The IQ PARTNERS Blog

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:

Last year, my colleague Carly-Anne Fairlie wrote Top 5 Myths About Headhunters/Recruiters, where she deconstructed popular myths held by job seekers about working with a headhunter. In this blog, I will look at the issue from a client’s point of view, tackling some preconceived notions (some true, some not) about working with headhunters.

Here at IQ PARTNERS, we believe that the recruitment business can be done better, smarter, and with greater professionalism. In fact, it’s our company motto, and in order to live up to that ideal we have to constantly challenge, measure, and re-evaluate ourselves. We use the following goals to ensure that we are on target to accomplish our mission and provide exceptional value and service to our clients. We encourage you to use these objectives to measure our service and that of any other headhunter.

You’ve just signed a top tier employee to your team; you’ve interviewed and negotiated salary and checked references and completed the background check, so your work is done, right? Wrong. Once the employment agreement is signed, your work is not over.