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Five Indispensable Skills to have On and “Off” your CV

Five Indispensable Skills to have On and “Off” your CV

by | Jan 24, 2017 | Recruitment, World of Work

Different jobs require different skill sets, and there is no one generic set of skills that will qualify you for any job in the world. However, there are certain indispensable skills, that no matter what your profession is, will always help you. Not only do they come in handy in your own career growth, employers actively seek candidates with these skills. Ensuring that you have these indispensable skills on your CV, and are confident of them, is something that will play a pivotal role in helping you move closer to your dream job.

1. Communication Skills – Written and Verbal

Being a good communicator solves almost most of your problems. It also keeps you away from problems. Communication skills are a must have, regardless of which profession you belong to. Being able to articulate yourself in an effective manner makes you inherently more employable. A further aspect of communication skills, which is an extremely important part, is interpersonal (communication) skills. In the world of work, it is not only important to be able to articulate your opinion effectively, it is equally or more important to keep all channels of communication open and listen more than articulating. This is where your interpersonal skills play a big role, as they determine your dynamics with those around you. Here’s something to help you improve your communication skills.

2. Adaptability:

To have focus and pursue a task right through the end is an extremely desirable quality which employers actively seek. However, in a lot of situations one is required to be flexible, or, to adapt to whatever the need is according to the current scenario. This might include a shift in focus and hence efforts. But if you are able to make the best of the situation you are out in, you prove yourself as being a valuable human resource to your organization. If you have these skills, it will reflect in your CV through your experiences, and how your referees speak for you.

3. Self-confidence and willingness to Learn

It is one thing to be unnecessarily boastful about one’s skills, and quite a different thing to be confident of one’s skills. It is important to know what you are capable of, and to be able to demonstrate it through your actions. To be able to reaffirm the same through your communication skills is something that gives you an edge over most other candidates when you’re job hunting. It is equally valuable to know where you lack, and to be willing to imbibe or learn those skills. Be confident of your knowledge and your skills, but also be aware that you are “work in progress”, and that everyday you are getting better at what you do and that you should keep learning.

4. Leadership Skills

Leadership skills aren’t sought only when you are applying for a managerial post. Regardless of whether or not the description of the job you are applying to explicitly requires leadership skills, or experience in leading teams, the said skills are crucial for success in any job. Being able to demonstrate that you possess leadership skills infuses the potential employer with confidence. The fact that you will not only be able to manage yourself through self-motivation and discipline, but will also be able to handle a team if necessary is made evident. Thus amplifying your chances of growth within the organization, right at the outset.

5. Team Work

Your success in any organization, depends a lot on how you are able to function within, and as a part of a team. In fact, this is a pre-requisite for most jobs you might be looking out for. To site just one example, as a part of the hiring process for most jobs you will be put through a group discussion round. Its purpose is to have you illustrate your capabilities when you work as a part of a larger team. Employers attribute a lot of value to this skill because how employees function as a team is crucial to the goals and larger progress of any organization.

Spending time on honing these indispensable skills is something that will surely be rewarding in a very fulfilling sense in the trajectory of your professional success. While we have listed just 5 indispensable skills here, we would love to know what skills you think should have made it to this list. Share your opinions with us by commenting on this post!

What do Recruiters Want from a Job-Hunting Candidate ?

What do Recruiters Want from a Job-Hunting Candidate ?

by | Jan 20, 2017 | Job Offers, Recruitment, Resume, World of Work

What do recruiters want ? A recruiter starts work every morning with one objective – find the best candidate for his/her client and fill the open position ASAP. A candidate hunting for a job wakes up with this thought – may today be the day when I land my dream job. Notice the similarity between the two objectives – so why not work together with mutual respect  to achieve this common goal?

This post is from the view-point of a recruiter for the job-hunting candidate (let’s for the sake of convenience, assume the sex of the recruiter to be female). She wants you to succeed because your success would eventually ensure her’s. And she has a few expectations from you, the potential hire, so that the common goal of a win-win job hunt for both can be reached. So here is how you can help her help you:

What do Recruiters Want – Craft a complete resume

Your profile should be tailored for you – please skip the long sentences with all the nice-looking buzz words. A recruiter will spend a maximum of 30 seconds to determine if your profile is suitable. Be direct and prepare your resume in such a way that your qualifications, skills and achievements are searchable and stand out. Link to your work portfolios or online profiles (Social media links, LinkedIn is a must, About.me, etc.) or blogs so that there is an additional outside reference for your skills.

What do Recruiters Want – Be Visible

Update your profile (and also your LinkedIn profile) regularly. A resume should always be a work-in-progress document and have your latest details – your latest contact details (make sure your email id is a professional one.- crazylover777@xxx.com is a sure reject in the first 5 seconds of a resume review), your years of experience, your preferred job location/s, new skills all help the recruiter shortlist your candidature quickly.  Regular updates also help keep your profile on the top of search results in job boards. Create a separate folder in your mail box for achievements to store those appreciation mails and promotion letters. Refer to this folder every three months for additional updates to your resume.

What do Recruiters Want – Be Responsive and Responsible

The common courtesy rule: treat people the way you would want to be treated – applies with recruiters as well. Do respond to emails and calls – even if it is a “no, thank you”. If you are busy, a short email or text stating your availability (even when it is “please don’t contact me ever”) will save the recruiter time and not keep her hanging. If you do give a time slot, plan ahead and be available – being late for an interview is just not professional. If you can’t make it, make sure you inform in advance.

What do Recruiters Want – Be Honest

Know what you want. Think it through before committing yourself. If you are not clear about which career path to take, be upfront and discuss this with the recruiter. She will respect this and may be able to provide you with options or opportunities that work for you. Nothing is more frustrating to her than last-minute surprises – if you are not interested, just say so. If you are not ready for the interview – let her know, her information and insights can help you prepare for it. If you have another offer (a promotion, another job) – let her know, it may help you get a better offer. If you don’t want to join after accepting the offer, let her know – don’t wait for the day of joining and then not turn up. Nothing could be more unprofessional.

What do Recruiters Want – Engage

Network with recruiters. If you have had bad experiences with one recruiter, don’t lump the rest in the same bucket. Find the recruiters who work in your industry and who understand your career goals and reach out. Keep in touch. Build a relationship – this is one person you need in your corner when you are looking out for a career change. Keep track of the recruiter and through her, her clients, just like she is keeping track of you. Refer your friends. Find out about hiring trends and upcoming opportunities from her. Give value and get value back – this can definitely be a mutually beneficial relationship. Maybe you don’t need a job now, but she could open up a few doors for you when you do need one.

All of the above will help you in building relationships with the Best Recruiters and make you the favourite go-to candidate for recruiters. Recruiters can be the wind beneath your wings when you need to change jobs or need to hire for your team. (And don’t forget all the great side benefits of having a friend for life :))

Top Recruitment Quotes on How Recruiting Drives Business Success

Top Recruitment Quotes on How Recruiting Drives Business Success

by | Jan 18, 2016 | Business, Business Operations, Career, Recruitment, Startups, World of Work

The foundation of every organization is based on the nature of people that are hired to run it. We believe that most people don’t realise how important the job of a recruiter is and the value that a good recruiter brings to the table. Most recruiters themselves, lost in the busyness of day to day battles for finding the best talent on time for their companies, do tend to forget how much business depends on their success and how important what they do is to the business strategy. For all those who think being a candidate is tough, spend a day in the shoes of a recruiter and you’ll know how much pressure the person interviewing you might be in, and what it is like under the supposedly calm exterior of a recruiter.

We thought it would be a great idea to reinforce the importance of recruiting and recruiters in your minds by taking the help of some very smart and wise people over time whose words still ring true in the World of Work. Here are the top recruitment quotes that we believe best reflect the strategic importance of recruiting and why it is a business-critical function:

  1. “If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it, you almost don’t have to manage them.” Jack Welch

  1. “Some people can do one thing magnificently, like Michelangelo, and others make things like semiconductors or build 747 airplanes — that type of work requires legions of people. In order to do things well, that can’t be done by one person, you must find extraordinary people.” Steve Jobs

  1. “Since we do not take a man on his past history, we do not refuse him because of his past history. I never met a man who was thoroughly bad. There is always some good in him if he gets a chance.” Henry Ford

  1. “For no matter what we achieve, if we don’t spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect, we cannot possibly have a great life. But if we spend the vast majority of our time with people we love and respect – people we really enjoy being on the bus with and who will never disappoint us – then we will almost certainly have a great life, no matter where the bus goes. The people we interviewed from the good-to-great companies clearly loved what they did, largely because they loved who they did it with.” Jim Collins

  1. If you think hiring professionals is expensive, try hiring amateurs.” Anonymous

  1. “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.” Chinese Proverb

  1. “If you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won’t require any supervision at all. They will manage themselves better than anyone could ever manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without. Their motivation is internal, not external.” Stephen Covey

  1. “Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without [integrity], you really want them to be dumb and lazy.” Warren Buffet

  1. “Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do.” Malcolm Forbes

  1. “When hiring key employees, there are only two qualities to look for: judgement and taste. Almost everything else can be bought by the yard.” John W Gardner

  1. “You can have the best strategy and the best building in the world, but if you don’t have the hearts and minds of the people who work with you, none of it comes to life.” Renee West

  1. “I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.” Lee Iacocca

  1. “You can’t teach employees to smile. They have to smile before you hire them.” Arte Nathan

  1. “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.” David Ogilvy

  1. “If you hire only those people you understand, the company will never get people better than you are. Always remember that you often find outstanding people among those you don’t particularly like.” Soichiro Honda

Recruitment is both an art and a science. And for all those who are in the recruitment profession, be very proud of what you do – you change people’s lives, you help build companies, and you keep the country’s economy running.  What can be a higher calling than this ? And for all those who are not into recruitment, we hope that this post will help increase your respect for recruiters and appreciate their work more. We encourage you to go thank a recruiter today 🙂

Which is your favorite among the top recruitment quotes of all time? We would love to hear from you! Write to us or comment below.

5 Secret Job Application Tips That Will Win You The Recruiter’s Attention

5 Secret Job Application Tips That Will Win You The Recruiter’s Attention

by | Dec 3, 2015 | Career, Job Offers, Managing Yourself, Recruitment, Resume, World of Work

This post comes from our experience as recruiters, and as an attempt to tell all the potential job-seekers out there about what it is that always makes a positive difference in a candidate’s application. We’ve seen some really great applications and some not-so-great ones. Whether or not you are a star performer, here are some job application tips that we would personally recommend which will help you get an edge over the other candidates (and make our lives much easier too!)

Job Application Tips #1 – Express Interest

The first and the foremost thing. Remember that the recruiter will probably be screening through dozens of other applications for the same job. What is it that will make the recruiter ascertain that you are the likely candidate? How interested you seem to be in the job. Express your interest adequately, however, not in a desperate manner. Mention the name of the company in your cover letter/email. Tell us what excites you about the job and why you are looking forward to it, it is a sign of how passionate you are about that particular job.

Job Application Tips #2 – Proofread your Resume and Cover Email

It is appalling how people seem to think it is okay to send in an error ridden resume/ application (unknowingly or deliberately) and that they would get away with it. The applications outnumber the positions available, and in such a case we need to shortlist. One or two typos won’t send your resume to the trash, but any more than that or other errors (inconsistency, insufficient information) obviously will, in the first round of shortlist itself, irrespective of how deserving a candidate you might be. Be sure to read, re-read and then read your resume and cover letter again for any mistakes or inconsistencies.

Job Application Tips #3 – Check your Online Presence

It is not a myth that recruiters and employers check the internet for extra information regarding the candidate. We actually do. And remember it is not just your LinkedIn profile we will be scanning. When you are getting ready to apply, make sure you assess how your online presence appears, yourself. The best way to do it is to Google yourself and see what information appears. You could then start filtering as per what you would want to be visible. Do look out for any inappropriate photographs and information that contradicts the information you have sent you in your application.

Job Application Tips #4 – Be Patient

Remember that the recruiter is most often not the decision maker and that (s)he is looking into the application process of several other candidates. While it is understandable that you would be anxious regarding the progress of your application, it is impractical to expect immediate feedback on your resume or interview.  Send a polite thank you email after each interview, and if you don’t hear back from the recruiter, let a few days pass before asking for an update. Be careful with the tone and frequency of your follow up, sounding angry or impatient is never a good idea.

Job Application Tips #5 – Be Transparent

Remember that when you choose a recruiter, you expect him/her to be pitching your case. It will always help to disclose full facts about your career, expectations and limitations, so that your recruiter can help you to the best of his/her ability. Discuss any worries you have about the job role, location, compensation, benefits  with the recruiter frankly so that he/she can either allay your concerns or let you know if the job is not a good fit for you. It is best to sort these things out right at the outset – saves everyone’s time and energy.

These are the simplest things you can do to help speed up your own job application process because you will getting the attention of the recruiter by paying attention to these details. Surprisingly, none of these tips are unusual or some form of hidden wisdom. They are just common sense, and yet we rarely ever see a candidate scoring well when it comes to these aspects. And when we do, the candidate remains high on our “favourite” list for all open job positions. Remember, it is a team effort, you need to help us for us to be able to help you.

Recruitment Diary – How to Sift Through Rumours While Hiring

Recruitment Diary – How to Sift Through Rumours While Hiring

by | Nov 24, 2015 | Job Offers, Management, Office Etiquette, Recruitment, World of Work

Rumours have always been as much a part of the professional spaces, as they are of the idle personal spaces. Be it random, unnecessary rumours resulting from personal vendetta against a colleague that end up in reference checks, or unsubstantiated rumours about a new employee you are just about to recruit, rumours while hiring do pop up inconveniently. Even though you would really like to have the person on your team, based on your meetings and interviews with the potential candidate, the authenticity of the rumour would have the last word. While most of us, as experienced professionals would say that we would go ahead and recruit the candidate irrespective of what rumour we hear, because, well, it is just a rumour, actual studies have been conducted which prove quite the contrary. The odds of not employing a potential candidate based on a rumour against him/her are higher.

As professionals, we are all well aware of the importance of background checks before recruiting a candidate. With this one thing gone wrong, it could make all the difference, and for the worse. In the World of Work, it is a thumb rule to steer away from rumours and giving it flesh, at any cost. However, humans we are, and mistakes we shall make. Here are three basic principles, that will hopefully help you sift through the rumours while hiring when you are about to make a job offer to a potential candidate.

Focus on the positive

Don’t be penny wise pound foolish. If by believing the unsubstantiated rumour, which doesn’t even mean anything grave, you let go of a true asset to your organization, you should think twice. Weigh the potential of the candidate against the authenticity of the rumour and then take a call.

Remember the source

Always, always remember the source. The reason for the rumour could be purely out of petty personal vendetta and in such a case you do not want it affecting your professionalism. Verify the source and do the required research to determine whether or not the rumour could be true. Half your work is done if you know how reliable or unreliable the source you heard the rumour from, is.

Be thorough in doing your own background check

Do not be dependent purely on your team for doing all the background check. When you encounter roadblocks like these, spend some time on doing your own background check, especially if you are looking forward to hiring the potential candidate. Don’t just depend on internet searches for the background checks, they are seldom reliable, and are often noisy information platforms. Tap into your own sources and seek out dependable data.

Also remember that it could have been you in the other person’s place, and losing a job for no valid reason doesn’t make any one feel good. Besides, it is as much your organization’s loss, as it is the candidate’s. Probably a greater loss for you if the candidate was truly worth hiring, because he/she will anyway get a job elsewhere. Factor in all the consequences and a take a decision accordingly, never on a whim. In the World of Work, it is always professionalism over rumours.

Short Guide to Recruitment as a Career: 5 Must Have Skills for a Modern Recruiter

Short Guide to Recruitment as a Career: 5 Must Have Skills for a Modern Recruiter

by | Jul 26, 2015 | Recruitment, World of Work

“Today’s recruiter must be a marketer, sales person, career coach, and psychologist all in one.”— Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte, Principal & Founder

Becoming a star recruiter is no easy job. Recruitment is for those who can wear multiple hats comfortably. It requires being proactive, continuous self-assessment and self-improvement, a great deal of patience and persistence, and above all, a wide range of skills. Do you have what it takes to have a career as a recruiter? How would you rate yourself if having the following skills were crucial to being one?

1. Being a good listener – Much of your performance and credibility as a recruiter lies on how good a listener you are. It is literally your job to listen to people as they speak about themselves and then carry out the process of shortlisting suitable candidates according to any given job description. We admit and agree that at times it may be a test of one’s patience (no guesses on whose patience!), but to be fair, you signed up for it, didn’t you? So you better do justice to it! Jokes apart, being a good listener will help you truly shine at being a recruiter because you will know exactly how to steer the conversation and bring out the best in the prospective candidate according to the job description at hand.

2. Communication skills – In order to assess the communication skills of the prospective candidate, your own communication skills as a recruiter needs to be flawless – irrespective of whether you are communicating with the candidate face to face, on the phone or through email. You not only need to talk well, you need to write well too.  Words woo. Words help you get the attention of the best talent. The reputation of the firm you are recruiting for also rests in your hands depending on the image you project of the organization, through how you communicate with your clients and candidates.

3. Sales and Marketing skills – The key to having great marketing skills is having thorough knowledge regarding the services your firm provides. It is only when you are well versed with the operations of your firm will you be able to confidently market the same to the candidates. You may have scores of deserving candidates on your database, however, if the candidates you are looking to hire are not convinced about your services, it is going to be mammoth waste of resources, and eventually would result in loss of clients and hence stagnate your business. You need to be able to negotiate and convince fiercely, yet gracefully, to be able to sell the services your firm has to offer!

4. Networking skills – Recruiting is essentially a social activity.  Your networking skills, on social media and off-line, will be one of your key differentiators that will set you above the rest. You also need to be well versed with changing IT trends given the technocratic leap the world has taken in the past few years. This is what will determine your success in many areas including tapping the passive candidates’ pool, getting references for clients and candidates, inputs for market studies, etc. As Stacy Donovan Zapar, Zappos says:

 “A modern recruiter is one who is targeted, builds relationships and knows how to not only find candidates but also get them to respond!”

5. Team work – As a recruiter, it is inevitable that once in a while, you may have to function as a part of a team, or even lead a team in order to achieve a set target. During such times, you will have to function under pressure to ensure your own performance is stable and also be responsible for the performance of those working under you or with you. A right mix of ‘firm yet friendly’ approach will have to be employed by you in order to be able to pilot the team efficiently, scope for communication lapses would be minimal. Knowing how to manage ‘people’ is a skill you cannot function without, if you want to be a recruiter!

Bonus Skill: You need to take pride in your job and be extremely positive. Recruitment is one profession where you hear “NO” many more times than you hear “YES”. And having an ability to bounce back from setbacks and get back to work quickly definitely helps! Remember, you are on a very important mission:

“I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.” – Lawrence Bossidy, GE

If you are a recruiter and want to share your professional experiences with us, we would love to hear from you. Do write to us or comment below!