A Long Overdue Recruiter's Rant - Part 2

Following on last Friday's rant, here are some case study examples to give you some insight, perhaps you can relate to my experience, or perhaps you can avoid making the same fatal mistakes as a job seeker:

CASE 1: CAN YOU ENDORSE ME?

This guy, we will call him Super Senior, So Super Senior here, sends me an invitation to connect, on October 12th, 2011, I accepted, since his profile was smart enough, and I do regularly get clients within the IT industry, and Super Senior does actually work at a Super company that I personally admire. you never know when you're going to need to consult with or recruit a Super Senior. Anyhow, Early this month, our Super Senior boy here, sends me a CAN YOU ENDORSE ME? request on LinkedIn.

The Facts again: I never met Super Senior in person, I never exchanged emails with Super Senior, I never worked with Super Senior online or offline. Yet here he was, 8 weeks later, asking for an endorsement. I mean he has presented his case and request so brilliantly, how can I refuse? so here is my Endorsement just for you Super Senior:

Super Senior Boy, is very easy going, and builds relationships quickly with total strangers, he's an asset to any team, for he's a senior process associate, way ahead of his peers, his unique Senior processing skills allow him to eliminate the natural and lengthy course of building any business relationship, he believes strongly in building trust in a matter of weeks, with minimal interaction, he is well known to cut to the chase . a go-getter and nothing will stand in his way!

Now, Do you really want to be that guy? 

Please, a pretty please decorated with dandelions, choose carefully whom you request an endorsement from.

DO Request Endorsements from:

• People you know well.
• People you worked with (colleagues, bosses, supervisors and clients)
• People you trust to be fair and have integrity. 
• People who are not family or friends.

CASE 2: GET ME A JOB, that's an order

This brilliant project manager, is polite, he uses the word PLEASE. The fact that he is currently working in a limited liability company in Dubai is qualification enough to get him any job, NO?. 

At least other job seekers, might add another line referring to their LinkedIn profile, or include a little introductory paragraph of what they can do and what they are looking for in a job, some might offer to send their CV.

Note dear reader, that both cases occurred on the same day, and that's just from LinkedIn, my business email and Gmail are another story altogether.

In a trivia survey years ago, that a colleague sent me, I answered a question of what is your favorite sport? my answer was watching my inbox download. Seriously, you never know what to expect! 

Am quite fond of emails that have NO subject, no email body, and attachment titled mycv.xxx , CV1.xxx, or CV[1].xxx.  Yaaay for me, a guessing game!

I especially like job seekers with a great sense of personal branding: the attachment will hold their name! WOW! just their name blows me away, how can I pass such a resourceful and talented candidate?  I want to hire them on the spot! At least that's what they think.

Yes, some actually do have something in the email body, some of what I see daily in my mailboxes :

see my CV

I am looking for job, attached is my cv

Please find the attachment word file

Dear Sir, Please attached my cv for any suitable jobs

Just brilliant! sometimes, I do open the attachments when I have the time, and actually have a job order to fill, and to my surprise, the majority of those people are not entry level or fresh graduates, many of them have years of experience and at least a certification of some sorts or a post-graduate degree! (sometimes PhDs even)

Dear Job Seeker, 

If you have the wits to attain any degree beyond high-school, then it is expected that you know how to apply for jobs properly, it is expected that you introduce yourself adequately and clearly, it is expected that you do your homework before you apply for any job. Be professional, be creative, encourage us recruiters and hiring managers to be interested to at least to review your application. That's the first step, and a very important step for you, that's what you need to worry about. Don't worry about us, we know how to find the people we need, we don't really rely on unsolicited applications, but if that's what you want to do, you really have to stand out (get short-listed, that's your second step), and make us want to interview you, (that's the third step). 

regards,

a concerned recruiter

P.S. Don't get me started on your un-professionally sound email address. 

Pinky19xx@domain.com

theman@domain.com

sexylady@domain.com
cdght.dgfdfj@domain.com
smartboy@domain.com
....
....
....
the list is a mile long

The moral of the story is, use your real name as your professional email, show confidence in who you are, there is no need to show how sexy, clever, mysterious and unreliable you are when creating your professional email address! AND

Don't use another person's email to apply, always use your own. 

Read  A Long Overdue Recruiter's Rant - Part 1

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A Long Overdue Recruiter's Rant - Part 1

(a WARNING: this is a rant of the recruiter in me, Technical Writer mode is switched OFF at the moment of RANTING)

Dear Job Seeker,

Yes, am a recruitment consultant, I cater to hiring managers and their companies.
Yes, I can give you free advice on how to improve your resume. 
Yes, I may know someone "in" the company you want to work for...
Yes, I can coach you and help you prepare for interviews...and plan your career path
Yes, do send me your CV or resume, I'd love to see it in case a match comes up

NO, I will not recommend you, just because you are in any one of my social media networks, DO I KNOW YOU? I cannot recommend you and endorse you on LINKEDIN or write a recommendation letter of any type, if I haven't worked with you! I cannot attest to your character if we never met in person and never had a long-term social or business relationship.

NO, I will not write your resume / CV / profile if you don't hire me, neither expect any of my recruiter colleagues to do so, this is what we do for a living, not for charity. 

NO, I don't influence hiring decisions in companies or the hiring managers there who are not my clients! even if I know them. You see, I get paid by the client and not you my dear job seeker, as most of my fellow recruiters do. Even then, and even if I have hiring decision making power in most cases, all that I can do is recommend you based on your passing your interview evaluation with me. After-all, I'd be recruiting on behalf of the client.

NO, Don't email your CV with no cover letter what so ever! It doesn't have to be something fancy, or another attached file for that matter, just write a short paragraph (5 - 8 sentences long):

• introduce yourself, 
• tell us what position(s) your are applying for or are interested in
• give us a reason to open and read your resume
• distinguish yourself from the tens and hundreds of applications we receive daily
• make sure you have your correct contact information on your resume and in the body of your email too (add it after your signature)
• Give us something to work with for your sake!

Again NO, recruitment consultants don't run  charities; money is on the clock, yes we want to help, but for us to spend hours on hours working with you on your career or interview skills without compensation is not something we do if the client is paying us to find them the right candidates. 

There are specialized recruiters that will work with you, to develop your career and help you with leads to job opportunities; and yes, you have to pay them a percentage of your annual salary or a retainer. Seek them out, Unfortunately for you am not that kind of recruiter, but; ...if you want my help you can hire me as your career coach, but you really got to invest time and money in yourself and actually do most of the work yourself. You see, if you don't then after you are hired, this is what will happen YOU'LL GET FIRED eventually! and that's not good for either one of us! don't you agree?

We really want to hire people, and do our best to review all applicants, but can you please, a pretty please decorated with dandelions, can you just use the reference code we asked you to use in the subject line for any advertised vacancy? 

After going through hundreds of applications each day, we may as well, just overlook you because you already have demonstrated that you lack certain important skills, you didn't pay attention to details and you are unable for the life of your CAREER follow simple straightforward directions. You already have lost our attention, and probably would be moved to the Dump file, instead of getting shortlisted for second screening.

It is in the second screening mostly that a decision to call you in for an interview is made. SO please, a pretty please decorated with dandelions, Pay attention to details and follow instructions. 

If you don't meet  50% - 80% of the job requirements, please try and explain why you think you'd be the right candidate for the job? We really want to know what makes you the right choice. If you don't even meet 50% of job requirements, then, don't apply. Seriously, don't bother, because we won't!

please, a pretty please decorated with dandelions, help us help you

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