The SearchLogix Group Blog RSS feedhttp://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/The SearchLogix Group Blog. Blog involves logistics, supply chain, RFID, software sales, telecommunications, information technology, engineering, healthcare management, sales, and medical device professionals.en-US2010-03-12T15:37:30ZSquarespace Site Server v5.9.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/)The Hidden Job Market - Find Yourshttp://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/the-hidden-job-market-find-yours.htmlThe SearchLogix Group2010-03-08T21:51:55ZJob Search Strategies“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” - Jim Collins So many of my posts have been about where to find a job (as you would expect). But then I started thinking, what about the not so obvious places to find a job? You’ve heard the usual statistics “80% of all positions are filled without employer advertising” or “80% of all jobs are filled by referral” and finally “most job seekers find jobs through networking”. Now there is some truth to this (although I’m not convinced about the statistics), and you should ensure you focus on this as one part of you job search strategy (hence this post).

  • Unlocking the Hidden Job Market - This article, posted on Yahoo’s Hot Jobs, not only covers the “80%” type quotes, but actually gives some pointers on how to tap into the hidden job market. The article talks about leads and contacts as well as some passive methods of tapping the hidden market.
]]>Writing Your Resume Work History Sectionhttp://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/writing-your-resume-work-history-section.htmlThe SearchLogix Group2010-03-04T15:53:15ZResume & Interview Tips
Your Prior Job Experience is Vital

Employers are going to be looking for new people, who have the best possible skills to fit into their organization. While the skills that you have gained through education will be important, these employers also need to know that you can fit into their structure without problems. This will come through the amount of prior work experience that you have. You will be able to indicate all of the jobs in which you have performed in the past and show that you can be a part of a functional team without problems.
]]>It's Amazing What You Can Accomplish When You Don't Care Who Gets the Credithttp://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/its-amazing-what-you-can-accomplish-when-you-dont-care-who-g.htmlThe SearchLogix Group2010-03-03T20:54:02ZExecutive Management Decisions For Your Information Global Awareness What's your Opinion?That headline, by the way, was a sign on Ronald Reagan’s desk when he was president.

And it’s our theme for the day.

Two weeks ago, I was speaking with a sergeant in the U.S. Army.  One thing led to another, and the subject of leadership came up.  My fave.

He told me a fascinating story of unselfish servant leadership that has to be shared.  We can all learn from it.

At the time of our talk, he was a few weeks into a 3-month long training course, and the first round of tests had already occurred.  One element was a physical training (PT) test.  To pass, every soldier must meet or beat pre-determined scores in several different events (max push-ups in 2 minutes, max sit-ups in 2 minutes, a max 2-mile run time, and many more).

Should any soldier fail the cumulative PT test, he or she has one chance at a make-up test a week later.  If they fail again, the consequences are severe.  They get no third chance.  And they can never be promoted to the next rank or pay grade.

Yikes.  A lot riding on this.

]]>Planning Your Career Changehttp://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/planning-your-career-change.htmlThe SearchLogix Group2010-03-01T21:49:19ZChanging Careers Job Search Strategies Making a New StartDo you wake up in the morning eager to get on with your job? Or do you drag through your workday just dreaming of getting home and relaxing? If you chose the second variant it’s time to take control and change the situation. We’ll tell you how to find work that is a perfect match with your talents, personality, passion and dreams and how to organize your career change process.

Six Steps to Career Change

#1 Rediscover Yourself Before jumping to a new career it is very important to journey inward and explore your strengths, values, interests and skills. The better you understand yourself the better chance you have to find the career of you dream. Think of what you like doing in your leisure time and what achievements you had at school. You should also identify the reason why you want to leave so you don’t jump out of the frying pan into the fire: is it the content of your work that you hate or is it your boss, salary, colleagues, the working environment? If you like what you do but you’re dissatisfied with the terms and conditions you’d better negotiate them with your boss or find another job in the same field.

#2 Research your new career

Read as much as you can about the field you want to enter to have a clear picture of how it works. Try to reach out to personal contacts in that industry by attending conferences, networking events. Conduct informational interviews, talk to your friends and colleagues – they can help you with job leads, advice, and information about a particular company or industry. It would be a great opportunity for you to shadow professional and observe work first hand. Follow the latest developments in the industry you’re heading towards.

#3 Volunteer activities

The best way to get an inside look at the career field and to gain necessary experience is a part-time or volunteer job. This way you’d be able to understand if it is really what you’ve dreamt about and make a change in a less drastic way.

]]>Employee Background Checks – The Hidden Roadside Bombhttp://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/employee-background-checks-the-hidden-roadside-bomb.htmlThe SearchLogix Group2010-02-24T21:22:12ZBusiness Ethics Employee Behavior Executive Recruiters For Your Information Recruiting CandidatesGone forever are the days in which an employee (literally) stayed on one job for life. What human resources departments have to content with today is a highly transient workforce. People in perpetual motion for numerous and diverse reasons; not the least includes economic reasons, health reasons, and even reasons relating to criminal activities. This makes conducting backgrounds check an absolute must in order to protect all employees. Failure to perform a “due diligence” search of those people you bring onboard the premises could cost your company millions.

Check Everyone

The courts have ruled- the moment a person sets foot on your premises, they become the company’s responsibility. Even what may be considered as a simple fight, can turn into a litigation nightmare, lasting for many years and costing the company millions in legal fees. One case I’m privy to involved three individuals caught up in a sexual tryst at work. The female employee was dating one person, then switched and starting dating another. The two individuals got into a fight over the female (at work). One employee breaks the other’s jaw. This may be very bad news for the employer. There are two distinct documents (savvy) attorneys will want to subpoena immediately. (1) Your policy on violence and violent acts at work, and (2) the background check you conducted on the employee. Well, in this case, the company failed to conduct any background checks.

]]>Don’t put … in your Cover Letters!http://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/dont-put-in-your-cover-letters.htmlThe SearchLogix Group2010-02-17T21:22:39ZJob Search Strategies Making a New Start Resume & Interview Tips Water Cooler Chat What's your Opinion?Your cover letters are an introductory sales pitch with the purpose of persuading employers that reviewing your resume is a good use of their time.  The last thing you want to do is give them a reason to eliminate you from the candidate pool.  The following topics should not be mentioned in your cover letter:   

-Salary Requirements – Your cover letter is not the place to discuss your salary requirements.  Even if the employer asked for your salary requirements, I would suggest that you don’t provide this information.  Salary requirements are a way for employers to eliminate people who want too much money or to limit your salary if you receive a job offer.  You don’t want to compete for a job based on how little money you’re willing to take. 

-Why you’re Currently Looking – Although you may be tempted to share the reason why you’re currently unemployed or looking for a better opportunity, don’t.  In this economy where mass layoff announcements occur weekly, it’s not necessary to explain why you’re currently looking for a job.  If you are truly compelled to provide this information, wait until the job interview where you can fully explain why you’re looking for a job.  Your cover letter is not the place for this information.

]]>The 8 Questions that Cost you the Jobhttp://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/the-8-questions-that-cost-you-the-job.htmlThe SearchLogix Group2010-02-16T21:20:04ZFor Your Information Job Search Strategies Making a New Start Resume & Interview Tips Water Cooler ChatIf you’re like me, scarcely a week goes by without receiving an email or phone call from a job-seeker saying something along the lines of, “I’ve been looking for a job for months, and I keep getting interviews but I don’t get the job.  I have no idea why - the recruiters and hiring managers never give me any feedback.”

Whether a recruiter/hiring manager should provide detailed feedback, and whether that feedback would ever actually change a candidate’s behavior is something we’ve talked about before.  

Some recruiters/hiring managers think that they have a responsibility to provide feedback; others not so much.

So I asked one of the best recruiters I know, Maureen Carroll, for her expert opinion.

“Of course recruiters should provide feedback to candidates who have gone through a first interview and haven’t been selected,” she says.  “It’s just part of delivering a good candidate experience.”

]]>Can You Collect Unemployment If You Resign? – Facts Revealed!http://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/can-you-collect-unemployment-if-you-resign-facts-revealed.htmlThe SearchLogix Group2010-02-15T21:32:21ZFor Your Information Water Cooler ChatIn these tough economic times, many people are being laid off, losing their jobs, and finding themselves relying on unemployment for a few weeks, or even months. However, there are also cases where either voluntarily or otherwise, people resign from their jobs.

The question is, if you do resign, are you still eligible for benefits? Here are the facts:

  • If you resign, whether voluntarily or under duress, you will not be eligible for unemployment benefits.
  • In some cases, the unemployment office will begin to pay out benefits, before this is confirmed. In that case, when they do confirm with your employer that you did, in fact, resign, you will be liable to repay those benefits.
  • Not only can you not claim unemployment benefits if you resign, but you will also probably jeopardize any claim you may have had for unfair dismissal, in the case of a forced resignation.
  • Since resignation is seen as an elective, it is understandable that the unemployment office does not deem it fair, or necessary, to pay benefits to people who have voluntarily become unemployed.
]]>10 Tips For a Reader-Friendly Resumehttp://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/10-tips-for-a-reader-friendly-resume.htmlThe SearchLogix Group2010-02-10T22:23:04ZResume & Interview Tips
1. Avoid small font. Nothing in your resume should be smaller than 11 point. If your reader has to squint, he’ll end up skimming over the important parts of your resume.

2. Keep your font simple. They may not be the snazziest, but the two easiest-to-read fonts are Arial and Times New Roman. Anything in your resume that causes eye strain de-motivates the reader to keep reading.

3. Don’t write large blocks of text. A resume reader’s attention span just isn’t up to more than three consecutive lines of text. Beyond four lines and your block of text gets ignored completely.

4. Use white space to separate bullet points. The purpose of bullet points is to visually separate text so that your information stands out in easy-to-digest bits. Without white space your list of bullet points takes on the look of an extended block of text.

5. Don’t try to squeeze too much onto the page. A densely packed resume carries a 0% motivating factor— nobody wants to read it! Never sacrifice readability in order to keep your resume to a certain page length. ]]>No Longer Availablehttp://www.thedailyrecruiter.com/the-daily-recruiter-blog/no-longer-available.htmlBrett Stevens2010-02-09T21:50:18ZAsk a Pro Recruiter Executive Recruiters Recruiting Candidates