Tag Archives: LinkedIn

LET’S GET SOMETHING STRAIGHT – WE’RE HERE TO HELP

Posted on March 21, 2013 | Leave a comment

BY: Adam Gavriel

If you have been keeping up with the blog here at OutOfOurMind, you may realize that the name is fitting to the personality.  You especially understand this concept if you’ve taken a jump over to CrossroadsConsulting.com to check out our unique job postings.  On our website you won’t read the kind of coma-inducing  job postings you find virtually everywhere on the web when you’re looking for jobs. Crossroads Consulting differentiates itself from the competition in that our ads are, “Fresher-and-Bolder,” (to borrow the name of Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller‘s travelling comedy show).

Obviously there’s the elements there that you need to know when you read a job description, i.e., the qualifications and such, but there is also a boat load of humor and personality; something desperately missing from the employment market.  Continue reading →

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LINKEDIN – HOOKUP FOR WORK

Posted on February 14, 2013 | Leave a comment

BY: Adam  Gavriel 

You may have found yourself reading our last blog here on why submitting resumes online is like throwing them into a black hole, and perhaps gotten a bit down in the dumps. We understand that not everyone is going to have that “inside man” that they need to get their resume to the right person and get that best chance of being hired (that’s why we so highly recommend using us! More on that later).

What LinkedIn provides to the user is a way to try and meander their way inside.

LinkedIn, in its essence, is the everyday market place for hiring, looking for work, and making connections. The big three in what it takes to get from the unemployment line to the bank. LinkedIn has its uses whether you’re a recruiter, someone looking for work, or a company looking to expand your market value and awareness.

First off, if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, make one today. If you Google yourself, you’ll find that the first thing that comes up (if you have a profile) is your LinkedIn profile. If I Google my own name, it goes in this order: LinkedIn, and my two Twitter profiles. If a company is seriously looking at making you their new hire, you better believe that they’re going to be putting in the research on you.

With a LinkedIn profile, these companies will find all the useful information they need to find on you in one place. LinkedIn is like having another digital resume to re-affirm everything you’ve already told to the company.

Some quick tips for LinkedIn users:

Make sure your profile is 100% complete. This means having all of your work experience on there (benefit, it can be longer than one page on LinkedIn), having a photograph of yourself (keep it professional, this isn’t Facebook!), and even including what areas you’re looking for work. Right away companies can see everything they need to know about you. This is your “home base” for LinkedIn, and what hiring managers will be looking at.

LinkedIn provides a much deeper service though, as it is also an online job board. Utilize the “saved searches” function and make sure you set it to update to your e-mail as often as you need it. You can have multiple saved searches where you change a keyword, or you can have a saved search for all the locations that you’d like to keep available to you. With the e-mail update function, you’ll have a weekly reminder that there are more jobs that you should be looking at within your saved searches.

One of the most underrated functions of LinkedIn is that on all the job ads, it is visible who posted the ad. Not just the company, but the LinkedIn user that posted that specific job ad. This makes it much easier to personalize your cover letter and trust me, that goes a long way.

Unlike Facebook, on LinkedIn you can even see who views your profile page. If you upgrade to LinkedIn pro (which comes highly recommended) you can see a full list of those who view your profile. LinkedIn pro also gives you the opportunity to send an “InMail” to another LinkedIn user, providing another way to get your foot in the door, and keep those connections climbing.

In a recent update, LinkedIn has allowed users to “endorse” other users on their skills. We understand the want to keep all your connections happy; however we HIGHLY recommend that you do not endorse anyone whose work you cannot specifically vouch for. If you endorse blindly, it looks bad for you and the user that you have endorsed. If you are going to take the time out of your day to endorse another user, make it count, and make sure it’s from the heart.

That should be enough to get you going and get yourself started on LinkedIn and building your professional network.

If you do decide to join LinkedIn today, remember to follow us at Crossroads Consulting to keep up with all things in our recruiting world.

At Crossroads Consulting we want to be your first step in busting out into the career of your dreams. With job openings spanning across the nation, and a resume service, there’s no excuse to not be contacting us today!

Remember, we’re here to put the ‘human’ back into ‘human resources’

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TWELVE TIPS FOR 12-12-12

Posted on December 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

BY: Adam Gavriel

Whether you follow the American DD/MM/YY model, or the European MM/DD/YY model of the date, today’s date is 12/12/12, the last repeating date of this century. To me, this is just another one of those menial things that people tend to make a big deal about for a little bit, and then forget soon after. However this date could bring more in significance due to Madison Square Garden’s 12/12/12 concert to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy tonight, which is sure to be a fantastic event. But I digress…

In honor of the day, here are 12 tips to hopefully get you hired faster!

  1. Make sure your resume is right. Nothing turns off HR professionals quicker than a poorly written resume. Make sure your spelling is correct, and your grammar is top notch.
  2. Include a cover letter. The cover letter seems to be a lost art these days. I know when I get cover letters; I read them word for word. It’s another area to talk about your skills a little more in-depth than your resume to make sure the hiring professional has the most information necessary to gauge your skills.
  3. Connect. Connect. Connect. You never know when your neighbor, acquaintance, friend of a friend, friend, old boss, old co-worker, etc… etc… can come in handy in letting you know about that opportunity you’ve been waiting for.
  4. Take care of your “online persona.” This goes double for recent grads. One of the first thing potential employers is going to do is Google your name. Make sure your Facebook profile is clean, or the privacy settings are set to the max.
  5. LinkedIn. More people need to utilize LinkedIn. I myself have a Facebook profile, a LinkedIn profile, a few online blogs, and a couple of Twitter accounts. When I Google my name the first hit that comes up, aside from a few windsurfing videos of an Israeli man who shares my name (lucky for me), is my LinkedIn profile.
  6. References and recommendations, get them and use them. Another area where LinkedIn comes in handy as friends or employers are able to easily write recommendations for you.
  7. Utilize all available outlets. There are plenty of job boards on the web, not to mention job postings on company websites. The jobs are out there people, find them! (we can help you there….)
  8. Stay productive. As we’ve preached here before, time unemployed is not vacation time. Learn a new skill to put on your resume to set yourself apart from the millions of others out there looking for work. Learn a new language; make sure you utilize all outlets to help you get that position.
  9. If an application allows you to submit samples of your work, DO IT. Self-explanatory here. If you’re applying online and the website allows you to add a sample of work, do it. Writing samples, a work sample, any sample you can think of, upload it. You would be automatically ahead of everyone in the process who skipped that step.
  10. Phone interviews are not phony. If you’re lucky enough to get to this step, make it count. The phone interview is the screening process between those the company is willing to bring in in-person, and those who they will not be “wasting” their time on anymore.
  11. Don’t get down, and keep at it. We know the job-searching process is frustrating and can be, at times, downright devastating. More and more Americans each day are giving up their search to find employment. We implore you to stay at it, and help us get the countries unemployment levels back to a reasonable number!

And of course, last but not least…

  1. USE US HERE AT CROSSROADS CONSULTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are here to help, no way around it. With over 50 current job openings across the nation, and resume optimization services, there is no reason NOT to be checking us out and asking us to assist you in your search for employment.

It is our belief that the job-hunting process should be relatively stress free, and we try to accommodate that mentality into our everyday work ethic. Remember, we’re here to put the ‘human’ back into ‘human resources.’

Contact us today!

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Posted in Crossroads Consulting, LLC, Hiring Company News, Interviewing, Job Seeker News, Resume

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EMPLOYMENT TIPS FOR A GRADUATING CLASS

Posted on May 25, 2012 | 1 Comment

BY: Adam Gavriel

A few weeks ago Mike Myatt, a contributor at Forbes.com, wrote an article on 10 tips for the Graduating Class of 2012. As one of the many graduates from that 2012 class who now founds himself entering what people like to call the “real-world” (which looks oddly like my parent’s house) I took to reading Mr. Myatt’s article.

Of his 10 tips I’m going to talk about one I love, one I hate, and one that was fairly obvious.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Crossroads Consulting, LLC, Hiring Company News, Interviewing, Job Seeker News, Resume, Social Media

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YOU WANT TO DO WHAT?

Posted on July 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

Resume Objective

BY: Adam Gavriel

Searching for a job right now? Take a look at your resume quick. If next to the objective you have something like “Looking to obtain a job in the marketing field” you have already found one of your problems. There’s a reason your objective is to be placed at the top of the resume and that’s because it is the gateway to the rest of your experiences and skills. It is used to prepare the reader, and hopefully future employer, about what your resume entails and what kind of skills you have built up over the years. However above all, you can use your resume to show the employer that you’re interested in helping them, but not just yourself.

Take a look back at the objective at the top of the blog here: “Looking to obtain a job in the marketing field.” One way to easily beef up this objective would be to simply add “Looking to obtain a job in the marketing field where I can apply my social media skills.” Right away you’re showing the employer what you’re all about, or what your biggest strength in the marketing field is. Then when the reader continues to read further down your resume they don’t need to be surprised that you have experience with social media.

Let’s take it even further.

When an employer is thinking about hiring a new employee they’re not thinking about how they can help that employee but how that employee can help their firm. Knowing this it’s never a bad thing to show the employer that you’re interested in applying your skills not to further your career but to aid the firm in their ultimate goal. “Looking to obtain a job in the marketing field where I can apply my social media skills in order to build and maintain rapport with clientele.” This objective notes that the main goal of this firm is to increase consumer opinion via social media. Going back to a few weeks ago where we blogged about researching the company before you interview, it would also be of great importance to research a company before you write your resume. If you can learn what the main goal of that firm is, and can somehow work it into your resume’s objective the hiring firm will know you’re serious when you send in your resume.

If this same firm’s main goal with social media was to increase consumer activity or consumer spending, that would work in the objective too: “Looking to obtain a job in the marketing field where I can utilize my social media skills in order to build sales and consumer loyalty.”

Right off the bat an objective that appeals directly to the firm will be of greater importance to the hiring manager rather than an objective that is bland, or only in place to build up the interviewee.

This is just one part of what Crossroads Consulting can offer you with our resume service. We will tackle your resume from top to bottom increasing its efficiency and making sure that when an employer reads your resume it best outlines your skills and presents you perfectly.

Remember that we’re always updating our job openings and also make sure to like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter!

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Employees Optimistic About Future Employment

Posted on July 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

BY: Adam Gavriel

According to an article published over at Rasmussen Reports, 40% of American workers believe that their next job will be better than their current job. Sticking with the theme of proverb’s here on www.outofourmind.netI would just like to say that “the grass is always greener on the other side.” This number of 40% is up 6 points since May and is at its highest level since April 2009.

Conversely, 18% say that their next job will be worse or the same, 18% say they will be retiring after their current position and 23% remain undecided.

Over the past year the range of confidence among workers that their next job would be better than the current one saw fluctuations from 27% to 34% which makes this extraordinary number of 40% a severe outlier in terms of recent data.

Also interesting to note is that 28% of those surveyed are currently looking for work.

Confidence levels in terms of whether or not it will be an employee’s decision to leave their current job remain stagnant from last month at 72% while 18% believe it will be their employer’s choice.

Finally of the 596 workers surveyed 39% plan on staying with their current employer for five years or more.

In an interesting turn of events about the same number of people plan on staying at their current position as those who believe their next job will be better than their current one. The sense of job security among those surveyed also remained constant in terms of whose decision it will be to terminate their current employment.

The most interesting of the numbers seems to be the glorified rise from 34% to 40% among workers who believe that their next job will be better than their current job. This goes back to a blog here on out of our mind reporting that new employees who are outside hires are hired at a higher salary than those who are promoted from within, which proves why employees may believe that their next job will be better than their current position, especially if they leave the company they’re currently working for.

Also interesting is the report that 14% of current employees have only been at their job for a year or less. This goes to show an increase in consulting jobs as many people have a hard time trying to find full employment and job from consulting job to consulting job.

At Crossroads Consultingour list of job openings is growing every day. Do you really believe that your next job will be better? Well, then why not start looking? Check out our job openings today and don’t hesitate to email us with any questions you may have. Even if there isn’t a job that you’re interested in send us your resume and we can keep it on file for you.

Also make sure to like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter!

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IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HASH

Posted on June 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

BY: Adam Gavriel

When twitter launched in mid Mid-July 2006 it launched itself as a social media tool that could be used for micro-blogging or consumer management. Fast-forward to today and twitter has evolved itself into its own monster. With upwards of 200 million users, twitter has become one of the main focal points of social media along with Facebook, LinkedIn and other tools.

What Twitter has over Facebook and LinkedIn are quick easy services that allow users to easily find what they want. One of these features is the hashtag. For those of you that don’t know, a hashtag on Twitter is when you precede a word with a pound sign (#), so, #CrossroadsConsulting for example.

Hashtagging becomes a useful tool because it easily opens up a group for other Twitter users to monitor similar tweets. The origin of the hashtag can be placed back to older chat based clients on computers like IRC (internet relay chat). In these instant message and chat clients, users would all be able to join the same chat room by theme or general interest. Some of these chat rooms included #NHL, #HRManagement, and #Recruitment. Internet relay chats like mIRC still exist and are still used today.

When Twitter launched it aimed to do the same thing as clients like mIRC by opening up these hashtagging capabilities. For example, when watching a new show on TV, let’s say comedy central, you may notice that in the bottom right-hand corner during the new episode of South Park #Southpark. This is an example of hashtagging being used the right way as Comedy Central uses it to open up a gateway to easily monitor what their fans think of the new episode, as well as allowing their fans an easier way to quickly communicate with one another.

Now maybe it is unfair on how to say someone is using hashtagging the right way over others, but as time has gone by and more and more people have jumped on to twitter, hashtagging has evolved.

Many Twitter users today use hashtagging to quote a theme of their tweet. I see this most among professional athletes and college students. I myself am guilty of tweeting a hashtag as a theme of a tweet rather than as opening a channel for others to discuss when I tweeted “Soccer at 430? Wish me luck #OutOfShape.” This is just the way the hashtag has evolved in even my limited time on Twitter.

Over the next few days we at @EmploymentDepot will be trying to bring hashtagging back to the professional Twitter world. Within our tweets you will now begin finding #NewBlog, #Recruitment, or #JobOpportunity. Opening up these channels will make it easy for our fans to find what they are looking for from our twitter account as easy as possible, and hopefully more professionals jump into these tags and help them become social media fixtures for the recruitment industry.

We look forward to your feedback on these decisions.

Remember to follow us on Twitter, like on Facebook and connect with LinkedIn.

Be sure to continue browsing our Job Openings at the Crossroads Consulting website and never hesitate to mention us on Twitter or send an email with any questions you may have.

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PRESENTING YOURSELF

Posted on June 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

BY: Adam Gavriel

When you look in the mirror what do you see?

Do you see a successful; did whatever they could in life, no regrets man or woman staring back at you? Probably, if you’re human.

We grow up our whole lives with our mothers telling us how great we are. With significant others and spouses telling us we’re perfect and we have nothing we need to change about ourselves (most of the time…maybe).

Now if only your mother was the person who was doing the hiring at a firm, you’d get the job 100 times out of 100. Unfortunately (for all of us) this isn’t the case.

The hiring process is all about presentation.

Interning for Crossroads Consultingfor about 2 months now I have seen many resumes come through the job postings I have on the internet. Now I’m no expert as my resume, interview, and cover letter skills all come from a course I took at the University at Buffalo (MGG 300) but I know what is pleasing to the eye.

Flashy fonts, colors other than black, graphics are all unnecessary on a resume. Some of those may even make you come off as unprofessional to employers. If hiring managers had it their way, there would be one absolute set way to present yourself in a resume, unfortunately there isn’t. There are many ways to develop a successful resume, and it’s all about presenting yourself.

If you’ve been keeping up with the blog here on Out of Our Mind, you’ll know that we have blogged before about quick resume tips (see the Three R’s to Resume Writing).

Quick tips won’t solve everything.

What will solve everything is taking the time to let a professional look at your resume. Or if you’re not comfortable with that, hand your resume to a friend and see what they think. Ask them key questions like: How do you think I presented myself here? If you were a hiring manager, would you keep this resume?

Fortunately there are services out there that can help you. At Crossroads Consulting we offer resume optimizationservices that will help you best present your abilities to an employer.

What many lose sight of in their plight to perfect their resume is the fact that it’s not all about the resume. The resume is just the gateway, only used by employers to judge who gets an interview. Why would an employer give an interview to someone who can’t present themselves well?

I wouldn’t.

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INTERVIEW PREPARATION

Posted on June 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

BY: Adam Gavriel

In this blog today, we’ll give you just a preview of what Crossroads Consulting can do you for as part of an interview preparation guideline.

To steal a saying from the local weather and traffic channel: “know before you go” is a key phrase to remember when you have an interview scheduled. You’ve finally been set up with the employer of the job you have been eyeing on Crossroads Consulting’s job openings listand you are ready to go. Your resume and cover letters are set, your suit is ironed, you look good and feel good. But a sinking feeling comes over you, what exactly are you going to be asked in this interview? Who is going to be interviewing you? Do you know anything about the company you’re interviewing for? Again, “know before you go.”

My brother always tells me that one of the most underrated computer skills out there is the ability to use Google. Let’s say for arguments sake that you were in fact interviewing for a position at Google. What can you learn from a simple Google query about your potential interview? In short, it’s everything.

All readily available to you on the internet are the names of the founders of Google, the head of HR, and even the Google ethics code. All major things you can learn about the organization that can be used in an interview. So when the interviewer sits you down and asks why you chose to apply to Google you can reply with facts like…

· CNN money rated Google the #4 best company to work for in 2011

· I agree with many of the ethics codes and conducts outlined in the ethics policy

· I’ve been following Google’s growth for many years and am intrigued at their entrance to social media with Google buzz, Google wave, and the new Google +1 button.

These three random facts, all from the internet out of 100s available to you will help you set yourself aside from the competition on game day. When the interviewer looks back on the candidates he or she met that day they’ll remember the name (insert your name here) and how they knew so much about the company. The fact that you took the time to research the company can go a long way in showing you’re interest in working there in the future.

If you liked what you read here, please make sure to come on over to our website and see all the services we offer including interview preparation.

Also make sure to follow us on twitter, like us on facebook, and connect on LinkedIn.

But especially don’t forget to “Know before you go.”

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Posted in Crossroads Consulting, LLC, Hiring Company News, Interviewing, Job Seeker News, Resume, Social Media

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JOB CONFIDENCE WANING

Posted on June 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

BY: Adam Gavriel

According to a telephone survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports 31% of American Adults believe that unemployment will be higher a year from today. This report comes at a 5 point increase from March. However, the same study showed that 29% of American adults believe the unemployment rate will go down, while 32% believe it will stay about the same.

Even with the increasing uncertainty in the unemployment rate, 21% of Americans believe that the job market is better now than it was a year ago. The statistics stay consistent when the report continues to say that 39% believe the job market is worse.

Also interesting is that workers under 30 (Generation Y and X) are more doubtful about the future of the job market than the older workers.

Now after the survey recorded in June, 3 out of 4 employees believe that when they leave their job it will be on their terms. This number is up from the 72% that was reported in May, as you can read in a post on out of our mind here. This number remains reasonable as the 19% of the same adults surveyed reported that their firms were currently hiring, while 23% reported that their firms are currently laying people off.

In today’s uncertain economy it all comes down to how prepared you are as an employee. The roughly 75% of workers who believe that when they leave their job it will be on their terms could be in for a hard surprise when it’s not. These same 75% of employees may not have a current resume finished and ready to send to employers while the 25% of those that are wary will more likely than not be prepared to get started on the hunt. It all comes down to preparation.

Stressed in every blog here on out of our minds is having that great resume and cover letter, being prepared for an interview. Knowing everything you can learn about a firm you are applying to can make or break your status as an applicant.

This is where Crossroads Consulting comes into play. Not only do we have the job listings for you, but we’ll walk you through every step of the way if you need us to with resume optimization and interview preparation services. At Crossroads Consulting we take pride in every resume we handle to make sure we are showing you off to the employer in the most efficient way.

Stop being so down on the economy and start doing something about it. Reading in that Rasmussen report that some potential employees looking for work have given up their search was extremely disheartening. It’s time to exhaust every opportunity you can. Have your resume optimized with us and begin sending it out to employers. Get your name out there and start making an impact on the job market today.

Make sure to follow Crossroads Consulting on twitter, like us on facebook, and connect with us on LinkedIn. Building that connection on social media could be your first step towards that new job.

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