Tag: careers

Tips that can help you get hired

In the first part of this blog post, we discussed ways to approach applications and resumes, as well as steps not to take. In this final part, we review how employers tend to evaluated applicants.

Besides your resume or application, employers use various other evaluation tools to determine if someone would be a good asset to the company. 

These tools may include screening for minimum and preferred qualifications, phone or Zoom interviews before an in-person one, reference and background checks and employee referrals. 

Another popular screening mechanism some potential employers now use is a review of your social media pages, a good reason to review that potential post before you make it. Will something posted in an emotional moment come back to affect you later? 

Job hunting? Start here…

You may have experienced this situation yourself: You apply for a job and you, one, never hear from the potential employer again; two, receive a form letter indicating the position has been filled; or, three, are interviewed but don’t receive an offer.

Disconcerting and disappointing, right?

As Diakon’s Human Resources recruiters, we want to offer some tips to help you potentially experience better results. 

Most important, you need to understand the qualities and skills an employer is seeking, so that you can stand out in a crowded field. 

For example, many employers look for skills beyond the academic qualifications of candidates. Prospective employees may share similar education and experience, but how they present those as ways to make the company more successful can create a huge difference in initial perceptions. 

In fact, incorporate that approach in your resume or application. Learn about the company and the open position and then determine ways your particular skills will successfully address the needs listed for that position. Emphasize your value and efficiency.

And, certainly, never rush through this process or omit details. (And a very simple caution: If you use the same cover letter for multiple applications, make sure you change the name of the company and job title. You would not believe how often people send cover letters addressed to a different organization!) 

These are key characteristics we seek on applications and resumes:

  • Summary statement 
  • Clear section headings
  • Use of correct grammar
  • Elaboration of core competencies (the attributes that make you stand out from other applicants)
  • Strong work experience, including names of organizations, employment dates and job titles
  • Length of work experience

Alternatively, here are “red flags” that will stand out to potential employers in an application:

  • Applications with spelling mistakes
  •  A suspicious work history
  •  Incomplete fields
  •  Inclusion of negative statements about previous employers 
  •  Indicating you left a job because of an unresolved disagreement. 

In addition, if you receive an interview, here are common missteps: 

  • Arriving late
  • Not having done research on the company
  • Looking at phone or texting during the interview
  •  Any other lack of attention during the interview 
  • Gossiping or making negative comments about former managers or employees
  • Showing a lack of understanding about the industry 
  • Not being able to explain why you are interested in the job

Remember, an interview is an excellent opportunity to showcase how your experience, education and initiative will make a difference for the employer. That’s why doing your research about the company and the role are so important!

Part 2 (coming): How employers evaluate applicants.

By: Christa Corum & Chip King, Diakon recruiters

Making benefits even more appealing

It was more than four decades ago, but I can still vividly recall the setting.

I was sitting in an office of Human Resources, at that time called “Personnel,” on the second floor of Tressler-Lutheran Service Associates’ Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, office building, converted from the old Lutheran Home on the West Shore.

Six months had passed since my initial employment with Tressler and my discussion with one of the two staff members then in Personnel centered on my selection of benefits, which were now available to me.

Did I want to sign up for a pension contribution?

“Nope,” I asserted, testament to my naiveté at that age. I later attributed that poor decision to the small salary I was receiving; after all, it was 1978 and the salary at my former position, as a newspaper reporter and editor, had been even smaller.

Fortunately, I eventually came to my senses and signed up for Tressler’s 403(b) plan.

While most employees now know better than to wait for benefits, especially as employers focus on comprehensive orientation programs, many organizations still impose a “probationary period” before employees can receive benefits such as health-care coverage.

Diakon has been one those employers, but no longer.

Beginning Aug. 1, Diakon joins the list of forward-focused organizations offering “Day 1 health-care benefits.” That means new employees—both full- and part-time—can immediately sign up for health-care coverage, including medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage.

Other benefits, including tuition assistance, retirement plan, and disability insurance, still require waiting for the probationary period to end, but nearly all employees are most concerned about health-care insurance, so the change is a very welcomed one.

Making Day 1 employment today much better—and smarter—than mine 41 years ago.

 By William Swanger, MA, APR, Fellow PRSA
Senior Vice President
Corporate Communications & Public Relations

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