I recently had three very different chances to interface with recruiters regarding the same possibility, in this case, for technical writers. While that’s generically “a club in my bag,” it didn’t get much play until I added a resume on DICE site.
So, Basic point: Know which sites work best for your skill set and goals as freelancer/copywriting resource.
Two people, who supposedly know how certain skills may fit with work orders, told me Monster and Careerbuilder were places they found most of their placements and possibilities. I’ve never liked those chronologically-oriented sites, and there have been plenty of possibilities on LinkedIn and FlexJobs, including top of my list consideration, remote options.
KEYWORDS – BIG DIFFERENCE
It’s worth noting that early searching for ‘Writer’ roles on LinkedIn often produced more Underwriter and Service writer possibilities than creative positions. Putting ‘content creation’ and ‘writing’ vs. writer in the keyword box, that went from barely a handful to nearly 100, and often included marketing and editorial managers. Knowing more than one way to look for things is a legitimate piece of any search effort.
Another phrase that bears examining is ACHIEVEMENT as part of Administrative/Executive Associate submissions, but I’ll save that for another day.
It’s been proven throughout this pandemic, when working remotely quickly became a negotiable factor. There are frequent online opportunities to contribute from a laptop – good content can be created any time or place.
I’ve held certain opinions about recruiters, but the constancy of online searching leads to the continued opinion about whether current “talent gaps” could be mitigated if finders of people for positions did a better job of interviewing.
Admitting first contact appointment-getters – with fairly heavy, difficult to understand accents – threw me a little is true. Repeatedly asking callers to slow down, and yes, thinking scams often flourish with confusion, being on guard is a legitimate state. We’re all aware that “others” are constantly phishing for data.
I admit being less nice to him, but fixing my attitude about different groups of people contacting me out of the blue with “I saw your resume…” came through just in time.
Key in recruiters getting what they need
One caller was totally from left field, because he was trying to work with an online resume from 2015 (Careerbuilder). Trying to steer him to more current information like LinkedIn seemed futile. Trying to explain a 2015 post-Recession in retail resume, which represented nothing I was trying to accomplish now – just, no. Thinking I could turn that option into even a 3-month contract wasn’t a reality.
Talking with Recruiter #2, the ‘take over’ local (Charlotte) person I’d scheduled a call with, left me far far less confident about success, compared to the CBD company I connected with through LinkedIn right after New Years. Maybe he was describing a totally different job, which it turns out he was, compared to Recruiter #3. I found out a month later #2 was actually right on about a situation that sounded far above my comfort level regarding previous technical expertise.
There’s a definite difference in needing-to-be-done-a-certain-way design, info for multiple layers of starting-from-scratch technically sound, subject matter expertise writing vs. something closer to compilation and interpretation of content and “editorial values,” and again, I’m not a coder. Continue reading “Recruiter read ‘tech writing’ experience as intended, but wrong on client needs”
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