Catch my Attention with a Great Job Description

Article after article talks about the need for job descriptions that are written to catch the reader’s attention- to say what’s in it for them.  But what is put out there to catch the next great employee is nothing more than the same-ole-thing.  Job descriptions that were written fifteen years ago, dusted off and used again.  Job descriptions that were written by some HR intern because they didn’t have anything for them to do and “it will be good practice for them.”

We are in a Candidate driven marketplace.  Top level candidates are in short supply.  The Top Talent are being called weekly and daily by multiple recruiters.  The Best of the Best have lots of options and are moving fast into new positions and so they are on the market one day and off the next.

If you are going to get their attention, you have to be creative.  It’s time to find those creative writing skills and tell a story.  Tell me why your company is so great that I need to beat a path to your door.  Tell me about your history, your mission, your code of ethics.  Tell me why you are different, why I want to work there (hint: why did you want to work there?).  What’s in it for them?  We tell candidates to write their resumes to tell you why you should hire them, now you tell the candidate why they should want to work for your company. Catch my attention with things like those, and you will keep my attention longer.  Tell me about the knowledge and skills needed, tell me about the duties and responsibilities and I’m outta here. 

David (Mac) McElhaney

Managing Partner
Global Recruiters of Huntsville

102 Clinton Ave, West

Suite 201

Huntsville, AL 35801

Phone: 256-533-1444 Ext 201

Fax: 256-418-4485

Mobile: 407-341-4462

STOP! Before You Pay for a Resume

Recently, I spoke with a candidate whose resume looked . . . (How shall I say this?) . . . cartoonish. Each level of his professional experience was contained within a text bubble that had something resembling an industry related emoticon in lieu of bullet points. His accomplishments and education were separated from the main body, yet followed the same disconcerting pattern. The background color was a blend of cobalt blue and black, and the fonts varied wildly. None of these factors, garish as they were, constituted the greatest crime of this resume. That indignity was revealed to me when the candidate proudly proclaimed to me that he had paid $800 to have it professionally rendered for him. He actually used the word "rendered." (Insert shock-face emoticon here).

There are plenty of services that will charge you far less than $800, with most being in the $80 to $200 range. However, I do not necessarily recommend these services at any price. A quick search online will produce more templates that you could ever sort through. Choose a simple layout, and plug in your information. Then, get with a professional recruiter (headhunter) who works in your industry. She or he sees untold numbers of resumes all day long and will guide you through any necessary adjustments. Additionally, a professional recruiter ("professional" being the operative word) will do far more than simply pass your resume along to a potential hiring manager or executive search committee. A recruiter who is doing the hands on, in-the-trenches work of a professional will be on the phone with the decision makers presenting you as the highly qualified candidate that you are. Of course, if you really want to pay me $800 to create your resume . . . just say the word!

Matthew Doss, Headhunter (I actually prefer that term :)

Global Recruiters of Huntsville

256.533.1444

mdoss@grnhuntsville.com 

Be Just a Little Bit Better

We have an opening in our firm and so I have been conducting interviews over the past several weeks and I have interviewed some very interesting people.  There are some really big gaps that have stood out in those interviews that I wanted to talk about today.

We often hear that it’s the little things that matter, that you don’t have to be miles ahead of the competition; you just have to be a little better in order to stand out.  It is to this point that I want to talk about those things that stand out, in this case it is the things that most candidates don’t do during an interview.

Most of the candidates I have interviewed in the past several weeks have walked into my office, empty handed, that is to say, they didn’t bring anything to take notes on, and they didn’t bring any written questions to ask.  These are both critical mistakes in the interview process and they can be the difference in getting a new position or being second-place.

So on your next interview, bring a notepad.  After your greeting and after you sit down, ask the interviewer if they mind if you take notes.  No one will ever say NO.  Then open your notepad and take out your pen.  Your notes should be just the key words that the interviewer uses.  These key words are your chance to shine later.

Second, have questions written out that you want to ask.  The worst possible outcome from an interview I am conducting is for the candidate to say, no, I don’t have any questions or no, you answered all my questions.  NOTE TO FILE- If you did this in my interview, you just lost!  Always have questions to ask.  Even if I answered all of your pre-determined questions, ask them anyway.  Simply say, one of the questions I wanted answered, you already covered but please expand on your answer, tell me more.  Back to those key words you wrote down, now turn them into questions; you mentioned _____ tell me more about that.

The horse that wins the Kentucky Derby but a nose makes $ millions more than the second place horse.  Is the winner a million times better?  No, it’s just a little bit better but worth a lot more.  A little more effort on your part will make a difference.  It just might set you on a new career path.

David (Mac) McElhaney

Managing Partner
Global Recruiters of Huntsville

Phone: 256-533-1444 Ext 201

Fax: 256-418-4485

Mobile: 407-341-4462

dmcelhaney@grnhuntsville.com

www.grnhuntsville.com

Clarity, Confidence, Commitment

I once had a major stockholder in the company I was with make a presentation to my Sales Management team.  This was the topic of his presentation.  As he made his presentation to us, it became clear to me that this was one of those life lessons.  As I listened to him, I could sense the value of his words.

Clarity, he said, was the first step in understanding why we do the things that we do.  It is the ground step, the cornerstone of understanding what Steven Covey called “beginning with the end in mind”.  If you have a clear understanding of why you want to do something, you can figure out what you need to do in order to get to the end-game.  If you know why you are doing something, then you can clarify the steps necessary to accomplish your goal(s).

Confidence is the result of clarifying your why and understanding that you can accomplish your goal with the steps you have outlined.  As long as you make your steps through the process clear, you can move from A to B, to C and so on.  It doesn’t matter how many steps there are in your process or how few, as long as they can be accomplished   With a clear vision, you can move confidently through the steps to success keeping you eye on the plan.  Confidence gives you the positive attitude and a positive attitude makes all the difference.

Commitment is the final piece for your success plan.  With clarity and confidence you will only need to commit to accomplishing your goal.  If you know and believe that you can be successful, if you are willing to take the necessary steps to be successful and you are committed to accomplishing your goal(s), that commitment will serve you well through the completion of the project.  Without commitment, you won’t have the drive to continue through the steps and around the roadblocks.

Clarity, Confidence and Commitment are your three new BFF.  Use them well.

David (Mac) McElhaney

Managing Partner
Global Recruiters of Huntsville

Phone: 256-533-1444 Ext 201

Fax: 256-418-4485

Mobile: 407-341-4462

Change your Life

Every now and then, something happens in your life that changes our course.  We typically call those milestones.  We look back on those milestones and see how they altered our activities, beliefs, or whatever.  Sometimes those milestones are happy times, sometimes not.  The one thing they have in common is that they change our behavior (good or bad). 

In my experience, with only a few exceptions, have those milestones not been an event.  One of those milestones that wasn’t an event in my life was reading a book, not just any book but a book about happiness; The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor.   This book had such an impact on my life that I have purchased and given away well over 30 copies.  I am recommending this book to everyone, no matter where you are in your life or circumstances.

If you would like to get a flavor for the book beforehand, check out Shaun’s TED talk presentation; http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work?language=en

David (Mac) McElhaney

Managing Partner
Global Recruiters of Huntsville

102 Clinton Ave, West

Suite 201

Huntsville, AL 35801

Phone: 256-533-1444 Ext 201

Fax: 256-418-4485

Mobile: 407-341-4462

GRN’s Same Store Revenues Increase 11%

Global Recruiters^® Network, a worldwide executive search firm based in Chicago, IL had a same store sales increase of 11% in 2015. For the entire organization, they experienced a 16% rise in 2015 system wide revenue compared to 2014. That’s on top of a 25% increase from 2013 to 2014.

President Glen Louthan states, “Back when we started in 2003, there were only projections about the war for talent.” Louthan continues, “Every other day it seems, there’s news about the talent pool shrinking and the skills gap widening. Last year alone, our seasoned search team helped companies solve that problem over 2,000 times. And we know the demand is only increasing.”

Employee Demographic Trends Affecting Your Business for the Next 20 Years

As the Baby Boomer Generation continues leaving the workforce at a rate of 20,000 individuals per day (allow that to sink in for just a moment), the generation following, the so-called "Generation-X" is 9 Million people fewer in number. Add to this disparity the fact that the current unemployment rate among workers with degrees is a scant 2.2%, and we are facing an extraordinarily tight labor market. For now, the career websites have mountains of resumes of active job seekers. However, the most qualified candidates for the job opening you have, cannot be found on such sites. Rather, they are excelling in their current positions and have not fully considered making a transition, if they've considered it at all.

Increasingly, the services of a search professional will become crucial in staffing the most critical jobs in your organization. As the labor market tightens (and it's already begun) the cost per hire for professional jobs will increase exponentially. Human Resources departments are overwhelmed with work and simply can not spend the amount of time necessary to seek top talent. It's not that they are incapable, it is because the scope of HR is so much more encompassing than serving as talent acquisition. This is where your organization can save an extraordinary amount of time and money by allowing a search professional to present candidates to you who meet or exceed your job requirements, are willing to make a transition for reasons other than money, and have a verifiable record of accomplishments.

Establishing a relationship with a trusted adviser rather than relying on commodity vendors for staffing purposes is how you will maintain a competitive edge over the next two decades. When it comes to successful college football programs, one of the most evident keys to success is recruitment. Your team is no different, and the number of available players is shrinking rapidly. 

For more information on how a placement professional can help propel your organization to greater success, you may contact me any time.

Matthew Doss

Search Consultant 

Global Recruiters of Huntsville

102 Clinton Avenue West Suite 201

Huntsville, Alabama 35801

Office: 256.533.1444 ext:  203

Cell: 256.808.6677

mdoss@grnhuntsville.com

www.grnhuntsville.com