Things has been kinda sluggish, particularly as we enter the final quarter and what is often known as the "bonus" period.

There were fewer and fewer anecdotes encountered lately. Or perhaps my sense of humor disappeared along with my sales. But no anecdotes doesn't mean I don't encounter notable incidents in the workplace.

As a recruiter, I am responsible to both my candidates and my clients.

I am responsible in placing my candidates to the right clients; at the same time, I am also responsible for identifying candidates with the right experience/attitude for my clients.

So yes, I do reject candidates base on their attitude.


Case 1 - The Case of the Grumpy Candidate

Me: Hello, may I speak with XXX? 

Candidate: WHAT?! 

Me: *stun* I am calling in regards to the application that you submitted for one of our positions.

Candidate: What position is that?! 

Me: The Software Analyst role. 

Candidate: Call me later! *hangs up*



Needless to say, I never called the person back. I was appalled at his phone etiquette (or lack there-of), that I left a note in the central database - that this person has a very rude attitude.

There are some candidates shows recruiters the negative aspects of their attitude, with arrogance topping the list. These candidates seemed to think only HRs are worth their time and courtesy.

It probably never occurred to them that recruiters (sometimes) are their access routes to several HRs.

One might argue that the candidate might be busy. Or the candidate might be in a bad mood. Those who knows me personally would know I am more than capable of yelling at CSRs when they step on my tail.

But my response is and will always be:

What if the person is your user?

What if the person on the other line is your boss?

Or, in case of job seeking, what if the other person is a potential hiring manager, doing a phone interview?

There is nothing wrong in yelling at people over the phone. But I suppose it's not much to ask to at least answer the phone with a neutral tone. Should the caller deserve a couple of minutes of yelling, we can always start in the next sentence.



Signing off
Adeline
From the Desk of a Recruiter

Recruitment 101

Lesson 2:


Never take it for granted that application emails contains resumes. It may contain something else... a 439-page documentation developed for a school assignment, for example


Or, it may contain something more interesting. Like, blood-test results.


*~*~*

Often, I wonder what is going through the mind of job-seekers when they select documents to be attached in an application email.

I'm comforted by the fact that 98% of the emails I received from job-seekers do contain the relevant attachments, such as cover letter, passport-size photos, resumes/CVs, transcripts, etc...

The remaining 2% however, contains the weirdest attachments I've seen. More recently, I came across one who attached a 439 page documentation for a programming language. This attachment was accompanied by another 120 page documentation for goodness-knows-what, resulting in the application email to be a whopping 17MB, of which 69KB was relevant - his resume.

At least Mr 439-Page-Documentation submitted his resume. Just the other day, I received an application email with only one document - blood test result.

Well, Mr Blood-Test-Results, I am happy you were tested negative for Hepatitis A, B or C. But I still have no idea how your blood test is able to justify you were suitable for an IT Engineer role.






Signing off,
Adeline
From the Desk of a Recruiter

This has been on my mind for the past 24 days and 3 months and 4 years, and I suppose will continue to be on my mind. 


When the world of recruitment runs on a try-luck mentality, it starts to move away from being a proper service and to a world of gambling. With the induction of online job portals, the only risk for jobseekers in mass-sending resumes is that mild ache in the mouse-finger.


"Just try lah. No harm mah!" 


I've received fresh IT graduate applying for a Global Head in Information System Architecture. 


I've received fresh Business Administrative graduate applying for a Business Objects Consultant.


I've received an Admin Executive applying for SQL 2008 Architect


I've received Physical Education graduate and current basketball coach applying for Oracle Database Administrator. (No kidding)


Sometimes, I reply these people, asking them to elaborate on their relevant experience in the field. 


The most common answer I've heard, in a nutshell: 


"I've used this software before. I am sure I can do this job." 


I know how to use a fridge. Does that mean I can build a fridge on my own?


When does looking for a career became an action of "just try, no harm"? 


I'm not really sure if jobseekers will appreciate it if employers just try them out for a few days. Just try luck and see. No harm, right?


Or, would jobseekers enjoy it if recruiters send them out to any available position, regardless of what they are qualified for. 


Just try luck and see, no harm anyway. Do I have to care if you are a 2nd class Honors graduate in IT and I recommend you for an Admin Assistant job?


Some (keyword: some) of the job seekers have the most questionable attitude when they apply for everything that contains the words "IT" or "Computer" and expect a full-time permanent employment with career progression with an attractive paycheck. 


The only logic I see similar exists in the casinos. Of course, at the casinos, you do not have the luxury of throwing your chips to every game without any cost. 


No matter how many times you declare in your cover letter/resume how "meticulous and takes work with pride" you are, sending your resume to 100 job advertisements a day only shows how little time/effort you spend in understanding a simple piece of information. 


Of course, there's always two sides to a coin. I'll post up the other side of the coin in the next update. 






Signing off
Adeline
From the desk of a Recruiter

Dear Jobseeker, 

The name of this country is Singapore, or S'pore if you're really lazy. It is not Spore. 
We are not the reproductive structure of a plant. 

From the Desk of a Recruiter

*~*~*

... 

I'm not exactly sure why job applicants can be in such a rush to send out an email, that they overlooked the aprostaphes.

Not exactly the best way to impress an employer or a recruiter of those "excellent English communication skills" of yours when you can't even compose an email using standard English, (never mind business standards)

I do take solace that these mistakes were never made by local Singaporeans. That would have been a truly facepalm moment.

Signing off
Adeline
From the Desk of the Recruiter

It doesn't exist.

More often than not, I have requests from friends asking me for advise on resume writing. Other times, they simply ask me for THE template. I usually give them the template I use for myself.

Having said that, I update my resume regularly with the strictest expectations. My friends do not get the fresh-out-of-poly-blur-like-sotong version of my resume.

I remember writing on this blog once:

A perfect resume is like a perfect woman. It doesn't exist.

A resume, or a curriculum vitae, has only one purpose. To sell your abilities and experience to a prospective employer/recruitment consultant. As long as it achieved that purpose for you, it is your perfect resume.

However, it would be nice if you follow to certain norms expected of a resume, or any professional document for that matter.

1) Professional-looking photos, for goodness' sake

Photos are a part of the standard resume template. Google "resume template" and I am pretty sure more than 50% of templates you see includes a space for a passport photo of yourself.

I have received some weird photos in my time as a recruiter and most of my peers would have had similar experiences with eccentric resume photos. Let it be said that HR Managers and/or Recruiters do not really care how your wedding dress/prom dress looks like, so please choose an appropriate photo.

Just a gentle guideline on choosing the photo you wish to put in your resume.

- A plain white background. (We do not need to see cubicle doors)
- Just you, and you alone. (If a friend decides to hug you/kiss you while you are taking the photo, please ask to re-take)

2) Standard fonts will do.

Arial is a common favourite. Times New Roman being a close second. Other fonts resulting in a delightful resume includes Calibri, Verdana and Garamond.

So, please, dear jobseekers. Lucida Handwriting and Comic Sans MS are not suitable fonts for a resume. If you really have to use the above two fonts for any document, please ensure the document is not in anyway tied to a professional representation of yourself.

3) Standard font size will do 


This topic is a personal favourite ever since I received an extremely impressionable font-size-35-resume , I couldn't repeat any more often about the importance of font size in a resume.

Standard sizes of 10, 11, 12, or even 13 works well for a resume. Anything above 16 and below 20 should be used only as headers.

There is absolutely no reason why a resume would require the font size 35. I still don't get that.

Neither are there any reasons why a resume should be written in font sizes 5-8. I mean, you do want someone to read the words in your resume, don't you?

4) Standard font color will do 


Black on white goes together well. Very, very, very well. So please exploit that color combination to the best you can.

And avoid bright red in your resume whenever you can. You are writing a resume, not emulating a Facebook notification.

Having said that, avoid any variations of bright colors too. My eyes will thank you.

5) Avoid too many attachments. 


It is almost a daily occurrence for recruiters to receive resumes of a whopping 10MB. In case you don't realize, 10MB is almost the size of 2 (maybe 3) MP3 files.

Often, these resumes comes from zealous fresh graduates who attached their lifelong certificates, right down to their PSLE certifications. My record so far was receiving a job application with 15 attachments. Excluding the resume.

Yes, 15 attachments.

Note to the fresh graduates:

- Attach the appropriate certifications. If you are applying for an IT job, we do not need to receive Certificate of Participation for Basic Accounting I, II. and III.

- Resize the picture files if you have to.

- There is a wonderful software called "WinRar"


And with the above 5 points, I conclude this first entry of the year 2012. May everyone find their ideal jobs soon.

Signing off
Adeline
From the Desk of a Recruiter

Dear Jobseeker,


"Negotiable" is not pronounced as "Ner-go-shia-TA-ble". It's "Ner-go-shia-ble".


Thank you.


From the Desk of a Recruiter

*~*~*

This was a story shared with me by a fellow colleague and it struck me as pretty amusing. It is a common experience, hence it's worth a share.

Signing off,
Adeline
From the Desk of a Recruiter.

Dear Jobseeker, 

My name is AdeL-I-N-E, not AdeL-A-I-D-E. I am not a state of Australia, thank you. 

From the Desk of a Recruiter

*~*~*

... 

Following up from an incident with spelling errors, here's another one for laughs.

I wasn't entirely sure how to respond when I received an email from this jobseeker starting with "Dear Ms Adelaide." 

And the punchline? 

20 minutes later, he followed up with another email apologizing for attaching the wrong document. In this email, he still address me as "Adelaide". 

*sigh*

Ms Australia it is.

Signing off
AdeLINE,
From the Desk of the Recruiter

Dear Jobseeker, 


"Career" is spelled C-A-R-E-E-R. If you are seeking "carrier" advancement, please contact our Republic of Singapore, Airforce or Republic of Singapore, Navy. 


Or, if you're looking for an aircon, please visit Carrier Singapore Pte Ltd for a wide variety of choices. 


From the Desk of a Recruiter


*~*~*


More often than not, I receive simple resumes with a very simple email message, yet also, with a very glaring typo error in the email body. What started out with exasperation after reading these emails slowly became amusement.

As much as I'd like to be able to provide to every jobseeker's career objectives and needs, I regret to inform that "carriers" in any and all forms are beyond my abilities. If anyone should be interested to seek "carrier" advancement, please feel free to consult our Airforce or Navy. ;)


Signing off
Adeline
From the Desk of a Recruiter

Dear Jobseeker,


I appreciate your efforts in inserting a photograph in your CV. But it is rather difficult for me to tell which of the five people in the photograph is you. 


From the Desk of a Recruiter


*~*~*


Welcome to the first of my series in "Resumes" boo-boos. These are real-life mistakes captured in my daily routine of screening resumes. It may seem funny, but, imagine what happens to your career if you should make one of such mistakes. 


A perfect resume is like a perfect man/woman. It does not exist. As long as it is right for you, it's a good resume - Desk of a Recruiter.

Right about 6 months into my job, I stopped taking for granted that every CV I receive will have a decent photograph of the applicant. It seems to be a lost art to find a photo-booth, take a passport-size photo, scan it and include it in the CV.

I have received, till date:

• Group photos. 
• Erm... Erm... I can see that these people had a great time at a BBQ, but... which one is the applicant?
  
  
• Pair photos 
• This wouldn't be too bad, except both models in the photograph are of the same gender. I still can't tell who is the applicant
  
  
• Self-taken photos in the mirror showing full-body portrait of the applicant and the background
• Right down to the cubicle doors of the toilet it was taken in.
  
  
• Self-taken camera photos from a top-down angle, showcasing originality in displaying home-made fish-eye effect 
• For an idea of what fish-eye effect is, please click here
  
  
• Self-taken photos using a web camera, with an arrow drawn using a thick red brush in Paint software pointing to the head of the applicant
• ?????????????

Welcome to the top 5 most eccentric photos I have received. (In no particular order) 

To all of those who had made the effort to do a professional shot, or just a very simple passport photo from any random photo booth (automated or otherwise), kudos to you and please keep it up. 

Note to all CV-writers there: If you don't have a decent photograph, please leave it blank. If you have to include in a picture for the opportunity you're applying for, please make a trip down to the photo booth. Taking any random shots from your collection of photos in Facebook or harddisk might not impress the recipient of the email. 

Signing off

Adeline

From the Desk of the Recruiter

One fine afternoon...

Adeline: Good Afternoon Mr Jobseeker, are you open to explore a career opportunity?


Jobseeker: Yes, but only in specific XXX technology as the IT administrator


Adeline: I have an opportunity here which is what you are looking at, but before I continue the discussion, may I know if there are any particular reasons for you wanting to leave your current company after only 6 months?


Jobseeker: I was hired as an IT administrator, but now I'm being tasked and designated to do IT development. Hence I'm only looking for an administrator opportunity in XXX technology


Adeline: I see. I do have an administrator opportunity in XXX. But would you be open to explore such an opportunity in a service provider environment?


Jobseeker: Vendor? I have attended interviews for almost all possible service providers for this administrator opportunity.


Adeline: Have you attended any interviews with my client, Company AAA?


Jobseeker: Never heard of them.


Adeline: If that's the case, would you like to explore an opportunity with them?


Jobseeker: But I have attended interviews for almost all service providers. I probably have attended an interview with your client before.


Adeline: Have you attended any interviews at Location BBB?


Jobseeker: Nope.


Adeline: If you haven't heard of my client's name and location, chances are, you have not attended interviews with them before. Since you are interested in this administrator opportunity, would you like to consider submitting your application?


Jobseeker: I have attended so much interviews for this administrator opportunity. I am interested in the opening, but I am just demoralized from attending so many interviews. I don't think I want to look for a job anymore.


Adeline: ...... 

*~*~*

The above conversation has been edited to ensure proper English decorum (i.e., grammar) is displayed on the blog, but of course, in real-life the recruiter and job-seeker alike don't talk in such pretty language.

The essence of the conversation, however, remains unedited, and yes, this very adorable jobseeker did say that classic line "demoralized from attending so many interviews".

After 36 months of recruitment, I was beginning to think I'm starting to understand the mindsets of jobseekers in general, but I guess, I have a very long way to go.

Signing off,
Adeline
From the Desk of a Recruiter,