You’re not still using an Objective statement to start your Resume, are you?

You might be old if your resume looks like this;

Objective

A confident, detail-oriented, resourceful professional with excellent organizational skills and ability to function at a highly efficient level in a fast-paced environment.  Ability to liaison adeptly between executive, management and support levels.  Professional relationship builder with the capability to establish and maintain relationships in a wide variety of aspects.  Proven leadership skills, ability to work within a team and exceed goals. Excellent interpersonal skills, presentation skills, sales and project coordination experience.

Since no one really reads your resume, you need catch the reader's attention.  A job summary does that, an objective statement doesn't.  The Summary should be built from the job description, pulling the key words out and using them to describe how you can fill the role.

Summary

Your job description calls for a confident, detail-oriented, resourceful professional with excellent organizational skills and ability to function at a highly efficient level in a fast-paced environment.  As you can see from my qualifications below, I have these attributes and I’m looking for a fast-paced environment such as yours.  I have the ability to liaison adeptly between executive, management and support levels.  Over the years, I have developed my professional relationship building skills with the capability to establish and maintain relationships in a wide variety of aspects.  As you can see, I have proven leadership skills, ability to work within a team and exceed goals. My excellent interpersonal skills, presentation skills, sales and project coordination experience are leading indicators my ability to not only hit the ground running with your company but to quickly become you star team member.

Now, here’s the hard part.  You have to write this summary for every job you apply to because every job has its own key words and hot buttons.  Catch the Hiring Manager with a quick, to the point statement about how you can fill their role.

See our job board at; http://www.grnhuntsville.com/candidate/jobs.aspx

David McElhaney

Global Recruiters of Huntsville

256.533.1444

dmcelhaney@grnhuntsville.com

www.grnhuntsville.com

It’s not what you’ve done; it’s what you have accomplished that matters- Part II

Just so we’re clear, people don’t read your resume, they scan it.  In an eye-tracking study, we found that the average recruiter spends about six seconds on a resume before deciding if it’s worth their time for a closer inspection.  If you don’t grab our attention in that window, you may be overlooked.

So how to you get my attention? Be Brief, Be Brilliant.  It’s those accomplishments that we talked about last week that will make a difference.   Stay focused on the very best accomplishments that will tell the Hiring Manager what you can do for them.

Remember that a accomplishments, for the most part, comes down to three things; How much money did you make the company; How much money did you save the company; What process improvements did you develop and implement in the company.

Please let us know how we can assist you or your company.

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

dmcelhaney@grnhuntsville.com

www.grnhuntsville.com

It’s not what you’ve done; it’s what you have accomplished that matters

As a recruiting and placement firm with 7 search consultants, we look at hundreds of resumes a day.  The one thing that is lacking in almost every resume is a list of things you accomplished, not what team you were on or what your team did, what we need to know is what did you personally accomplish.  Take a serious look at your work history.  What we see most often is something like this;

·         Developed, initiated, maintained and revised policies and procedures for the general operation of the compliance program and its related activities to prevent illegal, unethical or improper conduct.

·         Managed day-to-day operation of the compliance program.

·         Developed and periodically reviewed and updated Standards of Conduct to ensure continuing currency and relevance in providing guidance to management and employees.

·         Collaborated with other departments to direct compliance issues to appropriate existing channels for investigation and resolution.

·         Consulted with general counsel as needed to resolve difficult legal compliance issues.

·         Responded to alleged violations of rules, regulations, policies, procedures and standards of conduct by evaluating or recommending the initiation of investigative procedures.

·         Developed and provided oversight for a system for uniform handling of such violations.

Accomplishments, for the most part, that comes down to three things; How much money did you make the company; How much money did you save the company; What process improvements did you develop and implement in the company.

Accomplishments show the reader what’s in it for them.  What is the compelling reason for the Hiring Manager to pick up the phone and call you?  ACCOMPLISHMENTS.  After all, the resume doesn’t get you the job, it gets you the interview.  Make the Hiring Manager say “AHH” with your list of solid accomplishments.  Help the Hiring Manager tune into their favorite station; WIIFM

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

dmcelhaney@grnhuntsville.com

www.grnhuntsville.com

Why Global Recruiters of Huntsville should be your Recruiting Resource

Hello David (although I think you go by Mac!) – I wanted to take a few minutes to give you some feedback on my recent experience in working with Doug Moore and other members of the GRN Huntsville team.  In a word:  Wonderful! 

As I’m sure you are aware, I began working with Doug and GRN at the end of July seeking to fill a Process Control Engineering position.  The requirements were very specific (a programmer – heavy & current coding experience on ABB or Delta V systems and must be local to our area). 

We saw numerous resumes from our ads on a number of the job boards – None appropriate.  And we received a few resumes from the other three agencies we listed with-  Good efforts, but no results.  Then Doug and Maggie put together their candidate effort and submitted them to me.

Yesterday we made an offer to a GRN Huntsville Candidate and he is exactly what we want.  The Candidate’s professionalism, eagerness, intelligence and ability to learn/adapt from his system knowledge to our ABB and incredible personality, have made him a hit with everyone he has met.  That, due to the recruiting efforts of Doug and his team (Brianna et al).

Based on my (at that time) limited, but positive, dealings with Doug, I asked him to help me recruit a Sales Manager for our company.   He accepted the challenge and presented me with three very nice candidates in the past three weeks.  Of the three candidates, the hiring manager saw two of them and now can’t stop talking about how great one of the candidates is.  Doug will bring me one more (comparison) and I know we will hire one of the two. 

Now I've asked him to find us a Sr. Process Engineer.   

Bottom line:  I haven’t worked with such a pleasant, professional, and knowledgeable search ‘partner’ in many years.  I’m sure that Doug was/is working on a number of other searches and speaking with a number of other clients, but his responsiveness and interest seemed totally focused on the demands of our company. 

And, of course, it has been a pleasure to speak with Brianna each time I would call.  Her friendly and upbeat personality is very refreshing and her sense of urgency and professionalism is special in today’s impersonal business environment.   

So, congratulations on having a wonderful team to represent you and your company.  Congratulations to ME for having such quality resources to depend on.     

For a variety of reasons, I haven’t worked with a Staffing agency for at least 10 years.  From now on I will ONLY work with GRN Huntsville when I need assistance.  

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

dmcelhaney@grnhuntsville.com 

Should I submit my resume to a company?

I hear this question all the time.  I thought I would just post this article from J.T. O'Donnell on the subject

Founder & CEO of CAREEREALISM.com | Creator & Coach at CareerHMO.com | Syndicated Author | Columnist | Blogger | Speaker

No Job Posted...Send Resume Anyway?

September 16, 2013

I got this question from a reader regarding submitting a resume to companies that don't appear to be hiring:

In one of your webinars recently you said go straight to the companies and avoid the postings. My question is: Do you make sure that a company is hiring or do you just send your letter and resume and hope for the best? Some companies do not accept resumes if they don't have a specific job opening.

The answer is "no." You shouldn't blindly submit your materials. But, not because a company won't accept them. They will. However...

Here's Why Your Resume Won't Get Seen...

When I tell people to go straight to the company, what I mean is there's no point in applying online unless you have someone you know in the company who can walk your credentials into the hiring manager and ask them to pull your resume from the thousands they've received online and take a closer look. Yep, I said THOUSANDS. Today, applying via job boards is the easiest way to look for a work - so, everyone is doing it. Yet, it also happens to be the least effective method for getting noticed. Why? The ATS (applicant tracking system) employers use to gather applications automatically screen you out for not being an exact keyword and experience match for the job. Still, people continue to waste hours upon hours filling out online applications only to be shocked and disappointed when they never hear back from the employers. They say to me, "But J.T., I was perfect for the job." I respond, "Yes, you and hundreds of other people." The reality is your chances of making it through the online process and into the hands of a human being are only slightly better than you winning the lottery.

Effective Job Seeker Rule #1: Submit Resumes to Actual People

Want to improve your odds of getting noticed by employers? Only submit your resume and cover letter to human beings. How? Network and connect with employees of the companies you desire to work at. Then, when a job gets posted you are a match for, instead of going into the ATS blackhole, you can reach out to your contacts and see if they can help you get your credentials in the hiring manager's hands. There's a reason 80%+ of jobs today are gotten via referral - it works!

No Job Posted? Even More Reason to Network

When there's a company you'd like to work for but they've no jobs posted, you've got an opportunity to prepare for the day they finally hire for your skill set. You can start the networking process now with employees and get to know first-hand what it will take to eventually earn a position at their company. Better still, you may learn about the "hidden" jobs at the company. The ones that are open but not posted anywhere online. While sending a resume to HR will likely end up in the circular file. (a.k.a. trash can), connecting and having meaningful conversations with employees will result in you being fully prepared to fast-track your resume to the right hiring manager.

Ashton Kutcher hits a home run

Ashton Kutcher hits a home run

Now, I must admit, I am not an Ashton Kutcher fan.  I didn’t watch “That 70’s Show”.  I don’t particularly care for his run on “Two and a half Men”.  But, with that said, I hope you caught some of the information about his speech at the Teen Choice Awards because his speech has gone viral.  If you missed it, here is a link to the You Tube posting; http://youtu.be/FNXwKGZHmDc  

Just a word of caution, you will have to get over the screaming of young females throughout the speech.  I had to listen to it twice to get past all the screams.

Why is this speech so memorable?  Because it’s not your typical Entertainer/Actor babble about what is wrong with our society or some special interest.  It is spoken from the heart about value and responsibilities.

Here are some of the highlights;

“I believe that opportunity looks a lot like work,”

 “I never had a job in my life that I was better than. I was always just lucky to have a job. Every job I had was a stepping stone to my next job and I never quit my job before I had my next job.”

“The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart. And being thoughtful and being generous. Everything else is crap,”

 “I promise you. It’s just crap that people try to sell to you to make you feel like less. So don’t buy it. Be smart. Be thoughtful and be generous.”

“Steve Jobs said when you grow up you tend to get told that world is the way that it is.” Kutcher said that’s not the way to go through life.

“Everything around us that we call life was made up of people that are no smarter than you,”

 “And you can build your own things and you can build your own life that other people can live in. So build a life, don’t live one, find your opportunities and always be sexy.”

Yes, I’m now a fan, a BIG FAN.

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

dmcelhaney@grnhuntsville.com

 

 

Why Don’t I Ever Hear Back From Companies?

Why Don’t I Ever Hear Back From Companies?

Candidates ask me this all the time.  Why can’t companies just take a minute to let me know what’s going on.  Why do I have to assume that because I haven’t heard from them that I am not being considered?  How do I know that I am even being considered? 
Let's face the first question should be; Am I being considered?  Did the hiring manager even get to look at my resume?  

When a hiring manager brings a job description to HR to be a recruit assignment, they will typically want to see the top 10-15 candidates to perhaps phone screen for a face-to-face interview.  The reality of today’s job market is that a company posting any job will get hundreds, maybe even thousands of resumes for a single posting.  This response will include the unemployed, the unqualified and the unhappy candidates out there that are scouring the web for any job opportunities.

So, you may be the best candidate in the in-basket but there is a good chance you won’t even get looked at because of the pressure to submit the top 10 or 15 resumes that match the key word search for the job in question.

The reality is that companies go into a defensive posture and are screening out people rather that screening in.  You might be well qualified for the job but might not even get looked at by anyone.  You probably won’t hear from anyone.  At best, you might get an auto response that your resume has been received and loaded into the system.

This is where a good recruiting firm can be your best friend.  In our case, we don’t just send out your resume and hope like you do, that it gets looked at.  We seek out the hiring manager and present your profile, you skills, your accomplishments.  We market candidates to specifically targeted customers to get you in front of the people who can make a decision.

Reach out to us and let us make a difference.

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: 407-341-4462dmcelhaney@grnhuntsville.com