See this post:

http://erikvanslyke.solleva.com/2010/02/18/the-trouble-with-layoffs/

I guess my question to the hiring managers/recruiters is this:  “If you’re advertising/searching for top talent, why would you not expect to pay for top talent?”.

Now, admittedly, I am currently in a salary bracket that is high for the area, but talent costs.  It’s just that simple.  You may be paying 35 grand for the job, and, if you’re really lucky,  you’ll get someone who gives you 40 grand or so in results, but….if the #1 thing you’re looking at on an app/resume is salary expectations, are you not missing something?

For now, I’ll just massage my ego with the ‘salary expectation’ reason.  And, maybe convince myself that I haven’t gotten anywhere because I am destined to win the lottery.

I guess I’ll have to buy a ticket.

The single most impressive quote I read was from the CEO of SAS (number 1 on the list).  To paraphrase:  Every night he watches his company’s most valuable assets drive away…and he hopes they’ll all be back tomorow. 

This gentleman I would like to meet.  No wonder they are number 1.

You’ll also note that exploring the list will give you direct access to a lot of the company’s HR sites.

If I had 10 Grand to invest here (the salespeople will all tell you that you’re investing in the single best asset you can ever invest in….You !), then I seriously doubt I would need all this additional ‘help’.  And, I have to question the guarantee…or, more to the point, the lack of any guarantee.  Again, the salespeople will tell you:  “We’re helping you help yourself”.  Or they’ll quote you a ton of success statistics…..all of which mean….nothing.

Then, of course, we can take the ‘Executives Wanted’ ads.  These are all over the job boards.  Are they real?  Oh yes…!  They’ll have a Vice President call you to set up an interview.  I actually had one of these interviews….the VP leaned back, put his feet on the desk, and used a laser pointer aimed at a whiteboard with the standard old cliches.  They only wanted $4000….to show me how to ‘network’.  Guarantee?  Well….you’re investing in you……and we are just helping you find the tools.

I’m not sure what brings out the scammers….but they are definitely out there.  I almost feel like I’ve been at this so long, I can spot them before the first ad pops up…..

I can’t, however, think of too many people who will blow 10 grand on anything without a guarantee. 

Now….where did I park my Yugo??

So, for those of you recruiters and hiring managers, maybe you’ve been living in a vacuum for a couple of years.

1.  The ‘offical’ unemployment rate is 10%.  As we all know this is actually much higher.

2.  You post a job on an internet job site, or even, to a local job board.  Exactly what did you think you’d get? 

For those who post on the job sites, I submit my resume, and then you parse it and extract the data…..but you don’t have the follow up tech to send even a generic form message that says you received it?

Please !

Those of you who are recruiters and hiring managers…this is your job !  Let me repeat that:

This   Is   Your   Job ! 

You want the best of the best for the job you have posted…why should we expect or accept less from you?

We’ve all spent hours and hours pouring over our resumes to get them exactly right.  After all, this is your advertisement….your Super Bowl commercial, as it were.  And, it’s the thing that will get you that next step.  Over and above the resume, though, is the Cover Letter.  I’ve heard so many different definitions of a cover letter, and multiple (conflicting) opinions as to whether we need one.  It’s important to note that the same ‘professional writers’ who can produce an award winning Super Bowl Ad of YOU, will offer to write you a truly dynamic cover letter. 

For those who are challenged in the writing department, this might be a worthwhile expenditure, even if only to give you a framework that can be modified later.

More importantly is the debate over the content of your cover letter, and whether or not it’s really needed at all.  Some say the cover content is a brief subset of your listed talents on the resume (designed to prod the reader into actually looking at your resume).  Others have said, the cover letter is more important than the resume, and should detail your talents related to their job requirement.  So, which is it?  Or, is it both?  And, if it’s both, which one do I write for which posting?

The ‘experts’ are also divided on whether to actually include a cover letter or not.  I’ve seen articles on cover letters that are all over the map as to exactly what they should be, and I’ve seen articles and statements from hiring managers that say they pay no attention to a cover letter and it just gets trashed.  Other hiring managers say that without a cover letter, your entire resume gets trashed.  (I  picked this up from another career article on another career site…the hiring manager actually was quoted as saying that if you couldn’t take the time to write a good cover letter, then you didn’t want the job badly enough !  Note:  Not just a cover letter…..a good cover letter)  [Sung to the tune of:  Please, Sir, May I Have Another?]  The ‘good cover letter’ guys are most likely the ones who don’t ever send you confirmations/responses to your response, or if they do, it’s a form message that has mis-spelled words and grammar errors.

Perhaps it’s my insistence on ‘standards’.  Perhaps it is just my naturally logical way of thinking…but, don’t we need some rules here?   If I’m going to spend 20 or 30 minutes writing ad copy for my ad copy, I’d really like to know that it means something, and someone is going to read it, apply it and accept it for the ‘teaser’ or ‘summary’ that it is.  The next natural step is to turn that page and read the main ad.

When you’re posting a job, we want to know three things:

1.  Who you are

2. What the job is

3. What the requirements are.

Now, we would also like to know what salary range you have in mind, when you intend to fill the position, and your name and phone number, but these are really accessory to the main points.

I cannot tell you how many posts I read through where someone has taken the entire job description packet, scanned it, and posted it.  Job requires:  sitting, standing, leaning, pulling, pushing, walking, running, typing, seeing, tasting, feeling, winking (gotta love that Palin wink !), squatting, reaching, climbing…..etc…

The only things you left out are…..breathing and eating.  

You have also mixed this in with the above 3 items, and posted all of it in:  8 pt font.

Sometimes I have to wonder if we’re not living in a John Connor nightmare…the machines have taken over, there are no humans remaining.

Two days later, I get the rejection email.   The standard ‘You don’t meet our requirements but we’ll keep you on file…’.

A couple of months later, there is the same job….same employer….same everything.   OK…so maybe it’s a different post from the last one, and I apply again.  Two days later, same response.

Now, I call to find out exactly what the issue is…..I meet everything they are asking for, so, have I fallen into the ‘black hole’?  Of course, there’s no answer, and I leave a voice mail (another black hole).

This time, however, I know someone who works for the employer….in the same department, no less.  Time to pull some strings….so I start asking.  I end up giving a printed copy of my resume for hand delivery to the department head….the actual guy who’s going to do the hiring.  I also find out this is the same job from a couple of months ago…turns out they hired a guy from out of state….moved him here…..and he hated the area so he walked in less than a month.  But, now I have an ‘in’ !

Next day I get the email….and a very polite and very professional one, too.  Seems that the Number 1 requirement for this job is:   PMP Certification (which I do not have). 

They just kind of ‘forgot’ to put that in the job posting……..twice.

I have to go back to the article on resumes.  The end paragraph still rings in my head.  The text went something like this:  “If you meet 75% of the requirements for the job…apply !”

75% !  Wow……..a pretty easy number to make !  The reality, however, is that you probably need to be closer to 100% if you expect a call back or even a screening interview.  Like….99.9%.  My suspicion is that if they said they would only hire someone with blonde hair, and Bill Gates or Donald Trump walked in the door, they’d be dismissed because they don’t have blonde hair.

I’ve made the 99th percentile.  A bunch.   Best I ever had was a telephone screening call.

I’ve had recruiters tell me that ‘it’s an employers market’.  I have to agree…there are so many fish in the pond you really don’t need good bait.  But….hiring managers, remember this:  One day the tide will turn.  You will desperately be seeking one/many of us 90% people.  I hope when that day comes, I’m in a position to tell you that I can’t go to work for you because you’re not blonde.