Companies really do hire employees between Thanksgiving and mid-January. There are a number of reasons why November, December, or January could be luckiest months in the job search for you. You should not pause your job search during the holiday months. Use the holiday season to improve your job search. The notion that job search gets harder this time of year is a myth. Job search websites such as monster.com have someti...

There is a theory out there that postulates that traditional job interviews don’t give hiring managers or recruiters an accurate read on a candidate’s likely performance in a certain role, largely because interviews can be too brief, formulaic, formal, or riddled with bias. Some organizations are taking a scientific approach to interviewing in which they control for obvious variables. For example, some orchestra...

Are you giving off the wrong signals and unknowingly decreasing your chances for landing the job? Despite the booming economy some candidates have trouble getting in the door. Why is that? Perhaps because they seem too risky to hire. Hiring managers are looking for qualified candidates who can add value. As much as possible, they want to avoid those who cause problems, and who can blame them? Releasing a troublemaker is...

Many of my clients ask what to do about age discrimination during the job search. The plain truth is if you’re waiting for ageism to disappear from the job market, one thing is certain: However old you are, you’ll grow much older waiting. Age-based discrimination may be illegal, but it remains pervasive despite its illegality. In any event, the law isn’t the recourse you need. “Failure to Hire&rdq...

If job postings are windows into the working world, maybe somebody needs to clean the glass, because it can be awfully hard to know what you’re really seeing! That’s why the first letter in REAL stands for “Read between the lines” when you read job postings. In this post I’ll tell you how to do that, as well as how to Evaluate the fit, Apply with an advantage and Learn from the experience so...

The resume black hole. The abyss. The void. The applicant tracking system (ATS) creates all kinds of stress and irritation for job seekers. Candidates almost universally loathe the experience. The ATS requires them to copy and paste sections from their resume into tiny boxes and answer questions that could be easily discussed in a quick phone call, adding to what is already a user-unfriendly, often tedious experience. While...

You’ve been practicing your answers to the typical questions for your next big interview, but what about the inevitable “Do you have any questions for us?” portion? Asking the right questions gives you not only more information about the company, but it will show that you’re 1) insightful and a critical thinker and 2) eager for the job, a real team player. Basing your questions off of how the inte...

Companies that love to brag about their distinct and defining cultures often cite culture as a significant recruiting tool. In turn, their hiring managers often regard the nebulous “cultural fit” as the most essential factor in evaluating candidates. But is this a good way to hire? Not always. What tends to happen is that rather than hiring for cultural fit, managers hire for personal fit. Instead of seeking out...

Over the last 19 years as a career & professional development consultant, I have worked with countless employers seeking ideal candidates to fill critical roles in their organizations. Regardless of the career field, recruiters and hiring managers agree that after the basic criteria of skills and experiences are met, candidates are accepted or eliminated based upon how they fit into the culture of an organization....

A substantial part of my work is helping people identify why they are unhappy at work and figure out what they need to do about it. The other end of that is helping them carry out their plans successfully. Although there are many ways to change someone’s experience inside of their current employment scenario, it’s not always possible to do that. There is a variety of reasons someone may decide to change: they de...