Tami Palmer BP2 Division Dire
September 1st, 2010
Today’s world of understaffed HR/recruiting departments, combined with the internet age that brings volumes of resumes to recruiters in-boxes, leaves many mid-large size companies using software programs that scan for key words in resumes. In order to “beat the system,” make sure that your resume contains the right keywords so that it doesn’t get lost in the filters and end up in the e-wasteland. Here are some tricks and tips to help ensure your resume is “found” and at least read by a recruiter.
- Review the requirements list in a job description that you’re applying for, and make sure each required skill is listed somewhere in your resume. This extends not just to development languages or programs, but could go as far as words like “global” or “international” or “program” vs. “project” manager.
- Triple manual spell check your resume. If a company is looking for a Share Point Administrator, make sure your resume doesn’t accidentally say a Shrae Point Administratior. Resume searches aren’t adept enough to pick up misspellings.
- If you don’t want to clutter your resume with keywords, try putting a block of words in white text at the end of your resume. White text won’t show up to the reader, text is text and the keywords are still there.
- Don’t sell yourself short. If you’re at a senior professional level, Director or above, it may be appropriate to have more than a 2 page resume. Overly condensing information sometimes leads to cutting out relevant experience. In this new paperless world, it’s not too terribly cumbersome for recruiters to scroll down through multiple pages.
Remember, the resume serves only to get you the interview. Make sure your information is both easy to read and thorough. If you’re a PeopleSoft Administrator, make sure that your resume is not only peppered with the word PeopleSoft, but that it includes all of the various subset modules that you’ve worked with (perhaps HR or Finance) and talk at length about them, using their official name. Don’t fall into the trap of assuming that a recruiter will know you have experience that isn’t directly spelled out on your resume.
Interested in a professional, personalized resume critique? Contact our office at 303.444.1445 to hear about our career service offerings.
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Tami Palmer BP2 Division Dire
August 27th, 2010
I was recently made aware of this slideshow and found it to be a fascinating socialogical study on how our “real life” social networks are migrating into the on-line world. While the presentation is geared towards social media developers, I think it’s worth a flip through for anyone who’s trying to navigate this new world of social media. Some interesting tidbits from the presentation: our brains can only keep track of 150 network connections at any time and 80% of the phone calls we make are to the same 4 people.
http://www.slideshare.net/padday/the-real-life-social-network-v2
Tags: social media, social networks
Posted in BP2, BP2 News and the Economy, BP2 Tips and Tricks, BSI, BSI News and Economy, BSI Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
Tami Palmer BP2 Division Dire
July 27th, 2010
When you’re unemployed, guilt and pressure can often lead you to spending endless hours at your computer in search of your next job. Summer is here, the blue skies and water parks are calling, make sure to take time out of your search to relax and enjoy life. You may never get this time off again, and if you have wee-ones, be sure to spend some quality time with them while it’s available.
Treat your job search like a part-time job, give it lots of attention and focus, then step away and enjoy the here and now. Besides, who knows who you might meet at the pool – maybe the person on the chaise lounge next to you knows of a terrific opportunity.
Posted in BP2, BP2 Tips and Tricks, BSI, BSI Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment »
Jackie Osborn President
May 21st, 2010
Resumes are the vision into your future. A resume must hold the reader captive for at least 3 seconds at first glance and then once captured, for several minutes to tell a whole relatable business story. What to say, what not to say, this is your choice, but how it is interpreted may surprise you.
How important is it to tell your story? Ask those who have your dream job with your dream company and ask how they got started. This is what I think can work for you.
Set yourself apart by creating a strong but succinct introductory description of your experience, bullet points are not always necessary here. Describe your solid record of success. If you have had leadership roles with associates and/or projects, then demonstrate that information in the job categories. If your education is relevant to your career, then let the reader know. If you have a specific skill-set that is either technical or organizational, then let us know. Professionally and concisely, arrange your resume, remember, this is marketing 101. If you had any affect on the bottom line either perceptually or quantitatively, tell us. Finally, show your commitment to your future in your summarization of the past and focus on your measurable results. Since it is difficult for most of us to effectively write about our accomplishments, then seek professional help to assist you with this most important endeavor, because this is your future.
Tags: Business, experience, marketing, professional, Recruiter, resume
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Nancy Chapple Treasurer
April 29th, 2010
Government programs…do they really work? Well, BSI is about to find out. The Hire Act, passed earlier this year, seems like it could be pretty darn helpful, now will anyone qualify so we can actually save money? I’ll let you know.
Here is how part of the Act works; a candidate must certify that they have been unemployed for the last 60 days. Your job must be a new position, i.e. you are not hiring for a position that you’ve just fired someone from. If you can meet those two standards, then you can receive a tax credit of 6.2% on your quarterly 941. Not a bad savings. The program only goes until the end of 2010. After that no more, so you have to be quick if you are going to take advantage of the program.
Now, of course there are more details, this is the government after all, but if you are interested in the details let me know. I would be happy to share more information with you. Contact me at nancyc@bolderstaffing.com.
Tags: Government Program, tax credit, The Hire Act, unemployment
Posted in BSI News and Economy | No Comments »
Juan Portillo Recruiter
April 22nd, 2010
My job is to examine the resumes I receive, determine which resumes most closely match the requirements of the job, screen candidates over the phone, and then interview in person. On average, I receive about 100 resumes per position I have available. Let’s say that at any given time I’m recruiting for 10 different positions. That’s 1000 resumes to inspect!
Not only is this a lot of work, but I am often under time constraints as client’s usually need to fill their positions as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, many candidates make my job more challenging by failing to do very simple things. You might ask yourself: Why would I want to make a recruiter’s job easier? The answer to that question is simple: candidates that make our jobs easier are not only more accessible but also stand out.
Here is a list of things to do to make your recruiter’s job easier:
- Use an effective subject line – When e-mailing your resume to a recruiter your subject line should be in this format: ‘Name – Position for which you are applying,’ that’s it. It may seem like a no-brainer but often subject lines for e-mails that I receive don’t include the persons name or the position for which they are applying. Remember, a lot of the time recruiters are moving quickly so they are more likely to open an e-mail with a subject line specific to the position for which they’re recruiting. Don’t let your resume be considered last!
- Remember to attach your resume – Don’t make us have to call you or e-mail you back to let you know that you forgot the attachment! It’s an extra step and you are sure to be considered last. Besides, it makes for a poor first impression.
- Use a concise cover letter – Recruiters don’t have time to read a three page cover letter. Cover letters should accomplish three things: a brief self-introduction, a brief description of your career objective, and a brief explanation of why you’re a fit for the position for which you’re applying. It should be no longer than one page.
- Use a common document format – Let’s face it, most companies run MS Office and Adobe Reader on their computer systems. Use formats that are compatible with those programs (e.g. .doc, .rtf, .pdf, etc.). Your resume is more likely to be opened the first time a recruiter sees it, instead of when the recruiter gets around to e-mailing you to ask for another format.
- Include your correct contact information - This actually happens fairly often, most commonly on resumes submitted from job boards like Career Builder or Monster. Many times when candidates change their e-mail or phone number, they forget to update their job board profiles. This slows down a recruiter’s process for obvious reasons.
- Include your dates of employment – Remember to include your dates of employment for each position on your resume. The idea is to provide us information about how much experience you have. Excluding your dates of employment makes it more difficult to determine the extent of your experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities.
- List your accomplishments and duties for each position – Recruiters want to know what you did for each position specifically. While a general list of accomplishments at the top of your resume is great, we still want to know where, when, and for how long you had that experience. Save your recruiter some time and provide this information in your resume.
- Don’t exclude important details – For each position, list important details such as the software you used, the machines you used, the types of products you sold, the products you manufactured/designed/engineered, how many people you supervised, etc. Many times recruiters are searching for a very specific person with a very specific skill set. They might just be searching for someone that has experience working with the exact software/machines/products you have! Make it easy for them to find you by including this information in your resume!
Remember, recruiters are looking for the best fit for the positions they have available and they are trying to do it quickly. Make your resume as accessible as possible and include all the necessary information they need to assess your qualifications.
Tags: Candidates, career, Career Builder, cover letter, duties, e-mail, employment, interview, Job, Monster, objective, positions, Recruiter, requirements, resume, subject line
Posted in BP2, BSI Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments »
Jackie Osborn President
April 2nd, 2010
So how do we attract a qualified employee. Do you remember 10 years ago that employers were paying signing bonuses and promising vacation/PTO packages to college or MBA graduates to fulfill technical positions. Now candidates are practically wishing that they could pay a fee to an employer to receive a reliable job with a reasonable salary and benefits.
By 2015, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 76% of U.S. jobs will require a highly skilled workforce compared to 50% more than a decade ago. So once employers attract the best talent, how do we find ways to hold on to our top performers? An employer spends an average of .45 cents on the dollar of payroll in the form of benefits, work life balance incentives, and training.
The most important incentive for a company to offer it’s workforce is company culture. The best testimony to a great company and the reason why an employee will be retained is cooperative relationships among your staff. A happy workforce breeds a successful company.
Tags: benefits, bureau of labor statistics, Candidates, employers, incetives, position, PTO, salary, top performers, training, vacation, work-life balance, workforce
Posted in BSI Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments »
Tami Palmer BP2 Division Dire
March 22nd, 2010
Understaffed HR departments are relying more and more on automated systems to manage the volumes of resumes they receive. Some positions can yield up to 200 or more resumes from one posting. Mid-size and large corporations often use these systems to search resumes for specific keywords, thus allowing their HR staff to only review those resumes that matched the search. Recently I spoke with a candidate who had a creative way of tackling this, often frustrating situation. At the end of his resume, in white text, he had typed in a list of keywords that mirrored the type of work he was most experienced and interested in doing. When you viewed the resume, the words were not there, but in white text or black, a screening program will pick them out if they match, thus alerting the company to review it.
Although responding to an ad can sometimes lead to an interview, the best way to get noticed by a company is through an internal referral. Nearly all companies either have a referral system and sometimes they even offer bonuses for referrals. Companies love to hire referrals, so if there’s a company that you’re interested in applying to, before sending a resume, check your Linked In and personal contacts database to see if you know anyone there. If so, see if that person will forward your resume to HR or the hiring manager. When I worked on the corporate side as a recruiter, employee referrals were always my number one way to fill openings.
Just a couple of ideas of how to stand out and make the system work for you!
Tags: automated systems, hiring manager, HR, keywords, posting, referral, resumes, screening
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