Carl Bradford

Posts Tagged ‘Recruiters View’

There are several indicators that point to the fact the worst of the economic recession we’ve been in is over.

This will eventually lead to more jobs, but there is also an interesting phenomenon that will be a part of the improving job market.

Something Unexpected

When most people discuss the job market, they usually focus on the unemployed being able to secure one of the new job opportunities.  However, there is another dynamic that will impact the filling of new jobs.

That is the competition for these new jobs the unemployed will have with the currently employed.  Recent surveys show that a “pent up demand” to make a job change exists within the employed ranks.  That is a natural occurrence when employees, who are dissatisfied with their job, are unable to make a job change.

This reluctance is a factor of not only the limited number of job opportunities the employed have to choose from, but also the fear created by the weak job market.  The weak job market causes the employed to remain in “a safe harbor” or continue remain in their “port during the storm”.

That means of course that when an employed person leaves, their job will also become available, perhaps to a currently unemployed person.

But, that also means there will be excessive “market churn” in the short term until the job market settles down to a more normal rhythm.

Recruiting Staff Complications

Employers are also short on the number of recruiters because many of them have been laid off or have left the profession altogether.  Expect the turmoil of getting through the job application and interviewing process to be complicated because of that.

A sign of all of this is the number of available recruiting related jobs now vacant and the efforts underway to fill them.  Yesterday, August 27, I saw a report that indicated over 108,000 recruiting department jobs at all levels are open by employers who need to shore up their recruiting staff.

This will be interesting to watch, but most of all a welcome relief to many as this process begins unfolding.

Maybe you’re in this story, or one just like it.

It was 8:30 AM as Julie the Sr. Recruiter got her first copy of coffee and sat down to begin her day.

Julie had just opend three new jobs the night before and got them posted on the Internet before leaving for the day.  Now, she was anxious to see how many new resume responses were already in her in-box, but before she could get to that, she clicked over to her calendar for the day.

Looks like she had about 30 minutes before her first phone interview and then three more before 11 AM.  After that she was scheduled to meet with Bill the VP of Engineering to discuss a series of new job vacancies he was about to open.  Next she had a working lunch planned with the Director of Talent Management.

For the afternoon, three more phone interviews and one in-person interview.

Now for the in-box of resumes – your resume is among them because you applied last night. You’re excited about the prospects of this job opportunity, it looks like a great match and with a company you’d really like to work for.  You plan to give this employer a couple of days before you follow-up, just to be sure they have time to read your resume.

Now back to Julie.

After the calendar check she opens her in-box – oops three internal emails that are urgent, so these will take priority.  Whew, now that’s out of the way, on to reviewing the resumes.

Before Julie begins working down through the stack of resumes she glances at her watch…darn, only 15 minutes available for that first phone interview.  Determined, she begins to review the resumes faster and faster trying to get through as many as possible before 9 am.

After another 7 minutes, and she finally comes to your resume.  She opens it and begins a quick glance at the top half of your resume.  She notes which job you applied for and immediately within her head a pre-recorded message begins playing.  That message is the criteria she will use to quickly move your resume into the Yes or No stack.  You’ve got no more than 30 seconds to connect with the message playing inside her head.

Twenty seconds into your resume and she quickly moves it into the No stack and opens the next resume.

What went wrong?  Based on the job posting you know it’s a close match.

It’s a resume failure.  Your resume didn’t connect with the message playing inside Julie’s head.  The clues for what your resume needed to communicate were available, but you didn’t pick up on them or maybe you just didn’t know where to find them.  Your resume – which is your marketing brochure when you’re not there in person to fill in the gaps – failed.

You’ve fallen victim to the single biggest reason that candidates don’t get invited into the interview process.

Don’t let this story be yours.  Learn how to connect with the message inside the reader’s head.  Unfortunately this story happens all day long, every day and it doesn’t have to be that way.

It’s also unfortunate that recruiters are stretched just this thin in most companies these days.  That means your resume has to be great – not just good!

Go to Essential Resume Strategies for 15 FREE resume videos that help you create a resume that vastly increases the odds for you to get an interview.