Rainy Day Resume LLC

Job Seeker Tip: *make sure your InMails are turned on* if you'd like recruiters to reach out to you with opportunities. To check: -Navigate to the top right where there's a tiny picture of you that says Me -Click Settings & Privacy -On the left navigation, 4th one down, click Data privacy -In the second set of settings ("Who can reach you") click Messages -Turn on all the buttons. (I'm still figuring out Open Profile, maybe leave that one off, but anything that says recruiter turn on as well as general buttons. InMails are how recruiters usually reach out. They arrive in the Messaging section (two to the left from the little 'Me' picture). I have seen people complain on LinkedIn that recruiters don't reach out, and then later they find out that they have InMails turned off. I just tried to reach out to a candidate who has the confidential Open to Work settings configured, telling me all about what they are looking for, but when I went to send an InMail the feature was turned off. It's possible they are no longer looking and forgot to turn off Open to Work, but when recruiters see Open to Work we're going to assume that you are, unless your profile shows that you just started a job less than a couple of months ago. Of course if you're getting bombarded and you're not looking, by all means go ahead and turn them off. But if you want or need a new job and want people to find you, please make sure InMails are on!

Every time I see someone say, "Companies like people who are currently employed, have no short tenures, and have no employment gaps," my first thought is, lucky me, less competition for amazing talent! If you or your hiring managers are using that same old thinking, let me bring you up to speed based on what I've seen as a recruiter and resume writer: -We are in a global crisis, whether you see it/believe it or not. Layoffs are rampant, and unemployment benefits in the US last far less than the average job search right now (don't get me started about that). Yes, employment is cyclical, but I haven't seen it this bad in over 30 years. -Some of the most talented people in their fields are looking for work through no fault of their own. Entire teams have been wiped out from some of the best companies. Or the star of the team was also the highest paid and had a big red target on their back when the layoffs came. -The market has been cattywampus since the onset of COVID, and people have needed to take time off for a variety of legit reasons: being home with the kids with schools closed, caring for someone ill or being ill themselves, losing remote jobs to RTO, multiple layoffs in as many years, just plain wanted a break, etc. If you're a recruiter working with hiring managers who still think this way, it's part of your job to convince them to consider this amazing talent. If you're a recruiter who still thinks this way yourself, well, lucky me.

Join us tomorrow (Thursday Sep 19 at 2 PM ET/11 AM PT) to learn what I look for when I review a resume and tips for making yours stand out. Thank you Josh Bob for inviting me, looking forward to it!

Hi job seekers, with my full-time job becoming really busy going into the fall, I'm only able to work on resumes and LinkedIn profiles with a few people here and there. Fortunately my amazing colleague Bridgette S. at Scott Staffing has the expertise and availability to help. She's an accomplished Senior Recruiter with Microsoft and Amazon experience. She is particularly skilled with technical, executive, and military profiles but creates compelling resumes for any and all corporate roles. She is also available for interview preparation, cover letters, and general advice. I can't recommend her enough!

Rescinding offers and offer negotiations: sharing my thoughts from an earlier conversation happening on a post this morning. I have been the rescinder, jointly with the hiring managers I support, a few times. Asking for more is fine and expected, and if you aren’t a jerk about it and don’t go back and forth a million times you should be fine. But be keenly aware that it’s an employer’s market right now, and for many roles there are 10 other equally great people in line behind you. Reasons for a rescind that I’ve seen: -candidate comes back and asks for something astronomically higher than we discussed weeks ago, which makes us feel that they weren’t truthful when discussing salary earlier. It’s different of course if a competing offer appears. -candidate goes dark and is clearly “shopping,” using our offer to increase other offers. It’s clear they aren’t serious about accepting our offer. -candidate shows significant arrogance, entitlement, lack of ethics, anything that makes us question if we want to work with this person. -candidate goes back and forth too many times. IMO you get one chance to propose a counter-offer, maybe 2 if you forgot to account for something in your calculations, but by the 4th or 5th time we start to see you as a money grabber who will quit when the next company offers $5K more. We want people genuinely interested. If you do want to counter, back it up with reasoning and data. I tell candidates, think of me as your lawyer helping me argue your case before the hiring manager who ultimately makes the call. Example: one time I was offered a salary and came back the next day with, I looked at my past roles and realized that this is the salary I was offered 3 years ago when I started at x company. My skills have grown since then (and quick example of skills). That was an effective strategy.

Katrina Kibben has a great post today about interview questions, and she shares some useful suggestions for candidates to ask. My favorite question from her article is, "What was one thing the last person in this role did really well that you hope I can continue or improve upon?” As a recruiter I love when people ask thoughtful questions, not just “how big is the team” and “what are the next steps.” I want to see that they researched the company and want to know more or seek to address concerns that arose during their research. One or two challenging questions can make a positive impression if asked kindly and genuinely. Example: one time I looked at a company’s values on their website. There were more than 15 of them! How can anyone even keep them all straight let alone adhere to or advocate for them? So my question to the interviewer was, "How do you evaluate whether a candidate has all of these values?" The interviewer replied, “we’ve given that feedback.” ???? https://lnkd.in/ghYkBvJN

Today is Global Talent Acquisition Day. Taking a moment to recognize my incredible peers, the critical role they play in everyday business, and what we’ve all been through for the last 2 years. I love what I do and am proud to be in this profession, even now. We still have some unbelievable talent seeking their next jobs including Bridgette S. in Austin who is the best recruiter I’ve ever hired, Sunil Potnis in San Jose who was my peer at Microsoft and is now a great TA leader, and so many more. If you have any leads in these areas or remotely please send them their way!

This is a great way to think about interviewing. Thanks Josh!

Recruiting friends: Jeff Moore, my manager at TripAdvisor, is a panelist for this webinar next week. Highly recommend, and I'll be attending as well.

After 1.5 years writing resumes and decades of reading them, I have found a format for the first paragraph (Summary/Profile/About) that I like to use. A lot of people struggle with writing that paragraph so here’s a way to organize it: Sentence 1: You in a nutshell. What do you do? Who do you do it for? What level are you? What is your focus? Sentence 2: More detail. Areas of expertise, things that make you unique. Sentence 3: Soft skills. What are you known for? What are you most proud of? Sentence 4 (if needed): anything unusual you want to mention, like language fluency or you just authored a book. Here’s an example, from my own job history: (making this up on the fly without looking at my resume. Not meant to be all encompassing, just an idea) Principal Technical Recruiter combining engineering experience with talent acquisition skills to hire exceptional people for a variety of organizations from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Adept at rapidly building trust with hiring teams and candidates, advising leadership on talent planning, and evaluating technical skills. Known for warmth and empathy, creating a positive experience for candidates and managers alike. For executive resumes I recommend tacking on Highlights: and a few bullet points (a few! Not a laundry list) Hope this is helpful!