4 Powerful Reasons To Cultivate Great Job References

They're calling your ex-boss. What will she say about you? / iStockphoto.com (Dmytro Buianskyi)

Job references come in several forms - a verbal or written reference, a letter of recommendation, or a short write-up for you to post on your LinkedIn profile.

And they matter – more than you think.

Here are four powerful reasons why you should dedicate the time to cultivating your job references. After all, a positive reference may be your ticket to that job you've always wanted.

1. Glowing references can overcome a potential employer's doubt. Employers are generally risk-averse by nature, and making a hiring decision can be quite risky; a hiring manager on the fence can be swayed to your favor by an ex-boss sharing the wins you garnered while you worked together.
    

2. You can help prepare a reference in order to improve your chances. Before offering up your ex-boss's name and number, speak to your reference about the types of skills and experience your potential employer is looking for, and he or she will be prepared to give appropriate – and favorable – examples.
    

3. LinkedIn recommendations build your brand in the employer community. If all of your former managers have written nice things about you for you to share on your LinkedIn profile, they are willing to publicly stake their reputations on you. Isn't that worth something to your brand equity?
    

4. By asking for references, you're building your job-hunting network. You may not be on your referral's radar. But they may be willing and able to consider you or refer you for a new job opportunity if they're aware you're on the hunt.

By the way, before giving out anybody's name as a reference, consider the following:

• Ask permission first. It's better if references know you've given their names, and should expect calls from potential employers. Not only can does this give you an opportunity to gauge their willingness to speak on your behalf, but they are also more likely to return employers' calls if they know to anticipate them.
   

• Know what your reference is going to say about you. Here's a true story: I was once recruiting for a senior manager role, and the hiring manager was ready to make an offer to the top candidate. I had asked the candidate for a reference, and he provided me information for his former manager, whom I eventually got on the phone. As we spoke, it quickly became clear that the ex-boss hated the guy, and he gushed at length about the candidate's poor work habits and lousy attitude. Needless to say, we moved on to other individuals. Always ask your reference what he or she would say about you if asked. 

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Real Job Hunting and Interview Advice – From Real Recruiters

iStockphoto.com (Rawpixel)

Nobody comes in contact with more job seekers on a day-to-day basis than recruiters. It doesn't matter if they work inside an employer's Human Resources department, or if they're employed by a staffing agency – they're going to meet, screen, and evaluate more candidates than anyone else on the planet.

I took an informal poll of HR leaders and professional recruiters. I asked them the following:

"What is the one piece of advice you would offer to job seekers as they apply to or interview for opportunities?"

Learn from their feedback! Here's their advice – raw and unfiltered (in no particular order):

ON APPLYING TO JOBS:

• I would definitely advise job seekers to apply to a position for which they have the skills and experience required – that is the job they are are looking for, and not to apply just because of the company or level (of the position).

• Way back when I was not a recruiter, I wish I had known to use a professional email address when applying. I had a nickname as an email address, and it was one of the reasons why I didn't get any call backs.

• My advice would be to have good phone and email etiquette. Be excited, use spell check, do not be too informal, but show your personality and follow up quickly.

• Research the company, the company’s products, and the industry.  I'm surprised sometimes how some people don’t bother to do so.

• Persistence, persistence, persistence. Always follow up if possible, and network.

• During the transition process, while applying for jobs, use free training resources to keep yourself abreast of the workforce.

ON INTERVIEWING:

• Practice for the interview. Be able to answer questions and ask questions through your resume.

• Have a mock interview done for you.

• Candidates should bring a copy of their resume (even though I send it to the hiring manager, they like to see the candidate come prepared).

• Dress professionally – a suit for men, and a dress, skirt, or pants for women.

• Research your interviewer.

• Research the company and division you are interviewing with, get familiar with what they do.

• Come with questions to ask the interviewer about the role.

• Always always be your authentic self. Otherwise you and the company risk being mismatched and therefore resulting in turnover.

• Of course, research the company before the interview, so you’re able to speak to it.

• Dress appropriately, there's nothing worse than being distracted from someone’s’ skills because of their presentation.

• I would tell candidates to try to tailor their experience to the scope of the role they are applying for. I used to tell candidates if you are applying for a position that is more analytical it’s not necessarily helpful to go into great detail about the camp counselor role you held 5 years ago, unless your role as a counselor had some sort of statistical analysis responsibilities or something.

• One thing I’ve noticed that shoots candidates in the foot is going in with a self-deprecating attitude. Starting off with, “I’ve never done X,” or “I don’t have experience in X,” always seems to leave the hiring leaders with the notion that because they may not have 1 or 2 skills, that they are not suitable for the role.

• I would tell them to make sure they do some research about the company. It is a pet peeve of mine when I speak to an applicant and they have no idea what the company does.

• Prepare for the interview. Research all about the position, the company, and the job description.

• Be curious…. about everything.

• My advice to candidates would be to be prepared for that interview!  Go back to basics and really prepare – you only get one chance to pass the gatekeeper!

• Be excited about the opportunity for which you are interviewing. A passionate candidate who shows sincere ambition to want to work for the company and do a good job in the position rates far above a more qualified applicant who just knows how to say the right answers.

• Candidates should remember that the interview is a two-way process. They should research the company and prepare questions in advance that will help them ascertain whether the company is a good cultural fit for them.

• They should find their unique selling point. Everybody is 'organized, hardworking, motivated, creative, flexible' these days. Gets very boring!

• Confidence. It is difficult to interview people who are nervous or second doubt themselves. If the applicant wants to answer only "yes or no" to the questions I ask, I can imagine how the communication with customers will go.

• Be excited about the opportunity for which you are interviewing. A passionate candidate who shows sincere ambition to want to work for the company and do a good job in the position rates far above a more qualified application who just knows how to say the right answers.

• Be confident. The interview goes both ways, you should also interview the organization to make sure it is the right fit for you.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

8 Simple Time Saving Strategies Every Job Hunter Should Know

Time often CAN be more valuable than money... (iStockphoto.com/kmlmtz66)

Looking for a new job, but pressed for time? Here are eight great time saving strategies that every job seeker can use to streamline the job search and build some forward momentum.

1. Tell people you're looking for a job. It may not occur to people in your network to tell you about a new job opening at their office if they believe you're happily employed. Informing your friends and family that you're ready for a career change may turn them into your job scouts.
    
2. Ask for referrals. Many companies reward their employees for introducing talent to the organization, in the form of a substantial referral bonus. If you have a friend who works at a company you've been eyeing, don't be afraid to ask them to submit your resume. Of course, use tact and don't be pushy about it – they'd be doing you a favor, and would be staking their reputation on you.
    
3. Call a headhunter who has placed you with an employer in the past. Again, you may not be on their radar. But if they were successful in placing you before, they may be willing and able to consider you for a new job.
    
4. Set up job alerts. All the major job boards, including LinkedIn and Indeed, and several others, allow you to set up notifications so that they email you as positions matching your search criteria are posted. There are a lot of job boards; by setting up alerts, you only have to visit each board when there's a reason to do so.
    
5. Become an "Open Candidate" on LinkedIn. Recruiters are constantly combing LinkedIn for candidates for their open job. LinkedIn in late 2016 added a feature, called Open Candidate, where you can signal recruiters in target companies that you're actively looking for a job, without notifying your current employer.
    
6. Get a LinkedIn Premium subscription. LinkedIn advertises that as a benefit of being a paid subscriber, you will be a "Featured Applicant," where "Your job application will appear above job applications from non-Premium members, increasing your chances of having it viewed." I'm not sure exactly how high you'll appear on any given search, but if this benefit pushes you toward page 1 or 2 of search results, there's a much better chance a recruiter will take a look at your profile.
    
7. Add keywords to your LinkedIn profile. There's a "Skills & Endorsements" section on your LinkedIn profile, but what recruiters really search is the profile text. A brief section in your "Summary" section that includes a list of your skills, separated by bullets or commas, will make your profile a better match for recruiter searches.
    
8. Attend a job fair. Yes, you'll probably spend most of the day there, but think of the time you'll save. When you apply to jobs online, there's a 5% to 10% chance (a rough estimate) that a recruiter or a hiring manager looks at your resume. However, when you hand your resume to a company representative at a job fair, there's a 100% chance it will get reviewed – in fact, they're usually going to spend a couple minutes interviewing you as well. Multiply this by the 100 or so employers you get to meet that day, and you're looking at time very efficiently spent.

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Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.