Glassdoor Blog

INFOGRAPHIC: The Rise Of Mobile Job Search

Glassdoor Team — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:00:32 +0000

According to CTIA, U.S. wireless consumers sent and received an average of six billion text messages per day, or, 69,635 text messages every second. The trade association also reports that as of December 2011, 34 percent of American households were wireless-only.

In today’s world, mobile is our means of communication, the way we get information and how we stay current on the latest news locally and worldwide. While many people use mobile devices to send text messages, make calls, check in on Facebook, or do a number of other daily tasks, many also use mobile devices to help make career decisions.

In a survey out today from Glassdoor, 89% of employees who admit they’ll look for a new job in the next year say their mobile device is an important tool and resource for their job search. Plus, they’re not just turning to their mobile devices to look for jobs – more than half (54 percent) read company reviews from employees and 52 percent research salary information.

Highlights from the survey are captured in a new infographic that explores mobile job seeker behavior today and expectations for the future.

Try Glassdoor’s mobile app – you can download it for free for iPhone, iPad and Android. Glassdoor’s mobile app helps job seekers search for jobs, read company reviews from employees, research salaries and get insights on a company’s interview process directly from recent job candidates.

INFOGRAPHIC: The Rise Of Mobile Job Search is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

How Investing In Your Employees Raises Company Stock Value

Franz Gilbert — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:30:16 +0000

Have you ever wondered if executives or investors really understand the value of the people in the company? Do you ever wonder if the “powers that be” truly understand that if you invest in employees, the company will actually do better? The quick answer is that the CFO and Wall Street sometimes get it, but for those employers that don’t quite yet get it, read on to learn how investing in your employees can help drive up your company stock price.

A Service-Based Economy:

The major movers and shakers in the global economies – like hedge funds, pension funds, and major banks like JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse –understand that the global and U.S. economy has switched from a goods-based economy to a services-based economy. In fact, about 70% of the U.S. economy is based on services. As a result, the material portion of most companies, and as a result the U.S. economy, is based on selling services. This includes everything from cooking, cleaning, designing, writing, business consulting, etc..! But the common factor is that it requires someone dream up the great service idea, someone to implement it, someone to work with customers and someone to maintain those services. It is all of those “someones” that can make or break a service. More simply put and regardless of the service: If a company doesn’t have good talent, it will fail. And, investors know this!

Book Value & the Impact of People:

While the stock market and individual stocks are impacted a lot by psychology, there is a basic “floor” on stock prices based on the value of the assets in the company. If a company has lots of assets like real estate, machinery, or CASH, then there is a true value to the company. The value of the assets (less the liabilities) is called the book value. Stocks typically trade above the book value because if they go below book value someone could buy the stock up, liquidate the company and make a positive return.

This is where people play a tremendous part in the stock value! Investors understand that the people in the company are what make the true value. The ideas generated, execution of ideas, and awesome customer service make a company a good investment. As a result, there is a stock ratio called price to book ratio, which divides the price of the stock by the book value. So, any value above one shows that the investors think there is more potential.

Facebook as an Example:

If you look at the assets of Facebook, you realize there are not a lot. Some building, some servers, but not a lot you could sell if you are liquidating the business. So what are investors investing in? They are investing in Facebook’s ability to continue to innovate and maintain the internet presence that they are, which simply means the people, and which explains why Facebook has a price to book ratio of 5.23 right now. To give some contrast: GE, which has a lot of assets (jet engines, machinery, etc.), has a price to book ratio less than 2.

An Investing Guessing Game:

What is humorous about this is that companies under SEC guidelines report a bare minimum about their people. Investors have to guess a whole lot about the quality of the teams, the level of human capital investment, etc. But next time, if you ever wonder if the people in your company affect the stock price, you’ll know the answer is definitely! Just check the price to book ratio.

How Investing In Your Employees Raises Company Stock Value is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Do This, Not That: How To Make Your Resume More Effective

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, MRW — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:00:17 +0000

Most people fear that colorful resumes will risk rejection. The fact is, more people lose opportunities to other candidates because they cave into that fear.

Because of their unease, many people flail when it comes to building persuasive resumes. Resumes are marketing documents. And marketing requires creativity along with a willingness to get uncomfortable.

Following are three resume missteps that job seekers make every day, along with ways to rectify them. By expanding your vision of a contemporary, high-performing resume, you will empower your job search and land more (and more focused) interview opportunities.

1. Don’t: Write Boring and Bland. While it seems just yesterday resumes were known for dry “responsibilities for,” today’s resume is anything but. The plain-vanilla listing of dates, companies, titles and to-dos will not cut it in today’s market.

Do: Write to Capture Interest. Contemporary resumes tell a story! Think news story, because your goal is to cover the ‘who, what, where, when, why and how’ as a reporter might. Instead of reporting on someone or something else, you are reporting on You, Inc.

Connect the dots for the reader as to why they should care. As a good news journalist would, lead in with a hook and the most important information, and then funnel down through to the end of the resume and trail with the least important. However, your story should be content-pithy and compelling, peppered with little word surprises up through the final chapter.

2. Don’t: Write Just for Recruiters. Did you know that only about .0035% of jobs are acquired through recruiters? In fact, many small and medium size companies don’t use recruiters at all. Even for those companies that do, the recruiter is not the only channel through which you can gain a hiring manager’s attention. So, if you’re writing just to a recruiter’s specifications, you may be pleasing him or her but winnowing out a majority of other folks in the process. Not everyone wants to see the same format or content that a recruiter seeks.

Recruiters often look for just the bare facts and more staid designs and wording. To their credit, this strategy makes their job easier to scan a bunch of resumes and to trim the candidate pool on behalf of their client–the company. Also, they look for perfect square candidates to perfectly fit the square holes that their clients require them to fill, so if you are transitioning industries or sectors or types of roles, your best bet is to market your value outside of the recruiters’ radar.

Do: Use a Strategic Marketing Document. Talking directly to the people who hire; talking to people who know people hiring; researching influencers through social media; and keeping your eyes and ears peeled for business news about new shoots of growth in the sector and/or geographical area you are targeting will help you unearth information on whom to contact initially.

Once you’ve begun engaging with folks, and they show interest in knowing more about you, you can send the marketing-savvy resume that speaks uniquely to who you are. Remember this: there are no resume police or written-in-stone resume rules. The only thing you need to remember is that your resume is there to sell your value. If it is dull and unfocused, it will get lost in the shuffle; if it gleams and is targeted to a specific reader, it will be embraced and get you the interview traction you desire.

3. Don’t: Obsess About ATS Systems. While applicant tracking systems are real, they are not a reason to derail your intuitive resume writing. Resumes that are hyper-focused on keywords and phrases may not only miss the mark with ATS systems that are programmed to weed out resumes that try to ‘game’ the system, but they also will miss the mark with real-live readers.

Do: Intuitively Create Value-Centered Stories. Weave in the key language that will resonate with your target audience. When you are describing the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ you did what you did to shave $10,000 off of the cost of servicing your Pennsylvania customer base, then knit in the words that mirror the job description as it makes sense to do so. In fact, before you fret about weaving in those reflective words, first write your compelling stories. If you are already ultra focused on a target goal, many of the key words naturally bubble up in your resume stories.

Do This, Not That: How To Make Your Resume More Effective is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

7 Interview Mistakes That Scare Away Top Talent

Donna Fuscaldo — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:00:58 +0000

Employers may think they hold all the cards when it comes to interviewing job candidates, but they too can do things that will scare off would-be workers. That may not matter if it’s a low-level position the company is seeking to fill, but if its top talent the company is after, then interviewers have to tread carefully during the interview process.

“Employers scare off candidates probably more often than they realize,” says Crystal Miller, a strategist at Branded Strategies, the recruitment and brand strategy company. “Everything is geared toward what the candidate should and shouldn’t do. Many employers don’t realize it’s an audition for them too.”

The job market may be tight, but when it comes to sought-after skills, companies are increasingly competing for top talent. The worst thing a company wants to do is lose a potentially great employee because of bad behavior on the part of the interviewer. From being unprepared to saying inappropriate things, here’s a look at seven behaviors that will send potential employees running for the hills.

1. Being Unprepared. One of the quickest ways to turn off a job candidate is to fail to prepare for the interview beforehand. If you spend the first few minutes of the interview looking over the resume, the job candidate will know that fairly quickly. It sends the message that the job candidate isn’t important and/or that the company doesn’t respect the people that work for them, says Paul McDonald, senior executive director of Robert Half International, the staffing company. “There’s a war on talent for many skill sets,” says McDonald. If the candidate gets the impression from the first interview that he or she isn’t important, then they may think it’s indicative of the company’s culture and choose to work elsewhere.

2. Saying Inappropriate Things. Even if your company embraces a culture of swearing, the interview is not the time or place to showcase that. According to Miller, there has to be boundaries during the interview because without them the candidate will worry about what it’s actually like to work at the company. “Don’t be the one cursing or oversharing,” she says. You can touch upon the quirks of the culture so the candidate knows what to expect without engaging in the behavior.

3. Rushing. Job candidates, whether they are employed or out of work, take time out of their day to go on an interview – not to mention the time they spend preparing in advance. If the person conducting the interview doesn’t spend enough time with the job candidate it can leave them with a bad taste in their mouth. “If you appear rushed or as if there’s another meeting to go to candidates can get turned off,” says McDonald. “Not having enough time to go through the interview shows you don’t respect the candidate.”

4. Talking Too Much. The only thing worse than a self-centered person that drones on and on about their life is an interviewer who engages in that behavior. According to Laura Kerekes, chief knowledge officer at Think HR, the human resources consulting company, a big mistake interviewers make is monopolizing the conversation or making it about themselves. “The candidate cannot tell his or her story or learn what he or she needs to know about the company and job to make an informed decision,” in that situation, she says.

5. Not Knowing Enough About the Position. The whole idea behind an interview is determining if the person is the right fit for the company and the open position. If the person conducting the interview doesn’t know the details of the job and the skills needed to perform it, he or she won’t be able to accurately gauge the candidate’s competence. “It shows a lack of respect,” says Miller. “The candidate’s time is just as valuable as the organization.” Miller says it can be frustrating for the job seeker if the person conducting the interview can’t answer basic questions about the role. “If they don’t respect me now when they are trying to attract me how will they treat me when they have me,” says Miller.

6. Not Taking Notes. Chances are a company will interview multiple people before they choose a candidate. If the interviewer doesn’t take the time to jot down notes during the process, the candidate can interpret it badly. “It shows the candidate that either this person has a photographic memory or is not interested, and it’s usually the later,” says McDonald. Even if the interviewer thinks he or she can remember the interviews by the time they get to the third day chances are everything will be mixed up. “If you don’t focus on the interview you could be driving a great candidate away,” says McDonald.

7. Making the Interview Process Too Complex. Most job seekers know they will have to go through two or three interviews before getting an offer, but if the process is too complex or confusing, chances are it’s going to turn off a lot of potential candidates. According to Miller, it’s a huge turn off to job seekers if they have to go through multiple personality tests before they are even granted a phone interview, then be interviewed by multiple people, then top it off with a written essay or test. “For the most part, especially if you are hiring experience, we’ve been put through the paces, we’ve gone to school and had those entry-level jobs,” says Miller. “There’s a line to what’s appropriate to put someone through before you say yes.”

7 Interview Mistakes That Scare Away Top Talent is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

5 Job Search Do’s And Don’ts

Heather Huhman — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:05:30 +0000

With such a wide landscape of job search resources out there, it can be a struggle to navigate mixed messages. Some job search strategies become muddled and the core advice is lost. So how can you determine which strategies won’t actually help you land you the job?

Here are five job search tips to unlearn:

1. Don’t: Only apply for the perfect job.

Do: Apply to the perfect company with the goal of working your way up. Even if you don’t start in a role you love 100 percent, a good company has opportunities for their top talent to excel. Growing businesses will have lots of opportunities for advancement.

About half of external hires are unsuccessful, but 75 percent of internal hires are successful. Because of this, managers would rather promote people from within than find someone new who is less familiar with the company. Get a position in your ideal company, work hard, and prove yourself.

2. Don’t: Think networking is only for professionals.

Do: Somewhere along the way, using your parents as resources became frowned upon by your peers. This notion is ridiculous. Networking is about using all of your resources, not just those you’ve met professionally. It’s perfectly logical to utilize your parents or your friends’ parents to land a job. A good word on your behalf is extremely valuable in setting you apart from other candidates.

3. Don’t: Highlight all of your skills.

Do: In a cover letter or interview, focus on solving the company’s problems specifically instead of highlighting all of your skills. An interview is less about you and more about filling the employer’s needs. Sure, you’ll be asked about your skills and experiences, but emphasize how these things will help you help the company. Go beyond this in your interview by asking what problems they are currently facing and what they’d like to accomplish with the open position. Analyze their answers and explain how you will excel in these responsibilities.

4. Don’t: Tell the employer everything you’ve ever done.

Do: An employer doesn’t need to hear all of your accomplishments to decide you’re the best fit for the job. Determine which of your experiences are most impressive or applicable to the specific job and expand on those. Use the job description to select your best ideas. Tell good stories about a few of these things instead of trying to touch on all of them.

5. Don’t: Brag about yourself in the interview.

Do: All of your accomplishments (ideally) are listed on your resume. In the interview, use this time to showcase your motivation and teamwork. Without giving away all of the credit, talk about the way your team worked together to accomplish something. Employers want someone who will work well on their team, not someone who will try to take all of the credit. Always put your accomplishments into the context of the employer’s needs.

Sometimes, the most traditional pieces of advice are the most beneficial to your career. It’s important to remember: a job opening is about the employer, not about you. Focus your job search efforts on how your experiences show your ability to benefit a company.

What other job interview tips are not as great as they sound?

5 Job Search Do’s And Don’ts is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Glassdoor Reveals The Top 10 Companies With The Best Business Outlook According To Employees

Glassdoor Team — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:32 +0000

Following Google’s I/O conference and its share price breakthrough this week, it looks like techies and shareholders may not be the only ones feeling the energy around the company’s business. In a new report out from Glassdoor, we look at the Top 10 Companies with the Best Business Outlook, according to employees, and Google stands out at number one – 86% of employees believe the company’s business outlook will improve in the next six months.

The report comes as a result of the online company review survey that employees voluntarily and anonymously complete, which includes the question: Do you believe your company’s business outlook will get better, stay the same or get worse in the next six months?

See below for the other nine companies that made the list of Top 10 Companies with the Best Business Outlook and how employee satisfaction stacks up at the top-rated companies. The report is based on companies with at least 20 business outlook ratings and company ratings during April 2013*.

See Google jobs.

See QUALCOMM jobs.

See Yahoo jobs.

See SAP jobs.

See Amazon jobs.

See Tata Consultancy Services jobs.

See Publix jobs.

See General Motors jobs.

See Whole Foods jobs.

See Home Depot jobs.

Do you think your company’s business outlook will get better, stay the same or get worse in the next six months? Share a company review and let others know.

*Company ratings based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied. For complete methodology, please email pr@glassdoor.com.

Glassdoor Reveals The Top 10 Companies With The Best Business Outlook According To Employees is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

4 Cover Letter Blunders And How To Fix Them

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, MRW — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:00:49 +0000

Some people meticulously write their resume but then treat their cover letter as an afterthought, resulting in a mistake-riddled, dull and underperforming document. It is important to ensure your job search tool kit is fully equipped with high-quality, well-honed marketing messages that are blunder-free. The following four cover letter mistakes—and accompanying remedies—will help sharpen your cover letter saw.

1. Using a Generic Salutation. While it is not always possible to obtain the name of the cover letter recipient, often, with a little digging, you can!

The Fix. One example is to use LinkedIn. Let’s say you discover an opening for an electrical engineer position at an engineering organization’s website. The position description indicates the employee will report to the lead electrical engineer. You decide (initially) to bypass the company’s automated application system so you can customize your communications.

You sail over to LinkedIn and begin researching. Use the advanced search feature and type in “name of company” for the company name, “lead electrical engineer” for keywords and “64152″ for a zip code for greater Kansas City (where the company headquarters and this position are located) and click enter. Your results will appear.

Search within your first or second tier contacts. You want to be sure to land on the contact with lead electrical engineer in the title. You will have access to that person’s first and last name. This information, along with the company’s mailing address which you can generally pick up at a corporate website, will equip you to create a custom-addressed letter.

This is just one of many examples to research contact names that will help you tailor your cover letter versus writing a generic “Dear Hiring Manager” salutation. Another method is to use Glassdoor’s Inside Connections feature that finds any connections to companies you search for through your friends on Facebook.

2. Peppering The Letter With “I.” While the cover letter touts your value, you should be familiar with the reader’s areas of pain and heartily address their needs with your solutions.

The Fix. While it is nearly impossible not to use the words I or my in the cover letter, you can slant the tone and construct your sentences to better reverberate with the reader’s needs. For example, instead of launching into a diatribe of “I did this” or “I did that,” you might lead into a letter with something like:

“Simplifying complicated information in measurable, digestible ways to align stakeholders is my talent.” Notice how my is used, but the sentence does not lead with the first person possessive.

Also, consider directly connecting the dots of your traits with the current industry or market need. For example: “With more than 15 years’ technology process management experience, I’ve learned to cut through the fog and chart a clear course. Clarifying routine processes versus necessary processes has sharpened investigative abilities… (etc.). These traits are particularly imperative in the current tumultuous economic client.

3. Droning On and On. Putting every thought, including the kitchen sink, into your letter will lose the reader’s interest.

The Fix. Put your content through the so-what filter as you write; however, you don’t want to stifle your creativity by trying to build a perfect letter out of the gate. Assuming that you are fairly focused on your target goal by the time you get to the letter-writing stage, the initial draft should be somewhat on point. That said, self-editing is crucial. Read through your letter several times. Use a red pen, ruthlessly. Trim, edit, augment, focus. Corral the cover letter into a four- to five-paragraph format, and use bullets to showcase certain information. Keep it to one pithy page, if possible.

4. Running Out of Steam. It is tough to close a story well. And, like your resume, a cover letter is a mini-story that needs a clean, compelling close. Don’t make the mistake of running out of steam at the end of your letter and relying on easy, but typically boring endings. This is not only uninteresting, but it makes you look lazy.

The Fix. Research other people’s letters to get the creative juices flowing. Some professional resume writers publish cover letter samples on their site. Do not steal other people’s language; instead, use the language as a launch pad to stimulate your own! While your closing should be sincere, it shouldn’t be bland. Pretend you are talking with the person face to face. What would you say to display your enthusiasm (not desperation) for the opportunity at the end of the conversation? You would be politely persistent, right? Show the same vigor in the written word!

4 Cover Letter Blunders And How To Fix Them is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Mistakes Leaders Must Avoid To Retain Employees

Donna Fuscaldo — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:00:06 +0000

Nothing scares employees more than bad behavior on the part of their CEO. But what makes them bristle and what makes them leave are two completely different things.

According to career experts, employees are willing to tolerate a lot from their leader, especially the lower on the totem pole they are, but if it directly impacts their career prospects or their workplace happiness, the good ones won’t think twice about jumping ship. In fact, according to a recent Glassdoor survey, one in five employees said their boss has a negative impact on their career.

“You want to be working for a company where your career interests and personal needs are being satisfied,” says Paul Winum, senior partner and global practice leader at RHR International, the executive consulting firm. “When the CEOs decisions and actions put employees’ ambitions or career prospects at risk, people start leaving.”

According to Julie Bauke, career strategist, president of The Bauke Group, and author of Stop Peeing on our Shoes: Avoiding the 7 Mistakes that Screw Up your Job Search, one of the biggest mistakes CEOs or leaders can make is to treat their employees as if they don’t know any better or worse yet they are simply too stupid to get it, which can be a form of workplace bullying. Not only does that kill morale, but also productivity because the fed up employees end up spending a lot of time complaining about their boss. “People watch and listen for clues and cues. If people do not believe in what the leader is saying, or if the walk doesn’t match the talk, it really can come across as he or she thinks we are too stupid to notice,” says Bauke.

For many employees, career development and advancement are the main reasons they take a job and the motivation for staying at a company. But if the CEO doesn’t create a culture that enables people to move up, it will quickly be seen by the employees, resulting in a high turnover rate. “In most companies the success of the CEO and company is directly dependent on the caliber of talent it is able to attract and retain,” says Winum. “If a CEO wants to hold on to people and attract people he or she has to make a demonstrable commitment to talent development.” Winum says that not only does the CEO has to make sure there is on-the-book development and career paths, but he or she also has to let workers know the company cares about them and appreciates their contributions. “If the CEO conveys the view that employees are interchangeable cogs in some wheel…people are more likely to leave to get a better opportunity,” he says.

Change is inevitable regardless of the company, but how a CEO conveys that change will make all the difference between retaining employees and losing them at a fast clip. According to Christine Comaford, author of the book SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together, since people inherently resist change, even if it’s for the better, the CEO has to frame the change in a way that that shows the new direction is simply an improvement on what the company is already doing instead of a complete overhaul of the business. “Leaders need to present the change…as the bad stuff is being removed and good stuff is being added,” she says.

Nobody wants to work for a wishy-washy boss, which is why the CEOs who are unable to make hard decisions, especially when it comes to people within an organization, can have co-workers heading for the door. Understandably, it’s hard to fire someone, but if the CEO hangs on to an executive that everyone within the company thinks is incompetent, a bully or who is hard to work with, they will lose respect for their leader. “It has such a wide reaching effect throughout the organization,” says Bauke. “You are really are telling people what you value.”

Contradictions can be fatal, especially if the CEO is pounding the table about how important his or her people are but the actions convey the exact opposite message. A classic example of that is the CEO who thinks he or she is smarter than everyone and ignores or dismisses any input, says Bauke, who once worked in a small organization where the owner liked to tell the very smart and capable team that was assembled that he knew none of them has been as successful as him. “Everyone wants to be heard and acknowledged, not patted on the head,” says Bauke.

Mistakes Leaders Must Avoid To Retain Employees is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

5 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do On Glassdoor – Recruiting & Branding Edition

Glassdoor Team — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:30:21 +0000

Glassdoor strives to create a 360-degree look inside what it’s like to work at particular jobs and companies; and lately we have been hard at work rolling out a steady stream of product enhancements to help employers, marketing professionals and anyone involved in a company’s social recruiting and employment brand efforts.

As companies have tested out these new products like the Employer Center, currently in beta, and free employer accounts , we’ve been getting a lot of great pieces of feedback and people saying “wow, I didn’t know I could do that!” If you haven’t had a chance to check out what’s new on Glassdoor, we thought you might like to see what you can now do, from the employer side of the house:

Update basic profile information. You can now directly add a company description, mission statement as well as update your employee size, headquarter location and type of business. You can also request the CEO and company stock ticker featured on your profile be updated.

Manage your company’s photos and awards. You can add your own awards and photos. Plus you can choose which ones you want to have featured on your company’s profile. No need to talk to anyone to request the change – you can do it within minutes from within your company’s employer center. Read a step-by-step guide on how to add and feature awards and photos.

Respond to company reviews or flag content that may be inappropriate. Everyone at a company gets a voice on Glassdoor whether you are job candidate, an employee or an employer. Any employee can provide a review on Glassdoor, and a company representative can respond to their company’s reviews. (Note to register as an official company representative you must sign up for a free employer account.) Note you can also read more tips on how to respond to reviews.

Get competitor brand and awareness analysis. See how much interest you are getting from job seekers compared to competitors and how your employment brand stacks up to those companies too. Plus it’s worth noting when you are looking at your company’s rating and that of competitors, the average company rating on Glassdoor is 3.2 and the average CEO approval rating is 68% – based on more than 250,000 companies.

Finally, as you’re exploring the Glassdoor Employer Center and your Free Employer Account, you’ll start to see trends and patterns emerge around your company reviews. Want to see more? Glassdoor encourages you to…

Ask for more reviews! Yes, while you can’t incentivize others to give reviews, you can ask others to share anonymous company reviews about a current or former employer. According to Glassdoor Research, when candidates are sourced through Glassdoor and have had the chance to read reviews from other employees, companies on average see 22% less attrition. Not to mention that any feedback you receive – either positive or negative – can offer valuable insight about your company and what you can do to improve the employee experience. (Read more tips on how to get more reviews and see Glassdoor’s community guidelines.)

Have you tried any of Glassdoor’s new free tools for employers? If so, what other tips or insights would you suggest?

5 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do On Glassdoor – Recruiting & Branding Edition is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

4 Reasons Recruiters Don’t Call Back

Heather Huhman — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:00:54 +0000

Job seekers are very familiar with the time commitment and stress of searching for a new job. When performing your job search, you can spend hours upon hours perfecting your resume and cover letter, applying for jobs, and waiting to hear feedback from recruiters. However, after you’ve applied for 10 or 15 jobs and haven’t heard from a single company, it’s easy to become discouraged about your search.

This frustrating cycle can be recognized as the recruiting black hole. This term describes the millions of applications that go seemingly unnoticed by recruiters. Many job seekers spend countless hours applying for jobs online, yet don’t see the results they anticipate.

If you’re wondering why recruiters haven’t contacted you about your resume, here are some reasons why your resume could have disappeared into the black hole of recruiting:

1. You aren’t qualified for the position. Ask yourself: Did I honestly meet the requirements of the job posting? If the position you applied for required you to have at least five years of experience and you only have two, many recruiters will ignore your resume. Job postings provide qualifications to help recruiters weed out candidates who lack experience; therefore, if your resume doesn’t fulfill the requirements, it likely won’t make it to their desk.

2. You overlooked the right fit. According to a recent study, many job seekers only spend one minute to determine if a job opening is the right fit and can only determine a good fit 38 percent of the time. This means roughly six out of 10 job openings viewed by job seekers are a bad fit! In addition, job seekers will also overlook two out of four opportunities that could be a good fit. What does this mean for your job search? Job seekers aren’t applying for the jobs they are best suited for, which contributes greatly to why they don’t hear back from recruiters.

3. Your resume isn’t optimized with keywords. Job seekers must use keywords in their resume in order for it to stand out to recruiters and applicant tracking systems. When you apply to jobs online, it is safe to assume your resume will run through an applicant tracking system. If you don’t include keywords to describe your skills and experience, your resume could be overlooked and prevent you from receiving an interview. To ensure your resume is noticed, use keywords from the job posting that adequately and accurately describe your experience.

4. Bad timing. Timing is everything when applying for jobs. Once you apply for a position, make sure you are constantly checking the posting for updates or changes to the requirements. Many recruiters have a small window of time when they look for talented candidates; therefore, you need to make sure your resume and cover letter are up-to-date and you follow-up with recruiters about your application.

If you feel like you are spiraling downward in your job search, there is still time to turn it around! Make sure when you apply for jobs you are spending time to thoroughly read the posting, paying attention to specific requirements, and doing your best to tailor your resume to the position. By using optimized keywords in your resume, paying attention to the details of the job posting, and applying for the right position, you will be able to make sure your resume falls into the hands of recruiters.

4 Reasons Recruiters Don’t Call Back is a post from: Glassdoor Blog