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PayScale’s VIP Blog Roundup: What Recruiters Are Looking for Right Now

Topics: Career Advice
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If your New Year’s resolution was to find a new job, and you haven’t made much headway yet, maybe you’re not showing recruiters and hiring managers what they want to see.

That doesn’t mean that you lack the qualities employers are looking for, either — sometimes, it’s about knowing which skills and abilities to highlight. In this week’s roundup, we look at expert advice on the qualities recruiters value in job candidates, plus how to turn interviews into relaxed conversations and how to boost productivity at work — with just a few small changes.

Rachel Weingarten at The Ladders: 6 Things Recruiters Are Looking for in 2018

What are recruiters looking for right now? For one thing, a mix of hard and soft skills.

Weingarten explains:

You’re a tech genius and extremely science savvy — yay, you! But, you can’t meet people’s eyes during conversation and tend to mumble during presentations – big boo. Or the flip side, you’re a smooth talker and can engage anyone in conversation, but you need constant hand-holding when it comes to figuring out how to create a PowerPoint.

Neither one will impress the hiring manager as much as a candidate who knows her stuff … and how to communicate it to a team. Find out what else recruiters want, in this post.

J.T. O’Donnell at Inc: The (Oddly) Simple Way to Turn a Stressful Job Interview into a Relaxed Conversation

Need a better way to answer behavioral interview questions, those complex, open-ended questions designed to show cultural fit and job aptitude? O’Donnell suggests using them as an opportunity to ask the hiring manager for their input:

When you answer one of these types of questions, you can close by asking the hiring manager’s own experience with the situation as a way to A) give yourself a break from talking, and B) give the hiring manager a chance to share what they are thinking. This creates a bond between you and the hiring manager because you get to show what a great listener you are and that you can relate to what they share.

Need an example? Read this.

Sarah Landrum at Levo League: 10 Small Hacks with Big Productivity Impact at Work

Want to get more done in less time? Start by doing the stuff you dread.

“Complete complicated or dreaded tasks first,” Landrum advises. “Whatever you consider putting off likely necessitates early completion, and the sooner you finish the task, the longer it is before it crosses your desk again.”

Nine more tips, here.

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Jen Hubley Luckwaldt
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