Be Your Own Headhunter

Job Search Seminar: Be Your Own Headhunter

After getting an increased number of calls in recent weeks from folks seeking advice and help it is time to bring back the job search, LinkedIn and networking seminars.

Rather than do a session specific to job search and then general sessions on LinkedIn and social media I am doing one only focused on the job search.

Over 13 years as a search firm recruiter I have had a unique look at this process from the corporate recruiter and HR side and from the job seekers.

This is going to be a slightly more aggressive version of what I have been doing for 8+ years and I am going to show how I would do a job search in this economy.

2.5 hours seems like a long time but I am going to cover a lot of topics including:

Don’t Sabotage Your Job Search

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:

There are a couple of cardinal sins of job seeking that you should avoid at all cost. Here is a short list:

1. Never go around your recruiter and try to contact the hiring manager after you have spoken with the recruiter.

2. Never assume that a follow up interview will happen just because you have a good feeling.

3. Don’t send sales material to the hiring manager outside of the recruiter.

4. Don’t send generic cover letters.

5. Do not under any circumstance show up at the office and demand an interview.

6. Do not show a negative attitude toward your recruiter.

7. Do not assume that the recruiter will print out your resume and give it to all the managers.

8. Do not lie about you education or past salary.

Who's Hiring On Wall Street?

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:

Author: CareerAlley

 

For those of you who have followed by blog from "the early days", you will know that I work for a Wall Street firm.

Two years ago, the answer to my blog title would have been "no one". But today, there are more jobs on Wall Street than they can fill ("not true" you say?).

Some of the headhunters I use to fill my open positions have been begging me for names of potential candidates for all of the jobs they have.

How can this be? There are two things driving this trend.

Compensation Talk: Navigating The Earnings Issue

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:

 

How much does this job pay? What was your average paycheck with a previous job?

No matter how you slice it, talking to a boss or prospective employer about money can be uncomfortable. As a job seeker in the current economy, it is more important than ever to know what you can expect to earn - before you interview.

Utilize resources like Salary.com to verify the average annual salary for your target position. This website allows you to customize the search, based on geographic area.

How NOT to Start Your Cover Letter

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:

On a weekly basis any hiring manager probably receives between 50 and … well, probably hundreds of resumes and cover letters.  The key is to catch his or her attention from the start; and the best place to do that is in your cover letter.  So I am going to tell you about the worst possible way to start your cover letter—and then give you some creative alternatives to use instead.

Here is the most boring intro line because everyone uses it:

Please accept my resume for consideration of the (XYZ) position within your organization.

What a snoozer!  Everyone uses that line; let’s see … being like everyone else isn’t going to get you very far in your job search now is it?  No, it’s not.  So you need to be different.  But not just different—you need to be unique and appear more valuable than the average joe.  Let’s take a look at some more creative and attention grabbing opening lines:

The Problem Of Duplicate Job Postings

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:

From: Jeff Dickey-Chasins

You know what gets a job seeker truly steamed? Clicking on a link for a job posting – and discovering that it’s exactly the same job he looked at a few seconds earlier.  Same job, different listings = unhappy job seeker.

How does this happen? Well, any job board that allows 3rd party recruiters to post their open positions runs the risk of duplicate postings.  Let’s say that ABC Company has an listing for a mechanical engineer. The HR person posts it on their company site and also drops an email to three favored recruiters announcing the opening. The recruiters turn around and post the job under their own accounts – because after all, if they can get it filled, they’ll receive a handsome commission.

So what’s the problem? After all, the HR person just tripled their chances of a response by encouraging the recruiters to post the job separately. In fact, if the recruiters are using different job boards, the position could get even more exposure.

Use The Internet To Find A Job – Part 8: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:

From: Matthew Warzel

Unfortunately with today’s online hiring and recruitment practices, some of the older job search methods, like only posting your resume on a job board like Monster, do not cut it anymore.

Effectively standout by creating and managing an online presence that puts your name at the top of the recruiters’ search results.  How?  Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Large companies and organizations have used SEO techniques for years to develop their brands and reputations.  By doing the same, when hiring managers search for you, they can easily find you and information that represents you as the best person to hire.

1. Perform a search on yourself and delete anything you do not want a potential employer to see.  Most hiring managers search names as an online reference check for candidates in the interviewing process.  Failing to delete your “digital dirt” can seriously weaken your chances for a job offer.  Also, it takes a lot of time to build your online brand by maintaining a Website or blog.  Do not let any dirt ruin all your time and hard work.

Who's Hiring from the Fortune 500 - Vol 18

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:

From: CareerAlley

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." - Henry David Thoreau

And what you see is not always what you get (not to be confused with "you don't always get what you want").

The Fortune 500, long a measure of successful companies, is not always what it seems. This is an excellent list to leverage in your job search, but be careful and do your homework.

Conduct research on the company, not just its financial soundness, but its public image and what its employees think as well.

I kick-off today's post with two research links in addition to links to the career sites of some of the Fortune 500.

Using Job Boards - Best Practices for the Job Seeker

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:

From: Christina Archer

 

Every day, it seems like another job board is born. Regardless of whether you flock to a local employment web site or one of the “biggies,” like Monster or Career Builder, there is one thing they all have in common; they protect the identity of the hiring managers and decision makers you are applying to.

Initially, this may seem like no big deal. Why does it matter who you submit your resume to, right? Today, I want to show you why it matters exactly how you use a job board, and discuss the best practices you can implement today, to make your entire job search process fine tuned.

Job Board Best Practices

How to Target Hiring Managers and Crack the Hidden Job Market

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:

From: Kevin Donlin

Fact: The advertised job market is literally the tip of the iceberg.

Fully 70-80% of jobs go unadvertised by employers, who fear being deluged by hundreds of resumes from applicants, most of whom won't be qualified.

With that in mind, it makes sense to spend about 80% of your time cracking this "hidden" market of unadvertised jobs. And a good way to do it is to contact hiring managers at companies you want to work for. Your aim? To prove that hiring you would be a terrific investment, one that makes or saves them more money than they would pay you in salary.

So, where do you find a list of these hiring managers?