Seriously? 50% of college grads do NOT have jobs

By Kaycee Cash

50% of new college graduates do not have jobs…. Seriously? Here I am, pouring my heart and soul into my college education, and now I am threatened by this statistic. You don’t apply to colleges hoping to give them all your money and leave with a piece of paper but no money to your name. You think that you are going to college to get the “whole experience,” which is of course worth it and I encourage it, but me personally? I’m in college now so that I can get that job that I want. That one job that I have been dancing around, declaring majors for. Right now it happens to be a small animal veterinarian. It could change to anything with animals- but that’s just me. I feel like a lot of people go through the same cycle of not knowing exactly what you want to do with your life, and this statistic of not having a job is scary. None of us want to end up like that.

But here I am, not even finished with the third paragraph of the introduction to this book that is supposed to teach me how to get a job. “Do This! Get Hired!” is the title. Forceful, but it gets the point across. Why should I trust what this book says?  Well, to start off, the first chapter is titled “What Qualifies Me to Give You Advice?” Apparently, Mr. Lyden is quite qualified.

One of the things that I have learned about the author is that he evaluates college students for a living. He recruits people like me for businesses, grad school, etc. If I had to guess, he probably knows what he is doing, and I feel a bit more comfortable about the advice that he has to give. Not only does he recruit college students, he teaches them how to get recruited through several classes. Some of these include methods on how to succeed in applying online, interviews, and resume writing. I made my resume with a guide off of google, and I’m pretty sure it isn’t as good as it should be. I hope that the things that he has to say in his book will help. He also teaches others how to recruit, how to read resumes, and did I mention the businesses that he works for are ranked and rated highly? Within the first few pages I’ve already learned a lot about him and a fun fact: always put your GPA in your resume or run the risk of your resume getting thrown out immediately. Nobody has the time to call you and ask about anything you left out.

The most striking thing to me is his story behind writing this book. I know that the proceeds of the book go to saving animals, which is a fantastic thing, but he got the idea by reading somebody else’s help book for college students. That somebody else has a Ph.D, and his book was long and way too descriptive.  Not only that… some of it was wrong, at least from Mr. Lyden’s experience. What’s great about this book so far is that there is nothing fake to it. It’s concise and informative, and already helpful. Not only that, it has a sarcastic tone that keeps the book humorous.  I look forward to the rest of the book, and I think I have a lot left to learn about getting a job. (And I mean A LOT.)

Salary Negotiations by Abby Soley

Mark Lyden’s book, “Do This! Get Hired!” clearly identifies the steps you have to take in order to get hired, for almost any scenario. He explains how to make your resume as powerful as possible, how to succeed at a career fair, and how to master the interview. He goes beyond this, though, and helps you out even after you and the job!

“Did you know that failing to negotiate your starting salary at your first job by just $2000 will cost you about $250,000 over a career?”

I didn’t know that, but it makes perfect sense in hindsight! And I don’t know about you, but I am already imagining what I could do with that money (new boat anyone?)!

Mark describes exactly what you have to say in order to effectively negotiate your salary.  He explains the basics of the two-five rule, which is a way of determining your ideal salary range. It’s easier to explain in an example, so here is a scenario that Mark described in the book.

If the company offers you a salary of $61,000, add $2000 to it to come up with the bottom number of your range, and then add $5000 on top of that number to get the top number of your range. Here is what you should say to the company: “First, thank you for the offer. We are close! My ideal salary for this position is sixty-eight thousand with my range being between sixty-three and sixty-eight thousand.”

It’s that easy! Now, have fun on that new boat!! ;)

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs…in THIS difficult job market. He has already helped thousands with his advice because it is different and it is PROVEN to work! The advice he gives is not the traditional advice that can be found on the Internet or being given by most career professionals. Now and for the last 15-years, Mr. Lyden has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company. Mark is the author of: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and, Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! Visit DoThisGetHired.com for additional information. A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

RELAX! by Abby Soley

I’m going to be honest with you: waiting in line to talk to a recruiter at a job fair can be boring and, for me personally, the most nervous part of the whole experience. Countless questions race through my mind. “What do I say?” “What are they going to say?” “Did I prepare enough?” “What if I don’t know how to answer the questions they ask me?”

RELAX!

While you are standing in line, don’t text your best friend about the new shoes you bought for spring break. Instead open your ears and listen to the questions the recruiters are asking the students who are in line in front of you. Chances are they will ask you similar, if not the same, questions! Now that you know the questions, spend the time waiting in line to formulate answers to them. Once you get to the front of the line, your answer will be perfect, and your confidence in yourself will sky rocket!

What if he line isn’t long enough to listen to the questions and come up with answers, casually walk by the table and listen to the questions, then go to a quiet corner to prepare your answers. Once you have them down pat, GO GET ‘EM!

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs…in THIS difficult job market. He has already helped thousands with his advice because it is different and it is PROVEN to work! The advice he gives is not the traditional advice that can be found on the Internet or being given by most career professionals. Now and for the last 15-years, Mr. Lyden has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company. Mark is the author of: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and, Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! Visit DoThisGetHired.com for additional information. A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

Tell Your Story by Abby Soley

Do you dread seeking employment for the sole reason that you are scare to death of being interviewed? Fear no more.

I’m sure you know the basics when it comes to being interviewed: research the company, prepare, and if you wouldn’t wear it to your grandmother’s, don’t wear it on an interview. Beyond that, there are some very good tips outlined in the book, “Do This! Get Hired!”

The first one that helped settle my nerves about interviewing is to remember, “interviewing is nothing more than telling stories.” Yes, the company needs to know about the special skills you have, but that should be clear on your resume. The interviewer is trying to dig deeper to get to know how you can handle certain situations. Each story you tell should follow the SBO method. SBO stand for situation, behavior and outcome. You should describe the situation you were in, the steps you took and how you reacted to the situation, and the result to your action. If you spend about 30 seconds on each section (and completely answer the question in about a minute and a half), PERFECT! Remember, the interviewer wants to know how YOU reacted to a situation, not how the team worked together. Team work is important, but the team isn’t being interviewed, YOU ARE!

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs…in THIS difficult job market. He has already helped thousands with his advice because it is different and it is PROVEN to work! The advice he gives is not the traditional advice that can be found on the Internet or being given by most career professionals. Now and for the last 15-years, Mr. Lyden has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company. Mark is the author of: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and, Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! Visit DoThisGetHired.com for additional information. A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

Ace the Interview by Abby Soley

Do you dread seeking employment for the sole reason that you are scare to death of being interviewed? Fear no more.

I’m sure you know the basics when it comes to being interviewed: research the company, prepare, and if you wouldn’t wear it to your grandmother’s, don’t wear it on an interview. Beyond that, there are some very good tips outlined in the book, “Do This! Get Hired!”

The first one that helped settle my nerves about interviewing is to remember, “interviewing is nothing more than telling stories.” Yes, the company needs to know about the special skills you have, but that should be clear on your resume. The interviewer is trying to dig deeper to get to know how you can handle certain situations. Each story you tell should follow the SBO method. SBO stand for situation, behavior and outcome.  You should describe the situation you were in, the steps you took and how you reacted to the situation, and the result to your action. If you spend about 30 seconds on each section (and completely answer the question in about a minute and a half), PERFECT! Remember, the interviewer wants to know how YOU reacted to a situation, not how the team worked together. Team work is important, but the team isn’t being interviewed, YOU ARE!

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs…in THIS difficult job market. He has already helped thousands with his advice because it is different and it is PROVEN to work! The advice he gives is not the traditional advice that can be found on the Internet or being given by most career professionals. Now and for the last 15-years, Mr. Lyden has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company. Mark is the author of: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and, Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! Visit DoThisGetHired.com for additional information. A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

College Students: Do This! Get Hired! Initial Review by Liz Smith

Upon reading the Introduction of Do This Get Hired, I found it very useful that Mark Lyden states all his previous experience with interview processes, resume knowledge and recruitment methods, etc. It really helps the reader to understand his credibility and knowledge of what the reader is interested in. He also makes it easier for us to understand the material, because it’s clear and to the point. I also like how laidback the book is; it makes it a lot easier and more enjoyable to read. It’s also nice how he values the reader’s opinion and asks for feedback. That is a great idea considering he’ll get real information and experience from other people as well to show that his advice really is the best out there.

I worked so hard to raise my GPA, but it's still low! by Abigail Soley

"I worked so hard to raise my GPA, but it's still low! I can't put this number on my resume!"

WRONG! One of the biggest mistakes you can make is leaving your GPA off of your resume. If your Cumulative GPA is below a 3.0, there are some tricks to getting you a higher number. For instance, if you happen to do better in your major classes than you do in your core classes, calculate you Major GPA and if it’s higher than your CGPA USE IT! If it’s still not high enough, calculate you GPA for the past year you were in school. If that’s above a 3.0, include it on your resume and call it something like Junior Year GPA. If that’s still not good enough try calculating your Last Semester GPA.

If all of those numbers still don’t come out to be above a 3.0, you should still include the highest one on your resume and have a compelling story about why it is low. If you immediately, right off the bat, tell your story to the recruiter. You will be surprised at how well the recruiter will take the information. Above that, you will be AMAZED at how good it makes you feel about yourself, and in turn that will raise your self confidence for the rest of the conversation!

HUGE TIPS FOR THE JOB / CAREER FAIR

After 20 minutes of standing in line you finally get to talk to the recruiter at the career fair. Now what?!  Okay you gave him your resume. Now you are talking. Good progress. But wait… the conversation is ending. No offer for an interview yet? Then it happens. The recruiter that you stood in line for, printed this crisp resume for, and woke up early to talk to, now suggests you should apply online and someone will get back to you.  What did you do wrong?  After stressing out all day about trying to get that one interview with that one company you have blown it. Have no fear career fair go-ers here is your chance to figure out what exactly went 

In my book, “College Students: Do This! Get Hired!” there are not 30 things you need to do, but rather let’s stick with those that work! So let’s start with HUGE TIP #1: Ask yourself this question: “How can I show this recruiter that I am serious without ever having met them before?” Your resume is a huge part of it. This shows major accomplishments, but what about showing that company and their representatives exactly how you act in a working environment? (Remember your whole goal when it comes to recruiters is to impresses them!) So having available for them a performance evaluation from a previous internship is a great way to get recognized. There is nothing more powerful than basically handing that recruiter an outline of your skills and a real life example of how excellent you preformed them. It is one thing to say you were in a professional working group that did testing for a major airline than to have a breakdown of how well you worked in that group and the actual accomplishments you made all the while cohesively attaining the company’s objectives written by your previous employer. This will really raise your likelihood of getting that interview.

HUGE TIP #2 Listen for the questions! While in line, listen to the questions that is asked of the person in front of you. Do you really think recruiters are creative? They have a set of basic questions they ask at these events. Or simple walk up close –pretend you are looking for something….step to the side and LISTEN. Then get in back of the line and PRACTICE your answer to the questions! That wasn’t rocket science, right

HUGET TIP #3 Ask for the interview! Recruiters cannot resist if you make it personal. Simply ask for the interview this way, “I really would appreciate and interview with you ….I promise if you grant me the interview, I WON’T LET YOU DOWN.” Who in their right mind would not give you an interview? You’ve just made it personal. This will work! Try it.

So you’ve got the INTERVIEW…now practice your interview answers. This is all up to you now.

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs…in THIS difficult job market. He has already helped thousands with his advice because it is different and it is PROVEN to work! The advice he gives is not the traditional advice that can be found on the Internet or being given by most career professionals. Now and for the last 15-years, Mr. Lyden has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company. Mark is the author of: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and, Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! Visit DoThisGetHired.com for additional information. A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

DoThisGetHired.com

Since the time I read your book and followed your advice, I was interviewed by the following companies:

Mark's advice works!

Hello Mr. Mark 

Since the time I read your book and followed you advice, I was interviewed by the following companies: 

1- Rolls-Royce (Virginia) 
2- Continental Airlines (Houston) 
3- Southwest Airlines (Dallas) 
4- American Express (Embry Riddle) 
5- Etihad Airways(Phone interview) 
6- Embraer – North America (Fort Lauderdale) 
7- Lufthansa Technik (Fort Lauderdale) 
8- CB Aviation (Phone interviews) 
9- US Airways (Phone interview) 
10- American Airlines (Dallas) 
11- Boeing (3 phone interviews) 
12- Commercial Jets (Miami) 
13- HEICO Aerospace (Hollywood, FL) 
14- TRAX (Miami) 
15- GE (5 phone interview) 
16- Ayla Aviation Academy (Jordan) 
17- IATA (Jordan/ phone interview with IATA Canada) 
18- Royal Jordanian (Jordan) 
19- Jordan Airports Company (Jordan) 
20- Mearsk Line (Jordan) 
21- Delta Airlines (I denied the interview since I accepted a position with Lufthansa) 

Just wanted to let you know that your book is extraordinary; you are awesome. 

My current objective is to obtain a position with Boeing (Middle East) i.e Dubai. 

I'm keeping my eyes open on the website! 

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! [by Jenny Chabrian]

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! Here it is the inside story on college recruiters! WAIT A MINUTE?! Recruiters are real life people with subjectivity to other real life people?
Stop the presses!
This has changed my whole view on my approaching technique. If  I just keep in mind that giving my recruiter the chance to see that there is in fact a positive, go getter of a person behind my resume I can in fact open up my recruiter to the ability to evaluate me as a person on top of my resume. Hiring managers and college recruiters rely a lot on the evaluation of your attitude to judge whether or not your attitude will make the difference.  I think this really ties into what Mark says in Chapter 3 about resumes too. How sometimes the STRUCTURE is actually as important as the CONTENT. I can write or simply speak and try to portray all that I do and have accomplished. However, if I do not expose that hard positive attitude I have in a way that is arranged and structured to portray myself as the hard working, motivated person I am, I will basically be out of luck. It’s funny how everything is really pretty much interconnected. It’s all about the attitude. 

In this difficult job market: Start Applying to Jobs that You Qualify For

What I hear from students all the time is they can't seem to find the job that matches them on the website's of the companies they really want to work for.  They explain to me how they know the companies they want to work for take students from their major but when they go on the website they find nothing that is a good match for them for what they want to do.  

First, you are not alone.  Many, many students come up to me with this problem and they all are very disappointed and feel as though all their hard work in college might not get them the job they want.  Let me answer your question with a real life story that happened early in my recruiting career.

I was out recruiting with a senior engineer.  There was this candidate by the name of Jeff and he was great.  What made him great was his attitude.  His grades were solid and he cleaned up in the interview.  The senior engineer asked him what he wanted to do.  He thought a few seconds and said, "Well, I really like all aspects of engineering but I know what I DON'T want to do."  The senior engineer asked him, "What is that?"  Jeff said, "Structures." 

Well it turned out Jeff really struggled with his Structures class.  He actually had to take it twice to pass and felt he just wasn't good with that subject.

Jeff took that structures job.  And guess what?  He LOVED IT!...and did very well.  He stayed in that group for years. 

Jeff got hired into the company I was recruiting for as a Design Engineer.  He did very well.  But a few years into his job, the program he was on was winding down.  He needed to find a new job in a new group because the project he was working on was nearly complete.  But Jeff made the mistake of staying too long.  While other engineers around him got picked up by different groups, Jeff kept hanging on until finally he had to leave.  But now, there were few jobs to pick from.  He tried everything but the only job he was offered was in, guess what?  STRUCTURES! 

The point of the story is the answer to the question.  The point is you can take all these classes and you can read all the text books, however, sometimes you never know what you are going to like or not like unless you try it.  You can't try it if you don't get your foot in the door. 

For those of you in this situation, start applying to more openings.  Especially in this market, STOP looking for the perfect match and apply to anything and everything that might interest you. Not only that, but apply to all the jobs THAT YOU QUALIFY FOR. Remember, managers are not English Literature professors.  Sometimes their job descriptions to a really, really cool job is just boring or flat when you read it.  Just apply!  You can always say "no."  But give yourself a chance at being contacted by someone who can give you a better idea of what the job will entail.  I have seen this for the last 10 years, some of those jobs you think sound boring on paper, are some of the coolest jobs out there.  APPLY!

MARK LYDEN’S BIO

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs…in THIS difficult job market. He has already helped thousands with his advice because it is different and it is PROVEN to work! The advice he gives is not the traditional advice that can be found on the Internet or being given by most career professionals. Now and for the last 15-years, Mr. Lyden has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company. Mark is the author of: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and, Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! Visit DoThisGetHired.com for additional information. A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.

Infantry Company Commander conducts his own study on the effectiveness of author’s advice on how to get a job

5.0 out of 5 stars Expert Advice for Transitioning Soldiers and Veterans

Infantry Company Commander by trade, Captain Brett D. Kelley decides to test the advice given in Mark Lyden’s book, “VETERANS: Do This! Get Hired!”  The result?  Captain Kelley, “Recommends and personally endorses, VETERANS: DO THIS! GET HIRED! as an exceptional resource without hesitation.”

In his test, Captain Kelley lent it to fellow officers; Senior Non-Commissioned Officers with 12-20 years of service; and junior enlisted Soldiers with GEDs for tweaking resumes, polishing interview skills, and salary negotiation.  Although there was definitely a gap in the level of understanding between the officers and young, junior enlisted Soldiers, all gained greater insight into the hiring process and reduced their overall anxiety with the process.  Captain Kelley, who calls himself and his fellow soldiers "green suiters," found that the wounded, injured, and ill Soldiers he is currently helping transition from active duty military to the civilian world have a tough time translating their experience and marketing their skills in the civilian job market. He comments that in the book, “Mr. Lyden is able to succinctly bridge this gap without exceeding the attention span of a grunt like me.”

According to Kelley, “While the military offers and often mandates civilian employment preparation classes and workshops (e.g. resume writing and interview technique classes), they are rudimentary at best. Soldiers are still leaving the military without the skills they need to get hired and the last thing anyone wants to see is another Veteran in fatigues panhandling under a bridge. Civilian corporations and firms want to hire Veterans, but we [soldiers] do a terrible job marketing ourselves. Many young Veterans believe that the world will be handed to them on a silver platter, which couldn't be farther from the truth in a fiercely competitive and tenuous job market.”

Captain Kelley states that, “[the book] is a short read and functions more as a handbook than a self-help guide… Don't let your next interview turn into an ambush by walking into it unprepared. Take the time to read this one.”

The real unemployment rate? 16.6%. Author’s latest book is PROVEN to help today’s job seekers get hired.

The real unemployment rate? 16.6%.  Author’s latest book is PROVEN to help today’s job seekers get hired.

[August 1, 2011] – Mark Lyden has done it again! Aimed to help the millions of unemployed, his latest book, “Professionals: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” is geared to help today’s job seeker increase their chances of getting hired.  The Labor Department's statistics don't include the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for work. (MSN Money 6/2011).  When the underemployed and the discouraged are added to the numbers, the unemployment rate almost doubles making it 16.6%.  But there is a solution.

“Professionals: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” Gives those that are unemployed advice to get hired in today’s job market. Mr. Lyden emphasizes the: 7 Critical Steps to Applying Online; How to stand out at Job Fairs; Acing the Interview; and How to Negotiate Salary. Also included is a special chapter addressing the issues and concerns of those who are 50+ and older who may be looking for work…after being employed for 20+ years. The mature unemployed have a ton of experience yet they are overlooked because they are consistently told they are “overqualified.” A good rule of thumb according to Mr. Lyden is, “If you are in your fifties, sixties, or even higher…you can include your experience, but you don’t have to include it all or just don’t include the dates of when you worked there.  This helps prevent the “age issue” from ever coming up.” 

Mark Lyden’s first top selling book “College Students: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” caught the eye of Senator John McCain’s son, Jim McCain and his fellow Marine Jesse Canella, both co-founders of HonorVet.org.  This year, with their full endorsement and with the help from veterans from all four major branches of the military Mr. Lyden’s second book “Veterans: DO THIS! GET HIRED!” is hailed as the, “Best advice for getting hired that we have ever read." (Jesse Canella, CEO of HonorVet); and is helping reduce the high unemployment for our veterans and soldiers getting out of the military. Now Mark has turned his success, attention, and expertise to helping professionals with his new book “Professionals: DO THIS! GET HIRED!”

About the Author

Mark Lyden is an expert at getting people jobs.  He has already helped thousands get hired even in this difficult job market.  For over 15-years, he has been a Professional Lead Recruiter for a Fortune 50 company.  His approach is fresh, practical, easy to follow, and extremely effective. In his recruiting career he has recruited for small, medium, and large companies and organizations. Mark has screened, taught, mentored and interviewed thousands of candidates and has presented job search seminars across the country.  His extensive experience plus the fact that he recruits each day in this difficult job market, gives him the unique insight on the best ways--the proven ways to approach every major step of the job search process so candidates have the best chance at getting hired.

A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales Mr. Lyden and his wife donate back to charity to help our military veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.  

Mark has been interviewed by or featured in The Washington Post, CNN MONEY, The Huffington Post, The Herald Tribune and many others. He has been a frequent guest on national and local talk radio shows including Ken Gaines (WKZK-103.7FM), Marc Bernier (WNDB-1150) The Marc Bernier Show  and with Howard Keating and Gail Kubiak, www.TheKeatingNetwork.com.

Professionals: DO THIS! GET HIRED!

·         CreateSpace	·         ISBN: 978-1463561598
·         Price: $24.99	·         Pages: 92 pages, Paperback, 6 x 9
·         Pub Date: July 2011
www.DoThisGetHired.com

REVIEW COPIES AND INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE

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To a Recruiter, Attitude is The Most Important Attribute

Your attitude is the most critical item when being evaluated or interviewed.  It is not your grades.  It is not how good you are as a team player.  It is not your leadership skills.  It is not even your intern, co-op or work experience.  All very important things I admit, but not nearly as important as you having the right attitude.

To illustrate this point and take it one step further, here is a question for you the reader: What do you think is the biggest fear of a hiring manager is when hiring a candidate?  Some might say it is hiring someone that can’t do the work.  But that’s not it.  In my experience, hiring managers are most fearful of hiring someone with a bad attitude.  Why?  Because it often has a domino effect that can be very damaging.  Hiring someone with a bad attitude negatively affects the whole team.  That in turn causes conflict.  Conflict lowers morale.  Lowering morale increases inefficiency.  Inefficiency translates into lost time and money….which is misery for guess who?  The hiring manager!  At least, if the hiring manager hires an employee that can’t do the work, they have a fighting chance to work around it by sending them off for training or giving them different assignments; having them do work they can do.  But having a candidate with a bad attitude is nothing short of throwing a psychological grenade in the middle of the room with all team members present.

Moreover, who do you think gets a lot of the blame, or even becomes the scapegoat if a candidate gets hired that has a bad attitude?  Yes, you are right; the recruiter!  So wouldn’t it be logical for a company to send out those people that tend to be the best at screening for this relatively subjective, very soft science attribute we call attitude?  That is why you see mostly HR and business type people out on job and career fairs doing the initial screening.  Engineers and technical people tend to concentrate and be more comfortable evaluating attributes that they can quantify, like GPA, months of intern or co-op experience, or even leadership.  But again, it is your attitude that is most important.  The recruiter’s mantra is, “hire for attitude, and train for skill.” 

Mark Lyden

DoThisGetHired.com

Mark Lyden is the author: College Students: Do This! Get Hired!; Veterans: Do This! Get Hired!; and Professionals: Do This! Get Hired! (Coming Summer 2011).  A substantial portion of the proceeds from book sales are donated back to charity to help veterans and to help the stray and abandoned animals at Logan’s Run Rescue.