Writing your own story ....
Carol Ellen
Senior Recruiter, Global Talent Acquisition, Electronic Arts| Passionate about 'Belonging'| Former Sony Music and Caldwell Partners
Just off the phone with someone who is relatively new to my network. She's an amazingly talented Social Media Strategist with a LOT to offer. Her skillset is so broad and she has many years of experience. Over the past seven months she has sent out or replied to over 500 'job postings' and can't seem to get past the first interview (phone or in person). She asked me what's going on and specifically for my point of view on why it's taking so long.
Well shy of owning a magic 8 ball that can direct me (that's a joke!) we took a very objective look at her activity and we discovered the following:
1) She has very broad experience and most front line recruiters are truly checking off a list of criterion. We both agreed that she needs to focus on that list and her accompanying accomplishments while not getting off the tracks too much regardless of passion and enthusiasm.
2) She's been applying for anything that comes up and has not been giving herself credit for her expertise. Moving forward her experiment is to apply/network for roles that are experience appropriate and not undervalue her worth.
3) She has been spending a tremendous amount of time getting into her head and making up stories about herself which just aren't true. We BOTH agreed that she was going to adopt an attitude of gratitude, send out a ton of Thank You notes and ensure that she's asking people in her network and beyond what it is that they are up to and take the focus off of her to shift the energy. I know kind of woo-hoo right? Actually not, by giving back and living & giving more fully the universe responds...
What would your sage counsel and advice to be to this talented individual? Please take the time to comment below and thank you!
Interesting article. I'm guessing this person was either overqualified for the positions, and/or the hiring manager was intimidated by her personality or experience. Many recruiters today still follow an archaic style of recruiting. If you don't fit their "checkboxes", you won't be moving on. The problem is that there are many super qualified people out there who don't fit the boxes. You need to have the experience, but what about looking at other things such as volunteer and life experience? These might provide clues as to how the person might be able to add creative ideas and a new perspective to an organization. If a company hires in a robot like way, then that's the type of employee they will most likely get. Time to switch over to 2016 thinking.
Logistics, Supply and Demand Planning
8 年I know how intense searching for employment can be - you may end up applying to anything as you are getting desperate and worried. I recommend that you first need to do your homework on getting to know you better - it is all about you - what are your key strengths, your area of experience, what do you excel in and what you will and will not do, e.g. long commuting, travel, work for big/small companies etc... Once you have that figured out, you will feel more in control and have higher chances of getting noticed.