A Letter To The Unprepared

Dear Potential Candidate,

Lets play a game.

You have an interview in the morning and you need to print your resume and you don’t have a printer, what do you do?

A) Go to the interview without a Resume?

B) Go Print out 5 copies of your Resumé at Kinkos?

C) Go play kickball and hope  the interviewer already has a copy?

D) Go all the way and not wear a suit jacket, not brush your hair, AND not  bother printing a resume?

If you answered anything but B, go home and quit wasting people’s time. Seriously. If you’ve made it so far that you actually have an interview with Search Solution Group, you should be professional and intelligent enough to know better.

Do people think that when meeting with a recruiter it isn’t necessary to be your best possible self?

A recruiter is like a Matchmaker and as a Matchmaker, we want to present the best candidate to a client and that means professional presence, appearance, and experience.  If you were working with a Matchmaker, would you want to be set up with someone with jacked up teeth, no social skills, and the possibility of having rabies?  Didn’t think so.

Please for the sake of all parties involved, wear a suit jacket, comb your hair ( and teeth), and bring a Resumé!

Thank you kindly,

Recruiters of Search Solution Group

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Breaking Washington

In case you’ve been living in the mountains without signal, the US government is breaking down. Perhaps they should try just turning it off and back on again, or try blowing on it to get the  dust out. After failing to agree on a spending bill, the shutdown that has been coming for three years is finally here. Your mail will still be delivered and the military will still be in operation, but if you were planning on going to a federal park or museum, you are out of luck.

Luckily for you, Search Solution Group’s door never closes. With all the confusion and people not knowing the state of their government jobs or the state of their states, it is an important time to know the best recruiters in the biz. Getting connected with Search Solution Group has never been easier. Search Solution Group is implementing Operation Social Media Overhaul. This means that you will have more access to us through social means, more jobs will be posted, and our recruiters will be more engaging with our followers.

Come connect with us to get a good grasp on the state of YOUR career and let those government officials worry about the state of the Union.  This is ‘MERICA and no shutdown is going to ruin the operation of  Search Solution Group and other amazing small businesses who work hard every single day of the week!

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Talent Recognition at SSG and The Emmy Awards

Breaking bad finally won the Best Drama Emmy award after 5 season of heart stopping, nail biting, and gut wrenching epic drama. It’s about time!  Another shout out to Homeland and the lovely Claire Danes for winning Best Actress in a Drama! Homeland not only is a fantastic show, but it’s shot in various parts of Charlotte. It’s always fun recognizing places in Charlotte on Homeland. We at Search Solution Group know  we’re excited for the new season to start next week! Apparently a ton of people thought that the Emmys were so strange that the hashtag #WeirdEmmys was trended so rapidly that the internet exploded and Teens everywhere had to actually talk to communicate instead of tweet their every thought.

Great talent comes in many different forms and it is great when an actor or actress gets recognized for their talent and hard work. If Search Solution Group was a TV show, we would probably be one of the most entertaining dramatic comedies to exist. It would all start around the table eating lunch and the ladies have pulled a fast one and changed the TV from the normal sport center to E! news in order to catch up on the latest fashion faux pas of the red carpet. The gentlemen at the table are wide-eyed and horrified at the prospect of not having sports news at lunch. Drama and a near riot ensues, however, they do learn that overalls are making a comeback in fashion. The next day a candidate comes in wearing some fashionable, yet interview inappropriate overalls. We all have a good laugh, the guys tune into E! news more often, and Search Solution Group the brilliant TV show wins Best Dramatic Comedy at the 2014 Emmys. It’s going to happen and it will be #WeirdEmmys2.0!

You Put WHAT on Your Resume?

So look, there are some serious crazies out there in the world and sometimes as a recruiting firm, Search Solution Group gets to see some crazy resumes. A resumé is supposed to be a concise yet detailed description of career achievements and skills that apply to the position in question. We don’t want to see that you played football in high school or that you have three daughters and a pet pig.

From the mouths of some of the best Executive Recruiters, these are some great tips to build an impressive resume.

1. Signs of stability are the number one thing that our recruiters look for. When we place a candidate with a company, we want for that person to be committed to the job and not flit around companies from year to year. Non-consistent job history is a turn-off for a recruiter.
2. TYPOS! No.  Go through your resumé 12 times before sending it. Read it out loud to listen for grammar mistakes.  This doesn’t just pertain to spelling or grammar. Having the wrong dates, spacing issues, and text in different fonts are similar typos to watch for. If there is one thing that will get your resume off of a recruiters desk faster than a cheetah on fire, it’s typos.
3. Having a relevant objective to the position will win you worlds of credit. It’s all too often that a stated objective on a resume is either not relevant, applies to a previous job application, or completely doesn’t exist. We want to know why you are applying for this job from the first second of looking at the resumé.
4. State your job title and the name of the company where you performed that job.
5. Education. All we want is the institution, the year, and the degree achieved. A person once submitted a description of their homeschooling experience to our SSG recruiters. It was odd.
6. DO remember to include any sort of professional accolades, community service experience, or professional improvement courses you’ve taken. Everyone loves to see a candidate who strives to improve himself outside of the workplace.

Our recruiters at Search Solution Group are experts at building resumes. If you are looking for a great team of recruiters to work with, contact us! 

Interview Questions to Dodge

Before every job interview, it is necessary to prepare for the questions you may be asked. It is also important to be aware of the types of questions to not answer during an interview. Most often an interviewer is not asking such questions maliciously, but in a friendly manner. Keeping a friendly demeanor yourself and not responding defensively will allow you to transition the conversation to find the real reason behind the questionable question.

Be ready to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge around these following questions:

1) How Old Are You? : Your first instinct may be to say, “Not as old as your mom!”, but we all know that wouldn’t turn out well. Some companies have established retirement age and may ask if you are below that age or on the opposite spectrum ask if you are above the legal minimum for a job. These questions are acceptable for them to ask and pertinent for you to answer. However, if an interviewer directly asks “How old are you?” or “What is your date of birth?”, be prepared to redirect that question with the answer ” I do not feel my age is an issue with my performance in this job”. This will give the interviewer the opportunity to explain if age might be an issue, or take your answer and move on to the next question.

2) Are You Religious? : During an interview, you may be asked if you are available for normal hours of the work week. However, if you are asked what about your religious affiliation, that is straight up illegal. Be prepared to answer any questions regarding religion with the succinct answer: “my faith will not interfere with my ability to do the job”.

3) Are You Married? Do You have Children? Are You Planning on Having Children?: The interviewer could be trying to establish if you would be able to travel for the position, or it could just be friendly small talk. But it is actually illegal for an interviewer to ask about your marital status, if you have children, if you are planning on it, and your spouse’s occupation and salary.  To answer, you could turn the beat around say “It sounds like family is important here, are you married?” or let them know that you are able to perform all the duties of the position.

4) What is Your Nationality?  While you may want to immediately say ” Uh, no. My forefathers are not the ones interviewing here”, the question may have been asked to determine whether or not you are bilingual or if you are legally able to work in the country. Before jumping to conclusions,  you can either say  “These questions do not pertain to my abilities” or you could say “Yes! I am actually fluent in German, Swiss, Chinese, and Portuguese”.  Just make sure you actually are that multilingual.

What did you just ask me?

5) What is Your Credit Score? Questions about your financial situation or your credit score are not ones you should answer unless you are interviewing for a finance or banking position. Additionally, employers can check your credit history only with your permission. It is up to you whether or not to divulge that information. Any question that you may be uncomfortable with is not a question that you have to answer.

Before going in to an interview, think of any other questions that may pertain to you and find appropriate ways to answer these questions without putting yourself in perilous position. Our recruiters at Search Solution Group are experts at navigating such situations. If you have any questions, we are here to help!