Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category


How long does the headhunter control you?

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

I don’t normally post the weekly Ask The Headhunter newsletter online, but I got so many requests for this week’s edition that I’ve put it up:
How long does the headhunter control me?
An excerpt:
To understand how to work effectively with headhunters, it’s important to know the differences between retained and contingency headhunters, employment agencies, job shops [...]


Over-thinking the job interview: Is it worth a Porsche?

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Rules for job hunting and interviewing have become so institutionalized and complex that employers and managers make themselves look downright silly. My guess is that this is costing their companies dearly.
It’s bad enough when job hunters over-think how they are going about it — but it’s sometimes scary when employers reveal how they judge people they interview.
The [...]


Job Board B.S. Abounds

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Hey, guess what? The recession is creating a boom for “career resource sites” like HotJobs, Monster, Indeed and others. People are “flocking” to these web sites in record numbers.
No kiddin’, Dick Tracy. And desperate rats will gnaw off their own legs trying to escape pain.
eMarketer Digital Intelligence tells the story in a new report, Consumers Flock [...]


Forum: Should you hide your age on your resume?

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

The age barrier is something we’ve discussed before. Some employers look at a resume, see lengthy experience, judge the candidate as “over qualified” and toss the paper into the circular file. Dumb, dumb, dumb… but if that’s you we’re talking about, what can you do?
A reader asks The Forum:
Career professionals are telling older and more [...]


How to Say It: I want more money

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Now we get to the juicy part of every job interview… the part where most job applicants blow it. Read my lips: After an employer makes you an offer, you cannot just ask for more money without explaining why more money for you is good for the company.
Duh… Yet job candidates sit there and say, “Uh, [...]


Forum: Re-starting after bankruptcy

Monday, July 27th, 2009

In the Readers’ Forum section of this week’s Ask The Headhunter Newsletter there’s a question from a reader that fits into a category I don’t use on this blog: ”There but for the grace of God go I…” Maybe I oughta add it.
I went through a personal and business bankruptcy. I’m gradually getting back up on my [...]


Q&A: Why do people pay to use job boards?

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

I just answered this one on LinkedIn’s Answers section.
Question
Why are so many “job boards” charging job seekers to look for jobs or post their resumes?
Nick’s Reply
The job boards serve a very important service to smart employers and smart headhunters: For a fee (paid by job hunters and paid again by employers who post jobs), these [...]


Where 95% of headhunters come from

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Do the math. I keep telling you, just like 95% of HR people aren’t worth spit, neither are 95% of coaches, counselors or headhunters. Bad economies stimulate mutations in the business community that should be destroyed before they wreck the gene pool:

In the next mutation, they join with former founders of Monster.com, HotJobs, TheLadders and [...]


H-1B: Foreign companies hiring foreign nationals

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

I’m a big believer in international competition and in Have brains, will travel. So I’ve never been able to find a comfortable position on the H-1B visa controversy. Do American companies need foreign talent so badly that they must import specialized workers to fill critical positions? Or are they using H-1B to lower costs by [...]


The Wall Street Journal’s Tips for Tricking Employers

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Readers sometimes point out that I don’t often link to career articles on other web sites. I know. It’s because most career articles are the same-old re-treads or desperate attempts by reporters to write something clever to satisfy their clueless editors. Don’t believe me? Visit The Wall Street Journal’s Careers web site. You’ll find drivel like [...]