For Employers:

What job boards do they use? Where do they post jobs? Who will they be sharing your information and/or open jobs with?

How do they source candidates? How are the candidates screened?

What are their fees?

How much experience does your recruiter have; not just the firm they represent? In what industry; what location and what capacity? (i.e. contract or perm?)

What is their reputation among their peers in the industry? What do candidates (read: potential employees) have say about them?

What you should expect: If you have an agreement already in place, you should expect attentiveness and honesty. If your recruiter cannot locate a resource for you, there is a reason. Refer to questions above; if it’s none of the above then there is a problem with the job. Your recruiter should be informing you of any challenges they encounter with filling your position; such as low salary, poor job description details (or too specific), etc. A good recruiter is not afraid to advise their client. Additionally, you get what you pay for. If you don’t wish to pay an agency their asking fee, then you should be aware you will be placed on the priority list accordingly. Clients that pay “full fee” always garner more attention. Yes, they may still work with you and they might even fill your position but you won’t be first on the radar. For clients that wish to pay lower fees, independent recruiters are a much better resource than larger firms.

For Employees/Candidates:

What resources does the recruiter offer? Will they assist you with you with enhancing your resume for that “big opportunity”?

Who are their clients? Who are their candidates? Ask for references!

What industry do they specialize in? What locations?

How much experience does the recruiter have that is working with you; not just the firm they represent?

How communicative/responsive are they?

What you should expect: Many candidates looking for work have the misconception that if they work with a recruiter that recruiter will find them a job. False. Since most recruiters work for fees paid by clients that is most likely where their loyalty lies. However, there are some exceptions to that rule; such as job search consultants and recruiters in specialty fields such as IT and Engineering. Some recruiters have strong networks and are great matchmakers; even if they are working “for” the client. The important thing to remember is, is your recruiter working for you? Do they respond to your questions, emails, phone calls? Do they keep you updated, even when they have no new information regarding opportunities you’ve been submitted for? You can always work with more than one recruiter, so long as you keep track of where your resume is being submitted to. This is one of the biggest mistakes most candidates make in working with multiple recruiters. Duplicate submissions of your resume by more than one recruiter/firm doesn’t make you an attractive candidate to clients; it appears desperate and disorganized.

Most of all, expect your recruiter to be honest. If you feel they aren’t working in your best interest, kick them to the curb!

1. Revamp your resume.

If you’ve sent out countless resumes to open positions and received lackluster response, your resume may be the reason. It’s important to make sure you are using current industry “buzz words” to get their attention. Additionally, your resume may be too long, or even too short! I find the keys are Accomplishments and Scale up front.

Scale means giving your resume reader an idea how much responsibility you’ve held and can be as simple as a single line under your last Job Title saying something like “XYZ Company currently has 12,000 employees, in 10 countries with revenues of over $5B US.”  Accomplishments are the Queen of resumes! Very effective points are measurable ways you’ve either increased revenue or decreased costs in your last role. Would you highly consider hiring an accountant with an accomplishment line like “On my own initiative, implemented a new system that saved my last firm $230,000 dollars in it’s first year”

 2.Network, Network, Network!

More than ever, people are flocking to online social networking sites to broaden their network of potential opportunities. Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, FaceBook allow you to present your professional profile (aka social resume) and network with millions of people all across the country all on one site. Additionally, these sites contain thousands of special interest groups that you can join to increase your chances of connecting with the right person for your next opportunity.

3. Find a good recruiter, or 3!

Recruiters can be a great source for job opportunities that may not be available through other sources. If you’ve never worked with a recruiter before, ask for a recommendation from people that you trust. Social networking sites can also be a great source for finding a recommended recruiter. Trust your gut when it comes to recruiters; if you feel they aren’t working in your best interest, then move on! It is perfectly acceptable to work with multiple recruiters, so long as you keep track of the opportunities they present you for. Employers often work with many recruiters; make sure you know what employer/company your recruiters are presenting your resume to so that you avoid duplicate submissions.

4. Follow up

Once you’ve sent your resume to a potential employer, follow up within 24 hours if you can. Follow up by phone is optimal, with email being a second choice. Make sure the resume has been received and ask for an idea of when they expect to be scheduling interviews and/or moving forward with hiring. This gives you a timeline to follow up again if you don’t hear anything.

5. Duplicate submissions will not increase your odds

Applying for the same position over and over again will not increase your odds of getting the job. In fact, it’s likely to have the opposite effect. This is the equivalent of “resume spam”. Apply only once, then follow up. If you see the same position listed again at a later time with a different job number, follow up with the employer to make sure they still have your resume on file. If it’s been 6 months or less, they likely don’t need to see your resume again. Let them know you’d like to still be considered.

6. Post interview, follow up!

If you’ve interviewed for an opportunity with an employer or recruiter, make sure to send a personalized thank you (email is best). Make sure the email is concise; less is more! From your interview I feel its important to summarize your unterstanding of the role priorities, top sought after abilities and why you are a fit for the job; thank them for their time and consideration and let them know you look forward to their feedback.

7. Treat your job search like a full time job

If you are unemployed, your best approach to finding employment is treating your job search like your full time job. With all the resources out there to locate employment, it’s likely to take you 40 hours per week to cycle through all of them. Are you simply sending out resumes, or are you being more proactive? Job searching is akin to sales, only you are selling yourself instead of a product. Using the internet is a great way to find a job, but it isn’t the only way! Get yourself out there. Apply for jobs in person if you can! Make sure you are equipped with plenty of resumes, as well as a flash drive or CD’s with the latest copy of your resume.

8. Don’t apply for positions you aren’t qualified for

While you may be tempted to apply for that Rocket Scientist position in a “hail mary” attempt at employment, this does not work in your favor. Applying for positions for which you are underqualified makes it appear that you aren’t paying attention to the qualifications required; it’s a time waster for everyone. If an employer has multiple positions open, don’t apply for all of them. Apply only to those that meet your qualifications. This is not to say that you shouldn’t apply for opportunities for which you overqualified. However, when applying for such opportunities it’s best to include a cover letter specifying why you’d like to be considered even though you may be overqualified.

9. Continued Education

Even if you are currently employed, this is a great strategy for future opportunities. Make sure you are keeping up to date on current skills in your field. If you are unemployed, now is the best time to go back to school! Many grants and other types of assistance are available through the federal government for this purpose. So get that certification, complete your degree or take a course relevant to your field. The more educated you are, the more attractive you will be to potential employers.

10. Be prepared for the call!

When you do get that call for an interview, be prepared! Don’t accept calls from potential employers when you are distracted or otherwise unprepared. Subways, crowded shopping malls and sporting events aren’t the place to take that call if you want to be taken seriously. Let the call go to voice mail, then return the call when you can give them your full attention. As an add-on to this, make sure the voice mail greeting they reach is professional; blaring music, greetings recorded by children, et al are inappropriate. When you return the call, you should be in a quiet setting where you aren’t likely to be distracted or interrupted. Be professional, speak clearly and make sure to thank them for their time!

A rumpled and unkempt police Lieutenant (played by Peter Falk) solving murders with a folksy and curious style of questioning that usually lead the ‘Bad Guys’ to believe that they were much smarter than this bumbling detective in a soiled rain coat with his annoyingly simple direct questions.

Lt. Columbo always asked GREAT questions that started with humble phrases like “Help me understand how…” or “Why would someone do that….” or “What would happen if….”.

For those of us from a Sales background, these are technically called ‘open probes’ for information. They’re meant to do two VERY important things in an interview that may seem so simple, as to appear obvious, but less than 10% of Candidates think to make this a key component of their interview strategy.

First Interview Goal : To leave the interview with a LIST of the organizations hiring criteria and hard business objectives for new role. As much information as possible, mainly what type of person will excel in the new role and what are the main business objectives for the role that the ideal Candidate will ultimately be hired & success measured upon.

First problem: 90% of Candidates ‘show up & throw up’ by launching into a detailed review of their Resume when asked the ‘tell me about yourself’ question.

The Employer has likely had your resume in their hands enough time to have read all this info anyway so why waste the time talking about 80% of your resume details?

Where things go wrong at this stage of the interview is because successful people, both Sales & Technical backgrounds, are usually incurable problem solvers. They want to jump on any problem or challenge with BOTH FEET and frequently interrupt the interviewer when they are really trying paint a picture of the role for you!

The Interviewer says they’re looking for a good Widget Implementer and the Candidate is OFF! Talking about what a great Widget Implementer they are. ie the old I’m Great, just ask me.

There’s a saying in Sales – two eyes, two ears, one mouth – use them in proportion.

If the Employer starts talking about the role or criteria for success, company history, goals – shut up, take notes and when there’s a break, you should thank them for their insight and then can either ask a) are there any other criteria they’ll be judging the Candidate upon and when they say no b) (here’s the Columbo strategy again) say “Mr. Client lets got back to the #1 job criteria you’ve said will be key in your decision, why is this a key requirement or what are the hard business reasons for this task/project the new hire will be expecting to excel at solving.

Strategy: Read the attached document in the Candidate section of this blog “Answering the – Tell me about yourself question” where you formulate a succinct ‘elevator pitch’ on who you are, as it relates specifically to the role you’re applying for. ie. I’m the best damn Widget Implementer in BC today, especially after having recently managed a $300M widget migration for IBM that finished 2 months ahead of schedule and $1m under budget. That’s why I’m here today Mr. Client – I understand from my due diligence on your firm, you’re the #1 Widget manufacturer out West and may be able to use a top implementer like myself. I’d like to hear your thoughts Mr. Interviewer on what skills and background you think the ideal Candidate should have…and why each is important to your business.

Having a dynamite & relevant answer to this common question, is one of the most important skills you work on repeatedly before an interview. Practice your response with family and friends for clarity & feedback.

My poor dog Joe now appears to know quite clearly that I am a senior IT headhunter focused exclusively on the top 25% of both IT professional talent AND the top 25% of employers-of-choice in the BC IT industry. I use my 30+ years experience in IT to bring great people to equally great companies! (Joe the Dog loves that last part

Don’t forget to wrap up your ‘pitch’ with a lead-in statement meant to get the Client talking about the role and/or the business benefits expected from the role.

Something appended to the ‘about me’ Widget pitch like above where you compliment the Clients #1 industry position and ask to hear more about the Interviewers own key criteria for the ideal Candidate. ie “and because I really enjoy the Widget industry and my role, Mr. Client. I’m really looking forward to learning as much as I can from you today about your criteria for success for this role.”

And FINALLY – here comes the Lt. Columbo…”Mr. Client help me understand what you are looking for in filling this role?” That’s right! A smart Candidate can look much smarter by asking the right questions while other Candidates are spending their golden 1st interview hour talking about one past project or aspect of their skills already in their resume.

Think about the next step in the hiring process after a well run meeting like this where you’ve followed this strategy vs. a normal shotgun blast of your resume/background/skills. With the latter more common scenario, you leave the interview hoping something resonates (or sticks) with the Interviewer and that they call you. Hope is NOT a strategy.

Alternatively, with the Columbo strategy you’ll have in hand, several sticks of dynamite!! You’ll have a) the more or less complete list of their Key Hiring Criteria and most importantly, you’ll know WHY they are hiring and what’s at stake for their business if they hire the RIGHT person (you maybe . You’ll have that golden list of Reasons Why to align yourself to in your interview wrap-up and your all important follow up e-mail to them.

Think of the HUGE advantages you’ll enjoy! Your competition is sending a note thanking them for their time and the good coffee and if they really stand-out, reassuring the Employer they’re eager to ‘take the next step’.

Your follow-up email also will thank them for their time & coffee and then goes on to outline SPECIFICALLY AND IN DETAIL how you are a match to their 3-4 criteria and (here’s the killer) who you are going to specifically help them with their top 3-4 business problems for hiring their role, point for killer point.

If they’ve interviewed several Candidates, who do you think will stand out when they decide who to review of their Candidates for the next step?

There’s also the distinct possibility that you may decide not to pursue the role, based on all the extra information you’ll uncover this way. Likely avoiding a costly and embarrassing career decision you’ll have to explain for years to come on your resume, when interviewing for new role. Not fun.

As they also say in Sales, better a quick No, than a painful Maybe that drags on for months into silence. We’ve all had those ‘go silent’ experiences in applying for roles.

In summary:

- Always ask questions like – Why is this issue/requirement/background important? How is this affecting the business, your customers or other stakeholders? Is there anything else new & upcoming we should talk about?

- Have your Elevator Pitch tuned, practiced and ready to go! This is the professional you and if you can’t get excited about what you bring to the table for this role – then find another role that does get you jazzed. It’s everything!

- Seek first to understand. The interviewer may have an agenda, so be prepared to patiently answer their questions fully, succinctly & patiently like a normal interview. This is especially important when interviewing with HR vs. the Hiring Manager. HR may not know enough deep details about the role to answer your ‘open probes’ so be prepared most of the time to smile and help them ‘fill in their HR forms’ and get answers to basic questions.

- Get to the Hiring Manager and ask him what’s important to him, to his boss, to her organization, their Clients etc. and LISTEN! Take notes, don’t interrupt and when they’ve exhausted their list – go back and start asking WHY each item is important. You’re lighting the fuse to a dynamite interview wrap-up that will highlight your listening skills, your understanding of the role and your ability to grasp multiple important concepts and act on them. You’ll probably know 4 times as much as the next Candidate who interrupted the Hiring Manager who jumped in at the first criteria and started expounding their virtues and experience in this area without knowing …why?

They are selling themselves and don’t realize the Client is already sold on considering them or they wouldn’t be there for the interview right?

The Columbo strategy goes well beyond a resume review and the golden prize is : you leave with a) a clear understanding of the type of person they feel will be successful and b) an exact understanding of the top 3-4 business reasons they are hiring this new person in the first place – powerful stuff !!

Only then, can you make an informed eye’s-open decision to pursue this opportunity and if you do, you’ve got a 100% crystal clear vision of what’s expected of you and how they hope to see you succeed!! Isn’t this a better way to start the next important step in your career progression & job satisfaction….

…and you can thank a simple little Lieutenant who was just trying to understand why…..

Of course, when I really need something out there, it’s buried under tons of stuff and unreachable.

About 75% of the Candidates I interview have a good solid resume together, showing what duties they’ve performed, titles they’ve held, and usually 2-5 projects they’ve completed. The usual stuff, but when there’s a job at stake that they REALLY REALLY want, I tell my Candidates don’t just show up with the usual stuff. The other 20 applicants will too and it becomes a dead heat.

Now back to my pack rat theme. I cannot encourage my Candidates enough to start an Accomplishments & Great Things file.

I mean a paper file too, not an Outlook folder, and when ever we get that compliment, that ‘atta-boy’, that little note from the President or your department head saying what a great job you have done, ALWAYS print this out, and place a hard copy in your A&GT file.

If you do not do this, you’re NOT alone. I find the top people I interview are SO focused and successful in achieving their business goals, they forget to ‘smell the rose’s’ along the way and savour their personal successes.

Imagine in that next interview for a role you REALLY want, not only being able to recount for your prospective boss a great accomplishment of yours, but to back it up with a copy of an E-mail from your largest customer or your President saying how great YOU where!! What a key role YOU played or how YOUR efforts convinced a great Client to go with your company.

One exceptional Candidate I had the pleasure of interviewing had a letter from her last boss congratulating her on the completion of a project she lead. He’d thanked her for saving the Company $60 Million dollars that year! Now there’s a ace-in-the-hole.

I’ve had a young man in I was interviewing with a bit of a dry technical resume with less than 2 years experience. In the interview I asked him if he’d had any awards or noteable accomplishments that may make him stand out about the other Candidates? After some thought, he allowed that he’d won an award in Engineering School. “Great!” I said, “what was it? good thesis? neat student project?”

“No,” he said “it was Top Student”

“Wow, top student in your class, that’s great. Let’s get that on the resume!”

“No, top student, overall.” he said quietly. “In all Engineering?” I asked.

“No..in the school” he said. He’d gone to a great recognizable school with over 8,000 students that year and was Student of the Year !! He had a Certificate and a picture with the Dean & Faculty of Engineering and everything. He had to ‘dig it out’ at home even (another pack rat !) but it made all the difference in the world to both his resume….and more importantly, to his self-confidence going into interviews. We worked out his elevator pitch in interviews to highlight his key DIFFERENCE.

Now, he was a ‘top draft pick’ in the engineering field vs. just another engineer in the resume pile! See the difference an accomplishment can make in the right situation?

Start your Accomplishments & Great Things folder today…and fill it with good things.