Date: Fri 09-Jan-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

business-recruiting-O'Connor

Full Text:

Jobseeking Tips From A Recruiter

(with cut)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

How to market yourself -- what human resources recruiters look for -- will be

the theme of the Tuesday, January 13, meeting of the Jobseekers Support Group

which meets at 7:30 pm in the second-floor conference room in the Parish

Center at St Rose of Lima Church.

"The rules of the game have changed significantly during the last decade,"

said Susan O'Connor, a human resources (HR) consultant who will be the

evening's guest speaker.

"One of the biggest mistakes you can make today is to get a job and think you

are settled," she said. "Companies downsize, merge or re-locate. You have to

take control of your career today. You need tools to not only maneuver through

your own company but also to market yourself for that next job."

Ms O'Connor is a HR consultant for GE Capital in Stamford and also has her own

human resources consulting business, Infinity Resources, in Stratford.

"It's not enough today (for a jobseeker) to send a resume and hope it finds

someone's attention," Ms O'Connor said. "Nor is it enough for a company to

just place an ad in a newspaper to attract talent. The competition is stiff."

In her talk, Ms O'Connor will discuss techniques for attracting the attention

of recruiters, getting an interview and marketing yourself. Networking and

using the Internet to find a job also will be discussed.

"Networking is one of the key methods of finding a job," she said. "As a

recruiter, I always talk to people on planes and trains because I know you can

find opportunities everywhere. I talked with a marketing person on a plane,

learned that he played golf, and later recruited him for a job at Golf Digest.

"

The most difficult task for a jobseeker today is to get an interview, "get

face to face with someone," she said. "You have 30 seconds to make an

impression on a recruiter who gets 500 resumes a day."

"You need to get in front of a recruiter or hiring manager," she said. "And as

hard as it is, you have to go through a zillion no's first so just get them

out of the way. Don't get discouraged."

Many companies today use what is called "behavioral event interviewing," a

series of open-ended questions which attempt to find candidates which have all

the skills needed to be successful in the job.

"It's more than just the technical skills," Ms O'Connor said. "The company may

be looking for communication skills, team skills, leadership skills, coping

and interpersonal skills. They want the total picture of a person."

A graduate of Sacred Heart University, Ms O'Connor is completing a master's

degree at Fairfield University in business psychology and organizational

development. She also teaches a unit on HR recruiting in the HR certificate

program at Fairfield University each fall.

The Jobseekers Support Group meets monthly. All meetings are free and open to

anyone who is seeking employment or considering a career change.

For more information, call Bill Brimmer at 270-9885.