Employment Digest

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When hiring managers publish a job opening, they’re looking for qualified applicants. The process of identifying and screening the best candidate can often be a chore. How can you make the most of current hiring practices? The answer is easier than you think. Make sure your resume answers these questions and you’ll rise to the top: Who are you? What can you do for my company? How can you be contacted?

Who Are You?

This topic includes your name and any professional designations you have obtained, such as an MBA, Ph.D., RN, MD, or any of a number of professional distinctions. By including these designations with your name in the header of your resume, you are providing the hiring manager with immediate and valuable data regarding your candidacy and career level.

The manner in which you present your name is also important. Including familial designations such Joe Jones, III may very well be seen as pretentious by a hiring manager. Using a “Jr.” after your name may be applauded by your family, but it could give a hiring manager the wrong first impression - that you are young and inexperienced. Caution is always advised in these instances.

A quick word about the use of nicknames. Nicknames can work for you or against you given the circumstances. If you were named “Kendrick,” but go by “Ken,” use of your nickname would be appropriate as Ken is more modern and sounds more youthful than Kendrick.

However, if you were christened “Barbara,” but are known as “Babs” - even at work - it would be best to err on the conservative side during your job search, especially if the targeted industry is a traditional one such as banking, accounting, or education. Once hired, you can then decide whether using your nickname is appropriate.

What can you do for my company?

The purpose of reading a resume is largely to determine what you can do for a particular hiring manager and the company he works for. What makes you unique? How can the company be sure that you would provide significant value?

When forming your resume, put yourself in the shoes of a hiring manager who has to look at dozens of resumes. Be sure to highlight your skills, industry expertise, or knowledge that sets you apart from all other applicants. Place this information at the very top of document. Don’t make hiring managers search for this all important information.

How You Can Be Contacted?

This data should be instantly obvious to a hiring manager. Your phone number and email address are your most important contact data. For easy access by hiring managers, phone numbers and emails should be bolded and in a larger type than the physical address, as hiring managers rarely, if ever, contact a successful candidate by “snail” mail.

A quick word about phone numbers. Although you may be tempted to list numerous phone numbers, including fax numbers, don’t.

Never include a work number even if your boss knows you’re searching for another position as this sends the wrong message to a potential employer. He or she will wonder about your loyalty and whether you’ll be using company time at your new job to speak to prospective employers.

Never include cell phone numbers because you may just be contacted while you’re in traffic which brings intrusive background noise, or where the phone signal is weak which could irritate a busy hiring manager.

Stand out from other candidates by answering the simple questions of who you are, what you can do for the company you are applying for, and basic contact information. Make this information easy to discern and you’ll have the edge you so desperately need in a challenging labor market.

Michael Fleischner is the Managing Director of ResumeEdge which provides resume writing and Internet marketing expert. He has appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media.

<a xhref="http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/03_23-4/BUS">When job shifts loom, it can pay to keep open mind</a>

After his systems-engineer position was outsourced in late 2006, Korey Reid took his career in a new direction. He's now a sales manager at a company that provides computer-based training - a job he got by leveraging the expertise he gained during his 15 years in technology. As the economy slows and job losses mount, many workers in fields like financial services, real estate and the auto industry are scrambling for a Plan B. Contemplating the odds that a career switch may be necessary can be daunting. But if you're in a sinking industry or staring down a corporate layoff, there's good news.

With some creative attention to your resume and thought about where your talents can best be used, many skills are fairly easy to transfer from one profession to another, career experts say.

Mr. Reid, for example, said he thought of joining CBT Nuggets LLC in Eugene, Ore., because he had been a longtime customer and was adept at using the company's products. To land the job, he pointed this out and highlighted the communications skills he had gained from working on teams at employers like Hewlett-Packard Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp.

Financial careers

Changing careers also may be on the minds of many financial-services professionals. Several investment banks have already made significant job cuts, including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. Meanwhile, some top industry executives foresee layoffs as high as 20 percent for Wall Streeters.

One possible safe harbor: A consulting job at a financial-communications or investor-relations firm, said Roy Cohen, an executive coach in New York. It's a job that typically involves helping corporate clients prepare and publicize their financial news. And given their experience receiving that news, financial analysts, equity researchers and other Wall Street professionals are likely to be adept at determining what information is appropriate to divulge, Mr. Cohen said.

CMF Associates LLC, a small financial-consulting firm in Philadelphia, recently hired two people from large financial-services companies, said Tom Bonney, managing director. Both saw their responsibilities shrinking and were anticipating pink slips, he said.

Meanwhile, for Mr. Bonney, it was an opportunity to recruit talent with the financial savvy and strong communications skills needed to help the firm's middle-market clients identify and evaluate business acquisitions. "If you work in the financial-services market, you are careful, and I needed people who have good judgment," he said.

For Wall Street traders, switching to the buy side at hedge funds, insurance companies and investment-management firms may be an option, said Mr. Cohen. The analytical and quantitative skills traders bring to the table, along with their knowledge of capital markets, position them for success in evaluating securities, he said. Switching to an analyst job in risk management could also make sense.

"Risk management has a lot to do with identifying potential problems, and that's what traders are always doing instinctively," Mr. Cohen said.

Demand for professionals in this niche is healthy and expected to intensify toward the end of the second quarter, adds Michael Woodrow, president of Risk Talent Associates LLC, an executive-search firm. Last year, the small recruitment agency filled roughly 40 senior-level risk-management positions.

Real estate

In the real-estate industry, the subprime mess, overbuilding, underwater mortgages and falling home prices are making it increasingly difficult to thrive in sales. But real-estate professionals tend to be salespeople at heart and the market for sales aces is growing, so making a switch to a sales role in more robust industries such as insurance, pharmaceuticals and computer software is usually possible, said Jay Hargis, founder and managing partner of Talent Insight Group, a human-resources consulting firm. In the corporate world, these jobs go by titles like account manager and client-services manager. A real-estate agent's experience in analyzing markets, building customer relationships and closing deals is highly applicable, said Mr. Hargis.

Business development is another avenue that makes sense for real-estate professionals, noted Mr. Hargis, who is also a human-resources adjunct professor at Suffolk University in Boston. These jobs involve identifying and securing new customers - tasks that are routine for agents who seek out homeowners in need of professional support. Almost every company that sells products or services will have business-development positions, said Mr. Hargis.

Chubb Corp. frequently recruits real-estate industry refugees and others for jobs in underwriting and customer service, said Val Aguirre, senior vice president for talent acquisition at the insurance company. Their financial acumen and communications skills prepare people with a real-estate background to articulate and negotiate insurance contracts with clients, she said.

Slumping sales in the auto industry have prompted many U.S. vehicle and parts makers to trim their work forces in recent years. Earlier this year, General Motors Corp. announced it would offer buyout packages to 74,000 workers. Meanwhile, Chrysler LLC is attempting to shed 10,000 workers through incentives by April 1. The moves have affected both line workers and white-collar professionals at auto makers and their suppliers.

Manufacturing

But several manufacturing sectors, including heavy equipment, consumer products and petroleum, are healthy and expanding, said Rick Slayton, president of Slayton Search Partners, an executive-search firm based in Chicago. While companies serving these markets produce different goods, they have enough similarities to the auto makers to make for a smooth transition. Many are complex, global organizations operating under tight profit margins, he said. As a result, workers skilled in common business functions such as finance, procurement, logistics, human resources and general management are likely to find comparable jobs. And floor workers can often transition into other line jobs.

Gas Station TV, a company that sets up and programs televisions at gasoline pumps, recently recruited three people who were laid off from companies that service the auto industry. They had worked in information technology, accounting and marketing, and their skills "translated incredibly well," said David Leider, the 2-year-old company's chief executive. No additional training was required, he added.

Some career changes can mean less pay. Or you might find yourself in need of additional training or course work to make your way back to the level you were at before. Mr. Reid, the technology professional turned salesman, said he accepted a small pay cut.

But switching careers brought him great satisfaction.

<a xhref="http://www.gazette.com/articles/image_34544___article.html/managing_online.html">Managing your online image</a>

Miguel Merino's online resume has the usual rundown of work experience and education. But the University of Miami senior music performance major takes it a step further by letting visitors listen to his tracks, read critics' reviews, see a list of upcoming gigs and watch videos of his performances.

"It's the first time I've had my own Web site that I've put some work into," said Merino, 22. And it's worth the $20 a month as a personal promotion tool, he says: "It's super important."

Merino was pushed to create the site, migimusic.com, because of a class assignment. But multimedia resumes work for more careers than those in the performing arts.

Recruiters say having a professional online presence is becoming more crucial. Vital bits of information on candidates are found through Internet searches as the market shifts to passive recruitment, and Google searches as background checks have become common in the hiring process.

Paper and electronic resumes are not extinct, but they are only the beginning. Getting a job offer may depend on social network profiles, personal Web sites, blogs and YouTube videos. It's about your online footprint and the management of your personal brand.

Joe Laratro, presidentelect of South Florida Interactive Marketing Association, has been hearing the term "reputation management" tossed around recently in marketing circles.

Do you know what comes up when you do a Google search on your name? Reputation management is getting the links you want people to see to show up on top. "You don't want someone searching your name and seeing you passed out drunk somewhere," Laratro said.

And if you think bosses aren't searching for information about you, think again. A November 2007 survey by career media company Vault reports that 44 percent of employers are logging on to sites such as MySpace and Facebook to examine the profiles of job candidates, and 39 percent have looked up the profile of a current employee.

"There's no doubt that myself and my team certainly scour the Internet for the past experiences of an individual," said Dan Alpert, a manager at the digital marketing services firm Avenue A Razorfish, and SFIMA president.

"You want to be very sensitive to what type of brand you put forward - one's own personal brand identity. If it's not tasteful, it shouldn't be online."

But you don't have to be a Web whiz to create a professional online identity. Linked-In.com is a social network that revolves around making business connections and updating resumes. Creating a profile there is a small step in boosting your online professional appearance.

"If you are in the professional world and you want yourself to be seen by the best companies out there, using a social networking site is almost as important as having a degree," said Dion Taylor, an account manager at Technisource, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., recruiting firm.

About 30 percent to 40 percent of the resumes Taylor's department gets have some sort of Web link, and he says clients are clicking on those links. He's also seeing more people turn in video resumes. Many of them, however, are lousy and can be risky.

"Most of the ones we see are just YouTubeish. They put on a shirt and tie. My name is Bob. My strengths are this," Taylor said. "I think a lot of people miss the mark with them."

Recruiters interviewed have all said the same thing: Having a video resume alone doesn't make you more likable or stand out more. If anything, it can be risky.

Charles Caulkins, managing partner at employment law firm Fisher & Phillips in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., lets his corporate clients know that by accepting videos or photos they open themselves up to the possibility of accusations of discrimination based on looks.

He added that having applicants fill out a standard application makes it faster to review them all.

Videos, he said, could be a deterrent to a busy recruiter who may think, "Now I have to click on this video. How long is it? Are they going to get to the point?"

"I think HR people for the most part are sticking with the tried-and-true, sticking with the paper resumes or electronic PDFs," Caulkins said.

VisualCV.com, a site that hosts free multimedia resumes with videos, suggests in its tips guide that an online portfolio shouldn't take the place of a traditional paper resume and application. Louise Kursmark, author of the guide and president of Best Impression Career Services, wrote it's best to think of an online resume as an add-on for networking and a relationship builder, so bias shouldn't be a concern.

Debra Bathurst's human relations team at Oasis Outsourcing in West Palm Beach, Fla., sifts through social networks when head hunting, especially because the market has shifted to passive candidate recruitment, she said.

"We would be behind if we weren't using LinkedIn or ZoomInfo," Bathurst said. But she added that much of her candidate base still comes from job board sites and employee referrals.

INTERNET OPTIONS

There are two sides to regulating your online reputation. For starters, if you have a social network showcasing party pictures and friends posting crude inside jokes on a message board, censor it. Not everyone has the attitude of "People know it's just a social profile." Recruiters are searching for what pops up about you and judging you on it. Make sure those privacy settings are enabled, so only close friends can see everything about you.

And if you don't have a profile on a social network, what are you waiting for? It's easy to create a professional-looking online presence at no cost:

- LinkedIn.com is a social network focused around the professional world. The site reports that there are 19 million profiles. Profiles can be simple and list work and school experiences, and you connect with other business acquaintances. People you are linked with can write recommendations on your profile.

- Start a blog. Sites such as Blogger.com (run by Google) or WordPress.com let you create one for free. Just pick a topic that is relevant to your professional life and write in it often. Don't feel pressured that it has to have 1,000 readers a day. It's OK if only your best friend reads it. If nothing else, it's something you can be proud of a recruiter finding when they do a search on your name.

- VisualCV.com gives you the tools to create a free multimedia-filled online resume. The site lets you upload videos, charts and other documents to showcase your portfolio of work.

- If you want to give yourself a crash course in Web design and HTML language, there are free tutorial sites such as w3schools.com and htmldog.com.

<a xhref="http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2008/03/24/2008-03-24_have_a_working_plan_to_cope_with_layoff.html">Have a working plan to cope with layoff</a>

It's a frightening topic, but the sudden collapse of Bear Stearns showed once again that anyone can find themselves out of a job, no matter how much they earn or how talented they are.

Most workers just can't control all the aspects of their employment. You can work hard and do your job well, but the fact is there are an enormous amount of jobs out there that are dependent on market conditions. My advice: Always be prepared.

Regardless of what your position is or who your employer is, get yourself financially and emotionally prepared as best you can. If you unexpectedly get laid off, you have to be ready to assess, regroup and move forward.

For advice on how to do this, I turned to the author and consumer financial expert Mary Hunt. Her Web site, www.debtproofliving.com, offers a wealth of experience and insight on this topic. (She also is a financial contributor to www.FindingWhatMatters.com, a Web site created for women trying to move ahead in their careers and seeking balance in their lives. FindingWhatMatters was created by Carolyn & Company Media.)

Hunt has developed a systematic plan to help someone in this situation get his/her best footing for moving forward:

Negotiate

When the ax falls, get the best deal you can. At a minimum, ask for extended pay and benefits, and payment for unused vacation time. Assuming your performance had nothing to do with your dismissal, get a solid recommendation letter.

Assess your finances

You may have unemployment benefits, a lump sum payout from your ex-employer a severance package and options regarding health care insurance. It's important to gather this information fully so you know exactly what you have to work with and what you must do to activate these benefits.

Delay paying off debt

Whether it is your final paycheck or a severance payment, hoard cash. Use it only for living expenses, and do what you can to make it last. During this uncertain time, you may want to pay the minimum required. If you've been prepaying your mortgage principal, pull back to only the amount required. Until you regain a source of steady income, you need cash on hand.

Don't seek credit

Do not extend yourself anew. Today's credit is tomorrow's debt. Additional debt is something you definitely do not need to take on. Without a source of income, it can pile up then squash you.

Working routine

Effective immediately, your new job consists of getting a new job. Dress, get ready for work, Monday through Friday. Set up a work space at home and put in regular hours. Update your resume and gather letters of recommendation. Uncover all new career possibilities and tackle them. Network use any and all contacts to search all avenues. Keep good records, follow up on any leads and set goals.

Stay positive

As hard as it is, find as many ways as you can to stay motivated and optimistic. While it's a struggle at times, if not all the time, you'll need energy and confidence to achieve your No. 1 goal: Landing a new job that's worthy of your talent.

Your Money columnist Carolyn Kepcher, author of the best-selling business book, "Carolyn 101," is the former "Apprentice" star who thrived working for one of America's toughest bosses. She's now CEO of Carolyn & Company Media (www.carolynandco.com), an enterprise created by and for career women.

It's easy to think that if we go through all the steps when looking for a new job such as searching for ads, sending resumes with cover letters, and landing an interview, then we're home free. Unfortunately, it's rarely that simple. It happens often that all of these are flawless, and the applicant is a very good candidate for the job, but the interview flops. What happens? Probably something as simple as ignoring one important step: understanding the body language of the interviewer and using body language to reinforce your excellent resume.

It's not uncommon for a person to say one thing while sending an entirely different message with his body language. If you pay close enough attention, you can tell when a person is not telling the truth. There are tell-tale signs in his movements, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions.

Taking the time to understand the dynamics of body language may be the best weapon in your arsenal for getting the job you want. You need to know that some companies hire body language experts to help them make the best possible selections. Most interviewers have some training in body language, so it's in your best interest to have at least a cursory understanding of it.

Facial Expressions

Is the interviewer smiling? He may be signaling that he is friendly-even that he is supportive of your application. On the other hand, be wary if the person is smiling too much-while he is talking, for example. He may be hiding something. Maybe he already knows that another candidate has been selected and he is just going through the motions with you. Smiling from time to time is a good sign, though. It's an indication that the person is being himself and is probably not hiding anything.

The most important clues will be in the eyes. A shifty-eyed person is not to be trusted. Does the interviewer make eye contact with you? That's a good sign that he is receptive to you. Even so, making eye contact and holding it are two different things. If the interviewer holds eye contact too long, he may be trying to put you on the defensive.

Movements

When two people are talking, and one keeps looking away, it's a sure sign of lack of interest in what the other one is saying. Ear- or chin-scratching and playing with an ear also indicate either a lack of interest or disbelief. It would be a good time to begin to take action and try to make yourself seem more believable.

Crossed arms send a not-so-subtle signal. It indicates defense, but it also sets up a symbolic barrier. Has the interview turned combative? It might be a good time to lighten up a bit.

The face is also a good barometer of the mind. A blank face indicates either hostility or that the person is thinking about something else-perhaps what he wants to say next.

Using Body Language to Get the Job

Practice reading body language in the people around you until it becomes natural. But don't go overboard. If you are so preoccupied with this part of the interview, you may not do well on the other parts. Even so, don't fold your arms; control your smiling so that you are using it only in those instances where it increases confidence in you; look into the interviewer's eyes, but do not hold the contact too long. Don't look away from the interviewer.

In the long run, being scrupulously honest makes it easier for you to put forth the best body language because you won't need to hide anything. Have a reality session with yourself before you go into the interview. Go in confident and real and use what you know about body language to read your interviewer.

Carl Yorke is an experienced sales manager and has recruited many people at all levels. If you are looking for practical advice on how to improve your interview skills please visit -http://www.theinterviewhandbook.com

Left a job? Do a rollover. By Philip Brewer - Liferemix.net

Your previous job is no place to leave your retirement savings

I saw this poster on the window of a store-front brokerage firm office near the grocery store. Although the firm in question has an obvious self-interest in getting you to consolidate your investments with them, the underlying message is a good one.

As long as you keep working for your employer, you generally don't have the option to move your 401(k) money. But, with the economy the way it is, there's a steady supply of people with former employers. In most cases, if you leave your employer, you'll want to roll your retirement savings out of your employer's plan and into a "rollover IRA." (A rollover IRA is an ordinary IRA, except that the fund manager keeps track of the fact that the source of the money is from a rollover, which preserves your ability to roll it into a future employer's 401(k), if you want to.) Reasons to move

There are a lot of reasons to move your 401(k) (or other similar account) when you leave your employer. Customer service

The biggest is simply that your ex-employer isn't interested in providing a service to you. They may be perfectly happy letting you leave your money in the plan–that spreads the costs of the plan over that many more dollars–but they're not in the business of providing customer service to ex-employees.

They're not really in the business of providing customer service to their current employees either, but they are constantly looking for the cheapest way to keep their employees satisfied enough to hold turnover to a manageable level. Providing adequate customer service for the retirement plan can be more cost effective than, for example, raises–but ex-employees don't fit into the calculation at all.

If you go with a rollover IRA from one of the major fund families, such as Vanguard, Fidelity, or American Century, you'll be getting your customer service from someone whose job it is to provide good service to its customers–and you'll be one of those customers. Cost

An awful lot of employer-sponsored retirement plans are high-cost affairs. That's simply because the company usually outsources the plan, and usually outsources it to some operator that comes in and does a hard-sell of a turn-key operation. The plan looks slick, sounds like it will appeal to the employees, and the operator promises to take care of everything.

Unfortunately, the company with the slickest presentation is not usually the one with the lowest costs. A certain amount of cost is unavoidable. On top of the ordinary investment expenses and customer service expenses that any fund will have, there are legal compliance issues (and the laws and regulations keep changing). Companies are going to be willing to pay for all that stuff–and willing to pay a little extra, since they're paying with your money.

The major fund families are selling their services to the person who's going to be paying for them, so their incentives to balance cost and service are more aligned with your interests. They have legal compliance issues for IRAs as well, but a major fund family can spread the costs for that over all the IRA accounts they've got. General principles

I don't know about you, but when an employer lets me go, I figure it shows that they're not too bright. Either they can't tell a good employee from a poor one, or else they're managing their business so poorly that they have to let good employees go along with the poor ones.

Either way, I see it a a mark in the minus column. If they can't run their own business well enough to keep me employed, why should I imagine that they'd do a good job managing my retirement savings? Reasons to stay

Cost, again

The only good reason to stay with your former employer is if it offers a good selection of low-cost funds. Although many charge way too much money, there are plenty of others that don't. (In fact, some employers pick up the plan expenses as an employee benefit.) It's not so easy to know which yours is. If your plan offers enough information on costs that you can be sure that they're giving you a good deal on plan expenses, then you may want to stay. Save a step

You may be going to a new employer with a great 401(k) plan. In that case, you may have the option to roll your old 401(k) money directly over to your new employer's plan. In that case, it might make sense to leave your money in the old plan temporarily, rather than roll it over twice. Legal diversity

There are a bunch of laws protecting various kinds of retirement accounts from creditors. If you lose a lawsuit or suffer some other terrible financial reversal, your retirement funds are protected to some extent. The thing is, these protections are provided piecemeal by the various laws creating the different kinds of plans–so they're all somewhat different. The upshot of that is that in any particular situation, one kind of plan might be less protected than some other kind of plan. Ideally, then, you'd want to have your money spread over a variety of different kinds of plans. (Everybody knows not to put all their eggs into one basket. There may be a tiny bit of extra protection in using more than one kind of basket.) Move your money

Very few employer-sponsored retirement plans are as good as an IRA from one of the big fund families. There are a few reasons why you might want to keep your retirement savings with your ex-employer, but they're all special situations that don't apply to most people. Unless you've done the research and know that your ex-employer has a great, low-cost plan, you're better off just moving your money.

Selling yourself to a future employer

Wow! Last week’s Sunday Classifieds were filled with job ads. Many employers are hiring. At the same time, many job seekers are knocking on their doors, competing for the available jobs.

The problem for you is, how do you differentiate yourself from the other job seekers? How do you sell yourself to employers?

There was a common theme in the job ads that could be a clue. The employers are advertising for people with good communication skills.

A great way to differentiate yourself is to prove you have good communication skills.

A great way to do it, is by selling yourself to the person who can hire you with a one-minute speech.

Elevator speech

If you’ve watched any of the presidential debates, you’ve seen presidential candidates asking you for a job. The candidates who took too long to get their message across have already been crossed from the list of top job candidates by the voters who would hire them.

But the candidates who can explain to you in about 60 seconds why you should hire them are still in the running.

A sales pitch or request for venture capital that you give in less time than it takes to ride an elevator to the CEO’s office has become known as an elevator speech.

These one-minute marketing tools have been adopted by smart job-seekers who use them as a quick and effective introduction when they call on employers on the phone, at a networking event or in an interview.

Do you want to give an effective elevator speech? Start with an outline, advised John Burke, president of Starboard Asset Management, a public speaker and president of Treasure Coast Toastmasters.

“At Toastmasters, we have an extemporaneous (improvised) speech we call a Table Topic,” he said. “Somebody picks a topic and you talk on that topic for about one or two minutes without preparation.”

Toastmaster members can do that because they know the Table Topic has a structure, an outline, he said.

“Say your outline is past, present and future,” he said. Explain what you have done in the past that is relevant to the job for which you are applying. Then, explain what you are doing now in a way that shows how it is relevant to their needs. Finally, explain your objective. ‘This is what I want to do and this is why I want it to be in a position with your company.’

Someone who came to Burke with an elevator speech would need to understand his business, he said. If they understand the investment advisory business model, and “if they understand the growth in the industry, I would be interested in taking another look at their resume and maybe calling them in for an interview,” he said.

If you are applying for a job in your industry, that could be an easy task.

But if you are changing industries, you need to do some research.

Research and preparation

Ad-hoc Table Topics can help you gain poise in front of a group but research is key to gaining confidence, said Jan Thomas, president of Beachsider Toastmasters in Vero Beach.

“First do your homework so you will sound as if you know what you are talking about. Because you do,” she said.

There are a large number of places, on the Internet, at the library and at a company, to find out more about the company to which you will apply and the positions they have available, she said.

Write out your outline. And practice until you master your presentation, Burke said.

“You could blow up balloons, paint faces on them and tape them around a mirror,” said Burke. The balloons are your audience and the mirror reflects what the audience sees, your facial expressions, hand gestures, eye contact and posture, he said.

If you practice not only speaking but also looking like you are accomplished, it can help you be more persuasive on-the-job.

On-the-job communication skills

“People think speaking is about what you say, but it is much more than that,” said Rosemary Caspary, formerly Treasure Coast Toastmasters’ public relations officer. Tone of voice, posture, facial expression and other visual and auditory cues are just as important to communication as the words you say.

And these are communication skills you need even after you have taken the job, she said.

Communication skills are valued by employers and help you keep your job and advance in the company.

Toastmasters helps people gain the poise, confidence and skills to communicate clearly, whether it is an elevator speech or a presentation to your company’s board of directors, Caspary said. Fees are nominal and the benefits incredible.

“I think you should go to Toastmasters and see for yourself, even if you go only one night as a guest,” she said.

Thomas, now retired from a government job on the Gulf Coast, went to a Toastmaster’s meeting as a guest about 20 years ago and was hooked.

“I saw about three people speak and I was so impressed,” she said. “I thought ‘this (Toastmasters) will be better for me than getting a master’s degree’. And it was.”

“Every phone call I got at work was a Table Topic,” she explained. “I had to communicate a message in two minutes or less. It had to be concise and to the point. And it had to have a beginning, a middle and an end.”

Grace Coffey is owner of Grace Yoga and has become an award-winning motivational speaker with Treasure Coast Toastmasters said one of the secrets to her success as a speaker is that she has a message she wants to get across.

Coffey’s best advice is some of the same advice she gives in her speeches. “Have moxie and be yourself,” said Coffey.

“Research shows that people fear standing in front of a group to give a speech more than they fear death,” said Burke.

But the more you avoid it, the more difficult it becomes to get your message across to a group or to just one person, the person who can hire or promote you.

But Burke, Coffey, Thomas, Caspary and thousands of savvy business people like them have found they do not need to go it alone. They’ve banded together to create clubs where they learn to give elevator speeches, sales pitches, motivational talks and one-on-one business conversations with poise, confidence and just a little bit of moxie.

There are 12 Toastmasters clubs on the Treasure Coast. To find the one nearest you, Caspary said, go to www.toastmasters.org, click on the Find button on the left side of the page. Type in your ZIP code under ZIP CODE search and click the Find button for meeting and contact information.

You are quite happy with yourself because that last interview went really well. You feel that your chances of getting the job are pretty good but you hate the part where you have to sit back and wait for the employer to call you back. Well, guess what? You're not supposed to just sit back and wait. An interview is never finished when you shake hands and leave the room; you have to follow up on it.

Following up after an interview can give you a winning edge over the other candidates. The manner in which you follow up is also important because it can win you or cost you the job. The best way to illustrate this is with an example.

Elizabeth had been hoping to hire a market researcher to fill a position that had been vacant for several weeks. Henry, Melissa, and Barbara were equally qualified and she was having a hard time deciding which one to hire. When she listened to her voice mail on morning after the interview, Melissa had left her a message thanking her for the interview. She made a mental note of the fact that this candidate had shown a serious interest in the job by following up. That same afternoon, when she checked her mail, she found a letter from Barbara. She was impressed by the care and effort that had gone into writing the letter. Barbara had not only thanked Elizabeth for the interview, but she had addressed some of the organizational issues that had been discussed during the interview as well. Barbara was offered the job the very next day.

Now that you know how important following up after an interview is, here are some pointers to help you get it just right.

Get the time frame right

Towards the end of your interview, always remember to ask the potential employer how long it would be until a hiring decision is made. If you get a good idea of when the company will be hiring, you will know how quickly you need to follow up. If you know the company will make their decision in 5 days, then you need to send out the follow-up letter right away.

The Letter

A follow-up thank you letter is an excellent way to get your interviewer to remember you. The letter should re-emphasize why you are a suitable candidate and discuss any additional information about your qualifications that you didn't have a chance to mention during the interview. Whether you use email, snail mail, or fax depends on the type of company you're interviewing with. If it's a high-tech, trendy one, you might want to go with email. A posted letter may be more appropriate if it's a conservative company. In any case, check that you have the correct information with regards to the interviewer's name, position, and address. Asking for a business card after the interview is a good way of making sure that you do.

The Phone Call

If the hiring time frame has passed and the company still hasn't called you, you can call them. During the phone call, let the company know that you are still interested in the position. Be gracious at all times and don't be too pushy. You don't want to give them the impression that you are desperate.

If you keep these pointers in mind when you follow up on an interview, you will be well on your way to making sure that the person who interviewed you keeps you in mind for the job. At the same time, you will also be strengthening your candidature.

For additional information please visit: www.theinterviewhandbook.com

For career changers, acquired skills find new expression

After his systems-engineer position was outsourced in late 2006, Korey Reid took his career in a new direction. He's now a sales manager at a company that provides computer-based training — a job he got by leveraging the expertise he gained during his 15 years in technology.

As the economy slows and job losses mount, many workers in fields like financial services, real estate and the auto industry are scrambling for a Plan B. Contemplating the odds that a career switch may be necessary can be daunting. But if you're in a sinking industry or staring down a corporate layoff, there's good news. With some creative attention to your resume and thought about where your talents can best be used, many skills are fairly easy to transfer from one profession to another, career experts say.

Reid, for example, says he thought of joining CBT Nuggets LLC in Eugene, Ore., because he had been a longtime customer and was adept at using the company's products. To land the job, he pointed this out and highlighted the communications skills he had gained from working on teams at employers like Hewlett-Packard Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp.

Changing careers may also be on the minds of many financial-services professionals. Several investment banks have already made significant job cuts, including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. Meanwhile, some top industry executives foresee layoffs as high as 20 percent for Wall Streeters.

One possible safe harbor: A consulting job at a financial-communications or investor-relations firm, says Roy Cohen, an executive coach in New York. It's a job that typically involves helping corporate clients prepare and publicize their financial news. And given their experience receiving that news, financial analysts, equity researchers and other Wall Street professionals are likely to be adept at determining what information is appropriate to divulge, Cohen says.

CMF Associates LLC, a small financial-consulting firm in Philadelphia, recently hired two people from large financial-services companies, says Tom Bonney, managing director. Both saw their responsibilities shrinking and were anticipating pink slips, he says. Meanwhile, for Bonney, it was an opportunity to recruit talent with the financial savvy and strong communications skills needed to help the firm's middle-market clients identify and evaluate business acquisitions. "If you work in the financial-services market, you are careful, and I needed people who have good judgment," he says.

For Wall Street traders, switching to the buy side at hedge funds, insurance companies and investment-management firms may be an option, says Cohen. The analytical and quantitative skills traders bring to the table, along with their knowledge of capital markets, position them for success in evaluating securities, he says. Switching to an analyst job in risk management could also make sense. "Risk management has a lot to do with identifying potential problems, and that's what traders are always doing instinctively," Cohen says.

Demand for professionals in this niche is healthy and expected to intensify toward the end of the second quarter, adds Michael Woodrow, president of Risk Talent Associates LLC, an executive-search firm. Last year, the small recruitment agency filled roughly 40 senior-level risk-management positions.

In the real-estate industry, the subprime mess, overbuilding, underwater mortgages and falling home prices are making it increasingly difficult to thrive in sales. But real-estate professionals tend to be salespeople at heart and the market for sales aces is growing, so making a switch to a sales role in more robust industries such as insurance, pharmaceuticals and computer software is usually possible, says Jay Hargis, founder and managing partner of Talent Insight Group, a human-resources consulting firm. In the corporate world, these jobs go by titles like account manager and client-services manager. A real-estate agent's experience in analyzing markets, building customer relationships and closing deals is highly applicable, says Hargis.

Business development is another avenue that makes sense for real-estate professionals, notes Hargis, who is also a human-resources adjunct professor at Suffolk University in Boston. These jobs involve identifying and securing new customers — tasks that are routine for agents who seek out homeowners in need of professional support. Almost every company that sells products or services will have business-development positions, says Hargis.

Chubb Corp. frequently recruits real-estate industry refugees and others for jobs in underwriting and customer service, says Val Aguirre, senior vice president for talent acquisition at the insurance company. Their financial acumen and communications skills prepare people with a real-estate background to articulate and negotiate insurance contracts with clients, she says.

Slumping sales in the auto industry have prompted many U.S. vehicle and parts makers to trim their work forces in recent years. Earlier this year, General Motors Corp. announced it would offer buyout packages to 74,000 workers. Meanwhile, Chrysler LLC is attempting to shed 10,000 workers through incentives by April 1. The moves have affected both line workers and white-collar professionals at auto makers and their suppliers.

But several manufacturing sectors, including heavy equipment, consumer products and petroleum, are healthy and expanding, says Rick Slayton, president of Slayton Search Partners, an executive-search firm based in Chicago. While companies serving these markets produce different goods, they have enough similarities to the auto makers to make for a smooth transition.

Many are complex, global organizations operating under tight profit margins, he says. As a result, workers skilled in common business functions such as finance, procurement, logistics, human resources and general management are likely to find comparable jobs. And floor workers can often transition into other line jobs.

Gas Station TV, a company that sets up and programs televisions at gasoline pumps, recently recruited three people who were laid off from companies that service the auto industry. They had worked in information technology, accounting and marketing, and their skills "translated incredibly well," says David Leider, the two-year-old company's chief executive. No additional training was required, he adds.

Some career changes can mean less pay. Or you might find yourself in need of additional training or course work to make your way back to the level you were at before.

Reid, the technology professional turned salesman, says he accepted a small pay cut. But switching careers brought him great satisfaction. "I wanted to be in an environment I enjoyed," he says. "And I was getting a little burned out (from) training other folks to take over my job."

If you’re anything like me, crafting your resume is a challenge. You have overlapping jobs that make the chronological format confusing. You have so many different and seemingly unrelated skill sets that the document could go on for four pages and lacks coherence. In the case of a drastic career change, the job you want may call for a set of abilities for which you have no track record.

Most resume writing books and Web sites offer guidelines to help you overcome common issues such as gaps in employment and too many short stints. Even those instructions fail to help; your record shows too many “problems” at the same time. You contemplate using a LinkedIn profile, personal bio, or other tool for introducing yourself, but the prospective employer, client, or the person who’s kindly offered to refer you wants a resume. Now what?

A critical look at the rhetoric of the resume may help: Most resume advice is geared toward generating a document that reassures the reader that you are indeed a round peg suitable for round holes.

The old-fashioned chronological resume, the one you probably learned to write in high school, chronicles how you have spent your professional time for the past ten years. Its promise: “I am predictable and meet expectations.”

Skills resumes are often recommended for people who want to change domains or whose work histories reflect some egregious deviation from the path of one job after another, each held for a year or longer, each representing an upward trend from the last, with few long gaps. Its purpose is to rebut the concern about steadiness: “Forgive the mess. Despite all that, here’s what I can do.”

Then there’s the combination resume. The current emphasis on the resume as “a marketing piece” has pushed this format into prominence. It is most effective for mid-career workers who want to traverse a threshold from an officially lower-level position where they have done high-level work to a role with recognized higher stature. What the combination resume says is, “I’m all grown up now, and ready for the mantle.”

As a square peg, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is step out from behind these facades, drop the defensive stance, and communicate what you honestly have to offer - your ability to sustain the unique perspectives that may provide extraordinary value in the reader’s situation.

The standard resume forms are here to stay for a while, in part because they are visually familiar. Try on these alternative messages for size:

Chronological: “I bring an encyclopedia of experience to bear on the work at hand.”

Skills: “I have a rage to learn and can do it quickly. What do you need? My toolkit overflows.”

Combination: “Let me loose, and I will solve the problems you haven’t even found yet.”

Convey what you truly have to offer and you may locate that elusive job or role that feels substantial.

Since graduating from Stanford, writer/editor Barbara Saunders, http://www.barbararuthsaunders.com has been a chemical dependency counselor, a technical editor, a personal trainer, a discourse analyst, a recruiter, a book author, an entrepreneurship coach, and the manager of a pet acupuncture clinic