Do Applicants Lack Skills or Experience

Do Applicants Lack Skills or Experience The latest survey from Forde HR Cloud reveals that a large proportion of businesses are unable to pick and choose the perfect candidates when recruiting. In fact, as many as two in three business managers admitted to struggling to recruit the staff they ideally want. Small businesses listed a variety of reasons, the biggest being a “lack of skills and experience” among applicants (50%). The reality then, is that at some stage, most hiring managers are going to face the decision of whether to settle or keep on searching for the “perfect” candidate. But are these skills gaps a fair representation of the shape of the current workforce? Skills Gaps: Truth or Perception? The fact that 50% of small businesses believe their new recruits should come to the role with the necessary tools to do the job is understandable. Training and development requires staff time and investment, two things small businesses don’t always have in abundance. Juxtapose that with the fact that graduation season is upon us, bringing with it an annual influx of eager, well-educated young professionals. Despite unfilled roles in businesses up and down the country, 1 in 10 of these skilled graduates will remain unemployed 6 months after they’ve thrown the mortarboard in the air. So, are recruiters missing an opportunity to plug this skills gap? Graduates do, after all, represent a skilled workforce. Generally speaking, their acquired skills may not be aligned exactly to the vacancy, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do the job. It’s been reported that only half of graduates end up in careers directly aligned to their studies. That means that a considerable chunk of the workforce are doing jobs for which they may not have exactly trained for. The key to navigating this skills gap then is to look for transferable skills that can be applied to the role. Experience Gaps: Truth or Perception? It would be too simplistic to look only at the disparity between skill sets and role requirements. The perceived lack of relevant experience in candidate pools is another hiring challenge for small businesses Experience is often viewed as a black and white issue, either applicants tick the box or they don’t. Instead, could the problem lie in the historical emphasis we place on experience as a prerequisite to proving capability? For example, when applicants specify three years’ experience in a certain role, how do we measure the difference between three years of compounding skill and improvement versus the equivalent bad experience, repeated for three years? The fact is, we can’t. Experience level is one of the most traditional hiring metrics and yet it can be replaced by things like personality or attitude assessments to find a good cultural fit. Of course, there are many jobs that require very specific skill sets for which there simply is no alternative. But there are equally as many roles that don’t need to be so constrained. CVs: What to look for beyond skills and experience So, if you are prepared to look beyond the bullet point checklist of skills and experience, what key characteristics should you be looking for within a CV, that will signal an applicant has potential? The first port of call should be transferable skills those that can be applied across industries and roles. These are usually things like literacy, computer skills, initiative, team working or entrepreneurship; intangible skills that tend to be unique to a candidate and take time to nurture. But there are other transferable qualities to be found within job-specific skills too. So, for example, someone with nursing experience may apply to a non-nursing role, but the transferable skills inferred include anything from interpersonal skills, working under pressure and high levels of a team working aptitude. A candidate’s attitude is the one area that can’t be changed by training so it’s crucial to hire for this as a fit for the business from the outset. Adaptive skills listed on a CV can reveal attributes such as loyalty, tenacity, and self-reliance. Even the way in which the CV has been designed and written can expose adaptive skills like presentation, attention to detail and creativity, without them having been explicitly described. CVs: Warning signs that really matter While there are plenty of positive attributes to be gleaned from a closer CV inspection, there can be warning signs in there, too. So, what elements should flag a concern? Obviously, context is everything and it depends on the role. If a role requires serious attention to detail, then simple errors in terms of grammar or spelling could pose a challenge. When hiring a technical employee, a CVs that leans too heavily on fluffy language and experience may be covering a lack of qualifications or formal training. Generally, inaccurate dates or periods of time that seem to be missing from the employment record could denote a candidate who moves jobs regularly or highlight an underlying issue. Or it could mean they are hiding an incident, like being dismissed from a role. A subtle warning sign to look for is when applicants focus heavily on listing generic job duties as opposed to their individual contribution. This could represent a lack of value the candidate actually brought to a business in terms of outcomes. Graduate recruitment As noted above, graduates can provide a good pool of talent. Armed with enthusiasm and qualifications, some 60,000 of them will be unable to secure professional employment, meaning those given an opportunity will likely seize it with both hands. As the Forde HR Cloud survey found, 25% of SMEs attribute recruitment success to the training and development they offer to new employees. The research suggests there is room for other small businesses to adopt a similar strategy and overcome their recruitment issues. If your business struggles to attract applicants with role-specific skills, consider adopting the approach: “hire for attitude, train for skill.” Should we prize skills and experience above attitude? While most businesses will require a core foundation of skills and experience across its workforce, limiting recruitment exercises to only these two areas can make the hiring process challenging, to the point where many roles remain unfilled for too long. When candidates apply who meet the skill and experience criteria, hire them and, if they become solid members of your team, nurture them to stay with you. However, be aware that meeting the criteria is not a guarantee that the candidate will be the perfect person for the job or company culture. Training may require resources, but offering a foot up the ladder to career beginners can bring to your business staff who are energetic, quick to learn, grateful for the opportunity and amiable to moulding to fit your company culture. So, look beyond the CV bullet points and consider the value that the candidate brings beyond the criteria checklist. About the Author: Jerome Forde is an HR and employee relations specialist with almost 30 years’ senior-level experience in complex public, private and not-for-profit organisations. Jerome founded  FordeCloud, a RIT platform that uses the most advanced cloud technology to bring a virtual HR office to start-ups and SMEs.

Writing a Check to Federal Government Resume - Tips to Help You

Writing a Check to Federal Government Resume - Tips to Help YouWriting a check to federal government employment is not a get rich quick scheme. There are a lot of steps that must be taken before submitting a resume for a position. First, the applicant must first provide a copy of their resume.The application for federal jobs usually consists of several fields of interests and qualifications. A resume needs to highlight these fields with specific details about one's job history and educational background. This will help the recruiter evaluate the applicants and select the best candidate for the position.When the check is written, all of the information that is to be included is written on the check. However, the recruiter can add additional items if needed. This is because some checks are assigned special rules by the federal government. For example, a check may have to be turned in to the Internal Revenue Service.When writing a check to federal government employment, a person must al so follow several regulations. The first thing that needs to be done is to submit a federal background check. This will take time, but it is important. Also, any jobs that a person has taken during their military service should be included.The next thing to do is to know the Federal ID number of the military person. This number is necessary because most companies will not hire anyone who does not have this number. If a person has been out of the service, they must provide proof that they were discharged for military reasons.When writing a check to federal government employment, the applicant also needs to know what the federal agency is looking for. Once this is done, the applicant can then write a check that is to be given to the agency. The check will be given to the applicant along with an assignment letter.The recruiters must then validate the check. When doing this, the check will be checked against other checks that were made and there will be one or more discrepancies. This w ill be documented. After the discrepancies are documented, the information will be sent to the applicant.The applicant may then be asked to provide additional information. This can include a copy of their resume or military service records check. Some checks will be issued on a discount if they have had some type of experience as a federal employee. The check will then be sent to the federal government agency that wrote the check.

The sales pitch is dead; heres a new way to sell

The sales pitch is dead; heres a new way to sell What do you do with your ideas? How do you get them traction? It used to be you made a sales pitch to venture capitalists, to customers, to your boss. But today young people are deconstructing the sales pitch paring it down to its core information and parodying the BS that surrounds it. The nail in the coffin of spin might have been last Tuesday, when Google purchased You Tube, and the twentysomething founders of YouTube, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, made a home video to announce one of the most significant corporate acquisitions of the year to consumers. The video starts out with the two of them talking about the benefits to the consumer lines that may or may not have been scripted and sound a lot like spin. But then Hurley says of YouTube and Google, Two kings have gotten together. He appears to realize he has lost himself in generic salespeak, and he laughs. Then someone says, Just keep going. So he does. He makes a Burger King joke. Among young people, there is a general dislike for the classic idea of sales. Our company is not a sales-based organization, says Siamak Taghaddos of GotVMail, a virtual phone service for small business. Not in the typical sense. We educate people. Im a firm believer in letting someone make their own decision. Sales spin only works if you have a monopoly on the real information. In an era where information rules and everyone can get it whenever they want, there are scant opportunities to credibly slant the truth. Instead, you just have to put it out there and hope it works. Spin doctors on sales teams are out, and authentic communication is in. This is why many companies do not have a sales button on their web site, but they do have a blog. The blog is a way of getting out information in an authentic, efficient way, which is the best path to acceptance. The power of authenticity for the new generation cannot be overstated. Guy Kawasaki, former Apple Computer evangelist and founder of Garage Technology Ventures, is a notable voice of authenticity on his blog, Signal Without Noise. Most people with Kawasakis experience rely on their authority the power of their reputation to push through their ideas. Kawasaki, however, is not afraid to rely on authenticity a dedication to providing genuine and useful information that has value to his audience. As a blogger he initiates conversations with his readers rather than issue one-way declarations. His daily posts reflect an understanding that his resume is not as important as the power of the information he provides right now. The tacit agreement is paying off: in the pool of millions of blogs, his is one of the 50 most popular. So what do you do to both act on your idea, and then be able to convey it effectively, with authenticity? Here are six things to consider. 1. Jettison the stupid stuff. Ninety percent of selling an idea is having a good idea, says Kawasaki. People think that the difficulty is marketing and sales. But if you have a good idea then you can really screw up in marketing and sales and still succeed. So stop focusing on how you are going to pitch, and come up with the ideas that pitch themselves by virtue of their genius. 2. Become the anti-salesman and slip under the radar. One of the common complaints young people have about working in big companies is that no one listens to their ideas. Outside a company, entrepreneurs have a good idea and move on it. But inside a company there are customs and guidelines for starting new products. Kawasaki says, Being an entrepreneur and an intrapraneur are more similar than different. The key for an intrapraneur is not trying to get permission. He concedes that you will have to step on peoples toes, but you should do it only after you have a version of the product ready to go. 3. Start a conversation instead of a canned speech. People are looking for information and have little tolerance for fluff. So if you want someone to believe in what youre doing, be a good on your feet. It comes down to being able to handle questions quickly and well, says Brian Wiegand, CEO of Jellyfish, a shopping search engine. Because the Internet turns the idea of authority on its head, people want to contribute to a good idea instead of being handed a good idea. So when you want your idea to have traction, let people add their ideas to your own so they like the idea more, says Wiegand. 4. Find people who need you. Kim Ricketts creates book events at corporations. Like most good ideas, bringing authors to companies fills a need in this case to give employees the chance to hear new thinkers. Ricketts also fills a void for publishers, who are looking for new ways to sell books. Her events are a great example of how good ideas gain traction quickly, with little or no marketing, because they answer a customers problem. 5. Focus on the information. Often, an in-person sales pitch to a young person is like an IM message blinking on-screen to a baby boomer: Unwanted interruption of information processing. If youve been selling for decades, tone it down, because you sound desperate to a new generation, and also a little dishonest. If you really have a good product, the facts will speak for themselves. And pay heed to people such as David Hauser, CTO of GotVMail: I dont want to be told what to buy. I can research online myself and make the decision on my own. 6. Be your true self. Taghaddos says you should worry as much about yourself as your product. Be authentic: Lay a foundation for a company and yourself. If you are how you want people to perceive you, then people will like you and theyll buy your product. Theyll do it without any pressure.

Are You Really Good at Job Interviewing - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Are You Really Good at Job Interviewing - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Job interviewing is an act. Yes, you are the actor, and both sides know the rules: You, who are one of the candidates for the position, are doing your best to convince the interviewer you are the ideal candidate. The interviewer, who is the audience, has choices, is an independent thinker and often skeptic, and needs evidence and proof before buying everything you want to sell. (Please pardon the mixed metaphor.) The winner in this competition is not only the individual who, on the positive side, has good answers but also the one who, on the negative side, does not make mistakes. So let’s look at both of those issues. What are positive factors in an interview? Without being specific, an interviewer’s number one concern is whether you’d fit into the company’s culture. This is a loaded subject because the decision is subjective. The candidate should attempt to find out as much as possible about the company’s culture by talking to present and past employees and should then display to the extent possible the traits for a good fit into the culture. The other factor weighing heavily on the interviewer’s mind is the image you create. A candidate who exhibits a great deal of passion and excitement as well as specific knowledge about the company seems very attractive. More ways to give a positive impression are via general appearance, attire, and, above all, a natural smile. Regardless of geographic location, language, or culture, a smile means the same thing around the globe. What are negative factors in an interview? Lack of confidence is an interview killer. If you’re not sure of yourself, or you don’t have specific examples, or you’re winging many of your answers, the interviewer will probably not be very impressed. Your body language will instantly reveal the truth, and both parties are thinking the same thing without talking about it. Certain things are universally considered gauche and should be strictly avoidedâ€"for example, being late or smelling of nicotine or strong perfume, dressing improperly, chewing gum, or the ringing of your cell phone in the middle of the interview. Any of those could be detrimental. And there are other ways a candidate can disenchant the interviewerâ€"for example, denigrating a previous employer, voicing strong opinions, being caught lying, pointing out where the interviewer is wrong about something, or making the interviewer feel badâ€"about anything. So, in summary, what is the holy grail of the interview process? The answer is, it depends, because a large portion of the decision-making process is subjective and hinges on the interviewer’s consciousness, past experiences, personal culture, and intellectual world. What I’ve learned from performing job interview coaching for several years is that the most important success factors are extensive preparation via mock interviewing the building of self-confidence. Both of those are instantly evident to an interviewer.

How to Write a Resume For a Mover

How to Write a Resume For a MoverWhen you are trying to write a resume for a mover, you have to remember that it is not as easy as writing an essay. Your objective in writing a resume for a mover is to communicate a career objective to your potential employer. You must also include what you have accomplished throughout your career to give yourself a complete picture of what your job will entail.Writing a resume for a mover is difficult and requires careful planning and research. What makes it even more difficult is that there are many positions within the mover industry where qualifications are very important. This is why it is important to choose your focus from the start.When looking for a job, you want to have a well-written resume. It does not matter if you decide to hire a mover or not. However, you want your resume to be useful to the employer. Because you are trying to get hired, make sure you include everything on the resume. The employer can make their decision based on this information.You do not want to send out a resume to a mover and find out that you will not be asked to speak with the hiring manager. Your job then becomes to ensure that you are prepared and know the basics about the position. Writing a resume for a mover means you have to be organized and make sure that you understand the hiring process.With the changing needs of the industry, the types of jobs that mover companies need to fill continues to grow. One major issue that continues to be a problem is resumes that list basic positions such as 'motion control technician'. This job description requires only basic knowledge of electronics and physical processes but is too vague for most employers.Your resume for a mover should have information that relates to the position you are applying for. In other words, you will want to focus on your ability to perform specific jobs and provide experience as well as awards. These types of information will help your resume stand out from the rest.Wri ting a resume for a mover is not as easy as writing an essay. You want to create a resume that has relevance to the position. Include relevant information that the employer can easily access. For example, you may be writing a resume for a moving company, but you do not want to talk about moving trucks.The biggest mistake you could make is to focus too much on what you can do for the employer, such as addressing any questions about the actual job duties, and not enough on the employer. As a result, you end up writing a resume that says nothing but 'yes' to all the questions the hiring manager asks. Avoid this by focusing on the position and writing as accurately as possible.

I Work for the Biggest Jerk! Oh That is ME! - Career Pivot

I Work for the Biggest Jerk! Oh That is ME! - Career Pivot I Work for a Jerk Yes, I work for the biggest jerk I’ve ever worked forâ€"ME. About three years ago, I wrote a post called My Boss is a Jerk…wait a minute I am my own boss!I think it is time to re-examine this topic. I wonder if this jerk has gotten any better at managing his employee! Well, my boss is definitely a little bit nicer, but he still knows when I am: goofing off faking illness procrastinating running late on a project Despite these, he has given up trying to fire me. Working for yourself can be quite daunting! What can I do about this jerk? I have worked on multiple strategies on how to deal with this jerk. Delegate â€" As a solo-entrepreneur, it is easy to tell yourself that you should do it all. This is a myth. I now have a bookkeeper, an editor, an intern for social media, a webmaster, and various co-authors. I also plan on hiring a virtual assistant within the next year. Automate â€" I have automated multiple parts of my business through the use oflow cost or free tools.Please read the post 9 Free Tools that Boost Your Brand and Careerfor a review of some of the tools I use.These tools have allowed me toautomate much of my social media, calendar, email, and website. I am not alone! This last week, I presented at the AARP55+ in ATX: Job and Volunteer Fair. There, I spoke about Social Disruption â€" How Social Media Has Disrupted the Job Search. A wonderful lawyer (no, that is not an oxymoron) Laura Fowler, spoke representing SCORE. Laura almost immediately started to explain that, when you go to work for yourself, you will be working for the biggest jerk of a boss possibleâ€"yourself. Listen to the most recent episode This was a great reminder that I am not alone. Working for yourself is HARD. My boss is getting better My boss let me take a vacation this year. I wrote about him in my post, 4 Lessons Learned from My Working Vacation. This was the first real vacation my wife and I have taken in several years! I am in my fifth year of this entrepreneurial journey, and I can tell you that working for myself has not been easy. From the beginning, maintaining a healthy work-life balance has been really difficult. This was especially true in the early years when money was tight and it was not clear that my business would thrive. Even so, I’m not quite ready to say I have this work-life balance thing figured out. Heck, I am writing this post on a Saturday afternoon because I have to get this post to my editor today in order to be published on Monday. My boss still does not give me weekends off. What a jerk! I have to admit, my boss is getting better. He is not quite the jerk he used to be. What do you think, could he eventually become a nice guy? Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...

The Top Six Reasons People Want to Leave Their Careers - Kathy Caprino

The Top Six Reasons People Want to Leave Their Careers (Thrilled that this piece was published on Forbes.com last week!) As a career and executive coach, I’ve spoken with hundreds of professionals who’ve shared some version of, “I really want to leave my job and change my career, but I’m not sure what to do or where to go from here.” If I’ve heard this message once, I’ve heard it 1000 times now.   People spend years crafting careers that appear successful on the outside, only to find that at some point, usually in midlife, the career comes up short. It’s missing a vital component (or several) that turns the work into something dreaded â€" less than fulfilling, lacking in purpose, unstable, inauthentic, unsustainable, or a combination of all of the above. I’ve personally lived this experienced as well â€" waking up at age 40 to depression, exhaustion, chronic illness, lack of ability to balance my family life and work, and feeling completely disengaged from the corporate professional identity I’d spent 18 years forging (see Breakdown Breakthrough for more). Why are so many folks miserable in their work and long for change? Here’s what I’ve found to be the top six reasons people are dissatisfied with their work and want out: 1. Balance: They find it impossible to balance work and outside/family life 2. Money: The money they earn isn’t enough to sustain them or their families 3. Skills: The skills and talents required for their work aren’t are a good fit 4. Respect: They feel chronically undervalued or mistreated 5. Meaning: They experience little positive meaning or purpose in their work 6. Struggle: It’s simply too hard to keep going with it In short, they’re saying: “I don’t know what I want, but I know it’s not this.” As the economy rallies, more and more employees are asking themselves, “Can I leave my job yet?”   But I’ve discovered that if the above challenges aren’t effectively addressed in some core way BEFORE you leave your current job or career, they’ll follow you wherever you go.   If the above describes your experience, read on for some tips to help you create the change you want â€" away from feeling trapped, toward feeling more confident, courageous and committed to making positive career change today. 1) Commit Yourself to What You Want A fulfilling, satisfying life is not going to just fall in your lap.   You have to claim it, and commit to getting it with concentrated, continual effort.   You have to work it.   How?   First, figure out what is the most important thing in the whole world to you.   What matters more than anything else?   (For more on this, see Ric Elias’ moving TED Talk on 3 Lessons I Learned As My Plane Crashed).   Formulate this priority in terms of a “to be” statement such as “to be a great parent” or “to be a successful entrepreneur” or “to be a helper of others.”     Then commit yourself to honoring this priority.   Stop over-functioning (doing more than is necessary, more than is healthy, and more than is appropriate) in your life, your family, and work, and let go being perfect in the areas that don’t matter to you. 2) Refine Your Focus Do you know exactly which talents and skills are easy and natural for you to use, that give your work a sense of purpose?   Do you know what type of work would represent an ideal fit? Are you in touch with your core values, standards of integrity and life goals?   We have to understand our unique answers to these questions before we even contemplate making a major career change.   Why? Because if you don’t understand who you are and what you want uniquely, you’ll end up making career change based on the wrong reasons and incomplete information, and the new career will disappoint you once again. Take my Career Path Assessment (CLICK HERE to access the free Assessment survey)  and figure out what you want to do more of, less of, and never again. Then find a way (either in your existing job or in a new field or job) to tap your true and natural talents more frequently and deeply. 3) Access the Courage to Make Change During the eight years I’ve been a career coach, I’ve literally met thousands of miserable, depressed professionals who share their story of misery, but then do nothing concrete about it.   I’ve analyzed why this is so why so many people remain paralyzed in their misery and I have some hypotheses as to what holds us back from life change (stay tuned for an upcoming blog post on that).   But what I do know is that if you don’t take concrete action that is different in content and process from what you’ve done before, your life and career will not change. In the end, you can’t solve a problem on the level it was created. Whether you’re in your own business and it’s simply not working, or the job you’re in brings too much struggle every day, it’s time for change.   Let’s face it, most of us wait until there’s a full-blown crisis (read about the 12 “hidden” crises working women face) before we do something different.   I’ve personally lived through all 12 of the major crises professional women face, so I get it.   But I’m asking you NOT to make the same mistakes I did.   Get outside your own head, and get outside help to figure out what you really want, and how to get it. So, what’s your top reason for wanting out of your line of work?   And are you ready to do something about it?

Should you really eliminate buzzwords from your profile -

Should you really eliminate buzzwords from your profile - LinkedIn has published their list of   most overused words and phrases in members’ LinkedIn Profiles for 2011. The number one most overused buzzword in LinkedIn profiles globally and for professionals based in the United States is “creative.” Here is LinkedIn’s 2011 list of the top 10 terms that are overused by professionals in the United States: 1.      Creative 2.      Organizational 3.      Effective 4.      Extensive experience 5.      Track record 6.      Motivated 7.      Innovative 8.      Problem solving 9.      Communication skills 10.     Dynamic Compare these to the 2010 most popular “overused buzzwords” in LinkedIn profiles in the U.S.: 1. Extensive experience 2. Innovative 3. Motivated 4. Results-oriented 5. Dynamic 6. Proven track record 7. Team player 8. Fast-paced 9. Problem solver 10. Entrepreneurial LinkedIns official take on buzzwords comes from Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s Connection Director and author of   Girl on Top: “Even though this year’s list of overused terms differs from last year’s, your objectives remain the same: Banish buzzwords from your profile. Use language that illustrates your unique professional accomplishments and experiences. Give concrete examples of results you’ve achieved whenever possible and reference attributes that are specific to you.” While it is true that you need to make sure to highlight what is special or different about you, and most experts would agree you dont want an overly jargon-y, empty-sounding, buzzword filled resume or LinkedIn profile. But (as I also asked last year): is it time to do a search and destroy mission to eliminate all buzzwords from your resume and online profiles, as LinkedIn suggests? I still dont believe the answer is to eliminate all buzzwords. This is what I shared last year: Lets think about it why are these terms so popular? Because many of them describe exactly the type of person many employers want! Take a step back and think about this before your revise your profile. MSNBCs career expert, Eve Tahmincioglu responded to LinkedIns post last year with a measured, and I believe appropriate, answer. She asked, Are buzzwords really a bad thing?: Admit it, you probably have one or two of these on your resume or LinkedIn profile. But is that really a bad thing? Who cares if they’re buzz words if they convey what you want? I couldnt agree more. Of course, if you read your profile and you list every single cliche without providing information that supports your claims, its time for a makeover. You need to show, not tell focus your efforts on telling a story that is both about you and targeted to your next employer. Its not a good idea to “outlaw” words on resumes, even if they may be a little overused. Do I write resumes full of cliches? No, but I do target my clients’ resumes to their desired employers! The most important thing to keep in mind is that your materials need to be as much about your employer as they are about you. Focus on their needs and make a clear case for why you have the skills and experience to accomplish their goals and to solve their problems. Might that mean including a few buzzwords? I think so there is a reason that buzzwords are buzzing! But, be sure your materials dont sound like the seemingly unthinking, cliche-spewing commentators. Can you change my mind? Do you think we should totally eliminate these buzzwords? photo by autan