7 steps to a better job ad response

A lot of resumes and applications come across our desks at Semper.

I don’t know if it’s the economy or a general lack of concern, but we’ve been finding a large number of applicants who seem to quit before they try. I understand the job market is iffy right now and many many people have applied for job after job. Don’t take your frustrations out on the recruiter you are asking to hire you.

Take this response for example:

From: “eBay Classifieds Reply (from xxxx@gmail.com)” <donotreply@ebayclassifieds.com>

Date: February 19, 2011 6:00:28 PM EST

To: always@semperllc.com

Subject: A reply to your “JOB” Ad on eBay Classifieds

Reply-To: xxxx@gmail.com

<resume (2011s ONLINE).doc>

As a recruiter, why would I take the time to open this resume? The subject line is generic. There is no information in the body of the email to entice a recruiter to look at the attachment. Regardless of the position you are applying for, an application is a sales letter. When you are looking for  a job, especially when there is a lot of competition, you need to make yourself stand out.

This ad response has 41 additional characters but no more information.

From: xxxx@aol.com

Subject: Controller

Date: April 18, 2010 3:14:17 PM EDT

To: always@semperllc.com

Please find enclosed resume.  Thank you.

<ResLetter-Name Acounting Mgr 125[9].doc>

Your emailed resume is the first impression you give to a potential employer. Make it a good one. Give the recruiter or hiring manger a reason to take the extra step to open your resume.

Start with a personalized greeting. Dear Ms. Jackson makes a better impression that Dear Hiring Manager.

Give information about yourself in the email. Your email should include the highlights of your resume. What attracted you to the post? What you think you can do for the company? Give some indication that you have at least visited the company’s website. Its frustrating to call a candidate and find out they have no idea what they applied for.  Thoughtful targeted responses to job ads will go farther than mass applications.

Build rapport. Use similar language to what is in the job posting. People like people who are like them. It creates a subconscious connection with the reader when you repeat wording from the ad in your application.

Don’t focus entirely on yourself. “You” should appear more frequently then “I” in your initial email.

Make it easy to get in touch with you. Include email and phone numbers. Let the recruiter decide how he would like to contact you. Remember, if you choose to include your social media information make sure it is relevant to the position and not detrimental to your professional image. In 2009, 45% of employers were screening social media sites for information on potential hires. If Gilbert Godfey can get fired over his use of social media so can you.

Be truthful. I recently saw the resume of a dancer from a cruise ship who thought bookkeeping was the perfect next career move.  I also got a resume for a community manager who had 46 Twitter followers. Your background should support the position you are applying for. Prove your claims with specific facts, numbers and dollars. You should have the majority of the experience the ad requires.

Be clear, not clever. Yes, you might get some attention by wearing a sandwich board and hanging around the lobby where you are applying, but it is likely to be negative attention. Jazzy subject lines could get your email opened, but be sure the company culture supports that. Also make sure the content makes the email worth opening. You will get farther by clearly stating your skills and the value you provide than with clever gimmicks and tricks. For a laugh, see this list of gimmicks job seekers have used.

Other reminders:

Discrimination is illegal, unethical and plain wrong. Unfortunately it happens. Limit ways in which you can be discriminated against. Don’t include religious affiliations or ethnic group activities on your resume. Don’t add more than 10- 15  years of experience on your resume. This is especially important if you are over 50.

Follow these guidelines to increase your chance of making a positive impression on a recruiter. Your job search is in your hands. Positive outcomes are possible when you make the effort. If you aren’t going to make an effort, you might a well not try. Begin to build a relationship with the recruiter in your first email and watch your results improve.

What does the average person post on social media vs broadcast media?

We are curious … Has there been a study on what people post on Social Media vs what regular media delivers to us? In essence, do us normal people sharing things with our friends and family in general posts and links about happy, cool or funny things more often than media? Or do we also post alarming and things meant for shock value as much as the media?

1st Quarter Industry Insight Survey 2011

Looks like the last quarter of 2010 ended great but there was a slight slow down in the last month. The soft spot anomaly is continuing- pockets of business surrounded by definite slow spots.

This current survey is the first in many years showing significant changes in hiring and a marked increase of hiring via staffing companies. (Staffing is a traditional indicator that the labor market is turning positive.)

The special question this survey regarding costs centers will be used to help us modify future surveys. We thank you for your help.

Dave Regan
CEO Semper
always@semperllc.com

Click here to view the Survey, PDF Format

Employee Orientation: DAY TWO!

Earlier this year we talked about the first day for a new employee. Today we are looking at the second day: Employee orientation.

Good communication should start with the employee orientation. Communication issues are cited as the number one issue employees have with their jobs.

• Orientation is best used as part of the goal-setting and performance management system.
• Learning how to do the job should be an ongoing process. Ideally, its not just a one or two-day task to get out of the way and be done with.

When you design a training program, present training materials in a variety of ways:

• Written/handouts
• Verbal
• Hands-on
• Video/webinar

People learn in different ways. Using different methods to present info will help your new hires retain what they need to be effective in their new jobs. Important information should be delivered in multiple ways. A national hot beverage chain taught new employees how to make its signature beverages first by demonstrating, then showing a video, then doing hands on training, finally passing out illustrated ingredient lists.

Videos and webinars can be used to engage employees. Many companies are using youtube, podcasts  and other sources for training videos. A caveat on videos: It is important to find or create high quality training videos. I ran the summer temp training program for a large retailer. We found the training videos were a source of derision. They caused laughter rather than actual learning experiences. Although the company spent a lot of money having the videos made, the presenter made distracting, flailing arm motions. Everyone remembered the flailing arms, no one remembered the definition of quid pro quo sexual harassment.

Other things to keep in mind:

Training should be non-threatening. Don’t schedule truing during your peak production times. Whenever possible, use slower times to teach.

You train attitude as much as content. If you present a task and dull and tiresome your trainees will absorb that attitude and also find the task dull. Present all job duties in an upbeat way. Let your new people decide for themselves.

If your company doesn’t have a formal mentorship program, assign your new person a buddy. Ask the buddy eat lunch with your new hire. Encourage others in the department to eat with the new person as well. You want them to not only be ale to perform the functions of the job, but learn the company culture as well.

Careful design of orientation programs as well as a good training will help your employees learn the skills they need to know to succeed in your company for the long-term. Orientation and training are not just on days 1 and 2. They are ongoing and go a long way toward employee retention.

Semper helps Printing Impressions with White-paper on hiring trends in the next two years.

We just wrapped up a new White-paper for Printing Impressions. It’s focus is on hiring trends in printing for the next two years. While it is a challenge to predict the future, there are some very strong indicators of what path the industry is going.

 

Deanna Lohnes and Brian Regan of Semper were able to take the large amount of data Semper and PrintWorkers has based on years of staffing the industry and leverage that with key resources and industry experts to create information that is a must read for business owners, executives and human resource professionals.

 

Please find more information about this White-paper here: CLICK HERE

Semper International Reports Mixed Indicators from its Most Recent Print Industry Insight Survey

Boston, MA – November 2, 2010 – Semper International, the leading placement firm for skilled help in the graphic arts and printing industry, announces that there are still mixed signals about the state of the printing business from results of their most recent Industry Insight survey.

Since February 2003, Semper International has provided a quarterly survey offering estimates of trends in the printing and graphics industries. To prevent bias, survey questions — both qualitative and quantitative — are designed by Semper corporate partner Cvent. Survey participants include more than 300 small, medium and large printing companies; both clients and prospects of Semper International. Participants provide data on revenue and hiring as well as estimated outlooks on future trends. Data is requested from a random sample and are not screened. To preserve confidentiality, individual company information is not part of the tabulation.

“They warned us things would be a little bumpy,” notes Dave Regan, CEO Semper International. “This election season has certainly put a negative spin on just about everything. The pundits and the Fed warned us that things would be improving, but it would be up and down. It seems clear that we have seen several soft spots the last few months. While annoying, they are definitely surrounded by some busy spells. Overall, this fall has been decidedly better then a year ago and certainly better than the spring.”

The most recent survey indicates a mixed bag of business trends:

• About 60% of companies surveyed reported a profitable Q3. While down quarter-to-quarter, it was stronger than a year ago.
• Looking at the first two weeks of Q4, current sales indicate a strong increase — although this could be a seasonal trend. The number of companies reporting a decrease in sales dropped from 35% to 24%, with those reporting increased sales taking a corresponding gain.
• About 80% of the companies interviewed expected even or increased sales during Q1, 2011.
• The vast majority of respondents indicated that hiring levels remained the same, although there was a slight increase in companies hiring — and a noticeable trend that they were releasing less employees.
• More than two-thirds of companies reported that healthcare is the labor cost component that increased the fastest last quarter — nearly five times greater than those reporting base pay, the next component.
• The greatest competitive threat to printers is technology (48%), far exceeding supply costs (24%) and labor costs (19%).
• Print buyers place the greatest pricing pressure on offset printing (55%) and digital printing costs (20%), where there is clearly a lot of excess capacity, it is the largest component of job cost, and where print providers fight for market share.
• While referrals (31%) and online searches (25%) seem to be the most popular ways to find employees, there was a jump in reliance on flex hiring (16%). In uncertain times ‘try before you hire’ still makes a lot of sense.

To participate in future surveys, please email always@semoperllc.com. More information is available at the Semper International website: CLICK HERE

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About Semper International

Semper International is a temporary help placement firm founded and staffed by professionals who were raised and trained in the printing and graphic arts industry, and who understand the innate needs and demands of the profession. Semper has a thorough understanding of all the positions, equipment, and software essential to the business, which assures a perfect employee – employer match.

The Semper team constantly monitors job market trends in the industry. They understood the changes that occurred in job responsibilities when electronic prepress replaced the typesetter and mechanicals, and similarly understands the impact trends such as direct-to-plate and digital print have on staffing.

To provide career growth, Semper offers Semper University, an online training program for its employees to help prepare conventional printing professionals for upcoming changes in the industry. Realizing how the Internet is revolutionizing the industry, Semper also works with the most talented web designers, graphic designers, desktop publishers and production managers.

Semper has offices in Boston (HQ), Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Minneapolis and Wayne NJ. Direct Hire services for sales and management positions are conducted throughout the country.

For more information, visit Semper International at:

Website: www.semperllc.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/semperllc

Semper Blog: http://semperllc.wordpress.com

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Semper-International/120514671313893?ref=ts

Contacts:

P.R. agency Corporate office

Irvin Press                                                Brian Regan

Press+                                                               President

Tel: +1 508 384 0608                                Tel: +1 800 954 4993 EXT. 227

E-mail: irv@press-plus.com E-mail: bregan@semperllc.com

Why bother with an employee training manual?

New employee orientation is the key to creating loyalty in new hires. Your new hire training should prepare them to be the best they can at their new jobs. Training isn’t a one-shot deal; it should be ongoing. Why do you need a job training manual? Here are three good reasons:

1) As a small business owner, you have a lot of info in our head. But what happens if you are out on a much needed vacation? Who knows what you know? Its SCARY for you to be the only one who knows how to run your business. A training manual serves as a reference to all your staff. If your procedures are written down; you can be out on client calls, trade shows or away from the office and your processes can still happen.

2) Having a training manual instills confidence in new hires. When you are new to a job,  everything feels chaotic. Having all the new information in one place relieves some of that new job tension.

3) When you train your new people, you want them to focus on the task at at hand, not on note-taking. Having a comprehensive guide will allow then to focus on the task, not the notes.  Everyone has different learning styles. Some of us learn by doing. Others learn by listening or by watching. Written training materials will serve as a back up for those you learn by doing and help these who learn by reading.

Creating quality training materials is an investment of time, but definitely worth it.

 

What do I do with the new person?

Remember your first day on the job? Probably not if you have been in your current position any length of time. Chances are, you were overwhelmed, disoriented, desperate to make a good impression.  You may even have needed to pee and been unsure of where the restroom was, or what the protocol was.

Now that you’ve been on the job for some time you may in a position to train new hires. As a supervisor, its your job to make your new employees comfortable on their first day. Good preparation is the starting point. Meet with your leadership team and determine who  is responsible for what. Create an orientation and training schedule. Set aside time to cover information about the company such as products and services, management team, place in the market. Also make time to discuss benefits information and policies.

Preparation includes the new person too. Before the first day, call your new hire and let them know:

* what time to be there

* who to ask for

* what the public trans options are or where to park

* let them know what the dress code is

* what tools or equipment to bring

* what the culture is around lunch and breaks – does your building have a cafeteria? does the break room have a microwave? (No one  likes to have a pb&j in her purse all day)

Once the new person arrives, be sure their office or workspace is equipped. They should have any tools or equipment they need. Their passwords and logins should be ready to use. Introduce the newbie to the people in their department and the people they will be  training with.

Next comes the dreaded PAPERWORK. Did the employee complete and application? If they submitted a resume and had a formal interview the application information seems redundant, however it is wise to have the app signed anyway for legal protection. Next is the ever confusing W4. Rule of thumb, the lower the number, the more money goes to the government. Any number greater than 10 is effectively claiming tax exempt status. The IRS frowns upon tax exempt status. Don’t give tax advice, suggest www.paycheckcity.com if your employee is having trouble. The I9 is next on the list. You have 3 days from the hire date  to complete the I9, but they should have the documentation if you called them the night before.  The rest of the paperwork will be unique to your organization.  It is best practice  to include something to let your new folks know that sexual harassment and workplace violence won’t be tolerated.

Discuss the employee handbook and policies. If any benefits are immediate or auto opt-in be sure your new hire understands this. You don’t want his or her first pay check to be a shock.

Other Day 1 activities should include a facility tour, include restrooms, break room.  Also conduct a safety tour: eye washes, MSDS sheets, fire extinguishers, emergency exits. Talk about company culture in addition to the facts. You want the new person to feel comfortable and get acclimated quickly.

The new person should have a meaningful task to complete on the first day. Having a task will help them feel valued right away.

The goals of any new hire program is not just to complete paperwork. It is to help the new person feel comfortable in the job. Preparation is key to meeting this goal.

Stay tuned:

next in the new hire series will be Day 2 – Orientation & training.

iPads and the tablet world is just starting… Don’t jump the gun

This article is premature in my opinion. There are many factors at play with the iPads/Tablets and publishing. To point out the first forays into it and their missing elements seems a wasted effort. Anyone that has the slightest spark of a clue and a bit of creativity can see without problem the vast opportunities that this things will bring. From adding more interactivity and social media elements to a more enriched type of advertising. These first steps are just the beginning.

Another thing to consider is the speed of change. Getting people from how their read magazines now to a new way should be a progression that you walk the vast population done a sort of path to change. It too fast it will not have enough impact to work on the numbers needed for a sustained change. Do it just right and it will open up the doors to a new way of viewing content.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/06/24/ipad.hype.cashmore/

Wired Magazine – iPad Edition Review

Original post found on Printing Impressions Website: CLICK HERE

Wired magazine released it’s newest addition designed specifically for the iPad. It is basically an app that is purchased on the Apple App Store. With a price tag of $4.99, it is roughly the same cost as Wired’s printed counterpart. The application took 20 minutes to download and once loaded it ran very smoothly.

The overall experience was good for me. It met my expectation in the sense of how it blended the magazine experience and the abilities of the iPad. While I think this is the first attempt of a soon to be explosion of this type of content, it did capture many of the basic elements such as embedded videos, audio and use of the rotation abilities of the device.

I believe the opportunity for printers will be to add this type of application development to their product offerings, thus allowing them to handle each type of distribution channel. It will require outsourcing the application development or adding a new type of skilled employee. What is still a bit blurry and something I will blog about next is what automation companies like Adobe will bring to bear to allow an easier way to make these applications. Print to PDF or Print to APP…?

Embedded videos are done somewhat smoothly in the application. It worked only when I had available Internet access. A plus to companies developing videos and/or TV ads is that those assets can now be deployed into this type of product. Depending on the size of the video I think it would have been better to have the video play within the same page and not take me to its own page.

Another example of an advertisement using text, images and video.

Rotating information. Not quite sure what to call this or if a term exists, but this is an example of using the same page space to display a variety of content.

This interactivity makes me think Education, whether school books or beyond.

This next advertisement was fun to watch, but I can image a how to build video that step by steps one through the building/making process.

Another example of “Rotating Information”, but there has to be the next level added to it. I want to click and buy. Is there an Apple iAmazon on the horizon??

The use of audio in this article was an excellent improvement to the piece overall. I found it added value to me as the reader and was a nice example of augmenting the overall experience.