Blog
Debra Wheatman, President of Careers Done Write, provides expert insight to the job search process that puts your career in gear with tips for interviewing, networking, job search strategies and how to create a winning resume and cover letter.
Testing, Testing: Does This Help You Hire?
You may have noticed that aptitude and personality tests are becoming more commonplace in recruiting. While I don’t have a problem with personality tests (Predictive Index is pretty good), I find the aptitude tests to be a complete waste of everyone’s time….
Bias in Hiring is REAL
I’m sure you’ve heard that the most important thing for you, as a job seeker, to do is to present yourself as the most qualified candidate. After all, the most qualified candidate is the one who gets the job, right? Not by a long shot. Every day, eminently qualified candidates are told “no thanks” for a variety of reasons that have exactly zero to do with past achievements, quality of work, education, or performance….
Quiet Quitting: This Is Not A Thing
Over the last few weeks, a trend that began on TikTok has made its way to LinkedIn and mainstream media. “Quiet quitting” is everywhere, and everyone is acting like this is some new revelation. To my understanding, quiet quitting is when employees choose not to go above and beyond their jobs, including refusing to answer emails during evenings or weekends or skipping extra assignments that fall outside their core duties. Reading all of these articles and seeing these videos, I couldn’t help but wonder why this is newsworthy….
Prospective Employers: Information on a Need-to-Know Basis
The Great Resignation and the ensuing candidates’ market have exposed how broken the hiring process is. Employers opine on why they can’t find any qualified candidates while candidates wade through systems and processes that can best be described as Kafkaesque. And, despite there being far more open positions than there are candidates, employers continue to approach hiring as if it is an unequal relationship in which they call all the shots. Nothing could be further from the truth….
The Myth of Cultural Fit
It is no secret that hiring is broken. The current system works against recruiting, hiring, and retaining talent. From candidate experiences with clunky ATS systems, hiring managers ill-trained in conducting interviews, to the seemingly endless rounds of interviews, it is surprising that anyone gets hired. Another factor that impedes hiring is the idea of “cultural fit.” While it is undoubtedly essential to determine whether there is a cultural fit on both the part of the company and the candidate, many people on both sides of the desk get this wrong….
Recruiting Is Broken, and It’s Repelling Candidates
These last few weeks, there have been many alarmist stories on social media and in traditional media about impending layoffs and recession. Inflation is kicking up, and with it, so are the prices of consumer goods. However, unemployment remains historically low, and it is still a candidate’s market. Many companies of all sizes in all sectors have open roles that they’ve been unable to fill. I’ve had hiring managers ask me why recruiting in this market is so hard. After all, in such a hot market, shouldn’t there be a flood of qualified applicants for an open req? Yes, but also no.
Resign the Right Way
We are in the midst of the hottest candidate market in history. This has been colloquially termed “The Great Resignation.” Over the last 12 months, I have come to realize that many people don’t know how to resign or what the best approach is. The best way to resign is to do so briefly and directly. Mr. Nixon had a massive scandal and a public relations crisis hanging over his head. But his actual resignation was brilliant. In fewer words than the limits of a Tweet, he resigned from the most powerful job in the world. If the President of the United States can resign his position without going into gory details of his reasoning, so can you. My top-line advice for resigning is to keep it simple, but here are some more specific tips….
It’s Graduation Time. What Does Gen Z Want in a Career?
Gen Z-ers want meaningful careers, not just jobs. As an employer, building awareness of what candidates look for in the ideal position is key to connecting with the applicants. If you’ve been out to any campus recruiting events, you’re well aware that as a group, Gen Z is focused on values first and specific roles second. Having a better understanding of the needs and values of these recent grads can help bridge the gap in employer recruiting while improving the chances of making good hiring decisions….
I Can’t Fill My Open Positions Because No One Wants to Work!
No one wants to work. I have all these open positions that I am unable to fill. My recruiting team can’t find me any qualified candidates. I know that this is supposedly a “candidate’s market,” but I think that candidates should be storming the gates to interview here. My head recruiter suggested that part of the problem might be that I didn’t bother to do any salary benchmarking, and I’m offering 30% below market for the industry. She can’t be right about that. I used hard data, such as my opinions and feelings, to develop the compensation budgets….
Tales From the Trenches: The 3 Strangest Things I Heard About This Week
I talk to a lot of people, and I hear a lot of stories. They range from boring to bizarre and give me great insight into the human condition. Whenever I hear strange stories, I wonder, “Why would anyone do that?” I don’t ever have the answer, but I find the behavior fascinating. Here are the top 3 strange and inappropriate tales I heard this week….