- Jobseeking is Hard
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- #68 - LinkedIn Profiles & Jobs
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Hey There!
Welcome to Issue #68 of Jobseeking is Hard!
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If anyone has any other ideas for giveaways, reply and let me know what you think would be helpful! I’ve gotten some great suggestions and I hope to implement some new giveaways in the next couple of weeks. And keep an eye on my LinkedIn and my Twitter for more info!
STUPID INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
I was asked, “Is this the only nice suit you own, or do you have others?”
Show up to the 2nd interview in this:
“If we were to get in your car right now, would you have to clear off the passenger seat for me?”
In interviews, there’s always a power dynamic at play. You want to gain the upper hand, so your response should be, “No, you would have to clear it off yourself.”
Total power move.
“Will you have a problem working with a boss who is younger than you?”
This is another example of how performative the job interview process is. If you want a job, you play the part and say the right things, regardless of how you actually feel.
I mean, seriously… who would say, "I will absolutely have a problem with it. I will be such a PITA. Sarcasm, passive aggressiveness, backstabbing, you name it."
No one. No one will say this. If you need a job, you will exhale, smile, and say, "No issue at all."
Now I’m curious…
Would you have a problem working with a boss who is younger than you?And since this is a safe space, tell me why... |
Want to share your stupid interview questions? Reply or email [email protected]
SPEAKING OF POLLS
Last week I asked you, “Have you ever been asked what animal you would be (fictional or otherwise)?” 44% of you said you had been asked this, which is waaaaaay too many. Do better interviewers.
Some of the best responses were:
"An elephant," I blurted. The interviewer appeared to be thrilled. "Why?"
"Well, I've been told I have a pretty good memory. Also, I have been known to occasionally lower my head and charge at people."
I don't remember my answer, but the interviewer laughed and said, "I thought you'd say giraffe because you're really tall."
I answered, “Either Godzilla, or T-Rex from Jurassic Park”
But my favorite is:
I said I would be a unicorn.
Well played.
COMMUNITY CATHARSIS
I applied to a job at a local agency who was looking for someone with experience in the sports marketing world.
I didn't hear anything for weeks. Then, when I was on a mountain bike trip, they finally called.
When I answered, they were all weird about how I was slightly out of breath. They asked if I could interview later that day. I said I couldn't since I was 150 miles away on my bike, but I offered to interview the next day. They begrudgingly agreed.
The next day, I arrived for my interview with a bit of a tan but in my finest suit.
In the interview, they claimed I was lying about biking and that I kept them waiting on purpose. The Managing Director stated that while I clearly had a problem with the truth, I was by far the best candidate, and then said, "Okay, we'll bring in the owner."
The owner looked me up and down, said, "You're better suited for Red Bull," and left without another word.
I have no idea what "a Red Bull person" would be.
I’m really sorry that you experienced that. I honestly don’t know what a “Red Bull person” is, but I don’t think anyone deserves that kind of rudeness, regardless of the choice of energy drink.
Rest assured, you absolutely dodged a bullet.
If there's a jobseeking horror story *you’d* like to share, reply or email [email protected]
HR & RECRUITING JOBS!
Attention HR and Recruiting Jobseekers!
Courtesy of Mike Wood from iCIMS, here’s a job board with more than 2,000 available HR and Talent roles with their customers, including 300+ remote roles! You can find the list here:
Know of any other good job boards? Send them along so we can share with everyone! Email us at [email protected] and let us know what job boards you use!
SHAMELESS PLUG
If your job search needs a little more help, Karpiak Consulting offers resume and LinkedIn services, as well as job search strategy coaching.
Who knows…maybe it’ll help you land your dream job like this person did! 🤷♂️
JOB SCAMS!
I'm 99% sure this is a scam. I can't figure out how.
The interview process was automated. Standard interview questions, but all email. After that, I got a pleasant phone call telling me an offer was incoming for a 2-week trial period where I would be a 1099 employee, and if it worked out, I move to a W2.
This all feels like a scam. Am I jaded and paranoid? They sent an EIN to prove legitimacy after the following exchange:
*NOTE* - I am redacting the company name and information, but otherwise leaving the message as is so you can take notice of the verbiage used.
Good morning,
In response to your request, I'm sending you additional details you can use to check our organization.
You can check the company legitimacy visit the New York State Business
Entity Database web site: ny.gov
To check the company's Legitimacy and discover more about us please use the following information:
Entity Name : [redacted]
ENTITY TYPE: DOMESTIC BUSINESS CORPORATION
DOS ID: [redacted]
DATE OF INITIAL DOS FILING: [redacted]
JURISDICTION: NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
EIN: [redacted]
New York State Business Entity Database:
You can learn the search process from [redacted url] and input the company's name [redacted] in Entity Name then choose "Corporation" in Entity list and click search the Database.
If you don't like to click links:
1) open and use a Google search
2) search for " New York State Business Entity Database "
3) search by Entity Name: use the entity name listed above this text
4) choose Name Type -> Active Only
5) choose Entity list - > Corporation
5) click search the Database
If you would go to New York registration web site yourself and visit ny.gov business search system, you will see that the company is really exists, the company puts out annual reports every year.
Also I've attached some pdf files for your review.
Thanks
This is absolutely a scam. Why? An actual company wouldn’t go through all of that to prove they exist. Look at this hiring market. With so many applicants, do you think a company would try so hard to prove “the company is really exists?”
So, what’s the scam? I have 2 guesses.
1) They want your bank account info to set up payment/direct deposit.
2) Since they want to start as a 1099 contractor, they will probably send the candidate a W9 to complete, hoping to obtain their social security info.
Be careful out there!
If you’re worried about a potential scam, send it to [email protected], and I’ll warn the community. And if you’ve been a victim of a job scam, the FTC has job scam reporting resources listed here.
SUBSCRIBER QUESTION
Frequently, a job is cross-posted to several sites (LI, Wellfound, Otta, etc.) in addition to their own website. I find myself constantly applying through their company website. Does it matter?
Good question! It does matter…sometimes. If you see a job posted on a site such as LinkedIn, Indeed, or Glassdoor, those sites host both native job postings (bought and created on that platform) as well as aggregated job postings, meaning they crawl other websites and pull job listings…sometimes inactive/closed ones.
Some of these aggregators refresh jobs that might be otherwise closed, hoping to boost their engagement stats (to be used for selling job postings/advertisements/premiere listings to companies or resume database search licenses to recruiters). So if you see a job that you are interested in, before you take the time to tweak your resume, write a cover letter (I’m sorry), upload your documents and then enter the same information manually, actually go to the company’s website first to see if the job is still open. Time is precious, especially in a job search, so you want to make sure every minute is used effectively.
Good luck!
**Premium Subscribers! Below in the Premium section, I’ll tell you why you might improve your interview chances if you apply via the company website instead of a job board!**
Have a question you want answered? Please reply to this email or email [email protected] for a chance to have me answer it in a future issue. If I still need to answer *your* question, don't worry. It's still in the inbox...no need to resubmit!
This week, I'm discussing:
A reason why you might want to apply via a company’s website vs. a job board.
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile for career transitions, including how to focus your Headline, About, and Skills sections!
And I’m debunking some resume advice about how to catch someone’s attention.
AFFILIATES
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Jobseekers, have a great rest of your week, and good luck with those applications!
-Adam
PS!! If you're enjoying the newsletter, let people know! Forward it, post it on social, tag me, whatever...the bigger the discussion, the better! The idea is to help as many people as possible!
About Adam- Recognized as a leading voice on hiring and workplace trends, Adam has been recruiting and providing career advice since 2003, developing high-trust relationships based on honesty with companies and jobseekers. A highly sought-after speaker, he has appeared in numerous outlets, including Bloomberg News, Business Insider, LinkedIn, and CNNMoney. You can find out more about Adam's resume and coaching services here.
Hey all! Thanks for being a premium member! I hope you find the additional info helpful as you navigate your job search.
A reason why you might want to apply via a company’s website vs. a job board:
When companies receive your resume, they know where you applied from. Some people will judge you for applying via Indeed or LinkedIn, thinking, "Oh, they're just spraying and praying with Easy Apply, hoping to get any interview."
But when you apply via their company website, these individuals feel that you are actually motivated to work for *their* company. The application feels more intentional, like you're a "serious" candidate and actually interested in working for them. This can actually improve your chances of getting an interview.
I'm not condoning this bias…just letting you know that the bias exists.
CAREER CLICKBAIT
Last week I read a LinkedIn post about how to catch a hiring manager's attention with your resume. One of the suggestions? Adding a photo to draw the reader in and make a connection.
Don't do this!
(In the US anyway…I know the expectations are different for various regions.)
Some recruiters or HR professionals won't pass the resume onto anyone internally for review if there is a picture, trying to mitigate risk due to potential bias issues. Some will request a new copy without a resume, but most people will move on as opposed to exposing the organization to potential bias claims.
There's a joke in recruiting that says, "The best way to get a recruiter's attention is to be qualified." (I never said it was a funny joke.) But the idea is that all recruiters care about is relevance, not resume format or gimmicks. So if you want an interview, focus on tweaking the resume so it mirrors the job posting, not a headshot.
This week’s Premium question was a response to a Premium Tip. To refresh your memory (or if you haven’t gotten it yet), Premium Tip #11 states:
If I were a recruiter, I wouldn't click on my LinkedIn profile if I appeared in the search results.
Why?
My headline.
Yes, recruiters search LinkedIn by keywords, job titles, and company names, but since there are so many search results, we (the "royal we," as in, we recruiters) tend to base who we view on the headline.
Our schedules are packed, so we try to guess which search results have the highest ROI, i.e., who will be the closest fit to what we are recruiting for. And one way we do this is by the profile's headline.
My headline is "Opinionated Recruiter. Candidate Therapist. Looking for a job sucks. I try to make it suck less. Your resume not getting interviews? I might know why." Now, it might be catchy, but in the world of recruiting, what's most catchy is "relevance." Based on my headline, you don't know how experienced I am or what I recruit for in what industries. So, I could be viewed as a "low percentage" fit for a recruiting role.
Keep that in mind when crafting your LinkedIn headline.
Are you a Retail Human Resources Director or a Craft Beer Enthusiast? Are you a Senior Commercial Property Accountant or an Aioli Aficionado?
Relevance matters.
So a Premium subscriber replied, "Can you elaborate on this a bit more? Particularly for someone looking to transition roles? I'm also currently unemployed! Should my title be what I'm looking for or the essential skills I bring to the table?”
Good question! Your headline should highlight your relevancy for the roles you are targeting, not necessarily the titles you have held. This is especially important for transitions.
One of the quickest (and easiest) ways recruiters evaluate your relevance is by job title. It's also one of the laziest ways, as job titles don't necessarily relate to what you WANT to do but what you have already done. Considering most people don't want to make lateral moves, one way to indicate your interest in growth/transitions is to control your narrative.
When looking for a job, the most successful way to get interviews is to show the recruiter or hiring manager that you are the solution to their pain point (the open job). You do that by positioning yourself as a relevant candidate, highlighting the skill and experience you bring to the table FOR THAT SPECIFIC ROLE, not your general background.
For example, if I am speaking to a Recruiting Coordinator who wants to focus on administrative roles, I would coach them on using a headline centered around being an administrative professional, focusing on the coordinating aspect, NOT the recruiting aspect. Recruiting is the industry, but coordinating is the job. So, I suggest structuring the headline like this:
[impactful descriptor] [job title you would like to be considered for, leveraging the relevant skills in your background] [years of experience with relevant skills to demonstrate proficiency] [anything specific about your background that you'd like to call attention to]
High-Performing Senior Administrative Professional with 6+ years' experience optimizing processes
So, if a recruiter is looking for an administrative professional, which profile would they be more likely to click on in all search page pages? "Recruiting Coordinator" or "High-Performing Senior Administrative Professional?"
Make sure that you maximize the impact of your Skills section. Think of the Skills as SEO, and you want to appear on Page 1 of the search results, so list all of the skills you have that are necessary for the job(s) you are targeting, both experience-based and computer-based. Be sure to include skills you’ve acquired in any classes you have taken to help your career transition and projects you’ve worked on. Paid experience isn’t the only way to develop skills!
In the About section, you want to fully explain your background as it relates to the job you want, not the job you have/had, so talk about how you’ve used the required skills, focusing on the skill, not the different job/industry in which you’ve worked. Skills are skills, regardless of industry.
I hope that helps! Good luck!
That's it for now, and send in those questions! Don't forget to put "Premium" in the subject line so I can stay organized!
Do you have any thoughts or suggestions for the premium membership? Let me know! The premium tier is a work in progress, and I want to create something of real value for subscribers.
Have a good one!
Join the conversation