Why you should be truthful about your qualifications

By Neil Patrick

As many as one third of job applicants admit to lying on their job applications. But if they got away with it before, it’s about to get a whole lot harder.

A couple of weeks ago I posted here about the issue of people being ‘liberal’ in how they presented themselves on their LinkedIn profiles. It’s a dumb move and one which can lead to disastrous outcomes for employees and employers alike.

While I was researching for that post, I came across some interesting news that alleged that ‘degree fraud’ in the UK had been found to be most prevalent amongst older job applicants.

The types of fraud I refer to range from non-existent qualifications in some cases through doctored certificates to show higher grades to awards from non-existent academic institutions.

I had assumed (wrongly as it turns out) that it was simple for an employer to verify an applicant’s qualifications through a central database.

Not so.

Amazingly until now there has been no central database of information from academic institutions that allows simple checks to be made.

But that is all changing. The Higher Education Degree Datacheck (HEDD) is intended as the first port of call for any individuals or organisations seeking degree verification. It can be used to check that a UK higher education provider existed and was approved by the UK government at a given date. It provides contact details to direct the user to the appropriate records office for their query.

It is particularly useful for employers and postgraduate course providers wanting to verify degree results, and for graduates to request transcripts and replacement certificates.

HEDD is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to address these issues and direct those seeking information to the correct body to answer their query. HEDD is managed by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) on behalf of Universities UK and Guild HE.

I contacted Jayne Rowley, Director of Business Services at HEDD as I was keen to know more. Jayne told me that:

“80% of major graduate recruiters rely on CVs and degree certificates. Only 20% actually check with the issuing university. For smaller businesses we think it’s even worse. Our office wall is a rogue’s gallery of fake or doctored certificates and we list more than 140 bogus universities on the university look up service on the website”.

When HEDD did their original research prior to the service being was set up, they questioned employers about why they didn’t check. The main reasons cited were that they weren’t aware that fraud was a big problem and that there was no easy central way to make the checks.

Jayne said, “Every HR survey we’ve seen shows that about 1/3 of people admit to lying on job applications and the most common lie is about qualifications”.

Clearly this is a massive problem. But according to Jayne, the highest incidence of degree fraud occurs amongst older applicants:

“Even though there are many more enquiries about recent graduates, there are more 'errors' in HEDD enquiries about older graduates and it is disproportionate to the number of enquiries when compared to the checks on recent graduates.

We also carry out research with employers about their verification practices. The conclusions we draw on older people not getting checked are because they are assumed to have been checked earlier in their career, or because the focus is on their experience”.

So the situation is clear. If you are ever tempted to lie about your qualifications, don’t even consider it; you will get found out. The loopholes that previously existed are closing fast. Play to your strengths, invest your time and efforts in your interview skills instead and win fair and square.

And if you are an employer or HR person hiring in the UK, I recommend you check out the HEDD service. Here’s the link: https://www.hedd.ac.uk/aboutHedd.htm

I’d like to thank Jayne Rowley and her team at HEDD for talking to me and wish them well in their important work.

The real secrets of a killer resume

By Neil Patrick

There’s a simple formula that will improve your resume beyond recognition and get you interviews. It’s not magic, it requires no cheating or lying. It just works. Here it is.

Last week I was asked by a Twitter friend to provide him with a review and recommendations on how to improve his resume. I was happy to do so. As it turned out, he’d been in the same job for the last 18 years. So it’s fair to say, he’d not had much practice at writing a resume. Worse, the last time he had, the world of job applications worked in a completely different way.

And his resume was like so many others I have seen before. I was certain that it wouldn’t get short-listed by any recruiter or HR person.

But the good news is that it was so easy to fix, that I thought I’d share the method we adopted here.

How recruiters look at resumes

The role of your resume isn’t to get you the job, it’s to get you the interview. And it’s got to do that in just a few seconds.

Recruiters and HR folk are very busy people. It’s not at all unusual for them to receive over 200 resumes to sort through when they advertise a position. If you had 400+ pages of resumes in front of you, could you honestly read every word of every resume, let alone make any sort of scientific assessment of the detailed merits of each?

So they do what any sensible person would do faced with this dilemma. Each resume gets a quick scan and is either selected for the short list or rejected there and then. Typical time for this is shown by research to be just 5-10 seconds. Therefore we must give them what they want with just a few seconds scan.

Make it easy for them to choose you

Play them at their own game, scrutinise the job description and extract all the keywords from it. Now figure out how to include all of these in your resume.

Recruiters read the first few lines. Right now, they don’t care about your address or your email address. So don’t put these at the top of the page. Move them to the end.

Next you must have a compelling summary. This should be able to be scan read in around 5 seconds. This should be at the top of the first page. Here’s the first trick. Write a unique summary which is based not just on you, but the job description of the job you are applying for. Show them that you match it. Do not tell lies, but look hard at the job description and then find everything in your past career which shows how you have done these things already.

It may be that some things that are in the job description, you haven’t actually done before. But don’t give up. Think about things which might be similar or require similar skills and capabilities. Use these instead, pointing out how they are similar. Don’t expect a recruiter to understand this automatically – you must spell it out for them.

The language you use here is vital. Use short sentences. Include relevant keywords. Take as many of these as you can from the job description. This also helps if they are using resume scanning software which is increasingly common.

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it that matters

Producing the best resume is a sales job, not an administrative one.

Most people write their resume as a compilation of their previous job descriptions. This approach condemns you to failure before you even start.

Think about the job you want to get interviewed for. Next think about the type of person they'd want to hire for these jobs. Now give them this in your resume in a really clear way. Do not worry about omitting things which were on your past job descriptions. Think about every single line...does this point make me sound like a fit, or not? If not leave it out.

Do not just think about your hard skills like your knowledge of software or products, work out also what type of personality they ideally want. Most job descriptions include lots of supposed ideals like ‘team player’, ‘goal-focussed’ and ‘good communication skills’. Get smart, decide what is really important to the role. If it’s a collaborative team role, emphasise these parts of your approach and personality. If it’s a results driven role like sales, you’ll do better to talk about things like your success at hitting targets and deadlines.

Don’t just say it, prove it

This next step will transform the reader's perception of you. Present your accomplishments for each job you have held, emphasizing those which correlate with the job description. Bullet point these.

Start every sentence with a strong action verb. eg achieved, transformed, won, beat, excelled, increased, improved etc.

The next trick is to quantify or qualify each statement you are making with evidence to back it up. By doing this you turn what may sound like an idle boast into a powerful description of your ability to make a valuable contribution.

Most people have had targets and assessments of their performance - so select where you did well and talk about these and include the numbers as evidence. Think about your performance appraisals and take the best points from those. Use these as the proof of your accomplishments.

Reorder these bullet points after you have quantified your accomplishments. For example, let's say we were saying something like 'Increased client satisfaction by 20% each year leading to a halving of customer complaints.' That's a big and valuable impact. And therefore it could be the first statement you put at the top of the section.

Even if you worked in a non-target driven environment, you can still use this approach. For example, you probably got a lot better at what you did over time in your current or past job. So you can describe how for example, you managed to double the number of client accounts you worked on, or projects you contributed to.

Show how you made a difference

Recruiters want people that will make a positive difference. It might be that you do this by being a super helpful person and that's great - in fact it's a bonus, but sadly it won't get you an interview. So focus your resume on what you’ve achieved first. How you do it is secondary - if you get an interview, then you can talk about how you achieve things.

Now go back and streamline the whole document

Finally review the whole document again. At this stage:

• Remove every single unnecessary word. If it’s not adding value, take it out.

• Replace any weak verbs with strong ones. For example, instead of saying ‘Became project team member for x’, say, ‘Put myself forward for appointment to project team for x’

• Check that every claim you make is verified with evidence to prove it.

• Spell check as if your life depended on it! Do not rely on Word to do this for you. One particular case that I recall involved a resume which stated, 'I have extensive experience in pubic financing'

• Finally revisit the job description and check that every keyword in it is included in your resume.

And that’s it. It may seem like a fiddly procedure at first, but once you adopt it as your normal process, it gets much easier and quicker. But best of all, you can be confident that your resume will be better than your competition…unless they read this blog too!

Tips for boomers to find ‘flexible’ jobs

By Andrea Coombes

A growing percentage of Americans say their retirement will entail some paid work, either because they’re worried about their lack of savings or because they want to stay active. But that doesn’t mean retirees are yearning for a 50- or 60-hour workweek.

Sixty-nine percent of workers said they plan to work for pay after they retire, according to the 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

And more workers said they plan to delay retirement: 36% of workers said they’ll wait until they’re 66 or older to retire (fully 26% said they’d wait until age 70 or older), up from 11% who said that in 1991. Read the study here.

Another 7% of workers said they don’t plan to retire at all.

If you’re among those who plan to continue working but you don’t want to keep going full-tilt, what’s the best way to find a good part-time or work-at-home gig?

The good news is that, anecdotally at least, there are employers out there looking to fill part-time jobs with experienced workers, and a number of websites aim to help people like you find those jobs.

And “part time” doesn’t have to mean a job at a fast-food restaurant or in retail.

“Some of the jobs employers are trying to fill are not what anyone would think of as an average telecommuting job,” said Sara Sutton Fell, founder and chief executive of FlexJobs, based in Boulder, Colo.

“These are high-level roles. They are very well suited to an older demographic who values flexibility and has the skills to bring to the table,” she said.

Some of the current openings on her site include “infrastructure management senior analyst,” firewall engineer, human-resources generalist and senior tax associate, Fell said. Some of the companies posting positions to the site include PwC (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers), ADP and Xerox.

Tips for finding a job

Visit the job sites. You can search for part-time jobs onRetirementJobs.com, RetiredBrains.com, and Indeed.com, among others.

Meanwhile, FlexJobs only posts jobs that are part-time or flexible as well as professional (meaning they have opportunity for growth). The company vets each posting to make sure it’s legitimate (FlexJobs.com charges job seekers from $14.95 a month to $49.95 a year to see the listings).

Drop by. “If it’s an employer you know you want to work for, particularly if it’s a retail-based job, go in, meet with the manager,” said Kerry Hannon, a Washington-based career expert and author of “Great Jobs for Everyone 50+.” “Dress appropriately, drop off your resume and just say you’re available. Nothing beats a face-to-face meeting with somebody.”

Don’t rule out full-time job postings. For the right candidate, employers may consider alternative work arrangements. “Often, job-sharing arrangements and so forth come up,” said Tim Driver, chief executive of RetirementJobs.com and MatureCaregivers.com, in Boston. “It’s always worth exploring listings that are written as full time.”

Tap your network. Ask people you know whether they know of any part-time or telecommuting opportunities at their workplace—and whether they can put in a good word for you, Hannon said. “Employers love to hire people who they know or the people that work for them know,” she said.

Go beyond the big job websites. Interested in a nonprofit job, for example? “The Chronicle of Philanthropy has a great jobs board—that’s a good place to look for any kind of nonprofit job,” Hannon said, adding that “the nonprofits love part-time workers,” in part because those organizations often face budgetary constraints.

Ask your network about job boards, staffing companies and temp agencies that focus on your city or state. For example, a staffing agency called 10 til 2 focuses on part-time jobs in Colorado.

Hannon pointed to Flex Professionals, which lists jobs with flexible schedules in the Washington, D.C., area, and Special Counsel, which looks to place people in the legal profession.

Check with trade groups and your alumni association to see whether they know of or list flexible jobs. Also, college career centers often offer advice on career transitions, Hannon said. “A lot of them have great career coaches on staff who can help you with interviews and resumes.”

Visit universities’ online job boards. “Most of the big universities have job boards that you can check for part-time or full-time work,” Hannon said.

Avoid the scams

It’s no secret that many workers dream of working at home, and the idea is gaining acceptance among some employers, depending on the job type.

Still, “there’s been slower acceptance of that than even part-time work,” said Jill Ater, founder and chief operating officer of 10 til 2, the Denver-based staffing agency.

“Employers still want to see people, but sometimes you can start off in the office and transition once they learn to trust you,” Ater said. Job seekers might ask in the interview whether working at home is an option at some point. “See how the employer feels about it,” she said.

Unfortunately, the work-at-home dream is a target for scammers looking to separate you from your money, often by collecting fees upfront for equipment or information they say is necessary for their work-at-home “opportunity.”

As part of its premium service ($4.95 a month; you can cancel at any time), RetirementJobs.com offers a “Work at Home Guide” that lists organizations it considers legitimate, plus tips to stay safe.

Here are some other ways to steer clear of scams:

• Avoid ads that read like marketing copy. When looking for work, focus on ads that list a job title. “You want it to be a professional job posting and not marketing copy,” Fell said. “If it looks like they’re trying to get anybody to apply, that’s probably not a professional job posting.”

• Be wary of requests for money. Fell said the scam often goes like this: “We’re going to give you your own computer. We’ll mail that to you, but we do need to install some proprietary software on there, so you need to pay $400 for that.”

• Search for the company’s name on Google to make sure the website address given to you is legitimate. Sometimes scammers create fake websites that mimic real sites, to lure you to provide personal information or to send money. “They’ll mimic the names of the CEO, the director of HR, so the website really looks legit,” Fell said. “Unfortunately, they’re really good at it sometimes.”

• Search the company’s name with the word “scam” or “complaint” to see what others are saying.

• Be wary about sending personal information if the email address doesn't include the company name. “Make sure the job ad has the company domain name in it, rather than a general @hotmail or @gmail,” Fell said.

More resources

Here are some additional resources for finding part-time or flexible jobs:

Common Good Careers recruits for the nonprofit sector. Read more: Boomers: Get job recruiters on your side.

Idealist and Bridgespan also list jobs at nonprofit organizations.

Check out AARP’s page on working after retirement.

Encore.org offers a guide to finding work after 50.

Read more: Taxes, Social Security and your part-time job.

Andrea Coombes is a personal-finance writer and editor in San Francisco. She's on Twitter @andreacoombes.

This post originally appeared here:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tips-for-boomers-to-find-flexible-jobs-2013-08-29

Career and social media advice from one of the most influential recruiters in the world

By Neil Patrick

One of the things I love about writing this blog is the great contacts I have made because of it. Social media is such a powerful platform, that despite living in a forest in Wales, I’m in daily touch with amazing people all over the planet.

One of the most remarkable of these people is Axel Koster. Since 2002 Axel has been the General Manager of the Manhattan Group, a global executive search recruitment firm specialising in the luxury hotel, resort & event management sector, placing candidates from manager to VP levels. Axel is based in Melbourne, Australia.

Four and a half years ago, Axel picked up on the growth of social media and decided that it would be a powerful way for him to build a much stronger personal network. This would be beneficial to both his clients and job candidates. To say he has succeeded in his goal would be an understatement. Developing his own unique style of presenting relevant content, today he has over 360,000 followers on Twitter! This year, his Twitter following has increased every single month by around 10,000 people!

Axel has gone much further than most people in his industry and has created his own branded hashtag #AxelJob which helps spread his jobs fast and wide across social media networks. He has also created his #AxelHappy hashtag which is for motivational and inspiring Tweets. Axel welcomes other recruitment companies using his hashtags for the simple reason they give career seekers a better chance of securing suitable positions.

Axel Koster

Axel’s LinkedIn network currently includes 9,427 people, ranking him amongst the top 1% most viewed profiles on LinkedIn.

Kred scores Axel’s social media influence as 984 out a maximum possible of 1,000. He is now ranked in the top 10 people most influential people in Australia according to Kred. To put this in perspective, in January 2013, not one of the world’s largest pharmaceuticals companies with their huge marketing resources and budgets, scored more than 800 points on Kred. In case you are interested, the 3 highest scoring were Novartis, Johnson and Johnson and Pfizer.

But as you’ll discover when you see Axel's video below, he’s firmly of the view that big numbers should not be our goal in social media. He shares my belief that social media is about listening and helping, rather than telling and selling!

For the first 15 years of his career, Axel was a chef, rising through the ranks of his profession to become the Managing Director of the Templeton Marine Hotel in 1997. In 2002, he swapped the hotel industry for the recruitment industry.

So how did this former chef turn from being an accomplished but largely unknown hotel industry professional to a social media phenomena?

Since I am lucky to count Axel amongst my circle of friends, I thought I should get his answers to what I think are some pretty important questions for readers of this blog directly from him. Because he has the double qualification of being both a senior recruitment industry executive AND social media expert, he’s probably just about the most well qualified person on the planet to ask.

So here are my questions and his answers:

How do you think social media has affected the recruitment industry over the last 5 years?

Social media (SM) has become a very important factor in many industries and certainly within recruitment markets. It has fundamentally changed the way many companies now communicate and respond to different situations.

Companies without an SM presence are losing out and new firms with a better appreciation of SM are rapidly building market share. SM has also allowed many individuals to start their own company and work from home. For these people it’s important to also have a detailed understanding in their field and of course a strong network in their industry.

It is crucial for companies and individuals to establish an effective SM ‘footprint’. Establish a roadmap so to speak which allows us to understand and follow through on our own objectives and progress.

How valuable do you think social media is in advancing our career ambitions?

SM is often seen as an advancement in social flexibility and it says a lot about your personality and character. The challenge here is that there are so many new SM sites coming online so frequently. Which ones should you use and which will give you the best return on your time and investment?

There is no doubt in my mind that individuals and organisations with good SM presence and understanding have an advantage over those that do not. We all have to respond to the fact that modern communications technology has reshaped our lives in the last few years.

What should a mature professional that hasn’t really started building their social media profile do as a priority?

The first question you should ask yourself is what do you want to get out of it and which is the best SM site for you? Then do some research to discover how well different sites deliver against your requirements. Some sites work best for family/friend relationships. Others are more geared to professional or business connections. Match your site choice to your personal requirements.

It’s often a great idea to speak to some friends or colleagues if you are new to SM and ask them about their preferences, experiences and recommendations.

My belief is that we should all start by walking before trying to run. Make a start now, show your willingness to commit and half the battle is already won.

What do you think are the most important do’s and don’ts for professionals using social media?

The two do's are very clear for me: I feel passionate about positivity and sharing information to all avenues of SM but I dispute senseless negativity, bullying and hatred.

For larger companies it is imperative to have a procedure around who does what and what the content is all about. I often feel that larger companies are far better off engaging an experienced and skilled SM firm to get their message out in the best possible way. SM must have boundaries and they must be comprehensively stated and understood by everyone involved.

Individuals on the other hand can achieve wonderful impacts through SM showing their professional talents and building an appreciative audience. People only need encouragement and a bit of start up assistance to become pros in their own way.

I'm really blessed meeting so many people through SM and I have endless contacts through Skype, landline or just DM's with people which I would have never met without the remarkable tool of SM.

Axel has also produced this YouTube video as part of his YouTube channel in which he shares some great detail and insights about his thoughts about how we should all approach building our social media profiles:


Axel's Social Media Chat Blog -YouTube http://ow.ly/nYOgj

I’d like to thank Axel here not only for all he’s done to help me, but also the thousands of others who have benefited from his willingness to share his insight and experience. I've had the pleasure of speaking with Axel on various occasions now. What marks him out as special to me is his generosity, integrity, humility and down to earth personality. Perhaps these are the most valuable secrets of his success we can all learn from.

I cannot recommend strongly enough that you should connect with Axel in whichever way you prefer.

You’ll find him on Twitter @AxelKoster

You can also reach him and the Manhattan Group here: http://www.manhattangroup.co

Invite Axel to connect with you on LinkedIn here: ak@manhattangroup.co

Subscribe to his YouTube channel here: http://goo.gl/lsOR8N

The perfect fit, isn't: the imperfect fit may be the perfect choice

By David Hunt, P.E.

Hiring "the perfect fit." It's the fantasy of every employer. The problem is, this fantasy hurts companies because it increases employee turnover, increases downtime, and promotes corporate complacency.

Perfect frustration
As an engineer currently "in transition", I've been quite fortunate during my job search. Unlike lots of people, I get interviews. But, agonizingly, I don't get many employment offers. My problem? I'm not a perfect fit. Since my credentials and accomplishments are very good, I've taken to wondering what a perfect fit is -- and whether companies are deluding themselves that perfect fits are the best hires.

The feedback I get is positive. I interview well. I have excellent qualifications and I am articulate, sincere, and results-driven. My engineering experience is solid and includes significant accomplishments in product design, cost reduction, and process improvements. I've even got two patents -- plus masters-level degrees in both Engineering and Management.

I've met quite a lot of imperfect fits like me who share my frustration. The consensus is two-fold. First, companies fear hiring a poor performer or someone who will leave soon. Second, they want someone who has done the job already and can drop into the position and be effective with no learning curve.

The pigeon problem
On the face of it, given the seemingly large pool of available talent, the desire for a perfect fit seems smart. After all, a perfect fit (assuming one really exists) can hit the ground running. But ironically, the closer to a perfect fit a candidate is, the more likely that person is to leave soon because the narrow job definition is likely to create dissatisfaction. In other words, I think people take new jobs for new experiences and the chance to learn new things -- not to get pigeonholed.

I pursued a Masters in Engineering to break out of a specialty into which I'd been pigeonholed. But the only position I found after receiving my degree was doing it again -- I was a perfect fit. No wonder I left within a year. That same danger applies to everyone taking a position identical to one they've done before. Employers should bank on the fact that most will keep looking because few employees want a stagnant career. Pigeons leave and the job is once again left undone.

Analysis paralysis
The cost of leaving a position unfilled can be significant, not only because work is left undone and schedules slip, but because other functions that depend on the empty position are affected, too. The question is, does it cost more to leave a job undone, or to hire a worker who needs a bit of a learning curve?

In his book Winning, Jack Welch addressed the debate about hiring someone who can hit the ground running versus someone capable of growth. He'd choose the latter. Additionally, he acknowledges the risk of making imperfect hires and considers it preferable. After 30-plus years of hiring, he says he got it right only 80% of the time. Any hiring is risky and there are no guarantees. Ultimately, dithering and delaying in hiring produces "analysis paralysis." Hoping to avoid unavoidable risks, jobs are left unfilled, the employer's needs are left unmet and customers are left unhappy.

But there is another danger to discounting imperfect fits. While hiring a perfect fit is a good tactical move, it can be a strategic error in an economy that is increasingly dependent on rapid innovation and revolutionary, not evolutionary, thinking.

Do the job or solve the problem?
Companies make a strategic error when they hire people who are easily pigeonholed. Pigeons will peck away at a task because they've done it before. The imperfect hire asks, "Why?" Imperfect fits see opportunities that aren't obvious. For example, I worked in automotive lighting, and then transferred to climate control. My "outsider's" lighting experience led to an unusual idea with the potential to save my company over $750,000 annually. Insiders doubted it would work, but the idea was completely validated -- ironically, just weeks before I was laid off.

In another case, my imperfect attitude led me to question why the company was scrapping so many parts purchased from a certain supplier. The parts were failing our test procedures. Rather than focusing on the part itself, I asked whether our tests were unnecessarily stringent. It turned out the parts functioned just fine -- the problem was with the testing process, not our parts vendor. Suddenly, expensive parts were no longer being scrapped and our productivity improved. The experts were doing the job the way it was always done. They made assumptions and blamed the supplier. It took a fresh-eyes perspective to see the reality and to solve the problem.

The perfect choice
Nobody has a lock on all the best practices. Few problems are new or unique to any one industry. New solutions come from a fresh look at problems. That's why it's dangerous to hire narrowly. Imperfect fits bring new perspectives and experience to a company. Continuous innovation and growing, enthusiastic employees are critical. In learning the industry and in bringing outside experiences, imperfect fits will find innovations that just might be hiding in plain sight. Further, growth opportunities actually reduce the risk that an employee will leave since they are not repeating stale tasks that have been done the same way for years.

Innovation means new products, new solutions, and money saved. Employees who are free to meet challenges in new ways enjoy career growth -- and that means long-term retention for employers. In other words, the imperfect fit may very well be the perfect choice.

http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/gv060106.htm

David Hunt is a Mechanical Design Engineer in southern New Hampshire looking for his "next opportunity" that allows him to design new products and shepherd them to stable production. His LinkedIn profile is: www.linkedin.com/in/davidhuntmecheng/; he blogs at davidhuntpe.wordpress.com and tweets at @davidhuntpe.

8 Things Boomers Should Know When Job Hunting

By JENNIFER MERRITT, LEARNVEST

Don't ... try harder.

You read that right. Don't.

If you've been on the job hunt for a while, with little or no success, you may have heard this platitude: Just try harder! But according to Bob Sullivan, co-author of "The Plateau Effect: Getting From Stuck to Success," it's actually the worst thing that you can do in this situation.

"When you find yourself putting more and more effort into something that’s getting less and less results, it's not a sign that you should keep trying — it’s just the opposite," says Sullivan. Of course, this isn't to say that you should stop putting in effort altogether. Rather, you should try something different, whether it's re-vamping your LinkedIn profile, networking more consistently or working with a career coach to more effectively bust through a job-hunt rut.

Do ... make your resume ageless.

Lisa Johnson Mandell was in her late 40s when she suddenly found herself without a job. Although she made sure to show off her 20-plus years of experience as an entertainment reporter on her résumé, after countless job applications went unanswered, her husband gave her the hard truth. "He said, 'Lisa, don't hate me, but you really look kind of old on paper,' " she recalls.

So Mandell removed key age indicators from her resume, such as the year she graduated from college and the lengths of time that she was employed. "As soon as I sent out this new résumé that wouldn't tell anybody how old I was, I started getting responses—I'm not kidding you—within 20 minutes," she says. "And, in two weeks, I had three full-time job offers."

The result wasn't just a new gig, either—she also wrote a book, "Career Comeback: Repackage Yourself to Get the Job You Want," in which she shares strategies for giving a resume a more youthful spin. "Somebody in their 20s looks at 20-plus years of experience and puts you in the same age group as a mother or grandmother," she says. Of course, in an ideal world, experience should trump age, but Mandell adds that "if you're really intent on getting a job, you have to make concessions."

Do ... brush up on your interviewing skills.

If you haven't interviewed in a long time, you could probably use some practice. Instead of role-playing with a too-comfortable friend, try going on a few interviews for jobs that you aren't as jazzed about "because what you don't want is to go on an interview for the job that you most want and screw up," explains Art Koff, founder of RetiredBrains.com, which connects older workers with employers. "Every interview is a learning process."

You may also want to record yourself speaking. It's a tip that David Welbourn received while making a career switch at the age of 59 from a fundraising post at a hospital to a director role at a nonprofit. His advice: "Listen to your own voice, and ask yourself: Do I have enough emotion? Do I sound like I care?"

Don't ... write off temporary or part-time work.

"Employers are particularly receptive to hiring the over-50 set on a part-time, temporary or project basis," says Koff. "The employers get experienced, reliable employees, and in most cases, they don't have to pay benefits for these positions, making these workers cost-effective."

Koff even advises reaching out to a company that you admire and offering to work on a part-time, trial basis. "It gives you a little bit of a leg up because the employer can then say, 'We can hire this guy, and if it doesn't work out, we'll let him go,' " he says.

In fact, that's exactly how Evelyn Wolovnick found her way back into the workforce after being laid off from her job at an insurance company at the age of 59. After writing a few letters to companies suggesting that they hire her on a temporary basis, she landed a part-time consulting gig with a business in Chicago. Wolovnick signed the six-month contract six years ago—and she's still happily employed.

Do ... start a blog.

Blogging about your field will help alleviate younger hiring managers' concerns about your tech-savviness, advises Mandell. "It shows that you're web savvy and that you're up-to-the-minute in your field," she says. "If you're blogging about the latest advancements going on in your field, potential employers will say, 'Wow, this person is really current.' "

Do ... give yourself a makeover.

Mandell often advises older job seekers to make an effort to look younger, like dying gray hair or shaving your head to disguise balding. "It sounds kind of vacuous, but it really can make a difference," she says.

Welbourn received similar advice during his job hunt. "Somebody mentioned to me that I should get my teeth whitened, and dress a little less formally," he recalls. "It doesn't show a lack of understanding of the corporate culture—it shows confidence in being able to be a little informal with people in an informal setting."

Don't ... ignore alternative ways to make money.

There are a number of things that you can do on the side to earn money while you look for more permanent employment, such as freelancing in your field or even participating in market research surveys. “If you're working a 30-hour side gig, we're talking about making anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 on a monthly basis," Koff says.

There's also an added bonus to this approach: If you're forced to step away from a full-time job, you may stumble onto something different—and even more lucrative. Koff recalls the story of one man who, after being laid off in his 50s, said to his wife, "After all these years, I'm going to finally clean out my garage." He did such a great job that he now operates a garage-cleaning company that staffs five employees!

Do ... view your age as an asset.

While working with New Directions, a company that provides career transition training, Welbourn learned how he could differentiate himself from younger competition. "I got wonderful coaching about how to make the case for myself not as an older person," he says, "but as an experienced individual who was less likely to be fooled by situations, and someone with a good track record of success."

In fact, it's something that he takes into consideration when doing his own hiring. "This may sound ageist, but as a leader, I would rather hire somebody who really has good experience," he says. "Someone who can weather the ups and downs."

Read more: http://www.learnvest.com/2013/07/50-or-older-your-ultimate-job-hunt-guide/#ixzz2ZCVnp1rA

6 Ways to Land a Job When You’re Over 50

By  Kerry  Hannonin

Are you kidding? Save for retirement? Seriously, there are far more pressing financial issues–like making ends meet right now and clinging to your current job, or worse, finding one, which I will help you with in a minute.

Financial advisors recommend socking away a whopping 15 percent of pay for retirement. Easier said then done.Backburner, baby.

The 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey published Tuesday by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Employee Benefits Research Institute once again told us what we already knew–workers and current retirees are less confident than ever in their ability to live comfortably in retirement.

That’s in large measure because most of us have no idea what that might cost.

Plus, retirement planning rarely has the pull of, say, saving to scoop up a vacation home on a lake, or socking money away for a sojourn around the world.

Few of us run the numbers about what we might really need to save in order to be able to stop working. We guess. We don’t seek out financial advice. We turn the switch. We wring our hands.

We justify our unrepentant lack of gumption to save and even think about saving to the rotten hand we’ve been dealt by the economy.

We need to save for living expenses today, not lock it away for the future. I hear this all the time when I talk to 50 + workers looking for a career transition, a new job, hope.

That’s what EBRI found: Asked to name the most pressing financial issue facing most Americans today, both workers and retirees are most likely to identify job uncertainty (30 percent of workers and 27 percent of retirees), debt and making ends meet (12 percent each). Just 2 percent of workers and 4 percent of retirees identify saving or planning for retirement as the most pressing financial issue.

The ‘what else can I do’ solution: We accept it. We’ll just keep working and never retire.

The age at which workers expect to retire has risen. In 1991, just 11 percent of workers expected to retire after age 65. In 2013, 36 percent of workers report they expect to wait until after age 65 to retire and 7 percent don’t plan to retire at all.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that idea. I am a big fan of working not only for the money, but the mental engagement, at any age. And there are lots of ways to make that a reality with part-time, contract, seasonal gigs, and simply, more flexible options.



But the truth is my friends in their late 50s, who are out looking for work, tell me about roadblocks all the time.

They blame their age. And there’s more than a grain of truth to that.

But as I write in Great Jobs for Everyone 50+, there are jobs out there. And in my recent New York Times article, A Gray Jobs Market for All Ages, I highlight some jobs to ride the age wave.

There are plenty more to add to the list I mention there-senior fitness trainer, patient advocate, home modification pro and senior move manager. New ones are coming on line every day, but you need to look around you and use your imagination. And you probably need to add some skills and certifications to qualify for these positions.

Start now and ask: What goods and services are in demand by an aging population? What ways can those of us in our 50s, 60s and 70s tackle those needs for the 80 and 90+ set?

First, look to fields that are growing. These include healthcare (think a broad definition here), education, nonprofits, and even small businesses are eager to snap up an experienced worker who brings leadership, proven management, and problem-solving skills to the table every day.

The enthusiasm of youth only goes so far.

If job worries are what’s keep you from saving for retirement, here’s what to do.

1. Get physically fit. Employers worry about your future health. No need to blast out a fast mile, but when you are in shape, you exude vibrancy, energy. It’s positive juju. The real issue is not age, but oomph, curiosity, confidence and a desire to keep learning.Hiring managers are concerned that you may have age-related health problems, or are likely to, and that will be a problem if you take too much time off for sick leave. And, there’s the nagging issue that you’ve got an “expiration date,” and you’re not in it for the long haul.

2. Ramp up your techiness. Employers think you’re a Luddite. This is nonnegotiable. “Googling” should be a verb you use frequently. The best way to show a potential employer this is to have a social media footprint. That means a LinkedIn profile, an active presence in discussion group. LinkedIn can help you get job leads and seek advice. Stay active. Join alumni and industry groups. Build your professional network. A Facebook page and a Twitter account are often smart too, depending on the kind of job you are aiming for. In general, though, employers want a variety of ways to check you out beyond your resume.

3. Play up your knack for working with the younger set. Employers think you’ll bristle about taking orders from a younger boss who is probably making more than you. This is the time to weave your narrative about your mentoring skills. Use real examples of how you’ve worked successfully with younger colleagues and sought their reverse mentoring help with technology challenges and more. You demonstrate your willingness to learn and ask for help from someone younger, and how that relationship has worked in tandem with you coaching them on leadership and management strategies.

4. Spin your flexible nature. Employers think you won’t be open to change. You need to speak up about your flexibility in terms of management style, your technological aptitude, and your knack of picking up new skills. One of the biggest raps we 50+ get is our stubborn refusal to try new ways of doing things.

5. Find someone you know to hire you. Employers want someone else to vet you. People want to employ people they know, or someone they know knows. This reassures them that someone else trusts you. No one will tell you this straight out, but it’s true.

6. Seek out workplaces where you feel comfortable. Employers want you to “fit in”. Remember interviewing is a two-way street. Many employers want to hire someone who will be right for the culture and play nicely with others. If it’s a workplace filled with younger workers, and you really aren’t keen on the vibe, then move on.

If you really want to get motivated to save for retirement, I recommend you try out the Livingto100.com calculator. This tool, from the founder and director of the New England Centenarian Study, Dr. Thomas Perls, helps you estimate your life expectancy.

I discovered that my life expectancy is 93. Egads. But then again, my Irish grandmother lived to 98.

Looks like I’d better save even more for retirement.



You can follow me on Twitter, @KerryHannon I’m the author of Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy … And Pays the Bills (John Wiley & Sons), available here www.kerryhannon.com. Check out my column at AARP. My weekly column at PBS’s NextAvenue.org is here.

http://kerryhannon.com/?p=2857

Job-Hunting Tips For Mid-lifers You Haven't Seen A Million Times Before

By Ann Brenoff Senior Writer, The Huffington Post

A few years ago during a job interview, a young recruiter asked what I hoped to be doing in five years. I suppressed a guffaw. It's a question recruiters have been asking for decades with the goal of learning about an applicant's career ambitions. The fact that I was pushing 60 at the time was what made it funny to me.

In my head, I said "In five years I hope to be collecting Social Security and laying on a beach in Hawaii, you little Pipsqueak" but out of my mouth came something like "I want to be working in a vibrant newsroom like yours, teaching younger journalists how to maintain professional standards by my example."

Midlifers get lots of advice about how to compete with younger applicants on job interviews. I'd like to throw out a few tips of my own based on nothing but personal experience. I'd point out to skeptics that I landed a job here at Huffington Post and will share that I had other offers before taking this one.

1. Emphasize your experience -- and yes that means acknowledging your age.
Lots of people tell you to make your resume age-neutral, meaning remove the years you graduated school. To those people I have to ask: Really? You think I'm going to pass for someone right out of college?

I would respectfully suggest that instead you emphasize the skills you acquired because of your experience -- your wisdom about workplace dynamics, your maturity at dealing with conflict, your grace under pressure and track record of success.

2. For those who lost their last job in the recession and remain unemployed in the corporate world, add what you learned from that experience as well.
Unemployment is a humbling thing -- and something we can grow from. Talk about it bluntly, calmly, objectively. You were laid off because of a contraction in the economy, not because you weren't competent.

If you are still eating and sleeping under a roof, chances are you have strung together enough gigs to eek by. In today's parlance, that makes you an entrepreneur. At the very least it speaks to your determination to plow through adversity. I think it's fine to let recruiters know that you suffered some hard times but also that you are someone who gets down to business and gets the job done. Just say it all with a smile.

And if you were smart enough to get some retraining so that you have a skills set that matches up with today's jobs market, discuss that too. Not even Millennials were born knowing how to figure out Facebook's privacy settings. Someone taught them, just like someone taught you.

3. Learn today's lingo but be true to yourself.
If you want to be hired by that insanely awesome company, you need to be confident about your place in it. But be yourself. If they wanted another 20-something hipster for the job, you wouldn't be sitting in the room with the interviewer.

Don't dress like a college student and don't talk like one either. Be yourself.

4. Don't act like a parent.
Nobody wants to work with their mother. This one was the hardest thing for me during interviews. I'm outgoing and personable. It's a trait that made me a good journalist. I make people comfortable when we talk.

But I also nurture by nature. I notice things like the absence of a wedding band on the hand of a 30-something and have to bite my tongue. The point is, I bit my tongue. You are there to discuss a job, not offer personal life advice.

A friend relates the story of being interviewed by a 20-something for a job working on a large travel website. The interviewer actually remarked that my friend was older than his father. Instead of lecturing the interviewer on the inappropriateness of his comment, my friend turned it around and started talking about what he was doing when he was the interviewer's age -- which was traveling the world hitching rides on barges throughout Asia and eventually working in management on a cruise ship. The interviewer suddenly stopped seeing his father and began seeing a fantasy version of himself. My friend got the job.

5. Don't assume that you're the smartest guy in the room.
This is an attitude midlifers slip into sometimes on the basis that they worked at a job for more years than the interviewer was perhaps alive. Truth is, the workforce has changed. And the skills required to do our jobs -- all of our jobs -- are different now than they were 35 years ago. Instead of doing the "been there, done that" thing, accept that your younger colleagues in fact know more than you do about a lot of parts of how to do the job. Treat them as peers, respect their knowledge and share yours freely.

6. Address the stereotypes head on.
We all know what they say about us, that we are techno-illiterates and can't be taught new tricks. Navigating the online world isn't brain surgery. What I don't know about, I know how to find out. I don't think midlifers are techno-illiterates as much as it is that our lives aren't as techno-centric as the lives of Millennials.

A few months ago, an editor asked me if I had a "texting relationship" with a source. I admit I hadn't before heard the term. She meant, do I text with the woman? No, but I routinely call her. Texting relationships feel one step removed from phone calls, but offer the benefit of not disturbing the person if they are asleep. Note to editor: They also are easier to ignore. I called.

This post originally appeared here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-brenoff/job-hunting-tips_b_3361900.html

Don't Start a Job Hunt Until You Read This

By Gail McMeekin

I have been hearing unusual stories from clients who are job-hunting these days. So I decided to consult a few recruiters for a new perspective and their advice for gaining employment in today's world.

I first spoke with Jill Ikens, President of Atrium Staffing in Boston, which is a woman-owned staffing firm headquartered in New York City with multiple offices in New Jersey, San Francisco and Pittsburgh. She is seeing an uptick in new hires in Boston, especially in the fields of biotech, start-ups and new opportunities in human resources, especially on the benefits side, due to the constant and upcoming changes in health care laws. There is also a rising demand for human resource managers and generalists.

Jill finds that students who have worked their way through school and have solid work experience have a much better chance of finding work and are more marketable in employers' eyes. She worries that candidates often rush through their resumes without making it clear what they have to offer or taking the time to tell their personal work story. As a former teacher, Jill is often shocked by the spelling and grammar on the resumes she gets, which can ruin a candidate's chances for success. 

She advises candidates that it is imperative to do significant research on a company before an interview. Companies are looking to hire people who demonstrate uniqueness and creativity and can market themselves to match the company culture. She does see a trend towards video resumes in the future too. Jill also talked about the importance of good manners, such as hand writing notes to thank the interviewers, which job hunters may overlook.

Jill urges candidates to clean up their social media accounts of anything controversial and to be careful of what they are posting. She also recommends that job hunters complete their entire Linked In profile, including gathering excellent recommendations, as companies will be reviewing profiles very carefully. Use Twitter to follow companies where you are interested in working. Social media will give you great interview material and increased connections.

My second expert is Jenna Bayard, an Executive Search and Assessment Consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates in New York City. She has worked in the field since college. She finds that she and her colleagues are spending more time than ever coaching their candidates to communicate clearly and effectively in interviews. She says that too many candidates are talking in circles, not listening or following directions, and rambling when they are asked how they can add value to the hiring company. I mentioned that it sounded like candidates need "media training" where they can learn to speak in bullet points and synthesize information to convey quickly with impact. She agreed.

Like Jill, she says that LinkedIn In has radically changed the field of job-hunting for candidates and companies alike. She highly recommends that executives invest in the Premiere Edition of LinkedIn. She encourages people not to apply blindly for a job, but to use the LinkedIn tools to get to the hiring team. It is good to have 500+connections. She says that if you are looking for work and currently working at another job, do not fill out the Job Seeker Application, as your current employer may see it. Jenna declared that audio phone screening is dead and that companies are now using Skype or Face Time for interviews. If you have anything controversial on your digital footprint, i.e. Google, Facebook, etc. that you cannot remove; you need to address it openly with the hiring company.

Jenna says that while hiring has improved, many companies are quite gun-shy about making a poor hire. Therefore, the interview process is more complex and takes much longer. Companies are road-testing executives and digging deeply into their strategic skills, their problem-solving talents, and whether or not they match the company culture by requiring multiple interviews, more time connecting to people at the company, and more evidence that this candidate can come in as a change agent. Companies are looking to hire people who are not just going to do their job description, but demonstrate new ideas and the capacity for innovation. Job-hunting, especially on the executive level, requires lots of patience for candidates since companies keep evaluating them from all angles. Jenna says that some candidates actually withdraw from the hiring process in exasperation or because they are out of vacation time from having so many interviews with one company.

Lastly, Jean Kripton Dunham has owned Jean Kripton, Inc. in Chicago for over 25 years now. She rode out the recession and now sees lots of requests for new talent. She sees three major trends. Candidates, who lose their jobs due to a lay-off or other reason, need to completely re-evaluate themselves before they go back on the job market. They need to be certain that they have the skills required for the new workplace, especially in technology. Plus they need to update their network and understand how their field has changed and be strategic about how to sell themselves into the positions they seek.

Secondly, Jean says that companies need help getting crystal clear on exactly what kinds of competencies are needed for a posted job. Part of her job is to try to get the hiring company to zero in on real specifics. She also says that many hiring companies are still rigid about candidates in transition. For example if someone has changed jobs frequently, but can demonstrate an upward career path, that should not be held against him or her. Sometimes when people are out of work, they need to work part-time anywhere they can just to pay the bills. So candidates need a solid explanation for each career move.

Thirdly, I asked Jean about the issue of age, as people over 50 are afraid they are no longer marketable. Jean advises candidates not to make their age an issue in their communications with companies. Candidates need to convince companies that they want to make a long-term commitment and that this is not just a stepping stone job. If you are over-qualified for the job that you are seeking, you need to persuade them as to why it is a good fit for you and which specific company challenges you are excited about. Jean says, and I agree, that companies have to become more flexible in reviewing each candidate as an individual. Even if they have had a number of jobs, this candidate may be a better choice than a person who has done exactly that same job before and hasn't experienced a variety of business models and work cultures.

So, there are lots of changes in the field of work to consider before you launch a job-hunting effort. Many people are working at a workaholic pace, are out of touch with their network and their industry trends, and have not been to a conference in years. We now manage our own careers. Make sure that you are actively building your network of colleagues, in-person as well as in organizations in your industry, even if you have a job today. You may not have a job next week. Marketing yourself is no longer an optional skill-set in the 21st century. You need a portfolio of skills and evidence that you can exceed the demands of a job, visibility in your field thorough speaking, blogging or being active in associations, and a daily marketing plan for finding the best company match for you. Good luck!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gail-mcmeekin/dont-start-a-job-hunt-unt_b_3260697.html

Insider secrets revealed…recruiting explained in numbers

By  Dr. John Sullivan

As a professor and a corporate recruiting strategist, I can tell you that very few applicants truly understand the corporate recruiting process. Most people looking for a job approach it with little factual knowledge. That is a huge mistake. A superior approach is to instead analyze it carefully, because data can help you understand why so many applicants simply can’t land a job. If you can bear with me for a few quick minutes, I can show you using numbers where the job-search “roadblocks” are and how that data-supported insight can help you easily double your chances of landing an interview and a job.

Your Resume Will Face a Lot of Competition

Although it varies with the company and the job, on average 250 resumes are received for each corporate job opening. Finding a position opening late can’t help your chances because the first resume is received within 200 seconds after a position is posted. If you post your resume online on a major job site like Monster so that a recruiter can find it, you are facing stiff competition because 427,000 other resumes are posted on Monster alone each and every week (BeHiring).

Understanding the Hiring “Funnel” can Help You Gauge Your Chances

In recruiting, we have what is known as a “hiring funnel” or yield model for every job which helps recruiting leaders understand how many total applications they need to generate in order to get a single hire. As an applicant, this funnel reveals your chances of success at each step of the hiring process. For the specific case of an online job posting, on average, 1,000 individuals will see a job post, 200 will begin the application process, 100 will complete the application, 75 of those 100 resumes will be screened out by either the ATS or a recruiter, 25 resumes will be seen by the hiring manager, 4 to 6 will be invited for an interview, 1 to 3 of them will be invited back for final interview, 1 will be offered that job and 80 percent of those receiving an offer will accept it (Talent Function Group LLC).

 

Six Seconds of Resume Review Means Recruiters Will See Very Little

When you ask individual recruiters directly, they report that they spend up to 5 minutes reviewing each individual resume. However, a recent research study from TheLadders that included the direct observation of the actions of corporate recruiters demonstrated that the boast of this extended review time is a huge exaggeration. You may be shocked to know that the average recruiter spends a mere 6 seconds reviewing a resume.

A similar study found the review time to be 5 - 7 seconds (BeHiring).

Obviously six seconds only allows a recruiter to quickly scan (but not to read) a resume. We also know from observation that nearly 4 seconds of that 6-second scan is spent looking exclusively at four job areas, which are: 1) job titles, 2) companies you worked at, 3) start/end dates and 4) education. Like it or not, that narrow focus means that unless you make these four areas extremely easy for them to find within approximately four seconds, the odds are high that you will be instantly passed over. And finally be aware that whatever else that you have on your resume, the recruiter will have only the remaining approximately 2 seconds to find and be impressed with it. And finally, if you think the information in your cover letter will provide added support for your qualifications, you might be interested to know that a mere 17 percent of recruiters bother to read cover letters (BeHiring).

A Single Resume Error Can Instantly Disqualify You

A single resume error may prevent your resume from moving on. That is because 61 percent of recruiters will automatically dismiss a resume because it contains typos (Careerbuilder). In a similar light, 43 percent of hiring managers will disqualify a candidate from consideration because of spelling errors (Adecco). The use of an unprofessional email address will get a resume rejected 76 percent of the time (BeHiring). You should also be aware that prominently displaying dates that show that you are not currently employed may also get you prematurely rejected at many firms.

A Format That Is Not Scannable Can Cut Your Odds by 60 Percent

TheLadders’ research also showed that the format of the resume matters a great deal. Having a clear or professionally organized resume format that presents relevant information where recruiters expect it will improve the rating of a resume by recruiter by a whopping 60 percent, without any change to the content (a 6.2 versus a 3.9 usability rating for the less-professionally organized resume). And if you make that common mistake of putting your resume in a PDF format, you should realize that many ATS systems will simply not be able to scan and read any part of its content (meaning instant rejection).

Weak LinkedIn Profiles Can Also Hurt You

Because many recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn profiles either to verify or to supplement resume information, those profiles also impact your chances. Ey- tracking technology used by TheLadders revealed that recruiters spend an average of 19 percent of their time on your LinkedIn profile simply viewing your picture (so a professional picture may be worthwhile). The research also revealed that just like resumes, weak organization, and scannability within a LinkedIn profile negatively impacted the recruiter’s ability to “process the profile” (TheLadders).

50 Seconds Spent Means Many Apply for a Job They Are Not Qualified for

Recruiters report that over 50 percent of applicants for a typical job fail to meet the basic qualifications for that job (Wall Street Journal). Part of the reason for that high “not-qualified” rate is because when an individual is looking at a job opening, even though they report that they spend 10 minutes reviewing in detail each job which they thought was a “fit” for them, we now know that they spend an average of just 76 seconds (and as little as 50 seconds) reading and assessing a position description that they apply for (TheLadders). Most of that roughly 60-second job selection time reviewing the position description is actually spent reviewing the narrow introductory section of the description that only covers the job title, compensation, and location.

As a result of not actually spending the necessary time reviewing and side-by-side comparing the requirements to their own qualifications, job applicants end up applying for many jobs where they have no chance of being selected.

Be Aware That Even if Your Resume Fits the Job Posting, You May Still Be Rejected

To make matters worse, many of the corporate position descriptions that applicants are reading are poorly written or out of date when they are posted. So even if an applicant did spend the required time to fully read the job posting, they may still end up applying for a job that exists only on paper. So even though an applicant actually meets the written qualifications, they may be later rejected (without their knowledge) because after they applied, the hiring manager finally decided that they actually wanted a significantly different set of qualifications.

Making it Through a Keyword Search Requires a Customized Resume

The first preliminary resume screening step at most corporations is a computerized ATS system that scans submitted resumes for keywords that indicate that an applicant fits a particular job. I estimate more that 90 percent of candidates apply using their standard resume (without any customization). Unfortunately, this practice dramatically increases the odds that a resume will be instantly rejected because a resume that is not customized to the job will seldom include enough of the required “keywords” to qualify for the next step, a review by a human.

Even if you are lucky enough to have a live recruiter review your resume, because recruiters spend on average less than 2 seconds (of the total six-second review) looking for a keyword match, unless the words are strategically placed so that they can be easily spotted, a recruiter will also likely reject it for not meeting the keyword target.

No One Reads Resumes Housed in the Black hole Database

If you make the mistake of applying for a job that is not currently open, you are probably guaranteeing failure. This is because during most times, but especially during times of lean recruiting budgets, overburdened recruiters and hiring managers simply don’t have the time to visit the corporate resume database (for that reason, many call it the black hole). So realize that recruiters generally only have time to look at applicants who apply for a specific open job and who are then ranked highly by the ATS system.

Some Applicants Have Additional Disadvantages

Because four out of the five job-related factors that recruiters initially look for in a resume involve work experience, recent grads are at a decided disadvantage when applying for most jobs. Their lack of experience will also mean that their resume will likely rank low on the keyword count. To make matters worse, the average hiring manager begins with a negative view of college grads because a full 66 percent of hiring managers report that they view new college grads “as unprepared for the work place” (Adecco).

Race can also play a role in your success rate because research has shown that if you submit a resume with a “white sounding name,” you have a 50 percent higher chance of getting called for an initial interview than if you submit a resume with comparable credentials from an individual with a “black-sounding name” (M. Bertrand, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business).

Remember a Resume Only Gets You an Interview

Even with a perfect resume and a little luck, getting through the initial resume screen by the recruiter only guarantees that your resume will qualify for a more thorough review during what I call the “knockout round.” During this next stage of review, the recruiter will have more time to assess your resume for your accomplishments, your quantified results, your skills, and the tools you can use.

Unfortunately, the recruiter is usually looking for reasons to reject you, in order to avoid the criticism that will invariably come from the hiring manager if they find knockout factors in your resume. If no obvious knockout factors are found you can expect a telephone interview, and if you pass that, numerous in-person interviews (note: applicants can find the most common interview questions for a particular firm on glassdoor.com).

Even if You Do Everything Right, the Odds Can Be Less Than 1 Percent

Because of the many roadblocks, bottlenecks, and “knockout factors” that I have highlighted in this article, the overall odds of getting a job at a “best-place-to-work” firm can often be measured in single digits. For example, Deloitte, a top firm in the accounting field, actually brags that it only hires 3.5 percent of its applicants. Google, the firm with a No. 1 employer brand, gets well over 1 million applicants per year, which means that even during its robust hiring periods when it hires 4,000 people a year, your odds of getting hired are an amazingly low 4/10 of 1 percent. Those unfortunately are painfully low “lotto type odds.”

Up to 50 Percent of Recruiting Efforts Result in Failure

In case you’re curious, even with all the time, resources, and dollars invested in corporate recruiting processes, still between 30 percent and 50 percent of all recruiting efforts are classified by corporations as a failure. Failure is defined as when an offer was rejected or when the new hire quit or had to be terminated within the first year (staffing.org). Applicants should also note that 50 percent of all new hires later regret their decision to accept the job (Recruiting Roundtable).

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately, much of what is written about “the perfect resume” and the ideal job search approach is based on “old wives’ tales” and is simply wrong. However, when I review the numbers that are available to me from internal company recruiting data and publicly through research done by industry-leading firms like TheLadders, Adecco, BeHiring, staffing.org, and Careerbuilder, it doesn’t take long to realize that the real job search process differs significantly from the ideal one.

Rather than leaving things to chance, my advice both to the applicant and to the corporate recruiting leader is to approach the job search process in a much more scientific way. For the applicant that means start by thoroughly reading the position description and making a list of the required keywords that both the ATS and the recruiter will need to see.

Next submit a customized resume that is in a scannable format that ensures that the key factors that recruiters need to see initially (job titles, company names, education, dates, keywords, etc.) are both powerful and easy to find during a quick six-second scan. But next comes the most important step: to literally “pretest” both your resume and your LinkedIn profile several times with a recruiter or HR professional. Pretesting makes sure that anyone who scans them for six seconds will be able to actually find each of the key points that recruiters need to find.

My final bit of advice is something that only insiders know. And that is to become an employee referral (the highest volume way to get hired). Because one of the firm’s own employees recommended you and also because the recruiter knows that they will likely have to provide feedback to that employee when they later inquire as to “why their referral was rejected,” résumés from referrals are reviewed much more closely.

I hope that by presenting these 35+ powerful recruiting-related numbers I have improved your understanding of the recruiting process and the roadblocks that you need to steer around in order to dramatically improve your odds of getting a great job.

http://www.ere.net/2013/05/20/why-you-cant-get-a-job-recruiting-explained-by-the-numbers/