Are you the manager’s dream employee? Naturally, meeting the qualifications of the job description is essential, ranging from skill sets to knowledge. But most managers will tell you there is more to getting the job than just checking those boxes. When leaders decide who to hire or promote, it’s the intangibles that often elevate the best to
A “Professional Summary” on your resume is generally a collection of 4 or 5 one line statements, often found in a bulleted list.
When it comes to getting a job your resume is your first (and usually only) chance to make a good first impression, plus many employers have so many qualified applicants they’re ready to take any excuse to whittle the list. Make sure your resume isn’t secretly making you look bad by proofreading it for these common spell check
The economic downturn of recent years has had a massive negative impact across all industries worldwide. The finance industry has been hit particularly hard and has seen the shedding of large numbers of staff by major players in the industry. This has meant that existing staff are reluctant to change jobs and that there is
Once you land an interview, you’ll probably experience a mixed bag of emotions but mostly excitement with a hint of anxiety. An invitation to interview signifies you are one step closer to possibly getting a job.
There are certain sections of an interview that can either make or break you, depending on how you go about them. Employers lay out several traps during the interview to see how you react. You, as a job seeker, can lay traps yourself by not being prepared or not taking initiative to qualify yourself as
The interview process can be a stressful one. Even with proper preparation, you will never be fully prepared for the mind of the hiring manager. To help ease some of the anxiety, here are a couple of thoughts that are more than likely running through the head of the hiring manager:
Don’t worry. Your interviewer probably isn’t as scary as this guy. Probably. If you’ve ever had a job interview — and hopefully you have—then you know how nerve-wracking that last question can be.
The Recruiter Roundtable is a recurring feature that collects career and job-seeking advice from a group of recruiting experts throughout the United States. The question we put before our panel this month is:
Writing a resume seems like a straightforward endeavor–until you actually sit down to create one. For example, what’s the right length? Do you need an objective statement? And what changes should you make, if any, if you want to reapply for a certain position?
The surprising parallels between seeking public office and managing your career
While some people think of an employer’s annual performance review as a perfunctory chore to simply endure, others view it as an important event worthy of significant preparation.
“Oh, I notice you went to Whittier College. So did I.” “You were at Disney for two years? I worked for Disney, too.” “Toastmasters? I’m in Toastmasters, too.” All of the above are opening gambits that I’ve used while interviewing candidates. They often were greeted with an “uh huh” while the interviewee waited for a
Dear Human Resources Manager: Hi! I’m writing to apply for a position on your board of directors. While I have only modest knowledge of polymer-based hollow-rod extrusion, stenciling and vapor recovery — and no actual office experience per se — I am eager to be well-paid for little or no work.
Even senior-level executives with decades of experience and six-figure salary histories still make mistakes when it comes time to look for new positions. Over the years, as a recruiter and more recently as head of an executive-career-services firm, I keep seeing executive job seekers — especially those age 50 and older — commit the same
Today, new technology and process improvements can sharply truncate the length of time it takes for employers to hire employees. Through their online hiring systems, leading employers are compiling databases organized by candidates’ skills. This allows for automated matching of talent supply and demand. Once an employer identifies the skills and competencies it needs, it
In the current job market, many senior-level candidates are learning that great backgrounds, terrific interviewing ability and stellar references don’t guarantee success. So how can you break through the iron curtain that screens most job candidates from managers who can hire you? Instead of trying to circumvent the human-resources department, you must accommodate it in
Confusion about how recruiters operate has put many a career at a disadvantage. Executives in transition can’t afford to let faulty assumptions foul up their prospects. Knowing how the search industry operates will make you a better, more successful candidate. To help you get the facts straight, here’s a guide to working with recruiters based
For years, companies have created employee-resource groups for women and racial and ethnic minorities, aimed at boosting recruitment and retention. Now, employers increasingly are creating similar groups for gay and lesbian employees. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Morgan Stanley and Intuit Inc., among others, created groups for gay employees in the past year. The Human Rights Campaign,
Psychology professor Richard Griffith is on a mission to stop “fakers.” To Dr. Griffith, of the Florida Institute of Technology, fakers are people who misrepresent themselves on personality tests increasingly used to screen applicants for entry-level jobs at call centers, retail stores and other customer-service positions. The tests typically ask candidates to agree or disagree
