In the end, job searchers need to do their best at the impossible task of representing their full set of skills, personality and body of work in 2 pages. They need to be as flexible as they are comfortable with in communicating with potential employers. Recruiters and hiring managers need to remember that they are dealing with human beings who have made themselves very vulnerable by providing their life story in the hope of finding a new or better job. A job change is one of the biggest life transitions that we go through. Remember that these are humans, and treat them as such.

They were saying how difficult it is for older folks to find IT jobs.

They mentioned computer desktop jobs actually include aspects that are considered part of the computer server support jobs, but the compensation is at the desktop support level. I have seen this.

They also mentioned the unrealistic job requirements lists. I have encountered job details with 90+ items. I pasted a few into Excel to count the lines. Insanity!!!

Today I am having difficulty finding relevant jobs on the job boards because I have applied to so many jobs per day. Yesterday I applied to 36 jobs.

I rewrote a resume today because “James I suggest we spoon feed because I know this hiring manager” [ … ]

Yesterday on Twitter I posted the screen image of the pronoun question. It was seen 73 times with 2 interactions. Context: I only have 148 followers.

My comment was “From a job application, “What is your pronoun?” with a screen image snippet.

I wish had a functioning crystal ball or something better than, do you remember the Magic 8 ball?

The resume with the title “James-Garrigan-Resume-Brief-2Pgs-5Jobs.docx” is very popular, but some folks are at a level that I cannot comprehend and thus believe it is the full job history.

I even state at the end, for more details see …

During the morning I sent the following to a recruiter.

Good morning [ ],

I could reduce the quantity of information because based on experience, with the exception of recruiters, few people read resumes.

Most folks do not even view the last job. I know this is true because the answer to the first and most popular question I am asked is clearly indicated by the end date of the Kipany job.

I could expand some other items and state the obvious. Sometimes I feel like I need to “spoon feed” the information to folks and/or leave a trail of bread crumbs.

Once again I know this is true because for example last week a recruiter sent criteria to me that a client stated I did not meet. The recruiter agreed with me because I replied back with multiple excerpts from my resume under each of the “missing criteria”.

I am open to suggestions.

Maybe I need a vacation from the job search.

Last week I caught three people in lies.

A recruiter scheduled a call for 2:00 pm. At 1:57 pm LinkedIn sent an email message which stated the recruiter was reviewing the job application.
The call never occurred at 2:00 pm so later in the day I sent a message stating “I am still available”.
The reply from the recruiter, “sorry, but I was informed in the morning that the position is no longer available”.
And I replied thank you for the update. I have nothing to gain by stating the obvious.

Here is another one. A recruiter submits my information for a position and later in the day I was told I was rejected. I decided to ask, which requirements do my skills not meet?
I receive the list and my resume specifically mentions 4 out of the 5 required skills. So I called the recruiter and he said he would reach out to the client again.
This morning I sent an email message to the recruiter that includes the four requirements and the relative lines from my resume with yellow highlighted text to provide more detail than was included in the resume.

I now receive fake invitations for job interviews.

I know they are fake because the email address is admin@ … and when I ask for information to authenticate the message I do not receive a reply. The potential origin of the messages has a simple Internet site.

Today I had someone call and try to extract personal information from me.

The caller was not able to provide the job title he claimed I applied for …

I refused to provide a high school graduation date and the person terminated the call.

Last week I requested a copy of job requirements via email three times before a call and I never received it.

I had another interview that required three attempts to obtain a dial-in telephone number. The person wanted to do the call from a computer. I don’t have that capability and I prefer the reliability and clarity of a land-line phone. The funny part was I had to ask the person to call from a landline because their computer connection was so poor.

Today I told someone I am not available during a block of time “reserved” and of course the person scheduled the call at the same time.

Or

I have had seen several jobs with nearly 100 requirements, last week one had 93 and another had 97.

For the 97 one, the recruiter asked for my thoughts, I replied, the client has high expectations, his answer, welcome to my world.

Unfortunately with regard to “the employer know how you will make their lives/business better” the world is too “goofy”.

In other words a positive aspect to one person could be a negative aspect to another person. There a lot of psychological aspects to consider.

For example I could say, which is true, “As per a CFO at a major International Bank I was the hardest working guy in IT”, but if the person that is reviewing candidates is in IT and is a less ambitious person then I will not be considered.

From the TV show Cheers, “It is a dog-eat-dog world and … I am wearing milk bone underwear”.

In addition most of the folks that review resumes do not have any of their feet planted in reality.

Last week I had a call from a 28 year old “A Community relations specialist” , not “HR”, not “internal recruiter”, not “talent acquisition” – and she wanted to know do I feel “good”, what are my hobbies and that was their initial criteria.

Silly me, I thought perhaps I might be asked about aspects of the job and my related skills.

Different problems have different solutions. There is a role for direct mail today, sometimes as a solo solicitation channel but often as part of an integrated channel strategy. The best solicitation channel or channels are determined by several factors including an understanding who is being targeted and how they are likely to respond.

Thank you.

Cynthia Bradley
Philadelphia, PA

Trust is THE most important but it translates into how it can be managed and leveraged, specifically: Peers = will you be my ally?; Superiors = will you represent my mission and me well?; Subordinates = will you protect me and grow my career? Since trust comes across as warmth it is perceived as being likable. So, trust = warmth = likability. We never fully analyze our internal thought processes and break it down or categorize it but this is how we are subconsciously interpreting co-workers and how we are being interpreted.

I have worked with brilliant people who were moved out of the organization because they “didn’t fit”. Doesn’t that translate to “they weren’t likable”, “they didn’t present well, or have that executive presence”, or “they weren’t approachable/friendly”? All this adds up to not being trusted and not being able to be managed or leveraged across the organization.

I have also worked with some rather dim people who soared their way up the ladder. They couldn’t understand the first thing about the business they represented but they had that “it” factor. They were warm and charming and got along well with others. When they talked (whether they knew what they were talking about or not), people listened and BELIEVED. Doesn’t that translate to “they were likable”, “they presented well, and had that executive presence”, or “they were approachable/friendly”? All this adds up to being trusted and being able to be managed or leveraged across the organization.

I was taught to work hard, be ethical and do right and all will work to the good in the end — the company you work for will grow and prosper and you’ll be rewarded and recognized for your contribution. The big reveal to me that this isn’t how the world actually works is that organizations, regardless of size, are made up of people trying to either grow themselves, protect themselves, or just maintain themselves. This mentality means that the company mission and the business goals are preached but only followed and reached for only if it coincides with the individuals mission and goals. If those align, great. But, in many cases they don’t align and the corporate culture of gamesmanship and politics win out.

If I had known all this when I was in high school deciding what to do with my life I would have taken an alternate path. I truly wish there was more honesty about how organizations work so that others could avoid if they determine it doesn’t match with their personality, belief system and values.