If you tick all the boxes, you will significantly increase your odds of being selected for an interview when applying for jobs via Job Boards such as SEEK, or Indeed.
[Read more…]Are you effectively begging for a job? Stop these habits
Are you effectively begging for a job? Stop these habits
Job-hunting turns rationale, highly qualified people into desperate and ravenous zombies. Think this is far fetched? Then think again. We explain why so many job seekers come across as desperate and begging for a job, without even realising it.
It might seem counter intuitive, but telling the world that you are looking for a new job is the last thing you should do. Why?
You will come across as desperate and the last thing employers and recruiters want to do, is hire someone that is desperate.
I know things can be really tough out there, I totally get it. But in order to win in this game, you need to ensure that you don’t come across as desperate. So please stop the following when looking for a job:
[Read more…]Why employers and recruiters don’t call back
If you are currently looking for a job and you have submitted an application, then I’m sure you are like 70.5% of the job candidates that I surveyed that intensely disliked not hearing back from recruiters and employers. In fact, it is such a prevalent trend, that 61.46% of users wanted a platform to include mandatory feedback from employers and recruiters.
So, first and foremost, if you don’t hear back, don’t take it personally, because it is a trend that is very common among job candidates, even highly qualified job candidates.
Now if you look up articles as to why employers and recruiters don’t call back, the bulk are putting the blame fairly and squarely on the job candidate. That is, you did not hear back, because your application is so poor. While in some respects this is true, it is not the whole truth, as it does not explain how the current recruiting practices are failing job candidates. In this article, I’m going to explain, one of the primary reasons why you don’t hear back and then provide solutions on how to dramatically improve the odds of being shortlisted for a job.
[Read more…]Thinking about hiring a resume writer? Don’t get scammed.
Over 16+ years I’ve lost count of the number of so-called professional resumes that I’ve had to rewrite. Some have been truly awful.
The thing is substandard or fraudulent writers don’t personally impact my business, (even though multiple people have copied my credentials and website content) as I get so many referrals and clients coming back. However, it is impacting the consumer (you) and that makes me both sad and mad.
Since COVID 19, multiple new career businesses are popping up over the Internet and the vast majority are not from credentialed or qualified resume writers.
This sector is not regulated, so it really is a case of ‘buyer beware’.
This article (which I’ve linked to below) was published by Laura DeCarlo on Forbes recently. It is a really good outline on how you can protect yourself and not be exploited.
Please do your due diligence with everyone (including my service).
It will ensure that you protect yourself from hiring a dud, or worse still a scammer!
Four Ways Job Seekers Can Avoid Scams When Hiring a Resume Writer or Career Coach.
Why updating your resume is no longer enough!
The reality is looking for a new job was a huge undertaking prior to COVID 19 and all COVID 19 has done is further accelerate matters with increased competition.
You see even BEFORE COVID 19 appeared, massive changes within recruitment had occurred, with technology dramatically impacting job seekers. In recent years, there has been a worldwide shift in the way employers hire, which is driven by data, online job boards, new technology, increasing demands for exact matches by employers and digital obstacles. So even in the good times, it was taking months for some to secure a job.
Job seekers are largely unaware of the massive shift in technology and how it is impacting on their job search. Take these 2 facts:
- Job boards have turned job seekers, (including highly skilled job seekers) into commodities, as competition has increased 1,000-fold. (You want to avoid becoming a commodity)
- Jobseekers are unaware, that many large organisations and recruiters use Applicant Tracking Systems, that are largely reliant on them having the right key words within their resume / CV.
To overcome the barriers of this new technology, job seekers now need quite a long list of skills and knowledge to ensure they nail their perfect job.
To make my point, I’ve listed below a list of skills and knowledge that you needed prior to the advent of the online job boards, compared with a list of skills that you require today (along with resources to help you).
[Read more…]What to implement today, so your career survives and thrives, in spite of COVID-19
HIRING IS STILL HAPPENING
With news stories screaming out major job losses, it is easy to think that there are no jobs. On the contrary, yes there are jobs and some employers are scrambling for top talent. This last week, I was still working for clients that are sending me advertised jobs and people are still securing interviews, in spite of the chaos.
Some of the sectors that are still recruiting in both the public and private sectors:
[Read more…]What you need to know about fancy resume templates
I’ve had a lot drop into my inbox lately, namely very fancy resume templates, with bells and whistles. Here is an example below, courtesy of Canva.com.
Now, Canva is fantastic resource and I fully endorse this great Australian start-up success story. But you should never use one of their resume templates, or other resume templates online similar to the one above. Why?
Technology will block your resume, and while a visually appealing document helps, if your content is poor, a fancy template is not going to help you. Let me explain further.
Applicant Tracking Systems
All the resume templates used by Canva are problematic in that they would not pass muster with Applicant Tracking Systems. Now Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), are systems that employers use to manage job openings and it is estimated that 75% of candidates chances are killed, because a resume is not formatted in the right way, or the document does not contain the right keyword or phases.
Now all major organisations tend to use ATS Parsing Software and they are used (in spite of being flawed), because it makes life so much easier. Now the reasons why this template above would not pass an ATS, is because it does not meet the formatting requirements of ATS. These include:
- Having columns, which when delivered to a recruiter via an ATS, runs into a major problem, as content is interspersed and some lines will go missing. Avoid columns and tables in your resume.
- It contains loads of visual images, which will be distorted by the ATS parsing software.
- The resume template files are only available in PDF, JPG, PNG and GIF and none of these files are compatible with the majority of ATS parsers (newer versions can read PDF, but don’t risk it and always use a simple plain Word copy.
Put simply, if you use one of these templates, you risk having you application discarded, even if you were the most qualified person for the job.
The other reason you should not use these templates, is they don’t help with content. Now most people are going to copy content. It is human nature to take a short cut. But all the content contained in this template is seriously ‘cringe worthy’.
- It contains clichés (exceptional communication and networking skills).
- The personal profile is awful (extremely motivated to constantly develop my skills and grow professionally).
- The content under the work history, fails to put the experience into context or talk about the persons achievements.
Strong content that accurately represents your work history and what you offer is critical. Having a pretty resume is the easy part. Selling yourself effectively with copy that is strong and compelling, avoids clichés and focuses on your accomplishments and employer needs is the hard part.
‘You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it.
That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence ‘– Octavia E. Butler.
So the biggest problem with these templates is people are lulled into thinking because it looks awesome, it is a great product. Nothing could be further from the truth!
In short, don’t use these really fancy resume templates. They are career killers, not career enhancers.
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