Human Resources | A-Plus Career and Resume, LLC

The New Candidate Profiles and Their Impact on Your Job Search or Business

November 24th, 2020

How many times have you heard the statement to be careful what you post online? Well, it turns out that companies are exploiting information they can access in the public domain about job candidates, including those posts you wish you had never made. Whether full-time, part-time, contract or temporary worker, a company may wish to know just as much about an entrepreneur contracting with them for a month, as they do about a full-time employee. While there’s a bevy of software available to scan resumes for keywords, more-and-more, organizations are seeking to create a full-fledged profile on their candidates. Is it creepy and Big Brother-esque? Yes, but an unfortunate reality the Internet has facilitated.

What information are they targeting? Old and new resumes, blogs, and social media profiles, including those posts you so often believe are private (they aren’t), certifications, licensing, professional development, academic histories and degrees, military service, awards, presentations, and papers, just to name a few.

While this offers a broader perspective on a potential new hire, the profile they develop on you can be polar opposite of what you are attempting to convey on your resume and in the interview. Hence, why what you post matters, and why those old YouTube videos of you, particularly the live videos that tend to be less than flattering, need to go. From throwing your computer out the window during a temper tantrum, doing live makeup applications with friends in high school and college, and nearly crippling yourself doing wild skateboard jumps, to smoking pot on camera, all can eliminate you from consideration for a job. Any job! Not to mention get you featured on the show Ridiculousness. Certainly, you may have been intending to garner this attention at the time – but let it go for the sake of your career!

Ask yourself: should the company believe your resume and interview, or the comprehensive profile they developed containing contradictory information? Make them ask that question and we can guess what will happen. Ultimately, I see this technology impacting any aspect of a career, from job search to promotion, entrepreneurs, and for college admissions.

So, what can we do to stop past poor decisions from haunting us? My advice to clients is to go through their social media and to Google themselves to see what else comes up that they have forgotten about over time. First up – scrape all social media, videos, and blogs and get rid of nasty comments (particularly you fighting with others online, and political and religious insults and articles). Be sure to go back to the beginning and clean up your posts. This isn’t about stating you love a particular political candidate or God, but the negative comments and articles that cause issue. Why should a company hire someone they believe will come and start political arguments or push religion or non-religion on others? Trust me, they won’t!

Next, get rid of excessive cussing in posts, videos, and blogs, look through your pictures and delete most of those with you drinking alcohol (a little bit is okay, but some people are way too “thirsty” in all their pictures) and definitely all of them where you are doing drugs – I shouldn’t have to say why. The fights you get into on social media with others need to go to, and so do all those personal posts on health issues and family problems. Then find the “friends and family” that continually do the same and unfriend them. But Karen, you say, I can’t unfriend my Mom, best friend, or anyone to whom I am connected. Actually, you can, and my clients regularly do so with just a small explanation about how it can hurt their job search. If these people truly care about you, they will understand. Find the old profiles that you haven’t deleted, old resumes posted on Monster, CareerBuilder, etc., and delete, delete, delete.

Blessedly, once something is deleted, it will be increasingly harder to find. My clients have seen a job search or career revitalized after ridding their social media of questionable content, negative political and religious opinions, and old profiles they forgot existed. The impact of having a positive overall profile cannot be underestimated with so many companies doing a “deep dive” on candidates.

I realize the temptation that exists to share this information, but do so privately with friends and family in conversation to avoid having it online where it can come back and hurt you. Lastly, always take 24-hours before responding to an email (those can also get shared out on the Internet), post, video, etc., to ensure you have a calmer viewpoint with more context, which often will make you hit the delete button. Purge the negative from your overall “public” profile, and watch your career grow and your job search reinvigorated!

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 20-50+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Business Coaching, Career Coaching, Career Management, Human Resources, Interviews, Job Search, Life Coaching, Personal Branding
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Why People Really Leave Jobs

October 7th, 2020

Despite the supposed studies to the contrary, this is spot on. The number one reason people literally flee their current job, will quit on the spot without notice, or have zero engagement and just wither away until fired or laid off, is due to a bad manager. Over 20 years of coaching and writing resumes for my clients, and always digging deep as to the reason they are leaving, this is the number one reason people leave.

When will Corporate America start promoting those with management and leadership talent from the start? When will they provide ongoing training to all of their management? When will they eliminate the lazy promotion of people who are “good at their last job,” into management roles? From micromanagement disasters, to nasty egomaniacs, to the disengaged manager allowing their employees to languish, these bosses are like having a giant mower constantly cut you down until you become a bitter, resentful employee, or quit.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/employees-dont-leave-companies-managers-brigette-hyacinth/?trackingId=LsFCTTMfSK2la1Yf0QQ6EA%3D%3D

Categories Career Coaching, Career Management, Human Resources, Job Search, Talent Management
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Does Everyone Really Hate HR – Two Perspectives?

July 8th, 2020

Workforce Perspective: Zety, a job search/job seeker targeted publisher, polled 926 American workers regarding HR, and their thoughts on various issues in dealing with HR. You can find the report at https://zety.com/blog/is-hr-human to view the full study. Here are some of the results:

37% of people won’t report being sexually harassed at work.

43% won’t report discrimination.

84% won’t report a fellow worker not doing their work/putting in the proper hours.

57% won’t report interpersonal issues with boss.

63% won’t report interpersonal challenges with a coworker.

60% won’t report a coworker for stealing from a company.

18% won’t report an issue with their benefits or pay.

69% of those polled do not believe HR advocates for employees.

From continual inconsistency in application of the rules to HR employees gossiping to others about what was said in a private conversation, there are a variety of reasons that workers feel this way. Staff not receiving timely answers to inquiries, feeling they may be retaliated against, and in general not wanting to “rock the boat” are also part of the study. While there are many reasons for people feeling uncomfortable talking to HR, basically it comes down to employees believing they won’t be heard, or their issues valued. That dovetails directly with workers thinking that ultimately their expression of some sort of dissatisfaction could lead to them being the next position downsized or eliminated.

Zety’s overall findings:

People lack the confidence to report even the most serious issues at work.
Very few people would seek advice from HR, only speaking to them when money is at stake.
There’s a real lack of faith in HR’s objectivity and trustworthiness.
There are some genuinely weird and wonderful workplace issues out there!

Karen’s perspective: HR has a lot of work to do in repairing their relationship with the humans they are supposed to be supporting. However, I caution you not to blame this all on HR. Many a Human Resources professional has wanted to enact change, do something about discrimination or harassment, or put programs and policies in place to negate or reduce many of the issues cited in the study, but C-level/V-level and Board of Directors often stop them. While many want to make a difference, they are often told no, and if they fight it, their job will suddenly disappear. This should offer a different perspective, that the HR staff often has nowhere to go when they have issues and are quickly shut down when trying to address them. If this is the case at your company, don’t blame HR, blame the leadership.

Categories Careers, Human Resources, Talent Management
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Working, Post COVID

May 8th, 2020

How do we deal with work-from-home post COVID? While there are people who can work from home and do so effectively, actually most are not wired to do so. Look around you at work. How many people struggle to pay attention, keep looking at their cell phones, may already dislike their work but can’t seem to move on, and/or pop up their Facebook pages and home shopping on the work computer? How many people do you see that need people interaction, not just a Chatty Kathy, but those that truly enjoy in-person communication with others? That only leaves about two out of every 10 people to work from home successfully.

Most individuals are too easily distracted, already struggle to “do work” at the workplace, are actually workaholics and being in a business environment helps control that problem, and/or need the in-person interaction of others to maintain their sanity. The COVID crisis, and so many struggling to work from home has made this quite apparent. It isn’t just about working with your spouse or children in the same room. Besides, can you really call it a home office if it is your kitchen table or couch.

I have had more than one colleague who worked from home and quit doing so due to time management, distraction and interpersonal engagement issues. Additionally, I have had numerous clients fail in a business while working from home, hate doing so for an employer, or had their spouse experience the same, because of identical issues. This doesn’t make you a bad employee – it makes you human, and a person who either wants or needs to be in a traditional work environment. Knowing that you need a conventional office atmosphere, makes you a good employee!

But Karen, we have video chat, IM’s, and email, etc. Yes, we do, and this type of technology actually means more time wasting for many employees than it ever creates. Look at those who can’t even manage their cell phone texting or emails. Understanding this fact gives us power and control, a huge benefit to our career.

Interaction, not just in the periphery, in social distancing, or via Zoom, is necessary for human beings. From hugs during tough times to just sitting close to another human being, we ARE wired to do these things! Certainly, our current environment has changed things, but this to shall pass. Precautions can be taken at work to mitigate risk and keep you safe. Admit it if you can’t really work from home, it will be of value to both your career and personal life.

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 20-50+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Business Coaching, Career Coaching, Career Management, Careers, Human Resources, Life Coaching, Opinion, Talent Management
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Corporate America: Stop Finding Ridiculous Reasons to Downsize, Fire or Replace Employees to Boost Your Bottom Line

November 15th, 2019

Well, it just happened again, and I doubt the trend will stop. Employers firing an employee without cause (they are never told why), or just making up something despite video, performance review, or other evidence to the contrary, to downsize or replace employees. If you are going to downsize, do it formally and publicly and take the hit on your reputation. If you are going to replace employees with someone cheaper, then I encourage those former employees to go onto Glassdoor and have at it in the critique section. The almighty dollar is not so important that you must wreak havoc on an employee’s life temporarily, cause heart-harming anxiety, send them into emergency job search mode, and put them into financial chaos because you want to save a buck. The worst part – it never works out, and the company will always lose down the road in loss of clients, employee attrition due to fear and overwork, and a terrible reputation.

But Karen, you don’t understand, we have shareholders. Yes, I do, I own stock in companies, but I don’t expect them to treat employees like cattle to the slaughter because they are too cheap to do the right thing. This is never about the average shareholder, it’s about the board of directors and the officers/executives of the company who want to make more money and are the often the largest shareholders. The “for all the shareholders good” is just an excuse.

I was hoping after the economic downturn/great recession, employers would be increasingly mindful of the harm this has done. Apparently, that is not the case.

People are not “resources” or “capital” or whatever non-human reference you use. Corporate America’s consistent exploitation of downsizing, firing and position elimination to save money is both illogical and unethical. You cannot “save” your way to profit, because ultimately you sacrifice your clients and other employees on the altar of “cost saving synergies” and your bottom line. Complaints of lack of service due to a shortage of employees or inexperienced staff are always signs of a company that only cares about short-term gain.

Then you must hate Corporate American, you say? Absolutely not, as there are as many companies doing things right, as there are doing things wrong. Many businesses did learn after our great recession, or hired new leadership to create a better environment. I actually love Corporate America, am an avowed capitalist (as socialism creates the ultimate in inequity), and believe in the power of companies to do great good for our society! I am also a Jobseeker Advocate and WILL NOT be silent when I see shameful behavior that negatively effects my clients. I do have the responsibility of using my social media presence, industry standing and bit of a bully pulpit, to make it clear to those employing such tactics that this type of reprehensible conduct will not be tolerated.

Having said the above, there are times where in order to save a company, some employees must be downsized. Likewise, when mergers or acquisitions occur, there could be many duplicate positions and not enough other positions within the company that those duplicates can fill, so some must be laid off. I am not unsympathetic in any way to those realities. Instead, I am going after those that use firings to avoid paying unemployment (I have a list), accuse employees of absolute lies in order to make room for cheaper employees, eliminate positions without putting those employees in lateral (equally paid) positions that need filled, downsize because some board member or hedge fund investor wants to see a little more profit, or any combination of the above.

But you say, Karen, how do you know these things are really happening, couldn’t that just be your client’s opinion? After 20 years in this business, I have executive, internal employee and HR contacts you wouldn’t believe, and I can always get the real story. I then combine that with proof the clients provide me from performance reviews, client letters, awards received, and other documentation to get a clear picture. If you hear the same thing over and over again… Once can be an exception. Twice can be a coincidence. Three times is a trend.

Daily, I work with companies, not just individuals, who treat their employees as people, not numbers, and as valued contributors to their organization. These will be the companies that will ultimately thrive as paradigm shifts beget a new society of workers demanding to be treated as a human being. This will be the greatest gift Millennial’s and Generation Z employees bring to the workforce. However, to the companies using these unscrupulous tactics, you have now been put on notice!

Categories Career Coaching, Career Management, Human Resources, Job Search, Opinion
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The Salary Gap: What We Can Do About It

October 8th, 2019

According to an October 3rd, 2019 article in the Harvard Business Review: Closing the Gender Wealth Gap by Nicole Torres, the trend of companies to do little to nothing in closing the gender pay gap continues. “In the United States, women who work year-round earn somewhere near 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. But they only own about 32 cents for every dollar of wealth owned by men. Both of these gaps are far more acute for black and Latina women.”

This article isn’t about companies indiscriminately raising the pay of women in mass to the same as men as not all experience, education, certifications, etc., are the same. It is about analyzing where the disparities are occurring. Take one of my clients, we will call her Sara. Sara works for a Fortune 500 company, holds a coveted certification that none of the men in her department possess but is required for many in her job, has a specialized and related degree that her fellow employees lack, is the go-to for challenging clients which results in overbooking of her schedule, has a stellar set of performance reviews, and has been in this department for 15+ years (longer than most of the other employees), and yet, still gets paid $30,000 less than her counterparts. Thus, why she is working with me.

The company (including HR) doesn’t care about the inconsistency, nor does her management chain. She is just told “that is the way it is, you accepted the pay we gave you earlier” and “it was your choice to get that certification.” Really, do these particular HR and management personnel live in reality? No, they don’t, but if they analyze her pay discrepancy, they must look at all of their employees. The only thing that will force this organization to do so is a lawsuit, and it can’t be from a lone employee, it must come from many within the organization. The men in her department back her up, have asked that she be paid appropriately commensurate with her experience, skill, education and certification, and openly offered up their salaries to her for proof of the issue. These men are truly backing her up. But to no avail.

Another female client holds two certifications a large company had advertised as either “necessary or desired” in their ad, but offered her nearly $60,000 less than others in the organization without certifications. The one female employee she interviewed with stated she was embarrassed by the offer, but there was nothing she could do. The man (the manager) who interviewed her spent half the interview disparaging her experience and education, and then made her the insulting offer. Wouldn’t want to negatively impact that annual management bonus with a fairly paid employee, now would we? She turned them down. While she needed a job, she didn’t need that type of environment.

I thank my lucky stars every day that my parents taught me I could do anything I put my mind to, and to never accept discrimination of any type. My wonderful husband instills this same belief in me to this day. So, blessedly this has not happened to me, but it has happened to too many of my clients, and that is why I have three specialized employment attorneys that I provide as a referral when necessary.

What can we do to stop this, both men and women? First, awareness, by knowing it exists, and working to root it out. Second, ban the asking of prior and current salary. This is only used to discriminate in the salary offer phase against any potential employee, regardless of gender. A question of “salary desired” is more than enough to give a company the proper information about your pay requirements, while the interview, talking with references, and confirmation of credentials, if necessary, gives more context on appropriate pay rate. Third, perhaps employees should start getting together where they feel a gap exists, and talk about tenure, performance reviews and salary expectations within their company. It doesn’t mean that people must tell or show others what they are paid. However, it does mean where someone sees an imbalance, they make it known to the person negatively impacted (and this isn’t always women, sometimes it is a man). Fourth, ask for appropriate salary. Do your research and know what your industry pays. Be willing to turn down or leave a job that won’t pay appropriately. Lastly, some class action lawsuits may be necessary. As much as I hate the idea of litigation, sometimes it is the only way to get a lasting change.

Many a company around the country has been sued regarding job titles and their salary rates, resulting in compensation analysis and the awarding of back pay to employees. Some companies just change the job titles of employees so they can get away with low-paying of their staff, to potentially sell their company (this always looks good on the books), and/or hopefully avoid a lawsuit. This is something that impacts men and women, is the potential subject of another blog post, and is merely the reverse side of the same coin concerning inequitable salary. There is also some irony in my opening of an article this morning on TLNT.com, from EREMedia: Before You Decide Pay Raises, Do a Pay Fairness Audit by Kathleen McLeod Caminiti and Sarah Wieselthier.

Know your value and don’t be afraid to ask for more in the salary negotiation phase, regardless of what they offer you initially. If you don’t ask, you will never know if you could have gotten more money. Show them proof of salary research based on your true years of experience (not cobbled together, but actual length of unquestionably related experience – your biggest selling point). Use several of the free salary tools online to create a balanced report based on your industry, state and city, education/certifications/training, and years of experience. This includes what their company typically pays as is often provided via a Glassdoor.com search. If you feel lost in doing this type of task, or have difficulty identifying your true experience and value, contact a resume writer or career coach with experience in this area, who can help you.

Before you ever walk into an interview (or do a phone interview), you should understand the benefits you can bring to an organization, and know the bonus skills and experience you provide that might be of additional advantage. Do your research and find out everything you can in the interview about their culture. Get a tour of the facility, meet other employees and find out tenure rates (particularly in the department where you will work), and take your time, don’t be rushed into a decision. Any company that demands you accept or reject their job offer while sitting in the interview chair is a company that will treat you poorly. ASK QUESTIONS – never let an interviewer tell you to hold your questions until the end of the interview as you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. If you do your due diligence from the moment you start a job search, chances are, you will find a job that is satisfying, that won’t cause your heart to sink every Sunday evening, or stress you out 24/7.

In closing, money isn’t everything. If you chase it, there will never be enough. If that is all you want in your job, you will never be satisfied or happy. Besides, what we really need and what we want are often very different. You must view the whole picture, not just a part of it. Wonderful colleagues, a great boss, good benefits, a decent commute, feeling like your work makes a difference, enjoying the work you do, and being treated as a person not a “resource,” can beat a high salary any day of the week!

Categories Business Coaching, Career Coaching, Career Management, Careers, Human Resources, Interviews, Job Search
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50 Shades of Privacy

September 20th, 2019

Let’s face it, we already knew our online public data was being used for targeted marketing purposes and for public search information (both paid and free). What about data analysis for your company’s use? Are you comfortable with that potential? What if that supposed “free data” was being used to determine if you were going to leave your current company? Well, the fact is, this is currently being done, and the courts are protecting it.

LinkedIn has recently been in a legal tiff with HiQ Labs, a San Francisco-based company that analyzes free data like public LinkedIn profiles to identify the potential of employees to leave a company. Here is what HiQ says about their Keeper technology:

“Keeper is the first HCM tool to offer predictive attrition insights about an organization’s employees based on publicly available data. The solution turns those attrition insights into consumable, easy-to-deploy action plans so HR and business leaders can retain their key talent.

By identifying risk early, addressing potential issues proactively, and deploying remedial actions quickly, Keeper drives immediate business impact across organizations – and provides a built-in feedback loop so you can communicate your retention win to management.”

Both organizations have great points in their arguments presented to the courts. LinkedIn discusses an expectation of privacy for their customers. Essentially, they are stating that their clients shouldn’t have their information harvested that they entrusted to LinkedIn.

I also, have zero doubt, HiQ’s intention with their Human Resources program is as stated above. It is a great idea to determine if valuable employees might be wanting to leave, and why, then take action to retain them in an organization. And their argument that they are using data in the public realm only is absolutely correct.

What is problematic is how Corporate America will really use this technology. Just as companies troll the online world for those using Monster or Indeed for a job search, or mentioning they are unhappy with their current company on Facebook, this is yet another tool to target those that might leave with downsizings, position elimination, and dismissals (often falsified to avoid paying unemployment). Is this the fault of HiQ? No. They are merely providing a service. It does however beg the question, when is enough, enough in protection of our personal data online, public or not?

There are other issues though that might not have been put forth in this legal tussle. First, how are rankings of employees made? Red, Yellow and Green are nice, but how accurate is the data; does it look at the age of the information or how long since it has been updated? What about inaccurate data online? While HiQ would not want to give away the algorithms that detect retention issues, it is scary to think you might be putting something on your LinkedIn profile or elsewhere online in the public realm that is problematic without knowing it. You could be a person that is in no way unhappy with your current job, but an algorithm could have you targeted for termination in some form. Please do not blame a company for coming up with technology to try to stop employee loss. HiQ does offer the ability to have your data eliminated from their database, which is comforting. Still, could having your info deleted from their system be an “alert” to HR that you might be looking?

So many questions, which now in the age of AI will be even more impactful regarding privacy. I suppose this article is merely a warning, to again be careful what you communicate online. To remember that nothing you put online is private, no matter what you are told. And now, to keep your information current and without opinion regarding anything job related, lest you become the focus of unwanted attention.

Categories Business Coaching, Career Coaching, Career Exploration, Career Management, Career Transition, Careers, Human Resources, Interviews, Job Search, Opinion
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Get a Clue Corporate America!

October 4th, 2018

With the recent spate of executives merging, acquiring, downsizing and closing companies for their own financial benefit, and often under the guise of “cost savings synergies,” it’s quite apparent that ethical leadership training is more necessary than ever. Justifying their behavior because they think that “those lowly employees we have on staff” will find a job since it is a good economy is ridiculous and foolhardy. Their lack of compassion and foresight will ultimately mean more dissatisfied employees and an increase in those thinking Corporate America is devoid of any principles. No wonder our workforce is overworked and over-stressed!

While the economy is indeed in good shape, replacing a high-paying job isn’t always that easy. The more the salary, typically the fewer of those jobs that exist. The worry that goes along with the constantly unsettled environment in many companies merely makes everything worse. Companies are actually complaining because attrition rates are so high due to the stress and uncertainty, but offer nothing to stop the bleeding. According to many a recent article, employees are actually up and quitting jobs now without another one ready in the wings due to the anxiety-ridden atmosphere of so many organizations. Additionally, those over 40 years of age continue to be a target, since they often “make too much.” The real discrimination in age comes from the downsizing of so many that are inherently valuable to a company due to their experience and mentoring of younger employees. Yet, that very value is seen as too expensive or “bad for the bottom line.”

Many a high paid corporate executive has sold their soul and become like the Robber Barron’s of the 1890’s, using questionable methods, nepotism, and creating monopolies to accumulate wealth while leaving staff members miserable or unemployed. We, as a society, have passively acquiesced to this treatment and it is time we stop putting up with the abuse. Certainly ample ethical leadership training will help those who are starting on their leadership journey. However, making sure those that are currently causing these problems have a bright light of shame shone on them will be necessary to curb the issues in the here and now. Get a clue Corporate America or you won’t have a glowing financial report to fret over anymore, talented employees will just leave you and your company in the dust, and ultimately to fail.

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 30-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Career Management, Careers, Human Resources, Job Search, Opinion, Talent Management
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Want Versus Need?

June 5th, 2018

Nearly every job applicant has seen them. Nearly every HR Manager has written them. What are they? “They” are the dreaded “wants” job posting. From a better economy to a paradigm shift to non-traditional candidates, we have constant changes to our workforce, but not to our hiring approach. We seem to struggle in writing ads that attract because they are either too general (the focus of a future post) or too specific.

Furthermore, we need to embrace career changers, the workforce subset of “Gig Economy” 1099 contractual or project-based workers, returning veterans, and those without a traditional four-year or two-year degree, or we will lose out on great employees. Business today struggles to find qualified workers, particularly in all manner of technical positions, so rethinking our search methods and hiring process will lead to a larger pool of capable candidates.

In this post I would like to touch on crafting job postings that have specificity, but not to the point of ridiculousness, and I use a real example found in recent months online to portray my point. Below is a partial posting located on a large, well-known job board as to technical requirements for a programming position titled Java Programmer.

JAVA PROGRAMMER WANTED

DB2 or Oracle

SQL

SVN

R

Junit

Eclipse

Java

J2EE

JSON

JSP

JSTL

UMB

Data Modeling

Spring Web MVC

Model Integration

Spring Tags

Squint

IBM AS400

SAP

Workday

Microsoft Office

Can we say unrealistic, oh, and not just a Java Programmer position. Furthermore, the job required at least five years of programming experience, a preferred Masters in a computer-related field, preferred OCPJP or SCJP certification, and preferred experience with Tomcat or tcServer, all in a 24/7 on-call environment, and with a multitude of additional supposed needs, like multitasking. I GUARANTEE the company does not have all the technology listed above or need it. Strangely, this ad is eerily similar to three other job postings on the same job board page for other non-related organizations. I also did a search for Kansas City, Missouri (my hometown) and found several similar ads. Two cities, multiple ads, and nearly identical in many ways, except job titles. Clearly we need a better approach.

Many of these companies appear to “want” a person that may not exist, or as many IT professionals call it, a Unicorn, and are literally scaring away a good portion of qualified jobseekers. Undaunted by a lack of qualified applicants, these job postings occur frequently within the tech industry. My tech resume clients regularly tell of applying for these positions and finding out during an interview the company doesn’t need most items they listed.

Companies must to determine WANTS versus NEEDS in both job postings and hiring, and realistically assess what they do and don’t have technology-wise to avoid creating laundry lists. The use of formulaic templates and copying and pasting from competitor ads needs to stop. Write from scratch and create a posting describing the true requirements of your job. You can use a quasi-template for how you write a job ad, and still be quite distinct from all others. Collaborate with the hiring manager and if possible, another person within that department in a similar capacity to the job being posted. What applications and systems do you actually have, and which of those will the applicant work with precisely. Only include the necessities.

Lastly, as I have pointed out in prior articles, many of your applicants don’t have a degree but do have experience or training from legitimate educational organizations in the very areas you require. Let’s not discriminate against nearly three quarters of the population because of “shiny object syndrome” and instead pursue qualified candidates regardless of their possessing a four year degree. Ask for proof of ability in the interview process, inclusive of applicant demonstration of skills and career portfolios of work, to increase your quality of hire. By developing accurate postings, and treating your candidates with respect through ongoing communication, you will cultivate a valuable group of applicants who no longer shy away from your job postings and become an advocate for your company.

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 30-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Career Management, Careers, Human Resources, Interviews, Job Search
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Millennials: The Generation Bringing Meaningful Change to the Workplace

January 15th, 2018

Millennials are a different breed of worker, and overall, I am here to tell you that is a positive for our future work environment. The Millennial generation has watched their parents dedicate their “lives” to companies at the expense of their health, watching children grow up, attending children’s events, marriages, and many other negative trade-offs. All of this for organizations to overwork them, have zero loyalty to their workforce, while expecting complete allegiance from their staff, then downsizing the most dedicated employees.

Millennials aren’t about to put up with it, and I say AMEN! Oh, but they complain too much, or are entitled, you say. Yes, there are a few that are entitled or don’t quite get it, yet, but if you listen to most of them, they want to work, but don’t want to give up a personal life to do so. Working 70 hours a week just won’t cut it, and neither will day-to-day drudgery. This generation and I believe Generation Z as well, will be willing to take less money to have work-life balance, see their children grow up, maintain their personal relationships, and live a more stable life. This trend has been evident in many of my millennial clients.

The day of the stockholder ruling how a company does things and executives and owners who constantly treat their employees as indentured servants and call them “resources” will soon lose its appeal. The up and coming generations won’t put up with being treated poorly, they will quit a job in a heartbeat to get another one, knowing the company wasn’t going to be loyal to them anyway.

Companies must change how they do things if they want to retain and grow employees, particularly Millennials and Generation Z. Work-life balance will become key, inclusive of flexible work schedules, enhanced employee benefits to reduce out-of-pocket costs and save time, and an effort to make the work environment itself a more enjoyable place. Wellness initiatives, volunteer opportunities for community involvement, and a true open-door policy for ideas must become commonplace. Furthermore, companies will need to significantly expand training offerings, not just offer sexual harassment and compliance webinars, but a combination of in-classroom, teleconference, web-based, and even gamification training. The workplace of today will be changing. Get on board Corporate America or you will find yourself without anyone wanting the jobs you post!

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 30-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Career Management, Human Resources, Opinion, Talent Management
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