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What employers want (and you need to have)

Each year the survey is conducted, employers name the skills and qualities in the “ideal candidate.” They also compare their desires to the skills and qualities the current crop of graduates actually possess.

Employers rate the importance of specific qualities/skills Qualities Rating
Communication Skills 4.7
Honesty/integrity 4.7
Interpersonal skills (relates well to others) 4.5
Motivation/initiative 4.5
Strong work ethic 4.5
Teamwork skills (works well with others) 4.5
Computer skills 4.4
Analytical skills 4.3
Flexibility/adaptability 4.3
Detail-oriented 4.2
Organizational skills 4.0
Leadership skills 4.0
Self-confidence 4.0
Friendly/outgoing personality 3.9
Tactfulness 3.9
Well-mannered/polite 3.8
Creativity 3.7
GPA (3.0 or better) 3.6
Entrepreneurial skills/risk-taker 3.3
Sense of humor 3.2
Bilingual skills 2.3
(5-point scale, where 1=not important, 2=not very important; 3=somewhat important; 4=very important, and 5=extremely important)
A good GPA is, of course, important.

Employers look at other attributes, too. In fact, year after year, the number one skill employers say they want to see in job candidates is good communication skills: the ability to write and speak clearly. Unfortunately¡ªin spite of requesting this skill year after year¡ªmany employers also report that college graduates lack good grammar and writing skills.

Employers also want new hires who are honest, have teamwork skills, and have a strong work ethic.

What college candidates lack
Ironically, communication skills not only top employers’ list of most-desired skills, but also their list of the skills most lacking in new college graduates.

Many employers reported that students have trouble with grammar, can’t write, and lack presentation skills. Poor communication skills are often evident in the interview, where students are unable to articulate, as one employer said, “how what they have done relates to/contributes to the position” they are seeking.

In addition, employers pointed to other skills and attributes that had made their “wish list,” and cited those qualities and abilities as lacking in many new college graduates, e.g., relevant work experience, strong work ethic, team work skills, and the like. They also faulted new college graduates for not conducting themselves in a professional manner.

Get experience¡ªand learn how to highlight it on your resume and at your interview
What this means is, you need some real-world experience before graduation. Although you won’t learn everything about the workplace with an internship or co-op assignment, you can build many of the skills employers find lacking. An internship, for example, is not just an opportunity to gain experience, but it’s also a setting for you to learn professional behavior, learn what it means to work in a team, and practice interpersonal communication. An internship or co-op position helps you see the professional skills employers seek in action¡ªand helps you learn how to fit into the world of work.

Where employers are looking for new graduates
On-campus interviews
Employer’s internship program
Employee referrals
Employer’s co-op program
Career/job fairs
Job postings on the college web site
Faculty contacts
Job postings on the company web site
Student organizations/clubs
Commercial job boards
Internet resume data bases
Job postings to career offices (printed)
Request resumes from career offices
Recruitment advertising (print)
Newspaper advertising (campus and/or local newspapers)
Career/job fairs(virtual)
Internet banners
Video interviewing

Plus, hands-on experience may lead to a full-time job offer. Employers say they look within their own student programs to recruit new graduates. In addition, many employers said they offer higher salaries to new graduates who have any co-op or internship experience than they do to those who do not have that experience.

Further, practical experience is an element that employers will look for on your resume¡ªwhether it is with their organization or another. While employers prefer “relevant” work experience, having any work experience is better than no work experience. If you get this valuable experience before graduation, you’ll have a distinct advantage over job candidates who lack the experience.

The Corporate Recruiter Obstacle Course: Hiring Managers

Last week we introduced what we like to call the job search obstacle course. We¡¯re determined to break down the obstacles that are standing in the way of job candidates, recruiters of all kinds, and hiring managers of every ilk.

We all know that matching the right candidate to the right job involves a lot of jumping through hoops, swinging over moats, and countless other travails for all parties involved. Today, though, we want to focus on one of the major obstacles corporate recruiters have to deal with on a regular basis: hiring managers.

In a perfect world, these two forces would work together for the greater good. Unfortunately it doesn¡¯t always work out that way, and corporate recruiters continue to express their frustration with the folks they¡¯re trying to help. The recent results from a recruiter survey don¡¯t bode too well for anybody:

¡°A total of 80% noted struggles with hiring managers. Fifty percent of the survey respondents indicated that dealing with hiring managers was the biggest problem they faced, while another 30% indicated it was the second- or third-biggest problem they faced. Collectively, these problems had to do with their belief that managers are not strong at assessing competency or recruiting, and that many overvalued skills and experience when determining which candidates to interview.¡± (From Adler Concepts)

While opinions about what is important in a candidate can cause problems, they are problems that seem to relate back to a lack of communication, an issue we continue to see in all aspects of the job search. Sitting Xlegged highlighted this all too common occurrence in their recent list of challenges and frustrations corporate recruiters are forced to face:

¡°I¡¯m in a desperate need to fill my position. When will you send me some candidates? I¡¯m dying here.

¡°Don¡¯t you just love getting calls like this from hiring managers who spent a month creating their requisition and the day it opens they expect results from you? Three words: communication, partnership, and service.¡±

Some of the obstacles standing between corporate recruiters and hiring managers may never quite disappear. But if we can create a space for these two groups to communicate effectively with each other and with job candidates they might remember that ultimately they want the same thing: to effectively match the right person to the right job.

Hiring Top Sales Performers

The assumption that “sales is sales” and that previous experience, a clean r¨¦sum¨¦ and a great appearance are the primary predictors of success often leads to recruiting mistakes that can cause high turnover and ineffective sales teams.
“What we know is that the traditional process results in failure three out of four times, and nobody likes it,” says Alan Fendrich, president of Advanced Hiring Systems, a sales selection consulting firm based in Norfolk, Virginia. “There are lots of people who look and act like salespeople, but they don¡¯t sell because money doesn¡¯t motivate them.”

Herb Greenberg, president and CEO of Caliper, a human capital consulting firm based in Princeton, New Jersey, says that interviewing alone will not expose experienced candidates who continue to be ill-suited for jobs in sales. Nor will it uncover the prospective rising star who has no previous experience.

“You can¡¯t assess sales people by asking questions during an interview that produce socially acceptable answers and then figure out what this crazy, neurotic human being is all about,” Greenberg says.

Fendrich says that the key to success starts not with a review of experience, but with a look at the motivation and the psychological makeup of the candidate.

Hire for Behaviors
There are numerous providers of behavioral profiles that measure traits such as ego drive, empathy, confidence, sociability, helpfulness, thoroughness and problem solving, all of which are personality traits that are required in varying degrees based upon the sales position and the company.

Greenberg, a former psychology professor, says that several methodologies are used to develop a behavioral profile customized for each company and position. The assessment is administered to sales staff who are exceeding, meeting or performing below expectations. The scores produce the necessary data to build a behavioral-traits profile that correlates to performance.

Once the traits of the top performers are gathered, Greenberg suggests job shadowing sales reps as well as interviewing sales managers and human resources staff to build consensus as to the actual job description, the performance requirements and the best personality match for the position. This step provides additional validation as to the traits and behaviors that are required to complete the job duties successfully.

“Oftentimes we interview three different people in the same organization and get three different descriptions of the job and the responsibilities. Some of the people doing the interviewing don¡¯t know the difference between a ¡®hunter¡¯ and a ¡®farmer,¡¯ ” Greenberg says.

He adds that a job requiring more new-business development, or “hunting,” will generally require a candidate with less patience and higher scores in the areas that measure confidence, ego strength and ego drive. A “farmer” is usually a representative that maintains customer relationships and increases the sales volume of each customer rather than opening new doors. “Farmers” will be less aggressive, according to Greenberg, but will score higher in empathy and have a greater desire to please as well as a strong service motivation.

Learning Through Experience
Early in his HR career, John Beattie accepted an assignment requiring him to hire more than 250 office equipment sales representatives for an emerging national firm. He thought that he had “struck gold” when he received a large influx of applicants from a major international competitor. The company compensated on straight commission, and most of the sales reps he hired from the competition didn¡¯t work out.

In retrospect, he realized that the competition¡¯s reps did not have the same job responsibilities, such as opening new accounts in cold territories, and so they possessed a different set of personality traits.

“They were merely order takers,” Beattie says.

That experience has proved to be invaluable in his current role as chief HR officer for the personal-lines insurance division of GMAC based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He supports two different sales groups. One is decentralized, independent and out on the road in a very competitive environment. The other group works in a highly structured inbound call center, where the goal is to convert prospects who are responding to direct-mail solicitations into policyholders.

Beattie says he uses the behavioral assessment in his initial candidate selection and then adapts his interviewing process for the different work environments. He measures the success of his program by both a reduction in turnover and an increase in the new customer conversion rates in the call center.

Build a Pipeline
Alan Fendrich advises clients to use the assessments before they proceed with any interviews. That process reduces the number of qualified candidates by as much as 85 percent. He then suggests conducting three or four interviews, with each meeting having a unique purpose, structure and a script to uncover new information about the candidate.

“The first interview is a throwaway. You are seeing a highly prepared and coached candidate who only provides anecdotal evidence of their behavior. By the third interview, you are getting high-quality information about the candidate. Having a defined hiring process also positions the company as a high-quality employer,” Fendrich says.

Judy Reich, vice president of sales for Renda Broadcasting in Pittsburgh, is responsible for the hiring and performance of more than 200 advertising sales representatives who work in the firm¡¯s 25 radio stations. In addition to a three- or four-stage scripted interviewing process, she requires candidates to make a final presentation to the sales manager and general manager of the station in order to assess their communication skills before extending an offer and then conducting background checks and drug screens.

“In order to be successful with this process we have to recruit every day, not just when we have a vacancy,” Reich says. “If we find a great candidate we will proactively hire them because other factors influence turnover, which is just a natural part of sales,” she says.

She requires her managers to submit a weekly report showing the number of candidates that have taken the assessments in order to assure that the pipeline remains full.

While no hiring process eliminates turnover, Alan Fendrich says that the real goal is to improve sales productivity.

“There are people out there with sales experience that should never have gotten into sales in the first place,” Fendrich says.

Hiring strictly from experience can filter that type of candidate into a process; hiring for the right psychological match opens the doors to a greater number of candidates and, potentially, brand-new top performers.

How to write a masterpiece of a resume

Write a resume that generates results.
This award-winning guide to resume writing will teach you to write a resume equal to one done by a top-notch professional writer. It offers examples, format choices, help writing the objective, the summary and other sections, as well as samples of excellent resume writing.

Writing a great resume does not necessarily mean you should follow the rules you hear through the grapevine. It does not have to be one page or follow a specific resume format. Every resume is a one-of-a-kind marketing communication. It should be appropriate to your situation and do exactly what you want it to do. Instead of a bunch of rules and tips, we are going to cut to the chase in this brief guide and offer you the most basic principles of writing a highly effective resume.

Who are we to be telling you how to write your resume? As part of our career consulting practice, we wrote and produced resumes for several Fortune 500 C.E.O.s, senior members of the last few presidential administrations, and thousands of professionals in nearly every field of endeavor. We also wrote resumes for young people just starting out.

We concentrate on helping people choose and change to careers that fit them perfectly. We have not employed resume writers for several years. If you are trying to decide what to do with your life, we can help you. That is our one and only specialty. Please don’t ask us to write your resume. We offer this resume writing guide to you because most of the resume books out there are so primitive.

This guide is especially for people looking for a job in the United States. In the U.S., the rules of job hunting are much more relaxed than they are in Europe and Asia. You can do a lot more active personal marketing here. You may have to tone down our advice a few notches and follow the traditional, conservative format accepted in your field if you live elsewhere or are in law, academia or a technical engineering, computer or scientific field. But even when your presentation must fit a narrow set of rules, you can still use the principles we will present to make your presentation more effective than your competition’s.

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THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD
The good news is that, with a little extra effort, you can create a resume that makes you really stand out as a superior candidate for a job you are seeking. Not one resume in a hundred follows the principles that stir the interest of prospective employers. So, even if you face fierce competition, with a well written resume you should be invited to interview more often than many people more qualified than you.

The bad news is that your present resume is probably much more inadequate than you now realize. You will have to learn how to think and write in a style that will be completely new to you.

To understand what I mean, let’s take a look at the purpose of your resume. Why do you have a resume in the first place? What is it supposed to do for you?

Here’s an imaginary scenario. You apply for a job that seems absolutely perfect for you. You send your resume with a cover letter to the prospective employer. Plenty of other people think the job sounds great too and apply for the job. A few days later, the employer is staring at a pile of several hundred resumes. Several hundred? you ask. Isn’t that an inflated number? Not really. A job offer often attracts between 100 and 1000 resumes these days, so you are facing a great deal of competition.

Back to the fantasy and the prospective employer staring at the huge stack of resumes: This person isn’t any more excited about going through this pile of dry, boring documents than you would be. But they have to do it, so they dig in. After a few minutes, they are getting sleepy. They are not really focusing any more. Then, they run across your resume. As soon as they start reading it, they perk up. The more they read, the more interested, awake and turned on they become.

Most resumes in the pile have only gotten a quick glance. But yours gets read, from beginning to end. Then, it gets put on top of the tiny pile of resumes that make the first cut. These are the people who will be asked in to interview. In this mini resume writing guide, what we hope to do is to give you the basic tools to take this out of the realm of fantasy and into your everyday life.

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THE NUMBER ONE PURPOSE OF A RESUME

The resume is a tool with one specific purpose: to win an interview. If it does what the fantasy resume did, it works. If it doesn’t, it isn’t an effective resume. A resume is an advertisement, nothing more, nothing less.

A great resume doesn’t just tell them what you have done but makes the same assertion that all good ads do: If you buy this product, you will get these specific, direct benefits. It presents you in the best light. It convinces the employer that you have what it takes to be successful in this new position or career.

It is so pleasing to the eye that the reader is enticed to pick it up and read it. It “whets the appetite,” stimulates interest in meeting you and learning more about you. It inspires the prospective employer to pick up the phone and ask you to come in for an interview.

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OTHER POSSIBLE REASONS TO HAVE A RESUME
To pass the employer’s screening process (requisite educational level, number years’ experience, etc.), to give basic facts which might favorably influence the employer (companies worked for, political affiliations, racial minority, etc.). To provide contact information: an up-to-date address and a telephone number (a telephone number which will always be answered during business hours).
To establish you as a professional person with high standards and excellent writing skills, based on the fact that the resume is so well done (clear, well-organized, well-written, well-designed, of the highest professional grades of printing and paper). For persons in the art, advertising, marketing, or writing professions, the resume can serve as a sample of their skills.
To have something to give to potential employers, your job-hunting contacts and professional references, to provide background information, to give out in “informational interviews” with the request for a critique (a concrete creative way to cultivate the support of this new person), to send a contact as an excuse for follow-up contact, and to keep in your briefcase to give to people you meet casually – as another form of “business card.”
To use as a covering piece or addendum to another form of job application, as part of a grant or contract proposal, as an accompaniment to graduate school or other application.
To put in an employer’s personnel files.
To help you clarify your direction, qualifications, and strengths, boost your confidence, or to start the process of commiting to a job or career change.

How Do Executives Find Jobs

You make six figures, you have the office in the corner, and you¡¯re used to calling the shots. You¡¯re a high-level exec, and you have been for a while. You¡¯ve got a great understanding of your industry and business as a whole, and you do a fine job of motivating those you work with. You¡¯re education is enviable and so is your experience. So why are you totally confused when it comes to the job search?

Of all of the groups of employees out there, many believe that executives are the most misguided when it comes to conducting an effective job search:

¡°It¡¯s surprising how many executives I work with think all they have to do is float their resume to a couple of headhunters, then wait for interviews and offers to flood in.

After all, they have a great track record¡­ industry expertise¡­ name-brand employment¡­ stair-step career progression¡­ maybe an Ivy League education. What more could any recruiter (or employer) want?¡± (From Executive Career Management)

The author goes on to highlight all of the different steps executives need to take to get hired including networking, targeted searches, quiet search strategies, and more. They¡¯re all important, and they ensure that executives won¡¯t have their resumes fall into the abyss as so many resumes do.
Now, recent studies have shown that executives, like many others, would prefer to and expect to use an online job board to find their next job:

¡°They recently asked the visitors to the WEDDLE¡¯s Web site to tell where they expect to find their next job. A total of 1,270 people participated in the survey. Here¡¯s how they think they¡¯ll be successful in future job search campaigns:

57.6% Responding to an ad posted on an Internet job board
16.8% Networking at business and social events¡­
Since it is accepted wisdom that most executive level jobs are found via some form of networking, this points to a major disconnect in the minds of employment seekers and the real world.¡± (From Executive Resumes)

So, executives expect to find their jobs online, but right now that¡¯s not the best way to go for them. Well, we say let¡¯s make it the best way to go. Networking will always play a large role in the job search, but if executives can¡¯t find what they¡¯re looking for online, maybe it¡¯s the searches and not the executives that are expereincing the disconnect. The fact that you¡¯re looking for a higher salary than many others or that you¡¯re in search of a top-level position shouldn¡¯t keep you from finding the right job match online.

An online search that facilitates communication and information exchange; one that allows executives to do more than just ¡°float their resume to a couple of headhunters,¡± and one that attracts top companies and top talent will allow executives to use the online job search as a primary tool in finding their next position.

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What Not to Wear to an Interview

What is the worst outfit ever worn to a job interview? For a career services director at the University of Chicago, it was the applicant who sported a Madras tie as a belt and a patterned cotton hat. Other contenders, according to a CareerBuilder.com survey of hiring managers, include candidates with dirty fingernails, micro-miniskirts, t-shirts with offensive slogans and even bare feet!

No one needs ‘Queer Eye’s’ Carson Kressley to tell them that wearing shoes to an interview is a good idea, but could you be guilty of one of these top 20 fashion faux pas?

1. Carrying a backpack or fannypack instead of a briefcase or portfolio: Some image consultants suggest women ditch their purse, too!

2. Sunglasses on top of your head or headphones around your neck: Be sure to remove all your “transit gear” and tuck it in your briefcase before entering the lobby.

3. Too-short skirts: Forget what some of those gals on ‘The Apprentice’ are wearing. Your skirt should cover your thighs when you are seated.

4. The wrong tie: Ties should be made of silk, no less than three and a quarter inches wide with a conservative pattern. Image consultants say the best colors are red or burgundy.

5. Overly bright or large-patterned clothing: With the possible exception of creative fields like advertising or computer programming, it’s best to stick with navy, black or gray.

6. Heavy makeup on women (or any makeup on a man)

7. Earrings on men: In fact, men should avoid wearing any jewelry unless it is a wedding ring, class ring or metal watch.

8. More than one set of earrings on women

9. Facial piercings, tongue jewelry or visible tattoos

10. Ill-fitting clothes. Few people can wear things straight off the rack. Spending a little extra to have your garments tailored is a worthwhile investment.

11. Long fingernails, especially with bright or specialty polishes. Nails should look clean and be trimmed to a length that doesn’t leave an observer wondering how you keep from stabbing yourself.

12. Unnatural hair colors or styles. Remember, Donald Trump was a billionaire well before he began wearing a comb-over. If you’re balding, try a close-cropped cut like Bruce Willis or Matt Lauer.

13. Short-sleeved shirts, even worse when worn with a tie

14. Fishnets, patterned hosiery or bare legs (no matter how tan you are). Women should stick with neutral color hosiery that complements their suit.

15. Men whose socks don’t match their shoes, or whose socks are too short and leave a gap of flesh when they are seated

16. Rumpled or stained clothing: If interviewing late in the day, try to change to a fresh suit beforehand.

17. Scuffed or inappropriate footwear, including sneakers, stilettos, open-toed shoes and sandals

18. Strong aftershaves, perfumes or colognes: Many people are allergic to certain scents. For a subtle fragrance, use a good quality bath soap.

19. Belts and shoes that don’t match: Shoes and belts should be made of leather or leather-like materials and the best colors for men are black or cordovan.

20. Telltale signs that your wearing a new suit. Remove all tags and extra buttons — and remember to cut off the zigzag thread that keeps pockets and slits closed!

Don’t be a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. Plan and lay out what you’re going to wear several days before the interview, so you’ll have time to shop or get garments pressed and cleaned.

Save “innovative” or revealing garb for the club (or your couch) and strive for crisp, clean and professional. Remember, you want the interviewer to be listening to what you’re saying, not critiquing what you’re wearing.