A Candid Job Advert for Working in Recruitment

A Candid Job Advert for Working in Recruitment Viral comedy. Did any of you see the job advert written by American business owner, Justin, advertising for a chef for his eaterie in Clarkston? If you haven’t read it yet, it has gone viral across the globe. Truth hurts. And the reason for this global interest, aside from his target audience within the catering world, is he writes with such candour and brutal honesty, that the words are a total contradiction of how an employer should write a job advert that appeals to potential applicants. He talks about being able to manage his wife, who is ultimately the “boss” (OBVIOUSLY), however the part that made the recruiter in me roar, was his reference to cover letters and CVs: Succinct covering letters and CVs are encouraged, with the brusque businessman implying that previous recruitment processes have involved reading too many prolix applications: “If you have one that says youre a ‘hard-working team player that can also function well alone’ and that you ‘value customer service and punctuality’ I will stab myself in the face with a pencil and nobody will get a job … Last time I was hiring for a place I got over 400 CVs. You know how long it takes to read 400 CVs? Too damned long. So dont waste anyones time. Honesty pays. Justin shows his humour though and he ultimately wears his heart on his sleeve; What you cannot do is be a pain in my balls because my life savings is on the line and I have to work with my wife all day so I don’t have time for any primadonna bulls**t. He finishes off the comical job advert with a bribe of beer if you stick with his job. I bet he was swamped with applicants. And so to recruitment And so I shared this humorous “interjection” in my recruitment day, as many did, on my social media links including LinkedIn with the title as a question, “who dares me to write a job ad this candid about recruitment?” And someone dared me. And I must fulfill my obligation now so here is a job advert written about a recruitment consultant role, hopefully written with equal bullishness, brutality and hopefully irony. Wanted!  Recruitment consultant. Hours of work:  Must be prepared to work every hour God sends, 24/7. The fact is, your phone will never leave your side; you will go to sleep with it, checking for last minute emails from candidates hoping they won’t cancel their 7.30am interview on you. You will check it as soon as you wake up in the morning to make sure the candidate who is due to start doesn’t back out with a “Dear John” email at 6am. Don’t make any social plans during the week as you will spend the whole time popping out to take candidates’ interview feedback in the hope you can move with momentum and make a placement. You will never have a 9-5 job again as the reality is, you have to be at the beck and call of your candidates and clients, regardless of the sector you recruit in. Your friends will just “tut” and roll their eyes when you dash out of the pub to take a call at 9pm, as at the end of the day, that call could be worth £$ £$ thousands £$ £$. Holidays:  You will officially get 20-25 days over the year, although the likelihood is, your employer will then ask you to save 5 of those for Xmas week if you are lucky enough to have Xmas off! And then the 3-4 weeks you have left over the rest of the year, you will be made to feel guilty about taking the time away from your desk- and woe betide you if you actually have activity happening whilst you are away. Forget someone looking after it as you would. Your colleague may promise to look after it for you, but the reality is, they have their own desk to run so yours gets minimum attention. So if you have time off, you risk coming back to a cold start and a blank month.  If you choose to work over your holiday, you will spend your days at the beach pretending you are not checking your phone for feedback. In some companies you may be forced to actually go on holiday with them as a so-called “incentive”. So not only do you have to work with these people, some of whom you detest, b ut when you have worked your socks off all year, you then get to spend your leisure time with them too â€"GREAT. Work environment:  The role, if you are lucky, involves getting out and meeting people face to face. If you are lucky I said. In reality, I don’t want you to get up from your desk, stay on the phone all day- if you don’t like making outbound calls, this is not the job for you and make more calls than anyone else. And calling your mum/gran/sister does not count. There may be white boards on the walls, there will be a bell in the corner for you to ring when you make a deal- so if you don’t ring it, everyone knows you haven’t billed yet. There may be quotes and motivational signs everywhere, but don’t be fooled. The only thing anyone is looking for, is for your revenue up on that board. There will be a communal kitchen where we even provide fruit, cereal, drinks and snacks. So basically, don’t even think about having a lunch break or leaving before 7pm. We will celebrate success on a Friday with drinks in the office which we will provide. (But all you will want to do is go home and celebrate your success alone with your real friends) Remuneration:  So here is the deal. I will advertise this role at £X$ but at interview actually offer you 5k less just to test your commitment. Then I will tease you with an incentive to increase it after you pass your probation. I will also sell to you our commission structure which is really great and our top billers earn over 6 figures. (But what I haven’t told you is that this is their total earnings since they began working here 4 years ago.) and my commission structure IS amazing. But it is SO complicated, you need to have a Masters in maths to work it out. HOWEVER, the directors have the right to alter the commission structure at any time, without prior consent or notification to any of the staff. Minimum requirements:  I need you to have a sense of humour, as my god, you will need it on bad days. You will need to be resilient and work harder than you have ever worked before. Seriously. You need to be able to read people, think ahead and foresee human behaviours before they even know what they are thinking. You must be able to work as part of a team and yet inherently be really selfish. You must be driven and ambitious but be aware, so is everyone else I employ. You must have an incredible memory so you can recall peoples stories and be creative in order to embellish slightly if you cant quite recall why they left that last job. You must be paranoid as this will keep you on your toes.  You must love picking up the phone and speaking to people. A love of business is essential, as I don’t want someone who just asks “have you got any jobs?” You cynical old bird, Lysha. Now reading this, I have shocked myself at how cynical I am. And I am not actually. I love recruitment so much â€" I love it more every year I spend in it and this is my 18th year, and I am a passionate ambassador and advocate for our wonderful industry. The recruiters I meet on the whole are wonderful- full of personality, testimony to how balanced a true recruiter actually needs to be. Passionate, caring, considerate, successful. Insightful to their sectors, knowledgeable  , fearless about just getting on with it (I thought I would define that in advance of Mitch Sullivan asking), informative and proactive. Evolving into a marketeer but still salesy at heart. Well presented, polished yet approachable and engaging. Phew! What a hybrid human we have become! The basis of what this parody job advert for recruitment is based on all the stereotypical bad places to work; I personally, as a R2R, choose to partner recruitment companies who offer great environments and career opportunities. And I am proud to be their R2R partner. Have you often thought job adverts should be written with more honesty or did Justin and my parody go a step too far? As ever, I love to hear your comments and am always grateful for your Twitter RT, LinkedIn and Facebook shares. @LyshaHolmes

4 Ways to Stay Positive and Productive During Your Job Search - Classy Career Girl

4 Ways to Stay Positive and Productive During Your Job Search You send off hundreds of applications and despite having the skills and experiences required by the employer, you don’t always get the job. It becomes a cycle where you never seem to get to the finish post. Occasionally you feel that burst of anticipation when you think you’re one step closer to your dream job, but then the dreaded feedback of “you weren’t successful this time” comes again. When the job search continues on longer than you had expected, it can easily get you down. You were probably wise enough to have a plan of action in place and if all failed you even thought of a backup plan, but regardless of your efforts you have fallen off track. You feel the willpower of staying in all night to research jobs instead of joining your friends for a drink and a much-needed gossip. Your plan A had you finding a job within a month and plan B even gave you 3 but the months keep passing by and you seem no closer to finding that perfect career. What can you do next? How can you keep motivated in the job search and handle the weight of unemployment? Here are 4 great tips to getting back into work, and more importantly, remaining positive and productive during your job hunt. 4 Ways to Stay Positive and Productive During Your Job Search 1. Set Yourself Clear and Realistic Goals When you’re out of work, its important to keep yourself on track. That’s where your weekly goals come into play. Sundays are the ideal time to sit down and set up your week. Starting the week off on the right foot is the best way to ensure you maintain focus and finish everything by the end of the week. Remember to be realistic don’t set yourself huge unattainable goals like receiving a job offer by the end of the week because it will probably fail. Instead, break down your goals. Having small actions to achieve each day will help keep you motivated. Theres something so satisfying about being able to tick things off your to-do list and seeing your achievements written down in front of you. Whether you prefer using your phone, tablet, or the good old pen and paper, make sure your targets are always in black and white and never just expect yourself to remember them. Having it down on paper will help you visualize the end goal. 2.  Review Your Goals You can’t just write a list of goals and then put away the book and expect it to just happen.  Mid-week is a great time to re-evaluate how the week is going and adjust your plan of action if required. Things change, so you have to be open in the job search to reacting to the unexpected and altering your plan to suit. For example, you might start the week thinking you’re going to focus on your Linkedin account but then you get an interview offer. You need to be able to switch up your strategy to be able to focus on the more important task. So don’t panic if your plan doesnt happen perfectly! Its all about prioritizing and being open to change. [RELATED: 6 Self-Care Tips to Practice While Job Searching] 3.  Get Personal With Your Job Search If you’re looking for a job, it’s almost impossible to do it without getting online, whether that be connecting with employers online, using social media to network with recruiters or using job boards to apply for posts. You definitely need an online presence, but that shouldn’t be where the job search stops. Its easy to forget how important networking is, and if youre unemployed, networking is a huge part of going back to work. There are 3 easy ways to start the process, and don’t worry! You don’t need to be an expert Sales person to have success with networking: Grab a Coffee with a Friend Sounds like a simple and great chance for a catch-up, but it’s also a brilliant and effective way to find out about jobs available at the companies your friends work for and potentially get a few referrals. Always keep friends and family in the loop on your employment status as you never know what they might overhear or come across that could be perfect for you. For any position, the best way to get noticed by an employer is through a referral from a current employee, so ask the question. Go to a Networking Event Whether a networking event or career fair, theyre a great way to meet employers face-to-face and discuss how your skills would fit with their business. Where else can you get in front of the decision maker and make your interest in their organization known? Join a Job Club Research your local job clubs and get involved! Theyre usually run by charities, libraries, or local councils. Theyre a brilliant way to get some much-needed career advice from experts whilst also meeting people in your situation. You will be able to share advice with like-minded people and gain connections that could be useful in your job search. 4. Make Time for Yourself The job search is a definitely a job in itself, so its vital to take a bit of time away from the screen and the countless applications and have some time for yourself. Whether thats just getting out of the house for a walk or meeting up with friends, it will give you that well-deserved break and you’ll actually feel more refreshed and ready to start again on that career search. You should never feel guilty about having time off. Just because you’re unemployed doesn’t mean you haven’t had a busy or even a stressful week. Why not take the weekend off? Handling unemployment is all about your mindset. Staying positive is key to not only staying focused when researching and sending off applications but also when performing at the interview stages. Using these 4 tips will help you remain productive. Remember, just because youre unemployed doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong! It just takes time and a lot of patience.

How to Answer the Most Common Interview Questions - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Answer the Most Common Interview Questions - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career The most common interview question that I got was, “Tell me about yourself.” Every interviewer asks this question, and it’s the first question that you generally get and the most important question in my opinion because if you cannot grab the interviewer’s attention with your response to this question, there is a high possibility that you will not get a job offer. You should answer this question not only in a concise manner but also in a way that will impress the interviewer and show your personal brand so he or she would like to learn more about you. You should list your previous work experience and your education, but by highlighting your success stories along the way. For example, I would answer this question like this: I graduated with my bachelor of science degree with honors from the dual-diploma program of SUNY Binghamton and Istanbul Technical University in Turkey. I fulfilled both schools’ requirements in four years in order to get a bachelor of science degree from each school. After graduating, I started working at KPMG LLP’s New York City office. While working at KPMG LLP, one of my coworkers decided to leave the company and I took over her responsibilities in addition to my responsibilities to meet project deadlines. After working in this position for a year, I decided to go for my MBA at Bentley University with a scholarship. After graduating from Bentley University’s MBA program with distinction, I started working… As you can see from the underlined text, I am not only listing my education and work experience, but I am also highlighting my success stories to impress the interviewer. You don’t need to finish school with a cum laude degree, but I am sure everyone has at least one educational or professional success story   that he or she is proud of and would like to share with other people. The key is finding that success story and sharing it with employers. The second most frequently asked question by employers is, “What values are you going to bring to us?.” I noticed that most people answer this question by stating what they want to do in their careers and how they would like to proceed and what they want to learn, but no one answers the real question of what they are actually bringing to the company. Don’t make this mistake. In order to answer this question, you should thoroughly know the company you are interviewing with in addition to the job role you are interviewing for. You should match your education, your skills, and your previous work experience with the job description and mention that you already have some experience in that field so you can learn and help them faster. Also, you should match your personal brand and skills with the company’s culture and show that you will fit into the culture well. These are the two most popular questions asked during the interviews. For other questions, you can search the Internet and try to find out what the most common interview questions are. You can use any search engine or you can go to the career websites of companies and they usually have questions that they ask their candidates. Author: Ceren Cubukcu  is a top 5 bestselling author of  Make Your American Dream A Reality: How to Find a Job as an International Student in the United States.  She recently founded her consulting business to help more international students find jobs in the US in addition to her self-service digital event ticketing platform,  Etkinlik Fabrikam  (My Event Factory), to be able to offer her webinars in her home country. You can follow her via  Facebook  or contact her via  www.cerencubukcu.com/contact.

Zen Meditation and Healthy Social Media Habits - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Zen Meditation and Healthy Social Media Habits - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career In my past post I shared how being cut off from all forms of social media while on a business trip in China reminded me why personal branding is more about the person and less about the tools we use. Yet the fact remains that social media is, and always will be, an integral part of personal branding around the world. Having someone else cut you off from social media is one thing, but lets take a lesson from Zen meditation and consciously stop, sit, breathe and develop healthier social media habits. Off the Grid I have been grateful for the role social media has played in my life. It has helped me to launch my business, connect with amazing thought leaders, and express my personal brand. It has become part and parcel of daily life but perhaps too much. Time I could have spent meditating or even just enjoying the present moment has been replaced with tweets, likes, comments, +1s, pins, etc.I cant even imagine how many times I pull my iPhone out of my pocket to check-in. So I felt an urge, almost a calling, to bring meditation back into my daily routine. My life used to be less stressful and much more balanced when I disconnected myself for 25 minutes every morning and evening. I wanted this back. I needed this back. It was time to get off the grid, meditate for 5-days, and just stay away from anything and everything having to do with social media, blogging, and personal branding! Those Shiny Addictive Apps Once you check-in to a Zen Center you are instructed to put away your phone and remove yourself from technology. Time to get the basics back! The first couple days was hard as my legs and back ached. Each 25-minute meditation sitting seemed like an eternity. As hard as this was, it was even harder to resist the temptation to dig my iPhone out of my backpack and click on those shiny apps beckoning me! As I sat on my meditation cushion, I realized just how much control social media and the web has over me and I wondered, Am I an addict?  Should I be sitting in a 12-step meeting rather than a Zen center? I was off the grid, but man I wanted to jump right back in! A Different Kind of Tweet Over the next few days the pain in my legs lessened. My breathing became deeper and I felt a tad bit more centered. And I discovered that I could still listen to tweets, but not from the twitter-sphere. My new tweets came from the birds outside my window, the cicada in the trees, and the old floorboards in the Zen center.  I could also still connect, but not on LinkedIn or Facebook. My new connection was with my inner self and the energy of my fellow mediators. I eventually made it all 5 days without touching that iPhone, and while the detox was hard at first I realized I could survive! Heck, I survived 40 years of my life without social media so of course I should have been able to do it for 5 short days! Creating Healthy Habits My desire to disappear for 5-days was to create a healthy habit of meditating again. A habit that was once crucial to my sanity. But I also discovered that I can develop a much healthier way to use social media. So, instead of reaching for my iPhone first thing in the morning I will reach for my meditation cushion and sit, breathe, and listen to tweets of real life around me. Have you created a healthy way of using social media? Share your healthy social media habits below. Author: Peter  Sterlacci  is known as “Japan’s personal branding pioneer” and is one of only 15 Master level Certified Personal Branding Strategists in the world. He is introducing a leading global personal branding methodology to companies and careerists in Japan and adapting it for the Japanese culture. In a culture where fitting-in is the norm, his mission is to pioneer a ‘cultural shift’ by helping Japanese to stand out in a global environment. His background spans over 21 years in intercultural consulting, international outreach, and global communication coaching.

Career Mapping What It Takes to Get Hired by Americas Best Companies

Career Mapping What It Takes to Get Hired by America's Best Companies As most people learn during their working lives, not all employers are created equallyâ€"nor do they treat employees equally. This means that you should look to identify the better companies to work for and what it takes to get a job offer from those companies.Let’s take a look at some steps that you can take to find an employer that allows you to reach your full potential.1. Network as Much as PossibleevalThe best way to learn about companies that are worth working for is to network with as many people as possible. Typically, the best indicator of whether a company is worth working for is to get a glowing recommendation from someone who works there.These people may be able to tell you more about the company culture, the compensation package and other details that you might not hear in a corporate recruiting video.2. Learn the Skills That Employers CraveAlmost all companies look for people who have good sales skills, good customer service skills and are familiar with social media. These attributes allow you to project a positive image of the business at all times, which can make it easier to upsell new and existing clients. It may also make it more likely that they will become repeat customers who will talk up the brand whenever possible.3. Say What Employers Want to HearEmployers may screen applications or resumes that they receive for a given job opening with the help of certain software.If your application or resume doesn’t have the right keywords or phrases, it could be tossed before anyone reads it in detail. Reading a job posting before submitting an application could help you figure out what the screening system is looking for.4. Put Yourself on Their RadarIf you can make a name for yourself with your current employer, you may be approached by a preferred company instead of the other way around. Those who have a strong social media or blog presence may catch the attention of the top companies in a given field. That could lead to a request for an inte rview or some sort of working relationship going forward.5. Which Companies Are the Best?Yes, there are some pretty good companies all over the world that would be great for you to stick your foot in their door and one day work for them. You can find out about these companies by talking to your friends and current coworkers about their work experiences.However, you might want to start with a little bit of online research to find out which companies are the best to work for. For example, Business Insider lists companies like Google as number one and Facebook as number five. Once you know what companies you are interested in working for, you can gear your networking strategies towards them.evalJobs are generally not just handed to people because they want them. Typically, you have to spend time developing skills and networking with others in your field or in the larger business community. When done correctly, these tactics may help you to land your dream job with a company that you ha ve admired for many years.

Summary Sunday New Stuff to Consider

Summary Sunday New Stuff to Consider This week I participated in Chris Brogans webinar on how to use Google Plus.   For those of you who dont know who Chris is, please go to his site and see what he is all about.   ChrisBrogan.com.   I mention this because the world we live and work in is changing so fast and there are some things we all should be keeping up with, especially those of you who are serious about managing your careers and online personal reputation (not to mention being savvy job seekers!). What is Google Plus? If you want to learn more about Chris Brogans thoughts on Google Plus, you can read and listen to Margo Rose (@margorose) post: Chris Brogan Speaks Out on Google+ and More! by Margo Rose on HR Margo Hire Friday Boot Camp By the way, if you dont know about #HFChat and the #HireFriday movement shes created, read more about them. And if you dont know what a Twitter Chat is or how to participate, you can watch Tom Bolts video! Job Seekers: Who to Follow on Google Plus from On Careers by Heather Huhman Well, I couldnt help but mention this post.   Add these 12 people to your Job Help circles and pay special attention to number 8!   (me)! Demographics of Google Plus Users I love infographics! I picture paints a thousand words as the saying goes.   FlowTown has created this nifty visual for you to digest! Click on the image to see the entire image. Telecommuting and Freelancing These two types of work are frequently questioned by those who have been in their careers for a long time.   If you havent thought about adding freelancing to your career portfolio (and income portfolio) I highly encourage you to do so. How Do I Find a Job That Will Let Me Telecommute? from LifeHacker (FYI, this site is worth adding to your regular reading!) How to become a million dollar freelancer from GigaOm

Writing a Resume Employment History

Writing a Resume Employment HistoryIf you are a college student, maybe it is time to start writing a resume employment history. Students will have to start looking for jobs in school. Just like adults, students need to have the right education and knowledge to get their dream job. A diploma or degree will give a student a better chance of finding employment.In order to get the knowledge, information, skills, and experience to have a higher salary, you need to find out where you learned all of this information. Information can be taught at a traditional college or online. In this article, I will talk about ways to write a resume employment history.The first step in writing a resume employment history is to look back to your schooling. You need to decide what was taught, how you learned it, and if you could apply it in a work setting. List all of the programs you took part in during your education, along with the classes that covered each specific topic.Next, talk about your career goa ls and accomplishments in all of your education. Talk about anything that relates to your educational background and show examples of all of your work in the field of your choice. If you have a specific field that you want to work in, list that as well.Also, if you were involved in any professional organizations or clubs in your school or college, list these in your resume. Examples of clubs you may have been involved in our sports teams, associations, and alumni organizations. You may also have worked on an art project, done volunteer work, or participated in any other work-related activity. Any help you received can help in proving your worth to an employer.Show your hard work ethic and dedication to your studies. Show examples of projects you completed during your education. Not only does it prove that you are an intelligent person, but it shows you cared about your education. Showing off your achievements in the field of your choice, you can impress your future employer.Show how well you can make decisions and follow instructions. This is also an excellent way to show off your ability to learn and apply yourself. Explain any leadership positions you held in any club or group you were in. They will love to see that you are responsible and have an active role in your community.When writing a resume employment history, remember that it is your information. Make sure you use all of the methods you have been taught in your education to prove that you are an intelligent person and you will be very successful in your chosen field. Your resume, employment history should be proof that you are one of the best candidates available for that job.