JobSync

Can You Help Your Company Get Cultured?

September 28, 2011

As a recruiter or hiring manager, you’ve sat helplessly as one seemingly bland resume after another comes flying across your desk for an open position at your company. With unemployment so high, surely there must be interesting candidates out there, but where? On the other hand, what if the problem of attracting promising candidates isn’t the lack of them, but a lack of an appealing corporate culture at your business? In other words, what if the problem is you?

In a nutshell, corporate culture is the collective attitude and values that shape how employees behave. Every company has one, but not all of them are cohesive, consistent, and compelling. And this is where a company can run into trouble. If a business is unable to conduct itself as a dynamic, challenging, supportive, and creative venture, chances are its recruiting efforts will reflect these deficits as well, especially if a company’s culture is publicly known.

Realistically, as a recruiter or lower-level hiring manager, there is probably little you can do to change this, let alone change it quickly. However, recruitment is the first step you can control to inject new life into your corporate culture. This naturally requires an awareness that your company’s culture is in need of renewal, revival, or reevaluation. To that end, your recruitment efforts should then reflect a desired culture that you know your company is pursuing or is capable of achieving.

But even recruitment of new employees will have a limited impact if not accompanied by training that communicates a positive and engaging corporate culture, not to mention an atmosphere that lives and breathes this culture. Ultimately, upper management dictates the tone and direction of a company, and it is up to the discreet but determined hiring manager to convey the values and goals of a company to upper management that can also help bring top talent to the firm.

If senior executives are open to implementing the necessary changes to enhance a company’s image of its corporate culture, you will probably soon see results in your recruiting. If they are not open to the possibility, you may want to think about another company recruiting you for a new position instead.

• Tweet

Getting References When You’re Unemployed Long-term

September 27, 2011

With growing numbers of the unemployed taking a longer time to find a new position, along comes another problem to complicate their job search: What to do about references when you’ve been out of work for a long time.

Recently, MSNBC.com discussed this issue, a problem that makes life even more uneasy for dejected jobseekers. However, now is not the time to feel sorry for yourself or awkward about the issue. Many recruiters and hiring managers are aware of the problem of long-term unemployment and how this undermines job hunters securing recent and reliable references who can attest to the quality of your work and character. Essentially, such candidates with doubts about their references should consider one of the following courses of action:

1. Reconnect with past references and update them on your professional status: While this may sound humbling, you may be surprised how many old references will be supportive if you can assure them that your skills and qualifications are still robust and relevant.

2. Use subordinates or even customers from prior companies as references: It may seem unusual to cast such a wide net, but as long as such associates can provide a compelling reference, this is far more preferable to non-professional individuals trying to provide a professional sketch of you.

3. Consider getting a temp job/volunteer position: Aside from the obvious benefit of giving one experience and filling a hole in one’s resume, obtaining a part-time position or doing volunteer work will expand your pool of possible references.

So go ahead and give these options a shot. We know they’ll work (and we have someone who can vouch for us).

• Tweet

Avoiding Clichés on Your Resume and in Interviews

September 26, 2011

Are you a cliché on your resume? Even worse, do you come across as a cliché in an interview?

We all know you are truly a “proactive” “self-starter” who is a “detail-oriented” “creative problem solver.” Unfortunately, a lot of pretenders out there have also read that these are buzzwords that resonate with prospective employers, so they also include them on their cover letters and resumes. The collective effect is that with so many applicants filling their applications with the same buzzwords, these applicants all lose their buzz and individuality.

And if you should make it to the interview stage, delivering these words in person won’t lend them any more weight either. Recruiters and hiring managers have read and heard these terms so often that it doesn’t matter in what venue you pitch yourself with such buzzwords. Worse yet, for example, telling an interviewer that one is a “people person” if one is not will be immediately apparent to the interviewer and torpedo your overall credibility.

So, is it time to pull out a thesaurus and create a new dictionary of buzz-worthy attributes to promote yourself? Not at all. What will immediately create buzz is discussing your past accomplishments. These achievements will highlight who you are and what you are likely to bring to a company that’s considering hiring you. Best of all, they will brand your uniqueness and make you a memorable candidate.

Buzzwords are buzzkill. Avoid them, and the next time you apply for a job, you will hopefully be able to turn “cliché” into “touché”!

• Tweet

Ageism and Your Job Application

September 23, 2011

If you think ageism is only a problem for older jobseekers, guess again. Younger job hunters also face biases stemming from their age, with some companies feeling they lack the maturity and mettle to succeed in a brutal economy.

Recently, FINS Finance discussed ways to combat ageism for both older and younger workers alike. What’s important to remember is that many recruiters and hiring managers are more concerned if someone is on top of trends in technology and language than they are with someone’s age. To help keep you in the game while they discover this about you, age-proof your job application by following these four easy steps:

1. Provide the right kind of contact information: Never list a fax number on your resume – this immediately exposes someone as being older and out of touch with technology. List your cell phone number as your only contact number. A gmail account with your actual name is going to score far more points than yourhighschoolnickname81@aol.com. And younger applicants should exercise discretion with their Twitter handles – less is definitely more with traditional companies in this regard.

2. Choose your resume’s dates and position other content carefully: You may want to consider leaving out jobs from more than 15 years ago, but leaving out junior positions that demonstrate a progression in your career could hurt you more. Younger jobseekers should also keep their education background near the end of their resume.

3. Highlight achievements on your resume, but with a clear, polished, and current-sounding balance. Older workers tend to be more wordy, while younger workers of the texting generation tend to be too abrupt. Be straightforward, but detail your accomplishments with eloquent brevity. Avoid old-fashioned phrases and use buzzwords to keep you sounding current.

4. Don’t overcompensate: Older workers should not try too hard to sound young, and younger workers should not try too hard to sound seasoned when they are not. Recruiters and hiring managers will invariably discover the truth, so don’t waste their time or yours.

Whether you’re young or old, by following these steps, this can finally be your time.

• Tweet

Lunch or Dinner Interviews: Food for Thought

September 22, 2011

So, you’ve narrowed your list of candidates down to three finalists. As it turns out, all three could probably do the job. But who would you want to have lunch with?

For companies that conduct a lot of their business with clients over a meal, this is actually an important question to answer by hosting a lunch or dinner interview. But what about companies that aren’t so food-focused when it comes to their daily operations?

Given the importance more companies are placing on personality and fit, you may want to take these three finalists out for a meal, too. Such an interview can reveal a lot about a candidate’s poise and polish. Does a candidate know proper dining etiquette? Is he a sloppy eater and/or talk with his mouth full? Does he order the most expensive item off the menu? (or worse, order alcohol?) Is the candidate rude or condescending to the wait staff? If he forgot to turn his cell phone off, does he at least know not to take a call during the interview, notwithstanding the more informal setting? And despite the setting, does the candidate still follow up with a thank-you note?

Food is obviously a vital component of daily life, and for this reason, it can reveal a great deal about one’s character and disposition. Appetites and how an individual satisfies them can often have parallels in a person’s professional life (e.g., the sloppy eater may very likely be a sloppy worker). While taking three candidates out for a meal may be an expensive proposition, hiring someone who is not a good match for your company could quickly prove to be even more costly.

Hopefully, by taking a candidate out for a revealing meal, you’ll be able to leave the restaurant with no reservations.

• Tweet