Dear Jobseeker, 

Thank you for your resume, your contact number and your contact email. 

Now... what is your name? 


From the Desk of a Recruiter

*~*~*

Time to time I came across "interesting" resumes. On top of the other interesting ones previously blogged about, this particular resume came in several weeks back.

Interestingly enough, there was no name anywhere.

And I mean anywhere. There was no name in the email address except a jumble of selected alphabets; there was no name in the email body; there was no name in the resume file name (it was named as "resume.docx"); there was no name in the resume document itself.

I can't even find a godforsaken surname/last name I can address this person by.

There was, however, what I assumed to be his initials:

A.K

Ah yes. That is very helpful when you're looking for a job. Many companies would be thrilled to hire somebody they couldn't even identify properly.

 *rolls eyes*

Yes, I'm having a minor bitch moment there.

December is a tiring month for a recruiter.



Signing off
"A.C"
From the Desk of a Recruiter

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

Just for fun. =D Cheers!




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