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I spoke to Naishadh Gadani and Karalyn Brown on selection criteria and applying for Australian Government jobs. In this video, I cover ALL the basics you need to know about successfully applying for a government job.
CLICK HERE for the YOUTUBE video
I cover:
[Read more…]Securing top talent is a priority, as business success depends on hiring the right person. The smaller your organisation – the greater the imperative to get the right person onboard, as one wrong hire could dramatically impact your results.
Yet in spite of understanding the need to hire right, the Michael Page SME Hiring Challenges Survey, noted that up to 50% of SMEs said that they settled for someone who is okay, as opposed to someone that was fantastic and struggled to secure top talent, during the recruitment process.
In the meantime, in the ‘other world’ of Certified Master Resume Writers, we are engaged by top talent, as they are struggling to secure a great job.
Now, I’m not going to say that everyone I’ve worked with is top talent. I would say it is split 20/40/39/01.
To make my point that many employers/recruiters are missing out on top talent because of their recruitment practices, I’m going to provide a few case studies to illustrate my point. These are as follows:
[Read more…]Most job seekers don’t want their boss to find out there looking for a new job. Yet increasingly, it is becoming more difficult to conduct a confidential job search. So, in this article, I share with you the key steps you need to take to ensure your job search is confidential and you safeguard your privacy.
Be very selective where you post or upload your resume
Most job seekers are unaware that as soon as they upload their resume, their resume and the content within the resume can be shared, without having any control over who views or accesses your information.
The use of ATS Parsing Software and why you need to know about this technology.
ATS (Applicant tracking systems) are systems that employers use to manage job openings across their enterprises. It has been estimated that ATS kill 75% of candidate’s chances of securing an interview as soon as they submit a resume, even if the applicant is qualified for the job.
The problem with ATS Parsing Software is that they are flawed. If your resume is not formatted the right way, or does not contain the right keywords and phrases, then the ATS Parsing Software will misread your resume and rank it as a bad match with the job opening, regardless of your qualifications and experience.
For example recruiting expert Dr. John Sullivan noted that a company’s top five engineers went through their own ATS screen process, and two of the five were screened out of the process. Relevant resumes can get trashed for little more than formatting errors.
If the ATS Parsing Software is so flawed, why do employers use them?
[Read more…]I have read quite a few articles recently on the demise of the cover letter. One recruiter broadly proclaimed on LinkedIn that ‘Cover Letters are Dead’, as they never believed in cover letters and job seekers should stop wasting their time crafting the ultimate cover letter.
LinkedIn works, or rather LinkedIn works if you know how to use it properly. Yes, it requires time. Yes, not everyone is actively engaged in LinkedIn and yes, there are privacy concerns. But the reality is – recruiters view this tool as one of their top tools to find talent. If you are that top talent, LinkedIn is a pretty useful place to be found.
So, when I go on LinkedIn and I’m faced with a barrage of unprofessional conduct, it makes me cringe. For LinkedIn to work, you need to stop treating LinkedIn like Facebook. In no particular order:
Profile Pictures
By all means, post these wonderful pictures of yourself on Facebook. Just keep in mind, that unless your Facebook is locked down into private mode, recruiters and headhunters will also see these pictures of you, as most recruiters and employers will be checking your social media profiles. A picture of you having a great time at a party is entirely appropriate on Facebook. It is not appropriate on LinkedIn. Keep the profile picture professional!
[Read more…]While most recruiters and organisations won’t admit that they have a problem with any individual name on a resume / CV- the data shows otherwise. After reviewing the data, it would appear to be a global problem, and biases because of a name on a resume, do impact how long it takes to secure a job, as well as whether an applicant is perceived to be more competent and hireable.
In 2017, Inside Out London sent CVs from two candidates, Adam and Mohamed, who had identical skills and experience, in response to 100 job opportunities. Mohamed was offered 4 interviews, while Adam was offered 12 interviews.
ANU economist Professor Alison Booth and Professor Andrew Leigh from the Research School of Social Sciences, in conjunction with researcher Elena Varganova, conducted large-scale field experiments to measure labor market discrimination across minority groups in Australia. By varying the names on the CV’s they were able to estimate precisely the extent of hiring discrimination.
“To get the same number of interviews as an applicant with an Anglo-Saxon name, a Chinese applicant must submit 68% more applications, a Middle Eastern applicants must submit 64% more applications, an Indigenous applicant 35% more applications, and an Italian applicant must submit 12% more applications”.
It would seem the more recent the migrant group, the greater the discrimination.
[Read more…]
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Carolyn Smith BA, LLB, PLSC, CARW, CEIC, CERW