Been reviewing a lot of resumes today. Late in the day....and the cranky recruiter rears her ugly advice again. When writing your resume, save it as you. What I mean is, put your name on the file when you save it. I often get several candidates whom I am talking to, and when I go to pull up their resume from my files, I can't find it based on the title. 50% of the resumes I review are titled resume.doc. Ah, fun. I save them in my database by name, but I'm thinking about your well being here. If you send your resume to a hiring manager, do they take the time to put your resume in their database--or do they have a whole file full of resume.doc files?
I'm keeping it short and sweet. Save your resume as First Name Last Name. AmyGardner.doc is much easier to find than Resume2recruiter.doc, etc.
Have a great weekend. I should be less cranky come Monday.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Cranky Recruiter: Don't Take it out on Me
I am just getting back in the swing of things after taking a few days off to recuperate. This summer has been very busy for WineTalent. Now that most of my positions have been filled, I had to take a bit of time to just relax. Well, now that's over. Back to work.
First of all, let me apologize to anyone that I owe a call to. I do keep track of all my voicemails, and will get back to you one way or another. Sometimes I can't return all the calls during business hours, and will send you an email. Yes, I know if you've left me a couple of voicemails, and will touch bases soon.
Second, my inbox often comes first. This might be sad to say, but I do try to get through all my emails first. This may be a function of our new electronic society--or just how I work. I do receive 10 times the amount of emails than I receive of voicemail, and have to start somewhere.
Third, I do keep your resume in my database and always look there first when a new opening comes up. I always encourage you to check in with me from time to time. You don't know how often that pays off for people. Check out this related post: Where do I find Candidates.
Okay, now why I'm cranky. I have been working in recruitment for a long time. Recently, I have been getting more angry candidates. This could be because I am working on a wider array of positions. Or maybe because by being in business for many years, I know a lot more people, some of which are grumpy. But I think I know what the situation is: the job market. With so many people laid off and the job hunt being tough, I may be a convenient whipping boy when someone doesn't get called for a job, or isn't getting hired as quickly as they would like.
Job hunting is never fun, I know. And if your hunt is stretching on longer than you envisioned, it may be psychologically and financially unnerving when you don't get called about a job. But lashing out at your friends, your family, and yes, even your recruiter isn't the solution. Get up and get back in the hunt. Start at square one. What job do you want. Then, what job can you get, and what job are you willing to take. If you have steered away from lower level jobs, time to get your name in there. If you haven't let some of your old colleagues know you are looking, call them. If you aren't looking at many different sources for jobs, broaden your search. If you are showing up for interviews in business casual attire, take that suit to the dry cleaners, shine your shoes and iron that dress shirt. Kick it up a notch.
And turn that frown upside down! A positive outlook and sunny demeanor help tremendously when you are interacting with colleagues, friends, recruiters, and interviewers. A smile and firm handshake go a long way in the business world--so stand tall, be proud, smile and tell them you want the job. You always want the company and hiring manager to know that you want the job and to work with them. We all want to be wanted, so make sure you express your interest in any job opportunity you hear about.
Okay, back to the inbox, and yes, the voicemails.
First of all, let me apologize to anyone that I owe a call to. I do keep track of all my voicemails, and will get back to you one way or another. Sometimes I can't return all the calls during business hours, and will send you an email. Yes, I know if you've left me a couple of voicemails, and will touch bases soon.
Second, my inbox often comes first. This might be sad to say, but I do try to get through all my emails first. This may be a function of our new electronic society--or just how I work. I do receive 10 times the amount of emails than I receive of voicemail, and have to start somewhere.
Third, I do keep your resume in my database and always look there first when a new opening comes up. I always encourage you to check in with me from time to time. You don't know how often that pays off for people. Check out this related post: Where do I find Candidates.
Okay, now why I'm cranky. I have been working in recruitment for a long time. Recently, I have been getting more angry candidates. This could be because I am working on a wider array of positions. Or maybe because by being in business for many years, I know a lot more people, some of which are grumpy. But I think I know what the situation is: the job market. With so many people laid off and the job hunt being tough, I may be a convenient whipping boy when someone doesn't get called for a job, or isn't getting hired as quickly as they would like.
Job hunting is never fun, I know. And if your hunt is stretching on longer than you envisioned, it may be psychologically and financially unnerving when you don't get called about a job. But lashing out at your friends, your family, and yes, even your recruiter isn't the solution. Get up and get back in the hunt. Start at square one. What job do you want. Then, what job can you get, and what job are you willing to take. If you have steered away from lower level jobs, time to get your name in there. If you haven't let some of your old colleagues know you are looking, call them. If you aren't looking at many different sources for jobs, broaden your search. If you are showing up for interviews in business casual attire, take that suit to the dry cleaners, shine your shoes and iron that dress shirt. Kick it up a notch.
And turn that frown upside down! A positive outlook and sunny demeanor help tremendously when you are interacting with colleagues, friends, recruiters, and interviewers. A smile and firm handshake go a long way in the business world--so stand tall, be proud, smile and tell them you want the job. You always want the company and hiring manager to know that you want the job and to work with them. We all want to be wanted, so make sure you express your interest in any job opportunity you hear about.
Okay, back to the inbox, and yes, the voicemails.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The money question - RecruitingBlogs.com
Just read this article on RecruitingBlogs.com, and thought it was definitely good advice when it comes to talking money during an interview.
The money question - RecruitingBlogs.com
Shared via AddThis
The money question - RecruitingBlogs.com
Shared via AddThis
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
How to be a Smart Protege, WSJ article
Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal they had a great article about how to be a smart protege. The article addressed how people go about finding and learning from industry experts. I think having a good mentor network is invaluable in your career, and agree with the authors that you have to go out and find mentors and work to make the relationship thrive. I have written previously about my mentor/protege relationships, and encourage everyone to think about who can be a mentor, or a protege, and make the connection.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Resumes and Wine Labels
I've been helping a few of my readers with their resumes recently, and have been pondering the relationship between wine labels and resumes. To the average recruiter, these would be two completely different things, but when someone is often working with job seekers who also have a small wine label on the side, it makes a bit more sense.
I am an average consumer with a taste for wine. I, like the vast majority of wine drinkers, peruse the wine aisles and pick up interesting bottles here and there. What draws me to the wine? Yes, some of my wines choices are to show loyalty to clients and placements. It is fun to drink a bottle of wine when you know the history behind the team there, and I feel a connection to the product. But there are plenty of times I just pick up a wine that looks interesting. Marketing groups spend hours trying to figure out what a shopper will find intriguing--and often I am their guinea pig. Cute labels, something a little different, and occasionally a really "rich" looking bottle will be my choice.
Knowing the time and money that people put into wine labels, I am always surprised when they don't put the same attention into their resume. Many of the same ideas apply between the two mediums. Here are a few examples:
I am an average consumer with a taste for wine. I, like the vast majority of wine drinkers, peruse the wine aisles and pick up interesting bottles here and there. What draws me to the wine? Yes, some of my wines choices are to show loyalty to clients and placements. It is fun to drink a bottle of wine when you know the history behind the team there, and I feel a connection to the product. But there are plenty of times I just pick up a wine that looks interesting. Marketing groups spend hours trying to figure out what a shopper will find intriguing--and often I am their guinea pig. Cute labels, something a little different, and occasionally a really "rich" looking bottle will be my choice.
Knowing the time and money that people put into wine labels, I am always surprised when they don't put the same attention into their resume. Many of the same ideas apply between the two mediums. Here are a few examples:
- Required Information: A wine label is required to have certain things on it by law. So should a resume. Examples of required information are; name, phone number, contact information, experience and education. Without these basics, you aren't telling the reader much about you.
- Theme: While I don't want cute little Australian critters on your resume, I do like to have a well presented resume. The theme so to speak can be bold headings with bulleted sections. Another example of a theme would be to consistently run your wine and food knowledge throughout the resume. Think about your experience and interests and weave it into the text of your resume.
- Consistency: This is such a simple item, but one that over half of the resumes I read lack. Whether it is verb tense, sentence structure or typeface, having a consistent look and style to your resume presents you in a positive light. All too often I will get a decent looking resume with one portion "tacked on" at the top or bottom. This tells me that the author had an old resume that they put new information on. It isn't hard to make everything look and read the same. Review your resume, including your text, and edit, edit, edit. Another function I do all the time in MS Word is to hit Ctrl-A, and then put the entire document in the same typeface and font size. This little quick trick saves figuring out formating changes in the body of the resume.
- Appearance: Look at your resume and see what it says about you. If a wine label had a pretty flower on the label, you might think the wine was floral and light. If you put your resume in the comic sans typeface, I might think you are silly and overused. Just kidding! But really, how your resume looks reflects on you. Put your resume in an easy-to-read typeface such as Arial or Calibri. Also, show some mercy on the reader and put it in a font of 11 points or higher. I'm getting older and my eyes are weary--help me out. Bolding important sections is also a good idea, letting the reader know what you think is important about yourself.
- Length: Maybe it is lucky that wine labels are only so big. Unfortunately, resumes can be as long as you want them to be. I recommend keeping them to 1-2 pages in length. If you have a longer resume, take a look at some of the information you have on there and see if you could reformat it to fit better on fewer pages.
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