Get Noticed! Get Hired!

Your resume lands on a desk, it’s 3pm, and the hiring manager about to review your document is experiencing a mid-afternoon energy slump, is counting down the minutes to 5pm, and has another 299 resumes on her desk that look just like yours.  Fancy your chances? 

One of my recent resume writing clients told me that she was about to sift through 300 resumes to find 4 or 5 potential candidates for a customer service role in her department.  How do you stand out in a sea of resumes?  It’s tough!  One way to guarantee you won’t is by submitting a document that looks like everyone else, sounds like everyone else, and to all intents and purposes, may as well be anyone else.

Three major errors people make with their resume:

1)      Reliance on internet template designs / resume writing software

2)      Too much telling and very little selling

3)      Spelling errors / grammatical mistakes / font size

Most documents I have encountered would tick all three boxes. The design of the document is central to making that all important first impression.  To be clear, I’m referring to the actual layout and casing for your content, not the need to adorn your document with shooting stars, furry animals or pretty butterflies!

If a resume is too hard to read, it will meet acquaintance with the corporate shredder in short order.  A smothering of block text, tiny font sizes, and content that does nothing more than list duties, contributes to a hiring manager’s decision on whether or not to trash your document, shred it, or crush it up into a tiny ball and throw it over their head!

A winning resume is focused, concise, elegant, and has the power to articulate the extent of your previous professional contributions in such a way as to make your value added potential plainly obvious to the hiring manager.

What are you waiting for?  Get on it, and make sure your resume is as unique as you are, or at the very least make sure you ‘SELL’ your skills instead of merely ‘tell’ us about your duties.

Revered & Reviled - The Insider Guide To Working With Employment Agencies

Sometimes seen as a necessary evil or a professional marriage of convenience, the recruitment industry is viewed with antipathy and appreciation in equal measure.

In part, the ill-feeling generated in some job seekers toward the industry has been cultivated by a negative personal experience when dealing directly with “agencies”, or in some cases due to a lack of understanding as to how employment agencies actually work.

So how do they work?  The employment agency will charge the employer a fee to recruit the job seeker.  Fees can range from as little as 5% of the annual salary in tight-margin industries, and range up to 30% for senior and executive level placements.

What should you expect?  Needless to say that every job seeker should be treated with the utmost respect, unfortunately that doesn’t always happen.  There are countless instances of recruiters abandoning a job seeker if there isn’t a realistic prospect of making money out of placing them, and although such behaviour is self serving and short-sighted, it is a reality. 

Generally speaking, recruiters have targets to meet that include a number of monthly placements, employers visited, job seekers interviewed, and cold calls made.  Many job seekers who have had dealings with high-volume, target-oriented agencies and come away from a meeting thinking that the recruiter didn’t actually have a job for them, were probably right.  Some firms call this “the numbers game”! Is it any wonder some job seekers feel just like a number?

Employment agencies often work on a “contingency” basis which means that they only get paid if they find the job seeker the employer hires.  Executive recruitment firms usually work on a “retained” basis and are usually paid 1/3 of their fee in advance, and the remaining 2/3 at the end of the assignment or at previously agreed timeframes over the course of the search.

So how should you interact with recruiters? Choose two or three respected firms and make contact with the recruiter in your field to discuss the job market, how they operate, and what they could do for you. If you are satisfied that the recruiter knows what he/she is talking about, submit your resume.  Be clear about what you want, what you will accept, and in which circumstances your information should be shared.  Leverage the expertise of the recruiter to work in your favour, and do not feel compelled to take the first job that is offered to you.  Do your homework, know your worth and act accordingly.

If you’re left feeling like nothing more than a number or another notch on their weekly target sheet, sever ties with that particular firm, withdraw your consent for them to act on your behalf, and move on.

Be assured that there are very good recruiters out there worthy of your time and attention and they can be a tremendous help and resource if you find yourself in a “transitional phase”.  All you have to do is find them! 

Full-Time Professional - V - Part-Time Hobbyist

I recently had the pleasure of working on a resume project with a talented manager, who had sent in his document for review after he had booked his consultation.  His resume looked like every other document I see, perhaps marginally worse than your typical D.I.Y. resume with spelling errors, poor use of language, no real selling features etc.

Imagine my shock when he told me that he had actually paid someone to do it for him!  Luckily, he didn't spend too much money on the first incarnation of his "professional resume".  My client had found a "resume writer" on a well known online free classified advertisement service.  The "resume writer" had a poor command of English, and produced a document that had several spelling errors and was to all intents and purposes virtually useless.

There are other operators that only offer late night or weekend appointments.  This is the calling card of someone who writes resumes "on the side" for some extra pocket money - and it usually shows.

I write resumes and perform interview coaching sessions on a full-time basis.  It's what I do, and it's what I do best!  Every project I work on, I treat as if I were compiling my own document to send off to an employer. Resume writing for me is a serious business - not something to be trivialized by amateurs and part-time pocket money pretenders!

Interview Preparation 101

Ok, so the skillful presentation of your skills and expertise on your resume has won you the interview.  What next?

1) Research the company!  Visit the website, read about their history, founders, products/services and corporate values.  Many companies will perform an additional screen of shortlisted candidates to identify those individuals with similar values to themselves.  For example, if a company is active in the community, they'll want to see that you're someone who values community service / giving time up for charitable pursuits.

2) Become an expert on yourself!  Sounds 100% obvious but believe me, one of the most fundamental questions that many people cannot answer satisfactorily is "Tell about you, your strengths and weaknesses".  In actuality, this question is a gift.  It's a license to talk about yourself.  If you're not comfortable doing that then get comfortable!  If you can't tell a company why they should hire you, they probably won't.

3) Arrive on time and go prepared!  Get there early, relax, read the literature they have at reception or study the certificates they have on the wall - it could make for conversation at some point in the interview.  Bring at least 3 copies of your resume with you along with your reference sheet.  It would surprise you the number of times I've heard of a poorly prepared hiring manager attempt to interview a candidate without having the resume in front of them.

4) Greeting & Parting!  When meeting your interviewer for the first time, smile broadly and shake their hand firmly.  When you leave, thank them for their time and state your interest in the role (if you're interested).  Employers notice these things, and sometimes actually award points for them if you're being scored.

My 2HR  interview coaching package begins with a 30 minute mock interview.  After reviewing your resume, I'll construct an angle based around the perceived weaknesses / shortcomings of your documents/career history.  I then construct your coaching session around the weaknesses in your mock interview, and finish the session with additional questions/concerns that you have about the interview process.

Like everything else - preparation is key.  If you prepare well, take the interview seriously, you'll be more likely to do yourself justice in the actual interview, and those pre-interview nerves are never as bad if you're confident in your ability to deliver strong, well rounded, strategic answers.

Who Are You Anyway?

It's a question many clients have told me they asked the selection of resume writers they canvassed when deciding who to select for their project.  Anyone visiting my website will be greeted by, among other things, my 'mugshot', and links to my biography which outlines my experience and expertise.

My background is unique in this industry. I believe that my skills, expertise and experience of recruiting, preparing, and 'selling-in' resumes to some of the most respected corporations on two continents gives me an unparalleled level of insight that I can bring to your project.

Many of my competitors cover their websites with stock photos, don't display a biography or resume samples, and prefer to hide behind a 6-week online course as the only evidence they have handled a resume other than their own.  The question I'd have and many of my clients have had is -  "Who are you anyway?".

I've come across "resume writers" who ranged from students, to the long term unemployed, "ghost-writers", and those doing it anonymously "on-the-side" so that their day-job employer can't identify them.  If you were to engage one of these anonymous firms, would you be dealing with a student, ghost writer or unemployed truck-driver turned resume writer?  You just don't know!  Either way, it's not too difficult to identify someone reticent to share details about their professional expertise.  If a writer is on the up-and-up, with expertise and experience to be proud of, they'll show you!

My clients appreciate the fact that I take this profession seriously.  This IS my day-job and I prepare each resume and cover letter as if it were my own.  It pains me that this profession is frowned upon in certain quarters, and at times, that skepticism is justified.  To that end, I have positioned my firm as the industry trailblazer, leading the way in open, honest disclosure, up-front pricing, and 100% satisfaction guarantees.

Beware - The Job Guarantee

I was speaking with a prospective client recently who asked about our "guarantee".  Our policy, per our website, is that we will work with any client for a period of two weeks post consultation in order to ensure that they are satisfied with their documents.  The fact that I've never actually had to do that is testament to the quality of product we produce.

Apparently, there is a company out there offering a cast iron guarantee that they will get you the job you're after!  I find such a statement absolutely incredible!  It wouldn't take too long a thought process to appreciate the fact that it is not credibly possible to guarantee your resume will get you the job you want, unless the resume writer was also the hiring manager!!

A hiring manager will select a candidate based on specific criteria.  If you're not even close, you won't get the job, no matter how good your resume looks!

I'd recommend being careful when dealing with any company making seemingly outlandish guarantees - at the very least - ask them specifically, how they plan to "guarantee" that another human being, in a different industry, working to set criteria, reviewing multiple resumes is guaranteed to give YOU the job!

The Screen Out

Having screened over 24,000 resumes in over a decade of recruiting and executive recruiting, I've mastered the art of (very) quickly determining the viability of any given job application.  When I was assessing an application against a specific job specification, I was looking for reasons NOT to bring you in for an interview.  

I'm still surprised by the number of clients who hadn't actually looked at the screening process through this lens.  After reviewing countless applications, with each resume blurring into the next, hiring managers become adept at finding reasons NOT to interview you.

This becomes the starting bloc for all of my resume clients.  Why wouldn't I want to interview you for this role?  At what point would I lose interest in your document and what you had to say about yourself?  How easy would it be for me to consign your resume to the shredder?  

Once we uncover the likely objections to your application, we can start to construct an outline of our strategy to take your project forward.  If we deal with this early, and build our project to address these issues head on, we start to tread the path toward securing you the all-important interview.

The reason so many job applicants fall at the first hurdle, is because they've all made it far too easy for the hiring manager to hit the delete button.

End-to-End

I received a delightful email from a former client informing me that he had secured his dream job!  His new employer is located 10 minutes from his home, are a major player in his field of specialty, and the role offers a significant increase in scope, responsibility and of course money!

The client first approached me with a job specification and requirements portfolio issued to him by an international executive recruitment firm.  The data set outlining the position requirements and ideal candidate specification was thorough, complex and demanded a candidate of the very highest caliber.  The brief went on to detail part of the recruiting strategy which sought to attract local, national and international candidates for the position.

I accepted the request  to work with my client on the project and immediately began the consultation process which was structured around the requirements of the role.  My client's resume was in need of a complete re-design and re-structure due to the fact that it didn't reflect at least 40% of his actual professional skills and experience, which upon discovery, became crucial to the overall success of his application.

Phase one focused entirely on the resume and cover letter creation, which won him an interview with the executive recruiter leading the international search.  As soon as he was notified that his application had won him an interview with the President of the hiring firm, we proceeded to phase 2 - the interview coaching session.  This proved to be invaluable, as although my client was a highly capable, intelligent and forthright individual, he had not been in an interview situation for almost a decade, and it showed!  After the mock interview we conduct as part of our 2 hour coaching session, we discussed method, structure, interviewer strategy, and what they're looking for as well as the errors made during our mock interview.

I was delighted to hear that he had dazzled the President and associates, as well as receiving his gratitude for the part Vancouver Resume Writing & Interview Coaching had played in his preparation and execution of the process.

He was a great guy to work with and I wish him well in his new role!

Quips'n'Quirks

Quick tip - do NOT make quirky quips in your cover letter!  I was contacted recently by a rather senior executive who had not been receiving any attention from her job applications.  Upon reviewing her cover letter, I uncovered the possible reason for her buzz-free blackberry.  Her cover letter was replete with quirks'n'quips - here's a modified example to give you an idea;

"I am a senior executive (with a sense of humour;) and 30 years experience (yikes!) of operating at the highest level.  I would very much appreciate an opportunity (begging bowl extended) to meet with you to discuss my suitability!  Despite my age (i feel 25!), I am a technocrat and regularly tweet on the twitter.." and so it went on - all 2 pages of it.  Although this letter is guaranteed to get passed around the department, this bears no relevance to the likelihood of being hired!

On the face of it there will be some who will think that this is refreshing - injecting a bit of personality into proceedings (the twitter bit was my favourite) and if i weren't a hiring manager I may see their point.  However, attempting to layer a cover letter with "personality" is like tap dancing on a landmine.  More often than not it will blow up in your face.  Remember - her blackberry wasn't singing.  Her strategy wasn't working.

It may seem obvious but, when you don't know the intended audience keep the "personality" for the interview.  The cover letter should focus on forming a narrative around your skills, abilities and achievements.

What Not To Say...

The "What not to say..." blogs will be dedicated to the random selection of answers to my interview coaching session questions.  Can you follow that?!

Question - What steps do you take to reduce personal stress during the working day?

What Not To Say - "I tend to Squeeze my squishy ball"

Luckily for that respondent he went on to receive a good 2 hours of interview counseling!

The Questionnaire Laid Bare

As part of the information discovery process, I usually ask clients to bring along to our meeting any additional information they feel is useful, relevant or in some other way important.  Last month, one of my clients produced an old "questionnaire" they had been asked to fill our by a resume writing firm about 8 years ago.

The first thing that struck me about the document was how impersonal it all was.  Stock questions, soliciting the inevitable stock answers, strengths, weaknesses, lists - endless lists of attributes to circle.  What i was looking at, was a template to build a template.

The end result, the resume, was as bland and uninspiring as you'd expect from such a process.  I was amazed by the blatant listing of attributes throughout the cover letter and resume without any supporting narrative to put the clients skills in context.

Here's a section from the cover letter;

"I am a great communicator, can multi-task, give and take orders, have listening skills, organizational skills, planning skills, speak french and have good computer skills".

The above extract is absolutely meaningless without context. It looks like every other D.I.Y. cover letter project out there and was clearly lifted verbatim from the questionnaire and deposited unceremoniously into the cover letter.

Is that what you really want from a process and service charged with the responsibility of demonstrating your unique qualities to a prospective hiring manager?  Templates are for the masses - let everyone else use them.

It's Good To Talk...

I've just come off the phone to a client who was weighing up his options about whether to work with me or one of our competitors.

His deliberation was in part, based around the process each firm employed en-route to gathering the information needed to complete the project. So we had a nice little chat!

Our competitor likes to employ the 'questionnaire' method. The questionnaire, I was told, would require the client to spend between one and two hours in front of his computer answering questions about his work history. After this was completed, it would be sent to the company and the document would be pieced together around the information supplied.

Our approach is entirely different. Having worked in the recruiting and staffing industry as an executive recruiter over the last 10 year gave me the opportunity (on a daily basis) to extract detailed career information from top executives in order to determine whether or not they had the skills my corporate client needed to fill a particular role.

It is the ability to extract pertinent career information by talking with clients, combined with an expertise in understanding the best way to present this information to a hiring manager, that made me such a successful recruiter. It is this same combination of skills and experience that sets us apart from our resume writing competition. Many "resume writers" have little idea of how to ask for information or converse with someone one-on-one about the detail of their work history. This is because so many of them are writing resumes 'on the side' and have virtually no relevant professional experience or they lack the confidence or skill-set to be able to do so in a one-on-one situation.

We don't ask you to fill out questionnaires because we have the ability to get the information we need by talking with you! Discussing your career history, hopes and goals with an experienced professional skilled in this process can uncover key details that will form the basis of our project outline and branding strategy.

Our process makes for an enlivened and dynamic discussion where ideas flow freely, interesting facts or accomplishments are remembered and work history 'problem areas' can be openly discussed and strategized. Such synergy cannot be realised if you're staring at a computer screen typing out standard answers to a series of mundane flat, fixed questions.

As Bob Hoskins used to say in the BT Telecom adverts aired in the U.K. - "it's good to talk". My new client agreed!

New Year! New Resume! New Job!

We've been rushed off of our feet lately by a deluge of pro-active job seekers desperate to improve their chances of landing their dream job by having a complete resume and cover letter re-work.

New Year! New Resume! New Job! seems to be the mantra, and I can only applaud them for their foresight. I was speaking to a real live-wire sales manager earlier this week and he said that over the holidays, when contemplating the new year ahead, the thought of labouring away in his current position for another 12 months cast a dark shadow over the festive celebrations. He resolved to strike out immediately after the break and commit 100% to the pursuit of a role with a better work/life balance.

Judging by the ever decreasing number of available appointments I have over the next 2 weeks, he certainly isn't the only one. That first day back to the grind on a cold January morning is usually enough to put even the most talented procrastinator into job hunt overdrive!

I've been asked if I'll blog about employee issues such as work/life balance etc this year and yes, it is on my 'to do list', although it is free time dependent. Thanks for your suggestions - keep them coming.

Happy New Year to all! I hope your career dreams come true in 2010.