Job Search Tips2getajob

Every week I conduct interviews with Recruiters and HR professionals on Tips2GetaJob radio. The show takes place every Thursday at 6:30m Est. on blog talk radio. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Recruiter Jessica Mainor. To listen to the entire interview click here.

How can job seekers find jobs?
We post job internally on our internal website first then we post jobs on Indeed, Career Builder, Monster and Simply Hired.

What types of jobs are in demand?
I recruit for the Healthcare field; we post jobs like Medical Assistant, Nursing and Radiology a wide variety of medical positions. Currently, we have over 70 positions.

Would you say there’s a shift in the job market?
Yes, we are seeing a lot of new grads in the health care field. A lot of High School students are interning and applying for scholarships at the hospital.

What’s the best way for job seekers to transition into the medical industry?
Internship is a good way to transition because you can experience the day and a life feel of the work you’re considering going into. Volunteer in a hospital, doctor’s office, and or medical clinic is another way to gain firsthand experience. This allows you to get a better understand of what the environment is like and co-workers. Internship and volunteer work can cultivate good relationship.

Why is networking important?
Networking is super important because you never know who can help you, give you insight on the company. That person can connect you with the decision maker; let you know who is hiring. You can form some great relationships with individuals and expand on that in the future.

What are the benefits of employee referral programs?
We encourage our employees to refer qualified candidates and if the individual works with our hospital for at least a minimal of 90 days then we do pay out that referral bonus. We believe good people know good people. I’m a big fan of referring people that are a good fit. We have been very successful, our hospital have hired some exceptionally skilled individuals because of the employee referral program.

How can social medical help job seekers find jobs?
I found my job using social networks like LinkedIn and Bullhorn. Face Book has a nice professional resource. I am a big fan of social networking because it can help you to connect with hiring managers in the company where you would like to work. The key is to keep the relationships strong and stay in touch with people. You never know when I position maybe available. It is a win-win for both parties, you can help them and they can help you.

What challenges are recruiters facing and how can they overcome this experience?
Recruiting and HR is a very competitive, it is important to know how to tap into the latest resources in finding the best qualified applicants, not just through the job boards and job fairs. Recruiters need to be really resourceful, making ourselves assessable because a lot of qualified applicants are over looked. Bridge the, disconnect between recruiters, passive and active candidates by being smart in our relationship building. Continue to find the qualified applicants and candidates that are currently employed or actively looking for employment.

What needs to be on a resume for a job seeker to standout?
A detailed, organized resume is very important and the format is key. If a job seeker has been with a company for a long time, stability is a plus and should be highlighted on a resume. Remove objective on a resume, it is more beneficial to get right into the experience. Make sure the requirements for the position is indicated on your resume. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) help recruiters narrow their search. Job seekers need to add keywords so their resume comes up in search results.
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Jessica Mainor is a Recruiter from the North West suburbs of Chicago with 5 years of recruiting experience in the areas of Administrative, Light Industrial/ Warehouse, IT, Temp/Direct Hire and Permanent Placement. She has recently left Temp Staffing and is now a Corporate Recruiter for Memorial Hospital in the HR/Talent Acquisition Department. Jessica, will be completing her CIR this fall, and is enrolled in a Human Resources Mgmt Masters Program. She enjoys her career and Jessica feels that helping others is incredible it makes her happy to help and share any information, knowledge and resources as best as she can! Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn.

Every week I conduct interviews with Recruiters and HR professionals on  Tips2GetaJob radio. The show takes place every Thursday at 6:30m Est. on blog talk radio. This is excerpted from my recent interview with HR professional Tina Blount. To listen to the entire interview click here.

How did you get hired with Next Job?
It’s a great story that promotes, working the hidden job market. I was working in HR for over 20 years in a variety of capacities and had stepped out of that looking towards the next segment of my career, not knowing what it was going to present. I had just completed a job coaching certification program and I knew I didn’t want to be a coach from an entrepreneurial perspective. I didn’t want my own coaching organization.
So, I went online just to do some research on the type of companies that employ coaches and I stumble across Next Job, only 5 years old in the making and not at the time. There was an overview of the company that I found online. The kind of reemployment work Next Job was going to be doing and the kind of people they would be looking for down the road. I sent them a letter with a copy of my resume stating I was so excited about the company and the great work their doing. When the time comes I would like to have a conversation with you. I would love to be a part of this. The company called me back and I went through the interview process. I was the first coach they had hired long before they even knew what to do with me. Researching lead me to this job.

Would you say research definitely pays off?
Yes, but exploring the research by reaching out to the organization. Let the company know you’re excited about what they’re doing. So often when we are unemployed we get into a siloed thinking, it’s about me, it’s about my need, it’s about what I need to accomplish. Hiring managers don’t think that way; they think I need to take care of my organization. If we begin to think like them we will have a better connection with hiring managers.

What do you like best about your job?
We are a virtual company meaning that we are based all over the United States and we all work from our homes. That gives me a tremendous amount of professional and personal flexibility and I love that aspect of working here. I’m really passionate about what I do. The people here are very passionate about the work we do and we only hire individuals in our organization that share that passion. It’s cool to come together and work with individuals even though it’s 99% over the telephone with people who really share your passion. It’s the best part of doing what we do here in our company. Passion equates to having joy, excitement or energy about the work you do. When you have it, it does show up and people take notice.

Share what makes a recently new hire a successful employee?
We had a particular coach that we hired because she had a very specific language skill. We were working with a group of job seekers who needed coaching in a particular language. We found someone that she met all our competencies as a coach, had passion and the language skill. When we brought her on board, we knew she was going to be successful from the get go. What we didn’t know is how successful. She was so incredibly passionate about our company and what we do that she kept looking for ways that she could contribute. It was a soft contribution it wasn’t one of those, your process stinks and you need to change something. It was I have an idea and I would like to share an idea with you. As she begun to share her ideas, we began to learn that she had skills in areas that we did not originally identify were skills for her. She came on board as a coach fulfilling the role that we hired her for. Over the last year she has expanded to be such an integral part of our company because she cared enough to say I have an idea about how we can help more job seekers and customers. That is what I think makes someone successful in our company. I can train people for skill but I can’t train them for enthusiasm and passion. She combined it with her natural skills.

What are job seekers reactions to considering a protean career?
Protean careers are individuals that work for more than one company. Job seekers might be drawling all the income they need from multiple companies, consulting over here and doing a little bit of working over there. A protean career has a multiple effect for job seekers to express their talent and skills. Each person and strategy is very individualize when it come to protean career option. Through job coaching we can talk to job seekers and figure out what’s best based on their individual needs. The job coach understands there are multiple factors to consider like, is the job seeker the primary bread winner in their home, do they have any other source of income and where are they mentally and emotionally. As job coaches we have that ability to help job seekers figure out their unique individual situation. Together we can determine what kind of plan we should look at to include some temporary work, consulting, part time, maybe a contract position. As the job seeker is exploring full time possibilities or do they have the flexibility to wait and put all their energy into looking for a full time position.

What needs to be on a résumé to get hiring managers’ attention?
Details are important on a résumé for example, the months and years of employment. The résumé should read with ease and clarity of a children’s story. Convey the ‘who’ and the ‘do’ of what a person is on your résumé. Ask yourself questions like, how do I take all this content and let it flow, what’s the message I’m trying to convey and what story am I trying to tell the hiring manager? Recruiters and hiring managers stay on a résumé for about 20 seconds or less. If there is not a clear cut story that flows, then the hiring manager has to search within the résumé. A résumé that is filled with content and doesn’t tell a story very easily and clearly, gets passed over to a résumé that does. You can still add keywords to your résumé and tell a story. Write your resume in pieces; start with the facts things you know like, where did you get your degrees and/or certifications, the companies you worked for and the dates. Next, write down your job title, one or two sentences of an overview of what you did for that company. Then the bullet points of all the specifics like, who you are and what you did for the company. Write your resume in the third person, for an audience. Your audience is the hiring manager. Font size on a resume should not be lower than a 12 size point font and your name no greater than a 16 size font. Add notable accomplishments on your resume, right below the summary.

Why do job seekers need to have the FAB factor?
FAB factor stands for Features, Accomplishments and Benefits. Job seekers can use this in their resume and during an interview, it’s telling a story to the hiring manager. You want to communicate what that feature accomplished and the benefits to the and overall benefit to the organization.
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Tina Blount –  Multi-talented Human Resource Professional with over 20 years of experience helping men, women and organizations reach their full potential. Compelling leadership and change management skills often referred to as “change analyst” and a proven ability to motivate individuals to higher levels of performance. Tina is currently the Director of People and Culture for NextJob, a national reemployment company who is putting America back to work one person at a time. Prior to her work with NextJob, Tina served as the VP of Talent Acquisition for both Washington Mutual Finance and CitiFinancial. In her spare time, Tina is also an author and inspirational speaker. Her books are available on Amazon.com. 

Job Coach Jacqui, conducts an interview with Recruiters or HR Professionals on Tips2GetaJob Series. This is excerpts from my recent interview with Chrystal Moore, PHR, Senior Recruiter for Philips.

What do you like most about working there?
I love being able to have the tools and resources to perform my job and am also fortunate to work with an amazing team and group of customers (hiring managers and HR managers).
How did you get your job?
I wasn’t looking at the time and someone that I was networking with reached out to me to let me know that a position was going to be opened at Philips. Since I was recruiting for similar types of healthcare candidates at my previous company, my peer thought it would be a good match. Six years later…I’m still here!

What industry, specialty or function are you in now?
Philips has three divisions: Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle, and Lighting. I started off in Philips Healthcare however have touched on every area of the business including Campus Recruiting. My primary focus now is Philips Healthcare and I mainly recruit for the Customer Service portion of the business. The functions that I mainly recruit for are service engineers that repair medical equipment such as MRIs, X-Rays, Patient Monitoring equipment, and more. I recruit for both the engineers that repair the equipment hands-on as well as the team that supports our customers over the telephone.

Do you have a degree &/or certification; If so, what kind and from where?
I have my Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from NC State University (GO PACK!). I have my MBA from Valdosta State University. I have my Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification since 2002 and have recertified every three years. I also have the AIRS Advanced Certified Internet Recruiter (ACIR) certification.

How do you stay current in your industry?
I stay current by keeping abreast of what my peers in other industries are doing. I also like to keep track of what our competitors are doing so that we can continue to stay competitive in the marketplace. I’m constantly reading news articles and information online to keep my recruiting skills up to date.

Name two ways you’re networking now?

Professionally, I would say that I used LinkedIn extensively and like connecting with people that I’ve worked with over the years as well as candidates that I’ve spoken to. Over the last year, I’ve started using Twitter as well and have made some great networking contacts through this resource. I have my personal recruiting account which is @RecruitMoore and I also tweet occasionally from our Philips North America Recruiting account which is @PhilipsJobsNA. Twitter has also allowed me to stay current in my industry due to the large amount of resources that are shared by other industry professionals.  It has also allowed me to network with candidates that have expressed interest in working with Philips and some have connected back with me to say they’ve been hired!

What are your top 2 blogs and why?
I don’t subscribe to blogs since I tend to follow quite a few people through Twitter that post their blog posts through that medium.

What are your top 2 recruiting sources and why?
From a sourcing perspective, I would have to say LinkedIn is one of my widely used recruiting sources. Another source that I use frequently is our Applicant Tracking System as well as my previous notes of candidates that I’ve spoken to over the years. Most recruiters tend to forget to check their current ATS for candidates.

What do you like most about being a Recruiter?
My Bachelor’s degree was in Marketing and although I’m not a big-time Advertising executive like I thought I would be while I was in college, I love that I get to use my marketing skills every day. I’m constantly marketing and advertising to potential candidates about the benefits of our company and I’m marketing to my hiring managers why I think a particular candidate would be a great fit. Another reason why I love recruiting is that I feel it’s the “happy part” of HR. I love the satisfaction of extending an offer to someone that truly wanted to position and the opportunity to work with Philips.

What do you look for in a job candidate?
First and foremost, I have to look to see if the candidate has the necessary skills to do the position. Many of my positions require specific, tangible skills such as experience repairing a CAT scan. Once I’ve determined if they have the necessary skills, I then see if they have the behaviors and attributes that are tied to our Philips behaviors. Sometimes if a candidate isn’t the right fit for this one particular job, I’ve considered them in the future for another position that was a fit. I often tell candidates that you have to be tenacious because that right opportunity may not be right in front of you right now but will be right around the corner.

What are the top 2 job search strategies, job seekers should do?
One…continue to build your network! If a candidate doesn’t have a LinkedIn profile…create one and build your network through this channel. Employee referrals are one of the top sources of candidates and you never know who in your network may be aware of that next great opportunity for you. Another strategy is if there is a particular company or industry that you are interested in, see if that company has a LinkedIn company page, Twitter page, Facebook page or any other social media page and then follow them. This will allow a candidate to get more insight into a company and learn more about their culture as well as potential job opportunities that may not be advertised in other channels.

When, why and how should a job seeker contact a recruiter/hiring manger?
This can be a thin line to cross and I think it would depend on the situation. If there is a position that a candidate is qualified for and the candidate has the recruiter’s contact information, it should be okay to reach out to inform that recruiter of his/her interest. I would recommend that the candidate first apply to the position online before reaching out to the recruiter. Regarding reaching out to a hiring manager, I would recommend only doing so after the candidate has had the opportunity to interview with the hiring manager. A nice Thank You letter to show the candidate’s interest in the position would be great since Thank You letters are rare. Just make sure that the Thank You letter is specific to the position as well as highlight some of the points that were mentioned during the interview.

Share your funniest recruiting experience?
I sat and thought about this for a while and I don’t think I’ve had those “rolling on the floor laughing” recruiting moments. Now, I’ve had quite a few “shaking my head” moments but that’s probably for another day and time!
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Chrystal Moore, PHR has more than 10 years recruiting experience and has been with Philips for over six years. She is very active on Social Media and actively engages with candidates through LinkedIn and Twitter. She received her Bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University (Go Pack!) and her MBA from Valdosta State University. You can network with Chrystal on Twitter at @RecruitMoore or on LinkedIn 

Job Coach Jacqui, conducts an interview with Recruiters or HR Professionals on  Tips2GetaJob Series for job seekers. This is excerpts from my recent interview with Howard Kelman.

What’s your job title and role?
My title will be Senior Account Executive, NRI Data.  My role will be Business Development and Sales. The long term plan is for me to build this territory and start hiring additional sales staff. I am pioneering this region.

What do you like most about your job?
I cannot honestly answer this question yet.  I don’t start until Feb. 20.  I will be in a selling capacity, a position that I haven’t been in for over 20 years. But I am a successful sales manager so I think I have a pretty good idea of what to do.

How did you get your job?
I got the job as a result of a referral from someone I’ve been friends with for 25 years.  He is a friend of the individual who hired me. This is an important lesson in how important long-term relationships are and maintaining them throughout your life.

What industry, specialty or function are you in now?
I am a veteran of the office furniture industry but this new position leads me down a new path.  It’s in the technology world selling peripheral accessories and equipment. There’s learning curve I will be encountering.

Do you have a degree &/or certification; If so, what kind and from where?
I have a BA degree from the University of Alabama in Political Science. By the way, the Univ of AL won the football National Championship this year for the 2nd time in 3 years.

How do you stay current in your industry?
I receive the weekly trade magazine from the office furniture industry. I haven’t started receiving any information from my new industry but I’m sure that will change during my orientation.

Name two ways you’re networking now?
I belong to networking groups (as a result of my recent unemployment period). I will be joining some leads/networking groups once I commence my new position. I also network one on one with people whom I know and follow the principal of reciprocation when I ask for assistance.  I am also a member of Hiring for Hope, a non-profit organization committed to helping people in job transition. This has been an incredible resource for building my network of contacts as well as friends.

Do you have a blog?
Unfortunately, and shame on me, I don’t blog. If I did, it would probably be politically related.  It’s my field of study and I get passionate about it. Perhaps one day, I’ll do it.

What are your tops 2 recruiting sources and why?
N/A at the present time. In my previous position, I had an HR department that did my recruiting. I would also rely on my vendors to find me people to interview as well.  My vendors usually provided better candidates than my recruiters.

What do you like most about the work you do?
I’m answering this as if I was still in my former role of sales manager. I always received immense satisfaction from seeing my people exceed their objectives and receive the accolades that went with it.  While I held my staff accountable for their activities and accomplishments, I managed by recognizing their achievements in national staff calls and providing as much positive motivation as possible without being patronizing. I spent a lot of time developing their skills, making recommendations and providing feedback. The better ones listened.

What do you look for in a job candidate?
Energy, positive attitude, well groomed and dressed, and some knowledge of who the company is and what they are interviewing for.  I try to detect the “b.s.” factor and will quickly weed out a candidate when it starts spewing.

What is the top 2 job search strategies, job seekers should do?
Networking, and making sure resume and profile is professionally done and scrutinized by those who are qualified.

When, why and how should a job seeker contact a recruiter/hiring manger?
The recruiter should be contacted no longer than 1 week after job seeker has submitted their resume to make sure it has been received. The contact should reflect the job seekers’ follow up skills, professionalism and desire for the position. Once the recruiter has conducted the initial screening, the job seeker should send a thank you note and follow up again within a week to determine where they stand versus the other candidates. If the job seeker earns the opportunity to interview with the hiring manager, a thank you note should be sent immediately following the meeting. The job seeker should ask the hiring manager when the best time to call them to determine the candidate’s “position in the race” and when the decision will be made. I would highly recommend a phone call as opposed to an email with the hiring manager. The follow up should occur within a week after the interview. Don’t quit until you find out the status definitively.

Share your funniest experience?
While this may not qualify as being overly funny, I do find it somewhat humorous. I interviewed with a gentlemen who owned a used furniture business. I met with him at his “showroom”.  The contents of the showroom were not the most attractive furniture items I’ve ever seen.  Most of it was pretty worn with some ratty and outdated seating items.  After looking through the “elegant” showroom, we proceeded to tour the warehouse. What I got a kick out of was his ability to “romance” the biggest collection of crap I’ve ever seen that was described as very sellable product. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. The best reference I can make would be, picture a 1965 Chevy Impala in a junkyard that was stripped for parts. “Would you buy this used car?”   ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Howard Kelman is an accomplished strategic sales manager, relationship builder and business executive with extensive experience building high performing, cohesive sales teams that regularly exceed sales targets. You can connect and learn more about Howard on LinkedIn.