Anna Kay Parker

It’s time for Tip #3 in my series: “How to Catch a Recruiter’s Eye” 👀 If we haven’t met yet—hi there! My name is Lorry and I’m the Sr. Talent Acquisition Specialist at Global Partner Solutions, I’m here to help job seekers stand out in today’s competitive market. Let’s dive in! 1.    Tailor Your Résumé for Each Role A generic résumé is like showing up to a potluck with plain toast—it technically works, but it won’t leave a lasting impression. To really stand out (and get past both recruiters and applicant tracking systems), tailor your résumé to each job you apply for. How to spice it up: Use the job description as your guide—mirror the language and pull in relevant keywords… Use industry-relevant terms throughout your profile, think along the lines of “Lean Manufacturing,” “ERP Systems,” “Kaizen,”. Highlight measurable results: “Improved on-time delivery rate by 22% through streamlined production planning.” Keep formatting simple and ATS-friendly—skip the tables, fancy fonts, or graphics that confuse resume scanners. 2.    Engage on LinkedIn Having a LinkedIn profile is great—but being visible is even better. Active engagement builds your personal brand and puts you on recruiters’ radar. Here’s how to show up: Comment on and share posts from leaders or companies in your field. Post your own insights, lessons learned, or recent achievements. Follow recruiters and hiring managers in your target industry. 3.   Check your email and reply Recruiters frequently reach out via email with job opportunities—don’t miss them! Make it a habit to check your inbox (and spam folder) regularly and reply promptly. A timely response shows professionalism and interest—and can help you stay top of mind. A polite, professional note can open doors you didn’t even know were there. I hope these tips help you feel more confident and empowered in your job search. Stay tuned for next week's tips on using strategic keywords to boost your visibility. And remember: Keep showing up and shining. You've got this. 💪✨

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❄️ Friendly TA Coordination & Recruiting Reminder ❄️ With winter storms impacting large parts of the U.S. this weekend, this is a good moment for TA Coordination & Recruiting orgs to pause and sanity-check your emergency plans. A few quick things to think about 👇 • Do you have OOO / coverage buddies in place if a coordinator or recruiter loses power or internet? • Are interview teams aligned that rescheduling is okay if candidates are impacted? • Do your coordinators know who to notify and what to prioritize if systems go down? • Are recruiters prepared for potential delays early next week if interviewers lose power? The goal isn’t perfection — it’s supporting your people while minimizing disruption to the candidate experience. A little proactive planning now can save a lot of stress later — for your team and your candidates. 💙 Stay safe, stay warm, and take care of your people first.

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Let's talk: Salary negotiations 💰   Salary negotiations as a technical recruiter in the defense sector come with unique nuances compared to commercial tech mostly due to Labor Category Constraints. Many defense roles are tied to government-set labor categories and pay bands.   As a technical recruiter when negotiating with candidates:   ✔️ Be transparent about salary ceilings early. 💯 ✔️ Sell total compensation: defense contractors often underbid salary but will add strong benefits (retirement matching, PTO, stability, mission impact).   Pro Tip: Know when you can ask for more and learn how flexible your PM/PCA can be - sometimes there’s unallocated budget, but it will require justification.

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Attention Potential Candidates: Genworth and CareScout recruiters will only contact candidates from email addresses ending with @genworth.com, and application-related communications will come from gnw@workday.com; candidates are advised to verify the spelling of these email addresses and avoid responding to suspicious or misspelled emails.

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Not all recruiting partnerships are created equal. This video unpacks the real differences between hiring a contract recruiter directly and engaging with an RPO partner, and why the right structure can make or break your hiring outcomes. #staffing #hiring #nowhiring #jobmarket #job #recruiter #structure #recruiter #recruitment #taspecialist

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Recruitment Scams Are Real—and Increasing Recruitment has become a minefield for both candidates and employers. We are seeing: >Fake job offers that require candidates to pay “processing” or “documentation” fees upfront. Legitimate companies do not charge candidates—ever. >Impersonated recruiters attempting to collect personally identifiable information (e.g., Social Security numbers). Reputable organizations do not request this information prior to day one. >Fake candidates who apply, interview, and then send a different individual to start the job. >AI-generated resumes crafted to perfectly match a role—despite being materially inaccurate. >AI-assisted interviews, where candidates read responses in real time rather than answering authentically. I encountered a particularly sophisticated example this week. A well-known independent recruiter (with a strong LinkedIn presence) contacted me via email regarding a role that aligned closely with my background. The outreach was professional and credible. I shared my resume, and shortly after was told the client liked my profile but requested additional documents (cover letter, statement of purpose, etc.). After spending several hours preparing those materials, I was informed that two of the three documents “didn’t meet expectations.” Conveniently, they offered to connect me with a professional writing service to revise them. That was the red flag. I connected with the recruiter directly on LinkedIn and emailed him using the address listed on his profile. It wasn’t him. The email address I’d been communicating with was nearly identical, linked to his real LinkedIn profile, and convincingly branded—but it was a scam. Recruiters, candidates, and hiring managers: be vigilant. There are bad actors on all sides of the process. A few simple rules: For Candidates Companies will never ask for money at any stage of the hiring process. Recruiters will never refer you to a paid service to “fix” your documents. Any required travel will always be paid for by the employer. For Employers During video interviews, watch eye movement—are answers being read? Ask experience-based questions that require real context (e.g., “Tell me about a time in the last five years when you handled…”). If you won’t meet candidates in person, verify identity appropriately (e.g., confirming name and likeness match the interviewee). These steps won’t eliminate recruitment scams entirely, but they can significantly reduce risk. I’m curious: What scams have you encountered in your recruiting journey? Any additional safeguards you recommend? Anything here you would challenge or refine? Let’s keep the conversation—and our industry—credible.

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The difference between Talent Acquisition vs Staffing Agencies? Reactivity vs Proactivity TA is great if used correctly, but 99% of companies out there don't understand how to utilize them. High quantity positions that can afford to be reactive are phenomenal for TA to work on and fill. High level, niche roles can start to be worked on by TA for a period of time (dependent on urgency level), but those really should be given to a staffing agency that specializes in that sector and ideally has the relationships to identify the ideal candidate quickly and efficiently. In summary- "saving cost" by avoiding agencies can be doable, but don't shoot yourself in the foot by sending your TA team to war with a butter knife as they just flat out don't have the resources or head start that agency recruiters have! #staffing #recruiting

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✨Day 2 at Disability:IN ✨ 🇺🇸 Hiring Service-Disabled Veterans: A Strategic Business Advantage What a standout session on inclusive hiring and accommodation strategies for Service-Disabled Veterans (SDVs), led by Robert Opp, Curtis Kelley, M.A., Karen Lavariere-Sanchez, APR, Lance Dorsey Jr., MBA and my dear friend, Hetal Parikh with Rangam. The conversation reinforced what many already know, Veterans bring unmatched resilience, adaptability, and leadership under pressure. You have highly skilled individuals who often face barriers due to misunderstanding, misplacement, or lack of support… not lack of ability. 💡 Top 3 Best Practices for Fortune 1000 Companies: 🔹 Shift to skills-first hiring… Military experience may not align with traditional resumes, but the leadership, planning, and mission-focus often surpass corporate expectations. 🔹 Create a culture of safe disclosure… With 80% of disabilities being non-visible, psychological safety is critical. If your teams don’t feel supported, they won’t raise their hands. 🔹 Equip your hiring managers… Train them to interview with empathy, accommodate with intention, and recognize how military experience strengthens team dynamics. Inclusion isn’t about checking a box, it’s about embedding intention into every step of your hiring, onboarding, and retention strategy!! Veterans don’t just fit in. They help you level up. 🇺🇸 Elevait Solutions is proud to be a host committee member at this year’s conference. #VeteranHiring #DisabilityIN #AreYouIn #InclusiveLeadership #WorkforceStrategy #ServiceDisabledVeterans #TalentAcquisition #SkillsFirst #DEI #ElevaitSolutions

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“Marisol, how do I write a resume for a Top Secret or Secret cleared job without disclosing the classified stuff?” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this question from cleared clients. I’ve written cleared technical resumes at every level, entry through executive, for roles in: 🔹 IT 🔹 Cybersecurity 🔹 Data Engineering 🔹 DevSecOps 🔹 Software Engineering 🔹 Human Intelligence 🔹 Signals Intelligence 🔹 All-Source Intelligence 🔹 Forensic Accounting …just to name a few. Here's what you need to know when writing your resume for cleared roles: ❌ Recruiters don’t need the details of your classified missions or projects. They’re not cleared to read that, and they don’t care about the classified side. ✔️ What they do care about is whether you have the technical skills and tools listed in the job description. Besides, oversharing classified details in a resume? Not only unnecessary, it’s sloppy. OPSEC matters. What you need to do moving forward when writing your resume for cleared roles: ✅ Maintain OPSEC (duh) ✅ Translate your experience into unclassified language ✅ Mirror the verbiage from the job description ✅ Ensure you are listing the technical skills listed in the JD and proving how you meet those technical skills. "But Marisol, I'm not sure what you mean so can you provide an example of a resume bullet for a cleared role?" Sure! Here's a sample bullet for a cleared DevSecOps role: Engineered and secured CI/CD pipelines in a classified environment by integrating automated security scans, vulnerability assessments, and compliance checks, reducing deployment risks by 35% while ensuring alignment with NIST, RMF, and Zero Trust frameworks. See? I focused on the actual skills and NOT on classified projects. You stay competitive by focusing on your actual skills and adding metrics (when you can) while staying safe and not leaking classified information. Your resume doesn’t need to read like a classified briefing; it needs to show that you can do the job you’re applying for. If you still need help writing your resume for cleared roles and would like to work with me, feel free to send me a DM. Have a great weekend! Maloney out! ✌ #militarytransition #clearedresumes #secretsquirrels #resumewritingtips

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In your RPO program, are you pushing for a credit when a recruiter underperforms. It feels logical until you recognize that an RPO is an outsourcing model, not an agency model. RPO = paid for the work. Remember, you’re outsourcing the recruiting process (i.e. using your systems, your workflows, your reporting, your expectations). It’s labor-based. It’s performance-managed. It’s accountable. Agency = paid for the outcome. In this model, you’re buying access to their pipeline and their ability to hunt talent. They’re paid when they place a hire, not for the underlying process. Different work. Different risks. Different economics. So when organizations request credits from an RPO for performance issues, it often works against the entire operating model. You wouldn’t dock an internal recruiter’s pay for a tough search. You’d coach, recalibrate, and adjust. RPO is no different. RPO partnerships thrive when performance is managed through dialogue, clarity, and calibration; not deductions. So before you think about firing your RPO, take a look at how the engagement is being managed. Expectations and outcomes almost always reflect the structure around them. If they are underperforming, hold them accountable using SLAs that have financial penalties and incentives. Does your organization treat RPO more like an outsourcing partner or an agency? How does that shape performance and expectations? #TalentAcquisition #RPO #RecruitingOperations #VendorManagement #Outsourcing #RecruitingLeadership

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The average new employee will need anywhere from three to six months to fully acclimate and settle into their new role. We can’t just throw them into the deep end and expect incredible progress, though. In my Hire and Seek column for PRSA Strategies & Tactics, I review the steps managers should take to support this onboarding and adjustment period for new hires. https://lnkd.in/epYWVunq 📝✨ #Onboarding #NewHires #HireAndSeek

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TA/Recruiter job openings in the U.S. continue to climb (surprisingly!) For the first time in nearly three years, postings are holding steady above the 45,000 mark. The sharpest demand we’re seeing is from clients in Data Centers, AI, Aerospace Engineering, and VC-backed and pre-IPO tech. What’s especially interesting: this strength in TA roles is happening at the same time overall U.S. job openings are trending down (per the latest JOLTs report). August’s jobs report showed just 22K new jobs created nationwide, yet demand for recruiters is starting to surge. Why? My hunch: - Lowering interest rates are fueling capital expenditures in tech - IPO activity is picking up - VC funding is flowing again - Companies are positioning for broad hiring in tech Recruiting is often the “canary in the coal mine” for hiring cycles. If this momentum holds, it could signal a broader acceleration in tech hiring heading into 2026. 👉 Do you think this trend continues?

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