So you are totally involved in the interview cycle….my best advice is to always be yourself…it makes for a wonderful job landing experience and a great hire for your new employer… below are links to a few of my favorite getting the job tip articles …. you can also download our FREE BLK e-book at “Get Hired” … happy job hunting…
Interview Advice Articles
Strategies for Phone Interviews
Answering the Technical Question You Don’t Know
Dressing for the Interview at a Business Casual Environment
Feature Story
5 WAYS TO USE TWITTER TO LAND A JOB
When it comes to social networking in your job search, without question, every serious professional is expected to have a well-composed LinkedIn profile. But, according to an article published by U.S. News & World Report, using LinkedIn without the benefit of additional social networks can be self-limiting.
The problem is that using LinkedIn these days is considered “in-the-box” thinking. Because everyone is there, you have less of a chance of standing out from your competition.
That said, for multiple reasons, if you want to really get a jump on your competition, your job search should include active Twitter engagement. Indeed, with a professional sounding Twitter handle, such as @[your_location]engineer or @[your_occupation]expert, you can expand your online branding and begin to be noticed by people who you would otherwise never encounter.
Here, according to the U.S. News & World Report article, are five ways to incorporate Twitter into your overall job search strategy:
Moreover, you can do a simple search within Twitter for something like, “HR generalist” and “jobs NY.” Try playing around with any combination of job field, title, location and so on, and then save a set of results you like as a stream in HootSuite (hootsuite.com).
Another way of finding job opportunities is through the popular TweetMyJobs (tweetmyjobs.com). On this website, you can easily fill in a few fields to find jobs of interest to you and have them sent to you as more are posted.
These organizations will also create hashtags specific to a given conference or convention. Organizers and participants will live tweet what speakers are saying, program topics and much more. You can easily build your network by simply following those people who have something interesting to say now, because these are the kind of people who will likely share insights and other things of note going forward. Plus, you learn from their tweets what people are attending.
Clearly, in today’s competitive marketplace, your key to success can be stretching your comfort zone to include Twitter activity. If you’re one of the many adults without an account, it’s important to establish one now. Happy hunting!
NEWS FROM BLK:
Several Job-Seekers have expressed concern about the low job creation numbers reported for March. Our experience here at BLK has not seen a slow down in new opportunities and continue to see increase competition from clients in the IT, Sales, Marketing and Scientific niches.
We continue to witness an increase in long term contracting assignments as clients ramp up for major projects
As for social media we share with you Bob Larson, CPC President of Berman Larson Kane featured video by Firesshaper upon completion of his 1000th hot yoga class. You can view the link http://fireshaper.com/blog/bob-shares-journey-health-hot-yoga/ . Well done Bob!
Career Report March 2015 Issue # 181
Feature Story
DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT LYING ON RÉSUMÉ
You would think people seeking work would be more careful about making sure their résumés are as accurate and transparent as possible, especially since a growing number of companies now conduct extensive background checks on potential employees. But a recent study points out that lies abound in résumés, according to an article published by CBS MoneyWatch.
In fact, the national study found that close to 60 percent of company hiring managers have found lies in the résumés they’ve perused, while one-third of employers have noticed an increase in résumé “embellishments” in the post-recession job market, the article pointed out.
The survey, conducted online by Harris Poll for CareerBuilder, questioned nearly 2,200 hiring managers and human resource officials from a wide variety of companies and industries.
Here, according to the article, are some of the more common lies the survey respondents said job candidates tried to sneak past them:
“Trust is very important in professional relationships, and by lying on your résumé, you breach that trust from the very outset,” Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder’s vice president of human resources, said in a statement cited in the article.
“If you want to enhance your résumé, it’s better to focus on playing up tangible examples from your actual experience,” she added. “Your résumé doesn’t necessarily have to be the perfect fit for an organization, but it needs to be relevant and accurate.”
The article pointed out that some industries and job sectors also seem to be more prone to having job seekers lie about their pasts and qualifications.
For example, the survey found 73 percent of employers in financial services said they found fabrications on résumés they’ve examined, followed by 71 percent in leisure and hospitality, 63 percent in information technology, 63 percent in health care (looking at companies with more than 50 employees), and 59 percent in retail.
Of particular importance, most would-be employers said they take any fabrications discovered on a job seeker’s résumé very seriously, the article noted.
According to the survey, 51 percent said they would immediately dismiss a candidate caught lying on his or her résumé. Forty percent said any dismissal would depend on what the candidate lied about, but only seven percent said they were willing to overlook falsehoods or embellishments on a résumé if they liked the job candidate.
So a word to the wise: When it comes to preparing or updating your résumé, always keep in mind that honesty is the best policy.
NEWS FROM BLK
During the short month of February we added several new contract employees. We are very pleased to employ these specialized contractors in a variety of fields. The flexibility of contract / project work has a high conversion rate to direct hire positions for those who seek this career path.
We are also witnessing an increase in direct hire opportunities as our clients business cycle continues to improve and addition to staffs are needed.
Talent shortages are becoming more acute in technical, sys/admin, and across the programmer spectrum.
This April we will celebrate our 35 year in business we thank all for your support.
Job seekers tend to spend all of their time preparing answers for interviews, but the questions they ask can be as revealing to hiring managers, who may see questions as a measure of candidate engagement and interest, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.
Take for example the experience of Shawn Batka. By his second interview for a director position at Turtle Wax, a car-care product company based in Willowbrook, Ill., he felt that he’d been able to check all of the boxes for the job. He impressed the interviewer with his supply-chain management experience and examples of how he’d streamlined operations and cut costs at past jobs. But he felt that he needed to do more to clinch the job.
So following the advice of the recruiter that had headhunted him, he mentioned his own personal interest in cars and started asking questions that were based on his own regular usage of several Turtle Wax products, the article pointed out.
“They asked me if I was a passionate user or a casual user. And the way I answered the questions and what I asked in return, it really helped me to connect with them by showing that I could speak intelligently about the product,” said Batka, who was invited for a third interview and eventually hired as director of strategic supply. He has since hired employees who have expressed the same enthusiasm for the company’s products that he did.
Here according to The Wall Street Journal article are other thoughts and suggestions on the topic of asking questions during an interview:
HR Generalist
Summary: While functioning as a generalist, main responsibilities are in the recruitment arena and administering policies relating to all phases of human resources by performing the following duties.
Job Duties:
• Manages the recruitment function by sourcing recruiting and interviewing applicants and employees to fill vacant positions. Provides feedback to managers regarding above.
• Handles all New Hire paperwork requirements.
• Maintains knowledge of legal requirements and government reporting regulations affecting human resources functions and ensures policies, procedures and reporting are in compliance.
• Responsible for Affirmative Action Plan and auditing of Affirmative Action Plan.
• Responsible for meeting Key Performance Standards set by the Company.
• Generates and maintains records of personnel data such as hires, promotions, transfers, performance reviews, and terminations, and employee statistics.
• Performs reference and background checks.
• Responsible for the Job Description process which includes maintaining and revising as needed.
• Shared responsibility with other members of the team for all training programs related to HR.
• Responsible for the Applicant Tracking System.
• Responsible for organizational charts and monthly reporting.
• Prepares employee separation, transfer and promotion notices and related documentation.
• Responds to inquires regarding policies, procedures and programs by interpreting company guidelines
• Assists with immigration issues.
• Assists in projects as needed.
Skills:
• To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Database software; Human Resource systems; Internet software; Payroll systems; Spreadsheet software and Word Processing software.
Education & Requirements:
• Bachelor’s degree from four-year college or university required; and 3 to 5 years
related experience;
• PHR or SPHR preferred
• Valid drivers license required
• Up to 10% travel
Forward Resumes to: larson@jobsb.com
When hiring managers are asked about boneheaded mistakes they have seen job-seekers make during an interview, the most common, they say, are the subtle mistakes or omissions that can cause one candidate to lose out to another, according to an article in The New York Times. But if one person is sending out the right signals and behaving in the right way through each step of the process, the article noted, he or she has a much better chance to land the job.
Keep in mind, though, that there is no single set of rules in the hiring process. While certain standards of courtesy always apply (be punctual, treat everyone you meet with respect), your success may indeed depend on the company’s culture and the preferences of the people doing the hiring. Your ability to sense, and to act on, these factors could make a big difference, the article pointed out.
When Susan L. Hodas, director of talent management at NERA Economic Consulting, is hiring, for example, she looks for the right cultural fit as much as the right experience. To some degree she goes with her instincts, but she can also identify certain preferences. Here is one: “They should come in a suit,” she said.
Body language is also important, Hodas told the newspaper. She looks for an assured but not overly casual demeanor, along with good eye contact. She also looks for people who can enunciate their words (mumblers beware) and who can communicate their thoughts and ideas clearly. Overall, she said, she looks for people who are “confident, but not cocky.”
She added that she and her colleagues also typically apply “the airport test” to candidates. They ask themselves: “Would I want to be stuck in the airport for 12 hours with this person if my flight was delayed?”
It seems that just being yourself—albeit a formal, polite, alert and attentive version of yourself—is the best way to behave during interviews. You don’t want to do such a great job of faking it that when the company discovers the real you, it comes to regret ever hiring you. That said, there are certain things you can do—both during the interview and afterward—to give yourself an advantage, according to the article.
First and foremost, you should always research the company thoroughly (easy to do on the Internet), and be prepared to give specific examples of how your experience relates to the job. Also be able to describe as concretely as possible how you made a difference in your previous jobs.
Researching the company will also help when the interviewer asks whether you have any questions, said David Santos, executive director of human resources for Interbrand, a brand management firm. Not having any shows lack of interest and preparation, he added.
You should also make sure your questions show knowledge of the company and your interest in contributing to its success, the article pointed out. You’d be surprised how many people focus on themselves, not the company, by asking right off about things like salary, benefits and bonuses, said Annie Shanklin Jones, who manages United States recruitment for I.B.M.
Try to establish common ground with your interviewer so you stand out, Shanklin Jones added. Maybe you went to the same college or you pull for the same sports team. During the interview, “leverage your referrals,” she said, finding ways to highlight the people you know within the company.
Depending on the job you apply for, you may be called back for an interview several times. How you follow up after each interview is crucial. Not following up at all shows a lack of interest. Following up too much, or in the wrong way, could take you out of the running.
Santos told the newspaper that she looks for prompt follow-up by e-mail that shows the applicant was listening attentively, that mentions names of people the candidate met, and that reaffirms the candidate’s work experience and understanding of the company. Much less impressive is a generic e-mail that could be sent to any company, he said.
Should you use paper or e-mail in correspondence? Santos’ preference shows how tricky this can be. He said that for a company like his, which is more digitally focused, it would show a lack of awareness to send a traditional thank you note through the mail. On the other hand, he does expect candidates to show up for interviews with printed copies of their résumés.
Indeed, given that all companies and hiring managers are different, getting through the interview process can seem like walking a tightrope, the article pointed out. But common courtesy, combined with common sense, plenty of research and a dose of intuition can go along way toward bringing you safely to the other side.
News from BLK
Happy New Year….special thanks to all the job-seekers and hiring clients that added to our 2014 success…we can’t thank you enough.
As we gear-up for 2015 we are confident in continuous improvements for the job market. Talent shortages in key skill sets will increase as demand will out weigh supply. We are also predicting 2015 a rising tide of salary increases across all industries.
One of our key initiatives for 2015 is increasing Berman Larson Kane’s community service programs for job-seekers through a series of free webinars and community out-reach programs.
Thanks to all for allowing us to continue our 35 year of offering the “Best Staffing Options” we so appreciate your support.
TIS’ THE SEASON FOR JOB SEARCHING
Many job seekers are tempted to slow down their search for a new position (or pause it altogether) during the winter holiday season. But according to an article published by Monster.com, career experts say that taking a break from your holiday job search is a mistake — because hiring doesn’t stop.
At the end of the year, some companies rush to fill job openings that might otherwise be removed from next year’s budget, the article pointed out. Still other organizations will be looking ahead. “Jobs that might have been on hold until budgets are in place will become available in January,” said career expert Kimberly Bishop.
Roy Cohen, an executive coach agreed. “There’s a belief that recruiting shuts down during the holidays,” he said. “That’s a myth — so when other people take off from their job-searching during the holidays, you’re at an advantage should an opportunity surface. It’s all about numbers and odds.”
In fact, the holidays provide some distinct advantages and special opportunities for proactive job seekers. Here according to the Monster.com article are some ways to make the most of your holiday-seasonal job search:
Writing Resumes that Stand Out
The most important thing to know about resumes is that you want to have one that stands out from the crowd – a resume that is singled out by recruiters, makes a great impression with employers at job fairs, and makes you feel proud to present yourself when responding to internet job listings.
It’s easier than you think to make your resume stand out. Employers rarely receive high quality resumes, even though an average mid-sized company accumulates thousands of these documents every week. According to recruiters, typical resumes have not been proofread for basic spelling and grammar mistakes-and they include too much data or too little pertinent information. That’s why most resumes are left unread, unacknowledged, and eventually discarded.
This leaves you with a great opportunity to gain a competitive edge in the job market by writing an error-free resume. So, market your competencies in a clear and creative manner, summarize your experiences, and turn any opportunity into a bona-fide offer.
According to an article on Careerbuilder.com by Helene Lauer, an independent HR consultant, these three simple procedures will push your resume across the line from mediocrity into excellence:
Analyze your skills
First and foremost, distinguish yourself by examining what you have to offer. Do some soul searching and think about how your background relates to the skills, competencies, and qualifications that your target employers most want. Gather job-specific information by reading sample job descriptions and by interviewing others who already have these jobs. Now you are able to develop accomplishment statements that match the job you really want.
Look at each job and/or school experience you’ve had and prepare a list of your accomplishments-experiences that describe a situation that required special attention. These were the action steps that you took to solve a problem-and the result you achieved. Write out these accomplishments in detail; then rewrite them so they are concise enough for a resume, which should be limited to two pages or less. An example could the following: “Launched a product marketing program that resulted $3 million in company sales for a one-year period, contributing significantly to my employer’s revenues.”
Decide on a format
Now you must position your qualifications in an effective, appealing, and professional way. To do this, you need to first decide on the type of format you’re going to use — chronological or functional. Most employers prefer the chronological resume because it emphasizes career progression and dates of employment. The functional resume emphasizes accomplishments and eliminates the details behind the job history. This may seem like the best option for most jobseekers-until they find out that employers are likely to disregard functional resumes. Why? Because companies always need to know your employment history facts.
In reality, though, you don’t need to choose one format over the other. Instead, you can create your own resume format that integrates the best features of both styles. Experiment by organizing the pertinent and required information.
At the top, it’s a good idea to develop a summary or profile statement. You might incorporate some brief distinctive characteristics about yourself here, as well, or include them in a separate paragraph or section titled personal characteristics.
The rest of the resume could be structured in a typical chronological fashion, emphasizing real accomplishments at every past job. Or you could highlight the accomplishments that apply to the job you are targeting and include them at the beginning of the resume. Then balance the rest of your document with a chronological work history, including dates and job titles. In short, you should develop a personalized, comfortable format.
Also, don’t mention personal characteristics such as age, height and marital status. List your hobbies and interests only if you can relate them to the position you’re applying for, keep the phrase “references available upon request” off the resume, and avoid “objective” statements at the top-your objective should be clearly articulated in a well-written.
Create a Strong Visual Impression
Having settled on content and style, you should now pay attention to the visual impact of the resume.
Graphic designers and professional resume writers advise you to settle on one font style. When using boldface type, be consistent and conservative. If you are not, the reader’s eye will jump around, and the purpose of emphasizing one piece of information over others will be lost.
Many experts recommend using boldface type for job titles and leaving the names of employers in plain type. Use upper case, or capitalization, in a consistent manner, always capitalizing your name and job titles. Also, use normal margins allow for breathing room between different sections. Beyond a few graphic recommendations like these, feel free to experiment.
You don’t have to be a creative genius to write a memorable resume. Tricks and gimmicks usually don’t work, because employers want to know who the candidates are. Understanding and expressing your marketability and presenting yourself in a professional and readable manner, will give you an extra edge.
For many otherwise happy workers, the cubicle can be one of the most annoying aspects of the modern work life. Although cubicles give the illusion of privacy, anyone who has worked in one knows that those small walls are easily penetrated by neighbors’ incessant sounds and conversations. And not only is a lack of cube etiquette a problem, but spending most of your workday sitting in a cubicle can make you feel like your muscles have seeped into your ergonomic chair.
According to an MSN Careers article on cubicles by Susan Bryant, anyone who has resided in Cubeland knows how difficult it is to work while trying to block out coworkers’ conversations. For example, Mary Rasher, a photo editor and cube dweller for the past 10 years, said “there is always someone who doesn’t quite get that if he can hear me, I can hear him. I am forever overhearing domestic tiffs, weird bodily functions, etc. I’ve been reduced to wearing earplugs so I can concentrate. Even then, someone’s voice manages to cut through the foam.”
These complaints are common, said Hilka Klinkenberg, founder of Etiquette International, a firm specializing in business etiquette. Consequently, Klinkenberg feels that professional etiquette in a cube environment must be elevated to a higher standard than in a traditional office because of workers’ close proximity. To help make your office more cube-friendly, she offered the following guidelines:
Another common complaint among cube dwellers is the feeling they are getting “cube body.” What kind of effect does long-term sitting have on you? Mary Ann Paviledes, a registered nurse and massage therapist, said in the article that her clients who sit for an extended period of time often have experienced these physical repercussions:
Fortunately, combating these problems is easy. Pavlides recommended the following exercises for relief:
Also, make sure you have an ergonomic chair with armrests you can raise and lower to get the right fit, and your desk or table should also be adjusted to a comfortable level.
Even if your cube mates are a bunch of annoying Neanderthals, and your boss thinks ergonomic chairs are for wimps, cube nirvana is still possible. Angela Houlton, a communications administrator and resident of cubeland for 11 years, maintains that cube happiness requires a “bloom where you’re planted” philosophy.
“I keep a lot of framed photographs on my desk and favorite places I’ve visited,” she said in the article. “I also am referred to as the ‘Plant Lady’ because of all the greenery at my desk. I’m even considering a small Persian-type rug to place at the entrance of my cube to cozy things up a bit. The way I see it is, if you have to live in a cube, you might as well make it comfortable.”
TREND TOWARD LIMITING WORKPLACE EMAIL
The next time you peek at your email on your “day off” give some thought to workers in Germany, where companies like Volkswagen and Deutsche Telecom have adopted policies that limit work-related email to some employees on evenings and weekends. If this can happen in precision-mad, high-productivity Germany, could it not take place in the U.S.? According to an article in The New York Times, it not only could, but it should.
Indeed, limiting workplace email seems radical, but it’s become a trend in Germany. At automaker Daimler, for example, in addition to limiting work-related email on evenings and weekends, employees can set their corporate email to “holiday mode” when they leave for vacation. Anyone who emails them gets an auto-reply saying the employee isn’t in, and offering alternate contact details. Incoming email is deleted so employees don’t return to filled inboxes.
“The idea behind it is to give people a break and let them rest,” a spokesman for German automaker Daimler told Time magazine. “Then they can come back to work with a fresh spirit.”
In contrast, in the U.S., white-collar cubicle dwellers complain about email for good reason. They spend 28 percent of their workweek slogging through the stuff, according to McKinsey Global Institute. And they check their messages 74 times a day, on average, according to Gloria Mark, an authority on workplace behavior. And lots of that checking happens at home.
Jennifer Deal, a senior research scientist at the Center for Creative Leadership, surveyed smartphone-using white-collar workers and found that most were umbilically tied to email a stunning 13.5 hours a day, well into the evening.
Some workers don’t even take a break during dinner, peeking at the phone under the table, according to research cited in the article. And many even check it in bed in the morning. What agonizes workers is the expectation that they reply instantly to a colleague or boss, no matter how ungodly the hour.
So as a matter of sheer human decency and workplace fairness, reducing the choke hold of after-hours email is a laudable goal, the article pointed out.
The few North American firms that have emulated Daimler all say it is surprisingly manageable.
At the Toronto office of Edelman, the global public relations firm, managers created the “7-to-7” rule, the article noted. Employees are strongly discouraged from emailing one another before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m. They can check email if they want, but they’re not to send it to colleagues.
Even start-ups are experimenting with email limits. Book Riot, a website for book lovers, has eight full-time employees who mostly work remotely, in different time zones, on often hectic schedules. They all agree: Email someone whenever you want, but don’t expect a reply until the recipient is back in the office.
“It’s understood that if someone has a crazy idea at 3 a.m. and sends it, that’s their problem that it’s 3 a.m. — you respond when you want,” Rebecca Schinsky, the site’s director of content, told the newspaper. At the Boston Consulting Group, when a team of stressed-out consultants began organizing “predictable time off” — no-messaging zones during their off time — their total work hours dropped by 11 percent, yet the same amount of work was accomplished.
Why would less email mean better productivity? According to the article, it’s because, as Deal found out, endless email is an enabler. It often masks terrible management practices.
When employees send a fusillade of miniature questions via email, or “cc” every team member about every little decision, it’s because they don’t feel confident to make a decision on their own. Often, Deal found, they’re worried about getting in trouble or downsized if they mess up. In contrast, when employees are empowered, they make more judgment calls on their own, using phone calls and face-to-face chats to resolve issues.
When email is seen as an infinite resource, people abuse it. If a corporation constrains its use, each message becomes more valuable, and employees become more mindful of when they write.
Granted, not all late-night email is bad. As Ms. Deal found, employees don’t like being forced to reply at 1 a.m., but they appreciate the flexibility of being able to shift some work to the evening if they choose. And they don’t mind dealing with genuine work crisis that crop up during leisure hours. At Edelman in Toronto, employees try not to bug others in the evening – but if a client emails with a time-sensitive issue, they’ll respond.
Changes to email use just can’t happen through personal behavior though, the article pointed out. The policy needs to come from the top. If the boss regularly emails a high-priority question at 11 p.m., the real message is, “At our company, we do email at midnight.”
More than a century ago, blue-collar workers fought for a limited workday with an activist anthem: “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will.” According toThe New York Times article, it’s a heritage we need to restore