How Professional is Your Recruiter LinkedIn Will Tell You!

How Professional is Your Recruiter LinkedIn Will Tell You! A LinkedIn profile is powerful, but LinkedIn itself can tell you a whole lot more than you think…. I loved this recent piece I read from Punk Rock HR’s Laurie Ruettimann on questions to ask a recruitment consultant. She includes things such as asking for a bio, asking the consultant to talk about their networking strategies, their relationships with HR professionals plus asking the consultant to give you an overview of the industry and their last couple of placements. These are great questions. Here’s something else you can do: I also think that just as a recruitment consultant is back-grounding your profile on LinkedIn, you can do your own due diligence using LinkedIn on the person who represents you. I say this because two of my clients recently have had very disappointing experiences with consultants. Have a read of these scenarios. Scenario 1 One of my clients was going for a major interview. He was a bundle of nerves, as, and I know this sounds like a cliché, this was his dream job. The consultant said she would give him a practice run on his interview skills the morning before the interview. He called and called and called, only to be told that the consultant was in a meeting and not available. That made a nerve-wracking situation even more difficult for my client. Scenario 2 Another of my clients saw an advertised job and telephoned a consultant. The consultant said she sounded perfect for the job and would forward on her resume to the employer. My client left a couple of messages but did not hear back. She then called the consultant a week later, only to be told that the consultant had left. Her new consultant said she would chase the role up with the employer. One week later my client still had not heard anything. So my client rang the employer directly, who told her he had not received her resume, nor had he engaged any agency to advertise the role. Ouch! If you’re reading this post as a job seeker, I know in many cases you will chase the role despite the recruitment consultant. But if you’re worried about who is representing you, or are looking for a good consultant to contact, here’s what LinkedIn may tell you, about the professionalism of your consultant. This is beyond what what is actually written on the consultant’s profile. 8 ways to check up on the recruiter: Does the recruitment consultant actually have a profile on LinkedIn? In most cases you’d want them to have one. It shows that they want visibility in the market place and to make themselves accessible. Plus it shows that they understand the value of networking. A LinkedIn profile will not only tell you where the consultant has worked, but how long they have spent at each company. Just as many short term stints don’t look that great on your resume, neither does it for a recruitment consultant. It’s says something about the person, something about the organization, or something about both. A LinkedIn profile can tell you the depth of a consultant’s industry expertise. That way you can see if they know what they are talking about. Look to see who recommends the recruitment consultant on LinkedIn. Asking for a recommendation is actually a big deal. It should be a big deal as it is a public endorsement. So if several of the consultant’s clients have said complimentary things about them, it is a good sign that they are good at building lasting relationships. Does the consultant have a string of other colleagues from the same company recommend them on LinkedIn? I don’t have an issue with one or two. However too many commendations for the consultant from people who look like current colleagues in the same company, makes it look like the person does not get the point of LinkedIn. If someone understands what to put on LinkedIn, then they probably understand networking, (whether they do it well is a whole other story). How many people are in the consultant’s network on LinkedIn, and who are they? If there is a solid sprinkling of HR Managers, Directors, senior execs, managers and candidates, then that’s a sign that people are happy to hook up with the consultant. Again that’s an indication of the service they may provide. How does the consultant network, and which groups do they belong to? Do they belong to any industry groups? Have they created groups of their own? You can join the group and look to see how the consultant communicates with others. Lastly, and I’m annoyed with myself for not thinking of this first, look to see how well the consultant writes their profile. What words do they use? Perhaps they may be describing you in the same way. You want to be comfortable with that. Bottom line: This is how you’re being checked out as a candidate. It goes beyond just what you’ve written on your profile. This is how I expect people to look at my profile. This is why I’m not sure I made the right decision (two years ago) to become an open networker, but more on that later. More on this topic at Do We Expect Too Much from Recruitment Agencies? Image: Shutterstock

6 Skills That You Should Look for in Every CV

6 Skills That You Should Look for in Every CV As a recruiter it’s vital to be able to pinpoint relevant skills from an applicant’s CV, looking not only for industry-specific requirements but those strengths that can transition into any position. A recruiter needs to be able to go beyond the skills listed in an applicant’s CV, reviewing the candidate’s achievements, experiences and the results they have documented to uncover core skills that are fundamental for any role. These are 6 skills you should be looking for in any candidate’s CV. 1. Drive A candidate’s drive will be reflected in all aspects of their CV, through the way they detail their previous experience, their ambition to progress and develop as well as their motivation to achieve in any role they undertake. Look for result driven examples that document how they have contributed to company goals or achieved as an individual previously. This drive will not only be limited to work examples so also assess their educational or extra curriculum performance. You want to find a candidate who is passionate to deliver so look for highlights of previous accomplishments and how the applicant plans to replicate these types of results within a new role. 2. Teamwork The ability to work effectively in a team will be featured in a candidate’s CV through examples of how they have contributed to teams and assisted colleagues or clients to reach a shared target. Look out for a candidate’s aptitude to not only express their own responsibilities or achievements but instead link these to how their actions affected the overall team or organization. Don’t just consider direct examples of group projects, work within a team or club involvement to identify this strength but instead evaluate how any work they have undertaken as an individual has supported the team or impacted other team members positively. 3. Relationship building Rapport building is a strength that is easy to assess in a phone or face to face interview, but you don’t have to wait until these stages to detect whether an applicant has the talent to build successful relationships. When searching a CV, look out for times in which the candidate has formed relationships that have in turn been able to benefit them and their career, this could be through formal networking or through working across departments or teams. If the candidate has provided a link to their LinkedIn profile as part of their CV, also consider reviewing testimonials or endorsements to verify their ability to forge productive relationships. Observe how a candidate has used these relationships to enhance their career or to gain further exposure to new fields or ways of working. Collaboration is central to any position so as a recruiter it’s important to be discovering applicants who have been able to demonstrate this proficiency. 4. Strategy Whether planning actions for a team or at an individual level;  a candidate being able to plan their own workload and develop actions to ensure the success of goals or targets is crucial, and a skill you should be looking out for. Pay attention to examples of project work where a candidate has devised strategies and exhibited a clear timeline of results or potentially teamwork where they have implemented a new process. Thinking strategically and the ability to work in line with a dedicated action plan should be evident throughout an applicant’s career and educational history. Consider situations where a candidate has shown their capacity for individual growth in their career and ways in which they have evaluated this long-term strategy. 5. Problem-solving Problem-solving can be demonstrated in a variety of ways, so as a recruiter you need to recognize how an applicant has shown this characteristic, review occasions where a candidate has worked through challenging factors to provide a solution. For example, in instances where an applicant has identified a problem and been able to bring forward new methods or ideas to overcome the issue. A strong problem solver will also be able to effectively define goals, assess alternatives and evaluate situations so you should be considering this when examining an applicant’s CV. 6. Negotiation Negotiating isn’t a skill just reserved for sales roles. Whether a candidate can negotiate with clients, suppliers or internal staff, the capacity to negotiate is a sort after skill. Identify occasions where the candidate has been able to bring a discussion to a successful conclusion whether this has taken place in team meetings, presentations or consultations with a client. Although, most candidates may not directly add this skill to their CV, especially if they aren’t applying for sales related positions, look for examples where the candidate has worked to find solutions or has overcome obstacles to obtain a required outcome.

18 Steps to Nailing Your LinkedIn Profile

18 Steps to Nailing Your LinkedIn Profile With millions of other members creating noise on LinkedIn,  it can be tough  to get your profile to stand out from the crowd. So if you want to get noticed, its important that you put your best face forward and put  the  time and effort into filling out each section in detail. Techniques such as adding keywords to your profile help to optimise it for search results and the more complete your profile is and better connected you are, the higher you will appear in search results, boosting  your chances of getting discovered. If your LinkedIn profile is in need of a revamp, this guide by TruConversion could be of some help. What makes LinkedIn the best professional network? LinkedIn is responsible for 80% of businesses social media leads. 77% said that LinkedIn has allowed them to research people and companies using the search function. 76% of Premium users report that the Who Viewed Your Profile feature is the most useful and the option to introduce people is good for referrals. How to craft the perfect LinkedIn profile: 1) Headline Your headline should work as a mini value proposition using verbs and other active language 2) Your profile picture Your profile is 11 times more likely to be viewed if you have a picture, but make sure it is professional and portrays you in the best light. 3) Background  photo Your background photo can say a little bit more about you and your interests. Be creative, but remain professional. 4) Contact information Always provide people with a way to contact you, such as an email address, phone number, Twitter handle, etc. 5) Summary Write a brief description of yourself and round up of your professional background. Keep it brief and to the point. 6) Customise your URL Make your profile more professional and easier to find by customising your public profile URL to your full name. 7) SEO Optimise your profile for search results by using keywords and terms across your profile and adding skills relevant to your experience. 8)  Optimise website link You can optimise the anchor text in your URL in the website section by selecting the Other option. In order to get more clicks make it keyword rich and attention grabbing. 9) Emphasise professional skills Your LinkedIn profile is 13 times more likely to be viewed if you add your  skills and it will encourage other users to provide you with endorsements. 10) Promote projects Highlight previous projects that you have completed or contributed to and include any links or material to the project website if possible. 11) Publications Add any article written by you or about you to add credibility to your profile. 12) Join groups Join and participate in groups related to your industry or niche to get yourself noticed by other professionals in the sector. 13) Share honours and awards Boost your credibility by  listing any rewards and honours you have received. 14) Share your interests Allow people to build a fuller picture of you as an individual by listing your hobbies and interests. Use keywords to optimise for search. 15) Connect with others When connecting with other users, be sure to personalise your invitation to explain why you would like to connect and to introduce yourself if you do not know them. The best option to select is Weve done business together, rather than friend. 16) Showcase volunteer work 42% of hiring manager said that they regard voluntary work as equal to other formal work experience and one in 5 have chosen a candidate based on their volunteer work, so its worth including. 17) Be active Try to log in each day to share updates and interact with other users. It takes 20 posts a month to reach 60% of your audience. 18) Best time to post LinkedIn updates between 10am-2pm EST get the most shares. [Image Credit: Shutterstock]

Fantastic Tricks To Reverse The Signs Of Aging

Fantastic Tricks To Reverse The Signs Of Aging Unfortunately, for us career girls, with all the stresses we are under at work, we are more prone to aging. We might be a little bit obsessed with our career, but we still want to look fabulous and feel good about ourselves. So it’s only natural that we want to prevent ourselves from aging. But, no matter how much we try to prevent aging, we know that sooner or later we will all age. It’s a natural part of life, at some point we will all age, get wrinkles and grow old and no matter how hard you try, it is not a process you can stop. However, the good news is, that there are plenty of ways we can slow down the aging process and prevent it to a certain extent. Here is our guide to all the best tricks to prevent and reverse signs of aging: Image source Take care of your skin If you want a toned and trim body, then you have to take care of yourself by eating right and exercising on a regular basis. Well, the skin is the same. To keep your skin looking and feeling healthy, you need to take the time to take care of it properly, by putting a suitable skin care regime in place. You might have a hectic career and a busy lifestyle, but a skin care regime only needs to take a few minutes a day. Make time for a regular skin care program and you can help to protect your skin and keep yourself looking young for as long as possible. While you can go all out and invest in many different skin products, sometimes sticking to the basics can be just as effective. As long as you remove your makeup each night (not with a makeup wipe), cleanse, tone and moisturize, your skin should be just fine. Don’t forget to exfoliate While you don’t need to make exfoliation a part of your daily skin care routine, you should aim to exfoliate at least two to three times a week. Exfoliating is really important as a good exfoliator will remove any dead skin cells and dry skin, allowing new skin cells to form in their place. This will help to keep your skin looking fresh, bright, and most importantly, young. All you need to do is invest in a good exfoliator and a gentle washcloth and you’re good to go. If you suffer from dry skin, make sure to pick an exfoliator that is moisturizing so that it doesn’t dry your skin out. Eat healthily Did you know that as well as affecting your waistline, the foods you eat also affect how healthy your skin is? The foods you eat, from fruits and veggies packed with antioxidants to oily fish packed full of hydrating fats, can have a big impact on the health of your skin. You can learn more about eating healthily from books like [amazon template=productasin=1623152615]. For healthy, wrinkle-free skin (or as wrinkle-free as possible), aim to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, oily fish, nuts, and berries. Olive oil is also known for it’s anti-aging properties, so always aim to cool with olive oil. Take supplements Although your body can get most of what it needs from a healthy diet, there are some things that it may need a boost in. And, that’s where supplements come in. The best supplements you can take to support your skins health and prevent aging are Vitamin C, Marine d3 (a supplement based on squid oil extract) and Q10. These supplements work by giving your body the extra vitamins it needs, helping to keep your body and skin healthy and happy. Sunscreen It might sound obvious, but one of the main factors that cause premature aging is sun damage. So, whenever you have time to get out of the office and chill in the sun, it is important that you always take extra care and apply sunscreen.

4 things to remember if youre regretting your degree choice - Debut

4 things to remember if you’re regretting your degree choice - Debut This article was written by an external contributor. If youre now having second thoughts  about your degree choice, Zahra Clembintson has some words of wisdom to help reassure you.   Graduating from university can stir up a variety of emotions. Elation at the fact you’ve managed to make it through all those caffeine-fueled all-nighters in the library. Relief you will never have to panic-write another essay ahead of a looming deadline again. Fear at the thought you will now have to full-time “adult”. However, for some graduating can bring about a very different feeling: regret. Recent research by CV library has found that  over a third of graduates have regrets about their degree choice. So if you’re regretting your time at university, here are four things to remember. Choosing a degree is hard With over 50,000 undergraduate courses at more than 395 providers in the UK available to search via UCAS , the choice of degrees available to be studied is vast. Before choosing your degree, you probably considered several factors. These may have included the subjects you enjoyed, where you gained your best marks and what career you wanted after university. The views of family, friends and teachers may have also influenced your decision. However, even after considering all these factors, you could not have possibly known at the age of 18 how your interests, opinions and ideas for careers plans might change in the future. When you chose your degree, you likely made the best decision you could make at that moment in time, so there’s no need to beat yourself up over what is an incredibly difficult decision to make. Your degree doesn’t dictate your career path Many people often link their subject to very specific career paths. However, many people pursue careers completely unrelated to their degree, with a huge number of jobs not requiring you to have studied a certain subject. Throughout your degree you will have developed many transferable skills. These include time management, critical thinking, communicating effectively with others and the ability to research and work independently. Employers in any field will look for all of these skills, so rest assured that you will have gained something for the future. If you do need some further education to move into a career in a different field, there’s a number of master’s degrees and conversion courses designed to allow people with unrelated undergraduate degrees make the switch, and you may be able to get help with funding, so having an unrelated degree won’t limit your career options in these cases either. University is about more than academic achievement We all think about the end result when it comes to university. However, your certificate of study will not be the only thing youll have gained. Taking part in societies, balancing deadlines, meeting friends for life and living independently are all valuable experiences of university life. You most likely wont have achieved any of these things hadnt you attended, so your time will most definitely have been worth it. You should still be proud of your degree Completing a degree takes a great deal of commitment, skill and determination. You are completely entitled to give yourself a good pat on the back for making it to the end. Rock that cap and gown with pride! Degree regret is a horrible feeling. But at the end of the day, a degree is just a qualification and not a dictator of your future. Celebrate what you’ve achieved by successfully graduating from university, then go forward and boss graduate life! Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.

Making Time For Whats Most Important

Making Time For Whats Most Important As I write this, Im creating my plan for 2009. Im tearing out each month of the calendar and posting them on the wall by my desk. Its amazing to see all the days of the year and all the possibilities.My goal is to make sure I make time for the most important activities in my life and career. Key areas Im planning for include:Commitments Ive made for radio, workshops and speakingNew teleclasses and webinars Ill be delivering in 2009 andInspirational cabaret shows Ill be putting on throughout the year.Of course Im also planning time off to rest and recharge! I used to feel stifled when planning my schedule in advance. I thought that if everything was set up, I couldnt be spontaneous. Over the years, Ive realized the opposite is true.By making sure the most important items are in my schedule, I have freedom to say yes or no to other interesting things that come along. Ive actually left room for them as well. In the past, I felt compelled to say yes to everything only to end up worn out. This year will be different.If you need to make time for whats important check out Cheryl Richardsons book Take Time for Your Life and click here for other helpful resources I recommend.What are the most important items for your calendar in 2009? What experiences, goals, events, do you want to make sure you have time for in this New Year?

Are There Cheap Resume Writing Services in San Francisco?

Are There Cheap Resume Writing Services in San Francisco?There are a lot of companies that are willing to offer you resume writing services in San Francisco. You can choose to use one or the other but usually, it comes down to preference. You may want to consider all your options before deciding which company to use.It's a good idea to look around and see which companies are offering the best price for the service you want. One of the first things you should consider is how many resumes they are going to write. Usually, the smaller companies will be able to do this for you, at a low cost. But, if you need a team of writers to help you write a dozen resumes, you'll have to pay a little more money.Next, you should think about what services you are going to be receiving from the company. Are they going to be able to help you write your resume in a style that is comfortable to you? Can they use words that you prefer? Can they insert your work experience into your resume?You should also i nquire as to how many resumes they will be writing before you sign up for the service. Typically, you are only going to be given a few to choose from, but if you get enough calls, you may be able to select a few better than those that are available to you.If you decide to use a professional writer to write your resume, you should know that this person has been hired to create a professional-looking resume for you. If you don't have a resume designer on your staff, it is likely that the company will use this person to write the resume. You should be sure that the company you choose can meet your needs and are experienced with writing resumes.You should also be aware that the services you choose may require that you are completely finished with your job when they call to begin writing your resume. When you sign up for these services, you may be surprised at the amount of work they can require of you. You may end up working for them several times during the course of the year, dependin g on your job responsibilities.If you are interested in hiring someone for cheap resume writing services in San Francisco, you should research online to find out which companies are available. Keep in mind that there are some companies that will offer lower prices but charge less for the services you receive. Also, you may be able to save money by buying their material as well as using them.If you have other important things to do during the day, it may be difficult to finish your resume before you have to go to work. In this case, it is probably better to wait until the next day to finish it. It is wise to hire a company that you can call on at any time if you need to.