10 tips to be successful in your job interviews

1- You have already stepped in
We as Agency recruiters are working under enough pressure with KPIs not to have time to waste.

Same with Internal recruiters. By networking with Talent acquisition specialists, Internal/On site recruiters,  Internal recruitment consultants (Agency recruiters working as contractors at end users like "implant" or a delegated ressource from an RPO).

If you could make it through the interview room, means you have already gone a long way. At least, that you tick (most of) the boxes. So what could make you fail?

2- Your attitude
We have been used to interviewing and developed a acute sense of reading people. This, combined with our strong business accumen and you understand that we are seeking to recognise the potential for success in the candidate we chose to represent.

We are screening your:
- gestures
- lies
- coherence between your story and what is written on your resume
- vision for your career
- self-confidence
- ability to reveal the great potential and true color you have inside
- etc

3- (Good) Recruiters are more about sales than NLP
Our job is to connect a Talent with a great career opportunity. Recognise the potential of a great fit. This is all about business.

The more talented recruiters I know are in fact great business people, some of whom even launching their own business.

4- Our job interview questions are to get you lost
Let me take a real life example: the airport. If you were a terrorist, would you sincerely answer the questions: "Are you convicted of terrorism acts?" with a YES! ?

Same with our questions.

We on purpose ask sometimes weird questions, turn back at an experience you have already discussed of, look stupid by asserting your lies..  just to get you lost. In that manner, we can take down your prepared pitch or your defences and gain access to the real person.

I will follow with 6 more tips in my next post, next week

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

10 tips for a recruiter friendly resume

1- Social media presence
List the complete LinkedIn, website and blog URLs. Even if your Cv has a higher chance to be read on screen, sometimes the hyperlink just does not work.

Recruiters, both internals and agency, are relying a lot more on social media. Being part of this pool of candidates who have understood the importance of having a web presence is, by definition, a good point.


2- Summary section
Sum up your experience in one sentence mentioning:
- total years of experience and the ones in your specialization
- the importance of the companies you worked for
- your area of specialisation

3- Your objective
Explain in one sentence the goal you are pursuing, mentioning:
- state clearly the job you are seeking
- the career vision you are pursuing

4- Your value statement
A headline that captures your personal brand in five to seven words, revealing your:
- believes
- the reasons why you like your job
- what you want to achieve doing your job

5- Look smart
Sharing your analysis of the market and what solution you bring to business will catch the hiring manager attention and is a good induction to more questions.

6- No picture
Even if I like a picture on a Cv, a recent survey conducted on recruiters showed that they have 88% of chance to reject Cv with photo.

7- Presentation

Integrate no more than 2 colours in the category/company headers and job title.

8- Images

To call attention to certifications, company logos etc or make it more visual you could consider inserting images. But nowadays, resumes are scanned by ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) such as Taleo, Brass, Ring, PageUp and graphics cannot be garbled.

9- Fonts
These are visually friendly: Calibri, Gautomi, or Verdana.


10- The physical address
Unless you are in the country side or really picky about the time spent in transport only mention the borough.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

5 ways to generate interviews - Part2

3- You are in the loop

Meeting with your informational contact is like putting a first step in the door. You have to consider it as seriously as you would do for a job interview. It is actually part of the recruitment process.

4- Turn informational into promotional

Even if the overall purpose is to gather information, bear in mind that this person is your key for the entry door: show your brightest side, sell yourself!

At the end of your interview your informer should be convinced that you are a valuable people worth to be introduced. Give him the elements: 3 major assets of your profile.

5- Always ask the way to return the favor

If that person has accepted to meet with you, there must be a reason. You have to ask what, how, when you could help him.

This will leave the door open and make it easier for that person to remember you by classifying you in his networks.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

5 ways to generate interviews

The networks you have built with the people you met are your bigger lever. You do not need to look any further: concentrate in taking the most out of those newly built relationships.

Do not under estimate the potential those targeted persons have in taking you further.

You should investigate in how you could take advantage of this great asset.

1- Look in their networks

Some people still have open networks. At least, you have access to the shared contacts. You can then sharpen your network mapping and have a comprehensive overview of who is connected to whom.

If by chance, your now 1st degree connection has an open network it is a great opportunity to identify the next people to have a coffee with!

In fact, chances are (and pretty high^^ in fact) that person has counterparts in other companies. You could have an easy referral for an informal interview. Better than turning back to cold calling, isn't it?

2- Join groups

We all start with searching relevant groups on LinkedIn. But I discovered that surprisingly not all of them appear in the results.

Moreover, if you are concentrating on a specific market (for example, I only concentrate in the Talent Acquisiton local market in Sydney). Niche groups are only accessible through your connection's groups.

-To be continued-

In the next post I will demonstrate the rest of the next step I am taking with my job search.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

Do not listen to Eminem

Do NOT lose yourself!

One thing I found hard was to cope with the massive amount of "information" you deal with when opening up for opportunities.

Since I did not know where to start, I attempted several strategies, such as:

- direct application
- attend networking events; even some really generalist
- open a blog
- learn different plateforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ etc)
- personal branding (SEO, community management etc)

and so forth. I could have tried even harder as I still have many other GOOD ideas to put in practice, such as:
- video resume (in progress)
- consistent and designed portfolio
- turn this blog into a broader WordPress!

All these really interesting and each single one playing an important role in the wider strategy.
But in the meantime, distracting me from my core target and above all, effort and time consuming!

Leverage on the gold you already have at hands

Now that you have mapped your market, mapped your networks and started to engage informational contacts, do not turn back on Internet!

You have met some people within your targeted industry who can help you with:
- introducing you to their networks
- answering specific insightful questions
- advising or even counselling you on your career
- vouching for you!

This is a little step further in the process, but a really important one to get you to your goal: you have broken in !

You are not anymore a random, unknown applicant. Trusted people in the industry are now keen to help you.

You should build upon that.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

Networking strategy - Part18

10 tips for a compilling "ice-breaker" message on LinkedIn - Part2

9- Prefer an in-person interview
What you actually look for has more to do with personal interaction. Having a chance to introduce yourself, share your business card, extend a nice meeting over the limited time and turn it into a nice chat ... will take you much further than just gathering 'information'.

However, please consider not to push (too much) for it. Sometimes, people can just be shy at meeting an almost stranger.

10- Thank in advance
You are approaching on an informal way. Your tone of communication has to be atuned with. Find something less formal and conventional than the typical "Regards"

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Example:

Hi X,

Congratulations for growing your networks over 500 as a LION.

I am also in the process of growing my networks in the HR industry as I would like to pursue my career as a Talent acquisition specialist.

It would be helpful to me to find out about your experience at xXx and xXx.

With 8 years international experience in Recruitment/Contract/Interim with the major players (Hays/Randstad), I am in the process of making a career transition to "social media recruiting".

With xXx I was on a fixed term contract to implement a social media recruitment strategy and help with the launch of a new desk.

I am not expecting to discuss a particular job opening, but would appreciate being able to talk with you on an informal basis.

I promise not to take more than 15 minutes of your time, ideally over a cup of coffee.

What is the best way to reach you this week? I have Thursday 9 am and Friday 5 pm onwards.

Thank you in advance an kind regards,

Kevin

0412 449 867
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Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet

Tips&Tricks - Part2

Save inMail on Linkedin

Group members

A trick I discovered is to use groups. By joining, you get the possibility to interact with members of the group.

1- Once you are granted the membership of the group, go the home page2- click on the tab "Members"3- tipe the name in the search bar4- by scrolling the mouse over the person's profile you will find on the right hand side a "send a message" link

This opens you with a messaging box just like if you were connected with that person with no character limit.

However, this is not to be taken has a new way to spam!
Bear in mind that on line networking has its own protocole and rules before reaching at them.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Author - Kevin Simonnet