Blog

• How to ‘Build Bridges’ in Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  I have addressed the topic of “burning bridges” in a person’s Animal Health or Veterinary career on multiple occasions. And while I am going to touch upon that topic once again in this article, my overriding focus is “building bridges” instead. However, let us touch...

• The Pitfalls of Fixating on Long-Term Commitments in Hiring

  

  I work with Animal Health and Veterinary employers on a daily basis to help them with their talent acquisition needs, and of course, that includes the recruiting and hiring of veterinarians. As a result, I “have my finger on the pulse” of what is happening in the job...

• 10 Common Signs of a Bad Hire (and How to Prevent It)

  

  In today’s job market, the only thing worse than not being able to hire the person you want to hire for an important position at your organization is hiring the wrong person. Unfortunately, it happens more frequently than you might realize. In fact, it’s possible that...

• How to Avoid ‘Drifting’ in Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  As a recruiter and search consultant for more than 26 years, I know how easy it is to get into a “career rut.” However, before a person finds themselves in such a position, they’ve usually succumbed to something called “career drifting.” The problem is that some...

• Do Not Create Barriers for Passive Candidates During the Recruiting Process

  

  It is safe to say that hiring top talent in today’s job market is tough enough, and that includes hiring within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. Since that is the case, you would think that the last thing you would want to do is make the process...

• Switching Jobs: Why Embracing Change is Good for You in the Long Run

  

  There are few things in life that are potentially as stressful as changing jobs. In fact, it is generally agreed upon that there are three such things: Getting married Having a baby Moving Pity the people who have done all three and also did so while changing jobs,...

• The Art of Being a Passive Candidate in Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  I have written about this before, but I am addressing it again because it remains critical to the success of a person’s professional life: career growth and advancement require a strategic and proactive approach. And this is certainly true of the Animal Health...

• Engagement and Empowerment in Animal Health and Veterinary Recruiting and Hiring

  

  It may be an understatement to say that successful recruiting, hiring, and retention in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession are challenging right now, especially in the latter. However, there are keys to enjoying success in all of these areas, and...

• A Comprehensive Blueprint for Recruiting Veterinarians in 2024

  

  However, before you can successfully hire veterinarians in the new year, you must first successfully recruit them. The recruiting process involves everything up until you make an offer of employment to a job candidate. The job offer is the “moment of truth.” If the...

• A Step-by-Step Guide for Growing Your Animal Health Career or Veterinary Career in 2024

  

  Last month, I wrote an article titled, “How to Get a New Veterinarian Job to Help Grow Your Career in 2024.” As an executive recruiter and search consultant for the past 25+ years, I possess a certain amount of expertise in terms of landing a new veterinarian job....

• How to Accelerate the Hiring Process to Hire Veterinarians in 2024

  

  As I’ve stated previously in my articles and blog posts, when an employer’s position remains open for an extended period of time, it can be costly for that employer. The sooner that you can fill a position (especially an important, high-level position), the better....

• How to Get a New Veterinarian Job in 2024 to Help Grow Your Veterinary Career

  

  With less than one month left in the year, the job market for veterinarians in 2024 remains highly favorable, and candidates continue to hold significant leverage in most hiring situations. As has been the case in the past, this situation particularly benefits the top...

• Conduct a Review of Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career Before 2024

  

  Believe it or not, the year is nearly over, and since that’s the case, this is an opportune time for you to review and analyze your Animal Health or Veterinary career. This involves not only reviewing what happened during the past 12 months, but also planning steps...

• 10 Steps for Maximizing Employee Engagement for Better Retention

  

  Not only is it difficult to recruit and hire in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession right now, but it’s also more difficult to retain valuable employees. However, the good news is that hiring, and retention are “two sides of the same coin.” This means...

• What an Interviewer First Notices About You

  

  I have written before about how to make a lasting impression as a job candidate in the hiring process. But what about the face-to-face interview specifically? I have also discussed how to answer the question, “Why should we hire you?” However, what does an interviewer...

• Results from The VET Recruiter’s Survey of Animal Health and Veterinary Professionals

  

  This past summer, The VET Recruiter sent a survey to professionals working in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. The goal of this survey was to collect data that would allow us to gauge the state of both, with an eye toward predicting what the...

• Is Recruiting Top Talent #1 at Your Organization . . . or Not?

  

  Many of you have probably heard the phrase, “People are our #1 asset.” It’s a common sentiment in business, but let’s consider the implications. If talent is indeed the most valuable asset, then are you taking the necessary steps to maximize and protect...

• Survey Results Confirm Hiring and Retention Challenges for Employers

  

  If there is one thing that is perhaps undebatable, it’s that it has become more difficult to both hire top job candidates and retain current employees in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession during the past several years. And while some, if not most,...

• How to Answer the Interview Question, ‘Why Should We Hire You?’

  

  The face-to-face interview is one of the most important stages of the recruiting and hiring process. That’s because it represents the opportunity for both the job candidate and the employer to make the best possible impression upon each other. And yes, both the...

• The Major Factors That Help Attract Talent and Retain Top Employees

  

  While it has become exceedingly difficult to both attract talent and retain valuable employees during the past couple of years, there is a silver lining in the challenges that face Animal Health and Veterinary employers. That silver lining is that the same factors...

• Forget Work-Life Balance; Instead, Strive for Work-Life Integration

  

  There are a couple of things that I probably do not have to tell you. First, the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession can be stressful at times, especially the latter. Second, the phrase “work-life balance” has been prevalent during the past several years,...

• Why Do I Need a Recruiter If There Are So Many Jobs?

  

  The title of this article is a question that I have heard from a few candidates during the past year or so. As you might imagine, there is a good reason why someone would ask that question. The reason is that we are in a candidate-driven market. This is especially the...

• Career Pathing: a Win-Win Initiative for Organizations and Their Employees

  

  The only thing more important than hiring for employers is retention, including those within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. I have often referred to hiring and retention as “two sides of the same coin.” That is because they are interrelated to...

• Change is Not a Threat: It is an Opportunity for Growth and Development

  

  I have been an executive recruiter and search consultant for more than 25 years, and if there is one thing I know, it is that many people are afraid of change. And even if they are not afraid of it, they sometimes go out of their way to avoid it. And in many cases,...

• Why Hiring the Best Candidate Available Could Reap Hidden Benefits

  

  Hiring is a tough business these days, and that includes within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. In fact, it’s especially the case within the Veterinary profession, specifically in terms of hiring veterinarians. That’s because, as has been well...

• 4 Big Mistakes NOT to Make During the Job Interview

  

  Yes, we are currently in the midst of a candidates’ job market in the Veterinary profession. And yes, that means candidates (especially top candidates) have the majority of leverage in hiring situations. However, that does not mean you don’t have to “put your best...

• The Important Difference Between Orientation and Onboarding

  

  The time between when a candidate accepts an offer of employment and when they officially start work is arguably the most important time period in the lifecycle of an employee. The reason: that is when they are most at risk to accept an offer from another employer,...

• 10 Intangible Factors for Achieving Job Interview Success

  

  There are many different factors that are involved in enjoying a successful job interview. Some of these factors involve tangible steps—i.e., researching the organization, reviewing the job description, etc.—while others are more intangible in nature. However, just...

• Could We Actually Be Underestimating the Veterinarian Shortage?

  

  Many questions have arisen during the past few years regarding the shortage of veterinarians within the profession, questions such as: What is causing the shortage? How bad will the shortage get? What can we do to combat the shortage? What effect is it having on the...

• 10 Steps to Take for Experiencing More Job Interview Success

  

  The interview is one of the most important stages in the recruiting and hiring process. That’s true regardless of the industry in which you work. It’s a prime opportunity for the interviewer (or interviewers) to assess your qualifications, skills, and personality. In...

• How to Make a Lasting Impression as a Candidate in the Hiring Process

  

  Yes, job seekers and candidates have the majority of the leverage in hiring situations, and that includes within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary impression. And yes, that is especially the case within the Veterinary profession, specifically in regards to...

• How to Make a Lasting Impression as an Employer in the Hiring Process

  

  In the current job market, it’s difficult to attract candidates and convince them to enter your organization’s recruiting and hiring process. Conversely, it’s easy to lose them during the process and watch them drop out of it or disappear altogether for one reason or...

• What is Executive Search and When Should You Use It?

  

  Hiring successfully is perhaps more difficult now than at any time in the history of the United States job market. With the National Unemployment Rate recently at a 53-year low, there is certainly evidence to support such a claim. And hiring is even more difficult in...

• How to Combat ‘Quiet Quitting’ and ‘Quick Quitting’ in a Tight Job Market

  

  It seems as though there’s a new trend in the employment marketplace every time you turn around. First, there was “quiet quitting.” Now there’s “quick quitting.” Successfully hiring qualified candidates and retaining employees is difficult enough without new trends...

• ‘Sowing the Seeds of Success’ in Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  You may or may not know who Kevin Bacon is. For those of you who don’t know, Kevin Bacon is an actor and has been one for decades. You might say that he’s been a prolific actor, having starred in quite a few movies, television shows, and series over the years. In...

• The Banning of Non-Compete Clauses for Animal Health and Veterinary Employers

  

  In case you haven’t heard yet, non-compete clauses could be a thing of the past in a little more than a month’s time. And if that’s the case, then it could have an impact on employers, including those in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. How did...

• THIS Will Make a Difference in Your Career

  

  At this point, you might be wondering what “THIS” is. Perhaps it is talent. Maybe it is education. Experience, anyone? There is no doubt that all of these things play a role in a person’s Animal Health or Veterinary career. However, there is something else that is...

• 10 Ways to Show Love and Appreciation to Your Employees

  

  In a recent blog post, we explored the topic of how to prevent veterinarian burnout in 2023 so that you can retain more employees. Stress and burnout are prevalent in the Veterinary profession, and as a result, it’s one of the top issues facing hiring managers....

• How to Practice Self-Love in Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  One could say that stress levels within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession are at an all-time high, especially in the latter. Long hours, unruly customers (pet owners), financial concerns, and mergers and acquisitions represent just a handful of the...

• How to Prevent Burnout in 2023 and Retain More Veterinarians

  

  The hiring and retention of veterinarians was one of the top priorities of Veterinary employers in 2022. And as we enter a new year, it should once again be a top priority of employers in 2023—if not the number-one priority. It’s been well documented that there is a...

• The Keys to Building a Great Company Culture in Your Veterinary Practice

  

  Much has been written about building a great company culture during the past several years, including within the Veterinary profession. That’s because company culture has become more important, especially in light of an ongoing talent shortage and the tremendous...

• Animal Health and Veterinary Recruiting Trends and Tips for 2023

  

  This past year was a tough one in terms of recruiting and hiring in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession, and that was especially the case within the latter, as the veterinarian shortage continued to serve as a major obstacle for employers. Now that...

• Animal Health and Veterinarian Job Search Tips for 2023

  

  As I’ve stated on multiple occasions during the past year, there is no better time to conduct a job search in the Animal Health industry and the Veterinary profession than right now. There is a shortage of Animal Health professionals and veterinarians and an abundance...

• How to Get a New Veterinarian Job in 2023

  

  The job market is good right now for veterinarians, namely because it’s a candidate’s market, one in which candidates hold the leverage in the majority of hiring situations. This especially the case for the best candidates in the market, which is typically defined as...

• How to Hire Veterinarians in 2023

  

  It is perhaps more difficult to hire veterinarians right now than at any other time in the history of the profession. That’s because the shortage of veterinarians is as severe as it has ever been, and chances are good that it’s going to become even more severe in...

• Why You Need an ‘Elevator Pitch’ for Career Growth and How to Create One

  

  It appears as though the employment marketplace is in a constant state of flux, especially lately. It seems there are new trends and developments around every corner and what was true just a few years ago—like the definition of a “job hopper”—has changed dramatically....

• Gen Z and the Future of Animal Health and Veterinary Hiring

  

  The members of Generation Z are changing the nature of the employment marketplace and the workforce, just as the Millennial Generation did. At the moment, there are more Millennials in the employment marketplace than any other generation. However, Gen Zers are...

• How the Recruiter Got Your Name

  

  Perhaps you’ve been contacted by a recruiter and the first thing you asked them was, “How did you get my name?” As an Animal Health executive recruiter and Veterinary Recruiter for more than 25 years, I’ve had a number of people ask me this question. And because there...

• Veterinarian Shortage About to Become More Severe: Recent BLS Data

  

  The last few years have been challenging for Veterinary employers, and one of the reasons is that there is a veterinarian shortage in the job market. Demand for Veterinary products and services has continued to rise (driven in part by the pandemic), but there has not...

• Veterinary Hiring: What It Takes to Hire Veterinarians in This Job Market

  

  It would be an understatement to say that it takes a great deal to successfully hire veterinarians in this current job market. It would also be an obvious statement, one to which many hiring managers and Veterinary practice owners would agree. However, what...

• Have You Benchmarked Your Worth as a Veterinary Professional?

  

  There is a lot happening for those working in the Veterinary profession, especially veterinarians. Things are occurring very quickly and moving at a frenetic pace. With the “Great Resignation” still ongoing and the continued shortage of veterinarians in the job...

• An Overlooked Key to Greater Career Advancement for Women

  

  During recent years, women have become a bigger part of the Veterinary profession. This trend was substantiated in an article published by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) in December of 2020. According to the article, the size of the nation’s active...

• Forget the Headlines, the Veterinary Job Market is Still Red-Hot

  

  There has been a considerable amount of debate during the last couple of months as to whether or not the country is in a recession. My approach to such an issue is to state that if you need to have a debate about whether you’re in a recession, you’re probably not in...

• Why Animal Health and Veterinary Employers Should Not ‘Ghost’

  

  I’ve addressed the topic of “ghosting” on multiple occasions during the past few years. However, in discussing the topic, I’ve addressed the topic as it pertains to job seekers and candidate “ghosting” Animal Health and Veterinary employers during the recruiting and...

• 2 Important Factors in Nailing Your Animal Health or Veterinary Job Interview

  

  It’s overwhelmingly a candidates’ job market right now, especially if you work in the Veterinary profession. There are far more job openings and opportunities than there are qualified candidates to fill those openings. As a result, if you’re interested and serious...

• Employers: Why ‘Job Hopping’ is Considered the New Normal

  

  Remember when anyone who didn’t stay at a job for at least five years was considered a “job hopper”? That is no longer the case today. That’s because the job market and employment marketplace has undergone a radical change since those days. It’s been so radical, in...

• An Essential (But Overlooked) Element Necessary for Career Success

  

  As you might imagine, Animal Health and Veterinary career success requires many things. One of the themes that runs through my blog posts and newsletter articles is that success, including career success, starts in the mind. That’s because what you think and what you...

• 7 Steps for More Effective Animal Health and Veterinary Hiring

  

  Every employer in the job market is trying to gain a competitive edge. That’s because there is a severe shortage of workers and talent in the employment marketplace and just about every employer has a need to hire more employees. The situation is just as severe in the...

• 5 Pieces of Timeless Wisdom to Grow Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  There are many things that a person can do to gain an edge in their professional life as they attempt to grow and develop their career. However, there are some things that a person can only learn through personal experience . . . and sometimes the experience of other...

• The #1 Skill That an Animal Health or Veterinary Recruiter Should Possess

  

  Now, more than ever, employers need recruiters and search consultants to help them find and hire the talent they need to stay competitive in the marketplace. This, of course, includes employers in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. But what is the...

• A (Good) Recruiter Will Not Cost You Money . . . Nor Waste Your Time

  

  By now, you should know that there is a severe worker and talent shortage in the United States, including within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. You should also know that as a result of these conditions, there is plenty of opportunity for career...

• Why the Top Candidate You Just Hired is Going to Receive a Counteroffer

  

  There are many things about the current job market that are unique. As an executive search consultant and Veterinary recruiter for 25 years, I have seen many things including counteroffers being made to candidates who resign in order to entice them to day....

• If You Don’t Explore Opportunities, Will You Regret it?

  

  I’ve written about opportunity many times, both in The VET Recruiter newsletter and also in blog posts for our website. During my 25 years as a recruiter, I can say that there has always been opportunity in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession....

• Putting into Focus the Current (and Future) Veterinarian Shortage

  

  As a nation, we are deep in the midst of a veterinarian shortage, one which presents a number of challenges for organizations, employers, and veterinary practices. And there are also a number of questions associated with this shortage, including the following: Exactly...

• How Many Veterinary Jobs Will Go Unfilled by the Year 2030?

  

  It would be nearly impossible for me to overemphasize how much opportunity exists for workers in the Veterinary profession right now. There has been opportunity in the profession for the past several years. However, there is more opportunity in the profession right...

• Animal Health and Veterinary Hiring in This Market is About Preparation

  

  Last month, we addressed “How to Get Candidates (and Employees) to Love Working for You,” which made sense since it was February, a month associated with feelings of love. March, on the other hand, is associated with luck, due in large part to the St. Patrick’s Day...

• 10 Tips for Improving Your Luck and Growing Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  The late actress and comedian Lucille Ball was in the news earlier this year when the TV show “Being the Ricardos” aired on Amazon Prime. While I confess that I have yet to see the show, I am a fan of Lucille Ball for many reasons. One of those reasons is what she...

• How to Get Candidates (and Employees) to Love Working for You

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® I certainly don’t have to tell you that we are deep into a worker and talent shortage and that we’re in a candidate-driven market. And I also don’t have to tell you that this shortage is quite possibly even more severe in...

• What to Do If You Don’t Love Your Job (and How to Love Your Career)

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, people’s thoughts usually turn to the topics of love and affection. Typically, these thoughts are about another person, but how about your job? Do you love your job? And if you...

• Animal Health and Veterinary Hiring for 2022: Always Be Recruiting!

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® In our previous article for employers, we posed this question: “What is Your Animal Health or Veterinary Recruiting Plan for 2022?” In helping readers answer that question, we shared five essential components of such a...

• Don’t Turn Down an Animal Health or Veterinary Job Before It’s Offered

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® Later this year, I will be starting my 26th year in executive search as an Animal Health and Veterinary recruiter. That means, of course, that I was born 26 years ago. (Just kidding!) During that time, I have a seen a lot,...

• What is Your Animal Health or Veterinary Recruiting Plan for 2022?

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® There have been a couple of prevalent themes in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession during the past year, especially concerning the latter. Those themes are as follows: 1. Many people have been quitting...

• How and Why Changing Jobs Helps You Make More Money

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® There have been and unfortunately continue to be misnomers and misunderstandings in the job market about Animal Health and Veterinary recruiters. (Actually, about all recruiters in general, but we’re dealing specifically...

• Steps for Turning the ‘Great Resignation’ into the ‘Great Retention’

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® Last month, I published an article about the “Great Resignation.” Specifically, I published an article about “How to Retain Your Best Employees During the ‘Great Resignation.’” In that article, I explored retention...

• Why Do You Need an Animal Health or Veterinary Recruiter If the Job Market is So Good?

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® You’re probably well aware of the fact that there is a talent shortage in the employment marketplace, one accompanied by a trend known as the “Great Resignation.” Workers have been quitting their jobs in droves—many in...

• How to Retain Your Best Employees During the ‘Great Resignation’

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® By all accounts, the past several months have represented the biggest quitting spree by American workers in the history of this country. This, of course, is why this trend has been dubbed “The Great Resignation” by members...

• Doing What’s in Your Best Interests at the Cost of Your Personal Integrity

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® You may have already guessed from the title of this article that I am going to relay a case study regarding something that I recently encountered in the employment marketplace. If so, then you are correct. And in a year...

• Don’t Let Your Employer Make You Feel Guilty About Growing Your Career

  

  You may feel as though you are in control of your career, including how you’re going to grow your career. But how much are you really in control? I ask this question because of recent situations that I have seen as an Animal Health recruiter and Veterinary recruiter....

• Why HOW You Hire is Just as Important as WHO You Hire

  

  Hiring well and doing so on a consistent basis requires a tremendous amount of time, energy, and effort, and that is especially the case within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession in this current market. There are many aspects associated with a...

• The #1 Factor in the Long-Term Success of Your Organization

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® While it’s true that there are a number of factors that are involved in the success of any company or organization, including within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession, there is one factor that stands out...

• Animal Health and Veterinary Career Advice: Listening Without Getting Defensive

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® On more than one occasion, I’ve referenced the fact that emotional intelligence is a key factor in how much success a person enjoys in their career. The more emotional intelligence you possess, the more successful you will...

• Why Higher Wages and Bigger Bonuses are Inevitable in This Market

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® I have broached the subject of making competitive and compelling offers of employment to Animal Health and Veterinary candidates in the past. In fact, I even addressed the topic relatively recently with the article, “If...

• Veterinarians: What You Need to Know if You Want to Move From Clinical Veterinary Practice to Industry

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® As an executive recruiter and search consultant, I have the opportunity to talk with professionals and employers in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession on a daily basis. Because of the large number of...

• The Top Reasons a Company is Not Considered an Employer of Choice

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® In today’s competitive hiring environment—especially in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession—organizations must stand out from the competition. That’s because if you don’t stand out, then you reduce the...

• What to Do if You Don’t Get the Animal Health or Veterinary Job You Want

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® At first, when the candidate said these words, I almost didn’t believe what I just heard: “The employer is stupid for not hiring me. I know more than they do!” But that was exactly what the candidate said, which was...

• THIS is What Employers Are Looking for in a Candidate

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® Even if you’re not actively seeking a new job or actively looking for another employment opportunity, you might be curious as to whether or not you have what employers want. To an extent, this is human nature, but it’s...

• Not Allowing Fear to Dictate Your Career Decisions

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® Fear is a natural emotion that can impact one’s personal life and their professional life. It’s unavoidable in the same way that change and adversity are both unavoidable. As an executive recruiter for more than twenty...

• Humility is Not a Weakness in Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® I’ve addressed the topic of personal branding numerous times in my articles and blog posts, and with good reason. Personal banding is an important component of a person’s Animal Health or Veterinary career. The experience...

• If Your Job Offers Are Being Rejected, Then You’re Not Making the Best Offers

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® The marketplace for hiring in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession is as tight as I’ve ever seen it, in my 23 years as an Animal Health executive recruiter. Even though we’re in the midst of a pandemic and...

• 5 Steps for Making Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career More Durable

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® I’ve addressed the topic of resiliency in terms of a person’s Animal Health or Veterinary career on more than one occasion. The reason I’ve done this is because resiliency is an extraordinarily important attribute for...

• Are You Negotiating Your Starting Salary . . . Backwards?

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® Many times, the way that you approach a situation dictates what happens in that situation. If you approach the situation correctly, then you can expect a positive outcome, perhaps an even better outcome than you could have...

• Why Your New Hires Are Failing (and What You Can Do About It)

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® It’s tough enough to find qualified job candidates in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. Then it’s tough enough to effectively engage them and hire them. So the last thing you want is for your new hire...

• 5 Costly Interview Mistakes You Might Not Realize You’re Making

  

  By Stacy Pursell, CPC/CERS The VET Recruiter® The interview stage of the hiring process can be tricky, to say the least. You’re trying to make a good impression and brand yourself in the best way possible, but things don’t always go as you’ve planned them. In fact,...

• 3 Top Priorities for Animal Health and Veterinary Hiring in 2021

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® I probably don’t have to tell you that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot about the employment marketplace during the past year. This includes, of course, hiring, and it also includes Animal Health and Veterinary...

• 5 Pro Tips for Growing Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career in 2021

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® The employment marketplace has changed quite a bit during the last several years. And of course, COVID-19 has helped accelerate these changes since it arrived on the scene last year. I’ve written before about the fact...

• What Albert Einstein Can Teach You About Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® You might have read the title of this article and thought, “What could Albert Einstein teach me about my Animal Health or Veterinary career? Didn’t he work in physics?” If that’s the case, then the answer to the second...

• What is Holding YOU Back from Reaching Your Full Career Potential?

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Here we are. It’s a New Year. Last year is finally behind us, and we are all hopeful that 2021 will bring more good things than 2020 did. And that includes in your Animal Health or Veterinary career. However, enjoying a...

• The Difference Between an Employment Agency and an Executive Search Firm

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® The VET Recruiter is an executive search firm and professional recruitment firm operating in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. The VET Recruiter is not an employment agency. There is a difference. That...

• Conveying Your Animal Health or Veterinary Company Culture in a Pandemic

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Last year was filled with more than its fair share of obstacles and challenges, both for professionals and for employers in the employment marketplace. And this includes in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary...

• The Most Successful Animal Health and Veterinary Employers Focus on Two Things

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® As an Animal Health executive recruiter and Veterinary recruiter for more than 20 years, I have worked with many Animal Health companies as well as Veterinary practices. As you might imagine, some of these organizations...

• Simple but Highly Effective Animal Health and Veterinary Career Advice

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® The best and most effective career advice for growing your Animal Health and Veterinary career is typically the simplest advice. In my experience, that has been the case during my more than 20 years as an Executive Search...

• Will My Animal Health or Veterinary Recruiter Keep My Confidentiality?

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® I hope that I caught your attention with the title of this article. That’s because job candidates ask me different versions of the same question quite often. These versions include: “Is this process confidential?” “Are...

• Don’t ‘Burn Bridges’ or ‘Close Doors’ on Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® One of the problems in today’s society is the “immediate gratification mindset.” In other words, it has become commonplace for people to place a higher priority on what is short-term gain, as opposed to taking the long...

• Don’t Be a ‘Ghost’ When It Comes to Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Even though Halloween is over, and we are in the middle of a pandemic and quite possibly a recession, there is still “ghosting” happening in the employment marketplace, including in the Animal Health industry and...

• Control What You CAN Control to Grow Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® On many days, it might appear as if the world is “spinning out of control,” what with the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Presidential election. The good news is that it’s NOT actually “spinning out of control.”...

• Is Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career ‘Sitting on the Sidelines’ Due to COVID-19?

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® I do not profess to be a football fan. However, it is football season and there are a few football-related phrases that I know. One of them is contained in the title of this article, and I wanted to use it to address an...

• Better Hiring Starts with a Different Perspective

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® I am going to assume that you want to experience more hiring success within your Animal Health company or Veterinary practice. That would make sense. Hiring the best candidates and investing in top talent is a way to...

• The Normalcy Bias and Your Animal Health Career or Veterinary Career

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® The year 2020 has been quite a year. Actually, that’s putting it mildly. So perhaps it makes sense on a couple of different levels to bring up the normalcy bias as it pertains to your Animal Health or Veterinary career....

• How Animal Health and Veterinary Professionals Sabotage Opportunities

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® The key to growing your Animal Health or Veterinary career is not where you went to school. It’s not how much experience you have or how many employers you’ve worked for. It’s actually much simpler than that. The key to...

• Why You’re Not Just Competing Against Other Employers for Animal Health and Veterinary Talent

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® For the past several years, it was a candidates’ job market in this country. This means there were plenty of employment opportunities, and by and large, a lack of qualify job candidates to fill those positions. Then the...

• The Importance of Resiliency in the Animal Health Industry and Veterinary Profession

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Just recently, I received a phone call from a veteran of the Veterinary profession. This is a veterinarian who had been in the business for quite a while. He had seen a lot during his career, which has spanned multiple...

• What’s Happening with Veterinary Jobs in the Midst of the Pandemic?

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® These are definitely uncertain and often tumultuous times, both in the United States and around the world. It is sometimes difficult to know what exactly is happening, and that includes within the employment marketplace...

• The COVID-19 Pandemic is NOT a Good Excuse to be Unprofessional

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® A number of trends have resulted from the COVID-19 virus and the pandemic that it created. Virtual interviews, working from home, and even making (and accepting) an offer of employment without actually meeting anyone in...

• Why You MUST Be an Animal Health or Veterinary Technology Organization

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® There is much that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed about the current employment marketplace and job market. However, there is also a lot that the pandemic has NOT changed, and this includes for Animal Health companies...

• Why This is a Great Time to Explore Animal Health Jobs and Veterinary Jobs

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® When I think back to before the COVID-19 pandemic began—with the job market having record numbers of employment—I remember that some people when contacted about Animal Health jobs and Veterinary jobs would not be open to...

• The Current State of the Veterinary Profession = Plenty of Opportunity

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Much has happened in the employment marketplace overall and in the Veterinary profession specifically since the start of 2020. As recently as just a few months ago, it was a candidate-driven job market. In fact, while the...

• Avoiding the ‘Round-About’ in Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® You may have read the title of this blog post and immediately thought to yourself, “What is a ‘round-about’? Is it a card game? A new dance? or like the Merry go Round we played on as kids?” No, it is not a card game or a...

• The #1 Key to Animal Health and Veterinary Hiring Success During COVID-19

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® There are many factors that ultimately contribute to Animal Health and Veterinary hiring success. This is the case regardless of market conditions or whether we’re experiencing a recovering economy or a recessionary one....

• Accepting a Job Offer Without Meeting in Person

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® You’ve probably heard or read about what is referred to as the “new normal.” Or at the very least, the normal that will be in effect until the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control one way or another. As you can...

• Animal Health and Veterinary Hiring- Offering the job Without Meeting the Candidate

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® If you are an Animal Health company or Veterinary practice and you are looking to hire right now, there is certainly a market for you to do so. Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing. However, where some...

• Why and How to Focus on the Market Recovery (and NOT the Pandemic)

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® What you think about and focus on affects your mood, your attitude, and your approach to life in general. These days, there is a real danger in focusing on the wrong things. Simply put, when you focus on the wrong things,...

• Ostriches Do NOT Bury their Heads in the Sand . . . and Neither Should You

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® In the current COVID-19 pandemic, interviewing and hiring may not be at the top of your to do list, but it should still be considered a vital and necessary activity. It’s human nature to avoid danger. Actually, it’s not...

• Why Hiring from Your Network can Fail for Animal Health and Veterinary Professionals

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® As you may know, I’m a big advocate of networking. I believe that people should continue networking all throughout their career, regardless of the industry or profession in which they work. However, there is a difference...

• Tips, Advice, and Strategies for Career Success During This Uncertain Time

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® First, allow me to say that I hope you’re doing well personally and physically. These are not only uncertain times in this country and around the world, but they’re challenging and troubling times, as well, on a number of...

• How to Conduct Top-Notch Animal Health and Veterinary Video Interviews

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® The Coronavirus or Covid-19 is affecting the lives of nearly everyone living in the country right now in addition to those living around the world. Its effect has stretched to the employment marketplace and organizations’...

• Why You MUST Use a Professional Email Address to Advance Your Career

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Everyone wants to gain an edge in the employment marketplace. Fortunately, as a recruiter and search consultant for more than 20 years, I know how professionals can gain that edge. And I am more than happy to share my...

• How to Improve Company Culture for Better Animal Health and Veterinary Hiring

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® “Company culture” has become a popular catch-phrase or buzzword during the past several years. The current candidate-driven market has contributed to this evolving trend. The logic is simple: in order to attract, hire,...

• The Employee Experience is Critical for Animal Health and Veterinary Talent

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® What you want as an Animal Health and Veterinary employer is simple. You want to hire the top talent in the employment marketplace, and you want that talent to help grow your organization and your business. You also want...

• Animal Health or Veterinary Career: How Often Should You Change Jobs?

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® We are obviously at a crossroads in the employment marketplace and also in terms of a person’s Animal Health or Veterinary career. That crossroads involves the following important question: how often should you change...

• Veterinary Demographics: Women Veterinarians Dominate the Field

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® I have witnessed many changes in the Veterinary profession since I started working as a Veterinary recruiter back around 1997. One of those changes is a major shift in Veterinary demographics, and that shift continues as...

• Veterinary Excellence and Our Commitment to Help YOU in the New Year

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® For some professionals, it is customary for them to select a word or theme at the outset of each year. This word is typically one they plan to stress in the New Year in the pursuit of providing more value and growing. And...

• “Why Are There No Animal Health or Veterinary Applicants for My Job?”

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® The reason that the title of this article is in quotation marks is because this is a question that I have been asked with regularity lately. (Although I did add the words “Animal Health or Veterinary.” Much of the time,...

• The Skill That Can Give You a HUGE Edge Over Other Professionals

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® There is no doubt that we’re currently living in the Digital Age. The Internet and wireless technology have revolutionized the way in which people communicate with each other. This includes both personally and...

• The Right Way for Employers to Treat Executive-Level Candidates

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® I’m going to start this article with a bold and true statement: Some Animal Health and Veterinary organizations are losing executive-level candidates because they’re not treating them the right way during the interviewing...

• How to Motivate the Different Generations of Animal Health and Veterinary Employees

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Motivation is an important issue for employers, regardless of the state of the employment marketplace. However, it’s even more critical in a candidate-driven job market like the one that we’re currently experiencing. The...

• Why an Animal Health or Veterinary Employer Would Rescind a Job Offer

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® A job offer can be an exciting moment. It can be exciting for both the employer that extended the offer and also for the candidate who received it. It can also be exciting for me, the recruiter, because I enjoy seeing a...

• The Benefits of Using a Recruiter Instead of Job Board Posting Sites

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® During the course of my career as an Animal Health Executive Search Consultant and Veterinary recruiter, I’ve been asked many of the same questions. These questions often form the basis of my newsletter articles and blog...

• How Poor Communication Skills Can Kill Your Chances for a Job

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® During my career as an Animal Health Executive Search Consultant and Veterinary recruiter, I’ve sent candidates on literally thousands of interviews. That means I’ve received feedback from hiring managers and practice...

• The Biggest Reference Check Mistakes Employers Can Make

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® I’ve mentioned before in my articles and blog posts that the margin for error for Animal Health and Veterinary employers in this current margin is razor-thin. That’s because we’re in a candidates’ job market where top...

• Do You Have to Threaten to Quit Before You’re Paid What You’re Worth?

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® We’ve asked some rather hard-hitting questions in our newsletter during the past couple of months. They include: Is it unethical for recruiters to call candidates at work? Is it illegal for recruiters to poach...

• Why It Doesn’t Hurt to Have a Conversation with an Employer

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® You may have recognized the title of this blog post. That’s because I wrote a post previously with the title, “It Never Hurts to Have a Conversation with a Recruiter.” In that post, I explained that talking with a...

• What the Unemployment Rate Says About the Employment Marketplace

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Just when you think the job market can’t get any hotter . . . it gets hotter. According to the United States Labor Department, employers added 263,000 new hires during the month of April. At the same time, the...

• The Napoleon Hill Success Formula for Animal Health and Veterinary Professionals

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Last month, I used a quote at the beginning of a newsletter article, and I’d like to do so again for this blog post. I previously quoted Raye Montague. Raye was a naval engineer who revolutionized the design process for...

• The Top Trends for Animal Health and Veterinary Talent This Year

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® We are the deepest into a candidates’ job market as I have witnessed in my more than 20 years as an Animal Health recruiter and Veterinary recruiter. This candidates’ job market has been ongoing for several years, and it...

• Being Self-Aware Gives You a Competitive Advantage in the Marketplace

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Some of you may be aware that I’m a parent of five children, as well as the founder and CEO of The VET Recruiter, an executive search and recruiting firm serving the Animal Health Industry and Veterinary Profession. Three...

• Do You Know if Your Employees Are Satisfied With Their Job?

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Let me state the obvious: you can NOT afford to lose the top performers within your Animal Health Company or Veterinary practice. I’m making this obvious statement because the two most important aspects of workforce...

• 7 Steps for Maximizing Your Animal Health or Veterinary Career

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® The topic of maximizing one’s career is both a personal and  subjective one. After all, what is maximizing to one person may not be maximizing to another. People’s opinions can (and do) differ about this topic. In...

• Top 10 Mistakes Employers Make When Hiring in This Job Market

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® I’ve addressed the topic of employer hiring mistakes before. I’ve also discussed how the mistakes that Animal Health and Veterinary employers make are magnified because of current market conditions and how the margin for...

• How and Why Feelings of Loyalty Can Stunt Your Career Growth

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® The employment marketplace is constantly changing. As a result, how a professional in that marketplace should view their career is also changing. As I’ve mentioned before, the days of working for the same organization for...

• Why You Don’t Have to Meet a Great Candidate to Hire a Great Candidate

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® In perhaps what might be the “Understatement of the Year” in 2019, the job market is tight for employers. In fact, the National Unemployment Rate was 3.9% in December. In a job market this tight for employers, one thing...

• How “Jumping the Gun” with Your Job Offer Can Backfire

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Excitement during a job search is great. Being proactive during that same job search is even better. However, there is such a thing as being too excited and perhaps just a bit too eager. The result can have negative...

• How Your Job Application Process Could be Driving Away Top Candidates

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Hiring top talent in this current job market is tough enough. The last thing you want to do is drive away good candidates because of your job application process. Unfortunately, though, that’s exactly what is happening...

• 6 Top Intangible Traits That Make a Good Candidate a Truly Great Hire

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® Every Animal Health and Veterinary employer looking to hire wants a candidate that has the right skills and experience. And when I say skills, I’m talking primarily about hard (or technical) skills. However, hard skills...

• Why Trying to Push the Start Date Back Too Far is a Risky Proposition

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® I’ve noticed a new trend with some job seekers and candidates in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. That trend is as follows: when a job seeker or candidate accepts an offer of employment, they ask the...

• Why “Nickel and Dime Offers” Lose Top Candidates—Every Time

  

  by Stacy Pursell, The VET Recruiter® You’ve probably heard the phrase “All in” before, as in someone saying that they’re “all in” regarding a situation. Well, this phrase is also applicable to hiring top candidates in today’s employment marketplace, including within...

• The Importance of Not Being Afraid to Resign from Your Job

  

  by Stacy Pursell, The VET Recruiter® I’m going to present a series of facts in a logical order, all for an intended purpose. All of these facts are pretty much indisputable. Here we go: We are in a candidates’ market, with plenty of opportunities for job seekers and...

• Do NOT Use a Job Offer to Get a Better Deal from Your Employer

  

  by Stacy Pursell, The VET Recruiter® There are all sorts of crazy things that happen in a candidates’ job market like this one. I can attest to this, of course, from personal experience. Unfortunately, job market conditions such as these cause job seekers and...

• Why Only Talking with the Candidate Can be Really Bad Idea

  

  by Stacy Pursell, The VET Recruiter® I’ve written before about the dangers of a candidate attempting to circumvent the recruiter and speak with the hiring manager directly after the recruiter has made the candidate aware of the employment opportunity. Unfortunately,...

• A Simple (But Critical) Tip for Navigating the Face-to-Face-Interview

  

  by Stacy Pursell, The VET Recruiter® There are a number of reasons why the face-to-face interview is one of the most important parts of the hiring process. In fact, it could be argued that it is the most important part of the process. While that point is debatable,...

• Why THIS Type of Top Candidate Doesn’t Care About Money

  

  by Stacy Pursell, The VET Recruiter® I’ve written a lot about money lately, specifically salary negotiations between Animal Health and Veterinary Employers and candidates. That’s because in this tight market, salary negotiations have become quite important. However,...

• The Importance of Acting with a Sense of Urgency as a Professional

  

  by Stacy Pursell, The VET Recruiter® People have different personalities. That’s a fact. Not everyone is a type-A personality. That kind of person is pretty much moving all the time. They typically have a lot of energy, but they’re sometimes high-strung. On the other...

• Failure to Screen Candidates Properly Can Lead to a Bad Hire

  

  by Stacy Pursell, The VET Recruiter® From all indications, more candidates than ever are being dishonest and/or misleading during the hiring process. This includes, but is not limited to, lying on their resume. Just how bad is it? HireRight issued a report last year...

• Why the Interview is the Start of a Relationship (or the END of One)

  

  Stacy Pursell The VET Recruiter ® There’s no doubt that a job interview is extremely important in terms of a person’s job search, and subsequently, the future of their career. That’s why we’ve devoted so many of our newsletter articles and blog posts to this topic....

• If You Don’t Invest in Your Employees, Then THIS Will Happen

  

  Stacy Pursell The VET Recruiter ® The Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession are very tight right now in terms of the employment marketplace. What does that mean, exactly? It means that high-quality candidates are difficult to find, and that’s especially the...

• This is Why You MUST Have a LinkedIn Profile

  

  Stacy Pursell The VET Recruiter ® There is no doubt that LinkedIn is one of the biggest and most popular social media platforms. In fact, as of the beginning of this year, 530 million people use LinkedIn in 200 countries around the world. But do YOU use LinkedIn? I...

• THIS is Just as Important as Why People Quit Their Job

  

  Stacy Pursell The VET Recruiter ® Not hiring the best candidates in the marketplace hurts your organization. There are no two ways about it. However, there’s something that is almost as costly as not hiring the best candidates. That’s hiring the best candidates and...

• The Correct Way to React When a Recruiter Reaches Out to You

  

  Stacy Pursell The VET Recruiter ® I reach out to candidates on a daily basis about career opportunities. Sometimes these candidates are active job seekers, and sometimes they’re passive candidates. If they’re an active job seeker, there’s a good chance that they’ll...

• How Your Organization’s Core Values Help Determine Hiring Success

  

  Stacy Pursell The VET Recruiter ® Perhaps at no other time in the history of the United States have core values been so important to the hiring success of organizations. There are many reasons for this, but perhaps the biggest one is the emergence of the Millennial...

• Why and How the Exit Interview Should be Used as a Retention Tool

  

  There are generally two ways that an employee leaves an organization. Either their employer fires or lays them off . . . or they leave of their own accord. When an employee is fired or laid off, there is no exit interview. (After all, company officials already know...

• Want to Impress an Employer? Then Brand Yourself THIS Way!

  

  I rarely write a newsletter article or blog post with a title that has an exclamation point at the end of it. However, I’m making an exception with this article. That’s because I believe very strongly in the subject matter and the impact that it can have on a person’s...

• Why and How the “I’m Not Actively Looking” Mindset Can Hurt You

  

  Enjoying career success is about more than just skills and experience. Sure, those things can take you far, and they’re things about which employers are very much interested. However, your mindset is just as important as what you know or how much experience you...

• Want to Hire Top Candidates? Then THIS is How You Should Think

  

  Times have changed. They’ve changed not only in the past 20 years, but they’ve also changed in the past 10 and even five years. In fact, it seems as though times keep changing more rapidly as we go along. As a result, the rules that once applied to the employment...

• How to Know if a Candidate is Lying on Their Resume

  

  Top talent is in great demand in the marketplace, and the best candidates are not easy to find. While a sense of urgency and a commitment to the process are both crucial to the success of the hiring process, so is being prudent and thorough during that process. Let’s...

• What Employers Want: the Movie You Should Know Inside and Out

  

  As many of you well know, real life often serves as the basis for the articles and blog posts that I write. And that is once again the case with this blog post. However, the real-life situation on which it is based doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the...

• Why Am I Not Getting Any Job Applicants for My Open Position?

  

  The title of this article might be a question that you’ve asked yourself from time to time. Based upon my more than 20 years of experience as a search consultant and recruiter in the employment marketplace, I’ll be attempting to answer this question. First, however,...

• Why and How to Make a Quick Decision Regarding Your Job Offer

  

  We’re starting this article with good news! As you can see by the title, we’re discussing a situation in which an organization has made an offer of employment to you. As we’ve discussed on many occasions, an offer of employment is the #1 objective of being in the...

• Analyzing a Person’s Underlying Motivation for Taking a New Job

  

  I’ve stated this before in numerous articles and blog posts: nothing happens without desire. In other words, nothing can happen without somebody having the desire to make it happen. I’ve also stated something else before: everything boils down to motivation. People do...

• Why It Is Okay to Changes Jobs More Frequently These Days

  

  I’ve written about this topic recently, and the title of this article explains why. The title of another recent article also tells the tale: “It’s Official: Being a ‘Job Hopper’ is GOOD for Your Career!” For quite a while, there was a certain stigma associated with...

• THIS is Just as Important to Candidates as Their Starting Salary

  

  Hiring the best candidates in the marketplace is not an easy proposition. Not these days, not in this current candidates’ market. Once upon a time, if an organization wanted to woo a top candidate, that organization used the prospect of more money to do so. Things are...

• You’re “Too Big” for the Position? Think Again!

  

  Candidates say and do all sorts of things during the hiring process. Many of those things occur during the face-to-face interview, one of the most crucial phases of the process. Unfortunately, sometimes what is said and done does NOT help the candidate receive an...

• The Mysterious Case of the Missing Candidate

  

  Some of you reading this might not be old enough to remember the Hardy Boys or the Nancy Drew book series. (Although you might remember the Nancy Drew movie starring Emma Roberts from 2007). For those of you who don’t know, the Hardy brothers and Nancy Drew were...

• Why Hiring Great Candidates is NOT Enough in Today’s Market

  

  There’s no doubt that it’s difficult to identify, recruit, and hire the best candidates these days. However, even if you’re able to do that on a consistent basis, that may not be enough in today’s marketplace. That’s because once you hire these candidates, you must...

• THIS is the Person Who Cares the Most About Your Career

  

  It’s not often that I reference an article for hiring managers within a blog post for job seekers and candidates, but this is an appropriate time to do so. The article I want to reference is, “Presenting the ‘X Factor’ for Hiring Superstar Candidates.”The reason that...

• 6 Ways to Set Your New Star Employee Up for Immediate Success

  

  There is no doubt that identifying, recruiting, and hiring the best candidates in the marketplace is not easy. Even if you’re able to accomplish that, it is no guarantee that those candidates will become immediately successful as employees. Sure, they’re ambitious....

• THIS is Why You Might Not Know About Some Career Opportunities

  

  No matter what you do, being successful is all about opportunities. That’s because you can’t become successful until you have the opportunity to become successful. Makes sense, right? Not only does it make sense, but it also sounds simple. Unfortunately, things that...

• Why Candidates Are Rejecting Your Offer (and What to Do About It)

  

  As an organization, you spend a tremendous amount of time, energy, and effort to bring a candidate all the way to the offer stage of the hiring process. The very last thing you want to happen is to make an offer to your top pick . . . and then that person rejects your...

• The Most Overlooked Aspect of the Interview Stage for Employers

  

  The interview stage of the hiring process is perhaps the most important part of the process (with the possible exception of the offer stage). However, it’s critical to remember that it’s important not just for the candidates, but also for the employer. Because while...

• How Getting Ahead in the Workplace Helps Grow Your Career

  

  I’ve written many articles and conducted quite a few webinars about growing your career. In those articles and during those webinars, I’ve stated repeatedly that there are two ways in which professionals can grow their careers: You can grow your career with your...

• THIS is Why It’s Called “Posting and Praying”

  

  Some organizations in the employment marketplace advertise their job openings through online advertisements. There are many opportunities available which help them to accomplish this task. There’s nothing inherently wrong with posting online job advertisements. They...

• The Dangers of Assumptions in Your Career and Job Search

  

  You’ve probably heard the old saying about assuming things. (If you haven’t, then I recommend Googling the phrase, “old saying about assuming.” That saying is often used because it is often correct. Making assumptions is a dangerous proposition. That applies to not...

• Is Your Hiring Process Actually Screening Out Good Candidates?

  

  Almost all of the articles that I write are based, at least in part, on the experience that I’ve accumulated as an executive search consultant and recruiter. This article is no exception. As a search consultant for 20 years, I’ve worked with numerous organizations of...

• How to Tell if YOU Are Taking 100% Responsibility for Your Career

  

  I am an advocate of a great many things in regards to one’s career. One of those things is continuous learning. That can include a wide range of activities, including attending webinars and conferences and earning industry-specific certifications. It also includes...

• Face It: Top Candidates Are in a Position of Power . . . Now What?

  

  If you’ve been trying to hire top talent in this current marketplace for any length of time, you should have already come to an unmistakable conclusion. That conclusion is this: top candidates are in a position of power. The reason for this is quite simple. Top...

• It’s Official: Being a “Job Hopper” is GOOD for Your Career!

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® A LOT has changed in the employment marketplace since I first became a recruiter. One of the things that has changed most dramatically is how “job hoppers” are viewed by employers. I’ve touched upon this subject before,...

• The Soft Skills That Really Make You a More Attractive Candidate

  

  Fact: the employment market is solid right now and employers are looking to hire within almost all levels of their organization. Fact: a tremendous amount of competition still exists for most open positions within companies, especially those at the highest levels....

• The #1 Factor in Enticing a Superstar Candidate to Change Jobs

  

  Superstar candidates are game changers. That’s why almost every organization would like to hire as many of them as they possibly can. However, superstars are NOT like other candidates. That makes sense. As a result, organizations should not treat superstar candidates...

• Why Simply Pitching to a Job to Top Candidates Rarely Works

  

  There are some tactics, strategies, and techniques that employers try in the marketplace right now that simply do not work. And one of the main reasons they do not work is because it’s currently a candidates’ market. One of those tactics is pitching a job. Some hiring...

• Why Won’t My Recruiter Tell Me Who the Company Is?

  

  The question above is one sometimes asked by job seekers and candidates. It’s a question they ask themselves during the search process, and sometimes they even ask a variation of it to their recruiter: “Why won’t you tell me who the company is?” As a recruiter, I can...

• Baby Boomer Retirements and Your Company’s Hiring Future

  

  Regardless of whatever is happening in the employment marketplace, there’s one thing that will definitely happen during the next 15 years. Most of the Baby Boomers in the United States will be phased out of the workforce. The numbers are fairly startling. According to...

• 4 Ways to Proactively Take Control of Your Career

  

  I’ve addressed the subject of fear on many occasions in this blog. In fact, for those of you who have read my articles, you probably already know the acronym I use regarding fear. That acronym is: Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real Fear holds people back in their...

• Are You a Super Bowl Organization . . . or are You “Tanking”?

  

  This coming weekend, the Super Bowl is going to be played. The two best teams in the National Football League are going to battle one another, and the winner will be declared the best team in the entire league. In fact, they’ll largely be considered the best team in...

• Why the Comfort Zone Holds You Back from Moving Your Career Forward

  

  Last month, I wrote one of the most important articles for candidates that I’ve ever written. The title of that article was, “I am NOT Open to Opportunity!” The reason that it’s so important is that it illustrates how people essentially sabotage themselves and their...

• The Critical Difference Between Hiring a Boss and Hiring a Leader

  

  There are countless nuances involved in the hiring process. That’s why it can appear to be such a complicated and complex endeavor. It sounds easy to hire great candidates who become top employees, but it’s much more difficult to actually do it. The key to hiring well...

• How to Manage Your Social Media Accounts When Changing Jobs

  

  Social media and employment are indelibly intertwined these days, there is no doubt about it. In fact, they seem to become more intertwined on a daily basis. It used to be that a person was concerned about what was on their social media accounts during their job...

• Why Hiring Mistakes Are Magnified Under Current Market Conditions

  

  Most everybody is familiar with the phrase “margin of error.” This phrase can be applied to just about anything. Below is the official Webster’s Dictionary definition for the phrase: Margin of error (noun)—An index indicating the amount beyond the minimum necessary....

• “I Am NOT Open to Opportunity!”

  

  by Stacy Pursell, CPC, CERS The VET Recruiter® In 2017, I will start my 21st year in executive search. In my more than two decades of working as a search consultant “in the trenches,” I have literally spoken with thousands of professionals. As you might expect, I have...

• 5 Career Myths You MUST Stop Believing!

  

  Everybody wants to enjoy a great career. However, as you are probably well aware, not everybody enjoys one. There is a wide array of reasons this is the case, and some of those reasons are out of the control of the people involved. However, what many people do not...

• 3 Steps to Better Hiring and a Better Workforce in the New Year

  

  Every organization wants to hire in a better fashion than it did the year before. Every organization also wants to continually improve the quality of its employees and its workforce year after year. But how can these things be accomplished? Well, the steps for doing...

• A Blueprint for the RIGHT Way to Leave Your Job

  

  Chances are good that you’re going to hold more than one job during your career. In fact, there’s a good chance that you’ve already held more than one job. That means you’ve already encountered the potentially prickly situation of leaving your job for another one. As...

• Discuss Your Employees’ Future to Retain Them

  

  Turnover of your employees can be difficult to stop completely. However, success can be measured by degrees. After all, retaining 90% of your employees is certainly better than retaining 50% of them. We’ve discussed the subject of retention before in this blog,...

• 6 Things to Look for in a Job Offer

  

  The job offer is what every candidate in the interview process with an employer wants to see. That’s the ultimate stage they want to reach. However, what should you be looking for once you reach that stage? There is a certain amount of excitement that exists when an...

• Assessing your Career at the End of the Year

  

  The end of the year is upon us. However, with the passing of one year we have the beginning of a brand-new one. This is a great opportunity to take inventory of your professional life and your career, and you can start with the following questions: Are you satisfied...

• Case Study: How Leaving a Position Open Hurts Your Company

  

  One of the advantages of being a search consultant is the opportunity to be “in the trenches” on a daily basis. This allows me to see on a first-hand basis what happens in the employment marketplace, both on the employer side and on the candidate side. It also affords...

• Your Resume: the Launching Pad for Your Career Growth

  

  There is a certain ebb and flow to the hiring process. One stage of the process begets another stage, which begets another stage. That process can be summed up as follows: The resume helps secure a telephone interview. The telephone interview helps secure a...

• Do NOT Do These Things When Making an Offer to a Candidate

  

  The interviewing and hiring process is filled with important parts, junctures at which the process can either fall apart or accelerate forward. One such part is the offer of employment. Think about it: making an offer of employment is like making a marriage proposal....

• One Simple Step for Improving Retention of Your Best Employees

  

  The retention of an organization’s best and most important employees can often be viewed as being complicated. Some might believe that an intricate formula is involved for making sure that top talent remains with the company. However, that’s not necessarily the case....

• A Primer for Answering and Asking Interview Questions

  

  As we’ve discussed numerous times before in our blog and in our newsletter, the interview is one of the most important parts of the hiring process (along with the offer stage, of course). That’s why we’ve addressed it on more than one occasion and why we’re addressing...

• How (and Why) to Get on a Search Consultant’s Radar

  

  Approximately 64% of all executive-level positions are filled through search consultants. That statistic alone illustrates why it’s important for you to have a relationship with a search professional. It’s truly one of the most important and rewarding...

• 3 Iron-Clad Reasons to Work Exclusively with One Recruiter

  

  In the employment marketplace and the world of hiring, there are some things that seem to make sense . . . but really don’t. Conversely, there are some things that don’t appear to make sense . . . but really do. For quite a few organizations—and the hiring managers...

• Your Search Firm Should Also Provide a Great Candidate Experience

  

  Providing a great candidate experience is a team effort. Not only does it require an effort on the part of everybody within your organization (especially those involved in the hiring process), but it also includes your search firm. Organizations often use search...

• Best Practices for Starting a New Job the Right Way

  

  Landing a new job is an exciting time. You’ve probably accepted a position that will reward you with more responsibility, a better title, and possibly increased pay and compensation. You’ll also be working with new colleagues and tackling challenging projects....

• Best Practices for Onboarding Your New Superstar Candidates

  

  We’ve discussed the importance of an onboarding program before in this newsletter, specifically with the article “The 2 Phases of an Effective Onboarding Program.” To review, those two phases are as follows: Phase 1—Acceptance to Employment Phase 2—Start of Employment...

• Candidate Feedback: a Key to the Candidate Experience

  As we discussed in our previous blog post, providing an exemplary candidate experience is an important part of not only attracting top candidates, but also convincing them to accept your offer of employment and choose to work for your organization. In that blog post,...

• Why You Should be Honest and Upfront with Your Recruiter

  

  Working with a recruiter does NOT have to be difficult. However, some candidates make it more difficult than it has to be. There are a number of reasons for this. They include inattention to detail, a lack of foresight, a lack of preparation, and miscommunication....

• Why More People Are Changing Jobs (and it’s a GOOD Thing)

  

  If you’re less than 32 years old, then you’re likely to change jobs at least four times before you reach that age. If you’re older than 32, then you’re likely to change jobs more frequently in the future than you did earlier in your career. Those are two of the...

• Are Superstar Employees More Eager to “Jump Ship”?

  

  Which employees within your organization are 32 years of age or less? More specifically, how many of your superstar employees are 32 years of age or less? Why are we asking that? Because if you have an employee who’s less than 32 years old, then they’re likely to...

• Why and How to Make a Great First Impression During Your Interview

  

  Some people believe that the job interview is about how much experience they have. Some believe that the interview is about the specific skills they have. Some even believe that it’s about how smart they are. All of those people are wrong. What’s most important is how...

• The Role of the Hiring Process in the Candidate Experience

  

  Providing an exemplary candidate experience is an important part of not only attracting top candidates, but also convincing them to accept your offer of employment and choose to work for your organization. However, it can also be complex. That’s why if it’s not done...

• 2 Things You MUST Know Before Starting Your Job Search

  

  People think of all sorts of things to do before looking for a new job: search online, research companies, network with their peers, spruce up their resume, etc. However, they often overlook the most important aspects of their job search. Those aspects are as follows:...

• The 3 Big Areas of Focus for Increased Employee Engagement

  

  In a candidates’ market like the one we’re currently experiencing, there are two things that happen: It’s more difficult to successfully attract, recruit, and hire the best candidates in the marketplace. It’s more difficult to successfully retain the best employees...

• Being Late Will Cost You (and 4 Other Interview Mistakes)

  

  It doesn’t matter how impressive your resume is. It doesn’t matter how qualified you believe you are for a certain position. There are mistakes you can NOT make prior to the face-to-face interview, during the interview, or after the interview. As is often the case in...

• 4 Questions You Should NOT Ask During the Interview

  

  Hiring managers are continually seeking out the best questions to ask candidates during the face-to-face interview. This makes sense, since the interview is one of the most important parts of the hiring process. (In fact, some people might say that it’s...

• 3 Crucial Tips for Improving the Quality of Your Hires

  

  Hiring great people is NOT easy. If it was, every company would be doing it. Obviously, this is not the case. However, you’re not concerned with every company—you’re only concerned with your company, and rightly so. Unfortunately, the hiring process is like any other...

• Are You Taking a Risk . . . or an Opportunity?

  

  Being more successful in your profession—and in life—can be as simple as how you view the world around you. You might not think it’s as easy as that, but in my many years as a professional search consultant, I’ve witnessed thousands of situations. I’ve seen the way...

• 6 Characteristics of Employees You Need to “Topgrade”

  

  You might be familiar with the concept of “topgrading” in regards to personnel management and hiring. If you’re not, there’s an underlying philosophy regarding topgrading. That philosophy is also referred to as “The 20-60-20 Rule.” That rule states the following: 20%...

• 5 Things That Can Help Get Your Career Back on Track

  

  You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you feel like something is wrong—with your career, that is. Once upon a time, you had an idea of how your career would progress—what steps you would take, the challenges you would meet, and the opportunities that would...

• Case Study: Why You Should Always Consider Other Opportunities

  

  Over the years, we’ve included case studies in our monthly newsletter articles. These case studies are designed to serve as an example—both of what to do and what not to do in specific situations. And we have another case study this month. This case study underscores...

• Why Using a Recruiter Beats Placing Ads for Hiring the Best Candidates

  

  For any company to be successful and make a profit, it has to sell its products and/or services. In order to accomplish this, companies charge sales departments with the task of selling those products and/or services. Instead, what if your organization relied solely...

• Irrefutable Proof That You MUST Proofread Your Resume!

  

  You’ve heard it hundreds of times: always proofread your resume. Read it twice, three times, four times . . . let other people read it. Make sure that the resume contains no errors and is basically “bulletproof.” However, at least once you’ve thought to...

• 5 Tips for When and How to Conduct Reference Checks

  

  Organizations have varying philosophies regarding reference checks during the hiring process. As a result, they are often misunderstood and underutilized by employers seeking to identify the best candidate for their open position. These varying philosophies involve...

• What Hiring Managers Like (and Don’t Like) About Candidates

  

  At the beginning of the year, The VET Recruiter® conducted a survey of hiring managers in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. As part of that survey, we asked a series of questions, many of which dealt directly with candidates and the hiring process....

• What Candidates Truly Want from Potential Employers

  

  At the beginning of the year, The VET Recruiter® conducted a survey of candidates in the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. As part of that survey, we asked a series of questions, many of which dealt directly with employers and the hiring process. In...

• Why Your Candidate Experience IS Your Employer Brand

  

  An organization’s hiring process is important, to say the very least. However, its importance may be more widespread and far-reaching than you can imagine. That’s because the hiring process is not about just finding (and hiring) the best candidate in the marketplace....

• How to Increase Your Value and Grow Your Career

  

  When you interview with another company, one of the things that the hiring manager is attempting to ascertain is how much value you might bring to the company. At the same time, you’re trying to figure out how valuable it would be for you and your career to work for...

• THIS is What Annoys Candidates Most About the Hiring Process

  

  High-quality candidates are in short supply in the market these days. That’s why it is critical for companies to do their best when it comes to first attracting, then recruiting, and then finally hiring these candidates. The problem for many organizations is that even...

• Hiring Managers Identify the 4 Biggest Interview Mistakes

  

  When you’re conducting a job search, the last thing you want to do is mess up the face-to-face interview. That’s the point of the hiring process that is the most crucial. The interview is where you can make the biggest impact. However, that impact has the potential to...

• 5 Ways to Get Noticed by a Recruiter in Your Niche

  

  We’ve addressed the topic of why you should work with an executive recruiter before (“6 Good Reasons to Work with a Recruiter on a Confidential Basis”). So the value of working with a recruiter has been well documented. However, what about getting to the point where...

• Why It’s NOT Necessarily Bad When an Employee Leaves

  

  You’ve probably heard about some of the employment trends that are sweeping across the nation, some of which have caught on and some of which have not. An example of one that has not? Credit-card processing company Gravity Payments raised the minimum salary of its...

• 6 Hiring Practices You MUST Stop

  

  The quality of the candidates you hire is in direct correlation to the quality of your organization’s hiring process. The greater the quality of your process, the greater the quality of your hires. Unfortunately, some companies fall prey to hiring practices that...

• Case Study: Why You Need to “Dig Your Well” Now!

  

  I’ve been an executive recruiter for the better part of two decades. I strive to use the experience that I’ve accumulated to help candidates reach their professional goals and grow their careers. As a recruiter, it’s part of my job to make people aware of great...

• Candidate Etiquette: Asking About the Name of the Client

  

  Whenever a recruiter approaches you about a new employment opportunity, you more than likely are curious as to the name of the client with the job opening. That’s a natural curiosity. However, there’s a time and place during the interview process for that question,...

• The Main Reason Top Candidates Do NOT Apply to Job Ads

  

  Let’s say you have an open position to fill. Let’s say that you write a beautiful job advertisement for it, the best one you’ve ever written. Let’s say you show it to your boss and your colleagues, and they agree that it’s the best, most beautiful job ad they’ve ever...

• 7 Stats You MUST Know About Hiring and Talent in 2016

  

  Last year was definitely one marked by a scarcity of talent in the employment marketplace, and according to a recent survey, it appears as though that will again be the case this year. That survey was the annual hiring survey conducted by DHI Group, Inc., a provider...

• You Need THIS for Your Career, Not Another Resolution

  

  Are you “so over” New Year’s Resolutions? If so, who could blame you? After all, less than 10% of the people who make resolutions actually stick to them throughout the entire year. Not only that, but almost half of the people who make them have failed before the month...

• The Best Way to Get a Recruiter’s Attention is . . .

  

  There are a lot of ways to get the attention of a recruiter. Unfortunately, some of these ways are negative, and I have borne witness to them over the years. However, for the purposes of this article, we’re only going to focus on the positive ways that you can get the...

• How to Position Your Company to Attract Top Talent

  

  I’ve addressed this topic before in our newsletter and in our blog, but it bears repeating: simply running an online job ad is not enough to attract the best candidates in the marketplace. In fact, in many cases, it’s not even enough to get their attention. After all,...

• How to Combat the Counteroffer Your Star Candidate Will Receive

  

  Think we might be “jumping the gun” with the title of this article? Well, with top talent very much in demand these days, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that the very best candidates are going to receive some sort of counter-offer from their current employer once...

• THIS is Why You Should Consider Disclosing Your Compensation

  

  I’ve been an executive recruiter for more than 18 years now, and I’ve seen just about everything in terms of the interview and hiring process. And that includes discussions that involve compensation. Now, I know that there are numerous sources on the Internet (and...

• What Value Proposition Do You Offer to Top Candidates?

  

  The other day, I was in my office speaking with a hiring manager on the phone. There was also another person in the office who does not work in executive search. This guest was listening to my conversation with the hiring manager, and he overhead me ask this question:...

• 2 Critical Mistakes Not to Make During the Interview

  

  It’s a good bet that you’ve seen and read countless articles and blog posts about mistakes you should not make during the face-to-face interview. However, there are probably some mistakes of which you are not aware. While these mistakes might not be as common, they...

• The 2 Phases of an Effective Onboarding Program

  

  Onboarding as a philosophy and a process is often viewed differently by different organizations. Some companies spend more time, energy, and effort than others and some make it more of a priority than others. Of course, those companies that make it more of a priority...

• Is Fear Holding YOU Back From the Things You Deserve?

  

  During my many years as an executive recruiter, I have seen what fear can do to people. It can (figuratively) paralyze them. It can cause them to believe things that are not true. It can cause them to act in irrational ways. And I’ve seen it hold them back from going...

• The Best Candidates in the Market Don’t Stick Around for Long

  

  The goal of every company when it comes to hiring is to bring on board the best candidates in the marketplace. However, doing so involves a certain level of complexity for a number of different reasons. One of those reasons is this: the best candidates in the market...

• Why There is NO Such Thing as a “Rubber Stamp Interview”

  

  Have you ever “relaxed” or taken a part of the interview process for granted, and it’s come back to “bite you”? If so, then you understand the title of this blog post all too well. If not, then you need to pay heed to the information contained within it. Have you ever...

• What to Do if You Can’t Find the Candidate You Need to Hire

  

  Every organization that has a job opening to fill is looking to hire the best candidate possible for the position. In many instances, company officials have an idea of exactly the type of candidate they want, especially if the position is an important and/or...

• The 3 Main Reasons a Company Would Want to Hire You

  

  Human beings, by their very nature, tend to complicate things. This is certainly applicable to the process by which people get hired by organizations. While the interviewing and hiring process can appear complicated, it really is not as complicated as people believe....

• Yes, the Job Application is a BIG Part of the Hiring Process

  

  Okay, so you consider yourself a top candidate for a company’s open position. That’s all fine and good, but that doesn’t mean you have the freedom and flexibility to circumvent the hiring process. As I’ve written before in our monthly newsletter, you’re being...

• How Social Media and Job Boards Increase the Need for Recruiters

  

  There is certainly no doubt that social media, job boards, the Internet at large, and Big Data have all had an impact on the employment marketplace and on companies’ hiring efforts. However, it might not be the impact you’re thinking it is. At first glance, you could...

• Emphasize THIS to Get a Top Candidate to Work for You

  

  When you’re recruiting a top candidate to work at your organization, the end of the interviewing process is the most critical phase, because that’s when you “sell” the candidate in an attempt to close them. However, some companies “sell” these candidates incorrectly ....

• THIS is the #1 Reason Why People Change Their Job

  

  People change jobs every day. In fact, somebody probably just made a decision to change their job right now, while you were reading this sentence. But why do people make that decision? What’s behind their decision? Is it money? Benefits? Better health insurance? More...

• The Protocol for Accepting an Offer and Keeping Your Word

  

  As we’ve stated in the past, some of our most popular and frequently read blog posts and newsletter articles are based on real-life examples of things that have actually happened, case studies involving people who have attempted to improve their careers. One of those...

• 2 Crucial Considerations of Making an Offer to a Candidate

  

  When an organization makes an offer of employment to a candidate, they’re signifying their commitment to that candidate. In essence, the company is saying, “Out of all the people we interviewed, you’re the one we want to work for us.” With that in mind, wouldn’t it be...

• 5 Benefits of Staying in Touch with Your Recruiter

  

  If you’ve worked with an executive recruiter before, you’re probably familiar with the value and the benefits that such a relationship provides. However, what are the benefits of staying in touch with your recruiter and maintaining that relationship over time? I can...

• Need a “Special Ops” Agent for Your Search? It’s Your Recruiter

  

  Sometimes, hiring the best candidate possible for your open position is not clean-cut. It’s not predictable. The process doesn’t go anywhere near as smoothly as you think it will. However, if it still ends in the hiring of the best candidate for the position, it’s all...

• 3 Ways LinkedIn is Making It More Difficult to Hire Top Talent

  

  Over the years, LinkedIn has proven to be a valuable resource for both job seekers and employers.  After all, it was the first social media site specifically for the professional realm and not the personal realm.  That alone made it stand out. However, as with all...

• 3 Tips for Navigating Money During the Interview

  

  Job offer negotiations, especially negotiations that relate to money, can be stressful.  They can also be particularly tricky, if you’re not experienced about the process and you don’t know what to do. Almost anything can go wrong if you’re not prepared to navigate...

• Recruiters: Salespeople for Your Opportunity and Your Company

  

  What if you had no sales department for your company’s products and services? What if you could only rely on advertisements to generate interest in what you offer?  What do you think your gross sales would be? You might not want to consider such a scenario.  However,...

• 5 Reasons to Use a Top Recruiter as the Talent Agent for Your Career

  

  People spend long years and invest a tremendous amount of time, energy, and effort into their career.  When they’ve invested that much, it only makes sense that they want to “protect” their career and take as much control of it as they can. That is why it makes sense...

• 2 Things That Will Turn Off a Recruiter (and Why)

  

  There’s no doubt that an experienced executive recruiter can not only help you to find a premium employment opportunity, but they can also help you land that great job and grow your career. However, some candidates do not treat the relationship they have with a...

• THIS is How Long the Hiring Process Should Last (and Why)

  

  The optimum length for a company’s hiring process has been a debatable topic for quite some time.  The irony of the situation, though, is that there should not be any debate about it. That’s because no matter the economic environment, a search for the best candidates...

• 5 Reasons Why Feedback is Important During the Hiring Process

  

  From a company’s perspective, the hiring process is of paramount importance. After all, that’s the way the company brings the best and brightest candidates on board. And while certain parts of the process are considered more important than others, some parts are often...

• Why It’s Crucial to Do THIS Following Your Interview

  

  We all know how important the face-to-face interview is in relation to the hiring process.  If you perform well, you’ll increase the likelihood of receiving an offer of employment from the company. But what you do after the interview is just as important as what you...

• The Numbers You Should Know Before Extending an Offer

  

  The offer stage is one of the most sensitive—and important—parts of the hiring process. That’s why it must be handled with care and preparation. Unfortunately, not all companies approach the offer stage of the process with as much care and preparation as they should....

• Why You Should Always Be Looking for a Better Job

  

  People approach their careers in different ways, which makes sense because everybody is different. Some people are deliberate, while others “fly by the seat of their pants,” so to speak. Some feel at ease taking risks, while others are afraid of risks and are more...

• THIS is the Value That Executive Recruiters Provide to Companies

  

  Successfully hiring the best candidates available in the marketplace is one of the most important things that a company can do.  In fact, it could be argued that it’s the most important thing a company can do. If you think in terms of professional sports, the team...

• 2 Real-Life Examples of the Benefits of Working with a Recruiter

  

  In this newsletter, we strive to provide case studies regarding actual events in the marketplace.  We believe this is one of the best ways to address issues that are happening right now and affect people just like you. We have two more case studies this month, and...

• Why Passive Superstar Candidates Tend to Avoid Online Job Ads

  

  In this day and age, it is often common practice for some companies to run an online job advertisement when they want to fill an open position. However, unless companies take a closer look at their specific needs and analyze the situation thoroughly, running an online...

• 5 Questions to Assess Who Represents Your Company to Candidates

  

  There is no doubt that company officials are constantly immersed in the day-to-day operations of their business.  There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done.  As a result, it becomes a matter of priorities, in other words, which tasks...

• What Do Recruiters and Hiring Managers Consider a ‘Hot Candidate’?

  

  There is often a disconnect between what candidates believe they have to offer in the marketplace . . . and what companies believe those candidates have to offer. Of course, the more that a particular candidate and a company looking to hire are on the same page, the...

• How Following Business Etiquette Helps Build Career Relationships

  

  There are many things that candidates can do to help grow their careers.  Some of these things they should be doing all of the time. One of the “all of the time” things is business etiquette. What do I mean by that?  Well, I happen to have a case study that...

• 3 Steps for Offering Compensation to Attract the Best Candidates

  

  There’s no doubt that companies not only want to attract the best candidates available in the marketplace, but they also want to hire them. However, what they’re offering to these candidates isn’t always enough to accomplish both of these things.  A disconnect often...

• 6 Ways to Help Make Yourself the BEST Candidate for the Job

  

  As you might imagine, some candidates and job seekers don’t do themselves any favors during the hiring process.  They make mistakes that are very much avoidable, and those mistakes often eliminate them from serious consideration for better employment opportunities. Of...

• How Far Should Companies NOT Go to Retain Top Talent?

  

  There is no doubt that talent is highly coveted in the employment marketplace, and that’s the case regardless of the condition of the economy. Every organization has a goal to hire the best candidates as employees.  In addition, every organization desires to keep its...

• What It Really Means When a Company Runs a Job Ad

  

  Nothing happens in the world without desire—specifically, a person (or people’s) desire to make something happen.  This also applies to the world of employment, including the hiring of employees. For example, let’s say that officials at a company decide they want to...

• 5 Things on Your Resume That Are Outdated

  

  There’s no question that your resume is one of the most important tools of your job search.  It’s quite possibly what gets “your foot in the door” at a company that’s looking to fill an important position. As such, there’s a good chance that you’ve taken meticulous...

• There Are No Coincidences When It Comes to Hiring Top Talent

  

  Hiring the top talent in the marketplace is not a “crapshoot.”  It’s not a matter of “dumb luck” or “good fortune,” either.  As a company, either you’re doing what it is necessary to find, recruit, and hire the top people in the industry—or you’re not. I was recently...

• 3 Reasons to Always Have Your Resume Ready

  

  There’s no doubt that you’re busy, and there’s probably a rather good chance that you believe you’re too busy to give the proper amount of attention to your resume. “Why bother?” you might be saying.  “My job is secure.  There’s no reason to update my resume.” As we...

• 5 Reasons Why Using a RPO Firm Doesn’t Work in a Specialized Niche

  

  Let me start by saying that I can certainly understand why companies would want to outsource all or part of their recruiting activities to an external service provider. After all, hiring is a crucial part of a company’s ability to compete and grow in the marketplace,...

• What a Recruiter Loves to Hear: ‘Thank You For Changing My Life’

  

  Recruiting is not the easiest job in the world.  However, it can very rewarding, especially when you receive an email like the one I recently received. That email was sent to me by somebody who I’ve placed in two positions so far in their career.  The email contained...

• 4 Things Your Employer Might Do When You Resign

  

  Accepting an offer of employment from another company and starting down the path of a great new career opportunity is certainly exciting.  However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. After all, you have to resign from your current employer. To be sure, this situation...

• 5 Points for Selling Your Employment Opportunity to a Candidate

  

  The employment marketplace is much different than it was five years ago.  It’s even different than it was three years ago. In short, employees—especially top employees—no longer feel “lucky to have a job.”  (It could be argued that they never felt that way; after all,...

• The Perils of ‘Renegotiating’ Your Current Employment Situation

  

  Quite often in our newsletters and blog posts we share real-life stories that illustrate what to do and what not to do during the interviewing and hiring process.  These case studies serve as excellent examples of how to brand yourself within the industry and position...

• 4 Main Reasons Companies Use Executive Recruiting Firms

  

  No matter the unemployment rate, the degree of difficulty involved in finding top-tier talent remains the same.  That was true before the Great Recession, and it’s true today. Actually, it could be argued that for companies attempting to find the candidates they need...

• The Best Candidates Want These 4 Things, NOT Money

  

  We’ve discussed on more than one occasion (in both our newsletter and our blog) the importance of treating passive candidates differently from active job seekers.  That’s because what motivates one group does NOT motivate the other group. The most important...

• 4 Questions to Ask Yourself This Summer

  

  Believe it or not, the year is already halfway over.  (That happened quickly, didn’t it?)  While summer is here and it’s certainly time to take vacation, enjoy yourself, and attempt to strike some sort of “work-life balance,” this is also a great time to ask a few...

• The Employment Application: Why Attention to Detail Matters

  

  In today’s employment and hiring environment, nothing can be taken for granted. If you’re seeking a better opportunity, one that could lead to greater career advancement and satisfaction, then you need to make sure that “your i’s are dotted and your t’s are crossed” ....

• 5 Ways to Convince a Candidate to Accept Your Offer

  

  As has been proven time and again, anything can go wrong during any stage of the hiring process, and that includes during the offer stage. In fact, the offer stage is definitely not the time to lose focus, if for no other reason than it’s one of the most important...

• 3 Ways Hiring Positive People Helps Your Bottom Line

  

  When it comes to hiring the best candidates available in the marketplace, companies focus a great deal on expertise and experience—in other words, the “hard skills” that they have to offer. However, it’s the “soft skills” that can mean the difference between hiring...

• Your ‘Brother’s Meth Lab’ and 4 Other Major Interview Mistakes

  

  It’s common knowledge that the face-to-face interview is one of the most important parts of the hiring process.  Doing well during the interview is a prerequisite for receiving an offer of employment. You might not know that, though, judging by the behavior of some...

• 4 Ways Hiring a Team of People Gives You a Competitive Edge

  

  As we’ve explored on numerous occasions in our monthly newsletter, superstar candidates are still very difficult to first find and then successfully recruit. In fact, considering how many people are currently in the market for a new job—both employed and unemployed—it...

• 4 Healthy Questions to Ask About Your Employer

  

  No matter how satisfied you are with your current employment situation, it’s always a good idea to “audit” your employer. That sounds serious, but what exactly does that mean? It’s not as serious as it sounds.  However, when taken into the larger context of your...

• 3 Important Questions to Ask About Your Job Search

  

  Everybody wants a job that’s fulfilling, challenging, and rewarding.  Not only that, but everybody believes (or hopes) that they’re doing everything in their power to achieve that goal. However, for those who are currently yearning for more career satisfaction by...

• 4 Reasons to Get Rid of a Bad Hire as Quickly As Possible

  

  We’ve written numerous times, both in our blog and in our monthly newsletter, regarding the dangers of making a bad hire. However, sometimes bad hires do happen.  When they do, the key for the company is to rectify the situation as quickly as possible. The reason? ...

• Is 2014 the ‘Year of the Passive Job Seeker’?

  

  Over the past few years, there has been a growing trend in the world of employment: the most qualified candidates in the job market have become more difficult to find. According to a recent CNNMoney.com article, that trend will continue during all of 2014.  In fact,...

• Will 2014 Be the ‘Year of the Raise’ . . . for YOU?

  

  There’s a good chance that you’re expecting to receive a raise this year.  However, the question probably weighing on your mind is this one: just how big is that raise going to be? According to a recent article in USA Today, 2014 could very well be the “Year of the...

• 7 Things That Every Manager Should Do in 2014

  

  The New Year means a fresh start for companies, department managers, and team leaders, including new opportunities for increasing production and generating more revenue. However, how can companies accomplish this?  Times may have changed and technology continues to...

• 3 Strategies for Boosting Your Career in 2014

  

  It’s a New Year, one filled with the potential for new possibilities, especially in regards to your career. The fact of the matter is that 2013 was one of the best years for the economy in the past five, and it appears that it’s still in the process of picking up...

• 4 Reasons to Stay in Touch with Former Co-Workers

  

  Whenever you accept an offer of employment and explore a new career opportunity, you leave others behind—specifically, your former co-workers. When it comes to networking, some people believe the practice primarily pertains to meeting new people.  However, that’s not...

• 3 Tips for Reducing Workplace Stress in 2014

  

  Reducing stress is a goal of just about everybody in the employment workplace—and that definitely includes managers and team leaders. In fact, according to a study conducted by Harris Interactive for Everest College earlier this year, 83% of American workers say they...

• Why the Semi-Retired Can Provide You with Hiring Flexibility

  

  During the last few years, many companies (if not most) have been trying to “do more with less” in the area of workforce management.  In other words, get more done with fewer employees. This approach provides plenty of challenges, especially when there are more...

• 4 Instances When You Should Contact Your Recruiter

  

  In numerous articles and blog posts, we’ve addressed the benefits of working with an executive recruiter to help advance your career with exciting new opportunities. If you ARE working with a recruiter, we’d like to discuss instances when you should contact them for...

• Presenting the ‘X Factor’ for Hiring Superstar Candidates

  

  You’ve probably experienced this, or at the very least, heard a story about it. A company interviews a candidate and screens them with various tests, and the candidate is a perfect fit in just about every way.  They have all of the technical skills, a solid history of...

• Emphasize THIS to Make Your Resume Stand Out

  

  Everybody is looking for an edge when it comes to their resume.  They want to set it apart and make it look different, so that it catches the eye of the hiring manager. However, many job seekers and potential candidates focus on the wrong things in their varied...

• 3 Tips for ‘Hitting a Home Run’ During Your Face-to-Face Interview

  

  It’s September, which means the Major League Baseball regular season is winding down and the pennant races are heating up.  With that in mind, this is great opportunity to discuss how you can “hit a home run” during your face-to-face interview. We’ve blogged before...

• 3 Factors to Determine if You Should Hire Now . . . or Wait

  

  One of the toughest decisions that a company has to make is whether they should hire right now or continue searching for a better candidate. Of course, there are no “tried and true” answers to this dilemma, mainly because the answer is individual to the company and...

• 3 Ways to Determine What You’re Worth as an Employee

  

  People weigh many different factors when they’re deciding whether or not to make a move in their career and pursue another opportunity. Their chances for advancement, the degree to which they’re fulfilled, and their work-life balance are just a few of the factors...

• 4 Ways to Make Sure Your New Hire Doesn’t Take Another Offer

  

  Okay, you’ve extended an offer to your top candidate.  They accept the offer and turn in their two-week notice. Then, two weeks later, they don’t show up for their first day of work. What happened?  They either accepted a counter-offer from their current employer OR...

• The 6 ‘Realities’ of Employee Job Satisfaction

  

  Due to the uncertain nature of the current economy, some employees might not be giving much thought to their level of job satisfaction.  After all, they should be “happy to have a job,” right? While that may sound like it makes sense, the fact of the matter is that...

• 6 Ways to Attract More Top Performers

  

  Every company wants to attract more top performers, the best candidates that exist within the industry.  But how many companies plan to attract those top performers? After all, isn’t hiring the best and brightest an important enough endeavor to necessitate a plan for...

• Be Prepared for These 4 Straightforward Interview Questions

  

  Hiring and—by extension—interviewing continue to evolve, and those wishing to advance the scope of their careers must evolve right along with them. Companies are constantly compiling different interview questions in their never-ending quest to find and hire the best...

• 4 Questions to Identify Who’s About to Leave Your Company

  

  When it comes to retaining your best employees, owning a crystal ball would come in handy.  After all, those who have plans to leave rarely tell you in advance. Well, they’ll tell you two weeks in advance, but not much more than that. So the question is this: since...

• 4 Ways to Tell if It’s Time to Launch a Job Search

  

  The recent economic recession produced many negative consequences in the job market.  Some of them have been obvious (a high unemployment rate, for example), but some of them have been less obvious.   One of the less obvious consequences involves people who are...

• Have an Under-performing Employee? Take These 10 Steps

  

  A company works at its best when it has top employees at every position, with all of them performing to the best of their abilities.   While that should constantly be the goal, it’s certainly not always the case.  Employees could fall short of expectations for a...

• 6 Ways to Tell if You’ve Hired a Loyal Employee

  

  When you hire a new employee—especially somebody considered to a superstar and who is expected to make an immediate impact—you’d like for that employee to be loyal. After all, you’re investing a tremendous amount of time, energy, and money into them.  Their loyalty...

• 3 Ways to Turn ‘Career Regret’ into Career Satisfaction

  

  It’s possible that everyone, to some degree, suffers from a case of “career regret.”  Specifically, they believe that they “should have” done this or “shouldn’t have” done that in regards to certain decisions during their life. However, no matter how big or small your...

• 4 Reasons You Should be More Assertive During Your Interview

  

  There’s a certain myth that exists about face-to-face interviews, and that myth can be summed up as follows: The people conducting the interview are the ones who have the power and the control.  The person being interviewed should take a more subdued and passive...

• 2 BIG Reasons Why Attitude is Important to Your Company

  

  What do you look for in a truly great candidate, an A-level player who could conceivably have a huge impact on your company and it’s bottom line? An impressive and multi-faceted skill set?  Extensive experience?  Credentials, certifications, and awards?  A proven...

• How to Avoid Working for Another Bad Boss at Your New Job

  

  Let’s face it: one of the reasons that people look to change jobs is because they don’t like their boss, for one reason or another.  Maybe you’re one of these people.  Perhaps you’ve tried to make it work.  You’ve done all the things that a good employee should do,...

• 6 Steps for Keeping Your Best Employees Satisfied

  

  In last month’s blog post, we presented “6 Key Factors for Motivating Employees Who Are Unmotivated.”  This month, we’re going to explore steps for keeping your best employees satisfied. Given the current state of the economy, you might think that those people who are...

• 2 Important Tips for Finding a Great New Position

  

  These days, there seems to be never-ending advice for those seeking a new job, but it’s often difficult to decipher which advice is the best. There are many factors to consider, including whether or not the person conducting the search is an active job seeker or a...

• 6 Key Factors for Motivating Employees Who Are Unmotivated

  

  Every company, department, or team has employees who can be classified as “high achievers” . . . and those who are not included in that category. However, these employees should not be dismissed—either literally or figuratively—without attempting to motivate them to...

• How Will Your Company Find the Top Talent It Needs in 2013?

  

  A New Year is upon us, and the employment marketplace is as competitive as ever. That hasn’t changed. What has changed, though, is how companies find the top talent they need. First, of course, every company must recognize that a high unemployment rate does NOT...

• Don’t Be Afraid to ‘Seize’ the Opportunity of Change in 2013!

  

  The end of the year brings with it a sense of closure . . . but it also brings with it a sense of excitement, since a New Year filled with new possibilities is just around the corner. Some of those possibilities (especially the ones tied to your career) involve the...

• Is Your Current Job a Matter of Incentives . . . or Motivation?

  

  Recently, CNNMoney.com interviewed Harvard business school professor Clayton Christensen, co-author of the book How Will You Measure Your Life? Christensen has faced a myriad of health problems in recent years, suffering a heart attack and being diagnosed with...

• 4 Traits to Look for in a Great Recruiter

  

  While it’s true that recruiters can provide value by helping companies find and recruit top-notch talent, not all recruiters are great.  (Which, of course, makes recruiting like any other profession.) So how can you tell the great recruiters from the average ones? ...

• 5 Tips for Checking a Candidate’s References

  

  How a candidate’s references are checked can vary widely from company to company (and maybe even from position to position). However, one thing that’s universal is that everybody wants to use reference checks as effectively as possible, so that they contribute to a...

• 4 Reasons You Should Be Conducting a Passive Job Search

  

  Everybody has an idea of what their “dream job” would be.  There are some people who are working their “dream job” . . . but those people are in the minority. You might be currently employed, and you may even like your job, but there’s a good chance it’s not the job...

• Six Things You Should Absolutely Tell Your Recruiter

  

  The relationship that you have with your recruiter is similar to your other relationships: the more communication that occurs within that relationship, the better it’s going to be for everybody. While it’s true that the relationship you have with a...

• 6 Tips for a Successful Phone Interview

  

  Many times, candidates put more stock in a face-to-face interview than they do a phone interview. This is a mistake, since you won’t make it to the former without making a favorable impression during the latter. A phone interview is also referred to as a “phone...

• 5 Ways to Keep Your Superstars from Burning Out and Leaving

  

  While many companies might be preoccupied with the problem of finding new superstars to fill their open positions, there’s another problem of which they might not be fully aware. That problem is this: retaining the superstars they already have—or at the very least,...

• 3 Tips for Saying Focused During Your Interview

  

  It goes without saying that if you don’t stay focused during your face-to-face interview, it could cost you a job you really want. Sure, you’re nervous and it’s difficult to concentrate, but it’s crucial that you do so.  With that in mind, below are three tips for...

• Does Your Company Have a Mentoring Program?

  

  In the August issue of our employer newsletter, we brought to light a recent incident regarding the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and what that incident could teach about workforce management. Workforce management, of course, is about more than just finding and hiring the...

• Focus on the Present to Help Ensure Career Success in the Future

  

  Have you ever noticed how an unrewarding job can quickly translate into an unrewarding career? At least, that’s the way it can feel when you’re at work, thinking about how unfulfilled you are and wondering if you ever will be. While it might seem counter-intuitive,...

• Why and When Good Candidates ‘Tune You Out’

  

  One of the things that’s often difficult to remember in this type of marketplace (i.e., one that contains a lot of job seekers) is that candidates—especially high-quality candidates—will “tune you out.” That’s right. You have an opening, you’re trying to fill that...

• 5 Tips for Achieving a Better Work-Life Balance

  

  Summer is more than just a great time to have fun. It’s also a great time to reflect on your career, specifically your work-life balance and what you can do to enhance it. It’s a well-documented fact that Americans work long and hard—in most cases, longer and harder...

• 10 Questions to Ask During Your Interview

  

  An employment interview is NOT a one-way street.  Not only should you ask questions of your own, you’re expected to do so.  This shows not only interest on your part in the opportunity, but also initiative—and both could curry favor with those conducting the...

• 3 Steps for Addressing Under-performing Employees

  

  Despite the current economic climate, there are still employees in the workforce who are not “engaged” at their company.  In other words, they don’t display passion or enthusiasm about their job, and as a result, their production suffers. While companies may have...

• Why Hiring the Best People is a Continuous Process

  

  In our May newsletter article, we stressed the importance of being proactive in your quest to find the best candidates to fill your open positions. The reasons for this are numerous.  Below are just a few of them: Superstar candidates don’t just show up as soon as you...

• 4 Things Companies Want During the Hiring Process

  

  Being involved in the recruiting and hiring process at a company can be an exciting time, especially if there’s a good chance that the company will extend an offer of employment to you.  It might be even more exciting if you’re part of the hiring process at two or...

• What It REALLY Means to Accept an Offer of Employment

  

  Let’s start by identifying what accepting an offer of employment is NOT, which would be the equivalent of saying (and thinking) like the following: “Yes, I accept your offer of employment, unless my current employer or some other company I’m interviewing with offers...

• If You Are NOT Proactive, You Will NOT Hire the Best Candidates

  

  While there are signs that the economy is improving and that employees are more open to making a change, there is still one fact that remains undisputable: A passive approach to hiring will not allow you to attract—nor hire—the best and brightest candidates available...

• Why Your Attitude Could Give You the ‘Interview Edge’

  

  Today’s job market is one of the most competitive in recent memory.  Job seekers (including passive ones) find themselves fighting to stand out from many other equally skilled and talented individuals.  Consequently, everybody is looking for that certain edge, one...

• Why Social Media Can’t Replace Search Firms, Part 2

  

  In our February blog post, we discussed how social media cannot, in fact, replace search firms in companies’ quest to find the best candidates for their open positions.  Why is that? Because identifying, recruiting, and hiring the people you need to help take your...

• Three Interview Mistakes That Are Easy to Forget

  

  A face-to-face interview can be very exciting, since candidates are one step closer to perhaps landing the job of their dreams and taking the next step in their career trajectory.  Sometimes, though, they lose track of their behavior in all that excitement. On the one...

• Why Social Media Can’t Replace Search Firms, Part 1

  

  Technology is always changing and advancing.  That’s one thing that’s constant, and it’s constant in all areas of life, including the world of recruiting and hiring. In recent years, that ever-changing technology has given birth to social media.  Three of the biggest...

• How to ‘Visualize’ Your Interview Success

  

  A face-to-face interview can be daunting for anybody, no matter how many interviews they’ve been through or how much success they’ve enjoyed during their career.  In fact, interviews can be downright stressful, and not being able to handle that stress can prove...

• How the ‘Personal Touch’ Will Attract the Candidates You Want

  

  What gives you a better chance of hiring the type of superstar candidates you want to hire in this market? The “personal touch,” that’s what. Who says so? The superstars themselves. TEKsystems, a leading provider of IT staffing solutions, recently...

• A Tale of ‘The Offer That Got Away’

  

  Every candidate involved in the hiring process appreciates feedback during each stage of the process. Feedback lets the candidate know exactly what is going on and where they stand. After all, communication is a cornerstone of any successful endeavor that involves...

• Do YOU Feel Trapped in Your Current Job?

  

  The title of this blog post is a fair question to ask—and this is why: According to a recent poll of over 1,000 employees in North America by Right Management, the talent and career management expert within the Manpower Group, workers feel trapped in their jobs and...

• How Retiree Re-Staffing Can Give You What You Need

  

  Companies have trimmed back in a lot of areas during the past few years, but there’s one area in which no company can afford to cut—knowledge and expertise. Unfortunately, many companies have suffered such losses and are struggling to recover in the face of nearly...

• Here’s One Resolution You SHOULD Make Every Year

  

  The new year is here!  You know what that means, don’t you?  That’s right . . . New Year’s Resolutions. For some of you, making (and either breaking or keeping) New Year’s Resolutions might be an annual event.  Others might not even give New Year’s Resolutions a...

• Why a ‘Job Hopper’ Could be Your Next Superstar

  

  Everybody wants to hire a superstar to join their team.  Nobody wants to hire a “job hopper,” so to speak, but everybody wants a superstar to “hop” from another company to theirs. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to why companies should NOT...

• Why Superstar Candidates Aren’t Breaking Down Your Door

  

  So you have an opening for a new position.  You’re posting that job opening on your company’s website and also on LinkedIn.  That means you should have a horde of superstar candidates from which to choose in no time, right? Well . . . maybe not. While it’s true that...

• Should You Stay . . . or Should You Go Now?

  

  Thirty years ago, an English punk rock band by the name of The Clash released what became a hit song.  The title of the song was, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”  A sampling of that song’s lyrics is below: Should I stay or should I go now? If I go, there will be...

• Why Companies Need to Make a Mental Hiring Shift

  

  There is a troubling phenomenon occurring in the marketplace right now, specifically related to companies and their attitudes toward the recruiting and hiring process.  That phenomenon can be explained as follows: Companies (naturally) only want to hire the best and...

• Take Stock of Your Current Employment Situation

  

  The end of the year is quickly approaching, and 2012 will be here before you know it.  This is an excellent time to take stock of where you are right now, specifically in terms of your current employment situation. A new year could mean a new beginning and a fresh...

• Six Ways Using a Recruiter Saves You Both Time and Money

  

  If you’re a hiring manager or authority, you may have wondered at one time or another, why you should work with a recruiter in an effort to help fill important positions.  In fact, you might have asked yourself, “What value does a recruiter bring to the hiring...

• Five Ways a Search Consultant Can Protect Your Company

  

  What have you done to protect your company? Have you hired the best lawyers you could find to handle your legal affairs? Have you hired the best accountants you could find to handle your financial affairs? You certainly have. So you’ve protected yourself both legally...

• Who to Call When Conducting Reference Checks

  

  The first step in planning your reference checking is knowing who to call and choosing who to call.  If possible, you want to speak with the most unbiased people possible about the candidate.  Yes, the candidate submitted them as a reference because they believe the...

• Why Your Behaviors Are Important to Companies

  

  What companies want to know during an interview is whether or not the candidate will be able to help them in the future—make the company more productive, more profitable, etc.  The traditional interview method only goes so far in that direction.  It paints a picture...

• Preparation is the Key to Effective Reference Checks

  

  What does your company do when it comes to checking references? There are different schools of thought regarding this topic.  On one hand, some company officials don’t check any references.  They believe it’s a waste of time.  After all, the people with whom they’ll...

• Be Aware of (and Prepared for) the Evolving Interview Process

  

  Everything about the job market these days is evolving.  Not all of that evolution is due to the most recent recession, although the downturn has definitely played a large role.  Something which has been evolving for the past several years has been the interview...

• Important Elements of Your Job Description

  

  In our previous blog post, we posed a series of important questions to ask about your job description, questions that will help you to clearly define the core responsibilities of the position and ensure that you hire the best candidate possible.  Now that those...

• Your Family, Your Career, and Your Job Analysis

  

  So—what are the final factors you should consider when conducting an analysis of your current job situation?  We’ve already tackled the topics of passion and the role that your company plays.  The final two factors might just be equally as important—or even more...

• The Company’s Role in Your Job Analysis

  

  We’ve already discussed the fact that passion is probably the number-one factor when it comes to analyzing your current job situation.   But what about the role that your current company plays in your job analysis?  There are two factors that are associated with that...

• The Role of Passion in Your Job Analysis

  

  If you’re conducting an analysis of your current job situation, which criteria should you consider?  After all, making the decision to look for a new job is a big step.  It involves a tremendous commitment of time, energy, and effort, and therefore, it shouldn’t be...

• There’s a Difference Between ‘Satisfied’ and ‘Happy’

  

  In our previous blog post, we discussed the “hunker down” mode in which many employees have been working during the past two to three years and the fact that they’ve been reluctant to actively search for a new job despite their desire to do so. One of the main reasons...

• Have You Been ‘Hunkered Down’ at Your Job?

  

  After what has seemed like a prolonged and rather painful recovery, the economy appears to be finally gaining some traction. While it’s impossible to predict the future, there’s a good chance that the rest of 2011 will see continued growth and improvement. As a...