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Topic of the Week: The Way: Hiring Secrets from HR

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Topic of the Week  The Way: Hiring Secrets from HR

The Way: Hiring Secrets from HR:

10. Write your resume for a computer.

9. Show your shared values.

8. Get your own business card.

7. Connect human to human.

6. Avoid a resume that looks like everyone else's.

5. Prepare an elevator speech.

4. Dress one level up.

3. Be smart about social media.

2. Send a thank you note.

1. Everything & everyone matters.

The Way: Hiring Secrets from HR

It's tough to just get past Human Resources to even get considered for a job today. Which reminds me of the fence one-upmanship in a recent Republican debate. Michele Bachman signed a pledge to build a double walled fence between the U.S. and Mexico. Herman Cain said his fence would be 20 feet high. It's going to have barbed wire on the top. It's going to be electrocuted, electrified," although later he claimed to be only joking.

If you've been looking for work chances are that you feel like there is both double walled AND electrified fence between you and the job you want. That's why I interviewed Sue McNabb, a Human Resources pro, for insight on what HR knows that we don't about getting hired.

10. Write your resume for a computer. Companies use sorting software that look for key words that appear in the want ad or job description. Make sure those exact phrases appear in your resume.

9. Show your shared values. Sue suggests that if the company is green to take the bus to the interview and to tell them you took the bus.

8. Get your own business card. After working for a long time for one company your identity can get all wrapped up in the company. That's why it's so important to get your own business card to establish your own identity.

7. Connect human to human. Put a few personal things about yourself in your resume because that allows you to connect with someone person to person.

6. Avoid a resume that looks like everyone else's. Remember, hiring managers can get hundreds or even thousands of resumes that can be stacked into piles with many using Microsoft Word or popular resume books as a template. Stand out by combining a number of styles in your resume.

5. Prepare an elevator speech. What do you have to offer? Prepare a short speech about who you are and what you can offer the company you'd like to work for.

4. Dress one level up. Dress one level above the group, because they want to know that you are respecting them. Show them that you're excited about this interview that you made kind of a special day.

3. Be smart about social media. She surfs the Internet looking for people who can contribute to her company. So you have to be smart and assume that they'll see the good, the bad and the ugly stuff that you've posted online.

2. Send a thank you note. It's unique, it makes you stand out and it's going to show that you are thinking of the human across the table from you.

1. Everything & everyone matters. You need to know that the receptionist is going to give you an opinion as the HR person about what they think about the candidate. They're going to tell you if the candidate came in all frazzled and crazy. 

Use these insights to leap over the fence around the company that you want to work for.

Thought of the Week

"If you think hiring professionals is expensive, try hiring amateurs."

–Anonymous

Weekly Comic by Jerry King

Blog of the Week

Top Five News Headlines

List of the Week

from Workplace Options

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