Many, many people are very unhappy in their jobs, yet I suspect that one of the barriers to their changing positions is the daunting job search process. Much career advice is given to people as to how they should craft their resumes and position themselves during the interview process, but I have encountered relatively little open and sincere feedback from the vantage point of hiring managers.

I was recently in the role of a hiring manager trying to fill a webmaster position for a multinational corporation. I worked with HR, but generally in most organizations HR's role is largely transactional; the hiring decision rests largely with the manager to whom the position reports.

Since historically a couple of individuals had left this very position to move on to other opportunities elsewhere, I started with the examination of the position description, and a problem became apparent right away. This position in reality was very busy, very transactional and administrative in nature. Yet the position description suggested that it was far more strategic, setting up expectations for prospective employees that were not consistent with reality.

So, I drastically changed the position description, seeking input from the outgoing employee to make sure that the position was truly reflective of reality. I went so far as to make an exhaustive list of the types of tasks involved in carrying out this role. Then the position was posted on monster.com and other online sites. A few days later, the resumes started pouring in — well, it was more like a trickle since this is an area with much demand. While the position asked for only 1-3 years of experience in marketing, many of the applicants had easily over 20 years of experience. Nonetheless, I decided to review every single resume that came in. Below are a few points that each job applicant should consider:

o In the best of circumstances, despite my best intentions, I caught myself scanning the resumes, rather than reading them, so make sure to include key words that are consistent with the position description. This means that resumes should be tailored for each application.

o A surprising number of resumes failed to include a cover letter, none of those received a telephone interview call from me.

o The test can present itself in a variety of ways. For instance, a lady I called could not remember which corporation I was calling from because she had applied to quite a few positions. While I hoped she had paid more attention to the positions she had applied for, I was willing to be tolerant of her memory lapse, after all, in the electronic era, one can apply to a myriad of positions within minutes. So, I told her that the easiest way to pull up the position listing was to type the company name in the search box of monster.com, and ours would be the second listing from the top.

She kept typing and fumbling, and still did not have the listing, so I enquired what she was doing. She told me that to pull a listing she was using a different method — one that involved far more steps in the search process. So, I repeated the shortest way, but she kept fumbling, trying to explain to me that hers was the best way. At this point, I mentally terminated the interview with her, though stayed on to feed my sociological interest. She had demonstrated inability to follow direction or come up with an effective solution on her own. Incidentally, she started telling me that she had been napping when I called — while daytime napping is not a criminal act (actually some cultures value and praise it, as in Greece or Spain), I really did not need to know that bit of information. Needless to say, she was not invited for an in-person interview.

o Of course, some took the professional dress to the other extreme, often looking like funeral directors. In the end, I was not going to be dismissive of a person because of their dress if they had the right qualifications for the position, but in the absence of qualifications the attire contributed to the picture that they were painting.

o Eye contact is a strictly cultural phenomenon; in the U.S. looking in the eye is viewed as being honest, straightforward, and confident. Conversely, averted looks send a message of lack of confidence and deception. We may not be good judges of how well we perform with eye contact, so ask a trusted friend or family member to monitor you on eye contact consistency.

o A handshake is again a cultural phenomenon; in the U.S. we value firm handshakes. The "flimsy fish" handshake and the bone-crushingly firm handshakes do not send a positive message, yet their prevalence is widespread. Practicing handshakes with a friend might help.

o A good way to respond to a salary request is to say: "I am certainly open to an offer that reflects the market. I would like to hear from you what value you are placing on this position."

o Salary compression does occur: Since everyone was so forthcoming with their salary information, I was struck by the fact that those who had stayed at an organization longer were making less than those that had moved positions every two-three years. Also, the frequent job hoppers were far more confident in asking for more money than those who had stayed in a position for a long time.

o Most candidates were quite reluctant to ask questions, even though they were explicitly invited to do so. This reluctance paints a picture of someone that may lack in initiative.

o It's important to show progression in one's growth, be it in a job title or expansion of responsibilities.

o I paid particular attention to how long the person had been in the most recent position, if it was too recent, it somehow sent a signal of some conflict that might have occurred.

o Also, when you are in the job market, actively seeking out a new position, do make sure to be professional in answering the phone at all times. For instance, one guy hung up on me stating that he did not take sales calls, even before I had a chance to introduce myself. Then he must have come to his senses and called the company receptionist trying to track me down.

While the job search process is unpleasant for most applicants, it is not a walk in a park for the employer either. You have to divert significant resources towards identifying the right person, everyone's job volume increases as they have to pick up bits and pieces of the vacant position's responsibilities, and the stress levels go up all around.

This is why it is important for employers to think of their employees as talent, rather than numbers, and think in terms of managing talent. It is this thought process that led us to offer the position to an internal candidate, who had been a star performer in his job for nearly five years. Sure, he will require a certain amount of training, but so would have any external candidate. Yet we get to keep someone who excels in what he does and has the right attitude. Throughout this hiring process I had Southwest Airlines' motto in my mind, which goes along the line of: "We hire for attitude, skills can be taught."

When it comes to community association living, hiring and job search aspects permeate the industry at all levels, and it is important for all concerned to start cultivating and valuing talent. When the thinking is around talent management, then the whole treatment of the person is bound to change, leading to better performers and lower turnover.