I’m a recruiter AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When it comes to a position that will manage a small team of direct reports in a medium-sized public company, what is your view of an otherwise-qualified candidate who has not had direct reports, but for 10+ years was the leader of cross-functional teams for very large, C-suite facing deals at an F100? Assume the candidate has excellent references both from his/her manager and from junior personnel that the candidate coached and mentored.

Cross Functional/Project/Indirect leadership is HARDDD, so Kudos PP. Before recruiting I was a matrix leader, I had direct reports and a whole bunch of people who indirectly reported in - that’s a euphemism for they could ignore me at any time. Positional authority was so much easier than the indirect management but the key is to translate the work and experience you have into People Leadership.

Your success in landing the position will depend a lot on what is going on with the team.
If the team needs to be Assembled, Formed, or are Newly Built and they need someone to Coach/Mentor/Engage/Delegate (the happy stuff of people management) you likely have direct experience to draw on.
If the team however is in trouble and they need Performance Management, ‘Difficult Conversations Need to Be Had’ and the Leader ‘Needs to Make a Call,’ this is where your experience may fall short if you’ve never had to terminate someone and stay compliant/legal.

Things to reflect on:
If at any point the managers of the people on your teams:
Came to you for Feedback about their people…
Asked you to coach someone on their team because that person related to you during the project…
Inquired about promotion of the individual (every matrix is different)…
Asked about how to staff up for the future…
….you are very close to the stuff of people management, and you should prepare these go-to examples.

Definitely ask: What’s going on with the team today / How would you describe the health of the team - as one of your Q&A questions. Their response will be a clue to your chances. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Calibri, Arial, a clean sans serif font works really well

Why would sans-serif be preferable? It is generally considered to be harder to read for body text, and it also looks less serious than serif type. And Arial is sort of an abomination.

😖😖😖 hate Arial with a passion

Very subjective opinion. A job will not be won or lost based on the use of Arial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an early 50s employee, one level down from VP at my Fortune 500. I’ve had 4-5 roles in my 20 years at this company, progressing steadily every 2-3 years.

I also had roles at 2-3 other well known, Fortune 500 companies, but that was 20+ years ago.

If I limit my resume to only 10-15 years, I look much more limited in terms of my work experience.

What do you recommend for someone like me who looks like a dinosaur for staying at a company for so long? I feel like I’m one layoff away from a long stint of unemployment.

Your progression every 3 years probably looks amazing. The title changes are really good and I’m guessing you’ve had different bosses also. So the question of ‘why did this person stay at xyz so long’ is answered: bc there were varied opportunities inside the company and they picked her/him for them. (Ie S/he was talented enough to be promoted - many times).

For your resume, I would have a section Previous Roles or Other Experience. Simply List the
Title, Company, Years
Title, Company, Years
Title, Company, Years
(follow the format you used in the earlier section)
I don’t need more job tasks, duties, outcomes explained in these. I will know what those jobs are by title. In this section I want to see that you did work elsewhere - that you have seen other work cultures. So keep it Brief and decide when to truncate it.

Somewhere above I noted that 50 is old in some F500 so if you are sensing it it is probably true. This is advice you didn’t ask but I will give it anyway. You are unlikely to land a VP job at a F500. There are already VP level candidates in our application funnel. A Director or Sr Director role yes, you’d be an easy pick. But also look at smaller companies with say 1-5k employees. They WANT your expertise and there are many with your profile in them in the executive levels. You have to be willing to work in the chaos as opposed to a well oiled machine though so it is a culture change for sure.

PP. So basically age discrimination. Brutal truth. If you aren't at X-level in your F500 career, you're not going to level up at another. The big corporations accept the value judgments placed on you by the talent-grinding-up machine at the place you came from.

I am watching some humorous things happen at my big company. They laid off an already pension-eligible well-known professional with 39 years of service. And his complaint about their inhumanity went viral at a national level. 1 year later, his carefully-developed skills are available to companies that never could have afforded to develop them internally. I'm also watching our cross-town rival keep hiring the major players from real VP (CEO direct report) on down that my company keeps voting off the island. Let's just say that now they know which of the company's moves were luck, crazy, or crazy like a fox. This was a lifetime loyalty kind of industry but management decided that had no value. We will see how the FAFO'ing ends up.

I’m curious when you say “cross-town rival” if you mean Hilton versus Marriott? I’m at one of these companies and what you’re saying about lowering peoples titles and cutting people when they’re very senior resonates completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an early 50s employee, one level down from VP at my Fortune 500. I’ve had 4-5 roles in my 20 years at this company, progressing steadily every 2-3 years.

I also had roles at 2-3 other well known, Fortune 500 companies, but that was 20+ years ago.

If I limit my resume to only 10-15 years, I look much more limited in terms of my work experience.

What do you recommend for someone like me who looks like a dinosaur for staying at a company for so long? I feel like I’m one layoff away from a long stint of unemployment.

Your progression every 3 years probably looks amazing. The title changes are really good and I’m guessing you’ve had different bosses also. So the question of ‘why did this person stay at xyz so long’ is answered: bc there were varied opportunities inside the company and they picked her/him for them. (Ie S/he was talented enough to be promoted - many times).

For your resume, I would have a section Previous Roles or Other Experience. Simply List the
Title, Company, Years
Title, Company, Years
Title, Company, Years
(follow the format you used in the earlier section)
I don’t need more job tasks, duties, outcomes explained in these. I will know what those jobs are by title. In this section I want to see that you did work elsewhere - that you have seen other work cultures. So keep it Brief and decide when to truncate it.

Somewhere above I noted that 50 is old in some F500 so if you are sensing it it is probably true. This is advice you didn’t ask but I will give it anyway. You are unlikely to land a VP job at a F500. There are already VP level candidates in our application funnel. A Director or Sr Director role yes, you’d be an easy pick. But also look at smaller companies with say 1-5k employees. They WANT your expertise and there are many with your profile in them in the executive levels. You have to be willing to work in the chaos as opposed to a well oiled machine though so it is a culture change for sure.

PP. So basically age discrimination. Brutal truth. If you aren't at X-level in your F500 career, you're not going to level up at another. The big corporations accept the value judgments placed on you by the talent-grinding-up machine at the place you came from.

I am watching some humorous things happen at my big company. They laid off an already pension-eligible well-known professional with 39 years of service. And his complaint about their inhumanity went viral at a national level. 1 year later, his carefully-developed skills are available to companies that never could have afforded to develop them internally. I'm also watching our cross-town rival keep hiring the major players from real VP (CEO direct report) on down that my company keeps voting off the island. Let's just say that now they know which of the company's moves were luck, crazy, or crazy like a fox. This was a lifetime loyalty kind of industry but management decided that had no value. We will see how the FAFO'ing ends up.

I’m curious when you say “cross-town rival” if you mean Hilton versus Marriott? I’m at one of these companies and what you’re saying about lowering peoples titles and cutting people when they’re very senior resonates completely.

PP. Not the hotel industry at all. I'm just a Gen-X MBA observer watching the smoldering ashes of the corporate lifetime loyalty/patronage system. Demographics have been a real disadvantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When it comes to a position that will manage a small team of direct reports in a medium-sized public company, what is your view of an otherwise-qualified candidate who has not had direct reports, but for 10+ years was the leader of cross-functional teams for very large, C-suite facing deals at an F100? Assume the candidate has excellent references both from his/her manager and from junior personnel that the candidate coached and mentored.

Cross Functional/Project/Indirect leadership is HARDDD, so Kudos PP. Before recruiting I was a matrix leader, I had direct reports and a whole bunch of people who indirectly reported in - that’s a euphemism for they could ignore me at any time. Positional authority was so much easier than the indirect management but the key is to translate the work and experience you have into People Leadership.

Your success in landing the position will depend a lot on what is going on with the team.
If the team needs to be Assembled, Formed, or are Newly Built and they need someone to Coach/Mentor/Engage/Delegate (the happy stuff of people management) you likely have direct experience to draw on.
If the team however is in trouble and they need Performance Management, ‘Difficult Conversations Need to Be Had’ and the Leader ‘Needs to Make a Call,’ this is where your experience may fall short if you’ve never had to terminate someone and stay compliant/legal.

Things to reflect on:
If at any point the managers of the people on your teams:
Came to you for Feedback about their people…
Asked you to coach someone on their team because that person related to you during the project…
Inquired about promotion of the individual (every matrix is different)…
Asked about how to staff up for the future…
….you are very close to the stuff of people management, and you should prepare these go-to examples.

Definitely ask: What’s going on with the team today / How would you describe the health of the team - as one of your Q&A questions. Their response will be a clue to your chances. Good Luck!

Thanks PP! The recruiter said that the prior manager was “beloved,” so they are looking for someone to continue to support and develop that team. Would it be appropriate to send the recruiter several reference letters from people I mentored in our cross-functional teams? I have letters from coworkers a variety of roles, all indicating that I’ve been instrumental in developing their skills and trajectory.

[Anonymous]

Any advice for Psychology major graduates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When it comes to a position that will manage a small team of direct reports in a medium-sized public company, what is your view of an otherwise-qualified candidate who has not had direct reports, but for 10+ years was the leader of cross-functional teams for very large, C-suite facing deals at an F100? Assume the candidate has excellent references both from his/her manager and from junior personnel that the candidate coached and mentored.

Cross Functional/Project/Indirect leadership is HARDDD, so Kudos PP. Before recruiting I was a matrix leader, I had direct reports and a whole bunch of people who indirectly reported in - that’s a euphemism for they could ignore me at any time. Positional authority was so much easier than the indirect management but the key is to translate the work and experience you have into People Leadership.

Your success in landing the position will depend a lot on what is going on with the team.
If the team needs to be Assembled, Formed, or are Newly Built and they need someone to Coach/Mentor/Engage/Delegate (the happy stuff of people management) you likely have direct experience to draw on.
If the team however is in trouble and they need Performance Management, ‘Difficult Conversations Need to Be Had’ and the Leader ‘Needs to Make a Call,’ this is where your experience may fall short if you’ve never had to terminate someone and stay compliant/legal.

Things to reflect on:
If at any point the managers of the people on your teams:
Came to you for Feedback about their people…
Asked you to coach someone on their team because that person related to you during the project…
Inquired about promotion of the individual (every matrix is different)…
Asked about how to staff up for the future…
….you are very close to the stuff of people management, and you should prepare these go-to examples.

Definitely ask: What’s going on with the team today / How would you describe the health of the team - as one of your Q&A questions. Their response will be a clue to your chances. Good Luck!

Thanks PP! The recruiter said that the prior manager was “beloved,” so they are looking for someone to continue to support and develop that team. Would it be appropriate to send the recruiter several reference letters from people I mentored in our cross-functional teams? I have letters from coworkers a variety of roles, all indicating that I’ve been instrumental in developing their skills and trajectory.

Going to be honest, I wouldn’t want to receive those unprompted. If the interview has already happened the recruiter has already decided whether they are going to advance you based on your interview. If the recruiter asked ‘what is your experience in managing others/have you managed others’ it’s a Qualifying question (see my previous note on it) and you may be up against others who have the experience.

It’s sounds like you really want this role - maybe send a follow up note inquiring status with a mention about your impact on others. If the recruiter gets back to you quickly, within a couple of days, that could be positive as we keep candidates who are in the running ‘warm.’ Again good luck and keep applying!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any advice for Psychology major graduates?

As a former Psych major my advice is figure out your first move/first job. Everything is open to you so do the work within yourself - figure out what is aligned with you - like what is remotely interesting? academia and higher ed, non profit, small company, massive company, and which industry - consumer goods, tech, retail, ai, bio tech, Pharma, etc. all have jobs for grads. If your GPA is strong (between 3.0 and 3.7 every co is different) you could get into early career programs in F500 - year long development programs for young talent. The programs are excellent for giving real experiences and exposure to leadership. Applications tend to be open between Aug-Feb for soon to be / recent grads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To what extent is AI changing the hiring landscape? To what extent are employers using it to screen? To what extent can candidates maximize chances given that?

Good question. Let’s take it from the candidate perspective first. Most recruiting platforms - we call them ATS’s Applicant Tracking Systems - do have an AI function that can screen out candidates if they don’t have the right experience education or target skills. (Hence it is really important now more than ever to customize your resume for the postings you apply to!). Even with AI though I scan any resume I want to put in front of a hiring manager. There is still a human on the other side of the application. Now, if you didn’t customize, aren’t the right skills match, and you’re stretching for a role? Yep you will likely fall out of the process either by AI or by me screening with a filter. If I say I want Salesforce background, your resume better have Salesforce (not just CRM Systems) on it.

Now let’s take it from AI generated applications - as a recruiter they are horrible and a total time suck. Because the resume will pass the filters and I’m looking at the resume and it’s Too Good. Like too much of a match. My hiring managers are also onto this. Obviously we reject the resume but it has wasted our time. Here’s the catch though - if your resume is poorly formatted (because most AI generated resumes don’t have the XTRAAAA formatting that many professionals use) I think - this is AI, or I’m not sure if this is AI or a person, guess what - I’m rejecting your resume.

I odn't even know what you are talking about. I guess I'm screwed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excluding CEO/President level (think VP, senior manager, manager types) at what point does a candidate's age start working against them?

Good question. It depends on the role and the company to be honest. I’ve been in old school industries (think commercial and retail banking) where people stay a looonnng time and someone who is say 45 is about the midpoint of the workforce distribution. I’ve also worked in digital marketing where the average age was like 30. And then in F500 the average age might be in the middle say 38, but by 50 the company is packaging people out.

I will say this
There is no reason to ever put more than 15 years of experience on your resume
There is no reason to put your college graduation date. (1982??!)
There is no reason to still be using Yahoo email. SMH
There is no reason to use Times Roman Font
— when I see a combination of these things on a resume I start thinking ‘This PERSON Has Aged Himself/Herself With This Resume - they are demonstrating by this document that they are not adaptable, will not change.

So ... .if your most recent job was held for more than 15 years, how do you avoid putting more than 15 years of experience on your resume?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Excluding CEO/President level (think VP, senior manager, manager types) at what point does a candidate's age start working against them?

Good question. It depends on the role and the company to be honest. I’ve been in old school industries (think commercial and retail banking) where people stay a looonnng time and someone who is say 45 is about the midpoint of the workforce distribution. I’ve also worked in digital marketing where the average age was like 30. And then in F500 the average age might be in the middle say 38, but by 50 the company is packaging people out.

I will say this
There is no reason to ever put more than 15 years of experience on your resume
There is no reason to put your college graduation date. (1982??!)
There is no reason to still be using Yahoo email. SMH
There is no reason to use Times Roman Font
— when I see a combination of these things on a resume I start thinking ‘This PERSON Has Aged Himself/Herself With This Resume - they are demonstrating by this document that they are not adaptable, will not change.

Age discrimination is alive and well, I see.

[Anonymous]

Do you treat people with an ounce of dignity?

Why are you so stuck on resumes? You know they are for the most part meaningless?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any advice for Psychology major graduates?

As a former Psych major my advice is figure out your first move/first job. Everything is open to you so do the work within yourself - figure out what is aligned with you - like what is remotely interesting? academia and higher ed, non profit, small company, massive company, and which industry - consumer goods, tech, retail, ai, bio tech, Pharma, etc. all have jobs for grads. If your GPA is strong (between 3.0 and 3.7 every co is different) you could get into early career programs in F500 - year long development programs for young talent. The programs are excellent for giving real experiences and exposure to leadership. Applications tend to be open between Aug-Feb for soon to be / recent grads.

Thanks,
I will pass this to my dd.

[Anonymous]

Posters should stop blaming this OP recruiter for “age discrimination”, or hearing the bad news that resumes are important and that things like fonts and emails matter. That is just the state of the working world and they are just sharing their perspective.

Don’t shoot the messenger. He or she is doing you a favor, telling you these things are impacting the hiring process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you treat people with an ounce of dignity?

Why are you so stuck on resumes? You know they are for the most part meaningless?

I treat all candidates with the utmost respect. They took the time to apply to our open role and are taking time out in their day to talk with me.
On resumes - it is what it is. I mean, we could use singing telegrams to communicate with each other, but that might not be as effective.