Resume Blunders from Hell

I visited my buddy at Resume Hell today.

As usual, I was not disappointed.

Here's a clip from one of the resumes they recently received....and apparently, this person takes their hobby very seriously:

"Hobbies: I enjoy cooking Chinese and Italians"

Ok, this person either has a very sick sense of humor, or, they failed to contact Louise for some expert resume assistance.

Let's hope it's the latter.

Job Seekers Luv Visibility: Be Visible, Be Ziki

I mentioned in this post yesterday about the necessity for job seekers to create a web profile and join a community.

If you haven't been to Ziki yet, check it out. In fact,

Check out my Ziki HERE.

Then use this link to accept my invitation and register for a FREE Ziki account.

Once you've created your Ziki profile, please join my network!

Dennis

Slugging Through the War for Talent

Take heart job seekers!

The chips are stacked on your side of the table, and in the war for talent, employers think they know what you want.

But they are still dead wrong.

According to a study released today by Development Dimensions International (DDI), and Monster^®, today's job market is increasingly in the hands of the candidate.

The study, titled “Slugging Through the War for Talent: Selection Forecast 2006-2007,” reveals that 73 percent of staffing directors report competition for talent has increased since 2005, while 79 percent expect it to further intensify in 2007.

“Candidates are in a very powerful position—organizations need to think about hiring as a competitive practice if they want to attract the best people,”

said Scott Erker, senior vice president of DDI’s Selection Solutions.

“Right now, there is a significant gap between what candidates want and what employers think they want. That’s dangerous for organizations, because many don’t understand the motivations of the candidate sitting right in front of them.”

This is DDI’s third study of hiring and recruiting practice since 1999, providing perspective on the changing shape of the hiring market over the last eight years.

The report, which reflects responses from staffing directors, hiring managers and job seekers across five global regions, examines recruitment, selection and retention practices and reveals that a tightening labor market has subsequently led to a power shift toward job seekers.

In order to lure top talent in this increasingly competitive environment, the findings suggest that employers must identify, understand
and respond to job seekers’ motivations and desires.

The study also outlines the tactics and strategies organizations can implement to improve their hiring systems and better meet job seekers’ needs.

“The recruiting industry has acknowledged for several years that retiring Baby Boomers, coupled with a tightening labor market, would eventually bring about an acute labor shortage. However, the survey findings indicate that this eventuality is already upon us,”

said Neal Bruce, vice president of alliances, Monster. “

Select Survey Highlights

• It’s a buyer’s market.

• There is a gap between employer perceptions and candidate realities.

• Turnover is rapid.
  

• Interviews can be dealmakers or deal breakers.

The executive summary, "Selection Forecast 2006-2007" is is currently available online from DDI HERE and the Monster Intelligence web site, HERE.

Check out the complete article on PRWeb.com.

Top 6 Reasons Recruiters are Irritating

Nick Roy (Employment Management Strategies for the 21st Century) posted earlier this month about the irritating things we do as recruiters.

Here's Nick's top 6 reasons for considering recruiters irritating human beings:

Posting in all caps

Marketing to companies

Pretending to have good candidates or pretending to know what the company does

Presenting candidates that are mined from job boards

Thinking that every contingency placement is worth 30%

Trying to bypass HR

C'mon Nick. LOTS OF PEOPLE POST IN ALL CAPS.

But, you're right...it's irritating.

I will take you to task on the marketing piece, however.

I mean, hey, marketing makes the world go 'round. And, really, Nick, if you'll just hire one more person from me in the next 24 hours, I'll include a set of 24 Ginsu knives. But you must act now!!! Operators are standing by...

Ok, no humor on this one:

30% is nothing compared to the value that one star employee can add to your bottomline in one calendar year.

That's the cold, hard truth.

I will agree with you on the candidates from the job boards scenario. It cracks me up, but it also makes me mad. Hey, it's happened to me too!

But somebody had to take the time to do the digging.

Here's reality....if they are the right candidate and they fit the compensation piece, and they are excited about the opportunity...it really doesn't matter how they landed in my lap.

Nick has some great thoughts....read his complete post HERE.

I lwould luv to have my ideal job ... but where is it?

Nice diagram from mengwong that brings clarity to the $64 question surrounding job search.

The Carnival of the Job Search @ WirelessJobs.com

I'm really not a fan of the carnival. Guess I get a little freaked out by the sideshow acts. I just can't figure giving my hard-earned money to see a woman with lots of facial hair.

Howevuh...I've been diggin' the idea of the blog carnival lately. I got my first invite a few months back to participate in a blog carnival by our good buddy Jason Alba at JibberJobber.

Of course, I was too lazy to participate (or I forgot), but I liked the idea nonetheless.

So, I decided it was time to do a "Carnival of the Job Search."

Two reasons why I like this idea:

1) It has the opportunity of connecting me with other people I might never have the chance to meet. Yep, this is really the only reason.

2) It's a lot easier than asking people to write a post. All that's required is that they send me a job posting that they'd like me to reference in my weekly "carnival of the job search" post.

So, what is the carnival of the job search? It's simply a weekly post on WirelessJobs.com that includes job postings and links from various recruiters around the planet. Well, at least those who decide to participate in the carnival.

The important stuff:

So, how do you, Recruiter, participate? Simply submit a job posting via the "Submit an Article Form" no later than Thursday @ 3:00PM CT of each week.

I will compile each of the job postings and submit in one posting on Friday afternoon of each week.

I will post at least one job from each requester, depending on the total number of submissions for that week's carnival.

Job Posting Format:

Job Posting should be in this format (no job descriptions!):

Manager, RF Engineering - Atlanta, GA,

T-Mobile USA

For more information, please email Dennis @ wirelessheadhunter@gmail.com

Note: the link to the job description is in the job title.

If the job is already posted on a blog or career site, please provide the link so that I can reference within the post.

I will preface each job posting by naming the person that submitted the job, and will reference appropriate links to their blog - company - agency - etc.

Here's the biggie:

I will provide additional love and accolades for all requests that are heavily laden with humor. Yes, yes, we've got to keep it professional.

If you've managed to miss the previous links that will take you to the carnival of the job search, click HERE.

So, it's time to get your blog on, Recruiters.

I look forward to the carnival.

The most important word in job search is ...

I recently posted this question on LinkedIn,

"The most important word in job search is..."

I received great responses from all over the world, and had a difficult time doling out the "best response" rating.

When it comes to recruiting, however, I'm a "relationship-kind-of-guy," so I had to side with Homula for the best answer: relationships.

Including Mike's answer, here's a few of the other answers I really liked:

Michael Homula (Bearing Fruit Consulting Group) - Relationships

Susie Wyshak (SuperViva Life Lists/SuperViva Blog)- LinkedIn

Dean Tracy (DeanTracyJobs.com) - Networking

Anthony Timmons (Cox Communications) - Persistence

Greg Saukulak (ExecuSearch) - Vision

Mark Scrimshire (EKIVE / WebServicesJournal) - Networking and Relationships

Amitabh Thard (Strategic America) - Strategy

David Mortimer (F10 Recruitment) - Honesty

Tom Vongbandith - Integrity

Rich Kolikof (Winthrop Research Group) - Preparation

Kristina Runyeon-Odeberg (Obigo) - Open-Minded

Bryan Burgmaier (T-Mobile USA) - Timing

Kieran Hawe (Vertrue, Inc / What's most important) Adaptability

Julie Martino (Project 1.27) - Search (yourself, goals, growth, opportunity, org's, contacts)

Jacob Bonenberger (Bristol-Myers Squibb) - Nepotism ;)

Peter Nguyen (Talentelle) - Free

Alfredo Ascanio (Universidad Simon Bolivar /Blog /Askain) - Expert!

Alex Dragomirescu (Enviroshake /ZoomInfo) Nerve!

Joe Slevin - Work!

Eduardo Marx Silva (Synthean) Imagination

Mike Schwinn - (Focus on Performance) - Resilient

Robert Mueller (Remote Technologies Group) - Friends

Jason Alba (JibberJobber.com) - Knowledge

Gautam Ghosh (The Imagence Partners) - The role

Mhirra Yung (TMP Worldwide) - Best!

Robert Etheridge (GetTheJob.com) - Caution

Thanks to all "LinkedIn Answers" participants!


Now, jobseekers, what is your "most important word" in job search?

Hot Jobs @ T-Mobile

Here's a few of our hot jobs to peruse while you're killin' time this weekend:

Manager 3, Engineering - PM (Chicago, IL) #150341

Manager 4, Engineering - RF (Concord, CA) #149121

Manager 4, Engineering - Dev (Concord, CA) #149132

Director, Engineering - Development (Parsippany, NJ) #144327

Check out our career site @ T-Mobile.com.

Send me an email @ jobluv@gmail.com.



Checkout Las Vegas jobs at NVJobSearch.

Sr. Manager, Engineering - Development, T-Mobile Nashville, TN

At T-Mobile, we're looking for the next big idea. Yours.

Our job search is on, and we're looking for an extraordinary leader to join us in Nashville, TN as a Senior Manager of Engineering Development (click title for extended job description).

Check out the link, or send me an email expressing your interest.

Geeked-out-slamdunkin-engineering folks only need apply.

Dennis Smith
Sr. Manager, Recruiting
wirelessheadhunter@gmail.com
T-Mobile USA
WirelessJobs.com (Blog)

Jobs in Pods (podcast your jobs)

As announced today on Recruiting.com:

"Chris Russell who is no stranger to the recruiting blogosphere has been busy lately. While the blogosphere was busy debating whether or not it has any influence in the industry or not, Chris started a new business. It’s called Jobs in Pods.

Essentially, it is a service that allows hiring managers to record an audio interview about either the company or a particular position they are anxious to fill. It’s a good idea because for the most part, job postings are not all that exciting. The idea here is to add some life to it.

Once the interview is complete, Chris will submit it to a number of places potential job seekers can listen to it. You can also have it widgetized and place it on your website. And speaking of websites, Chris has a done a great job in setting up his and everything you need to know about Jobs in Pods is there."

I like what Chris is doing, and that's why I did a podcast with him (click HERE to listen).

But after listening to the entire podcast, I agree with Jason - nobody wants to hear that much of me. We'll get the next one down to 3 min's or less.

As the crusty ol' preacher learned from his days in the pulpit...."leave 'em wantin' more."

So why would an employer want to do this? Well, as Chris notes below, "Recruiting is Marketing."

And, as Anil Dash says so well, it helps me

"connect with the people I care about."

Nice job, Chris. I look forward to working with you and finding new ways to connect with those people that are important to me.

Dennis

How to Ace Your Job Interview: 88 Surefire Tips and Tricks

Since NASCAR's giving you a break this weekend before they head to Vegas, you've got no excuses - it's time to prepare for your interview. And, lucky for you, the Online Education Database recently served up a detailed job prep article to help you cover your bases.

Although I don't like using the words "Job Interview" and "Tricks" in the same post title (interview preparation is all about hard work and practice - not tricks), I couldn't find a single trick in the entire article.

The article is rather long, but I do recommend it for those fairly new to the job hunt trail. Click HERE to read the article in it's entirety (all 88 tips).

Here's an abbreviated version which includes a few of my faves (by the way, if you put in the time - practice - hard work and you still don't ace the interview, let me know. I'll send you my lucky pink socks):

#1 - Practice your writing skills. In today's Internet-oriented world, good communication skills are crucial. Technical writing and documentation seems to be a weak point for many new grads.

#2 - Stay updated. Read and subscribe to relevant weblogs, magazines, and newspapers. Use web feed subscription tools like Bloglines or Newsgator Online Edition.

#4 - Start a blog. Demonstrate your knowledge of a topic related to a field you'd like to be employed in by writing a blog and mentioning it in your resume.

#11 - Don't lie on your resume. It's not a novel. Mention skills you're capable of. Say "learning such and such" for everything else.

#29 - Try networking. Career networking websites such as LinkedIn or JibberJobber can go a long way toward helping you find a job.

#49 - Be prepared. Know where you're supposed to go. Check their Web site, and call in if you have to. (My favorite mantra begs to be repeated here: There is no substitute for preparation).

#59 - Make a good first impression and maintain it. Mirroring is a powerful technique if used subtly, no matter the interviewer's mood.

#61 - Be succinct. Don't be a Chatty Cathy; don't tell your life story. Give a bit of detail instead of just "yes" and "no".

#79 - Remember what it's about. Think "what's in it for them", not just "what's in it for me". Both parties have to benefit.

#84 - Say thank you. Thank the interviewer and the receptionist - be genuine. (do not forget the "thank you" letter/card - I don't care what the so-called experts have to say about this).

#87 - Keep an interview log. It'll help you track the state of each application (sent application, pending interview, interview complete, followed up, rejected, etc.). Include dates.