When your "entry-level" job...is not entry level | Your Job Search battle plan | Poll Results: Commenting "Interested"

Greetings everyone! After a bit of a hiatus I'm back - on today's edition of my Weekly Newsletter (make sure you hit subscribe to get notified):

• When your "entry-level" job...isn't really entry-level
• Having a Job Search battle plan
• Poll Results: Has commenting "interested" on job postings on LinkedIn ever gotten the poster of the job to contact you?

Before we get started - if you're an IT Professional in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada, here are some full-time hybrid positions I'm currently recruiting on:

?? 10x Java Developers with experience in banking industry, both intermediate and senior level positions available (Toronto)

?? Senior Engineer, Infrastructure Systems (Kitchener area)

?? Front End Lead Engineer with strong experience in HTML, Angular, React - C++ nice to have; 100% remote (Toronto)

Reach out to me directly for more details on any of these positions - you must be residing here in Canada and have valid work status. No sponsorships are being provided.

When your "entry-level" job...isn't really entry-level!

I did a post recently which I believe resonated with many frustrated Job Seekers applying to entry-level jobs, and the point I was making was: if a job is entry-level, then an Organization should not be listing a certain number of years of professional work experience as a pre-requisite for Candidates applying to the role.

Now - I am not sure why some Organizations do this. I'd like to think these are just typos on the job postings, but this would not explain the frequency with which people report seeing such postings and the amount of buzz I hear around Job Seekers discussing these types of advertised positions.

So what is the definition of "entry-level jobs"? Here's a definition I found by Indeed (source article here):

"Entry-level jobs are jobs that require minimal education and professional work experience. These jobs may open up to higher-level job opportunities. Some entry-level jobs may still require specialized skills or higher academic qualifications. There are some situations where entry-level employees are trained on the job to gain valuable industry experience and knowledge.

Entry-level positions could mean that the employer is looking for young professionals who have a bit of prior experience, for example, through an internship. They are not necessarily looking for someone with full-time experience.

Many entry-level positions are applied for by college and high school graduates. Professionals who want to switch careers can also apply for the same positions to get a foothold in a new industry."

I think this is a pretty fair definition. Outside of some specialized skills, educational qualifications, or internship/co-op experience - entry-level does NOT mean all out full-time professional work experience!

For whatever reason you might be advertising entry-level jobs requiring 3+ years of professional experience, understand the impression your Organization might be giving to the public:

That you're looking for people who have professional work experience but you only want to pay them what you'd pay someone completely new to the field whom you'd have to train up.

I mean, c'mon folks - you might as well hold up a sign stating "We like to exploit people" because that's the impression you're giving.

If you do indeed require someone who has a number of years of professional work experience, that's completely fine. But you can't classify the job as "entry-level". Call it what it is: Junior, Intermediate, Senior, whatever based on the number of years of experience you require for someone in the role, and be willing to pay well based on their capabilities and level of experience and expertise.

Entry-level, however, means you're looking to consider individuals with a minimal amount of experience, perhaps some educational qualifications which are mandatory, but who do not have X number of years of professional work experience in the field.

Are you an Organization looking to hire Tech Talent in Canada? Send me a direct message here on LinkedIn or email [email protected] for more details on how I can assist you.

Having a Job Search Battle Plan

If you understand this one thing about job searching and adjust your mindset to it, it will help you much better withstand all the bumps on the road along the way:

Job Searching is a job in and of itself.

Read that again and remind yourself of that DAILY.

Job Searching is not some task you perform once or twice. Its not fixing up your Resume. Its also not submitting your Resume for the 10th time. Its not interviewing. Its not negotiating.

Its ALL of that. Its an actual Job with tasks, duties, responsibilities (networking, applying online, submitting your resume/applications, etc) you need to carry out in order to achieve a desired outcome/ROI (i.e. getting a job).

And if you're not treating it like a job, you will run into difficulty and your wins will be sporadic or based on luck or chance. And I don't want you depending on luck and chance - and I'm sure you don't either.

So in the same way in your career or your job (or your most recent job, if you're unemployed) you need to be having a plan of action every single day of your Job Search.

Every. Single. Day. No exceptions!

So what I want you to do is take out your calendar and put in time blocks specifying exactly what you'll be doing - and I want you to plan out activities to suit your way of doing things.

Now for myself when I've been a Job Seeker in the past - I get bored doing the same thing over and over for an extended period of time. So I like to throw in some variety to spice things up - here's an example of how I would plan out my "Job Search work day":

9AM - Check emails/LinkedIn messages for responses to applications

9:30AM - Identify Recruiters specializing in my field I can connect with on LinkedIn and introduce myself. Follow-up with Recruiters I've already reached out to

10:30AM - Identify companies I want to work for and research potential Hiring Team members or Corporate Recruiters I can reach out to

11:30AM - Do a post on LinkedIn sharing something of value to my network but which also demonstrates my expertise in my industry

12PM - Lunch hour

1PM - Research industry events I can attend to meet others in my industry and network with them

2PM - Work on personal project/portfolio which I can leverage at interviews to showcase my ability

3PM - Research any skillset/knowledge improvements to stay on top of my industry / Training

4PM - Apply for Jobs on Indeed / Monster / Etc

5PM - Reach out to someone also struggling in their job search who might need my help/advice and share my best practices from Job Searching so far

And etc etc

Now this schedule wasn't written in some strict, specific order - this is just how I would do it. But hopefully you get the point. You have to plan out your day.

Control your day, or your day controls you.

So I want you to, right now, take out a sheet of paper or get out your calendar app and block out those time slots designating what you'll be doing. If you're currently employed, you want to schedule these outside of work hours and perhaps on weekends as well.

Whatever your situation: treat your Job Search like its a job, until you get yourself the job!

If you’re an IT professional anywhere in Canada looking for new career opportunities –?reach out to me with an introduction and let's stay in touch!

Poll Results: Commenting "Interested" ever lead to Interviews?

Want to know a secret about Recruiters? Most of us simply hate it when potential Candidates comment with "Interested" on job postings we post on Social Media. I'm not talking about those obviously spammy posts where the poster actually asks you to comment "Interested" so that the post gets a lot of comments and views.

I'm talking about genuine postings where the Recruiter provides specific instructions on getting in touch, such as applying at a link or getting in touch through email - and yet so many people continue to simply write "Interested".

Most of my Recruiter friends will agree that commenting with "Interested" does nothing to help Candidates in standing out and it almost never grabs our attention. I mean, if just 5 people comment with "interested", how exactly does each Candidate stand out? There's nothing which captures attention or impresses - but its still a common response to job postings on social media.

So I posed the question: does commenting "Interested" ever really work and get you results?

Surely Job Seekers continue to do this because it must be getting them results. Well here's what the poll results told me:

300+ of you voted and 90% of you voted that commenting "interested" has never led to the job poster contacting you.

Clearly - typing in "Interested" is ineffective. It is much more effective to follow the instructions provided by the Job poster which will typically be a link to apply or instructions for emailing them directly. However in addition to that, you need to have the ability to write an effective introductory message and also be willing to follow-up.

Want to know how to send direct messages/emails which increases your chances of getting responses from Hiring Managers and Recruiters and have a follow-up strategy in place? Check out details for my course Applying to Jobs Online 101, an online course where you get lifetime access for only $119 CAD (one-time investment) and increase your ability to generate responses to jobs you're applying for.

That's it for this week - see you next time!

Any topics you want me to cover in a future Edition? Let me know in the comments - don't forget to Like + Subscribe if you haven't already!

Dean Kulaweera - IT Recruiter | Director, Recruitment & Sales |?Tech Recruiters 360

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