Resources For Your Job Search
Everyone seems to know
about the big three job boards of CareerBuilder, Monster and Hot Jobs.
However, there are other excellent websites for job postings. Two of
these are very popular and widely used by Corporate Recruiters,
indeed.com and simplyhired.com. They are "vertical" job sites and function by
"sweeping" employer career pages on a daily basis then repost the vacancies onto their own site. They also
sweep hundreds of smaller job sites as well as the big 3. Many
Corporate Recruiters are saving thousands of dollars because they no
longer need to pay to post on the big three and instead can rely the huge impact of
these two vertical job sites.....indeed.com and simplyhired.com.
Some
other sites we highly recommend are jobcentral.com - this is
exclusively used by companies, no agencies or search firms allowed.
Again, companies are moving away from the big 3 boards because their
postings quickly get lost among all the agency postings. If you are
in the six figures, TheLadders.com is excellent as is 6figurejobs.com.
Many think of dice.com as a techie board but they do cater to other
professions. Finally, remember to use craigslist.ORG - great job
postings but not as organized as the professional job sites. If you
are in marketing, mediabistro.com is very popular. For hospitality,
HCareers.com and for Human Resources the SHRM website is an excellent
resource. Finally, tweetmyjobs.com, which is tied in to Twitter, is growing exponentially. Get
yourself registered pronto!
Remember to go directly to the
website Career pages of companies in your area. Many are choosing not
to post on the big boards due to the overwhelming response which they
cannot handle (which is why you need a resume that stands out and has reader engagement!) as well as cost considerations. And again, many are relying on indeed.com and simplyhired.com to sweep their Career pages.
Do join as many groups as possible on
LinkedIn. Think about your school(s) alumni group, previous employers
have alumni groups, industry groups, professional groups, ethnic
groups, and city or state groups. There are also lots of
job/employment/career/transition groups regardless of location such as
Jibber Jabber. And join hobby groups (golf, poker, cooking, wine) or sports fan groups. You can
belong to up to 50 groups. Now that you belong to all these groups,
regularly post your availability and a brief summary of your skills.
Read
you local paper and find out about Job Clubs. Many are held in
churches and you do not need to be a member of that church or any
church. These meetings are motivating, usually have excellent speakers
and get you out of the house!
Your Competition is Perfect
Today, in 2009, when you interview your competition is nearly perfect. We cannot stress this enough.
Some insider information: From 2003 into early 2008, we Corporate Recruiters would hire someone as long as they could walk and chew gum. The applicant shortage was horrendous and we were desperate for hires. Corporate Recruiters are measured on a number of metrics and during the applicant shortage years, the top metric was the hiring cycle. The hiring cycle is the number of days from the time a requisition is opened to the day an offer is accepted. In some parts of the country it was taking 65 days to find a Receptionist and 200+ days to fill an IT requisition! Hiring Managers were not happy.
Today, we can fill positions in a nano-second with walk on water candidates. The interviewing skills you had a few years ago will not cut it in today's market. As a matter of fact, a few years ago you didn't need interviewing skills.....just had to walk and chew gum! Sorry, just a bit of recruiting humor.
Practice Makes Perfect...OUT LOUD!
Practice the following interview questions and answer them
OUT LOUD. As you read the questions below, place yourself in an interview. The Recruiter asks the question and you have no time to practice. Maybe 10 seconds to gather your thoughts. Answer! Now, do it again but this time take the time to practice. Try it again, OUT LOUD. Remember, your competition for this position is perfect on paper.... and so are you. Who will be hired? The more you practice interview questions and answers OUT LOUD, the more likely you are to ace the interview.
What did you implement in your last position that saved your company money?
Describe your last supervisor's management style.
Name 5 of the Fortune 10 as of last May.
Tell me about you most recent employer - annual revenue, employees, competitors, product or service, year established, private or public, client base....
When handling a difficult customer, how do you balance customer retention with company profitability?
If you had to eliminate one employee in the department would you eliminate the 8 month employee who is still in training and displays great motivation with thirst for knowledge or the 8 year employee who has displayed extreme loyalty, has vast product knowledge but has become comfortable in their role? Explain your decision.
When we contact your most recent supervisor for a reference, what will they say about you? What else? Anything else?
You lack an important skill for this position. We do not offer formal training. Convince me that you are a quick learner.
Is it more important for a manager to be loyal to the company or their staff? Why?
If you could work for any company within 25 miles of your home, what company would that be and why would they be your choice?
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