I am sure you have heard this adage before: “It’s not what you know, but who you know”. I think it’s old fashioned. This phrase may be spot on for business, but if you are in job hunting mode what you should really be thinking is: It’s not who you know, it’s who wants to know you. Read more
Negotiating yourself through a job interview requires preparation and skill, no matter your aim is: a better position, higher pay, a workplace closer to your home… You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.
This cliché is worth repeating, putting up on your wall and tattooing on your forehead. Read more
If you type ‘resume’ into Google you will receive approximately 180,000,000 hits. If you then type “IT Professional”, it nets only approximately 5,500,000 hits. Thus the documentation of work experience is 33 and 1/3 more popular than one of the most sought after group of professionals. What does this really tell us? Actually, not much, but neither does the average résumé that comes across our desks. Here are some excerpts:
Here are some excerpts of ambiguous resume items:
Huh? – Are you serious?
If you haven’t heard of it yet, the first hurdle you have to take, in order to get noticed with your resume, is ATS and the second hurdle is a Hiring Professional. We all know that there are more jobs being lost than created, and that an opening will get dozens, if not hundreds, of applicants. But in your fear to avoid saying anything that might get your résumé tossed out of the pile, and you might end up saying nothing at all if you say weird stuff like the samples mentioned above, you are better off if you KEEP IT SIMPLE.
The result of bizarre sentences is, the hiring professionals feel like they’re reading tea leaves, not resumes and cover letters. The other common result from hiring managers is, that they feel forced to come up with arbitrary rules to narrow the field. Nobody with an objective statement, no résumés longer than 3 pages, no serif fonts.
Our job search coaches at TJSC are not immune. Personally, I look at a lot of elements including the formatting to ensure that the documents have flow and make sense. Many people don’t know this, and they don’t notice that their layout is hard to read. Does this mean they are more or less qualified to be a project planner? I don’t know, but it’s easy for me to say, “If you don’t know that your own résumé is inconsistent, how can you be expected to supervise a multi-million dollar project?”
Other people have their own “minor resume offences”. The best you can do is try to achieve the maximum content with a minimum of strange or unusual features. I have 10 tips to make your résumé stand a better chance of survival:
Nobody buys a complicated story. Keep your resume simple by reducing it to the max and focusing on what matters while using Powerwords.
Line up bullet points, dates, headings. Wacky spacing will get you questioned about skills that have nothing to do with what you can do on the job. And please learn to put dates flush against the right margin.
If you’ve got a gap, explain it in your cover letter. But don’t leave the dates off a job or a degree. Maybe you’re worried they’ll think you’re too old or too young — but at best you’ll look sloppy. At worst, sneaky.
Yes, buzzwords are typically “bad” for clarity, but you have to get past the HR department first, and they’re screening for matches with the words in the job description. Words such as ‘consumer goods industry’, certified project manager, SPL, BMN, FLB…whatever it is that matches the requirements, put it in. Use Powerwords.
“Assisted,” “Worked on,” “Contributed to” and so on don’t convey much to a prospective employer. Instead, say what you did: “Wrote,” “Designed,” or “Managed.” The more specific, the better.
If you really want a job, your prospective employer isn’t going to be impressed by your inability to adjust one 3-page document to meet their needs.
— but be very careful. Do you know that they’re looking for a “motivated team player who wants to excel in international fashion and likes skiing and hot tubbing?” Great, put that in. Otherwise, save the non-job stuff for the cover letter. Or better yet, the interview.
Don’t have 13 bullets on a job from 10 years ago. See point 1.
A four-page résumé may be justified, but you’ve got to make it clear through headings and organization why you need so much space. If you’ve got a list of publications or industry conferences you’ve spoken at, great, but put it at the end as a separate section. Consider the résumé of a CIO. He doesn’t need to say that he “attended meetings, assigned work” and whatever other tasks. He ran the IT for a whole company. One line.
Your résumé is like the restroom in a restaurant – Sorry guys… It’s the best I could come up with. And if you can’t keep that clean, what’s it like in the kitchen?
If you are serious about your application, pay attention, keep it smart, simple and reduce it to the max. Don’t waste other people’s time and when you search and apply for jobs always remember to hunt wisely!
Uli
Whether you like it or not, recruiters, potential employers, the competition and anyone with a computer has the ability to check out your online identity. This is most common on LinkedIn, because that’s what it’s there for: a professional profile making you look all professional (and stuff). BUT it usually doesn’t stop there, as the same people are just as likely to check you out on other social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and G+
So if you want to be in the running for that dream job, make sure you stop, think and consider some, or all, of my social media career survival tips next time you post on social networks.
Reppler, a social media monitoring service designed to help users manage their online image, conducted a survey of 300 hiring professionals in 2013 – 2014 and found that 91% of respondents thoroughly scrutinize an applicant’s online reputation during the hiring process. Here’s an interesting infographic on the subject.
It’s safe to say that what you do on social media these days can definitely impact your career path and employability. Professionals in the hiring trade will use any tool available to avoid an egg-on-face situation before inviting you to a job interview or introducing you to their client. With this being said, you can secure your social media image with these 10 steps.
Become a listed and active member of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even Google+ as this does more than just make you look like a go-getter. It helps to eliminate the possibility of undesirable and uncontrolled information about you from making its way to the top of a Google search. These sites are so popular that results from this page always rank highly. That way any unauthorized content related to you (if it exists) is less likely to make an appearance to a possible employer. Contact us if you want to know more, or simply read up on previous blog posts on the subject.
You have only a few seconds before a view forms an opinion, so ensure that your social media accounts provide the best impression of you.
Everyone can benefit from regularly reviewing their profile once in a while. You’d never go into an interview with an out-of-date CV, so why ignore your social media profiles?
Make sure your social media accounts are completed, ensure that all your profile info is accurate, up-to-date and consistent across your various social media accounts. Most importantly always double check your privacy settings! Use a recent photo where you look smart and casual and don’t forget to smile.
The ever-evolving nature of social networking has made it necessary to always clean up, and I mean more than just your browser history. Hide any networking nasties by pumping-up your social media security settings. That means selecting the highest privacy settings possible in all platforms in which you are active. Be aware: setting photos to ‘friends, network and friends of friends’ in Facebook is not going to keep photographic evidence of your naughties in safe hands. If any photos of you caked in beans are visible, make sure it’s you taking part in a charity event. Similarly – review the likes and events you are associated with.
Being part of a sexist or politically sensitive group or showing evidence of attending anything controversial is not likely to win you job application points. Also, check out the security settings of your friends and the stuff they are posting about you. The last thing, you want, is a clueless friend stuffing up your job applications for you. I’m not kidding, contact me anytime if you want to learn more on that subject – I am happy to assist. We have attended to many clients and showed them how important it is always to be aware of privacy settings as the activity of friends can affect your profile through image tagging and wall posting.
From time to time, social media platforms will add new features or update their privacy terms. So, whenever you’re informed of “updates” by-way of an automatic email from your preferred social network, examine privacy settings for signs of change. Profile updates could include reformatting of such settings and introducing new options that are defaulted to whatever the social network site decides.
We all brag a bit from time to time. You just have to look at your CV to know you’re guilty of it. But why not highlight your professional and personal achievements on social media? I know what you’re thinking, you don’t want to be ‘that person’ who’s constantly bragging about their achievements, but it doesn’t hurt to be a little proud of yourself. Good things happen to those who hustle.
Highlight your achievements, post updates about your work and the results you achieve on a regular basis. Source recommendations and referrals from your existing professional contacts: especially when you are in job hunting mode.
It’s ok to do a little self-campaigning but don’t just focus on yourself all the time. No one is interested in being connected with someone who focuses solely on how wonderful and successful they are. Just like you’d interact with different groups, use social networks to post interesting industry news, join in and contribute in discussions and polls on topics relevant to your work or personal interests.
Be genuine and honest and likable. By placing yourself at the centre of topical industry discussions, you’ll not only raise your personal profile among your contemporaries, you’ll demonstrate your passion and engagement with your work: an attractive quality to any future employer! Talk is cheap – potential employers like to hire doer’s not just talkers.
This is a simple but very effective activity if you have some time to kill. Simply conduct repeated Google searches of your own name with added words that highlight achievements. This is especially effective if these searches lead to information about achievements you otherwise wouldn’t put on a resume for the sake of space. Athletic, volunteer or academic achievements are a good example of search terms to Google bomb.
I know it’s a bit harsh, but seriously, how else should I describe this one? “If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all”. Wise words, particularly in relation to anything written online. Written content is everywhere, lasts longer than you think and can be publicly read all over the web. Don’t be tempted to reply negatively to content on Facebook, Twitter or other sites. Don’t bad mouth your employer, boss, colleagues or customers, as these comments have a nasty (yet strangely reliable) habit of being picked up and shared with the very people you’ve insulted.
Don’t allow anyone to do damage to your reputation online. Stay cool, calm, and contact the person directly to suggest that you move the discussion into a more private domain if need be. If employers check you out online, they are likely to see the fall-out of any ongoing argument, so it’s better to be seen as a peace-maker rather than the aggressor.
What about Humour?!
Be careful with humour as it is very subjective and while you may be confident enough that your joke will be appreciated by those who know you, it may be judged as extremely offensive by others, including customers, clients, and potential employers.
These days nothing is private. Trust no one… ever. This a bit dramatic perhaps, but seriously, if you wouldn’t feel comfortable with your parents seeing it, then it’s not appropriate to upload on any social media site. Think twice before you post any images online and always double check the settings. Remember that it’s not just the photos that you personally post that you need to worry about: you also need to keep a close eye on any photos your friends may have posted that feature you.
Regularly review your social media profiles to make sure your content consists of information you would like to share with employers.
For Facebook, Secure.Me is one of many free tools that reviews content, protects profiles from dangerous links, and monitors photos and friends’ posts. If you want to know more about safe online protection tools, contact me or read up on my other blog posts. If you want to get the best image and reputation out on Google, use BrandYourSelf. They can clean up for you and ensure that Recruiters and Hiring Managers only see the very best of you , when they start snooping on Dr. Google.
So there you have it, 10 top tips on how to avoid damaging your employability while using social media. Use some, or all, of these tips and remember to not shy away from being yourself. Everyone has a unique personality, and the variations of our character are what make us special and employable. Continue sharing about yourself, just keep the above tips in mind when posting on a public site.
Share this blog post if you know a job hunter or career changer who would find this interesting and feel free to comment with your own tips and tricks.
Social Media is a great and very effective tool to enhance your job search, just always remember to hunt wisely!
Uli
Are you back in the Job hunt? Are you using the same old resume? Time wasting and lousy resumes are the greatest enemies in a job search. The longer the hunt for a new job takes, the greater the frustration, feeling of failure and the possibility of making more search mistakes with useless resumes and strategies. This happens because most job seekers ignore the changes in recruiting practices and therefore fail to score interviews.
Our team at TJSC speak to many job seekers every week. Sadly, the internet has created online job board or LinkedIn junkies and caused a lot of people to adopt a quantitative approach to their job search campaign. The majority of job seekers are still not aware of the fact, that only between 15 – 30 % of all job openings are placed online. The rest of the jobs are somewhere else!
Yes, I am not kidding. This is what the experts and bloggers will tell you when you search online and in webinars and slide shares but, despite all this, many candidates are hooked on online portal searching. They take the ‘hope and fear’ approach and shoot out a huge stream of ineffective applications to openings posted on job boards and company websites and hope that at least one will yield a response.
No wonder so many end up with a job they hate – or a company without a future, and no wonder many candidates contribute to ‘long term’ unemployment. Clued-in job seekers review their toolkit and adjust it to the job market and seek professional help when their own tools or job seeking efforts produce no results.
I just found this Infographic from last year of why you should ‘trash’ your resume and turn to effective solutions so you can job search with the right tools and achieve results. Check it and maybe change some or all of your resume content the format or the whole Look & Feel. Do it soon, don’t start 2015 with the same old mistakes and remember to hunt wisely! Uli
My client Michael Z believed that Passion is Bullshit – and I agreed. Apologies upfront. I know, closing the blogging year with such a controversial headline might not be suitable for everyone. My business partner and I just met in the office to clean up old emails, discuss strategy and prepare for the New Year. We had just finished, opened a beer reflected on our most memorable client of the year. Here is my story of my Most Memorable Client of 2014.
In early November of this year, Michael Z – name changed – was referred to me for 1on1 job search coaching because our Booking Coordinator, Susan, thought he would be a hard case to service. What was Michael’s problem? Simply put, he had lost his mojo — he kept telling himself that he had lost his passion for the job.
Michael had been unemployed since May 2014 when he was made redundant from his position as Customer Service Manager for a big Australian retailer and things had been going downhill since then.
I met with him for a 45 minute skype session and a short while later for a second personal 1on1 session in our Melbourne office. I realised right after the first session that Susan was right with her first assessment. Michael was really feeling down. He truly had lost his energy and his belief in anything he ever thought had made his work life special. He had lost his passion.
He kept referring to his “loss of passion” at the start, during and the end of nearly everything he explained to me and, no matter what angle I took to engage Michael in a different kind of mindset, our sessions went nowhere. He was convinced that he had become unemployable.
I am not kidding. Why should I tell you to think differently if all you want to hear is that Passion is Bullshit? Because Michael was right! He was stunned, since he obviously expected something else for his booking fee.
We shook hands and I offered to refund his fee but only if he did one last thing before he gave up. All I wanted him to do was to read a book by Scott Adams and call me when he was finished and if he still felt like giving up, I would fully refund his booking fees.
The Book is titled: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big
Yep—I am not kidding, it occasionally helps to refer clients to other specialists. It worked, Michael is fine now.
It took him 4 days to finish the book and only another 3 weeks to secure a job interview and find a new job. Nothing has changed. Michael still believes that Passion is largely Bullshit—but Michael has learned that it is he who has to deal with the truth. His problem was not job search related. His problem was, loss of faith, believe and mojo. Not Passion.
So if you are stuck with this type of problem, don’t give up—there is a job for you out there, just try to deal with the truth. Try the book – it is brilliant and fun to read, very uplifting and so true. If you are stuck with job search matters contact us.
Have a great NYE celebration, be safe and Look Out for your friends and family and when you go back to the job hunt in 2015 always remember to hunt wisely!
Your Job Search Coach
Uli
Questions about the cover letter. Books, magazines, products, movies and even people are judged by ‘how they present themselves’ at first sight. The experience of first impressions essentially all boils down to “Do You Matter?” That’s why books and magazines rely on covers, products rely on packaging, movies rely on banners and posters, and people or (job hunters) on cover letters.
Call it old fashioned or not, there are still tonnes of people who still need the cover letter to assess if you matter or whether you are wasting their time or not. I know this is a harsh introduction, but would you have read on if my headline was all nice and easy?
Our team at TJSC have helped over 700 job hunters this year to get job interviews and secure a new job and there was not a single successful submission without a cover letter. Nearly every job ad we see either requests a resume AND cover letter or leaves space in the online submission portion to include one.
We know that you are no more interested in writing the cover letter than employers are about reading it. So why do employers ask for a cover letter if they’re likely not going to look at it?
Here is what tends to happen behind the scenes:
The request for cover letters in job ads is rarely a specific decision made for each individual job ad. For the most part, Hiring Managers / HR departments and recruiters don’t write the request or requirement for a cover letter manually into ads. Most job sites are designed to make writing job ads as easy and fast as possible. This is simply translated as automation.
Most of the text you see in a job ad is templated, via pre-set text blocks and defaults. The focus in job ads is on key requirements and responsibilities. But, there is also one of these template defaults in the automated process known as the request for cover letters.
Who are these people who determine if these default checkboxes are checked… or not?
I can give you two of the most common causes and they are all made outside of HR departments. It is mainly IT staffers (or consultants) that coordinate the integration of job sites with the company’s HR software. Yes, I’m not kidding. This decision is often made by 3rd parties (recruiters included) who are not even employees of the hiring company because they like to play safe – “just in case HR wants it…” So, as you can see this isn’t some useless conspiracy against you. Whether you like it or not, you don’t have a choice if that box is ticked. Make sure your cover letter matters or you will end up in the trash.
The other common explanation of why employers ask for cover letters but often don’t even use them is the need for differentiation. Hiring Managers or recruiters want a point of differentiation which highlights ‘why you matter’. They obtain a glimpse into your book via your resume and they wish to verify or judge you by your cover. Get it?
So why do they need a differentiator?
The world of HR and job searching is constantly evolving and changing (e.g. laws, technology, job markets) but there’s one thing which is continually changing faster than anything else: the explosion of applicants. The main reason for that is the copy – paste –shotgun approach to applications. When the numbers of incoming applications explode, things change and it is this change that forces the requirement for a differentiator. The cover letter is your 1st differentiator.
HR professionals have to protect their most valuable asset when searching for a suitable candidate – their time. 10 seconds is all you get. Pass that short window of 10 seconds and they look at your ‘book cover’ to ensure they don’t waste their time further. They also don’t like to get egg on their face when they proceed to call you in for an interview and so they judge you by your cover letter and use the information to check you out further.
Hiring professionals are a bit like shoppers in a book shop as they’ll seek differentiators when viewing book covers and titles. It’s the same with your application. Your cover letter is your book cover. It’s your 1st marketing piece.
You can tell anyone anything, but you have to provide an example to demonstrate why they should believe your claims. So if you write a cover letter…
Most employers care about the following three things above all else:
Before you sign and send your cover letter, do your best to ensure those three things are evident. Again, you don’t ever want to actually say them, but you want your reader to think them when they’ve finished reading your letter.
You can do the usual copy – paste – shotgun approach or you can submit what’s expected of you. You get judged by your cover whether you like it or not, so don’t waste the opportunity and remember to hunt wisely!
Uli
Nearly every job ad or company website contains “the search for talent” but it’s all too common to scare away, rather than attract, talent.
Many employers and certainly most recruiters, sad to say, do a better job of driving talented people away than reeling them in, both during the selection process and after the talent has been hired.
I have 10 common scenarios and helpful guidelines for getting the best results when interviewing job candidates.
Too many organisations ignore the power of social media. If you get it wrong, you may see damaging ripple effects that appears when somebody makes a complaint which gains traction and/or goes viral around the internet.
To help prevent this, check out the above situations for jobseekers and see what many experience when they apply for jobs.
If you see one or two in your own organisation, consider adding them to your
It will be good for your brand and the morale inside your business.
Make 2015 a better year for your job applicants. Put your heart back into the recruiting business and remember to hunt wisely!
Uli
TheJobSearchCoach
We all know that job searching sucks and one of the big de-motivators during the job hunt is the regular stereotyping. Why do you get stereotyped and how do you avoid it during your job search and job interview? Read more
The end of the year is fast approaching – a time to start from scratch or just to try and be a little more effective with your jobsearch in 2015. Read more
