The Career Capitalist

Career Capitalist Phraseology - Required/Preferred

As you look at different opportunities via postings and job descriptions, phraseology is often used - words and terms that can have a lot of different meanings and context depending on your perspective.  The Career Capitalist is here to help you sort through the context and meaning....

Today's Phraseology Word From the World of Career Search:  Required/Preferred

What the Employer Wants You To Think:  Don't apply unless you have all the items that we list as Required.  Don't be surprised if who we hire as all the required and most of the preferred qualifications.

The Reality - Most hires don't even have all of the required qualifications in a posting or description.  The bottom line is that in a listing of Required/Preferred qualification, the listed components are rarely created equal.  Depending on the hiring manager's perspective, there will always be 2-3 things they think they really need, and if you have them (or more importantly can position via your resume you have them), you have a good shot at being involved in the interview process.

What You Should Do - Apply for positions that interest you, and customize your resume and cover letter to emphasize the listed qualifications you posses.  PS - don't fake anything in your resume - learn from the experience of resume doctoring (see George O'Leary, pictured at right, and David Edmondson as examples)

Using Jobster Like Monster and CareerBuilder

Jobster, the long trendy but at times hard to figure out job site, has announced some big changes that impact recruiters and candidates alike.  Here's the breakdown of what you need to know:

--Previously, Jobster offered referral program optimization to companies large and small.  The idea was gaining traction, but apparently not quickly enough to further delay the ultimate goal - to become a job aggregator for companies and employees alike.

--For Employers, Jobster is scrapping its focus on referral programs to become a Craiglist (for jobs only) with more eye candy.   Recruiting folks will migrate to the site for the free job postings (yes, free) and the Facebook relationship and the social networking angle that is part Facebook and part LinkedIn...

--For Candidates, Jobster offers the ability to create a heavily branded, trendy/potentially dangerous video profile as well as their own online profile complete with self assigned, descriptive tags.  I have to admit, it looks pretty groovy when it is well-done.

What should you do?  If you are an employer, you have to experiment, because the price is right.  Additionally, if you haven't used CraigList as a recruiter or a candidate, you'll want to check them out and get started at the same time.   For the candidate, you have the opportunity to create some trendy stuff - if you are comfortable with some of the features, then you are likely to find a company that matches some of your needs and values.  Also, there are jobs to search and "alerts" to set up just like the big boys, just not in the same quantity...

So, the bottom line for both recruiters and active/passive candidates alike is to hit jobster, get involved and evaluate.  Hit CraigsList also if you haven't already.  And be careful with the video profiles and pictures - they haven't won a lot of jobs for candidates, but certainly have lost some jobs when not well done...  As for the long-term viability of Jobster, time will tell.  Either they get enough eyeballs to compete on their own or they find themselves acquired - by Monster, CareerBuilder, or in the ultimate example of how things can change in five years - by social network king FaceBook....

Using CraigsList to Find Fresh Jobs

Let's face it - there aren't a lot of fresh job search ideas out there.  Most recruiters and HR people are doing the best job they can to drive traffic to their postings - via corporate employment site branding, the job boards via Monster and CareerBuilder and niche sites like Dice, and if they are really frisky, via social networking sites like LinkedIn and Jobster.  That's about it in terms of driving traffic, and most recruiters have resigned themselves to the fact that they have to deal with the volume generated to get the quality candidates...  As a candidate, you have to use the normal tools to be a part of the cattle call....

One fresh idea that I thought everyone would know about, but it seems no one does, is Craigslist.  Craigslist is a centralized network of online urban communities, featuring free classified advertisements (with jobs, housing, for sale/barter/wanted, services, community, gigs and resumes categories) and forums sorted by various topics.

It was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark. After incorporation in 1999, Craigslist expanded into nine more cities in 2000 (all of them in the U.S.), four each in 2001 and 2002, and 14 in 2003. As of November 2006, Craigslist had established itself in approximately 450 cities all over the world.  As of 2007, Craigslist operates with a staff of 23 people.

Craigslist allows employers to post jobs, mostly for free (unless you are in SF, LA or NYC), and the traffic driven to the site is decidedly tech savvy.  Perfect for a software company like SourceMedical.  My experience as a recruiter using Craigslist is that some markets are very hot (Chicago, Charlotte, Atlanta and Dallas have always worked well for me), while others are fairly slow.  Additionally the tech and training/education segments have worked the best for me in those markets that show a lot of activity.  I've made 7 hires off Craigslist that I wouldn't have gotten elsewhere in 2006, and I plan to be a good bit more disciplined in my approach in 2007.  You should try it as a candidate as well - Expect a good bit more junk jobs than you would find within a monster, but generally speaking you'll find many tech savvy companies and recruiters hanging out there...

Finally, here's a golden tool to help you get the edge - A CraigsList RSS tool that allows you to set up feeds for your preferred searches on Craigslist and have them delivered to your e-mail box.  Selecting a feed is very simple; you just search and select it. There’s no software to play with or confusing feed code. Plus you get it right into your inbox for easy access every 6-12 hours.