The chemical industry is HOT!  If you have thought about a new position lately, now is the time to look.   We have great companies in need of qualified chemical engineers, electrical and maintenance engineers and a variety of related positions in the chemical and food processing industries.  Great opportunities are available from coast to coast.     Easy online application system or connect with us today and get started on your new career.  Genie Matthews & Associates brings decades of experience and a worldwide network of affiliated sources to your next job search.

Dave brings a combined 25 years of successful engineering and technical recruitment experience within the refining, petrochemical, specialty chemical, telecommunications, manufacturing and EH&S markets.  He was previously an on-site RPO Sr. Recruiter for Honeywell’s UOP subsidiary, an international supplier of process technology, products and engineering services to the refining, petrochemical, gas processing and bio-renewable energy industries located in Des Plaines, IL.  Dave has also worked as a Sr. Recruiter with Motorola supporting the corporation’s Mobile Devices, Cellular Infrastructure and Enterprise Communications business units and also as a Sr. Recruitment Consultant in the retained search and research recruitment arenas. Put Dave’s expertise to work for you today. Contact him at dave@gmarecruiters.com or 847-736-2661.

NPAworldwide, a member-owned, global recruiting network, has announced its 2014 award winners. Awards are based on placement revenue earned during the calendar year. Genie Matthews & Associates is honored to place at #12 in the Top 25 Firms in NPA Revenue. In individual production, Genie Matthews was also recognized for overall recruiter production by placing #8 in Recruiter Awards for NPA Production.

“Congratulations to Genie Matthews & Associates for their excellent results in 2014,” said president Dave Nerz. He added, “To be recognized among the top five percent of NPAworldwide members globally is a phenomenal achievement, especially since NPAworldwide split placement activity is only a portion of overall recruitment activity.”

About NPAworldwide. NPAworldwide is a recruitment network facilitating placements between its members. The network has nearly 500 member offices with 1,300 recruiters across 6 continents. For more information, please visit www.npaworldwide.com or www.npaworldwideworks.com.

Genie Matthews & Associates welcomes Sara Freeman Smith – Senior Recruiter. Sara joins GMA with over 25 years of professional recruiting and staffing experience gained in the oil and gas, petrochemicals, agricultural chemicals, financial services and staffing industries. Sara started her career as a staffing account manager and has worked in corporate recruiting and as a contract corporate consultant . Most recently, she provides full cycle recruiting support for specialty chemical manufacturing plants in all areas from plant management to technicians . She enjoys working EHS, HR, Supply Chain & Project Management/Engineering roles.  Put Sara’s expertise to work for you today. Contact her at sara@gmarecruiters.com or 281-886-7781.

Congrats. You had the job interview. Now, your work is done, right? Wrong.

In today’s hypercompetitive job market, effective follow-up after the interview is a must and failing to do it well might cause you to lose out to another candidate.

The line between being persistent and being a pain, however, is blurry at best. So to help you sort things out, I sent a query to my colleagues in the careers world — recruiters, career coaches, hiring managers and CEO’s — asking for their best follow-up advice.

I received more than 60 responses on topics ranging from thank you notes to handling rejection. Here’s a summary of their 10 best tips:

The Thank-You Note

On this point, everyone agreed: A thank-you note is a must. Most of the pros recommended you send one via email within 24 hours of the interview. Several suggested a handwritten card as a supplement when a personal or creative touch might be especially valued.

But if you really want to stand out, you need to do more than just say “thanks for your time.” The experts suggested these techniques to make your thank-you note shine:

Reference an article of interest. Include in the note a relevant article, link or book recommendation relating to a topic that was discussed during the interview. It’s a value-add for the interviewer and will reinforce your industry expertise.

To really make an impact, Jene Kapela, a South Florida-based leadership coach, says you should write a blog post on a topic discussed during the interview and then share the link to the post in your thank-you note.

Include supporting documentation that illustrates your ability to do the job. You don’t want to overwhelm the interviewer, but adding one or two carefully-curated examples of your work (non-confidential work samples, press mentions, etc.) can be a smart way to show off your expertise.

“It helps show you are the real deal,” says Tyson J. Spring, head of New Business & Strategy for Elever Professional, an Austin, Texas recruiting firm.

Provide a follow-up response to one of the key interview questions. Ever draw a blank or give a less than stellar response during a job interview? Use your note to modify, correct or amplify one of your responses.

Todd Cherches, CEO of BigBlueGumball, a New York City-based management consulting and coaching firm, offers this example:

When you asked me about my single greatest accomplishment in my last job, I apologize that I drew a blank. However, immediately after leaving, it hit me that I should have mentioned I was voted the top salesperson in my department for 2013, and proudly received a special recognition award at my company’s year-end national convention.

The Waiting Game

Anyone who has recently looked for a job knows that hiring decisions can drag on for months. To make that in-between-time work in your favor….

Follow instructions. If the recruiter or interviewer suggested contacting them by email, don’t call on the phone. And, says Lynne Sarikas, Director of the MBA Career Center at the D’Amore McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, “If they tell you it will take two weeks, wait the two weeks.”

If you forgot to ask about next steps during the interview, request clarification in your follow-up e-mail. Then follow the instructions you receive.

Don’t be a stalker. While you’re understandably anxious, that doesn’t give you license to pester the employer.

Debra Manente, Associate Director of Career Services at Post University in Waterbury, Conn., says you should call the recruiter or hiring manager to follow up at their recommended time (leave a message if you don’t reach them). But if you haven’t heard back after two calls, “take it as a sign to move on,” she says.

And speaking of stalking, most of the pros advised holding off on sending LinkedIn invitations to the people who interviewed you until after the hiring process has ended.

Immediately begin prepping for the next round of interviews. You never know when you’ll be asked to come in for a Round 2, so you’ll want to be good to go at a moment’s notice.

Joe Weinlick, Vice President of Marketing for the online job board network, Beyond.com, recommends that you “dig deep to find interesting pieces of information that most people can’t find on the company’s website. It could be about an award-winning project, a milestone in the company’s history or a recent initiative. If you take this information and casually work it into the conversation in a follow-up interview, it will leave a positive lasting impression and increase your chances of getting the job.”

Call in a favor. Have an influential contact who knows the hiring manager or recruiter you met with? Now might be the time to ask that person to lend a hand.

Maria Goldsholl, Chief Operating Officer of the Mom Corps staffing solutions agency, offers this advice: “Have an impressive reference reach out to the hiring manager or recruiter via LinkedIn to drop a note to praise you. The note could read: ‘Mary, I recently became aware that Josh was interviewing with your company for a position. I wanted to tell you that you would be very lucky to have someone like that on your team. His skills are sharp and he was one of the best employees I have ever had.’

Keep hope — while you keep looking. In today’s crazy job market, you never know when you might hear back about a position you’ve long forgotten about.

As Lisa M. Benson, Staffing Director at Mary Kraft Staffing & HR Solutions, points out, “Thanks to electronics, hiring managers do really keep resumes at their fingertips for a while when they like them. We hear stories of candidates being hired six months to a year after the initial submission of their resume, sometimes with very little contact in the interim!”

Of course, hope alone is not a job search strategy. So keep your search in high gear until you have an offer in hand.

If You Don’t Get the Job

Should you lose out for a position you interviewed for, accept rejection in a professional manner. Sure it hurts to hear “No.” But if you handle the rejection professionally, you might be considered for a future job at the same employer.

Carol Cochran, Director of Human Resources at FlexJobs, shared that in the last six months, she has returned to — and hired — five candidates she originally turned down. “They made a great impression in our first round of conversations and were graceful in their communications after I let them know we had chosen another applicant,” Cochran wrote to me.

Stay in touch. You never know when an employer might have another opening or will hear of an opening and recommend you, so remain in contact after losing out. You might use LinkedIn to send an article or to reach out with a helpful suggestion.

But Bruce Hurwitz, a New York City-based executive recruiter, career counselor and author, says: Don’t overdo it. “Once every few months is a good idea,” he notes.

Otherwise, you might be seen as a pest, and that’s no way to stand out among job candidates as one of the best.

Genie Matthews & Associates

Genie — George — Janet  —  Dave  —  Sara  —  Mair  —  Karen

December 15th 2014 –  Genie Matthews & Associates has been selected for the 2014 North Carolina Excellence Award amongst all its peers and competitors by the US Institute for Advancement of Trade & Commerce (USIATC).  Genie Matthews & Associates has consistently demonstrated a high regard for upholding business ethics and company values. This recognition by USIATC marks a significant achievement as an emerging leader within various competitors and is setting benchmarks that the industry should follow.

Each year the USIATC conducts business surveys and industry research to identify companies that have achieved demonstrable success in their local business environment and industry category. They are recognized as having enhanced the commitment and contribution of small businesses through service to their customers and community. Businesses of this caliber enhance the consumer driven stature that North Carolina is renowned for.

About USIATC:  The USIATC is a leading authority on researching, evaluating and recognizing companies across a wide spectrum of industries that meet its stringent standards of excellence. It has spearheaded the idea of independent enterprise and entrepreneurial growth allowing businesses of all sizes to be recognized locally and encouraged globally.

Particular emphasis is given to meeting and exceeding industry benchmarks for customer service, product quality and ethical practices. Industry leading standards and practices have been developed and implementation of the same has been pioneered by the dedicated efforts of the business community and commerce leadership.

Congratulations to Suzanne Rugeley as she celebrates the one year mark as a Sr. Recruiter with Genie Matthews & Associates!   Suzanne is celebrating two recent placements as well.  Connect with her today or visit our Jobs Page and find the career opportunity you have been looking for!