Category: Recruiting Industry

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Blog Hiring Jobseekers Networking Recruiting Industry Working with Recruiters

Real Talk About Resumes in Nine Pithy Tweets

Meme of a resume that simply says "please hire me" in large type
This is what your resume looks like to all recruiters, no matter what.

I have some real talk about resumes and how they are really, really a bad way to get yourself into the job you love. They are a part of it, but relying to heavily on your resume is a rookie mistake. As we used to say where I grew up, “Let me learn you some about it.”

Pull up a chair.

I wrote a tweetstorm about why resumes suck so bad at helping people get jobs and how you can step out of the hamster wheel and actually get attention from employers for who you are.

Just a note: Recruiting and Hiring is intensely biased by nature. It’s very hard to do well. Many great recruiters and people leaders spend all their waking hours trying to solve this problem and curb the risks of institutional bias in what they do. That being said, it’s out there. Everywhere. Being aware of what you’re up against doesn’t make it fair, but at least you know a little more about your enemy, which is understanding the reasons people hire versus the process companies tell you to follow when applying for jobs, which, spoiler alert, are completely opposite each other.

If you hear nothing else from this, remember this one lesson: “Standing in Line is for Suckers”.

Stop following “the rules” when going for your dream job. Do w.h.a.t.e.v.e.r. it takes to get noticed. That gets you hired, and promoted, and respected.

(While you’re waiting to get a call back from that intern screening resumes, someone is connecting with the department VP right now, and they will get hired in the next 3 days)

On to the tweetstorm…

Bottom-Line Up Front:

☝? Hiring is based on feelings not facts.
✌? Getting referred gives everyone that buzzy feeling about you.
?? You get to show up and be your authentic self. They already like you.
?? Spend 80% of your energy getting REFERRED for jobs

Come along for the ride, below:

Take a look at this tweetstorm about resumes and why relying on them to help you find a job is never, ever a good idea.

Looking for resume feedback?

Here the real talk: jobseeking is marketing.

And resumes suuuck at marketing you. Your vibrance. Your passion. Your drive. Your dreams.

The REAL you.

Proof resumes are the worst marketing tool:

  • Ever bought a smartphone because of the resume they put in a commercial? No.
  • Ever went to that trendy restaurant because of the resumes they sent you? No!

You did those things because of something you FELT about them.

Because no matter how much someone will tell you otherwise, hiring is an EMOTIONAL decision.

Not fair? Yes. True? Also, Yes.

In fact, the most emotional decision any manager will make is who they hire.

? Use this to your benefit and encourage them to feel interested in talking to you.

The reason recruiters/hiring managers respond to the person who submits a resume or not is based on how the resume makes them FEEL. (Usually a more logical feeling, yet i argue still a feeling)

Lots of us are trying to make this less biased but it’s still how it is today.

Movies GIF from Movies GIFs

Why You Didn’t Get Called Back

And the reason you didn’t get called back after that interview, even when they said you have all the skills, is either you didn’t make them FEEL whatever they felt about you at first or someone ELSE they interviewed gave them that feeling they were looking for.

Stop Gambling With Your Career — with a PDF!

Waiting on a boring text attachment in an email or submitted online to give an accurate portrayal of the fullness of YOU—your fiery passions and talents, lifelong dreams and skills, even fears and struggles—is a terrible, terrible gamble.

Get on the referral gravy train! ?

Meanwhile, research shows “88% of employers said referrals are… the best source for above-average applicants.”

So companies drain precious money and resources into employee referral programs and tracking their success.

The combination here is perfect for you:

An employee you actually know (not a recruiter) referring you to a company is the BEST and easiest way for you to show off your WHOLE self.

AND companies trip over themselves to incentivize & reward employees for referring candidates.

This is what Steven R. Covey was picturing when he said “win / win”

Categories
Blog Hiring Process Improvement Recruiting Industry Recruitment Process Automation Workplace

Recruitment Automation 101

A trend that is becoming pretty exciting right now is recruitment automation. Likely accelerated by the tools that are more readily available like integromat and zapier, and more open APIs between HR apps and Applicant tracking systems, recruitment automation is a brave new world of growing and improving your HR and Recruitment Systems and keeping your human interactions exactly that, more human.

The most important item to stay focused on when considering recruitment automation is the candidate. What is the end-result, and what is the purpose of what you are trying to automate.

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

Picture of Steven R Covey
Steven R Covey, author of the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People

Steven R. Covey, of 7 Habits of Highly Successful People (Amazon) fame is accredited with the famous line “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” #

As you consider what you are trying to automate and why, this is an important piece of the puzzle. Just because something can be automated does not mean it should.

Another way to look at this has become my unofficial axiom for recruitment process automation in general:

Automate the things computers do well, so you can do the things humans do well.

This means rethinking the old standbys like calling candidates personally to book calendar appointments, but then sending blind, generic emails from “noreply” email accounts when they are no longer considered in the process.

Perhaps, automating your calendaring time could help candidates feel in some control of the process as well as allowing you to let candidates know they are not being considered any longer for a role with a personal call, not a heartless “thanks but no thanks” message.

Continue reading “Recruitment Automation 101”
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Blog Jobseekers Networking Recruiting Industry Relationship Working with Recruiters

How to Ask for Help on Linkedin

Asking for help on linkedin can be daunting. Here's three quick tips on how to do it right.

Linkedin, as a social network, is different than others in that it was created around connections and networking, and the purpose of it, generally speaking, is to connect people together professionally.

To that end, since people go there to ‘Network’, there is a tendency for people to be willing to help you professionally, if you ask for it correctly.

There’s three ways I can think of to immediately ask for help on Linkedin:

  1. Give 10x more than you receive
  2. Ask for specific, actionable help
  3. Go out of your way to be thankful

Give 10x More Than You Receive

Nobody likes a beggar. Especially a persistent one. The old rule in networking is to give ten times before you ask once. My friend Jason Alba taught me that principle and he turned me down when I offered him a job 12 years ago only to create his own company (JibberJobber) literally helping people get jobs (his amazing 6 week Job Search Program currently is on sale at more than 60% off with this link—and a JibberJobber subscription is included!) . He’s also an accomplished Pluralsight author if you’re a member of their great program.

His advice, to give 10x more than you receive, has been a cornerstone of my personal and professional philosophy. As I have built my company, and my network of thousands of hand-picked first level LinkedIn connections, i have tried to maintain this posture of helping 10x before asking once. It focuses my efforts on being good and kind as well and that helps in the most challenging times.

Be sure you are helping others more than asking for help. It’s good for your soul and your reputation.

Ask for Specific, Actionable Help

The biggest thing you need to do is ask for something specific. If you just yell out “help!” but you don’t provide some kind of direction, you will hear nothing but crickets.

Ask for something specific, depending on where you’re posting.

On your feed, asking for leads on a new job is totally appropriate. Or perhaps “anyone know companies that are hiring?”

In a private LinkedIn group, you can do the same but be more specific, and know that your request isn’t public for the world (or your employer) can see.

Finally, in a personal one-on-one message, you can also directly ask for a connection to a specific person or company. For example “Hi, Mary. I hope you’re well. I am looking into this role (link) at your company. Do you know who I should talk to? My resume is attached.”

Also, Say Thank You!

Finally, go out of your way to thank those who help you. Publicly or privately, let people know you appreciate any help they provide.

Paying it forward by helping others and crediting the help you’ve received along the way is a great way to show your appreciation as well.

Pro tip: If someone gets you that dream job you wanted? Surprise them with $200 gift card to their favorite restaurant or store once you get your first paycheck or signing bonus. If they don’t want the money, ask to donate it to their favorite charity in their name and send them the receipt for tax purposes.

Categories
Blog Commentary Economics Hiring Jobseekers Recruiting Industry

Many Americans Earning More on Unemployment Than In Their Jobs

It appears that nearly 70% of Americans on unemployment are earning more than they did in their pre-laid-off jobs. Some as much as 150% more. What does this mean for recruiting and the economic recovery?

Making recruiting entry-level workers even harder than it has been in the past, many people are finding their unemployment benefits outstripping the amounts of money they would have earned had they not been let go.

This graphic, from the venerable 538, shows the distribution of benefits as a function of replacing the worker’s income, state by state in the United States.

They cite a report from University of Chicago economists which “estimate that 68 percent of unemployed workers who can receive benefits are eligible for payments that are greater than their lost earnings.”

What does this mean for Workers?

I believe there are three factors at play here which can be good and bad for things in the short run, but will end up as major factors in the long term.

The winners in these struggles remain to be seen, but history has a few lessons of its own to share:

  • We’re in a once-in-a-lifetime reset of the economy
  • These debts will come due sooner or later (and probably both)
  • Recruiting & Retention will continue to be challenging in new ways.

Once-A-Century Economic Output Shift

First, I believe we are at the tip of a once-a-century shift in massive economic change. In fifty or seventy years, b-school textbooks will talk about the 2010’s like the last few years before refrigerators took over the ice box business in 1930s America. Those lectures will undoubtedly relate similar harbingers in our time of how none of the significant and profitable ice-trade businesses which boomed in the late 1800s ever made it as a significant player in any sense past 1950.

What does this mean for us? Booming industries that were safe havens for workers and owners alike just months ago may be gone in the next 5-10 years and, except perhaps for

Someone Has To Pay The Bill

The massive, crippling consumer debt problem is going to continue to cause issues in unexpected ways in the next few years.

Smart individuals will work hard right now to find ways to pay off debt and remove unneeded expenses. These short-term benefits in unemployment are intended to be a bridge over troubled waters, not a platform to build on. Mind you, the gravy train will come to the end of the line. Will you be clinging to the freight car when that happens hoping to eek out one more spoonful of gruel, or will you have taken your fair share and moved on to better things leveraging the economic boost for what it was intended for — to keep you from selling plasma to pay your rent — and instead contributing meaningfully to this new post-COVID-world of ours.

End of the day, someone has to pay these bills. Of course, those payments have to come from the backs (and pockets) of taxpayers. If the economic times turn around quickly as some hope, we may see a way to narrowly escape truly challenging times. However, even as it’s predicted these job losses will be felt far into 2021 and beyond, it stands to reason that, like grabbing the store credit card on your way out so you can save 10% on those jeans, as convenient as this all is, the whole world will be economically paying this down for a long, long time.

Recruiting & Retention is going to be harder for entry-level roles

Companies who value their entry-level workers will need to find ways, monetarily or otherwise, to compensate these workers and intent them to work rather than stay home, collect unemployment and “look for work” while golfing, watching NASCAR, etc.

Furthermore, I predict retention will be a killer subject not to far from now, as companies eek out some life, and things seem to have some semblance of settling down, I believe that people who were lucky enough to survive the unemployment cuts in the first place will pack their bags in droves as they realize, with some disdain, that all those glittery perks at their former companies was not, in fact, gold at all when it came down to what really matters to them in their lives.