I read somewhere recently a suggestion to simply punt the “Objective” section on your resume. I initially scoffed at the idea, but now I am starting to think that is sage advice. This morning I was looking through resumes and came across this objective: To find a position where I can contribute as part of a team that strives to emphasize the importance of effective communication through design. Dump the objective section of your resume. More than likely, it is filled with broad, superfluous statements that may be more detrimental than helpful.
Continue ReadingThe Aesthetics of Resumes
Resumes seem to be getting a lot of air time on the internet lately, including our blog. I just read an interesting article this morning and thought I would share a couple of points that the author brought to my attention. The article is written for the job seeker, but if you would like to read it, you can find it online at the Minneapolis StarTribune website. It is titled – Don’t Sell Yourself Short. One of the author’s sources gives these suggestions: I like to see key words (job titles, degrees) in bold – that way I can immediately see whether the work history and education matches the needs.… Read More
Continue ReadingBad Jobs with Good Money
This story from BusinessWeek – Worst Jobs with the Best Pay – may only interest me. The title made it worth the read. Let’s start with a stat from the article: A recent Salary.com survey found that 65% of workers plan to look for a new job within the next three months. The most common reason for leaving? Not enough pay. None of that is surprising to me. In fact, that reason sounds like the easiest to provide in a survey. I would question how many are leaving due to their direct boss or the company culture. The reason I speculate on this topic is found later in the article:… Read More
Continue ReadingDebunking the High D Myth
Many companies believe that the High D (Dominance) selling style is ideal for successful sales. First, some descriptors of this style: Direct Daring Innovative Blunt Competitive Bold Risk Taker Problem Solver Challenge-Oriented Self-Starter Inquisitive Power These traits are all admirable in a salesperson but this style, if unchecked, if a ticking time bomb. Yes, sales requires a drive, even an aggressiveness to be successful. In a previous post, I briefly discussed this style in regards to a current news story. The salesperson I mentioned could be a case study in High D sales behavior. Another experience from this salesperson. He used to visit prospects and put an intense sales push… Read More
Continue ReadingAnecdote – So What?
Let’s keep the “so what?” principle going before the weekend. Recently in a face-to-face interview for a business development role candidates were asked – “How have you developed territories in the past?” The question was purposely vague to see if they would ask for clarification to understand what we were specifically looking for before responding. Ideally, the candidates would not only explain how they went about developing a new territory, but the impact it had on their company (the so what? factor). One candidate stood out from the rest and not in a good way. He did not ask qualify the question nor did he give it much thought. In… Read More
Continue ReadingDecreased Employee Loyalty
Inc.com has an article from earlier this week discussing worker loyalty in regards to age. I don’t think there are any surprises here in that older workers are more loyal than younger workers. First off, I think this analogy is one of the best I have seen to describe Gen X and Y’s approach to employment: Kevin Marasco, vice president of marketing at Jacksonville, Fla.-based Vurv Technology, a provider of Web-based workforce-management systems, explained that younger employees manage their careers as they would an investment. Just as they want to buy and sell a stock at the right time, younger workers want to build career equity by joining and leaving… Read More
Continue ReadingU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Website
I had some fun bouncing around the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Website yesterday. Pretty dangerous for a numbers geek like me. You can imagine that I soon found myself knee-deep into numbers. As you probably know, we are spellbound by lists here at The Hire Sense so this site was rich with stats, numbers and lists. Beautiful. Well anyway, here are some interesting numbers I found that I thought I would share with you. As I posted earlier this week, the United States unemployment rate is at 4.7%, but if we look at the number of job openings as a percent of total employment, 2.8%, we… Read More
Continue ReadingThe “So What?” Factor
I thought I would tie in to the Rock Star’s post about Attracting the Passive Candidate. Let’s look at it from the other side – what do candidates have to do to “be attractive” to the hiring company. I was catching up to an older post from Guy Kawaski’s blog and something jumped out at me. Guy playfully submitted his email cover and resume for a Yahoo position and allowed these 2 items to be critiqued by a recruiting manager from Yahoo. I thought her analysis was excellent. This part caught my attention: The resume calls out the positions held and a brief description of the responsibilities. What it lacks… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Kids Bring Home from School
My kids returned to school this week. I know the Minnesota parents are saying, “This week? My kids have been going for a week or two.” Our district just built 2 new elementary schools this past year and summer break was extended to give more time in completing their construction. That mission was only accomplished for 1 of the 2 new schools (which my youngest attends). Anyway, back to the reason for the post – I just learned today that September is Head Lice Prevention Month. With school starting in September and knowing that most elementary kids don’t have a lot of sense about these things, I can understand the… Read More
Continue ReadingAttracting the Passive Candidate
In a recent article on Weddles.com (the website provides resources for employment, personal development and career success) titled The First Four Lines, the author discusses the importance of catching the candidates’ attention in ads. In their own survey Weddles has found most visitors to the online job boards are now spending more time on the online sites than in the past. They do provide some stats in the article, but unfortunately they do not provide a frame of reference as in per day, per week or per month or how much this has changed from past surveys. The article does give some great tips on attracting the passive candidates: Passive… Read More
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