Rob Donley, P.E., MBA’s Post

***Workforce Wednesday*** Unlocking Job Opportunities: Why You Might Not Be Getting Responses to your job application and How to Fix It! STEP 1 Applying for jobs and not hearing back can be frustrating, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not qualified. Often, it’s about how well you’re showcasing your qualifications and skills. If you’re submitting resumes and not getting responses, the issue might be how your resume is being processed by Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Understanding and optimizing for ATS is key to getting your application noticed. What are Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)? • ATS are software tools used by companies to filter and rank resumes based on specific criteria. • These systems help employers manage large volumes of applications efficiently. Why It Matters: • Keyword Matching: ATS scans resumes for keywords from the job description. • Filtering: Resumes that don’t meet the criteria are often automatically excluded(no human ever sees it.) Tips for Optimizing Your Resume for ATS: 1. Use Relevant Keywords: • Analyze the job description to identify key terms and phrases. 2. Professional Formatting: • Stick to a simple, clean layout with standard fonts. 3. Tailor Each Application: • Customize your resume for each job to match specific requirements. 4. Avoid Common Pitfalls: • Avoid complex formatting and ensure all key information is easily accessible. Optimizing your resume for ATS is crucial for job search success. Remember, not getting responses doesn’t mean you’re not qualified. It’s often about fine-tuning your approach to better communicate your value to potential employers. By addressing these points, you can better understand the application process and improve your chances of getting noticed by potential employers. #SocialWork #CareerDevelopment #TransferableSkills #JobSearch #SocialWorkersRock #msw #bsw #Icsw #Imsw #apsw #capsw #socialworker #workforcewednesday

Navigating Recruitment Agencies 💼🌟 For all my fellow job seekers out there, let's talk about some savvy hacks to make the most of your experience with recruitment agencies. 🛠️✨ Craft a stellar LinkedIn profile and keep it up-to-date. Make sure your online presence showcases not just your skills, but your personality and passion for what you do. When interacting with recruiters, go beyond the CV. Highlight specific achievements, projects, or skills that set you apart. Make it easy for them to see the unique value you bring to the table. After interviews or rejections, don't hesitate to ask for constructive feedback. It's a valuable tool for personal and professional growth, helping you improve and refine your approach. Regularly check in with your recruiter, but be mindful of their time. A quick, courteous update on your job search or expressing interest in specific opportunities can keep you top of mind. Clearly communicate your career goals and preferences. The more specific you are about the roles you're interested in and your ideal work environment, the better recruiters can match you with suitable opportunities. Cultivate a genuine relationship with your recruiter. The better they know you, the more effectively they can advocate for you during the hiring process. What are your favourite hacks when working with recruitment agencies? 🗣️💬 #JobSeekerHacks #RecruitmentInsights #CareerAdvice #LinkedInTips #JobSearch #JobSearchTips

Here are some insights on how Recruiters & Headhunters use LinkedIn to find candidates! Read the full story and schedule a consultation with us here: https://lnkd.in/eqrjedAt #hiring #jobsearch #executivesearch

For $250K+ jobs you will typically not be hired by sending out LI applications. So how do Recruiters find and contact you about these highly competitive positions? I recently worked with a CFO who opened her LinkedIn account on May 13, 2005 and hadn't logged in since. Once she was all set up she noticed that Recruiters and Headhunters started reaching out to her about jobs that she couldn't find posted anywhere online. All excited she called me and said: "This platform is actually quite useful and I can't believe I didn't use it all these years - thanks for bringing me back into this century!" I feel like a lot of job seekers don't utilize their LinkedIn to the fullest potential simply because they don't realize how executive recruiters search for candidates. I've summarized some of the steps in the slides below but here's an overview: → Recruiters and headhunters are tasked to find a pool of 10+ candidates → Potential candidates are found via a LI extension called LinkedIn Recruiter. → Within LinkedIn Recruiter candidates get filtered out and only the relevant ones are actually contacted → Organization interviews and hires a candidate (ideally this would not be the 'unexpected' internal candidate after 5 externals went through 6 rounds 🙃) In the attached slideshow I've attached the step-by-step process Recruiters would take to find and contact potential candidates for executive and C-Suite roles within LinkedIn Recruiter. → You'll also find some actionable tips on how to optimize your own profile! As always, I hope this helps all of the job seekers in my network and if you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me or schedule a quick call here: https://bit.ly/CalendarCSG #executivesearch #recruitment #gethired #CSG

So do you really think that you are one of 20 applying for a role on an online platform? Hell no! The reality is that most ATS ( Applicant Tracking Systems ) broadcast the job description posting on various online platforms, such as Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Talentify, jobs-bear, Breakroom, … the list is long! What does it mean for you, the job applicant? It means that you are facing fierce competition. The platforms where the jobs are advertised will attract within a week anything between 100 to thousands of candidates. So how do you differentiate yourself? ✅ You have to analyse very well the job specs to ensure you have at least 80 to 90% of the skills required. Don’t waste your time if you have less. ✅ Do your market research on the company, the potential boss you would be reporting to, some potential colleagues in the team you would be joining to get a good grasp of where you would be working. ✅ Always insert a cover letter. To express your enthusiasm for the role and the company. And why you think you are the ideal candidate. And if you don’t have all the skills required, explain how you can overcome that. ✅ Ensure that your CV and LinkedIn profile are ATS compliant. ✅ Last but not least: chase the hiring manager/director after you have applied or the recruiter if the company is unknown to you in the ad. Chasing is a sign of keenness and it is often well perceived. Do not hassle though.. The person who will review candidatures will only review the top 20 or 30 selected by the ATS… then they will most likely check your Linkedin profile and social-media engagement. So do not think that a human being will examine your CV or LinkedIn profile for every job you apply to. If the ATS decides you don’t fit the bill, your CV will never be in front of the hiring person. This is why you also need a proactive approach to job hunting. 👉 DM me JOB HUNTING if you want to work with me on a pro-active strategy. #jobhunting #onlinejobplatforms #jobhuntingstrategy #buildyourbrand

🤯How many times have you spoke to a candidate about a job they applied for, and they seem a little dazed and confused 🫤 It’s that same response…. “sorry can you tell me which job this is again?” And as a person that is speaking to someone about a specific role, for me, it used to put me off speaking to a candidate, but hear me out…… 🤯Right now, there are over 30,000 recruitment agencies in the UK 🤯And, there are over 5.6 million businesses in the UK   👉Indeed has 291,269 open roles available 👉Reed has 157,455 open roles available 👉LinkedIn has 621,435 open roles available The world we live in makes it so easy to apply for things in lightning speed And with the cost of living rising quicker than a tsunami Candidates are clicking left right and centre like their lives depend on it   But this also means candidates are clicking on roles they A – they aren’t suitable for B- they don’t have the skills for C – when you do find a good egg – because they are all signed up to the same platforms, either they’ve been snapped up, have 5 other offers on the table and they are keeping their options OPEN which means 0 f**king loyalty Which isn’t really their fault   👉My advice to any business struggling to recruitment with this problem….. ❌Stop using job platforms as your only source of candidate attraction   🎁Start thinking outside the box ⭐️Here are 5 things I would start to do right now to do things other employers aren’t doing 👉Employer Branding ✅Be clear on who your business is, your vision for your future, company culture and core values then create content around this 👉Social Media ✅Start posting 3 times a week EVERY WEEK, with testimonials from current employees, how you make an impact in your industry and information as to what you offer as an employer 👉Careers Page ✅Even if you have a careers page, are you sharing this on social media to drive traffic to it, does it have up to date information that gives all the information to a potential candidate they need about who you are, what you do and why current employees like working for you? 🪄And if you need help with any of this Hiring Made Easy – my signature recruitment training programme is available now – link in the comments 📞And I would love to have a chat with you – click the link in mu profile to book a free recruitment strategy call   #hiringmadeeasy #recruitmenttrainer #recruitmentcoach

🤯How many times have you spoke to a candidate about a job they applied for, and they seem a little dazed and confused 🫤 It’s that same response…. “sorry can you tell me which job this is again?” And as a person that is speaking to someone about a specific role, for me, it used to put me off speaking to a candidate, but hear me out…… 🤯Right now, there are over 30,000 recruitment agencies in the UK 🤯And, there are over 5.6 million businesses in the UK 👉Indeed has 291,269 open roles available 👉Reed has 157,455 open roles available 👉LinkedIn has 621,435 open roles available The world we live in makes it so easy to apply for things in lightning speed And with the cost of living rising quicker than a tsunami Candidates are clicking left right and centre like their lives depend on it But this also means candidates are clicking on roles they A – they aren’t suitable for B- they don’t have the skills for C – when you do find a good egg – because they are all signed up to the same platforms, either they’ve been snapped up, have 5 other offers on the table and they are keeping their options OPEN which means 0 f**king loyalty Which isn’t really their fault 👉My advice to any business struggling to recruitment with this problem….. ❌Stop using job platforms as your only source of candidate attraction 🎁Start thinking outside the box ⭐️Here are 5 things I would start to do right now to do things other employers aren’t doing 👉Employer Branding ✅Be clear on who your business is, your vision for your future, company culture and core values then create content around this 👉Social Media ✅Start posting 3 times a week EVERY WEEK, with testimonials from current employees, how you make an impact in your industry and information as to what you offer as an employer 👉Careers Page ✅Even if you have a careers page, are you sharing this on social media to drive traffic to it, does it have up to date information that gives all the information to a potential candidate they need about who you are, what you do and why current employees like working for you? 🪄And if you need help with any of this Hiring Made Easy – my signature recruitment training programme is available now – link in the comments 📞And I would love to have a chat with you – click the link in my profile to book a free recruitment strategy call #hiringmadeeasy #recruitmenttrainer #recruitmentcoach

Hey guys - so - there is literally no such things as "beating the ATS" that these career counselors are promoting. An ATS does not review your resume and determine if you should be considered or not. A human being is behind that ATS wall and makes that determination Every.Single.Time. Now, what MAY happen is that a job post is created with what we call "knock out" questions as part of the application. This can be literally anything that the company deems relevant in helping to manage the candidate pipeline. For example - you may be asked if you live within a certain number of miles of a specific location. If you select no - then the ATS may automatically reject your application and trigger a "Dear John" response to be sent out to you. That is why sometimes, you get a rejection email almost immediately after you submit your application. Please be wary of anyone promoting services that claim that they can optimize your resume to "beat the ATS." You can definitely optimize your resume to be more aligned with the actual job description, but you cannot "beat" the ATS. With the current market, job postings are getting hundreds of applications, and it is difficult for even the best recruiter to manage that many applicants. Typically, what will happen is that the recruiter with do a search within the applicant database looking for experience and keywords that are most relevant to the the needs of the role. They will select a certain amount of people to reach out to and pull into the interview process. If a finalist is offered and accepts the role, then the recruiter will close the job out and typically the ATS will send out mass "Thank you for your interest" emails to the remaining applicants. Again, a live human being is the one behind the ATS making these determinations. The ATS does not have a mind of its own that decides which candidates should be selected and which ones should not. Please believe me when I say that I completely understand what a scary time it is for so many people right now. It's scary for me as well, but I do not want anyone to be taken advantage of out of fear and/or desperation of their current circumstance. Please, please do not pay for that service if that is what they are claiming. IT IS NOT TRUE! Sending you all love & light - #FairyJobMother