Job Seekers – Is a Professionally Written Resume for You?

Professional Resumes

I had two LinkedIn group members comment about professionally written resumes. The first was an advocate and said that she has received interviews since having it rewritten. The problem is she had it rewritten in 2008 and is still looking. The second said that she spent a boat load of money and it got her nowhere.

My experience is similar to the second individual; the professional resume brought me nothing. The problems that I see with professional resume writers is that most write to impress the person paying the fee, rather than the person that will be reading the resume.

No One Knows Your Skills as Well as You Do!

The truth is that no one knows your skills as well as you do and although your resume writing skills may be lacking; working with someone that will HELP you craft your resume is much more effective. The place where most fail is in self-promotion. We are not very good at tooting our own horn. You need to get the reader’s attention and leave them wanting to know more.

It Is Who Knows You that Counts

The point where I differ with Denise is it is not who you know, but who knows you! What are you doing to get your information out? How are you educating the people that you come in contact with and do you leave them with the ability and desire to promote you to their contacts?

You want the people that you talk with to want to present you to others because they feel they will be helping that third person solve a problem and make themselves look good at the same time.

Job Seekers – Are You Sabotaging Your Job Search?

Do We Sabotage Our Own Job Search?

Speaking for myself, I know the answer is yes. We may not mean to do it but many times we subconsciously sabotage our own success. You may wonder how we do that and here are my thoughts.

We allow self doubt to creep into our minds. We tell ourselves that maybe we are not good enough or the right person for the job. When we have those thoughts, whether we are conscious of them or not, they will affect our product; whether the product is a resume, cover letter, or ourselves during an interview.

Where Does Our Sabotage Come From?

We may have our own self doubts as described above. We may have doubts placed by others; e.g. former employers and co-workers, friends and family, society in general, even our spouse or significant other can plant these thoughts.

When we allow these things to creep into our mind our confidence takes a hit and it shows. We second guess the things that we do or want to say; which results in hesitancy and does not inspire the person with whom we are talking. They can sense our hesitancy and regardless of how things have gone to that point, this becomes their most recent perspective.

What Kind of Sabotage Do We Perpetrate?

Maybe we feel that we are not worthy of the opportunity. Maybe we feel that we have not earned or do not deserve the salary, title, or benefits. Maybe we have a lingering doubt from a previous work experience. Maybe we were fired and somewhere in the back of our minds we feel it was justified.

There are many, many different things we can do to harm our prospects and we must be aware of them, so that we can prevent the harm they can do.

What Do We Do to Prevent Sabotage?

One of the first things we must do is stop beating ourselves up and even more importantly stop allowing others to beat us up! As long as we allow these things to happen we cannot move past what is holding us back. We must be proactive on our own behalf.

Take some time, when you are not preparing a product, and think about those things you or others say about you and write them down. Then look at the list and say to yourself; “Realistically are these things true; am I really like that or do I really do that?” The honest answer may be yes and if it is you must learn how to change that behavior and how to mitigate its impact on your job prospects.

That idea of change will be tough, because most of us do not like to change and we will, in fact, do everything we can to fight the change. However, change we must; take on the battle and make the change. Your ability to change will set you apart, because 90% of people are unable to make changes; they would simply rather stay in their situation and complain.

Another thing we can, and should, do is keep our own little notebook or diary of our accomplishments. In fact, you should always have it with you so you can record those special things you do and the results of your efforts. You should be writing in this book at least two or three times per week about the things inside and outside of work that you have accomplished.

When you or others are getting down on you, pull out this little book and start reading about the things you have done and accomplished. This little brag book can serve many purposes.

To build you up when you or others are down on you.
To provide you with ideas for your resume or on-line profile when you need to demonstrate what you have accomplished.
To review just prior to going into your interview so that you have a positive feeling about yourself.
To review just prior to going for your annual or semi-annual performance review.
To serve as a reminder when your boss is preparing for your review and asks you to list some of your accomplishments over the past year. (Yes, the boss should know, but more often than not, they do not remember key accomplishments. Help them out, do not lament that they do not remember. Show them that you care.)

So my questions to you are;

What are you doing to yourself?
How are you or others beating you up?
What are you doing to stop the beatings?
What work have you undertaken to solve the problem?

If you need help find a Career Coach that will address issues honestly with you. Find someone that will be your Accountability Coach and engage that person to help you.

Job Seekers – To Pursue or Be Pursued

Some Job Seekers Pursue, While Other Job Seekers Are Pursued

There are many different ways to seek new opportunities but all of them will fall into one of two categories: to pursue or to be pursued. A job seeker that is pursuing is the person that is out beating the bushes looking for the next opportunity.

The pursuers are targeting employers, sending resumes, filling out applications, searching job boards, networking and making contacts, responding to want ads, etc. They are working to find that next opportunity.

The Pursued

The second category are the pursued. Those are people like Lee Iaccoca in the 1980s, when Chrysler was looking for someone to save the company. Iaccoca’s performance record with Ford made him not only a logical, but a great choice. Iaccoca was the father of the Mustang and that innovative mind was just what Chrysler needed; a person with talent and vision. Iaccoca was pursued by Chrysler.

This is what today’s job seeker should be looking to accomplish with their career.

What have you done in your past that you can do in your future to make people seek you?
How are you presenting your skills and abilities?

The pursued have a brand and a reputation that is known by some or even many. The more that know your brand the greater your appeal and the greater your opportunities.

Develop Your Brand

Success requires that you develop, build, and promote your brand. Do you have a brand? What is your brand? How can you promote your brand?

These are important questions that you must be able to answer and then act upon. What can you do to establish your expertise and gain the visibility necessary to promote your brand?

Developing your brand requires that you have visibility. In the past this was often difficult to accomplish. There were limited places where you could promote and there was tremendous competition to get your information placed. Today that has all changed.

With the advent of Social Networking. Blogs, and other Internet capabilities; you can get your word out. There are numerous outlets (magazines, ezines, blogs, websites, etc.) where you can gain tremendous visibility and credibility. These outlets suffer constantly from the lack of quality information and ideas. They are experiencing increasing competition for materials and therefore they are always looking for new material and differing perspectives. If you want to get the recognition; the possibilities are unlimited.

Are you pursuing or being pursued? Most job seekers fall into the category of pursuing; what can you do to change yourself from pursuing to being pursued?

Is Thinking Out of the Box the Correct Advice?

Maybe Thinking Out of the Box Is All Wrong

I just finished reading “The Age of the Unthinkable” by Joshua Ramo and it has made me reflect on this topic. It is a great book and I highly recommend it.

We hear frequently about the idea of thinking outside the box and I’ve come to realize that maybe outside the box is not the correct term. In the book Ramo uses the example of a picture. Many pictures have a foreground object and then the background. Since reading the book; I now look at the foreground object as my current job and the background as my skills that put me in that position.

Your Job May Be Obsolete, But That Does Not Mean That You Are Obsolete

When a current job disappears, I mean becomes obsolete; if we are focused on the foreground then we have become obsolete as well. But if we look at the background as our skills, abilities, and talents that put us into the job we will see that we have many things working in our favor to continue moving us forward.

Personal Experience

When I discuss issues pertaining to job searches; I speak from experience. I have had numerous occasions over the past fifteen years where I have had to search for a job. Sometimes it was because a contract ended, sometimes it just was not the right fit, and sometimes I was too honest and people did not like it. Whatever the reason I have experienced many of the same situations as you. I have walked into the office and been told that today was my last day on more than one occasion. No preparation, no advance notice, nothing, just you are done.

Here’s an example; I’m in IT and after 9/11 my projects which were all new infrastructures, just dried up. I had been working for a local firm for a couple of years and things were going well. 9/11 changed all that and their business just came to a standstill. I was a contractor and they had to cut costs immediately. I was expendable and quickly out of work. They told me to come back after the first of the year and see where things stood. They did not pick up and eventually the operation shut down. Although not permanently obsolete it was devastating enough to be a challenge.

I lamented and mourned and went through months of not moving forward. Finally I stepped back and looked at all the things I had done (the background of my picture) and realized that, although I was not an IT security expert, I had over 20 years of IT security experience. I had grown up with IT security from four letter passwords to what it was at the time.

Restructure Yourself Based Upon What Made You What You Were; Not For What You Were

I restructured my resume to focus on this experience and lo and behold I found a job. Everything I needed was in the box, I just had to get past the foreground picture to find it.

We do not need to go off the deep end, we just need to be willing to look beyond the obvious.

Do You Know What Your On-Line Presence Says About You

Your Internet Presence

Virtually everyone today has an Internet presence. If for some reason you do not; you will attract as much attention as you would with a poor Internet presence. What story does your Internet presence tell people?

Have you ever taken the time to Google your name, enter it on Yahoo, or Bing? You must do this; you must know what is on the Internet pertaining to you! Go to Google.com and type in your name, press the enter key, and see what comes up. Are you happy with the result? Are you seeing, and therefore a recruiter or hiring manager seeing, what you would like them to see?

What Is Unacceptable Information

Things that are unacceptable include:

Pictures that show you in compromising situations.
Inappropriate language or posting from you or your friends.
Pictures or stories that include you in illegal activities, even as basic as under age drinking.
Discussions and stories that are derogatory to you or others.
Negative comments you have made about employers, businesses, other people
Negative comments about teachers, managers, supervisors, and other authority figures.
Insulting or disparaging comments about friends and associates.

Any of these items can be the negative that causes the recruiter or hiring manager to reject you as an employee. This is not discrimination, this is just business. Businesses cannot afford to hire employees that may bring discredit on the business, negative attention, or other adverse effects.

What employees and prospective employees bring to the business can be critical to the business success. You, as an employee, must bring positives; not negatives.

How Do You Clean Up Your On-Line Presence?

Cleaning up your on-line presence starts with your Social Networking. You need to remove any photos or information that is negative. If you started the discussion, you can delete the entire discussion. If you commented on a discussion, you can remove your comments. If you have friends or connections that are offensive you can unfriend or remove them.

Take the offensive information out of your on-line presence and do it now!

What If Your Removal Offends Your Friend or Friends

If the postings of friends and connections is negative, you can ask them to change their behavior because it jeopardizes your opportunities. If they are unwilling to help you, then they truly are not very good friends and you are probably better off without them.

If you are serious about having a good on-line reputation, then you must think of yourself first and make the necessary choices. Obviously your goal is not to hurt others or their feelings, but it is to ensure that you are presented in a positive light.

After the Clean Up

Once you have cleaned up those things that you can; what is left? If you still have negative or derogatory information, what can you do to eliminate or at least mitigate the impact.

One way is to create positive Internet articles related to you. Participate in events or organizations that generate positive information and get involved. Join organization boards, involve yourself in civic activities, write your own blog articles, comment on popular blogs and leave your name, join LinkedIn, Facebook, and other Social Networking sites that receive high search engine rankings. Build your connections and friends lists which will raise your rankings. Create a Google Profile, put positive postings and videos on YouTube.

If you have many negatives associated with a Social Networking profile, delete the profile and start over.

What If the Negatives Are from Someone with the Same Name?

If you are being haunted by someone with the same name that has negative information; do not despair, you can address that as well.

Some of the steps you can take include:

Post a consistent professional picture with all of your profiles.
Use your middle initial, middle name, maiden name, nickname, or something else that will differentiate you.
Create an Internet Gravatar (picture) that can be used for postings on sites where you cannot add your picture.
Change your reference on your sites to a consistent name. Use the username function on Facebook, the change profile name on LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., to capture your identity. Choose a name combination that no one else is using.
Cut, purge, erase, delete, replace, create, post, comment, participate, and do any other positive things you can to recreate your on-line profile in a positive manner.

Using LinkedIn to Get a Job

LinkedIn is an essential tool for all job seekers. See the full article – Use LinkedIn to Get a Job

There are a few important tips that must be clarified on this list.

A complete profile is important as stated, but you should keep your job titles consistent whenever possible. If you led a marketing group and one position was the director of marketing and the other vp of marketing this will look different in the search results. What can you do to make these similar for a search? This is as important to optimizing the search as having many contacts. You also want to use the phraseology consistently within your job descriptions and summary areas.
Inviting people into your network is important, but they should be quality people. What I mean is they should be connected. Inviting someone with only a handful of connections does little for extending your sphere of influence. Compare inviting someone with 5 connections to someone with over 500 or even a few thousand. It makes a world of difference in your connectivity and exposure.
LinkedIn can have a lot of information on your target company in addition to people. Glean the information on dollar sales, number of employees, etc. Be especially watchful of the comings and goings of individuals. You can see who has joined recently, who has been promoted recently, who has left, executives, etc. Is there upheaval happening, LinkedIn could tip you off.
Join groups wisely. You are limited to 50. If you have target companies find out which groups the people working for that company have joined and join them yourself and become a participant. When they see your name coming from multiple directions it adds to your credibility. Join active groups. Look at the number of members, the number of discussions, the number of jobs posted; if the group has no activity it will not be effective. That is a group of joiners, not participants.
When you participate, really participate. Don’t think that an off-hand great post, means you are participating. You need to be sharing information that will resonate with the group.
Remember there are two types of job postings on LinkedIn. Those posted by recruiters, HR departments, etc that are paid and found under the jobs search and those that are posted by group members. From my experience these are separate and distinct lists.
Participating in the questions and answers is great. One caution, however, post based upon your expertise, don’t hang yourself out there as the expert. There is always someone that will want to prove that you are not the “expert”. I have seen some very long and boring conversations as someone tries to push someone else off their perch.
The LinkedIn search has awesome power and most people barely scratch the surface. Get daring and experiment with your searches; I guarantee that you will be amazed at what you find.
Great point on promoting your blog and website. You must change the name to something that is more descriptive. Remember there is a search process that goes on and anything on your profile page is fair game for the Search Engine.
My tidbits – contribute, contribute, contribute, and be consistent! When you add value to your network and groups you build your credibility, reliability, and trust. Consistency shows that you are not just someone that jumps in because you have nothing better to do.
Comment on promotions of others in your network. Those comments get displayed to everyone on the recipients list.

Do You Make It Easy for People to Connect With You?

Add Your Contact Information

It amazes me when I see an email or profile from someone that is purportedly a business person and it does not include contact information.

Put your email address, phone number, LinkedIn name, Facebook name, Twitter name, and/or Fan Page in your signature block. Make it easy for people to connect. For most people if it is difficult to connect, they simply go on to the next person. Is that what you want?

I’m sure that none of you want to hear someone say; I was going to call you, but I couldn’t find your contact information. Help them and therefore you OUT!

Resume Tips – Deciding What to Include in Your Career Highlights

Do Not Waste Your Prime Real Estate

In Commercial Real Estate the answer to the age old question of the three most important things is: location, location, location. You can say the same thing about your resume. As such you do not want to waste the top of your resume; which includes your Career Highlights.

Your Career Highlights Are Just That Highlights!

Career Highlights are those accomplishments that speak to recruiters and hiring managers and say: I did this for them and I can do comparable for YOU! Career Highlights are not about you; rather they are about what you can do for your new employer. They are about the reader!

As with your entire resume your career highlights are a sales process that must convey to the reader:

Why they would be foolish not to talk to you.
Why they must read your entire resume.
Why they cannot disregard you for the position.
The highlights of what you have accomplished in your career thus far.
What the new employer can expect of you after you have been hired.
All of this communication is accomplished by the use of Situation, Action, and Results statements.

Think of Julius Caesar when you construct this section. Caesar was never shy or reluctant to boast about his accomplishments.

He encapsulated that perfectly when he said Veni, Vidi, Vici! I came, I saw, I conquered. That is exactly what you must tell your recruiter and hiring manager. Ideally there should be three to six of these conquering statements with no more than two from a single employment experience.

Follow the Advice of Marshall Goldsmith

A couple of years ago Marshall Goldsmith, he is a career coach to high-level executives, wrote the book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. In his book Goldsmith says that as your career progresses your skills must progress as well. The skills that got you noticed are not the same skills that you will need to succeed in your new position.

Your ability to be recognized in the subsequent position and the skills you will use are not be the skills you will need as you continue to move up. Understanding the requirements at the lower levels is critical; but you are no longer the one performing those tasks; you are now managing the performers.

Throughout your career you must evolve or you cannot move forward. When you are writing your career highlights remember that you are an evolving being and that your highlights must show that as your career progressed.

Your highlights must reflect your growth. You should encompass and showcase the new skills you have acquired to demonstrate your understanding that your role has changed. Your early highlights will be in the capacity of the “doer”; your middle highlights should demonstrate your skills as a manager; and your later highlights should demonstrate your skills as a leader.

Making your highlights section speak to the reader is critical to getting that interview you desire.

Copyright Tom Staskiewicz

“Who Knows You?” and “Are You Attracting the Attention You Want?” Understanding the function of career highlights is key to building your brand.

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Avoid LinkedIn Mistakes by Doing the Following

Do Not Waste Your LinkedIn Presence

I recently read an article on the 13 LinkedIn Mistakes You Should Avoid by Suzanne Vara.

In her posting Suzanne reinforces points that I have made regarding the importance of your LinkedIn Profile.

I am adding my additional commentary on Suzanne’s points.

You must personalize your profile using the profile edit capability and changing the default URL.
Identify your personal and company websites with the specific name, do not use the defaults of “My Company” and “My Website”.
Do not flag your profile as private, unless you really do not want to be found. You should have a public profile that can be found by the Search Engines.
Join Groups – this is the way to reach your target community. You can join a maximum of 50 groups, but sub-groups do not count toward that maximum.
Participate in group discussions – Groups are your opportunity to establish yourself as an expert and to spread your sphere of influence. The more people that you reach the greater your chance of accomplishing your goals.
Ask and Answer Questions – Your goal should be to again establish yourself as an expert and as someone that recognizes that you do not know it all and others can help. Graciously give and receive.
Do not link every tweet. This is a hard one, because you want to give your connections a complete picture of yourself, but because this is a business community you want to keep somewhat of a business focus. Connect to your Twitter account and if you want your status on LinkedIn add #in to the end of the Tweet.
Connect to your company page – If your CURRENT COMPANY does not have a page you can create one. The caveat here is to use the OFFICIAL name that other employees will use. You cannot create a company page for a company where you no longer work.
Create a complete profile that tells your story. Make sure you add your picture so people finding your profile will know that it is you. You do not want your brand scarred because you failed to differentiate and somebody less reputable was associated with your brand.
LinkedIn is for connecting; not blatant selling. Do not turn people off with an immediate sales pitch. This is where discussions and Q&A are so important. When you have a solution that will help with a problem; then the selling can start.
Keep your status current. Do not let it sit idle for months on end. That practice shows that you are not involved or committed to LinkedIn.
When you start a conversation and someone comments; you must comment in return. Do not leave your participants hanging waiting for a reply.
Give recommendations and once given you may ask for recommendations. Make sure that the recommendations you give are relevant and help to tell the individual’s story. “Jack is a great guy and you will be lucky to have him in your organization” is not a powerful recommendation. Tell people what Jack accomplished so they can get an accurate picture of Jack. Also, give Jack a chance to comment and request changes to your recommendation. You do not want the recommendation to become a fabrication, but you do want to work with Jack; so he will be willing to work with you on your recommendation.

My Additions to Suzanne’s List

Increase the value of your network – “Weak” connections constitute the primary value of your network. Yes, your first level connections are valuable, but the real value are the connections belonging to your first and second level connections.
The use of keywords in your profile, job titles, summary, current position, etc are key to great search results. Make those keywords consistent as long as they do not change the accuracy of your profile. If you were an IT Security Consultant; you should try to avoid having other entries as an IT Security Project Manager. The repetitiveness of the keywords will raise your Search Ranking and therefore your placement in the results.
Suzanne pointed out that you have a limit that you can only join 50 groups (again not including sub-groups). Considering that limit do not waste your group options. If a group is not actively discussing topics and contributing information; find another group! Belonging to an inactive group will not build your brand or increase your sphere of influence.
Create your own groups; as the group owner you have more opportunities to communicate and increase your sphere of influence. Make sure, however, that your group is active by your own and other’s posts.
If you attempt to join a group and it takes an eternity for approval; do not waste your time. Find another group or start your own group on the same topic.

Read Suzanne’s post for her perspectives on the subject.

Email Tom and visit UP^PROACH to receive more Social Networking tips for businesses and job seekers.

Moving On, Will Require Accepting Change

Change – most people do not consider this word to be their friend. Whether it was the change you were forced to make in school when desks were reassigned, the change when you moved, the change when you were married, or … Change is one of the hardest parts of our lives that we have to endure.

Most people dream of change and what they could do if only this change or that change were to occur. The reality is that even though it is often our dream, when the opportunity presents itself it is difficult to accept.

To a few change comes easily and they see it as an opportunity, but to most that is not the case. Why do people stay in their job for 20, 30, or even 40 years? Is it because they are happy and they couldn’t dream of doing anything else?

That’s probably not the case or at least it’s not the case for most people. More true to the situation is the aversion to change. People do not want to change and therefore they endure their situation. They look at a new situation and instead of seeing it as an opportunity; they would rather stay with what they know than venture into the unknown.

Most definitely they are limiting themselves and their opportunities. But that does not matter to them; they would much prefer to be comfortable and to deal only with the known.

This is a problem because dealing with the comfortable and dealing with the known can be a career stopper and can even be the reason for losing a job. Businesses must change to keep up with the competition and to grow. For businesses to be able to make those changes, they need employees that are willing to change.

What kind of change might you have to make:

A new company.
A new type of work.
A new location.
A longer/shorter commute.
A reduction/increase in pay.
A new boss.
New co-workers.
A new working environment – no more private office.
Changes in benefits.
Changes in the frequency of pay.
Working in a less desireable part of the city.

… continue your list and develop your answers.

I once worked for a medical clinic that was looking to make significant changes in the technology they were using to process patient records. The technology is EMR or Electronic Medical Records. EMR is responsible for many changes in the way the doctors and nurses practice medicine.

EMR Systems impact the way the doctors and nurses interact with their patients. Instead of talking to the patient with a chart in hand and making notes, the practitioner now has a computer terminal and is typing while the patient is talking. The computer terminal is far more distracting to the patient and typically requires a greater level of concentration from the practitioner. Some practitioners are intimidated by the technology.

At the Clinic as we were implementing the technology I wrote a memo to the Board of Directors explaining that as a part of the EMR implementation they could expect to see some of their doctors leave the Clinic. They would leave because they were unwilling to accept the EMR System and they way they would now have to practice, they would leave because they were intimidated by the technology, they would leave because they did not like the change in patient interaction, and there were several other reasons as well.

My point to the Board was do not be surprised, rather you need to be understanding and supportive. This is the way it is and there is nothing that being upset will change. Some people can handle certain types of change and others cannot. You need to roll with the punches and move forward.

In your job search you are now facing the reality of change. It could be just one change or it could be several changes; you just do not know until it happens.

It is time for you to do a personal assessment. What changes are you (and your family) willing to accept in your career change? You must sit down and work this out to have everyone in agreement.

You need to decide:

What is your change mindset?
Is this an adventure or a nightmare?
Where and when you are willing to compromise?
What opportunity is simply too great to pass up?
What is most important to you and your family?
What is negotiable?
What is non-negotiable?
Who will ultimately make the final decision?
Who has the power of veto?
How you will make your decision work?

Accepting change can be difficult, but you can minimize the difficulty by making the decisions above when there is no pressure to decide. Take the time to talk it out when the emotions are at a low and the rational mind is in charge. Change can be excitement and opportunity or it can be scary and uncertain. Which way do you want it for your family.

You must prepare yourself and your family for whatever opportunities come your way.

Tom is a Career and Accountability Coach helping with career management, resumes, and networking. Sign up for his 7 Tips Series of Articles.

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Resume Tips – Deciding What to Include in Your Career Highlights

Moving On, Will Require Accepting Change