What are the best traits in successful job seekers? What should you ask when a headhunter calls? Every month we ask an IQ PARTNERS headhunter the same 10 questions to help you get to know who you’re working with. Meet Catherine Lund, a Toronto-based Marketing Recruiter who we interviewed about her experiences.
The current job market is competitive, and there are a lot of “A” players out there. Job searching can be overwhelming, especially when most things you read talk about how you’re doing it all wrong. As a recruiter, I deal with job seekers every day, and there are lots of things that most people are consistently doing right. Read on to find out what smart job seekers are doing and how you can make sure you’re one of them.
Have you ever gone to market for talent without a plan or without a team? It can be overwhelming and result in a poor hiring decision. When companies are unable to recruit top talent, it often comes down to the absence of a talent acquisition strategy or the absence of a team to do it.
Want your resume to get noticed? The words you choose to use count. You most likely already know that you have to include keywords in your resume. Most companies now use some type of applicant tracking software that looks for keywords that match specific job requirements. If your resume lacks the right combination of job-specific keywords, it will end up in the proverbial round file.
As many vacation days as you want, whenever you want, and for as long as you want… as long as you get your work done. A literal buffet of vacation time? It certainly sounds like the Holy Grail of employee benefits.
Hold on, does that mean I can take June, July and August off as a paid holiday? Or what about a 3 day weekend…every week?!?!
Having trouble with difficult hiring managers or frustrating recruiters? As a financial recruiter of 6 years, I’ve had my share of fantastic and not so great relationships with hiring managers. What I’ve learned is that a successful relationship between a hiring manager and recruiter requires a clear definition of expectations, especially when it comes to strong communication, honesty, transparency, commitment to the partnership, decisiveness, and an understanding of the hiring process.
Want to stand out in an interview from a sea of other candidates? Come to the interview prepared with a list of good questions. In a face-to-face interview, asking insightful questions is your opportunity to show how you think and demonstrate your value to the company. Plus it helps you decide if it’s the job you really want. Here are some good ones to get you started.
Unsuccessful hiring is arguably the biggest problem in business today, and getting the upper hand in the war on talent is increasingly challenging. As part of the blog series, Hire Wisdom: The 12 Keys to Successful Hiring, I will dissect Key #2: Generate Referrals. Many of the most successful businesses are built on word-of-mouth, with the most effective referrals coming from trusted and well-informed sources.
IQ PARTNERS’ Senior Partner Randy Quarin was recently interviewed by the Globe and Mail for one of their Editors’ Picks on job hunting in the selfie era. The article discusses how the industry has changed and what is currently changing in the recruiting game, such as video interviews and the use of LinkedIn and other social media sites. You can read the full article here:
