When A Recruiter Becomes A Job Seeker The Irony Of It All

When A Recruiter Becomes A Job Seeker â€" The Irony Of It All I assumed recruiters would be my silver bullet to a short job search.   If I could just get a few good recruiters to see my resume, and find my job for me, Id be set. That wasnt the case at all.   I learned a lot about recruiters and the candidate/recruiter relationship.   Powerful, yes they are.   Silver bullet, not necessarily. In the last 30 months since I started this journey Ive seen some of these powerful recruiters become job seekers themselves.   Geesh, who better to successfully do a job search than a recruiter?   After all, they know how jobs are found, know how to network, and should have a TON of contacts with decision makers at companies. Alas, some recruiters who become job seekers flounder as much as we do.   And it always shocks me.   Heres why I think recruiters dont necessarily become good job seekers: They arent ready for it. Who is ready for it?   Even if you think you are getting ready for it, the reality of were going to have to let you go doesnt hit until you actually hear the words.   Then you can lose all hope of it maybe not happening, which means you really, really have to shift gears. Their network relationships are weak. Sure, they are on the phone all day.   But many candidates I talk to dont like recruiters.   Passive candidates (the ones who are NOT looking for a job) are annoyed that recruiters bug them during the day, and active candidates (the ones who are desperately looking for a job) are annoyed recruiters never call them back!   And some recruiters dont deal with companies, who to them are the clients, because someone else in their office is taking care of the client relationship. They dont really understand the job search process for themselves. Working with candidates to get their resume good enough, and helping them prepare for interviews, and cold-calling and working LinkedIn to find the right candidate youd think this was good training for a future job seeker.   Have you ever noticed that its a lot easier to tell someone how and when to do things, than to actually do them yourself?   If a recruiter enters a job search, and it goes on and on and on and on (like mine did), I bet they are struggling with the same things I struggled with (self-doubt, lots of introspection, changing of strategies, etc.). There is little-to-no career management. In programming theres a term: heads-down programming. I first heard it when describing a worker who did nothing but program.   He was great at churning out code, but there was nothing else this guy did.   Thats okay, but if we treat our job like this, heads-down doing our job but not ever looking up or getting involved in something else. we are in for a big surprise when the boss lets us go.   Many recruiters Ive met are in heads-down-recruiting mode, doing their job, working on their work goals, making X number of phone calls and trying to place Y number of candidates, that they are blind-sided by were going to have to let you go.   HUH?   I was just doing my job? Principles of job search and career management are the same regardless of who we are.   Recruiters arent any different than we are some are extremely prepared, and others arent.   Id love to hear from recruiters what they think theyd do if they lost their jobs anything different than what most of us normal job seekers are doing? When A Recruiter Becomes A Job Seeker â€" The Irony Of It All I assumed recruiters would be my silver bullet to a short job search.   If I could just get a few good recruiters to see my resume, and find my job for me, Id be set. That wasnt the case at all.   I learned a lot about recruiters and the candidate/recruiter relationship.   Powerful, yes they are.   Silver bullet, not necessarily. In the last 30 months since I started this journey Ive seen some of these powerful recruiters become job seekers themselves.   Geesh, who better to successfully do a job search than a recruiter?   After all, they know how jobs are found, know how to network, and should have a TON of contacts with decision makers at companies. Alas, some recruiters who become job seekers flounder as much as we do.   And it always shocks me.   Heres why I think recruiters dont necessarily become good job seekers: They arent ready for it. Who is ready for it?   Even if you think you are getting ready for it, the reality of were going to have to let you go doesnt hit until you actually hear the words.   Then you can lose all hope of it maybe not happening, which means you really, really have to shift gears. Their network relationships are weak. Sure, they are on the phone all day.   But many candidates I talk to dont like recruiters.   Passive candidates (the ones who are NOT looking for a job) are annoyed that recruiters bug them during the day, and active candidates (the ones who are desperately looking for a job) are annoyed recruiters never call them back!   And some recruiters dont deal with companies, who to them are the clients, because someone else in their office is taking care of the client relationship. They dont really understand the job search process for themselves. Working with candidates to get their resume good enough, and helping them prepare for interviews, and cold-calling and working LinkedIn to find the right candidate youd think this was good training for a future job seeker.   Have you ever noticed that its a lot easier to tell someone how and when to do things, than to actually do them yourself?   If a recruiter enters a job search, and it goes on and on and on and on (like mine did), I bet they are struggling with the same things I struggled with (self-doubt, lots of introspection, changing of strategies, etc.). There is little-to-no career management. In programming theres a term: heads-down programming. I first heard it when describing a worker who did nothing but program.   He was great at churning out code, but there was nothing else this guy did.   Thats okay, but if we treat our job like this, heads-down doing our job but not ever looking up or getting involved in something else. we are in for a big surprise when the boss lets us go.   Many recruiters Ive met are in heads-down-recruiting mode, doing their job, working on their work goals, making X number of phone calls and trying to place Y number of candidates, that they are blind-sided by were going to have to let you go.   HUH?   I was just doing my job? Principles of job search and career management are the same regardless of who we are.   Recruiters arent any different than we are some are extremely prepared, and others arent.   Id love to hear from recruiters what they think theyd do if they lost their jobs anything different than what most of us normal job seekers are doing?

Getting Unstuck

Getting Unstuck I’m in the business of giving advice; if you’re reading this, you know that.   I’m often asked for advice at networking events, social events and by appointment; from strangers, old friends and new acquaintances.   I love being asked; most people do.   It makes me feel useful and occasionally, it helps people achieve their goals which also makes me feel good. Once in a great while, I’ll run into someone who asks for advice, but then rejects every offering. “I tried that once; it didn’t work.”   “I can’t do that; I have no (insert resource here.)”   “I don’t know how to (find, do, spell; insert another verb here) that.”   When I come across these people, their responses are usually immediate and firm.   I get the impression that I have not been helpful, and I certainly don’t feel good.   Worse, I sometimes hear that other advisors, who I know to be smart and helpful, “were no help at all to me.”   I’d hate to think that someone was saying that about me. Here’s my advice if you find yourself stuck, despite getting advice from good sources.   If you hear yourself using any of the phrases above, stop and reconsider how to better receive or make use of the advice. If you think you’ve tried it before, think about whether you’ve done it well.   Chances are, you may not be executing as well as you think â€" especially if you’ve tried something only once.   Networking is a great example.   When I suggested once that a jobseeker call an industry leader to request a meeting, the jobseeker said “I tried that; no one returns my calls.” Here’s a better response: “What is the best way you’ve found for getting people to return your calls?” The first response just rejects the idea; the second explores it by asking for more information. At the very least, you’ll sound like youre more open to learning something; at the best, you may actually learn something. This positive, inquisitive (we can call it ‘posiquisitive’) response technique can help you get unstuck in other ways, too.   Instead of saying, “I don’t have the money to (do what you’re suggesting)” try, “I love that idea â€" how can I do that on a tight budget?”   Just restating the issue in a positive way will open you up to new possibilities.   Once you’ve said “I can’t,” you probably can’t.     If you really want something enough, you can find a creative way to do it.   If money for transportation is the problem, you can trade services for rides, offer to offset the cost of gas and share a ride with someone, or become a virtual volunteer (work from home.) If you’ve tried something once, you really haven’t tried it at all.   After one try at anything, you don’t have any data points on your success â€" even if you succeeded. (You might need to read that sentence again; I’ll wait.)   It’s only by trying again and again that you learn what works and what doesn’t and why.   Scientists don’t believe what they achieve in an experiment until they can replicate it reliably over and over.   That’s why even your success doesn’t count.   You won’t know how to do it well (whatever “it” is) until you can do it over and over again under many different conditions.   Success has been defined as ‘getting up one more time than you were knocked down.’ (Yes, it can be that simple.)  Persistence is as important as talent in most endeavors. Thomas Edison may have said it best: “Many of lifes failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”  Next time you’re feeling stuck, keep that in mind.

5 Tricks Recruiters Use to Find You

5 Tricks Recruiters Use to Find You How many times have you been called up by headhunters in the last 12 months? Did you ever ask how the recruiter got hold of your details? This article lists some of the most common ways recruiters find you. When called up by a recruiter, most people are baffled and have no idea how they were identified. The curious amongst us have to ask in order to avoid sleepless nights. When prompted, the headhunters are likely to say that you were recommended by somebody who “wants to remain anonymous but rest assured, they have only good things to say about you”. This is however rarely the case. Giving referrals of current colleagues without their permission is risky business and most people avoid doing this. Therefore the recruiter has most likely employed craftier techniques to find you. The 5 main methods recruiters employ to find you: 1. Application The obvious one, you send your resume out for a job you have seen posted on the recruiters website or a job board. The bad news is that in my 7 years experience of permanent recruitment, I rarely saw placements made from a direct application. Not sure whether this is because the wrong people apply or the recruiter not fully grasping what he or she is looking for. 2. Database Recruiters will have your details on file if you have ever sprayed your CV out for whatever jobs (very easily done as most postings on job boards are from agencies). You will be on their database, thanks to their CRM software they should have a pretty good idea of what you do/did. But your contact details are likely to be out of date so it can take some time for a recruiter to track you down. 3. Social Media LinkedIn and other networking sites are veritable goldmines for headhunters. Before the advent of such sites, they had to map out companies by slowly extracting information from every person they spoke to. Nowadays, most of your colleagues will be listed and all it takes for an industrious recruiter is to pick up the phone. Remember that by putting your details on LinkedIn, you have told the world what you do and you are fair game for headhunters. 4. Employee lists This happens less nowadays but still very useful for the resourceful recruiter. Sometimes a disgruntled former employee will offer a list of their colleagues, complete with mobile numbers, email and even home address details to the highest bidding recruitment agency. I have seen instances where entire teams have been ripped out of one company and put into another through the use of employee lists. If you are a manager (and you want to keep your team) you will want to ensure vital information like this is not readily available to download from your intranet. 5. Cover story This method is used when all else fails. The recruiter will call in to your company, pretending to be a client or a colleague from a different office and asking for the person that does your job. The sharp headhunter will single out a ‘soft target’ such as the IT support guy or the canteen lady and lay on a cock and bull story as to why they need the information ASAP. Sometimes they get lucky but most of the time this will be a very time consuming exercise and may not lead to anything. Conclusion Don’t be offended by a recruiter using ‘creative’ ways to find the right people. This practice is after all highly appreciated by their clients (who needs somebody to do their dirty work) as the CVs offered will be very different to that of their direct applicants. Remember that any recruiter can sift through applications from a job advertisement but only a few are good enough to pro-actively sniff out the best people in the market. I would recommend you stay close to this recruiter as he or she is likely to be just as pro-active working with companies â€" thus ensuring they have the best vacancies for candidates like yourself. How do recruiters get hold of you? Please share your story! Related: 10 Ways to Get Yourself Headhunted.

Gratitude is Contagious - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Gratitude is Contagious - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career What is one of the best ways to stand out in your career? Simple. Recognize people. Thank them. Repeat! This is the time of year when we get to reflect a little. Its not quite the end of the year yet and a lot of people have a few days off. Which allows us a few days to think, plan and prepare ourselves to insure the last few weeks of the year are productive. It’s also a chance to make sure  we recognize the people that make an impact and a difference  in our lives. Of course, since this week is also the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA there will be a lot of family time. Which is a good thing. We should  take time to thank our families  for all they have done for us.  I also suggest you think about the people you work with and consider thanking them for what they do for you too. A few people I am grateful to know I’ve been fortunate in my 20+ years in business to meet a lot of people from all over the world. Over the past few years I have had the good fortune to meet and get to know the three  people mentioned below. They have indomitable spirits and are willing to share what they know and they give back BIG! For this I thank them and I’m proud to call them friends. Mark Aschemeyer  â€" He dealt with a horrendous bicycling accident a few months ago and has channeled his energy into recovery… and a new leadership role at a new company. Molly Cantrell-Kraig â€" She made a move to The Windy City to help her foundation, Women With Drive, move to the next level. She’s making a difference and getting it done. Liz Strauss  â€" There is so much to say about Liz that it could take days just to scratch the surface covering the impact she has had on so many lives. Liz founded an event called SOBCon that continues to be the best event I have ever attended. Recognizing the good One easy way to get started: For the people in your life that help you get things done or have helped you with a project or perhaps a job transition or search… send them a note. Whether it’s an email, a note in the mail or a post-it on their desk. It doesn’t need to be a long detailed note. Just a quick sentiment, highlighting something specific they did for you and to say thanks. Gratitude is contagious Have you caught the gratitude virus? What are you grateful for?

How to balance job applications with studying in your final year

How to balance job applications with studying in your final year Guest Post It’s the big one, your final year. Second year was tougher than expected and, let’s be honest, freshers is one big blur. Now you’ve got to take two of the most important steps of your life at pretty much the same time: starting your career achieving your 2:1. In any sensible society, these two goals would be well aligned so that you can achieve both simultaneously. But in our thoroughly silly world, they will be in constant competition. Luckily, we’ve gone and asked the experts for some tips to help you out. Start Your Career Search Before Term Time Truth be told, there just isn’t enough time to balance both. So I’m going to cheat and change the parameters of my own title to give you the all-important edge; start before term begins. Many applications open in August or September. Most universities begin lectures in October. So we’re going to exploit this gap. The most competitive graduate schemes also close very early on in term one (note: “rolling” doesn’t actually mean rolling. It means first come first serve). Why? Because big companies worked out a long time ago that students who are ahead or on top of their career search make the best employees. They deliberately end their recruiting windows early to grab those ahead of the game. So start now.   Pick Your Dream Targets and focus on them Don’t spam apply to companies. In my role at The Profs, I’ve interviewed over 200 tutors. More importantly, I’ve not interviewed over 2,000 applicants. Why? They spammed us with generic CVs and cover letters, and think that changing the first line and “find-and-replacing” the company name will be enough to get through. If someone cannot be bothered to read my companys homepage and write a paragraph on why they want to work with me, I’m not going to read their application. So resist the temptation to spam! Pick your dream five targets and invest in them. An average application takes two hours, so you can save hours and weeks by focusing on those that you really want. Create an applications timetable Now that you have your targets, find out the opening date of their applications. Not the deadline expect that all vacancies will be filled by the deadline. No, we want the opening date applications so that we can hit them hard within a week. Pick (or change to) subjects that will actually help your chosen career The best way to balance your studies and applications is to try and align them. Consider picking that harder accounting or statistics module that will actually be relevant to your career path. This expertise will save you valuable interview preparation because you’re dedicating some 10 hours a week towards relevant subject knowledge, which means you don’t have to find it in the evenings and weekends. Sign Up To Relevant News Apps Sign up to a column of The Guardian’s or Apple’s “News” Apps  relevant to your chosen career(s). This will give you digestible info everyday about the state of your industry, and save your valuable interview prep time. It takes about 30 seconds for a good interviewer to distinguish between someone who is well-informed about their industry, and someone who crammed the Financial Times the week before. Check Career Updates Daily In addition to your dream five firms, you must keep an eye out for other opportunities particularly amazingly relevant or interesting roles within smaller firms which, if you rock, could lead to rapid career progression. You could check your university careers board daily, but Debut’s app simplifies the process so you can apply for jobs and internships at the click of a button. Acknowledge that your university deadlines and finals will kill everything On week one, scratch out in your calendar (use your phone if you don’t already) every coursework deadline, the week before each mid-term and the six weeks before your finals. These are dead-times. There is no chance that you can balance studying with job applications without greatly jeopardising your overall grades in these time periods. Knowing in advance that these are “dead times” will help you to plan better in the safe times. Read more great tips for undergraduate students from a PhD student. Consider Calling In An Expert My final word will be that it’s 100% OK to struggle with this balance. I certainly did at university, and work with thousands of students and recent graduates who still do. But rather than suffer in silence and risk falling behind on both your career and grades, there is another option. Hiring a private university tutor to both structure and manage your time. In addition to imparting subject knowledge, a great tutor will act as a mentor providing you with revision hacks, structuring your timetable and passing on their own experiences of the wider world of work. Want a career in finance? Why not work with an ex-managing director of a leading bank, who can tell you about their best and worst interviewees in between teaching you how to price a share. *** Guest post written by Richard, founder of The Profs, the UKs specialist university and professional qualifications tuition providers. Offering free online resources and first-class tutors for weekly mentoring and one-on-one exam coaching tutorials from leading lecturers, PhDs and industry specialists around the world. Connect with Debut on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for more careers insights.

5 Skills Every Workplace Leader Needs - CareerAlley

5 Skills Every Workplace Leader Needs - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Many of us aspire to be leaders in all areas of life that we take on. However, that path is sometimes easier said, than taken. This illustration examines the unique characteristics required to be an effective workplace leader. While this special set of skills arent something acquired naturally, they can be learned. When harnessed correctly, such skills can truly transform the way a business runs. New England College Online Master of Science in Leadership This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search. Joey Trebif

Technical Skills to Put on Resume

Technical Skills to Put on ResumeIf you are in a position of management and need to prepare an employment resume, technical skills to put on resume will definitely come in handy. These skills can be extremely important in the office environment where efficiency and effectiveness are a vital component of the job. Employers will generally look at your resume as a means of determining whether or not you have the necessary skills to serve the company in the best possible manner.Technical skills to put on resume includes computer literacy and many more relevant aspects that you need to consider before actually creating your resume. By being knowledgeable of these skills, it is also possible to plan your resume in a way that shows an eagerness to work for your company and show the employer that you are worth having. One aspect that people do not generally think about is what will be on their resume. Though this might seem like a no-brainer but some people avoid it out of fear of giving awa y too much of themselves.Experience and skills related to expertise, in this instance, can help employers determine how valuable your experience and skills are. In essence, the more experienced or skilled you are in a specific skill set, the more experience and education you need to include. Of course, the experience can be very different for each individual, so it is important to differentiate and understand exactly what it is that you want to include.When you are deciding which areas of your resume to focus on, it is crucial to consider the size of your company. Consider the following when choosing specific areas for your resume: management, marketing, sales, engineering, client services, executive positions, research and development, legal affairs, and many more. It is essential to decide the exact areas that you want to include to ensure that you have the most relevant information that you can use to create a comprehensive resume.As a matter of fact, it is important to make sure that you do not include any information that isnot appropriate for your resume. While your knowledge and experience may give a strong foundation for your resume, it should never outweigh the validity of the job that you are applying for. There are many other important aspects of your resume, such as a successful work history, letters of reference, references and so on.When creating a resume, there are times when it is possible to include technical skills to put on resume as well. For example, if you are working on an advanced level in your field of expertise, it is important to discuss such aspects. The solution to your problem is often through using a technical solution to your problem. To get the most out of your resume, you should always think in terms of technologies rather than ideas.Also remember that as the technical skills to put on resume grows, it can become even more relevant to your job needs. Make sure that it shows your excitement for the opportunity that is currently available to you. If you remember to be honest about the technology that you have used it properly, your resume can help you obtain the new job that you have always wanted.