According to a 2008 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), nearly 17% of employers surveyed reported plans to use online sources such as social networking sites and blogs as part of their recruiting efforts – up from 11% in fall of 2006.
Online resumes, social networks, and blogs have all become essential tools for employers in scoping out prospective hires, and online visibility is playing an increasingly important role in job search and career networking.
Whether you are happily employed or in the process of seeking employment, the value of your online presence should not be discounted.
Following are four tips from Abhay Parekh, founder and CEO of Flowgram, a new web-based communication tool, on how to use the Internet to build your visibility.
Four Ways to Build Your Online Visibility in 2009:
1. Create Your Online Brand.
The old adage applies here – you never have a second chance to make a good first impression. The information that appears about you online is the first chance you have to present yourself to a prospective employer. The internet is increasingly becoming a primary source for communication and information, especially with recruiters. You can create your own online brand by registering your domain name (firstnamelastname.com) and creating a website that highlights your work experience and your unique attributes. Make sure to include keywords relevant to your career, so that you can improve your ranking in search engine results, and become more visible to potential employers and recruiters within a matter of minutes. Register for a domain at sites such as Register.com.
2. Differentiate Your Work.
Whether you are an established professional or just starting out, effective career development means finding a way to differentiate yourself from the pack. There are a number of great tools available on the Internet that can help you present yourself in a captivating and innovative way. For example, Flowgram is a free web-based communication service that can be used to create an interactive multimedia portfolio of your work that incorporates web pages, slides, video clips, and more. Flowgrams are easy to distribute through e-mail, blog posts, intranets, and popular social media networks like Facebook, or through the Flowgram community online. They can also be viewed offline as downloadable videos. But rather than simply sending a static resume and hoping that someone will read it, Flowgram enables a dynamic experience that’s engaging and informative.
3. Establish yourself as an expert source.
Beyond showcasing your resume and your portfolio, the Internet can be used to create and communicate your own personal brand. A blog is a great vehicle for establishing your voice online, and can also be used to start a dialogue with a larger community of people by sharing opinions, asking for advice, or simply highlighting interesting ideas and information. By starting a blog, you position yourself as an expert source in your field, and also pave the way for making valuable new connections. MyBlogLog provides some tools for starting your own web log.
4. Explore your 6 degrees.
You’ve heard of the six degrees of separation theory -- now, put it to use by harnessing your own chain of connections. Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn provide a perfect platform for job seekers to utilize their professional network of friends and current and former co-workers. LinkedIn offers a fast and effective way to stay in touch with friends, co-workers, and recruiters, in order to keep the pulse of these relationships alive. By using business networking sites such as LinkedIn, you can increase the likelihood that people will see your name and profile first when businesses or professionals are searching for someone to hire or do business with.
Showing posts with label resume. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resume. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Resume on Monster, Hot Jobs? BEWARE!
Have you posted your resume on job boards like Monster, HotJobs, or CareerBuilder?
BEWARE. There are unscrupulous headhunters out there who will pluck your resume right off the web and shop you to potential employers without your consent.
Before you say to youself, "Hey, the more places my resume goes, the better -- I don't care how it gets there," consider this: job recruiters may be crushing your reputation and destroying your hireability, and you might not even know it.
For starters, recruiters could be representing you in ways that would make you cringe.
Some recruiters are downright obnoxious -- loud, brash, overly aggressive. Some have the vocabulary of third graders and the grace of hungry warthogs. And their behavior does reflect upon you. A potential employer doesn't know you didn't personally select this person to represent you. If they suspect you did, what does that say about your judgment?
A recruiter's less-than-professional approach might turn off your potential employer and cause them to toss your resume or move it to the bottom of the pile. With possibly hundreds of resumes to consider, do you really want to give them any excuse to discount yours?
The HR director at your would-be workplace could be so irritated by a recruiter's approach, she might discard your resume just so she won't have to pay a commission to that buffoon headhunter who rubbed her the wrong way.
Unfortunately for the upstanding ones, recruiters are notorious for lying. They have no qualms about lying about your background, and many will shamelessly assign you "stories" to tell in your job interview. Play-by-play. Some of them are really quite creative.
I recently met with a recruiter who felt that some short-term gaps in my employment history were working against me. Even though the real reasons behind those gaps were nothing scandalous, the recruiter insisted on hiding them behind made-from-scratch scenarios. She wove a pair of fairy tales, which I was meant to memorize and repeat to my (maybe) future boss. In one, there was a failed attempt at buying the house of my dreams and a flurry of wedding plans with a non-existent ex. The other was an outrageous fib about a whirlwind trip around the world won in a sweepstakes, which, God forbid anyone should ask me "And how did you like Prague?", I'd never be able to fake my way through convincingly.
Silly me. I thought my boss dying of a brain tumor was a pretty good excuse for being jobless. I nodded, tight-lipped, through my "instructions", and then went into the interview and told the truth. If I was going to work with these people someday, what was I doing to do, spend the years covering up the lies I told in my interview? No thanks.
Recruiters won't think twice about tweaking your resume, either. They'll change job descriptions, dates of employment, etc. Anything to give you a perceived "edge", thereby increasing their chances of getting you hired and getting themselves paid.
And don't trust a recruiter to have good judgment, or to even be reasonably intelligent when making "adjustments" to your resume.
For instance, many headhunters don't understand the nuts and bolts of the jobs they're filling, and they're strangers to the terminology.
I work in an area of law called "patent prosecution", which falls under the heading of "intellectual property". One recruiter from Access Staffing called me and said, "I have the perfect job for you. It's patent and prosecution. And I think it has...wait, let me check...yes! It also includes just a little bit of intellectual property."
I admit it. I laughed right into the phone. Just a little intellectual property? That's like saying, "Doctor, I have an ideal opportunity for you. It's general, and it's medicine. With just a dash of healthcare."
This could mean that your unofficial reps-in-the-field are changing vocabulary on your resume incorrectly, making you look like you don't know your own field.
This happened to me, in front of my eyes, at a headhunter's desk at Gainor Staffing. She started marking up my resume, making inaccurate changes to patent-centric terminology. She even reversed some of my correct punctuation so it was incorrect!
These self-appointed agents could also be doing your reputation a giant injustice by flooding the job market with your resume. I became a victim of this recently. I didn't find out until a forthright recruiter (whom I willingly engaged) started calling his contacts at local law firms and told me, "Your resume is all over town!" He started naming firms I'd never even heard of who'd already received not one, but multiple copies of my resume.
I didn't give anyone permission to approach these firms on my behalf, to speak on my behalf, to pass on my name, address, phone number and employment history to other people. They just did it, casting around for a bite, exploiting my personal information with the hope of some future monetary gain.
I suddenly thought of a woman who called me one day -- an overbearing type, with a voice like an air raid siren. I'd never even heard of her before, but she informed me that Law Firm XY&Z loved my resume and wanted to see me for an interview as soon as possible.
"Who are you?" I asked. I wish I could remember her name so I could share it with you. This woman had actually led a big, respectable firm to believe she had a relationship with me -- familiar enough to coordinate an interview on my behalf.
I was livid and I told her so. She was desperate to make a sale, and was unbearably pushy about getting me to go through with the interview. I refused to make the appointment through her. Later that evening, her "supervisor" had the nerve to call me and, barking at me like a scolding parent, demanded to know why I didn't take the interview. Unbelievable.
I knew these were the kind of people who'd spread my resume indiscriminately "all over town", who were diluting my opportunities for decent employment at the city's more reputable patent firms.
As my favorite recruiter Robert Hadley explained, when a resume is received by an employer from multiple sources, it can, in a sense, curse the applicant. The employer doesn't know you didn't ask every recruiter in town to find you a job, and quick! But that's what it can look like when an employer is bombarded with your resume.
And what if different recruiters are altering your resume? How does it look to the employer to get several different versions of your career path, with suspicious changes in key information?
And what if these recruiters are lying about having met you? It makes it seem like you've made the rounds to every employment agency in town and boy, you must be desperate! Which naturally leads the employer to wonder -- what's wrong with this applicant that no one is hiring her? It's just too easy to drop a resume into the trash can. The smallest inkling of doubt can count you out.
So what can you do to protect yourself?
Web sites like Monster and Hot Jobs are still a great place for employers and recruiters with integrity to find you. Each individual has to weigh the pros and cons of uploading his or her resume on these sites. But here's something I did that I encourage you to try, because it may start a trend that unscrupulous recruiters will have to acknowledge and work around. Who knows, it may even lead to some much-needed legislation. At the top of my online resume, I have a statement which reads:
"NOTICE: Recruiters are welcome to respond to (Your Name), whose name appears at the top of this resume. However, by printing out this resume, downloading or saving this resume, or forwarding this resume via e-mail or other means, you agree that you will not present yourself as a representative of (Your Name) by any means, either verbally or otherwise, express or implied, to any employer or employer's representative, without the express advance written consent of (Your Name). Furthermore, by printing out this resume, downloading or saving this resume, or forwarding this resume via e-mail or other means, you agree that if you present yourself to any employer or employer's representative as a representative of (Your Name) or (Your Name's) resume, bearing or not bearing (Your Name's) name without the express advance written consent of (Your Name), you agree not to accept any monetary compensation for the successful placement of (Your Name) in any position of employment for which you submit the resume of (Your Name)."
OK, so maybe it wouldn't hold up in court, but it could serve as a deterrent.
You can also make it crystal clear to any recruiter who calls or e-mails you that they do not have your permission to represent you or your resume to employers. You can tell them you will consider giving them written permission in an e-mail to represent you for specific positions only. This is important. In this way, you can keep track of who's legitimately sending out your resume and where. Heads-up, though: most recruiters will do anything to avoid giving you the name of the company they want to sell you to. They're afraid if they tell you it's Law Firm ABC, you will apply to the Law Firm ABC directly, cutting them out of the deal. Be insistent. Refuse to give them carte blanche to send your resume anywhere they want. Dole out your permission on a job-by-job basis, and if they refuse to name companies, politely tell them you prefer to work with another recruiter. Headhunting is a highly competitive field. Recruiters know they have plenty of competition. They'll either cooperate with you or they won't – but if they don't, the loss is entirely theirs. Trust me – you will eventually hit on a recruiter who will name names. They're out there, I've worked with them.
When you do find one or two recruiters who name names and give you honest representation, reward their integrity by letting them earn their commission. Don't do what I described earlier: circumventing their efforts by applying to the firm yourself. That's almost as scummy as being a recruiter who steals resumes off the internet.
-- Kim Brittingham
BEWARE. There are unscrupulous headhunters out there who will pluck your resume right off the web and shop you to potential employers without your consent.
Before you say to youself, "Hey, the more places my resume goes, the better -- I don't care how it gets there," consider this: job recruiters may be crushing your reputation and destroying your hireability, and you might not even know it.
For starters, recruiters could be representing you in ways that would make you cringe.
Some recruiters are downright obnoxious -- loud, brash, overly aggressive. Some have the vocabulary of third graders and the grace of hungry warthogs. And their behavior does reflect upon you. A potential employer doesn't know you didn't personally select this person to represent you. If they suspect you did, what does that say about your judgment?
A recruiter's less-than-professional approach might turn off your potential employer and cause them to toss your resume or move it to the bottom of the pile. With possibly hundreds of resumes to consider, do you really want to give them any excuse to discount yours?
The HR director at your would-be workplace could be so irritated by a recruiter's approach, she might discard your resume just so she won't have to pay a commission to that buffoon headhunter who rubbed her the wrong way.
Unfortunately for the upstanding ones, recruiters are notorious for lying. They have no qualms about lying about your background, and many will shamelessly assign you "stories" to tell in your job interview. Play-by-play. Some of them are really quite creative.
I recently met with a recruiter who felt that some short-term gaps in my employment history were working against me. Even though the real reasons behind those gaps were nothing scandalous, the recruiter insisted on hiding them behind made-from-scratch scenarios. She wove a pair of fairy tales, which I was meant to memorize and repeat to my (maybe) future boss. In one, there was a failed attempt at buying the house of my dreams and a flurry of wedding plans with a non-existent ex. The other was an outrageous fib about a whirlwind trip around the world won in a sweepstakes, which, God forbid anyone should ask me "And how did you like Prague?", I'd never be able to fake my way through convincingly.
Silly me. I thought my boss dying of a brain tumor was a pretty good excuse for being jobless. I nodded, tight-lipped, through my "instructions", and then went into the interview and told the truth. If I was going to work with these people someday, what was I doing to do, spend the years covering up the lies I told in my interview? No thanks.
Recruiters won't think twice about tweaking your resume, either. They'll change job descriptions, dates of employment, etc. Anything to give you a perceived "edge", thereby increasing their chances of getting you hired and getting themselves paid.
And don't trust a recruiter to have good judgment, or to even be reasonably intelligent when making "adjustments" to your resume.
For instance, many headhunters don't understand the nuts and bolts of the jobs they're filling, and they're strangers to the terminology.
I work in an area of law called "patent prosecution", which falls under the heading of "intellectual property". One recruiter from Access Staffing called me and said, "I have the perfect job for you. It's patent and prosecution. And I think it has...wait, let me check...yes! It also includes just a little bit of intellectual property."
I admit it. I laughed right into the phone. Just a little intellectual property? That's like saying, "Doctor, I have an ideal opportunity for you. It's general, and it's medicine. With just a dash of healthcare."
This could mean that your unofficial reps-in-the-field are changing vocabulary on your resume incorrectly, making you look like you don't know your own field.
This happened to me, in front of my eyes, at a headhunter's desk at Gainor Staffing. She started marking up my resume, making inaccurate changes to patent-centric terminology. She even reversed some of my correct punctuation so it was incorrect!
These self-appointed agents could also be doing your reputation a giant injustice by flooding the job market with your resume. I became a victim of this recently. I didn't find out until a forthright recruiter (whom I willingly engaged) started calling his contacts at local law firms and told me, "Your resume is all over town!" He started naming firms I'd never even heard of who'd already received not one, but multiple copies of my resume.
I didn't give anyone permission to approach these firms on my behalf, to speak on my behalf, to pass on my name, address, phone number and employment history to other people. They just did it, casting around for a bite, exploiting my personal information with the hope of some future monetary gain.
I suddenly thought of a woman who called me one day -- an overbearing type, with a voice like an air raid siren. I'd never even heard of her before, but she informed me that Law Firm XY&Z loved my resume and wanted to see me for an interview as soon as possible.
"Who are you?" I asked. I wish I could remember her name so I could share it with you. This woman had actually led a big, respectable firm to believe she had a relationship with me -- familiar enough to coordinate an interview on my behalf.
I was livid and I told her so. She was desperate to make a sale, and was unbearably pushy about getting me to go through with the interview. I refused to make the appointment through her. Later that evening, her "supervisor" had the nerve to call me and, barking at me like a scolding parent, demanded to know why I didn't take the interview. Unbelievable.
I knew these were the kind of people who'd spread my resume indiscriminately "all over town", who were diluting my opportunities for decent employment at the city's more reputable patent firms.
As my favorite recruiter Robert Hadley explained, when a resume is received by an employer from multiple sources, it can, in a sense, curse the applicant. The employer doesn't know you didn't ask every recruiter in town to find you a job, and quick! But that's what it can look like when an employer is bombarded with your resume.
And what if different recruiters are altering your resume? How does it look to the employer to get several different versions of your career path, with suspicious changes in key information?
And what if these recruiters are lying about having met you? It makes it seem like you've made the rounds to every employment agency in town and boy, you must be desperate! Which naturally leads the employer to wonder -- what's wrong with this applicant that no one is hiring her? It's just too easy to drop a resume into the trash can. The smallest inkling of doubt can count you out.
So what can you do to protect yourself?
Web sites like Monster and Hot Jobs are still a great place for employers and recruiters with integrity to find you. Each individual has to weigh the pros and cons of uploading his or her resume on these sites. But here's something I did that I encourage you to try, because it may start a trend that unscrupulous recruiters will have to acknowledge and work around. Who knows, it may even lead to some much-needed legislation. At the top of my online resume, I have a statement which reads:
"NOTICE: Recruiters are welcome to respond to (Your Name), whose name appears at the top of this resume. However, by printing out this resume, downloading or saving this resume, or forwarding this resume via e-mail or other means, you agree that you will not present yourself as a representative of (Your Name) by any means, either verbally or otherwise, express or implied, to any employer or employer's representative, without the express advance written consent of (Your Name). Furthermore, by printing out this resume, downloading or saving this resume, or forwarding this resume via e-mail or other means, you agree that if you present yourself to any employer or employer's representative as a representative of (Your Name) or (Your Name's) resume, bearing or not bearing (Your Name's) name without the express advance written consent of (Your Name), you agree not to accept any monetary compensation for the successful placement of (Your Name) in any position of employment for which you submit the resume of (Your Name)."
OK, so maybe it wouldn't hold up in court, but it could serve as a deterrent.
You can also make it crystal clear to any recruiter who calls or e-mails you that they do not have your permission to represent you or your resume to employers. You can tell them you will consider giving them written permission in an e-mail to represent you for specific positions only. This is important. In this way, you can keep track of who's legitimately sending out your resume and where. Heads-up, though: most recruiters will do anything to avoid giving you the name of the company they want to sell you to. They're afraid if they tell you it's Law Firm ABC, you will apply to the Law Firm ABC directly, cutting them out of the deal. Be insistent. Refuse to give them carte blanche to send your resume anywhere they want. Dole out your permission on a job-by-job basis, and if they refuse to name companies, politely tell them you prefer to work with another recruiter. Headhunting is a highly competitive field. Recruiters know they have plenty of competition. They'll either cooperate with you or they won't – but if they don't, the loss is entirely theirs. Trust me – you will eventually hit on a recruiter who will name names. They're out there, I've worked with them.
When you do find one or two recruiters who name names and give you honest representation, reward their integrity by letting them earn their commission. Don't do what I described earlier: circumventing their efforts by applying to the firm yourself. That's almost as scummy as being a recruiter who steals resumes off the internet.
-- Kim Brittingham
Friday, February 13, 2009
Help for Hard Times from Just A Sec
Don't think we haven't noticed. These are scary times for a lot of people. We personally know some stellar, top-notch secretaries and admins who've been unavoidably laid off around these parts, and the rumors of more firings to come are running rampant.
Just A Sec feels for all of you -- the recently-axed, the workers on pins and needles.
We wish we could eliminate your concerns, give you all jobs or at least total peace of mind.
But the one thing we can do is point you towards some helpful information. So we've compiled a list of links to past posts that may help with some of the challenges you're facing now: recent lay-offs, threats of lay-offs, unexpected job searches, loss of benefits, financial stress. Knowledge is power, so stay informed. Start here:
IF YOU'VE BEEN FIRED
When You Get Fired: Important Advice
IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A JOB
Interviewing for a Job? Think about this.
Is a Cover Letter Necessary with a Resume?
The Post-Job Interview Thank You Note
How to Request a Letter of Recommendation
Resume on Monster, Hot Jobs? Beware!
Even in a Recession, Keep your Job or Find a New One
LOST OR REDUCED BENEFITS?
Health Coverage after a Lay-Off
401K Matching Contribution Eliminated?
IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR JOB
Make Your Job Recession-Proof
Even in a Recession, Keep your Job or Find a New One
Is Job Hunting on the Job a No-No?
How to Prepare for a Lay-Off
Dealing with Workplace Changes
IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR SANITY
When You're Trapped in a Job You Hate
Dealing with Workplace Changes
Boost your Morale in Uncertain Times
Reduce Stress During Tough Financial Times
IF YOU NEED TO CUT SPENDING
Cut What You Spend During the Work Week
Just A Sec feels for all of you -- the recently-axed, the workers on pins and needles.
We wish we could eliminate your concerns, give you all jobs or at least total peace of mind.
But the one thing we can do is point you towards some helpful information. So we've compiled a list of links to past posts that may help with some of the challenges you're facing now: recent lay-offs, threats of lay-offs, unexpected job searches, loss of benefits, financial stress. Knowledge is power, so stay informed. Start here:
IF YOU'VE BEEN FIRED
When You Get Fired: Important Advice
IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A JOB
Interviewing for a Job? Think about this.
Is a Cover Letter Necessary with a Resume?
The Post-Job Interview Thank You Note
How to Request a Letter of Recommendation
Resume on Monster, Hot Jobs? Beware!
Even in a Recession, Keep your Job or Find a New One
LOST OR REDUCED BENEFITS?
Health Coverage after a Lay-Off
401K Matching Contribution Eliminated?
IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR JOB
Make Your Job Recession-Proof
Even in a Recession, Keep your Job or Find a New One
Is Job Hunting on the Job a No-No?
How to Prepare for a Lay-Off
Dealing with Workplace Changes
IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR SANITY
When You're Trapped in a Job You Hate
Dealing with Workplace Changes
Boost your Morale in Uncertain Times
Reduce Stress During Tough Financial Times
IF YOU NEED TO CUT SPENDING
Cut What You Spend During the Work Week
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Resume on Monster, Hot Jobs? Beware!
Have you posted your resume on job boards like Monster, HotJobs, or CareerBuilder?
BEWARE. There are unscrupulous headhunters out there who will pluck your resume right off the web and shop you to potential employers without your consent.
Before you say to youself, "Hey, the more places my resume goes, the better -- I don't care how it gets there," consider this: job recruiters may be crushing your reputation and destroying your hireability, and you might not even know it.
For starters, recruiters could be representing you in ways that would make you cringe.
Some recruiters are downright obnoxious -- loud, brash, overly aggressive. Some have the vocabulary of third graders and the grace of hungry warthogs. And their behavior does reflect upon you. A potential employer doesn't know you didn't personally select this person to represent you. If they suspect you did, what does that say about your judgment?
A recruiter's less-than-professional approach might turn off your potential employer and cause them to toss your resume or move it to the bottom of the pile. With possibly hundreds of resumes to consider, do you really want to give them any excuse to discount yours?
The HR director at your would-be workplace could be so irritated by a recruiter's approach, she might discard your resume just so she won't have to pay a commission to that buffoon headhunter who rubbed her the wrong way.
Unfortunately for the upstanding ones, recruiters are notorious for lying. They have no qualms about lying about your background, and many will shamelessly assign you "stories" to tell in your job interview. Play-by-play. Some of them are really quite creative.
I recently met with a recruiter who felt that some short-term gaps in my employment history were working against me. Even though the real reasons behind those gaps were nothing scandalous, the recruiter insisted on hiding them behind made-from-scratch scenarios. She wove a pair of fairy tales, which I was meant to memorize and repeat to my (maybe) future boss. In one, there was a failed attempt at buying the house of my dreams and a flurry of wedding plans with a non-existent ex. The other was an outrageous fib about a whirlwind trip around the world won in a sweepstakes, which, God forbid anyone should ask me "And how did you like Prague?", I'd never be able to fake my way through convincingly.
Silly me. I thought my boss dying of a brain tumor was a pretty good excuse for being jobless. I nodded, tight-lipped, through my "instructions", and then went into the interview and told the truth. If I was going to work with these people someday, what was I doing to do, spend the years covering up the lies I told in my interview? No thanks.
Recruiters won't think twice about tweaking your resume, either. They'll change job descriptions, dates of employment, etc. Anything to give you a perceived "edge", thereby increasing their chances of getting you hired and getting themselves paid.
And don't trust a recruiter to have good judgment, or to even be reasonably intelligent when making "adjustments" to your resume.
For instance, many headhunters don't understand the nuts and bolts of the jobs they're filling, and they're strangers to the terminology.
I work in an area of law called "patent prosecution", which falls under the heading of "intellectual property". One recruiter from Access Staffing called me and said, "I have the perfect job for you. It's patent and prosecution. And I think it has...wait, let me check...yes! It also includes just a little bit of intellectual property."
I admit it. I laughed right into the phone. Just a little intellectual property? That's like saying, "Doctor, I have an ideal opportunity for you. It's general, and it's medicine. With just a dash of healthcare."
This could mean that your unofficial reps-in-the-field are changing vocabulary on your resume incorrectly, making you look like you don't know your own field.
This happened to me, in front of my eyes, at a headhunter's desk at Gainor Staffing. She started marking up my resume, making inaccurate changes to patent-centric terminology. She even reversed some of my correct punctuation so it was incorrect!
These self-appointed agents could also be doing your reputation a giant injustice by flooding the job market with your resume. I became a victim of this recently. I didn't find out until a forthright recruiter (whom I willingly engaged) started calling his contacts at local law firms and told me, "Your resume is all over town!" He started naming firms I'd never even heard of who'd already received not one, but multiple copies of my resume.
I didn't give anyone permission to approach these firms on my behalf, to speak on my behalf, to pass on my name, address, phone number and employment history to other people. They just did it, casting around for a bite, exploiting my personal information with the hope of some future monetary gain.
I suddenly thought of a woman who called me one day -- an overbearing type, with a voice like an air raid siren. I'd never even heard of her before, but she informed me that Law Firm XY&Z loved my resume and wanted to see me for an interview as soon as possible.
"Who are you?" I asked. I wish I could remember her name so I could share it with you. This woman had actually led a big, respectable firm to believe she had a relationship with me -- familiar enough to coordinate an interview on my behalf.
I was livid and I told her so. She was desperate to make a sale, and was unbearably pushy about getting me to go through with the interview. I refused to make the appointment through her. Later that evening, her "supervisor" had the nerve to call me and, barking at me like a scolding parent, demanded to know why I didn't take the interview. Unbelievable.
I knew these were the kind of people who'd spread my resume indiscriminately "all over town", who were diluting my opportunities for decent employment at the city's more reputable patent firms.
As my favorite recruiter Robert Hadley explained, when a resume is received by an employer from multiple sources, it can, in a sense, curse the applicant. The employer doesn't know you didn't ask every recruiter in town to find you a job, and quick! But that's what it can look like when an employer is bombarded with your resume.
And what if different recruiters are altering your resume? How does it look to the employer to get several different versions of your career path, with suspicious changes in key information?
And what if these recruiters are lying about having met you? It makes it seem like you've made the rounds to every employment agency in town and boy, you must be desperate! Which naturally leads the employer to wonder -- what's wrong with this applicant that no one is hiring her? It's just too easy to drop a resume into the trash can. The smallest inkling of doubt can count you out.
So what can you do to protect yourself?
Web sites like Monster and Hot Jobs are still a great place for employers and recruiters with integrity to find you. Each individual has to weigh the pros and cons of uploading his or her resume on these sites. But here's something I did that I encourage you to try, because it may start a trend that unscrupulous recruiters will have to acknowledge and work around. Who knows, it may even lead to some much-needed legislation. At the top of my online resume, I have a statement which reads:
"NOTICE: Recruiters are welcome to respond to (Your Name), whose name appears at the top of this resume. However, by printing out this resume, downloading or saving this resume, or forwarding this resume via e-mail or other means, you agree that you will not present yourself as a representative of (Your Name) by any means, either verbally or otherwise, express or implied, to any employer or employer's representative, without the express advance written consent of (Your Name). Furthermore, by printing out this resume, downloading or saving this resume, or forwarding this resume via e-mail or other means, you agree that if you present yourself to any employer or employer's representative as a representative of (Your Name) or (Your Name's) resume, bearing or not bearing (Your Name's) name without the express advance written consent of (Your Name), you agree not to accept any monetary compensation for the successful placement of (Your Name) in any position of employment for which you submit the resume of (Your Name)."
OK, so maybe it wouldn't hold up in court, but it could serve as a deterrent.
You can also make it crystal clear to any recruiter who calls or e-mails you that they do not have your permission to represent you or your resume to employers. You can tell them you will consider giving them written permission in an e-mail to represent you for specific positions only. This is important. In this way, you can keep track of who's legitimately sending out your resume and where. Heads-up, though: most recruiters will do anything to avoid giving you the name of the company they want to sell you to. They're afraid if they tell you it's Law Firm ABC, you will apply to the Law Firm ABC directly, cutting them out of the deal. Be insistent. Refuse to give them carte blanche to send your resume anywhere they want. Dole out your permission on a job-by-job basis, and if they refuse to name companies, politely tell them you prefer to work with another recruiter. Headhunting is a highly competitive field. Recruiters know they have plenty of competition. They'll either cooperate with you or they won't – but if they don't, the loss is entirely theirs. Trust me – you will eventually hit on a recruiter who will name names. They're out there, I've worked with them.
When you do find one or two recruiters who name names and give you honest representation, reward their integrity by letting them earn their commission. Don't do what I described earlier: circumventing their efforts by applying to the firm yourself. That's almost as scummy as being a recruiter who steals resumes off the internet.
-- Kim Brittingham
BEWARE. There are unscrupulous headhunters out there who will pluck your resume right off the web and shop you to potential employers without your consent.
Before you say to youself, "Hey, the more places my resume goes, the better -- I don't care how it gets there," consider this: job recruiters may be crushing your reputation and destroying your hireability, and you might not even know it.
For starters, recruiters could be representing you in ways that would make you cringe.
Some recruiters are downright obnoxious -- loud, brash, overly aggressive. Some have the vocabulary of third graders and the grace of hungry warthogs. And their behavior does reflect upon you. A potential employer doesn't know you didn't personally select this person to represent you. If they suspect you did, what does that say about your judgment?
A recruiter's less-than-professional approach might turn off your potential employer and cause them to toss your resume or move it to the bottom of the pile. With possibly hundreds of resumes to consider, do you really want to give them any excuse to discount yours?
The HR director at your would-be workplace could be so irritated by a recruiter's approach, she might discard your resume just so she won't have to pay a commission to that buffoon headhunter who rubbed her the wrong way.
Unfortunately for the upstanding ones, recruiters are notorious for lying. They have no qualms about lying about your background, and many will shamelessly assign you "stories" to tell in your job interview. Play-by-play. Some of them are really quite creative.
I recently met with a recruiter who felt that some short-term gaps in my employment history were working against me. Even though the real reasons behind those gaps were nothing scandalous, the recruiter insisted on hiding them behind made-from-scratch scenarios. She wove a pair of fairy tales, which I was meant to memorize and repeat to my (maybe) future boss. In one, there was a failed attempt at buying the house of my dreams and a flurry of wedding plans with a non-existent ex. The other was an outrageous fib about a whirlwind trip around the world won in a sweepstakes, which, God forbid anyone should ask me "And how did you like Prague?", I'd never be able to fake my way through convincingly.
Silly me. I thought my boss dying of a brain tumor was a pretty good excuse for being jobless. I nodded, tight-lipped, through my "instructions", and then went into the interview and told the truth. If I was going to work with these people someday, what was I doing to do, spend the years covering up the lies I told in my interview? No thanks.
Recruiters won't think twice about tweaking your resume, either. They'll change job descriptions, dates of employment, etc. Anything to give you a perceived "edge", thereby increasing their chances of getting you hired and getting themselves paid.
And don't trust a recruiter to have good judgment, or to even be reasonably intelligent when making "adjustments" to your resume.
For instance, many headhunters don't understand the nuts and bolts of the jobs they're filling, and they're strangers to the terminology.
I work in an area of law called "patent prosecution", which falls under the heading of "intellectual property". One recruiter from Access Staffing called me and said, "I have the perfect job for you. It's patent and prosecution. And I think it has...wait, let me check...yes! It also includes just a little bit of intellectual property."
I admit it. I laughed right into the phone. Just a little intellectual property? That's like saying, "Doctor, I have an ideal opportunity for you. It's general, and it's medicine. With just a dash of healthcare."
This could mean that your unofficial reps-in-the-field are changing vocabulary on your resume incorrectly, making you look like you don't know your own field.
This happened to me, in front of my eyes, at a headhunter's desk at Gainor Staffing. She started marking up my resume, making inaccurate changes to patent-centric terminology. She even reversed some of my correct punctuation so it was incorrect!
These self-appointed agents could also be doing your reputation a giant injustice by flooding the job market with your resume. I became a victim of this recently. I didn't find out until a forthright recruiter (whom I willingly engaged) started calling his contacts at local law firms and told me, "Your resume is all over town!" He started naming firms I'd never even heard of who'd already received not one, but multiple copies of my resume.
I didn't give anyone permission to approach these firms on my behalf, to speak on my behalf, to pass on my name, address, phone number and employment history to other people. They just did it, casting around for a bite, exploiting my personal information with the hope of some future monetary gain.
I suddenly thought of a woman who called me one day -- an overbearing type, with a voice like an air raid siren. I'd never even heard of her before, but she informed me that Law Firm XY&Z loved my resume and wanted to see me for an interview as soon as possible.
"Who are you?" I asked. I wish I could remember her name so I could share it with you. This woman had actually led a big, respectable firm to believe she had a relationship with me -- familiar enough to coordinate an interview on my behalf.
I was livid and I told her so. She was desperate to make a sale, and was unbearably pushy about getting me to go through with the interview. I refused to make the appointment through her. Later that evening, her "supervisor" had the nerve to call me and, barking at me like a scolding parent, demanded to know why I didn't take the interview. Unbelievable.
I knew these were the kind of people who'd spread my resume indiscriminately "all over town", who were diluting my opportunities for decent employment at the city's more reputable patent firms.
As my favorite recruiter Robert Hadley explained, when a resume is received by an employer from multiple sources, it can, in a sense, curse the applicant. The employer doesn't know you didn't ask every recruiter in town to find you a job, and quick! But that's what it can look like when an employer is bombarded with your resume.
And what if different recruiters are altering your resume? How does it look to the employer to get several different versions of your career path, with suspicious changes in key information?
And what if these recruiters are lying about having met you? It makes it seem like you've made the rounds to every employment agency in town and boy, you must be desperate! Which naturally leads the employer to wonder -- what's wrong with this applicant that no one is hiring her? It's just too easy to drop a resume into the trash can. The smallest inkling of doubt can count you out.
So what can you do to protect yourself?
Web sites like Monster and Hot Jobs are still a great place for employers and recruiters with integrity to find you. Each individual has to weigh the pros and cons of uploading his or her resume on these sites. But here's something I did that I encourage you to try, because it may start a trend that unscrupulous recruiters will have to acknowledge and work around. Who knows, it may even lead to some much-needed legislation. At the top of my online resume, I have a statement which reads:
"NOTICE: Recruiters are welcome to respond to (Your Name), whose name appears at the top of this resume. However, by printing out this resume, downloading or saving this resume, or forwarding this resume via e-mail or other means, you agree that you will not present yourself as a representative of (Your Name) by any means, either verbally or otherwise, express or implied, to any employer or employer's representative, without the express advance written consent of (Your Name). Furthermore, by printing out this resume, downloading or saving this resume, or forwarding this resume via e-mail or other means, you agree that if you present yourself to any employer or employer's representative as a representative of (Your Name) or (Your Name's) resume, bearing or not bearing (Your Name's) name without the express advance written consent of (Your Name), you agree not to accept any monetary compensation for the successful placement of (Your Name) in any position of employment for which you submit the resume of (Your Name)."
OK, so maybe it wouldn't hold up in court, but it could serve as a deterrent.
You can also make it crystal clear to any recruiter who calls or e-mails you that they do not have your permission to represent you or your resume to employers. You can tell them you will consider giving them written permission in an e-mail to represent you for specific positions only. This is important. In this way, you can keep track of who's legitimately sending out your resume and where. Heads-up, though: most recruiters will do anything to avoid giving you the name of the company they want to sell you to. They're afraid if they tell you it's Law Firm ABC, you will apply to the Law Firm ABC directly, cutting them out of the deal. Be insistent. Refuse to give them carte blanche to send your resume anywhere they want. Dole out your permission on a job-by-job basis, and if they refuse to name companies, politely tell them you prefer to work with another recruiter. Headhunting is a highly competitive field. Recruiters know they have plenty of competition. They'll either cooperate with you or they won't – but if they don't, the loss is entirely theirs. Trust me – you will eventually hit on a recruiter who will name names. They're out there, I've worked with them.
When you do find one or two recruiters who name names and give you honest representation, reward their integrity by letting them earn their commission. Don't do what I described earlier: circumventing their efforts by applying to the firm yourself. That's almost as scummy as being a recruiter who steals resumes off the internet.
-- Kim Brittingham
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Even in a Recession: Keep Your Job, or Find New One
Even in a recession, it's possible to find a new job. It just might take more effort, or perhaps different efforts, than you'd normally put forth.
And if you're worried about losing your job, don't just sit there like a bump on a log! There are things you can actively do to increase your chances of sticking around.
Read more, all of ya!
And if you're worried about losing your job, don't just sit there like a bump on a log! There are things you can actively do to increase your chances of sticking around.
Read more, all of ya!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Is a Cover Letter with a Resume Necessary?
Believe it or not, sometimes a cover letter with your resume isn't necessary. But some of you should most definitely include one.
Do you need that letter? Find out here.
Do you need that letter? Find out here.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Post Your Resume, Get Spammed
A Just A Sec Exclusive!
When you post your resume on well-know job sites, you may or may not get a job – but you’ll definitely get spammed.
We noticed after we posted our resumes on job sites, we’d get in-boxes full of spam. And some of the dumbest spam we’ve ever seen, too.
Were the job sites really the source of our spam? And if so, which sites? Who was the worst spammer? We decided to get an answer.
We set up a fake resume for a secretary named “Justine” on Monster, Hot Jobs and Career Builder. We made Justine a secretary with very little experience, and we littered her resume with typos. In other words, she wasn’t likely to attract many legitimate job offers. We also set up three separate e-mail accounts corresponding with the three sites, and monitored them for two weeks.
Here’s what we learned.
Career Builder: The MOST Spam.
We received 6 different items of pure spam within two weeks. The first spam e-mail arrived within 24 hours of posting Justine’s resume.
Our favorite:
- From “Roger Smith”: “I am the Chief Executive Officer of National Income Life. I recently found your resume online and wanted to get in touch with you. We are expanding our sales force…we believe you have the potential to be an excellent match.”
Me? Justine?! You wanted to get in touch with lil’ ol’ ME? And…and you believe in my potential? Shucks, I oughta misspell secrtary and unvistity on every resume I post! Who knew I was such a hot property?
Oh, and there was this one:
“GREETINGS, I AM SSG LAPEINE WITH THE US ARMY…We are currently searching for people to fill over 150 different career field IN THE ARMY. You must be willing to join the United States Army to get one of these career field.”
Considering who our president is, we’re not surprised by the atrocious grammar. But wow, you should see the list of exciting careers you can train for in the army! Just one question: does your health insurance kick in before or after you get your head blown off in Baghdad?
Hot Jobs: The FASTEST Spam.
Hot Jobs comes in a close second for the most spam, with 5 items within two weeks. However, they had the fastest delivery. We got our first spam e-mail within just 12 hours of posting Justine’s resume.
Our favorites:
- Subject line “An Electrician Apprentice job is now open.”
- Subject line “Interested in working as an Architect?”
Justine has no job experience or education that would indicate she’d be even remotely interested in these careers. Sure, it’s possible she harbors some secret desire to be an architect with an electrical background, but chances are these e-mails are just going to be annoyances for most people.
Monster: The Least & Slowest Spam.
Monster delivered 2 items of spam within two weeks. And they took four days to send us the first one. But still – they spammed us.
Our favorite:
From “Sabrina Lloyd”: “…I am a State Director for National Income Life. I saw your resume on the internet and felt that I should contact you immediately. Our company currently has openings for several outstanding individuals like you.”
Individuals like me, Justine? The incompetent secretary with next-to-zero experience and the lowest grade point average one can have and still graduate from community college? I am so hot, I’m sizzlin’!
If we monitored the e-mail accounts longer, we’d probably see the amount of spam multiply, as the spammers sold our e-mail addresses to still more spammers.
The lesson here? If you’re going to post your resume on a job site, set up a free e-mail account somewhere and use it only for responses from that site. It’ll still be a pain to browse through all the junk mail for any legitimate inquiries, but at least you’ll keep the spam out of any existing e-mail accounts you care about.
And maybe you can send a complaint letter to Monster, Hot Jobs or Career Builder and tell them what you think about them passing your e-mail address on to skeevy companies who treat you like a moron.
Maybe these will help:
Mr. Richard Castellini
Vice President of Consumer Marketing
CareerBuilder
200 N. LaSalle St
Suite 1100
Chicago, IL 60601
Main Number: (773) 527-3600
Toll Free: (800) 638-4212
Jerry Yang, CEO
Hot Jobs -- Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Tel: (408) 349-3300
Fax: (408) 349-3301
Mr. Sal Iannuzzi
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Monster Worldwide, Inc.
622 Third Avenue, 39th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 351-7000
Fax: (646) 658-0541
(Note: We did not count e-mails from the job sites themselves as spam.)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
How to Prepare For a Layoff
With what's happening in the economy now, with firms going under and other firms announcing massive layoffs, many of you may be worried about the future of your jobs.
Worrying won't help. Instead, experts say you should be getting your affairs in order, both financially and professionally, so that you will be better positioned for a possible layoff.
This article at CNBC gives specific instructions on the kinds of things you should be doing rather than wringing your hands.
Worrying won't help. Instead, experts say you should be getting your affairs in order, both financially and professionally, so that you will be better positioned for a possible layoff.
This article at CNBC gives specific instructions on the kinds of things you should be doing rather than wringing your hands.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Changing Jobs in Mid-Career
Nervous about changing your job in mid-career? MotherTalkers has some words of encouragement.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Are you Changing Jobs Too Often?
Things are like they were in our parents' day -- people don't stay at one company for forty years anymore. But could too much job-hopping be detrimental? Read more on the Asbury Park Press.
Keep Your Edge: Stay Employable!
J.T. O'Donnell over at the MacoreKX blog offers up four secrets to staying employable.
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