Lets face it, times are actually really tough for a job hunter. In my 10 years as a recruiter I have had the pleasure of working with thousands of people who are frustrated and completely disenfranchised by the entire job seeking process, with good reason. After buying a house, finding a job can be the most emotional time in a persons life. A time filled with uncertainty, frustration, rejection, hope and then more rejection. How can we take control of this situation and guarantee a smooth career transition so we can sleep at night? Here are the major reasons job seekers are finding it tough! 1) People don't trust Recruiters: Rightfully so, over 80% of online job advertisements are from recruitment agencies (Statistica). This means you will certainly be putting your faith into a recruiter at some stage in the job seeking process. Trust is built by honest, open and direct communication between two parties, but how can you trust a recruiter or an industry where you see the same jobs posted 3 times in a day? <See Above Image credit Recruitloop> How can you trust a process where you send a resume and seems to end up in a black hole? How can you trust a recruiter who asks you hundreds of questions without a mention of who or what they are recruiting for? At the end of the day most recruiters are sales people, they have ridiculous KPI's and targets to make 50-100 calls a day. You are probably one of those calls. The truth is they don't even have a job to offer you, thats right when a recruiter has no clients or jobs to fill they will simply place an ad on seek to fish for candidates just like you. You will apply for a non existent opportunity and have no idea which company the role was with because, it simply did not exist. Solution: Don't become a statistic! Before applying for any role, call the agency and strike up a conversation with the recruiter, make sure they are personable, knowledgable and understand your industry. If you ask them several industry questions they cannot answer it is likely they are "farming" for candidates. The more your cv is sent out the less valuable you are as a candidate, never forget this. Agencies have internal agreements for candidates which split commissions on certain resumes, if everyone in the office has your cv there is no motivation for the agent to network you internally with colleges or externally with their "clients". Once you have found a recruiter that knows your industry, knows the key players in your market and is able to hold a good conversation without quickly dismissing you and asking for you to "just send your CV". Then you can send your CV directly to that recruiter and bypass Seek.com altogether. 2) Online job boards are the wrong place to start. You've just been made redundant, so have another 100 people in your company. You decide Seek is the best place to start, guess what? So do the other 100 people in your organisation. Online job ads increased 6.4% in the last financial year (Recruitloop 2016). Our politicians use this information as an indication that the economy is turning around. Its False! More desperate recruiters are posting more and more ads, because the market is flooded with the same people following the same process and getting the same result - the definition of insanity. Seek.com = Quantity over Quality Solution: Do not send your CV! Treat it as solid gold! Unless you are 100% sure there is a real opportunity with a real company, keep your cards close to your chest and hold onto your valuable CV, once its out there in online job world its looses all value. Search for an industry recruitment expert proactively! Don't let the market dictate terms, take control and identify an agent who knows their stuff in your field. It's an easy LinkedIn search away! In a recruiter you are looking for at least 5 + years experience in your industry. You need a solid negotiator, someone who their client respects and listens to and who ensures their client is not falling into the Seek.com advertising trap. 3) Reputation and Image Management What does your resume look like? Is it a professional profile or is it riddled with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes? Does it look like a professional piece of writing or does it make you look compute illiterate? Is it written for the career you want (not just a lists of jobs you've had)? If not, hire a professional to write it for you by clicking here. What do people in your industry say about you? If I asked your last boss (without your knowledge) to tell me about you, would it be positive? Be honest. If not, make sure you bring this up at the start of the interview process and handle any lingering objectives that may affect the final decision to employ you, let me assure you it will come out eventually. 4) Are you the kind of person people want to be around? On average people spend 80% of their life at work. Consciously or not, a hiring manager will hire a person with a lighter skill set and a brighter personality over a highly skilled person who lacks stamina, energy and passion. More and more people are hiring the attitude and training ability! Have you become so entrenched in your work that you are no longer fun to be around? Do you take yourself and your job WAY too seriously? You are competing with a generation of millennials who are fun, light hearted, work at a hundred miles an hour and are driven and excited! Solution: Diet and Exercise: In order to get your energy levels up you must move your body everyday at least 15 minutes first thing in the morning! Combine this with a healthy lifestyle and diet. I can tell in the first 10 seconds of meeting someone wether they have high standards for their life which will ultimately be the standards they have for their job. Find a passion outside of work: People who peruse passionate endeavours are just plain happier. Wether it's playing guitar, rowing, charity or study find a positive passion (that does not involve intoxicating yourself!) This is proven to make you happier and more attractive to an employer. Stop complaining: People hire problem solvers not problem announcers. It's not the happy people who are thankful, its the thankful people who are happy. Set goals: Why do you even go to work? Are you really that passionate about your companies bottom line? Maybe, but truthfully you are there to meet your own needs and it must be more than paying the lousy bills or getting out of debt. Set a compelling goal that gives you a reason to jump out of bed every day excited to go to work. Don't rely on your employer for that — they have their own goals. A combination of finding the right recruiter, building an excellent cv and cultivating a passionate, happy goal orientated personality will see you position yourself as a candidate that recruiters (like me) stop our day for and hiring managers bend over backwards to interview. If you are struggling to find a role it could be because one or more of these factors are not being met, be honest. Please share this article to help others in this situation. Be Rewarded, Recognised and Inspired, Marianne Paterson Coach and Talent Strategist Global Talent Strategies 0459468898
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AuthorMarianne Paterson: Director of Global Talent Strategies. ArchivesCategories |