Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Are you in Atlanta? Join us for the #ATLMix Tweetup

By

lenox_frontI want to “personally” invite you to join me and Stephanie A. Lloyd for the first #ATLMix Tweetup on Tuesday, August 4 beginning at 6 pm Pizzeria Venti on Lenox Road in Buckhead. Pizzeria Venti’s owners, Brian and Jaime Lackey and their staff are so hospitable, and we appreciate their sponsorship of our event! If you’re on Twitter, follow the hashtag #ATLMix for information and to connect with other people who plan to attend.

Even if you are not using Twitter (yet!), feel free to join us! I invited a non-tweeting colleague who asked, “What is the advantage of a tweetup?” Let me count the ways! For the uninitiated, a tweetup is just the Twitter term for a get-together/opportunity to network with all different types of people. It’s amazing what synergies there are between professionals in very different fields.

Networking is important for job seekers and non-job seekers alike. This tweetup (free to attend – you purchase your food and beverages) – is a great way to connect with people you would probably never otherwise meet! I hope to see you there, and feel free to invite your friends! You can RSVP by clicking HERE, but feel free to come, even at the last minute!

The other side of the hiring desk, pt. 7: How a recruiter uses LinkedIn

By

desk7P10517300Today, another interview with my friend and colleague Stephanie A. Lloyd, a Talent Strategies Consultant and Owner of Calibre Search Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a National Careers + Workplace Columnist for Examiner.com and also blogs at Radiant Verocity. You can also follow Stephanie on Twitter.

How important is it to be on LinkedIn and can you tell us how a recruiter uses LinkedIn to source candidates?

If you’re not on LinkedIn, create a profile *now.* I suggest a robust profile – the more the better. Recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn all the time to find candidates, doing key word searches. Many times these are based on job responsibilities, so if you have your title but don’t fill in what you did in each job you may not show up in the results. For the most part I copied and pasted my resume in to my LinkedIn profile.

The next thing you should do is search and select several groups to join. These should relate to your job function and/or industry. Jobs can now be posted free in groups, and if you’re a member you’ll have access to the listings. Recruiters join industry groups in order to have access to members. Remember, your goal is to be found!

Finally, recruiters and hiring managers are looking to see how many recommendations you have, and how genuine they are. Carefully select several people you have worked for and with in the past, and ask them to write a recommendation for you. A word of caution – if your recommendations are all reciprocal that can be a red flag (“I’ll write one for you if you’ll write one for me.”) Instead, write several (genuine) recommendations for other people you’ve worked with in the past and pay it forward.

Do you need help with your search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!

In Atlanta? GA is expecting 10.1% unemployment. Get ahead of the game so you will be prepared to search for your next opportunity with local job search interventions: http://youneedajob.org/

The other side of the hiring desk, pt 6: How to turn a recruiter into a fan!

By

desk6P10580178You’re looking for a job and you’d like to impress the recruiter. In today’s interview, learn some tips directly from a recruiter’s perspective! It’s important to know what recruiters are thinking, what they do and what they do NOT do if you want to work with one successfully. So, here is another from my series of interviews with my friend and colleague Stephanie A. Lloyd, a Talent Strategies Consultant and Owner of Calibre Search Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a National Careers + Workplace Columnist for Examiner.com and also blogs at Radiant Veracity. You can also follow Stephanie on Twitter.

What should job seekers do to turn a recruiter into a fan?

Turning a recruiter in to a “fan” shouldn’t be all that difficult. I’m contacted every day by people who impress me.

Once you identify a recruiter you think is a good contact for you, I recommend a brief, courteous and professional phone call, email, LinkedIn message or “Tweet” if on Twitter, with a brief introduction, a bit about your background and a description of the opportunity you’re seeking.

I personally prefer a brief email with the candidate’s resume attached so that I can review it and determine whether I have anything for the candidate now or potentially down the road – and if not, I can refer him or her to another recruiter and/or other resources that might be of help.

What does not impress a recruiter? Do you have any “real life” memories of candidates who made you want to run the other direction?

Sadly…where to begin?!? This is precisely why I started @JobSnob on Twitter, which was inspired by a candidate that I recently phone interviewed. He yawned throughout the entire interview! That was obviously a non-starter.

Another candidate whom I implored to wear a suit to his interview with our client…did not. He called me ten minutes after the interview began and said it was over. Knowing that something must have gone wrong, my colleague and I spoke with the hiring manager who stated that he was incredibly annoyed and insulted that my candidate did not have the respect to wear a suit to interview with him. This not only reflected poorly on my candidate, but also on our firm! Because I clearly could not trust this candidate, I did not work with him again.

The worst situation I’ve encountered in my recruiting career to-date was with the very first candidate I placed. She interviewed well with me and the client, and they asked me to extend an offer to her. I called her with the offer and stated, “This offer is contingent on a background check. You know your background better than I do, and if you’d like to wait until the results come back before giving notice, that’s perfectly fine.” She said no; that she was so excited and was going to give notice right then. And she did.

She went to work for my client before the background check came back (this was their decision). After they’d spent a week training her, they received the results. It turns out she was a convicted felon: forgery and writing bad checks. And she was an Accounting Manager! When they went to talk to her about it – assuming it was a mistake and wanting to clear it up – she gathered her things and said she wasn’t planning to come back on Monday anyway. I did manage to save the account with my client and had to do a replacement search at no charge. Fortunately, I quickly found someone they liked even better and she worked out very well. However, I could have easily lost that client over that situation.

Moral of the story: please be up front with recruiters you work with! If you’re not, you may not only jeopardize your relationship with us, you risk our relationships with our clients, our reputation and ultimately our livelihood.

Do you need help with your search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!

The other side of the hiring desk, pt 5: How often should job seekers follow up with recruiters?

By

desk5P11457831aSo, you’ve read how NOT to follow up with a recruiter. But, what is the RIGHT amount of follow up? Here is another in my series of interviews conducted with my friend and colleague Stephanie A. Lloyd, a Talent Strategies Consultant and Owner of Calibre Search Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a National Careers + Workplace Columnist for Examiner.com and also blogs at Radiant Veracity. You can also follow Stephanie on Twitter.

How often should job seekers follow up with recruiters?

As far as how and how often to follow up…ask the recruiter you’re working with. I personally prefer a brief email once or twice a month. Remember, our job (and the way we get paid!) is to fill openings for our clients. If we have a job that you may be a fit for, we’ll be on the phone with you immediately!

During the interview process, how long it takes to get feedback or to move from one step to the next depends on the client and the situation. How urgent is the need? Who is an integral part of the process and is traveling/on vacation/otherwise unavailable? Unfortunately most interview processes do not move as quickly as anyone would like simply because there are so many people and variables involved.

There is no need to call your recruiter daily – when we have news, we’ll call you! There is nothing we want more than to fill a position. We do what we can to keep the interview process moving forward, and at the same time we must walk a fine line as we do not want to irritate our clients.

The candidates we enjoy working with the most understand and respect the process.

Do you need help with your search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!

 

The other side of the hiring desk, pt 4: How to work with a recruiter without becoming a stalker

By

desk4cT10796880Today, another in a series of my interviews to share tips for impressing a recruiter! Our topic: following up. When does follow up become stalking? Here is some more advice from my friend and colleague Stephanie A. Lloyd, a Talent Strategies Consultant and Owner of Calibre Search Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a National Careers + Workplace Columnist for Examiner.com and also blogs at Radiant Veracity. You can also follow Stephanie on Twitter.

How can job seekers follow-up successfully. When does “follow-up” become stalking?!?

I’ve been dealing with this recently. I’ll start with an example of what *not* to do.

A candidate emailed his resume to me on Tuesday and called immediately “to be sure I’d received it.” He said that he wanted me to “find him a job.” I told him I needed time to review his resume against current openings and asked him to please give me a week before following up as I’m inundated with such requests.

He called the next morning and wanted to know if I’d reviewed his resume. I had not, and asked him again to give me a few days. I suggested that he follow up with me on Monday. On Friday he emailed stating that he would call shortly to “discuss what jobs I had for him.” I replied immediately stating that there is no need; I’d reviewed his resume and didn’t have anything for him at the moment and would keep him in mind for future openings. I suggested doing a search on LinkedIn for other financial services recruiters, reach out to them, and let them know the type of opportunity he’s seeking.

He immediately called and wanted to “discuss why I didn’t have anything for him.” I explained that my open positions are based on my clients’ needs and that right now his experience and skill sets are not a match for anything I’m working on. He proceeded to argue with me and kept telling me that he has “valuable skills” and will do “anything.”

I told him that if I don’t have a position that’s a fit, I don’t have it – and I can’t just pull one out of a hat! He became increasingly annoyed and wanted me to send him a list of my current searches so he could “see if he’s a fit for one of them.” I told him no, that I’ve got his resume, and I’ll keep him under consideration for future opportunities as they arise. He then offered me “a few hundred bucks” to find him a job. (We’ve covered this before…that’s not what recruiters do!!)

This job seeker was pushy and disrespectful. He acted with a sense of entitlement and frankly, based on his attitude and behavior, I would be extremely reluctant to present such a candidate to any of my clients.

Do you need help with your search? Follow this link to learn how I can help propel your job hunt!

Next: How SHOULD you follow up?