Bridging the Gap in Your Job Search

Have you said this recently??

I am doing all of the LinkedIn recommendations on how to land my dream job! I have updated my resume and formatted it, used Jobscan, and customized my resume for each and every position, reached out to the recruiter, and still crickets. What is wrong???? If this is you, please read all the way through.

It has been a while since my last newsletter and this is my 3rd and probably the most important one yet. Why do you ask? Because I see so many job seekers still searching, still posting in comments, still having the green banner under their smiling profile pictures.? I got curious and decided to do some digging and found some information that I would like to share.?

I completely support you guys wanting to live your dreams and your best life, but if you are really struggling with getting interviews and want some insight into why you aren’t hearing back from Recruiters, this is what this newsletter is for. If you feel like you have got this, by all means continue doing what you are doing.?

I see so many resumes that have years of experience in one field and you are trying to break into a new career. For example, you have been a Police Officer your whole career and want to break into Tech without any education or Tech skills. This is not realistic in this current job market.?

There are many types of Recruiters, but the 2 types of Recruiters that I want to discuss are Agency (Placement, Temporary) and Company (In house, Corporate, Internal). Agency Recruiters work for a firm that is contracted by a company to find certain positions. What most jobseekers don’t realize is that a firm is willing to pay a top dollar fee based on a percentage of that advertised job salary. The higher the position pays, the higher the fee to the agency and bonus to the Recruiter that sources the candidate. But the clients have a list of must haves and must not haves. The list can be extensive (especially when the fee is going to be high because of the income of the position).?I like to joke that some companies want a purple unicorn with one eye brown and the other blue.

The next thing that I am going to say is not arguable. It is a fact that a lot (not all) of clients (Companies that are hiring Agency Recruiters) are looking for people with experience in the advertised position. Oh, and by the way, not just a course in that field, but solid, steady years in that position. That old adage that past success dictates future success is alive and well in the world today.?

The list could look like this… blank years of experience, blank education in blank degree, on site, no remote, or only remote, no on site, experience in blank, blank, blank, blank skills preferred and blank skill bonus, no job hoppers, only stable candidates, etc.?

That Agency Recruiter CAN NOT take a chance on someone, no matter how great they are in transferable skills because that agency will downgrade the recruiter and the recruiter could be in jeopardy of losing their job or not getting engagement on requisitions, even their pay can be negatively affected.?

Most recruiters will only be able to verify what you have done, not what you could do. If you get an opportunity to get your foot in the door, I would highly recommend that you consider a term that I am creating called a “gap job”. A gap job would be one that is a stepping stone to the position that you are desiring. For example, if you want to be a Recruiter, maybe try to apply for some Recruiting Coordinator jobs to get your feet wet and as you display your ability and desire to be a Recruiter, that position would give you an opportunity to bridge your experience and talent.?

I hope that I have not depressed you because I do have a bright side to all of this…look for companies that do their own company hiring! In other words, they have Recruiters that work directly for that said company. They have the ability to hire more for potential and not so much for direct experience. They will be able to work with the Hiring Managers and hire you because they are willing to train you and develop you. Even then, there will be times they are held to the same must haves and must not haves as the clients’ request, so please understand that everyone is trying their best in this Great Reshuffle and War for Talent in 2022. I am all for you finding your dream job, but if you are feeling like this may be why you are still a jobseeker, please consider expanding your search to more companies and different positions.?

My LinkedIn connection, Rachel who also was kind enough to edit this newsletter and I were talking the other day about this very subject and she asked, “How do we know who is using agencies and who has their own recruiting team?” Great question! I told her that I would dig around and find an answer. Till next time…. Please consider joining my group Job Seekers Helping Each Other. Just this week, I have had 3 success stories of job seekers turned into job finders.??