Online Presence – For every job that I applied to, I always made sure to join the social network pages to learn more about the company. What surprised me was that more companies didn’t provide me with a good way to follow them through the application process. Not only would a few links make it easier for candidates to research these companies but it’s a free and easy way for companies to promote their employer brand to a group that is definitely interested in listening.

Repetition for the sake of Repetition – Some companies just seem to go out of their way to make their application process difficult. I understand this helps weed out less motivated candidates but sometimes it can just alienate qualified ones. The one that annoyed me the most was having to type in everything I had on my resume again into their form (seemed pointless). To make it easier for candidates, invest in some parsing technology that pulls info from their resume or use a technology that can give the candidates an option to use their LinkedIn profile in their application. Simple things like this will sky-rocket your application completion rates. Trust me.

Overall, I had some great experiences and some not so good ones. Job seekers and Recruiters alike can find great value in speaking to one another and taking a quick look from the each other’s point of view to make the recruiting process better. So I encourage you to get feedback from the other side and use it to improve your recruiting results!

Source: SmashFly Technologies Blog at blog.smashfly.com

5 steps to success in 2010 for jobseekers and more

5 Steps to Success

A little over 6 months ago I started to blog with the sole intention of motivating job seekers in these challenging times. I came up with 5 tools, one for each day of the “work” week, and I simply post quotes that relate to those tools, and then expound a bit. A funny thing happened. The comments I started to receive on the blog, on my Facebook Fan Page, and on Twitter were more often from small business owners and solopreneurs then they were from job seekers. I realized, quite accidentally, that the exact same 5steps tools I was writing about to help job seekers stay the course, were necessary tools for anyone to succeed in these times. I’d like to share them with you. Understand that these are not “new” tools; their messages will not be astounding. That being said, it seems that we can all use a reminder periodically. As we enter into a New Year (and enter into a new Decade!!), I can’t think of a better time to recount the things that will help us all operate at our absolute best.

Preparation

I believe that one can only do one’s best, when properly prepared. This preparation may include setting up a space to work that is organized, clean and encourages concentration. It may include setting out time for certain tasks and planning your calendar. It may be planning your day down to the last detail. Yet, I think it’s also important to remember that there is only so much we can do to control the outcome of our events. We can plan, prepare, set goals, and even set expectations. We can research, do due diligence, practice, role play, and be as prepared as humanly possible, and while that’s all important, useful and in fact necessary, it doesn’t always help. And, there’s a fine line between being prepared and over-thinking, (a.k.a. over-stressing) about all the possible outcomes and how you can direct them. Sometimes you just have to let things happen and see how they turn out. I don’t prepare for the worst, because I don’t even want to put that out there – but as long as I believe that things happen for a reason, I’m ok. And, while I may never understand what that reason is, I do believe it is always for the best. One of my favorite “preparation” quotes is, “It pays to plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” (Author Unknown) I wish you all the power of a plan.

Focus

So, you’re prepared for anything. Great! You’ve set up your workspace effectively and you’ve minimized the risk for distraction. You’ve planned your schedule for the week. You know what you need to do. Now, you need to focus; stay on track. Razor sharp, laser-like focus is required, especially when you’re down, stressed out, overwhelmed, or otherwise preoccupied. Focus. Focus on one thing at a time. Choose the task; accomplish the task; move on to the next task. Make sure the tasks will help you accomplish your goals and take you to the next level. And follow through. Do what you said you were going to do; be accountable for your actions; be proactive; take control of the conversation. Too many opportunities are lost from a lack of follow-through. Use a calendar; tie a string around your finger; set an alarm or a task reminder; whatever it takes… You can have the best of intentions, be extremely well prepared, and have great focus, but if you don’t follow up, you’ll blow it. A subtle shift in where you put your efforts is sometimes all you need. Focusing on solving problems is still focusing on the problem, so I suggest changing the way you look at this altogether. I prefer to focus on the possibilities. A great quote, “Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention.” (Greg Anderson)

I’d like to add that it also matters HOW we focus our attention. Staying focused on the job hunt (or any work for that matter) amid all the distraction can actually be more difficult than it seems. For example, it often happens that I launch my browser to search for a quote for my blog posts, and I get sucked into Facebook instead… Social Media has changed the way many of us work, communicate, research, and play. It is the blurry line between wasting time and being productive that has caused much ado. But it’s not much ado about nothing. We need to stay focused on the job at hand, set time aside for each task, including the task of applying social media, and stay on track. LinkedIn, Twitter, even Facebook, can all be very useful in our work lives, but we need to use them appropriately. They should be just one tool on your tool belt and not replace face-to-face interaction and networking! But that’s another post…

Positive Attitude

We are in control of how we look at things. My dad frequently reminds me that while we can’t always control our circumstances, we certainly have control over how we think about our circumstances. I love that. The tone for my day used to be “set” when I rolled out of bed in the morning, unless of course, something drastic happened to alter that tone… but it was “set” by external conditions. And it wasn’t always positive. Once I recognized that I could change my attitude, I invented an alter-ego, “the new me”. Now, whenever I wake up cranky, or if something happens during the day that causes me angst, I remind myself to find “the new me”, and “fake it until I make it.” When my day is daunting, and lately that’s been happening a lot, I tend to panic. So, when I saw this quote, I actually printed it out in LARGE letters, and taped it to my computer for a constant reminder. “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.” (William James)

Goal Setting

Goal setting can be overwhelming. Where do you start? Do you have a goal for the day? For the week? For the year? For the next ten years? This topic reminds me of a chapter in “Alice in Wonderland” when Alice is asking the Cheshire Cat for directions…

“Which road do I take?” (Alice)
“Where do you want to go?” (Cat)
“I don’t know,” Alice answered.
“Then, said the cat, it doesn’t matter.”

I believe that goal setting, including setting small, achievable daily goals, helps us to stay on track, and maybe even more importantly, gives us the opportunity to celebrate small successes. Accomplishments feel good, even when they’re small, and we can’t let ourselves get so bogged down that we forget to celebrate them. I often write about creating a journal or scrapbook based on your goals and desires. I believe that being able to visualize the achievement of your goals is half the battle. If you write down what you want, you have the start of your plan, and the basis for your goal-setting. If there are words that inspire you, write them down. If there are affirmations or quotes, or stories, put them in. Make it yours; own it. Then make it real. Stephen Covey said that he is convinced that we can write and live our own scripts more than most people acknowledge. I do believe we create our own destiny, and we have the power to fulfill our dreams.

Motivation

Staying motivated, and letting that motivation carry you, or better yet, propel you forward, is a good thing. Remember those small successes? Celebrating them really helps me stay motivated. Success begets success. Not succeeding, however, can also be a strong motivator. While I firmly believe that I am exactly where I should be today… that does not mean at all that it is where I want to be tomorrow. And, I am responsible for my own future. Hold yourself accountable, or find someone to help hold you accountable, and go after what you want. You can get there if you believe you can get there. As the wise Yoda said, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

Your circumstances don’t define you. Be who you are and believe in who you can become.

Source: Jennifer - Talent Acquisition Strategist and Career Coach with Hire Aspirations, the Strategic Partnership Advisor and Networking Leader of Whine and Dine LLC - at www.cruitertalk.com