Insights & Resources

Five Resume Formatting Pitfalls to Avoid

By David Poline

Copy originally produced by Resume Pilots. Research shows recruiters spend just over seven seconds initially reading a resume, so you want yours to stand out – especially in today’s highly competitive job market. As you search for templates, you may find online resume builders that create documents with multiple columns, colors and symbols. We strongly recommend avoiding these gimmicks as they’re simply too risky a move for most applicants. Your resume is a professional document,…

Team Members Experience Fatigue, Managers Should Adjust

By David Poline

The readjustment of workforce expectations due to the fatigue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been in the news. Managers must evaluate their expectations of their teams, argues a recent Harvard Business Review article featured in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Shelter in place and, for many, work from home has been the norm over the past few months. Some of us have been work-from-home superstars and maintained equal or even higher levels of productivity in…

Job Searching Techniques Shift Amid Pandemic

Job Search Techniques Shift Amid Pandemic

By David Poline

Are you conducting a job search? You may be curious how this current environment is affecting recruiting and job searching. A Smart Brief article examines how the pandemic has affected networking, communicating, interviewing and onboarding, offering tips on each topic. Networking Networking is certainly not happening in-person, but it seems to be flourishing on LinkedIn and other virtual platforms. One good suggestion—also applicable to interviewing—is to brush up on your video skills. You wouldn't think…

Relocation: A Trend of the Past?

By David Poline

Considering relocation, the two most important questions we have asked candidates are: (1) Can you relocate? (2) If so, where? Candidates who were open-minded to relocation were immensely easier to place in new roles because the universe of potential opportunities available to them was exponentially larger than for those who could not. This had become particularly true during the last decade—as this era has been marked by people having the least amount of mobility since World…

Maximize the Value of Your Resources When Job Searching

Maximize the Value of References

By David Poline

A recent Inc. article about hiring in the age of COVID discussed the increased emphasis on references as one of its main points. In my world, reference checks have always been a critical part of the search process. Of course, that may be in part because the shopping center industry is so small. The question Poline Associates always asks is exactly what kind of VALUE do references really provide. If curated properly, a list of…

CRE Recruiters Offer Insight For Job Seekers During Pandemic

ICSC Webinar: Next Steps for Job Seekers

By David Poline

This article originally appeared here: https://www.icsc.com/news-and-views/icsc-exchange/webinar-next-steps-for-job-seekers. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented amount of uncertainty in today’s job market. Furloughed and laid-off development, leasing and marketing executives are polishing up resumes, dusting off deal sheets and updating their LinkedIn profiles. Persistent networking will remain the key to finding new employment, advised recruitment experts on an ICSC webinar titled Preparing for Your Next Job Opportunity. The newly unemployed fall into two categories: those who can…

How Job Seekers Can Stand Out in Today’s Market

By David Poline

It is hard to believe that in early March we were experiencing one of tightest job markets in recent memory. In today’s market, however, the supply of good candidates is starting to outpace demand. With this in mind, here are four key actions to help job seekers stand out as attractive candidates: Focus on Yourself: What are your unique skills and accomplishments? Too often, we see resumes full of buzz words that job seekers think people…

How to Execute a Job Search While Sheltering in Place

By David Poline

How to execute a job search from home is a tough question to answer since the number of companies hiring right now is reduced, particularly within the shopping center industry. Our advice for job searching while sheltering in place is to build your network as much as you possibly can. Start by thinking about: Firms you've done business with in the past Existing friends in the industry Companies you've admired from afar Anyone you've formed…

Recruiters Offer Confidentiality to Their Job Candidates

Importance of Recruiter-Candidate Confidentiality

By David Poline

What steps does Poline Associates take to ensure confidentiality? Both Poline’s clients and candidates require confidential communications at times, but this post focuses on confidentiality concerns from the candidate's perspective. One of the most important services a search firm provides a job seeker is the ability to learn about other opportunities that exist in the market while remaining secure in the knowledge their current employment will not be jeopardized. The recruiter-candidate relationship is analogous to…

Managing Expectations Is Key As We Work From Home

Managing Expectations as We Work from Home

By David Poline

So much of Poline & Associates’ business (and life in general) revolves around managing expectations. In fact, part of the value proposition in hiring a search firm is that the firm facilitates communication between a company and the candidates under consideration. When a hiring representative goes dark on you, it's easy to assume the worst. Your mind races to think of all the reasons you haven't heard back. More often than not, the delay has…

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