March 9th, 2010 by Hillary
Whether a recruiter or a job-seeker, it may be helpful to be reminded every now and then that soft skills are an important component to a well-rounded candidate. A recent article in SI Review reported that strong work ethic is the most sought-after soft skill, according to the respondents of an Express Employment Professionals survey.
Here’s a recap of the soft skills cited in the survey and how respondents ranked them by importance:
- Strong work ethic – 23%
- Positive attitude – 17%
- Communication – 11%
- Being a team-player -10%
- Flexibility – 9%
- Being a problem solver -7%
- Being self-directed – 5%
- Working well under pressure – 5%
- Being a quick learner – 4%
- Organizational skills – 3%
- Creativity – 1%
Soft skills are also known as transferable skills and employers are always looking out for valuable examples of those that transfer most directly to their open position. A resume should pinpoint a few (1-3) specific soft skills and how they have been applied in a current position. Substantiating them with strong examples will add more credibility and engage a hiring manager. A resume with a laundry list of soft-skills can have the opposite effect. Hiring managers will learn more about your soft skills during the interview, so on a resume be sure to highlight only those most relevant to the open position, don’t build a generic list. For more examples of how you can infuse valuable soft skills in to your resume, check out these tips from Executive Resume Writer, Laura Smith-Proulx.
Tags: employment advice, job seekers, Recruiting
Posted: Hiring Practices, Jobseeker Resources, Uncategorized | No Comments »
February 26th, 2010 by Hillary
I recently came across an article on the CareerBuilder blog titled, “7 steps to Must-Read Job Postings.” Job Postings are often the first time a candidate will get a good look at your company. That means your job posting can also be your first impression! CareerPlug’s employer-branded microsite recruiting campaigns will leave a great impression with top candidates. I’ll break down some of the steps CareerBuilder lists and show you how CareerPlug’s model
is a sure bet!
2. Don’t Be Shy About Showing Off the Goods
You have four day work weeks? The top selling agent of the year gets a new car? We can understand you don’t want to brag too much about your company’s exciting opportunities, but let us! As a third party to the candidate-employer dynamic, we have no problem highlighting the coolest parts of your open position on the microsite. Sometimes something as trivial as a company dodge ball team can attract top-notch sales professionals. Let us brag for you; you leave a great first impression and we can get qualified candidates excited about your position!
4. Don’t be Vague
This one is two-fold with CareerPlug. First, we help to create a microsite that answers all the important questions about each position. Having qualifications, responsibilities, salary and benefits included in the microsite is a great way to grab quality candidates and weed out professionals who don’t fit the position. But, even with the best job postings, unwanted candidates will surely sneak by. This is why CareerPlug suggests specificity! We can look deeper into each candidate and further weed out candidates based on what each employer is looking for. By being specific about your position with CareerPlug, we can be sure we only send exactly what you want.
7. Double dip
CareerPlug really takes care of this for our clients. No need to worry about posting a job in a million places just to find the right candidate. CareerPlug’s high-volume recruiting campaigns will find all the top candidates across multiple recruiting resources – saving you both time and money.
Tags: High-Volume Recruiting, job posting, microsite, recruiting campaigns
Posted: Uncategorized | No Comments »