Have you ever seen “H1B’s and Non-Green Card holders wanted” in an ad? I have not but what I have seen is the opposite being stated. What I usually see is an ad that states the “right candidate must be a US citizen or Green Card holder” yet people who do not have this status still send their resumes.
Can you tell me why? Has anyone with an H1B ever gotten a job they applied for when the ad specifically states no sponsoring??
They then get pissed off when you do not respond to them with an email. Is it really my job to respond to someone who sends me their resume when they clearly do not qualify? That’s like applying for an accounting position when you’re experience is in landscaping!
Let’s say we are working with a client who tells us that there is no relocation money for the position. We will then put that information in our ad that goes out to various job boards. A potential candidate applies for this position and happens to live in another state. As a recruiter, you tend to assume that they read the part where there is NO RELO. During the first conversation we have with this potential candidate we discuss the fact that they would have to move for this role and more times than not they tell you that they need relocation money. This does not have anything to do with negotiating; this really is about being stupid! As a recruiter I’m about bringing two sides together and creating a happy scenario, which is how we get repeat business. We try our best to find talent within the parameters of our clients’ needs. What we don’t do is disregard our client’s needs and throw anyone at them. That would be like showing them a great candidate that happens to have died six years earlier.
My question is:
A) Do people really take the time to read a job ad?
B) Do they just forward their resumes off to any job ad?
C) Are they just arrogant enough to think that they have what no one else has and therefore things like Citizenship and relocation money does not apply to them?
D) None of the above.
As a job candidate you need to make sure that no one is sending your resume to a company without your permission! That means your recruiter needs to tell you the name of the company that they want to send your resume to.
Three good reasons are:
- Has your resume been submitted to ABC Company within the past year?
- Do you have any issues with ABC Company?
- Would you be interested in this job description with ABC Company?
Some recruiters have relationships with hiring managers who are always looking for top talent regardless to whether they have an open position or not. This too needs to be explained to you up front before the recruiter sends your resume. This is what we call “clearing the candidate”.
I can’t get over the fact that recruiters, I use the term recruiters “loosely”, still send resumes without clearing their candidates. An ethical recruiter clears their candidates every time. The problem is that certain recruiters have weak relationships all around and they are simply trying to make something happen for themselves, but what ends up happening is the job candidate gets hurt. If your resume makes it to the same place by two different recruiters then it will become a problem for you. Two recruiters, same job, both recruiters say that they are working with you. Icarumba! You see the company is going to need to get to the bottom of this to determine who gets the credit if you happen to get the job. You might not even get that far. The last thing a company wants is a fight over who is really the one working with you on this job. It creates a negative reaction from all parties and starts you off on the wrong foot regardless to what you may think.
Today, more than ever before, you need to protect your resume. There are people out there that if they were to get a hold of your resume would send it all over the place. Some recruiters will ask their job candidates if its OK to send their resume to some of their contacts and most job candidates think “sure, why not”. The problem is that you are going to get burned by this tactic. You should never allow anyone cart-blanche with your resume.
Another excuse that I hear from recruiters is that they could not get in touch with the job candidate so for the sake of time they submitted the resume. Listen, we all understand that in the contingency market it can be a race to submit a resume but when you cannot clear a job candidate then that’s just too bad. You the recruiter have no right to hurt this job candidate’s opportunities.
Some recruiters will send a resume to a company to try to get a job order. This happens a lot and they could be using your resume to do it. Did you ever get this phone call before? “Hey I got great news! ABC Company wants to interview you. I would be like “great news who said you can send my resume there”? Some recruiters will send a resume to test the waters to see if this is the type of candidate they are looking for based on a job description. I don’t have a problem with that as long as they remove the job candidates’ name, address, phone number, email address and the names of prior companies that the job candidate worked for. This allows your client to see the talent and to tell you that they would be interested in meeting this candidate, however, you have NO claims to this candidate with your client if your candidate has already been submitted. What we would do in this scenario would be to notify the contact at the company and to tell them that the candidate told us that their resume has already been submitted.
This approach of always doing what is best for our clients and our candidates seems to work well for us!
A first impression is a big part of the interview process and probably more than most people think. Everyone gets a first impression when meeting someone and I guarantee you that the interviewer has one and will try to back that up throughout the interview. You can make a good impression at your interview by doing a little homework before the big day. This blog is short and to the point with some other links to assist you. I hope this helps!
Before every interview you need to do some homework and take it seriously; after all we don’t interview everyday.
Research the company and the job that you are interviewing for, like where the company has locations and how many employees work for the company. Learn about the products and services that they have to offer. Who is their competition and who are their customers? What is their business philosophy and know their history? You can find most of these things on their website.
The more you know about the company and the job you are applying for, the better you will appear in the interview. An interviewer will be impressed by your interest and motivation, and you won’t look stupid, which in today’s times you would if you were not prepared. There is a wealth of information out there because of the internet, but make sure you are reading credible information.
If you are working with a recruiter they will have plenty of insight to assist you. They most likely will be able to give you some information about who you will be meeting with and the format of the interview.
Make sure you have some good questions and to start the interview, you can read this article: The first question you should ask during an interview.
Bring several copies of your resume and make sure it is up to date.
Dress professionally. For more on this I have a video titled Dress attire for a Job Interview. You will be judged in some respects by what you wear. Dress conservatively and keep in mind that what you have on is a big part of that first impression.
For more on dress attire: No Flip Flops Please.
After introductions and small talk this would be the time to ask a question to start the interview on the right foot. Say it in your own words but this question sets up the interview for you:
“What kind of person are you looking for and what are you looking for this new person to do for the first 6 months to a year?”
This now gives you insight to what the interviewer is looking for. Your response should be catered around what they have told you. You need to make sure that when you answer to be specific and that you use real examples of your past to back it up.
So many people base their interview on a job description rather than the interviewer. Job descriptions are just a guide to what the company has posted and perhaps the hiring authority or manager is looking for something more specific. That is why when meeting with multiple people you should ask that same question.
Some other questions that you should consider to ask towards the end of the interview would be:
What are some of the departmental goals?
What are some of the goals of the organization overall?
Where do you see this company in the next 5 years?
What’s the upside potential of this position?
Remember that an interview is a two way street. You need to find out the questions that are important to you so that you can determine if you want to work there. If you are working with a recruiter you want to stay away from salary and benefit questions and leave that for your recruiter to work out for you.
For more: Interview preparation
The search for Engineers is on. Over the past several months we have seen the need for Engineers growing all across the country. We have been engaged by a dozen companies or so to help supply them with job candidates with experience in Aerospace, Software, Automotive and Manufacturing.
JTL Services, Inc. is offering a $1000.00 referral fee for anyone that refers a candidate that we place with one of our clients.
We are looking for Engineers of all types such as Process, Software, Design, Motion Control and Manufacturing Engineers with degrees in Electrical, Software, Mechanical or Industrial Engineering. We are currently contracted by companies across the country to find them the best talent available. Please note that some of our jobs are confidential and are not listed on our website.
