How Recruiters Search Using LinkedIn & What We Look For

So much has been written on the importance of a complete and compelling LinkedIn profile.  I am currently working on two searches for which I am extensively using LinkedIn to source candidates. From what I have seen, one would think that LinkedIn is either a new or non-essential tool. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In the last two weeks, I have looked at well over three hundred profiles on LinkedIn. Only one thought comes to mind and I hope I speak for most recruiters (internal and external) when I say, “What a major disappointment!” or “Now I understand exactly why so many candidates are in transition so much longer than necessary.”

I firmly believe that most profiles are viewed, and then passed over time and time again. Most  LinkedIn members who are looking for a position don’t even know how many times someone has reviewed their profile and never contacted them simply because their profile completely, “SUCKS.”

Profile after profile indicated “open to being contacted for career opportunities,” but the profile wouldn’t even include the person’s name!

If that isn’t  ridiculous enough,  my favorite examples are the ones that state in the headline, “Unemployed or Actively Seeking a New Position.”  One would think that since this person took the time to announce to the world that they are in transition, that they would at least upload their resume. But “NO.”   OK,  surely they will at least complete their profile so people reviewing it will know what they do?  Nope, why let recruiters and others searching for candidates have this information?

Give me a break,  do they expect me to engage them based on their picture? Are recruiters supposed to just know this information via osmosis?

Here is how I search for candidates on LinkedIn. I hope this will help you as well as help recruiters help you.

1. I start out using the advanced search feature for people.
2. I want to throw a wide net.  My goal is to be inclusive at this point, rather than to exclude someone.
3. I usually start with just a few criteria. Generally, title, location (I use zip code and 50 mile radius), industry and function. That is it.
4. There are exceptions to this but this is the starting point.
5. I leave all other fields set to the  “All . . ” category in the drop down boxes. Meaning search all my groups, search in and out of my network, etc. I want a wide net.

Generally, hundreds of profiles appear. Now the search really begins, as does the frustration.

I begin scanning through the summaries of the profiles that appear. There is not a lot of information in the summary but enough to give the reader a good idea of whether it’s worth it to view the person’s full profile.

So often there is no need to even review a person’s profile. I can tell just from the summary that the information on the profile is either missing or completely worthless. For example, no picture, no name, no companies listed, vague titles, no contacts, background missing, no work history, etc. Yet, they want to be contacted for career opportunities.

Once I start looking at the profile, I usually decide in about 10-20 seconds if I should click out or read on.  So many profiles are so incomplete that I wonder why this person even took the time to post a profile. What exactly were they expecting when they posted this worthless profile?

I also look at the picture to see if it is professional or one that will embarrass me for referring the person if my client views it. That’s assuming there is a picture at all.

I then begin looking for the box checking stuff my client is requiring such as education, experience, current or past titles, years of experience, level, etc. You can read more about this in an article I wrote, “How Recruiters Read Resumes In 10 Seconds or Less.” Click here if you are interested.

I also look for recommendations and may read some. What are others saying about you? If nobody is willing to say anything good about you, it certainly isn’t a knock out, but I am curious about that.

I will also scroll down the profile summary and work history, and if a resume is uploaded I will review it. Rarely is a resume uploaded. Most of the time this is where it ends. The profile is so incomplete, the work history so brief, the description of work so worthless, that I can’t figure out what they were responsible for.  The profile has little or no company information, so I have no idea if their past companies were even in the right industry. Finally, the summary at the top is meaningless. Most don’t even include specialties.

I scroll to the very bottom and sure enough they want to be contacted regarding career opportunities. Some are even helpful at this point and will say, “Prefer to be contacted on my cell phone.” or  “Please use my personal email address.” Neither of which are included in the profile. Hey, I can’t make this stuff up.

GOODBYE. I have better things to do and a lot more people to consider.

This person probably just lost a great opportunity, or at the very least an opportunity to discuss a position. Even if they aren’t interested,  just knowing what is going on in their market is helpful. Just getting a feel for comparable compensation is a good data point for anyone to know.

The lunacy doesn’t end here. At least 50% of  these people are not working. Their work history will be 2007-2009.  What planet are they on? I’m sure they are frustrated, and complaining about how long they have been out of work and how bad the market is. This may be completely true, but they aren’t helping themselves with their profile.

If this search fails to produce viable candidates, I will go back and change the title or industry and try again. Not necessarily change the search, just some of the criteria. I’ll try to throw a wider net in a different part of LinkedIn’s membership.

Finally, I may eventually search by company name. If I know of a specific company that is right, I will search using the company name. That brings up all of the people that are currently working for this company or have in the past.

This is why your complete and compelling profile is so important on LinkedIn.  In today’s world, the search for candidates so often starts on LinkedIn. The sad part is, it also often ends there too.

Take away nothing else from this article but this one thing: In today’s market, companies (right or wrong) are looking for the kings and queens in their field, not the jack of all trades. If your profile doesn’t shout out loud and clear, “I’m an EXPERT,” you may be missing opportunities. Sadly, this happens and it is so easy to fix.

On March 26th we are having a webinar on how you can leverage LinkedIn to find your next job. We believe this is the most comprehensive webinar we have seen on this topic. We’ll have over 35 slides (we’ll give you all the slides) on how you can build a compelling and complete profile. We will show you step-by-step where the tools are and how you can use them to be the “EXPERT.” These slides and the audio recording of the webinar are included. If you want a profile that puts you in the top 10%, then you should CLICK HERE to learn more.

At a minimum you should download our 8-Level LinkedIn Self Assessment Profile. This tool is a great start towards building a great profile. CLICK HERE to get yours. It is 100% free.

Finally, if you are on LinkedIn, join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There are more than 4,800 members in the group. It is one of the fastest growing groups on LinkedIn that focuses on job search issues. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

Is Your LinkedIn Profile Hurting Your Job Search?

At a recent Vistage meeting of about 20 CEOs we were discussing using social media as a way to find people.  One of the CEOs indicated it is also a great way to eliminate people.

I wasn’t overly surprised to learn that many hadn’t thought about social media for hiring, but I was surprised to learn that many don’t use it as a screening tool. Obviously, after hearing the story from the one CEO, most will reconsider.

The CEO stated that they had been in the process of interviewing a candidate for a sales position, and like most hiring processes, it takes a couple of weeks to get through all of the interviews. Over this couple of weeks the company started tracking this person’s tweets on Twitter and looked up the candidate’s profile picture.

OOPS a major faux pas.

Apparently as it was relayed in the meeting, this person’s picture was – let’s just say not professional, and the tweets were completely inappropriate as viewed by the company. The language was foul, the topics discussed rather vulgar, and for a professional sales person raised a lot of red flags.

The company was afraid of a sexual harassment lawsuit and how this candidate would communicate with employees and customers. Not to mention what customers would think if they saw this person’s profile picture and followed them on Twitter.

Social media is a double-edged sword. I follow Twitter on a regular basis, and I am surprised at how many people looking for a job use inappropriate language, brag about being lazy, tweet about how glad they are about not working, or demonstrate a lack of willingness to be employed. They come across as wanting a job but not willing to work. This is not what a future employer is seeking.

Take care to ensure that you manage your LinkedIn profile properly and professionally during your job search. Others are watching and listening to you.

If this was helpful to you, it will probably be helpful to others. Please consider passing it on so they too can benefit. You might add it to your Facebook page, update it on your LinkedIn status, or email it to friends or to your network. We all need to help out. One tip can make a huge difference to someone.

GET A FREE LINKEDIN PROFILE ASSESSMENT. On March 26th we are offering a webinar on, “How To Find Your Next Job Using LinkedIn.” We will tell you the number one reason  so many recruiters view your profile and never call you. THIS IS NOT A JOKE OR HYPE. It is a fact that most candidates never think of. CLICK HERE to learn more about how to get your FREE profile assessment and the webinar.

Join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group and stay connected with the other 4600+ members. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

How Would You Rate Your LinkedIn Profile?

I recently asked this question on LinkedIn, “How would you rate your LinkedIn profile?” The choices were, poor, fair, good or very good. I wasn’t referring to completeness based on the LinkedIn scale. I wanted to know how you would rate your profile based on how good or compelling it is.

Would a recruiter, HR professional, or hiring authority be so impressed that they can’t wait to contact you? That is the goal of a LinkedIn profile. Why else would you have one if you are in a job search?

So that is my question to you, “How do you rate your LinkedIn profile?” We would really like to know.

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Now the really important question, “How would you rate your resume?” Let us know that too. Just simply send us a comment. You can do that at the bottom of this article.

Did you rate them both the same? Most rate their resume good to very good and their LinkedIn profile poor to fair. WHY?

Both of these are marketing documents. That is all a resume is. It is put together to market you. In our best selling job search workbook,“This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” we don’t like to use the word “resume.”  Rather, we prefer to call it your Personal Compelling Marketing Brochure.

Your LinkedIn profile is your online marketing brochure. It must sell you. Your profile can be even more compelling than a resume because of all of the added features LinkedIn allows you to add to your profile. Most are not possible on a resume.

So here is the next set of questions, “How many hours have you dedicated to developing your resume?” My experience is that most candidates spend hours not only developing their resume, but revamping it, changing it, redoing it, updating it, and so on. For many, this is a never ending process.

OK, so then, “How many hours have you dedicated to developing your LinkedIn profile?” We would really like you to be completely honest and answer these questions. Just add your responses to them in the comment box at the bottom.

Still  not convinced about why you need a great and compelling profile on LinkedIn?  Here are some additional reasons that might convince you.

• For my last three placements, all of the candidates came directly from LinkedIn.

• Two clients recently told me they hired mid-level sales people directly from LinkedIn.

• Before posting an open position on a job board, most recruiters go to LinkedIn first.

• I’m currently working on two searches and I found all of the candidates using LinkedIn.

• LinkedIn now has over 45 million users.

• More and more internal recruiters and HR professionals start their searches on LinkedIn.

• Companies can save thousands of dollars searching LinkedIn versus searching resumes on a job board.

Given all of this, would you reply to a job posting with a fair resume? Would you expect a call back from a hiring authority or recruiter if your resume was “fair?”

If your LinkedIn profile isn’t better than your resume, you are leaving a very valuable tool in your tool box. When I’m coaching job seekers, one of the first items we work on is their LinkedIn profile. It is not uncommon that within two weeks of completing the profile makeover for these candidates, that they start receiving inquiries.

So let us hear from you regarding how you responded to these questions. We are really interested.

Don’t know how to build a great profile?

Get a FREE LinkedIn Profile Assessment. To help you build a great LinkedIn job search strategy, we are having a webinar on March 26. This webinar will ensure you not only have a great profile, but in addition, teach  you how to find contacts, how recruiters use LinkedIn, and how to ensure that if someone comes to your profile that you are positioned as the expert.  CLICK HERE to learn more.

Also, Barry and I have had extensive discussions regarding LinkedIn on our weekly radio show that airs every Monday at 11 AM PST at www.latalkradio.com on channel 2. We add all of these recordings to our audio library. These recordings are free for you to listen to or download. CLICK HERE to review our audio library.

Finally, consider joining our LinkedIn Job Search Networking Group. There are more than 4,4oo members, and a wealth of articles and discussions to help you in your job search. CLICK HERE to join.

Brad Remillard

How to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile: Job Search Tactic #1

Brad and I have talked endlessly about how much easier your job search is to found than to find a job. I recently wrote a post on this exact subject.

We did a radio broadcast on how to improve your LinkedIn Profile. We posted our LinkedIn Self-Assessment Scorecard on our site a few months ago –  a download that has become one our all-time most popular downloads. You can get the download and quickly understand how to improve your LinkedIn Profile for Job Search.

Not only is building an outstanding LinkedIn Profile a job search best practice, but it is also an integral part of personal branding (another key element of an effective job search).

More importantly, every recruiter, HR pro, and hiring manager will google your name and look up on LinkedIn BEFORE they decide to grant you an interview.

Google Profiles will be the focus of our next blog article, Job Search Tactic Number 2.

• Does your LinkedIn Profile capture a viewer’s attention?
• What elements of your Profile are they drawn to?
• Would I as recruiter feel that I just had to call you after viewing your profile?
• Does your profile scream “you’re not going to find a better person” at me?
• What are the steps in creating an effective job search LinkedIn Profile?

Below we’ll list the key elements of creating an effective profile. We could probably spend an entire blog post series on each element of your LinkedIn Profile.

Here are the LinkedIn Profile Best Practices (in no particular order)”:

1. Use a compelling headline
2. Complete all the details of your entire career
3. List all your accomplishments in detail with as much quantification as possible
4. Get a lot of recommendations
5. Recommend others
6. Include Slideshare Powerpoint presentations of your accomplishments
7. List the books you’re ready/comment on other book lists
8. Incorporate Your Twitter Feed and Link
9. Include a link to your blog
10. Include a link to your on-line resume
11. Pull your blog’s feed onto your profile using WordPress
12. Include links for audio/video files of you talking about your accomplishments and achievements.
13. Join Groups that are professionally/geographically appropriate
14. Update your status frequently – as in daily
15. Dramatically build your network with appropriate contacts
16. Make it easy to connect with you – phone #s and email

These are the elements of your LinkedIn Profile that will differentiate you from your peers. Read a couple of our other blog posts on this subject of leveraging your LinkedIn Profile for Job Search, including an article titled “Become a Beacon in Your Job Search” and “Are You Difficult to Connect With on LinkedIn in Your Job Search?“

Barry Deutsch

Don’t forget to join our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group to learn more about leveraging your LinkedIn Profile for Job Search.

It’s play-off time for your job search – what do you have to lose?

Here comes another basketball metaphor about your job search.

A few nights ago, my Varsity HS Girls Basketball Team played in the first round of the State Playoffs. In our section we were ranked 6th out of 32 teams. We played a team ranked 24 and almost lost.

Why? It should have been an easy win – a no-brainer.

At playoff time, teams change – they go from being conservative, playing careful, doing the same old thing, and usually playing within their capability. At playoff time, lower ranked teams hike it up to whole other level. They play with complete abandon – and give it a 110%.

What do the lower ranked teams have to lose? If they don’t win, their season ends right now. And if they can pull off one more win – they get to come back and play another game. Many upsets occur, because lower ranked teams fight as hard as they ever fought, they do everything they can to influence the outcome, and they leave nothing on the table.

If you asked the team last night that lost to us in the last 5 minutes of the game if they had any regrets – if any of the players felt they had not played as hard as they could – and the answer would be an overwhelming “I gave it everything I could”.

When asked that question, our higher ranked girls would have said there was a lot they could have done and they were disappointed in their performance since they didn’t “work hard enough”. They were coasting on their high ranking, thinking their past track record could speak for itself.

Are you guilty of this dysfunctional thinking in your job search?

If you ask most candidates that question about their job search, I would predict that most candidates would have significant regrets about their commitment, energy, and intensity regarding their job search.

Most candidates are not willing to “go beyond the call of duty” in their job search.

Most candidates could not claim that they have “outworked their peers” in their job search.

Most candidates are just doing the same thing over and over (Benjamin Franklin’s Definition of Insanity).

No wonder the typical executive/senior management job search is now significantly over 6 months. Here are some questions to ponder about your job search:

• What are you doing in your job search that your peers are unwilling to do?
• What are doing this week that represents a high level of energy, commitment, and intensity in your job search than last week?
• How would you quantify the effort and intensity of your job search?
• Shouldn’t you be treating your job search like it’s play-off time and it’s the last 5 minutes of what could be the last game of the season or your entire career?
• Are you going beyond the call of duty in your job search?

What could you be doing differently that would represent a higher level of commitment, energy, and intensity?

• Have you assessed your LinkedIn Profile and are making the necessary changes and investment of time to get noticed by recruiters and hiring managers?
• Are you writing custom cover letters for every appropriate job you apply for?
• Are you publishing a blog on your functional expertise?
• Have you joined two local networking groups and possibly a trade/functional group? Are you taking on a leadership role in these groups?
• How hard are you working your network using classic networking principles of being a connector, giving back, staying in touch through nurturing? Have your taught yourself how to be a master of networking?
• Have you continually refined your resume and turned it into a marketing document instead of a factual presentation of your history?
• How many blogs do you read, how many job search E-books have you downloaded, how many comments have you posted in Job Search LinkedIn Q&A sections.

This is just a small list of the hundreds of things you could be doing in your job search to reduce the time it takes to find a great opportunity. Most of your peers are unwilling to invest the time to do these job search best practices. Are you willing be to do what it takes to win – to go beyond what most of your peers do in their job search – or would you rather coast in the middle of the pack?

Have you downloaded our FREE Job Search Preparation Scorecard to see if you’re doing everything you can to conduct an effective job search?

What’s holding you back from pouring everything you’ve got into your job search?

Barry Deutsch

Jump into the Questions and Answers in our popular LinkedIn Discussion Group to discover what some candidates are doing that truly represents an effort to go “beyond the call of duty”.

Don’t Be the Candidate Screened Out by a Recruiter’s First Question

In my last blog post, I described how the best recruiters screen out the vast majority of candidates for their search assignments through one simple question.

Don’t be the one who gets screened out in 30 seconds.

Many times these are great opportunities the recruiters are working on – you’re the perfect candidate for that appropriate position – you definitely do not want to miss out.

What can you do?

I’m going to suggest that there is a simple approach you can use to prepare for interviews, and it mirrors the cover letter strategy.

If the advertisement does not point out precisely what is required in the position, you can make the fair assumption that there are 3-4 primary elements to every senior professional, managerial, and executive position. Putting your comparable accomplishments to each of these core elements of a position in the cover letter, and being ready to address them in the interview is an insurance policy against being screened out prematurely by recruiters.

Let’s run through a few examples:

If you are applying for a CFO/Controller/Director of Finance position in an entrepreneurial to mid-sized non-public company, the primary expectations over the first year will probably include:

1. Process Improvement – reducing the closing process, improving financial reporting, inventory control process changes, order entry processing speed/efficiency.

2. Financial Planning/Analysis/Forecasting – improvements to budgeting, annual planning, cash flow management, strategic planning, monthly analysis, monthly and quarterly projections.

3. Operational Projects – conducting special one-time analysis on leasing equipment, facility optimization, capital investments in equipment, customer profitability analysis, viability of new products, services, markets, analysis of warranty reserves, and cost reduction opportunities.

4. Policies/Procedures/Asset Protection – improving/changing the handling of cash, tracking of fixed assets, credit policies, collection management, purchasing and material management.

If you are applying for a Marketing Manager position at a sub-component manufacturing company, the primary expectations over the first year might include:

1. Marketing/Sales Materials – review and improvement of all collateral material used by the sales team.

2. Business Growth – assessment and recommendation of new markets, products, and services. Launching and managing existing and new services and products.

3. External marketing – branding, positioning, messaging, advertising, and trade shows to increase awareness and recognition in marketing to OEM manufacturers.

4. Lead generation for the sales function – database marketing, trade offers, channel management, website, lead management tools.

Tell us what the 3-4 primary success factors are in your functional role for the type of industry/type of company that you are focusing your job search on.

We’d like to see how many job seekers understand the critical components of being successful for the type of position they are seeking.

Now let’s jump back to the first interview question a recruiter poses to you in the initial phone call:

My client’s closing process takes too long. They need this individual to reduce by 50% the time it takes to close their books on a monthly basis.

Amazing. Astounding. The recruiter is blown away. You’ve got 2-3 great examples of where you solved similar/comparable process problems/obstacles.

Let’s try another one:

My client is looking at expanding their regional electro-optical sub-component business nationally. Do you have 2-3 comparable examples you could share about moving a company into different markets against entrenched competition?

Amazing. Astounding. Once again the recruiter is blown away by the 2-3 examples you’ve shared about successful marketing efforts to move your prior companies into new markets.

The recruiter is doing their job asking the tough questions based on client expectations of success. A little preparation and understanding of what the most common obstacles/problems/opportunities someone in a specific role is going to face will allow you to ace the vast majority of “appropriate” interviews.

Keep in mind that if your background is primarily in marketing management and you’ve done very little in sales management, I’m probably going to quickly screen you as inappropriate for this executive search for a sales management job. If you’re essentially a channel marketing director, I’m probably going to quickly exclude you from consideration for the marketing role in my client’s direct sales model.

The key word is “appropriate”.

One of the greatest frustrations we hear from employers/recruiters is that the vast majority of candidates from whom the receive resumes/calls ARE NOT APPROPRIATE” for their openings on a very basic level – this brings us back to a previous blog posting where I made the outrageous suggestion to stop shot-gunning your resume to jobs that are totally inappropriate and focus your search efforts on “appropriate jobs”.

The shot-gun approach to responding to job advertisements/recruiter job announcements is a complete waste of time. Okay – a miniscule number of candidates will occasionally get lucky – after all – even a blind squirrel will get a nut sometimes. However, do you want to base your job search on “luck” or on a systematic – methodical – structured approach validated as generating consistent results?

You make the choice! If you’re not obtaining decent results from your current shot-gun approach of scattering resumes every time you come across a key word – perhaps it’s time to try a test and see if a more focused effort would generate better results.

Now that I’ve repeated myself for the 100th time on the worthless approach of conducting a shot-gun job search, let’s return to the primary focus of this blog post.

Let’s assume you get screened out for an “appropriate” role.

Shame on you for letting that happen.

If you’ve taken all our recommendations in our FREE Archive of job search best practices including such items as preparing a great job search plan, developing an outstanding LinkedIn Profile, consistently and effectively leveraging cover letters, and investing extensive time in the preparation for an interview – then there is NOT a recruiter, HR staff person, or Hiring Manager who CAN deny you the opportunity to be considered.

NOW we come to the real issue behind why you get screened out for “appropriate” openings on the first recruiter interview question (forget all the  “inappropriate job responses” – you should be immediately screened out for these) – you didn’t do your homework – you didn’t apply the best practices in conducting you job search –  you basically “winged-it”.

STOP being screened out prematurely for openings for which you are perfect. STOP letting this happen. Make a resolution right now that you will never allow yourself again to be screened out prematurely for an “appropriate” position.

START today in changing the way you conduct your job search. Take our entire FREE Archive of Audio Programs, Templates, Examples, and other tools – and start transforming your job search. After you swallow that overwhelming amount of FREE content from us – start extracting the FREE content from all other great career coaches and recruiters on the internet.

STOP complaining about your ineffective job search and the obstacles you are facing. There is an extraordinary amount of great content available to you that is either FREE or can be acquired for a minimal investment. Every candidate I have met in this horrific job market that invested time in discovering and using job search best practices has dramatically reduced the time it took to land a great job.

WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK?

DO YOU FEEL YOU KNOW EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT CONDUCTING AN EFFECTIVE JOB SEARCH?

ON A SCALE OF 1-10 (10 BEING THE HIGHEST) ARE YOU DOING EVERYTHING YOU COULD BE DOING TO CONDUCT A MORE EFFECTIVE JOB SEARCH.

In this blog post, we just took one tiny element of conducting a more effective job search: How to NOT get screened out by recruiters for appropriate positions in their first interview question.

There are hundreds of activities, tactics, strategies you could use to conduct an effective job search.

Barry Deutsch

Jump into the vibrant dialogue in our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group on the most common basic best practices of conducting an effective job search.

Job Seekers Should Stop Being So Hypocritical

For 30 years this September, as both a contingent and retained recruiter, I have listened to the complaints by candidates (job seekers) about hiring managers and the complaints by hiring managers about candidates.

Even after 30 years, as I read blog comments, or sit in a chair and listen to these complaints, I’m still amazed (yes, amazed) at the hypocrisy spewing out from both candidates and hiring managers.

I read the comments to our blogs where candidates complain about the black hole when they send resumes, they complain about how long it takes to fill a position, they complain about recruiters, they complain about not getting their calls returned, they complain that their resume doesn’t get read in great detail, they hate the 10 second resume screen, they complain about cover letters, they complain about how these hiring managers are missing qualified people, they complain that the interview wasn’t fair or too short or too long, and that the person conducting the phone interview wasn’t qualified and didn’t know the job. This list could fill a book about the size of War and Peace, or for those not into War and Peace, book seven of Harry Potter.

Sound at all familiar if you are seeking a new position?

I then listen to hiring managers, HR, CEOs and key executives who are doing the hiring complain that, I get too many resumes, I get tired of interviewing average candidates, I will get to those resumes this weekend or next weekend, the resumes don’t match my job, candidates don’t know how to interview, candidates can’t put together two complex sentences, they complain that recruiters aren’t screening tight enough, they complain recruiters are screening too tight, they get angry at the recruiter for wasting their time interviewing unqualified candidates, they rule a qualified candidate out because they didn’t like the way they sat in the chair (I’m not kidding), they rule a candidate out because his tie was not straight (No, I’m not kidding), give me a job spec so tight and narrow that they themselves (this person’s boss and direct report) wouldn’t be qualified, tell me that from a 15-minute interview this person won’t fit, isn’t assertive enough, or my favorite, the candidate isn’t a  team player (so I ask, “What teams will they serve on?” Answer, “Well not right away, but probably in the next two years.”) They also don’t like the candidate’s handshake, or for this sales position the person needs to be a real go-getter, outgoing and aggressive (so then I ask if they like being approached by outgoing, aggressive sales people and they reply, “No, of course not.”) I could fill another book the size of War and Peace with these complaints.

Then I realized in both cases,  I’m talking with or listening to the exact same person.

Job seekers become hiring managers and hiring managers become job seekers.

The problem is that when they move from one side of the desk to the other, their perspective changes, their needs change, their priorities change, and it is a whole new ball game. Hiring, whether it’s a candidate or hiring authority is “all about me” and “what’s in it for me?”  That is just the way it is. Right or wrong, good or bad, like it or not, that is the fact of hiring.

So the next time, before you complain, from either side of the desk, please take a step back, look at yourself and treat the person on the other side of the desk with the same respect you complain about.

I know, I for one, would surely appreciate it.

You can download many free tools from our Web site. Our most popular free resource is the sample cover letter. CLICK HERE to get one.

If your LinkedIn profile is just fair to average download our free LinkedIn profile assessment to help you build a great profile that gets you noticed. CLICK HERE to download.

You should also join our LinkedIn Job Search Networking group. This group had 3,900 members. The articles and discussions can only help you with your job search. CLICK HERE to join, all are welcome, and of course it is free.

I welcome your thoughts and comments. Good or bad, agree or disagree, all voices are welcome. Just be respectful.

Brad Remillard

Job Search is Taking Longer – Duh!

Does it feel like you keep falling back in your job search to square 1?

In a front page article in New York Times today, the point was made that the average timeframe for conducting a job search is now 6 months. Executive and Senior Management Job Search is typically 2X-3X the average professional job search time period.

Although this is NOT earth-shattering news, it does reflect a confirmation in a well-known publication of the obscene length of time it is taking most job seekers to find a new job.

Here’s the bad news: not only is it taking longer to conduct a job search in one of the worst job markets in the last 25 years, but the worst job market is far from over. Given what we see going on in managerial and executive hiring, if the market returns to “normal levels” within the next 18-24 months, it will be a quick recovery.

The length of time it takes to complete a job search will only increase.

Can you imagine being out of work for a year – 2 years – longer?

Forget about the difficulty on finding a job, as the front page article declares – a larger problem is the long-term financial impact. Let’s not dwell on that issue in this blog post. You can read the depressing article for more information.

I’d like to dwell on why it takes most managerial and executive job seekers 12-18 months to find a new job.

Our experience is that if you use the most common and simple best practices in job search, you should be able to cut the time it takes to find a job in half. Imagine that instead of taking 18 months, it only takes 9 months.

Simple Job Search Best Practices — we talked about this a few blog posts ago – you don’t really have to master each one – you just have to do each one! Skipping one of these best practices is what causes your job search to be a never ending quest.

We call our framework of Job Search Best Practices the Career Success Methodology. This is an integrated and structured approach to executing flawlessly against the most common best practices in conducting an effective job search.

Are you using job search best practices to systematically reduce the time it takes to find a great opportunity?

Benchmark yourself by taking our Job Search Plan Self-Assessment Scorecard.

Rate yourself on 8 different dimensions to determine if your job search plan encompasses the necessary best practices required to conduct an effective job search.

Barry Deutsch

Join us in our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group to discover the most common job search best practices and benchmark the effectiveness of your job search.

Major Controversy – Why Bother Sending a Cover Letter?

There is a raging debate in many LinkedIn Professional and Networking Groups, on our own LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group, hundreds of emails we’ve been sent, numerous blog comments, and an overwhelming number of tweets – all related to our last blog posting – “Pet Peeve – Your Resume and Cover Letter.”

Obviously, a few people have strong opinions on this subject.

Let’s review the debate:

We recommend you customize both your resume and cover letter for the specific job you are applying for.

Arguments for doing a cover letter and/or custom resume:

• Employers and recruiters consider it disrespectful if you do not include a cover letter or resume
• Employers and recruiters are looking for a reason to exclude you from consideration if you do not match up with their criteria. The custom resume or letter specifically addresses the key points in the job posting.
• Employers and recruiters are overwhelmed in this poor job market with hundreds, if not thousands, of job applications per opening. They want to see an “extra effort” by applicants rather than a cookie-cutter shotgun scattered approach to applying for jobs.
• Vast majority of job responses fall into the “Hot Potato” Method of applying for an opening.
• The bland generic information in most resumes DO NOT give a recruiter or hiring manager enough information to decide whether or NOT to extend an interview invitation.

Arguments for NOT doing a cover letter and/or custom resume:

• Low response rate from recruiters and employers – what’s the use. Even if I did one, the investment of time wouldn’t justify an improved outcome.
• It takes too much time, is way too hard, and requires far too much effort.
• Recruiters and Employers don’t read resumes or cover letters deeply enough, so why even bother?
• It’s all a numbers game – the goal is to broadcast as many resumes to jobs I’m remotely qualified for, and maybe something will stick. I’m overwhelmed applying to jobs – no time to customize my response to each job posting.
• Recruiters and Employers don’t provide enough information in their job postings to customize the cover letter and resume. They don’t list the important elements of the job or they have a laundry list of criteria that superman/superwoman couldn’t meet.
• Recruiters and Employers are doing nothing more than box-checking resumes – a custom cover letter and resume will not help in this process of asking for everything under the sun and eliminating candidates if they don’t have one little inconsequential element checked-off.
• Recruiters and Employers are using low level unskilled and untrained clerical staff to review resumes. Not possible for this level of person to accurately judge the resume of a managerial or executive candidate. Custom cover letters and resumes will NOT help (see bullet point about box-checking above).

Have I missed any of the arguments from each side? These would comprise over 90% of the responses to our last blog posting.

So, what to do from this point forward?

In my ever so humble opinion, I am going to stick by the perspective that for management and executive positions, a detailed cover letter should be written specifically addressing the top 3 points identified in the job posting and a custom resume should be submitted. If you don’t have the time to customize your resume, then at least have 3-4 versions of it and submit the one that matches up most closely with comparable accomplishments for the level of the job, the industry segment, or the common core success factor of that position.

We’re open to hearing from you as to your experience in this job market if you’ve really tried the custom approach. If you’ve not tried it yet, please don’t knock it. Test it and play with it. This strategy is but one of the many we recommend in our Career Success Methodology®. We’ve discovered that most job seekers at a managerial and executive level DO NOT conduct an effective job search. Implementing a few best practices in a structured framework can make an enormous difference in reducing the time it takes to find a great opportunity.

As a special offer to our job search community which includes:

Managerial and executive candidates who read our blog

Following us on Twitter

Participating in our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group

Following us through our discussions in a variety of LinkedIn Groups

You’ve downloaded our FREE Job Search tools and content

You’ve attended one of our webinars

You’ve bought one of our job search products

You’ve engaged us in one of our Job Search Coaching Services

We are offering a deep appreciation discount on our upcoming Webinar about resumes and cover letters this Friday January 29th, titled:

GET JOB INTERVIEWS WITH

POWERFUL RESUMES AND COVER LETTERS

This offer of over 50% off the public quoted fee is a special one-time appreciation offer for our job search community and is available only to a selected group – such as our loyal blog readers.

Click here to join the webinar

Please don’t be mad at us for making this offer.

We also have to make a living. It’s very hard to be successful by constantly giving away free tools, templates, audio programs, examples, illustrations, responding to requests for help, and responding to hundreds of comments on our blog and within LinkedIn. We are both trying to build a successful business around effective job search and hiring top talent.

Sometimes, we’re going to make special offers to our job search community for products, services, subscriptions, and webinars. Don’t hold it against us.

If the content was crap – then you can complain. However, Brad and I believe we provide some of the very best content on the Internet for job search and hiring. As many of you know, we give away an extraordinary amount of information in solid tactical tools to improve your job search – maybe to a fault.

We believe the best way to build a loyal following is to give away a lot of our content and as a consequence many job seekers or hiring managers who have found the information useful will move to investing a few dollars in our professional products or services.

Brad and I would like to extend a big thank you of appreciation to all our loyal fans and readers.

Barry Deutsch

PS – The coupon discount you’ll find on the webinar page is only good for the first 50 who register. After that, the price reverts back to our standard pricing for this webinar. Oops – I forgot to mention – the special offer webinar for you includes a number of EXTRA items that doubles the value of the webinar. You couldn’t find this much content about cover letters and resumes in one place if you searched for days.

Pet Peeve – Your Resume and Cover Letter

I’m very frustrated today. I’m ready to explode at the candidates responding to my job postings.

On the outside I’d like to call candidates on the phone and invite them in for an interview – one the inside I’d like to call candidates and scream at them for their stupidity in the way they responded to my job postings.

Here’s a real-life current case study in how NOT to apply for a job. It’s one of my greatest pet peeves as a Retained Executive Recruiter:

Throwing out a resume without a custom cover letter and customizing the resume to fit the job spec described in the job posting.

There – that’s simply it – Finally, I got it off my chest!

I just put 3 new job postings up on LinkedIn. I posted the job on LinkedIn’s Paid Job Board Service and in the FREE Job Boards within various discussion groups (the results were no different for either approach). The jobs I posted were HR Manager, Construction Project Executive, and Senior Sales Executive.

I have received just through LinkedIn (referrals, recommendations, ad responses) over 1000 resumes so far. Approximately 90% did not have a cover letter. Less than 10 customized their resume for the specific job posting. Every one of these jobs is $100K and above. You’d think folks with that expensive parchment called a college diploma would know better.

Some of you may be familiar with a few of my earlier blog postings on this syndrome which I titled “The Hot Potato Method of Responding to a Job Posting”.

I don’t get it.

I’m confused.

I’m almost stunned past the point of words.

More than 75% of the candidates who replied to these jobs have been out of work for over 6 months. Over 50% have been out of work for over 9 months. Why would you RUIN your chances of being interviewed by tossing out your resume as if you don’t give a darn what I do with it?

The responses went something like:

“Here’s my resume”

“Please review my resume”

Some just emailed the resume as an attachment WITHOUT a single comment – as if the resume “spoke for itself”. It’s sad to the point of making me want to cry – or laugh hysterically.

I’d be very interested to hear from your perspective as a candidate why you don’t care enough to write a cover letter describing how your background and accomplishments fit the job spec posted? I’d be interested to hear why you would submit a resume that doesn’t specifically and precisely address the expectations listed in the job posting?

As a recruiter (and I’m sure I’m speaking on behalf of the vast majority of recruiters, HR professionals, and hiring managers), why should I bother to open your resume or consider you as a viable candidate, when it’s obvious you could care less whether you are granted an interview.

SHOW A LITTLE EFFORT IN YOUR JOB SEARCH.

MAKE ME THINK YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS SPECIFIC JOB.

LET ME KNOW YOU’RE NOT BROADCASTING COOKIE CUTTER RESUMES AND RESPONSES OUT TO EVERY JOB POSTING YOU SEE.

What motivates candidates to respond to job postings with the “Hot Potato Method”? Are they burnt out on their job search? Have they reached a point of apathy and indifference in their job search?

Do they (YOU) care if you get a job next month or in 18 months?

If you would like to STOP THIS JOB RESPONSE Posting NONSENSE right now, I’d like to recommend you join me for our upcoming webinar on

Get Interviews with

Effective Resumes and Cover Letters

We’ve DEEPLY DISCOUNTED THE WEBINAR FOR THOSE JOB SEEKERS WITHIN OUR JOB SEARCH COMMUNITY – loyal followers on Twitter, readers of our blog, members of our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group.

In a lively one-hour presentation, I’ll show you the inside secrets (from a Retained Executive Recruiter perspective) of how to get your resume reviewed every single time and boost your resume acceptance rate (number of times you get called for an interview from submitting your resume) from a dismal level of less than 10% well into the 50% PLUS RANGE.80-90%. If you’re reading this blog, when you sign up for the Webinar use the coupon code of IMPROVEMYRESUME.

If the small, inconsequential, almost non-existent fee for the webinar is too much to bear to boost your resume acceptance rate and cut your job search time dramatically, please feel free to download our many FREE resources for job seekers, including our radio show broadcasts, cover letter sample, and other tools.

Don’t forget about our LinkedIn Job Search Discussion Group, one of the most vibrant and rapidly growing groups on LinkedIn. You can learn about best practices in writing resumes and cover letters.

I’m stunned that most candidates will not take advantage of great content, webinars, workshops, tools, audio programs, Youtube videos, blog posting advice, and other tools that range in price from small investments to FREE.

Don’t be the one to conduct a job search that takes 6-9-18 months when you could have done it in half the time by improving your resume and cover letter to raise your resume acceptance rate.

Thanks for letting my rank about one of my greatest pet peeves in job search.

I look forward to seeing you at the webinar on January 29th and transforming your ability to write effective resumes and cover letters to immediately boost your resume acceptance rate.

Barry Deutsch