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July 31, 2006
It Makes Me Angry!
Gah! Bad work makes me angry and bad treatment of other people makes me even more angry. We have a policy at Blue Sky - you'll love your resume and see results, and if not, we'll happily refund your money. I do this because it's the right thing to do, and also because it's good business.
I just took on a client who paid $1,000 to another firm for a resume and cover letter. She wasn't happy with the results (for good reason) and asked for a refund. She was refused. Now no doubt that resume writer will tell me that she had the client sign an agreement upfront and that it clearly states there are to be no refunds. To which I say Pah! Agreement Schmeement. The client didn't get value for money and so you need to give the money back.
This lady is only trusting me because I come highly recommended by a coach she trusts. I am grateful to her for taking the leap and I will make sure that she has no cause to be unhappy with my work, but my blood is boiling at the thought of that $1,000. The resume was rubbish. Either that writer didn't try very hard or she's not very good. Either way my client shouldn't have to pay for shoddy work.
The career marketing profession has a bad rap. Whenever we try to keep money that we don't deserve, we just make it worse for everyone else.
Posted by Louise at 06:49 PM | Permalink
July 29, 2006
Biting the Hand That Feeds
Like HR Guy, I'm surprised at the comments made on Ragan's recent recruiting.com post about networking. Ragan contacted a current Google employee looking to make contact and add him to her network. His reponse was "TAKE MY NAME OFF YOUR LIST." She reports receiving a similar reaction from a number of Google employees.
Most of the commenters on her post seem focused on whether recruiters are always honest about their intentions. To me that misses the point.
In this day and age, I think it's the height of arrogance (and ignorance) to assume you don't need a relationship with as many recruiters as possible. None of those people will be working at Google until they retire, and at some point they will be looking for a new position.
It wouldn't have taken much longer to type a polite response, and it could have resulted in a great job 10 years from now, or a connection that ultimately helped a friend or family member get their next opportunity.
Are recruiters often selfish? Yes of course! They're trying to make a living. Do they sometimes fudge the truth when approaching candidates? Absolutely! But when you need a new job, it's always nice to know you can pick up the phone and contact people who actually, you know, have vacancies to fill.
Cross-posted at Career Hub
Posted by Louise at 05:36 PM | Permalink
July 25, 2006
How NOT to look for a Job
I just received this email to my company's general email account (info@...):
Dear Staffing Agent (Is that what I am now? A Staffing Agent? What is a Staffing Agent anyway? My name is right on the website for anyone to find):A few weeks ago I contacted you expressing interest in working with you. As I had mentioned then, I am looking for a position in the design field. (So why are you writing to a small career management service that doesn't list a designer on its staff list, and hasn't advertised for one?)
I was wondering if you had come to a decision to meet with me (Yes. That was a pretty easy decision actually since we don't employ designers) or have been able to forward my documentation to another office (which other office? I don't have another office.) Enclosed are my updates and my resume and the link to my online portfolio. (Well, great. Thanks. Although I'm still not sure why I received this email).
Mass emails like this are spam - they're just as bad as the Nigerian prince who wants to give me all his money, or the notice about the penny stock that's about to shoot up in value and make me rich beyond my wildest dreams.
If your email isn't carefully targeted and addressed to a real person, please don't hit 'send.'
Cross-posted at Career Hub
Posted by Louise at 12:21 PM | Permalink
July 24, 2006
Diversify Your Search
Seth Godin is rerunning an old piece today. He's writing about the role luck plays in launching a new product or service. But he makes an important point that applies to career marketing just as much as it does to product marketing:
The way to grow in the future is to acknowledge how important luck is and to diversify your risk. Do that with lots of products, not just one or two. Cut your overhead so you have plenty of chips, ready for another spin of the roulette wheel.
You can't know where a recruiter will look for his or her next candidate, and you can't know when it will happen. What you CAN do is ensure that you are visible in as many places as possible - not just post your resume online and wait for the phone to ring.
Diversify your job search efforts and you will make your own luck.
Posted by Louise at 12:19 PM | Permalink
July 21, 2006
What Does Zoom Say About You?
ZoomInfo calls itself "the search engine for discovering people, companies and relationships." You can register for free to create your own profile. But if you don't create a profile, Zoom creates one for you, by pulling information from other websites that mention you.
Today I received a request for a service proposal from a senior executive who has the same name as a well-known and very controversial figure. I looked up my client in Zoom and sure enough, his profile contains information on him, along with information on said controversial figure. A stranger would not know that they are not one and the same person.
Sites such as Zoominfo worry me for this reason. Very few people even know they exist, even fewer have created a profile, and yet recruiters and hiring managers may well be drawing conclusions from the material they find there.
If you're looking for a job, it's a very good idea to create an accurate Zoominfo profile that displays the information you want employers to see. At the very least, go and do a search to see what's there.
Posted by Louise at 10:51 AM | Permalink
July 17, 2006
Networking Badly
Anyone looking for a job has heard about the importance of networking. But George Blomgren points out that it's not enough just to make the initial networking contact.
George spent an hour reviewing and making notes on the resume of a friend of a friend. But when he tried to set up a phone call to discuss said resume (for free!) the job seeker never returned his emails.
Can you imagine any better way to turn a willing helper into a negative reference?
Often life gets in the way of our best intentions, but when you're looking for a new position, be careful not to let it get in the way of your future.
Posted by Louise at 03:32 PM | Permalink
July 08, 2006
Your Online Persona
Probably the hottest topic in recruitment right now, is the whole issue of online networking and what it means for job seekers. I blogged about this as a guest writer for excelera8ion and my post came at about the exact same time as this post by Todd Hilton, a Microsoft software developer who was guest posting on the Hire Calling blog.
Todd writes:
You might consider the persona you present online to be personal and none of your employer’s business, but you also need to remember that your personal actions reflect on you as a whole. At Microsoft, it’s an important part of the hiring process to make sure that candidates are compatible with our company values. Anything you put online about yourself has the potential to influence this process, whether or not that is your intention.I want to leave you with one final thought. Remember that whatever you post on the internet will live a long, long time...maybe even forever! Public forums, web sites, blogs and newsgroups are archived by several companies (i.e.: Google) so before you hit that “Submit†button keep in mind that whatever you just wrote will still be available in 1, 2, 5, 10 years.
That's really good advice and I think everyone serious about managing their career effectively should frame that last sentence and put it near their PC!
Posted by Louise at 03:30 PM | Permalink
July 07, 2006
You're Not Fooling Anyone
I just stumbled across an interesting blog I didn't even know existed (sorry HR Guy) but I'm subscribing to the feed now after reading his great post about trying to avoid answering question about salary requirements.
Unfortunately, his blog set-up won't allow me to quote any of his post so you'll have to trust me and go read it. His bottom-line is "answer the damn question because I'm not stupid."
I tell job seekers the same thing when they try to disguise issues with their background by creating a functional resume. All recruiters and HR Managers have seen a thousands of these resumes and they know exactly why you're using one. You're not fooling anyone.
Posted by Louise at 11:06 AM | Permalink