Timing, timing, timing!

If real estate has “location, location, location” then recruitment should certainly coin “timing, timing, timing” for our industry!

Once, I had a candidate in final stages with a client on a Friday. I was buzzing about my weekend happy as a bee. Monday morning, I learn the hiring manager went to lunch over the weekend and bumped into someone that used to work for them at a different company, but they hadn’t seen each other in 10 years. They got to talking about their current companies and decided the nearly-filled job was worth discussing with this person (who had also recently decided to consider new roles). After the hiring manager carefully considered some other recent staff transitions, he tweaked the parameters of the open job a little bit. Within 24 hours, they’d declined my candidate who was no longer completely qualified, and moved forward with an offer to the other person. HOW RANDOM IS THAT? A simple, chance meeting at lunch ON A WEEKEND changed the outcome of an entire search. TIMING, MUCH!?!?

I have often told outstanding candidates that sometimes they are the PERFECT candidate for a job, but timing gets in the way. If they are resume #104 and the recruiter closes the pool after reviewing 100, that company has never even seen their resume! And sadly for all, that company might hire a less qualified person as a result. The candidate shouldn’t feel disheartened that maybe they weren’t good enough for some reason, sometimes it really is just timing.

When was the job posted? How many internal candidates did they have before posting it to external candidates? Is this search extremely confidential or is it widely known that the job is available? How many candidates are currently in process and are they all at the same stage or varying stages of the interview process? What time of year is it? Holidays and vacations mean delays and these create missed opportunities in availability and interest from both a company and a candidate.

If I could offer any word of encouragement to a job-seeker, it would be to consider timing. Do what you can to eliminate delays. Be EXTREMELY quick to act on freshly posted positions – I mean apply that same day. If you hear a rumor about a job, learn who to contact in HR and contact them immediately! If you are getting declined for jobs or just never hearing back at all, remind yourself that timing was likely a huge factor in the decision. Beating yourself up over the jobs you didn’t get won’t leave you looking awesome for the next one.

Do you have any stories as a recruiter about how timing has impacted your searches? Or have you noticed as a job-seeker when timing was the reason for you getting (or not getting) a job?

Making your LinkedIn profile work for you!

People tell me that they have a LinkedIn profile, but it doesn’t really do anything for them, or they don’t really “get it,” or it’s just too overwhelming to complete and they’re not really sure where to start. Other people say that they don’t have a LinkedIn profile because they’re not looking for a job.

I can tell you LinkedIn is for much more than jobseekers! Salespeople actively review their contacts and extended connections via LinkedIn for potential sales leads. It’s much easier to make a warm sales call based on a mutual connection! LinkedIn is also a fantastic resource for connecting and conversing with people in your industry. For many recruiters, LinkedIn is one of their top resources for learning about hiring trends, connecting with new client companies AND identifying new talent. Tech-savvy hiring managers often use their profiles to advertise the open positions and/or network with potential future employees.

In order to maximize the benefit you get from LinkedIn, you need to have a complete and informative LinkedIn profile. It explains who you are, what you know, what you have to offer and why you’d be interested in connecting. After your profile is complete, you need to CONNECT. Connect to friends, family, co-workers (both current and former), people you meet at tradeshows – almost anyone! More connections means more conversations. The next step is to look at LinkedIn Groups. There are groups for almost everything on LinkedIn; professional associations, alumni chapters, personal interests, sports fans, news channels, etc. Find a few that work for you and join the conversation or simply read about what’s happening in your areas of interest. If you don’t have a lot of connections, groups are a great way to build your network.

If all this seems a little overwhelming to do on your own, I’m now offering a new service that is a great way to get a step up on making your LinkedIn profile work for you – in whatever capacity you need.

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I’m eager to help you start maximizing your results from a great resource. Sign up and let’s get started!

Interviewing? Leave your friends/family/co-workers in the car.

I promise they will forgive you.

I wish I could go on interviews with our candidates so I could meet them outside the client’s building and collect all of their electronic devices before they step into the building. Even if your network is relatively drama-free, I can’t describe the incredible impact such small devices can have on your success.

Use all available technology to land yourself an interview, but don’t take it with you into the building. That’s right. Don’t even take your smartphone out of the car. No matter how discreet you are about checking it while you’re waiting in the lobby or (even worse) in a conference room for your interviewer, it makes you look distracted at best and at worst it makes you look like you have somewhere more important to be. LEAVE IT IN THE CAR. If it’s a half-day or full-day interview, it’s likely they’ll give you a few breaks and you can walk out to your car to check for any new messages.

Leaving devices in the car makes a positive impression with your potential employer that you are attentive, but it also allows you to focus on the interview, instead of worrying about what’s happening back at the office or with friends, family. Job-seekers (and recruiters) are working hard to get to that interview stage these days, so grant yourself the time to focus your attention entirely on interviewing. You’ve worked hard for it!

Declined: Isn't that just the icing on the cake…

Working for Google:

Sometimes even a cake shaped like the internet won’t win you that job you want. It doesn’t mean that you aren’t a great person, but maybe they got a lot of cakes that week.

Keep baking! This is a tough market.