Candidates

What’s More Valuable-a Degree or Job Experience?

I remember taking my last collegiate final at the University of Hartford. I literally walked out of my Entrepreneurial Studies classroom with a smile that was far from scholarly, giving an overtly jubilant high-five to the nearest bystander.

Yet as I would soon discover, there was a lot more than that kid I didn’t know (and still don’t!)

“Go to college,” your high school teachers would say,“get a degree,” they continued, “get a job,” they promised…

More than 65% of high-schoolers who graduated will go to college that following fall semester. One thing I still don't understand is the societal norms that emphasize and push high school students into college. Realistically speaking, a piece of paper isn’t going to pick-a-lock that’s going to open the door that is opportunity. So, what separates you from everyone else in America who is graduating in 2018 and about to enter the workforce?

The Simple Fact- NO room for Passive Hiring Processes

Here are some simple facts that can impact your company’s productivity and profits:

-The unemployment rate is at the lowest it has been in the last 17 years + There are 6.6 million job postings in USA = An unprecedented candidate-driven job market.

-Said candidates have multiple offers for employment, as well as a high rate of counteroffers from their current employers.

What does that mean to a hiring authority?...

The Dunning-Kruger Effect on Job Interviews

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are filled with passionate intensity”-W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming

What W.B. Yeats intuited in 1919 is a phenomenon that psychologists would later name, ‘The Dunning-Kruger Effect’.  The ‘Dunning-Kruger Effect’ is a “cognitive bias wherein people of low ability have illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their cognitive ability as greater than it is”. Conversely, people who are highly competent mistakenly assume that the tasks that are easy for them to perform are just as easy for others to perform, and typically do not self-assess themselves as highly competent. They recognize their weaknesses and focus on correcting them rather than blustering on about how good they are at this or that. 

I'm Starting to Sound Like a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend!

“I'm probably starting to sound like a crazy ex or something…”

I am sure this is not news to anyone with their head up in the current job market, but there is a common perception out there that recruiters are too pushy, too salesy, and just downright annoying. Yes, sometimes we are ALL of those things… but despite any negative preconceived stereotypes, the recruiters who continue making tough calls and pushing through the negativity are the ones who find success for their clients and candidates.

A Baby Boomer's Perspective on Interviewing Millennials

I’m a baby boomer who recruits for a living. I speak to people from all walks of life on a daily basis, many of them being millennials.  One of the hottest topics out there right now is the subject of generational differences in the workplace.  As discussed in a previous Hobson blog, chances are, you currently work with or have managed employees from each generation. In order to have a successful organization and increase your profits, you must deal differently with each demographic.

According to an article by Medium.com “with Millennials being the largest generation in America with over 75.4 million according to Pew Research Center and surpassing Baby Boomers with roughly 74.9 million, we need to find effective ways to bypass these differences in the workplace.”

One of the most common and challenging examples of this is when these different generations cross paths in the job interviewing process. Here are some tips for millennials, when being interviewed by a baby boomer:

My Ideal Job Candidate…

Being a recruiter in this current candidate-crazy job market (a market in which there are more jobs openings than qualified candidates), I’ve been questioned, dodged and insulted by candidates more than ever. And it’s not just me -- the partners and senior recruiters at my firm, some who have been in the industry over 20 years, feel the same pain! 

However, as soon as I decided to put myself in a candidate’s shoes, I began to truly see and understand where they are coming from:

CANDIDATES ARE GETTING CALLS FROM GREAT AND NOT-SO-GREAT RECRUITERS—WITH GREAT AND NOT-SO-GREAT JOBS!

Traffic Jam of Resumes

Are you a hiring authority with open jobs, yet are not seeing the right “traffic” of candidates? If so, you are not alone. In fact, this is one of the biggest pain points hiring authorities express to me before hiring me. From their side of the highway, it’s a wide open road to their inbox… so where’s the log jam?

Here are a few reasons:

Prospecting in the Wild!

I’m a big animal lover. I have a dog, a Cavalier King named Murphy, who is smart, good looking and can hunt down food like no one else… from tables, gym bags, backpacks, you name it. Murphy is most notably known for once devouring a whole five pound box of Godiva dark chocolates, wrappers and all, and lived! He is also an expert at pulling tablecloths down when no one is around.

Speaking of hunting, today my colleague discovered that a ‘critter’ has been eating his peanut butter crackers. The critter apparently completed said task twice this week, successfully getting into metal desk drawers and carefully creating a round hole in the package and feasting on his catch!

If Murphy or our office critter were in sales, they would KILL their quotas! They’re true hunters who “eat what they kill”.  

#GOALS: A Better You in 2018

Ready or not, 2017 is coming to an end (wasn’t it JUST summer?!)…This is usually the time of year for reflection and planning. Did you set good goals this past year, personal and/or professional? Did you reach them?

I don’t necessarily believe that New Year resolutions are all that effective. While I do believe that the effort to adopt resolution shows positive intent, a better alternative is to develop new goals for the future. Here are some ways you can get started:

'Tis the Season to Start Your Job Search

Most people who know me well know this: I am a fanatical golfer, spending most of my weekends during the warmer months chasing a little white ball (generally through the woods!).

Being a lifelong resident of Connecticut, this time of year is a killer for my favorite pastime. Yet, I don’t let staying indoors keep me completely isolated from my favorite activity. I learned a while back that it makes sense to stay active, work on my short game, do core muscle exercises, etc. This way, when the snow finally melts, I’ll be ready to go- without wasting the first few weeks of the golf season shaking off the “rust”.