Great Occupations

I think Gary O'Neal is a LinkedIn guru. He really knows his stuff and proved it during his presentation to the Austin Career Developers Network on Tuesday. As a recruiter, Gary seems to pretty much live on planet Linkedin. He said that 60% of the hires he's made in the last year or so have started and ended on LinkedIn. As a career strategist, he provides an excellent perspective for job seekers. He helps you see how to leverage this helpful tool so recruiters can find you. When it comes to LinkedIn, here's what Gary says... Read the rest of this entry »

1. Go to www.recruitinglife.com. This is the website for the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS). Check out the membership directory - you can search under specialty or geographical location. 2. I haven't personally used this book, but there folks I respect who recommend it... Read the rest of this entry »

A subtle, but important, thing to consider if you’re working with external recruiters.

Jay & I advocate doing the Targeted Job Search Method in the AIM module of The Job Search Boot Camp program. If you take this method to the logical final step of “targeted outreach,” you will be doing something that has a high-value return rate for your job search. However, doing this assertive, high-value step might just get in the way of the relationships you have with external recruiters.

Why is that? Because when you directly contacting decision makers yourself, you could be narrowing the external recruiter’s ability to place you.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t contact the decision makers yourself. You’ll just have to make a determination about whether you want to take more control of your job search or if you would prefer to leave it to the recruiter to handle for you. If you’re considering working with a recruiter, heed this warning… successful external recruiters are busy working with multiple candidates. You’re not the only “horse in their stable.”

There are definite advantages to having a recruiter represent you to employers. They provide a buffer so that you appear to be above the fray of the job search, and they could very well have relationships with hiring authorities that you don’t have. But there are also definite advantages in making those personal connections with hiring authorities yourself.

Angela Loëb is an author, speaker and career coach. She and her partner, Jay Markunas, help people make successful career transitions through workshops, webclasses and 2×1 individualized coaching services. Listen to them on The Job Search Boot Camp Show. Find out more about their programs & services at www.greatoccupations.com. NOTE: For a limited time during Graduation Season, Angela & Jay are offering the perfect new grad gift: The Job Search Boot Camp for College Grads, a live, interactive & intensive program. For more details, click here.

This week our guest was Juliana Harris. Juliana is the Managing Director and Owner of Professional Career Associates where she oversees all outplacement, career counseling and training activities for individual and corporate clients. We asked Juliana to talk about her experience as a Recruiter and what goes on behind the Recruiter’s desk.

Professional Networkers One question I asked Juliana was about how Recruiters get and screen candidates. “Recruiters all-in-all are professional networkers, and usually specialize in an industry”, said Juliana. That’s what makes a Recruiter very valuable when you are in your job search. They are networked with many people. If you create a relationship with a Recruiter, you could help accelerate your job search. If they don’t have a job posting for you now, they soon may. Or, they may refer you to another person in their network who may have a job right now.

There’s a myth that Recruiters are simply “head hunters”. They could care less about you and only about getting that commission. While there are some of those out there (and I’ve had experience with one of those in Houston), I have experienced many times a Recruiters willingness to coach, teach, and advise even when they don’t have a job to fill. If you are looking for a job, consider forming a relationship with a Recruiter.

Jay Markunas is a Career Coach and big fan of most Recruiters (except for the one in Houston!). Tonight Jay will be speaking at the Compass Group, and this morning Angela will be speaking at the Job Seekers group at Hill Country Church. Visit our calendar page for more information.