How to get the ‘edge’ in your job search

It seems like the more technologically advanced we become, it’s almost like the harder things get! Once upon a time, looking for your dream job meant the Wednesday or Saturday paper. These days we have a multitude of options, including newspapers, networking, web based solutions and mobile solutions. The downside is that because there are so many mediums to advertise roles and so many applicants, you have to move quicker than ever before to be in the running for your ideal job!

So we have some tips for you to increase your chances of finding your perfect job before the opportunity disappears:

Networking

You’ve heard it said: it’s not what you know, but who you know! Never more true than when it comes to your career. Having a background in sales I have witnessed time and time again how my connections opened many doors for me. It really does pay off to attend industry events and seek mentors within your specific field.

Industry sector searches

It is important that you are familiar with any industry specific job boards, recruiters and networking opportunities. Many employers will look to industry specialists for advertising roles as they feel more certain of attracting specialised and highly skilled applicants. So although you are likely to be up against a higher quality of applicants, you will actually be more likely of securing the ideal job!

Job specific email alerts

Most job seekers have been taking advantage of this wonderful service for some time now! Usually you are able to set up daily alerts for new vacancies that meet specific criteria (eg: location, industry, role type). This helps you stay on top of the new positions within approximately 24 hours of the roles being posted. The important thing to remember when setting up an email alert is to be specific, or you’ll end up with hundreds of job ads per day. However, you don’t want to be too specific that you miss out on anything that might be worthwhile. The best way to handle this is to perhaps set up a couple of different alerts to begin with and see which key words work best for the vacancies you are wanting to attract!

But the BIG problem with the above options (which should all make up part of your strategy when job hunting) is that there are SO many applicants for jobs at the moment, that you need to capitalise on time. I have seen many job ads removed from the job boards ON THE SAME DAY they are posted! In fact there are many jobs that I am aware of that have been filled without even being posted on a site. So what is the one thing you need to do to give you the edge??

Register for a Mobile Alert solution!

The best way to give yourself a leg up in your job search is to utilise www.jobezy.com.au. We use ’push’ technology to send you your ideal jobs as they are posted!! This way you will never be last cab off the rank, Better still, you can simply reply to the SMS alert to apply for the job! These days we aren’t always near a computer at an opportune time – but EVERYONE has a phone! And we offer SMS solutions for old school phones and SmartPhone push notifications too!

Simply register, for free, here. It’s easy, convenient, very fast and disctere!

We seek for you!

Experience or inter-personal skills

It’s an interesting question for those of us in recruitment and one that can hotly debated – is experience or a candidates personality more important? There is a definite truth to the fact that most of us at some stage have all fallen ‘victim’ to the charismatic person who ended up not being right for the job (admittedly that was probably when we were all starting out, we get wiser!).

When is charisma a skill?
I’m not suggesting by any means that an employer (or recruiter) consider an applicant without experience; but are there some times when there are exceptions to the rule? The truth is that sometimes the charisma would actually be of benefit – in a sales role for example. Many people who possess charisma AND the aptitude to learn, can get away with less experience, as they have the right stuff in spades to make up for it! For example, if I have a candidate with 3 years experience and drive and charisma compared with a candidate with 8 years experience – then I would be likely to put forward the one with less experience as being most suitable for the role.

It’s not just the role
Of course you have to take into account the dynamics of the workplace, the staff and the employer. If an office has a subdued atmosphere, the guy with the loud voice and animated personality might not be the best choice! As a recruiter, your job is to ensure that you understand all of the elements required for a successful placement: this is where it is important to identify not only the specific requirements for the role, but also the dynamics of the work environment and the needs of the team.


Should you put forward a charmer?
If you do indeed have someone with charisma AND you are sure they have the drive and determination to make up for some lack of experience, there’s no reason not to put them forward. Qualifications can’t be argued, but someone who is keen and adept can display better ability than someone with twice as much experience, but who is stagnant. Make sure that you tell your client that you recognise the experience level may not be precisely what they originally requested, but if you have done your recruitment brief thoroughly you know it will be a good fit! And then let the charmer do their job at the interview.

Beware
One thing to be aware of is the ambition and drive of the one with charisma. It would be a mistake to put an A-level candidate in a C-level role. Make sure that you know if the person is on their way up or just happy with a lower pressure job with less growth opportunity. Likewise, you would be making a mistake putting a charismatic C-level candidate in a role where they would freeze if more was expected of them. Again, your recruitment brief is extremely important here.

In the end, there is more than just one skill, or level of experience, or qualification, or personality trait that makes up the needs for a candidate to successfully fill a role, but don’t discount the power of great inter-personal skills!! Matched with aptitude and drive they are a strong contender to battle stagnant experience!!

Top 5 tips for successful recruiters

A lot of people are drawn to recruitment. Like sales, if you have extensive experience within a particular industry, it makes sense to utilise that knowledge to build a successful career within the recruitment industry. Even better if you are the type of person who likes to work with people and you have some skill at discerning peoples abilities and aptitudes within your career specialist area.

But not EVERYONE who goes into recruitment becomes a successful recruiter – why is that? If you have the basic building blocks (ie: now the industry, are good with people and have a knack for matching employer and candidate), you should be able to make a killing yes?

No – the one thing that is often overlooked by new recruiters is that you actually have to learn some specialist recruiting skills!! With thanks to Jessica Lunk for her great post (read here) The good news is that the top 5 skills you need are extremely easy to master, as long as you know what they are!!

1. Metrics: yes, you need to TRACK what you are doing and how you are going. It’s not the type of career path you just ‘wing’. The measurement you start with is filling a role, work backwards from there and understand and identify how many steps it takes to achieve this, make sure that you then understand what you need to be doing each day to move things forward, to ensure the flow is kept! This will also help you to measure how many contacts you need to secure a placement, and then you can work out how many calls you need to make to get there, so now you need to:
2. Pick up the phone: yes, if you don’t like making outbound calls, please reconsider recruitment as your chosen career path! You need to drum up business, you need to make calls to find vacancies you might just be able to help a struggling employer fill! You have to commit to doing this for yourself! Yes word of mouth and referrals are very powerful, but to keep a constant and consistent flow of business, you need to PICK UP THE PHONE!
3. Adopt new technology: well adopt any technology really! It is amazing the array of tools we now have at our disposal! To be successful, you need to be AVAILABLE and have tools ACCESSIBLE! Smart phones are a godsend: you have access to the web and email and I recommend you look into apps that will help you track where you are at with clients and candidates (ie: your own personal CRM).
4. Speed: never more true than in recruiting – the early bird gets the worm! It is human nature, when we want something, we tend to respond to the quickest not always the best, make sure you use this to your advantage!
5. Purpose: there is one stark difference between average and great: PURPOSE! It is the thing that helps you pick yourself up when you’re down, it is the thing that helps you re-group and re-focus. Know what your purpose is, I find a short mission statement usually works best. It will help you to move past the inevitable difficulties that sometimes happen!

Time to go from good to great people!!!

How to pursue your dream career II

Last week we discussed how to get started ‘Pursuing your dream career’. We looked assessing where you are at career wise and then deciding what you want; understanding that it is NEVER too late to make changes and knowing that the hardest part is deciding what you actually do want!

This week, we want to help you with some tips to get you started on the right path! Once you have a plan and get started, things will snowball and you will find that chasing your dream will be worth it!

Research

The first thing that you need to do is check job search sites for vacancies, this will give you in-depth details about the position you want. Job ads will give you all of the information you need to know to put yourself on the starting blocks. They will tell you what qualifications you need, what experience is required, what sort of remuneration you can expect. You can also get an indication of the number of vacancies that are available (the more vacancies, the more likely your move into your new career will be easier)!

The next idea is to contact a recruiter – they will be able to help you determine a way to get started. Once you start to map out a plan, it will seem less overwhelming. Often the “requirements” to fill a role are weighted so the qualifications may be more important than the experience, or vice versa. You may find that the right aptitude and personality are more important than qualifications. You may find that some employers will be willing to have you embark on ‘on the job’ training. A good recruiter, who has specialist knowledge in your particular field of interest will know this important information and will help you find the places you need to go to get the qualifications or experience you need!

Qualifications

Find out what you need and work towards it! For many adults, the thought of going back to study can be quite overwhelming. The truth is, as adults we are much more easily able to apply ourselves to study and the truth is if it is something you are interested in you will likely enjoy study! Often you can RPL to gain qualifications (ie: Recognition of Prior Learning) – this is where you demonstrate on-job experience to gain some or all of your qualifications. Your local TAFE is a good place to start to research RPL as an option!

Experience

This is probably the one that seems the most difficult. In my experience, most employers are wary of someone who has little to no experience. To be honest, I have seen cases where an employer puts on a person that they didn’t particularly like, because they weighted the experience as more important than the right aptitude. There are 2 solutions to this issue: 1. Get comfortable with letting prospective employers know that you have more than enough aptitude to make up for experience, and/or 2. Volunteer! There is no better way (in my humble opinion) to demonstrate your dedication and commitment to a career or cause than to voluntarily give of your time and the best benefit is that the experience will be immeasureable!

You will be amazed that by simply setting an intention and starting the ball rolling your change will gain momentum. The hardest part is just starting!