Monday, December 26, 2011
Retail Jobs in Canada-Suzviews: The Truth About Applying Online: and Why You Need ...
Retail Jobs in Canada-Suzviews: The Truth About Applying Online: and Why You Need ...: Did you know that your odds of getting a job by using online application systems: either job boards or corporate: are no better than 1.6% ? ...
The Truth About Applying Online: and Why You Need a Personal Recruiter
Did you know that your odds of getting a job by using online application systems: either job boards or corporate: are no better than 1.6% ?
First trick is to have your resume make it through the auto screener........the system that checks for every single keyword mention.
Now some professionals recently created 100 absolutely perfect resumes:
that should trigger an acceptance through the system.
Did that work? You guessed right: Nope
Only 12 of the resumes actually screened through to a human.
What you need to understand is that applying online is a nearly hopeless way of getting a new job.
Not that it never happens: only that it rarely happens.
We hear horror stories all the time about candidates sending out up to 100 applications a day: and if they are lucky will receive an auto reply thanking them for their time but dont expect a response otherwise.
Because thats the bottom line: applying online is mainly a waste of your time and resources.
Why?
Well besides the fact that your resume didnt make it through the system:
about half the time the job posted isnt even real.
Yes thats right: the firm is only posting the job to meet legal requirements of fairness and already know who they are going to hire.
Only by linking up with a personal recruiter can you avoid all these obstacles.
They will honestly tell you:
1 )your resume wont make it in its current format......
2) the job actually isnt really available.....
3) the firm is a candidate window shopper: they call you in just to compare you to their own internal candidates
4) the firm has a horrible candidate experience record
5) your credentials etc arent what they want
6) the bias this firm has against hiring from firm "x"
Yes thats true too:
certain companies will automatically rule you out based upon who you worked for before
Also true:
more than 5 years in one job: and you are in retail: a dinosaur
less than 2 years in one job: you are unstable
What you need to know is that the entire review process is set up to catch you making mistakes:
not to actually see if you can do the job
Its a case of "last man standing".......the person who "got the highest score" more or less.
You would be astonished how many candidates get dumped at third or fourth interview:
overuled from hire by a tiny detail.........
One senior director was eliminate for the "snow question"......
how they answered how they would get to work in a blizzard.
You absolutely need to figure this out:
link up with a recruiter:
They will coach you through the entire process:
tell you what pitfalls to avoid
Having a personal recruiter is like having a personal trainer, chef, stylist and social coach all in one: and its free to you.
To avoid corporate abuse of candidates:
ONLY agree to be reviewed by a firm IF you are represented by an agent and insist your agent do all the talking for you.
More later in 2012 Candidates!
First trick is to have your resume make it through the auto screener........the system that checks for every single keyword mention.
Now some professionals recently created 100 absolutely perfect resumes:
that should trigger an acceptance through the system.
Did that work? You guessed right: Nope
Only 12 of the resumes actually screened through to a human.
What you need to understand is that applying online is a nearly hopeless way of getting a new job.
Not that it never happens: only that it rarely happens.
We hear horror stories all the time about candidates sending out up to 100 applications a day: and if they are lucky will receive an auto reply thanking them for their time but dont expect a response otherwise.
Because thats the bottom line: applying online is mainly a waste of your time and resources.
Why?
Well besides the fact that your resume didnt make it through the system:
about half the time the job posted isnt even real.
Yes thats right: the firm is only posting the job to meet legal requirements of fairness and already know who they are going to hire.
Only by linking up with a personal recruiter can you avoid all these obstacles.
They will honestly tell you:
1 )your resume wont make it in its current format......
2) the job actually isnt really available.....
3) the firm is a candidate window shopper: they call you in just to compare you to their own internal candidates
4) the firm has a horrible candidate experience record
5) your credentials etc arent what they want
6) the bias this firm has against hiring from firm "x"
Yes thats true too:
certain companies will automatically rule you out based upon who you worked for before
Also true:
more than 5 years in one job: and you are in retail: a dinosaur
less than 2 years in one job: you are unstable
What you need to know is that the entire review process is set up to catch you making mistakes:
not to actually see if you can do the job
Its a case of "last man standing".......the person who "got the highest score" more or less.
You would be astonished how many candidates get dumped at third or fourth interview:
overuled from hire by a tiny detail.........
One senior director was eliminate for the "snow question"......
how they answered how they would get to work in a blizzard.
You absolutely need to figure this out:
link up with a recruiter:
They will coach you through the entire process:
tell you what pitfalls to avoid
Having a personal recruiter is like having a personal trainer, chef, stylist and social coach all in one: and its free to you.
To avoid corporate abuse of candidates:
ONLY agree to be reviewed by a firm IF you are represented by an agent and insist your agent do all the talking for you.
More later in 2012 Candidates!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Candidate Shopping: When Endless Pursuit of the Ideal Candidate Does more Damage than Good
Retail firms are notorious for Shopping: Endless candidate shopping and never actually hiring anyone.
Why? Well presumably the miraculous ideal candidate is still one more interview away.
Like the perfect dress. Or the perfect woman to marry.
Recently one local firm kept shopping until they had accumulated 300 resumes for a Director role:
shortlisted that to 15:
and STILL made no hiring choice.
Not surprisingly they are back on the phone looking for recruiters to send them even MORE candidates.
That would be a NO......no way. Not a single agency will refer even one more candidate to this firm.
Its not just because obviously there are endless hours of work put into sourcing candidates for them:
but
there are all the disaffected candidates who resent having supplied so many of their own hours chasing this elusive job only to hear: NOTHING
That sets up an incredible scenario of resentment towards the above brand: creates brand resistance for all further searches but trashes the recruiters reputation. Next time the recruiter calls for a valid position: all the candidate thinks is: Here goes another waste of my time.
What this retailer doesnt seem to get:
is that when we call on their behalf:
fully 7 out of 10 potentials already know the brand reputation for fruitless interviews and applications and simply reject to proceed.
Thus fully 70% of the talent pool wont even listen to a proposal from that brand:
and this just trashes what the recruiter can bring to the table in candidates for them.
The point here is: the harder they screen, the longer they search: the more they turn off multiples more candidates.
Its a case of diminishing returns.......they are making it worse for themselves: not better.
Yet they are foolishly proud of all the due diligence they think they are putting in.
Research shows: you only need to review about 20 people who fundamentally qualify for your role
to establish a baseline of what is available in the market and if your price is right.
Stop at 20: and HIRE......
Its amazing how many senior people just cant make simple hiring decisions: so terrified of getting it wrong.
If you cant find 20 people who qualify: then its simple: your expectations are ridiculous.
You change: dont ask the talent to morph into some magical format that melds to your fantasy candidate.
Be realistic about what you can expect at what price.
You only have 45k to shop with?.......in todays market that is virtually entry level:
yet we see job descriptions that Senior Execs would have a hard time even understanding.
This is a marketplace: you are buying and brokering talent. People talent has a cash value.
And unless you are Facebook or Apple:
you are only worth what you are willing to pay.
Low price? Low talent pool. Simple equation.
From a recruiters point of view: when you consistently dont hire: we stop doing referals for you.
End of: We dont need the agro.
We dont need ticked off candidates hounding us about roles that will never be filled.
We dont need junk feedback about the negatives of the candidate:
I recently heard one that blew me away: They HR didnt like the sound of the candidates voice......
Are you kidding?.........
this person was an ideal match culturally, skill wise and reputation wise: No one else this person ever worked for had issues.........
So do you think anyone will source for that retailer any more?......when the deciding factor is tone of voice?
Firms that endlessly source and never hire:
turn the entire market place agains them
That reputation spreads like wildfire:
a few Facebook mentions about what a candidates experience was like
just that alone:
is enough to totally ruin your relationships with recruiters and candidates alike
And you sure dont want recruiters out there telling candidates:
thats not a firm I would send you to
because they are talking to hundreds of other retailers every week.
You need a hugely positive experience for all candidates:
You need to actually hire in a timely way:
or stop interviewing altogether.
You need an amazing reputation with recruiters as well.
You have to stop window shopping and actually hire people.
Why? Well presumably the miraculous ideal candidate is still one more interview away.
Like the perfect dress. Or the perfect woman to marry.
Recently one local firm kept shopping until they had accumulated 300 resumes for a Director role:
shortlisted that to 15:
and STILL made no hiring choice.
Not surprisingly they are back on the phone looking for recruiters to send them even MORE candidates.
That would be a NO......no way. Not a single agency will refer even one more candidate to this firm.
Its not just because obviously there are endless hours of work put into sourcing candidates for them:
but
there are all the disaffected candidates who resent having supplied so many of their own hours chasing this elusive job only to hear: NOTHING
That sets up an incredible scenario of resentment towards the above brand: creates brand resistance for all further searches but trashes the recruiters reputation. Next time the recruiter calls for a valid position: all the candidate thinks is: Here goes another waste of my time.
What this retailer doesnt seem to get:
is that when we call on their behalf:
fully 7 out of 10 potentials already know the brand reputation for fruitless interviews and applications and simply reject to proceed.
Thus fully 70% of the talent pool wont even listen to a proposal from that brand:
and this just trashes what the recruiter can bring to the table in candidates for them.
The point here is: the harder they screen, the longer they search: the more they turn off multiples more candidates.
Its a case of diminishing returns.......they are making it worse for themselves: not better.
Yet they are foolishly proud of all the due diligence they think they are putting in.
Research shows: you only need to review about 20 people who fundamentally qualify for your role
to establish a baseline of what is available in the market and if your price is right.
Stop at 20: and HIRE......
Its amazing how many senior people just cant make simple hiring decisions: so terrified of getting it wrong.
If you cant find 20 people who qualify: then its simple: your expectations are ridiculous.
You change: dont ask the talent to morph into some magical format that melds to your fantasy candidate.
Be realistic about what you can expect at what price.
You only have 45k to shop with?.......in todays market that is virtually entry level:
yet we see job descriptions that Senior Execs would have a hard time even understanding.
This is a marketplace: you are buying and brokering talent. People talent has a cash value.
And unless you are Facebook or Apple:
you are only worth what you are willing to pay.
Low price? Low talent pool. Simple equation.
From a recruiters point of view: when you consistently dont hire: we stop doing referals for you.
End of: We dont need the agro.
We dont need ticked off candidates hounding us about roles that will never be filled.
We dont need junk feedback about the negatives of the candidate:
I recently heard one that blew me away: They HR didnt like the sound of the candidates voice......
Are you kidding?.........
this person was an ideal match culturally, skill wise and reputation wise: No one else this person ever worked for had issues.........
So do you think anyone will source for that retailer any more?......when the deciding factor is tone of voice?
Firms that endlessly source and never hire:
turn the entire market place agains them
That reputation spreads like wildfire:
a few Facebook mentions about what a candidates experience was like
just that alone:
is enough to totally ruin your relationships with recruiters and candidates alike
And you sure dont want recruiters out there telling candidates:
thats not a firm I would send you to
because they are talking to hundreds of other retailers every week.
You need a hugely positive experience for all candidates:
You need to actually hire in a timely way:
or stop interviewing altogether.
You need an amazing reputation with recruiters as well.
You have to stop window shopping and actually hire people.
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