Your Physical Appearance Can Affect Your Job Interview
Will my appearance affect the outcome of a job interview?
This is a common question that is asked when we coach our clients for a job interview.
The question of the affect of your appearance on the outcome of your job interview is like so many others; it is often situational. But the common answer is “yes”, a pleasing physical appearance can enhance your chances of a successful job interview.
The article below discusses new research by the Rice University:
How Looks Can Influence A Job Interview
By RICK NAUERT PHD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 10, 2011
A new research study finds that facial disfigurements can cause individuals to receive poor scores in a job interview.
In one of the first studies of its type, researchers at Rice University and the University of Houston discovered how scars and other facial disfigurements may result in worksite discrimination.
Investigators found that interviewers recalled less information about these candidates, which negatively impacted evaluations of the applicants.
“When evaluating applicants in an interview setting, it’s important to remember what they are saying,” said psychologist and researcher Dr. Mikki Hebl. “Our research shows if you recall less information about competent candidates because you are distracted by characteristics on their face, it decreases your overall evaluations of them.”
Hebl and co-author Juan Madera, Ph.D., performed two studies. In the first, the eye-activity of 171 undergraduate students were tracked as they watched a computer-mediated interview. After the interview, they were asked to recall information about the candidate.
“When looking at another person during a conversation, your attention is naturally directed in a triangular pattern around the eyes and mouth,” Madera said.
“We tracked the amount of attention outside of this region and found that the more the interviewers attended to stigmatized features on the face, the less they remembered about the candidate’s interview content, and the less memory they had about the content led to decreases in ratings of the applicant.”
The second study involved face-to-face interviews between candidates who had a facial birthmark and 38 full-time managers enrolled in a part-time MBA and/or a Master of Science in a hospitality management program. All members of this group had experience in interviewing applicants for their current or past staff positions.
Despite the increase in age, experience and education, the interviewers had a tough time managing their reactions to the stigma, Madera said. In fact, the effects of the stigma were actually stronger with this group, which he attributed to the face-to-face interview setting.
“It just shows that despite maturity and experience levels, it is still a natural human reaction to react negatively to facial stigma,” Madera said.
Both Hebl and Madera hope the research will raise awareness about this form of workplace discrimination.
“The bottom line is that how your face looks can significantly influence the success of an interview,” Hebl said.
“There have been many studies showing that specific groups of people are discriminated against in the workplace, but this study takes it a step further, showing why it happens. The allocation of attention away from memory for the interview content explains this.”
Their study, “Discrimination Against Facially Stigmatized Applicants in Interviews: An Eye-Tracking and Face-to-Face Investigation” is published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Source: Rice University
Interview photo by shutterstock.
Is LinkedIn Important to Your Business?
I am a Passionate Advocate of LinkedIn
In fact, I am not only a passionate advocate of Linkedin, but I am also very active on a day to day basis.
I have built many connections and some of those connections have led me to business opportunities that were beyond my imagination when I first got started.
The size and power of Linkedin as a professional networking tool and business development aid is now without doubt.
LinkedIn Statistics and Demographics – July 2011
- Some relevant facts as at July 2011:-
- 119 million users worldwide
- Australian registered users = 2.3 million
- Asia = 16.5 million
- 35% of users login every day
- Men 58.5% Women 41.5%
- Ages:-
- 18-24 23%
- 25-34 35.2%
- 35-54 35%
- +54 6.8%
- Professional Status
- Over 52% of registered users are outside the USA
- Average income of a LinkedIn user is said to be over US$100K pa
- There were nearly 2 billion ‘people’ searches on LinkedIn in 2010
- More than 2 million companies worldwide have LinkedIn Company Pages
100% Completed LinkedIn Profile
You cannot afford to let your LinkedIn profiles lie partly completed, or dormant. Partly completed profiles are a negative reflection on you as a professional. Even when your profiles lie sleeping, half finished or incomplete, others may be reviewing them as a means to establish if they should do business with you or your company.
It’s not just that your profile has to be 100% finished it needs to highlight your skills and achievements to best effect. Meanwhile, without you realising it, opportunities may be passing you by.
So having set up your profile, you need to think:-
“Would someone looking at my profile:
- have a clear picture of my experience?
- know what skills I have to offer?
- feel that I am the person they want to employ or do business with?
- understand why I am on LinkedIn in the first place?”
If the answer to any of those is “no”, then you have work to do.
Your Online Resume
If a resume is about producing a strategically tailored document for a specific role or at least a particular line of work, then your LinkedIn profile has to be all things to all people. You need to communicate your objectives clearly and succinctly and offer an attractive and easily accessible impression of what you have to offer.
It also needs to be searchable. LinkedIn is heavily optimised for search and Google rates it highly. With your own custom profile URL and with your key search terms included, your profile traffic will benefit over time.
In other words, think carefully about the words that you use to describe what you do and ensure that there is a good smattering of your keywords and phrases.
Nevertheless, building your profile is only the beginning; Linkedin is not a passive ‘set and forget’ networking tool. For maximum leverage of LinkedIn, you will need to be actively involved in groups, discussing issues with professionals in or who influence your sector (or even those you oppose) and commenting on their views and issues. But this is stage 2.
Linkedin is not the only tool to promote yourself and your business online, but it is an essential one and a great source of valuable information as well.
There is no better time than now to get started or to complete your Linkedin profile. Contact a Successful Resume representative for assistance.
Tips to Getting a New Job Without Overwhelm
Want a new job but not sure where to start? Don’t be overwhelmed – follow these tips
If you’re currently employed, studying, running a household, looking after kids or just plain busy, then you’re like the rest of us – short on time.
Unfortunately, hunting for a new job is a complex, time-consuming process. Here are some tips to help you plan out your search strategy for a new job, find your next job opportunity, and apply for it.
1. Decide what you want in a new job, and find out about it. Spend 20 minutes a day, for at least a week, researching current jobs and advertised positions.
2. Set up an email account dedicated to your new job search. Keep it professional, simple and straightforward, ideally including your name. Avoid using slang, inappropriate language or too many numbers in your email address.
3. Dedicate one hour over a weekend to set up accounts for your new job search and register your details with careers websites, online job boards, and recruitment company websites. This is repetitive and may be boring, but it’s quicker and easier to register your details in multiple places at once. Keep your requirements consistent, make sure your details such as phone number and email address are accurate, and sign up to receive new job opportunities sent to your inbox.
4. Research and identify recruitment companies, especially those who specialise in the field or industry that you are looking for a new job. Break this process down into small daily activities – during your lunch break or morning coffee break, call one company and ask to speak to a recruiter who specialises in your area. Set up a time to meet with them.
5. Making time to meet with recruiters is important. If you work full time, you may want to consider taking a day off from your work commitments. Alternately, many recruiters will meet clients after hours for new job interviews.
6. Make sure you have an intelligent, persuasive resume to give to recruiters and use for new job applications online. Your resume should profile you accurately, highlight your expertise and achievements in measurable terms, and ensure you stand out from the crowd.
7. Networking, online and offline, is a key part of searching for a new job. There are a certain percentage of jobs that aren’t advertised, and the only way to access these opportunities is to network. Write a concise profile on LinkedIn and actively seek connections, join a professional group focused on your sector, and make an effort to attend conferences. You can also network through taking up classes or getting involved in volunteer work. Decide which activity appeals to you most, and make a commitment to sticking with it for at least a month.
If all this makes sense to you but you still feel overwhelmed and rushed off your feet in your new job search, contact your nearest Successful Resumes branch. We’ll help you get that resume and cover letter ready to send off, provide advice and interview coaching, and even create networking tools for you to use in your new job search such as an optimised LinkedIn Profile or our exclusive Pocket Resume.
6 Tips for Landing Your Dream Job
Are you passionate about something? Have you ever wished you could turn your hobby into a dream job or career, but felt reluctant to let go of your ‘day job’?
The good news is, there are practical ways you can turn your passion or interest into a dream job or new career path, no matter how young or old you are.
1. Know what you want to do
Some people know exactly what they enjoy doing, others only know what they don’t like doing (and that’s often what they have to do for 8 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, while at work!).
Take the time to explore what you’re good at, and what you enjoy. Your dream job could be something creative, like photography or cooking. Or it could be working with children, training at the gym, or gardening.
2. Identify opportunities for a dream job
There are a number of ways you can combine your interests with your career. You may want to utilise your current skills and work experience in a new capacity – for example, if you’re an administration officer but love working with children, your dream job may be in a new role in administration in a child care centre or school. If you’re a nurse but like to travel and don’t like being in a hospital environment all day, your dream job might be in a nursing job where you visit patients in their homes.
Alternately, you may want to get out there in a brand new career, not just a change of scenery. This is a huge commitment, but it can be done. Decide what sort of dream job role you would like, and what type of organisations you’d like to work for.
3. Experience, experience, and more experience
On the job experience is a key component of your resume. Think outside the box when you want to change careers and move on to your dream job. Spend some time working in a voluntary role in the area you’re interested.
4. Up skilling and training
You may not need to go back to university for four years and get a new degree to change your career and move on to your dream job, but vocational training, online education and short courses are all great ways to develop new skills to make you more employable for your dream job. Just some of the options available include Open Universities, your local TAFE or college, and the Centre for Adult Education. Studying doesn’t have to be a full time commitment – you can even take up a class one night each week after work.
5. Develop and focus on your transferrable skill set
There are skills, especially soft skills that transfer well when looking to move on to your dream job. The key is to ensure that your resume explains how you use those skills, so that a new employer will recognise how you will be able to add value to their business.
6. Don’t be afraid to sell yourself for your dream job
Be confident, and remember that someone who is passionate about what they do is often far more interesting to a potential employer compared with someone who’s been doing the job for 20 years but doesn’t really care about it. Demonstrate that this is more than just a pay cheque for you, and your dream job is something you care about. Because a job you care about is a job well done.
This blog post was written by Tanaz Byramji, Branch Principal of Successful Resumes North West Metropolitan Melbourne
What time of day is best for a successful job interview?
Did you even know there is a best time for a job interview or did you think your WOW factor resume or CV was going to do all the work?
Well there are good times, bad times and then there is the best time for a job interview, claims respected online journal Business Insider. “So when you get a call for that all-important interview” says BI, “you have to play your cards right”.
This includes selecting a job interview time that will give you an advantage. Instead of just throwing a few dates out there, consider that 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday is the best time for a presentation a US based employee review site concluded after reviewing a major survey and the book Successful Presentation Skills by Andrew Bradbury.
Considering that the “best” presentation times and job interview times are likely similar, then Tuesday morning could be a great time to set up your job interview.
But how do you know what date and time is the best for a job interview? While a time that works for you may sound like the “best” option, the “best” time is really the time that is best for the interviewer. So before you quickly respond, consider these tips before locking down a date and time for your next big job interview:
- Avoid early morning meetings: Early mornings are great for holding someone’s attention, but you may want to avoid the first meeting of the morning because the interviewer may be preoccupied since she/he still has home stuff and all the things that need to happen throughout the day on their mind. In that vein, first thing Monday morning would not be ideal for a job interview.
- Avoid the last meeting of the workday: The same can be said for the last meeting of the day as by then there are surely many things on the mind including priorities for the next work day, dinner plans, kids’ homework, etc. And, don’t even think about the end of the day on a Friday for a job interview.
- Avoid pre or post-lunch meetings: Just before lunch or the first time slot after lunch are also problematic for a job interview. Before lunch can leave you with a good job interview being cut short and after lunch can find you waiting and waiting.
- Weekend and Holiday bookends are not ideal: First day back after a three-day weekend or the Friday before will only get your job interview running behind or rescheduled. The same can be cautioned about Mondays and Fridays. They both have their problems and you don’t want to be the victim if you can help it.
- Get the inside scoop on days/times that work well: Unless you have an inside connection at the company like the hiring manager’s assistant, there isn’t any way to know what meetings the interviewer is coming out of or going into. However it doesn’t hurt to lightly ask the assistant before your job interview, “How is the day going?” or “How does the rest of the day look?” Any clues you can pick up about the mood, the schedule, or the pressures on the interviewer are to your advantage.
You certainly can’t always pick your time, but you can definitely take just a few moments to find out when may be more ideal for a job interview so that you can best present yourself.
Give your resume that X-factor
Vital to create resumes with stand out qualities that can WIN interviews
Are you new to the work force, thinking of a career change or promotion, seeking employment in another sector or planning on entering the work force after a few years off work?
If your answer is yes and you don’t know where or how to start, you should seek professional advice.
You can cut your learning curve and avoid some time wasting and costly mistakes that can ruin your chances of winning the interview for that dream job.
What you need, first and foremost, is a WOW factor resume and cover letter. Your resume is your strategic marketing tool. Jobseekers have been writing resumes or CV, as known in some countries, for decades, yet they are boring, the lack excitement, passion and dynamics and are totally devoid of thought, style or flair.
After you have submitted application after application and haven’t got that call back, you really need to re-look at your resume . You need to do a better job selling yourself. Your resume has to convince your would-be employer that you have the skills needed for the job and the abilities to do it successfully and proficiently. And it needs to do that in less than 45 seconds, which research shows is as much time as a recruiter or employer will give to your document before deciding if you are worthy of an interview.
The most important purpose of a resume
The specific purpose of your resume is to win an interview. If it doesn’t, then, it is not effective; bearing in mind competition to win that interview is often fierce. A resume is like an advertisement, nothing more, nothing less. Your resume has to be:-
- a strategic marketing tool
- easy and quick to read
- and sell YOU as well as your skills and experience
Your resume must, after being read within 30 seconds, convince, inspire and excite the Human Resource Manager or Recruiter in wanting to reach for the phone and invite you for that very important interview.
Your resume should:-
- Highlight your skills and achievements as well as who you really are as a person.
- Focus on delivery of skills needed by your would-be employer.
- Provide evidence of your abilities, qualities and achievements.
- State clearly your career objective and why you are the perfect candidate for that specific job. Target your audience.
- Lead with your 30 second elevator pitch . In most cases, this could be the only section to be fully read by your would-be employer. This can make or break you.
- Use power words, be concise and keep to the point, yet make your resume look great and appetising.
Presentation and layout of your resume
Your resume must be like a work of art, appealing to look at and engaging to the reader. You must pay attention to uniformity and consistency in the use of:-
- Punctuation
- Syntax
- Grammar
- As well as the use of
- Fonts
- Capital letters
- Italics
- Bold faces
- Bullets
The unique style of presentation developed by the Successful Resumes Group has conquered two basic barriers to information assimilation:-
- We beat the 45 second barrier
- Seven Plus or Minus Two: [brainchild of Prof George Miller of Princeton University] citing limits on our capacity for processing information.
Your resume is YOUR strategic marketing document and it has to be right the first time.
So we suggest you seek the assistance of a professional resume consultant if you feel challenged writing one yourself. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
Article by Lim Larry, Co-founder and Consulting Principal, Successful Resumes Singapore
Is some of your resume or CV content putting your application at risk?
Questions on what to include in your resume or CV
Should your resume or CV detail reasons for leaving previous positions?
“I showed my resume/CV to a recruiter. She said I should add the reasons why I left each previous position and my salary expectations for the job I’m applying for. What should I do?”
You need to take what recruiters say with a grain of salt. Recruiters don’t get paid for hiring the best candidate for the job – they get paid for finding a low risk candidate who fits the job specification.
The only reason a recruiter would want to know why you left a job is to quickly eliminate you from the pool of applicants as a potential risk. This information can never convey a benefit – at best its neutral. Thus, anyone ever fired or with slightly strange reasons for leaving a job might get eliminated at a first cut without the recruiter even looking at the person’s suitability for the role.
Your reason for leaving a job is always contextual and should only be dealt with in a phone or face-to-face interview where you can provide the background detail. Perhaps if you were internally promoted, you could mention that as part of achievements. Otherwise, leave this information out of your resume or CV.
Should you advise your salary expectations in your resume or CV?
Providing salary information is more difficult. In Singapore and Hong Kong it’s the norm for applicants to be asked to give their salary expectations up front. It seems to be creeping into some hiring in Australia and New Zealand and in the UK and the USA it is not expected.
Expecting applicants to state their salary requirements up front is lazy HR and unfair on applicants because they cannot yet know what the job involves in detail. Stating your expectations up-front, without full knowledge, potentially limits your ability to negotiate a fair salary later on in the hiring process.
Clearly the recruiters do a first cull of the pile of resumes and CVs by looking at salary bands (too low as well as too high). If you haven’t included your salary expectation, you risk being left out anyway.
The way to deal with this requirement (only if asked for in the job advertisement) is to add it as a paragraph in your covering letter, rather than into your resume or CV. The price you give should be highly qualified and cover a wide range:
“My salary expectations depend on the requirements of this job and market rates. This is likely to be $ 50,000 to $ 70,000 per year.”
The lower rate is your current salary or whatever is your minimum for considering a move to the new job.
While your resume or CV needs to be accurate, honest and clear, it remains a concise document focused on selling your strengths. There’s lots of other information the HR types want (but isn’t relevant to getting you into the interview). You can fill that in on their multipage forms once they offer you the job!
Article by Denis Odlin, Co-founder and Consulting Principal, Successful Resumes New Zealand
Resumes, cover letters and interview preparation – Why are you the best for the job?
Resumes, cover letters and interview preparation
Once the resumes and cover letters have been prepared, and you get to an interview, you have to give the interviewer much more than the ‘right’ answers. HR Managers say:-
Major employers such as the big banks, Teleco’s and the major recruiters have their own perspectives when it comes to assessing resumes, cover letters and applications generally.
NAB
To select an applicant for an interview, the NAB looks at reviews and cover letters that reveal the applicant’s suitability:
- Good cultural fit: whether your values are aligned with those of their organization
- Leadership values: do you look after your people and look after their talent?
- Will bring new ideas to their business?
- Demonstrate potential for future growth?
One of their favourite questions is: -
If I spoke to five or six people who worked with or for you, how would they describe your leadership style?
Avoid stock answers, listen to what they are asking and craft your answer honestly and carefully.
Telstra
When reviewing resumes and cover letters, shortlisting applicants for an interview, Telstra says it looks for:-
a sense of your motivation and drive; what you think and how you behave.
Among their favourite questions:-
Tell me about a recent role you were excited about, and what was it that made you excited?
Besides crafting great resumes and cover letters, they encourage job candidates to prepare for an interview by reviewing the great experiences they have had in previous roles.
Hays Recruitment
Hays Recruitment select applicants to interview from their resumes and cover letters by looking for:
candidates that have pre-prepared examples of past successes, situations or results to use when answering questions. These should also be highlighted as achievements in your resume and cover letter.
A favourite interview question from Hayes is to spotlight a weakness to see how you have overcome it and become a strong performer. They say the best answers at an interview, come from candidates who reflect how happy they are about the improvements they have made to address their weakness.
This post is based on an article sourced in: The Weekend Australian: Weekend Professional on 18 September 2011 www.theaustralian.com.au/
Australian employment market undergoing a fundamental shift
The guide reports on salary ranges for a wide scope of roles and provides commentary on the employment market in each State.
Penny O’Reilly, General Manager, Kelly Services said, “The Australian employment market is undergoing a fundamental shift at present, with employers and employees showing a preference for part-time employees over full-time employees. Ms O’Reilly said. “Rising living costs are forcing the baby boomer population to take up part-time work and stay in the workforce longer. Younger workers are proactively looking for a better work/life balance, and ongoing policy uncertainty surrounding Australia’s mining and resources activity is creating a difficult period for businesses.
“The extent of the change and the underlying vulnerability it is creating is being masked by a steady unemployment rate. This means for many organisations the shift is not even on the radar.”
The robust recovery and growth evident in the Australian economy during the last half of 2010 settled during the first half of 2011. This led to many business leaders taking the opportunity to reassess their long-term strategies in light of changing employee attitudes and policy uncertainty at a national level.
Despite Australia’s mining boom continuing to forge ahead, a lack of long term certainty created by the pending carbon tax and falling consumer sentiment means a level of “pessimism” has crept back into the business community.
Employers are once again choosing to take a defensive approach to hiring, shying away from full-time hires, and choosing to hire part-time or temporary employees as a stop-gap while they assess the changing market.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics national unemployment figures between April and June 2011 demonstrate this shift showing that more than 10,000 full-time jobs were lost to the economy across April, May and June 2011 while 21,100 part-time jobs were created.
Ms O’Reilly said, “Although overall hiring intentions have slowed this year compared to 2010, many employers are still looking to hire. Identifying and attracting high quality candidates in a talent short market continues to be a major issue, which means that candidates remain in the position of power to be selective about the roles they consider and more demanding about base salaries and other financial benefits.
“Kelly Services expects that certainty and confidence will begin returning to the market over the last quarter of 2011 and the first half of 2012. During this time demand for permanent hiring will increase sharply as most employers shift back to a more traditional business structure that relies more heavily on permanent staff than temporary staff,” O’Reilly said.
Commentary by State
Australian Capital Territory
* Kelly Services is seeing is remarkably high levels of business confidence in the ACT, evidenced by the robust and bullish hiring attitudes seen in the first quarter of 2011.
* While the public sector heavily underpins the strength of the employment market in the ACT, Kelly Services expects to see higher than usual activity levels within the private sector this year as employers prepare for a predicted growth phase, especially within areas such as IT, accounting and finance.
* The increase in private sector activity in the ACT is predicted to drive the shortage of IT, accounting and administration professionals within the public sector even higher, as public sector talent looks to move into the private arena.
* While the public sector is working hard to streamline employment and promotion processes in a bid to compete with private organisations on the attraction and retention front, talent shortage still continues to loom as a major issue for government.
* 2011 salaries have been inflated slightly as a result of the influx of private sector activity.
New South Wales
* While confidence, along with high level hiring activity returned to the NSW financial sector during 2010, early in 2011 Kelly Services is seeing NSW employers shifting to a more cautious approach to hiring.
* With confidence expected to return to construction, mining and resources on a national scale during the last quarter of 2011, Kelly Services believes the NSW employment market is in a position to regain its traditional strength.
* Kelly Services expects sectors including banking and finance, engineering, construction, property and IT will respond strongly to renewed confidence at a national level.
Queensland
* Without doubt the catastrophic weather events that hit Queensland during the first two months of 2011 had a tremendous impact on the state.
* During this period Kelly Services has seen employers focus 100 per cent of their attention on the rebuild process. In most cases this meant a return to the same defensive, temporary hiring mode employers demonstrated during the GFC.
* Unsurprisingly, Kelly Services expects engineering and construction experts, trades people and project managers will continue to be in demand throughout Queensland into the middle of 2012.
* During the second half of 2011 Kelly Services expects some level of normality to surface in areas of the Queensland market not as severely impacted by the weather including professional services, financial services and IT, it is widely accepted the full recovery process including industries such as mining, resources and tourism will not be complete until well into 2012.
South Australia
* The make-up of the South Australian employment market is changing with South Australia no longer reliant on the manufacturing industry to underpin its employment strength.
* According to Kelly Services this shift is part of a wider growth trend within South Australia that has seen business activity and demand for talent increase across IT, professional services, construction, and engineering.
* Employers in South Australia appear to be taking a cautiously optimistic approach with demand increasing for temporary employees as employers look to meet growth aspirations without the commitment of long-term, permanent employment contracts.
* Kelly Services expects business confidence levels, as well as hiring activity levels to continue growing in South Australian during 2011, with high growth industries such as healthcare and construction expected to dominate the South Australian market for the remainder of 2011.
Victoria
* Kelly Services says business confidence remains high in Victoria with a number of significant and major infrastructure projects scheduled to start and hiring activity levels within the construction, professional services and scientific industries showing signs of continued improvement.
* Despite the ongoing confidence, Kelly Services says Victorian employers look to be maintaining a focus on short-term, temporary and contract hiring, especially in the banking and finance area.
* Kelly Services expects to see a shift to a more permanent focus during the course of 2011 as the long term visibility available to employers becomes apparent.
* The drive for business growth coupled with above average hiring activity within Victoria is expected to continue during 2011, underpinned by high levels of business activity in the financial and professional services sectors, which in turn will increase demand for IT and administrative talent.
Western Australia
* Western Australia continues to be the main driver and overall powerhouse of positivity in the Australian employment market, with significant growth continuing to be recognised across the mining and resources sector.
* Kelly Services is seeing the undeniable strength and continued growth of the WA resources sector has result in flow-on demand for talent in the construction and engineering industry as well as the professional services, financial services, and IT industries as new mines are established and require infrastructure and support.
* Although the WA economy continues to gain momentum, the skills shortage continues to bite at exacerbated levels given the State’s geographical isolation and the volume of multi-billion dollar construction projects currently underway.
* WA wages are predicted to spike sharply again during 2011 with wage growth predictions sitting anywhere between 5 per cent and 20 per cent, depending on the specifics of the role and industry.
* Despite WA-based employers being accustomed to sourcing talent from interstate or overseas. According to Kelly Services, in many cases the talent shortage is the only factor stifling higher activity levels.
* Kelly Services expects that employers will continue to offer well above market average financial incentives and remuneration in order to attract quality talent.
Jobsearching, careers and resumes: An open letter to Generation Y:
Generation Y has been subjected to more research by big business and been the cause of more heated dinner party discussion by the rest of us, than any previous generation in history. And we’re all trying to find out what makes you tick! And your resumes are great vehicles for doing this.
Right now, in fact for about 4 years actually, it’s been the turn of recruiters and employers. They want to know what it is you GenY’s want in a job or from your employer. They want to know so they can tempt you to work for them and make sure they can retain your interest!
So you belong to a market segment that more urgently needs a resume which not only tells employers and recruiters what you can do, but one that also tells them who you are and WHAT YOU WANT! It’s all about YOU.
At Successful Resumes we have been preaching for more than 10 years that résumés should be more than a listing of your employment history. OK so what should it be then?
A great resume will certainly tell an employer what you can do for their business and detail your achievements to date. But it will also describe who you are as an individual. It will tell of your personality, your values and motives too. It will give an employer a sense of whether you will fit their culture and help them to decide if they can keep you motivated.
They want this information because a recent major survey told employers that you are the least satisfied with your jobs of all employees and are more likely to quit for something better. This is not music to the ears of employers who are battling to reduce their recruitment costs.
Four out of every 10 employees surveyed said they were seriously considering leaving their current position, but that figure jumped to more than half in the 25 to 34 age group which includes a big chunk of you GenYs.
Apparently it’s not poor pay nor your bosses fault, in fact you are generally quite happy with the way you are treated at work compared to your older colleagues. It is the nature of your jobs that is stirring up your discontent.
By contrast, your older work mates are more satisfied with the work they do but report higher levels of discontent over career development opportunities and salary.
So if you GenYs want to spend more time in work than looking for work you need a resume that clearly articulates YOU – your skills, your achievements, your values and what motivates you. Then, and only then, will an employer feel confident they are offering you a role that will satisfy you and in which you will perform well.
That’s a successful outcome, a win win situation and one that we at Successful Resumes in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the US and the UK are constantly striving for with all our clients.
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