Archive for the ‘3 Seconds to Career Success’ Category

the top 3 ways to spot a resume liar

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

over 53% of people lie on their resumes!

The resume. Fact or Fiction?

Here are the top 3 ways to discover if the person you are considering to hire is a resume liar.

These 3 ways are part of the process we use in recruiting.

Let’s go through a few of the steps we use.

EQ Testing & Assessment

Stress management, assertiveness skills, empathy, and political/social acumen are critical success factors that have a direct impact on the bottom line. These can be assessed in an Emotional Intelligence (EQ in the workplace) test profile. We use an online profile that was selected for measuring many competencies including integrity & trust. This same profile showcases how good someone is at promoting themselves & performing in an interview.

We conduct these EQ profiles on Candidates just before the first face to face interview with the Client. Each profile suggests that for a certain position, the Candidate can be low risk, medium risk or high risk. Although its not the sole factor in making a hiring decision, we don’t present high risk Candidates to our Clients.

  • testing confirms the Candidate’s motivation, attitude & compliance
  • testing identifies individuals who put their own needs ahead of the company’s interests
  • testing helps match the Candidate EQ to the competencies required for the specific job
  • testing determines if the individual will be great in the interview (but perhaps not great in the job)

There are still other ways to spot a resume liar.

Reference Checks

Maybe you don’t have access or training for EQ testing and assessment.

If you are trying to collect resumes and do the hiring yourself, DON’T MISS THIS STEP and don’t accept excuses from the job applicant for not delivering contact info. for references. “out of town”, “can’t get the telephone number”, “no longer at the company” – are these excuses?

You can discover a resume liar by doing a thorough reference check. We conduct scheduled & structured 20-30 minute telephone interviews.

  • we schedule formal structured reference interviews
  • we only use work references where the job Candidate directly worked for & reported to the reference OR the reference reported directly to the Candidate
  • no friends
  • no family
  • no co-workers
  • we use the results of the EQ profile to focus on issues or concerns
  • we verify the data provided; income, duration, responsibilities, results, capabilities, licenses, competencies

The Face to Face Interview

Some people are great in interviews. This doesn’t mean they will be good at their work.

They promote themselves well, and can show interest and excitement during an interview – but they could turn out to be duds at the job.

Integrity and trust are critical in every job. Do you want to hire a liar?

The face to face interview is an opportunity to get past first impressions, and dig into the facts about their past performance. Hopefully you are looking at a good functional-style resume which focuses on “What I Can Do For You” not absolutely everything I have done.

Its interview time. You have a resume in front of you, and sitting across from you is your job Candidate – What do you do to Spot a Resume Liar?

The face to face interview is a chance to match up the requirements for peak performance with specific questions that will verify competency, experience… essentially check out all the “claims” of a good resume. Ask the questions & make notes (you will need them for the reference checks)

  • read the resume in advance
  • be prepared with questions about anything you want related to the job and job performance
  • ask specific questions about “claims” on and off the resume, collect more information; income, commissions, bonuses, title, responsibilities, scope of work, duration, gaps in work (it is not unusual to find obvious “mistakes”)
  • ask questions and drill on experience & competency

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The zenPeak system makes a difference

Monday, April 18th, 2011

How does the zenPeak system ensure that the candidate will be a peak performer in their new job at a Client company?

How do we make sure they will work well in the organization, matching the management and operational style of the Client company?

Candidates use (numeric) results-oriented functional style resumes that showcase “What They Can Do for You”. We remove soft language and showcase their transferable skills and experience.  This makes your evaluation of Candidates easier, as you don’t have to work hard to figure the Candidate out, and each resume looks similar in structure.

The interview process begins with the very first contact and includes motivation, compliance, attitude and a host of other factors that contribute to peak performance. In addition, the interview coaching we do, carries expectations and standards that we expect for interactions with our Clients; smart Candidates learn from this and apply it in their career management.

Our testing and assessment is based on the science of axiology, and was selected as the best system to determine integrity, trust and workplace peak performance. Each role has a benchmark score that helps us determine if the Candidate will be low risk, or not. The zeroriskHR assessment also identifies if a Candidate will likely be great in the job, but may not be the best at selling themselves in the initial interview. This is how the testing helps the Candidate even though they don’t see the results.

Find out how the zenPeak system can save you a lot of money on recruiting costs (as low as 10%) and help you build a better organization with peak performers.  Call the CEO Frank Abrams at 416 733-3001

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Get Working NOW

Friday, July 16th, 2010

This is my biggest passion in business, so I am thrilled to finally put a long-term program into place to help older, mid-career people get work.

In the next few weeks I will launch a comprehensive Online Course and Live Event that is designed to help these folks Get Working NOW. I know the course materials will upset the HR and career industry because it exposes the futility of conventional job searches for most people.  A lot of people make money on job clubs, networking events, resume design, coaching… that doesn’t work .

Stay tuned…

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Why do some people not like the idea of a sales job?

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Fear, misunderstanding, laziness,ego/status perceptions.

  • fear: not being a good salesperson
  • misunderstanding: thinking every sales role is the same
  • laziness: really don’t want to work hard
  • ego/status perceptions: salespeople have a bad reputation

How about you… Have you ever thought about a SALES job?

Common Answers… “I’m not a salesperson” or… “I don’t like sales”

Are you currently looking for a job?  Frustrated?  Not getting good interviews? Did you know that hundreds and thousands of people compete against each other and apply every single day for every single salaried job,  they never get an interview and they are still unemployed. Did you know many people are under-employed, making less $ than they should based on their efforts, talent, education or experience?

zenPeak has a number of jobs currently available.

We can help you. Even if our Clients don’t offer you a position, you will learn and benefit from our recruitment process. Our process includes interviews, testing, assessments, interview coaching, resume repair and it costs you nothing.

Who is zenPeak?

Our company recruits peak performers for our Clients. We have a system that makes sure a person is right for the position, and that they will perform at a high level.

zenPeak has a number of jobs currently available.

Technology companies
Software companies
Mortgage companies
Financial Planning and Investment companies
Administrative Services companies

Are you ready to TAKE ACTION and get on track to making GOOD MONEY and having REAL SECURITY?  Did you know that the most secure job is always in sales? Top performing salespeople never have to worry about finding a job. We have a number of SALES positions in the GTA and Ontario available NOW for the right person.

Are you ready to work hard and change your life and get real job security!?

Our Clients don’t just hire anyone. Many of these opportunities include base salaries and a guaranteed flow of business. You need to go through our zenPeak recruitment system which is built to recruit peak performers for our Clients.

The good news is that our assessment looks past your resume, and looks at What You Can Do For The Company and for Yourself.

Why do some people not like the idea of sales?

  1. They are lazy and they don’t want to work any harder than they have to once they get a job – please please look elsewhere
  2. They want a steady salary – no problem! many of our opportunities include a base salary
  3. They think they won’t find customers – no problem! many of our opportunities hand you fresh quality business leads from multi-million $ advertising programs
  4. They think they are not good salespeople – there are different types of sales. Our system can determine which you will succeed at
  5. They think it is not a good career – the truth is… the wealthiest and most successful people have always been salespeople selling products and services

Our company recruits peak performers for our Clients. We have a system that makes sure a person is right for the position, and you will perform at a high level.

Are you ready to TAKE ACTION and get on track to making GOOD MONEY and having REAL SECURITY?

call me now

Frank Abrams
CEO and Founder
zenPeak
416 733-3001
fabrams@zenpeak.com
www.zenpeak.com

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The Mancession: Men are struggling to find jobs

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

“Create Your Own Opportunity”

unemployment by gender

unemployment by gender

Suze Orman shared some great insights on CNN last night about how men differ from women in looking for work. Male unemployment is significantly higher, and she attributes a few reasons.

(1) men look for a new job at their old salary level – women will take lower paying jobs to earn money

(2) women are paid less and thus employers save money by hiring women, and

(3) men turn job hunting into a full-time effort, or take time off, rather than settle for a lower paying job like women

The conventional modern wisdom was that you would have many jobs in your career vs. having a job for life. It looks like that is changing for men and women.The new reality is men may go from job to contract to partnership to contract to business to job to job. Today, don’t bet on one job after another.

Imagine going to an interview with loads of experience (most of which is quickly outdated) competing with someone younger and cheaper.

You will likely strike out.

Why? The interviewer knows that you will be chronically unhappy at a fraction of your previous pay. The person interviewing you  is likely to be closer in age to the younger and cheaper candidates. Union and Government jobs may be an exception.

So what is the answer?

The solution is to change your approach and by that I don’t mean buy a franchise or start a business. The new approach is to…

  • shed your pattern of job hunting and stop applying online for dozens of jobs. Spend your time each day on the 1 or 2 jobs in your “sweet spot”. Stop applying to those online jobs that aren’t 100% on target for you. And when you find a job that is a perfect fit, pick up the telephone and start calling the company to get an interview asap
  • stop going to job networking events, filled with other jobseekers – go to events every night and on weekends like special interest meetups etc. – anywhere that career or jobs IS NOT THE FOCUS. Never say “I’m looking for a job”  If the subject comes up, and you think you can help someone, or someone they know,  talk for a few seconds about… “What I Can Do For You” and then shutup.  Be in demand and be busy. and of course get enough contact info. for follow up.
  • build a unique “What I Can Do For You” resume for each opportunity follow up. see here
  • Learn how to “Create Your Own Opportunity”

“Mancession.” The term may spur a few smiles and snickers, but for thousands of men, it is no laughing matter. For the first time in economic history, the male unemployment rate has surpassed the female unemployment rate. The December 2008 unemployment rate for men was 7.9 percent, versus 6.4 percent for women. The U.S. economy lost 2.956 million jobs in the last year, and a full 82 percent of pink slips have been handed to male workers. This translates to more than two million unemployed men in America compared to about 460,000 jobless women. The worse news for men is that the gap in jobless rates between men and women has been increasing for the last eight months and may continue to do so. – Bright Horizons

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