Perspectives from the Kinetix team on HR, Talent Acquisition & Management, life lessons and whatever else we want.
Energizing the Workplace
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." -Mark Twain
9 Top Online Resume Resources
I keep everything online from my music to my bills and everything in between. I have practically my life online. Including my resume. I recently asked a candidate if they had a link to their online resume…all I got was silence. No stuttering, no excuses –just silence. My guess is they didn’t know there could be such a thing. Well there is! Here’s a list of 9 online resume resources! So if you’re ever asked for a link to your online resume you won’t be stuck with your face looking like this–à:-0
1. iResume provides ease and convenience for you to create, manage, and submit your online resume. You have access to your iResume from anywhere in any format, which can be used for any recruitment transaction.. iResume provides a clean, sleek, standardized resume and professional profile solution with the ability to integrate into all of the common recruitment systems. It is easy to use, provides iResume submittal tracking and statistics, and it is positioned to become the most widely accepted standardized resume available.
2. Gigtide is a website that lets you create, publish, manage and track your resumes, contacts and cover letters online. You can store unlimited resumes, contacts and cover letters and there are professional resume templates to help you. You also have the option of creating a social media resume, which includes images, video, direct links and sharing functionality. Another interesting feature is a direct employer contact form, where employers can contact you directly through your resume.
3. Howtowritearesume gives you an easy way to build a professional resume, without being an expert. You get their phrase builder technology, which helps you build compelling headlines, qualifications, achievement statement and more. Their “one-click formatting,” automatically reformats your resume and makes it easy to choose the best layout. Your resume is stored online and is accessible by potential employers. The templates are all predefined, so filling in the blanks is a breeze!
4. Emurse allows you to create, share and store your resume for free online. Their resume builder is job seeker friendly, allowing you to create and maintain a professional resume which can be downloaded in any format, such as PDF. Just like LinkedIn, your resume can have a unique URL linked to your name and the ability to view employers who have seen your resume in the past. You also get statistics and graphs to aid in resume distribution.
5. Razume is a service that enables you to complete your resumes and polish them up with feedback from reviewers in the community. The resume you create using this service is exactly like traditional resumes, but this service allows you to improve your resume so you better your chances at landing your next job.
6. ResumeBucket provides you with a unique URL for your resume and enables you to promote your resume on your website or blog with embeddable ResumeBucket badges, or you can keep your resume private. In addition, resumes are shareable via popular social bookmarking and social networking sites.
7. ResumeSocial is a social resume community, where you can post your resume online and get feedback, just like Razume. Registered users can build a resume through feedback and comments from other users who have similar job experience. You can also be a resume expert and become a valuable member of the community by providing others with assistance. There is also an area for sharing cover letters and follow-up letters. When someone finds your resume on this site, they can print it, quote it, favorite it and email it to other people.
8. VisualCV is a website that provides users with a virtual resume, as well as a database of job openings and networking opportunities. Whether you’re a job seeker, entrepreneur, consultant, student or manager, VisualCV lets you display all of your credentials in an easy to read format, with multimedia integration.
For example, you can upload or embed a video resume or a podcast of you being interviewed. You can also combine other elements, such as images, charts, awards and recommendations, in addition to traditional resume fields such as “work experience”
Their latest capabilities allow job seekers to integrate their resume with social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, to share their qualifications with friends and colleagues. When you update your resume, it can be shared through websites such as Digg and StumbleUpon.
9. Xing is a social network with over 7 million business professionals globally, and is read in 16 languages. Aside from being able to create a profile, the networking part of this site is what shines. There are over 22,000 groups and networking events from London to Beijing advertised.
Xing offers many of the same services as LinkedIn, and like LinkedIn, Xing can serve as your online resume and cover letter. The standard service lets you create a professional profile page, search for people by name and industry, and join groups and events. When you login, you’ll see jobs that might interest you, new members, visitors to your profile and much more.
Erica Williams, is a 20-something, small town, country girl who still marvels at the city lights. She’s a social media enthusiast with a background in Marketing. Oh, and she’s a Google fanatic! Connect with Erica on twitter @socialerica (See what I mean–even her twitter name has “social” in it!)
Tags: iResume, job hunt, job seekers, online resume
Did I need to tell you….don’t wear flip flops to an interview
The heat of summer is upon us, and with it, the greatest threat to the business dress code. If you’re like me, I try to dress as light as possible
during the summer months. However, I still maintain my professionalism and follow a dress code that’s acceptable for the workplace. Sometimes candidates seem to forget that. We often see notes about what not to do in an interview, think of this as a prep for showing up to it (on time of course).
As part of our talent acquisition work, we’ve seen and heard of candidates making some horrible, yet perfectly avoidable mistakes in the summertime because they let the heat fry their judgment. Here are our top 7 dress code malfunctions interviewees bestow upon us eachsummer.
- Skimpy spaghetti strap tops are not ok, unless covered by a jacket..
- Cut off shorts—in fact ANY clothing altered using scissors— are better left for the beach.
- Finish your popsicle or 64 oz. slushie before you come in. Especially if you didn’t bring one to share.
- Don’t chew gum during the interview. It’s OK to pop a breath mint before an interview, but it’s no place for snap, crackle or pop.
- Don’t wear flip flops to an interview. . Just don’t.
- Anything spandex should pretty much be off limits or for the gentlemen, no undergarments should be showing.
- Guys, any hat is not a good impression, no matter how cool you think you are, unless you are interviewing for a part in godfather 6, leave it home.
What’s the silliest faux pas you’ve experienced during an interview? We have a special surprise for the best/craziest in the comments.
Tags: interview, interviewing, job seekers, professional
Pull vs Push in the Candidate model
holding candidates away
In the course of our talent acquisition work at Kinetix we invariably see both the good and bad habits of both companies and candidates in the process. One item that regularly bothers me on the company side is a behavior practiced by so many corporate and HR folks that we call it the “Heisman”…. that is to say that they feel so overwhelmed by all the applicants to their job postings…many of which may not be qualified for the specific position in question – that they do everything possible to keep candidates away from themselves at all costs. The result is a stiff-arm mentality that is only engendered by the fact that most ATS systems are generally not set up to allow a candidate to register interest in a company without applying to a specific job. Doug Berg wrote a great post on this topic for Recruiting Trends (see full post here) that gives a great perspective on this – I have included an excerpt below:
“Many employers haven’t even considered the simple concept of offering prospective candidates the ability to enter their email into a simple employment newsletter integrated into your career site. By using email subscription services such as Constant Contact, you can begin to harvest email addresses of candidates from your site. Another great option would be to setup a LinkedIn Group, a Facebook fan page, or a Twitter account for prospective employees. This would allow prospective candidates to follow your jobs in the social channels, and provide you with a way to capture their interest. Your recruiters can post future positions into these channels, which auto-broadcast them to this pool of prospects online, helping to capture the initial interest of prospects, and recycle them when future positions arise, helping to leverage these easy tools to fill future positions.
Of course, the ideal solution is to setup a talent community option on your company’s career site for prospective candidates. This way they can join or “opt in” to show interest in your company without having to go through a full apply process.”
Given that I believe the war for talent is still here (just dampened by the current economic situation) and will only get worse when the economy picks up, I wonder how long they will get away with not only hazing candidates with their process but pushing away perfectly valuable talent because they are too overwhelmed to see past the current task. Add to this craziness that these same companies often spend tens of thousands of dollars annually on job boards….to “pull in candidates”… this is a recipe in stupidity. Though it’s not push a button exersize, a company can do any of the things Doug suggests, including add a landing page in their career section that asks one to enter email and perhaps some other simple items with or without resume – (link to Linkedin perhaps?) to show that you want the company to keep in touch. If you want the best and brightest, why wouldn’t you do this?
Tags: ATS, Audit, candidates, human resources, job seekers, Talent Acquisition, talent pool
Do I remember you?
The challenge that job seekers face in today’s world is very similar to that of most sales/marketing types, namely:
- It can be very difficult for you to differentiate yourself
- You often have 30 seconds or less to make that first impression
- Invariably these and other reasons make it relatively difficult for the person you meet to truly remember you
Now if you meet someone in an interview process, that percentage should go up – but if you are not successful for that specific job…..regardless of the reason……..your impression is not likely to stick. That is unfortunate, given that most companies end up hiring similar or the same positions regularly or with some regularity and that everyone knows someone……
Most job search advice includes some component related to dealing with this: the need to STAND OUT
What’s a person to do?
4 things you can do to make yourself more “rememberable”. Ironically, the good news is this is really not hard…principally due to the incredibly low levels of consistent delivery on the following items.
- “Flawless execution” => sweat the small stuff, no typos, be on time, bring a copy of your resume with you, etc. All the stuff you have heard a million times….with good reason! Fail on these and you may not have to worry about being remembered. I would call this the entry ticket. If I had a dollar every time candidates at every level were unsuccessful at achieving this….I would be long retired.
- “Remember the ***** people” => in this process, there are countless numbers of people that will touch you and perhaps help you: from the receptionist, to the recruiter (internal or external or both) to the managers assistant, et cetera. Sad that I need to say this – pay attention…..your interaction with them could spell the difference between your getting any job or not…..act accordingly and treat any and all of them with the appreciation and respect you would expect if you are helping someone — because in a variety of ways that is what they are doing for you, and they are not “little”.
- Follow through. Notice that I did not say follow up. While follow up is critical and should be done with what we like to call polite persistence. Begin by doing your research/homework: on the company, your interviewers, the industry; be prepared. And keep the energy afterwards — what I mean here is: if you offered/discussed anything during your interactions that you can send along to one of the players, do so. Even better if there is something interesting or helpful that you can email/send that was discussed or interesting to your interviewer.
The Biggie – to put you over the Top: Give them a reason to “talk about you”….in a good way. In a way this is an extension of the point above but take it a step further. Put your thinking cap on here – it does not have to cost money or if it does, very much but the key is in context and..you..got..it……memorable.
An example is in the picture here: from a candidate that got networked to me…for no particular job. She actually hit a double header in my book – a cute, memorable comment on the gift card (although the card not needed) and a hand written note – mailed to me. Because of the ease and ubiquity of email, the handwritten anything is memorable. Also, the relevant note, in context (since we did not discuss any specific jobs) and cute correlation to the gift card. I kept it, showed it to my colleagues…and am talking about it again, here. You don’t think out of the scores of people I meet with – you can see I remember her?
So, think about what you feel comfortable doing, get out your pen and make it happen. You can relate your effort to the person you are sending to, but doing anything like this – including sending an article or making an unsolicited introduction based on your conversations – will serve to differentiate you. Good luck.
Tags: career, career search, interview, interviewing, job hunt, job search, Job Seeker, job seekers, thank you note, unemployed
Here’s to 2010 and Beyond!
Thanks to Bill Boorman for sponsoring the HRCarnival video blog asking for quick comments on ourthoughts for the coming year. Bill is a great guy with a 
passion for the HR/recruiting world and seems to never sleep even with the time zone differences (he is in the UK). I also wanted to thank Bill because this forced me to do my first ever video blog post….from my home office mess in my weekend attire complete with baseball hat. Well – here’s to embracing all that is and moving forward even with things that terrify you….i am sharing my first with you.
Thanks for indulging me – and let me know if you think this is a decent way to deliver messages (snickering aside) and for which kinds of stories.
Shannon
Tags: career, career search, changing industry, HR, HR consulting, human resources, job search, LinkedIn, LinkedIn network, Social Media, Twitter
How not to get help….
I was getting gas for my truck the other night. A pretty simple activity today with pay at the pump and fast passes, and something that is relatively solitary – many times happily so. As I was about half way done, a young boy, about 10 or 11 years old, approached my car. I did not see him until he was standing about 3 feet from me along side my truck. I was surprised, but looked at him, smiled and said hi. He said hi and then took a step closer – he could have been in my kids’ grade school class – clean clothes, hooded sweatshirt, sneakers.
The next moment shocked me……”can I have some money?….my dad lost his job and we need help….” at which point I looked up to see his dad at the door of his truck, about 30 feet away, in the next bank of pumps. Dad did not wave, or smile, or indicate anything, except that he was paying attention.
I said no, uncomfortably…… and he turned and walked away. The dad went back to getting gas. I got back in my truck, started it up….my mind was racing. I was shook up from the event, not sure if I should be or not. I went thru a whole range of emotions – from anger, shock, frustration, fear, distress, concern (for the boy and the dad) and frustration (at them and me).
- Once I got my wits about me I realized I could have given him my card, since we do recruiting…duh – if he really needed a job….
- Anger over the dad doing that to the kid – irrespective of the true issue….
- Distress over not helping them or seeing what I could do……
- A bizarre frustration that he did not start the conversation with please or say thank you at the end….
- Sadness over the situation, but also a tinge of anger wondering if the requests was a lie…..
Am I alone here – I still am not sure if I would react differently if this happened again, but not sure if or what I should consider. Would love some input.
Shannon
Tags: background check, bio, career, HR, life lessons, truth, unemployed
Make the most of your new Full time Job (getting a job)
This week I was talking with some of our Jumpstart my job search participants, and realized that there are some themes to the challenges and opportunities that they found, which are consistent whether they were just beginning their job search or had been at it for quite a while. So I decided to summarize 5 keys they found most impactful in getting their job search off the ground.
- Treat it like a full time job
- Organize yourself
- Be Accountable
- Network every day
- Pay it forward
If you have been at your job search for a little while, or longer than you would like – revisit these 5 key aspects and ask yourself if you are working hard on each – if you are not, take the Thanksgiving holiday to rest up and hit the ground running next week. I can assure you, not focusing on these is part of what is slowing you down.
- This is a full time job – In today’s environment, looking for a new opportunity takes a full 40-50 hours per week. Less than this will only extend your search. Look at this as a job, in as much as you know that it generally takes more work than the next guy to get ahead understand that this is no different and there are plenty of others competing with you right now. We even recommend getting up an hour earlier every day.
- Organize yourself – As with any project, it is key to be organized and have your work segmented to maximize efficiency. Take a certain amount of time each day for your research, working on your resume or networking plan, going to networking meetings or coffee and doing the significant amount of follow up required to keep yourself top of mind with the network you are building.
- Accountability – This is likely to be the most significant aspect between successfully shortening your job search and fumbling along thinking you are doing things right and not seeing progress. They say that what you want to monitor must be measured, the same could not be more true in job search. Everyone in career transition should have a job search accountability buddy or buddies that they meet with each week to review metrics related to successful job search: the number of calls, meetings and the like. In addition you should discuss what you are struggling with and what new goals you have set. By far this is the most critical requirement of a successful job search – if you are not doing this, change today!
- Network – This should become part of your daily routine, and
should not change even when you land. Besides meeting with new and current contacts in the networking sense, make sure you are open to new connections wherever they may be. After all, everyone is somebody’s somebody – so bring your cards with you everywhere and remember that the person serving you your latte, may have a contact that is important to you, get to know them. - Pay it forward – This can take many forms, but all have the same result – you will feel better about your self. Whether you contribute to a local food-bank, build a house with Habitat, or just share some of your newly discovered job search tips – this activity is important for a number of reasons. First, it takes the focus off you in this “all about me” time. Second, it helps you reaffirm your value and also helps you see in many cases how lucky you are. This is especially important in networking – I recommend that you attempt to give back to your community (networks) in equal or better proportion to what you get. So if you get 2 new contacts this week from your networking – make at least 2-3 introductions to those in your network in return.
For some these may seem basic, and they are, however – I have seen time and time again where job seekers only go part way, and fail to do all the work required to be successful. So be honest as you review these and make whatever small or large changes you need to get on track. Best of Luck & Happy Thanksgiving!
Tags: career, career search, FaceBook, HR, HR consulting, human resources, interview, job hunt, job search, Job Seeker, job seekers, Jumpstart, LinkedIn, LinkedIn network, Outplacement, Resume, Social Media, Twitter, unemployed
Welcome to the REAL World
Those of you in the biz – don’t laugh: I received this response to a LinkedIn referral request for a specific type of position that this gentleman would know (I had also attached the link to our RPO client’s career site listing) :
Thanks for reaching out to me. Don’t take this personally, but I generally do not work with recruiters because 95% of them do not deliver. I really have no respect for any organization/business who cannot come directly to me.
There is no need for a third party to get involved with Linked In now days. Besides, you guys are not interested in my best interests. . . You are only interested in your company’s best interest. I don’t see the point in getting all excited over absolutely nothing. Its generally a waste of my cell phone minutes and a waste of your time as well as my own. Best wishes to you and your organization.
Ok, after I stopped alternating being pissed off or snickering, I felt sorry for the guy. He clearly had both misunderstandings about how the recruiting world works, and may have been mislead as well. So for his sake I thought I would share some real world basics.
- NEWS FLASH: 3rd party recruiters work for COMPANIES!!!!!! If this is confusing to you,
note that in every business I know, generally the “customer” is the one who pays the bill. If this is not you, then clearly you are not the CLIENT, act accordingly. The only person the recruiter is delivering for is their client. - Also – smart companies today are outsourcing all their talent acquisition to RPO companies like us – so in that case, we are the company (2nd News flash!).
- Key: recruiters work to place the best, qualified and cultural fit candidates for positions their CLIENT has. If they do not pick you, it is likely because you either were not the most qualified, or the best fit.
- Also – you may be chosen by the recruiter as a viable candidate - but not by the client…..for no apparent reason – I cannot tell you why, sorry. [But the high quality firms will be honest with you even if this is the answer in this case or the prior]
- Finally – as in any business, there are good and ethical people and there are bad ones. Only work with businesses that deal with integrity and ask around to confirm. However, don’t generalize an entire industry for your bad choices in relationships, grow up people…..we could tell stories about bad, unethical candidates and clients.
- One more reminder that “she who pays the bill” is the client so if you are a candidate (and presumably not paying a bill) - realize your role and opportunity and the potentially important role the recruiter plays – treat them with the respect you would the hiring manager (this is a big mistake by many job seekers). Understand that the ONLY person whose job it is to find you that next great job….IS YOU.
- Finally – if you are a job seeker and you want to build a relationship with a few quality recruiting firms, a great way to do so is to send them your best referral candidates – you will be seen as a giver and one who is well connected. It will also keep you top of mind for them when that perfect fit opportunity opens up.
Welcome to the real world, sorry if I burst your bubble.
Tags: career search, employment verification, job search, Job Seeker, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, truth
To Tweet or Not to Tweet?
If you’re like many, you’re standing by observing this social networking frenzy – nothing short of a blitz – and wondering, what IS this stuff?? And why would I want to “follow” my local TV station anyway? It’s a big waste of time, right? Not so fast…
The simple fact is, there may soon come a time when having a Twitter account will be as critical to a business person as having a Blackberry. No longer an option, but a necessity. So get past your disdain for that which you’re not informed about and just dig in! After all, there’s reason so many people are using it. Here’s the real bottom line: if you have anything to sell and you resist having a presence on Twitter, you’re missing a valuable opportunity to generate interest in your product or service. And if that “product” is YOU?….hello? Well, let’s just say if you’re looking for work today you need all the help you can get. This is about building your personal brand so others know who you are and what you do.
So just what is it, anyway? Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, “What are you doing?” by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called “tweets”, to your friends, or “followers.”
Think of twitter as a river of commentary that you can dip into as needed to either get or share information or thoughts. The unbounded nature of Twitter offers a myriad of opportunities and resources that can be effective if leveraged properly.
How do I get started? Answer: in 3 easy steps – plus a bonus
ONE: Begin by watching 2 videos here by Michael Long (also known as @theredrecruiter) these videos do an awesome job of patiently walking you thru getting your account and settings – in the first video, together with tips on how to use it and what the main aspects of getting around on twitter and tweeting in the second video.
TWO: Sign up. It’s free. Go to http://twitter.com. Choose a username. USE YOUR REAL NAME. It will lead to better connections with people and will keep you from any temptation you may have to use something “cute” or otherwise not appropriate for your job search. And this is part of your overall personal branding, so who do you want them to see?
THREE: Next, start following relevant people. Use search.twitter.com either to find people, recruiters and other career professionals, people who work in and around your industry or people who work at the companies you’re targeting. You can use this site to search by “hashtag” (you’ll learn more about that after you sign up!), any kind of terminology, or user name if you know it. If you are looking for a job opportunity, follow and connect with these people to learn what it’s like to work at your target companies and whether they may be hiring.
FOUR: Download Tweetdeck as well – to receive your tweets – it’s an invaluable tool to help you organize them and also to search for relevant people. Most important, it allows you to see when you are mentioned or someone is talking to you (easy to miss in the stream of Twitter). In addition it allows you to also filter the people you follow into “groups” – important if you follow those in divergent areas or for different needs. For example, you could have a group for your work/job interests, one for your hobby (scuba perhaps?) and one for your kids’ schools and extracurricular interests.
Twitter is just like anything else; you get back what you put into it…and maybe a little more! If you’re looking for a quick fix, Twitter isn’t it. If you truly embrace it, your Twitter community can introduce you to a whole new world of connections and opportunities. Build relationships. Add value. Be open to the possibilities…You just might be amazed by what happens.
PS – you can start by following @kinetixhr 
Tags: career search, job hunt, job search, Job Seeker, Twitter, unemployed
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