This is the second in a four-week series on leveraging third-party recruiters (headhunters) to your full advantage during your next job search.
To check out weeks 1-4, click here.
Tip #2 – Being Open and Honest about your Job History
Ever thought about using a third-party recruiter – otherwise known as a headhunter – for your job search? Whether you’re a new grad, a seasoned veteran seeking a change (or something in between) a good recruiter can greatly increase your odds of landing your dream job offer. Over the next four weeks, I am going to discuss a few ways that you can engage with and use headhunters (and other recruiters) to your full advantage during your next job search.
This week’s tip:
BE OPEN AND HONEST ABOUT YOUR EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
During the job-seeking process, your resume will be seen by lots of people – recruiters, hiring managers, HR professionals, and maybe even C-suite executives at the employer you have your eye on. It is essential that your resume be 100% accurate with regards to your titles, dates of employment, and job responsibilities – and it is equally important that you be able to talk in specific and coherent terms about your job history.
As recruiters, we often encounter potential candidates whose job history and explanations simply don’t add up: their dates of employment are vague, and their answers about their past jobs are evasive and unconvincing. This lack of specificity or opaque explanation is usually the product of a job-seeker that is self-conscious about perceived short-comings on their resume. Whether it’s having a lot of employers in a short amount of time, a large gap in employment or job titles that they feel don’t accurately describe the work they did or rank they held.
Often, instead of simply being honest with the recruiter and owning the positive elements of their experience, these candidates will obfuscate and talk around direct questions about their experience. Problems arise quickly when a recruiter or hiring manager senses that you are not being HONEST with them. As recruiters, we care far more about someone’s honesty than many of the aforementioned issues. Ask yourself, would you suggest hiring someone you felt might be dishonest?
TAKEAWAY
Occasionally, confusion or consternation about job history is completely accidental and the result of a haphazardly-written resume. Remember, your resume is a window into you as a professional, and your job history is probably the most important part of that. Be accurate and specific with dates, titles, and job responsibilities.
One of the key tenants of a successful job search is transparency and honesty. Ensuring that your job history is clear, concrete, and coherent will help you enormously in working with a recruiter to secure your next position.
For other tips on resume writing and formatting, check out our website feature on how to create a killer resume. It’s specific to clinical laboratory professionals, but many of the tips can apply to any industry.
Lighthouse Lab Services offers assistance to the clinical lab industry via recruiting, consulting, and lab director services. Please, feel free to reach out to us if your lab needs any help.
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