Don’t drop all the other job boards for Twitter just yet

Lately there has been a lot of buzz about  how Twitter is changing the face of recruiting and job searching.  Job seekers are praising Twitter for helping them find a job.  Corporate recruiters are talking about how posting on Twitter is saving them money (it’s free). But I heard warning bells when I recently read that some recruiters were using Twitter as their primary job posting tool because it has greatly reduced the number of unwanted applicants that are applying for jobs.  I am all for reducing cost per hire and streamlining the recruiting process.  But any tool that restricts your applicant pool by leaving out a segment of the population, that would be otherwise qualified, can appear to be discriminatory. 

You can use niche boards and restrict your ads to sites that would specialize in reaching candidates that have the skills and/or certifications that are REQUIRED for the opening.  But you should not use sites that may eliminate a segment of the candidate population based on their age, race, sex, etc. 

For example, it is acceptable to limit your posting to the Society of Actuaries  website if you have an opening for an actuary.    You are restricting your candidate pool to those people that would have the designation required for the role.  You don’t have to post that opening on a general job board where HR, Marketing, and Sales professionals would view it  But, if you only advertise your actuarial opening on Twitter, where the demographic could be skewed to people that are under a certain age, you may be unintentionally discriminating against older employees. 

So, by all means, use Twitter to reach out to more potential candidates.  Tweet about the openings at your company and provide a link back to the company website or to the job board where the listing can be found.  But don’t throw out all the other job boards just yet.  Don’t rely on Twitter as your main source of advertising for candidates, unless of course, you are hiring social media experts

Simple steps for great cover letters

There are two simple steps for great cover letters:

1. Always include the cover letter in the body of the email you are sending.  If the recruiter has to click to open a separate document in order to read your cover letter, chances are that they won’t bother. 
2. Target each cover letter to the specific position for which you are applying.  Generic cover letters that tell how great YOU are and what YOU want to do without telling the recruiter or hiring manager how you are going to solve THEIR needs are not going to get you an interview.  

Okay – Step number 2 does not seem so simple on the surface.  But, you can do it by simply selecting the  3-4 most important items from the “requirements” or “responsibilities” section of the job description for which you are applying and stating how you have that experience.   Your resume already has your whole history.  The goal of the cover letter is to point out that you have what the recruiter is looking for in this particular instance.  Don’t make the recruiter hunt through your resume to be sure that you have the right mix of skills.  

You can put the information in bullet points or very short paragraphs.  Here is an example:

I am very interested in the Human Resources Generalist position that you advertised on CareerBuilder because:

• I have over 15 years of recruiting experience, 5 of which are in the information technology industry.
• I have managed and trained teams of recruiters at my most recent position (Resolvit) as well as at a retained search firm (Roberts Ryan & Bentley).  
• I have a Master’s in Human Resources. 
• I have a solid track record of developing strong relationships with both internal and external hiring managers at all levels.

Using bullet points prevents “writer’s block” because you don’t have to spend time stringing together the accomplishment sentences.  Feel free to cut and paste from your resume.  In fact, if there is nothing in your resume that you can copy into the cover letter, you are probably not a fit for this particular position.  Bullet points also make it a  lot easier for the recruiter to visually scan the letter.

Good luck!

“3 email rule” improves communication immediately!

One of my MAJOR pet peeves is abuse of email.  Way too often, email is used as a passive aggressive way of spouting off.  The sender wants to tell you something, but they really don’t want to hear what you think, because if they did they would have called you and SPOKEN to you.  Don’t get me wrong, I think email is a great communication tool – when used properly. 

So, today I am going to share my “3 email rule” with you in the hope that I can do my small part to improve email communication. 

Here is how the “3 email rule” works:

1. You send me an email asking for help or clarification or advice
2. I respond via email with my thoughts, comments, questions, etc.
3. You send another email back with additional questions, or the need for clarification.  (3 emails have been sent – hence the name of the rule.) 
4. I pick up the phone and CALL YOU to discuss the matter. 

Step 4 is critical and cannot be skipped or substituted!  

Seriously, we have all been involved in these endless email exchanges.  They are huge time wasters and even worse, they can lead to serious misunderstandings. 

A lot of times we use these quick back and forth emails as a way to avoid discussing something that needs more attention than a poorly thought out 5 second response.  We shoot off a little snippet and think, “Whew, painful conversation avoided”.  And then, 30 seconds later, we get a response back from the other coward we are “communicating” with who is also trying to avoid a converation, but wants to have the last word anyway.  Nothing really gets accomplished in these exchanges.

So, whether you are corresponding with your candidates, coworkers, friends or family – if there are 3 emails in the chain, don’t send a 4th email, please! 

PICK UP THE PHONE and TALK to each other.   

Oh, and while we are on the topic of email  – It drives me nuts when people hit the REPLY ALL button just to say “Thanks” .  Or worse yet, when they hit REPLY ALL just to ask a question of the person who sent the original email and now 20 of us see that they don’t understand………..