Chris Wellington “The Recruiting Guy”, President, The Wellington Group

Do you want to increase the chances of your resume and cover note making it to desk of that elusive recruiter or hiring manager? Every wonder why job postings have a funky job code either in the title or somewhere on the job posting / listing? And what does it really take to navigate the so called “black hole” of databases so many Corporations, HR Departments and Recruiters are using?

These are all great questions but unless you have worked within an HR Department or a Recruitment Firm in the past you probably know very little about the true inner-workings and why job codes are utilized so extensively in the current job market. For this blog post, I am going to cover job codes and systems from the job seeker’s perspective and how to best navigate this technology while searching for your next career opportunity.

Let me start with a quick summary of “why the job code any way.” Job codes are used when a company of any sort is working with either an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or a Human Resources Information System (HRIS). Sometimes these can be one in the same, but most likely they are not. In major corporations, the HRIS system can also be a small functioning part of the overall ERP system, such as SAP, SAGE, IQMS and hundreds of others you may be familiar with. These tools have been developed not to deter would-be employees or job applicants, but rather to better assist the recruiter, HR personnel and hiring manager on the receiving end in becoming more effective and efficient in their hiring practices.

In a nutshell, job codes allow for your resume to go straight into the exact job “bucket” within the ATS or HRIS system and to the attention of all parties involved. If your resume is just sent into the system with no job code or job identifier, well it is lost forever in the black hole we so often hear about. Let me repeat that, no job code on your application or response, no one will see your resume and you just sit idle in a sea of thousands of other applicants through the years. It’s a sad fact, but most corporations and recruiters do a very poor (if any) job of sourcing back through their own database throughout the lifecycle of a job opening. Your precious resume, that invaluable tool you invested so much time and money into if done right, is just lost data.

So what’s the trick when you see a job code and you are applying to the position? Here is the million dollar (or perhaps at least getting an interview answer)…PUT THE JOB CODE IN YOUR SUBJECT LINE WHEN APPLYING. Now systems are not fail-proof after all they are just linked tools using computer code to best capture and “parse” your information. So the more you can aid this process and help eliminate the bugs, the more you help yourself in achieving that next job. Below is an example of a how our firm, The Wellington Group, leverages the use of technology to both comply with OFCCP regulations and to ensure your resume is seen by everyone on the team working a new search.

A Craig’s List job posting has a link to our website or an email address you can apply to, CMC Manager – Regulatory Affairs. At the end of the job title you see BHJOB3594_271. This is our unique Bullhorn job code and allows you, the job seeker, to apply right to the job and be seen by Heather, Lisa and myself as a candidate interested in this opportunity. But, if you fail to use this job code when applying, we have to search back through Bullhorn each day to see key words or review every miscellaneous resume and then forward them to the appropriate job.

When you apply for a job within a system say like Taleo (you will know, look at the internet navigation bar and I am willing to bet in that line of html tag there is the word Taleo, Kenexa, Bullhorn or others) the system automatically pushes your resume to that particular job. But don’t stop there! If it allows for you to put in a subject header or free-text then make sure that job code number is listed in your response. Again, errors are frequent within these tools so the more you leverage the technology’s hierarchy of code the more you increase the chances of being seen. Below is an example of this situation.

A new Becton Dickenson (BD) job posting through indeed.com takes me to, WW Vice President, BDDS Infectious Disease Regulatory Affairs. Immediately upon clicking on this link you can see that it now has a job code at the end, REG0002D. You will also notice that although it looks like you are still on the BD site, you really are on the customize Taleo site, look closely and you will see “Powered by Taleo” on the page! Since you can apply through this system to that job AND put in additional text you can follow these tips to ensure your resume gets into this job “bucket.”

In addition to aiding the recruiter or hiring corporation, job codes can be a great clue for the job seeker. Having a job code is a true gauge about the professionalism, resources and overall investment a company has made into its recruiting and hiring practices. You see the smaller organization or the less professional or ill-equipped recruitment firm / independent recruiter generally will not have a system in place at all. Perhaps they are managing through their outlook folders or a gmail/aol account, but most certainly they are not completely complying with current OFCCP and EEOC recruitment regulations, makes you wonder? How are they tacking and managing your information and the job opening, by sheer memory?

One immediate question I will get from this post is, “will applying to only one job with a single job code eliminate me from other openings at the same company?” The answer, in true fashion, is it depends. Since most companies do a poor job of leveraging their own database and spend more time seeking people outside of it than mining the prized data they already have, I say go ahead and apply to that next job using these same techniques. This action will at least give you piece of mind that your resume is in the job “bucket” for the additional position(s). Most systems have become so intuitive that as long as your contact information and the name on your resume are the same, it will not duplicate your data in the system but rather add another note indicating your interest in multiple opportunities.

In review, job codes are not a hindrance to the job seekers but rather a great tool for the hiring authority or recruiters to notice your information ahead of the competing job applicants. In many cases, you must comply to the system requirements and apply using the job code to be considered an applicant per new OFCCP and EEOC regulations. To best leverage the technology behind this process, you should always have the job code as the subject line in your email application to the job or when applying through a job board or a corporate system (Taleo as an example) you should re-reference the job you are applying to with free-text and the job code repeated. This is but one small tip that can have a major impact on the “where-abouts” of your resume in a company’s ATS or HRIS system.

Good luck in your job search!

Chris

To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com. 

Chris Wellington “The Recruiting Guy”, President, The Wellington Group

“ABC Recruiters company has just added Dr. James E Worthing Jr. as Managing Director of the company’s X niche recruitment focus…Dr Worthing has spent the last 35 years of his career in senior management with a number of well-known companies…”

Being so involved in all aspects of the recruitment or executive search business, I see headlines, email blasts (spam), self made PR pieces, tweets, etc all with a very similar theme. Someone with a great career in another industry making the jump now into recruiting based solely on the credentials they have on their own resume. I am not saying this is good or bad as I myself have focused 7-8 years of education on the FDA regulated product development niche. What I will attempt to do in this blog segment is help educate you the consumer (hiring company or job seeker) on what to look for when you see this information or someone selling their past career and not their current results.

Let’s start with the obvious. How can someone who knows NOTHING about the recruiting, executive search, or the staffing industry all the sudden be an ideal “Managing Partner, Principal, or General Manager of XYZ division?” That is like saying, “we have a new Partner in our law firm with a chemicals background, he never went to law school but he has managed a chemicals plant.” What? Can this new figure-head, who has never gone through the training nor put in the time to become a professional recruiter, suddenly lead a team of people through a true talent search process?

At this point I am going to get, “Chris, they have been a senior manager before and have hired people.” That is great, it means they have been handed pre-screened resumes or the application of someone who works in another area of the company and went through a predetermined interview process, WITH ALL THE RESOURCES OR WORK DONE FOR THEM. What they lack is the 2-6 months of training before being put on your most critical staff need or taking and helping to structure your resume and bio to represent you at their client. You see, just being a manager and having to hire in the past does not anoint them as a true, professional headhunter. It goes to the old belief that if we hire a PhD in Chemistry every Chemical Company will want to work with us, ignoring the fact that we may not have a database, network nor the experience as a firm in that niche.

I have had a lot of experience in my career dealing with this very same challenge in adding staff or growing a company. Do you hire experienced recruiters to meet either your internal needs or as headhunters to meet the need of your clients? Or, do you hire someone from their industry and hope they can pick-up the recruitment piece? 9 out of 10 times the second scenario does not work out in the long run. Short term it seems great. They have a lot of connections, make a number of calls, etc, etc, etc. But, that call list grows short very quickly, more so when the past companies they have worked for are large fortune or global in nature. Take IBM for instance. Hiring an ex-IBM executive was a major trend a number of years ago with both the Manpower’s and Korn Ferry’s of the industry. The trend we thought, was if the individual has been there in the past they can call back in and WHAM we have business or we’ll have an immediate candidate base. Well, that was not the case. People, more so Sr Management, worked in very specific groups, had limited networks and employee access, and did not want to start at the bottom and work their way back into a new career (which is truly what this situation is). The same goes for ex/current legislators, judges and even HR Directors.

Here are a few questions to ask when a firm is trying to sell you on the non-recruiting credentials of this new figure-head:

1. What training have you had on the latest recruiting technologies and techniques
2. What is your firms on-boarding and training program
3. How many similar clients and staff searches do you have under your belt
4. Name some of the tools and resources you might use to fill our need
5. Do you have an HR or Recruiting Certification (to ensure they don’t get you into a hot mess by asking illegal questions on your behalf)
6. Who is on your team doing the actual research, sourcing and headhunting work
7. What is your recruitment process

At the end of the day, the headhunter or recruitment firm is representing you, your company or your brand. Be cautious on who you select with this invaluable possession – for it is not enough to have the working knowledge of your industry – the person or firm must also have the training, technology and recruitment process expertise to make them a true extension of your recruitment resources.

Chris

^{To hire The Recruiting Guy as a speaker or trainer visit The Recruiting Guy or contact The Wellington Group @ info@thewellington-group.com.}