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Hey everyone, I’m Marty T Hawkins with Warehouse and Operations as a Career. I’m really excited about all the opportunities I’ve already seen in 2020. Our Industry is rocking it! A few weeks ago we learned about all the square footage being built and the different technologies that are being introduced, I think efficiencies is going to be the word of the year! Along with all that growth we’re seeing jobs or positions being created for us, and that’s a great thing! There’s so many young men and women getting started in our fields, we’re seeing people leaving the retail, food service and construction arenas, and that’s what WAOC is all about. Last week I produced a webinar on how Finding work is hard work where we talked about utilizing the job boards our resumes and the many social media job groups to ace our phone and face to face interviews and I thought with so many of us changing careers and industries, or starting to think about and plan out our careers we’d talk about that for a minute today. Looking for work is hard work but we can relieve a lot of that stress and anxiety if we go about it the right way!
So today let’s discuss what recruiters are expecting from us as applicants, what their looking for, and I guess, more importantly what they do not want to see or experience from us.
One of the first things every recruiter always brings up is that the applicant should know what he or she is wanting to do or what can they commit too doing. We’ve talked about how important it is for us to do our research or a little background work on any companies we’d like to work with before. Things like our commute, are we willing to commit to the drive and traffic and what’s the opportunity for growth? Maybe what’s the opportunity to learn to operate any machinery or equipment? Really anything that’s going to earn us a little more money!
Another thing always brought up by our hiring agents is that an applicant should just be honest when sharing their experience levels with us. In our line of work this can be an important one. If we say we can operate an electric rider jack or a fusion production machine we’ll need to be able to do it. They’re going to put us on one and stating “I’m a fast learner” just isent going to cut it.
I think the main concern a recruiter or hiring agent has with us as applicants is can we commit to this job?
Ok, so how do we get out there and find a job? How do we find employment! Looking for Work is Hard Work! And It really is.
In today’s market, it’s a lot easier to find who’s hiring, what the job duties are, exactly what hours and skills their looking for in an employee, and a lot of times they’ll even list any benefits and such.
Lets start with the Job Boards. We all have probably checked out the ad’s on them before. And when we’re looking for a job it’s so tempting to just find something, anything and accept it. But if we don’t like it we’re just going to quit or stop showing up. Lets plan a little bit and save ourselves a lot of time and frustration and start off on the right track! Ok, so first we need to think about what we want to do, and what are our experiences. How far are we willing to drive to and from work? What hours or shifts can we commit too? Armed with those answers we can start identifying target companies and start applying, getting those applications in. And it’s fine to apply to all of them. Oh, we can have our favorites or a wish list but apply everywhere we can commit to working, it’s a numbers game. We have experience and someone is going to be needing our skills I assure you.
And what about our Resume or work histories? I kind of skipped over this important part but I want to say a few things about it. From what our recruiters have shared with us our resume is important, but it needs to be informational above all. If we’re seeking a professional position, yes, we need to pay someone to help us with it. But if we’re seeking our first job or a non-skilled position, even something in the retail, food or light industrial fields it’s more important we openly share our experiences, wishes and willingness with the hiring agent. There’s plenty of resume writers on Facebook, for $20 or $30 dollars they’ll help us put something together. In my opinion, we can get the same thing from a Microsoft office template or a public library. Every library will have templates for you to construct your resume with.
You’ll need your Name, Contact number and email at the top. I suggest not listing your address but do put your city and state.
Next write a brief summary of your experiences. Don’t exaggerate but do list all your accomplishments. If you were a hostess and came up with a more efficient way of tracking tables to the waitstaff, write that down. Be proud of any ideas you’ve had that helped your employer. This is where we should list any goals we may have or our interest in a new field. Keep it brief but list a few things, and in a way that our interviewer will have to ask us questions!
Next we need to list our education. Again, just be honest. And here’s where we’ll list any achievements, certificates and awards we’ve earned also. If your proud of it, list it here. Again, it’ll be something we can talk about with our recruiters.
And then we want to have a work history section. List all our experiences here. Remember, we’re going to have to explain why we only worked 6 months somewhere and account for any gaps in our employment. Have those answers already scripted in our heads. It’s important to be honest again. If we left because we just couldn’t get along with a boss, share it with them when it comes up. BUT share your side of the story with them too. If we just didn’t want to work for a few months, tell them that and share why. If we had to help out a family member, share as much as you’re comfortable with. Share, talk and communicate with your hiring agent.
I do agree that our resume is important but from what I’ve learned from the recruiting world the information is the critical part, not necessary the format of it. If you get hung up on a resume, give us a hollar at host@warehouseandoperationsas a career.com and I’ll help you or put you in contact with someone that’ll help you out. Have one, but don’t stress over it. Your experiences and personality are the key components, not how it looks.
Next on our list are all the Social Media job groups! These are a great resource to us in todays markets! I know one group of recruiters that get between 30 and 70 percent of their responses from Social Media, depending on the position and the skill sets needed to perform the task.
TWITTER, I see advertisements or postings from most all the larger Corporations utilizing these platforms some. Of course, we’re directed to their own websites to learn more about the positions and fill out the app’s!
And then there’s Facebook. In my view, for most light industrial and general labor positions, this is where it’s all happening lol. I like all the colors and brightness of the Facebook ads we’re seeing today. Usually we’ll be linked to or directed to a company’s website from their ad’s. Replying to a feed posting with an Interested, or asking for more information or replying with DM or PM me is not going to get us anywhere. Any real job is going to post the name of the company, a telephone number and either a physical address or a link to fill out an application. We need to follow the directions given in the posting. If it says call, then we need to call. If they give us a window to come apply, then walk in and fill out an application. It’s a win win if we are given a link to the application and can apply from our home, but let’s be sure to follow up with a phone call. We want them to know that we’re interested and serious right.
Some other great avenues are job fairs and our friends and families. They all know people, there like our own little network!
Now that we’ve got our names, skills and wants out there we’re going to be shopped by employers, and we’ll need to be ready! Our first contact with a targeted employer will probably be the Phone Interview! . This is our 10 minutes to sell ourselves. The hiring agent is going to be cold calling us. We need to be prepared for that call. I always encourage applicants to have a copy of their resume with them. Make notes on it, have our rebuttals ready for those anticipated questions regarding why we left a position or list the reasons why we may have a gap with our employment. Jot down a couple of questions for the recruiter too. These can be something like, what do you think of the company or can you tell me a little about the growth opportunities this position can bring to the table. Anything. Remember we want to make an impression with our recruiter. He or she is going to talk to several people, we want them to feel a bond with us and remember us. Recruiters are asking questions all day every day. You’d be surprised how much they’ll enjoy sharing something different with us AND they’ll remember us. If we show them interest in the position, they’ll pick up on our enthusiasm and it’ll pay off for us!
When we do get that call, say we’re driving or maybe watching the kids at the time it is perfectly alright, and actually appreciated by our hiring agent to share that with them. Ask if we could call them back in a little bit, let them know that you’d like to go to a quiet place where you can focus on the interview. It’s perfectly fine to set a time to call them back. Just be sure we call them back at that time! We don’t want them to skip over us, right?
We have 10 minutes, know what our resume says, explain all our goals and experiences, be as at ease as we can and project the interest we have in the position. Let them know we’d love to come in to meet with them and that we feel we’re the perfect candidate for the job. If we do all that we’ll get that face to face interview!
Now I’m going to go out on a limb here. I urge my people to always call back in 2 or 3 days if we haven’t heard back from our interviewer. It can’t hurt, call them back and let them know we’re still available and interested in the position. Maybe someone didn’t show up or they moved on to filling another position. I’d call them back, worse case is it can’t hurt us lol!
I’m sure we’re going to Ace the phone call! So we’re going to be invited in for an actual face to face interview. This is our shot ladies and gentlemen! We should be at least 10 minutes early to our scheduled interview. We should dress to the position. If we’re in a professional setting, dress in business attire. Business casual is fine for an office setting and a nice pair of jeans and a polo shirt will be fine for a light industrial position. Oh, and do not bring children to your interview. We’re not going to be able to bring them to the jobsite – and in a way this is really our first day of work right?
We’re going to be nervous. Just tell our recruiter that. They do this for a living, they know were nervous. Again, be honest, answer their questions openly, remember this is where we can share our side and thoughts. And ask questions, we want them to notice us and remember us.
It’s important we have our identification and any needed forms with us too, we could be offered the position right there on the spot! We’ve worked hard to get here; we need to project ourselves as the best candidate there going to see and let them know that we are committed to this job and ready to make that commitment to them!
Well there’s a few tips from the pros and an opinion or two from me. If we put in the work, and yes, it is work, even in today’s job markets we’ll land the job that we’re seeking. You have the skills, the experience and the ambition, you’ll rock your new career choice!
Until next week, good luck on your choices and please remember, warehousing and transportation can be dangerous, please always put Safety 1st!