Interview-Etiquette Violation # 1

Like most recruiters, I’ve seen my share of interview-etiquette violations over the years. And, like most, I always forget to write them down (so I guess I’ll never be able to publish that book).
Or, maybe I’ll just start blogging about these violations and give the audience an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others.
Interview-Etiquette Violation #1:

Showing up at the office to meet the recruiter face-to-face when a telephone interview has been scheduled.

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Compensation Analyst Resume

OBJECTIVE
Position where extensive compensation analysis and
management experience will add value.
PROFILE
* Strong background in compensation/incentive systems
analysis, design and management; combine experience
in retail banking and financial sales with MBA
(Finance and Strategy).
* Proven ability to build and manage project teams.
Led team that reviewed Firstar and US Bank sales
tracking systems and recommended new post-merger
system (2001).
* Rapidly promoted three times in three years to
current role as Sales Tracking System Administrator.
Designed and managed two breakthrough incentive
programs (1999-2001).
* Manager said: “His technical skills related to
data management, data analysis, and report
preparation and analysis are strong. (He) does an
excellent job.” (2000)
EXPERIENCE
XYZ Bank (seventh-largest bank in US), Any City, Any State
1998-present
Sales Tracking System Administrator: Retail Staffing
& Incentives Group (2001-present).
Manage functionality of sales tracking system during
integration with Firstar Bank, while preparing system
for PeopleSoft integration in 2002 (involving 22,000
personnel in 24 states).
* Lead systems team that plans and executes sales
tracking system conversion, creates system
requirements for other system conversions and reviews
requested changes to system.
* Manage process to update hierarchy, banker
information, products, reports and commission rates
to reflect merger-related changes. Currently support
10,000 sales personnel in 16 states.
* Lead cross-functional team to develop and implement
training for 2002 branch conversion.
* Serve as compensation/incentives expert; act as
liaison between IT and business lines.
* Review incentive plan changes for new plan managers
and senior HR management. Review product rules and
commission rates. Maintain online reference manual.
* Improved quality of sales data available to
branches while decreasing nightly run times 20% by
implementing system-wide changes.
* Achieved 70% reduction in system-generated reports
by eliminating and consolidating data.
Incentive Plan Manager/Project Manager: XYZ
Incentive Group (1999-2001).
Effectively led design of incentive plans, calculated
payments and managed systems.
* Designed and managed incentive plans for Brokered
Loan Group sales force of 70 during rapid growth,
from $21 million in loan sales in 1/00 to $203
million by 5/01.
* Designed new in-store branch manager incentive
plans for 120 personnel. Helped decrease audit
failures 80%, reduce teller errors 30% and increase
sales 14% in two quarters (2000).
* Took over and completed stagnant project to change
sales incentive reference manual from paper-based to
intranet site. Saved over $30,000 in costs and
ensured instant updates.
* Created Access databases to generate reports of
sales quality trend analysis, quarterly sales volume
analysis, sales contest reporting and ad hoc
requests.
* Served as subject matter expert on sales incentive
plans and sales tracking system. Routinely served on
new product design teams and compensation issues
discussion groups.
* Chosen to administer entire sales tracking system
(Motivator). Prioritized work for system analyst and
programmers, and managed all system functions.
Interpreted sales rules.
XYZ Bank (seventh-largest bank in US), Any City, Any State
1998-present
Sales Incentive Auditor: Retail Sales Support Group
(1999).
Created centralized, sustainable sales audit process
for this newly formed group.
* Audited sales transactions for compliance with
compensation rules. Worked with internal
investigators on branch employee fraud cases.
* Identified weaknesses and problems within sales
incentive rules. Analyzed sales data for trends. Work
with sales management to decrease likelihood of audit
violations.
* Created procedures that decreased dollar value of
average audit violation by 45%, while reducing number
of monthly violations by 15%.
* New procedures rapidly identified ineligible sales
worth over $160,000 in commissions.
Financial Analyst: XYZ Group (1998-1999).
Tasked with cleanup and reconciliation of special-
conversion general ledger account.
* Designed financial models and databases to
reconcile ATM deposit G/L accounts.
XYZ Loans Analyst: Bank of XYZ, Any City, Any State (1996-1997).
Provided analysis within Farm Lending Department of
bank with $900 million in assets.
* Analyzed financial statements (for loan
applications) and corporate financial statements (for
exemption from state bonding requirements). Released
collateral on paid-in-full loans.
* Managed interest rate changes for $40 million in
variable rate farm mortgages.
* Designed and completed project for senior
management that drove bank-wide restructure of
mortgage processing, enabling higher-yield products
and increased client satisfaction.
Financial Sales Rep: XYZ, Any City, Any State
(1995).
Provides sales and service (commission-based).
Specialized in retirement plan sales, with primary
focus on government employees’ deferred compensation
plans.
Annuities Special Projects Analyst: XYZ Financial
Insurance, Any City, Any State (1993-1994).
Contacted and sold customers on merits of
transferring assets to new annuity product provider.
* Transformed stagnant project with highly effective
efforts, increasing transfer rate to average of $3
million per month (up from $500,000 per month
average).
EDUCATION
MBA (Finance and Strategy dual emphasis): University
of XYZ, Any City, Any State (1998).
* Compiled GPA of 3.67 while completing accelerated
program in 11.5 months.
BS: Economics, University of XYZ, Any City, Any State (1994).
* Dean’s List (1991) and Air Force Association
Scholarship recipient (1992).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
* Computer skills include Windows and Macintosh,
Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Access, FOCUS programming, Word,
PowerPoint, Project, Extra (3270 emulator) and
Internet research.
* Member: World at Work (formerly XYZ
Compensation Association) and XYZ Cities
Compensation Network.
* Former Licensure: Series 6 and 63; North Dakota
Life and Health Insurance.
KEYWORDS
Incentive Plan Manager, Incentive Plan Analyst,
Incentive Plan Manager, Incentive Plan Analyst,
Compensation Analyst, Compensation Manager,
compensation analysis, compensation management
compensation systems analysis, incentive systems
analysis, systems design, systems management, retail
banking, financial sales, master of business
administration, MBA Finance and Strategy, project
management, projects, sales tracking systems

Resume blues

Last night while checking a job website for my area, I came across an internship that looked really interesting. Then I was told that my resume was not up to par. Let me just say that I was very frustrated last night. Apparently templates are NOT the way to go. On top of that, I realized that since I don’t make a lot of charts and stuff, I’m out of practice even though one of my “skills” is to know how to make them.
In the end I wish that I was a computer science major. “What do you do with a B.A. in English?”

How to Write an Effective Job Posting Ad

Writing a job posting for the Internet is different than writing a job posting for a newspaper. Since you are charged by the line or column width for newspaper ads, ads are very plain and full of abbreviations therefore job seekers can not get detailed information about your company or the position. Unlike newspaper advertising, an online job posting allows you to showcase your company and provide a full description of the position. Even though some career sites do have length restrictions, there is still sufficient space to outline enough information for the candidate to fully understand the requirements and expectations of the candidate for the available position.
Here are some tips to effectively write an Internet job posting ad:

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Keeping It In Perspective

Okay. After submitting what seems like millions of cover letters, resumes, and applications, I finally have an interview with the federal government! (which I don’t even remember applying to) It all works for me though. I’m really hoping that this works out for me.
I have testing on the same day as my interview which makes me a little nervous. If I have to answer essay questions, I’ll be all right because it was my major in college, but if I have to answer math questions, I’ll probably be lost.
I’m going to try and brush up on some general math concepts until my interview, but is there really anything else that I should be doing until my interview? Should I call the office and ask them what kind of testing there will be and what it will consist of? I don’t want to mess up this interview.

Get Hired Faster — Get Specific

If you walk into a car dealer and announce, “I want a car,” what kind of reply will you get?
The sales rep will say, “Sure. What are you looking for?” Then he’ll ask for more details — the make, model, color, price you’re willing to pay, etc.
It’s never enough to say, “I want a car.” You have to be specific. Otherwise, nobody can help you.
Why, then, do so many people say, “I want a job,” and then fail to get more specific than that? Is it any wonder that so many job searches sputter and lurch along, like a ’67 Chevy in need of a tune-up?
But this is not for you.
If you want to find the right job, you must first answer three questions in specific detail. Here they are …

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A Key to the Unknown

So it’s been almost 48 hours since my graduation and I have to say that adjusting is a bit difficult. I sort of wander about my parent’s house in a daze with nothing to do yet constantly thinking there is something I could be doing. I have to reassure myself that I don’t have any essays to write or tests to take—not for at least a year anyway when I head to graduate school. I was not one of the lucky seniors that secured work before graduation so I’m on a mad dash to find work for the fall. This summer I have a seminar program that pays me so I think about that to not discourage myself. It’s hard not to think what the use an expensive education is when friends of mine who chose to work instead of going to college are doing okay for themselves. While I, on the other hand, am frantically applying to any and everything so that I don’t become one of those unemployed statistics. It’s then that I think about all the kind words friends and family gave me the days before and during graduation that console me. This degree is significant although I am currently pushing myself in a million different directions right now. As I gain more and more work experience, this degree will serve to be invaluable to me. Even as I look at the diploma and admit it’s just a piece of paper in fancy wrapping, it’s power demands a certain respect and acknowledgement. With this paper doors are consistently open to me and only my imagination limits me, which is refreshing. The world is endless and enormous and I am grateful that I had the drive to accomplish so much. I am the first graduate in my immediate family and I’m sure when my parents embarked on the job hunt many doors were slammed in their face. I find that there are a plethora of employers out there who are itching to shape and mold recent graduates and willing to train them. It seems that experience, while important no doubt, is not the eliminating factor for the graduate that lacks it. The degree grants certain rites of passages that others can only dream of attaining. All of these thoughts have culminated into that brief moment the 29th of May that granted me my key to the unknown and in so doing gave me endless possibilities. Although I am on the “mad dash” it worries me not at all. I mean it is hard work applying for jobs and nerve racking waiting for approvals but at least with this key I know these days will soon be few and far between.

College Recruiting Audio Conference

Want to learn more about college hiring? Join me on Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 1 p.m. E.T. as I present a 90-minute, Kennedy Information sponsored audio conference.

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The Most Important Piece of Paper in Your Job Search

What’s the most important piece of paper in your job search? If you said it’s your resume or your cover letter, you’d be wrong. It’s your job application.
Over 90% of companies run some type of background check on job applicants today. To get the detailed information that is required to run a thorough check, most companies require applicants to fill out a specially-designed application form.
Over 80% of companies say that discrepancies on a job application can take a candidate out of the running, yet half of the background checks run in 2005 found inaccuracies in the information provided by applicants.

As you can see, how you fill out that job application is directly tied to whether or not you get hired.
There are four golden rules to follow when filling out a job application. Some of them are obvious and all of them are important. If you follow these rules, you will start the pre-employment screening process far ahead of your competitors.
Tell the Truth:
As amazing as it sounds, over half of all applicants lie on their applications. Don’t be one of them. Nothing will take you out of consideration faster than fabricating information. Because so many companies check backgrounds today, the chances are very good that lies will be discovered and you will not get the job.

Be Neat:
Since companies use the information on your job application to check your background, make sure people can read it. If you can type your application, do it. If not, print clearly. Your mother might be able to read your handwriting, but she is not the one who will be checking your background.

Be Complete:
It is always better to give too much information, rather than too little. You never know what a company will want to verify. Here are some general rules:
1. If there is space on the application, list every diploma and degree you have received. Some companies will only verify your highest degree, while others will want to verify everything.
2. Fill in as many employment boxes as you can. Work study, internships, and volunteer jobs all provided you with experience. List them if you have room.
3. Always provide up-to-date phone numbers and addresses for your previous employers.
Be Prepared:
Most companies will not tell you what information they plan to check. Some will only run a criminal check, while others will verify every piece of information on your job application. You need to be prepared for anything they choose to do.
You also need to be prepared for anything a hiring company might hear about you. Even though previous employers may be liable for saying bad things about you, it happens every day. If there is bad news out there, it is far better for you to tell the hiring company than to have them find it out on their own.
Before you send out that first resume, or respond to that first newspaper ad, take the time to prepare the detailed information that needs to go on your job application.
Remember, while a great-looking resume and solid interviewing skills will help you make the final cut, if you don’t pass the background check, you won’t get the job.
- Jan Maxwell is the author of “A Job Hunter’s Secret Weapon: How to Survive a Background Check and Get the Job You Really Want” (www.jobhunterssecretweapon.com). It’s the first book that takes job applicants inside a real background check, explains how information gets verified, and shows them how to fill out a job application that will sail through pre-employment screening.

Job Fairs

Work those job fairs! They can really pay off. ‘Nough said.