Comment by Andrew Hanneman on July 26, 2012 at 12:32pm

I have never been a grammar or spelling champion, and probably never will be.  But sure for shit I checked my resume 100 times before saving and formating it. 

 

I cannot believe the amount of resumes I get that say "atension to detail" or something of that nature.  Swear to god I'm not making that up.  Misspelling their name...you may ask how I know they misspelled it....well on a 2 page resume, it is spelled different on each page. 

 

If you just graduated, you are not "highly experienced".  In fact, you have no experience, that would be the definition of just graduated. 

 

Not calling me back....if you want a job, find a way to call me.  Don't give me the, "I can't talk between 8am and 5pm."

 

Applying for jobs that you are have no hope in hell of ever getting, if you are a janitor don't apply for a Mgmt position within a hospital...it's not going to happen. 

 

Lastly, being incredibly rude on the phone.  I cannot tell you how many times, someone is very rude to me when they applied and went thru the process of submitting everything. 

 

When economists say that our unemployment rate is at 8%....my general thought is, it is amazing it is that low cause based on some of the idiots I come in contact with...it should be much higher

Comment by Jason Alba on July 26, 2012 at 12:35pm

ROFL - Andrew, your comments are cracking me up.

Thanks to each of you for your contributions, this is exactly what I was hoping to hear.   I'll share it with job seekers... !

Comment by Sandra McCartt on July 26, 2012 at 2:36pm

1. Talking and talking and talking and talking.  I know when a candidate starts overselling me and won't shut up that they are going to oversell the interview.

2.  The flip side of overtalking.  Not able or willing to tell me anything, refusing to give salary history or asking salary and making me dig details out of them to the point that i just give it up and trash the resume.

3.  Going dark.  If we speak you indicate you are interested then when i call you for an interview you don't answer your phone or respond to emails.  If you have found something just let me know.  Don't make me spend four days leaving messages and sending emails before i finally give it up and let the employer know that you won't communicate.  If you get an offer don't go dark.  If you have something else in the works tell me and i'll help you buy some time without blowing the offer.  If my employer makes you an offer at least respond to them.

4.  Telling me or my employer that you need to pray about it when you get an offer.  You may want to and you may need to but it's better to just say you want to talk it over with your family and give it some thought.  If you do tell the employer you want to pray about it don't wait three days before you contact anyone.  I am a believer in the power or prayer which a lot of folks understand but just how much praying does it take.  If you haven't had a revelation in three days understand that even the "believers" are going to start wondering if you are hired are you going to take three days to pray about a project before you get divine guidence.  God created the world in 7 which was a pretty big job so maybe three days of praying is a little much.  I hate getting those emails from a hiring manager asking if my candidate is still praying.  My only answer is that they must be but i have also asked for divine intervention so maybe my imaginary friend will jump start their imatinary friend.

5.  Not being upfront about schedule conflicts with sitters, part time jobs, part time school anything that would conflict with the hours you would need to work.  Telling the employer during the interview that you can't work the hours required for the job makes both you and I look like idiots when i told you what the hours were before the interview.  Did you think they would love you so much that they would change the hours to fit your schedule.

6.  Making statements like , "i dont think i am interested in that job or company but i might talk to them just to see what they are all about." then throwing a fit because i didn't move forward with you due to lack of interest.  Many placements are made with people who are not sure about a job.  That is why we do interviews, but starting with a negative response as opposed to a candidate who expresses strong interest moves you down the scale if i can present three.

7.  Being late to interviews.  Things happen, start early.  If you drive in to another city for two days of interviews , being late three times means you are out.  Leave a wake up call and take a travel alarm or set the alarm on your smart phone.

8. Don't tell me how to do my job.  I didn't just wake up this morning and decide to be a recruiter.  I know you are a shiz bang at what you do.  I ain't no slouch either so let's try some mutual respect for what each of us know how to do.  It may surprise your arrogant butt, there are a lot of recruiters who make more money than doctors.  We may have some natural talent, it didn't take somebody 12 years to train us to do something.

Comment by Marcus Ronaldi on July 31, 2012 at 8:47pm

1) Being very vague about their career goals (confusing the role of recruiter with that of a career coach)
2) Candidates that combine applying for everything with persistant follow up. 
3) Generic cover letters that states "I am the perfect person for this job because..."

Comment by Jason Alba on August 2, 2012 at 10:44am

Hey everyone, thanks again for chiming in!  Great, great stuff here :) 

Comment by Jason Alba on August 3, 2012 at 4:06pm

I just wrote the blog post to share your lists with my readers (job seekers)... it will post on the 7th... thanks again, I got a lot of great laughs (Sandra, #4... !). Your insight is invaluable, and I hope this list helps job seekers perform better.... 

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