Dont Ignore the December Recruiter

Dont Ignore the December RecruiterDont Ignore the December RecruiterTurn the holiday rush to your advantage to supercharge your job search and land a job in the New Year.We hear the same complaint every year I cant get candidates on the phone. I cant get candidates in for interviews. I cant even get a response. We hear it from Fortune 1000 recruiters, HR departments, executive search firms and agencies. We even hear it from our own recruiters at Ladders With all the holiday parties and vacations going on, I suppose youd have a good reason to ignore the recruiters knocking on your door.But my advice is Dont let this happen to you. Other candidates, i.e., your competition, get very distracted during the holidays with their family and friends and festivities to enjoy. Turn this to your advantage. Rather than allowing your holiday schedule to get in the way of your search, double down and make an extra effort to be proactive this December. You see, for every candidate who misses a phone call, an interview, a job opportunity, theres a frustrated recruiter on the other side. And if you can be that golden flugschein - the responsive candidate who makes life easier for the recruiter or HR department - youll be that much more likely to land a gig before the end of the year. Companies needs for professionals dont slow down during the holidays. Recruiting budgets dont shrink in December - if anything, theres actually a push to get headcount in before the annual budget expires. And HR people and recruiters are still coming to work full-time every day and need to keep performing for their clients and hiring managers. Make their lives easy and theyll make your job search come to an end more quickly. Return their call the same day. Work hard to juggle your schedule to make it convenient for them to interview you. Follow up with your thank you emails the same day. If your competition is half as responsive, and youre doubly as active as normal, youll be four times more likel y to get the interview, get the offer, get the job I know its a challenge during the holiday season, but the best gift you can give yourself and your family is a new position that sees you happy, productive, and content in the New Year. Good luck with your search this December Im rooting for you.

Like It or Not, Likability is the Key to Getting Hired

Like It or Not, Likability is the Key to Getting HiredLikability is the Key to Getting HiredLike It or Not, Likability is the Key to Getting HiredHR professionals may bedrngnis admit it, but I believe being well liked carries as much weight as being well qualified when it comes to job offers. We pay more attention to people we like. We respond positively to enthusiasm, warmth, and supportive comments. Even the way we dress helps others relate to us. Its human nature to seek out similarities to ourselves and to perceive a reflection of ourselves in someone we like.After a job interview, nobody says, Gee, Tom welches so punctual I cant wait to work with him Its more likely to be, Tom was not only professional, he was so friendly Hell be great to have aroundWhen I take stock of some of the candid, unconventional (but apparently likable) things Ive said and done in interviews, and still got the job offer, Im convinced this theory must have value. Here are some examples Ive heard or starr ed in of how your attitude can be more impressive than your experienceI once interviewed with the company where my father was a well-known manager. Although we wouldnt have interfaced in this huge company, my interviewers knew the connection. I played it safe and gave stock answers to stock questions. I was qualified but I was not being particularly impressive. I could tell I won them over when I added, Look, do not hire me because of who my father is. I am my own person, with my own work ethic, and my own goals.Another time, I applied for a promotion to a newly created sales management position as did 29 of my peers. Management screened out 16 applicants and interviewed 14. I was the last to interview with a panel of saleswomen, and they were exhausted. Having no idea how I stacked up against the competition, I strategically asked them to define what success would look like in the position. I could tell they loved the question because they all perked up. As I listened intently to t heir hearty descriptions, the hip, smart, saleswoman inside me grew increasingly confident. I sat back in my chair, smiled, and said very calmly to the panel Well, Im your man. Thankfully, they got my little joke they knew the value of asking for the sale.My aunt once trudged through something like 16 interviews in one month. The last one caught her in just the right (or wrong) mood. Sitting in yet another lobby filling out yet another application before the interview where the application asked for Sex (meaning gender), she put Never. And for Salary, she wrote Yes, please They hired her on the spot because she was both qualified and funnyA friend of mine once traveled four hours to Atlanta for an interview. He got stuck in traffic and was forced to drive straight to the interview, unshaven, wearing jeans and a junky college shirt. Expecting to be walked to the door within 20 minutes, he avoided making excuses, and didnt mention it. He figured he had nothing to lose by relaxing and being himself. Apparently they liked him just as he was they kept him for three hours and later offered him the job of a lifetimeYou can do some crazy, corny, and amazing things if you just put some personality behind it. It all contributes to how well theyll like you, and in the end, thats what might get you the job. My apologies to HR nerds everywhere. It probably sucks to know how right I am and not be able to endorse it

Excellence in Customer Service

Excellence in Customer ServiceExcellence in Customer ServiceEXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE100% of managers say their employees have strong customer service skills95% of workers feel their own abilities are strongCustomer service training provided by companies54% Tuition reimbursement for off-site courses/seminars53% Online courses52% On-site workshops/brown-bag sessions led by an instructor47% Books/other reference materials15% None of these(Multiple responses permitted.)The top benefit of having employees with strong customer service skills, according to managers45% Effective herausforderung solving38% Increased customer/client satisfaction17% Better collaboration