1. If you’ve been unemployed for six months or more,
they assume that other people passed over you and
they may not want to hire you.
2. When it comes to getting a job, who you know
really matters. No matter how great your
qualifications may be, connections count. So make
you network as much as possible.
3. If want a job at specific company, its best to
bypass the HR department completely. Try to
go through someone you know or go directly
to the hiring manager.
4. You will not be taken serious if your e-mail
address does sound professional like BobJones
@ gmail.Com. BobbyLikes2Booze@ Yahoo.com
just won’t cut it.
5. Most companies practice discrimination.
If you’re in your 50's or 60's, don’t put the year
you graduated on your resume.
6. HR people get irritated about a job hunter
cramming an entire resume on one page in 2 point
type. Use two pages if necessary, but three pages
is pushing it.
7. Most HR people use applicant tracking systems
that scan resumes for key words. To get your resume
through the system make sure you put key words directly
from the job description on your resume.
8. Try to avoid using colored ink and paper when
you submit your resume. Also, dropping off your
resume in person is a no-no.
9.If you want to be considered for a job, make
sure you learn as much as you can about the
company before your interview.
10. A lot of HR people don’t want to hire applicants
with young children. Although its illegal to ask you,
they will pull all kinds of tricks to find out. Some
will put photos of kids on their desks even if they
don’t have children. Then they hope you’ll ask
about the kids and mention your own children.
Or, they may walk you out to your car to see if
you have car seats.
11. HR managers routinely discriminate against
people who are over weight or obese and if you
have a weak hand shake, it will count against you.
12. If you don’t want to blow the job interview,
make sure you turn your cell phone completely
off.
13. Make sure you’re pleasant and cordial to everyone
you encounter at the company. If not, the HR manager
will hear about it and it will count against you.
14. If you have a real personal emergency and you
can’t make your interview, and you have a legitimate
excuse, most HR people probably won’t believe you.
15. Never reveal or on a resume that you were fired.
If you do, it will be trashed. Nine times out of ten,
most state laws on reference immunity and your former
company’s policy will prevent most HR people from
ever finding out.
16. Make sure you know how to pronounce the name
of the person who will interview you. If you must,
call the company receptionist and find out. Also,
make sure your personal hygiene is impeccable.
You should well groomed, and make sure
you wear your best suit or dress for the interview.
17. When asked to talk about yourself, make it
short and to the point. Avoid being a blow hard.
18. Wait at least a week before you send a thank
you note for the interview. In that time, the HR
manager will have interviewed a lot of other
people and your thank you note will stand out.
19. HR managers find persistent people annoying.
Sometimes they’ll tell applicants that they hired
someone internally just to get rid of them. If you want
to check back on your status, limit it to one or two contacts.
20. If you did not get along with your former
supervisor, do not list his direct line as a reference.
Instead, just provide the HR phone number at
your former company. Most will only give out your dates
of employment and your title.
21. If you’re credit score is below 650, it will count
against you when you apply for a job. But since back
ground checks are expensive, HR managers sometimes
bluff and will not even run one.
22. Don’t quote Salary.Com when negotiating pay.
Reason? It’s usually 10 to 20 grand higher than actual
salaries. Plus it annoys HR people like crazy. And
when discussing salary, most HR people try to lock
you in early by saying, “the position pays 35K to 40K.
If they ask you if that’s acceptable, say “no”, “it depends”,
or “it may not be out of the question”. That way, they
can’t lock you into that salary area.
23. If you already have a job, and they start giving you
the worsts assignments possible, with impossible
deadlines, they are setting up to fail so they can terminate it.
So start looking for a new job immediately. Also, watch out
if you’re put on a performance improvement plan and they
say that they want it to work out. They may be looking to
sack you. And the third signal that want to give you
the boot is when you’re a high level employee, and they
start taking away your responsibilities to work on special
assignments. Start sending out resumes fast.
24. If you get laid off, you’ll probably get a separation
agreement where you agree not to sue. Before you sign
it , try to ask for more severance money, a glowing
recommendation in writing or more Cobra. The worst that
could happen is that they'll say no.
25. If you’re asked to travel to attend a conference, try
not to say no. It could end your career.
