What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate: Job Seekers and Recruiters

What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate- Job Seekers and Recruiters.jpg

Social media guru Joshua Waldman featured a great infographic on his blog today. It explores vividly the disconnect between what recruiters say and job seekers hear. While the infographic was compiled by a popular site for medical sales professionals, the points it makes are equally valid for executives.

A few interesting tidbits from the infographic:

  • 46% of resumes submitted contain some sort of false information. 46%!! While this again refers to their audience of medical sales folks, it surely applies to executive resumes as well.

  • 38% of companies have actively open positions for which they cannot find the talent to fill, while around 50% of applicants do not have the basic qualifications specified for the position they are pursuing.

  • A full 94% of recruiters are using social media to screen applicants. Info I’ve seen from many sources indicates that this estimate is low regarding executives–I believe the number is closer to 99%. So make sure that your LinkedIn profile meshes with your executive resume, and that they are both entirely truthful!

Regarding communicating with executive recruiters, most of us have a tendency to filter what we hear and morph it into its most positive interpretation. But doing so can lead to frustration, unrealistic expectations, and disappointment. When a recruiter says, “We’ll be in touch with our decision,” he does NOT mean “Get packing, you’ll be starting next week”! — much as we would like that to be the case.

Some key takeaways from this post for executives are:

  • Be up front with the recruiter about your needs and timetable.

  • Keep in contact, but give that recruiter some breathing room!

  • Even small fibs on your executive resume can cost you–big time!

View the full infographic here:
What Recruiters Say and Job Seekers Hear

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