Job Jotes - The Job Lead Tracker

Job Jotes - Simple, Yet Effective, Job Lead Tracker
Posted by Teena Rose, resumes and cover letters to give you the advantage.





I know all-too-well how clients suffer when going through the pains of job-search. Let's call it what it is ... a pain in the ass! I've been writing resume and job coaching clients for about 10 years, and to be honest, I just don't want to sugarcoat it anymore. You know it's a pain; I know it's a pain. So why beat around the job-search bush?

With today's technologies, one could hope a single, massive system would be in place to handle the world's hiring. You input a resume, career assessment, cover letter, brag book, blog, LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed, MySpace address (just kidding, you probably won't need the resume if LinkedIn continues to have its ways)

... and voila a ticky-tape (well, maybe something more appropriate like the size of a Twitter Tweet) would spit out and tell you to report at so-and-sos Monday morning for that new job, or minimally, for an interview.

Nope, we're dealing with something far more dysfunctional:

1. A resume that is subjective, hence the reason there are something like 300 million so-called resume writers on the Internet these days.

2. A cover letter that *may* get some eye-attention. Making matters worse, we don't know the full value cover letters apply to highly used resume management systems.

3. A talent recruitment system that seems to work great for recruiters and HR managers, but for jobseekers, well, it's a "club" most can't join. In fact, most jobseekers don't have a clue on exactly the system used by many on the hiring side of the desk.

4. Recruiters and HR managers dealing with a bogged process that generates hundreds or thousand (maybe even tens of thousands for a company like Microsoft) of so-called qualified candidates for *ONE* job opening.

5. A system (job posting to interviewing to hiring) that drags on and on (yes, I'm looking at you USAJobs!)

So, I'm one of the little people who tries to make your "job of searching for a job" just a tiny bit easier. It's frustrating system even for those of us who have what some would consider an inside edge.

My latest freebie on the job-search trail includes Job Jotes. Not a superior invention by any means, but it's an easy-to-follow Excel spreadsheet that allows you to track positions that have caught your attention while job-searching.

A time (and dare I say sanity) saver. =]

Don't expect too many columns. As I mentioned, you need a system that serves its purpose but doesn't take long hours to maintain. A tracking system that keeps target jobs within a nice cubby system to satisfy your job-search tracking wants and needs with a few quick glimpses.

Enjoy!



Copyright 2008, Teena Rose, All Rights Reserved

ResumeFit LLC; Does It Fit You?

Introduction to ResumeFit LLC
Posted by Teena Rose; high-quality resumes and cover letters to give you the advantage.




The following represents an interview with Tom Schmidt of ResumeFit LLC. Bringing you new and potentially important job-search tools is important in staying competitive in today's job market, so I plan to spend the next few weeks drawing attention to tools you should already be using ... as well as other tools, such ResumeFit LLC, which are certainly worth your consideration.

Now, I'll pass your attention to Tom Schmidt ...

Let me start by saying, the big problem is worldwide and well known: résu-mess. Every resume silo in the world contains one type of data: self-authored by the candidate. Resumes are inherently untrustworthy.

Some employers actually develop “trustworthy” data about those candidates who make their shortlist. All employers would like to do this, but the majority don’t because they’re a small businesses who can’t afford it. Presently the interview is the primary criteria for many employers making candidate selection decisions.

“Trustworthy” data is developed from doing background checks and/or asking the candidate to complete an assessment or knowledge based test.

This data is rarely shared with the candidate and the candidate definitely cannot take it with them and use it with another prospective employer.

The hiring process is primarily and some would say exclusively employer-centric.

Enter ResumeFit.

We offer the candidate the opportunity to complete an assessment that measures their 29 workplace personality dimensions and 54 workplace competencies, such as analytical thinking, leadership, ambition, and many more.

We will very soon offer the candidate the opportunity to verify their degree or certification.

Since everyone has a resume they’re already using, s/he just uploads it and ResumeFit inserts the “trustworthy” data into their resume utilizing MS Word. This is critical because any improvement to the resume MUST BE in MS Word (it’s the de facto resume/CV file standard worldwide).

We return the candidate’s resume to him/her with our digital signature from VeriSign™ on the resume. This insures no one, not even the candidate, can edit or alter the contents of the document.

The candidate can now transmit/upload their Next Gen Resume™ to a job board’s resume silo such as CareerBuilder, Hotjobs, and Monster (it works perfectly at the big 3 job boards).

The Next Gen Resume™ also is machine readable so that a recruiter can easily differentiate the inserted “trustworthy” data from the candidate’s self-authored data.

Resume silos can now contain “trustworthy” data whereas they previously contained only candidate self-authored data.

Recruiters can then search for someone who is ambitious, multi-tasking, analytical, etc. and know that the data is “trustworthy” from a scientifically-based assessment and/or information that has been verified by a trusted 3rd party. This is a huge deal.

Every stakeholder who handles a Next Gen Resume™ benefits.

-----------~~~***~~~-----------------

FAST FACTS

How long has ResumeFit LLC been online?
3 plus years.

How long did it take to develop your service? Were you inspired by a particular event or time in your life to develop ResumeFit’s technologies?
5 years to develop. Too many new hires coming and going. It was always the, “I wish we knew then what we know now about so and so.”

For jobseekers, how will your service revolutionize how they job-search?
Job seekers can better represent themselves with their Next Gen Resume™.

How would jobseekers start integrating your service?
By completing their assessment and uploading their resume at www.resumefit.com.

For hiring managers/recruiters, how will your service change their internal processes, hiring strategies, and so on?
Recruiters can now search a resume silo and differentiate between the candidate’s self-authored data and the “trustworthy” data that a trusted 3rd party inserted, ResumeFit.

There’s been buzz about how traditional resumes may be replaced by other technologies, such as LinkedIn and FaceBook. Do you agree with these claims? If yes, how will you migrate ResumeFit LLC to those new technologies?
The key is whether the candidate’s data is “trustworthy.” The candidate’s data at the websites you mentioned and all others are entirely self-authored by the candidate. Glowing references are also questionable at best.

A few final words ...
The candidate is required to control/own their data. Credit scores used to be exclusive to merchants/lenders. Now credit scores are being watched/managed by the individuals who will benefit or be harmed by them. Same holds true with resume data.

Candidates can better represent themselves with a Next Gen Resume™ and employers can make more well-informed candidate selection decisions.

Our Next Gen Resume™ is a viable alternative to a video resume. Candidates think they can better represent themselves and employers think they can learn something of the candidate’s workplace persona or character. We provide scientifically-based candidate differentiation and employers can search “trustworthy” data to ascertain the candidate’s workplace persona.



Copyright 2008, Teena Rose, All Rights Reserved

Inquiring Minds Have to Know ... Will LinkedIn Replace the Traditional Resume?

Will LinkedIn Replace the Traditional Resume
Posted by Teena Rose, resumes and cover letters to give you the advantage.




As a resume writer, I’m not new to resumes. I’ve written thousands since starting business online in the late 1990s.

Why is the traditional resume facing such extinction? Well, some feel the traditional resume is an outdated piece of job-search collateral, and when facing new technologies applied to perform job-search tasks (intentionally or unintentionally) such as FaceBook and LinkedIn, one really needs to wonder exactly when the Internet *meteor* will arrive to finally “kill the resume.”

When you need an answer who do you call? You call on the experts; those on the hiring and recruitment side of things to ask …

“Will LinkedIn eventually replace the resume? What's the view from your side of the desk?”

I’m amazed and honored with the responses I posted within the Q&A section of LinkedIn. The massive pool of skills, professional, and just overall wonderful group of people congregate within some of those HR and recruitment groups. For that, I say "thank you, thank you." Sometimes people are so giving that one thank you doesn't seem enough.

What I will say upfront is 80%-90% who responded to my questions stated no, they don’t feel LinkedIn will replace the resume at this moment nor with its current limitations. I’m not surprised. After all, LinkedIn hasn’t filled all the gaps and benefits of the resume -- however I feel they’re working on it. =]

In some ways, LinkedIn provides the details resumes do not … or maybe, should. For example, recommendations. Who doesn’t love reviewing credentials, online blog involvement, Twittering, and all those other applications available via LinkedIn, in tandem with active words of praise from third parties?

LinkedIn has become a primary stop for hiring personnel as part of the research and selection process.

Google beware. Instead of the once common saying, did you "google" that candidate, we might see LinkedIn's name used as a verb.

No doubt, LinkedIn is a perfect resource to only, at this moment, complement a resume.

So, back to the question posted to recruiters and human resources managers. What’s the view from your side of the desk? Of the responses I received, Prashanth Menon provided what I thought was a nice response covering some of what I myself had been thinking … but honestly, he put it more eloquently.

Here’s what Prashanth Menon, an Executive Search and Headhunting Specialist with Focus Direct Management Consultants had to say:

LinkedIN and similar enterprising network sites will definitely be replacing Job sites and their ineffectiveness, however it will not be surprising to see LinkedIN with further developments in the future which eradicates the need to manage ones resume elsewhere. Classic example has been the recent endeavor of LinkedIN developers to include a download-able PDF resume in the profile page.

As more and more LinkedIN users embrace the power of networking and understand the possibilities of a functional and dynamic online resume / biography the probability of LinkedIN replacing resumes will largely increase and be imminent. Most of the current users shy away from elaborating their profile which largely renders it as an ineffective replacement for a resume in the present scenario.

For career seekers tools like LinkedIN are a great way to generate headhunting calls and open doors to new opportunities which largely increases their value than a resume in some job site. They have the option of looking up current employees in an potential organization to get a feel of their cultural fitment.

As a hiring manager or search consultant LinkedIN opens door to multiple possibilities like identifying client competition, specific candidates, reference and background checks to a potentials virtual behavior and skills in discussions. Resumes largely are ineffective in delivering a wholesome package which include misrepresentation of core skills to suit the particular opportunity and cliched references which results in screening a lot of chaff.

There would be a great need for users to better represent their online profile and I would not be surprised to see a new breed of Online Profile/Resume Writers to fill that vacuum.

What do you think? Are resumes slotted for extinction?

Regards,
Teena



Copyright 2008, Teena Rose, All Rights Reserved

Naymz: Leveraging Job-Search 2.0 Tools

Naymz: Leveraging Job-Search 2.0 Tools
Posted by Teena Rose. Download the Naymz publication, along with several others at no cost. Check 'em out here: My Job-Search Home Page..




Virtually new to Naymz, I discovered five main benefits offered by this service over many others ... and for top professionals, these are benefits you shouldn't live, and well "work," without.

Learn how to leverage Naymz relative to your online personal brand: Naymz: Leveraging Job-Search 2.0 Tools.





Copyright 2008, Teena Rose, All Rights Reserved

LinkedIn: Leveraging Job-Search 2.0 Tools

LinkedIn: Leveraging Job-Search 2.0 Tools
Join me on LinkedIn! Visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/teenarose





Do yourself a favor.
Copyright 2008, Teena Rose, All Rights Reserved




Tap leading job-search tools, such as LinkedIn, to not only broaden your current network but to build a solid base of contacts to help when searching for that next new position.

Wondering what all the fuss is about? Learn how LinkedIn can leverage you the next time you're on the hunt. For a quick how-to presentation, click LinkedIn: Leveraging Job-Search 2.0 Tools.