Job Search Blog Archives - Page 49 of 49

…”but i was making $130,000 three years ago!”

great candidate…top performer every place she has ever been…took two years off to have a baby…fair enough…now needs to find a job…

no way of her knowing that the market is really tight…she figures, like most top performers, that there is always room for a winner..

we don’t get that many interviews because: 1. the market is tight ..and 2. she has been out of the market for two years…

after three months and only three interviews, we get an offer…$90,000 salary plus commission…she said that she was probably going to turn it down because …”i was making $130,000 three years ago!”

well, it isn’t three years ago and this is a much different market… she eventually accepted the offer…it is a great company and she will have a great future..

lesson:..what you made three or four years ago was three or four years ago..the market is different now..no one is intrinsically worth any amount of money

By Tony Beshara|2009-09-12T21:45:18-05:00September 12, 2009|Job Search Blog|

…backdoor references…beware and be ready!

…it happens at least once a month in our company…a candidate looses out on an opportunity because of a “backdoor” reference who “threw them under the bus,” as the saying goes..

a backdoor reference is a “reference” from someone who supposedly knows you, but you don’t provide as a business reference..someone you might have worked with or for in the past, or, as is the usual case, someone who knows someone, who knew someone, who knew someone, who thinks they know you..

here is the problem with “backdoor” references…if someone implies to someone else that you, for whatever reason, aren’t a good potential employee, and you don’tget hired…that person is right and the person or firm considering you will never know if they were right or wrong because you didn’t get hired…

unfortunately, it is human nature to be negative about stuff like this…and it is rather sad…some people feel “big” by diminishing others…even if they don’t know what they are talking about…i once had a candidate get a bad reference from someone who knew somone, who knew someone, who knew somone who played golf with my candidate….one time!…yea, you got it..this was a third or fourth hand negative testimony from someone who had no idea what they were talking about…

if you have been in any profession or industry for any length of time, and you are looking for a job, you’d best expect that a potential hiring authority is going to find at least one or two “backdoor” references regarding you…even if they are distant…best hope they are good references

there isn’t much you can do about this …if you have burned some bridges in your career, try to mend them…if you think some folks you use to work for don’t like you, make sure you have some stellar references to offset any negative ones that may be uncovered…

most of life isn’t fair and this is one of the most unfair aspects of looking for a job

By Tony Beshara|2009-09-10T21:55:45-05:00September 10, 2009|Job Search Blog|

…On vacation…are you kidding me!

…Candidate has been out of work three months…we get him an interview…he explains that he can’t go because his family has planned a vacation next week…I might be more understanding of this, if he had a job and was looking for one…but, he doesn’t and this is only the second interview opportunity he has had in that three month period of time

Some would say that it’s cause he is a millennial…i.e. a kid… well, whatever the reason that is just plain crazy… (Vacation from what, anyhow?)We had another candidate that ran into the same situation… he sent his family out to the vacation spot and he joined them after the interview…so, he missed a couple of days of vacation…but he needed a job…Most folks with commons sense would put finding a job above taking a vacation…

By Tony Beshara|2009-07-29T21:45:59-05:00July 29, 2009|Job Search Blog|

….”internet your way to a job!”

OK…the latest craze…twitter, linkedin, facebook, plaxo your way into your new job…wellllllll, maybe…

they are simply tools to get interviews…don’t be lead to believe that they are going to revolutionize your job search..

the three new books i just read on internetting your way to a new job don’t even address how to interview or how to sell yourself…they sell the idea that by using the net you can miraculously have a job fall in your lap..

oh, yea…here we go…a video resume…i don’t think it will help you at all…it is worse than a video conference interview… it will give an employer too many reasons to eliminate you… too one dimensional…like your picture on your resume ..

don’t buy it…look at the revolutionary internet stuff on other folks…see what you think…

twitter…i could be wrong, but what kind of busy, hard working candidate or employer has time to “follow” other folks around all day…

some of this stuff is just too social…might be great to find a date…but not a job..

hey, if they get you an interview..OK…but don’t think it is going to make looking for a job any easier…

By Tony Beshara|2009-05-31T21:54:36-05:00May 31, 2009|Job Search Blog|

…your picture on your resume

this has been a bit of a “thing” lately…DON’T DO THIS…DO NOT PUT YOUR MUG ON YOUR RESUME.. you are not trying to get a date…you don’t look anywhere near as good in a picture as you think you do…i don’t care what you or your spouce or friends think…

in fact, it is just another reason for someone not to like you

the resume should communicate, “here is why you should interview me”….your picture doesn’t help that..

By Tony Beshara|2009-05-19T21:51:19-05:00May 19, 2009|Job Search Blog|