A jobs market survey of more than 3000 people has found almost every applicant for a role using an online jobs board has been frustrated by the process, and 61 per cent rarely or never heard back about the position.
Recruitment firm and talent management company LiveHire found that across the past two years 48 per cent of respondents had applied for more than 25 jobs, and more than a third had applied for at least 50 jobs.
While the most commonly used platform for job seeking was online, less than 1 per cent had a positive experience.
LiveHire founder Mike Haywood says the reactive job application process makes people feel rejected, incompetent and depressed.
“If you want to get a job today, you need to talk to a human, not a machine or computer that puts a CV into a database and you’re never heard from again. Successful job applicants are joining talent communities and also leveraging their own personal network.”
Tips include creating one presentable online profile to share across platforms, expanding networks through referrals, meeting hiring decision-makers, and joining a talent community within an organisation that allows people to contact human resources managers directly.
A SPARKLING CV
Platinum Professional Training chief executive Jeff Poe says there are five points people should include in their curriculum vitae to ensure they stand out.
PPT is one of the nation’s largest training companies. With offices nationally, it has helped people improve skills and on-the-job practical experience through training courses, internships and other services.
Poe’s tips include showing personality through hobbies and interests, keeping it simple by avoiding pages of details, limiting employment history to recent years, showing potential employers what you can do through a show reel or a website, and including outstanding lifetime achievements.
MIND THE SKILL GAP
Hays Australia and New Zealand managing director Nick Deligiannis says interviews are no longer the sole domain of the permanent recruitment process.
Many employers are opting for interviews that involve potential employees completing a temporary assignment or contract. “There is no room for growth and development in a temporary assignment, so you must prove you’ll successfully and immediately fill the organisation’s skill gap,” Deligiannis says.
Hays advises candidates to ask for a copy of the job description before the interview to align skills with company needs. Deligiannis says candidates must be able to adjust to a new environment quickly, and anticipating examples will help. He says as it is important to get along with existing employees, candidates could explain that professionalism is key to achieving workplace harmony.
PERSONAL TOUCH
Firms should encourage managers to use personal assets to form bonds with clients rather than maintaining a strictly professional relationship.
Michelle Rogan and Louise Mors, from INSEAD business school in France, say many firms choose not to use this approach as they are worried if a manager chooses to leave the firm their clients will leave with them.
“Doing so may place the firm at a greater risk of losing clients if an executive should leave and give executives more leverage when bargaining for position or salary, but the overall benefits to the firm outweigh these vulnerabilities,” Rogan says.
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