December 2016

It is well-known or should be that by itself a good resume isn’t enough to get you a job. The human element is still the most critical deciding factor affecting who gets hired and who does not. Interpersonal communication skills or Soft Skills as they’ve come to be known are critical to your efforts. Sadly, a growing number of people, especially those under the age of 35, are more likely to be lacking in this area at a time when senior company managers have rightly begun to recognize this deficit with respect to their hiring processes. Those over 35 are losing them with increased reliance on convenient technologies that have generally speaking, become necessities. With 25 years of experience recruiting and placing many different kinds of people, I don’t care how much money you have spent for your college degree, or how

For whatever reason, perhaps the available jobs in your local vicinity are either not suitable or there may be few available. Let’s say, hypothetically, there is a job you are considering, you like them and they like you. They are willing to pay more money, but there is a two hour or longer one-way commute on a clear weather and good traffic day. However, it is a good job and the kind for which you have been looking, so you think beyond the commute issue, instead considering the good things and benefits for you and your family. I’ve witnessed this sort of situation and, most often, accepting these circumstances is rationalized by focusing on the good or because of need, although I do warn candidates of the negatives to which they should give more credence. Everything starts out well, but often