Stretching the Truth Until It Screams for Mercy

I’m a collector at heart. One of the things I collect is a file folder of the most outrageous resumes and applications that have journeyed across my desk in the past few years. And for some reason, watching the Presidential Debate reminded me of them so I pulled them out to give them a quick perusal. Unlike both Presidental candidates who merely stretched the truth — or in my favorite spin word of the night, “re-interpreted the facts” — most of these resumes just out and out lie.

And most aren’t even that good at covering up their lies. Some do stupid things like claim a degree at a college that doesn’t even offer that program, or listed work experience back to the time he was eight years old. Another one of my favorites was one copied out of a resume book. I don’t mean he re-typed it and put his name on it, he literally photocopied it, whited out the name, and wrote in his own.

I had one guy applying for a maintenance position write his phone number anytime it asked for any number. Social Secuity number? He put his phone number. Work, home and cell? All the same number. Dates worked at last job? Yep, his area code and prefix (apparently he started at Target in the 31st month of the year 2016).

So, what are some of your best application “touch-ups”?

Don’t Be Fooled by an Ivy League Name

You have two candidates in front of you. One went to Harvard, and the other graduated from the University of Pensacola. Easy choice, right? Obviously the Ivy League degree is better, right?

Not always. An Ivy League degree does not guarantee a top notch education. for instance, there are examples of people who were accepted to a top school based on being a “legacy,” spent four years drinking at night and doing the absolute minimum to get by in the day — and wind up with a degree from Harvard. Does that necessarily mean they learned anything? Not really. All that proves is they performed certain tasks to get the embossed piece of paper.

Now, the student who went to the University of Pensacola might have come from a disadvantaged family, worked two jobs to pay for school, participated in several on-campus organizations, and graduated at the top of his or her class.

Now, with that in mind, who do you want to hire?

Sure, an argument can be made that the courses at Harvard are more advanced and it’s much harder to simply pass at that university rather than excel at a state college. The reality is that you are looking for a quality of character that a person who “just got by” at any college does not possess.

It’s not the value of the school you should be looking at, it’s the value of the education.

Powerapplications.com Revolutionizes Recruiting for Employer

Power Applications, a brand new company with a fresh idea that’s redefining the daunting recruiting process for employers, is giving employers the opportunity to earn money simply by doing what they’re going to do anyway – recruit new employees. The service is offered at no cost.

Power Applications designed their process to not only boost revenue for its clients, but also to align them with more candidates by providing employers the opportunity to capitalize on traffic to their typical job ad. By utilizing Power Applications’ services, an employer can post ads on any job board they prefer, as they normally would. The only difference in the ad is the link Power Applications provides, which takes interested applicants to an application page designed specifically for the employer. On the application, the job seeker encounters opportunities from marketing verticals, which is where the potential revenue sharing comes into play.

Along with the unique money-making opportunity, Power Applications has a team of writers and media buyers, experienced in the employment industry, who can maximize traffic to your job ad. By writing an attractive job ad as well as aligning that ad with the most applicable candidates, employers will have the opportunity to retain the best-qualified candidates for their company – simply because they’ll be seeing more of them!

Power Applications is a privately owned company operating on the Internet at http://www.powerapplications.com .

PRLog

Write Your Ads Carefully

A misused word in a job ad can be deadly to your recruiting efforts. Take a look at this recent job ad posted in New York by the FOX News Channel as detailed at the Chicago Tribune:

Freelance Fact Writer

New York

Requirements/Responsibility:

FOX News Channel, a fast-paced 24-hour television news operation in New York City, is seeking a Freelance Fact Writer for its information center.

Responsibilities include writing on-air facts and press conference quotes for daytime programming. Individuals must have strong writing skills, be able to handle multiple assignments and deadlines, and work well in a team atmosphere. Excellent communication and writing skills are also required.

What’s primarily wrong with this ad is the implication that the writer will be “writing facts and press conference quotes” as opposed to researching, re-typing or copying them. By calling this position a writer, it sounds as if the person will be making up these facts and quotes whole cloth, which I’m sure is not the intention of the producers.**

Lesson to be learned here? Check you ad with others to make sure it says what you want it to say and can’t be misconstrued. You’re liable to miss out on some stellar candidates

**Please, let’s not discuss the journalistic ethics of FOX news, this job ad came from the HR department and never crossed paths with the editorial department or on-air personalities. This blog has no opinion about the integrity of the stories on this channel because, quite honestly, we don’t watch it.

How to Rule Out Immature Job Seekers

A time of social networking has arrived. With networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace attracting approximately 115 million people to their respective sites a month, it’s easily assumed that a good percentage of people are frequent users. The main benefit of social networking sites is that they enable people to keep in touch or find friends. Rather than letting people know one by one that you’re getting married, you can post a bulletin informing everyone at once. Having a party? Send out a mass invite rather than calling every friend. These sites become your calendar, address book, and phone book all in one.

With all good comes bad, though. Some users assume that only their friends will look at their profiles so they post a number of unfortunate pictures and comments, things that can be quite incriminating. So what do you do as an employer?

Before hiring someone, search their name online and see what comes up. Are their profiles professional or casual? Are they clean and respectable, showing a smart person with a desire to further their career? Or are they showing drunken debauchery, a claim to being the best at skipping class, and a major in partying? If so, this person who may look perfectly suited for the work place when interviewing, may be exhibiting a very clever disguise.

The same goes for other various Web sites. Search their name on any search engine, such as Google. If you see a few links showing articles they had published in a newspaper on biochemistry, then, yes, hire them. If you see links to videos of them heavily drinking during Spring Break 2007, they might not be the most reliable applicant. There’s a difference between drinking in the privacy of your home and putting a video of it up on youtube.

After college, many people are go out into the work force for the first time. Although many are mature, highly educated individuals, some still live in the college mindset, one that doesn’t mesh well with a 9-5 schedule. Finding out information on applicants is essential. It’s smart to know who you’re hiring before it’s too late.