Keep up to date on articles and news and subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Key words are indeed key with online resumes

On almost every day of the year the career Web site Monster.com has more than 40,000 resumes posted in its database.

Figuring out where the resumes go, how they get there and what makes the difference between getting picked up by an employer and being left in some cyber-black hole can be a daunting task.

But the days of “snail mailing” an application in response to a job opening are gone, and, according to those who design the systems recruiters and employers use to track applicants, the more you know about how to use the new technology the better prepared you will be to land the job you want.

“When you look at the technology that’s in place now, you really have to make it easy for recruiters to pick out your resume,” Eric Winegardner, director of product adoption at Monster.com, said. “The technology is so mainstream that you are really at the mercy of the recruiters who log on to these databases to find candidates.”

When recruiters go searching for candidates on databases such as Monster’s, they usually use a word-search technology to find resumes that match the terms they are using to describe ideal applicants, Winegardner said. Knowing what they are looking for often means the difference between being part of the list retrieved by these searches and being left out in the cold.

“If a recruiter was trying to find an accountant with Sarbanes-Oxley experience (the new accounting laws passed in 2002), they might enter ‘Sarbanes-Oxley,’ but they will also enter ‘SOX’ into their key-word search,” Winegardner said. “What you want to do is find out what the relevant terminology that describes your experience in your industry is and make sure you include it on your resume.”

Job searchers should also make sure they are checking in at least once a month to keep their resumes up to date and remind the Monster system that they are still looking. Most employers only search for applicants who have visited their online resume within the last month. The idea, Winegardner explained, is to keep your resume living and breathing, to make sure you are part of the searches recruiters are doing.

The rules that apply for Monster.com are mostly the same for other online applicant-tracking systems, whether those run internally by companies or other career Web sites.

“There are hundreds of companies serving this software niche, and to tell the truth they are not all that different,” said David Manaster, CEO of ERE Media, a newsletter for the human-resources industry. “Though there are lots of technical things that differentiate the software, it’s not rocket science.”

As the technology to sift through applications and track candidates develops, Manaster said, companies are trying harder to develop software that doesn’t make a mistake and miss the best talent.

“The best people with the qualifications most in demand are getting harder and harder to find,” he said. “And frankly, most of the software out there isn’t that great in parsing out the data. If I’m the kind of hot shot a company really is looking for, how much time do I have to put together the perfect resume? What employers want to make sure they are not doing is missing these people.”

Manaster also mentioned how important it is for applicants to use industry-appropriate key words for the jobs they want. He suggested getting in touch with people who have similar positions to the ones they are trying to get and asking them how they describe their jobs. He also stressed paying close attention to the words and phrases employers use when advertising a position.

“The best indications of what an employer is looking for are the words and phrases they use to describe the job,” Manaster said. “With hundreds of thousands of candidates, they are very particular in showing what they want and indicating how to respond.”

Little Known Interview Tips That Put You Over The Top

In part one of this series, we reviewed several uncommon interview preparation strategies that got us safely to the interviewer’s door, well prepared to tackle the challenges that lay ahead. This article addresses small but effective strategies to employ from the point of office entry to the interview’s conclusion.

Waiting Room Reading

Now that you’ve arrived 15 minutes early, you have some time to kill. How do we normally spend this time? We usually read from the available periodicals on the waiting room table. But remember that we’re covering the little details here. You should pay a little attention to the types of magazines you pick up in the waiting room. What if our magazines were placed out there to see which one you would pick up, perhaps trying to get a gauge on your interests? Many companies use a variety of personality assessment tactics to assist with their decision making processes.

If you notice any material on the table on the company itself, then select that one to skim through. If not, try to stick to business or industry related periodicals. Your safest option is to bring your own reading material on the company for additional interview preparation. But you want to avoid handling numerous and separate documents that can be dropped when the interviewer comes out to get you, which can be quite embarrassing.

Deadly Small Talk

A not-so-common technique used by interviewers to acquire information from you through the back door is by using the technique of pre-interview small talk. A simple question such as “How was your Christmas?” can tell an interviewer your marital status, whether or not you have children, and details about your religious beliefs, all of which are illegal for them to inquire about directly … and the interview hasn’t even begun!

Be mindful of your conversation subject matter and try not to give away every parameter of your life before the interview starts. But don’t take it the other way and become overly guarded.

Eye Contact (well, sort of)

There isn’t a single writing on interview advice that doesn’t address maintaining eye contact with the interviewer. This communicates that you are attentive and confident. But has anyone ever stared into your eyes (other than your significant other) for any significant period of time without it being a little uncomfortable?

Instead of taking a chance on staring a hole through the person who holds your career in their hands, use the “four corners technique” which entails rotating your glance every few seconds in a diamond pattern from the lower forehead, to the outside corner of one eye, to the nose, to the outside of the other eye, and back to the lower forehead.

The attentive effect remains while the stare-down effect disappears, reducing the occurrence of interviewer discomfort. It may be what makes your interviewer communicate to the other decision-makers “I just felt more comfortable with this candidate than I did for the others.”

Sell It!

Let’s bypass the tips about the rest of the interview process, namely taking notes, preparing questions for the interviewer, and avoiding long-winded answers, all subjects you’ve read about in the other numerous interview articles you’ve read. So, let’s skip right to the end of the interview.

Perhaps the most important strategy you can employ in you interview is to close strong with an excellent summary of what you can do for the interviewer’s team or the company in general. As part of your interview preparation process, you should consider the strengths and attributes you possess that best fit the job description, and develop a closing that delivers a convincing argument for giving you the position. The idea is to leave a memorable impression on the interviewer that lasts through the evaluation process.

Remember: preparation, contingency planning, and confidence. Now, make it happen!

Over 40 And Considering A Career Change?

Making a career change no matter what your age is can be hard, but when your 40, making a career change can lead to sleepless nights and stressful days. As you get older you have more responsibilities to consider. Not only is your age a factor, but your level of skills, education, training, family, and finances have to be taken into account when making a career change.

If you are thinking about making a career change after 40, don’t do it alone. You need the support of the people close to you both physically and mentally. When you change careers not only are you changing your job, but your life as well. Having a strong support system will make your career change easier on both you and your family.

Be sure to make a self assessment of your knowledge and skills, or take a career test. You need to know what your strength’s and weakness are and in what areas. This will help you to figure out what areas you need to work on in order to pursue a new career.

After you have completed your self assessment make a list of new jobs and careers that you would be interested in. Include the job description, level of education needed, any requirements, salary, and if there are any advancements available with the job. By comparing your self assessment test to your list of career opportunities you will be able to decide which jobs provide the best career possibilities for you.

Be sure you are making a career change for the right reasons. If you’re having problems in other areas of your life, just changing your job or career is not the answer. And don’t change careers just because you think you can make more money. If you’re new career doesn’t work out, you’ll find yourself right back where you started.

Choose a career that you have a passion for, one that will motivate and stimulate you. This will help keep your interest up which is necessary in order to learn.

Draw up a plan that you can follow while pursuing your new career. Include your finances, resumes, continuing education, and if you need to maintain a job while making your career change. And remember to make your own health and happiness a priority.

Making a career change after 40 does not have to be as hard and dramatic as you think. More and more people are changing their careers in order to lead a happier, healthier life. If you go about it the right way changing your career can be not only fun, but gratifying as well.

Does It All Come Down to the Resume?

I got a call from Hanah Cho the other day. Hanah covers workplace issues for the Baltimore Sun and she was wondering, what are really the most important things to know about a resume. Sure, there’s a ridiculous amount of resume advice out there, including in my new book. But if I could only give you five pieces of advice?

1) Turn your resume into a sales document. Don’t just list what you did at your old job–many candidates applying for the positions you’re interested in will have the same experience you do. Instead, tell the reader not just what you did, but what the results were and how you did it better than anyone else. Your resume should make it clear why you should be called in for an interview instead of someone who has very similar experience.

2) Don’t ignore format, but keep it simple. Most companies will scan your resume regardless of how you submit it and who it goes to. Left justify everything and use simple fonts–don’t try to put dates on the left and your experience in the middle. When your resume is scanned in, it will be hard to read and a recruiter might ignore it.

3) Use a profile. Put a header at the top such as “Experienced Marketing Manager” and then 2-3 sentences below it that detail who you are, what you bring to the table and what you’re looking for. Make sure you tailor this on every resume to the position you’re applying for (and make sure the position is a good, solid fit with your experience).

4) Don’t include every, single thing you have ever done. Your resume is a commercial for who you are. It should showcase the items that will matter most to the person reading it. You should include all jobs (unless completely irrelevant) but choose 3-4 bullets to highlight the most relevant experiences from that job. Again, tailor this every time to apply for a new position or send a resume.

5) Don’t go over two pages. If you have more than five to seven years of work experience, you can go over one page. But if you do go to two pages, make sure you are experienced enough to warrant that second page.

For Interviews, Appearance and Attitude Are Crucial

One snowy morning several years ago, Alan De Back was filling in for the receptionist. The usual greeter, who had a long commute, was running late. Just then a job candidate arrived.

“Without even saying ‘hello’ or ‘good morning,’ he barked, ‘Get Mr. XYZ for me. Where’s the coffee?’ ” He obviously thought that I was the lowly receptionist, and didn’t know that I was actually a manager,” said De Back, who now heads a search firm in Burke, Alan De Back Learning & Communications.

From The Post’s Print Edition

* All of Today’s Business Articles
* Today’s Business Front Image

More on washingtonpost.com

* Markets News and Research
* Technology Section

Save & Share Article What’s This?
Digg
Google

del.icio.us
Yahoo!

Reddit
Facebook

The brusque behavior made De Back wonder how the applicant would treat administrative staff on a regular basis. That means this job seeker made a bad first impression — a common error among those who are so focused on impressing the interviewer that they forget to show others respect and to project a winning attitude from the start.

Seemingly small details at the outset of an interview can help or hurt as much, if not more, than the time spent discussing the job itself. A genuine smile, confident gait and firm handshake, experts say, are among the qualities that can set up the interview course for success.

Job candidates should realize that an interview actually begins before the formal sit-down exchange. “In large companies, the interviewer will often greet the job seeker in the lobby of the building and escort them back to their office,” said Anna Colton, senior director of technology recruiting at HireStrategy, a staffing firm in Reston.

“This could take a few seconds, or up to several minutes — and even longer if elevators are involved. What happens during this ‘pre-interview’ period can be as critical as the interview itself. The last thing that anyone wants is uncomfortably dead silence.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Key words come up big in Monster-era resumé process

On almost every day of the year the career Web site Monster.com has more than 40,000 résumés posted in its database.

Figuring out where the résumés go, how they get there, and what makes the difference between getting picked up by an employer and being left in some cyber black hole can be a daunting task.

But the days of snail mailing an application in response to a job opening are gone, and, according to those who design the systems recruiters and employers use to track applicants, the more you know about how to use the new technology the better prepared you will be to land the job you want.

“When you look at the technology that’s in place now you really have to make it easy for recruiters to pick out your résumé,” Eric Winegardner, director of product adoption at Monster.com, said. “The technology is so mainstream that you are really at the mercy of the recruiters who log on to these databases to find candidates.”

When recruiters go searching for candidates on databases such as Monster’s they usually use a word search technology to find résumés that match the terms they are using to describe their ideal applicants, Winegardner said. Knowing what they are looking for often means the difference between being part of the list retrieved by these searches and being left out in the cold.

“If a recruiter was trying to find an accountant with Sarbanes-Oxley experience [the new accounting laws passed in 2002], they might enter Sarbanes-Oxley but they will also enter SOX into their key word search,” Winegardner said. “What you want to do is find out what the relevant terminology that describes your experience in your industry is and make sure you include it on your résumé.”

Job searchers should also make sure they are checking in at least once a month to keep their résumés up to date and remind the Monster system that they are still looking. Most employers only search for applicants who have visited their online résumé within the last month. The idea, Winegardner explained, is to keep your résumé living and breathing, to make sure you are part of the searches recruiters are doing.

The rules that apply for Monster.com are mostly the same for other online applicant-tracking systems, whether those run internally by companies or other career Web sites.

“There are hundreds of companies serving this software niche, and to tell the truth they are not all that different,” said David Manaster, CEO of ERE Media, a newsletter for the human-resources industry. “Though there are lots of technical things that differentiate the software, it’s not rocket science.”

As the technology to sift through applications and track candidates develops, Manaster said, companies are trying harder to develop software that doesn’t make a mistake and miss the best talent.

“The best people with the qualifications most in demand are getting harder and harder to find,” he said. “And frankly most of the software out there isn’t that great in parsing out the data. If I’m the kind of hot shot a company really is looking for, how much time do I have to put together the perfect résumé? What employers want to make sure they are not doing is missing these people.”
Read the rest of this entry »

5 letters to land job

In a fast-paced, Internet-laced world of job searching, a seemingly archaic yet extremely effective tool is often forgotten: the cover letter.

You know — that actual piece of paper on which you brag a little, kiss up a little and lay out as un-desperately as possible why you want the job.
Well, there’s an update to that traditional cover letter, a wave of letters meant to quickly catch the attention of not just employers, but all sorts of people who can help in the job search.

Some call them next-generation letters, and types range from high-impact networking letters to personal branding letters. They can be used as an attention-grabbing attachment to resumes or by people who just want to keep their options open.
“I’ve heard of cover letters, and I write cover letters,” said Rhonda Miller, an out-of-work dental hygienist. “They always seem boring to me.”
No more bore. Take a look at five letters you can write and then send (in an envelope with a stamp!) to boost your chances of landing a job.

1 Personal Branding Letter
Think of this as an advertising campaign for yourself. It is written to communicate your personal brand and the value your brand brings to an organization.
“This is basically your unique skill set, what you have that is different,” says Wendy Enelow, a career consultant.

Some people create logos, slogans and taglines. Enelow gives an example. At the top of the page in bold letters write who you are, like “Strategic Health-Care Executive.” Underneath that put a slogan: “Changing the Way Health Care Works.” Then in several boxes you might break out your brand extension, listing specific skills. Personal Branding Letter

2 High-impact Networking Letter
Break open the Rolodex or BlackBerry and rediscover your network. Write each person in the network a letter letting him or her know you are looking for a job. In return, you will get job leads and other contacts.

“When you write these letters, cut to the chase,” says Enelow, co-author of “Cover Letter Magic.” “Tell me instantly what you bring to the table.”
For example: “I am a senior-level sales professional with 20 years’ experience in pharmaceuticals.” Tell them you will follow up so they don’t feel obligated. They may have a lead in mind when you contact them.High-impact Networking Letter

3 Reconnecting Letter
This is similar to a high-impact networking letter but reaches beyond your current network. You send it to people with whom you have lost touch — perhaps a former boss, a company you interviewed with five years ago or even an old hairdresser who knows a lot of people.

This letter isn’t as direct as the high-impact one. It is simply a way to reconnect, let people know what you are doing and that you are looking to change jobs. Enelow says it’s important to remember when writing this letter that you offer something as well.
“Ask: ‘If there is anything I can help you with, let me know,’ ” she says. “It’s all about the two-way street.” Reconnecting Letter

4 Traditional Cover Letter
This letter typically expands on the bullet points of your resume, telling the reader your assets and aspirations. But just because it is in a traditional format doesn’t mean it can’t stand out.

Recruiters suggest you personalize the letter for each company, rather than sending out a generic form. Research the organization and sprinkle that knowledge throughout the letter. Find the name of the person who will be hiring and send it to her as well as the human resources department.

“The job search is all about competitive distinction, how you can position yourself to stand out in the crowd,” Enelow says. Traditional Cover Letter

5 Career-Update Letter
After you have accepted a job, send this letter to people in your network, whether they helped you land the job or not.

This will help keep your network live.

In the letter, thank them for their help, let them know you’ve accepted a job and remind them again that if any good opportunities open up to keep you in mind. You never know when your dream job will pop up.

“You always should leave the door open,” says Enelow.
And be sure to ask again if there is anything you can do to help them.

Top Five Résumé Writing Mistakes
I
Velcome. Velcome. I can help you with your job search. Having hired many assistants over the years (most of mine keep dropping dead), I haf noticed what vorks on résumés.

One thing I haf noticed is that most résumés suck… and I know a thing or two about sucking. If you want to get a job faster, stop writing your résumé according to old standards that never worked.

Don’t worry. I’m not going to leave you in the dark. Sink your fangs into these stories and see if they sound familiar.

Lillian sat down to write her résumé again. Graduation was only two weeks away and she was ready to get a paying job. Even though she knew that she had excellent communication skills and that she was a team player, it didn’t feel right to use these phrases when she knew that employers read most of the same things on every one’s résumé. How can she present her qualifications and training without sounding trite or boastful?

Dan knew that being a freelancer meant that there would be slow times, but the current slow time was turning into an eternity and he needed to get work fast. The art director looked at his résumé for only a few moments and then shook her head no as she handed it back to him. She said, “Clearly you have some experience at a lot of things, but I can’t figure out from your résumé what you do. I really need some one who specializes in digital illustration.” Why can’t people figure out vhat he does from his résumé?

Jennifer was ready to work again after staying at home with her daughter, Haley, for the first three and a half years of her life. Before Haley, Jennifer was moving up rapidly in her animation career. Now Jennifer thought she needed to start over again, but she was afraid that the three and half year gap in her career would keep her from getting any good jobs. How can she be honest on her résumé and not have the gap hurt her?

These are all true stories. Few people truly enjoy writing their own résumé. Some people are uncomfortable writing anything about themselves. Others don’t know what to put or they’re unsure about the format. Still others use word processing templates or do it the way they were taught in school and the results are disastrous. You can have a résumé that gets you an interview if you just avoid biting into the Top Five Résumé Writing Mistakes.

Top Five Résumé Writing Mistakes

No job title at the top of the résumé.

Too much irrelevant information.

Presentation of work experience does not show qualifications effectively.

Dates create an unfavorable impression.

Objective statement states what you want from the company not what how you can advance the company’s goals.
Read the rest of this entry »

To bloom, build buzz around yourself

Forget the idea that networking is a job-hunting tool. Networking is the job hunt.

But networking is not just passing out your business card and e-mailing your friends’ friend. Networking is making yourself buzz-worthy so people want to be connected with you.

This is not the old networking that celebrated extroverts and crushed introverts. Building buzz celebrates the diligent information broker and crushes the relentless self-promoter. Build buzz for yourself by processing information in new ways and connecting people and ideas in ways that are interesting and provide new experiences.

Here are four things to remember when you want to build buzz:

1. Be known for good work. This is the most powerful tool in your career. Even if you start with no reputation and no connections, it’s not unrealistic to get known for doing outstanding work.

“If you’re great, people will notice you,” says Dana Zemack, founder of Zemack PR & Communications.

David Weekly is a programmer who has built such a strong reputation for having good ideas that popular blogs such as Slashdot, BoingBoing, and Lifehacker reliably post links to his new products.

“I want to build a reputation as someone who comes up with interesting things and tries to be useful,” Weekly said. “I use my reputation as a launch platform for my ideas.”

His current company is PBWiki, which offers a service that gives people a simple way to collaborate online, in a wiki, for example.When he announced the company he got 1,000 customers on the first day, just from being mentioned on those blogs.

2. Contribute to the community. For Weekly, building buzz is not a single project, but an ongoing commitment to giving quality work to a larger community. And this should be how you think about yourself, as well.

The days of just pushing plain old information out to an audience are ending. Stories, not raw facts, are what people can relate to. “A great way to connect with people is by way of stories,” says Zemack. “When you build experiences or create a story around a something, then it becomes more engaging and personal.”

You can do this many ways but maybe the easiest is to add your comments to blogs. This is a way to broker information in a useful way, sort of like inviting yourself to a party, but it’s OK to do so, as long as you make relevant contributions.

Also, give away good information. There is so much information available that hoarding it will get you nowhere. People will just look elsewhere to get ideas. Instead, share as much as you can with the community, to build your reputation into what you’d like to be known for. “Information is not the main ingredient. It’s knowing how to enact it,” says BL Ochman, author of The What’s Next blog.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tips for making 2007 a successful year at work

• Let employees in on the game plan. “Spend time with your staff discussing company goals,” said Al Saverino, regional vice president for staffing firm Robert Half International’s operations in Woodbridge, N.J. “Without having a constant dialogue, you miss out on the best ideas.”

• Hire the best. “The first tenet of management is to get work done through others,” said Martin Yate, author of the Knock ’Em Dead series of books on workplace development. “Learn as much as you can about the interview and selection procedure.”

• Understand your market. “The most important questions for small-business owners are: ‘What is my market telling me about my business?’ and ‘What do I need to do with my staff to be nimble and ahead of what the market is telling me?’ ” said Bernadette Kenny, senior vice president of Human Resources for staffing firm Adecco.

• Be prepared for a disaster. The Department of Homeland Security recommends companies develop and rehearse a game plan. Consider how you would reach employees, re-route work and access computer systems. Perhaps your company needs a back-up supplier or storage site. Make it possible for employees to work from home, and cross-train core workers to pick up various duties.

• Take risks. “You have to be brave and courageous,” said Beth Schoenfeldt, co-owner of Ladies Who Launch, an Internet-based consulting business for women entrepreneurs. “Do something that scares you every day, and then push yourself to do more. You can’t play it safe or you’ll get … passed by everyone else.”

• Assess the market. Know the competition.

• Focus. Richard St. John, author of Stupid, Ugly, Unlucky and Rich, says “It’s OK to dabble when you start out, but you need to focus on one thing and do it well.”

• Serve. “Service is thinking about others and working on their behalf to deliver something they want, need or value,” St. John said. “Success isn’t about me, me, me.”

• Perform a career checkup. Lynn Brown of outplacement firm Right Management in Parsippany, N.J., says the new year is “an ideal time to take a realistic look at where you are now, where you expect to be going forward, and how satisfied you are with both.”

• Should I stay or should I go? The Society for Human Resources Management found that nearly three-fourths of employees are looking for a new job. Yate, the author and consultant, suggests that those in the hunt spend at least a half-hour each week learning about the art of the job search. “Start recognizing yourself as a financial entity that has to survive in the work force for at least a half a century,” he said.

• Update skills. “Ask yourself, ‘Do I need to learn a new computer skill or management skill this year?’ ” said Adecco’s Kenny. “Create a personal learning agenda.”

• Present yourself professionally. Attire matters. Challenger, Gray & Christmas says it’s time to cover up or remove tattoos.

• Show up for company functions. Don’t skip the boss’s annual picnic.