David Rowe has joined the legions of people looking to stand out on big job boards (i.e. CareerBuilder, Monster, Craigslist). Right now those sites have more candidates than they can present to their employers in a powerful way. That means so many people are getting lost in the fray.
So how do you stand out?
David Rowe decided to take a sandwich board and dress up in a suit to walk the streets. He offered to work the first month for free at which time his employer could decide whether or not to keep him.
This has been a tactic many sales people have used to get their foot in the door with their product. This time, the market is saturized with candidates just like you. You have to make a more compelling offer, share more information about yourself up front (not just a resume and cover letter), and act like a salesman, even if you're a computer geek like me.
I was speaking with someone about their job search today. They were frustrated by their job search. They were being selective about the jobs they were applying to through the big boards and not receiving any calls back.
This caused them to stop and reflect. The result of that thought, though, produced some interesting results.
Instead of concluding that he needs to find a way to seperate from the rest of candidates that are sending the same cover letter with the same resume attached to an email, the conclusion was that they were not sending to enough jobs. The odds were not in their favor.
What we are proposing is a change in philosophy. What a lot of people do not understand is that for good jobs, they are not entering a pool of 20-30 candidates. They are entering a poole of several hundred or more inside of a talent management system. They usually just use the big job boards for candidate sourcing.
Every hiring manager knows the secret to quality hiring is getting past the several hundred into a manageable amount. There are many different ways that different managers use, but obviously, someone that sticks out as interesting or deserving of more attention gets included in this.
The short story is most professionals are only beginning to realize they have to market themselves just like any other product a company buys. CareerScribe is a great tool that allows people to do just that. It allows you to market all of your skills and value in a professional and dynamic way and share a rich amount of information beyond a boring resume/cover. If you want that first interview, you can still be selective. It's just time to start being your own biggest fan and spend some time with CareerScribe.
Do not let your video be anything at all like this:
In all honesty, there are so many things wrong here, I thought it was a joke a first. It isn't and he really thought this would land him the job. You can learn more video tips inside our site and through the welcome series you get shortly after registering.
I was walking around the streets of Boston this week and saw this sight:
It actually made me laugh that people would turn to a newspaper dispenser to look for their next career. What's even funnier (or maybe scary?) is that candidates believe companies look for candidates in a similar manner.
They think that companies go to their file cabinet, pull out a list of resumes, and start going through them. Some more technically inclined may think they do the same, only digitally. Download some resumes, look through hundreds, and make a decision from there.
The reality is companies don't have the time to do that. Instead, they would like to view the information about a candidate in a professional manner, dynamically, and using smart search tools.
This is why it's so important to have a great career management profile. Companies use this info to quickly find you and evaluate you deeper than a paper (or word doc) resume.
So instead of focusing on finding jobs in newspaper dispensers; manage and share your own career. You can then use CareerScribe to share your profile and tell your story.
Just like candidates are trying to get themselves singled out. CareerScribe has been doing the same. With all the innovation in quality hiring and career management, CareerScribe has constantly been put into a small club of sites that revolutionizing the way HR works on every side of the equation. Since no one else has been doing what we do, it's easy to see why we are getting a lot of attention.
Check out this latest blog. After viewing our product and meeting our people, he obviously gets it.
I had to share this. People are going to great lenghts, both good and bad to get noticed in today's job market. With an overwhelming candidate pool, companies are posting less jobs because of the impossible-to-manage volume of applications (another area CareerScribe helps, but I digress).
Eric in Austin, TX decided he would standout in a very very expensive way. I'm not sure how familiar you are with billboard advertising, but it's not cheap. Eric decided he would create an online presence, himself, since he's an IT guy, and market it...big time.
No targeting and it's more a PR stunt than anything probably, but hopefully he gets a job. Instead of focusing on a quality online portfolio or targeting jobs that really make sense for him and sharing information in a rich and meaningful way, he bought a billboard.
I hope he finds this blog and contacts me. We at CareerScribe would love to help him market himself, get a great job, and save an annual salary in marketing costs.
As I was reading the entire internet, I came across an interesting article on msn.com from CareerBuilder.
The article was about how you should format your resume and put certain keywords in there that will help you be found. They weren't suggesting you lie, but they were highlighting a serious problem with their software.
They search resumes. As we know by now, things have changed and we are not our resumes. CareerBuilder obviously agrees with this. How did they fix it? They decided, let's help our users make our search better. Instead they should be telling people to use tools that help them market themselves better. Using tools like virtual portfolios in their job search allow companies improve candidate sourcing without relying on keyword tricks.
Quality hiring has been a hot topic for companies since the dawn of time. Many are using sophisticated tools to help with their online employee screening. Candidates need to realize this and start using the same tools to better define what they want and what they have to offer.
There once was a gentleman named Aleksey Vayner. He was a young aspiring Yale student about to enter his career. He decided he would leverage a video resume to best get across his talent and drive. That's about as far as his good decisions went.
From there it turned into a humorous attempt at a conference by Zig Ziglar. The only problem was he wasn't in on the joke.
Self-proclaimed CEO and professional athlete, Aleksey talks about the keys to success. He demonstrates how his physical prowess has helped him sharpen his mind by including footage of his 495lb bench press and 140mph tennis serve.
Unfortunately, all of the above were staged. It wasn't the true Aleksey Vayner, but it was hilarious! UBS thought it was so funny that they gave him an interview. Well, no they didn't and he didn't get the job.
Instead, Aleksey should have thought about what he wanted in his career. He was so busy selling his intangibles that he forgot about how valuable his experience at Yale and his financial skills really were. UBS prides themselves in quality hiring. Aleksey's professional portfolio would have been a great selling point.
Hopefully he will join CareerScribe soon and get his career back on track.
I was watching tv this weekend; something I rarely do, but it's March Madness; and TheLadders commercial came on where they are chasing chairs on a wild safari.
It made me think about the whole concept of quality hiring and candidate marketing and the current state of the matter.
TheLadders has a good idea, but it's not fully baked. The notion that a service fee will keep the clutter down of qualified candidates is noble. Reducing volume is something many companies with great jobs try to do, but reduing volume through a service fee is the wrong plan.
CareerScribe allows candidates to use their career portfolio to keep someone alive when companies do a search. Through the use of this free online portfolio, candidates that have no business being in that search are eliminated. Also, companies can then use CareerScribe as an applicant tracking system that updates itself. No stale information.
So it brings me back to the commercial. If they want a high-back executive chair, they should get a sight that filters out the low-back chairs instead of only looking for chairs at a golf course
Even though you may be unemployed, for whatever reason, doesn't mean you can stop working. Your work just changes.
When people become unemployed there are a lot of emotions, especially if it was not their decision. A lot of people have lost their jobs, and that makes for large hiring pools for the jobs that are out there. That means you have to do a little more work than you may have had to do in the past.
Unfortunately, I see a lot of unemployed professionals doing the bare minimum and even some of the unemployed professionals on CareerScribe do not put in all of their career information. They are not sharing their profile with potential employers. Instead, they are falling into the same rut as most professionals.
You have the tools to win!
There's only so much other people can do for you. What you need to do is document your career. Brag about yourself. Think of all the great things you've done in your career and how much you helped those companies you worked with, even though those thoughts may make you a little angry right now. :)
The funny thing I've seen is the some of the more successful people who have great jobs have the best CareerScribe profiles. Do you think this is a coincidence? I don't.
So really, when I see CareerScribe profiles of people who need jobs because they are unemployed and they are only at 50%, I would hope that would serve as a motivator. Get out there, populate those career profiles and share them!!! You're more than a resume. Show more.
So now you've created this wonderful professional portfolio and careerscribe profile. You're documenting your career and you're creating contacts. How are you going to get this info out there?
CareerScribe allows you to send your profile now. All you have to do is publish your profile from your profile screen, set your settings and then send your profile to any email in the world. It's password protected and safe. It's the best website for yourself that allows your information to instantly be consumed by that company and their applicant tracking system using CareerScribe.
You also get a public version that just includes your name and position. This is at your own url that you can use as a virtual business card. Someone would still need a password to access your professional portfolio so your info is safe.
Now you can set the example for your friends. Publish your profile and start sending it out when you find new opportunities, no matter what job board you may be on.
I was sitting down after emailing with some new registrants on CareerScribe and one topic continued to come up.
Many were struggling with getting lost in the shuffle of candidate sourcing of a large company with competitive jobs. Being lost can be caused by several different things, but operate with the premise that if you are even looking for ideas on how to standout, you must have done the obvious things like:
Performing on the job Becoming an expert in your field Creating a stellar resume Using your network
So why are you still getting lost even if you are highly qualified.
I've written about this subject before but creating new opportunity for an individual is as much about marketing the product (yourself) as any business.
Businesses use accounting software to keep track of assets the company owns. Candidates should be doing the same thing. Many try to do this in their resume, but the traditional paper resume is so limited.
Two IMPORTANT things you should be doing to properly standout:
1) Always stay current in your CareerScribe profile with new entries in your career portfolio, CareerTracker. A professional portfolio helps you stand out by providing more information about yourself
2) If presentation skills are key in your field, almost any professional field, show them off by creating a video introduction. Most recruiters know within a few moments your level of presentation of yourself and how that translates into a presentation of a product or new company. Practicing by creating a video is a fantastic way to brag. This is very different from a video job interview. You get as many mulligans as you need.
Candidate Evaluation is about exchanging information. Companies and candidates both have to exchange information efficiently.
So, now that you have that info in a beautiful form nicely presented, how to do you get that professional portfolio, resume, video, and everything else out there?
CareerScribe has formed a great space in the new way companies and candidates are connecting. If you haven't seen it, check out our new article in the Indianapolis Star.
1) Candidate Evaluation Time - Companies spend a lot of time and money evaluating talent. In order to correctly achieve quality hiring, companies have traditionally gone to great measures to gather information about potential employees.
CareerScribe allows companies to get a wealth of information much earlier in the hiring process by leveraging items like free online portfolios for candidates, video, document sharing, and other items that indicate what that particular person is looking for in a new opportunity.
2) Future Talent Management - Companies aren't always hiring. We know that, but the top companies are always keeping in touch with emerging top talent and existing valuable veterans in the industry. This is hard when the talent pool is deep as it currently is with layoffs.
CareerScribe allows companies to maintain contacts or even track candidates and tie them to potential future positions. It's a talent pipeline that feeds your company.
3) Up-To-Date Data - Unfortunately, many companies collect resumes for the future because they understand the importance of issue two. However, by the time it's time to call on that candidate, that professional portfolio or resume is out of date.
CareerScribe has become a destination for that new talent. As they stay up on their career objectives and accomplishments, so do you. All of a sudden those stale resumes don't seem so stale do they?
4) Screen Candidates - A lot of larger companies have some sort of Applicant Tracking System. It's clunky and old and has been there since the 90 year old Recruiter (no offense to the 90 year olds out there)! This has even hightened the pain of issue 3. Smaller companies can't afford a first class Applicant Tracking System and even if they could, it's too complex for the resources of a medium sized business, not to mention the small business owner.
CareerScribe brings tools to allow candidates to pass through stages during the hiring process. Since CareerScribe already shortens the process at the get go, you start with a more qualified talent pool. Now taking those candidates and tracking them with an online tool...how much more could you get done? Ask CareerScribe companies.
5) Employee Screening - It's very hard for someone who does not manage an employee daily to really get insight into how much value they bring to the company, especially when it comes to evalutations. Most direct managers are doing those evaluations, but even they struggle to remember all the accomplishments that the best employees accomplished. All the while, that top employee may be looking or being pursued by the competition.
Many CareerScribe companies are using the tools to help organically grow their company and growing new managers and executives from the incredible talent inside. With CareerScribe, they are able to keep evaluations and notes on a particular person safe and secure, digitally. Documenting HR actions is great, not only for legal reasons, but for employee development.
Check out CareerScribe and see how much it can help a successful company become even better!
Currently the job market is looking a little heavier on the candidate side as companies are forced to release high quality talent due to shrinking markets and lower profits.
Many economists are predicting a turnaround in 2009 however. This will result in high candidate sourcing demands requiring companies to screen employees at a record level.
Obama is planning on using up to $850 billion dollars to create new jobs and stimulate the economy. Now is the time for candidates to update their career portfolio.
If candidate's do not have a career portfolio, creating a free online portfolio is easy. CareerScribe.com has the best portfolio and is improving candidate's ability to market themselves.
As the U.S. struggles to come out of this recession, it will all begin with new hiring and top talent. The job search begins with great career management. Companies will begin to hire this new talent. Even people with great jobs will find even better opportunity.
Obama's plan includes many public projects over the next 2-4 years. He also is planning to make Congress more transparent by making bills more accessible and publishing the plans online for the public to evaluate.
Now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity that will be created by this upcoming economic stimilus package.
Candidate evaluation has become a tricky topic. In the ancient days, companies would go to a big job board and search for people based on some keywords. They would then go through those hundreds of results and try to find a pool of fifty candidates to interview based solely on their resume.
Resume writing was important.
Slowly candidates started spending more time on their professional resume. At the same time, facebook, myspace, and linkedin were becoming a large part of their lives. Facebook and myspace were filling a personal trend in the social web. Linked In was the first to start people connecting in a professional sense in a real way. Since then, it has become a game of how many people you can become connected to.
Companies are now looking for more information during candidate evaluation. Candidates should be maintaining a professional portfolio which allows them to market themselves better. Companies can then import those candidates into CareerScribe which acts as their applicant tracking system to screen employees and improve quality hiring.
CareerScribe has become a tool for both companies and candidates in this new social web. It's more than a connecting game. I mean, this is your career we are talking about.
CareerScribe now allows you to reach out as a candidate to employers by sharing more information about yourself. This allows your high qualifications to come through in a professional way. Imagine sending a copy of your resume, a video, career highlights, and what you are looking for in a new job all in the best "presentation" anyone has ever done. One link, one password. It's too simple.
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