Career Coach CV/Resume Writer by Rob Ridout

Interview and Hiring Statistics  (suggested read by Rob Ridout) What great info. I am always trying to give my coaching clients perspective into what happens in the job recruitment market and this article really provides the reader with a great perspective of what happens in the world of hiring and some of the stats are quite unbelievable.  https://zety.com/blog/hr-statistics?gclid=CjwKCAiAuqHwBRAQEiwAD-zr3TZb78EWx6w4kpScOs9HRjytfbR9fMdwWnMp07qDP5S5_GdOYM6BxoClEsQAvD_BwE

Do you suffer from a "Victim Mentality" when moving through the interview process?  Over the course of my 24 years as a headhunter, I’ve interviewed hundreds of candidates and also forwarded many candidates for many interviews with a diverse client base. I do believe that in South Africa we suffer from what I call the victim mentality”. From very early on in our careers we are told that there are massive amounts of unemployed people walking the streets. The fear of the dreaded interview or unemployment failure is embedded into us almost immediately without us even starting work. This constant flow of negative publicity is brought to us through all sorts of formats especially in the media and recruiters. Once we are in a position to start looking for work and starting to apply and then start with interviews there is an element of fear already in our minds especially when it comes to the actual face to face interview. I often meet and interview candidates who tell me at...

How to dodge the recruitment screening robot Robots are commonly used among top companies to vet job applications before passing contenders to hiring managers for further consideration.  The robot software is known as an applicant tracking system (ATS) and it's used by about 95% of Fortune 500 companies and many online job boards. But it's possible to outsmart ATS algorithms by making the most of keywords and establishing a rapport with the company.  Your dream job, say as a Google programmer or a  globe-trotting wine taster , appears in a posting online. You submit a resume and a week goes by — no response. After two or three more, still nothing. The simmering distress boils over as you realize that a response will never come, and you'll never know why. "Don't take it personally," a friend tells you over drinks. The advice sounds canned but is quite literally correct: A robot likely read and rejected your applica...

      Hiring Forecast for 2020 in South Africa  The ManpowerGroup has published its latest employment outlook survey, showing that South African employers have ‘soft’ hiring intentions in Q1 2020. The group’s data shows that while 10% of employers forecast an increase in payrolls, 8% anticipate a decrease and 81% expect to make no changes. Once the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variation, the outlook stands at +2%, and is the weakest reported in more than five years. Hiring plans remain relatively stable when compared with the previous quarter, but declined by three percentage points in comparison with the same period last year. “As we move into the new year, the South African economy continues to be affected by subdued economic growth and a sluggish growth outlook,” said Lyndy van den Barselaar, managing director of ManpowerGroup SA. “Policy uncertainty and a high unemployment rate remain a deep concern for local businesses who are look...

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Cover Letter - 2020 trends  This is a great article on cover letter trends and also provides a slightly different perspective regards the cover letter.  https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/do-cover-letters-still-matter-heres-what-data-shows Visit our website to see our latest specials. www.yourcvforlife.com