This week, we’re on tip #4 of our 5 Habits of Effective Job Seekers: They get found.

There’s a lot of talk right now about social media and how many employers use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to find and connect with job seekers. While social media is a great place to meet employers, it’s important not to neglect other places employers go to seek out great talent. And one of the places employers go to look is job boards that have resume databases. So today, we’re spotlighting job boards and the reason why so many companies still use them to find talent.

Why? When a company needs to hire an employee “right now,” they may not take the time to advertise widely. They may also be looking for a specific skill that isn’t easy to find.

And one of the best tried and true places to find those skills is a database of resumes. When you stop by a job board, you may search for jobs. But when employers login to job boards, they search for resumes. And when they find the resume they want, they follow up directly with the candidate.
They don’t have to jump through hoops, they just get in touch. Bottom line: Resume databases help employers make hires.

Want to get found this way? Yesterday we shared some basic tips for formatting your resume. Here are three additional things you can do to increase the likelihood of getting found.

1. Get out there.  Don’t just visit job boards; upload your resume. It takes less than five minutes — and you can’t get found otherwise. As my wise friend Anna says, “you can’t meet anybody if you don’t put yourself out there.” Or to look at it another way: The only way to win the lottery is to buy a ticket!Worried about privacy? Leave off your address — and maybe even the name of your current employer (instead: you can give a descriptor — e.g. Consumer packaging company with 250 employees.
2. Make sure you can be found in a search. Use the right keywords for your field in your resume and begin your resume with a summary that provides an overview of your experience. Here’s a five-minute trickyou can use to do this — just apply it for your field instead of a specific job.True story: In a past life I was a recruiter working inside a company. I hired a candidate on Friday who listed his resume on a Tuesday. I found him on Wednesday. Another recruiter contacted me about him on Thursday. Why? He had a unique, hard-to-find skill that employers search databases for all the time. He later called it, “the easiest job search I ever had.”
3. Set your watch and update your resume — at least every 30 days.When employers look at resumes, the ones that were submitted most recently come up first. (Generally, employers have the option to view resumes that have been submitted within 7 days, 30 days, and 30 – 90 days. Since they want to focus on candidates they know are still available for work, they tend to focus most only on the resumes submitted within the last week first — and then on the pile that’s come in over the last 30 days.Want to stay at the top of the search results? All you need to do is go in and change one word in your resume, then repost this. Keep track of your resumes, update your listings every 28 days or so — and your information will stay current so you can be found.

That’s all there is to it. Try it out, and let us know how this works for you!

It’s week four of our 5 part series on “The 5 Habits of Effective Job Seeker”!

The fourth habit of effective job seekers is: They Get Found!

What does that mean?  80% of companies are now searching resume databases to find their next hire.

With many applicants applying with unqualified credentials, employers offset this by turning the search around.  Instead, employers are doing the searching.  Knowing this, what can you do?  Take the initiative to be found.

The benefit of posting your resume online is the increase in eyes that your resume will be receiving!  Instead of sending your resume to a specific number of job postings and restricting your resume to be read by the HR manager behind those postings, posting your resume onto a job board allows a larger pool of employers to review your resume.  Do make sure your resume is in the right databases by searching for and placing your resume in job boards that cater to your industry, function, or geography.

A quick tip to posting your resume online: format it to be posted online.

1. Convert it to text-only form by saving it as a .txt file.
2.  Edit by left-aligning everything.  Center or right-aligning text will be lost on most online resume postings.
3. Indent using spaces, not tabs.
4. Don’t use special characters or symbols.
5.  Protect your identity! Leave out personal information, such as date of birth and home address.  Instead, post your city and state as an alternative to your home address, and set up a special email for job search.

Follow us throughout this week for more tips on getting found!

We’re excited to announce the release of a new webinar, The Five Habits of Effective Job Seekers hosted by our CEO, Chris Forman. Prior to co-founding StartWire, Chris and our EVP Tim spent years developing training programs that teach recruiters how to find candidates and job seekers.  The technologies Chris and Tim worked on are now used by 70% of the Fortune 500. We’d call them job search rock stars, but they are humble guys and won’t let us!
 

You can watch the webinar here for free, but for the next five weeks we’re going to give you a crash course in all of the five tips. Each week we’ll focus in on one of Chris’s five habits – and expand that with easy takeaways you can use in your job search.

Sound good? Let’s get rolling!

Habit #1 of Highly Effective Job Seekers: They don’t post and pray!
 

What, you say, is “post and pray?” It’s applying to jobs online and then putting your feet up and waiting to hear back.

Our tough love: Don’t confuse applying for jobs with searching for a job.  Only 20% of all corporate vacancies are filled through listings on job boards…

If you apply to a job and do nothing else – it’s a little bit like taking a raffle ticket and then not showing up for the live drawing: In reality, there’s a slim chance you’re going to get a call back – because the interview list is often filled with applicants who’ve taken additional steps to make sure they get full consideration.

We’re not telling you not to apply for jobs online – you don’t want to miss out on opportunities. But when you do, we want you to lean forward and be proactive so that you can get the call back! Here’s how to do that.
 

1. Apply only for job listings that match your skills and experience.If the job description has a laundry list of qualifications (and you can’t imagine the company could possibly find candidates who have 100% of the skills and experiences), apply only if you meet 70% or more of the skills and specifications mentioned in the description.

   Why? If your skills don’t line up with the job, you have a slim chance of getting on the interview list – unless you’ve got an inside recommendation for the job from someone who knows you could do the job.

   Additional tip: Don’t apply for more than two types of jobs with one company. If you apply for jobs in Marketing, Accounting and Customer Service at the same company at the same time – it makes you look like you aren’t focused. If you apply for more than one job, specify what makes you interested – and qualified — for each job in your cover letter.
    

2. Use the right words for the job in your resume and cover letter.  It’s the equivalent of using “the force” in your job search. As employers review job postings, they look for keywords that match up with the job. Use these keywords at the top of your resume – and you have a better chance of getting your job application looked at.

   Here’s our favorite 5-minute trick to finding the right keywords.
    

3. Get personal.

   Addressing a cover letter or e-mail to “Dear Sir or Mam” typically fails to impress most employers. Whenever possible, address your job applications to a real person.

   Quick ways to find one? Use LinkedIn’s Company pages or do a Google search on the “Director of HR” or department at the Company where you are applying. Then use the name in your application materials.

    

4. Tag team every job application with a follow-up – even if it feels uncomfortable. Calling and asking someone, “Did you get my application?” can feel like a psychological return to early awkward experiences with dating…but following up is one of the best ways to transform yourself from one of many applicants to a real live person with a voice and an interest in getting to work.

   3 Great Ways to Follow Up(Use one or more)

   I. Like the company on Facebook, then send a message letting them know you’ve applied

   II.  See if the company has a Twitter account for recruiting, and send a Twitter @reply letting them know you’ve applied and expressing interest in working more.

   III. Call and follow-up. If you’re shy, do this at night or over the weekend. You can almost always find a general company phone number online, use the company directory to find the right department or person – and leave a short message introducing yourself and letting them know you’ve applied.  (Mess up and need to re-record? Most corporate systems will give you a do-over if you press the * or # key)

   Bonus points: Mention the top skill or experience you have that aligns closely with the job when you follow up.

5. Be ready to look the part.

Studies show that up to 90% of recruiters admit to doing online research on job search candidates: you should expect to be Googled.

If you are in the job market, know what search results will come up if an employer searches for your name. A great way to make sure your professional interests can be found is to develop a public LinkedIn profile.

Create a formal phone message with your first and last name. “Hi, this is _______. I’m not available right now, but leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

Following these five simple steps can help you transition from “post and pray” to the top of the application pile for the jobs listed online. But remember – job boards are only one piece of the puzzle. We’ll be sharing strategies that can get you faster results for your time in weeks ahead.

Tune in next week when we’ll share with you the number one reason why you may not be hearing back on jobs – and the simple thing you can do to change that! (If you can’t wait, check out our webinar.)

Finding a new job may not be easy, but sometimes it’s just as hard to be on the other side of the hiring equation. This week, we’re putting the spotlight on the problem by showcasing an industry where employers have a hard time hiring and keeping employees.

We’re talking about the transportation industry – and truckers. Whether you love or hate tractor-trailers on the highway, the trucking industry moves supplies that feed us, clothe us, house us, and cure us when we are sick.

Yet Tucker Robeson, CEO and Co-Founder of CDL Helpers, a company that provides employeeretention services to the transportation industry, says the system truckers use to hire and retain employees is beyond broken. So broken, there’s an 89% turnover rate of drivers year-to-year in big trucking companies. Can you imagine working for a company where less than one out of ten employees stay for more than a year?

How expensive is this problem to the trucking industry? Robeson says it’s a $5B dollar problem, and he’s created a business to help fix it. A former recruiter, Tucker was born in Winona, MN and graduated from Saint Mary’s University of MN with a degree in Entrepreneurship. He started CDL Helpers to change the way the trucking industry thinks about its work force, and how drivers are treated and supported by their employers. In a nutshell, Tucker’s mission is to make the trucking industry ask “how’s my hiring?” just as frequently as they ask “how’s my driving?”

We sat down with Tucker to get his perspective on how the recruiting process is flawed and how it can be fixed. While today’s process focuses on the trucking industry, the problems faced by companies in this industry are not unique – many industries struggle to find employees and manage their own reputations. Want proof of this? Just ask companies who’ve had their jobs profiled on the TV show Dirty Jobs?

Here’s Tucker’s take on the challenges faced by the trucking industry in hiring, what’s broken and what can be fixed, and how you can feel confident when you’ve found the right company to work for…

This is the first of a two part series, next week we’ll share Tucker’s unique take on job search strategies that work – and learn more about how he hires!

You say that the recruiting process for the trucking industry is fundamentally flawed. How so? What’s the problem – and what are the costs to both the industry and employees?

Recruiting new truckers doesn’t address the real problem the trucking industry faces: Why are people leaving? If I’m running a successful business, and I pay/treat people fairly, shouldn’t they want to stay?

So many trucking companies have had their names poisoned by former employees, recruits, and others that had a bad experience.  Since they weren’t customers, nobody thought to focus on their personal experiences with the company.  However, bad experiences they encounter could ultimately, end up hurting the company in the future.

When I used to recruit drivers, there were some companies I couldn’t pay people to go to, just because they had heard some horror story from another driver at a truck stop about things going sour. Word-of-mouth is incredibly important to drivers as they look for work.

What are common qualities of top employers in your industry? How can job seekers spot companies who have these qualities?

As is the case with many industries, top employers in the trucking industry are hard to recognize because a lot of advertising and recruiting efforts tout great things that don’t always turn out to be true, and there are very few ways to hold the bad companies accountable. So, you can’t always go by advertising.

There’s a huge lack of trust and misinformation in the industry which has left many drivers extremely skeptical or cynical. That’s part of what we are trying to fix. My company, CDL Helpers, partners with trucking companies to address employee issues. Trucking companies hire us to provide support to new hires during their first few months on a job and we have the ability to escalate problems directly to the top if necessary, to make sure their concerns are addressed.

Breaking into the trucking industry can be challenging for prospective drivers, as there are many hiring requirements that are rigid. You have to be in good physical health, hold a strong driving record, and more often than not – have experience.

Other than that, they should look for companies that are easy to communicate with. After 10 business days post-application, if they haven’t heard anything and can’t reach anyone inside, that’s often an indicator of how things will go from then on out.

The best trucking companies to work for are also usually the hardest to get into. They require the most experience, and the cleanest records. Drivers that work for companies that are headquartered or have a main terminal within 30 miles of their domicile seem to do much better. If drivers can’t find a company that’s close enough to home, they should seriously consider either re-locating to another area, or looking into other careers. Their time at home will be better, they won’t have to risk as much of their own personal resources going to orientation, and they will probably have more reliable miles at the company if they live close by.

Stop by StartWire News next week for Tucker’s perspective on great ways to stand out in the applicant pool and get noticed. In the interim — if you haven’t done so already — pop by StartWire and take advantage of our free tools to organize your search.

Last week, we advocated for a Job Seeker Bill of Rights – if you spend time applying for jobs it only seems fair if employers also take the time to review your application and tell you where you stand in the applicant pool, right?

We couldn’t agree more. That’s why StartWire has features that allow you to track and receive updates on the status of your job application.  While not all companies provide this information, it’s helpful to get information from companies who do.

But we also wanted to let you know that – fortunately – we’re not the only business that thinks companies should do a better job of keeping applicants informed of where they stand. And many companies are working very hard to do just that.

At the HR Tech Conference last October, a new awards ceremony for “The Candidate Experience” recognized companies who do a great job of treating applicants like candidates – and potential customers in the future. You can see a full list of the companies that won here. (Disclosure: StartWire was one of the award’s sponsors.)

Since the Awards ceremony, we’ve interviewed many of the winners – and other great companies who are working hard to be not only a “best place to work” — but also a best place to apply.

Here are highlights from a few of those interviews – with suggestions on why you may want to take a second look.

• Whirlpool provides free customized community tours to candidates who visit their Michigan based headquarters – complete with free product gifts to those who attend.
   
• Connect with a recruiter at Deluxe Corporation via Facebook or Twitter and rest assured they’ll get back to you. Here’s their advice: “Get online. If you engage with organizations today on social media, you will get a little bit of a bump. You will receive extra attention. All of those avenues of social media engagement can help. This is a new world for employers so we are being extraordinarily careful to engage a little bit better, and to give more feedback.
   
• Apply for a job at Adidas and expect to be treated like one of the team. They scout for recruiters who are good at building relationships with candidates as well as hiring managers. Proof in the pudding?  Adidas global head of recruiting Steve Bonomo didn’t get hired for the first job he applied to within the company. So he wants to make sure you don’t get overlooked either.

Have you ever had a great applicant experience at a company even if you didn’t get hired? Have a company you think we should interview? Tell us about it. Drop a line to chandlee.bryan@startdatelabs.com and we’ll share the love.

To top off the year, we posted our exclusive 12 Career Tips for 12 list, highlights from StartWire interviews with recruiters and talent acquisition pros.

You can find the advice here. But we also know it’s one thing to read advice – and it’s another thing to actually put it into action. (Classic example: Spending more time reading about how to lose weight than exercising.) Maybe you know what we mean here…

So here are our tips – paired with action strategies designed to help you to jump start your search.

Get social. Engaging with recruiters online can help you get hired.

Get online. If you engage with organizations today on social media, you will get a little bit of a bump. You will receive extra attention. All of those avenues of social media engagement can help. This is a new world for employers so we are being extraordinarily careful to engage a little bit better, and to give more feedback.

Stacy Van Meter
Senior Manager of Social Marketing/Employment Brand for Deluxe.

How to do it: Two strategies that will take you under ten minutes:

1. Like the organization you want to work for on Facebook. (Make sure you have a professional profile.) Post a comment about company news or share a related item on the organization’s Facebook wall. If you see a great job, share it — as one recruiter recently told me, “when you share a job that’s different from the one you’re applying to — and tell us what you’ve applied to — you are helping us with our work before you even get started!”
    
2. Follow the company on Twitter and send an @reply message via Twitter expressing interest in learning more about jobs. Be specific — if you’ve already applied for a job — say where you’ve applied. (New to Twitter? An @reply is like a postcard — anyone can see it, and a quick message can be an easy way to open doors with potential networking conversations.)

Find a way to get introduced to someone inside the company.

Over 30% of our hires come from referrals. The biggest advantage you can have is when people know you. Get someone inside the company to advocate for you. Find the job, than find someone who can vouch for you, and apply for it. By the time the job is posted, it is almost too late. Hiring success often comes from someone you know.
Adam Eisenstein
Recruiter for McGraw Hill

How to do it: Connect your LinkedIn or Facebook account on StartWire and see who you know at any job listed on the site or for companies that you’ve already applied to. StartWire’s “Get Referral” and recommendations features provide a quick way that you can get in touch.
 

Get a referral.

On average, one of out every 33 candidates is going to get hired from an online source—such as a job board or a career site. If you are referred, your odds go up to one  in four. Those are better odds.

Shanil Kaderali
Manager of Talent Programs at WellPoint
 
How to do it: Apply to places where you can get a referral as much as other jobs.
 

Be accessible. Tell people how they can find you.

Don’t forget to share your contact information. Put your phone number and email in every single communication that you send to a recruiter. If you save time so I don’t have to look for your information, it makes it much easier for me to give you a call back.
 
Rebecca Warren
Recruiting Manager at General Mills

How to do it: Include your email and phone number in a signature line of your email and always give the position number when you follow-up so employers can easily find your information. Another quick path to success? Name your resume with your first and last name — and include the job you’re applying to. When you can be a fast find on the computer, it’s easier to stay top-of-mind.
 

Wear your enthusiasm on your sleeve.

Editor’s Note: This is something we heard over and over — from virtually every company we have talked to. It’s important to share you care about what the company does and the type of work you want to do.
 
If you want to win the job, you need to portray that you are passionate. Then the natural or optimistic assumption is “this person is going to work extremely hard.”  Show that there are things you work really hard at – and I would do this at your company.
 
Alex Moazed
CEO at Applico LLC

How to do it: Research the company where you’ve applied and show that you are familiar with the culture. Want an easy back door entrance? Track your application in StartWire and click on the “details” view of any job for instant access to employee reviews from Glassdoor.com

Don’t take yourself out of the running for a job by not applying. Let them decide if you’re qualified.

People assume that they aren’t going to get into Google. The reputation is such that it is very hard to get into Google. And so some people don’t even try.

Jeff Moore
Lead Engineering Recruiter for Google

How to do it: Apply for any job that you meet 70% of the applications for…and apply early. StartWire research shows that 50% of successful job seekers apply for a job within one week of the job listing.
 

Get to know the whole company – not just the job you’re applying for.

I always say a career is like a puzzle; you have to look at the whole picture. Whether you are looking to go into finance, marketing, product design or sales, be open minded and take into account the whole experience – think about what it is you can take away from a particular role. Understand the many pieces of the company and be willing to learn about new things that might be the right fit for you. You’re not going to know enough unless you are open and aggressive learner.
Nancy Hickey
Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer for Steelcase Inc.

How to do it: When you get invited to a group interview, ask the participants how they work together and interact on a daily basis. One of my favorite questions: If I was hired for this job, what would my first priority be — and how would I work with each of you to get that done?

Don’t give up if the phone doesn’t ring.
 

When a job seeker applies for any job they should remember that being qualified doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing as being the most qualified.  So the assumption by a job seeker that they are entitled to an interview just because they meet the qualifications is a tough thing to swallow at any level.  

It’s why connecting outside of the application process is so important for both job seekers and recruiters.  It’s why having a visible and living profile that showcases your expertise and engagement with industry peers is much more powerful than is sometimes thought.

Chris Hoyt
Talent Engagement & Marketing Leader at PepsiCo

How to do it: Try this experiment. Follow-up on all of your applications with a referral — or direct outreach to the company via a social network. Chances are good you’ll get a higher follow up rate.
 

If at first you don’t get hired, try, try again.
 

Understand that whenever you are applying to an organization that is highly desirable, people tend to get discouraged if they don’t get the first job they go for. We may get 400 or 500 applicants for one job. There could be 10 top people in the field. If you are passionate about the organization continue to look at the organization.
The first time I applied for a recruiter job with Taylor Made – I came in third. Then four years later, I’m leading global recruiting.

Steve Bonomo
Head of Global Talent Acquisition for Adidas

How to do it: Don’t give up on a company because you didn’t get hired the first time out. Don’t be afraid to apply for another position, apply for other jobs of interest as well.
 

Be humble.
 

Occasionally, people aren’t humble enough. People say “I meet all the criteria for the job.” A lot of candidates have come in from our process and people have walked away saying “That’s the smartest person we’ve interviewed for this job but they come out of the interview saying ‘let’s not hire them.’ We like to see people who feel like they have something to learn from us, too.  I’m not going to ask you to rewire yourself.  You want people who can sell themselves, but people who can be themselves, too.

Miles Parroco
Director of Recruiting, Eventbrite

How to do it: Again, It’s important to show what you want to learn from a job just as much as you share your accomplishments. Show you are human…and why people should want to work with you, too.

Demonstrate you’re a team player with “humble confidence.”

We look for individuals who have a collaborative style and what we call a “humble confidence.” Can you listen to and build on the ideas of others yet respectfully advocate for your own ideas, too?
Julie Motta
Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition for Whirlpool Corporation

How to do it: When you talk about details, be concrete and avoid adjectives: “The event I organized was attended by 500, an increase of 200 over the year before” says more than “I did way better than last year’s organizer in getting people to come to the event.”

Don’t be afraid to say what you don’t know — and what you hope to learn from a new job. Remember, most employers value employees who can follow instructions as much as they do leadership.

Ask for the job.
 

Research each company you want to work for.   If you are socially connected (personally or professionally via social media) with someone from the company, if appropriate, query those associates about the culture.    Ask related questions about the job and the company.  

Interviewing is getting to know one another.  During the interview process, instead of answering questions with one word, tell a story about how you positively responded to a situation.  Before you leave the interview, ask what the next steps are in the process.  In the best-case scenario: Ask for the job.

Wanda Callahan,
Director of Recruiting, Harris Interactive

How to do it:  Don’t be afraid to show your sincere interest in an opportunity, and ask how you can follow-up. If you don’t hear back, pick up the phone and follow-up. Once hired, how you follow-up on activities for the job will be important — so why not demonstrate that you have these qualities in advance!
 
 

Each week, StartWire News features insider tips from recruiting directors and talent acquisition pros. As we look ahead to 2012, we’re encouraged by the uptick in hiring — and we want to share some of the best of the best with you so that you can land the job you want — fast! 

This is the second of two installments on this topic. You can find the first one here.

Show you’ve got “humble confidence.”

We look for individuals who have a collaborative style and what we call a “humble confidence.” Can you listen to and build on the ideas of others yet respectfully advocate for your own ideas, too?

Julie Motta
Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition for Whirlpool Corporation

Get social. Engaging with recruiters online can help you get hired.

Get online. If you engage with organizations today on social media, you will get a little bit of a bump. You will receive extra attention. All of those avenues of social media engagement can help. This is a new world for employers so we are being extraordinarily careful to engage a little bit better, and to give more feedback.

Stacy Van Meter
Senior Manager of Social Marketing/Employment Brand for Deluxe.

Find a way to get introduced to someone inside the company.
 

Over 30% of our hires come from referrals. The biggest advantage you can have is when people know you. Get someone inside the company to advocate for you. Find the job, than find someone who can vouch for you, and apply for it. By the time the job is posted, it is almost too late. Hiring success often comes from someone you know.

Adam Eisenstein
Recruiter for McGraw Hill

Be accessible. Tell people how they can find you.

People assume that they aren’t going to get into Google. The reputation is such that it is very hard to get into Google. And so some people don’t even try.

I didn’t go to a great school. I didn’t have an amazing GPA. But I work at Google. So could you.

Don’t take yourself out of the game by making assumptions and choosing not to apply. I’ve hired people who don’t have college degrees.

Jeff Moore
Lead Engineering Recruiter for Google

Chris Hoyt is a Talent Engagement & Marketing Leader at PepsiCo. He’s also known as “The Recruiter Guy.” PepsiCo offers the world’s largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales.

We sat down with him for a conversation on recruiting, working at PepsiCo, and best practices on finding a new job.

You recruit a lot on social media, but have also gone on the record as saying that sourcing candidates via job boards is also a good idea. How does a candidate get your attention?

This came up recently when I responded to an article that alleged that job boards were at the end of their usefulness – which I disagree with completely.  Job boards will continue to evolve as they have for years, in an effort to keep up with, and balance, the needs of both jobseekers and employers.  Because of this, job boards still aren’t something that jobseekers around the world should remove from their plan of attack when looking for employment.

At PepsiCo, we work hard to strike a balance between both traditional and progressive recruiting tactics, because we know that there is no cookie cutter approach to recruiting for such a diverse stable of talent.  At any given time this year we’ve had over a thousand jobs available around the world.  In our search to hire what we hope is the best and the brightest we know that our efforts can be a combination of ‘smiling and dialing’, real-world networking, brute sourcing and social recruiting.

Getting the attention of a talent acquisition professional at PepsiCo has gotten easier over the last year with our explosion into social and mobile recruiting.  And while resumes are still important, they’re not necessarily what a sourcer or recruiter is going to see first.  Job seekers that manage their online footprint, how they are portrayed and how they’re engaged, on various social and professional networks like Twitter or LinkedIn could find it makes all the difference.

What types of jobs is PepsiCo hiring for right now?

Wow, that’s a loaded question.  I mean, this morning we had over 800 jobs posted in just the United States and Canada which covered a range of jobs – from Drivers and Warehouse workers to Marketing Managers, Scientists and Finance professionals.

What’s been really exciting for us over the last year has been the update to our career site that allows job seekers to create automated search agents that notify them of jobs based on their key interests or preferred work location.  We even took that technology and incorporated it into our Facebook fanpage and recent mobile applications released for iPad, iPhone and Droid called Possibilities.  So no matter what type of job someone is interested in, they can receive custom updates quickly and easily.

What don’t job seekers know about working at PepsiCo that they should know?  Do you hire for any PepsiCo subsidiaries as well? (For example, McGraw Hill also includes Standard & Poors…)

I think one of the things that job seekers might miss at a glance is the sheer variety of brands and products that sit within the PepsiCo umbrella.  We have over 19 different brands that earn over $1 billion in revenue yearly – including Pepsi, Walkers, Tostitos, Aquafina and more.  But in addition to these we have an amazing array of other products like Rice-a-Roni, Cap n’ Crunch, Sobe and others that are incredibly successful.  So when you think of all of these products, you might assume that we’re a company of just manufacturing and marketing people.  

The truth is that we’re made up of over 300,000 game changers and mountain movers that handle incredibly complex challenges related to any aspect of our business.  You’re a Finance major that loves Mountain Dew? We’ve probably got a job you’d love to take on right out of college.  You’re a part-time athlete that can’t get enough Quaker Oats and has a passion for sustainability? I’d bet we’ve got something that would keep you pretty fired up. 

Any bad assumption that you’ve seen job seekers make in applying for jobs with PepsiCo?

I think that often job seekers assume that at large companies there isn’t anyone on the other end of the application system – and that it’s all completely automated or that they’re submissions won’t ever be seen.  But while we do have a system that helps us to more quickly find qualified submissions, there is a real recruiting team at PepsiCo that wants nothing more than to find the best match for each job available.  A well constructed bio, resume, skillset – whether online or offline – still goes a long way.

Do you have any “never do” tips for individuals in working with recruiters? What are your pet peeves?

It’s funny – I just had a bit of discussion on Google+ about this exact topic.  I think that my biggest pet peeve with anyone, not job seekers specifically, is a sense of entitlement.  For a lot of people it is incredibly tough to find a job right now – the right company, the right location, the right pay, etc.  And this can understandably weigh on anyone.  But when a job seeker applies for any job they should remember that being qualified doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing as being the most qualified.  So the assumption by a job seeker that they are entitled to an interview just because they meet the qualifications is a tough thing to swallow at any level.  
The fact is that even if recruiters wanted to interview all 1,000 qualified job seekers that apply to their job, they can’t always do so.  And even if they did, they’re only able to hire one of these people.

It’s why connecting outside of the application process is so important for both job seekers and recruiters.  It’s why having a visible and living profile that showcases your expertise and engagement with industry peers is much more powerful than is sometimes thought.  We’ve taken huge steps over the last few months to create active LinkedIn groups related to specific job interests like Finance, Human Resources, Sales and others.  We’ve expanded our engagement channels to be more visible to job seekers around the world by including recruiters from other parts of the globe to engage people online.

Are there any questions I haven’t asked that I should be asking? What’s the question, and what’s your answer?

How does someone learn more about PepsiCo as an employer?

I don’t give the standard response to this that most recruiters provide which is, “go do your homework.”  I believe that pulling up a company’s Wikipedia page or heading to their corporate page is 101 – and it’s typically pretty boring.  I encourage job seekers to look past the “corporate sell” of basic benefits and stock history. They should be looking for the bigger picture.  At PepsiCo we’re making this easy with things like our People of PepsiCo page that shows employees talking about what’s possible for them in AND outside of work as a member of the PepsiCo family.

Our employees are becoming widely available in networks like LinkedIn and are now actively sharing stories about our company in their status updates directly from our internal newsfeeds in the hopes that you’ll talk with them about what’s going on.

Look for these things. This is a level of authenticity that makes an employer worth really looking at.

Use it now—actionable—advice for job seekers:

Manage your social footprint and engage the company you’re interested in learning more about.
 

Julie Motta is a Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition for Whirlpool Corporation, where she is involved in activities around predictive assessment, employer branding, vendor management and recruitment process optimization.  She has held roles in both the recruiting and generalist space at Whirlpool and ExxonMobil and has a passion around connecting employees and external candidates to the right development and career opportunities.

Whirlpool is the largest manufacturer of home appliances in the world, with over 70,000 employees globally and more than 70 manufacturing and research facilities. You recently won recognition for having a great “candidate experience” and for treating job applicants well. How does a big company create personal relationships with job applicants?
 

This can be a challenge for any organization.  We’ve found that having a well-defined and centralized process that focuses on the candidate needs to be in place to successfully create a positive experience.  Ours is called The Exceptional Candidate Experience (ECE). The ECE is fully embedded in our candidate process and is a key part of the work our talent acquisition team – otherwise known as corporate recruiting – manages on a daily basis.

We make concentrated efforts to ensure our candidates are informed and engaged throughout each stage of the process.  Each candidate works with a centralized contact from interview to offer. We also provide customized community tours of the area where our global headquarters facilities resides in Benton Harbor, Michigan, along with a gift of our branded products when candidates visit us onsite.  It is very important for us to ensure that candidates have all of the information they need before deciding Whirlpool is the place for them – it has to be a fit both ways.

Our recruitment process is built on the principle that every potential candidate for employment is also a potential customer – and it’s important that we treat them that way. In fact, we regularly measure the level of satisfaction candidates have with their onsite visit – whether or not they were hired. 
 

What do you want job seekers to know about working at Whirlpool?

We just celebrated our 100th anniversary this year. One of the most attractive features of Whirlpool is that the core values the company was founded on are still the foundation of our organization today: Integrity, teamwork, respect, diversity and inclusion, and a spirit of winning.  

We are a global company offering vast career opportunities and consumer solutions across the world, yet the work environment still feels like that of a smaller organization.  Our culture drives a natural focus on collaboration, ownership and accountability, a respect for individual diverse thinking, and a continuous energy around personal development.  In fact, we’ve recently been recognized as one of the top-10 Global Companies for Leaders as part of a study released by Aon Hewitt, the RBL Group and FORTUNE Magazine.   In addition, our diversity networks and our strong focus on social responsibility through efforts like Habitat for Humanity, Cook for the Cure, United Way, Whirlpool Foundation (to name a few) help to develop a strong internal community as well. 

What types of jobs are you hiring for right now? Where are they located?

Our openings span across various functions – from engineering and product development to procurement, sales, customer relations, marketing and corporate functions like IT and finance. The majority of our U.S. positions are located around our global headquarters and technology centers on the shores of Lake Michigan, with additional opportunities available at our various US plant locations.  You can review our open jobs at http://www.whirlpoolcareers.com.

Whirlpool has offices all over the world and markets products in about 170 countries across the globe.  How should U.S. applicants who are applying for U.S. based jobs acknowledge the international nature of the company? Do you have any tips on skills that candidates should emphasize when applying to a multi-national corporation?

While some roles have more of a global nature than others, it is important to understand the impact each function and region has on the organization as a whole.  Whirlpool is truly global in every sense of the word.   It is not unheard of to have employees who sit in the US report up to leaders sitting in other countries, or vice versa.  It is very common to have meetings with people from various regions, all working on the same initiative.  The ability to effectively communicate with and drive clear actions among these cross-regional teams is crucial.  

We look for a broad cultural mindset specifically when we hire for jobs with a global focus. In addition, we look for respect for diversity, communication skills, the ability to build relationships across regions and functions, as well as the ability to drive initiatives beyond your own team or region.   These skillsets become increasingly important as we continue to expand our presence across the globe.

What makes a great Whirlpool candidate and employee?

A great Whirlpool candidate has a desire to learn, will bring new thinking to the table while absorbing input from others and have a history of achieving surprising results.  They will have successfully initiated and executed meaningful changes and have a passion for building and being surrounded by strong teams.    

We look for individuals who have a collaborative style and what we call a “humble confidence.” Can you listen to and build on the ideas of others yet respectfully advocate for your own ideas, too?

Above all, you need to be able to build and manage relationships and exhibit unquestioned integrity. Our core values have deliberately been placed at the top of our leadership model. Respect for diverse thinking and backgrounds is required and you need to be able to consistently challenge the status quo in a way that will help us to win in the marketplace.

What’s the best way to connect with Whirlpool employees and recruiters? Do you have any pet peeves – or things job seekers should not do to contact you?

Start out by applying to our careers site online. Our recruiters review our candidate database regularly and can match you to positions you may not have reviewed. You are more than welcome to email a recruiter with your resume, but make sure that you also apply online.  If you include a cover letter, it is best to keep it short.  Recruiters review a lot of resumes every day – these letters should be reserved for highlighting any critical information that isn’t on the resume.

While we don’t have too many pet peeves, don’t be a “serial applicant” and apply for every job regardless of whether you are qualified. Carefully select the roles that best match your skillsets and experience…and apply for those versus applying for everything. This shows that you have put thought into what role you can perform most effectively and how you can best apply your skillsets.
 

Are there any questions I haven’t asked that I should be asking? What’s the question, and what’s your answer?
 

What’s so exciting about working in the appliance industry? 

There’s an old perception that the appliance industry is a sea of white boxes. If you head to your local retailer, you’ll see that this is far from accurate.  The appliance industry has demonstrated a huge amount of movement and innovation over the years. Look at washers and dryers – if you see where we started in 1911 or even 1970 to where we are now, dramatic changes have been made in their features, functioning, and aesthetics.   In addition, we are always working on ways to reduce energy usage, save time, and shrink our ecological footprint.   Our people are empowered and expected to think outside of the box….and to contribute to progressive work processes that generate new ideas, products and services.  As a result, we are able to deliver real value to our consumers in ways never before seen in our industry

We work with products that we also experience on the consumer end, so our people have a lot of passion for what they do.  We don’t consider ourselves to just be designing, manufacturing and selling appliances – our products, technology and services are providing consumer solutions that help make everyday life easier.  With these continued advancements, there’s not a more exciting time to be a part of our organization.

Use it now—actionable—advice for job seekers:

Your resume is the often your first introduction to an organization.  Outside of proofreading it and making it concise, it is also important to make it results focused.  Many resumes read like a job description – the candidates who stand out to me are those who are able to share the results they’ve achieved and changes they’ve driven within the context of their job.

Research the organization you’re speaking with and be prepared to ask informed questions and offer information around how you can add value.  The interview should be a two-way conversation – you should be assessing the company’s fit for you as much as the interviewer is assessing your fit for the company.

Steve Bonomo is the Head of Global Talent Acquisition for Adidas; he’s also a sports enthusiast, a recruiting nut, and a man living his dream job who started preparing for his job when he first startedout on the little league field 30 years ago. A graduate of San Jose State University with a BS in Psychology, Steve worked for a search firm before working for TaylorMade Golf, one of Adidas’ primary brands, in San Diego. For the past six years he’s worked in Herzogenaurach, Germany where he serves as the Global Head of Talent Acquisition for Adidas.

Adidas is one of the largest sporting brands and manufacturers of sporting goods in the world. You produce products for multiple sports — Football, Running, Training, and Basketball – are you looking for well-rounded candidates to join your recruiting team? Or do you focus more on specific areas of expertise?

When I got out here six years ago, I was given the opportunity to build a recruiting team. I wanted to do something a little bit different from the traditional approach to corporate recruiting where the focus is often on the number of jobs you have open. I wanted to build a recruiting operation where there was also a focus on the candidate.

We began hiring people with a recruiting agency background because they were accustomed to being paid on based on their ability to develop relationships with both job candidates and the company that hired them to fill a vacancy. After all, to fill a job you want to make sure that the candidate is a fit for the job and that the organization is a good fit for the candidate.

My brother says, “The secret to being successful is to follow up and do what you say you are going to do.” In recruiting, you have to have people who have relationship skills, and who follow up.

The other thing that is important – when we hire for all jobs and brands within the adidas Group – we look for passion for our brands, our products or a love of sports. If you don’t love what we do, you don’t get everything you can out of working for the organization.

We’ve also found that we are a lot more successful hiring people who have grown up playing team sports, as opposed to people who have grown up working in individual roles because when you are working in – and with – a team you can accomplish great things.

What do you want job seekers to know about working at Adidas?

It all goes back to our value proposition: Adidas is a place where you have the opportunity to shape the future of sport through the work that you do each day. The founder of adidas, Adi Dossler, was focused on improving the true performance of athlete. He wanted to help people run a little faster, jump higher better. Our founder was all about helping people achieve what they want to achieve through sport.

If you do your job really well within the Group, you are going to be able to contribute to the betterment of that sport. That runs true for all jobs. You can truly impact the game of sport. Just like TaylorMade founder Gary Adams did when he introduced metal woods golf clubs into golf.

What types of jobs are you hiring for right now? Where are they located?

We have over 625 openings right now worldwide in 75 locations – not including store retail.  Our biggest areas are in the United States in three major locations in Carlsbad, CA (TaylorMade), Canton, Massachusetts (Reebok), and Portland, Oregon (Adidas). We also have 2500 retail stores around the world, which will soon represent  50% of our overall business.

Jobs at Adidas run across functions from ecommerce, customization (personalization), interactive products (like miCoach). We almost always have open positions in marketing and design, as well as infrastructure positions like IT, HR, and corporate finance – I probably have 75 openings there now.

We’re having a great year in terms of earnings. Everybody had been in some way impacted by the recession but we were still able to continue to grow as a company.

Given that the adidas Group is a global company, how should U.S. applicants who are applying for U.S. based jobs acknowledge the international nature of the company? Do you have any tips on skills that candidates should emphasize when applying to a multi-national corporation?

You should absolutely show that you understand what it means to work at a global company.

It’s absolutely important to think globally if you’re thinking about growth potential. It opens a lot more doors. It is a lot easier to think about career progression if you are working with a company that has more than one office. We have 75 different nationalities working here at our headquarters in Germany.  It’s not uncommon working at our headquarters that you will be in a meeting with 5 people from 5 different countries.

There aren’t that many companies around the world where you have a realistic opportunity to work in most major locations around the globe. You have an opportunity to do that here. I joined the company in 2002 and had no idea I would ever be living in another country.

What makes a great adidas Group candidate and employee?

If we’re looking at for what I hire for into recruiting, I think you have to have the mindset of wanting to talk to people. You also need to be very organized.

For general positions, we are looking for people who are attracted to the brand combined with an area of expertise that fills a need here. Loving sports definitely helps. We have tennis courts, basketball courts, football fields, etc. So If you don’t like it, you are not going to get the most out of your location. However, we also offer a great environment, fun people and lots to do even if you aren’t playing sports regularly.

What’s the best way I can prepare for an interview within the adidas Group?

I can tell what you shouldn’t do. Don’t come in wearing the product of our competitors.

You should know who our competitors are; Puma was actually founded by Adi Dassler’s brother! Know your area of the business well and be able to think in innovative ways. We are looking for people who have a knowledge of our brand and who understand where we want to go.

If I am interviewing a person for a role, I want to hear how they have been innovative, and I want to see how they can work in culturally diverse situations. You have to be open minded and able to step back and understand how your cultural background influences your initial reactions to things. You have to be able to look at issues and events from different perspectives, and you have to be truly passionate about doing that.

Are there any questions I haven’t asked that I should be asking? What’s the question, and what’s your answer?

What is the adidas Group?

We are so often referred to as Adidas. The group is actually a collection of brands that have many similarities – Reebok, TaylorMade, Adidas, CCM (Hockey), Rockport, Ashworth and Adidas Golf. The founders of all of these companies have similar stories; the CEOs grew up in the industry and have lived through so much in the field.  We are successful because of the collection of the brands that we have today – and our common goal of helping athletes perform better.

Use it now—actionable—advice for job seekers:

Understand that whenever you are applying to an organization that is highly desirable, people tend to get discouraged if they don’t get the first job they go for. We may get 400 or 500 applicants for one job. There could be 10 top people in the field. If you are passionate about the organization continue to look at the organization.

The first time I applied for a recruiter job with Taylor Made – I came in third. Then four years later, I’m leading global recruiting.

Michael Jordan got cut from his high school varsity team and ended up becoming one of the best players of all time. You shouldn’t discourage easily. I find that the lessons I learned on the playing field have guided me to this point in his career: Hard work pays off, you accomplishes far more working with teammates, and a good coach is critical to deliver successful end results!