Upon seeing that list one of my favorite recruiting blogs (aptly named RecruitingBlogs) published a post entitled Question of the Day: What word or phrase do your candidates use that drive you crazy? in which they had recruiters leave a comment on the blog with words or phrases that candidates use that drive them up the wall.

As a job seeker it is definitely worth checking out and seeing what others are saying that might be a turnoff.

I thought it would interesting to turn the tables a little bit and get a list going of words or phrases (or even questions) that recruiters use that drive you crazy.

So what say you? Leave a comment.

Until next time – good hunting and good luck!

Could you show me where it is at on a map (without the map in this post)? Didn’t think so.

Can you tell me anything about it without using Google? Didn’t think so.

So how can a town you have never been to, never heard of, and know nothing about impact your job-search? You’d be surprised.

Cairo (pronounced like Karo syrup, not Cairo, Egypt), known as Syrup City,  is a small town (population, 9,000) in south Georgia that is 30 miles north of Tallahassee, FL.

For being such a small town it has produced its fair share of people who have helped shape the world, including baseball player Jackie Robinson, Teresa Edwards (Olympic Gold Medalist), Daryle Singletary (country music singer) and Mickey Thomas (lead singer of Jefferson Starship). Most importantly, however, it is the home town of Christina, my much, much, much better half.

So now that the commercial is over the question still remains – how can a small town in the middle of nowhere affect your job-search? Read on.

They have created an identity and brand for themselves that makes people want to know more. If you look at any list of the best highschool mascots put out by Sports Illustrated, ESPN, or anyone else you will find the Cairo Syrupmakers (yes I said Syrupmakers) always ranked high on the list.

They could have gone with the wildcats, rebels, predators, bears, tigers, lions, or any other popular name out there and they chose someone who makes syrup as their namesake and a pitcher pouring syrup as the mascot of their highschool athletic teams.

My wife has a Syrupmaker pullover and without fail it is a conversation magnet every time she puts it on. People want to know what a syrupmaker is, what it means, where it’s from and everything else about it. If by chance they know the meaning behind it they beam with pride like they are part of a special club that has exclusive membership.

The take away: What is the brand you have created for yourself? Are you a lion, rebel, or bear just like everyone else or are you a Syrupmaker? Do people remember you and want to discuss you and what you are about?

They take pride in themselves and their product. If there is one thing that Cairo is, they are proud of their Syrupmakers. If you drive around town you will see signs everywhere that say ‘Go ‘Makers’ or ‘Syrupmaker Pride’.

On Friday nights during high school football season the town nearly shuts down to watch the ‘Makers play. In fact this football season they played a state playoff game near Atlanta (nearly three hours away) and had more fans in attendance than the home team.

The take away: You have to take pride in your craft (both your function and your search) and be your biggest cheerleader because no one else will be. If you are not excited about what you do and your quest to find a new opportunity why should anyone else be?

They have created a community. In Cairo (and in small towns everywhere) people know one another, generally care for each others well-being, and help each other out because it’s the way they do things and their way of life.

The takeaway: From a job-search perspective if you do not build a community that you can call on for networking purposes, support, and help you are going to find yourself in bad shape very quickly.

So does Cairo have the magic bullet to you landing your next opportunity? Maybe, maybe not – but it sure does have the roadmap for laying a good foundation.

Until next time – good hunting and good luck!

He said, “One thing you have to admit about Jack Del Rio’s Jaguars this season: when they latch on to a losing formula, they don’t know how to let go of it.”

That was an ‘aha’ moment for me in terms of job-search. After all of the years of speaking (both one on one and in front of groups), writing (here, on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other places), and banging my head on the wall I finally get it.

When people who are looking for work latch on to a losing formula they don’t know how to let go of it.

Nothing that I will do, or you will do, or anyone will do will change it until they are ready to let go of sending in resume, after resume, after resume, after resume, after resume (times infinity) and never getting a call back.

For some people that breaking point comes a week into their search, for others it comes a few months into their search, and (most sadly of all) for others it comes the day before they are going to be asked to move from their current residence.

If you are one of those folks who have latched on to any losing formula for your job-search please stop and review what you are doing, how you are doing it, and why you are doing it that way before it gets down to crunch time.

Until next time - good hunting and good luck!

Today it is my privilege to share with you a few thoughts from one of the brightest of them all. Jamie Craw is a very talented recruiter and certified life coach who always brings smart and unique view points to any conversation.

A man wrote a book about baseball. Some people read it, some people are familiar with the concept, and some people just stopped reading this because I mentioned the word baseball.

If you’re still with me, you may know this book was made into a movie starring Brad Pitt called Moneyball. The basic concept is that to win on a team, you don’t need to have individual players who do everything, you don’t need superstars who become overpaid weights dragging you to the bottom of the sea (or standings, in sports terminology). You just need enough people who fill in the holes to take you where you need to go. I will now translate this into how it relates to your job search.

First, you don’t need to do everything. That’s what teams are for. You need to do one thing well. Something that is valuable that translates into wins.

Second, people that are hiring need to stop looking for “rock stars”. They are often over paid and don’t always drive results. If you are hiring, look for hidden talent, works in progress, people with the right attitude. People that have what you need for your team to win. There are skills you can teach, but traits you can’t change.  

Third, recruiting is a guessing game. No one really knows if you will deliver, if the company will stay in business, if the manager that hires you will stay, if you will stay. At all levels, we can only take the information we have and make a decision. The future, as they say, is out of our hands. The things that remain in your control are how you position yourself in the market and how you sell yourself in an interview. If you can show your value proposition, all the other factors will fade into the background and put you in the spotlight.

Fourth, what you think you know, you don’t. You don’t know what you don’t know. There are a million clichés here, but the reality is that paradigms shift. What worked last year, last decade, yesterday may not work tomorrow. Think broad. Think creatively. Be open. Stay away from the “have to’s” and search for the opportunity in everything. Don’t close doors before they open, or write off a job based on what it looks like on paper.  You are more than a resume, a job is more than a description.

Fifth, the wrong person in the wrong job is just…well, it’s wrong. Fit is key. The right coach, the right manager, whoever is guiding the team, needs to have a strong assessment of their own talent. If you are in a job search, and you haven’t gotten an offer, you just haven’t found the right team. Keep hope alive. Some people peak early. Some people bloom late. But every one of them got the opportunity to shine. It’s worth the wait for someone to see your potential and make you the winner you are meant to be. 

Hope you enjoyed Jamie’s thoughts as much as I did! You can check her out on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/jamiecraw and www.twitter.com/jamiecraw.

Until next time, good hunting and good luck!

If you find yourself in a situation where you are feeling down, or lost or without hope because of your job-search situation PLEASE find someone to talk to about it (ideally someone who is qualified to do so).

Until next time – good hunting and good luck!

I am here to tell you that there is only one rule for true success in applying to jobs online, in the paper, or wherever they might be.

     (getting on my soapbox and getting ready to shout from the mountain tops)

It’s simple really – if you are qualified apply, if you aren’t don’t.

Let me give you an idea of what I mean:

• Knowing a sales manager doesn’t make you one if you have spent the last five years working as an administrative assistant.
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• Having a dream that you should be an accountant doesn’t qualify you to do taxes if you have never taken the first accounting class.
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• Having interacted with software developers doesn’t mean that you are ready to sit down and write world-class code – it means that you have interacted with software developers.
  dd
• Walking into a garage and picking up a wrench does not make you a mechanic. It makes you a person that picked up a wrench in a garage.
  dd
• Going to the doctor and getting a prescription does not qualify you to be a medical device or pharma sales person. It means you got sick.

     (getting off of my soapbox)

Need some help in deciding if you are qualified for the job? Here are a few tips:

     (hang on, need to get back on my soapbox)

• Look at the job title. If you have never held that job title, the title below it or above it, or anything close to it you should not apply.
  ss
• If you do not meet the top REQUIRED requirements (which are different from the nice to haves) you should not apply to it.
  .
• If the job calls for a Ph. D. and all you have is an associate degree you should not apply for it.
  ll
• If the job calls for travel and you cannot travel you should not apply for it.
  .
• If the job is too far of a commute for you or requires a relocation and you cannot move do not apply for it.
  .
• If the job says in plain English, “candidates without experience in ____ will not be considered” and you have not, do not apply for it.
  .
• If you have applied to one job five times already and you have not been contacted about it you are probably not a fit in the employers eyes and you can quit applying to it.

     (getting back off of my soapbox)

There is a lot of chatter online and off about the black hole that exists in HR and recruiting. If people would apply ONLY TO jobs that they are qualified for it would free up a lot of time and a lot of attention for those candidates that do meet the qualifications and I think a lot of the problems would correct themselves.

I know that I will get some flak for this post but it is something that has needed to be said for some time now.

APPLY APPROPRIATLY & HELP FIX THE  BLACKHOLE IN HR!!!!

Until next time, good hunting, and good luck!

A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he’ll never crow. I have seen the light and I’m crowing. You have to sing about why you are the best for any job you are going after. If you have not seen the light, how do you expect anyone else to?

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. Have you gone outside of your comfort zone to try something new for your job-search? How many networking phone calls have you made this week? How many one-on-one networking meetings have you scheduled? Have you been courageous enough to take a risk?

What keeps me going is goals. What are your daily and weekly goals for your job-search? Where do you have them written down to check them off? Don’t have any? What keeps you going then?

The man who has no imagination has no wings. What are you doing to get creative in your job-search? Do you tweet, do you blog, do you do anything but answer ads and get upset when you don’t get called on your submissions? The people who try search outside the box have the greatest chance of attracting attention to themselves.

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. Have you figured out what you want to do? Do you know the key words, phrases, and experiences needed in your function/industry? Do you have five, concrete reasons (with examples) of why someone should hire you on the spot? If you don’t put the work in behind the scenes you will never shine on center stage.

If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize. This is what you should tell your job-search every day. Do NOT let your search beat you up – you put it in its place and make sure you control it instead of it controlling you.

What do you think? Does Muhammad Ali know job-search? Is there a key quote that we missed picking up on that belongs here?

Until next time – good hunting and good luck!

Every time I hear that I want to jump and down, scream like a two-year old, and tell them ‘no, no, no!’

One of the biggest lies that job-seekers are told (and believe) is that company’s shut down at the end of the year and do no hiring.

I have been in the recruiting business for several years now and one of the biggest quarters I have ever had was a fourth quarter which included several December hires.

Is it a bit more difficult to make things happen at the end of the year because of vacations and time out of the office? Yes.

Is it impossible to do? No.

Is it a good time to really hit the peddle to the medal? ABSOLUTELY!

The vast majority of job-seekers are going to tell themselves the lie that you now know is false and because of that there are less networking calls being made, fewer calls being made/returned to recruiters, and less hard-core search activity overall.

Take advantage of everyone else waiting for 2012 to make things happen.

Until next time, good hutning and good luck!

I have been in the recruiting game for a number of years now and one thing that I have always found funny is how many times what a job-description says and what hiring manager really needs are different.

It might be something small like something listed as a preference is really a requirement (or vice-versa) or it might end up being that the whole job description is completely off (I’ve seen both).

So how do you combat the (sometimes) miscommunication between HR and the hiring managers they support?

N-E-T-W-O-R-K-I-N-G!!!

Your goal as a job-seeker should be to get to a hiring manager BEFORE he has a need and have him write the job-description based on you rather than you trying to conform to what HR puts together. For a look at networking in its purest (and simplest form check out our previous post on the topic).

As a side note before we close shop it needs to be said that even with some job-descriptions being really bad and really wrong you should still NEVER submit a resume unless you match 75% of what the job description states because you never know – the job description might actually be accurate.

Until next time – good hunting and good luck!

He said that when those types of football teams have a down year they either come back the next year with a chip on their shoulder with something to prove or they come back the next year unsure of themselves and it turns into a disaster.

How does that relate to job-search?

One of the things that I hear over and over and over (and over 100 times more) is, “I have never had to look for a job, this is a first for me.”

So basically if you are in that situation you are like that big time college football program. You have been accustomed to winning and now you have hit a little bit of a down streak.

How are you going to react? Are you going to come back with a chip on your shoulder and work that much harder doing the right things to land and start your streak over again or you going to crumble and be a non-contender?

One more thing to share today. In case there was any doubt, there is only one team that is worth any attention at all – it’s the Tigers from Louisiana State University.

Until next time – good hunting and good luck!