Q. Is checking a candidate’s references worth the effort since most companies won’t give references anyway?
I conduct references for every candidate I represent for one of our searches. I believe this is part of the due diligence process prior to hiring someone. Top talent have references and can always provide someone either currently in the company or that has left the company. I discovered long ago that CEO’s violate their own policy on references for top performers. They will never do it for anyone else.
It is important to inform the candidate at the beginning of the hiring process that references will be required. Too often companies wait until the end of the process before asking for references. Letting the candidate know that this is not a request, but a requirement up front is critical to getting proper references.
The common belief is that candidates will only give references that they know will say positive things. That isn’t always true. Often it’s not what the reference says, but how they say it that counts.
In our search practice it is our policy that if a candidate can only provide references that will only provide name, rank and serial number that is code for walk away. Top talent have references.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. How important are recruiters in a job search? I have not had much luck working with them.
Working with recruiters during your job search really isn’t a matter of luck as much as it is meeting the very specific requirements our clients want. The fact is recruiters place a very small percentage of the candidates in their database. So working with recruiters from a candidate’s perspective means there isn’t a high probability they will have a job right for you. Remember recruiters work for the company. That means for every job search only one candidate is going to be hired. Considering on any one search we conduct, we review between 150 and 200 candidates, the odds of any one candidate getting the job is very small.
So here is my recommendation for the candidates I coach when it comes to working with recruiters. Let the recruiters do their job and you do your part. The best way to work with recruiters is to make sure recruiters can find you. That is what recruiters do. We find people. So the higher your visibility in the market the higher the probability the right recruiter (the one with a job for you) will find you, engage you and hopefully place you. This is why building solid networking relationships is so important in a job search. The more people that know you the higher the odds are you will be referred to a recruiter by one of your networking relationships. Being highly visible so recruiters can find you is the best way to work with recruiters during a job search.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
For most, consulting while looking for a job is a double-edged sword. On the one hand you are working and generating revenue. On the other hand most people stop conducting their job search during this period. What they have actually done is accept a short-term full time job. So when the job is over in three to six months they start their search again. This causes the candidate to keep starting and stopping their job search. What happens if the ideal position becomes available while you are working this short-term position? Generally, you will miss it.
If you are going to take a short-term position, I recommend making it clear to the company your goal is to find a full-time position. In order to that let them know up front you may have to leave for interviews, networking events, or other issues surrounding your primary goal of finding a job. Consider requesting a work week of four ten hour days instead of five days. This will leave you one day a week to work on your job search.
I believe there are enough ups and downs in a job search without trying to ramp up a new job search every three to six months.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. I find looking for a job has many ups and downs. Is there a way to avoid the peaks and valleys?
One way might be to find an accountability partner. A good accountability partner can help keep you on track and focused on your job search. Their role is to hold you accountable to a schedule and plan. With the people I coach, I find that it is very easy for candidates to get distracted causing them to lose focus on the goal. An accountability partner’s job is to make sure you create an effective job search plan with daily and weekly goals. Then hold you accountable to those. They are not there to let you make excuses about why you couldn’t get them done. Good partners will bring a tough love to the process. They should be someone you trust, have experience helping people with job search issues, someone willing to be completely honest with you, a person that will listen when you are down, but knows the best way to get you feeling good again is by having you make progress in your search.
You should meet at least weekly with your partner to review the progress you have made and layout what you will do in the following week.
Here is a link to a discussion on what an accountability partner should do and how to select one. http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/careerblog/2011/01/04/1-step-to-turbo-charge-your-search-in-2011-part-1/
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. I have only worked for one company in my career. Recently our company was sold and I’m not sure how to start a job search or even how to put together a resume. Where do I go to get help?
Like most things today the best place to start is the Internet. The good news is that there is a wealth of good information available on the Web and most of it is free. Google, “job search help” “resume writing” “job search networking” “where to start a job search” “how to start a job search” and you will be surprised at the amount of information available. On our website we offer an extensive amount of articles, audio files, examples to download, tools and resources to help you and the vast majority are free.
In addition, LinkedIn offers a tremendous amount of resources via the groups. Once you establish a profile on LinkedIn join some of the job search groups. These groups have great discussions, links to resources and many excellent professionals offering advice. All are free. Twitter is another wonderful resource. Set up an account and download the Twitter application Hootsuite. It is free. Once you do this simply set up columns for resumes, unemployed, interviewing, and jobsearch. You will then be able to view all the information professionals discuss using these subjects. Both LinkedIn Groups and Twitter are excellent resources to start learning about conducting a job search.
Finally, don’t forget the State’s unemployment department. They also offer many courses and support to help with these issues. Again, these are all free.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. How important are keywords on the resume?
Most companies don’t have sophisticated resume software to search resumes. Large companies may have this, but most Orange County companies are small and therefore don’t have the software. The issue is with job boards. For companies that search online resume databases having the right keywords is important. If you are going to post your resume you should make sure you know the best keywords that will bring up your resume. Often it is title, industry, some functional keywords such as sales, marketing, employee benefits, accounting and so on.
One way I have found to identify your best keywords is to ask others what keywords they would use if they were looking for a person in your field. Collect these and embed the ones most often mentioned in your resume.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Q. I’m currently one of those who is underemployed. I’m considering looking for a better job and would like to know the best way to go about it while working?
I would start with your current employer. Situations like yours often happen when a candidate is in need of a job. That is generally why they accepted a lower position in the first place. So I believe some level of loyalty should be given to a company that helped you when you needed it. You might check to see if a position will open up as the economy continues to improve? Are they open to expanding your role in the company? Converting you from part-time to full-time? If you haven’t already, you might consider giving them this opportunity before throwing in the towel.
If you still decide it is best to move, then you will have to conduct a search. Many candidates search while working. Start by building or updating your LinkedIn profile, post your resume on the job boards, let people you trust know you are open to something different, attend networking meetings before or after work hours, check the Web sites of potential employers in your industry to see if they post open positions and when appropriate engage a recruiter and respond to ads. Most companies are willing to conduct interviews during off hours for those people working. You basically have to get out and let people know you are open to referrals or find a position via job postings.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Question: Is having a profile on LinkedIn critical for professionals? I have asked many of my colleagues with profiles and only one has ever been contacted via LinkedIn.
I get this question a lot. LinkedIn is simply one tool in your job search tool box. I think too many candidates think they can just put up a profile and the phone starts ringing. Nothing could be more incorrect. I do believe you should have a compelling profile on LinkedIn. I speak with many recruiters, human resource professionals and hiring managers and almost all are using LinkedIn in some way. During a job search you must cover all the bases as there is no way to know where the job lead will come from. LinkedIn increases your visibility. It is not much different that posting your resume on a job board. Doing that doesn’t guarantee you will get a call, but most still should do it. An effective job search has a lot of moving parts. LinkedIn is just one of those parts.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Question: What is the best way for an executive to distinguish themselves from all of the other executives chasing the same positions?
This is one of the most important issues all candidates must tackle during a job search. In today’s job market companies are very specific when hiring. You cannot be a jack of all trades. You must be the king or queen of your trade. So it is imperative you determine what distinguishes you from others.
Most candidates have a hard time doing this for fear of being excluded from a possible position. I disagree. Candidates should find their sweet spot and build a search around that, instead of around some long shot opportunity that might come their way.
I have coached many executives and they all have something that makes them unique. It may be international experience, M&A, turnarounds, startups, changing a company’s culture from dysfunctional to one that thrives on success, a specific technology, and so on. I recommend you survey your peers, bosses, customers, vendors, subordinates, trusted advisors, for what they believe distinguishes you from other executives. Once you know these then build your brand and job search around those distinguishing characteristics.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Question: Most of my career is in financial services. I want to get out of that industry and into healthcare. What is the best way to make this transition?
Making an industry change in this economy is difficult, unless you have one of those jobs in which the skills required are not industry specific. Meaning your skills and training are easily transferable to another industry. The issue you have to overcome is your competition for an opening will probably include people in the healthcare industry. Most companies will look at those with industry experience first.
The best way to make an industry change is through networking. You need to build relationships with people in the industry. To do this consider attending professional associations, joining networking groups in healthcare, attending trade shows or conferences and connecting with healthcare people in your local area via LinkedIn. As they get to know you they will be able to determine how your strengths, outside the healthcare industry, can apply to the problems they need solved in their company. Recruiters and submitting resumes via ads are long shots.
There are some barriers you should think about overcoming when changing industries, assuming your skills are not easily transferable. The first one is compensation. Chances are you are more valuable in the financial services industry than healthcare. Therefore, the position will probably be at a lower level and so will the compensation. Secondly, some additional training and education maybe required.
To download the free chapter on Conducting an Effective Phone Interview from our book “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
How effective is your job search? If you are not sure, download our free 8 Matrix Job Search Self-Assessment Scorecard. CLICK HERE and then click on the Free Search Resources link.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Interviewing, Job Search Preparation, References | bradremillard December 4, 2012 | 
Comments (0) 
