Jeremy Johnson, a recruiter for EHD Technologies, has a new guest blog post this week with part 2 of recruiter random thoughts.
Random Recruiter Thoughts, Part 2:
Several months ago, I wrote a blog entry entitled ‘Random Recruiter Thoughts,’ which was really just a lazy man’s way of saying I couldn’t zero in and focus on just one topic. I have those attention deficit moments from time to time – like now!
So, without further ado, here’s Random Recruiter Thoughts, redux:
- Be cautious when using resume templates. It’s not that they’re necessarily bad; it’s more that just because someone else put it together, doesn’t mean it’s good.
- To dovetail on that resume issue, don’t go for gimmicky. Don’t go for cute. Don’t go for graphics. The focus should be on the relevant information you’re putting in front of someone, not on wowing them with the presentation.
- If you have something that could be considered bad news on your resume, don’t assume the hiring manager isn’t thinking about it just because they don’t bring it up. If you know it could be an issue, you be the one to bring it up, and deal with it on your terms. Don’t leave it to the other person’s imagination because that will never fall in your favor.
- If you’re out of work and are regularly attending job support groups, make sure it’s constructive for you. If it becomes a listening session of bad story after another, it can be a real morale sapper. If it’s helpful and supportive, keep going. If it’s the big downer on your calendar each week, might be time to stop.
- It cracks me up when someone goes out of their way to apply to my job posting and then refuses to return my calls when I follow up to talk about it. It’s just weird.
- I’ve heard that Calibri, Georgia, Garamond, and Ariel are good fonts to use on a resume. I would tend to agree with that.
- Avoid unnecessarily putting dates on your resume that will actually date you. For example, if you list that you graduated high school in 1962, I really don’t need to know that.
- And while you’re at it, as an experienced professional, why are you still putting high school on your resume?
- Why do some recruiter seem like they’re in a hurry to submit you for a position? It’s probably because they have competition on that job requirement. But it’s still a shortcut that I hate.
- On the other hand, why do some recruiters ask so many questions? Because our job is basically to do two things: gauge commitment and eliminate question marks. Trust me on this one.
- When you apply to a job posting online, does it go down a black hole? Sometimes.
- Speaking of job postings….. Your frustration with not getting feedback on an application is often matched by my frustration with the pizza delivery guy that fixes his friends’ computers on the weekends applying for my 95k Senior Network Engineer posting. And then he, in turn, probably gets frustrated by my lack of feedback.
- And speaking of more job postings…… if you apply for a job, don’t apply to that same job two days later. Believe me, it won’t help your chances.
- Remember this when arriving at an interview: 10 minutes early is on time, and on time is late.
- One other thing to remember at interviews. Be upbeat. Act like you’re excited to be there. If your “staying in the zone” face actually looks like “I wish I were somewhere else,” then you might be in trouble. And the trouble is, you usually don’t know what that face looks like to other people. Smile.
- I’ve worked with people who have told me that they won’t take the first offer that comes their way because they don’t want to eliminate other opportunities too soon. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the first offer. It matters if that first offer is the right offer. If it is, then take it.
- Don’t burn bridges in your job hunt – with anyone. Just don’t do it. Be professional with everyone.