Welcome to … The Holiday Zone
Posted: November 29, 2014 Filed under: Job Search | Tags: Job Search, Networking, Resume, Target List Leave a commentFor those of you old enough to remember this – imagine some twinkling music in the background and Rod Serling’s voice saying …
“Job seeker, you’ve noticed something has changed – there are fewer openings – no one returns your calls – everyone seems distracted. It’s because you have entered —— the Holiday Zone.”
I don’t have any factual data to back up what I’m about out to tell you, but I do have 30 years of experience. The period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is a frustrating time to be a job seeker. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it is reality.
From an organization’s perspective, now is not the time to try to fill a job. They know that people who have jobs, stop looking for new jobs during the holidays. They know that they have spent their recruiting budget, and wont’ be buying any new advertising or creating any new jobs until after the first of the year. Everything slows down until January.
The same is true for the employed job seeker. They will spend their weekends and evenings shopping, wrapping, and attending holiday parties, not looking for jobs.
So, if you are unemployed, what do you do? Just put your search on the shelf for a month? No, you keep working, but you work smart.
Use holiday parties as networking activities. Meet new people, tell them your story, and ask if you can connect after the first of the year to exchange information and contacts.
Take this time to do some more intensive corporate research. Look at the local news websites to find which companies are in the news for charitable giving or other social outreach; then add them to your Target list and make plans to contact them in January – and when you do, mention how you support their good works.
Volunteer to work for a community organization that helps families over the holidays and do some networking with other volunteers. If you do schedule a networking meeting, take a few holiday cookies as a thank you gift.
Spend some time on your resume, maybe its time for a complete resume makeover; reorganize, rewrite, and refresh.
The point is, you can’t control the calendar, you can only control how you respond to it. You can curl up in a ball and wait for January, or you can spend your time productively. You won’t see as many postings, and you won’t get as many interview, and people won’t be as available to network; but that does not mean you can’t keep looking and making yourself better so that come January 1, you are ready to knock their socks off.
Enjoy the season, recognize your blessings, and get ready for a fantastic 2015.
For more details about I’m Fired?!? A Business Fable about the Challenges of Losing One Job and Finding Another, click here.
One Picture is Worth 1,000 Words
Posted: November 15, 2014 Filed under: Job Search | Tags: Cover Letter, Facebook, First Impressions, LinkedIn, Photographs, Resume 1 CommentIn this digital world in which we live, this adage has never been more true. This phrase was first written in 1918 about a pictorial magazine about World War I. At that time, no one could have conceived the number of images we are bombarded with every day. Managing your image is important for the job seeker. The right image, or the wrong one, can tell a recruiter all that s/he wants to know.
There are places you where you absolutely must have a picture of you, and some places where you probably shouldn’t. Here are three suggestions:
Resume – NO – Do not put your photograph on your resume unless you are applying to be a model, a performer, or some other position where you will be hired based on your looks. I like to talk about enablers and limiters on your resume, and photos are almost always limiters. Rarely will all but the most stunning photo improve your chance of getting an interview, and often a poor quality photo can land your resume on the reject pile.
LinkedIn – YES – you should have a good quality professional looking photo on your LinkedIn profile. A lack of a photo suggests (at least to me) that you don’t follow through on things. It appears that you set up a LinkedIn profile because someone (like me) told me you needed one, but you didn’t finish the process. Keep in mind, LinkedIn is a professional networking site. It is not Facebook. Your LinkedIn photo should be a head and shoulders picture in professional attire with a pleasant smile. You want to covey professionalism. Put those other photos on Facebook.
Facebook – YES and NO – If you are going to have a Facebook account, you need to make a decision; is it public or private? If you leave your site unrestricted, you need to realize that many companies will look for you on Facebook to learn more about you. Pictures of you in “unprofessional” situations, drinking, smoking, or what-have-you, might be fine for your friends, but is this how you want your future boss to see you? Assume anything you post on an unrestricted Facebook page is the same as posting that same image on your resume. I suggest you lock down your account to just friends, or you make sure to keep your page Sunday-School appropriate.
Yes, one picture can be worth 1,000 words. As a job seeker, make sure those 1,000 words say “here’s why you should hire me.”
For more details about I’m Fired?!? A Business Fable about the Challenges of Losing One Job and Finding Another, click here.
What Are You Accountable For?
Posted: November 8, 2014 Filed under: Resumes | Tags: Accountabilities, Job Search, Outplacement, Resume Leave a commentMany people list their former job responsibilities on their resume. I suggest in lieu of responsibilities, you list accountabilities. Unfortunately, that often causes quizzical looks.
I believe that the term accountability has gotten a bad rap. These days, about the only time you hear “accountable” is when something has gone wrong and there is a call to see who will be held accountable. In other words, who will be punished because they didn’t do their job right? Or, maybe they are the leader of an organization that was not successful and regardless of the circumstances, it was their fault. Accountability is used a bit like the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland shouting “Off with their heads.” If being accountable means that if you fail you are punished, why would anyone want to be accountable?
According to Andy Wood and Bruce Winston, accountability is much more than that. Accountability is a combination of the individual’s willingness to accept the responsibility, her openness in relation to her actions, and the understanding that she will be answerable to her constituents. From an overall business perspective, there is much more to accountability than punishment for failure, but let’s take this back to your resume.
A responsibility statement only states what you were supposed to do. An accountability statement says what you did do. A person typically won’t be punished for managing a call center. A person might be held accountable for managing an outbound call center with 25 operators making 10,000 calls per week and generating $35 million in annual sales. The accountability statement combines the responsibility – managing the call center – with the expected (or even better yet, the actual) results. Now that responsibility has context and scope.
Here’s another example. A Restaurant Server might be responsible for taking customer’s orders. But, he might be accountable for taking order from 37 tables per shift with an average daily revenue of $4,400. This accountability statement says so much more about the amount of work that was completed, and about the person that completed it.
Update your resume and make sure you are not just talking about what you were supposed to do. Instead, proudly state what you were held accountable to do – because if you did that for another organization, you can do that for the next one too.
For more details about I’m Fired?!? A Business Fable about the Challenges of Losing One Job and Finding Another, click here.
What Makes You a Unicorn?
Posted: November 1, 2014 Filed under: Job Search | Tags: Cover Letter, Encouragement, Interviewing, Job Search, Networking, Resume Leave a commentRecently a friend was told by a recruiter that the reason his job search was taking so long was that every recruiter was looking for a unicorn. The economy is rebounding from several years ago, the number of workers is going up, and the unemployment is rate is going down. But that does not mean that things are going back to where they were before.
In the rescission, companies learned to do more with less, and that is a lesson they learned well. They may be adding staff, but they are doing it more selectively than before. They are looking for people that have exactly the right skills, knowledge and abilities that they need; and because the pool of unemployed workers is still large and diverse, if they wait long enough they can find their unicorn.
Now, you’re looking in the mirror. Only two feet, no glossy white hair all over your body, no long flowing tail, and especially no long pointy horn protruding from your forehead. You scream in anguish “I’m not a unicorn!” But I say, yes you are.
Every job seeker has a unique blend of knowledge, skills and abilities. And the great thing about people? They can be taught! If there is something you don’t know that you ought to know, learn it! If you can access this blog, you have access to a wealth of learning opportunities.
But, maybe your issue isn’t what you don’t know, it is that you’re not telling anyone. Maybe recruiters don’t know that you are the unicorn they are looking for. This is the primary reason you want to update your cover letter and resume every time you apply for a job. Make sure to highlight the skills and experience you have that fit the requirements they are asking for. Show that you do have four feet. Don’t just have one elevator speech, have 10; each one showing a different perspective on the glossy white coat and flowing tail. In the interview, answer the questions in such a manner to throw light on that long white horn.
For most of us, there are some jobs we want, but we really are not the unicorn they want. But for lots of other jobs, we are just what they want – they just don’t know it. We just need to work a little harder, polish up your horn, throw back your head, and make whatever noise a unicorn makes. Be the unicorn and make sure they see the unicorn in you.
For more details about I’m Fired?!? A Business Fable about the Challenges of Losing One Job and Finding Another, click here.
Clear Communications
Posted: October 25, 2014 Filed under: Job Search | Tags: Communications, Cover Letter, Job Search, Proofreading, Resume Leave a commentI once had a consulting client show me a photo that made me want to both laugh and cry. The client worked for a clothing company. He had purchased a shipment of shirts from an overseas manufacturer. The photo was of a box of neatly folded shirts, each with a price tag attached to the tag in the neck. Okay so far, but when you looked closely at the price tag you could see that the tag was inside of a very small zip-top bag.
When my client opened the shipment, he was puzzled. Why were the shirts not wrapped, and why was there a bag on the price tag? He looked at the purchase order and it said “Shirt – folded – price tag attached – in bag.” (Yes, this is a true story.) The client had received 1,000 of exactly what he’d asked for – especially from someone with a limited command of the English language.
I think that I have a reasonably good command of the English language and I regularly see applicant communications that I don’t understand. Sometimes people accidentally forget to type a crucial word and the sentence doesn’t make sense. Sometimes spell-check corrects their mistake by picking a word that they didn’t intend. Sometimes they are just poor communicators. Fortunately, I don’t have to stop and figure out what they were trying to say, I simply move on to the next resume.
When you are communicating in writing, you must get it right – the first time. When the recipient of your message can’t hear your voice or see your body language, they can’t tell if you are joking, if you are confused, or if you just can’t communicate well. If you want to ensure that your message is received correctly, it must be perfect.
Use the tools you have available. Always set your word processor and email system to spell check before you send. Make sure have not confused weather with whether, to with two or too, or their and there. Reread your document aloud and make sure it sounds the way you want it. If necessary, have someone else check it before you send it.
This is all about attention to detail, and inattention will get your resume left behind. When you send in an application for new job, make sure you’re not sending in a price tag in a teeny-tiny plastic bag.
For more details about I’m Fired?!? A Business Fable about the Challenges of Losing One Job and Finding Another, click here.
What’s In A Name?
Posted: October 4, 2014 Filed under: Job Search | Tags: Communications, Email, Job Search, Professionalism, Resume 1 CommentAny Shakespeare fans out there? You’ve hear this phrase before, but did you know it is from a piece of classic literature?
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.”
This is a lovely sentiment, and when it comes a person’s given name it’s probably true. For the most part, we can’t control the names given to us by our parents. Sure, you could change it or go by a nickname, but your name is your name, and it’s part of who you are.
The same cannot be said of your email address. Maybe it’s because I’m just old and grumpy, but I think if you are going to go out into the professional job market and look for professional job, you should take the ten minutes that are required to set up a professional sounding email address.
As an HR person I see lots of emails and resumes, and if Shakespeare is right, it shouldn’t matter; but I have trouble sending a job offer to kitten42@hotmail.com. I have a friend whose high school nickname was Pammy-Cakes. That makes a great personal email address for her – or for Facebook – but not a resume. Does it help or hurt if you apply for job with the email LovesToCook14 or GolfAddict27? Unless you are applying to be a cook or golf pro, I suggest it hurts.
Set up an email address that is a variant of your name like bob.smith, bsmith2014, robert.m.smith, whatever. You may need a use a number that makes it unique (there are lots of Bob Smiths) but don’t use your birth year- they don’t need to know how old you are.
I’ve written before about the importance of a first impression. Don’t let that impression be marred because the recruiter’s gets an email from IHateWork@gmail.com.
BTW – The quote is from Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II – Juliet says this to Romeo suggesting that she has no problem with him being a Montague when she’s a Capulet. Now you have some culture in your job search. 🙂
For more details about I’m Fired?!? A Business Fable about the Challenges of Losing One Job and Finding Another, click here.
Linking In
Posted: August 9, 2014 Filed under: Networking | Tags: Job Search, LinkedIn, Networking, Resume 1 CommentI can see you now, sitting at your kitchen table, blank laptop in front of you, drumming your fingers on the table thinking – “who do I know?” You know you are supposed to be networking but you’ve thought of everyone you can think of. “Where can I find more people to talk to?” Or maybe you’re thinking “I really want to learn more about ABC Company other than what’s on their website, where should I look?” Or “How can I let all of my business contacts know that I’m looking for a new job?”
The answer is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a vital tool for the job seeker. (BTW – this is not a paid endorsement.)
Go to www.linkedin.com and join – it is free. Start with creating a profile. Make it complete – add a professional photo (not a photo taken by a professional but one where you look professional – this isn’t Facebook) – build in your career history and education (include what is on your resume – these two things should match – see Resume Magic I and Resume Magic II).
A key section of your profile is your current job title and summary. If you are unemployed, I suggest a title like “Seeking new professional opportunities,” “Job Seeker,” or “Human Resource Professional” (obviously with your career of choice if you’re not an HR Person). You don’t want your “current” job to be the one where you don’t work anymore; you want it to be obvious that you are a job seeker. Your summary should be your “elevator speech” – three to five sentences that say who you are and what you want to do.
But LinkedIn is more than a place to post information about yourself. LinkedIn is a place to connect. Use the search engine to find people you know and connect with them. Send requests to everyone you think will recognize your name. Make your network as large as possible. The more people you are connected to, the more likely your profile will be viewed, which increases the chances that a recruiter will find you even before you find them.
LinkedIn can also get you introduced to people you don’t know. When you view the profile of someone you are not directly connected to, LinkedIn shows you if you have a path to them. Through LinkedIn, you can send a message to your contact asking them to introduce you to their contact. Then you can broaden your network even further.
LinkedIn is a great place to learn about the companies on your target list (see Who are You Targeting). There are corporate profiles on LinkedIn, but better than that, use your network to connect with someone at that company and ask them to tell you about it. Use that connection to identify the hiring manager for a posted position so you can contact them directly.
I’m afraid I’m rambling. LinkedIn is an invaluable resource for the job seeker. Join, build a profile and get searching. Check out my profile at and connect with me (mention this post).
BTW – check back to this site soon. I expect I’m Fired?!? to be available as an eBook in the next few weeks with a paper version to follow not too long after. Details soon!
Back to Basics
Posted: June 21, 2014 Filed under: Interviewing, Networking | Tags: Honesty, Interviewing, Job Search, Manners, Networking, Resume, Tips Leave a commentEarlier I mentioned a symposium I attended on helping homeless Veterans find jobs and some of the job seeking advice I heard there. There was one more bit of advice that’s been running around in the back of my head – do I blog about this or not? I decided the answer is yes. There’s nothing earth shattering here but it can’t hurt to get this kind of advice periodically during your job search.
Here are 15 basic tips that you need to aware of when you go to an interview or a networking meeting. Again, I hope there are no surprises here, but if there are, at least someone told you. These are not in priority order, you need to do them all.
- Be on time. Before the interview know where you are going, how to get there, where you will park, etc. Plan to arrive 10 minutes (or so) early. Sit in your car and relax if you’re too early. Use the power building suggestions from by Body Language post while you wait.
- Be clean. I shouldn’t need to explain this.
- Smell good. This really should be “don’t smell.” Too much cologne or perfume is sometimes worse than none at all. I suggest you be a neutral as possible.
- Dress appropriately. I suggest you dress one step above what that office’s every-day work attire is. Guys – a business suit is not required or appropriate for all occasions. If they wear ties, you wear the suit. If they are business casual, you still wear the suit. If they are in jeans you wear dress pants and a dress shirt – tie is optional. If they are in shorts and filp-flops then you’re in business casual. Never less than business casual. Rarely more than business suit. If you don’t know what they wear, call the company and ask the receptionist. You don’t have to tell her your name J. Ladies – sorry but you’ll have to take your dress cues from my advice for guys. I’m not qualified to translate.
- Bring copies of your resume. I suggest between 2 and 5 copies. It depends on how many people you expect to meet.
- Bring something to take notes on. Not your hand or a pack of post-its. Don’t forget the pen.
- Remember your body language – smile, look people in the eye, offer a firm handshake.
- Speak clearly. Talk slowly, clearly. Use full sentences. Answer the question that is asked, nothing else. Don’t ramble.
- Remember your manners. Say please and thank you. I think you can use “sir” and “ma’am” but be careful. I may get some backlash on this, but some women take offense to ma’am because they say it makes them feel/sound old. I grew up with parents from the South and sir and ma’am are just part of who I am – no offense intended.
- Be patient. Take time to consider the question you’ve been asked before answering.
- No lying. Enough said.
- Ask questions. Be prepared to ask several questions (even if you already know the answers). You can ask about the company history, the strategic plan, their products, whatever – but show an interest in the organization.
- Ask when you can follow up. Even if they tell you when they plan to get back to you, ask when you can check back with them. Be proactive.
- Relax. This is a job interview. You are not being investigated for murder. The worse thing that can happen is that you don’t get this job. That’s okay – there will be others.
- Be yourself. Let them know all the ways you can make their organization better.
There you go – fifteen simple things to remember. Have a great interview!
You have 10 Seconds – Go!
Posted: May 31, 2014 Filed under: Resumes | Tags: Job Search, Resume 1 CommentI attended a symposium recently focused on ending homelessness among veterans. One segment was a panel of larger local employers giving advice to agencies who work with Vets, and two of the speakers gave very similar advice.
The first said “When I look at resumes I spend about 5 seconds on each one. If I can’t find something in 5 seconds that tells me I need to learn more about this candidate, then I move on to the next one.” The second panelist looked at the first with a quizzical expression and said, “Wow, you’re harsh. I take at least 10 seconds per resume,” and laughed. There you have it. You have – at best – 10 seconds to impress a recruiter with your resume.
Are you familiar with the old newspaper adage “above the fold”? Back in the day, when newspapers were still printed on paper and everyone read them, reporters would fight to get their stories on the front page. But the really great real estate is on the upper-half of the front page – up above the fold. That was where the most important news went.
Your resume needs to be treated the same way. You need enough content on the top-half of the first page to make the recruiter keep reading. Then if there’s a second page, the rest of the first page needs to make them want to turn the page. That is one reason that newspapers start lots of stories on page one, but rarely end stories on page one. They want you to open the paper so you’ll see the ads and read other stories.
The other resume advice I heard at this event was one I’ve said here before. Every time you send out a resume to a company it should be tailored to that job and that organization. Emphasize the parts of your background based on the job you’re applying for.
So when you’re getting ready for to send out that next resume, push that pertinent stuff, be it education, experience, accomplishments, what-have-you, up above the fold on page one. Make sure that in 5 to 10 seconds the reader will be hooked that you might be the one. If you do that you’re chances of success will skyrocket.
Resume Enhancement – Think Twice
Posted: March 8, 2014 Filed under: Resumes | Tags: Honesty, Job Search, Resume Leave a commentLet’s face it; very few of us have truly reached the pinnacle of our careers. Many have earned good educations, held responsible jobs, and been respected in a communities. But there still may be (or we think there are) holes in our resumes. It can be awfully tempting to “enhance” that resume to fill those holes and make ourselves more desirable to recruiters. Some might call this “putting the right spin on your experience.” In more extreme cases others might call it “lying.”
Let me be crystal clear, I do not advocate in any way or at any time lying on your resume. Listing jobs, responsibilities, accomplishments, education, etc. on your resume that are not true and accurate is wrong and should not be tolerated. If you hire someone who had blatant likes on his/her resume or application they should be terminated immediately for a lack of honesty. Never, never, never lie on your resume (or any other time for that matter).
That being said, there is also no reason to draw a red circle around every hole in your resume and intentionally bring those issues to that attention of every recruiter you talk to. Let’s try a simple example. Say your job was eliminated from company X on February 4 and you found a new job with Company Y on November 24. If you use the full dates in the Job History section of your resume it will be obvious to everyone that you were out of work of just over 9 months. However, if you simply list the year on your resume the only thing that is obvious is that your changed jobs in 2009, but the gap disappears. You’ll want to be honest about that gap if it comes up in an interview or when you complete an application, but there is no need to volunteer the information.
When constructing your job history, it’s okay not to list jobs that don’t fit your career objective. If during the gap in previous paragraph you worked at McDonald’s because you needed income, you don’t need to list that on your resume, unless it supports your career objective. You should include it on a formal application, but let it come up in the interview, rather than when your resume is being screened. Similarly, if you’ve had lots of jobs (I’ve had 10 professional jobs since I graduated from college) there is no need to list all of them on your resume – unless they show a clear progression that supports your career objective. Only list the most recent ones that best support the position you are applying for.
What I’m advocating some might consider simple common sense. Make sure to include factual information that supports who you are and why you are the best candidate for a position. At the same time, don’t include anything on your resume that does not support that same objective unless leaving it off will create more questions than including it. Your resume is just that, your resume. You get to decide the best way to present yourself. You choose the format, the style, and the contents. Choose the things that present you in the best possible light.
Honesty is clearly the best, and the only acceptable policy. But, discretion may be the better part of valor.
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