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Stop Crashing Your Career By Doing THIS!
You are sitting at your computer, ready to apply for your dream job. You have been waiting for the perfect job to be posted or the certain person to reach out to you and so you start to ponder your cover letter. The butterflies are in your stomach and anticipation of getting the job is in your head. You are sitting there thinking “What should I write in my cover letter??” Well, be relieved that as much as you hate writing covering letters, hiring manager hate reading them.
It takes 7 seconds to review a resume and 1 second to scan your cover letter. So the truth is if we see another cover letter that expresses the “desire to learn” or how your education and experience matches that of the job, or how you managed 15 people which can clearly be seen in your resume please, don’t shoot us, just pull our eyes out! As there is no such thing as an “eye catching” cover letter. Don’t be fooled by posts with information that must be in the cover letter. For the love of anything do not have one…it’s old school!
In the new school of thought, there is no secret to writing a great cover letter, except for not having one and here’s why:
Cover Letters Have Proven To Be Your Window For Error: Countless people make so many errors in their cover letter. Aside for the fact people still make spelling and grammatical errors, people also forget to ensure their cover letter matches their resume and social media platforms.
The ATS- Applicant Tracking System Is Against You- All recruiting firms and most companies use an ATS to make their recruiting efforts more efficient so your cover letter isn’t even kept! It gets deleted as your resume put into the system.
Your Resume Tells Your Story: We know your cover letter is full of jargon about how you want the job but would you apply if you didn’t want the job or work at the company your writing about in detail??
It’s So Damn Long!! What the heck are you writing?? You make it as though we have all the time in the world to sit an read a novel during our work day. If you can’t write quickly, what will it be like meeting you??
The Cover Letter Profiles Your Monotony: Everything you have written in the cover letter is profiled in the resume..we get it. You worked at a, b c company for x years, managed so many people etc etc…again there’s no need to reiterate it in your cover letter.
Your resume, if strong enough, will highlight the elements of your resume that will ensure you are the right match for the job and company you are applying for. If it doesn’t then revamp your resume. Gone are the days when it had to be one page. If you have experience profile it, highlight it, embrace it but let the cover letter die in peace.
If you want to get noticed, don’t write a cover letter write an introductory email about the person you are writing to, as it’s not all about you.
Jessica Glazer is the Recruitment Director/Founder of www.MindHR.com-a head-hunting and resume writing agency. She can also be heard on Montreal’s NewsTalk Radio CJAD and seen on BTMontreal and Global television speaking about employment related issues.
14 Small Business, Big Hiring Mistakes
Expanding a small company is never easy. Everyone has a role and in a small office a bad hire has a greater impact. Below are 14 of the biggest hiring mistakes small business make:
Hiring A Friend Not A Fit: Your friend is great but unless you already have an established company keep them out of the office. There are studies that less work is completed when hiring a friend plus there is a reason you don’t mix business with pleasure…not everyone can separate the two.
Not Knowing What You Need:You know you need someone but do you know where or how. Write a list regarding where you feel your company is lacking strength from there you can decide where you need to hire but once you decide to commit to hire, hire.
Hiring Someone With Limited Skills: Don’t pin one person into a specific category. When hiring, think of their growth potential as you intend on growing.
Hiring Someone Do To A Bit Of Everything:You don’t want a jack of all trades with skills in none. You want someone who can fill a specific void or strengthen a weakness.
Hiring Someone Who Is Cheap: When push comes to shove if you hire the cheapest option you will get the least results. There are times you need to pay more to get more or at least know the market value of what you are looking for. Pay less and you risk losing that person which will cost you a lot more in the long run.
Hiring Someone To Help Them: You need someone, and yes many people need work but even a non-profit has to be selective and you are not a charity. You became an entrepreneur to run your own business, make your own hours and see success where there were clear issues in the systems out there. Remember that when hiring.
Making People Partners Too Soon:If you can’t afford someone, don’t hire them. Making someone a partner too soon means you will not have control over your own company, is that what you want so soon?? Hire those with potential but don’t make them partners off the bat.
Take Too Long To Take A Decision: Great talent who is interested in your company will get off the market quickly if they decide to interview at other places so don’t take too long to hire your ideal candidate. If you like them, put a ring on it!
Nitpicking: Being overly picky will hinder your chances of hiring the right person. There is no such thing as perfect. You have to make compromises
Over Hiring: Do not hire so many people that you don’t know what to do with them or that you have to train everyone at once. Know what your needs are then hire accordingly. Everyone will have their place but there’s no point in hiring 10 people if there’s only enough work for 4.
Over Interviewing: You need to know the person you are going to bring on is the right person for you. You can interview them, have them interview team members, give them a test and have a trial but after all that, you really need to make a hiring decision.
Not Prepared To Conduct An Interview: When someone arrives at your office, have your questions in hand. Know what you want to know from the person. Respect their time and ask questions about them while giving information about your company. This is not a you show. You do not need to prove why you are worth working for. Let them figure that out through their own answers.
Do Not Do Background Checks: You love the person, they have everything you need and want. They are 11 on 10 but don’t jump the gun just yet. Make sure you or someone you know checks their references or does a background check on them. Just because they appear great, know they might just be great interviewers…be weary.
Don’t Consider Head-Hunters: Small companies work on tight budgets. Shop around as some agencies aren’t as expensive as you think they are and can work with you to ensure you make the right hire. As stated earlier a bad hire can cost you a lot more then a little recruiting fee and a great recruiter will help you through the entire process.
Why Can’t I Offer More Money When They Want To Leave?
There are so many reasons why it’s not in your favour to offer someone who wants to leave your company more money.
Here are some of them:
The person wasn’t happy and it wasn’t just about the money.
Money is great, we all need it, most of us want more if it BUT when someone is making a move to another company, money was never the only issues and if twas the only issue why all of the sudden, now that they are about to go, you are able to throw more at them??
If you were able to throw the dollars at them now why didn’t you do it before??
This makes sense of course if you didn’t know it was an issue however if there are unhappy employees, it is your responsibility as a manager and/or an owner to know your people are unhappy. To say “You were too busy to notice” Or you have “too many people to know everything” is just an excuse that doesn’t work. Unhappy employees are less productive employees, they are the one missing work to go out, leaving early, on the phone more and taking lunch more often then before. You can’t know everything but you should be able to catch on and work accordingly.
If someone is about to take an offer now, in three to six months they will take another offer again as chances are it wasn’t about the money, they will still be unhappy but the idea of staying was much easier then the idea of leaving.
We see it all the time, managers/HR/CEO’s saying “we will give you more responsibilities, we will raise your salary” but the chances of this actually happening is truly nil to none…as again, why didn’t they just do it before??
Moving from job to job is never ideal however sometimes people need to leave a company and what that time comes it’s is best to just let them go. It’s hard, as breakups are never easy but once you are down, pick yourself up again and come back/hire stronger!
Protect Your Ass..ets
You have been with your arse more than you have been with any employer or any company so protect you ass…ets.
We just had a candidate tell us the most horrific story I think I have ever heard in the business, and I have heard a lot!
Recruiters change lives. People want to change jobs like they want to change houses, so working with a recruiter you trust is important. You don’t need to work with one agency but you need to know who you are working with.
So the story:
A candidate we met today indicated a recruiter in the Montreal area placed him at a company and did not tell him the salary he was going to be earning before he started. On the 2nd day of work, the candidate went in to sign papers as the candidate was signing he noticed it was 10k less than his original asking price and 15k then the recruiter presented him at. When the candidate called the said recruiter the recruiter apparently replied “Well….you were offered less because you did not have the technical skills required”.
Starting a career without a signed contract I understand, it happens, especially with smaller companies…btw this was with a large organization but how the candidate went to work without knowing his salary is inexcusable.
When accepting a career be sure if nothing else a recruiter or the company about to hire you sends you an email to confirm you salary and your start date this way you know what you are getting into. Protect yourself as at the end of the day, it’s your day that matters most.
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