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By thejobcoach, April 29, 2009 3:12 pm

DIGITAL JOB SEARCH AND PERSONAL BRANDING

Installment five

Books, seminars and all manner of digital offerings are available to illuminate the nuances of creating and maintaining a personal brand.  Personal branding for your job search is not an arcane art. If you are a six figure income executive or technology leader, you already have a brand.  You may not know what it is, but it is there.

Jeremy Siegel offers a well researched piece on personal branding and social networking sites.  His article is an excellent overview and leads right into this post which tells you how to embrace your personal brand specifically for your immediate needs of your job search.

Step one: There are tools that reveal how the world sees you digitally.  I like setting alerts on search engines since a simple Google search reveals only a partial picture of your digital existence.

Step two: Uncover even more of what prospective employers see, select a few of the tools mentioned on this excellent list from JobMob.

Once you know your digital brand you can maintain or correct it based on what you want employers to know about you and to increase the probability you will be found when they use sophisticated search tools to locate your special expertise.  Don’t think employers use digital tools to find you?  Take a look at the Boolean Strings groups on LinkedIn, use a search engine ‘Boolean strings, recruiters’ and read what the Boolean Strings black belt has to say.  And this is just one resource they use.  Some recruiters have been quoted saying they prefer to use blog entries to locate the experts they need as candidates.

Step three: LinkedIn is a significant branding opportunity.  Use it correctly and you become a candidate, use it poorly and you are overlooked or discarded as a candidate.  For an extensive guide to using LinkedIn for Job Search, download my free white paper.

Most people use LinkedIn to vet any new connection.  Job seekers use it for myriad purposes.  And employers and recruiters use it extensively to determine if they want to take next-steps with a prospective candidate.  Here are a few things you can do today.

1. Use the profile section as a marketing tool, not a recap of your resume.  Learn the priority of prospective employers and highlight your expertise in that area.
2. Solicit every reference you can garner.  Prospective employers read them, especially if they are short, sweet and on point to their requirements.
3. Insert your public email address so anyone can contact you easily.  Public because the spam catchers are invaluable.
4. Ask and answer questions germane to your brand.

Step four: Measure every social networking site where you have a profile against the brand you want to portray.  Is it consistent with the image you want employers to see?  Sure, these are person sites, but make no mistake, employers see them.

Step five: Join and participate in groups associated with your brand.  LinkedIn provides resources for groups where you will be in contact with peers.  Go beyond LinkedIn.  Join your college alumni groups as well as alumni groups of former employers.

Step six: Blog.  Don’t have one of your own?  Then use key-word searches based on your brand and contribute to related blogs.  Use your LinkedIn profile in your signature.

Step seven: Know your elevator pitch.  Use it at all business networking gatherings and cover letters.  Let your elevator pitch broadcast your brand.

Take care of these basic chores and return here for other advice on personal branding for job search.  My personal soap box includes the advice to watch your writing; make certain you are seen as someone who pays attention to detail, is literate and communicates well.  Without this, no amount of branding will gain traction.

Click here to learn why your brand is critical to your job search Installment One

Click here for installment two on Digital Job Search and Branding.

For discussion of how to discover how the world sees you: installment three.

Click here for installment four to discover your current identity.

Click here to start your branding efforts for your job search installment five

If you are ready for a job search tune-up purchase Job Search Debugged.

For step-by-step guidance to improve your networking results read Networking Debugged.

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By admin, April 21, 2009 3:24 pm

Don’t be afraid to discover your true identity

DIGITAL JOB SEARCH AND PERSONAL BRANDING

Installment number four

Are you Clark Kent or Superman?  Both have viable identities; each with a different niche.  How can you determine your own brand identity?

One of my more successful clients, we will call him Sam, believed his brand was, “Technology savvy product development executive.”  He was proud of his knowledge and that he was able to lead his teams to create technologically complex products with scarce resources and impossible deadlines.

While any employer would be interested in someone with a track record releasing products on time, I believed he could distinguish himself further; create a real brand.

Here are just a few questions we used to discovered his real brand:

1. What are your long term career goals?
2. What are you most proud of in your last four years of work?
3. What were the obstacles?
4. What resources did you use to over come those obstacles?
5. What tools did you employ?
6. What do people say about you within your department?
7. What do people say about you in other departments?
8. What topics are you most likely to be asked to discuss?
9. What do other departments invite you to teach them?
10. How did they affect the corporate bottom line?

At first, Sam was horrified at the idea he could not lead with his vast knowledge and deep technical education.  Once he understood his objective was marketing his brand for career development, he understood his brand is more effective as something employers needed but rarely found in technology executives. Sam wanted to be seen as a technology leader, not just another successful software development manager.  He aspired to “C” level responsibilities.

Ultimately, Sam’s brand is defined as, “A technology executive who builds corporate success through collaboration and unrelenting commitment to stated priorities.“  His brand identity is “Collaboration creator.’”

How does Sam promote his brand?  He is ever vigilant of his corporate presence.  As Shivonne Byrne, Director of Brand and Content for Microsoft advises, “Every encounter, every phone conversation, every meeting, every report, every PowerPoint, every email – basically every interaction – is an opportunity to build or deconstruct your personal brand.”

Sam makes a concerted effort to maintain strong connections across all departments to keep the products for which he is responsible visible and on point to meet corporate and customer goals.  Sam updates departments throughout the company and invites comment. He attends and hosts internal discussions and forums to foster communication about his department’s mission and how it relates to other departments and the corporate mission.  He demonstrates collaborative, ethical behavior, and encourages the same of his team; especially between the development staff and the quality assurance team members.

Externally, he attends networking events and conferences to learn from others.  He participates in the question and answer sessions of seminars and presentations and is never shy about contributing comments on Blogs relevant to his area of expertise.

Sam writes a Blog on Agile software development implementations (tools which facilitate collaboration between marketing, development and users to create products customers actually want), insights on the benefits of collaborative work for the SaaS/cloud computing software delivery method and general advice on managing for quality. There is no doubt of his technical expertise as expressed in the blogs and venues, and he is branded with the over-riding concept of collaborative software development.

He dresses well, attends seminars and writes white papers.  Sam uses social networking sites to engage both his internal and external networks to promote his point of view, publications and successes. He knows how to brag about relevant accomplishments without appearing braggadocios.

Sam has made managing his brand part of his every day activities.  It appears to be working.  His employer of five months invited him to create a first-of-year outlook based on Sam’s own plan plus input he was to obtain from other departments.  He has also been asked to undertake a major project that affects several departments to vet and hire a new vendor critical to the success of several product lines.  Only someone known for his collaborative successes would be invited to accomplish such a sensitive goal.   Sam is not looking for a job, but he keeps notes to incorporate examples that prove his brand for any future job interview.

He will be sure to journal and blog about how he accomplishes tasks that demonstrate collaboration and problem solving using collaborative techniqes.

Sam manages his brand well because he knows what it is. His brand informs him of where his time is best spent and with whom to expand his network.  Sam frequently searches the Internet to monitor how the world sees him and he comments on complimentary blogs to keep his name in the Agile-world radar.  He is often delighted to find himself quoted or his papers mentioned.  Sam’s brand is “Collaboration expert.”  What is yours?

Click here to learn why your brand is critical to your job search Installment One

Click here for installment two on Digital Job Search and Branding.

For discussion of how to discover how the world sees you: installment three.

Click here for installment four to discover your current identity.

Click here to start your branding efforts for your job search installment five

Click here for more resources

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By admin, April 19, 2009 1:31 pm

Do you know how the world sees you?

DIGITAL JOB SEARCH AND PERSONAL BRANDING

Installment number three

Years ago, when computers were steam-driven and search engines like Google and Yahoo were not yet  household words, I searched on my name.  I had a website, an established business as a job search coach and what I assumed was a wide-spread Seattle-based reputation in the technology community.  Imagine my surprise when my name search rendered no results.

Today, that same search results in pages of entries including my website, magazine articles, blogs and even long-forgotten comments on a variety of sites.  Mixed in are various other ‘Rita Ashley’s’ but since they seem to be accomplished women, I am not embarrassed by their digital footprint.  Folks looking for me know I am neither a Raytheon employee nor serve on a the Olanthe school board.

The real win when you set your alert is you can qualify which John Smith you want to find.  Employers know to use alerts such as John Smith, teacher, Tucson to find exactly the person they want to vet.  You can do the same.

Is it vanity to check my on-line presences?  Not one bit.  It is a smart business decision to monitor what the world sees.  And if you are a $100,000+ professional, it is your business to monitor and maintain your brand and appear to the world as an expert in your domain.

But is a search engine enough? There are many entries hidden in blogs or articles where my name may be used by others.  A small group of irate recruiters, for example, took umbrage at a blog I wrote warning candidates about traps set by recruiters.  They say horrible things about me.  Since I know, I can do some damage control.

How did I find out?  I set search engine alerts for my name, my company and a few key words associated with job search coaching for executives and technology leaders.  Most of the entries I receive are irrelevant but there are often a few tidbits that are very useful.  In addition to monitoring my brand, I often find new blogs where my advice or comments will be seen by folks in need and sometimes, I meet like-minded contributors with whom I can establish a common bond.

Setting alerts is a simple first-step in creating your on-going personal branding monitoring program; an important component of building a healthy personal brand.   To learn more about your digital presence, choose a few tools from this comprehensive list created by JobMob.  No need to use them all, but pay special attention to those that look for blogs and social networking comments.

Time for some clean-up?  Here’s a few tips for starters.  Return to this blog frequently as the Digital Job Search Branding series continues.

Click here to learn why your brand is critical to your job search Installment One

Click here for installment two on Digital Job Search and Branding.

For discussion of how to discover how the world sees you: installment three.

Click here for installment four to discover your current identity.

Click here to start your branding efforts for your job search installment five

Click here for more resources

For a step-by-step guide to networking that understands networking can be hard.

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By admin, April 15, 2009 12:35 pm

DIGITAL JOB SEARCH AND PERSONAL BRANDING

Installment number two

“Your brand is the promise you make to employers on what you bring to them.” Shivonne Byrne, Director of Brand and Content at Microsoft.

All the noise in the media on personal brand can lead you to think creating and maintaining your brand is an arcane art. Nothing could be further from the truth. While there are books and webinars dedicated to the proposition that personal brand requires expert guidance, there is much you can accomplish on your own, free.

How do I discover my Brand? It pays to ask people, “What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of me in the workplace?” The answer may surprise you. Your brand may be completely different from what you think it is.

Examples: George P. believed he was seen as the go-to guy for all things technical both within his company and on the street. Turns out, he is perceived by most as a person who simplifies technology so it is accessible to anyone. That is not only a rare characteristic; the trait is highly desirable in most IT organizations. Once he accepted his brand he was able to revise both his elevator pitch and the accomplishments section of his resume and he distinguished himself from all the other highly competent technology professionals with whom he competed for key jobs.

Lorelei T. knows she is a brilliant technical marketer.  She is able to get products into the hands of the customers in record time.  She brands herself as an effective marketer who gets products to market quickly. After she queried her references she discovered she was most valued because she was able to keep communications between marketing, sales and development open and crisis free.  Lorelei’s actual brand was more valuable to prospective employers than the one she believed.

The brand statement is a concise description of the essence of your brand. Whether Paul H. is heading sales, creating alliances or running a company,  he connects with people and makes them feel part of the team. Paul is Senior Vice President of Partners and Alliances, but he doesn’t position himself as a Vice President. Instead, he positions himself as a successful senior executive and relationship builder; an important attribute for success in his role. His brand statement is “Community Builder.”

Many executives feel they need to conform to business norms when they go to work. But this prevents building a brand. In the world of work, those who stand out succeed, so put your brand on everything you do. Whether you’re making a presentation, in a meeting or writing a report, ask yourself how you can connect your brand to every situation.

Click here to learn why your brand is critical to your job search Installment One

Click here for installment two on Digital Job Search and Branding.

For discussion of how to discover how the world sees you: installment three.

Click here for installment four to discover your current identity.

Click here to start your branding efforts for your job search installment five

For other resources, click here. Return soon for more installments on personal branding…or better yet, join my blog.

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By admin, April 11, 2009 1:25 pm

DIGITAL JOB SEARCH AND  PERSONAL BRANDING

Installment number one

“Your personal brand happens whether you shape it or not. If you are out in the world at all, you are known for the qualities you project and the qualities external audiences believe are true of you. Your choice is simple: own your brand, or let the external audiences own it for you.” Shivonne Byrne, Director of Brand and Content at Microsoft.

Exposure is the lynchpin of your search: If you are a six figure executive or technology leader, your job search is a massive marketing campaign.  The more people who know about you and your talents, the higher the probability you will be invited to compete for jobs.  Exposure is what your digital job search is all about:  Maximum exposure for your brand.

Your brand is what you want hiring authorities to know about you distinguishes you from the competition.  Your job is to ascertain what your brand is currently and what it should be to attract the attention of employers.

In their book, Career Distinction William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson state, “Personal Branding is so powerful the Fortune 500 Companies-firms single-mindedly focused on their corporate brands-are helping employees build their personal brands.”

Personal branding is not a fad or an option.  People make hiring decisions based on many factors but their preconceived notions and expectations often determine who they will even consider.  Mark Lindstrom, author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best selling book, Buyology summarizes, “We make hundreds of snap decisions each and every day. Yet so many of them happen deep within our subconscious, so fast and far below the surface we’re barely aware of them.   …companies plant instant shortcuts-or brand bookmarks-in our subconscious to help us decide what to (or what not to) buy. And yes, your brain too holds some of them and they’ve probably influenced everything from the make of the last car you decided to buy to the brand of coffee you brewed this morning.”

Here’s how personal branding works for you. While personal branding is unavoidable, the more control you assert over it, the more likely your personal brand will be an asset in your career.  People  automatically form mental associations and create labels to recognize you. Labeling happens automatically because that is the way our brains are wired.  Take control over those labels and you create a personal brand.

The more you advertise, the more people know about your special expertise.  It behooves you to create a marketing plan to accomplish your branding program.

What is Your Brand? Your personal brand is how others define you in the workforce.   Are you a Ferrari, built for speed or a Volvo, built for safety?  It is unlikely you are both.  How do you describe yourself?   How do others describe you?  What does your performance review consistently point out?  How do others introduce you?  Your answers to these questions are keys to your brand attributes.

“If you’re really smart, you figure out how to distinguish yourself from all the other very smart people walking around with $1,500 suits, high-powered laptops, and well-polished resumes. Along the way, if you’re really smart, you figure out what it takes to create a distinctive role for yourself — you create a message and a strategy to promote the brand called ‘You’” Tom Peters writing for Fast Company.

Know what distinguishes you from your peers. When you define your peers and their attributes and how you are different from them, you can rise above the competition.  The competition is defined as anyone who might be hired for a given position that precludes your being hired.  Competition, therefore, includes hiring no one and leaving the job undone or shared by current employees.  To rise above all competition, you must articulate what you can do or provide that no one else can.  Your band must be so compelling that it precedes you, introduces you and annihilates the competition.

Click here to learn why your brand is critical to your job search Installment One

Click here for installment two on Digital Job Search and Branding.

For discussion of how to discover how the world sees you: installment three.

Click here for installment four to discover your current identity.

Click here to start your branding efforts for your job search installment five

For a step-by-step guide to improve your job search networking:

For a complete guide to a job search tune-up:

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By admin, April 10, 2009 10:25 pm

Job Search Engines

If you are engaged in a serious job search, you have run into job search engines. They aggregate job descriptions from a variety of sources, most directly from the hiring company. They tend to duplicate one another, but they are all worth using for those exceptions.

They are not job boards.  If they require you submit a resume, they are a job board, not a job search engine. Their only function is to list companies with job openings.  They don’t charge money and they don’t require resume submission.  They simply list opportunities and you select whom you want to contact.  The occasional job board or recruiter listing slips in, but you can ignore them in favor of direct employers.

My test for a director of development showed many jobs on The Ladders and other job boards but those same jobs were also shown at the company web site for direct connections.

If you use these job search engines, understand that not every company uses the same terminology for the same job. Use a variety of titles to round up the greatest selection of jobs you might want. Some of the sites will update you on new opportunities for your title choices.

This is a partial list as new job search engines crop up all the time, especially in specific geographies.  Be sure to check out your own town’s web site for job listings.  Understand the difference between job boards and job search engines so you don’t waste time with job boards.  Don’t submit your resume to the web site.  Look for connections who can introduce you and you jump to the head of the line.

simply hired is a template for most job search engines. The site aggregates results from major job websites, newspapers, company websites, associations and other online sources. Employers cannot post jobs. Site is strictly for job seekers. Users can search by occupation, job title or location.

indeed is the oldest of the group of job search engines.

Juju – A job search engine that sorts by job title and location

Jobs online – A job search engine that sorts by job title and location

Job Volume – A job search engine that sorts by job title and location.  Includes Govt Jobs.

hound requires sign up but will send out opportunities.

Jobpier requires log in and user information.

Joes Jobs is all about software development openings. And lots of them from around the world.

37 signals has listings for web developers and designers, for the most part.

Creative has a site for about any creative type you can imagine and even allows users to post their portfolio. This is a sophisticated site with a variety of services.

LinkUp LinkUp is a job search engine that searches for jobs within company websites. Here are five search tips that will help you use LinkUp more effectively.

Yahoo Hot Jobs Yahoo Hot Jobs is one of the largest and most well known job search engines on the Web.

LinkedIn.com LinkedIn.com has listings of jobs submitted by members as well as those culled from direct employers.  A useful feature is Alerts can be set to monitor activity on your choice of companies.

Craigslist There are all sorts of interesting jobs on Craigslist. Just find your city, look under Jobs, then look under your job category. Non-profit, systems, government, writing, etc. jobs are all represented here.

For those of you in Seattle, a job board that acts like a job search engine is eggsprout.com.  As of this writing, most of the jobs are listed by corporate HR departments.

For lists of specialty search engines and local options http://tinyurl.com/as27e and http://tinyurl.com/9p6l5

My suggestion is to use more than one site to discover the direct path to the job since using any of the job boards just means you have more competition. A direct approach is always preferable and a referral is even better.

Chances are there are specific companies in which you are interested.  Set alerts on search engines using key words, job titles and names of companies.  Often this provides you with knowledge of jobs before other’s by days and weeks.

For clear, step-by-step advice on what to do after you discover a job opening, read, “Networking Debugged.” If you would like a job search tune-up, purchase,  “Job Search Debugged.”

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By admin, April 7, 2009 12:03 pm

While the job-search world is filled with competent and effective recruiters, my email from angry candidates who have dealt with the worst of the lot and responses to my LinkedIn threads shout there are a lot of bad recruiters and harmful recruiting practices candidates encounter.  Offenses are not just borderline-ethical with traps set for unsuspecting candidates; the field is populated with incompetent recruiters who believe recruiting is an easy way to make a fast buck.

How can this be? Barriers to entry for recruiters are invisible.  Anyone with a telephone and a voice can call themselves a recruiter.  They may not last long in the profession, but their truncated longevity doesn’t mean you won’t encounter them.

Bad apples taint the waters and the good recruiters, those who provide such an important service that easily, over 35% of executive-level jobs are filled by them, have to wrestle with the general perception recruiters are just like used-car sales people.  Not much anyone can do about that other than keep their own practices above reproach.

Candidates are at risk. While I have cautioned how to avoid a bad recruiter to protect candidates, sometimes you just can’t tell the recruiter is incompetent until after you submit your resume.

After the fact. Once you have given the recruiter your resume and she seems unable to give you the information you need or has difficulty representing you with her client, it is time to take charge.  You don’t want to offend the recruiter because he is the gatekeeper and can harm your efforts to get face time with his client.

Example. One example from my coaching practice, names changed to protect, demonstrates how to work with a recruiter who is incompetent or inexperienced and still get what you need.

Wendy found Bill’s contact information on LinkedIn and wasted no time phoning him about a job opening she heard about.  The job had been open for three months and she felt the company would welcome an unsolicited resume from her.  She didn’t have the search but was certain with Bill’s resume, she could get the assignment.  (This is called the Trojan horse method and is encouraged in many recruiter training sessions.)

Wendy contacted Bill with a vague job description and a few made-up statistics about the job and the salary range.  Bill sent Wendy his resume and the only precaution he took was to tell her not to send the resume anywhere but the hiring company without asking.  She readily agreed and as soon as she had the resume, Wendy called the company in question.

She had not interviewed Bill nor did she have a grasp on how his strengths with the Agile software environment were important skills the employer would find compelling.  Somehow, she landed the search based on this one (and only this one) resume.  Later, when Bill asked Wendy questions about the job and why it had gone unfilled for so long, she revealed her ignorance.

What to do. Time for Bill to take matters in his own hands.  He consulted LinkedIn.com to see who he knew who would shed light on the company and the opportunity. He contacted his favorite recruiter and asked him what he knew about the company and job. There are few secrets among headhunters in the local search community. Bill discovered the hiring company’s various interviewers had conflicting priorities which was why they had little success filling the spot in a town filled with probable candidates.

Bill located former employees willing to support his interest in the company.  He was thus able to get a bead on the issues and formulate an interview plan in spite of Wendy’s ignorance.  He still needed her support and proceeded with caution.

Advice: Talk to Wendy face to face if possible. Tell her you want to make her look good so the more information you have when you meet her client, the better. Is there anything about the corporate culture or team she can share?

Don’t ask: Do you know their biggest priority?
Ask: What did they say to you to communicate their biggest priority?

Don’t ask: Why haven’t they filled the job?
Ask: What do they have to see to fill this position based on their past attempts? What did they say was missing?

Ask: When you spoke with the person to whom I would report, what impression do you have about his/her style? Their energy level? This question gives her the opportunity to reveal the level of her contact which you need to know.

If Wendy does not have direct contact with the actual hiring authority, she may invent answers or repeat the canned comments from HR. Keep in mind, if HR had the right fix on the priorities, the job would be filled by now. That’s why your own research is imperative. You can’t rely on Wendy’s answers for what you need to know to conduct a great interview.  Try to get as much as you can.

Ask: Is there something HR said more than once when they talked about their difficulty finding someone on their own?

Ask: What did you see in my background that told you I was a good fit?

Ask: I want to make sure we are talking from the same play book. What do you have in mind as the most important part of my background to get them interested in me as a candidate? Was there a comment made by the company about my resume and experience?

Ask: What if anything did they say to you that would suggest my experience managing teams in a variety of countries is of value? Use this approach for any characteristic you feel she needs to accentuate when she makes your appointment.  It is a subtle but accurate method to groom her comments about you.

Ask: I always send email thank-you notes to people with whom I interview. Is there any reason you’d be uncomfortable with my contacting them directly? Once Wendy says, “No, go right ahead,” you can follow-up as need be in the future with emails and phone calls. Don’t go around her, always copy her on emails and always let her know if you have contacted or otherwise spoken to the company on your own.

There is hope. “Every group of inexperienced recruiters has one or two really great future recruiters and one or two that will end up in an internal HR department somewhere. Candidates would do well to remember that and not burn bridges before they’re even built.” Emily B., Senior Recruiter

Wendy may be naïve’ or inexperienced and even unprofessional, but she is still a gatekeeper and she is representing you. One negative word from her and you may be removed from consideration. Ask the recruiter the right questions in the right way. Don’t be dismissive as she learns her role, but don’t be handicapped by her ineptitude.

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By admin, April 2, 2009 12:44 pm

One estimate of  job openings filled by recruiters is over 35%.  The percentage is higher for executive-level positions in the $100,000+ salary range.  Clearly, cultivating a professional relationship with a recruiter or two is an excellent career development strategy.  But how do you avoid exposure to the wrong ones?  I believe knowledge is power.  The more you know about how and why recruiters set traps for you, the easier you can avoid getting caught.

A crafty recruiter or a representative from a ‘resume mill’ can entice you to send your resume because they are trained to handle any objection you can produce.  Unless you verify an actual search for a real company, don’t send your resume.

1. Vet the recruiter immediately. Ask for the recruiter’s company name and contact information.  If the recruiter is vague or unresponsive to your direct questions, they are bogus and up to no good.  Request the hiring company name and the job description.  If they can’t supply all this information, there is no reason to go forward.  If they can, offer to get back to them after you have a chance to think about the opportunity.  Use that time to ascertain the validity of the recruiting company, the company with the open req and the job.  If you still have doubts, call the company in question and ask if they work with that recruiter.  If the recruiter cannot supply the information or objects to giving you time, run away.
2. Protect your contact information.  Resume mills are or sell your resume to resume aggregators.  These resumes are then used to cull contact information which is subsequently sold to the highest bidders.  Don’t include your home address and use a public email such as gmail.  If you submit a resume, it is lost in space and you will never hear from the recruiter again no matter how terrific the match to that imaginary job.
3. Job boards are not your friend.  The recruiter submits your resume to job boards. Resumes are stripped of your name and contact information and the recruiter’s contact information is substituted.  If someone is interested in your credentials, they have to go through the recruiter and split fees.
4. Cover the earth.  Resumes are sent to prospective employers at random and nationwide with the recruiter’s contact information, not yours.  Most companies do not follow-up on unsolicited resumes submitted by unknown recruiters.  They flag the resume and file it.  When a genuine presentation of your credentials occurs by you or your recruiter of choice, your resume is cast aside because of the previous connection.
5. The Trojan horse. Recruiters contact a company with an open req and pretend to represent you.  If the employer takes the bait, the recruiter can say they have the search.  While this sounds like an opportunity to get exposure with someone else doing the heavy lifting, it is just the opposite.  Candidates from recruiters known to the company get higher consideration.  The recruiter doesn’t know you so he can’t represent you (or the company) with any usable knowledge.  And worse, if the company rejects the recruiter, they flag your resume so neither you nor another reputable recruiter can breach that company’s defenses for consideration.
6. Is your resume part of their quota? Some recruiting companies have a resume quota for their recruiters.  This encourages new recruiters to get resumes with any story possible.  This is where the complaint “The recruiter didn’t even understand what I do,” comes from.  Your resume is submitted to their data base with no real understanding of the job you want or the special circumstances.  You can contact these recruiters till the cows come home and never get a response or follow up.  In fact, the likelihood that recruiter is still employed by the recruiting company after a year is very low. These recruiting companies can advertise and boast of a database with over xxx# current resumes.
7. The oldest trick.  A recruiter trick as old as the hills is to court an unsuspecting candidate with the ‘perfect’ job then ask the names and contact information of their boss or direct reports; the real target of their search.  While this is clearly a short-term solution, many recruiters cannot see past the next placement.  You will never hear back but your connections will.

New recruiter scams and bad-actors arise weekly.  It is up to you to protect yourself from bad recruiters.  The best way to avoid the disappointment and harm done by these disreputable folks is to vet them before you ever send a resume or give any information…regardless of their pitch.  No opportunity is so critical that receiving your resume can’t wait a day or two while you research the recruiter.

If a recruiter asks for a fee, they are not a recruiter.  By definition, no recruiter should ever charge the candidate; if they have a search, the company pays.  If they charge, that makes them an employment agency, not a recruiter. Again, run away.

Don’t let your desire to find a plethora of resources cloud your vision about recruiters. If you chose the wrong one(s) they can do serious damage to your self confidence and your search.  There are many excellent recruiters hired by companies to source qualified candidates. Learn to tell the difference and you will avoid all the angst and anger the recruiting’s bad apples spread.

This just in:  GadBall reports on scams where job seekers lose money and their identity.

Rita Ashley, Job Search Coach
Author: Job Search Debugged
www.jobsearchdebugged.com
ritathejobcoach@gmail.com
My clients get hired; not a guarantee, it’s a track record.

For more insights on recruiters, purchase Job Search Debugged. 

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