These Resume Blunders Should be Avoided No Matter Where You're Applying Avoid the Following Resume Goofs at All Costs Companies don't hire resumes, they hire people. But your resume is often what gets you in the door, so if you can't get the interview it's nearly impossible to win someone over. The strength of each resume is dependent on many factors, including the type of job to which you're applying. Hiring managers at Google will probably appreciate a well-crafted online video resume, whereas if your goal is to land a job as a CPA you might want to stick with something a little more trad... view article details

How to Hire Good Employees: Save Time During the Hiring Process by Spotting Red Flags Early Today's job market is very tough; there are many more job hunters than available jobs. The good news for businesses is that it's a buyer's market. But at the same time, it can be overwhelming to sift through a mountain of resumes flooding your inbox or the resume repository. That's why you need to have an eagle eye for scoping out the best candidates. Here are some things to look for when embarking on your employee selection process: 1. Quality Cover Letter A quality cover letter can tell you a lo... view article details

People Relate to Themselves Whether you know it or not, most hiring managers have a hiring style that is more reflective of who they are as a person, and not necessarily reflective of the companies for which they work.However, like a duck drawn to water, people will feel naturally drawn to a culture that aligns with their value system, and thus, they hire accordingly. Over twelve years of recruiting for a wide-variety of companies, industries and alongside highly effective hiring managers, I have outlined below the top five hiring styles.To the extent this helps you better understand ... view article details

Real-life Leaders, Their Shortcomings, and How They Overcame Them "A business owner has to realize that, as the saying goes, 'A skunk stinks from the head down,' and a business does too," writes Bill McBean in his book The Facts of Business Life. That’s why, McBean posits, behind every great leader is a successful business. But just because you’re sitting in the leader’s chair doesn’t mean you excel at managing and motivating a team. Plenty of highly-placed executives lack essential people skills, or worse, rule with a bully’s iron fist -- it’s their way or the highway, a la TV bosses Donald T... view article details

A pay philosophy is a company's commitment to how it values employees. A consistent pay philosophy gives the company and the employee a frame of reference when discussing salary in a negotiation.The goal of a pay philosophy is to attract, retain, and motivate employees. For companies in the private sector, this usually requires a competitive pay philosophy. For companies in the public sector, this means a well-rounded philosophy, with a focus on benefits and work life.Companies attract, motivate, and retain through total compensationThe purpose of a good compensation philosophy is to attract, ... view article details

A company's pay structure is the method of administering its pay philosophy. The two leading types of pay structures are the internal equity method, which uses a tightly constructed grid to ensure that each job is compensated according to the jobs above and below it in a hierarchy, and market pricing, where each job in an organization is tied to the prevailing market rate.A company needs job descriptions for all its positions so that people know where they fall within the organization. A pay structure helps answer questions about who's who, what each person's role is, and why people are compen... view article details

"Insourcing" Means Employers Are Finding It Less Expensive to Have Employees Stateside It's a familiar story: labor costs get too high, so management decides it will be best, in the long-run, to send jobs to another country. Only this time, the story has a twist ending. It is China – long considered an oasis of exceedingly cheap workers – that is losing jobs and the United States that is gaining them. Over the past two years, several major and not-so-major companies that had been outsourcing work to China have decided to bring some of the jobs back to the U.S. The trend -- often called "reshor... view article details

Sometimes It's a Good Thing NOT to Negotiate Salary There Are Times to Play It Safe A common misconception about negotiation is that it is all about winning -- always asking for more money at every opportunity, always getting the largest possible salary, always getting the highest possible job title. While devising intricate strategies, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent, and determining a plan of attack can make the process of negotiation seem very much like going to war, the reality is that it is a series of battles throughout your working life. As the general in char... view article details

Rich or Poor, Offer Letters Are Still Necessary If you’ve worked at any level in the corporate world, you’ve probably received an offer letter of employment. As a teenager, your first job offer – babysitting, mowing lawns, washing dishes, waiting tables – was probably pretty informal. Ah, but that first official offer letter.Sure, things might have gone great on your interview. You’re 99% sure they’re going to give you the job. Hopefully you negotiated a nice salary increase. You can’t wait to tell your parents and friends. And HR even verbally said you got the position. But it wasn’t... view article details

Comedian John Ramsey has a humorous bit where he complains, “I’m tired of being treated as a second class citizen because I believe in unicorns. I don’t understand why unicorns are so magical, it’s just a horse with a horn. A seahorse exists and that’s 50% fish, 50% horse! I’m just talking about something that is 99% horse, 1% cooler horse.”In the working world (often at startups), there is some debate about whether unicorn employees exist and how much time you should spend looking for them when hiring. A unicorn employee has been described as an “A Player,” a natural leader that is highly ski... view article details