Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Archives for 2009

Live on High Velocity Radio!

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microphone.wpr1I’m excited to invite you to listen live tomorrow – Monday, July 20th – at 10:00 am Eastern time on High Velocity Radio when I will join guest host Stephanie A. Lloyd, Founder and CEO, Radiant Veracity (at the intersection of talent and social media) and Jenny DeVaughn, Senior Talent Consultant at Talent Connections, for a discussion about social media and how to use it successfully for personal branding, finding a job, business development and advancing your career.

Where can you find High Velocity Radio? Follow THIS LINK to Stephanie’s blog for a “listen live” player.

There is no “one size fits all” career advice. Don’t you deserve the best, personalized information and help? Learn how I can help you with your search.

Frustrated that your search isn’t resulting in a job? In Atlanta? Join me and Stephanie for our series of in-person job search interventions. Read more about how to propel your search and sign up here.

The other side of the hiring desk, pt 6: How to turn a recruiter into a fan!

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desk6P10580178You’re looking for a job and you’d like to impress the recruiter. In today’s interview, learn some tips directly from a recruiter’s perspective! It’s important to know what recruiters are thinking, what they do and what they do NOT do if you want to work with one successfully. So, here is another from my series of interviews with my friend and colleague Stephanie A. Lloyd, a Talent Strategies Consultant and Owner of Calibre Search Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a National Careers + Workplace Columnist for Examiner.com and also blogs at Radiant Veracity. You can also follow Stephanie on Twitter.

What should job seekers do to turn a recruiter into a fan?

Turning a recruiter in to a “fan” shouldn’t be all that difficult. I’m contacted every day by people who impress me.

Once you identify a recruiter you think is a good contact for you, I recommend a brief, courteous and professional phone call, email, LinkedIn message or “Tweet” if on Twitter, with a brief introduction, a bit about your background and a description of the opportunity you’re seeking.

I personally prefer a brief email with the candidate’s resume attached so that I can review it and determine whether I have anything for the candidate now or potentially down the road – and if not, I can refer him or her to another recruiter and/or other resources that might be of help.

What does not impress a recruiter? Do you have any “real life” memories of candidates who made you want to run the other direction?

Sadly…where to begin?!? This is precisely why I started @JobSnob on Twitter, which was inspired by a candidate that I recently phone interviewed. He yawned throughout the entire interview! That was obviously a non-starter.

Another candidate whom I implored to wear a suit to his interview with our client…did not. He called me ten minutes after the interview began and said it was over. Knowing that something must have gone wrong, my colleague and I spoke with the hiring manager who stated that he was incredibly annoyed and insulted that my candidate did not have the respect to wear a suit to interview with him. This not only reflected poorly on my candidate, but also on our firm! Because I clearly could not trust this candidate, I did not work with him again.

The worst situation I’ve encountered in my recruiting career to-date was with the very first candidate I placed. She interviewed well with me and the client, and they asked me to extend an offer to her. I called her with the offer and stated, “This offer is contingent on a background check. You know your background better than I do, and if you’d like to wait until the results come back before giving notice, that’s perfectly fine.” She said no; that she was so excited and was going to give notice right then. And she did.

She went to work for my client before the background check came back (this was their decision). After they’d spent a week training her, they received the results. It turns out she was a convicted felon: forgery and writing bad checks. And she was an Accounting Manager! When they went to talk to her about it – assuming it was a mistake and wanting to clear it up – she gathered her things and said she wasn’t planning to come back on Monday anyway. I did manage to save the account with my client and had to do a replacement search at no charge. Fortunately, I quickly found someone they liked even better and she worked out very well. However, I could have easily lost that client over that situation.

Moral of the story: please be up front with recruiters you work with! If you’re not, you may not only jeopardize your relationship with us, you risk our relationships with our clients, our reputation and ultimately our livelihood.

Do you need help with your search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!

The other side of the hiring desk, pt 5: How often should job seekers follow up with recruiters?

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desk5P11457831aSo, you’ve read how NOT to follow up with a recruiter. But, what is the RIGHT amount of follow up? Here is another in my series of interviews conducted with my friend and colleague Stephanie A. Lloyd, a Talent Strategies Consultant and Owner of Calibre Search Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a National Careers + Workplace Columnist for Examiner.com and also blogs at Radiant Veracity. You can also follow Stephanie on Twitter.

How often should job seekers follow up with recruiters?

As far as how and how often to follow up…ask the recruiter you’re working with. I personally prefer a brief email once or twice a month. Remember, our job (and the way we get paid!) is to fill openings for our clients. If we have a job that you may be a fit for, we’ll be on the phone with you immediately!

During the interview process, how long it takes to get feedback or to move from one step to the next depends on the client and the situation. How urgent is the need? Who is an integral part of the process and is traveling/on vacation/otherwise unavailable? Unfortunately most interview processes do not move as quickly as anyone would like simply because there are so many people and variables involved.

There is no need to call your recruiter daily – when we have news, we’ll call you! There is nothing we want more than to fill a position. We do what we can to keep the interview process moving forward, and at the same time we must walk a fine line as we do not want to irritate our clients.

The candidates we enjoy working with the most understand and respect the process.

Do you need help with your search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!

 

The other side of the hiring desk, pt 4: How to work with a recruiter without becoming a stalker

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desk4cT10796880Today, another in a series of my interviews to share tips for impressing a recruiter! Our topic: following up. When does follow up become stalking? Here is some more advice from my friend and colleague Stephanie A. Lloyd, a Talent Strategies Consultant and Owner of Calibre Search Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a National Careers + Workplace Columnist for Examiner.com and also blogs at Radiant Veracity. You can also follow Stephanie on Twitter.

How can job seekers follow-up successfully. When does “follow-up” become stalking?!?

I’ve been dealing with this recently. I’ll start with an example of what *not* to do.

A candidate emailed his resume to me on Tuesday and called immediately “to be sure I’d received it.” He said that he wanted me to “find him a job.” I told him I needed time to review his resume against current openings and asked him to please give me a week before following up as I’m inundated with such requests.

He called the next morning and wanted to know if I’d reviewed his resume. I had not, and asked him again to give me a few days. I suggested that he follow up with me on Monday. On Friday he emailed stating that he would call shortly to “discuss what jobs I had for him.” I replied immediately stating that there is no need; I’d reviewed his resume and didn’t have anything for him at the moment and would keep him in mind for future openings. I suggested doing a search on LinkedIn for other financial services recruiters, reach out to them, and let them know the type of opportunity he’s seeking.

He immediately called and wanted to “discuss why I didn’t have anything for him.” I explained that my open positions are based on my clients’ needs and that right now his experience and skill sets are not a match for anything I’m working on. He proceeded to argue with me and kept telling me that he has “valuable skills” and will do “anything.”

I told him that if I don’t have a position that’s a fit, I don’t have it – and I can’t just pull one out of a hat! He became increasingly annoyed and wanted me to send him a list of my current searches so he could “see if he’s a fit for one of them.” I told him no, that I’ve got his resume, and I’ll keep him under consideration for future opportunities as they arise. He then offered me “a few hundred bucks” to find him a job. (We’ve covered this before…that’s not what recruiters do!!)

This job seeker was pushy and disrespectful. He acted with a sense of entitlement and frankly, based on his attitude and behavior, I would be extremely reluctant to present such a candidate to any of my clients.

Do you need help with your search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!

Next: How SHOULD you follow up?

The other side of the hiring desk, pt 3: How candid should you be with a recruiter?

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desk3T10850957You know you should be honest in your job search, but sometimes there is information that you’d rather keep to yourself. How candid should you be with a recruiter? More or less candid than you’d be with a prospective employer? How candid should you expect a recruiter to be with you?

Here is another in a series of interviews with with my friend and colleague Stephanie A. Lloyd, a Talent Strategies Consultant and Owner of Calibre Search Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a National Careers + Workplace Columnist for Examiner.com and also blogs at Radiant Veracity. You can also follow Stephanie on Twitter.

Watch this space for additional interviews to learn more about what goes on on the “other side of the desk.”

How candid should a job seeker be with a recruiter? How much candor should a job seeker expect in return?

If you are working with a third-party recruiter (executive search consultant, etc.) tell him or her EVERYTHING…this includes current compensation as well as any issues that may come up in the process such as a poor credit or criminal history, etc.

I know this is difficult for some people, but in order to work effectively this has to be a trusting relationship. Without complete candor it’s not going to work.

Remember, we’re on the same side. Our job is to fill our clients’ job openings.  If you get the job it’s a win for us as well. DUIs and bankruptcies are not always a deal-breaker, but they can be if not disclosed up front…not because they’re there, but if not uncovered until the background check results come back, the hiring manager may feel blindsided and question your integrity.

Do you need help with your search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!