Wes Bucey
Prophet of Profit
If you had a "seeking employment" post/thread begun before July 1, 2010, I have deleted it as an expired posting.
Typically, we (the Cove) keep a "Seeking Employment" thread for 60 days before deleting.
As a poster, you have a primary obligation to yourself to continually check on the effectiveness of your posting. If you are not drawing leads, you should probably consider revising your text and post a new thread, contemporaneously clicking on the "report post" button on your original posting to alert the next available moderator to delete the original.
Similarly, if you have been sending out the identical resume and cover letter to dozens or hundreds of potential employers and NOT scoring an interview, you should strongly consider revising them to something that will get more action from prospects.
We give plenty of worthwhile tips on the job search in these threads:
Thinking about a New Job for New Year?
Resume and cover letter - How good are yours?
The Job Hunt - Care and feeding of references
Tips to get past the "gatekeeper" when job hunting
Consulting – Is it in YOUR Career Future?
Contracting/Temping - Viable Alternates in Tough Times
As I read through each opening post on many of the expired threads I deleted, I was saddened to note how many folks violated the first principal of a job hunt:
"Describe the value you would bring to the employer!"
Instead, many of them began with an appeal, essentially asking for employment as a charity donation instead of an exchange of service for value. Frankly, when I was an employer, I rarely read past the first sentence before throwing such appeals in the "round file." Some of the candidates may have had excellent resumes and could have been excellent employees, but my perception was they were seeking a donation, and I turned my attention to candidates who offered me value.
A few tips before posting a "Seeking Employment" ad.
Good luck!
Note: I am closing this thread to public comment. If you have questions or comments about this post or the Seeking Employment forum in general, please send me a Private Message by clicking on my name (not the photo) above and selecting "Send Private Message" in the drop down box.
Typically, we (the Cove) keep a "Seeking Employment" thread for 60 days before deleting.
As a poster, you have a primary obligation to yourself to continually check on the effectiveness of your posting. If you are not drawing leads, you should probably consider revising your text and post a new thread, contemporaneously clicking on the "report post" button on your original posting to alert the next available moderator to delete the original.
Similarly, if you have been sending out the identical resume and cover letter to dozens or hundreds of potential employers and NOT scoring an interview, you should strongly consider revising them to something that will get more action from prospects.
We give plenty of worthwhile tips on the job search in these threads:
Thinking about a New Job for New Year?
Resume and cover letter - How good are yours?
The Job Hunt - Care and feeding of references
Tips to get past the "gatekeeper" when job hunting
Consulting – Is it in YOUR Career Future?
Contracting/Temping - Viable Alternates in Tough Times
As I read through each opening post on many of the expired threads I deleted, I was saddened to note how many folks violated the first principal of a job hunt:
"Describe the value you would bring to the employer!"
Instead, many of them began with an appeal, essentially asking for employment as a charity donation instead of an exchange of service for value. Frankly, when I was an employer, I rarely read past the first sentence before throwing such appeals in the "round file." Some of the candidates may have had excellent resumes and could have been excellent employees, but my perception was they were seeking a donation, and I turned my attention to candidates who offered me value.
A few tips before posting a "Seeking Employment" ad.
- Consider setting up a free email address for your job hunt - that way, any responses you get will not get lost in the clutter of your regular mail box and you can access it from any computer with internet access (libraries, friends, internet cafes, etc.)
- If you are currently employed, do not use company email for your job hunt.
- Check your spelling and grammar for the post as well as for your cover letter and resume - you only get one chance to make a good first impression and the nature of quality work is PRECISION in communicating data and concepts to others in verbal and written communication. Prospective employers are not looking for so-called quality experts that may need a course in remedial writing and speaking.
- Be prompt and cordial to all who respond. Your primary goal is to present yourself as someone they would like to meet and interview. Trust me on this - do not use "text-speak!" Write or say your responses to questions or requests in full, clear declarative sentences, avoiding jargon (the recruiter who calls or writes probably will not understand the jargon.) If you MUST use an acronym, especially if more than once, and it was NOT used first by the correspondent (FDA, FAA, ISO, PPAP, FAI, etc.), spell the whole phrase out at least once (e.g. "First Article Inspection (FAI)").
- Sometimes, recruiters think they are being "clever" by using jargon to weed out clueless candidates. If jargon or acronym used isn't in your vocabulary, and you can't figure it out from the context, you can try googling the term or referring to http://www.acronymfinder.com/. If that STILL doesn't help, don't try to fake it - it may be a phony just to catch wise guys and gamblers. Either address it in writing or call and ask, using something like, "You used the term "XYZ" and I am not familiar with that abbreviation or acronym. Possibly I am familiar with what you mean using another term. What do you mean by the term?"
Good luck!
Note: I am closing this thread to public comment. If you have questions or comments about this post or the Seeking Employment forum in general, please send me a Private Message by clicking on my name (not the photo) above and selecting "Send Private Message" in the drop down box.