What are the Signs That Youve Found a Great Recruitment Agency

What are the Signs That You’ve Found a Great Recruitment Agency Whether you’re a job seeker looking for a great agency or you have a job vacancy you’re trying to fill, you have a lot of options when it comes to agency representation. Maybe you’re after a niche agency or you just want to get the most bang for your buck. Just like any other type of business, there are bad apples, there are the cream of the crop, and there’s a whole lot of room in the middle for “meh” agencies. How can you find the right match for you? First, you have to realize there’s no one “best” agency for every single employer and job seeker. What you’re looking for must be well matched to the agency. This requires extensive homework on your behalf, but there are also some major red flags to watch out for. For example, a lot of bad reviews, failure to respond in a timely manner, or replies that are clearly cut and pasted or don’t answer your queries mean it’s time to move on. On the plus side, there are also many signs that you have a great agency in your sights. Here are some of the good things to seek out: 1) They have stellar testimonials and reviews How trustworthy review sites are might be up for debate, but it’s usually pretty easy to tell if a review (especially positive ones) are fake or not. Look at a few review sites, but also don’t forget to check the testimonial sites on the actual agency page. You can also take a look at their LinkedIn page for endorsements  or other social media pages for compliments. Basically, if there are a lot of good reviews from genuine people, you’re on the right path. It’s even better if you can connect with someone who used to be in your shoes and who can attest to the prowess of the agency. 2) It just feels right Trusting your gut can go a long way, and going against that inner voice  almost never works out in your favor. When talking with a potential agency, follow your heart and if it feels right, there’s probably a reason for it. However, it can be tough to trust your gut when you go buy emails or online chats alone. Whenever possible, meet in person or at least have a phone conversation. There are many red flags that can be missed because you’re relying too much on technology. 3) They specialise in your industry This is particularly important if you’re in a very niche industry, but even if you consider your industry pretty mainstream, the agency should have placed candidates with similar skill sets and title numerous times. You don’t want to be the first Social Media Manager they place, and as an employer you don’t want an agency taking a stab at finding the perfect SEO copywriter for you. Experience matters. 4) They have a flawless BBB rating This kind of aligns with reviews, but always check the BBB for a business’ rating. If they’ve been reported, that means someone was upset enough to do something drastic about it beyond writing up a poor review. Just because someone’s on the BBB naughty list doesn’t necessarily mean they were in the wrong, but do you really want to take that chance? Any more than one bad BBB reviews, and you need to definitely look elsewhere. 5) Theyre transparent More important than how long a business has been in operation is just how transparent they are in the process. You should know exactly what they’re doing for you with no “secret sauce” in the mix. This isn’t a magic show, it’s your business or career, and you deserve to be in the know. 6) They dont act like they need you A good agency doesn’t need any more employers or recruiters, but they’re happy to bring newbies on board and are always accommodating. However, if it feels like you’ve been shoved into a high pressure environment, ask yourself why. True, maybe they’re brand new (in which case, are they inexperienced?) but otherwise there’s a reason they’re hurting for business. If an agency wants you but doesn’t need you, that’s a sign of a successful venture you should want to be a part of. 7)  You have your own, responsive agent You should have a point of contact whether you’re offering a job or looking for one. In fact, you should only have to work with one person at the agency who knows what you want, always has time for you and has a penchant for returning your calls or emails quickly. This is a very intimate and personal journey that you shouldn’t have to share with new agents every day. You’ll know when you find the right fit by how it feels in your gut. Trust yourself. Author: Larry Alton is an independent business consultant specializing in social media trends, business, and entrepreneurship. Follow him on  Twitter.

Resume Writing Tip - Do You Put the Most Recent Education First in a Resume?

Resume Writing Tip - Do You Put the Most Recent Education First in a Resume?You see people doing resume writing all the time but there is one reason why many of them are not using this fundamental trick that has been taught to them. The reason they do not use this trick is that they don't think about how to do it properly. In fact they use the method of writing a resume that has been learned by the masses and doesn't make any difference whether or not they use the most recent education first in a resume.If you put the most recent education first in a resume you will be able to differentiate yourself from the others because the common resume writers think of everything. Since everyone is using the same resume technique, this is the way you should use your resume. You don't have to worry about using the most recent education since they are already in the public domain.The thing is that your resume should be as comprehensive as possible and you should not have to guess where you fit on the list of candidates. The criteria for getting into the position you want is that you have a good job history and an attractive resume. There is nothing more important than the resume.Lists are useful. Lists can help you find the job you want. However, the resume is the most important thing and you should not leave it to chance. Since you can take lists and use them as guidelines, you should also put the most recent education first in a resume.Because the education was recent, it does not have to hold as much weight as other examples of education such as law school or medical school. They hold a certain degree of importance because they are degrees that have been hard earned. For resumes you need the common resume conventions but you also need to take into account the latest education if there is one. Since resumes are not used for selling a product, the most recent education should not be included.It is in the resumes that companies look for the big things in their employees. If you know how to use the education that will stand out in your resume you will make sure that you have what it takes to get the job you want. This is the major thing that most people do not get right and that is why most people do not know how to write a resume. You will want to use some great examples of the education that you have and if there is one, you want to use the most recent one in a resume.There are so many more examples of what you want to include in your resume. You will want to keep these things in mind before you actually start writing your resume. Remember that this is the only thing that you will be able to sell to potential employers. Your resume is the only thing that will allow you to stand out from the crowd.You can also include some personal information in your resume if you choose to. Remember that you want to make sure that your resume stands out from the crowd. If you know the most recent education in a resume then you can use that to help you with that.

Announcing the 2009 Personal Branding Summit in Boston - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Announcing the 2009 Personal Branding Summit in Boston - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Over the past few years, Ive been experimenting and executing new projects rather quickly. In fact, between March 14 and August 1st of 2007, I created this blog, as well as Personal Branding TV, Personal Branding Magazine, the Personal Brand Awards, DanSchawbel.com and I wrote articles for magazines and websites.   Since then, Ive obviously slowed down in some respect, especially with a full-time job, speaking and consulting.   For example, Ive turned down speaking opportunities in Lithuania and England because I felt like I wasnt ready yet.   Part of my own personal branding voyage is getting out of my comfort zone and to try new things.   That being said, today Im officially announcing my latest project called the Personal Branding Live Event series! Note: One hundred tickets were available during pre-sale and were sold out in less than forty eight hours.   Fifteen more tickets became available and they were gone in seven minutes!   Today, the final fifteen tickets are up for grabs and only ten are left. Reserve your spot today before its too late! Personal Branding Summit 2009 The first Personal Branding Summit live event will be held in Boston, MA. It will be a free event mainly for people who live nearby or in the northeast.   You can bet that the majority of attendees will either be job seekers or entrepreneurs, but I would expect some employed workers who are looking to advance their careers as well.   The event will be two and a half hours, with a thirty minute networking piece, as well as three forty minute speaking sessions.   I will be doing the introduction and thought leadership session, where I will paint a portrait for the new world of work and how to be take advantage of your brand in this economy.   Then, we have Gil Yehuda, who will discuss how to leverage a blog for your career and finally, Sheryl Victor Levy will explain how you can benefit from social networking. Event details Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009 from 10:00 AM 12:30 PM (ET) Location: Borders Bookstore, 10-24 School St., Boston, MA 02108 Schedule: 10:00 AM 10:30 AM Networking 10:30 AM 11:10 AM Introduction by Dan Schawbel 11:10 AM 11:50 AM Blogging session with Gil Yehuda 11:50 AM 12:30 PM Social networking session with Sheryl Victor Levy Speakers Gil Yehuda is an independent industry analyst covering the Enterprise 2.0, Knowledge Management, and Collaboration markets. He is a leading expert in how social technologies and social networking behaviors help individuals and organizations achieve business success. Gil was most recently a senior analyst at Forrester Research, where he provided consulting to companies around the world on topics related to social computing. Prior to that he was an enterprise architect at Fidelity Investments. Gil started his professional career as a knowledge engineer at Xerox. Sheryl Victor Levy is the owner of Savvy Strategy, a consultancy for a new world combining business development, licensing, marketing and social media. Sheryl has spent the past 15 years on the client and agency sides and prior to Savvy, launched the recruiting firm, Mirren Talent. Prior to Mirren, Sheryl led world-wide brand development of products and services at Hearst Magazines for : Cosmopolitan, Cosmogirl!, Country Living, Esquire, and others. Prior to Hearst, Sheryl was a VP, Marketing Director for BaseSix, a boutique interactive firm based in Boston where she was responsible for spearheading the entertainment-side of the business, managing such clients as HBO and Showtime. Sheryl was also a Sr. Account Manager at The Sloan Group for clients such as Ticketmaster and Nickelodeon and spent the first 8 years of her career in marketing and brand development at MTV, VH1 and USA Networks. Why Im doing it Aside from my obvious passion and expertise in this area, Ive been spending way too much time contributing content online, instead of networking in real life.   I feel like I can connect much better in person, than online and that the information I have to share with the world right now is extremely valuable.   With the help of Gil and Sheryl, I think we can really make a difference for people who are at career crossroads right now and have no where else to turn.   Ive never hosted a live event before and would like to start doing more of these types of events in the future, but Ill be charging for those events.   This one is free for everyone and will be a great introduction into the world of personal branding and how to use your brand to make a name for yourself, even in this cluttered world.   Borders will also have copies of Me 2.0 for attendees who are interested in purchasing it after the event. 5 tips for networking at events 1.   Come prepared. If you dont do your research on me, Gil or Sheryl, then you wont know what youre in for.   Why sign-up for an event if you dont know what to expect?   You should also review the list of attendees who are set to come to the event, so that you know who to network with when you arrive.   This is important because only a portion of attendees will have similar backgrounds and motives for coming, so youll want to connect with them over everyone else. 2.   Bring business cards. It doesnt matter if youre unemployed or youre a student, you need to leave someone for other people to remember you by.   Also, if you have your picture on your business card, people wont forget that they spoke to you.   On your business card, you should have a positioning or personal brand statement, that tells people what you do and who you do it for (your audience).   It should have one to two methods of contact (phone and email) and one or two websites (such as your blog). 3.   Less is more. Dont try and meet thirty people at the event.   Instead, focus on building relationships and getting to know just a handful.   People dont like other people who just pass out business cards.   The more time you spend getting to know a single individual, the better the chances that something positive will actually come out of it. 4.   Take notes. You may receive the PowerPoint slides and a few videos after the event is complete, but why not take notes, so you can capture the talking points and the Q A session?   Its important to take notes at an event, so that you come out with some action items or ideas to bring back to your organization or for your job search.   Otherwise, you may forget a lot of what you just learned. 5.   Ask questions. When you go to an event, you should have some questions in mind that you want to ask.   Q A sessions are great for asking about your specific situation, so you can go back home or to the office and start taking the advice.   You also, in effect, become more well known at the event by asking a question, which can help you when you connect with other people once the event is over, who might have had the same question.

Developing a successful CVthe 7 essentials

Developing a successful CVthe 7 essentials There is no one way of writing a CV, everyone has an opinion on the style and format! Well, here is a quick guide to putting together an effective CV that you can tailor to the job of your dreams, summer work or part time work. You need to think of how long the reader will take to look at it. First glance, potentially only 10 â€" 30 seconds!!! But don’t panic you can grab their attention with a concise and clearly worded CV. You need to make your CV easy to read and the information easy to absorb. You can use subheadings in education and bullet points in work experience. 1) Don’t go general, instead concentrate on the specific approach. You may have heard a friend moan about how they have sent out 100 CVs and got no response to any of them. Frustrating. If you go for a quality, tailored to the role CV you will write fewer of them but you will see a better return. Give the recruiter what they need and fit the CV to the role you want. Pick out how previous work experience fits in with this role. Talk about evidence of skills they need. Be specific! 2) Make sure you don’t have any grammar or spelling mistakes. It belies any claim that you make for having a great eye for detail. Sometimes we can’t spot all of our own mistakes and even spell check won’t pick out errors. (i.e. you may have put ‘fro’ instead of ‘for’.) Ask a friend to look over what you have written. 3) The first thing a recruiter needs to see is your contact details. So you don’t need to put Curriculum Vitae at the top they do know what this is! Start instead with your name, then your address (even though you are going to be contacted by email or telephone!). Employers still like to see a postal address, (if you are an international student it shows you are in the UK and therefore easier to interview and hire) email and a telephone number. What you don’t need: you don’t have to put your picture, or your date of birth, never add your national insurance number or gender. None of these have any bearing on your suitability for the role. International students might want to list their nationality if they require a work permit but the advice is split on doing this and as always it is your choice. 4) Start with your education but only if that is what you are doing now. Starting the CV with any section that doesn’t relate to what you are doing now can be confusing to the reader. After graduation and the start of your career it will be your work experience that is the first section on the CV. Do give details of your course â€" you can talk about key modules (not all) and your project/dissertation. You can talk about achievements such as winning a bursary. Always clearly subhead the section to make it easier to scan through. Also, you can talk about extra-curricular activities in societies or save these for examples of specific skills. 5) You can use subheading within your Work Experience Section to define sector or industry specific from general work. This allows you to talk about relevant work experience that you did. If you did a year in industry but have returned to uni and now are working part-time you can start with the year in industry first if you do this. All work experience is good and there is nothing wrong about part-time work but a year in industry for some employers gives you a head start. 6) Skills are split into soft (i.e. communication and team working etc.) and hard skills (Languages and IT). Soft skills need clear evidence to demonstrate to the recruiter you have them. Hard skills can be listed but whilst IT is pretty useful to most roles language skills can depend on the job. Always match evidence of skills to the job and here the vacancy ad is your biggest clue! 7) Interests, these reflect you and the hidden skills you have. By this I mean that love of travelling can demonstrate your organisational skills and your intercultural skills if you explain where you have travelled to. Sports do indicate a level of fitness but also show you are managing your work life balance by giving yourself time off from studies and part time work to relax and unwind. A good CV is constantly changing and targeted to the role and how you meet the employers’ needs. You can always get your CV checked and if you understand what the employer wants you can demonstrate what they need and how you fulfil their criteria. There are other styles of CVs, such as a skills based one, but for most a chronological style CV fits their needs effectively. Good luck.

How to List Grant Writing and Received on Resume

How to List Grant Writing and Received on ResumeAs you begin your search for the right online education, the question on how to list grant writing and received on resume can come up. There are many grants out there for people who want to get an education. However, most of these people do not know how to apply for these funding sources.If you are currently in the midst of a student loan debt, you may have already decided to do everything you can to find the best solution. One such option is to apply for scholarships or grants. Scholarships and grants do not have to be repaid and if you are accepted for them, they will be provided by private, government, and educational sources. The key to this funding source is to understand how to list grant writing and received on resume.First of all, this is not an easy job and it does require some amount of time and effort. While it is true that you may be offered some freebies in exchange for your resume, remember that a resume only states your p ersonal information. Also, it is not a good idea to place a lot of necessary details on a resume. So, do not even try. Try to highlight the information that is related to the position you are applying for.The best way to get a hold of information about the various types of educational awards and scholarships is to look for free sources online. These sources usually have updated lists of available resources, as well as information about eligibility requirements and deadlines. You should also make sure that you also get a hold of any scholarships that are awarded on a rolling basis, instead of one per year.Once you have taken this step, you may want to add your name to a database of scholarship providers. This will help you get a better picture of what scholarships you can apply for. Remember that not all scholarships are offered to everyone. You need to apply for the ones that fit your needs and qualifications, based on the information you gathered.After you have applied for the scho larship that best fits your needs, you can then gather all the other sources of educational awards that you may have missed. Keep in mind that the main criteria for getting into an online education is that you must be enrolled in a recognized university or college. Therefore, you will need to list these universities and colleges on your resume. Make sure that you also include your specific field of study.Most often, the funding provider will approve a scholarship if the person that is awarded it is doing well in studies. In addition, it is good to make sure that the scholarship has some form of criteria, such as certain GPA. If the scholarship is to be paid through an agency or corporation, you will need to make sure that they meet this criterion.When applying for the scholarship, ensure that you also list your employer. If you are not currently employed, you may want to list that on your resume as well.

Stealth Competitor Wonder Why You Do Not Get Rewarded - Career Pivot

Stealth Competitor Wonder Why You Do Not Get Rewarded - Career Pivot Stealth Competitor? Copyright: phoopanotpics / 123RF Stock Photo Are you a stealth competitor? If you are, you probably do not get rewarded the way you want. You may ask why? If you are really a stealth competitor then no one knows what you want. I was first to be introduced to the concept in my Birkman training. Later, I had a female client send me the book,Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth byMika Brzezinski. What is a Stealth Competitor? They are typically really nice people. Their warmth is contagious. They are all for the team or, at least, that is what they say. I had one client who was a big time stealth competitor whose daughter said, “Mommy only plays games where everyone wins.” The problem is if you lose in a game… you really lose nothing. It is just a game. My client was an educator who was a wonderful team player. However… when she did not get the end-of-year recognition or award she would get really ticked off. I told her that it was not even obvious that she even wanted the award. Her response was, “You should have known.” Listen to the most recent episode She was a stealth competitor. No one had a clue that she wanted or even deserved the award because everything was for the team. Microsoft’s CEO Tells Women It’s Bad Karma to Ask For a Raise Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, got lambasted for his comment back in 2014: It’s not about asking for the raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along… And that, I think might be one of the additional superpowers that quite frankly women who don’t ask for a raise have. Because that’s good karma. It’ll come back because somebody’s going to know ‘that’s the kind of person that I want to trust. That’s the kind of person I want to really give more responsibility to.’ And in the long-term efficiency, things catch up.And I wonder… And I’m not saying that’s the only approach. I wonder whether taking the long-term helps solve for what might be perceived as this uncomfortable thing of ‘hey, am I getting paid right? Am I getting rewarded right?’ Because the reality is your best work is not followed with your best rewards. Your best work then has an impact, people recognize it and then you get the rewards so you have to somehow think that through, I think. This is a classic example of why we have stealth competitors. Society programs us not to ask for what we want. This is particularly true for women. They are told from their earliest ages that if you work hard and do your best you will be rewarded. Yeah, right! Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth InMika Brzezinski’s book,Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth, she interviewed dozens of women involved in the 2008 presidential campaign. One quote fromValerie Jarrett,Senior Advisor to President Obama and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls was particularly powerful. As a female and an African-American, Jarrett says she always expected to face obstacles in the workplace: “My parents raised me to think because I was a girl and because I was black I was going to work twice as hard. They did it with no chip on their shoulder â€" it was a just a fact of life, get used to it. Don’t try to change what it is, just work twice as hard.” So she says that’s what she did. She worked hard and kept her head down. But Jarrett didn’t expect that working hard would not automatically lead to advancement and better pay. “I felt like if I was deserving, then my boss should recognize that I was deserving.” â€" Valerie Jarrett Does this sound familiar? Is this a female thing? Most of the stealth competitors have been women. All of the educators I have worked with have been stealth competitors. I have had a number of men who followed the stealth competitor model. They primarily had the concept introduced that it was bad to ask for what they wanted by their father. Just like you heard fromMicrosoft CEO, Satya Nadella, it is a popular belief in our society that if you do good work, keep your head down, and stay focused on the goal you will get rewarded. Yeah, right! Understanding what you want! I wrote in my post,6 Rewards that Make Us Feel Valued at Work, most of us want 2 or 3 of these 6 rewards. They include: Mission Bonus Check Public Recognition Pat on the back from your boss Recognition from your team Pat on the back from your client If you are a stealth competitor, we have no idea what the heck you want. Therefore, most of the time you will not get rewarded the way you want. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

Im featured in the CEO refresher - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Im featured in the CEO refresher - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog The december issue of the online magazine the CEO Refresher has an article I wrote in it. Its about the art of hosting, and the editor called it a brilliant insight into leadership one of the most creative insights I have seen. Youll have to imagine me strutting around a hotel room in DC (I was at the World Dynamics round table), my arms raised above my head when I recieved that mail :o) The article is based on my experiences at a conference in Slovenia which i wrote about here. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Food for Thought for Friday Hacking Towards Happiness - Hallie Crawford

Food for Thought for Friday Hacking Towards Happiness I read this in a Time Magazine article in July. It was about managing your time in the digital age with all of our digital gadgets that constantly demand our attention.Oh I mean manage our time. Sometimes they are a help, sometimes a hindrance I think. Heres something I do to cope: I have set my email Outlook to only send and receive when I click on that Send/Receive button at the top. I tell my career coaching clients this and they say, Oh, mine just beeps at me all the time when I have a new message. Can you say-drive me crazy! Id go bonkers. The same goes for my new Tmobile DASH I recently purchased. Its like a Crackberry but runs Windows. One of the 1st things I did when I got it was to turn off the chime that let me know when I had a new email message. Talk about distracting. (Can you tell I am passionate about this?) So this article says to check email only once an hour and text message yourself notes to create memories of key moments youll later savor. Ok the 2nd idea is cute, its like an online journal. But the 1st one I think is crazy. I suggest to people they only check their email twice a day. I feel like I could spend my whole day just answering and managing emails. If your job depends on email and you have to check it more frequently, fine. But I would recommend setting aside 2 times during the day that you check email. Otherwise youll get sucked in. Try it next week, see that the impact is on your work productivity! Happy Friday, HallieCareer Coach Related Links:Holiday Travel, Take a stand for no email