Corporate Recruiter Reveals Job Search for the Experienced Professional

By Kelly Smith

The material and expressions in this book come from over 30 years of serving as a recruiter for experienced professionals for various organizations across the U.S.A. My viewpoints didn’t develop from one field, or one client but rather as a result of working for staffing agencies and various corporate clients. The bulk of my experience has been working with global corporate firms. Along the way I have learned what hiring authorities really want in a candidate and what are the questions candidates have about the job search process. I’ve done my best to answer the most pressing, persistent questions such as how to prepare for an interview or how to put together a resume all while keeping in mind what the hiring authority is looking for in these actions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kelly Smith
• Release date: Aug 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9780982095492

Kelly Smith

Life is messy, glorious and pretty darn funny. Like most of you, I need to eat, so off to work I go. I earn my income as a recruiter staffing professionals across the USA for mostly large corporations. I've written a book on how to find a job, how to hire professionals and most recently I've written a book where I compiled all the funny moments that I can remember up to this point of my 58 years of living. I hope to educate, empower and entertain.

Book preview

Copyright 2023

By Kelly Smith

All Rights Reserved

Printed in the U.S.A. by KDP

ISBN 979-8-9886082-0-2

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, graphic, optical or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, electronic data, internet packets or by another storage or retrieval method without written permission of the publisher.

The opinions expressed in this book are those of the author. Mention or photos of persons, businesses, institutions does not imply endorsement of this book by mentioned or photographed persons, businesses or institutions.

The information in this book is based on actual situations and documents. The names and other identifying characteristics of the individuals and employers have been changed or removed in order to protect their privacy.

Front and back cover design by Formatted Books - formattedbooks.com

Formatting by Formatted Books - formattedbooks.com

Back cover photo by Dawn Townsend - dawntownsend.com

This book is dedicated to all the job seekers and hiring authorities that I have been blessed to work with thus far. Here’s wishing this book provides you with hope and clarity with how to move forward with your job search. Perhaps one day I will reach out with a job for you to consider.

Contents

Preface

1 Resumes

○ 6 Simple Steps to Crafting a Resume

○ Tailoring Your Resume for the Job you are Applying for

○ Resume Do’s and Don’ts

○ Cover Letters

○ Sample Resumes

○ Where to Post Your Resume

2 Searching for a Job

○ A Word About Job Postings and the Black Hole

○ The Job Boards

○ Agencies

○ How to be Visible to Hiring Authorities

○ Your Online Application

○ LinkedIn

○ Networking

○ Indeed

3 Interviewing

○ Help, I have to Prepare for my Interview!

○ Interview Questions

• Questions you might be asked

• Sample Questions You Can Ask

• Questions You Shouldn’t Ask

○ Types of Interviews

• Phone Interviews

• Video Interviews

• On-Site Interviews

• Event Interviews

○ Thank You Letters

4 Offer Letters

○ Negotiation

○ Accepting the Offer

○ Multiple Offers – How to reject an Offer

○ How to Handle the Counter Offer

○ How to Handle Rejection

○ Why an Offer Might be Rescinded

5 Success While On The Job

○ How to Stand Out at Work in a Good Way

○ How to Stand Out at Work in a Bad Way

○ How to Apply to Internal Jobs

○ Internal Salary Negotiations

○ Ageism

Bonus: 10 Funny Jokes to Take to Work

Preface

I wrote this book in hopes it will alleviate several pain-points for the experienced professional job seeker. The material and expressions in the book come from over 30 years of serving as a recruiter for experienced professionals for various organizations across the U.S.A. My viewpoints didn’t develop from one field, or one client but rather as a result of working for staffing agencies and various corporate clients. The bulk of my experience has been working with global corporate firms. Along the way I have learned what hiring authorities really want in a candidate and what are the questions candidates have about the job search process. I’ve done my best to answer the most pressing, persistent questions such as how to prepare for an interview or how to put together a resume all while keeping in mind what the hiring authority is looking for in these actions. This is the 3rd book I’ve written on the job search process but this is the first time I have addressed issues such as ageism, the ‘black hole’ and networking outside of LinkedIn. Armed with knowledge that this book affords, the dreaded job search can be approached with creativity and excitement in wondering where your career will take you next.

Happy Job Hunting!

Kelly Smith

6 Simple Steps to Crafting a Resume

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.

—Confucius

When it comes to resumes, easy does it. Your resume should be easy to write and easy to read. As a corporate recruiter, I review hundreds of resumes each year. For the past 20 years I have worked alongside hiring managers and human resource professionals, across the U.S.A., assisting them with their recruitment efforts. What hiring authorities are looking for isn’t shading, borders, images or fancy wording but rather substance. Follow these 6 steps to creating your resume and the substance of your career experience will be revealed.

Step 1 At the top of the page list your name/city-state-zip/email/phone number. Use a readable font size and put your name in bold lettering. If you have a reputable certification, such as CPA, or advanced degree such as MBA or PhD list this after your name, i.e. Shelly Snarkowski, CPA

Step 2 Go down two spaces and write in bold capital letters the word: SUMMARY Underneath the summary list your skills. For example a summary might start off like this: Over ten years of automotive engineering experience. Proficient with Excel, PowerPoint and MS Project. Do not list an objective as it doesn’t reveal any valuable information to the reader and it limits your job prospects. An objective is something that is listed on an entry-level resume. For example you might see an objective like this: Objective, to obtain a summer internship as an embedded engineer within a healthcare setting.

Step 3 Go down two spaces and write in bold capital letters the following: EMPLOYMENT HISTORY Go down two spaces and on the far left hand side list the dates of your current or most recent employer. Tab over a few spaces and list the name of your employer. Go to the next line, tab over to align with the employer listed above and list your job title. Put in bold the dates, employer and title. Go to the next line and write out your job duties. You can list your job duties in bullet or paragraph form. If you are having trouble describing your job duties all you have to do is go to any job search site such as Indeed.com and search for your job title. Review some of the jobs from your search on Indeed and use some of the wording listed in the job descriptions, of course make sure you have actually performed the duties that you are writing in your resume. Go down two spaces and begin the process again for your previous employer. Keep listing employers and job duties until you are finished with your employment history. There is no need to list employment history past 10 or 15 years. If you have been employed with one or two employers that spans more than ten years it is ok to list the dates that exceed ten years of employment. Break down the dates with your long-term employer listing the progression within the company. If you have experience prior to ten years that you want to mention on your resume you can do so by going down two more spaces from the end of your employment history and in bold capital letters listed on the left side of the paper write: PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE Underneath this heading list your employer, job title and a brief one or two sentence description of your job duties. Do not list dates in your previous experience section.

Step 4 Go down two spaces and list your education and certifications. Do not list college information if you did not receive your degree. If you are currently enrolled in college you can write the college, your degree, then write what your expected graduation date will be.

Step 5 Go down two spaces and list any volunteer duties you have performed.

Step 6 Go down two spaces and list any relevant professional associations that you belong to.

If you follow these steps your resume will be much more visible for the recruiter thus increasing your odds of receiving a reach out to interview.

Sample Blank Resume Template

Your name/contact information

You do not need to include your street address, but do include your city, state and zip code. Recruiters often search by location. Many jobs are remote so it’s OK if a job is posted in Detroit but you reside in Cincinnati. The location information on your resume is helpful.

Summary:

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Dates with months & years         Title of company

Job title

Job description

Dates with months & years         Title of company

Job title

Job description

EDUCATION

CERTIFICATIONS OR LICENSURES

Sample Resume Template Filled in with Previous Experience listed

Mark Sample

Muncie, IN 48000

Phone: [phone] email: [e-mail]

Summary

Over 10 years experience interviewing Retail professionals for exempt and non-exempt level positions of employment. Utilize Behavorial, Situational and Selection Skills questions during interview process. Over 5 yrs recruiting and sourcing Retail professionals via networking, job boards and placement of ads. Experienced with administering exit interviews. Negotiate and extend offers of employment. Familiar with payroll grids.

Employment History

3/2020 – 6/2023    Lids, Inc (formerly Hatworld, Inc.)

Served as District Manager responsible for personnel and store success at 14 Indiana locations. Oversaw 14 store managers who oversaw a team of 5 sales representatives. Combined sales exceeded 7 Million. Responsible for training and motivating all team members to drive sales and control expenses. Sourced, interviewed, hired and trained top retail professionals to control shrink and maximize profits. Traveled to various sites to motivate, train and oversee store success.

7/2018 – 3/2020    Scrubs and Beyond

As Regional Sales Manager was responsible for nine locations in six eastern and Midwestern states. Successfully coached, mentored and supervised a staff of nine store managers.

1/2010 – 7/2018    Casual Male Retail Group

As District Manager was responsible for 13 stores with sales of 9.4 million. Duties included administering performance reviews. Preparing weekly and monthly sales & training reports to be presented to Regional V.P. of Sales. Oversaw payroll controlling.