by Kevin Donlin
Executive Search Consultant

You already know that most employers will use Google to research your HR background before hiring you, right?

If hiring managers find nothing online about you, you won’t stand out from the crowd. That’s bad.

If they find photos on MySpace of you table dancing in a fur bikini or videos of you on YouTube doing keg stands … that’s worse.

But, what if, during their Google search, the HR or the hiring manager finds that you’ve written several industry-related articles and you’ve been published all over the Internet? You’ll look like an expert in their eyes — and be much more likely to get a job offer.

Sound farfetched? Actually, it can be easy to do, according to Alan Collins, CEO of SuccessInHR and former vice-president of human resources at PepsiCo and Quaker Oats. Continue reading →

by Alan Collins

In today’s tough, competitive HR job market, if you’ve had trouble landing a job you may need a different approach. Otherwise, your unsuccessful results will likely continue. To improve your chances for success, here are four quick, proven guerilla strategies you just might want to try…

Strategy #1: Envision & position yourself like a blue chip stock…

Strategy #2: Get brutally clear on the job you’re going after…. Continue reading →

by Kevin Donlin

Want to make recruiters find you?

Here’s how.  Listed below are four questions you should ask yourself — the answers of which will provide you with ideas on attracting recruiters, headhunters and hiring managers to you.

(1) Could you start up a blog that gets noticed by employers?

Many recruiters for HR positions today are beginning to become attracted to candidates that have their own HR-specific blogs.  They are especially impressed with HR blogs with posts or articles that show the candidate as intelligent and informed.  Here are some blogs that could use as models to start your own: Continue reading →

by Kevin Donlin

Let’s not waste your time – let’s hop to it with what you absolutely MUST KNOW about networking, cover letters and recommendations…and how to LEVERAGE them to your advantage.

(1) Here’s how you really leverage HR networking….

Treat networking like a mating dance.

If your networking isn’t paying off, you might try a less-obvious approach.

Consider Bill McCausland, an executive from Novi, Mich.   His networking improved when he stopped asking for job leads and started asking for information. Continue reading →

Recently, I surveyed 159 job seekers by email, many of them human resources professionals, and asked them this question: “What is the biggest problem in your job search right now?”

The responses were intriguing and I had a hard time boiling the problems down to a manageable number to answer here.

But I did.

So, here are the three of the most common job-search problems – with my proposed answers. Continue reading →

By Alan Collins

Let’s not waste time.  Here are the 7 biggest mistakes just about everyone makes before landing their ideal job in HR and how to avoid them…

Mistake #1:   You don’t focus your efforts.

With the intense competition for HR jobs, it’s imperative that you determine EXACTLY what kind of job your really want and go after it — with blinders on.

Make sure it’s something you’re qualified for and that your experience directly correlates to.

For example, if you’re going after an HR Director’s position that leverages your skills in Labor Relations with companies only based in the Midwest — don’t get diverted exploring opportunities in corporate office settings that don’t have unions…or pursuing jobs in the East Coast.  These types of jobs don’t play to your interests or strengths and divert your focus. Continue reading →