November 2012 |
Transition-e-news Volume 3 Issue 76 |
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Transition Insight
"Today's military is a well-educated, |
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Click here for a complete list and description of organizations of TAOnline.com growing Partners! |
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Which education benefit is right for you? The Post-9/11 GI Bill or the Montgomery GI Bill? Or, are you a Reservists eligible for a different benefit? Compare which you are eligible for and which would be the best for you at GI Bill Comparison. |
Phone interview, how you blew it before you even said your nameReprinted with permission - HRNASTY.com The phone interview determines whether or not you are going to move onto the next round, the in-person interview. You may have done your research and have prepared some great answer, but in the same way a lot of candidates lose me in the first 5 seconds of reviewing their resume, a lot of candidates lose me in the first 3 seconds of the phone interview. I blogged about how to be successful in a phone interview earlier, but I forgot one important piece in that post. Three things will put me in a foul mood when it comes to recruiting but all are related to number 3 below:
How you answer the phone sets the tone for the rest of the 30-minute phone call. Your greeting is the first impression and if all I receive is a "yeah" you are literally digging yourself a hole for the rest of the call. Call me old-fashioned, but when I call for a phone interview at a pre-determined and agreed upon time, I am not looking to hear "yeah" or an "uhh hello" when the phone is picked up. The greeting gives the impression of one or all of the following:
After I hear the initial "uhh yeah", I try to give a hint by saying something to the following in my irresistible, engaging, magnanimous, outgoing and upbeat manner. I am hoping I can generate some excitement so the next 30 minutes won’t be so painful: "My name is HRNasty, I work at Acme Publishing is Suzy Candidate available? We had a phone interview scheduled."
It isn't that I need someone trying to be a 'brown-noser'. This phone greeting represents how you will probably pick up the phone when a customer calls. Behavioral Interviewing is a recruiters methodology and its maxim is "prior behavior is the best indication of future behavior". How you answered the phone is real time, live data. Yes, yes, yes, This is about the candidate experience, and I want to try and provide a great candidate experience, but I feel like this is a common courtesy 101 hear. Is "yeah" what you are going to say to our customer when you answer the phone? We fully expect to train someone on how to use our VoIP phones with their flashing lights and 25 buttons. IF we need to train a new hire on the etiquette of how to answer a phone call, then what else do we have to train them on? How to write a business letter? How to write a follow-up thank you email? |
Four job searching tips for returning veteransSOURCE PR Newswire CHICAGO, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The best way to honor veterans returning from service this Veterans Day is to arm them with the tools they need to find civilian employment. BPI group, a Chicago-based global management and HR consulting firm, released today four job searching tips for veterans seeking civilian employment. Translate military skills and experiences for civilian workforce. Many veterans have a hard time connecting their military occupation specialty to a civilian job opening, causing employers to toss out their resumes. Hiring managers need veterans to state the connection between their experience and the job qualifications more explicitly. "Veterans need to identify and focus on experiences and skills learned in the military, rather than focusing on their actual military specialty," said Gene Link, U.S. Army veteran and executive coach at BPI group. "Qualities like accountability and leadership and skills like being a team player can directly respond to job responsibilities. Many employers don't understand the relevance and need to be educated." To get a better idea of desired qualifications, veterans should research jobs and companies that fit their interests and technical background to see where their experiences could be applied best. Revamp the resume. When writing a resume, begin with a summary section that features those identified skills and experiences and translate them into the needs of an organization or job opening. Under each position held in the military, provide a list of specific, measurable accomplishments performed in that job. No matter how good a fit a veteran might be, timing is everything. When sending out resumes, veterans should wait until three months before leaving the service. If they are sent out too soon, hiring managers will not necessarily want to wait six months for a service member to come home. Actively participate in social media. "The biggest regret most job seekers have is not networking soon enough," said Link. Job seekers who are not active on social sites are missing out on opportunities not only to find job postings, but also to introduce themselves to potential employers, recruiters and fellow veterans who may be able to help in their search. Most jobs today are found through social networks, so veterans should create social media profiles to connect with friends, former colleagues and potential employers. By creating social networks before exiting the military, connections can be leveraged closer to separation to find a job. No time is too early to start and grow networks. Follow relevant hashtags on Twitter to find alerts to new job openings and follow Twitter accounts posting jobs for veterans. Joining groups and participating in discussions on LinkedIn can increase visibility and open up doors for more in-person networking opportunities. Reach out to high school friends, former colleagues and fellow veterans for job leads or additional contacts who may be able to help. Seek additional education or experiences. If veterans have not found a job by the time they come home, they should identify the holes in their skills to see where they can improve. Seek additional certifications and technical training depending on the field of work being sought or even an associate's or bachelor's degree, if necessary. Attending seminars, conferences and networking events are also excellent ways for veterans to show their commitment to professional development and put in much needed face time with professionals in their industry. While social media is a great tool for networking, it cannot substitute face-to-face interaction and relationship building. In addition to training and professional development, veterans can volunteer with organizations that align with their interests or career goals to avoid a gap in experience. Volunteering can boost a resume and avoid difficult conversations about long bouts of unemployment in interviews. |
Kennametal Launches Initiative to Hire Veterans; Addresses Skills GapSOURCE PR Newswire LATROBE, Pa., Nov. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kennametal Inc. announced today a hiring initiative to actively recruit former military personnel into manufacturing careers. This fiscal year, the company plans to hire 50 military veterans to join its talented workforce. "At Kennametal, we want to be there for our nation's heroes, just as they have been there for us," commented Judith Bacchus, Kennametal Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. "Military veterans create a pipeline of talent for now and in the future. Their advanced technological skills and proven leadership abilities are highly transferrable for careers in manufacturing. By stepping up our efforts to give veterans promising new careers in manufacturing, we are not only addressing the skills gap, but also filling our workforce with outstanding individuals." Kennametal's military-hiring program is just one of many initiatives to ensure the sustainability of manufacturing and provide employment for future generations. In 2011, Kennametal launched The Young Engineers Programs to promote technical education opportunities to students interested in engineering and manufacturing careers. Through these programs, Kennametal continues to deliver on the promise of manufacturing and to help make a difference in workforce development. Taking these steps not only ensures the future of manufacturing, but that of veterans and students as well. To learn more about Kennametal, go to http://www.kennametal.com/. |
Are you TAOnline.com Featured Hero Material?By Ron Rutherford TAOnline.com knows the job market is very competitive. We see the same monthly unemployment statistics you see. We know veterans and non-veterans are competing for similar jobs. We also know, according to a recent report, most companies would rather hire a veteran over a non-veteran. But, employers cannot hire what they cannot see. And, in today’s job market veteran job seekers should capitalize on every tool at their disposal to get noticed. That’s one of the reasons TAOnline.com launched our Featured Hero program. The Featured Hero service spotlights highly skilled veterans seeking employment. This unique enhancement is completely free to the TAOnline.com job seeker. The benefit to the jobseeker:
Employers can view these Featured Hero profiles and resumes free of charge. "We're frequently perplexed by some of the candidates we see without a job," explains Debbie Glynn, TAOnline, Senior Account Executive. "The Featured Hero program is our way of saying thank you to these particularly special people," continues Glynn. Does it work? One of our Featured Heroes has a new job. While all veterans are heroes, only a few will qualify as TAOnline.com Featured Heroes. If you believe you have the makings of a TAOnline.com Featured Hero, click here to apply. (Login required) Do you have questions about the program? Email me at ronr@taonline.com |
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