Shawn Desgrosellier

What to Say About Your Medical Leave

First, keep it simple, advises Desgrosellier. “Say, ‘I had a medical issue and took care of it, and now I’m ready to get back to work,’” he says. “You need to think about the issue in advance and almost script it out for the interview.”

“As a recruiter, you are automatically going to jump to conclusions because of the company they worked for,” said Shawn Desgrosellier, managing partner at Kaye/Bassman International, an executive search firm in Dallas. “Your wish is that H.R. will want to evaluate them based on their competencies, skill sets and qualifications. However, by working for an Enron or one of those types of companies we all know, it’s probably going to hurt you — to what extent, no one knows.”

Q. You send out résumés constantly for advertised positions but get few responses. How can you ensure that yours is noticed?

A. Customize your résumé each time you send it out, using wording from the job posting to describe your own experience, said Shawn Desgrosellier, a partner in Kaye/Bassman, a recruiting firm in Dallas. “If the job posting uses ‘strategic planning,’ for example, use that same term in your résumé,” he said. “Don’t lie, but figure out how your experience could be… Show more

Q. You send out résumés constantly for advertised positions but get few responses. How can you ensure that yours is noticed?

A. Customize your résumé each time you send it out, using wording from the job posting to describe your own experience, said Shawn Desgrosellier, a partner in Kaye/Bassman, a recruiting firm in Dallas. “If the job posting uses ‘strategic planning,’ for example, use that same term in your résumé,” he said. “Don’t lie, but figure out how your experience could be described that way.”

Hiring managers, he said, generally use applicant tracking systems that search for keywords in résumés, rather than reading through each one. Show less

Q. How do you get up to speed on continuing projects without wasting the team’s time?

A. Arrange to meet with the team leader, said Shawn Desgrosellier, a partner at the executive recruiting firm Kaye/Bassman International in Dallas, who consults with companies and job candidates on assimilation and transition. Ask about discussions that have already taken place, decisions that have been made, and the project’s timetable.

While friends can accelerate your job search, they can also severely hold you back -- and ruin your friendship in the process. You can potentially waste time asking for help from friend who lacks the trust and credibility you need to help get you a job or positively influence the process, says Shawn Desgrosellier, partner of Texas-based recruiting firm, Kaye/Bassman International.

"You risk exposing your compensation and truth behind your performance and expertise at previous employers… Show more

While friends can accelerate your job search, they can also severely hold you back -- and ruin your friendship in the process. You can potentially waste time asking for help from friend who lacks the trust and credibility you need to help get you a job or positively influence the process, says Shawn Desgrosellier, partner of Texas-based recruiting firm, Kaye/Bassman International.

"You risk exposing your compensation and truth behind your performance and expertise at previous employers if not favorable," he says. "You can risk your friendship if you are hired with their help and the position or company is not a match for you."

Before consulting your friends' wealth of job info and contacts, consider these dos and don'ts of asking friends for job help:

DO make a list of key friends and how you can leverage their contact circle, Gee says. Desgrosellier suggests asking the following questions to draw potential contacts: What companies are your friends from college working at these days? Who do you know at the gym and where do they work? What do the parents of your children's friends do?

DON'T ask friends for résumé assistance, unless they are very skilled at writing, formatting and proofreading, Desgrosellier suggests. "I suggest hiring a professional," he says. Gee contends: "Isn't it worth the $300-$500 to catch that $100K position?"

DO be positive when you mention anything about work or the job hunt, Gee says. "If you sound negative, depressed or angry -- no one really wants to help you, they will only try to comfort, and that is not what you need right now," Gee says. Show less