Inspire a Hire

Chapter 1 – Introduction “A Welcome and Words of Encouragement”
Dear Job Hunter,
Welcome to “Inspire a Hire”
Congratulations you are already a success; you are here for a positive reason!
You are here because:
 You’re serious about securing the job, career and lifestyle you want.
 You’re just starting out or have been employed in the same company for many years and face redundancy, thinking you would never need to write a CV or embark on job hunting. The truth is it can be a minefield if you have never needed to embark on the Job Hunt.
 You may not be getting past the recruitment systems that send you those disheartening letters that say ‘Regrettably, on this occasion you have been unsuccessful’, with no feedback to help you identify where you did not match the criteria.
 You’re proactive and not a quitter. My guess is you’re also determined to get what you want!
So congratulations!
You’re already ahead of the majority of job hunters who fire off a poorly drafted CV, in an unfocused and random manner, into the electronic ether and wonder why they have not had any calls. Whatever your reason for being here now, in this moment, I want to welcome you personally to this practical, tested approach to getting interviews and, ultimately, job offers for the job you desire.
My mission in the following pages is to offer you a proven approach that has helped me, as well as others, move jobs and significantly increase my earnings within a relatively short period of time, during an economic recession and a highly competitive market.
What you will learn here, if you choose to apply the lessons, will help your CV pass the ten-second-scan test, emphasise your added value and make you someone to take seriously as a potential candidate.
I am going to help you seriously think about what your unique selling point is – and yes, you are unique. There is no other being like you in the universe. So know your uniqueness, this will make you stand out from the crowd. And the great thing to know, at the start of this e-book journey, is that these are simple lessons learned from experience that require only a little logic and creativity to apply.
All I ask is for you to trust what I have learned from my own job hunting experience and other job hunters. Apply it and then let me know the result by emailing me your success story (mycoach@inspireahire.com).
I believe already that you have what it takes to add value to any organisation because the first habit of highly successful people is to be proactive. So read on my friend and let us travel together towards the achievement and success you desire.
Well done!
Rich Hobbs B.Sc FMM
Your Job Hunting Coach
mycoach@inspireahire.com
Chapter 2 – The Recruitment Reality “An Experiential Insight of the Recruitment Industry”
So, you have spent time searching for the job or career move that turns a light on inside you and you’re feeling confident that this one will be a winner. You prepare a CV to the best of your ability and hit the Send button, or maybe even lick a stamp, the good old-fashioned way and say quietly to yourself, ‘Please, God, let this be the one.’
Whatever the method required for the application, you have actually made progress and you’re feeling hopeful of a positive result. The days go by, then a couple of weeks, and still you have not heard anything. On reflection, you go over your application, wondering why a response has not been given, and eventually get the courage to ring up the agency or employer, only to hear the classic phrase already mentioned:
‘Unfortunately, your details did not match our requirements. We will keep your details on file.’
Hanging up the phone, you feel a sinking response in your stomach, that disappointment of rejection. Then begins the self-analysis and internal mind chatter that may impact negatively your emotional state. Those nearest to you see you’re upset and you have to announce that you did not even get an interview.
Does this sound familiar?
Believe me, I know this feeling very well and spent several years of what I can only say is the definition of madness, which is ‘to do the same thing repeatedly expecting a different result’ – until I learned the lessons I will be outlining in the following pages about the reality of the recruitment process.
Sales Drive Behaviours
In a classic book, The Goal by E. Goldratt, the reason for existence of most organisations is pure and simple: to make a profit! This is their sole purpose – nothing more, nothing less. That’s the goal and all behaviour within these organisations is driven by sales and profit margins.
So let’s enter the mind of the recruitment consultant. Having been a recruitment consultant for a couple of years, I have a sound insight to this industry and having this reality check should increase your success rate. In order for you to learn this lesson, I need to ask you to put yourself into the role of a recruitment consultant and understand the process.
Imagine your job security is strongly dependent on achieving sales for the agency and hitting your targets, and success means placing candidates into jobs to achieve your bonus.
How focused would you be?
How much time would you be willing to give people who do not make a serious attempt to communicate clearly their work experience?
What is the underlying goal in the back of the recruiter’s mind?
Reflect on this for a moment……..
The Process
At some point in time, an employer loses a member of staff, decides to expand their team, or even creates a brand new role. This is the birth of opportunity for you as the job hunter. The employer will decide either to run their own recruitment campaign or utilise one of the many recruitment agencies available to them.
And so the process begins.
The recruitment agencies’ clients who are hiring need to explain to the recruiter what they are looking for in the ideal candidate. This could be a brief conversation with the recruitment consultant who scribbles down the job description, or a detailed face-to-face meeting where the client clearly knows what he or she needs. The result is a detailed job specification, a candidate profile, and a list of both essential and desirable qualities for the position.
The recruitment consultant negotiates a fee structure with the client, which may be that the agency receives a percentage of the successful candidate’s salary. This is the typical approach for permanent vacancies; however, a fixed charge may be applied. Whatever financial arrangements are made, the recruiter is hungry to win the business, as this industry is highly competitive. Once the recruiter has some sense of what the customer desires in a candidate, the recruiter will work an advertising campaign to attract potential candidates.
In the ideal world, where time is in abundance, the above process would be done thoroughly, a clear understanding of the client’s need would be identified and job hunters would get quality information in the form of a detailed job specification. However, the hunger and pace at which this process moves, often results in details getting overlooked, and the quality of shared understanding between the client’s need and the recruiter’s objectives become something of a grey area.
The next step in the process is that potential candidates, like you, will be attracted by the job title, salary and content of the advert. You will prepare your covering letter and CV then apply for the role. The recruiter will review applications and match candidate experience to the job