Author: M3 Placement

We have some amazing roles that we are currently recruiting for. Today, one of our top Direct Search Consultants, Danielle Watkins, is sharing her top tips on how to create a resume that stands out to recruiters in executive search and direct placement.

1. Create a strong summary or objective statement: This is the first thing recruiters will see so craft a compelling summary or objective statement that succinctly summarizes your professional background, top 2-3 skills, and career goals.
   
2. Tailor your resume to the job description: Customize your resume for each job application. Highlight relevant skills and experiences that align with the specific job requirements. Don’t be afraid to take right from the job description you’re applying for.
   
3. Quantify achievements: Use numbers, percentages, or other quantifiable metrics wherever possible to showcase your accomplishments. This helps employers understand the impact you’ve had in previous roles. For example, instead of “answered the phone & responded to emails” try “answered 20-30 incoming phone calls & responded to 15-20 emails per day.”
   
4. Ensure you’re clarifying your impact: In each of your past roles, employers want to see the impact you made during your time there and proof that your work benefited the company in some way, no matter how big or small. Maybe you updated their filing system to improve efficiency, fixed an inventory issue that saved the company money, or exceeded an annual fundraising goal.
   
5. Use action verbs: Start bullet points with strong action verbs to describe your responsibilities and achievements. This makes your resume more dynamic and engaging. Make sure to use the correct tense too – present participles for your current role (filing) and past tense for your previous role (filed). For example, instead of “helped write financial reports” try “organized and documented all relevant financial information into comprehensive reports.”
   
6. Showcase transferable skills: Highlight transferable skills that are relevant to the job you’re applying for, even if they were acquired in a different industry or role. Not everyone follows a linear career path in one specific field, and that’s okay! The skills you developed in other industries can help you stand out, as long as you highlight them in a way that is relevant to the job you’re applying for.
   
7. Include relevant keywords: Incorporate keywords from the job description into your resume. Many companies use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to scan resumes for relevant keywords before human eyes even see them. One thing to note, make sure the resume still reads well and isn’t just a jumbled list of keywords because hiring managers can tell the difference.
   
8. Include additional information: Include additional sections such as certifications, volunteer work, or languages spoken to help strengthen your candidacy. Having a section dedicated to skills is also a great place to list specific software or platforms you’ve used to demonstrate the unique skills you possess. You may also want to include links to your LinkedIn profile, online portfolio, or personal website if applicable. This allows recruiters to learn more about you beyond what’s on your resume.
   
9. Create visual appeal: Make sure your resume is easy to read and visually appealing. Use a clean, professional layout with consistent fonts & formatting. Consider using bold text, bullet points, and minimal white space. If you choose to use color, consider neutral, muted tones that still allow your information to be read if printed in black & white. We recommend having an editable Word document version and a standard PDF format copy used for uploading.
   
10. Proofread and edit your resume: Finally, proofread your resume carefully to catch any typos or grammatical errors. Consider asking a friend or mentor to review it as well for feedback. A polished, error-free resume demonstrates attention to detail and professionalism.

Interested in learning more about the roles we are currently hiring for here at M3 Placement and Partnership? Please go to our candidate page to learn more.

When you think about a “recruiting firm” you probably have one thing that comes to mind: a firm that specializes in helping you fill open positions at your company.  

Twelve years ago, our founder and CEO Mary Malone McCarthy knew that was the widely held perception in the business community, so she set out to change that. She believed that a recruiting firm could be so much more, which is why she built advisory services into every client contract she offers through her company, M3 Placement and Partnership.  

How we recruit and advise:  

We fill open positions at your company while evaluating your current recruiting and hiring processes for maximum efficiency and effectiveness and sharing the best practices you need to grow a strong and vibrant talent acquisition department or function.  

Our recruiting and advisory process:

Step 1: We review your current processes and procedures 
Step 2: We evaluate the effectiveness of your current processes and procedures against your hiring goals and timelines  
Step 3: We create customized presentations for your team to showcase and highlight the areas that could use improvement and offer direct step by step instructions to do so  

Why we recruit and advise:

We’re passionate about improving the recruiting and hiring experience for our clients and their candidates. We believe that the most effective relationship is a partnership, and we know that a partnership focuses not just on the short-term recruiting goals of a company (i.e. hiring for open positions) but also the long-term goals (e.g. fixing chronic issues in recruitment and talent acquisition).  

What kind of outcomes do our clients see? 

Our clients, like long-term care facilities, biotech centers, professional services companies, and nonprofit organizations, often see improvements in their: 

• Hiring procedures and timelines  
• Standard operating procedures  
• Screening processes  
• Hiring manager trainings  
• Job descriptions 
• Job application system effectiveness  
• Online job platform posting effectiveness  
• Talent acquisition department and hiring manager cooperation and collaboration  

Please reach out to us at hello@m3placement.com to learn more about how we can partner with you to build a stellar recruitment process that keeps candidates engaged from start to finish and speeds up your hiring timelines.  

The M3 Placement and Partnership team has over 25 years of recruiting experience and today we’re sharing our best practices to consider as you build your 2024 recruitment plan.

Assess your organization and articulate your recruiting goals 

There are two types of assessments everyone should perform when they’re preparing their recruitment plan:  

• A review of the business goals and strategic initiatives that your business is trying to achieve this year and the departments and roles that are responsible for achieving these goals 
• A review of current recruitment initiatives and hiring processes (we suggest building this review from internal surveys, questionnaires, and conversations with recent hires and hiring managers) to find out if there are there any challenges, gaps or areas to enhance 

After assessing your organization, articulate your recruiting goals using this table:  

Create and update job descriptions 

Once you know the roles that you’re looking to fill in the new year, we suggest writing and updating the job descriptions in tandem with the hiring managers. Consider that today’s job descriptions are half marketing the position and the company and half explaining the roles and responsibilities that are required for the position. Showcase your employer brand, highlighting information on the mission, vision, values, and culture of the company- this allows candidates to see why you’re a great choice for them personally and professionally. Learn more about bringing your employer brand to light here.  

Determine your recruitment methods and strategy 

Ask yourself the following questions as you determine your recruitment method:

• What technology platforms will you utilize to attract candidates to your job posting(s)? Consider what has and has not worked for you in the past.  
• Is there a candidate in your or your team’s network that would be a great fit for the position?  
• Do you need the assistance of a recruiting partner to help you fill these openings? 
   

Define your complete hiring process  

One of the first things that we look at when we work with a new client is the company’s full recruitment cycle. Many times, we find that the hiring process hasn’t been fully outlined, leaving some members of the hiring team feeling like they don’t know what is expected of them or when it will be expected of them. Consider that for talent acquisition professionals the recruitment cycle is familiar and the hiring process is routine, but for hiring managers they could need training on best practices and the dos and don’ts of the hiring process. For more best practices on creating a seamless interview process read our in-depth article here.  

Create an onboarding plan  

Did you know that 28% of new employees quit in the first 90 days? Why? Because a recruitment plan doesn’t stop at the offer letter. All companies should build a robust onboarding plan for the first week, 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days.  

Here’s some onboarding ideas to get you started: 

• Add pre-scheduled touchpoints to your new hire’s calendar so they know that you plan to receive feedback from them at regularly scheduled intervals. 
• If the job is remote or hybrid, consider setting up 15-minute meet and greets with team members from across the organization.  
• Create a mentoring program for senior staff to get to know entry level or mid-level team members.  
• Schedule team lunches for a new employee to get to know different departments.  

Feeling overwhelmed, stuck as you’re planning your 2024 recruitment initiatives, or like your recruitment efforts need new fresh ideas? Looking for a partner to help you in building your recruitment strategy, proactively reaching out to candidates, and/or managing the recruiting process? Here at M3 we’ll custom build a plan just for you based on your needs and hiring goals. Reach out to us today at hello@m3placement.com to learn more about how we can help you in the new year. 

We’re preparing for 2024 and that means looking back at the changes in recruiting we’ve seen in 2023 and deciphering which trends are here to stay and which are being replaced by new ideas, technologies, and approaches.

We sat down with our executive team to discuss what’s emerging in the recruiting field this upcoming season.

Hybrid and in office positions are taking a front seat

All of our departments- direct placement, executive search, and recruitment process outsourcing- are seeing companies and their hiring managers either looking for candidates to fill in-person or hybrid roles over remote roles. According to the Harvard Business Review, while 50% of work was remote in the time immediately after COVID lockdowns, today the number is hovering at around 28%. As one of our clients said, “there is no replacement for being able to sit next to a team member, so we are actively trying not to hire for remote roles”.

This has implications for both hiring managers and candidates. As candidates prepare to look for new roles, they should consider that many companies are not as flexible as they once were. And as hiring managers look for in-person candidates they may need to consider that offering some level of flexibility might be necessary to get the talent level they are looking for.

Workers continue to actively and passively search for a new role

As noted in Gallup’s 2023 State of the Global Workplace, 51% of employees are either actively or passively looking for a new role. We reach out to thousands of candidates each year about potential job opportunities and we receive just as many applications for new job postings. Our research tells us that this statistic could actually be higher.

What has changed though is when in the recruiting cycle employees are quitting. We are finding that gone are the days when quiet quitting led to quitting with no new prospects in mind. Instead, we are seeing employees waiting to leave their current jobs until they have received an offer from their potential new employer. This is why we encourage companies to perform stay interviews with current employees to ensure that employees are engaged, active in their roles, and feel open to sharing feedback about what could improve their employee experience. In the same Gallup study, participants were asked, “if you could make one change at your current employer to make it a great place to work, what would it be?” Results showed that 85% of respondents answers fell into the same three categories: engagement or culture, pay, or wellbeing.

Candidates continue to value flexibility

We’ve interviewed over 2,000 candidates this year for a wide variety of roles in numerous industries and fields. “The one thing that remains true over these role and industries is that candidates are looking for flexibility- whether it be in location, schedule, or work/life balance. This is a benefit that is no longer just considered a plus but is now expected. After COVID people are looking for ways to make life and work happen simultaneously and they’re going to choose the company that allows them the flexibility to have both,” says Kristi Richtmyer, VP of Recruitment Process Outsourcing for M3..

Competition for certain roles continues

Elisha Gilroy, VP of Direct Placement and Executive Search, notes that, “We are still seeing a higher-than-average pursuit of talent in accounting, healthcare, finance, and engineering roles. These roles aren’t just about filling the position but are focused on finding the right person with the right set of qualifications that is going to actively be involved and dedicated to the growth of the company.”

And this is being seen from entry level to executive level. “In order to get in front of top candidates employers need to be willing to make more compromises that they have in the past in order to get the talent they need because talent is so scarce,” Richtmyer states.

Internal recruiting practices need to be updated

Many studies have pointed to AI as being the next big thing to happen for internal recruiters and talent acquisition managers inside of corporations. But we’re still finding that many of our partners are still looking to improve the basics before implementing new technology platforms.

A survey of all our recruiters here at M3 showed that they recommend improving processes with AI once all internal practices and processes have been brought up to speed. So, before you add in AI check to see if your practices including candidate outreach, candidate follow up times, long periods of wait times between steps, and long periods of delay in the process have all been corrected. “If you take too much time between steps or create too cumbersome of a process then the chances go up that your candidate has already found a new role,” says Richtmyer. We sat down for an in-depth interview with our team on how to update your recruiting process in this article.

Looking for help improving your processes, finding top talent, or managing the candidate negotiation process? We here at M3 would love the opportunity to show you how a true partner in talent acquisition can make all the difference for you. Email us today at hello@m3placement.com to learn more about our tailored recruitment retention services.