When searching for a job, most people spend all of their focused on getting their resume just right, applying for numerous jobs on-line, trying to network, and getting ready for their interviews. Doing all of this is a good idea, but there’s one other aspect I encourage job seekers to focus on that is often overlooked – what recruiters want to see.
Since the over 12 million recruiters in the US serve as the gatekeepers for many of the jobs you want, it’s important to understand how they think and what they’re looking for in candidates. Having spent almost 25 years in recruiting, there’s a lot I can share. I’ll spend several posts giving you these insights to help increase your chances of hearing, “You’re Hired!”
Be Qualified – This is one of the biggest desires that recruiters have for candidates. Pay attention to the qualifications required for the position. The Corporate Executive Board conducted a survey of recruiters and discovered that 85% of applicants aren’t a fit for the jobs they applied for. This causes recruiters to spend a lot of time weeding through a candidate pool where most don’t even meet the basic qualifications (as opposed to the preferred qualifications). Very frustrating!
Be Focused – Often, job seekers want to tell a recruiter EVERYTHING they’ve ever done in their careers, when the recruiting really wants to know about the aspects of your background which are relevant to the job they need to fill. Whether it’s your resume, networking, preparing responses for an interview, or at a job fair, be as specific as you can about what you want; don’t make it a guessing game for the recruiter.
Be Honest – For a recruiter, there’s nothing worse than expending a lot of effort to identify the right candidate and then find out they lied about their credentials or background at the end of the process! The Society for Human Resource Management states that 45% of all resumes contain one major fabrication. The Wall Street Journal reports that 34% of all job applications contain lies regarding experience, education, and the ability to perform the essential functions of the job, and the National Credit Verification Services says that 25% of the MBA degrees it verifies on resumes are false.
While a candidate may think it’s worth the risk to “stretch the truth” during their job search process, but it can come back to haunt you. If companies find out you’ve lied about your qualifications and experience, they can and will terminate you from the interview process or your employment. If you don’t believe me, ask Scott Thompson, the former CEO of Yahoo, who was terminated after Yahoo found out he embellished about his college degree!
Until next time….